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::     .:td  Laby  Popham  Mo>—  i: 
Parish  Church,  Wellington. 


THE 


Beginnings  of  Colonial  Maine 


1602=1658 


BY 

HENRY    S.    BURRAGE,    D,    D. 
State  Historian 


To  re-create  any  period  of  the  past  for  our  own  minds,  to  understand  it  as 
it  was,  unlike  what  went  before  it,  unlike  what  came  after  it — this  is  the 
chief  aim  of  history;  and  for  this  purpose  one  must  study  not  only  the 
masses  of  men,  but  also  individual  men,  their  ideas  and  beliefs,  their  enjoy- 
ments and  aspirations. 

James  Bryce,  University  and  Historical  Addresses,  page  362. 


Printed  for  the  State 
1914 


FlS 


Copyrighted  1914 
By  Henry  S.  Burrage,  D.  D. 


APrad  1914 


Marks  Printing  House 
Portland,  Me. 


©CI.A371636 
/ 


To  the  Memory  of 

William  Gammell,  hh.  D. 

Professor  of  History  and  Political  Economy 

In  Brown  University  1850-1864 

This  Volume  Is  Gratefully  Dedicated 

By  One  of  His  Students 


CONTENTS. 


Chapter. 

I.     Early  English  Voyages  to  the  American 
Coast 

II.       GOSNOLD    AND    PRING 

III.  The  De  Monts  Colony 

IV.  Waymouth's  Voyage  of  1605 
V.     Hanham  and  Pring 

VI.    The  Popham  Colony    . 
VII.     The  French  Colony  at  Mount  Desert 
VIII.     Voyages  by  Captain  John  Smith  and  Others 
IX.     The  Fight  for  Free  Fishing 
X.     Various    Schemes  and  L,evett's   Explora 

tions  .... 

XI.     Beginnings    Here    and    Reawakenings   in 
England      .... 

XII.     Numerous  Grants  for  Settlements 

XIII.  Some  Settlement  Clashings  . 

XIV.  Added  Settlements  and  General  Condi 

tions  .... 

XV.     The  French  at  Castine 
XVI.     Gorges  Receives  a  Royal  Charter 
XVII.    Some  Unrelated  Matters 
XVIII.    Agamenticus  Becomes  Gorgeana 
XIX.     Cleeve  Secures  an  Ally  in  Colonel  Rigby 
XX.     Robert  Jordan  as  Winter's  Successor 
XXI.     Massachusetts  Claims  Maine  Territory 
XXII.     The    Jurisdiction    of    Massachusetts    Ac 

cepted  .... 

XXIII.     Review  of  the  Period  . 


Page. 

1 
17 

29 
37 
52 
63 

100 
118 
144 

160 

176 
197 
221 

241 
264 
281 
300 
313 
325 
342 
356 

370 
383 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Popham  Memorial,  Parish  Church,  Wellington  Frontispiece 

facing  page 

Part  of  the  New  England  Coast  Line  on  the  Simancas  Map 

of  1610  ..... 

The  Cabot  Tower,  Bristol,  England 
Parish  Church,  Cockington 
Champlain's  Map  of  St.  Croix  Island 
Champlain's  Sketch  of  St.  Croix  island  and  buildings 
St.  Croix  Island  from  the  Maine  Border     . 
The  De  Monts  Colony  Memorial  on  St.  Croix  Island 
Title  Page  of  Rosier' s  Relation 
Memorial  of  Waymouth's  Voyage,  1605      . 
Pring  Memorial,  St.  Stephen's  Church,  Bristol 
Plan  of  Fort  St.  George,  1607 

President  George  Popham  to  James  I  Dec.  13,  1607 
Site  of  Fort  St.  George  (indicated  by  arrow) 
Memorial  of  Popham  Colony  (Fort  St.  George)     . 
St.  Sepulchre  Church,  London,  in  which  Captain  John 

Smith  Was  Buried         .... 
Sutton's  Pool  and  Old  Part  of  Plymouth.     In  the  Fore 

ground  the  Pier  from  Which  the  Mayflower  Sailed 
Plymouth,  England,  and  Its  Defences  in  1646 
Aldworth  and  Elbridge  Monument  in  St.  Peter's  Church 

Bristol  ..... 

The  Pilgrim  Grant  on  the  Kennebec 
Affidavit  of  Richard  Vines  and  Henry  Josselyn 


11/ 

6,/ 

18  v 

30^ 

32^ 

34  ^ 

36^ 

42^" 

48v/ 

62^ 

76^ 

92 

99  i 

98 

122 


)S 


148^ 

166  v 

180  v 
186  I 
220  •/ 


VIII  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  to  Governor  William  Gorges  .         262   \r 

Complaint  of  George  Cleeve,  June  24,  1640.     Witnessed 

by   Deputy   Governor  Thomas  Gorges  and  Edward 

Godfrey 292  * 

John  Winter  to  Robert  Trelawny    ....         304  \/ 
Church  at  Long  Ashton  in  Which  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges 

Was  Buried       .  .  .  .  .  324  ^ 

Ashton  Court  Near  Bristol  .  .  .  340  \S 

St.  Budeaux  Church  Near  Plymouth  in  Which  Is  the  Sir 

Ferdinando  Gorges  Memorial  .  .  .         356  j/ 


PREFACE. 


In  the  following  pages  an  attempt  is  made  to  record  the  promi- 
nent facts  with  reference  to  the  beginnings  of  colonial  Maine.  To 
the  earlier  part  of  these  beginnings,  neither  Sullivan  in  his  History 
of  the  District  of  Maine  (1795),  nor  Williamson  in  his  History  of 
the  State  of  Maine  (1832),  devoted  much  space.  When  they 
wrote,  the  known  and  accessible  sources  of  information  concern- 
ing those  earlier  undertakings  were  exceedingly  scanty.  Careful 
research,  however,  especially  in  the  last  half  century,  has  brought 
to  light  valuable  original  materials  for  the  history  of  that  earlier 
period,  and  the  discovery  of  these  materials  has  greatly  enlarged 
our  knowledge  with  reference  both  to  facts  and  persons. 

Among  these  new  sources  of  information  is  a  manuscript  which 
was  discovered  in  1876  in  the  library  of  L,ambeth  Palace,  L,ondon, 
by  the  late  Rev.  Dr.  B.  F.  De  Costa  of  New  York.1  Its  great  value 
arises  from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  original  record  both  of  the  voy- 
age of  the  Popham  colonists  in  making  their  way  to  our  coast,  and 
of  the  earlier  undertakings  connected  with  the  planting  of  the 
colony  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec.  The  manuscript  is  entitled, 
The  Relation  of  a  Voyage  unto  New  England,  Began  from  the 
Lizard,  the  first  of  June  1607 ',  By  Captain  Popham  in  the  ship  the 
Gift,2  and   Captain    Gilbert  in   the  Mary  and  John:    Written   by 

and  found  amongst  the  papers  of  the  truly  worshipful 

Sr.  Ferdinando  Gorges,  Knt,  by  me  William  Griffith. 

But  especially  important,  in  this  addition  to  the  sources,  was 
the  discovery  of  the  manuscript  material  now  known  as  the  Tre- 

(})  For  a  more  extended  account  see  page  66. 

(2)  In  his  Historie  of  Travaile  into  Virginia  William  Strachey  gives  the 
full  name  of  the  vessel,  the  Gift  of  God. 


X  PREFACE. 

lawny  Papers.  These  constitute  a  treasure-house  of  information 
with  reference  to  business  interests  and  other  matters  at  Rich- 
mond's island  and  vicinity  for  quite  a  number  of  years  beginning" 
with  1631.  In  the  grant  of  land  on  Cape  Elizabeth  obtained  in 
that  year  by  Robert  Trelawny  and  Moses  Goodyear,  merchants  of 
Plymouth,  England,  Richmond's  island  was  included  ;  and  on  it, 
not  long  after  the  grant  was  made,  John  Winter,  as  the  agent  of 
Trelawny  and  Goodyear,  established  a  large  fishing  and  trading 
station.  Goodyear  died  March  26,  1637,  and  Robert  Trelawny 
became  the  sole  proprietor  of  the  patent.  Fortunately  the  corre- 
spondence between  Winter  and  Trelawny  was  continued  about  ten 
years,  and  their  letters,  with  other  valuable  papers,  accounts,  etc., 
connected  with  Robert  Trelawny' s  business  affairs  on  this  side  of 
the  sea  were,  until  about  the  year  1872,  carefully  preserved  at 
Ham,  Robert  Trelawny's  residence  in  the  vicinity  of  Plymouth. 
The  discovery *  of  this  manuscript  material  by  the  late  John  Win- 
gate  Thornton,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  its  presentation  to  the 
Maine  Historical  Society  and  its  arrangement  and  publication  by 
the  Hon.  James  P.  Baxter,  of  Portland,  in  a  volume  of  more  than 
five  hundred  pages  with  many  valuable  notes,  supply  us  with 
much  information  not  only  concerning  life  and  transactions  at 
Richmond's  island  in  that  early  period  of  our  colonial  history, 
but  also  with  reference  to  other  places  and  events  upon  the  coast 
of  Maine. 

Mr.  Baxter's  own  painstaking  researches  in  England  with  ref- 
erence to  this  same  period,  begun  about  the  same  time,  were  also 
richly  rewarded.  The  results  we  have  in  three  works  of  very 
great  interest  and  value.  The  first  of  these  is  his  George  Cleeve  of 
Casco  Bay,  1630-1667,  with  Collateral  Documents ,  a  volume  that 
gives  us  an  admirable  portraiture  of  the  founder  of  Portland,  based 
upon  such  manuscript  materials  and  early  records  as  Mr.  Baxter 
was  able  to  obtain  at  home  and  abroad.     The  volume  was  pub- 

Q)  An  account  of  the  discovery  of  these  papers  by  Mr.  Thornton,  and  of 
their  subsequent  history,  will  be  found  in  a  note  on  pages  211  and  212  of  this 
volume. 


PREFACE.  XI 

lished  in  1885  by  the  Gorges  Society,  Portland,  a  first  sheaf  of 
Mr.  Baxter's  historical  gleanings  in  widely  scattered  fields.  It 
was  followed  by  his  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of 
Maine  in  three  volumes,  published  in  1890  by  the  Prince  Society, 
Boston.  The  first  volume  contains  a  valuable  biography  of  Gorges, 
and  is  in  fact  the  only  extended  biography  of  Sir  Ferdinando  that 
has  as  yet  appeared,  either  in  this  country  or  in  England.  The 
second  and  third  volumes  contain  Gorges'  Brief  Narration,  his 
Brief  Answer  to  Certain  False,  Slanderous  and  Idle  Objections  made 
against  Sr.  Ferd.  Gorges,  Knight,  the  charter  of  Gorges'  Province 
of  Maine,  his  letters,  his  will,  also  genealogical  notes  on  the 
Gorges  family,  etc.,  the  two  volumes  comprising  many  hitherto 
unpublished  materials  found  in  the  Public  Records  Office,  London, 
the  library  of  the  British  Museum,  various  other  public  collections 
like  the  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford,  also  great  private  collections 
including  that  of  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  the  chief  secretary  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  and  James  I.  Still  another  work  by  Mr.  Baxter  relat- 
ing to  colonial  beginnings  in  Maine,  and  one  likewise  prepared 
from  original  sources,  is  his  Christopher  Levett  of  York,  the  Pio- 
neer of  Casco  Bay.  In  addition  to  the  interesting  biography  of 
Levett,  the  volume  contains  Levett's  own  narrative  of  A  Voyage 
into  New  England  begun  in  1623  and  ended  in  1624.  This  work 
was  published  by  the  Gorges  Society,  Portland,  in  1893. 

In  his  research  work  in  England,  Mr.  Baxter  discovered  a 
manuscript  volume  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  pages  entitled 
The  fewell  of  Artes .  It  is  in  the  King's  Library  in  London,  and 
on  examination  was  found  to  be  the  work  of  Captain  George 
Waymouth,  who  commanded  the  Archangel  in  her  now  well- 
known  voyage  to  the  coast  of  Maine  in  1605.  Before  Mr.  Baxter's 
discovery  of  this  manuscript,  it  was  supposed  that  Captain  Way- 
mouth  was  a  competent  English  shipmaster  only.  But  the  Jewell 
of  Artes  disclosed  the  fact  that  he  was  also  an  accomplished  engi- 
neer and  draughtsman,  and  proficient  in  the  art  of  ship  and  forti- 
fication building.  Very  generously  Mr.  Baxter  placed  this  man- 
uscript in  my  hands  for  use  in  my  preparation  of  Rosier' s  Relation 


XII  PREFACE. 

of  Way-mouth? s  Voyage  to  the  Coast  of  Maine  in  1605,  published  by 
the  Gorges  Society,  Portland,  in  1887.  My  estimate  of  Way- 
mouth  was  enlarged  by  this  manuscript  at  that  time,  and  its 
influence  I  have  felt  in  my  references  to  him  in  the  present 
volume. 

In  matters  pertaining  to  the  Popham  colony,  I  have  derived 
much  assistance  from  the  Rev.  Henry  O.  Thayer's  excellent  work 
entitled  The  Sagadahoc  Colony \  Comprisi?ig  the  Relation  of  a  Voyage 
into  New  England  {Lambeth  Manuscript) ,  and  published  by  the 
Gorges  Society,  Portland,  1892.  Mr.  Thayer's  introduction  and 
notes  leave  nothing  to  be  desired,  while  in  the  appendix,  covering 
one  hundred  pages,  there  is  a  full  and  satisfactory  discussion  of 
many  points  of  interest  with  reference  to  the  colony.  Mr.  Thayer's 
valuable  contributions  to  the  Collections  of  the  Maine  Historical 
Society  with  reference  to  the  same  period  have  also  been  found 
very  helpful. 

Dr.  Charles  E.  Banks,  who  has  made  a  special  study  of  Edward 
Godfrey's  life  and  services  in  connection  with  the  development  of 
colonization  efforts,  first  at  Piscataqua  and  afterward  at  Agamen- 
ticus  (later  Gorgeana  and  York),  has  a  biographical  sketch  of 
Edward  Godfrey  in  the  Collections  of  the  Maine  Historical  Society 
(First  Series,  IX,  297-384),  to  which  is  added  an  appendix  con- 
taining letters  and  various  papers  by  Godfrey,  from  which  I  have 
derived  valuable  aid ;  also  from  his  extended  papers  on  Colonel 
Alexander  Rigby  in  the  second  volume  of  the  Maine  Historical 
a?id  Genealogical  Recorder. 

Much  assistance  also  I  have  received  from  the  Farnham  Papers, 
a  collection  of  documents  pertaining  to  Maine  history,  compiled 
in  two  volumes  by  Miss  Mary  Frances  Farnham,  and  published 
by  the  Maine  Historical  Society.  To  bring  these  many  documents 
together  in  this  way,  making  them  easily  accessible,  was  an 
achievement  worthy  of  wide  recognition  and  generous  appreciation. 

In  connection  with  the  preparation  of  Rosier 's  Relation  of  Way- 
mouth's  Voyage  my  interest  in  the  beginnings  of  colonial  Maine 
was  greatly  quickened.     Study  of  the  original  sources  of  informa- 


PREFACE.  XIII 

tion  concerning  these  beginnings  not  only  revealed  but  empha- 
sized the  importance  of  a  restatement  of  our  earlier  history  in  a 
connected  narrative,  based  upon  authoritative  records  and  docu- 
ments of  various  kinds  critically  used.  In  subsequent  years,  as 
opportunities  for  added  research  work  opened  from  time  to  time, 
my  interest  was  deepened,  and  especially  in  1912,  when  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  visiting  Bristol  and  Plymouth,  England,  places  in 
which  Gorges  and  Aldworth  and  Elbridge  and  Jennings  and  Tre- 
lawny  were  such  prominent  figures,  and  from  which,  because  of 
these  men,  proceeded  influences  so  closely  connected  with  the 
beginnings  of  our  colonial  history. 

In  modern  forms,  throughout  these  pages,  I  have  made  much 
use  of  the  words  of  the  original  writings  on  which  the  narrative 
is  so  largely  made  to  rest.  During  the  first  half  of  the  seven- 
teenth century  not  only  the  great  masters  of  the  English  language 
were  at  their  best,  but  the  people  of  the  middle  classes,  including 
tradesmen  and  officials  in  the  humbler  places,  exhibited  a  direct- 
ness and  vigor  of  expression  of  which  we  do  well  not  to  lose  sight. 
Also  in  my  work  I  have  endeavored  to  keep  in  mind  contempora- 
neous events  in  England  during  the  period  under  review.  Indeed, 
events  then  in  progress  on  this  side  of  the  sea  cannot  be  rightly 
understood  unless  one  gives  attention  to  movements  in  England 
at  the  same  time,  which  had  as  their  aim  better  social  and  political 
conditions  than  had  obtained  hitherto  in  the  mother  country. 

In  my  visit  to  Bristol,  England,  the  librarian  of  the  Central 
Municipal  Library  opened  to  me  freely  the  large  and  very  valuable 
collection  of  books  relating  to  the  history  and  antiquities  of  the 
city.  This  collection,  brought  together  in  a  most  attractive  room 
in  Bristol's  beautiful  library  building,  is  under  the  charge  of  Miss 
Ethel  E.  Sims,  who  not  only  gave  to  me  intelligent  assistance 
while  I  was  in  Bristol,  but  also  after  my  departure  continued  her 
efforts  in  my  behalf  with  such  painstaking  interest  that  at  length 
she  was  able  to  furnish  me  with  the  proof  that  the  Thomas 
Hanham  who  accompanied  Pring  to  the  coast  of  Maine  in  1606 
was  not  the  Thomas  Hanham  who  married  Penelope,  daughter  of 


XIV  PREFACE . 

Sir  John  Popham,  as  some  have  supposed,  but  his  son  Thomas 
Hanham,  and  therefore  a  grandson  of  Sir  John.1  Mr.  John 
Tremayne  Lane,  treasurer  of  Bristol,  placed  in  my  hands  the 
priceless  early  records  of  the  city ;  and  I  was  greatly  assisted  in 
my  examination  of  them  by  Dr.  Edward  G.  Cuthbert  Atchley. 
At  Ashton  Court,  by  the  courtesy  of  Lady  Smyth,  Mr.  Lewis 
Upton  Way  showed  to  me  the  Gorges  papers  still  in  the  possession 
of  the  Smyth  family,  to  which  Sir  Ferdinando  was  related  by  mar- 
riage. At  Plymouth  the  public  library  is  one  of  great  excellence, 
and  I  found  it  helpful.  The  town  clerk  extended  to  me  generous 
courtesies,  and  Mr.  A.  C.  Simmonds,  assistant  conveyancing  clerk 
in  the  town  clerk's  office,  was  of  great  help  to  me  in  my  examina- 
tion of  the  town  records,  especially  with  reference  to  Abraham 
Jennings,  the  first  owner  of  Monhegan.  In  this  connection,  also, 
I  desire  to  make  mention  of  my  indebtedness  to  the  great  library 
of  the  British  Museum  and  to  the  collections  of  the  Public  Records 
Office,  London,  where  my  researches  were  continued  and  ended. 

The  writing  of  these  pages  was  commenced  at  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  in  November,  1912.  Until  June,  1913,  I  was  gen- 
erously supplied  with  books  by  the  Maine  State  Library  at 
Augusta,  and  the  library  of  the  Maine  Historical  Society  in  Port- 
land. At  the  same  time,  the  libraries  in  Cambridge — that  of 
Harvard  University  and  the  Cambridge  Public  Library — opened 
wide  their  doors  to  me,  as  also  did  the  great  libraries  in  Boston, 
namely,  that  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  and  the  Bos- 
ton Athenaeum,  the  State  Library,  the  library  of  the  City  of 
Boston  and  the  library  of  the  New  England  Historical  and  Gen- 
ealogical Society.  Valuable  assistance  also  was  received  from  the 
John  Hay  Library  and  the  John  Carter  Brown  Library  of  Brown 
University,  Providence,  R.  I.  In  the  summer  of  1913,  in  Cam- 
den, Maine,  where  the  work  of  writing  was  continued,  and  in  the 
fall  and  winter  of  that  year  in  Portland,  Maine,  where  it  was  com- 
pleted and  the  book  printed,  the  Maine  libraries  already  men- 

1  See  note  on  pages  58  and  59. 


PREFACE.  XV 

tioned  still  rendered  valuable  assistance,  as  also  did  the  Portland 
Public  Library. 

For  that  part  of  the  Simancas  map  of  1610  which  includes  the 
coast  line  of  what  is  now  the  State  of  Maine,  I  am  indebted  to  the 
Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  publishers  of  Alexander  Brown's 
Genesis  of  the  United  States,  in  which  the  whole  map  is  found. 
The  John  Carter  Brown  Library,  Brown  University,  courteously 
responded  to  my  request  for  a  fac  simile  of  the  title-page  of  its 
valuable  copy  of  Rosier 's  True  Relation  of  Way  mouth's  voyage  to 
the  coast  of  Maine  in  1605.  For  the  photograph  of  the  Popham 
monument  in  the  parish  church,  Wellington,  Somerset,  I  am 
indebted  to  the  Rev.  W.  W.  Pulman,  vicar  of  the  parish.  For 
illustrations  connected  with  recent  tercentenary  celebrations,  that 
in  1904  of  the  de  Monts  colony  at  St.  Croix  island,  that  in  1905  of 
Waymouth's  discoveries  on  the  Maine  coast  and  that  in  1907  of 
the  landing  of  the  Popham  colonists  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec, 
I  am  indebted  to  the  Maine  Historical  Society ;  also  for  the  use 
of  its  copy  of  Johnston's  map  of  the  Pilgrim  grant  on  the  Kenne- 
bec in  securing  a  photographic  copy  of  the  same ;  and  also  for  a 
like  use  of  original  letters  and  other  writings  from  the  Society's 
invaluable  collection  known  as  the  Trelawny  Papers.  The  other 
illustrations  are  from  originals  in  the  author's  possession. 


1> 


& 


^^AyyMg,^ 


:^V- 


A  Part  of  thb  New  England  Coa 

See  page! 


/INE  ON  THE  SlMANCAS   MAP  OF  1610. 

and  47. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Early  English  Voyages  to  the  American  Coast. 

BETWEEN  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  and  the  first  part 
of  the  seventeenth,  events  are  recorded  that  were  more 
or  less  clearly  connected  with  the  beginnings  of  colonial 
Maine.  The  influences  that  were  operative  in  these  beginnings 
were  largely  of  English  origin.  Primarily,  the  basis  of  England's 
claim  to  territory  on  the  American  coast  is  to  be  found  in  John 
Cabot's  discovery  of  the  North  American  continent  in  1497.  But 
other  navigators  and  explorers,  sailing  from  English  ports,  fol- 
lowed Cabot  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  all  are  worthy  of 
mention  as  aiding  in  opening  the  way  to  English  colonization  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  of  that  continent. 

The  sources  of  information  concerning  Cabot's  voyage  are 
scanty.  From  these  we  learn  that  Cabot,  a  native  of  Genoa 1  but 
for  some  time  a  resident  in  Venice,  made  his  home  in  Bristol, 
England,  about  the  year  1490.  Then,  as  now,  Bristol  was  an 
important  English  seaport,  and  among  its  merchants  and  fisher- 
men Cabot  found  eager  listeners  to  his  urgent  pleas  for  English 
participation  in  further  discoveries  upon  the  American  coast ;  and 
because  of  these  pleas,  and  those  of  other  interested  parties,  Henry 
VII,  March  5,  1496,  granted  letters  patent  to  his  "well-beloved 
John   Cabot,    citizen    of    Venice,    and   to    Lewis,    Sebastian   and 

Sanctus,  sons  of  the  said  John upon  their  own  proper 

costs  and  charges,  to  seek  out,  discover  and  find  whatsoever 
islands,  countries,  regions  or  provinces  of  the  heathens  or  infidels, 
in  whatever  part  of  the  world  they  be,  which  before  this  time 
have  been  unknown  to  all  Christians".2 

1  The  date  of  Cabot's  birth  cannot  be  placed  later  than  1451. 

2  Although  the  sons  of  John  Cabot  are  here  mentioned,  there  is  no  evi- 


2  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

Busy  preparations  for  the  expedition  followed,  and  in  May, 
1497,  probably  early  in  the  month,  in  a  small  vessel1  with  eight- 
een seamen,2  Cabot  sailed  from  Bristol  animated  with  high  hopes 
and  undaunted  courage.  Skirting  the  southern  coast  of  Ireland, 
he  turned  the  prow  of  his  little  bark  first  northward,  then  west- 
ward ;  and  after  sailing  seven  hundred  leagues  he  reached  the 
American  coast.  No  words  have  come  down  to  us,  either  from 
Cabot  or  any  of  the  eighteen  seamen,  narrating  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  voyagers  approached  the  land.  We  have  no 
mention  of  any  thrilling  spectacle  as  they  landed  and  planted  the 
royal  standard  on  the  North  American  continent  in  token  of  Eng- 
lish possession.  It  is  not  likely  that  there  was  much  delay  upon 
the  coast  following  the  discovery.  The  purpose  of  the  expedition 
had  been  accomplished,  and  Cabot  naturally  would  desire  to  make 
the  story  of  his  achievement  known  in  England  at  as  early  a  date 
as  was  possible. 

The  first  report  we  have  with  reference  to  Cabot's  return  is 
found  in  a  letter  from  Lorenzo  Pasqualigo  to  his  brothers,  Alvise 

dence  of  any  value  that  even  one  of  them  accompanied  the  first  expedition. 
The  career  of  Sebastian  Cabot  belongs  to  a  later  period.  Harrisse  says  : 
"Cabot  had  a  son  named  Sebastian,  born  in  Venice,  who  lived  in  England 
not  less  than  sixteen  years,  and  then  removed  to  Spain,  where  in  1518 
Charles  V  appointed  him  Pilot-Major.  This  office  he  held  for  thirty  years. 
In  1526,  Sebastian  was  authorized  to  take  command  of  a  Spanish  expedition 
intended  for  'Tharsis  and  Ophir',  but  which  instead  went  to  L,a  Plata  and 
proved  disastrous.  After  his  return  to  Seville  he  was  invited  in  1547  by  the 
counsellors  of  Edward  VI  to  England,  and  again  settled  in  that  country. 
Seven  years  afterward  he  prepared  the  expedition  of  Willoughby  and  Chan- 
celor  and  of  Stephen  Burroughs  in  search  of  a  northeast  passage  to  Cathay. 
He  finally  died  in  London  (after  1557)  at  a  very  advanced  age,  in  complete 
obscurity. ' '  John  Cabot  the  Discoverer  of  North  America  and  Sebastian  his 
Son.  A  chapter  of  the  Maritime  History  of  England  under  the  Tudor s, 
1496-1557.     By  Henry  Harrisse,  1896. 

1  By  writers  not  contemporaneous,  the  vessel  is  mentioned  as  the  "Mat- 
thew". 

2  "Nearly  all  Englishmen  and  belonging  to  Bristo."  Despatch  of  Rai- 
mondo  di  Soncino,  Dec.  18,  1497,  to  the  Duke  of  Milan. 


EARLY  ENGLISH  VOYAGES.  .5 

and  Francesco,  dated  London,  August  23,  1497.  In  it  he  says  : 
"The  Venetian,  our  countryman,  who  went  with  a  ship  from  Bris- 
tol to  search  for  new  islands,  is  returned  and  says  that  seven  hun- 
dred leagues  from  here  he  discovered  main  land  {terra  Jirmd) , 
the  territory  of  the  Grand  Khan.  He  coasted  for  three  hundred 
leagues  and  landed ;  saw  no  human  beings,  but  he  has  brought 
here  to  the  King  certain  snares  which  had  been  set  to  catch  game, 
and  a  needle  for  making  nets  ;  he  also  found  some  felled  trees,  by 
which  he  judged  there  were  inhabitants,  and  returned  to  his  ship 
in  alarm.  He  was  three  months  on  the  voyage."1  That  Pas- 
qualigo's  information  was  early,  the  date  of  his  letter  shows  ;  and 
his  narrative  is  confirmed  as  to  its  main:  points  by  two  despatches 
sent  by  the  Milanese  ambassador 2  in  London  to  the  Duke  of  Milan, 
one  dated  August  24,  1497,  and  the  other  December  18,  1497. 3 

In  one  of  these  despatches— that  of  December  18th— mention  is 
made  of  the  newly  discovered  country  and  its  products.  "And 
they  say  that  the  land  is  fertile  and  [the  climate]  temperate,  and 
think  that  the  red  wood  (el  brasilio)  grows  there  and  the  silks."  4 
Of  course  this  is  the  language  of  glowing  enthusiasm,  abundant 
illustrations  of  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  reports  of  other 
discoverers  of  that  time.  An  allusion  to  the  importance  of  the 
fisheries  on  the  American  coast  in  the  same  report,  however,  indi- 
cates slight  emotional  restraint.  "They  affirm  that  there  the  sea 
is  full  of  fish  that  can  be  taken  not  only  with  nets,  but  with  fish- 
ing baskets,  a  stone  being  placed  in  the  basket  to  sink  it  in  the 
water. ' '     They  say  '  'that  they  can  bring  so  many  fish  that  this 

1  Weare,  Cabot's  Discovery  of  North  America,  139. 

2  "There  resided  in  London  at  that  time  a  most  intelligent  Italian,  Rai- 
mondo  di  Soncino,  envoy  of  the  Duke  of  Milan,  Ludovico  Sforza,  one  of 
those  despots  of  the  Renaissance  who  almost  atoned  for  their  treachery  and 
cruelty  by  their  thirst  for  knowledge  and  love  of  arts.  Him  Soncino  kept 
informed  of  all  matters  going  on  at  London,  and  specially  concerning  matters 
of  cosmography  to  which  the  Duke  was  much  devoted."  Dr.  S.  E.  Dawson, 
The  Discovery  of  America  by  John  Cabot  in  1497,  59,  60. 

3  lb.,  142-150. 
*  lb.,  149. 


4  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

kingdom  will  have  no  more  business  with  Islanda  [Iceland] ,  and 
that  from  that  country  there  will  be  a  very  great  trade  in  the  fish 
which  they  call  stock-fish  (stoch-fissi) ' '  ,x  the  codfish  of  our  lan- 
guage. 

In  these  and  other  early  reports  concerning  Cabot's  voyage  we 
have  no  positive  information  with  reference  to  the  landfall.  It 
is,  therefore,  only  a  matter  of  conjecture.  General  agreement, 
accordingly,  even  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  given  to  the  prob- 
lem the  most  careful  attention,  is  not  to  be  expected.  A  cautious 
statement  is  that  of  a  recent  writer,  who  affirms  that  it  was  "some- 
where on  the  eastern  seacoast  of  British  North  America  between 
Halifax  and  Southern  Labrador."2  It  should  be  said,  however, 
that  Harrisse,  whose  monumental  work  on  John  Cabot  is  the 
chief  authority  concerning  the  voyage  of  1497,  while  admitting 
that  in  the  absence  of  documentary  evidence  we  must  resort  to 
presumption,  finds  himself  warranted  in  saying  that  "with  great 
probability"  the  landfall  "was  on  some  point  of  the  northeast 
coast  of  Labrador".8  From  his  discussion,  however,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  Harrisse  was  wholly  unacquainted  with  the  conditions 
that  Cabot  would  have  met  on  reaching  the  American  coast  at  that 
point.  On  the  approach  of  the  four  hundredth  anniversary  of 
Cabot's  voyage  the  most  careful  attention  was  called  to  these  con- 
ditions by  a  commission  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada  ;4  and 
at  present,  after  all  that   has  been  said,  the  probabilities  plainly 

1  lb.,  149. 

2  George  Parker  Winship,  Cabot  Bibliography  with  an  Introductory  Essay 
on  the  Career  of  the  Cabots,  1900,  v.  XIII. 

3  Harrisse,  69. 

4  The  Commission  was  appointed  in  1895.  Although  the  Commissioners 
in  their  report  did  not  in  any  way  commit  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada, 
as  a  whole,  to  the  definite  acceptance  of  the  conclusion  reached,  the  members 
of  the  Commission  were  in  agreement  in  holding  that  the  preponderating 
weight  of  evidence  was  as  mentioned  above  (Weare,  280-283).  Dr.  S.  E. 
Dawson,  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Commission,  in  expressing  his  con- 
clusions, wrote  :  "I  have  had  all  the  advantages  of  Mr.  Harrisse's  learning 
and  labor;  but  the  adventitious  circumstance  of  having  been  born  among  the 
localities  under  discussion,  and  therefore  familiar  with  them  from  boyhood, 


EARLY  ENGLISH  VOYAGES.  5 

lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the  landfall  was  at  some  part  of  the 
island  of  Cape  Breton. 

Cabot's  discovery  awakened  very  wide  interest  in  England,  espe- 
cially, however,  in  Bristol,  to  which  port  the  discoverer  returned, 
and  also  in  London,  whither  it  is  believed  Cabot  soon  proceeded 
in  order  to  make  his  report  in  person  to  the  King.  Forthwith, 
doubtless  in  various  quarters,  a  second  expedition  was  proposed. 
The  King  gave  to  the  enterprise  enthusiastic  support.  So,  too, 
did  the  merchant  adventurers  of  Bristol,  Plymouth  and  other  sea- 
port towns.  ^Information  concerning  its  preparation  and  depar- 
ture,1 however,  is  scanty.  The  Spanish  envoy  in  London,  writing 
to  his  sovereign  July  25,  1498,  communicates  what  he  had  heard 
concerning  the  expedition.  It  consisted,  he  said,  of  five  ships, 
"victualled  for  a  year",  but  was  expected  to  return  in  Sep- 
tember. It  left  Bristol  in  the  early  Spring  probably,  and  doubt- 
less followed  the  same  course  across  the  Atlantic  as  that  taken 
by  Cabot  in  the  preceding  year.  One  of  the  vessels  of  the  fleet, 
the  envoy  wrote,  "has  returned  to  Ireland  in  great  distress, 
the  ship  being  much  damaged.  The  Genoese  has  continued  his 
voyage".2  Beyond  this,  we  have  no  contemporaneous  informa- 
tion concerning  the  second  expedition.  It  is  naturally  conjec- 
tured, however,  that  on  reaching  the  coast,  Cabot  extended  his 
discoveries  southward  before  returning  to  England.  Indeed,  bas- 
ing his  conclusion  chiefly  on  the  celebrated  planisphere  of  Juan  de 
la  Cosa,  1500,  Harrisse  is  of  the  opinion  that  Cabot,  in  this  second 
voyage,  sailed  south  of  the  Carolinas.  If,  from  his  first  landfall, 
he  made  his  way  thus  far  down  the  coast,  we  may  think  of  him  as 
the  earliest  English  voyager  who  sailed  along  the  coast  of  Maine. 

compels  me  to  see  that  Mr.  Harrisse's  judgment  upon  his  materials  is  mis- 
led by  the  absence  of  a  personal  knowledge  of  the  north-east  coast  of 
America."     Weare,  287. 

1  It  must  have  sailed  after  April  1,  1498,  "as  on  that  day  Henry  VII  loaned 
^"30  to  Thomas  Bradley  and  Launcelot  Thirkill  'going  to  the  New  He'  ". 
Harrisse,  133.     Weare,  154. 

2  Weare,  162. 

3  By  some  early  writers  Cabot's    second  voyage  is  confounded  with  the 


6  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

Cabot's  discoveries  upon  his  second  voyage  must  have  made  a 
far  deeper  impression  in  England  than  was  made  by  the  reports 
that  were  scattered  abroad  upon  the  return  of  the  first  expedition. 
In  proceeding  down  the  American  coast,  the  adventurers  must 
have  been  attracted  both  by  the  climate  and  the  more  favorable 
appearance  of  the  country  as  they  advanced.  They  could  not 
have  failed  to  notice  here  and  there  commodious  harbors,  and  wide 
rivers  extending  up  into  the  main,  awakening  visions  of  a  land  of 
untold  riches  and  plenty.  These  stories,  extensively  circulated  in 
various  ways,  added  to  Cabot's  fame,  and  his  great  services  as  a 
discoverer  have  found  increasing  recognition  in  the  centuries  that 
have  followed.1 

first.  The  statement  that  the  navigator  died  on  this  second  voyage  is  with- 
out support.  The  date  of  his  death  is  unknown,  but  it  must  have  been  at  a 
later  period. 

1  A  tower  on  Brandon  Hill,  Bristol,  commemorates  Cabot's  discovery  of 
North  America.  It  is  a  square  buttressed  structure  of  the  late  Tudor  Gothic 
style,  75  feet  high  to  the  upper  balcony  floor  and  105  feet  to  the  apex  of 
the  truncated  spire,  on  which  is  placed  a  gilded  figure  representing  com- 
merce, mounted  on  a  globe,  symbol  of  the  world.  It  is  built  of  red  sand- 
stone, with  dressings  of  Bath  freestone,  and  cost  ,£3,300.  In  panels  on  the 
four  sides  of  the  tower  are  carved  the  arms  of  Henry  VII,  Cabot,  the  City 
of  Bristol  and  the  Society  of  Merchant  Venturers.  Three  bronze  tablets  con- 
tain the  following  inscriptions  : 

The  foundation  stone  of  this  tower 

was  laid  by 

the  Marquess  of  Dufferin  and  Ava 

on  the  24th  June  1897 

and  the  completed  tower  was  opened 

by  the  same  nobleman 

on  the  6th  September  1898. 

This  tablet  is  placed  here  by  the  Bristol  Branch  of  the  Peace  Society  in  the 
earnest  hope  that  peace  and  friendship  may  ever  continue  between  the 
kindred  peoples  of  this  country  and  America. 

"Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on 
earth  peace,  goodwill  toward  men."     Iyuke  2.  14 

This  tower 

was  erected  by  public  subscription  in  the  61st 

year  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Victoria 


R 


The  Cabot  Tower,  Bristol,  England. 


EARLY  ENGLISH  VOYAGES.  7 

But  if  English  fishermen  and  enterprising  merchants  were 
attracted  to  the  American  coast  by  Cabot's  discoveries,  as  some 
it  is  said  were,  it  was  not  for  long,  inasmuch  as  in  a  letter  written 
by  John  Rut  to  Henry  VIII,  dated  St.  John's,  Newfoundland, 
August  3,  1527,  the  writer  says  he  found  in  that  harbor  "eleven 
sails  of  Normans  and  one  Brittaine,  and  two  Portugall  barkes"; 
but  he  makes  no  mention  of  others,  and  declares  his  purpose  to 
extend  his  voyage  along  the  coast  in  the  hope  of  meeting  the  only 
English  vessel  known  by  him  to  be  in  American  waters.1 

In  fact,  kobert  Hore's  expedition  of  1536  had  no  reference  to 
fishing  interests  on  the  American  coast,  or  even  to  colonization. 
Hore  was  a  IyOndon  merchant  "given  to  the  study  of  Cosmog- 
raphy", and  his  chief  purpose  in  organizing  his  expedition,  it 
would  seem,  was  prompted  solely  by  a  desire  to  discover  a  north- 
west passage  to  the  East  Indies,  and  so  to  open  a  shorter  route  to 
those  far-away  regions  than  that  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
With  his  two  ships  and  a  company  of  one  hundred  and  twenty, 
Hore,  in  his  voyage  to  the  American  coast,  evidently  followed 
Cabot's  course.  From  the  brief  account  of  the  expedition  in 
Hakluyt's  Principall  Navigations,  it  is  not  possible  to  learn  how 
far  Hore  proceeded  in  his  search  after  reaching  Cape  Breton.  We 
only  know  that  the  story  is  one  of  ill  success  throughout,  and 
could  have  had  only  a  depressing  effect  upon  English  enterprise 
with  reference  to  new- world  interests.2 

to  commemorate  the  fourth  centenary  of  • 

the  discovery  of  the  continent  of 

North  America 

on  the  24th  of  June  1497  by 

John  Cabot 

who  sailed  from  this  port  in  the 

Bristol  ship  "Matthew"  with  a  Bristol  crew 

under  letters  patent  granted  by  King  Henry  VII 

to  that  navigator  and  his  sons 

Lewis,  Sebastian  and  Sanctus. 

1  Lorenzo  Sabine,  Report  on  the  Principal  Fisheries  of  the  American  Seas, 
1853,  36. 

2  For  an  account  of   the  voyage  of    Robert  Hore  see  Early  English  and 


8  THE    BEGINNINGS   OF    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

France,  however,  for  many  years  had  sent  fishing  vessels  to  the 
banks  of  Newfoundland.  Jaques  Cartier,  a  native  of  St.  Malo, 
the  principal  port  of  Brittany,  had  been  not  only  active  in  these 
fishing  enterprises  on  the  American  coast,  but  already  had  con- 
ducted thither  two  exploring  expeditions.  The  hardy  fishermen 
of  Bristol  and  Plymouth  could  not  have  been  unmindful  of  these 
evidences  of  French  commercial  alertness,  and,  as  a  result,  an 
increasing  number  of  English  fishing  vessels  made  their  way  to 
the  Newfoundland  banks.1 

It  was  not  long,  also,  before  in  political  circles  in  England  there 
was  a  growing  appreciation  of  the  value  of  sea  fisheries  to  the 
nation.  In  1548,  the  English  government  took  into  consideration 
certain  abuses  reported  from  Newfoundland,  for  which  charges 
were  brought  against  certain  admiralty  officers  ;  and  in  remedying 
these  abuses  Parliament  enacted  its  first  legislation  with  reference 
to  America,  relieving  the  fishermen  of  the  burdens  wrongfully 
imposed  upon  them,  and  making  fishing  at  Newfoundland  entirely 
free  to  all  English  inhabitants.2 

It  should  be  added  that  at  this  time  Parliament,  in  order  to  give 
encouragement  to  the  fisheries,  imposed  severe  penalties  upon 
persons  eating  flesh  on  fish  days.3 

Queen  Elizabeth  ascended  the  throne  in  1558.  Her  reign  was 
characterized  by  rapidly  growing  commercial  prosperity,  in  con- 
nection with  which  England  entered  upon  that  period  of  world- 
wide trade  relations  that  has  continued  to  the  present  time.  The 
fisheries  of  the  Channel  and  the  German  Ocean  were  now  sup- 
plemented by  those  on  the  coast  of  North  America ;  and  before 

French  Voyages  chiefly  from  Hakluyt,  v.  Ill,  of  Original  Narratives  of  Early 
American  History,  H.  S.  Burrage,  1906,  103-110. 

1  "From  the  time  of  Henry  VIII,  the  number  of  English  vessels  on  the 
cod-banks  of  Newfoundland  steadily  increased."  Green,  Short  History  of 
England,  395. 

2  Sabine,  36,  37. 

8  Sabine,  37.  The  narrow  extent  of  the  fishing  trade  of  England  at  this 
time  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  it  was  limited  to  the  Flemish  towns  and 
to  the  fishing  grounds. 


EARLY  ENGLISH  VOYAGES.  9 

the  close  of  Elizabeth's  reign  "the  seamen  of  Biscay  found  Eng- 
lish rivals  in  the  whale  fishery  of  the  Polar  seas".1  In  1563, 
Parliament,  responding  to  this  awakened  spirit  of  enlargement 
among  English  fishermen  of  the  seaport  towns,  enacted  "that  as 
well  for  the  maintenance  of  shipping,  the  increase  of  fishermen 
and  marines,  and  the  repairing  of  port-towns,  as  for  the  sparing 
of  the  fresh  victuals  of  the  realm,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any 
one  to  eat  fleshy  on  Wednesdays  and  Saturdays,  unless  under  the 
forfeiture  of  ^3  for  each  offence,  excepting  in  cases  of  sickness 
and  those  of  special  licenses  to  be  obtained".  The  occasion  for 
the  enactment,  as  expressly  indicated  by  Parliament,  was  not  a 
religious  one,  as  the  act  had  its  origin  in  the  prevalent  desire  to 
develop  the  fishing  interests  of  the  nation  in  all  possible  ways.2 

At  the  same  time  there  was  an  enlargement  of  foreign  commerce 
as  well  as  of  the  fisheries.  William  Hawkins,  of  Plymouth,  the 
first  of  his  countrymen  to  sail  a  ship  into  southern  seas,  made 
what  he  recorded  as  a  fitting  venture  by  engaging  in  the  African 
slave-trade,  finding  a  market  for  his  cargoes  in  the  Spanish  settle- 
ments of  the  West  Indies.8  John  Hawkins,  his  son,  inheriting 
the  adventurous  spirit  of  his  father,  was  in  the  West  Indies  in  1565, 
and  on  his  return  voyage,  sailing  up  the  American  coast  as  far  as 
Newfoundland— catching  glimpses  of  that  vast  unknown  territory 
in  whose  opening  and  exploration  England  was  to  have  so  great 
part — he  turned  the  prows  of  his  vessels  homeward,  bringing  with 
him  "great  profit  to  the  venturers  of  the  voyage",  including 
"gold,  silver,  pearls  and  other  jewels,  a  great  store".4 

Hawkins  reached  England  in  September,  1565.  Glowing 
reports  of  his  venture  furnished  the  theme  of  animated  conversa- 
tion throughout  the  kingdom,  and  he  had  no  difficulty  in  fitting 
out  a  new  and  larger  expedition,  which  sailed  from  Plymouth, 

1  Green,  395. 

2  Sabine,  37. 

3  Not  the  slightest  disgrace  at  that  time  seems  to  have  attached  either 
to  slave-stealing  or  slave-selling. 

4  The  narrative  of  the  closing  part  of  this  voyage  of  1565,  taken  from 
Hakluyt,  will  be  found  in  Early  English  and  French  Voyages,  113-132. 


10  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

October  2,  1567.  One  of  Hawkins'  vessels  was  commanded  by- 
Francis  Drake,  afterward  Sir  Francis  Drake.  High  hopes  con- 
cerning the  expedition  were  entertained  both  at  court  and  in  all 
parts  of  the  realm  ;  but  it  ended  in  dire  disaster  through  Spanish 
treachery  in  the  harbor  of  San  Juan  de  Ulua,  a  small  island  on  the 
Mexican  coast  opposite  Vera  Cruz.  Of  the  survivors,  some 
returned  to  England  in  the  Minion,  one  of  the  vessels  of  the  fleet. 
Some  landed  and  marched  westward  into  Mexico,  the  larger  num- 
ber suffering  punishment  and  imprisonment  in  the  galleys.1 
Three  made  their  long,  weary  way  northward  to  the  Great  L,akes ; 
and  then  turning  eastward,  as  one  may  infer  from  the  narrative 
printed  by  Hakluyt,  they  crossed  a  part  of  what  is  now  the  State 
of  Maine,  and  finding  a  French  vessel  on  the  coast  they  were 
taken  on  board  and  so  made  their  way  back  to  England.2 

At  this  time,  singularly  enough  because  of  the  reports  of  Cabot 
and  Hawkins,  Englishmen  were  giving  little  if  any  thought  to 
enterprises  having  reference  to  the  upbuilding  of  a  new  England 
upon  these  western  shores.  But  of  enterprising  navigators  there 
was  no  lack  in  the  island  kingdom.  As  early  as  1560  or  1561, 
Martin  Frobisher,  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  pondering  problems  hav- 
ing reference  to  the  new  world,  was  still  considering  the  possi- 
bility and  even  the  probability  of  a  shorter  passage  to  the  Indies 
along  the  northern  American  coast.  Added  years  passed,  how- 
ever, before  he  could  enlist  much  interest  in  his  proposed  under- 
taking; and  it  was  not  until  1575,  that,  with  the  help  of  the  Earl 

1  Drake  was  so  embittered  against  the  Spaniards  on  account  of  the  treat- 
ment he  and  his  countrymen  received  at  San  Juan  de  Ulua  that  for  sev- 
eral years  following  his  return  to  England  he  ravaged  the  Spanish  main. 
On  one  of  these  voyages  Drake  crossed  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  and  had  his 
first  view  of  the  Pacific  Ocean.  For  the  narrative  of  a  part  of  Drake's  world- 
encompassing  voyage,  see  Early  English  and  French  Voyages,  153-173. 

2  A  narrative  of  this  "troublesome  voyage",  written  by  John  Hawkins, 
will  be  found  in  Early  English  and  French  Voyages,  137-148.  Hawkins  was 
a  member  of  Parliament  for  Plymouth  from  1571  to  1583.  He  was  said  to  be 
the  man  to  whom  is  due  all  the  credit  of  preparing  the  royal  fleet  to  meet 
the  Armada"  in  1588,  and  was  knighted  by  Queen  Elizabeth  July  25th  of 
that  year. 


EARLY   ENGLISH   VOYAGES.  11 

of  Warwick,  he  was  able  to  enter  upon  this  quest,  having  secured 
for  the  expedition  two  tiny  barks  of  twenty  or  twenty-five  tons. 
Sailing  northward  and  westward,  Frobisher  sighted  on  July  28,  of 
that  year,  the  coast  of  Labrador ;  but  finding  impossible  barriers 
as  he  advanced,  he  at  length  sailed  homeward,  reaching  London 
October  9.  In  the  following  year,  however,  he  was  able  to  return 
to  the  American  coast  with  an  expedition  promising  larger  suc- 
cess, but  which  was  also  doomed  to  failure — search  for  gold, 
which  he  was  now  commissioned  to  undertake,  not  being  better 
rewarded  than  search  for  a  northwest  passage.  The  enthusiastic 
navigator's  dreams,  however,  were  still  forceful,  and  May  15, 
1578,  with  fifteen  vessels,  he  again  crossed  the  Atlantic,  this  time 
by  way  of  Greenland,  but  only  to  find  himself  compelled  to  face 
added  disappointments  and  the  final  non-realization  of  hopes  long 
fondly  cherished.1 

As  little,  also,  was  Francis  Drake  at  this  time  giving  attention 
to  English  colonization  upon  the  American  coast.  In  1567,  he 
was  in  command  of  the  Judith  in  Hawkins'  "troublesome  voy- 
age". Ten  years  later,  having  meanwhile  devoted  himself  to  the 
destruction  of  Spanish  interests,  he  sailed  from  Plymouth  in  his 
celebrated  world-encompassing  voyage,  receiving  on  his  return 
the  congratulations  of  Elizabeth,  and  the  added  honor  of  knight- 
hood.2 

1  Frobisher  commanded  the  "Triumph"  at  the  time  of  the  destruction  of 
the  Armada,  and  was  knighted  at  sea  by  the  Lord  High  Admiral. 

2  Drake  won  lasting  fame  in  connection  with  the  destruction  of  the 
Spanish  Armada.  Even  when  the  Armada  was  in  preparation,  Drake,  who 
was  ever  ready  to  "singe  the  beard  of  the  Spanish  King",  entered  the  har- 
bor of  Cadiz  with  a  fleet  he  had  hastily  assembled  and  destroyed  nearly  a 
hundred  store-ships  and  other  vessels.  In  the  following  year,  when  the 
Armada  at  length  sailed  from  Lisbon,  Drake,  a  vice  admiral  in  command  of 
the  English  privateers,  hurried  out  of  the  harbor  of  Plymouth,  and  in  com- 
pany with  the  Queen's  ships  fell  upon  the  Spanish  galleons  with  terrific  fury, 
and  "the  feathers  of  the  Spaniard  were  plucked  one  by  one".  But  a  might- 
ier foe  than  Drake  struck  the  final  blow,  as  fierce  storms  broke  upon  the 
scattered  remnants  of  the  Armada  and  swept  them  from  the  wind-disturbed 
seas.  Drake  died  December  27,  1595,  while  waging  war  upon  Spanish  inter- 
ests in  the  West  Indies,  and  was  buried  at  sea. 


12  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

In  his  thoughts  concerning  a  northwest  passage  to  the  Indies, 
Frobisher  had  received  much  encouragement  from  Sir  Humphrey- 
Gilbert,  who,  in  1566,  wrote  his  Discourse  of  Discovery  for  a  New 
Passage  to  Cataia,  and  presented  it  to  Queen  Klizabeth.  Frobish- 
er 's  ill-success,  however,  so  far  lessened  Gilbert's  confidence  in  his 
own  reasonings  that  he  now  turned  his  new-world  thoughts  into 
other  channels.  But  they  still  had  reference  to  the  American 
continent.  He  knew  no  reason  why  England's  interest  in  that 
vast  territory  should  be  inferior  to  that  of  other  nations.  France 
already  had  secured  a  strong  foothold  on  the  banks  of  the  St. 
Lawrence,  and  had  even  sought  to  establish  colonists  in  Florida. 
Between  Florida  in  the  south,  and  settlements  in  the  north  that 
opened  a  way  to  the  Great  I^akes,  there  was  a  vast  territory  as  yet 
unpossessed.  To  it  Gilbert  called  the  attention  of  the  Queen,  and 
asked  for  authority  and  assistance  in  conducting  an  expedition 
thitherward.  She  responded  June  11,  1578,  by  bestowing  upon 
him  letters-patent  to  discover  and  possess  lands  in  America,  but 
there  was  to  be  no  robbery  "by  sea  or  land".  With  a  fleet  of 
seven  vessels  Gilbert  set  sail  in  November,  an  untimely  season  of 
the  year.     Disaster  followed  disaster,  and  the  expedition  failed. 

But  Gilbert's  letters-patent — the  first  granted  by  the  Queen  for 
English  colonization  upon  American  soil — were  still  in  force,  and 
with  undiminished  ardor  the  hardy  navigator  commenced  prepara- 
tions for  an  added  venture.  Delays  in  the  organization  of  the 
expedition  were  encountered,  and  it  was  not  until  1583  that  it  was 
fully  equipped  and  ready  to  sail.  The  expedition  left  Plymouth 
June  11,  with  five  vessels  and  two  hundred  and  sixty  men. 
Where  the  colony  should  be  planted  had  not  been  determined. 
In  shaping  the  course  of  the  voyage,  however,  Gilbert  selected 
the  "trade  way  unto  Newfoundland",  and  the  fleet  assembled  in 
the  harbor  of  St.  John's  early  in  August.  Having  landed  and 
called  together  "the  merchants  and  masters,  both  English  and 
strangers",  Sir  Humphrey  exhibited  his  royal  commission,  and 
having  had  delivered  unto  him  "a  rod  and  a  turf  of  the  same 
soil"  after  the  English  custom,  he  took  formal  possession  of  the 


EARLY   ENGLISH   VOYAGES.  13 

island  in  the  name  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  Disappointments,  and  then 
discouragements,  rapidly  followed.  Sickness  and  death  at  length 
diminished  the  number  of  the  colonists.  Discontent  was  mani- 
fested among  those  who  survived.  One  of  the  vessels  returned  to 
England,  and  one — "the  chief  ship  freighted  with  great  provision , 
gathered  together  with  much  travail,  care,  long  time  and  diffi- 
culty"—suffered  wreck,  probably  on  some  part  of  the  island  of 
Cape  Breton,  the  loss  of  life— about  one  hundred  souls — striking 
a  death  blow  to  the  expedition  itself.  The  homeward  voyage  that 
followed  was  also  marked  by  disaster,  Gilbert  himself  perishing  in 
the  founding  of  his  little  vessel  in  a  terrific  storm.  But  the  expe- 
dition was  not  wholly  a  failure.  It  had  called  the  attention  of  the 
English  people  to  the  vast  territory  beyond  the  sea,  not  only  await- 
ing exploration  and  colonization,  but  offering  large  possibilities 
for  enterprise  and  daring  to  those  who  were  bold  enough  to  avail 
themselves  of  them.1 

Among  those  most  deeply  interested  in  English  colonization  in 
America  was  Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  a  half-brother  of  Sir  Humphrey 
Gilbert.  He  had  commanded  the  Falcon  in  the  unsuccessful 
expedition  of  1578,  and  had  assisted  Gilbert  in  his  preparation  for 
the  larger  service  to  which  Sir  Humphrey  had  devoted  himself 
with  so  much  heroic  endeavor  and  self-sacrifice.  Ralegh  now 
took  up  the  unfinished  task,  and  obtained  from  Queen  Elizabeth, 

1  The  mother  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  was  a  Champernoun,  and  through 
her  he  was  related  to  the  Gorges  family.  His  noble  spirit  found  fitting 
expression  in  his  disastrous  homeward  voyage,  just  before  his  little  bark  was 
engulfed.  So  severe  was  the  storm  that  he  was  urged  to  seek  safety  on  a 
larger  vessel,  but  he  resolutely  declined  to  leave  the  men  with  whom  he  had 
embarked,  and  calling  through  the  storm  he  encouraged  his  distressed  com- 
panions with  the  words,  "Cheer  up,  lads!  We  are  as  near  heaven  at  sea  as 
on  land!"  Longfellow  has  recalled  the  incident  in  the  words: 
He  sat  upon  the  deck, 

The  Book  was  in  his  hand; 
"Do  not  fear!     Heaven  is  as  near, " 
He  said,  "by  water  as  b}'  land!" 
For  the    narrative    of   Gilbert's  voyage,  see  Early  English  and  French 
Voyages,  179-222. 


14  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

March  25,  1584,  letters-patent  to  "discover,  search,  find  out  and 
view  such  remote,  heathen  and  treacherous  lands,  countries  and 
territories,  not  actually  possessed  of  any  Christian  prince,  nor 
inhabited  by  Christian  people",  the  colonists    "to  have  all  the 

privilege  of  denizens,  and  persons  native  of  England 

in  such  like  ample  manner  and  form,  as  if  they  were  born  and 
personally  resident  within  our  said  realm  of  England,  any  law, 
custom  or  usage  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding' ' . 

Two  vessels,  designed  for  preliminary  exploration,  were  soon  in 
readiness,  and  left  England  April  27,  1584.  Avoiding  the  north- 
ern route  taken  by  Gilbert,  those  in  command,  Philip  Amadas  and 
Walter  Barlowe,  crossed  the  Atlantic  by  way  of  the  Canaries. 
After  reaching  the  islands  of  the  West  Indies,  they  sailed  up  the 
Atlantic  coast,  and  at  length  entered  the  inlets  that  break  the  long, 
sandy  barriers  of  North  Carolina.  Exploration  followed.  The 
Indians  of  the  mainland  were  interviewed.  Having  taken  posses- 
sion of  the  country  in  the  name  of  the  Queen,  Amadas  and  Bar- 
lowe returned  to  England  and  made  a  favorable  report  concerning 
the  newly  acquired  territory.  A  second  expedition,  organized  by 
Ralegh  and  placed  under  the  command  of  Ralegh's  cousin,  Sir 
Richard  Grenville,  sailed  from  Plymouth  April  9,  1585.  In  1586, 
a  vessel,  with  supplies  for  the  relief  of  the  fifteen  men  left  by 
Grenville  at  Roanoke  Island  in  the  preceding  year,  was  fitted  out 
by  Ralegh  and  despatched  to  the  American  coast.  Sir  Richard 
Grenville  shortly  after,  with  three  ships,  followed.  Though 
Ralegh's  efforts  at  colonization  in  connection  with  these  expedi- 
tions failed,  he  was  ready  to  make  added  endeavors,  and,  in  1587, 
he  fitted  out  a  fourth  expedition,  including  one  hundred  and  fifty 
colonists  under  the  command  of  John  White,  whom  he  appointed 
Governor,  and  to  whom  he  gave  a  charter  with  important  privi- 
leges, incorporating  the  colonists  under  the  name  of  the  "Gov- 
ernors and  Assistants  of  the  City  of  Ralegh  in  Virginia."  The 
colonists  were  landed  at  Roanoke  Island.  By  their  request,  Gov- 
ernor White  returned  to  England  in  the  autumn  for  added  sup- 
plies ;  but  in  the  following  spring,  when  he  hoped  to  recross  the 


EARLY  ENGLISH  VOYAGES.  15 

Atlantic,  all  England  was  making  heroic  efforts  to  meet  the  Span- 
ish Armada.  Ralegh,  however,  succeeded  in  fitting  out  a  small 
fleet  with  needed  supplies  for  the  Roanoke  Island  colonists.  But 
the  vessels  he  had  secured,  and  made  ready  for  the  Atlantic  voy- 
age, were  impressed  by  the  government.  Ralegh,  however,  did 
not  lose  heart,  and  by  the  most  strenuous  efforts  on  his  part  two 
small  vessels,  under  the  command  of  Governor  White,  were  at 
length  allowed  to  start  for.  the  American  coast.  Yet  so  severely 
were  they  handled  by  Spanish  cruisers  soon  after  leaving  port, 
that  they  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  voyage.  In  the  follow- 
ing year,  Ralegh  made  an  added  attempt  to  send  relief  to  the  colo- 
nists and  again  failed.  In  1590,  though  a  "general  stay"  of  all 
ships  throughout  England  was  ordered  by  the  government,  Gov- 
ernor White  obtained  for  himself  an  opportunity  to  return  to 
America.  On  reaching  Roanoke  Island,  however,  the  traces  he 
found  of  the  colonists  he  had  left  there  two  years  before  told  only 
a  story  of  disaster,  and  he  was  obliged  to  return  to  England  with- 
out any  knowledge  of  their  fate.  Ralegh,  however,  still  con- 
tinued to  send  thither  yet  other  vessels  in  the  endeavor  to  obtain 
added  information  ;  but  it  was  not  until  after  the  settlement  of 
Jamestown  that  it  became  known,  through  the  Indians,  that  most 
of  the  Roanoke  colonists  were  massacred  by  order  of  Powhatan.1 

If  English  colonial  enterprises  on  the  American  coast  had  ended 
in  disappointment  and  disaster,  maritime  interests  meanwhile  had 
prospered.  The  destruction  of  the  Spanish  Armada  made  the  sea- 
port towns  of  England  more  and  more  a  nursery  of  seamen.  Bold 
navigators  sought  out  new  lines  of  trade.     But  especially  the  fish- 

1  It  was  at  Ralegh's  request  that  Hakluyt  wrote  his  Particular  Discourse 
concerning  the  great  necessity  and  manifold  commodities  that  are  like  to 
grow  to  this  Realm  of  England  by  the  Western  discoveries  lately  attempted. 
Several  manuscript  copies  of  the  "Discourse"  were  made  by  Hakluyt,  but 
it  was  not  printed  until  1877,  when  a  manuscript  copy,  found  in  England 
by  the  late  Dr.  Leonard  Woods,  was  published  by  the  Maine  Historical 
Society  as  volume  II  of  its  Documentary  Series.  It  has  since  been  published 
in  Goldsmid's  Hakluyt,  II,  169-358.  For  the  narratives  of  Ralegh's  expedi- 
tions to  the  North  Carolina  coast,  see  Early  English  and  French  Voyages, 
227-323. 


16  the;  beginnings  of  colonial,  mains. 

eries  flourished.  Fishing  voyages  were  made  to  the  coast  of  New- 
foundland, and  Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  who  had  sacrificed  so  much  in 
the  endeavor  to  plant  an  English  colony  on  American  soil,  having 
watched  the  growth  of  the  fishing  interests  of  Bristol,  Plymouth 
and  other  ports,  voiced  in  Parliament,  in  1593,  a  fact  of  recog- 
nized national  importance,  when  he  said  that  the  fisheries  of 
England  on  the  American  coast  were  the  "stay  and  support"  of 
the  west  counties  of  the  kingdom.  Indeed,  when  the  century 
closed,  it  is  estimated  that  there  were  about  two  hundred  English 
fishing  vessels  around  Newfoundland  and  in  neighboring  waters, 
giving  employment  to  ten  thousand  men  and  boys.1  But  English 
fishermen  did  not  limit  themselves  to  these  waters.  Possessing 
the  spirit  of  daring  adventure  that  now  characterized  maritime 
interests  throughout  the  nation,  they  were  ever  seeking  new 
scenes  of  busy  endeavor  and  larger  rewards  of  enterprise. 

But  the  reports  which  English  fishermen  in  American  waters 
brought  with  them  on  their  return  voyages  had  reference  not  only 
to  the  employments  in  which  they  were  engaged,  but  they  also 
called  attention  in  glowing  words  to  the  glimpses  they  caught  of 
the  new  world  to  whose  shores  their  voyages  were  made.  Hak- 
luyt,  in  his  Principall  Navigations ,  Voiages  and  Discoveries  of  the 
English  Nation,  published  in  1589,  had  made  the  scholars  and 
statesmen  of  England  familiar  with  the  work  of  adventurers  and 
explorers.2  The  returning  fishermen,  on  the  other  hand,  told  their 
tales  in  seaport  towns  to  the  merchants  and  men  in  their  employ, 
who  were  easily  inspired  by  the  fair  visions  of  wealth  and  em- 
pire which  these  reports  awakened.  People  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  were  reached  in  this  way,  and  when  the  century  closed, 
England,  as  never  before,  was  beginning  to  be  stirred  with  high 
hopes  of  extending  her  growing  power  into  the  new  and  larger 
fields  to  which  her  discoverers  and  navigators  had  opened  the  way. 

1  Sabine's  Report,  40. 

2  Hakluyt's  monumental  work  was  reprinted  in  L/ondon  in  1809 ;  also  in 
Edinburgh,  in  1890,  in  sixteen  volumes  "with  notes,  indices  and  numerous 
additions",  edited  by  Edmund  Goldsmid;  also  in  1903-1905  by  the  Macmillan 
Company  of  New  York  and  London,  in  a  handsome  edition  in  twelve  vol- 
umes, with  many  illustrations. 


CHAPTER  II. 

GoSNOIyD   AND   PRING. 

THUS,  when  the  seventeenth  century  opened,  England  had 
made  a  beginning  in  the  endeavor  to  secure  a  foothold 
upon  the  Atlantic  coast  of  North  America.  Further 
endeavor  in  this  direction,  however,  was  preceded  by  an  added 
effort  to  discover  a  more  direct  route  to  India  than  that  hitherto 
followed  by  way  of  Cape  Good  Hope.  A  northwest  passage 
thitherward,  as  already  indicated,  had  been  the  dream  of  English 
navigators  in  the  preceding  century.  Such  a  route,  if  discover- 
able, would  secure  to  England  most  desirable  commercial  advan- 
tages ;  and  though  the  attempts  already  made  by  enterprising 
explorers  had  been  attended  by  great  hardships  and  ill  success, — 
the  icy  barriers  of  the  north  closing  as  with  adamant  the  water 
way, — the  possibilities  of  achievement,  strangely  enough,  were 
still  alluring. 

Among  others,  George  Way  mouth,  of  Cockington,  a  small  vil- 
lage now  a  part  of  Torquay,  on  the  southwest  coast  of  England, 
not  far  from  Plymouth,  had  caught  the  spirit  of  the  new  era,  and 
was  busy  with  considerations  having  reference  to  such  an  enter- 
prise. In  a  communication,  dated  July  24,  1601,  addressed  to  the 
"Worshipful  Fellowship  of  the  Merchants  of  London  trading  into 
the  East  Indies, ' '  now  familiarly  known  as  the  East  India  Com- 
pany, he  presented  his  views  with  reference  to  an  added  search 
for  such  a  route  to  the  distant  East.  His  suggestions  met  with 
approval,  and  Waymouth  was  placed  in  command  of  an  expedi- 
tion for  such  added  exploration.  The  interest  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
was  enlisted  in  the  undertaking.     Bearing  a  commendatory  letter1 

1  This  letter,  written  upon  vellum,  with  an  illuminated  border  upon  a  red 
ground  and  signed  by  the  Queen,  was  found  in  I/ondon  in  the  early  part  of 


18  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

addressed  by  her  to  the  "Right  High,  Mighty  and  Invincible 
Emperor  of  Cathaye",  Waymouth,  with  two  vessels,  sailed  from 
the  Thames,  May  2,  1602.  In  this  quest,  however,  he  was  no 
more  successful  than  his  predecessors.  Barriers  of  ice,  in  regions 
of  intolerable  cold,  still  closed  the  way  ;  and  though  on  his  return 
to  England  the  Fellowship  cleared  him  of  all  blame  in  connection 
with  the  expedition,  and  it  was  decided  that  he  should  be  placed 
in  command  of  a  second  venture,  the  proposed  voyage  was  not 
made,  and  the  Fellowship  abandoned  all  further  efforts  in  that 
direction. 

But  endeavors  with  reference  to  English  colonization  in  the 
new  world  were  not  abandoned.  Indeed,  already,  both  in  L,ondon 
and  in  seaport  towns  like  Bristol  and  Plymouth,  there  were  those 
who  were  thoughtfully  pondering  problems  connected  with 
American  commercial  and  colonial  enterprises.  Spanish  and 
French  interests  had  long  been  permanently  represented  there. 
English  fishermen,  though  not  in  large  numbers,  had  verified  the 
reports  that  reached  them  concerning  the  abundance  of  fish  on 
the  American  coast ;  and  English  merchant  adventurers  were 
beginning  to  bestir  themselves  because  of  the  prospect  of  the 
larger  fish  supplies  their  vessels  could  easily  obtain  in  American 
waters.  Also,  there  were  those  who  still  were  animated  with  the 
high  hope  that  England  would  avail  itself  of  rights  secured  by 
Cabot's  discovery,  and  seize,  before  it  was  too  late,  the  vast 
empire  to  which  the  American  coast  opened  the  way. 

This  awakening  of  new  interest  in  American  concerns  was  in 
evidence  even  before  Waymouth  set  sail  on  his  ill-fated  expedi- 
tion.    Prominent  among  those  who  were  busying  themselves  with 

the  last  century,  in  tearing  away  an  old  closet  in  a  house  in  which  repairs 
were  in  progress.  January  28, 1841,  Sir  Henry  Ellis  laid  the  letter  before  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries  in  London,  and  the  letter,  with  a  fac-simile  of  the 
Queen's  signature  and  also  of  the  seal  attached,  was  printed  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Society's  meeting.  The  original  letter  unfortunately  has  disap- 
peared, but  a  reprint  from  the  published  copy  will  be  found  in  Rosier's 
Relation  of  Waymouth' s  Voyage  to  the  Coast  of  Maine,  1605,  printed  by  the 
Gorges  Society,  17-20. 


GOSNOLD    AND    PRING.  19 

such  concerns  was  Henry  Wriothesley,  Earl  of  Southampton.1  At 
that  time,  he  was  in  prison  for  supposed  connection  with  the  con- 
spiracy of  Essex.2  He  seems,  however,  to  have  been  thinking  not 
so  much  of  affairs  in  England,  as  of  a  new  England  across  the  sea. 
As  a  result  of  his  efforts  largely,  an  expedition  was  made  ready 
having  reference  to  the  beginnings  of  a  colonial  enterprise  on  the 
American  coast.  Its  command  was  given  to  Captain  Bartholo- 
mew Gosnold,  who  is  said  to  have  seen  sendee  already  with  Sir 
Walter  Ralegh  in  one  or  more  expeditions  to  America.  With 
him  was  associated  Captain  Bartholomew  Gilbert,  a  son  of  Sir 
Humphrey  Gilbert.  Details  with  reference  to  the  preparation  and 
plans  of  the  voyage  are  lacking.  Evidently  they  were  not  elab- 
orate. A  beginning,  however,  was  to  be  made,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose a  small  vessel,  named  the  Concord,  was  secured  for  the 
purpose,  and  in  it  Gosnold  sailed  from  Falmouth,  England, 
March  25,  1602.  Thirty-two  persons,  eight  of  them  mariners, 
constituted  the  whole  company.  Of  this  number  twelve  purposed 
to  return  to  England  with  the  vessel  at  the  close  of  the  intended 
exploration,  and  the  rest  were  to  remain  in  the  country  for 
"population". 

The  English  voyagers  of  the  preceding  century  made  their  way 
to  the  American  coast  either  by  the  islands  of  Newfoundland  and 

1  Born  October  6,  1573,  he  took  his  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts  at  Cam- 
bridge in  1589,  he  planned  George  Waymouth's  voyage  to  the  coast  of 
Maine  in  1605;  in  April,  1610,  he  aided  in  sending  Henry  Hudson  to  the 
Northwest;  in  1614,  he  subscribed  ^"100  toward  sending  Harley  to  the  New 
England  coast;  Nov.  3,  1620,  he  became  a  member  of  the  New  England 
Council.     He  died  Nov.  10,  1624. 

2  The  reference  is  to  Robert  Devereux,  second  Earl  of  Essex.  For  many 
years  he  was  a  favorite  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  held  high  appointments, 
political  and  military;  but  his  undertakings  were  not  always  successful. 
As  Ivord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland  in  1599,  he  was  severely  criticised,  and  on 
his  return  he  was  deprived  of  his  dignities.  His  attempt  to  incite  an  insur- 
rection in  London,  in  the  hope  that  as  a  result  the  Queen  would  be  com- 
pelled to  take  his  part  in  his  conflict  with  his  enemies,  led  to  his  arrest, 
imprisonment  and  trial  for  high  treason.  He  was  condemned,  but  Elizabeth 
delayed  to  sign  the  death  warrant  in  the  hope  that  he  would  ask  for  pardon. 
He  did  not  and  was  beheaded  Feb.  25,  1601. 


20  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

Cape  Breton,  or  by  those  of  the  West  Indies.  Gosnold,  avoiding 
Cabot's  course  and  also  that  of  the  Ralegh  expeditions  to  "Vir- 
ginia", aimed  by  a  more  direct  route  to  reach  "the  north  part  of 
Virginia' ' .  In  the  early  days  of  the  voyage,  the  wind  was  unfav- 
orable for  his  purpose,  but  he  succeeded  in  reaching  the  American 
coast  on  May  14.  Brereton,  who  was  one  of  the  company  and 
wrote  a  narrative  of  the  expedition,1  has  little  to  say  concerning 
the  landfall,  but  states  the  important  fact  that  it  was  "in  the 
latitude  of  forty-three  degrees",  accordingly  at  some  point  on  the 
southern  coast  of  Maine.  Archer,  who  also  accompanied  the 
expedition,  and  published  a  relation  concerning  it, 2  describes 
briefly  the  scene  that  met  the  eyes  of  Gosnold  and  his  associates 
as  they  approached  the  coast.  "The  fourteenth,  about  six  in  the 
morning,  we  descried  land  that  lay  North,  &c;  the  northerly  part 
we  called  the  North  Land,  which  to  another  rock  upon  the  same 
lying  twelve  leagues  West,  that  we  called  Savage  Rock  (because 
the  savages  first  showed  themselves  there)".  By  some,  the 
"North  L,and"  and  "Savage  Rock"  of  Archer's  narrative  have 
been  identified  with  Cape  Porpoise  and  Cape  Neddock,  and  this 
identification,  as  exceedingly  probable,  has  received  very  general 
support.  But  identification  from  such  meagre  details  is  exceed- 
ingly difficult.  It  is  enough,  perhaps,  to  know  that  the  fair  pros- 
pect which  burst  upon  Gosnold  and  his  fellow  voyagers  as  they 
caught  their  first  glimpses  of  the  American  coast,  and  were  thrilled 
with  excited  interest,  was  some  part  of  Maine  territory  between 
Portland  and  Kittery. 

Proceeding  southward  along  the  coast,  Gosnold  passed  Cape 
Cod,  taking  there  "great  store  of  cod-fish",8  says  Archer,  "for 

1  Brereton 's  narrative  is  the  earliest  printed  work  relating  to  New  Eng- 
land. Two  editions  of  it  were  published  in  1602,  the  first  containing  twenty- 
four  pages  and  the  second  forty-eight.  The  first  of  these  editions  will  be 
found  in  Early  English  and  French  Voyages,  329-340.  The  other  is  in  the 
third  series  of  the  Mass.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  VIII,  83-103,  and  in  Win- 
ship's  Sailors  Narratives  of  New  England  Voyages. 

2  Archer's  relation  is  reprinted  in  Mass.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  VIII,  72-81. 
8  Brereton,  in  his  narrative,  says  concerning  the  abundance  of  fish  upon  the 

American  coast:   "We    had  pestered  our   ships  so  with  cod   fish  that  we 


GOSNOLD   AND   PRING.  21 

which  we  altered  the  name  and  called  it  Cape  Cod."  At  length 
the  voyagers  came  to  an  island  which  Gosnold  named  Martha's 
Vineyard.  Here,  turning  in  toward  the  main  land,  he  brought 
the  voyage  to  an  end  at  an  island  which,  in  honor  of  the  Queen, 
he  designated  Elizabeth's  Isle.  This  is  the  present  Cuttyhunk, 
the  earlier  name  having  become  the  designation  of  the  group  of 
islands  to  which  Cuttyhunk  belongs.  Here  preparations  for  a 
permanent  colony  were  made  by  the  erection  of  a  storehouse  and  a 
fort.  For  the  homeward  voyage  of  the  Concord  such  commodities 
were  secured  as  sassafras, *  cedar,  and  fur  obtained  by  traffic  with 
the  Indians.  But  when  these  new- world  products  had  been 
secured  and  were  on  board,  and  the  vessel  was  ready  to  sail,  those 
of  the  little  company  who  had  agreed  to  remain  in  the  country  as 
colonists  refused  to  stay ;  and  the  settlement  which  had  been  so 
happily  founded,  and  represented  on  the  part  of  Gosnold  and  some 
of  his  associates  so  much  of  heartfelt  desire  and  hope,  was  reluc- 
tantly abandoned.  This  was  the  one  great  disappointment  of  the 
voyage. 

Gosnold  reached  Kxmouth,  England,  July  23.  His  failure  to 
plant  a  colony  at  Elizabeth's  Isle  he  keenly  felt;  but  the  reports 
he  brought  concerning  the  country  and  the  great  value  of  its  coast 
fisheries  furnished  the  needed  proofs  that  the  new  world  only 
awaited  colonization  in  order  to  add  to  England's  commercial 

threw  numbers  of  them  over-board  again;  and  surely,  I  am  persuaded  that  in 
the  months  of  March,  April  and  May,  there  is  upon  this  coast,  better  fishing, 
and  in  as  great  plenty,  as  in  Newfoundland;  for  the  sculles  of  mackerel, 
herring,  cod  and  other  fish  that  we  daily  saw  as  we  went  and  came  from  the 
shore,  were  wonderful;  and  besides,  the  places  where  we  took  these  cods 
(and  might  in  a  few  days  have  laden  our  ship)  were  in  seven  fathom  water, 
and  within  less  than  a  league  of  the  shore,  where,  in  Newfoundland  they 
fish  in  forty  or  fifty  fathom  water,  and  far  off." 

1  At  that  time  sassafras  was  highly  valued  for  its  medicinal  qualities. 
'  'The  powder  of  sassafras  in  twelve  hours  cured  one  of  our  company  that 
had  taken  a  great  surfeit."  Archer's  Relation  of  Gosnold' s  Voyage,  Mass. 
Hist.  Society  Coll.,  3rd  Series,  VII,  77,  78.  This  new  world  "commodity" 
now  placed  upon  the  market  in  such  large  quantity,  greatly  lowered  the 
price.     Hitherto  it  had  sold  in  London  as  high  as  twenty  shillings  per  pound. 


22  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

activity  and  wealth.  The  relations  of  Brereton  and  Archer, 
recording  events  connected  with  the  expedition,  were  published 
soon  after  Gosnold's  return.  These  narratives,  with  their  inter- 
esting details,  were  eagerly  caught  up  and  widely  read.  Hak- 
luyt, 1  Prebendary  of  St.  Augustine's  Cathedral  church  in  Bristol, 
was  so  strongly  impressed  in  reading  these  glowing  descriptions 
of  new- world  experiences,  that  he  called  the  attention  of  the  prin- 
cipal merchants  of  Bristol  to  the  '  'many  profitable  and  reasonable 
inducements"  which  America  offered  to  English  trade  and  coloni- 
zation ;  and  so  by  his  own  noble  spirit  led  the  way  to  new  and 
larger  endeavors  in  which  Bristol  was  to  have  a  most  honorable 
part. 

This  was  not  the  first  time  in  which  Hakluyt  had  conferred 
with  Bristol  merchants  concerning  American  interests.  In  1582, 
Walsingham,  Elizabeth's  efficient  Secretary  of  State,  wrote  to 
Thomas  Aldworth, 2  then  mayor  of  Bristol,  informing  him  of  Sir 

1  Hakluyt  was  born  in  1552  or  1553,  and  was  educated  at  Westminster 
School,  and  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  where  he  took  his  degree  of  A.  B.  in 
1574.  His  interest  in  maritime  enterprises  was  manifested  early  in  his 
career.  He  published  his  Divers  Voyages  in  1582.  In  the  following  year  he 
was  made  Chaplain  of  the  English  ambassador  in  Paris.  His  Discourse  on 
Western  Planting  was  written  in  1584  at  the  request  of  Sir  Walter  Ralegh, 
but  was  first  printed  in  1877  as  the  second  volume  of  the  Maine  Historical 
Society's  Documentary  History  of  Maine.  His  great  work,  The  Principall 
Navigations ,  Voiages  and  Discoveries  of  the  English  Nation,  etc.,  was  pub- 
lished in  1589,  and  an  enlarged  edition  in  three  volumes  in  1598-1600.  He 
became  Prebendary  of  Bristol  Cathedral  in  1585  and  Prebendary  of  Westmin- 
ster in  1605.  He  died  at  Eaton,  in  Herefordshire,  November  23,  1616, 
and  was  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey,  November  26,  1616. 

2  Thomas  Aldworth  was  mayor  of  Bristol  in  1582,  and  again  in  1592.  He 
was  one  of  the  leading  merchants  of  Bristol,  and  took  an  active  part  in  what- 
ever concerned  the  prosperity  of  the  community  and  of  the  nation.  He  died 
February  25,  1598,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Mark's,  or  the  Lord  Mayor's 
Chapel,  originally  the  Chapel  of  Gaunt's  Hospital,  founded  about  1325.  The 
chapel  contains  a  carved  freestone  Gothic  arched  tomb  and  monument  to  the 
memory  of  Thomas  Aldworth  and  his  son  John,  the  two  being  represented 
in  effigy,  kneeling,  the  son  behind  the  father,  their  hands  uplifted  in  the 
attitude  of  devotion.  Both  are  in  the  costume  of  the  period,  Thomas  Aldworth 
in  an  alderman's  gown.     John  Aldworth  died  December  18,  1615,  aged  fifty- 


GOSNOLD   AND   PRING.  23 

Humphrey  Gilbert's  proposed  expedition  to  the  American  coast, 
and  suggesting  Bristol's  co-operation  in  an  enterprise  that  prom- 
ised so  much  with  reference  to  national  expansion  and  national 
glory.  He  also  suggested  that  Aldworth  should  consult  with 
Hakluyt,  already  well-known  on  account  of  his  deep,  enthusiastic 
interest  in  western  planting,  and  who  was  familiar  with  Gilbert's 
plans.  Aldworth  at  once  acted  upon  Walsingham's  suggestion. 
Hakluyt 's  assistance  was  secured,  and  with  his  aid  Aldworth 
obtained  the  approval  of  the  merchants  of  Bristol  in  the  proposed 
undertaking.  In  his  reply  to  Walsingham,  Aldworth  wrote : 
"There  was  eftsoons  set  down  by  men's  own  hands,  then  present, 
one  thousand  marks  and  upward,  which  seem  if  it  should  not 
suffice  we  doubt  not  but  otherwise  to  furnish  out  for  this  western 
discovery  a  ship  of  three  score  and  a  bark  of  forty  ton  to  be  left 
in  the  country." 

Gilbert's  failure  at  Newfoundland,  and  later  the  failure  of  Sir 
Walter  Ralegh  at  Roanoke  Island,  lessened  greatly,  if  they  did 
not  for  the  time  entirely  destroy,  the  interest  of  the  merchant 
venturers  of  Bristol  in  American  enterprises.  But  the  return  of 
the  Concord  with  its  cargo  of  merchantable  commodities  and  the 
enthusiastic  reports  made  by  Gosnold  and  his  companions  con- 
cerning fishery  interests  in  American  waters,  evidently  awakened 
in  these  business  men  of  Bristol  new  hopes  concerning  the  advan- 
tages for  commercial  enterprise  which  the  new  world  offered  ;  and 
Hakluyt  easily  succeeded  in  his  effort  to  induce  his  Bristol  friends 
to  become  "the  chief  furtherers"  in  anew  expedition  in  which, 
because  of  lessons  learned  from  the  failures  of  the  past,  it  might 
reasonably  be  expected  that  better  results  would  follow. 

For  some  reason  unknown,  the  command  of  the  expedition  was 
not  given  to  Gosnold.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  it  was  not 
because  of  any  dissatisfaction  with  him  on  the  part  of  the  chief 

one.  That  part  of  the  chapel  was  in  process  of  restoration  in  1912,  but  was 
visited  by  the  writer.  Thomas  Aldworth  was  the  father  of  Robert  Aldworth, 
who,  with  Giles  Elbridge,  was  an  early  owner  of  Monhegan  and  secured  large 
territorial  interests  on  the  main  land. 


24  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

promoters  of  the  venture.  Gosnold's  subsequent  career  furnishes 
the  strongest  possible  evidence  with  reference  to  his  fitness  for 
important  commands.  But  a  competent  navigator  for  the  expedi- 
tion was  found  in  Captain  Martin  Pring,  who  was  born  in  1580, 
probably  near  Awliscombe,  Devon,  and  who  at  the  time,  accord- 
ingly, was  only  twenty- three  years  of  age.  Concerning  Pring' s 
earlier  career  we  have  no  information ;  but  the  fact  that  at  this 
early  age  he  was  regarded  by  the  merchants  of  Bristol  as  "a  man 
very  sufficient  for  the  place' '  is  ample  proof  that  already  he  had 
exhibited  qualities  as  a  seaman  that  attested  his  fitness  for  such 
service.  Robert  Salterne,  who,  as  pilot,  accompanied  Gosnold  in 
the  successful  voyage  of  1602,  was  made  Pring's  assistant. 

From  Salterne' s  brief  narration  of  the  voyage1  we  learn  that 
Hakluyt's  "inducements  and  persuasions"  in  connection  with  the 
new  undertaking  were  influential  with  John  Whitson,  mayor  of 
Bristol,  who,  with  the  assistance  of  the  aldermen  and  "most  of  the 
merchants  of  the  city, ' '  raised  the  one  thousand  pounds  required 
for  the  equipment  of  the  expedition.  Two  vessels  were  made 
ready  for  Pring's  use,  the  Speedwell2  of  about  fifty  tons  and 
the  Discoverer  of  twenty-six  tons.  Forty-three  men  and  boys 
made  up  the  ship's  companj^.  The  vessels  were  loaded  with 
'  'light  merchandises  thought  fit  to  trade  with  the  people  of  the 
country",  and  on  April  10,  1603,  Pring  set  sail  from  Milford 
Haven.8  His  course  across  the  Atlantic  was  probably  suggested 
by  Gosnold,  and  Pring's  landfall  in  latitude  43,  according  to  the 
narrative  which  Hakluyt  secured  from  Pring,  could  not  have 
been  far  from  that  of  his  immediate  predecessor  on  the  American 

1  This  narrative  Captain  John  Smith  inserted  in  his  True  Travels,  Adven- 
tures and  Observations,  reprinted  in  1819  from  the  London  edition  of  1629, 
I,  108,  109. 

2  It  is  thought  that  the  Speedwell  may  have  been  included  in  Drake's  fleet 
in  1587,  1588,  inasmuch  as  a  vessel  of  the  same  name,  and  having  the  same 
tonnage,  had  a  part  in  the  fight  in  the  harbor  of  Cadiz  in  1587,  and  also  in 
the  conflict  with  the  Spanish  Armada  in  1588.  Many  merchant  vessels  were 
in  the  national  service  at  that  time. 

3  A  haven  on  the  southwestern  part  of  the  coast  of  Wales. 


GOSNOU)   AND  PRING.  25 

coast.  In  that  narrative  mention  is  made  of  islands  in  connection 
with  the  landfall,  and  the  relation  adds:  "One  of  them  we 
named  Fox  Island,  because  we  found  those  kind  of  beasts  there- 
on." As  the  islands  east  of  the  southern  part  of  Penobscot  Bay- 
have  long  been  known  as  the  Fox  Islands,  it  has  been  inferred 
that  Pring 's  landfall  is  to  be  found  at  this  part  of  the  Maine  coast. 
The  latitude  of  the  landfall,  however,  is  not  favorable  to  this 
inference ;  but  inasmuch  as  Pring,  after  proceeding  in  toward  the 
mainland,  ranged  to  the  northward  as  far  as  latitude  43£,  it  is 
probable  that  Pring  passed  up  the  coast  as  far  as  the  Fox  Islands. 
Certainly  he  must  have  sailed  along  a  large  part  of  the  coast  of 
Maine.  Not  finding  sassafras  in  his  northward  progress,  Pring 
turned  about  and  shaped  his  course  for  Savage  Rock  "discovered 
the  year  before  by  Captain  Gosnold",  and  later,  bearing  into  the 
great  "Gulf"  which  "Gosnold  over-shot  the  year  before",  he 
landed  in  a  certain  bay  which  he  named  Whitson's  Bay1  in  honor 
of  the  mayor  of  Bristol.  The  Simancas  map  of  1610, 2  which 
indicates  a  large  part  of  the  North  American  Atlantic  coast  line, 
attaches  the  designation  "Whitson's  Bay"  to  what  is  now  known 
as  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  gives  to  the  northernmost  part  of  Cape 
Cod  the  designation  "Whitson's  Head".8     Not  far  from  his  land- 

1  Early  English  and  French  Voyages,  345. 

2  This  map,  which  has  a  place  in  Alexander  Brown's  Genesis  of  the 
United  States  (I,  facing  456) ,  is  said  to  have  been  prepared  by  a  surveyor 
whom  James  I  sent  to  Virginia  for  this  purpose  in  1610.  It  evidently  embod- 
ies the  English  maps  of  White,  Gosnold,  Pring,  Waymouth  and  others. 
Brown  thinks  it  was  compiled  and  drawn  either  by  Robert  Tyndall  or  by 
Captain  Powell.  It  was  discovered  in  the  library  at  Simancas,  Spain,  by 
Dr.  J.  h.  M.  Curry,  while  he  was  envoy  extraordinary  and  minister  plenipo- 
tentiary of  the  United  States  at  the  Court  of  Spain,  1885-1888.  The  map  had 
disappeared  in  England,  and,  as  Mr.  Brown  says,  "It  is  curious  that  it  should 
be  first  published  in  the  strange  country  which  it  attempted  to  delineate". 
The  historical  value  of  this  map  is  very  great. 

3  John  Whitson  was  worthy  of  this  recognition  by  Pring  and  his  associates. 
He  was  not  only  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  the  merchants  of  Bristol,  but 
exerted  a  strong  influence  in  civic  relations.  He  became  mayor  of  Bristol 
in  1603,  and  held  the  office  also  in  1615.  He  was  the  member  of  Parliament 
from  Bristol  in  1605-11,  1616  and  1625.     He  died  in  Bristol  and  was  buried 


26  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

ing  in  Whitson's  Bay,  Pring  and  his  companions  in  their  explora- 
tion came  to  "a  pleasant  hill  thereunto  adjoining;  we  called  it 
Mount  Aid  worth  for  master  Robert  Aldworth's  sake,  a  chief  fur- 
therer  of  the  voyage  as  well  with  his  purse  as  with  his  travail". 
This  is  an  early  mention  of  one  who,  at  a  later  period,  became 
closely  connected  with  the  beginnings  of  colonial  Maine. 

At  his  landing  in  Whitson's  Bay,  Pring,  by  the  end  of  July, 
had  secured  as  much  sassafras  as  would  "give  some  speedy  con- 
tentment" to  the  Bristol  adventurers;  and  the  Discoverer,  laden 
largely  with  this  commodity,  sailed  homeward,  leaving  Pring  to 
follow  with  the  Speedwell  when  the  other  objects  of  the  expedi- 
tion, such  as  conditions  with  reference  to  trade  and  colonization, 
had  received  that  careful  consideration  which  the  promotors  of 
the  expedition  desired.  These  final  preparations  for  the  return 
voyage  of  the  Speedwell  were  completed  about  August  8,  or  9, 
and  Pring  arrived  in  England  October  2.1 

The  arrival  of  the  Discoverer  had  already  furnished  general 
information  concerning  the  success  of  Pring' s  expedition.     The 

March  9,  1628,  in  the  crypt  of  St.  Nicholas  Church.  On  his  monument  in 
this  church  is  the  following  inscription  :  "In  memory  of  that  great  benefac- 
tor, to  this  city,  John  Whitson,  merchant,  twice  Mayor  and  Alderman,  and 
four  times  member  of  Parliament  for  this  city  ;  who  died  in  the  seventy-sec- 
ond year  of  his  age,  A.  D.  1629.  A  worthy  pattern  to  all  that  come  after 
him."  Bancroft,  in  his  History  of  the  United  States,  following  Belknap, 
identifies  Whitson's  Bay  with  the  harbor  of  Bdgartown,  Martha's  Vineyard, 
having  regard  to  the  latitude  mentioned  in  the  narrative  of  the  voyage.  The 
narrative  implies,  however,  that  the  bay  is  to  be  found  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  "great  Gulf  which  Captain  Gosnold  over-shot  the  year  before".  Dr. 
B.  F.  DeCosta  {Magazine  of  American  History,  VIII,  807-819)  accordingly 
identified  Whitson's  Bay  with  the  harbor  of  Plymouth,  into  which  the  May- 
flower brought  the  Pilgrims  in  1620.  This  identification  seems  best  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  narrative. 

1  A  tercentenary  commemoration  of  Pring 's  voyage  to  the  New  England 
coast  in  1603  was  held  by  the  Maine  Historical  Society  in  Portland,  November 
19,  1903,  and  the  proceedings  were  published  by  the  Society  in  its  Collections, 
3rd  Series,  2,  1-50.  Hon.  James  P.  Baxter  read  a  paper  entitled  The  Avant 
Couriers  of  Colonization  and  Prof.  A.  L..  P.  Dennis  read  a  paper  entitled 
Captain  Martin  Pring,  Last  of  the  Elizabethan  Seamen,  to  which  he  added 
a  valuable  Pring  bibliography. 


GOSNOLD   AND    PRING.  27 

story  now  was  made  complete.  Concerning  the  fertility  of  the 
country,  this  was  said:1  "Passing  up  the  river  we  saw  certain 
cottages  [wigwams]  together,  abandoned  by  the  savages,  and  not 
far  off  we  beheld  their  gardens  and  one  among  the  rest  of  an  acre 
of  ground,  and  in  the  same  was  some  tobacco,  pumpkins,  cucum- 
bers and  such  like ;  and  some  of  the  people  had  maize  or  Indian 
wheat  among  them.  In  the  fields  we  found  wild  peas,  strawber- 
ries very  fair  and  big,  gooseberries,  raspberries,  hurts  and  other 
wild  fruits.  We  pared  and  digged  up  the  earth  with  shovels,  and 
sowed  wheat,  barley,  oats,  peas  and  sundry  sorts  of  garden  seed, 
which  for  the  time  of  our  abode  there,  being  about  seven  weeks, 
although  they  were  late  sown,  came  up  very  well,  giving  certain 
testimony  of  the  goodness  of  the  climate  and  of  the  soil.  And  it 
seemeth  that  oats,  hemp,  flax,  rape-seed  and  such  like,  which 
require  a  rich  and  fat  ground,  would  prosper  excellently  in  these 
parts.  For  in  divers  places  here  we  found  grass  above  knee 
deep."  Mention  also  was  made  of  the  trees  of  the  country,  with 
many  of  which  Pring  and  his  companions  were  familiar  in  their 
English  homes  ;  but  there  were  "divers  other  sorts  of  trees"  that 
to  them  were  unknown.  References  also  were  made  to  fur-bear- 
ing animals,  such  as  beavers,  otters,  wolves,  bears,  foxes,  etc., 
whose  skins  could  be  secured  by  exchange  with  the  Indians, 
yielding  "no  small  gain"  to  the  trader  because  of  the  great  profit 
which  the  exchange  afforded.  But  this  was  not  all,  and  the  new- 
world  voyagers,  having  in  mind  a  large  Bristol  industry,  did  not 
fail  to  call  attention  to  the  immense  value  of  the  fisheries  on  the 
American  coast ;  and  they  closed  their  encouraging  report  with 
reference  to  the  qualities  of  the  soil  and  its  products  with  these 
words :  "And  as  the  land  is  full  of  God's  good  blessings,  so  is  the 
sea  replenished  with  great  abundance  of  excellent  fish,  or  cod 
sufficient  to  laden  many  ships,  which  we  found  upon  the  coast  in 
the  month  of  June.  Seals  to  make  oil  withal,  mullets,  turbots, 
mackerel,  herring,  crabs,  lobsters,  oysters  and  muscles  with  ragged 
pearls  in  them."2 

1  Early  English  and  French  Voyages,  349. 

2  Early  English  and  French  Voyages,  350.     This  narrative  first  appeared 


28  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

The  report  was  certainly  a  most  welcome  one.  It  not  only  con- 
firmed the  reports  made  by  Gosnold  and  his  associates  the  year 
before,  but  it  presented  interesting  details  with  reference  to  the 
products  of  the  country,  and  emphasized  most  strongly  the  oppor- 
tunity that  the  new  world  afforded  for  profitable  trade  relations 
with  the  Indians.  Such  a  report  could  hardly  have  failed  to  make 
a  favorable  impression  upon  the  enterprising  merchant  venturers 
of  Bristol,  as  well  as  upon  all  others  interested  in  the  results  of 
Pring's  voyage  and  exploration.  No  expedition,  however, 
designed  to  secure  immediate  further  advancement  of  English 
interests  in  this  vicinity  sailed  from  Bristol,  or  any  other  port  in 
England  in  1604 ;  and  Pring,  who  doubtless  could  have  been 
secured  for  added  service  in  yet  other  explorations  here,  was 
employed  that  season  as  master  of  the  Phoenix  in  Captain  Charles 
Leigh's  ill-fated  expedition  to  Guiana. 

in  Purchas'  Pilgrimes,  which  was  published  in  1625.  Purchas  regarded 
Pring  as  the  authority  of  the  relation,  but  in  part  at  least  the  story  of  the 
voyage  seems  to  have  been  written  by  another  hand.  For  example,  in  the 
last  paragraph  the  writer  mentions  "our  Captain".  It  is  known  that  Hak- 
luyt — of  course  after  the  publication  of  his  great  work  Principall  Naviga- 
tions, etc. — secured  the  narrative  from  Pring.  Doubtless  one  would  not 
go  far  astray  who  should  make  Hakluyt  largely  Pring's  amanuensis  in  its 
preparation. 


CHAPTER  III. 
Thb  d£  Monts  Colony. 

BUT  any  delay  in  maintaining  England's  claim  to  territory  on 
the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  North  American  continent  was 
not  without  peril  to  English  interests.  Already  France  had 
seized  large  possessions  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  also  in  regions  far 
within  the  interior  of  the  continent,  south  of  the  Great  L,akes  ;  and 
having  purposes  whose  meaning  was  obvious,  that  nation  could 
not  be  expected  to  leave  out  of  view  the  unoccupied  territory  on 
the  Atlantic  seaboard.  In  fact,  with  information  concerning  the 
voyages  of  Gosnold  and  Pring,  France  was  not  losing  any  time  in 
asserting  such  purposes;  and  the  King,  as  early  as  November  8, 
1603,  gave  to  Sieur  de  Monts,1  an  officer  of  the  royal  household, 
a  charter  that  conveyed  to  him  trading  and  seigniorial  rights  in 
American  territory  between  the  fortieth  and  forty-sixth  parallels 
of  latitude,  that  is,  from  about  St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  to  Phil- 
adelphia.2 

De  Monts  was  not  without  experience  in  the  affairs  of  France 
on  this  side  of  the  sea,  having  accompanied  Chauvin  to  the  St. 
Lawrence  settlements  not  long  before.  What  he  then  learned  con- 
cerning the  climate  in  that  region,  as  compared  with  that  of  his 

1  Champlain  (Cfiamfilain's  Voyages,  Prince  Society,  1878,  II,  4,  5)  says  de 
Monts  '  'desired  to  attempt  what  had  been  given  up  in  despair,  and  requested 
a  commission  for  this  purpose  of  his  Majesty,  being  satisfied  that  the  previ- 
ous [French]  enterprises  had  failed  because  the  undertakers  of  them  had  not 
received  assistance,  who  had  not  succeeded,  in  one  nor  even  two  years'  time, 
in  making  the  acquaintance  of  the  regions  and  people  there,  nor  in  finding 
harbors  adapted  for  a  settlement". 

2  This  charter,  or  a  contemporary  copy,  is  in  the  Bureau  des  Marines  et 
Colonies  in  Paris,  and  extracts  in  an  English  translation  are  printed  in  the 
Farnham  Papers,  I,  1-6.  The  charter  conferred  upon  de  Monts  a  monopoly 
of  the  fur  trade. 


30  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COEONIAE  MAINE. 

native  land,  doubtless  now  impressed  him  with  the  importance  of 
seeking  a  location  for  his  colony  farther  southward. 

No  distinctive  religious  purpose  in  the  movement  was  indicated 
in  the  persons  brought  together  who  comprised  de  Monts'  party. 
Happily,  at  that  time  in  France,  Catholics  and  Protestants  were  at 
peace,1  and  both  were  represented  in  the  expedition.  De  Monts 
was  a  Protestant,  while  Samuel  de  Champlain, 2  the  geographer  of 

1  The  struggle  in  France  for  religious  liberty  had  continued  for  many  years 
with  varying  fortunes,  but  at  length  had  been  brought  to  a  happy  issue. 
In  1598,  only  six  years  before  de  Monts  conducted  his  colony  to  the  Amer- 
can  coast,  Henry  IV,  King  of  France,  recognizing  the  "frightful  troubles, 
confusion  and  disorders"  to  which  on  his  accession  to  the  throne  he  found 
his  Kingdom  a  prey,  promulgated  the  famous  Edict  of  Nantes,  which  gave 
liberty  of  conscience  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  granting  to  them  the 
right  to  dwell  anywhere  in  the  royal  dominions  and  to  meet  for  religious  pur- 
poses without  being  subjected  to  inquiry,  vexed,  molested  or  constrained  to 
do  anything  contrary  to  the  dictates  of  conscience.  What  this  meant  to  many 
of  the  King's  subjects,  long  harrassed,  distressed,  it  is  difficult  now  even  to 
conceive.  To  thousands  this  edict  was  a  call  to  a  new  and  better  life.  Some- 
what tardily,  Parliament  in  the  following  year,  1599,  formally  entered  this 
important  document  upon  its  registers,  and  so  confirmed  to  warring,  fac- 
tional France,  Catholic  and  Protestant  alike,  the  boon  of  religious  liberty. 
It  was  not  for  long,  however.  For  twelve  years,  or  until  the  close  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  IV,  the  Edict  of  Nantes  was  in  full  operation.  Then  followed 
unceasing  assaults  upon  the  rights  which  it  guaranteed;  and  at  length,  in 
1685,  came  its  revocation — the  culmination  of  a  series  of  events  that  are 
written  large  upon  the  pages  of  the  history  of  France. 

2  Champlain  was  a  native  of  Brouage,  a  small  village  in  the  province  of 
Saintonge,  France,  and  was  born  about  the  year  1567.  From  his  early  years 
he  gave  attention  to  practical  seamanship,  had  an  army  experience  of  several 
years  after  1592,  and  in  1599  was  in  command  of  a  French  ship  of  500  tons  in 
the  West  Indies.  On  his  return  he  prepared  a  report  of  his  discoveries  and 
observations  with  illustrations,  which  remained  in  manuscript  until  printed 
in  an  English  translation  by  the  Hakluyt  Society  in  1859.  In  the  preceding 
year  Champlain  accompanied  Pont  Grave  in  his  expedition  to  the  St.  Law- 
rence, and  it  was  his  report  concerning  the  inhabitants  and  products  of  the 
country  that  directed  the  attention  of  the  King  to  the  opportunities  that  the 
new  world  afforded  for  French  colonization  and  led  to  the  de  Monts  expedi- 
tion and  Champlain 's  connection  with  it.  Thenceforward  Champlain' s  life 
was  devoted  to  French  interests  in  America.  It  was  an  eventful  life.  Fit- 
tingly it  closed  at  Quebec,  where  Champlain  died  in    the  autumn  of  1635. 


THE   DE    MONTS    COLONY.  31 

the  company,  and  the  most  distinguished  of  de  Monts'  associates, 
was  a  Catholic.  Of  religious  discussions  among  some  of  the  colo- 
nists, however,  there  was  no  lack,  as  the  records  of  the  expedition 
show;  but  the  purposes  that  led  to  the  enterprise  had  no  religious 
ends  in  view.  The  ends  were  pre-eminently  national,  and  those 
most  deeply  interested  in  the  colony  evidently  saw  no  reason  why 
Catholic  and  Protestant  might  not  work  together  harmoniously  in 
the  endeavor  to  establish  a  French  settlement  at  some  point  on  the 
Atlantic  coast  below  Cape  Breton. 

Among  the  colonists  there  were  skilled  artisans,  selected  doubt- 
less with  reference  to  the  requirements  of  such  an  undertaking. 
But  their  number  was  not  large  compared  with  others  who  are 
described  as  vagabonds  and  ex-convicts,— men  upon  whom  little 
dependence  could  be  placed  in  an  enterprise  calling  for  steadfast- 
ness and  heroic  endurance  amid  trying  circumstances.  Two  ves- 
sels, one  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  tons  and  one  of  one  hundred 
and  fifty  tons,  were  secured  for  the  transportation  of  the  colony, 
and  April  7,  1604,  de  Monts  sailed  out  of  the  harbor  of  Havre 
de  Grace,  westward  bound,  followed  by  the  prayers  and  good  wishes 
of  his  countrymen.1 

The  usual  route  of  French  vessels  in  crossing  the  Atlantic  was 
followed  until  the  American  coast  was  reached  early  in  May. 
Then,  turning  southward,  and  proceeding  down  the  coast,  de 
Monts  entered  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  commenced  the  work  of 
exploration  with  reference  to  a  location  for  a  settlement.  Skirt- 
ing the  shores  of  the  bay,  including  those  of  adjoining  waters 
now  known  as  Annapolis  Basin,  he  failed  to  discover  such  a  spot 

"He  was  buried  in  the  memorial  Chapel  which  he  had  erected.  This  Chapel 
was  subsequently  destroyed  and  the  place  which  it  occupied  forgotten;  so 
that  to-day  we  know  not  the  spot  where  he  was  buried.  It  is  perhaps  enough 
to  know  that  his  dust  is  commingled  with  that  of  the  land  he  loved,  though 
the  name  by  which  he  knew  it  [New  France]  is  no  longer  on  the  tongues  of 
living  men."  Hon.  James  P.  Baxter,  in  an  address  at  the  300th  anniversary 
of  de  Monts  settlement  on  St.  Croix  Island.  See  Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll  , 
Series  III,  2,  144. 
1  Champlain's  Voyages,  II,  7. 


32  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

as  he  deemed  desirable.1  Sailing  still  farther  southward,  he  came 
near  the  end  of  June  into  a  bay,  the  present  Passamaquoddy  Bay. 
At  its  northern  part  a  broad  river  opened,  and  ascending  its  invit- 
ing waters,  de  Monts  and  his  companions,  not  far  from  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  came  to  an  island  that  offered  easy  protection  for 
defence  against  hostile  assault.  It  seemed  an  attractive  spot  for 
the  proposed  settlement;  and  such  it  was  under  sunny  skies  and 
surrounded  with  scenes  of  summer  beauty  on  every  hand.  Here, 
accordingly,  on  June  26,  or  27,  choice  of  a  location  was  made. 
De  Monts  gave  to  the  island  the  designation  St.  Croix,  the  name 
also  now  borne  by  the  river  in  which  the  island  of  the  settlement  is 
located.2 

Plans  for  the  erection  of  dwellings,  storehouses,  and  other  build- 
ings were  prepared,  and  the  colonists  entered  upon  the  work  of 
their  construction.  Leaving  this  scene  of  busy  activity  Septem- 
ber 2,  Cham  plain  availed  himself  of  an  opportunity  for  added 
exploration  and  map-making  still  farther  down  the  coast.  His 
journal  gives  us  interesting  glimpses  of  the  land  as  he  proceeded. 
He  was  the  first  of  the  early  voyagers  to  make  mention  of  Mount 
Desert,  that  most  attractive  spot  on  the  Maine  coast.  In  fact,  it 
was  Champlain  who  gave  to  the  island  its  name.3  Proceeding  on 
his  way,  Champlain  at  length  entered  Penobscot  Bay  and  river 
and  extended  his  exploration  of  the  river   (which  he  mentions 

1  Champlain,  in  his  Voyages  (Prince  Society,  II,  22),  referring  to  this 
Basin,  says,  "which  I  have  named  Port  Royal",  a  name  which  was  soon 
applied  to  the  settlement  made  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Basin.  A  map  of 
the  Basin,  with  Champlain's  description  of  it,  faces  p.  24  of  the  Voyages. 

2  The  name  St.  Croix,  as  applied  to  the  river,  was  suggested  by  the  fact  that 
two  streams  enter  the  river  a  few  miles  above  St.  Croix  Island,  one  from  the 
east  and  one  from  the  west,  furnishing  in  this  way  the  representation  of  a 
cross. 

3  "From  this  island  [Mt.  Desert]  to  the  main  land  on  the  north,  the  dis- 
tance is  less  than  a  hundred  paces.  It  is  very  high,  and  notched  in  places, 
so  that  there  is  the  appearance  to  one  at  sea,  as  of  seven  or  eight  mountains 
extending  along  near  each  other.  The  summit  of  the  most  of  them  is  desti- 
tute of  trees,  as  there  are  only  rocks  on  them.  The  woods  consist  of  pines, 
fir,  and  birches  only.  I  named  it  Isle  des  Monts  Deserts."  Champlain's 
Voyages,  II,  39. 


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THE   DE   MONTS   COLONY.  33 

under  the  name  "Pentegouet"  and  also  "Norumbegue")  as  far  as 
the  site  of  Bangor.  While  in  the  river,  Champlain  had  an  inter- 
view with  the  "Bessabez,"  or  chief  of  the  Indians  of  that  region, 
to  whom,  in  the  name  of  de  Monts,  he  made  overtures  of  friend- 
ship. Thence,  Champlain  made  his  way  to  the  Kennebec  ("Quin- 
ibequy"),  and  attempted  the  exploration  of  the  river.  Unfavor- 
able weather,  however,  prevented  the  accomplishment  of  his  pur- 
pose in  following  its  reach  northward ;  and  descending  to  the  sea, 
he  turned  back  up  the  coast  September  23,  and  reached  St.  Croix 
island  October  2.1 

The  winter  that  followed  opened  early  and  was  one  of  great 
severity.  The  evidence  was  now  borne  in  upon  the  colonists  that 
the  location  had  not  been  wisely  chosen.  During  the  winter 
months  they  suffered  greatly  not  only  from  the  cold  winds  that 
swept  fiercely  across  the  surrounding  ice  fields,  but  also  from  lack 
of  wood  and  water.  Amid  these  discouraging  outward  circum- 
stances, scurvy  assailed  the  colonists,  and  thirty-five  of  the  sev- 
enty-nine who  comprised  the  company  died  of  the  dread  disease 
before  the  season  closed.2  Indeed  so  discouraging  was  the  condi- 
tion of  the  colonists  before  the  winter  ended  that  the  abandonment 
of  the  undertaking  seemed  inevitable. 

In  the  early  summer  of  1605,  however,  new  hopes  were  awak- 
ened by  the  change  of  seasons  and  especially  by  the  opportune 
arrival  of  supplies  from  France.  Exploration  farther  down  the 
coast  it  was  thought  might  secure  more  desirable  conditions,  and 
de  Monts  and  Champlain,  with  some  of  their  associates,  accord- 
ingly left  St.  Croix  island  June  18,  for  such  added  exploration. 
Passing  the  entire  length  of  what  is  now  the  coast  of  Maine, 8  also 

1  Champlain 's  Voyages,  II,  38-48. 

2  Champlain  says  snow  began  to  fall  October  6,  and  was  from  '  'three  to 
four  feet  deep  up  to  the  end  of  the  month  of  April."  For  his  account  of  the 
sufferings  of  the  colonists  during  that  long  winter  see  Champlain 's  Voyages, 
II,  50-53. 

3  On  reaching  the  Kennebec  the  party  made  an  extended  exploration  of 
the  river,  ascending  to  its  head  waters,  where  the  Indians  '  'go  by  this  river 
across  the  country  to  Quebec".     Proceeding  farther  along  the  coast  from  the 

3 


34  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COEONIAE   MAINE. 

southward  to  Cape  Cod,  and  as  far  along  the  Massachusetts  coast 
as  the  entrance  to  Vineyard  Sound,  they  failed  to  find  the  favor- 
able location  they  sought ;  and  on  July  25 ,  they  turned  their  boat 
northward  and  set  out  on  their  return. 

Reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  on  July  29,  they  tarried 
awhile,  possibly  making  further  exploration.  But  neither  there, 
nor  at  other  places  in  the  vicinity,  were  they  successful  in  rinding 
such  a  site  for  a  colonial  settlement  as  seemed  to  offer  conditions 
deemed  by  them  important.  While  they  were  at  the  river  and  in 
communication  with  Kennebec  Indians,  Anasou,  an  Indian  chief, 
told  them  of  a  vessel  ten  leagues  to  the  eastward,1  and  that  those 
on  board  had  killed  five  Indians  "of  this  river",  meaning  the 
Kennebec.  From  the  story  in  its  details,  de  Monts  and  his  asso- 
ciates rightly  inferred  that  an  English  vessel  was  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. No  further  mention  of  the  vessel  occurs  in  Champlain's 
narrative  ;  but  the  presence  of  an  English  ship  on  the  coast,  and 
the  incident  mentioned  by  Anasou  in  connection  with  his  report 
concerning  it,  must  have  left  upon  the  minds  of  de  Monts  and  his 
little  company  evidence  that  England's  claim  to  territory  on  the 
coast  was  receiving  added  attention.  Certainly  there  was  no  fur- 
ther delay  at  the  Kennebec,  and  the  party  made  its  way  back  to 
St.  Croix  island,  which  was  reached  August  8. 

In  all  probability  the  colonists,  who  had  wearily  watched  for 
de  Monts'  return,  experienced  no  disappointment  on  receiving  the 
report  the  exploring  party  brought.  The  horrors  of  the  preced- 
ing winter  still  hung  heavily  upon  them,  and  something  must  be 

mouth  of  the  Kennebec  (making  mention  of  Seguin  under  the  name  "Tor- 
toise Island"),  Champlain  and  his  companions  reached  "a  bay  where  there 
were  a  great  many  islands"  (Casco  bay),  and  from  which  large  mountains 
were  "seen  to  the  west"  (White  Mountains).  Richmond's  island  Champlain 
named  Isle  de  Bacchus,  because  of  its  "beautiful  grapes".  Champlain'' s  Voy- 
ages\  II,  55. 

1  Champlain'' s  Voyages,  II,  91.  Champlain  saj'S,  "we  named  the  island 
where  they  were  I/a  Nef  [the  ship]  for,  at  a  distance,  it  had  the  appearance 
of  a  ship".  The  reference  was  to  Monhegan,  it  is  inferred;  but  if  Anasou 
was  rightly  understood,  he  was  in  error,  as  he  was  with  reference  to  the  five 
Indians,  who  were  captured  not  at  Monhegan,  but  at  St.  George's  harbor. 


THE   DU   MONTS    COLONY.  35 

done.  De  Monts'  purposes  had  no  suggestion  of  anything  more 
than  a  withdrawal  to  Port  Royal.1  The  settlement  at  St.  Croix 
island  was  abandoned,  and  the  proposed  change  of  base  was 
made. 

Ill  fortune,  however,  still  followed  the  colonists.  Soon  after 
their  arrival  at  Port  Royal,  de  Monts,  having  established  there  his 
depleted  company,  set  sail  for  France,  still  having  the  interests  of 
the  colony  in  view.  The  loss  of  one  so  prominent  in  its  affairs 
must  have  had  a  depressing  effect  upon  those  left  behind.  The 
long,  cold,  dreary  and  inactive  winter  months  only  deepened  the 
gloom  of  the  situation.  Indeed  to  such  an  extent  did  the  colo- 
nists become  disheartened  amid  their  lonely  surroundings,  that 
home-longings  were  strengthened  day  by  day ;  and,  when  the 
opportunity  at  length  offered,  the  remaining  colonists,  unwilling  to 
endure  the  experience  of  another  winter  under  such  hard  circum- 
stances, followed  de  Monts  back  to  France,  arriving  at  St.  Malo, 
October  1,  1607. 2 

The  attempt  to  plant  a  French  colony  on  the  Atlantic  coast  of 
the  North  American  continent  had  failed.  If  it  had  succeeded, 
France  would  have  secured  a  favorable  outpost  for  a  still  farther 
advance  in  the  effort  to  have  and  to  hold  the  vast  domain  desig- 
nated by  the  King  in  the  charter  that  de  Monts  received.  It  is 
difficult  to  account  for  de  Monts'  failure  on  any  other  ground 
than  that  of  weakness  in  most  of  the  colonists.  Aside  from 
Champlain,  and  a  few  others  it  may  be,  the  colonists  at  Port  Royal 
were  not  of  such  stuff  as  is  required  in  the  founders  of  states,  or 
in  the  beginnings  of  any  large  enterprise.  St.  Croix  island,  it  is 
true,  was  an  unfortunate  location  for  the  colony ;  but  Pilgrims 
and  Puritans,  not  many  years  later,  made  permanent  settlements 
in  territory  not  much  farther  south,  and  within  the  limits  of  de 
Monts'  exploration.     The  colonists  were  too  easily  discouraged. 

1  Champlain's  Voyages,  II,  94.  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt,  who  accompanied 
the  expedition  "only  for  his  pleasure",  asked  de  Monts  for  Port  Royal  soon 
after  their  arrival  upon  the  coast ;  and  he  gave  it  to  him  in  accordance  with 
authority  received  from  the  King.     {Voyages,  II,  37.,) 

2  Champlain' s  Voyages,  I,  77. 


36  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COEONIAE  MAINE. 

They  were  lacking  in  high  aims  and  the  cheerful  endurance  of 
great  hardships.  Their  presence  on  the  coast,  however,  proved  a 
spur  to  English  endeavor.  The  prize  at  stake  was  large,  and  if 
England  would  seize  it  there  was  need  of  haste  as  well  as  strength 
of  purpose  and  heroic  determination.1 

1  The  tercentenary  of  de  Monts'  settlement  at  St.  Croix  island  was  com- 
memorated  on  that  island  by  the  Maine  Historical  Society,  June  25, 1904 ;  and 
the  proceedings  were  published  by  the  Society  in  an  attractive  illustrated 
pamphlet  of  seventy-eight  pages.  See  also  Me.  Hist.  Society'' s  Coll.,  Series 
III,  2,  74-151. 


De  Monts'  Colony  Memorial  on  St.  Croix  Island. 
Unveiled  June  25,   1904. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
Waymouth's  Voyage;  of  1605. 

ENGIylSH  interests  upon  the  American  coast,  however,  had 
not  ceased  to  receive  attention  in  England.  The  Earl  of 
Southampton,  who  was  one  of  the  principal  promoters  of 
Gosnold's  expedition  of  1602,  was  now  at  liberty,  James  I,  at  the 
beginning  of  his  reign,  having  opened  the  Earl's  prison  doors 
and  restored  to  him  the  titles  and  estates  of  which  he  had  been 
deprived.  Shortly  after  this  restoration — the  Earl's  new  patent 
was  issued  July  1,  1603 — occurred  the  return  of  Pring  from  his 
successful  voyage  hither.  The  report  he  brought  awakened  in  the 
released  prisoner  an  enthusiastic  desire  for  participation  in  efforts 
that  would  enhance  the  glory  of  England  on  this  side  of  the  sea. 
In  1604,  he  was  busily  engaged  in  making  plans  for  another  expe- 
dition to  the  American  coast.  With  him,  in  the  undertaking,  were 
associated  his  son-in-law,  Thomas  Arundell,1  afterward  Baron  of 
Wardour,  and  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,2  whose  name  was  to  become 

1  Thomas  Arundell  had  service  under  the  Emperor  Rudolph  II.  He  took  in 
action  with  his  own  hand  a  standard  of  the  Turks,  and  December  14,  1595, 
was  created  a  count  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  for  this  achievement,  but  was 
forbidden  by  Queen  Elizabeth  to  use  the  title,  saying,  '  'She  liked  not  for  her 
sheep  to  wear  a  stranger's  mark,  nor  to  dance  after  a  foreigner's  whistle." 
He  was  elevated  to  the  English  peerage  May  4,  1605,  and  died  in  1639  or 
1640. 

2  A  son  of  Edward  Gorges  and  his  wife  Cicely  Iyygon,  he  was  born  about 
1566.  He  was  knighted  by  Essex  before  Rouen  in  October,  1591.  While  in 
the  Netherlands  in  1596,  he  received  orders  to  take  charge  of  work  on  the 
fortifications  at  Plymouth,  England.  About  July,  1603,  he  was  deprived  of 
his  command  at  Plymouth,  but  it  was  restored  to  him  in  a  few  months,  and 
he  retained  the  command  there  many  years.  His  interest  in  American  colo- 
nization, beginning  at  this  time,  was  a  lifelong  interest.  For  an  extended 
account  of  his  life,  also  for  his  writings  and  letters,  see  Hon.  James  P.  Bax- 
ter's Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  Prince  Society,  1900, 
3  volumes. 


38  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

so  prominently  identified  with  the  history  of  early  colonization  on 
the  Maine  coast.  Probably,  also,  Sir  John  Popham,1  then  Chief 
Justice  of  England,  had  a  part  in  the  new  undertaking. 

The  command  of  the  expedition  was  given  to  Captain  George 
Way  mouth,  already  mentioned  in  connection  with  his  search  for  a 
northwest  passage  to  India  in  1602.  Since  his  return,  as  may  be 
inferred  from  what  is  known  concerning  his  attainments,  he  had 
been  engaged  in  studies  extending  beyond  the  science  of  naviga- 
tion, including  shipbuilding  and  the  science  of  fortification.2 

Aside  from  these  facts,  there  is  no  information  with  reference 
to  the  preparations  for  the  voyage.  Even  the  name  of  the  vessel 
provided   for   the  expedition — the  Archangel — 8  would  not   have 

1  Sir  John  Popham  was  born  at  Wellington,  Somersetshire,  about  1531. 
He  was  educated  at  Baliol  College,  Oxford,  became  Recorder  of  Bristol; 
member  of  Parliament  for  Bristol  in  1571;  Solicitor- General,  1579;  Attorney 
General,  1581;  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons,  1581-83;  and  Chief  Jus- 
tice of  the  realm,  1592,  when  he  was  knighted  and  made  a  privy  Councilor. 
He  presided  at  the  trial  of  Sir  Walter  Ralegh  in  1603,  and  at  the  trial  of  Guy 
Fawkes  and  his  companions  in  1606.  He  died  June  10,  1607.  Rev.  H.  O. 
Thayer,  in  his  Sagadahoc  Colony,  Gorges  Society,  1892,  26,  discriminately 
says  of  him:  '  'Justice  Popham  was  a  man  of  mixed  character,  not  all  good,  not 
wholly  bad.  Integrity  without  numerous  flaws  cannot  be  affirmed.  He 
administered  the  laws  with  vigor,  often  with  severity,  nor  can  it  be  denied 
that  his  administration  in  respect  to  the  criminal  classes  was  on  the  whole 
salutary."  An  elaborate  tomb  in  the  church  at  Wellington  still  marks  his 
burial  place. 

2  In  1885,  Hon.  James  P.  Baxter,  of  Portland,  Me.,  discovered  in  the  King's 
library  in  the  British  Museum,  L/ondon,  a  manuscript  volume  on  naviga- 
tion, shipbuilding  and  fortification,  written  by  Waymouth  and  dedicated  to 
the  King.  It  bears  no  date,  but  as  it  makes  mention  of  Waymouth's  voy- 
age of  1602,  and  is  silent  with  reference  to  the  voyage  of  1605,  it  may  be 
assigned  to  the  year  1603  or  1604.  The  volume  is  illustrated  by  about  two 
hundred  pages  of  colored  drawings,  and  was  evidently  designed  to  make 
upon  the  King  a  favorable  impression  of  the  author.  Mr.  Baxter  possesses 
a  copy  of  this  valuable  manuscript,  including  both  text  and  illustrations,  and 
with  fac-simile  binding.     Without  doubt  it  is  the  only  copy  ever  made. 

3  Rosier  does  not  mention  the  name  of  the  vessel,  nor  is  it  found  in  the 
accounts  of  the  voyage,  recorded  by  Gorges,  Strachey  or  Purchas.  Prince 
{Me.  Hist.  Society 's  Coll.,  Series  I,  6,  294)  says  Waymouth's  ship  is  "sup- 
posed to  have  been  called  the  'Archangel'  ".     So  far  as  the  writer  is  aware 


waymouth's  voyage;.  39 

come  down  to  us  had  it  not  been  mentioned  in  the  annals  of  a  later 
chronicler.  Of  the  twenty-eight  men  associated  with  Waymouth 
in  the  expedition,  the  names  of  only  Thomas  Cam,  the  mate  of  the 
Archangel,  James  Rosier,  *  who  wrote  the  Relation  of  the  voy- 
age, and  John  Stoneman,  who  will  be  mentioned  again  later,  have 
come  down  to  us.  Most  of  the  adventurers,  as  Rosier  tells  us, 
were  "near  inhabitants  on  the  Thames".  They  were  doubtless 
such  men  as  any  expedition  of  like  character  would  attract  at  that 
time, — hardy  seamen  who  were  ready  for  an  enterprise  that  prom- 
ised novelty  and  some  excitement. 

The  vessel  was  made  ready  for  the  voyage  at  Ratcliffe  on  the 
Thames,  a  hamlet  east  of  London,  the  highway  connecting  the 
village  with  the  metropolis,  being  known  as  the  Regent  Street  of 
London  sailors.  It  is  not  difficult  to  picture  to  ourselves  the  scene 
at  the  departure  of  the  expedition.  It  was  at  the  opening  of  the 
season,  Tuesday,  March  5,  1605.  In  all  probability  among  those 
assembled  at  the  dock  were  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  his  son-in- 
law,  Thomas  Arundell,  and  possibly  Sir  John  Popham  and  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges.  There  were  many  best  wishes  for  the  whole 
company,  and  many  last  words.  Then,  when  the  lines  were  cast 
off,  strong  English  cheers  went  up  from  the  assembled  crowd,  and 
the  Archangel  dropped  down  the  river. 

A  fair  wind  in  four  hours  brought  the  vessel  to  Gravesend, 
thirty  miles  below  London.  But  head- winds  kept  the  voyagers  on 
the  English  coast  until  the  close  of  March.  With  reference  to  the 
experiences  of  Waymouth  and  his  companions  in  the  channel  har- 

the  name  of  the  vessel  first  appears  in  Dr.  John  Harris'  Collection  of  Voyages 
and  Travels.  The  first  edition  appeared  in  1702-5;  revised  edition,  Lon- 
don, 1764,  II,  223.  Dr.  Harris  (1667-1719)  was  one  of  the  early  members 
of  the  Royal  Society,  and  for  awhile  acted  as  its  Vice  President. 

1  Rosier  was  one  of  Gosnold's  company  in  the  expedition  of  1602.  Pur- 
chas,  in  his  Pilgrimes  (IV,  1646-1653)  includes  three  documents  relating  to 
Gosnold's  voyage.  1.  A  letter  from  Captain  Gosnold  to  his  father;  2. 
Gabriel  Archer's  account  of  the  voyage;  3.  A  chapter  entitled,  "Notes 
taken  out  of  a  tractate  written  by  James  Rosier  to  Sir  Walter  Ralegh".  This 
last  is  in  error.  The  tractate  presented  to  Ralegh  was  written  by  John  Brere- 
ton,  not  by  Rosier. 


40  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

bors,  Rosier  is  silent.  April  1,  the  Archangel  was  six  leagues 
southeast  of  the  Lizards,  the  most  southern  promontory  of  Eng- 
land. On  April  14,  Corvo  and  afterward  Flores  islands  of  the 
Azores  group  were  sighted.  As  the  voyage  continued,  south- 
erly winds  prevailed,  and  Waymouth,  unable  to  hold  the  course 
he  had  proposed  to  take,  was  compelled  to  head  his  vessel  farther 
to  the  northward. 

On  May  13,  there  were  indications  of  the  near  approach  of 
land,  and  on  the  following  day,  a  sailor  at  the  masthead  descried 
a  whitish,  sandy  cliff,  west  northwest,  about  six  leagues  distant, 
supposed  from  Rosier' s  statement  to  be  Sankaty  Head,1  the 
eastern  extremity  of  Nantucket  island.  Nantucket  is  surrounded 
by  shoals,2  and  Waymouth,  sailing  in  toward  the  sandy  cliff, 
soon  found  his  vessel  in  peril.  The  prow  of  the  Archangel 
was  hurriedly  turned  back,  and  standing  off  all  that  night  and  the 
next  day,  Waymouth  endeavored  to  make  his  way  to  the  south- 
ward, in  accordance  with  the  course  of  the  voyage  as  planned  ;8 
but  the  wind  was  contrary  and  the  vessel  was  driven  northward. 
On  May  16  the  Archangel  was  still  seeking  land.  It  was  not 
until  the  close  of  the  following  day,  however,  that  land  was  again 
descried.     At  the  time,  the  wind  was  still  blowing  a  gale,  the  sea 

1  In  1797,  Captain  John  F.  Williams,  of  the  U.  S.  Revenue  Service,  at  the 
request  of  Dr.  Jeremy  Belknap,  the  historian,  made  a  study  of  Rosier's 
Relation.  Concerning  Waymouth 's  approach  to  the  American  coast,  he  said: 
"The  first  land  Capt.  Waymouth  saw,  a  whitish  sandy  cliff  W.  N.  W.  six 
leagues,  must  have  been  Sankaty  Head."  American  Biography,  Hubbard's 
3$d. ,  2,  249.  The  above  statement  is  confirmed  by  all  later  writers  concern- 
ing Waymouth' s  voyage. 

2  The  eastward  shoals  make  it  one  of  the  most  dreaded  parts  of  the  coast. 
'  'These  shifting  sandy  shores,  which  extend  in  a  southeasterly  direction  from 
the  southeastern  end  of  the  island,  have  various  depths  upon  them  ranging 
from  six  feet  to  four  fathoms,  and  change  their  positions  more  or  less  after 
every  heavy  gale."     Coast  Survey  Pilot  from  Boston  to  New  York,  82. 

3  See  Rosier's  Relation  to  Waymouth' s  Voyage  to  the  Coast  of  Maine ,  1605. 
This  reprint  of  the  Relation  (85-162  with  notes)  is  from  the  copy  in  the  John 
Carter  Brown  I/ibrary,  Brown  University.  Excellent  reprints  are  included  in 
George  Parker  Winship's  Sailors  Narratives,  and  Early  English  and  French 
Voyages. 


waymouth's  voyage.  41 

was  running  high,  and  it  was  not  deemed  safe  to  approach  the 
shore.  When  the  morning  broke,  it  was  discovered  that  the  land 
was  that  of  an  island  "some  six  miles  in  compass",  according  to 
Rosier' s  estimate.  By  noon  the  Archangel  was  anchored  on  the 
north  side  of  the  island  and  about  a  league  from  it.  Two  hours 
later,  with  twelve  of  his  men,  Waymouth  rowed  to  the  shore  of 
the  island  for  wood  and  water  of  which  they  were  in  need,  and 
having  obtained  a  supply  they  returned  to  the  ship.  This  island, 
named  by  Waymouth  St.  George's  island,  was  Monhegan,1  as  is 
conceded  by  all  who  have  given  any  careful  attention  to  Rosier 's 
Relation. 

'  'While  we  were  at  shore, ' '  says  Rosier,  who  evidently  was  one 
of  the  landing  party,  "our  men  aboard  [the  Archangel]  with  a 
few  hooks  got  about  thirty  great  cods  and  haddocks,  which  gave 
us  a  taste  of  the  great  plenty  of  fish  which  we  found  afterward 
wheresoever  we  went  upon  the  coast' ' .  Continuing  his  narrative 
he  adds:  "From  hence  we  might  discern  the  mainland  from  the 
west  southwest  to  the  east  northeast,  and  a  great  way  (as  it  then 
seemed,  and  as  we  after  found  it)  up  into  the  main  we  might  dis- 
cern very  high  mountains,  though  the  main  seemed  but  lowland  ; 
which  gave  us  a  hope  it  would  please  God  to  direct  us  to  the  dis- 
covery of  some  good  ;  although  we  were  driven  by  winds  far  from 
that  place  whither  (both  by  our  direction  and  desire)  we  ever 
intended  to  shape  the  course  of  our  voyage. ' ' 

1  Captain  John  Smith,  who  was  at  Monhegan  in  the  summer  of  1614, 
briefly  described  the  island  in  these  words  "Monahigan  is  a  round  high  isle; 
and  close  by  it  Monanis,  betwixt  which  is  a  small  harbor  where  we  ride". 
Description  of  New  England,  Veazie  reprint,  46,  47.  On  the  Simancas 
map  of  1610,  the  island  bears  the  name  given  to  it  by  Waymouth.  When 
Capt.  John  Smith  wrote  his  Description  of  New  England,  however,  he 
recorded  the  Indian  name,  and  happily  the  island  has  continued  to  bear  the 
Indian  designation  to  the  present  time. 

2  As  Rosier  has  just  referred  to  the  return  of  the  boat  to  the  ship's  anchor- 
age, and  to  the  occupation  of  the  sailors  while  Waymouth  and  his  party 
were  ashore,  the  writer  of  the  above  must  have  had  in  mind  the  view  of  the 
coast  as  seen  from  the  deck  of  the  Archangel,  anchored  a  league  north  of 
the  island. 


42  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

To  the  weary,  storm-tossed  voyagers  the  scene  must  have  been 
one  of  peculiar  interest.  There  were  other  islands  toward  the 
land,  and  not  far  away,  eastward  and  westward,  but  further  in, 
the  long,  wooded  coast  line  was  seen;  while  higher  "up  into  the 
main"  there  were  mountains  darkly,  beautifully  blue,  conspicu- 
ous features  of  the  coast  landscape.  Waymouth  and  his  compan- 
ions were  looking  upon  a  fringe  of  the  new  world. 

The  Archangel  remained  at  her  anchorage  that  night,  and  on 
the  following  day,  because  the  vessel  "rode  too  much  open  to  the 
sea  and  winds",  Waymouth  weighed  anchor,  and  brought  his 
vessel  "to  the  other  islands  more  adjoining  to  the  main,  and  in 
the  rode  directly  with  the  mountains".  It  has  been  maintained 
that  the  mountains  Waymouth  saw,  and  in  the  direction  of  which 
he  made  his  way  to  "the  other  islands"  where  he  found  a  conven- 
ient harbor,  were  the  White  Mountains.  Only  at  rare  intervals, 
however,  when  the  sky  is  exceptionally  clear,  can  even  the  tower- 
ing peak  of  Mount  Washington  be  seen  from  the  high  ground  at 
Monhegan,  and  then  merely  as  a  faint  speck  on  the  horizon. 
Only  at  rarest  intervals  can  Mount  Washington  be  seen  from  the 
shore  on  the  north  side  of  Monhegan ;  while  from  either  location, 
"a  great  way  up  into  the  main",  appear  the  Camden  and  Union 
mountains  clearly  outlined  against  the  sky,  objects  which  no 
mariner  approaching  the  coast  at  this  point  could  possibly  fail  to 
notice.1 

1  JoKn  McKeen  (Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  Series  I,  5,  313,  314)  identified 
these  mountains  as  the  White  and  Blue  mountains.  R.  K.  Sewall  (Ancient 
Dominions,  59)  held  that  the  mountains  Waymouth  saw  were  the  White 
Mountains.  Dr.  Edward  Ballard  (Popham  Memorial  Volume,  303)  adopted 
the  same  view.  On  the  contrary  William  Willis  (Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll., 
Series  I,  8,  346)  insisted  that  the  White  Mountains  lie  far  to  the  west,  and 
can  only  be  seen  under  favorable  circumstances;  and  that  the  mountains 
seen  by  Waymouth  were  "the  Camden  and  other  heights  bordering  the 
Penobscot  Bay".  Prince  (Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  Series  I,  6,  294)  says 
"the  Camden  and  Union  mountains"  are  the  only  conspicuous  heights  along 
the  coast  visible  from  Monhegan.  That  the  mountains  here  referred  to  in 
the  Relation  were  the  Camden  and  Union  mountains  is  the  view  now  gen- 
erally held.  For  a  full  presentation  of  the  facts,  see  Rosier's  Relation  of 
Waymouth' s  Voyage,  Gorges  Society,  1887,  96-100. 


Titi<e  Page  of  Roster's  True  Relation. 


waymouth's  voyage.  43 

The  harbor  in  which  Waymouth  anchored  the  Archangel,  and 
which  he  called  Pentecost  harbor1,  was  an  island  harbor,  and 
Rosier 's  narrative  furnishes  abundant  means  for  its  identification 
with  the  present  St.  George's  harbor.  From  Waymouth's 
anchorage  a  league  north  of  Monhegan,  it  is  reached  by  proceed- 
ing "along  to  the  other  islands  more  adjoining  to  the  main",  and 
is  "in  the  rode  directly"  with  the  mountains  which  Waymouth 
had  before  him.  Moreover,  it  is  a  harbor  formed  by  islands,  hav- 
ing four  entrances,  as  the  harbor  mentioned  by  Rosier.  Indeed, 
the  endeavor  to  identify  the  Pentecost  harbor  of  Rosier 's  Relation 
with  Boothbay  harbor,  or  with  any  other  harbor  on  the  neighbor- 
ing coast,  fails  to  meet  these  and  other  requirements  of  Rosier 's 
narrative.2 

But  the  paramount  purposes  of  the  voyage  were  not  to  be  ful- 
filled by  merely  an  approach  to  the  coast.  A  few  days  were  spent 
by  Waymouth  and  his  companions  in  obtaining  rest  from  the 
weariness  of  the  voyage.  Then,  after  setting  up  a  cross  upon  the 
shore  of  one  of  the  islands,8  a  token  of  England's  claim  to  the  ter- 
ritory, the  work  of  exploration  began.  In  his  shallop,  which  had 
been  put  in  order  since  the  Archangel's  arrival  in  Pentecost  har- 
bor, and  with  nearly  half  of  his  company,  Waymouth  proceeded 
in  toward  the  mainland  in  order  to  discover  its  resources  and  pos- 
sibilities for  English  colonization,   and  soon  found   himself  in  a 

1  The  Archangel  sailed  on  Easter  day  from  its  last  harbor  in  England.  It 
entered  its  first  harbor  on  the  American  coast  on  Pentecost  day,  and  accord- 
ingly received  its  name,  Pentecost  harbor. 

2  The  approach  to  Pentecost  harbor  from  the  anchorage  of  the  Archangel 
north  of  Monhegan  is  that  which  one  has  to-day  in  entering  St.  George's 
harbor  from  the  sea.  The  latter  is  reached  (as  was  Pentecost  harbor  by 
Waymouth)  by  sailing  in  "to  the  other  islands  more  adjoining  to  the  main's. 
The  islands  that  make  the  four  entrances  to  St.  George's  harbor  are  Allen's, 
Burnt,  Benner's  and  Davis. 

3  Probably  Allen's  island.  On  this  island,  in  connection  with  the  celebra- 
ion  of  the  tercentenary  of  Waymouth's  voyage,  and  not  far  it  is  believed 
from  the  spot  on  which  Waymouth  and  his  associates  erected  a  cross  in  1605, 
a  granite  cross,  cut  at  the  Booth  Bros.  &  Hurricane  Islan,d  Granite  Co. ,  and 
presented  by  the  Company,  was  set  up  in  1905  by  Albert  J.  Rawley,  W.  E. 
Sherer,  Ernest  Rawley,  John  Matthews,  Edward  Fuller  and  Charles  Watts. 


44  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

"great  river".  Up  this  river  he  passed  some  distance,  moving 
probably  with  the  tide,  and  falling  back  to  the  mouth  of  the  river 
with  the  tide.  In  the  middle  of  the  next  forenoon  he  returned  to 
Pentecost  harbor,  where  he  aroused  the  enthusiasm  of  his  asso- 
ciates with  the  announcement  of  the  discovery  he  had  made. 

A  week  and  more  were  spent  among  the  islands  and  along  the 
coast  in  added  explorations.  During  this  time  friendly  relations 
were  established  with  the  Indians,  who,  not  long  after  the  arrival 
of  the  Archangel  in  Pentecost  harbor,  came  hither  from  the  main- 
land in  their  birch-bark  canoes,  attracted  by  the  presence  of  the 
strange  vessel  with  its  strange  visitors.  On  their  first  approach 
the  Indians  were  cautious  ;  '  'but  when' ' ,  says  Rosier,  '  'we  showed 
them  knives  and  their  use,  by  cutting  of  sticks,  and  other  trifles 
as  combs  and  glasses,  they  came  close  aboard  our  ship  as  desirous 
to  entertain  our  friendship".  Upon  added  acquaintance,  trade 
relations  followed ;  and  Rosier  records  interesting  incidents  con- 
nected with  the  same,  as  well  as  much  information  concerning  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  natives.  But  suspicions  of  treachery 
on  the  part  of  the  Indians  were  at  length  awakened,  and  these 
suspicions,  as  Rosier  records,  were  made  the  occasion  of  kidnap- 
ping five  of  the  number.1  Of  course  such  an  act  brought  to  an  end 
previous  friendly  relations.  Doubtless  Waymouth  and  his  com- 
panions had  little  ground  for  suspicions  of  treachery  on  the  part 
of  the  Indians.  Indeed,  this  may  be  inferred  from  the  Relation, 
inasmuch  as  Rosier  says  the  seizure  was  "a  matter  of  great  impor- 
tance for  the  full  accomplishment  of  our  voyage".  In  other 
words,  it  was  a  part  of  the  voyagers'  plan,  based  on  the  thought 
that  from  these  natives,  after  they  had  learned  the  English  lan- 
guage, they  could  secure  desired  information  concerning  their 
people,  rulers,  mode  of  government,  etc. 

1  The  Archangel  was  the  vessel  the  Indian  Anasou  reported  to  de  Monts 
as  already  mentioned;  but  his  statement  that  five  Indians  had  been  killed 
was  erroneous.  Rosier  gives  the  names  of  the  captured  Indians  as  follows: 
"Tahanedo,  a  Sagamo  or  Commander,  Amoret,  Skicowaros  and  Maneddo, 
Gentlemen  and  Saffacomoit,  a  servant". 


waymouth's  voyage.  45 

Then,  on  June  11,  with  a  favoring  breeze  and  tide,  Way- 
mouth  brought  the  Archangel  into  the  river  he  had  discov- 
ered in  his  shallop.  In  glowing  words,  Rosier  gives  expression 
to  the  thoughts  and  feelings  of  the  whole  company  as  in  their 
progress  up  the  river  they  viewed  from  the  high  deck  of  the  Arch- 
angel the  land  on  either  side.  They  noted  its  pleasant  fertility; 
looking  into  its  many  "gallant  coves"1  on  the  right  and  on  the 
left,  they  beheld  the  numerous  excellent  places  for  docking  and 
repairing  ships;  and  again  and  again  the  possibilities  which  the 
scene  everywhere  suggested  deeply  stirred  and  thrilled  them. 
Many  of  the  company  had  been  travelers  in  various  countries  and 
on  the  most  famous  rivers  ;  yet,  says  Rosier,  '  'they  affirmed  them 
not  comparable  to  this  they  now  beheld".  Some  who  had  been 
with  Sir  Walter  Ralegh  in  his  voyage  to  Guiana  in  1595,  and  had 
sailed  up  the  "Orenoque",  were  raised  to  loftier  enthusiasm  here. 
Others,  who  were  familiar  with  the  Seine  and  L,oire,  "great  and 
goodly  rivers",  found  in  this  river  of  the  new  world  features  that 
were  unequalled  in  these  renowned,  historic  rivers  of  Europe.  "I 
will  not  prefer  it  before  bur  river  of  Thames",  wrote  Rosier,  "be- 
cause it  is  England's  richest  treasure;  but  we  all  did  wish  those 
excellent  harbors,  good  deeps  in  a  continual  convenient  breadth  and 
small  tide  gates,  to  be  as  well  therein  for  our  country's  good,  as 
we  found  them  here  (beyond  our  hopes)  in  certain,  for  those  to 
whom  it  shall  please  God  to  grant  this  land  for  habitation;  which 
if  it  had,  with  the  other  inseparable  adherent  commodities  here  to 
be  found,  then  I  would  boldly  affirm  it  to  be  the  most  rich,  beauti- 
ful, large  and  secure  harboring  river  that  the  world  affordeth." 

This  is  the  language  of  contagious  enthusiasm  and  easy  exag- 
geration, yet  one  passing  up  the  St.  George's  river  at  high  water 
on  a  beautiful  day  in  May  or  June  must  be  unresponsive  to  nature 
in  her  loveliest  moods  if  not  in  sympathy  with  Waymouth  and  his 
associates, — their  hearts  thrilled  with  an  ecstasy  of  delight  as  they 

1  These  coves  are  characteristic  features  of  the  St.  George's  river.  The 
U.  S.  Coast  Survey  Chart  mentions  Deep  cove,  Gay  cove,  Turkey  cove, 
Maple  Juice  cove,  Otis  cove,  Watt's  cove,  Guttler's  cove,  Broad  cove  and 
Hyler's  cove. 


46  THE    BEGINNINGS   OF    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

looked  out  upon  the  many  objects  of  pleasing  interest  which  their 
eyes  everywhere  beheld. 

By  some,  the  river  which  Waymouth  discovered  and  ascended 
has  been  identified  with  the  Penobscot,  by  others  with  the  Kenne- 
bec, and  by  still  others  with  the  St.  Georges  river.  But  both  the 
Penobscot  and  the  Kennebec  fail  to  meet  requirements  for  iden- 
tification which  Rosier' s  Relation  very  plainly  presents.  The 
breadth  and  depth  of  the  river,  the  character  of  the  bottom,  and 
especially  the  '  'very  many  gallant  coves"  on  either  side,  correspond 
only  to  marked  features  of  the  St.  George's  river.  Moreover, 
the  direction  of  the  river  "as  it  runneth  up  into  the  main",  is,  as 
Rosier  says,  "toward  the  great  mountains".  All  the  way  up  the 
St.  George's  river  the  Union  and  Camden  mountains  are  in  full 
view.  What  mountains  will  one  have  in  front  of  him  as  he  sails 
up  the  Kennebec  or  the  Penobscot  P1 

Waymouth  seems  to  have  anchored  the  Archangel  near  the 
present  ruins  of  Fort  St.  George,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river. 
The  next  day,  in  his  "light- horseman",  with  seventeen  of  his 
men,  he  proceeded  up  the  river  to  the  "Codde",  or  bay,  at  the 
point  where  the  river  trends  westward,  by  the  site  of  Thomaston. 
Here  the  explorers  landed  and  ten  of  the  party  marched  up  into 
the  country  toward  the  mountains  back  in  the  main,  which  they 

1  Captain  J.  F.  Williams,  of  the  U.  S.  Revenue  Service,  in  his  examina- 
tions of  the  coast  of  Maine  in  1797,  with  reference  to  Waymouth' s  discoveries 
in  1605,  identified  Pentecost  harbor  with  St.  George's  island  harbor;  but  the 
great  river  of  Rosier's  Relation,  he  identified  with  the  Penobscot  river. 
Williamson,  in  his  History  of  the  State  of  Maine,  and  others  adopted  the 
same  view.  So  did  Bancroft  in  the  first  edition  of  his  History  of  the  United 
States.  In  preparing  his  edition  of  1883,  after  re-studying  the  subject,  he 
abandoned  this  view,  and  adopted  the  view  of  George  Prince,  of  Bath,  that 
the  river  Waymouth  discovered  and  ascended  was  the  St.  George's  river. 
The  Kennebec  theory  was  advocated  by  John  McKeen,  Esq.,  of  Brunswick, 
in  1857,  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Maine  Historical  Society,  and  was  followed 
by  R.  K.  Sewall,  Esq.,  in  his  Ancient  Dominions .  For  many  years,  however, 
there  has  been  no  advocacy  of  the  Penobscot  or  Kennebec  theories  that 
requires  notice.  A  very  full  review  of  the  literature  of  Waymouth's  dis- 
covery will  be  found  in  Rosier's  Relation  of  Waymouth' s  Voyage  to  the  Coast 
of  Maine,  1605,  39-77.     Gorges  Society,  1887. 


waymouth's  VOYAGE.  47 

first  descried  on  approaching  the  land.  These  mountains,  as 
Rosier  says,  seemed  at  the  outset  only  a  league  away ;  but  after 
they  had  gone  some  distance,  finding  the  weather  "parching  hot" 
and  all  being  "weary  of  so  tedious  and  laborsome  a  travel",  Way- 
mouth  gave  the  order  to  face  about,  and  the  party  returned  to  the 
boat  and  then  to  the  ship. 

On  the  following  day  the  work  of  exploration  was  continued  by 
an  examination  of  that  part  of  the  river  not  previously  visited,  a 
distance  estimated  by  Rosier  as  twenty  miles.  The  "beauty  and 
goodness"  of  the  land  Rosier  mentions  with  much  enthusiasm; 
also  the  fact  that  on  the  return,  at  that  part  of  the  river  which 
trends  westward  (as  is  the  case  of  the  St.  George's  river  at 
Thomaston),  a  cross  was  erected,1  an  indication  of  a  claim  to 
English  discovery  and  possession  like  the  cross  set  up  at  St. 
George's  harbor.  On  the  Simancas  map  are  indicated  such 
marked  features  of  the  landfall  of  our  Maine  coast  as  the  Union 
and  Camden  mountains.  A  single  mountain,  west  of  the  Kenne- 
bec, may  be  intended  to  represent  Mount  Washington  as  seen 
from  the  waters  near  Small  Point.  But  of  special  interest  in  con- 
nection with  Waymouth's  voyage  and  discovery  is  the  fact  that 
on  this  map  of  1610  the  St.  George's  river,  under  its  Indian  name 
Tahanock,  is  delineated  with  its  characteristic  features ;  while  at 
the  very  point  where  Waymouth  erected  a  cross,  according  to 
Rosier,  is  the  mark  of  a  cross.  What  is  this  mark  but  the  indi- 
cation of  the  cross  which  Waymouth  set  up  at  this  place,  and 
which  he  entered  upon  his  "perfect  geographical  map" — the  map 
made  at  this  time  and  mentioned  by  Rosier  in  his  Relation  f 
Strong  testimony  in  confirmation  of  this  identification  is  furnished 
in  the  fact  that  on  this  map  of  1610,  Monhegan  is  designated,  "I 

1  Referring  to  the  erection  of  the  cross  at  this  point  Rosier  says:  "For 
this  (by  the  way)  we  diligently  observed,  that  in  no  place,  either  about  the 
islands,  or  up  in  the  main,  or  alongst  the  river,  we  could  discern  any  token 
or  sign,  that  ever  any  Christian  had  been  before;  of  which  either  by  cutting 
wood,  digging  for  water,  or  setting  up  crosses  (a  thing  never  omitted  by  any 
Christian  travelers)  we  should  have  perceived  some  mention  left."  True 
Relation,  Gorges  Society,  145. 


48  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

St.  George."  This  is  the  name  given  to  Monhegan  by  Way- 
mouth  and  his  associates.  "The  first  island  we  fell  with",  says 
Rosier,  "was  named  by  us  St.  George's  island",  a  name  which 
later  was  transferred  to  the  group  of  islands  nearer  to  the  main- 
land. 

From  this  further  exploration  of  the  river,  and  this  erection  of 
a  cross  in  the  interest  of  the  country  from  which  they  came,  Way- 
mouth  and  his  men  returned  to  the  Archangel.  The  object  of  the 
expedition,  in  a  degree  beyond  their  strongest  hopes,  had  now 
been  accomplished.  They  had  discovered  a  bold  coast,  an  "excel- 
lent and  secure  harbor  for  as  many  ships  as  any  nation  professing 
Christ  is  able  to  set  forth  to  sea",  a  river  which  the  "all-creating 
God"  had  made  a  highway  over  which  the  great  riches  of  the 
land  might  easily  and  safely  be  borne,  a  land  whose  invaluable 
riches  the  Indians  could  "neither  discern,  use,  nor  rightly 
esteem' '  ;  and  it  was  fitting  that  without  further  delay  the  return 
to  England  should  be  made  in  order  speedily  to  report  to  "the 
honorable  setters  forth"  the  success  of  the  expedition  which  had 
for  its  ultimate  end  "a  public  good  and  true  zeal  of  promulgating 
God's  Holy  Church  by  planting  Christianity".  The  Archangel, 
accordingly,  now  dropped  down  the  river  to  its  mouth,  and  then 
to  Pentecost  harbor,  where  water  was  taken  on  board  ;  and  on  the 
sixteenth  of  June,  the  wind  being  fair,  and  all  preparations  hav- 
ing been  completed,  Waymouth  and  his  companions  set  sail.1 

Over  summer  seas  and  full  of  the  joy  which  worthy  achieve- 
ment always  awakens,  establishing  on  their  way  confidential  rela- 
tions with  their  Indian  captives,  the  voyagers  returned  homeward, 
anchoring  the  Archangel  in  Dartmouth  Haven  on  July  18. 
Rosier 's  Relation  of  the  voyage  ends  here.  We  are  not  told 
with  what  welcome  Waymouth  and  his  fellow  explorers  were 
received,  or  upon  whose  ears  the  story  of  their  adventures  first 

1  The  Maine  Historical  Society  celebrated  the  tercentenary  of  Waymouth's 
voyage  by  services  at  Thomaston  and  St.  George's  harbor  July,  1905.  For 
a  report  of  the  proceedings  see  Me.  Hist.  Society 's  Coll.,  Series  III,  2, 
152-204. 


>  2 


waymouth's  voyage.  49 

fell.  But  it  requires  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  bring  before 
us  the  scene  as  on  that  Thursday  afternoon,  about  four  o'clock, 
the  Archangel  came  to  her  anchorage,  and  the  members  of  the 
expedition  were  surrounded  by  eager  questioners.  Heroes  they  all 
were,  but  of  what  special,  wondering  interest  were  the  five  Indians 
whom  Waymouth  had  brought  with  him  as  specimens  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  new  world !  It  was  a  thrilling  narrative  that 
was  told,  first  on  the  deck  of  the  Archangel,  and  later  in  the 
lounging  places  of  the  town  where  the  sailors  mingled  with  a 
crowd  ready  to  catch  any  word  that  might  fall  from  their  lips. 

How  long  the  Archangel  remained  in  Dartmouth  Haven  was 
not  recorded  ;  and  it  seems  probable  that  Rosier,  the  historian  of 
the  expedition,  leaving  the  vessel  at  Dartmouth  Haven,  hurried 
to  Iyondon  to  place  before  the  promoters  of  the  voyage  the  tidings 
which  they  so  eagerly  awaited.  According  to  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  Waymouth  brought  the  Archangel  into  the  harbor  of 
Plymouth,  where  Gorges  was  in  command  of  the  fort.  This  was 
after  the  arrival  at  Dartmouth  Haven,  for  Rosier  tells  us  that 
Dartmouth  Haven  was  the  first  "harbor  in  England"  entered  by 
Waymouth  and  his  fellow  voyagers  on  their  return. 

While  the  Archangel  was  in  Plymouth  harbor,  Waymouth  deliv- 
ered into  the  care  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  three  of  the  Indians 
seized  in  Pentecost  harbor.1  Gorges  regarded  the  seizure  of  these 
Indians  as  a  matter  of  prime  importance  in  connection  with  new- 
world  colonization  schemes.  In  his  Brief e  Narration,  referring 
to  the  Indians  who  came  into  his  possession  at  this  time,  he 
says,  "This  accident  must  be  acknowledged  the  means  under  God 

1  Gorges  (Baxter's  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  Prince  Society,  II,  8)  says  the 
names  of  the  three  he  received  were  Manida,  Skettwarroes  and  Tasquantam. 
Manida  is  evidently  the  Maneddo  of  Rosier.  Tasquantum  is  the  name  of 
an  Indian  captured  by  Thomas  Hunt,  master  of  a  vessel  in  Capt.  John 
Smith's  voyage  of  1614,  and  Gorges  is  in  error  in  including  his  name  here. 
In  his  Briefe  Narration  Gorges  mentions  one  of  these  Indians  under  the 
name  Dehamda.  Evidently  he  is  the  same  as  the  one  called  by  Rosier 
Tahanedo,  also  known  as  Nahanada.  The  other  two  Indians  seized  at  Pen- 
tecost harbor  were  assigned,  it  is  supposed,  to  Sir  John  Popham. 


50  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

of  putting  on  foot  and  giving  life  to  all  our  plantations".  With 
ever  deepening  interest  Gorges  listened  to  the  answers  these 
Indians  gave  to  his  eager  questionings.  "The  longer  I  conversed 
with  them,"  he  says,  "the  better  hope  they  gave  me  of  those 
parts  where  they  did  inhabit,  as  proper  for  our  uses ;  especially 
when  I  found  what  goodly  rivers,  stately  islands  and  safe  harbors 
those  parts  abounded  with,  being  the  special  marks  I  levelled  at, 
as  the  only  want  our  nation  met  with  in  all  their  navigations  along 
that  coast.  And  having  kept  them  full  three  years,  I  made  them 
able  to  set  me  down  what  great  rivers  ran  up  into  the  land,  what 
men  of  note  were  seated  on  them,  what  power  they  were  of,  how 
allied,  what  enemies  they  had  and  the  like." 

There  is  no  record  of  Waymouth's  return  to  L,ondon  and  of  his 
interview  with  the  promoters  of  the  expedition.  Arundell  had 
been  elevated  to  the  peerage,  and  only  a  month  after  the  return  of 
the  Archangel  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  an  English  regiment 
raised  for  service  in  Holland.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that  he 
was  henceforth  engaged  in  other  enterprises  than  those  on  this 
side  of  the  sea.  The  Earl  of  Southampton,  however,  continued 
his  interest  in  American  colonization,  but  in  connection  with  the 
Iyondon  Company  of  Virginia.  In  that  company's  second  char- 
ter his  name  stands  next  to  those  of  the  high  officers  of  state ;  and 
he  remained  at  the  head  of  its  governing  board  until  the  second 
charter  was  taken  away.  So  far  as  English  colonization  on  the 
Maine  coast  was  concerned,  however,  the  loss  of  influence  of  men 
of  such  prominence  was  more  than  made  good  by  the  increased 
active  interest  of  Sir  John  Popham.  His  vigorous  personality, 
and  commanding  position  as  chief  justice  of  England,  made  him 
forceful  in  any  undertaking.  Information  concerning  Way- 
mouth's  voyage  probably  came  to  him  from  Waymouth  himself; 
also  from  Rosier' s  Relation,  which  was  published  in  I^ondon 
soon  after  the  return  of  the  Archangel.  Moreover  two  of  Way- 
mouth's  Indians  came  into  his  possession,  and  from  them  he  must 
have  received  information  that  could  hardly  have  failed  to  increase 
and  deepen  his  interest  in  the  country  from  which  these  Indians 


waymouth's  voyage.  51 

came.  Doubtless  Gorges,  also,  intensified  this  awakening  interest 
manifested  by  the  chief  justice ;  and  the  mind  of  Sir  John  Pop- 
ham  was  soon  busy  with  plans  for  taking  possession  of  the  terri- 
tory thus  open  to  English  occupation  and  trade  relations.  This, 
however,  he  would  have  undertaken  and  carried  forward  under 
royal  authority.  His  plans  as  they  ripened  involved  the  forma- 
tion of  colonies  by  chartered  companies  under  license  from  the 
crown.  Plainly  in  matters,  pertaining  to  new- world  enterprises 
the  chief  justice  saw  more  clearly  the  demands  of  the  future  than 
did  his  contemporaries. 


CHAPTER  V. 
Added  Endeavors  and  Explorations. 

IN  the  added  attention  given  to  English  colonization  as  the 
result  of  Waymouth's  successful  expedition,  there  was  a 
stirring  of  private  interests  as  well  as  of  those  of  a  public 
nature.  Before  Popham  and  the  men  in  agreement  with  him  had 
received  the  royal  charter  for  which  they  asked,  and  which  gave 
them  authority  to  take  possession  of  the  country  between  the 
thirty-fourth  and  forty-fifth  degrees  of  north  latitude,  thus  shut- 
ting out  private  enterprise,  certain  merchants  of  Plymouth, 
William  Parker,  Thomas  L,ove,  Came  and  William  Mor- 
gan, had  entered  into  an  agreement  with  Captain  George 
Waymouth  "to  carry  them  with  their  shipping,  and  provisions" 
to  Virginia,  '  'there  to  fish,  traffic,  and  to  do  what  else  shall  be 
fitting  for  a  merchant  voyage' ' .  These  Plymouth  merchants  lost 
no  time  in  their  effort  thus  to  seize  the  opportunity  for  securing 
profitable  returns  in  a  business  venture.  For  some  reason,  how- 
ever, this  agreement  was  almost  immediately  annulled,  evidently 
because  of  another  and  more  liberal  arrangement  on  the  part  of 
Waymouth;  for  October  30,  1605,  he  entered  into  a  formal  agree- 
ment with  Sir  John  Zouche,  of  Codnor,  in  Derbyshire,  "for  and 
concerning  a  voyage  intended  to  be  made  unto  the  land  commonly 
called  by  the  name  of  Virginia  upon  the  continent  of  America. ' '  1 
On  the  part  of  Sir  John,  it  was  agreed  that  at  his  own  cost  he 
should  set  forth  two  ships  fitted  and  furnished  with  "all  necessa- 
ries of  victual,  provision,  munition,  and  two  hundred  able  and 
sufficient  men ;  that  is  to  say,  of  such  trades  and  arts  as  are  fitting 
for  a  plantation  and  colony,  before  the  last  day  of  April  next." 
Sir  John  also  agreed  to  pay  to  Captain  Waymouth  within  twenty- 

1  This  agreement  will  be  found  in  Alexander  Brown's  Genesis  of  the  United 
States,  I,  33-35. 


ADDED  ENDEAVORS   AND  EXPLORATIONS.  53 

one  days  a  hundred  pounds  '  'lawful  English  money in 

consideration  of  his  'travell'  and  pains  to  be  taken  in  and  about 
the  said  voyage  and  for  his  own  charge  defraying".  Sir  John 
furthermore  agreed  to  allow  the  merchants  of  Plymouth,  whose 
contract  with  Captain  Waymouth  had  just  been  annulled,  liberty 
"to  make  their  trade  for  what  commodities  soever  without  any 
hindrance  or  disturbance  of  his  part,  or  any  of  his  followers  under 
his  command,  for  the  space  of  one  whole  year  now  next  coming, 
and  not  after".  It  was  also  agreed  that  Sir  John  Zouche,  "being 
Chief  Commander' ' ,  should  give  to  Waymouth  '  'the  next  place  of 
command  under  himself  as  well  at  sea  as  at  land". 

Manifestly  the  purpose  that  lay  at  the  foundation  of  this  agree- 
ment was  the  English  occupation  and  possession  of  that  part  of 
the  American  coast  which  Waymouth  had  visited  and  explored. 
How  this  territory  was  to  be  appropriated  is  indicated  in  the  clos- 
ing paragraph  of  the  agreement  on  the  part  of  Sir  John,  which 
was  as  follows:  "item,  if  it  so  please  God  to  prosper  and  bless 
the  said  intended  voyage  and  the  actions  of  the  same,  that  thereby 
the  land  aforesaid  shall  be  inhabited  with  our  English  nation,  and 
according  to  'Polliticque'  estate  of  Government  proportion  of  land 
be  alloted  to  such  as  shall  be  transported  thither  to  inhabit ;  that 
then,  after  the  said  Sir  John  Zouche  shall  have  made  his  choice 
and  assumed  into  his  possession  in  manner  of  inheritance  such 
quantity  of  land  as  he,  the  said  Sir  John,  shall  think  good ;  then 
he,  the  said  Captain  George  Waymouth  and  his  assigns,  shall  and 
may  make  his  or  their  next  choice  of  land  for  his  or  their  posses- 
sion and  plantation ;  to  hold  the  same  in  tenure  of  him,  the  said 
Sir  John,  as  %ord  Paramount';  which  said  land  so  by  the  said 
Captain  Waymouth  to  be  chosen  shall  descend  to  his  heirs  or 
assigns,  or  shall  be  upon  reasonable  considerations  to  his  or  their 
uses  employed  or  disposed." 

On  Waymouth 's  part  the  agreement  was  that  with  his  "best 
endeavor,  council  and  advice",  he  should  aid  Sir  John  in  the  fit- 
ting out  of  the  expedition ;  that  he  should  be  ready  to  go  with 
him  in  the  voyage  "at  such  time  as  is  limited  or  before,  unless 


54  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE). 

hindered  by  sickness  or  other  such  visitation";  that  on  the  arrival 
of  the  expedition  he  should  assist  in  the  planting  of  the  colony, 
work  of  fortification,  and  whatever  else  should  be  thought  fitting 
by  Sir  John;  and  finally  that  he  should  not  aid,  "by  person  or 
direction  to  any  other  in  or  for  the  said  pretended  land  or  voyage 
without  the  consent  or  allowance  of  the  said  Sir  John".  One  of 
the  witnesses  to  this  agreement  was  James  Rosier,  who  wrote  the 
Relation  of  Waymouth's  voyage. 

Two  days  after  the  signing  of  this  agreement,  the  Guy  Fawkes 
gunpowder  plot,  which  was  to  have  been  consummated  on  the 
assembling  of  Parliament,  November  5,  was  made  known  to  King 
James.  The  arrest,  trial  and  execution  of  those  connected  with 
the  plot  followed,  and  for  the  time  attracted  public  attention  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  plans  and  purposes  of  Sir  John  Zouche 
and  Captain  Waymouth  could  have  received  little  attention.1 

But  that  which  of  itself  was  sufficient  to  bring  to  naught  the 
agreement  between  the  two  was  the  royal  charter2  granted  on 
April  10,  1606,  to  Sir  Thomas  Gates,  Sir  George  Somers,  Richard 
Hakluyt,  Thomas  Hanham,8  Ralegh  Gilbert,  William  Parker, 
George  Popham  and  others,  incorporating  two  companies  for  the 
purpose  of  promoting  English  colonization  "in  that  part  of  Amer- 
ica commonly  called  'Virginia'  ".  This  charter,  prepared  in  its 
first  draft  by  Sir  John  Popham  as  is  supposed,  was  granted  on 
petition ;  but  the  petition  has  not  come  down  to  us,  and  its  date 
and  signers  are  unknown.  As  some  time  would  be  required  for 
the  work  of  drawing  up  the  charter,  as  well  as  for  its  considera- 
tion by  the  various  officers  of  the  crown  to  whom  it  was  submitted 
for  examination,  the  petition  was  probably  presented  to  the  King 

1  Sir  John  Zouche,  notwithstanding  his  present  failure,  did  not  lose  his  inter- 
est in  English  enterprises  in  the  new  world.  In  1631,  he  received  an  appoint- 
ment on  "the  commission  for  the  better  plantation  of  Virginia",  and  in  1634 
he  went  to  Virginia  to  visit  his  son  and  daughter,  who  were  living  there". 

2  Genesis  of  the  United  States ,  II,  46-63. 

3  The  h  in  the  name  was  adopted  from  the  time  of  Sir  John  Hanham,  old- 
est son  of  Thomas  and  Penelope  (Popham)  Hanam,  and  brother  of  Captain 
Thomas  Hanham. 


ADDED  ENDEAVORS   AND  EXPLORATIONS.  55 

as  early  as  the  last  quarter  of  1605.     The  petition  was  for  the  ter- 
ritory "situate,  lying  and  being  all  along  the  seacoast"  between 
the  thirty-fourth  and  forty-fifth  degrees  of  north  latitude,  "and  in 
the  mainland  between,  together  with  the  islands  thereunto  adja- 
cent, or  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the  coast  thereof".     The 
petitioners  asked  to  be  divided  into  two  colonies  or  companies,  the 
one,  consisting  of  certain  knights,  gentlemen,  merchants  and  other 
adventurers  of  London  and  vicinity,  who  wished  to  establish  their 
plantation  in  some  fit  place  between  the  thirty-fourth  and  fortieth 
degrees  of  north  latitude,  was  generally  known  as  the  London 
Company;  the  other,  consisting  of  sundry  knights,  gentlemen, 
merchants  and  other  adventurers  of  Bristol,  Exeter,  Plymouth  and 
other  places,  who  wished  to  establish  their  plantation  in  some  fit 
place  between  the  thirty-eighth  and  forty-fifth  degrees  of  north 
latitude,  was  generally  known  as  the  Plymouth   Company.     In 
the  charter,  the  first  colony  was  granted  the  territory  between  the 
thirty-fourth  and  forty-first  degrees,  also  fifty  miles  south  of  this 
location,  while  to  the  second  colony  was  granted  the  territory 
between  the  thirty-eighth  and  forty-fifth  degrees,  also  fifty  miles 
farther  north.     This  overlapping  of  limits  in  grants  of  territory 
in  the  new  world  was  not  a  matter  of  unfrequent  occurrence,  as 
an  examination  of  later  grants  shows.     In  the  charter,  however, 
this  wholesome  provision  was  added,   "That  the  plantation  and 
habitation  of  such  of  the  said  colonies,  as  shall  last  plant  them- 
selves as  aforesaid,  shall  not  be  made  within  one  hundred  like 
English  miles  of  the  other  of  them,  that  first  began  to  make  their 
plantation  as  aforesaid."     Furthermore,  no  others  of  the  King's 
subjects  were  permitted  to  "plant  or  inhabit  behind  or  on  the 
backside  of  them,  without  the  express  license  or  consent  of  the 
council    of    the    colony,    thereunto    in    writing    first    had    and 
obtained". 

Although  Sir  John  Popham's  name  does  not  occur  in  the  char- 
ter, it  is  well  known  that  he  was  one  of  the  most  active  of  those 
engaged  in  the  movement  for  obtaining  it.  Evidently  he  saw 
very  clearly  the  importance  of  government  control  in  opening  to 


56  the;  beginnings  op  colonial  MAINE). 

English  colonization  the  vast  territory  of  the  new  world,  only- 
glimpses  of  which  had  been  obtained  by  the  expeditions  of  Ralegh 
in  the  south,  and  those  of  Gosnold,  Pring  and  Way  mouth  in  the 
north.  Private  plantations  had  not  been  successful,  and  Sir  John 
Popham,  and  those  who  agreed  with  him,  had  good  reasons  for 
their  belief  that  public  plantations  had  the  best  prospect  of  suc- 
cess. The  Popham  idea  prevailed,  and  brought  to  an  end  private 
enterprises  on  the  part  of  English  adventurers  like  Sir  John 
Zouche,  who  were  ready  to  seize  and  to  hold  as  much  of  Ameri- 
can territory  as  they  could  secure. 

An  expedition  fitted  out  under  this  charter  for  the  establish- 
ment of  the  "first  colony  in  Virginia",  sailed  from  L,ondon  in 
three  vessels  December  20,  1606,  with  Captain  Christopher  New- 
port as  commander  of  the  voyage,  and  Captain  Bartholomew  Gos- 
nold as  vice-admiral.  But  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  Sir  John  Pop- 
ham and  those  who  were  interested  in  the  establishment  of  a  col- 
ony in  the  territory  discovered  by  Waymouth  evidently  deemed  it 
a  wiser  course  to  engage  in  added  exploration  before  colonization. 
Gorges  seems  to  have  been  the  inspiring  spirit  in  this  movement. 
A  vessel,  the  Richard  of  Plymouth,  was  secured  for  the  voyage, 
and  under  the  command  of  Henry  Challons  as  captain,  with 
Nicholas  Hine  as  master  and  John  Stoneman  as  pilot,  the  Richard 
sailed  from  Plymouth  harbor,  August  12,  1606. x  The  vessel  was 
a  small  one,  registering  only  fifty-five  tons  or  thereabouts.  In  it 
were  twenty-nine  Englishmen  and  two  of  the  five  Indians  cap- 

1  An  account  of  Challons'  voyage,  first  printed  in  Purchas's  Pilgrimes 
IV,  1832-1837,  was  reprinted  in  Brown's  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I, 
127-139.  Another  account  entitled  The  Relation  of  Daniel  Tucker  Mer- 
chant being  employed  by  divers  adventurers  of  Plymouth  to  go  as  factor  of  a 
ship  bound  for  Florida  written  by  himself  the  4th  day  of  February  A  1606, 
has  a  place  among  the  Cecil  Papers  at  Hatfield  House.  It  was  enclosed  in  a 
letter,  sent  at  the  time  to  Cecil  by  Gorges,  and  is  included  in  the  documents 
printed  in  the  third  volume  of  Baxter's  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Prov- 
ince of  Maine,  published  by  the  Prince  Society,  1890,  III,  129-132.  In  the 
above,  the  writer  has  followed  Stoneman's  more  extended,  and  apparently 
more  carefully  prepared,  narrative,  which  in  a  few  particulars  differs  from 
that  by  Tucker. 


ADDED  ENDEAVORS  AND  EXPLORATIONS.  57 

tured  by  Waymouth,  namely  "Maneddo  and  Assacomoit" ,  or,  as 
recorded  by  Rosier  in  his  Relation,  "Maneddo  and  Saffacomoit" . 

Why  Waymouth  was  not  placed  in  command  of  the  Richard  does 
not  appear  in  the  accounts  of  the  voyage  that  have  come  down  to 
us.  That  he  was  ready  to  undertake  such  an  expedition  is  made 
evident  by  the  agreement  into  which  he  entered  with  Sir  John 
Zouche.  In  all  probability,  his  agreement  to  serve  Sir  John,  in  his 
endeavor  to  turn  Waymouth's  discoveries  to  personal  advantage, 
brought  him  into  disfavor  with  those  who  were  interested  in  the 
northern  colony. 

Gorges  says  he  gave  Challons  instruction  to  take  a  northerly 
course  as  high  as  the  latitude  of  Cape  Breton  until  the  main  land 
was  sighted,  and  that  then  he  was  to  sail  southward,  following  the 
coast  until,  from  the  Indians  who  were  with  him,  he  was  told  that 
he  had  reached  that  part  of  the  American  coast  "they  were 
assigned  unto".  Challons,  on  the  contrary,  paid  no  attention  to 
his  instructions,  and,  following  the  course  of  earlier  voyagers  gen- 
erally, made  the  Canary  islands  the  starting  point  of  his  expedi- 
tion. This  course  could  not  have  been  taken  because  of  contrary 
winds,  inasmuch  as  Stoneman,  in  his  narrative  of  the  voyage, 
makes  no  mention  of  such  winds  until  after  the  Canary  islands 
were  reached.  But  leaving  those  islands,  contrary  winds  baffled 
them.  For  six  weeks  they  were  driven  in  a  southerly  direction, 
and  the  voyagers  found  themselves  at  the  end  of  that  time  at  the 
island  of  Saint  I,ucia,  one  of  the  L,esser  Antilles,  twenty-nine 
degrees  out  of  their  way.  After  a  delay  of  three  days  at  that  port 
the  Richard  was  started  northward.  But  there  was  further  delay 
at  Porto  Rico,  where  "the  captain  went  ashore  for  the  recovery 
of  his  health,  while  the  company  took  in  water  and  such  other 
provisions  as  they  had  present  use  of,  expending  some  time  there, 
hunting  after  such  things  as  best  pleased  themselves' ' .  At  length, 
leaving  Porto  Rico  and  proceeding  northward  one  hundred  and 
eighty  leagues,  Challons  encountered  a  severe  storm  which  con- 
tinued ten  days.  At  its  close,  "in  a  thick  fog  of  mist  and  rain", 
he  found  himself  surrounded  by  eight  Spanish  ships,  which  bore 


58  THE   BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAL   MAINE . 

down  upon  the  Richard  and  compelled  her  surrender.  Among  the 
wounded  in  Challons'  company  was  Assacomoit,1  one  of  the  two 
Indians  the  Richard  was  bearing  homeward.  Challons  and  his 
men,  including  the  Indians,  were  taken  to  Spain  as  captives. 
Some  of  them  at  length  were  liberated,  some  escaped  from  prison, 
and  others  sickened  and  died.2  Gorges  says,  "The  affliction  of 
the  captain  and  his  company  put  the  I,ord  Chief  Justice  Popham 
to  charge,  and  myself  to  trouble  in  procuring  their  liberties,  which 
was  not  suddenly  obtained' ' .  So  ended  Challons'  ill-fated  expedi- 
tion from  which  Gorges  had  expected  so  much.8 

Another  vessel,  fitted  out  by  Sir  John  Popham  for  the  purpose 
of  co-operating  with  the  Richard  in  the  exploration  of  the  coast 
visited  by  Waymouth,  left  England  not  long  after  Challons' 
departure.     Of  this  vessel  Thomas  Hanham4  was  commander,  and 

1  Gorges,  in  his  Brief e  Narration,  at  the  opening  of  Chapter  XII,  says  he 
"recovered  Assacomoit"  from  Spanish  captivity. 

2  Thayer,  The  Sagadahoc  Colony,  page  11,  says:  "Stoneman  was  questioned 
closely  respecting  the  Virginia  coast  and  offered  large  wages  to  draw  maps. 
His  sturdy  loyal  refusal  remanded  him  to  prison,  and  when  later  enlarged  on 
parole  he  learned  he  was  in  danger  of  the  rack  to  extort  the  desired  infor- 
mation, he  made  escape,  and  by  the  way  of  Lisbon  reached  Cornwall, 
November  24,  1607;  sixteen  months  after  embarkation  at  Plymouth."  Chal- 
lons was  not  released  until  the  following  May. 

3  Gorges,  in  a  letter  to  Challons,  dated  Plymouth,  March  13,  1607,  wrote: 
"I  rest  satisfied  for  your  part  of  the  proceedinge  of  the  voyage". 

4  Little  has  come  down  to  us  concerning  this  associate  with  Pring  in  the 
voyage  of  1606.  As  Sir  John  Popham 's  oldest  daughter  Penelope  married  a 
Thomas  Hanham,  Thayer  (.Sagadahoc  Colony,  145)  inclines  to  the  view  that 
the  chief  justice  "selected  his  trusty  son-in-law  to  be  the  controlling  agent" 
in  the  expedition.  Alexander  Brown  thought  it  probable  that  the  Hanham 
of  Pring 's  voyage  was  a  son  of  the  same  name  {Genesis  of  the  United  States, 
II,  909).  It  is  now  known  that  such  was  the  fact,  as  the  Thomas  Hanham 
who  married  Penelope  Popham  died  August  30,  1593  {History  and  Anti- 
quities of  the  County  of  Dorset,  III,  230,  231),  and  so  could  not  have  accom- 
panied Pring  to  the  American  coast  in  1606.  From  the  same  source  it  is 
learned  that  Thomas  Hanham,  who  died  in  1593,  had  a  son,  Thomas  Hanham, 
of  Wimborne  Minster,  who  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  and  heir  of  Robert 
Broughton,  of  County  Somerset.  To  him  the  Dorset  History  (III,  232)  makes 
reference  as  follows:  "Thomas  Hanham,  Esq.,  second  son  of  Thomas  last 
mentioned,  was  one  of  the  members  of  the  Long  Parliament  that  attended 


ADDED   ENDEAVORS   AND   EXPLORATIONS.  59 

Martin  Pring,  who  commanded  the  expedition  of  1603,  was  mas- 
ter. Gorges  makes  no  mention  of  Hanham  in  his  reference  to  the 
voyage,  and  it  is  evident  that  his  position  was  a  nominal  one  as  a 
representative  of  Sir  John  Popham,  the  chief  promoter  of  the 
expedition. 

Unfortunately  we  have  no  record  of  this  voyage.  That  a  Rela- 
tion was  prepared  by  Hanham  is  learned  from  Purchas,1  who 
mentions  such  a  narrative.  Purchas  had  a  copy  of  it  about  the 
year  1624.  Possibly  it  may  have  come  into  his  possession  with 
the  Hakluyt  papers,  which  were  placed  in  his  hands  after  Hak- 
luyt's  death.  Why  he  did  not  publish  the  record  in  his  Pilgrimes, 
it  is  difficult  to  conjecture  on  account  of  the  significance  of  the 
voyage  from  its  connection  with  the  fitting  out  of  the  Popham 
colony.  Purchas  might  well  have  omitted  many  another  narrative 
in  order  to  give  place  to  this. 

Although  we  have  no  record  of  the  date  of  Pring 's  departure  for 

the  King  at  Oxford,  and  subscribed  the  letter  for  peace  to  the  Earl  of  Essex. 

In  a  grant  of  land  in  North  America  made  to  him  (the  reference  is  to 

the  charter  of  April  10,  1606,  authorizing  two  companies  for  colonizing  North 
America)  with  Lord  Chief  Justice  Popham,  Sir  Thomas  Gorges,  etc.,  he  is 
styled  Thomas  Hanham,  Esq.,  and  also  Captain  Hanham.  He  was  buried  in 
Wimborne  Minster,  where  see  his  monument."  Unfortunately  (probably 
because  of  a  comparatively  recent  restoration  of  the  edifice),  this  memorial  of 
Captain  Hanham  is  no  longer  to  be  seen.  The  1868  edition  of  the  Dorset 
History,  however,  contains  the  inscription  of  the  memorial  as  printed  in  an 
earlier  edition,  with  the  statement  that  formerly,  at  the  upper  end  of  the  south 
aisle  of  the  Minster,  was  an  altar  tomb  of  gray  marble.  The  inscription  fol- 
lows :  "Here  lyeth  the  body  of  Thomas  Hanham,  late  of  Dean's  Court,  Eng., 
second  son  of  Thomas  Hanham  Sergeant  at  Law  and  of  Penelope  his  wife, 
the  daughter  of  Sir  John  Popham,  Kt.,  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  England,  who 
departed  this  life  the  first  day  of  August  in  the  76th  year  of  his  age,  Anno 
D.  Ni,  1652".  Accordingly,  Captain  Thomas  Hanham  was  about  thirty  years 
of  age  at  the  time  of  the  voyage  of  1606.  The  second  son  of  Captain  Thomas 
Hanham,  and  also  named  Thomas  Hanham,  died  June  17,  1650.  A  mural 
monument  of  white  marble,  erected  by  Margaret  "his  loving  and  sad  widow", 
and  containing  "his  portraiture  and  her  own,  intending  if  God  so  please  to 
be  interred  by  him"  [History,  III,  218),  has  come  down  to  us  and  is  now  at 
the  west  end  of  the  north  aisle  of  the  nave  of  Wimborne  Minster. 
1  Pilgrimes,  Ed.  of  1624,  IV,  1837. 


60  the  beginnings  of  colonial  mains. 

the  coast  of  Maine,  Gorges  says1  that  Pring 's  vessel  followed  the 
Richard  "within  two  months".  Probably  Pring  sailed  from 
Bristol,  and  the  voyage,  as  may  be  inferred  from  Challons'  instruc- 
tions, and  what  Gorges  says  concerning  it,  was  a  direct  one  to  the 
American  coast.  St.  George's  harbor,  the  Pentecost  harbor  of 
Waymouth's  anchorage  in  1605,  was  doubtless  the  place  of 
rendezvous  agreed  upon  by  Challons  and  Pring.  Not  to  meet 
Challons  there,  or  in  the  vicinity,  was  a  matter  of  surprise  and  dis- 
appointment to  those  who  followed  him  and  expected  to  find  the 
work  of  added  exploration  already  well  advanced.  There  may 
have  been  some  little  loss  of  time  in  searching  for  the  co-operating 
vessel,  but  the  favorable  season  for  accomplishing  satisfactory 
work  was  drawing  to  a  close,  and  Hanham  and  Pring  soon  entered 
upon  the  task  assigned  to  them.  The  coast  was  carefully  exam- 
ined,2 and  the  explorations  made  by  Waymouth  the  year  before 
were  considerably  extended.  Especially  was  attention  given  to 
that  part  of  the  coast  lying  west  of  the  territory  of  Waymouth's 
discoveries.  The  Sagadahoc,  now  the  Kennebec,  was  found  to  be 
a  larger  and  more  important  river  than  that  which  evoked  so  much 
admiration  from  the  explorers  on  the  Archangel.  It  also  afforded 
much  larger  trade  facilities  with  the  Indians  and  on  this  account 
offered  advantages  for  a  settlement  that  ought  not  to  be  over- 
looked. Accordingly,  the  location  of  the  river  and  directions  with 
reference  to  its  entrance  were  carefully  noted.  Indeed  all  facts 
necessary  in  planning  for  the  establishment  of  a  colony  in  the 
explored  territory  were  sought  for  and  made  available  for  use  on 
the  vessel's  return. 

Gorges  implies  that  Pring  was  obliged  to  cut  short  his  work  of 
exploration  by  the  approach  of  winter,  and  such  seems  to  have 
been  the  fact.  The  vessel  that  bore  the  expedition  hither  left 
England  about  the  first  of  October,  and  if  ten  weeks  are  allowed 

1  Letter  to  Challons,  March  13,  1607. 

2  In  this  work  Hanham  and  Pring  had  the  assistance  of  Dehamda  (Rosier's 
Tahanedo),  one  of  Waymouth's  captured  Indians,  whom  they  brought  with 
them  and  left  in  the  country  on  their  return. 


ADDED  ENDEAVORS  AND  EXPLORATIONS.  61 

for  the  voyage  and  subsequent  examination  of  the  coast,  Hanham 
and  Pring  could  not  have  set  out  on  their  return  much  before  the 
close  of  the  year.  Their  arrival  in  England  was  on  an  unknown 
date.  It  was  a  winter  voyage,  and  there  were  doubtless  storms 
and  delays.  But  port  was  at  length  reached — Bristol  probably — 
and  Popham  and  those  who  were  interested  in  the  voyage  were  at 
once  made  acquainted  with  its  encouraging  results. 

Gorges  in  his  reference  to  it1  makes  mention  of  Pring' s  "perfect 
discovery  of  all  those  rivers  and  harbors",  which  his  report 
described ;  and  he  calls  it  ''the  most  exact  discovery"  of  the  coast 
that  had  come  into  his  hands.  While  he  makes  no  mention  of 
Hanham 's  connection  with  the  expedition,  he  pays  high  tribute  to 
Pring,  whose  services  had  proved  so  acceptable,  and  had  achieved 
success  so  greatly  desired.  "His  relation  of  the  same",  adds 
Gorges,  "wrought  such  an  impression  in  the  I^ord  Chief  Justice 
and  us  all  that  were  his  associates,  that  notwithstanding  our  first 
disaster  we  set  up  our  resolutions  to  follow  it  with  effect."  2 

1  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  11 . 

2  Pring' s  later  service  was  largely  connected  with  the  East  Indies.  In 
1617,  he  was  general  of  the  East  India  fleet.  In  1622,  the  Quarter  Court 
of  the  Virginia  Company  made  Captain  Martin  Pring  a  freeman  of  the 
company  and  gave  him  two  shares  of  land  in  Virginia.  Brown  {Genesis  of 
the  United  States,  II,  973)  considers  it  probable  that  Pring  '  'died  on  his  voy- 
age to  Virginia,  or  very  soon  after  his  return  to  England",  probably  in  1626, 
at  the  age  of  46.  His  monument  in  St.  Stephen's  Church,  Bristol,  England, 
bears  witness  to  the  high  esteem  in  which  he  was  held  by  his  fellow  citizens. 
The  following  is  the  inscription  which   is  recorded  on  the  memorial  tablet : 

To  the  Pious  Memorie  of  Martin  Pringe,  Merchaunt,  Sometyme  Generall  to 
the  East  Indies,  and  one  of  ye  Fraternity  of  the  Trinity  House. 
The  living  worth  of  this  dead  man  was  such 
That  this  fayr  Touch  can  give  you  but  a  Touch 
Of  his  admired  guifts  ;  Theise  quarter'd  Arts, 
Enrich 'd  his  knowledge  and  yespheare  imparts; 
His  heart's  true  embleme  where  pure  thoughts  did  move, 
By  a  most  sacred  Influence  from  above. 
Prudence  and  Fortitude  are  topp  this  toombe, 
Which  in  brave  Pringe  took  up  ye  chief  est  roome; 
Hope,  Time  supporters  showe  that  he  did  clyme 
The  highest  pitch  of  Hope  though  not  of  Tyme. 


62  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

His  painefull,  skillfull  travayles  reacht  as  farre 

As  from  the  Artick  to  th'  Antartick  starre; 

He  made  himself  A  Shipp.     Religion 

His  onely  compass,  and  the  truth  alone 

His  guiding  Cynosure:  Faith  was  his  sailes, 

His  Anchour  Hope.     A  hope  that  never  failes, 

His  freighte  was  Charitie,  and  his  returne 

A  fruitful  practice.     In  this  fatal  urne 

His  Shipp' s  fayre  Bulck  is  lodg'd,  but  ye  rich  ladinge 

Is  hous'd  in  Heaven.     A  heaven  never  fadinge. 

Hie  terris  multum  jactatus  et  undis 
Salutis         1626 

Obit  anno 

Aetatis  46 


Pring  Memorial,  St.  Stephen's  Church,  Bristol 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The;  Popham  Colony. 

The  Southern  Virginia  •  Company,  as  stated  in  the  preceding 
chapter,  had  already  despatched  colonists  to  the  new  world. 
There  also  was  a  movement  for  a  like  undertaking  on  the  part  of 
the  Northern  or  Plymouth  company.  Conferences  were  held  by 
the  members  of  the  company  with  others  interested  in  the  expan- 
sion of  England's  territory  and  trade.  With  enthusiasm  the  work 
of  organizing  the  proposed  colony  was  commenced.  As  this  work, 
at  least  for  the  most  part,  was  carried  forward  at  Plymouth, 
Gorges,  who  was  in  command  of  the  fort  at  that  place,  may  be 
regarded  as  most  conspicuous  in  this  service,  as  well  as  in  making 
preparations  for  the  voyage.  Difficulties  were  encountered  as  the 
work  proceeded.  A  glimpse  of  these  is  afforded  in  a  letter1  which 
the  mayor  of  Plymouth  addressed  May  10,  1606,  to  Lord  Salis- 
bury, King  James'  Secretary  of  State,  suggesting  some  modifica- 
tions of  the  charter.  Sir  John  Popham,  he  wrote,  had  invited  the 
co-operation  of  some  of  the  prominent  citizens  of  Plymouth ;  but 
some  of  the  provisions  of  the  charter  were  objectionable,  especially 
the  provision  that  placed  the  direction  of  the  affairs  of  the  colony 
in  the  control  of  a  council,  the  majority  of  whose  members  were 
"strangers  to  us  and  our  proceedings".  They  accordingly  asked 
the  prime  minister's  protection  and  help.  This  complaint  was 
not  sent  to  Lord  Salisbury  without  the  knowledge  of  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges  ;  for  on  the  same  day  Gorges  addressed  a  letter 2  to 
the  prime  minister,  explaining  further  the  position  taken  by  the 
men  of  Plymouth,  who,  he  wrote,  were  at  first  well  disposed  and 
ready  "to  be  large  adventurers' ' ,  but  had  now  withdrawn  their 

1  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  III,  122,  123. 

2  lb.,  Ill,  123-126. 


64  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  maine. 

aid  and  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  work  to  be  under- 
taken. Evidently,  Gorges  considered  this  a  very  undesirable 
situation,  and  he  urged  a  change  in  the  provisions  of  the  charter 
to  which  objection  had  been  made,  believing  that  in  this  way  the 
interest  of  "many  worthy  and  brave  spirits"  could  be  secured. 
The  complaint  of  the  mayor  of  Plymouth  and  his  associates  was 
laid  before  L,ord  Salisbury  by  Captain  IyOve,  the  bearer  of  the  let- 
ter. No  word  concerning  the  result  has  been  preserved,  so  far  as 
is  known.  Such,  however,  was  the  success  of  the  efforts  of  the 
chief  justice  in  connection  with  the  fitting  out  of  the  Popham 
colony,  that  harmony  of  action  among  those  interested  in  the 
enterprise  seems  at  length  to  have  been  reached. 

Two  vessels,  the  Gift  of  God1  and  the  Mary  and  John2— the 
tonnage  of  both  unknown — were  secured  for  transporting  the 
colonists  and  their  stores  to  the  selected  location  of  the  colony. 
Concerning  the  number  of  the  colonists,  and  the  manner  in  which 
they  were  obtained,  there  is  little  information.  Gorges  makes 
mention  of  "one  hundred  landsmen".  Probably  he  does  not 
include  in  this  designation  "divers  gentlemen  of  note",  who  are 
said  to  have  accompanied  the  expedition.  Strachey  says  the  Gift 
of  God  and  the  Mary  and  John  carried  '  'one  hundred  and  twenty 
for  planters".  To  this  number,  of  course,  must  be  added  the 
number  of  the  crews  of  the  two  vessels  in  order  to  make  up  the 
full  number  of  persons  connected  with  the  enterprise. 

In  providing  the  funds  that  were  necessary  for  the  purpose  of 
fitting  out  and  establishing  the  colony,  Sir  John  Popham  doubtless 
had  a  prominent  place.  He  not  only  made  large  contributions 
when  calls  for  money  came,  but  he  interested  many  of  his  friends 
and  acquaintances  in  the  work  to  which,  with  so  much  enthu- 
siasm, he  had  put  his  hands.     In  one  way  or  another  the  funds 

1  In  the  Lambeth  Palace  manuscript  the  name  of  this  vessel  is  the  "Gift". 
The  fuller  title  is  given  by  Strachey,  who  calls  the  vessel  a  "fly  boat",  that 
is,  a  light  draught  vessel. 

2  Gorges  erroneously  says  there  were  "three  sail  of  ships".  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  III,  13. 


the;  popham  colony.  65 

were  raised  and  the  expedition  was  made  ready.  May  31,  1607, 
was  the  sailing  day.  The  Gift  of  God  and  the  Mary  and  John— 
the  former  commanded  by  George  Popham1  and  the  latter  by 
Ralegh  Gilbert2— lay  in  the  old  harbor  of  Plymouth,  now  known 
as  Sutton's  Pool,  the  same  harbor  from  which  the  Mayflower 
sailed  thirteen  years  later.  Gorges,  doubtless,  was  present  at  the 
departure  of  the  colonists.  Doubtless,  too,  Sir  John  Popham  was 
there,  having  laid  aside  hi-s  official  robes  and  left  I/mdon  in  order 
by  his  presence  to  give  forceful  expression  to  the  hopes  he  enter- 
tained, both  for  himself  and  the  nation,  in  establishing  an  English 
colony  in  northern  Virginia.  All  Plymouth,  too,  was  there, 
prominent  merchants,  military  and  other  professional  men,  fisher- 
men and  seamen,  all  much  interested  in  an  enterprise  that  was 
designed  to  bring  the  old  and  new  worlds  into  close  and  prosper- . 
ing  relations.  As  the  Gift  or  God  and  the  Mary  and  John  sailed 
out  of  the  harbor,  the  vessels  were  saluted  by  the  guns  of  the  fort, 
while  from  the  Hoe  the  heartfelt  benedictions  and  best  wishes  of 
a  great  company  followed  the  colonists  until  the  vessels  had  dis- 
appeared upon  the  horizon. 

A  brief  account  of  the  fortunes  of  the  Popham  colony  appeared 

1  George  Popham  was  the  second  son  of  Edward  Popham,  and  a  nephew 
of  the  chief  justice.  He  was  born  about  1553-1555,  and  before  his  appoint- 
ment in  connection  with  the  Popham  colony  he  held  the  position  of  "his 
Majesty's  customer  of  the  Port  of  Bridgewater".  His  name  appears  in  the 
charter  for  the  North  and  South  Virginia  colonies  in  1606,  and  he  was  the 
first  president  of  the  colony  in  North  Virginia. 

2  Ralegh  Gilbert,  a  son  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  and  nephew  of  Sir  Wal- 
ter Ralegh,  was  also  mentioned  in  the  charter  of  1606.  While  the  date  of 
his  birth  is  unknown,  it  is  supposed  that  when  he  joined  the  Popham  colony 
he  was  not  far  from  thirty  years  of  age.  Evidently  he  was  lacking  in  the 
finer  personal  qualities  of  life,  and  Gorges'  portraiture  of  him  (in  a  letter  to 
Secretary  Cecil,  Baxter's  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  III,  158)  is  not  a  favorable 
one.  Concerning  his  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  colony  after  the 
death  of  President  Popham,  we  have  no  information.  As  Thayer  says,  it 
"may  have  been  vigilant  and  wholly  satisfactory  to  the  patrons",  The  Sag- 
adahoc Colony,  32.  He  was  made  a  member  of  the  Council  for  New  England 
in  1620. 


66  THE   BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

in  1614  in  Purchas's  Pilgrimes.  This  was  followed  in  1622  by  a 
short  statement  in  A  Brief e  Relation  of  the  Discovery  and  Plantation 
of  New  England 'by  the  president  and  council.  In  1624,  Captain 
John  Smith  included  in  his  General  History  of  New  England  a 
brief  record  of  the  Popham  enterprise.  These  were  the  principal 
sources  of  information  concerning  the  colony  until  1849,  when  the 
Hakluyt  Society  published  William  Strachey's  Historie  of  Travaile 
into  Virginia  Brittania,  written  about  1616.  Evidently  the  narra- 
tive was  based  upon  sources  not  in  the  possession  of  the  earlier 
writers,  and  Strachey's  account  of  the  experiences  of  the  Popham 
colonists  was  the  best  available  until  1875,  when  a  manuscript, 
once  in  the  possession  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  and  containing 
a  journal,  written  by  one  connected  with  the  colony,  was  discov- 
ered in  the  library  of  Lambeth  Palace,  London.1  It  covers  a 
period  of  about  four  months,  that  is,  from  the  departure  of  the 
expedition  from  the  Lizard,  June  1,  1607,  to  September  26,  1607. 
With  this  last  date  the  manuscript  abruptly  closes ;  but  as 
Strachey,  by  many  evidences  which  his  narrative  furnishes,  is 
believed  to  have  used  this  manuscript  in  preparing  his  account  of 
the  Popham  colony,  his  continuation  of  the  story  from  September 
26  is  believed,  for  the  same  reason,  to  have  been  based  upon  that 
part  of  the  Lambeth  Palace  manuscript,  which  in  some  way  was 
afterward  lost  and  is  still  lacking.  Although  in  the  title  of  the 
manuscript  the  name  of  the  author  is  not  mentioned,  indications 
in  the  narrative  point  almost  unmistakably  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  writer  was  James  Davies,  one  of  Gilbert's  officers  on  the  Mary 
and  John,  and  otherwise  prominently  connected  with  the  colony. 

The  narrative  of  the  voyage  begins  at  "the  Lizard"  2  on  the  first 
of  June,  the  day  after  the  vessels  sailed  out  of  the  harbor  of  Ply- 
mouth, fifty  miles  away.  Thence  both  vessels,  instead  of  taking 
the  direct  westerly  course  to  the  American  coast,  as  did  Gosnold 

1  This  manuscript,  known  in  the  Lambeth  Palace  Library  as  Ms.  No.  806, 
was  discovered  in  1876  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  B.  F.  De  Costa  of  New  York,  and 
was  first  printed  from  the  original  manuscript  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  Mass. 
Hist.  Society  for  May,  1880. 

2  At  the  southwest  extremity  of  the  county  of  Cornwall. 


the;  popham  colony.  67 

and  Pring,  followed  Waymouth's  course  in  the  Archangel,  and 
sailed  southerly  to  the  Azores  islands,  which  were  reached  in 
twenty- four  days.  June  27,  at  the  island  of  Flores,  a  landing  was 
made  for  wood  and  water.  Continuing  the  voyage,  Popham  and 
Gilbert  fell  in  with  two  Flemish  vessels  June  29,  and  Captain  Gil- 
bert, as  a  token  of  friendly  feeling,  invited  the  captain  of  one  of 
the  vessels  to  come  aboard  the  Mary  and  John.  The  invitation 
was  accepted,  and  the  Flemish  captain  was  kindly  received  and 
hospitably  entertained.  On  his  departure,  the  guest  cordially 
invited  Gilbert  and  a  few  others  on  the  Mary  and  John  to  accom- 
pany him  to  his  ship,  apparently  moved  thereto  by  the  kindly 
reception  he  himself  had  received.  To  this  "earnest  entreaty", 
Gilbert  and  those  with  him,  yielded  ;  but,  to  their  surprise,  on 
reaching  the  Flemish  vessel,  they  were  treated  as  prisoners,  some 
of  the  party  being  placed  in  the  "bibows"  (bilboes,)  and  others 
being  subjected  to  "wild  and  shameful  abuses".  It  happened, 
however,  that  in  the  crew  of  the  Flemish  vessel  were  English 
sailors,  who,  noticing  this  affront  to  their  countrymen,  found 
opportunity  to  make  known  to  Gilbert  their  determination  to  stand 
by  him  and  his  companions.  When  the  Flemish  captain  discov- 
ered this  evidence  of  a  threatened  uprising  on  the  part  of  his  own 
men,  the  situation  was  not  pleasing  to  him.  He  accordingly 
hastened  to  release  the  prisoners,  and  returned  them  to  their  own 
ship  to  their  "no  small  joy".1 

Meanwhile,  Popham,  in  the  Gift  of  God,  either  had  not  seen  or 
failed  to  answer  the  signals  of  distress  made  by  the  Mary  and 
John.  His  action  is  not  explained  in  the  narrative,  which  seems 
to  imply  unworthy  conduct  on  his  part  in  sailing  away  without  an 
attempt  at  assistance. 2    The  two  vessels  thus  fell  apart,  and  did 

1  The  narratives  of  the  voyages  of  that  day  furnish  abundant  illustrations 
of  the  fact  that  such  discourtesies  at  sea  between  representatives  of  rival 
nations  were  by  no  means  uncommon. 

2  Thayer  {The Sagadahoc  Colony,  39,  note),  says,  "Capt.  Popham  may  be 
fairly  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  the  doubt  if  he  saw  or  comprehended  the 
signals".  It  is  certainly  in  favor  of  this  view  that  no  added  mention  of  the 
incident  appears  in  the  Relation. 


68  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

not  again  come  together  until  their  arrival  on  the  American  coast. 

When  this  affair  with  the  Flemish  ship  occurred,  the  Mary  and 
John  was  ten  leagues  southwest  of  Flores.  Continuing  the  voyage 
to  the  American  coast,  the  vessel  reached  soundings  July  27,  in 
latitude  43°,  40',1  and  July  30,  land  was  descried,  evidently  the 
Nova  Scotia  coast.  Gilbert  anchored2  and  landed,  but  his  stay 
was  brief,  and  he  proceeded  down  the  coast  on  his  way  to  the 
appointed  rendezvous.  August  5,  land  again  was  sighted.  In  the 
narrative  there  is  an  outline  sketch  of  the  view  that  was  obtained 
by  the  voyagers  in  thus  approaching  the  coast — a  view  of  the  high 
mountains  '  'in  upon  the  main  land  near  unto  the  river  of  Penob- 
scot' ' .  Such  they  knew  them  to  be  from  the  maps  of  Waymouth 
and  Pring  in  their  possession.  Both  the  sketch  and  the  narrative 
make  it  evident  that  the  Mary  and  John,  in  now  approaching  the 
coast,  must  have  been  some  distance  southeast  of  the  Matinicus 
islands.  The  mountains  were  the  Camden  mountains,  noteworthy 
features  of  the  coast  to  any  mariner  approaching  the  land  at  this 
point.  Gilbert  and  his  men  now  knew  that  the  designated  meet- 
ing-place of  the  vessels,  in  case  of  separation,  was  not  far  away. 

Proceeding  in  toward  the  coast,  the  Mary  and  John,  her 
entire  ship's  company  alert  with  interest,  came  at  length  to  the 
Matinicus  islands  easily  recognizable  from  the  narrative.  A  sec- 
ond outline  sketch  of  the  mountains  toward  which  the  Mary  and 
John  was  moving  is  here  inserted  in  the  Lambeth  manuscript, 
showing  the  changed  appearance  of  the  mountains,  as  seen  from 
this  nearer  point  of  approach.  At  these  islands  the  vessel's  course 
was  made  "west  and  west  by  north"  towards  three  other  islands, 
eight  leagues  from  the  islands  before  mentioned.     Differences  of 

1  Here,  sounding,  they  had  ground  in  eighteen  fathoms,  and  fished  with 
such  success  that  they  caught  about  one  hundred  cod — '  'very  great  and  large 
fish,  bigger  and  larger  fish  than  that  which  conies  from  the  bank  of  New- 
foundland. Here  we  might  have  laden  our  ship  in  less  time  than  a  month". 
Evidently  they  were  on  a  portion  of  Sable  island  bank. 

2  The  Relation  also  makes  reference  to  the  fish  caught  here  ;  '  'we  took 
great  store  of  cod  fishes,  the  biggest  and  largest  that  I  ever  saw  or  any  man 
in  our  ship." 


THK   POPHAM    COLONY.  69 

opinion  have  found  expression  as  to  the  three  islands  to  which 
reference  is  thus  made.  The  record  is  brief,  and  it  is  difficult  to 
obtain  from  it  that  accurate  information  which  a  fuller  statement 
would  have  supplied.  But  the  general  direction  seems  unmistak- 
able. Following  down  the  coast  from  the  Matinicus  islands,  the 
course  of  the  Mary  and  John  must  have  been  in  the  direction  of 
the  St.  George's  islands.1  A  careful  examination  of  the  narrative 
in  the  light  of  such  facts  as  are  now  attainable  warrants  this  state- 
ment. It  was  ten  o'clock  at  night  when  an  approach  to  these 
islands  was  made.  '  'We  bore  in  with  one  of  them" ,  is  the  record, 
and  the  inference  is  that  other  islands  were  near.  In  fact,  in  the 
clear  light  of  the  morning  that  followed,  the  voyagers  on  the 
Mary  and  John  found  themselves  "environed"  with  islands,  and 
the  narrative  adds  "near  thirty",  evidently  an  estimate.  The 
anchorage,  therefore,  was  not  at  Monhegan,  as  some  have  main- 
tained. The  Relation  excludes  any  such  view.  No  mariner, 
anchored  at  Monhegan,  would  refer  to  his  vessel  as  "environed" 
with  "near  thirty  islands".  On  the  other  hand,  if  the  Mary  and 
John,  guided  by  directions  derived  from  the  narratives  of  the 
voyages  of  Waymouth  and  Pring,  anchored  in  what  is  now  known 
as  St.  George's  harbor,  the  mention  of  environing  islands — "near 
thirty" — is  in  harmony  with  easily  recognized  facts  as  to  distance 
and  direction.2 

It  should  be  added,  furthermore,  that  the  Relation  makes  the 
anchorage  of  the  Mary  and  John  not  far  from  the  island  on  which 
Waymouth  erected  a  cross  as  a  token  of  English  possession.  The 
statement  is,  "We  here  found  a  cross  set  up,  the  which  we  sup- 
pose was  set  up  by  George  Wayman".8    Rosier's  narrative  of 

1  No  other  view  can  be  brought  into  harmony  with  the  plain  statement  of 
the  narrative. 

2  See  Thayer's  Sagadahoc  Colony,  50-52  note,  where  the  facts  are  presented 
with  great  clearness  and  force. 

3  Their  finding  the  cross,  which  they  supposed  was  erected  by  George  Way- 
mouth two  years  before,  is  very  significant.  Captain  Gilbert  unquestionably 
had  with  him  a  copy  of  Rosier's  Relation,  and  probably  a  copy  of  Waymouth's 
"geographical  map''.     Hence  his  readiness  in  discovering  the  cross,  and  his 


70  the;  beginnings  op  colonial  maine. 

Waymouth's  voyage  affords  no  foundation  whatever  for  the  sup- 
position that  the  cross,  which  Waymouth  erected  upon  an  island 
on  the  coast  of  Maine,  was  erected  on  Monhegan.  His  brief  visit 
to  that  island  was  from  his  anchorage  north  of  it  on  his  first 
approach  to  the  coast,  and  was  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  wood 
and  water.  On  the  following  day,  from  that  anchorage,  he 
brought  the  Archangel  "along  to  the  other  islands  more  adjoining 
to  the  main,  and  in  the  road  directly  with  the  mountains"  he  had 
seen  on  approaching  the  coast.  The  St.  George's  islands,  extend- 
ing in  a  line  nearly  north  northeast  and  south  southwest  for 
about  five  miles,  answer  fully  to  this  description,  as  has  already 
been  stated.  Gilbert  and  his  men  were  not  long  in  finding  the 
cross  Waymouth  erected  on  one  of  these  islands,  confirming  the 
other  facts  in  their  possession,  that  the  designated  place  of  ren- 
dezvous had   been  reached. 

Gilbert's  first  anchorage,  which  was  made  somewhat  hastily 
under  the  circumstances,  was  not  found  to  be  satisfactory,  and  a 
better  one  was  secured  on  the  following  day.  While  the  neces- 
sary examination  was  in  progress,  and  the  Mary  and  John  was 
'standing  off  a  little",  a  sail  was  descried  at  sea,  but  "standing 
in  towards  this  island",  namely  the  island  near  which  the  Mary 
and  John  had  been  anchored.  Gilbert  at  once  sailed  out  to  meet 
the  stranger,  and  it  was  soon  discovered  that  the  new  arrival,  as 
hoped  for,  was  Gilbert's  consort,  the  Gift  of  God.  Evidently, 
differences  as  to  the  cause  of  the  separation  were  at  once  forgot- 
ten;  and  in  the  joy  of  their  "happy  meeting"  the  two  vessels 
sailed  into  the  appointed  haven,  and  "there  anchored  both 
together". 

The  language  of  the  Relation  is  plain,  and  there  is  no  warrant 
whatever  for  the  view,  maintained  by  some  writers  before  the  dis- 
covery of  the  Lambeth  Palace  manuscript,  that  this  anchorage  was 
at  Monhegan.     The  island  near  which  both  vessels  anchored  was 

identification  of  it  as  the  one  set  up  by  Waymouth.  He  had  brought  the 
Mary  and  John  into  Pentecost  harbor.  Thayer  {Sagadahoc  Colony,  55)  is 
evidently  correct  in  his  inference  that  Waymouth's  cross  was  erected  on  the 
north  end  of  Allen's  island. 


THE   POPHAM    COLONY.  71 

no  other  than  the  island  in  the  vicinity  of  which  the  Mary  and 
John  anchored  on  her  arrival  on  the  coast;  and  this,  as  has 
already  been  shown,  was  not  the  island  of  Monhegan,  but  one  of 
the  St.  George's  islands  and  probably  the  one  on  which  Waymouth 
set  up  a  cross.  If  Monhegan  had  been  the  place  of  rendezvous, 
Popham  would  have  sought  an  anchorage  there.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  was  heading  for  islands  farther  in  toward  the  main  when 
the  Gift  of  God  was  sighted  from  the  deck  of  the  Mary  and  John, 
and  thence  was  led  by  her  into  the  island  harbor,  which,  evidently 
on  the  part  of  both  captains,  was  the  predetermined  location  for 
anchorage  on  reaching  the  American  coast. 

One  of  the  five  Indians  captured  by  Waymouth  was  included  in 
the  company  on  board  of  the  Mary  and  John.  In  the  I^ambeth 
Palace  manuscript  he  is  mentioned  as  "Skidwarres".  Rosier,  in 
his  Relation,  calls  him  '  'Skicowaros" .  Probably  he  was  one  of  the 
Indians  assigned  by  Waymouth  to  Sir  John  Popham,  and  doubt- 
less very  much  was  expected  from  him  in  matters  connected  with 
the  settlement  of  the  colony,  especially  in  the  relation  of  the  colo- 
nists to  the  Indians.  Very  naturally  Skidwarres,  on  reaching 
these  familiar  scenes,  was  anxious  to  be  set  on  shore  at  once,  in 
order  to  join  his  people  from  whom  he  had  so  long  been  separated. 
Just  as  anxious,  apparently,  was  Gilbert  to  further  the  wishes  of 
Skidwarres,  and  so,  with  the  first  opportunity,  to  place  himself  in 
friendly  relations  with  the  natives  of  the  country.  Accordingly 
at  midnight,  following  the  arrival  of  the  Gift  of  God,  Gilbert  and 
some  of  his  men,  in  one  of  the  ships'  boats,  rowed  westward1  past 
"many  gallant  islands",  and  landed  Skidwarres,  by  his  direction, 
in  a  little  cove  on  the  mainland,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Pemaquid 
peninsula,  and  evidently  at  what  is  now  known  as  New  Harbor. 
Then,  still  guided  by  Skidwarres,  they  marched  across  the  penin- 
sula, a  distance  of  "near  three  miles"  to  the  Indian  encampment. 

1  With  the  two  vessels  at  anchor  in  St.  George's  harbor,  the  direction  is 
clearly  indicated.  Skidwarres  was  a  Pemaquid  Indian.  From  the  very  place 
where  he  was  captured  two  years  before,  he  is  now  returned  by  Captain  Gil- 
bert and  his  men. 


72  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COIyONIAE  MAINE. 

The  chief  of  the  Indians  was  none  other  than  Nahanada,1  also  one 
of  Way  mouth's  captives,  who  had  been  returned  by  Hanham  and 
Pring  the  year  before ;  but  though  the  Indians  very  naturally  were 
inclined  at  first  to  hold  themselves  somewhat  aloof,  the  assuring 
words  addressed  to  them  by  Skidwarres  and  Nahanada  caused 
them  to  lay  aside  their  fears,  and  assurances  of  mutual  friendship 
followed.  Gilbert  and  his  men  remained  at  the  Indian  village 
two  hours,  and  then,  accompanied  by  Skidwarres,  they  returned 
to  the  ships  in  Pentecost  harbor. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday.  Concerning  its  religious  observ- 
ances by  the  colonists,  the  Relation  contains  this  record:  "Sun- 
day, being  the  9th  of  August,  in  the  morning  the  most  part  of  our 
whole  company  of  both  our  ships  landed  on  this  island,  the  which 
we  call  St.  George's  island,  where  the  cross  standeth,  and  there 
we  heard  a  sermon  delivered  unto  us  by  our  preacher,  giving  God 
thanks  for  our  happy  meeting  and  safe  arrival  into  the  country, 
and  so  returned  aboard  again."  The  place  of  this  first  recorded 
observance  of  Christian  worship  in  New  England  is  here  clearly 
indicated.  It  was  on  the  island  near  which  Waymouth  anchored 
the  Archangel  after  leaving  his  anchorage  north  of  Monhegan, 
and  on  which  Waymouth 's  cross  stood.  No  appeal  can  be  made 
to  the  fact  that  this  island  is  called  in  the  narrative  "St.  George's 
island" — the  name  given  by  Waymouth  to  Monhegan.  Its  men- 
tion here — the  writer  being  familiar  with  Rosier's  Relation — is 
evidence  only  to  the  well-known  fact  that  thus  early  the  name  St. 
George  had  been  transferred  from  Monhegan  to  the  island  on 
which  Waymouth' s  cross  was  erected,  and  later  was  made  to 
include  the  whole  group  of  islands  since  known  as  the  St. 
George's  islands. 

The  character  of  the  service  is  also  clearly  indicated  in  the 
Relation.  Though  the  words  "sermon"  and  "preacher"  are  very 
suggestive  of  religious  conditions  in  Bngland  at  that  time,   and 

1  He  was  designated  by  Rosier  Tahanedo  and  was  called  by  him  '  'a  chief  or 
Commander".  Gorges  mentions  him  under  the  name  Dehamda,  while  in 
the  Iyambeth  Palace  manuscript  he  is  known  as  Dehanada. 


THK   POPHAM    COLONY.  73 

may  have  been  due  to  the  writer's  habit  of  expression,  it  is  prob- 
able that  the  preacher,  Rev.  Richard  Seymour,1  was  a  clergyman 
of  the  Church  of  England.  With  such  promoters  as  those  most 
interested  in  the  colony — Popham,  chief  justice  of  England,  and 
Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  an  ardent  royalist  and  churchman — it  is 
not  likely  that  English  dissent  would  furnish  religious  leadership 
in  the  undertaking.  If  there  were  differences  of  religious  belief 
among  the  colonists,  these  were  laid  aside;  and  devout  hearts 
found  abundant  occasion  in  the  experiences  of  the  voyage  for  glad 
expression  of  thanksgiving  and  praise.  It  was  certainly  a  most 
fitting  service  in  connection  with  an  enterprise  that  meant  so  much 
both  for  the  old  world  and  the  new.2 

On  the  following  day,  August  10,  both  captains — Popham  in 
his  shallop  with  thirty  men  and  Gilbert  in  his  ship's  boat  with 
twenty  men — taking  with  them  Skidwarres,  passed  round  Pema- 
quid  point,  evidently  to  avoid  the  march  across  the  peninsula,  and 
visited  the  Indians  at  the  place  where  Gilbert  had  met  them  two 
days  before.  As  at  the  previous  interview,  the  establishment  of 
kindly  relations  with  the  Indians  was  the  purpose  of  the  visit;  but 

1  Concerning  Rev.  Richard  Seymour  there  is  no  information  known  to  the 
writer  aside  from  his  connection  with  the  Popham  colony.  Bishop  Burgess 
(Popham  Memorial,  Me.  Hist.  Society,  101-4)  suggested  that  he  was  con- 
nected with  the  Popham,  Gorges,  Gilbert  and  Ralegh  families,  but  the  sug- 
gestion remains  a  suggestion  only.  A  Richard  Seymour  matriculated  at 
Brasenose  College,  Oxford,  in  1588-9,  but  a  biographical  sketch  of  this  Oxon- 
ian makes  it  clear  that  he  did  not  become  a  clergyman,  and  so  was  not 
the  Richard  Seymour  of  the  Popham  colony. 

2  In  the  King's  instructions  for  the  government  of  the  colonies  occurred 
these  words,  which  Popham  evidently  had  not  failed  to  notice  :  "We  do  spe- 
cially ordain,  charge  and  require,  the  said  president  and  councils,  and  the 
ministers  of  the  said  several  colonies  respectively,  within  their  several  lim- 
its and  precincts,  that  they,  with  all  diligence,  care  and  respect,  do  provide 
that  the  true  word  and  service  of  God  and  Christian  faith  be  preached, 
planted  and  used,  not  only  within  every  of  the  said  several  colonies  and 
plantations,  but  also  as  much  as  they  may  amongst  the  savage  people  which 
do  or  shall  adjoin  unto  them,  or  border  upon  them,  according  to  the  doc- 
trine, rites  and  religion  now  professed  and  established  within  our  realm  of 
England".     Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States ,  I,  67,  68. 


74  the  beginnings  op  colonial  maine. 

apparently  the  memory  of  the  natives,  who  were  captured  by  Way- 
mouth  with  Skidwarres  and  Nahanada  and  had  not  been  returned, 
lingered  in  the  hearts  of  the  members  of  the  tribe,  and  there  was 
an  evident  lack  of  cordial  feeling.  The  visitors  spent  the  night 
by  themselves  on  the  other  side  of  the  Pemaquid  river.  Better 
relations  were  not  secured  on  the  following  day;  and  the  visitors, 
leaving  Skidwarres,  who  now  expressed  a  determination  to  remain 
with  his  people,  returned  to  their  ships. 

That  night  the  vessels  remained  at  the  place  of  rendezvous. 
But  the  summer  was  rapidly  passing,  and  the  planting  of  the  col- 
ony was  now  a  matter  of  pressing  interest  and  importance. 
Accordingly,  on  the  following  morning,  Wednesday,  August  12, 
anchors  were  weighed,  and  both  vessels,  moving  out  from  their 
island  harbor  into  the  open  sea,  were  headed  westward  down  the 
coast.  Pring's  explorations  of  the  preceding  year  had  called 
attention  to  the  river  Sagadahoc  as  a  larger  and  more  important 
river  than  that  which  Waymouth  discovered  in  1605,  and  there- 
fore one  upon  which  a  more  suitable  location  for  the  settlement  of 
a  colony  could  be  found.  It  is  a  clear  inference  from  the  Relation 
that  before  the  Gift  of  God  and  the  Mary  and  John  left  England 
it  had  been  decided  that  the  colonists  should  proceed  to  the  Saga- 
dahoc, and  establish  themselves  there.  In  accordance  with  this 
decision,  Popham  and  Gilbert  now  sailed  westward,  instead  of 
moving  in  toward  the  main  land  and  the  river  of  Waymouth' s 
exploration. 

In  reaching  the  sea,  the  Kennebec  river,  the  ancient  Sagadahoc, 
does  not  present  an  opening  that  is  discoverable  from  vessels  pass- 
ing along  the  coast.  Popham  and  Gilbert  had  been  made 
acquainted  with  this  fact,  and  careful  directions  for  gaining  an 
entrance  to  the  river  had  been  placed  in  their  hands.  Accordingly, 
when  night  drew  on,  in  order  not  to  pass  too  far  to  the  westward 
and  so  "over  shoot"  the  mouth  of  the  river,  both  vessels  struck 
their  sails  and  thus  remained  from  midnight  until  morning.  With 
the  break   of  day,  they  were   about   half   a  league  south  of  the 


the;  popham  colony  .  75 

"island  of  Sutquin".1  The  writer  of  the  Relation  adds  here  two 
rude  but  good  drawings  of  Seguin  as  seen  from  different  points  ; 
and  in  referring  to  the  island  he  mentions  the  fact  that  the  island 
is  situated  '  'right  before  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  Sagadahock' ' . 
Popham  and  Gilbert,  therefore,  had  an  excellent  guide  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river.  But  Gilbert,  in  the  Mary  and  John,  not  con- 
vinced that  the  island  was  "Sutquin",  continued  to  stand  to  the 
westward  in  .search  of  it.  On  the  other  hand,  Popham,  in  the 
Gift  of  God,  sending  his  shallop  landward  from  the  island  which 
he  held  to  be  the  "Sutquin"  of  his  directions,  found  the  mouth  of 
the  Sagadahoc,  and  at  the  close  of  the  day  brought  his  vessel 
safely  into  the  river  and  anchored. 

That  night  a  heavy  storm  from  the  south  broke  upon  the  Mary 
and  John,  and  with  difficulty  the  vessel  was  rescued  from  many 
perils  upon  a  lee  shore ;  but  at  length  a  refuge  was  found  under 
the  shelter  of  two  islands.2  Here  Gilbert  remained  until  Saturday, 
August  15,  when  the  storm  having  spent  itself,  he  headed  his  ves- 
sel again  for  "Sutquin".  On  his  return,  however,  by  reason  of 
an  offshore  wind,  he  was  unable  to  bring  the  vessel  into  the  river. 
On  the  following  day,  Popham  in  his  shallop  came  to  the  assist- 
ance of  his  consort,  and  before  noon  the  Mary  and  John  found 
anchorage  in  the  Sagadahoc  alongside  of  the  Gift  of  God. 

The  location  of  the  colony  was  now  the  matter  of  first  import- 
ance with  the  colonists,  and  on  the  following  day,  August  17, 
Popham  in  his  shallop  with  thirty  others  and  Gilbert  in  his  ship's 
boat  and  eighteen  others — fifty  in  all— proceeded  up  the  river  in 

1  This  is  the  first  mention  of  the  island  in  the  early  narratives.  Capt. 
John  Smith  (1616)  calls  it  Satguin.  According  to  the  late  Rev.  M.  C.  O'Brien 
of  Bangor,  a  recognized  authority  in  the  Abnaki  language,  this  Indian  name 
of  the  island  means  "he  vomits".  Evidently  the  Indians  had  long  been 
familiar  with  the  general  condition  of  the  waters  between  Seguin  and  the 
mainland. 

2  The  vessel,  it  seems,  was  now  in  the  vicinity  of  Cape  Small  point.  Thayer 
{The  Sagadahoc  Colony,  62,  notej  says  :  "The  outermost  point  or  true  cape 
must  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  islands,  though  it  is  now  joined  to  the  main 
land  by  a  low  neck  of  sand.  It  is  400  or  600  yards  in  extent.  Seal  island, 
350  yards  in  length,  lies  northeast,  nearer  the  land." 


76  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COIyONlAl,   MAINE. 

search  of  the  most  suitable  place  for  the  plantation.  "We  find 
this  river",  says  the  Relation,  "to  be  very  pleasant  with  many 
goodly  islands  in  it  and  to  be  both  large  and  deep  water  having 
many  branches  in  it ;  that  which  we  took  bendeth  itself  towards 
the  northeast".  From  these  words  it  may  be  inferred  that,  after 
reaching  Merrymeeting  bay,  the  explorers  passed  into  the  Kenne- 
bec ;  but  concerning  the  distance  made  in  that  part  of  the  river 
there  is  no  statement,  or  any  words  even  from  which  an  inference 
can  be  drawn.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  in  their  search  the 
explorers  found  no  place  for  a  plantation  preferable  to  that  which 
was  observable  from  the  vessels  in  the  river.  Accordingly,  after 
their  return  they  "all  went  to  the  shore  and  there  made  choice  of 
a  place  for  our  plantation,  which  is  at  the  very  mouth  or  entry  of 
the  river  of  Sagadahock  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  being  almost 
an  island  of  a  good  bigness".  The  record  affords  no  opportunity 
for  doubt  with  reference  to  the  place  selected.  It  was  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc,  and  on  the  west  side  of  the  river.  The 
added  statement,  that  the  land  selected  for  the  plantation  formed 
"almost  an  island  of  a  good  bigness",  describes  in  general  terms 
the  peninsula  of  Sabino,  "a  huge  misshapen  triangle"  between 
Atkins  bay  and  the  sea.  Examination  of  this  tract  of  land  estab- 
lishes its  fitness  for  plantation  purposes. x  Just  as  clearly  as  the 
Relation  establishes  the  general  location  of  the  Popham  colony  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river,  so  another  discovery,  since  that  of  the 
Iyambeth  Palace  manuscript,  enables  us  to  fix  the  precise  location 
of  the  fortified  settlement,  which  Popham  and  his  associates  made 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc.2 

1  For  very  full  particulars  concerning  the  location,  and  especially  for  men- 
tion of  erroneous  opinions  held  by  early  writers,  see  Thayer,  Sagadahoc 
Colony,  167-187. 

2  Among  the  treasures  secured  for  Brown's  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  by 
Dr.  Curry  in  the  library  at  Simancas,  Spain,  was  a  copy  of  '  'The  draught  of 
St.  George's  fort  erected  by  Captain  George  Popham,  Esquire,  on  the  entry 
of  the  famous  River  of  Sagadahock  in  Virginia,  taken  out  by  John  Hunt  the 
VIII  of  October  in  the  year  of  our  I^ord  1607".  When  this  plan  was  pub- 
lished in  the  Genesis  (Houghton,  Mifflin  Co.,  Boston,  1890,  I,  190),  it  was 
discovered  that  the  generally  accepted  view  as  to  the  location  of  Popham 's 


THE   POPHAM    COLONY.  77 

The  choice  of  this  precise  location  of  the  settlement  was  made 
August  19.  "All  went  to  the  shore"  for  this  purpose,  and  after 
the  selection  there  was  a  religious  service.  To  the  colonists  this 
meant  much  more  than  that  held  a  few  days  before  on  one  of  the 
islands  of  St.  George's  harbor.  Then,  the  service  was  one  of 
thanksgiving  for  their  safe  arrival  in  the  new  world.  Now,  they 
were  about  to  lay  the  foundations  of  civil  government ;  and  as 
their  own  hopes,  and  the  hopes  of  those  most  deeply  interested  in 
the  welfare  of  the  colony,  extended  into  an  unknown  future,  their 
preacher,  in  the  presence  of  all  the  colonists,  implored  the  blessing 
of  God  on  the  great  undertaking  upon  which  they  now  formally 
entered.  "After  the  sermon",  adds  the  Relation,  "our  patent 
was  read  with  the  orders  and  laws  therein  prescribed".  The 
patent — if  patent  there  was — must  have  been  a  copy  of  that 
granted  by  James  I  on  April  10,  1606,  providing  for  two  colonies 
in  America,  designated  as  the  first  and  second,  the  former  known 
as  the  southern  colony  and  the  latter  as  the  northern  colony.1 
The  document  is  a  lengthy  one  and  its  reading  could  have  added 
little  interest  to  the  occasion,  as  its  provisions  were  already  known. 
But  as  the  words  in  the  Relation  '  'therein  prescribed' '  make  the 

fort  was  no  longer  tenable.  In  fact,  an  examination  of  the  plan,  and  of  the 
topographical  features  of  the  peninsula  of  Sabino,  soon  made  it  evident  that 
the  newly  discovered  plan  could  only  be  made  to  fit  the  plot  of  ground  situ- 
ated a  few  hundred  yards  west  of  the  present  Fort  Popham.  When  laid 
down  upon  this  plot  the  plan  fitted  the  location  as  a  glove  fits  a  hand.  At 
the  Popham  celebration,  August  29,  1862,  the  Maine  Historical  Society  pro- 
vided a  granite  memorial  of  the  Popham  settlement  for  insertion  in  the  wall 
of  Fort  Popham.  As  the  construction  of  the  fort  was  abandoned  even  before 
the  close  of  the  Civil  War — so  rapid  was  the  advance  in  the  requirements  for 
offensive  and  defensive  warfare  in  coast  fortifications — the  proposed  memo- 
rial block  remained  uncalled  for  in  the  grounds  of  the  fort  until  the  approach 
of  the  tercentenary  of  the  Popham  colony  in  1907,  when  the  society  obtained 
permission  from  the  War  Department  at  Washington  to  transfer  the  memo- 
rial to  the  rocky  ledge,  included  in  Popham 's  fort  as  indicated  on  the  Siman- 
cas  plan.  The  transfer  was  made,  and  with  a  slight  addition  to  the  inscrip- 
tion the  location  of  Popham's  fortified  settlement  was  appropriately  and 
accurately  indicated. 
1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I,  52-63. 


78  THE   BEGINNINGS   OE   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

patent  the  source  of  the  "orders  and  laws"  now  read  to  the  colo- 
nists, the  writer  doubtless  had  reference  to  the  instructions  of  the 
King  promulgated  November  20,  1606 x  for  the  government  of  the 
colonies.  These  were  prepared  "for  the  good  Order  and  Govern- 
ment of  the  two  several  Colonies  and  Plantations  to  be  made  by 
our  loving  subjects  in  the  Country  commonly  called  Virginia  and 
America".  A  copy  of  these  instructions  was  furnished  to  the 
heads  of  both  colonies,  southern  and  northern.  The  copy 
received  by  the  Popham  colonists  has  not  been  preserved.  Hap- 
pily, however,  the  copy  carried  to  Virginia  by  the  Jamestown 
colonists  has  come  down  to  us  in  full,  with  its  provisions  for 
orderly  government,  appointment  of  officers,  administration  of 
justice,  trial  by  jury,  punishment  of  offenders,  etc.,  the  founda- 
tion principles  of  the  civil  government  which  the  colonists  were  to 
organize. 

First  of  all,  these  instructions  established  in  England  a  "King's 
council  of  Virginia",  having  full  power  to  give  directions  for 
governing  the  colonists  "as  near  to  the  common  laws  of  England 
and  the  equity  thereof  as  may  be".  This  King's  council  was 
authorized  to  appoint  for  each  colony  a  council,  and  the  council 
was  made  the  governing  body  of  the  colony.  The  president  of 
the  colony,  serving  one  year,  was  appointed  by  the  colonial  coun- 
cil from  its  own  membership.  His  successor,  in  case  of  death,  or 
absence,  received  appointment  from  the  council,  and  for  any  just 
cause  the  council  could  remove  the  president  from  office.  In  cases 
of  criminal  offense,  the  president  and  council  pronounced  judg- 
ment. Provision  was  made  for  reprieve  by  the  president  and 
council,  and  for  pardon  by  the  King.  The  president  and  council 
also  had  power  to  hear  and  determine  all  civil  causes.  They 
could  also  from  time  to  time  "make  and  ordain  such  constitutions, 
ordinances  and  officers  for  the  better  order,  government  and  peace 
of  the  people",  these  always,  however,  to  be  "in  substance  con- 
sonant unto  the  laws  of  England,  or  the  equity  thereof".  Then 
follow  these  words: 

ilb.,  1,64-75. 


th:e  popham  colony.  79 

"Furthermore,  our  will  and  pleasure  is,  and  we  do  hereby  deter- 
mine and  ordain,  that  every  person  and  persons  being  our  sub- 
jects of  every  the  said  colonies  and  plantations  shall  from  time  to 
time  well  entreat  those  savages  in  those  parts,  and  use  all  good 
means  to  draw  the  savages  and  heathen  people  of  the  said  several 
places,  and  of  the  territories  and  countries  adjoining  to  the  true 
service  and  knowledge  of  God,  and  that  all  just,  kind  and  chari- 
table courses  shall  be  holden  with  such  of  them  as  shall  conform 
themselves  to  any  good  and  sociable  traffic  and  dealing  with  the 
subjects  of  us,  our  heirs  and  successors,  which  shall  be  planted 
there,  whereby  they  may  be  the  sooner  drawn  to  the  true  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  the  obedience  of  us,  our  heirs  and  successors, 
under  such  severe  pains  and  punishments  as  shall  be  inflicted  by 
the  same  several  presidents  and  councils  of  the  said  several  colo- 
nies, or  the  most  part  of  them  within  their  several  limits  and  pre- 
cincts, on  such  as  shall  offend  therein,  or  do  the  contrary." 

In  other  words,  both  the  colonists  and  the  natives  of  the 
country,  in  their  mutual  relations,  were  to  be  under  a  reign  of 
law  that  would  aim  to  secure  the  rights  and  happiness  of  all.  In 
the  King's  instructions  with  reference  to  the  government  of  the 
two  colonies,  the  rights  of  the  colonists,  so  far  as  personal  liberty 
is  concerned,  received  no  recognition.  The  officers  were  to  be 
elected  by  the  King's  council,  and  not  by  popular  vote.  Strachey, 
indeed,  says  that  after  the  reading  of  the  laws  under  which  the 
Popham  colonists  were  now  placed,  "George  Popham,  gent,  was 
nominated  president;  Captain  Ralegh  Gilbert,  James  Davies, 
Richard  Seymour,  preacher,  Capt.  Richard  Davies,  Capt.  Har- 
low   were  all  sworn  assistants.1     Captain  John  Smith, 

however,  puts  the  case  very  differently,  when,  in  referring  to  the 
Popham  colony  in  his  General  History  of  New  England?  he  says  : 
'  'That  honorable  patron  of  virtue,  Sir  John  Popham,  Lord  Chief 
Justice  of  England,  in  the  year  1606,  procured  means  and  men  to 
possess  it  (i.  e.  that  part  of  America  formerly  called  Norumbega, 

1  The  Sagadahoc  Colony,  67,  note. 

2  Richmond,  Va.,  1819,  II,  173-4. 


80  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  maine;. 

&c.,)  and  sent  Captain  George  Popham  for  president;  Captain 
Rawleigh  Gilbert  for  admiral ;  Edward  Harlow,  master  of  the 
ordinance;  Captain  Robert  Davis,  sergeant  major ;  Captain  Ellis 
Best,  marshal;  Master  L,eaman,  secretary;  Captain  James  Davis 
to  be  captain  of  the  fort ;  Master  Gome  Carew,  chief  searcher". 

The  natural  inference  from  these  words  is  that  the  officers  of  the 
colony  were  appointed  in  England  by  Sir  John  Popham.  But  the 
name  of  the  chief  justice  is  not  included  in  the  list  of  members  of 
the  "King's  council  of  Virginia"  which  appears  in  the  instruc- 
tions for  the  government  of  the  colonies.  In  that  council,  how- 
ever, the  Popham  family  was  represented  by  Popham 's  son  and 
heir,  Sir  Francis  Popham.  Captain  Smith,  making  the  above  rec- 
ord in  1624,  probably  was  in  error  in  implying  that  the  officers  of 
the  colony  were  appointed  by  Sir  John  Popham.  The  latter' s 
enthusiastic  exertions  in  financing  the  undertaking  entitled  him 
to  honorable  mention  in  any  reference  to  the  northern  colony  ;  but 
unquestionably  there  is  no  ground  for  the  inference  that  the 
King's  instructions  were  not  strictly  followed  in  the  appointment 
of  all  the  officers  of  the  Popham  colony. 

On  the  following  day,  Thursday,  August  20,  the  whole  company 
again  landed,  and  work  at  once  was  commenced  on  the  fort  that 
was  to  inclose  the  colonist's  settlement.  It  was  a  large  earth- 
work, occupying  the  level  plot  of  ground  at  the  northern  extrem- 
ity of  Sabino  head.  President  Popham  "set  the  first  spit  of 
ground".  The  rest  followed,  and  "labored  hard  in  the  trenches 
about  it' ' .  As  within  the  inclosure  necessary  buildings  were  to 
be  erected  later  for  the  use  of  the  colonists,  there  was  need  of  busy 
endeavor  in  order  to  complete  the  required  work  before  the  winter 
opened. 

On  the  next  day,  the  colonists  continued  their  work,  some  in 
the  trenches  and  others  in  the  woods  preparing  fagots  for  use  in 
the  construction  of  the  fort.  Thus  early,  also,  under  the  direction 
of  the  head  carpenter,  those  who  were  familiar  with  shipbuilding 
repaired  to  the  woods  and  commenced  to  cut  timber  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  small  vessel,  which  would  be  needed  by  the  colonists 


THK   POPHAM    COLONY.  81 

on   the  return  of  the   Mary  and  John  and  the  Gift  of  God  to 
England  before  the  close  of  the  year. 

On  Saturday,  August  22,  President  Popham  proceeded  in  his 
shallop  up  the  river  as  far  as  Merrymeeting  bay.  From  that  large 
body  of  water,  in  his  former  exploration,  he  had  entered  the  Ken- 
nebec, and  noted  its  characteristics  and  opportunities  for  trade 
with  the  Indians.  This  time  he  turned  westward  from  this  point, 
and  entered  the  ancient  Pejepscot,  now  the  Androscoggin.  Prob- 
ably he  proceeded  as  far  as  the  falls  at  Brunswick.  There,  or  at 
some  other  part  of  the  river,  he  held  a  parley  with  a  body  of 
Indians,  who  informed  him  that  they  had  been  at  war  with 
Sasanoa,  the  chief  of  the  Kennebec  Indians,  and  had  slain  his  son. 
He  also  learned  that  Skidwarres  and  Nahanada  were  in  this  fight. 
Having  completed  his  exploration,  President  Popham  returned 
with  his  party  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  on  the  following  day. 

With  the  new  week  that  had  opened,  the  colonists  continued 
the  work  upon  which  they  had  entered  with  so  much  energy  and 
enthusiasm.  Meanwhile  Captain  Gilbert  had  in  contemplation 
exploration  to  the  westward  after  the  return  of  President  Popham. 
By  unfavorable  weather,  however,  he  was  delayed  until  Friday, 
August  28,  when,  in  his  ship's  boat  with  fifteen  others,  he  sailed 
out  of  the  river  and  proceeded  westward  along  the  coast.  Men- 
tion of  "many  gallant  islands",  evidently  the  islands  of  Casco 
bay,  is  made  in  the  Relation.  It  was  a  picturesque  scene  which 
Gilbert  and  his  companions  had  before  them,  as  in  the  afternoon, 
with  a  favoring  breeze,  they  sailed  past  these  many  wooded 
islands.  That  night,  the  wind  having  now  shifted  and  being 
strong  against  them,  they  anchored  under  a  sheltering  headland 
called  Semeamis.  Because  of  meager  details  in  the  Relation,  the 
exact  location  of  this  headland  cannot  now  be  determined  with 
certainty.  Thayer,  who  has  carefully  sought  for  a  location  in  the 
light  of  these  scanty  materials,  expresses  the  opinion  that  it  is  to 
be  found  on  some  part  of  Cape  Elizabeth,  not  far  from  Portland 
head  light,  in  what  is  known  as  Ship  cove.1 
1  The  Sagadahoc  Colony,  69,  note. 
6 


82  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

The  next  morning,  Captain  Gilbert,  against  a  strong  head-wind, 
continued  his  course  along  the  coast.  There  was  hard  rowing  in 
a  rough  sea,  and  progress  was  slow.  At  length  as  the  day  drew 
to  a  close,  escaping  the  baffling  billows  that  had  assailed  them  so 
many  hours,  they  came  to  anchor  under  an  island  "two  leagues 
from  the  place"  where  they  anchored  the  night  before.  The 
indications  are  clear  that  this  island  was  no  other  than  Richmond's 
island.  Here  Gilbert  remained  until  midnight,  and  then,  the  wind 
having  subsided,  he  and  his  companions  left  the  island  "in  hope 
to  have  gotten  the  place  we  desired".  But  soon  after  the  wind 
again  swept  down  upon  them — a  strong  wind  from  the  southwest 
— and  they  were  compelled  to  return  to  the  anchorage  they  had 
just  left.  Concerning  the  desired  place  which  Gilbert  hoped  to 
reach,  there  is  no  information.  Something,  evidently,  he  had 
learned  from  Pring,  or  earlier  explorers,  led  him  onward  and  the 
head-winds  that  beset  him,  and  drove  him  back,  brought  disap- 
pointment. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  and  the  southwest  wind  being  favor- 
able for  the  return  to  the  Sagadahoc,  the  baffled  voyagers  directed 
their  boat  thitherward.     Again  they  entered  Casco  bay,  and  again 

the  writer  of  the  Relation  extolled  its  "goodly  islands 

so  thick  &  near  together  that  you  cannot  well  discern  to  number 
them,  yet  may  you  go  in  betwixt  them  in  a  good  ship,  for  you 
shall  have  never  less  water  than  eight  fathoms.  These  islands  are 
all  overgrown  with  woods  very  thick  as  oaks,  walnut,  pine  trees 
&  many  other  things  growing  as  sarsaparilla,  hazle  nuts  &  whorts 
in  abundance" .  The  return  journey  was  successfully  made,  and 
the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc  was  reached  at  the  close  of  the  day. 
It  was  a  very  favorable  run  from  Richmond's  island. 

Attention  was  now  given  not  only  to  work  on  the  fort,  but  also 
to  the  erection  of  a  storehouse  within  the  inclosure.  Any  rela- 
tion with  their  Indian  neighbors  was  a  matter  of  very  great  inter- 
est. On  the  first  day  of  September  a  canoe  was  discovered 
approaching  the  fort,  but  its  occupants,  when  at  the  shore,  acted 
warily,  not  allowing  more  than  a  single  colonist  to  come  near  at  a 


THE   POPHAM    COLONY.  83 

time.  The  writer  of  the  Relation  makes  mention  of  two  "great 
kettles  of  brass"  that  he  saw  in  the  canoe,  an  evidence  apparently 
of  earlier  trading  relations  with  European  fishing  and  trading  ves- 
sels on  the  coast. 

A  few  days  later,  September  5,  nine  Indian  canoes  entered  the 
river  from  the  eastward.  They  contained  about  forty  men, 
women  and  children,  and  among  them  were  Nahanada  and  Skid- 
warres.  All  were  kindly  welcomed  and  entertained.  The  larger 
part  of  the  visitors,  after  a  while,  withdrew  to  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river  and  made  their  camp  there ;  but  Skidwarres  and  another 
Indian  remained  with  the  colonists  until  night.  Then,  as  both 
wished  to  rejoin  their  own  people,  Captain  Gilbert  and  two  other 
officers  conveyed  them  across  the  river,  and  stayed  that  night 
with  the  Indians  who  were  to  depart  in  the  morning.  When,  at 
that  time,  the  Indians  set  out  on  their  return  to  Pemaquid,  Gil- 
bert obtained  from  them  a  promise  that  on  a  certain  day,  agreed 
upon  by  both  parties,  they  would  accompany  him  to  the  place  on 
the  Penobscot  river  where  the  "bashabe",  or  principal  chief  of 
that  region,  resided. 

This  promise  evidently  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  colonists, 
and  strengthened  the  hope  that  thus  early  strong  friendly  relations 
would  be  opened  with  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  neighbor- 
ing Indian  tribes.  Accordingly,  three  days  later,  Tuesday,  Sep- 
tember 8,  Gilbert,  accompanied  by  twenty-two  others,  started  east- 
ward, taking  with  them  various  kinds  of  merchandise  for  traffic 
with  the  Indians.  But  again  the  wind  was  contrary,  and  in  wait- 
ing for  more  favorable  weather  conditions,  they  delayed  so  long 
that  they  were  not  able  to  reach  Pemaquid  at  the  appointed  time. 
When  they  finally  came  to  the  place,  the  Indians,  whom  they 
were  to  meet,  and  who  were  to  conduct  them  to  the  "bashabe", 
had  left.  They  "found  no  living  creature.  They  all  were  gone 
from  thence".  This  is  a  noteworthy  record  in  the  Relation,  inas- 
much as  it  furnishes  information  with  reference  to  conditions 
existing  at  Pemaquid  at  that  time.  Indians  were  its  only  inhabi- 
tants, and  they  had  now  left.     If  Gilbert  and  his  men,  in  their 


84  THE   BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAE  MAINE. 

search  for  the  Indians,  found  at  Pemaquid  any  traces  of  other 
inhabitants  or  of  an  earlier  European  civilization1,  they  failed  to 
record  the  fact.  Early  references  to  Pemaquid  make  mention 
only  of  Indian  occupation,  or  traces  of  such  occupation. 

But  Gilbert  and  his  companions,  disappointed  in  not  finding  the 
Indians,  and  especially  Nahanada  and  Skidwarres,  did  not  aban- 
don the  expedition,  but  sailing  round  Pemaquid  point,  Gilbert 
directed  his  boat  to  the  eastward  in  the  hope  of  reaching  by  water 
the  seat  of  the  "bashabe"  upon  the  Penobscot  river.  Three  days 
were  spent  in  this  endeavor,  but  the  river  did  not  open  to  them  in 
that  time,  and  their  food  supply  not  warranting  a  farther  search, 
the  explorers  were  at  length  compelled  to  turn  about  and  make 
their  way  back  to  their  companions  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc. 

Meanwhile  the  storehouse  within  the  fort  had  been  so  far  com- 
pleted, that  September  7,  the  removal  of  supplies  from  the  Mary 
and  John  began.     But  work   on  the  fort   was  not  discontinued. 

1  The  "Commissioners  in  Charge  of  the  Remains  of  the  Ancient  Fortifica- 
tions at  Pemaquid",  in  their  report  dated  December  13,  1902, say  (p.  3):  "The 
remnants  of  a  well-populated  and  well-built  town  with  paved  streets  now 
quite  below  the  surface  of  the  present  cultivated  soil — the  date  of  which 
establishment  has  not  yet  been  discovered —  show  that  this  was  also  in  very 
early  times  occupied  with  intention  of  permanence. ' '  The  reason  for  this 
non-discovery  is  found  in  the  fact  that  search  is  made  where  nothing  is  to  be 
found,  if  by  "very  early  times"  is  meant  some  period  prior  to  the  Popham 
Colony.  In  connection  with  their  report  the  commissioners  print  a  "Memo- 
rial" submitted  by  Hon.  R.  K.  Sewall,  who  refers  to  "marked  remains  and 
relics  of  Spanish  occupation".  Members  of  the  Popham  colony  visited 
Pemaquid  on  four  different  occasions,  but  make  no  mention  of  indications 
of  earlier  "Spanish  occupation"  or  any  other  occupation  than  Indian,  nor 
did  the  Indians  call  their  attention  to  "marked  remains"  ;  neither  did  such 
careful  explorers  as  Pring,  de  Monts,  Champlain,  Capt.  John  Smith  and  others 
make  any  mention  of  such  remains.  In  connection  with  the  construction  of 
Fort  Willian  Henry  (1692)  a  very  substantial  structure,  "paved  streets",  *. 
e.,  good  roadway  approaches  to  the  fort,  were  doubtless  made,  or,  in  1729, 
when  upon  the  ruins  of  Fort  William  Henry  (destroyed  in  1696)  Fort  Fred- 
eric was  built.  This  last  strong  fortification  was  demolished  early  in  the 
Revolution  in  order  that  it  might  not  become  a  British  stronghold.  With  the 
utter  overthrow  of  these  Pemaquid  fortifications,  any  "paved  streets"  made 
in  connection  with  them  naturally  disappeared. 


THE  POPHAM   COIvONY.  85 

The  season,  however,  was  advancing  so  rapidly   that  it  seemed 
desirable  to  make  a  more  extended  exploration  of  the  river  before 
it  should  be  closed  by  ice.     Accordingly,  September  23,    Gilbert 
and  nineteen  others  started  "for  the  head  of  the  river  of  Sagada- 
hock' ' .     For  two  days  and  a  part  of  a  third  day,  the  course  of  the 
Kennebec  was  followed  as  far  as  the  falls  at  Augusta.     With  some 
difficulty  these  were  successfuly  passed,  and  Gilbert  and  his  com- 
panions ascended  the  river  about  a  league  farther.     But  night 
coming  on  they  landed  and  went  into  camp.    The  evening  had  not 
far  advanced  when  their  rest  was  disturbed  by  a  call  in  broken 
English  from  some  Indians  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.     A 
response  was  made,  but  the  strangers  soon  withdrew  and  the  night 
passed  without  added  interruption.     The  use  of  broken  English 
by  these  savages  indicated  an  earlier  contact  with  Englishmen 
in  American   waters.     Possibly  this  was   in   the   preceding  year 
when  Hanham  and  Pring  were  on  the  coast.     It  is  perhaps  more 
probable   that  the    "broken  English"    of  these  Indians  was  the 
result  of  trading  relations  with  English  fishermen,  whose  vessels 
had  visited  American  waters  from  the  opening  of  the  century,  or 
at  least  shortly  after  its  opening. 

On  the  following  morning,  Saturday,  September  26,  four  Indi- 
ans appeared  and  made  themselves  known  as  the  Indians  who  had 
called  to  them  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  the  evening 
before.  Evidently  they  had  received  information  of  the  progress 
of  Gilbert  and  his  men  up  the  river,  and  wished  to  learn  the  sig- 
nificance of  the  presence  of  the  visitors.    One  of  the  four  announced 

himself   as    "Sebanoa l,ord   of    the  river  of  Sagada- 

hock". 

With  this  announcement,  the  manuscript  Relation,  followed  in 
this  narrative  thus  far,  abruptly  closes  at  the  bottom  of  a  page. 
There  can  be  little,  if  any  doubt  whatever,  that  originally  there 
were  added  pages  which  in  some  way  became  detached,  and  so 
were  finally  lost  in  the  vicissitudes  through  which  the  manuscript 
passed  before  it  found  a  safe  resting  place  in  the  library  of  Lam- 
beth Palace.     The  story  of  the  Popham  colony  that  is  found  in 


86  THE;   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE). 

William  Strachey's  Historie  of  Travaile  into  Virginia,  follows  so 
closely  the  Relation  to  this  point  as  to  leave  little  doubt  from  the 
character  of  the  rest  of  the  story,  that  Strachey  had  all  the  miss- 
ing pages  of  the  manuscript  before  him  while  writing  his  narra- 
tive. As  there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  manuscript — doubtless 
prepared  for  the  information  of  the  patrons  of  the  enterprise — was 
continued  only  to  October  6,  1607,  the  probable  date  of  the  sail- 
ing of  the  Mary  and  John  for  England,  the  loss  is  not  a  great  one, 
and  happily  is  in  part  at  least  supplied  by  Strachey's  narrative, 
supplemented  from  other  sources  than  those  available  now. 

Strachey's  narrative  continues  the  story  of  Gilbert's  interview 
with  Sebanoa,  recording  acts  of  duplicity  and  treachery  on  the 
part  of  the  Kennebec  Indians  as  well  as  other  acts  of  kindness  and 
good-will.  Gilbert  seems  to  have  conducted  himself  with  tact  and 
discretion  under  circumstances  that  were  full  of  peril  to  himself 
and  his  party.  It  was  his  declared  purpose  in  the  exploration  to 
go  "to  the  head  of  the  river",  but  the  rapids  he  had  now  reached 
made  progress  difficult.  His  experiences  with  the  Indians,  also, 
had  been  by  no  means  what  he  desired.  At  all  events  he  now 
abandoned  farther  advance  up  the  river,  and  having  erected  a 
cross  at  the  highest  point  he  had  reached,  he  set  out  on  his  return 
to  the  settlement.  On  the  way  down  the  river,  search  was  made 
for  the  '  'by  river  of  some  note  called  Sasanoa' ' ,  by  which  plainly 
was  meant  the  tidal  river  that  connects  the  Kennebec  opposite 
Bath  with  the  waters  of  Sheepscot  bay.  Concerning  this  inland 
passage  into  the  Sagadahoc,  information  doubtless  had  been 
received  from  Indians  they  had  met  in  interviews  already  men- 
tioned ;  but  though  Gilbert  and  his  party  looked  for  it  carefully,  a 
fog  at  length  settled  down  upon  them  and  they  were  obliged  to 
make  their  way  homeward  as  best  they  could. 

They  reached  the  fort  on  September  29.  September  30  and 
October  1  and  2,  all  were  busy  about  the  fort.  On  the  Mary  and 
John,  too,  now  nearly  ready  to  sail  on  her  return  voyage  to  Eng- 
land, there  were  doubtless  many  evidences  of  preparations  for 
the  voyage.     September  3,  Skidwarres,  crossing  the  river  in   a 


THE   POPHAM   COLONY.  87 

canoe,  brought  a  message  to  President  Popham,  saying  that 
Nahanada,  also  the  bashabe's  brother  and  other  Indians,  were  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  would  visit  the  colonists  on  the 
following  day.  This  they  did,  two  canoes  conveying  the  party, 
which  included  Nahanada  and  his  wife,  Skidwarres,  the  bashabe's 
brother  and  a  chief  called  Amenquin.  Popham  entertained  his 
guests  with  kindness  and  generosity  during  two  days,  the  last  day 
being  Sunday,  on  which  "with  great  reverence  and  silence"  the 
Indians  attended  the  religious  services  of  the  colonists  both  morn- 
ing and  evening.  With  the  exception  of  Amenquin,  all  the 
Indians  departed  on  Monday,  October  6,  and  on  this  date  the 
daily  journal  in  Strachey's  narrative  ends.  This  abrupt  suspen- 
sion of  the  daily  record  of  the  Popham  colony  gives  probability  to 
the  inference  that  it  was  brought  to  a  close  because  of  the  sailing 
of  the  Mary  and  John  about  this  date;  the  journal  having  been 
kept  apparently  for  the  purpose  of  affording  the  patrons  of  the 
colony  in  England  eagerly  awaited  information  at  the  earliest  pos- 
sible opportunity.  As  the  plan  of  Fort  St.  George,  already  men- 
tioned, bears  the  inscription,  "taken  out  on  the  8th  of  October, 
1607",  it  is  possible  that  in  these  few  words  is  recorded  the  exact 
date  on  which  the  Mary  and  John  sailed  out  of  the  river  home- 
ward bound.1 

The  vessel  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  Plymouth,  England,  on  the 
first  day  of  December.  No  one  with  a  deeper  personal  interest 
welcomed  the  tidings  the  Mary  and  John  brought  from  the  colo- 
nists than  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges.  The  journal  was  placed  in  his 
hand,  and  added  information  with  reference  to  the  colony  was 
communicated  by  the  officers  of  the  vessel.  It  was  "great  news", 
and  the  commander  of  the  fort  at  Plymouth  late  that  very  night 
—evidently  having  spent  the  preceding  hours  in  personal  inter- 
views with  the  returning  voyagers— hastened  to  make  known  to 
Secretary  Cecil  at  Hatfield  house  the  information  he  had  received.2 

1  Thayer,  Sagadahoc  Colony,  192-196,  has  a  valuable  paper  on  the  "Move- 
ments of  the  Ships". 

2  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  III,  154-157. 


88  THE  BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

The  colonists,  he  wrote,  had  successfully  established  themselves 
in  a  fertile  country,  with  gallant  rivers,  stately  harbors  and  a  peo- 
ple tractable,  if  only  they  were  discreetly  dealt  with.  To  be  sure, 
the  Mary  and  John  had  brought  no  such  cargo  as  would  satisfy 
the  expectation  of  those  who  had  furnished  the  funds  for  financing 
the  undertaking,  and  this  fact,  he  said,  might  be  used  to  the  dis- 
advantage of  the  enterprise;  but  it  should  be  remembered,  he 
added,  that  the  colonists  during  the  two  months  following  their 
arrival  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc  had  been  busily  engaged  in 
establishing  themselves  in  a  secure  position  there.  But  this  was 
not  the  whole  story,  and  Gorges  was  compelled  to  add  that  already 
among  the  colonists  there  were  discordant  elements,  occasioned 
by  the  "defect  and  want  of  understanding  of  some  of  those 
employed,  to  perform  what  they  were  directed  unto,  from  whence 
there  did  not  only  proceed  confusion,  but,  through  pride  and  arro- 
gancy,  faction  and  private  resolution",  concerning  which  he  would 
inform  his  lordship  more  fully  at  another  time. 

But  though  Gorges  evidently  was  considerably  discouraged  on 
account  of  the  reported  condition  of  things  among  the  colonists, 
he  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  excellent  reasons  why  his  associates 
in  the  enterprise  should  not  steadfastly  resolve  to  follow  it  up  with 
energy  and  hopefulness.  Such  reasons  he  found  in  "the  boldness 
of  the  coast,  the  easiness  of  the  navigation,  the  fertility  of  the  soil, 
and  the  several  sorts  of  commodities  that  they  are  assured  the 
country  do  yield,  as  namely  fish  in  the  season  in  great  plenty,  all 
along  the  coast  mastidge  for  ships,  goodly  oaks,  and  cedars  with 
infinite  other  sorts  of  trees,  rosin,  hemp,  grapes  very  fair  and 
excellent  good,  whereof  they  have  already  made  wine,  much  like 
to  the  claret  wine  that  comes  out  of  France  ;  rich  furs  if  they  can 
keep  the  Frenchmen  from  the  trade ;  as  for  metals,  they  can  say 
nothing,  but  they  are  confident  there  is  in  the  country,  if  they  had 
means  to  seek  for  it,  neither  could  they  go  so  high  as  the  alum 
mines  are  which  the  savages  doth  assure  them  there  is  great  plenty 
of".  The  manufacture  of  alum  from  pyritic  shale  was  at  that 
time  exciting  public  interest  not  only  in  England  but  upon  the 


THE  POPHAM   COLONY.  89 

continent ;  and  the  fact  that  thus  early  the  colonists  had  satisfied 
themselves  of  the  existence  of  deposits  of  pyritic  shale  in  the  Sag- 
adahoc country  was  one  especially  welcome  to  Gorges.1 

In  a  second  letter  to  Cecil,  dated  December  3,  1607, 2  Gorges 
gives  fuller  expression  to  the  reports  he  had  received  with  refer- 
ence to  the  general  confusion  already  existing  among  the  colo- 
nists. President  Popham,  he  described  as  "an  honest  man,  but 
old  and  of  an  un wieldly  body,  and  timorously  fearful  to  offend  or 
contest  with  others  that  will  or  do  oppose  him ;  but  otherwise  a 
discreet,  careful  man".  Concerning  Gilbert,  the  second  in  com- 
mand, Gorges  says  he  is  described  by  those  who  returned  in  the 
Mary  and  John  as  "desirous  of  supremacy  and  rule,  a  loose  life, 
prompt  to  sensuality,  little  zeal  in  religion,  humorous,  headstrong 
and  of  small  judgment  and  experience,  other  ways  valiant  enough' ' . 
Of  the  other  officials,  the  preacher,  Rev.  Robert  Seymour,  was 
especially  commended  "for  his  pains  in  his  place  and  his  honest 
endeavors".  Honorable  mention  was  also  made  of  Captain  Robert 
Davies  and  Mr.  Turner,  the  company's  physician.  But  of  the  col- 
onists in  general,  little  was  said.  Evidently  they  were  regarded 
by  Gorges  as  unfit  for  employment  in  such  an  undertaking. 
"Childish  factions"  had  already  developed  among  them. 

Naturally,  Gorges  was  disturbed  on  account  of  this  condition  of 
things  in  the  new  colony  ;  and  he  expresses  to  Cecil  the  wish  that 
the  king,  '  'unto  whom  by  right  the  conquest  of  kingdoms  doth 
appertain",  would  take  the  matter  into  his  own  hands,  and  so  not 
allow  the  project  to  fail.  Delicacy  did  not  allow  Gorges  to  with- 
hold the  suggestion  that  in  case  this  were  done  he  would  be 
"most  happy  to  receive  such  employment"  from  the  king  as  his 
highness  shall  deem  him  fitted,  and  he  had  no  doubt  that,  with 

1  '%arge  deposits  of  pyritic  shale,  or  more  popularly  alum  stone,  exist 
near  the  Sagadahoc.  It  occurs  at  the  mouth  of  Sprague's  river,  near  Small 
point,  in  Georgetown  ;  and  an  extensive  belt  of  it  extends  through  the  towns 
of  Lisbon  and  Litchfield.  On  Jewell's  island  alum  has  been  successfully 
manufactured  from  pyritic  shales  within  a  recent  period."  Baxter,  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  III,  156,  note. 

2  lb.,  Ill,  158-160. 


90  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  maink. 

"very  little  charges",  lie  would  be  able  "to  bring  to  pass  infinite 
things". 

In  all  probability  Cecil  laid  before  the  king  this  discouraging 
report.  We  have  no  reason  to  believe,  however,  that  it  gave  the 
easy-going  monarch  any  part  of  that  deep  anxiety  that  disquieted 
his  devoted  servant  in  command  of  the  fort  at  Plymouth;  and 
Gorges'  suggestion  concerning  the  man  for  the  hour  evidently 
received  no  consideration  whatever.  But  there  was  occasion  for 
anxiety,  as  Gorges  well  knew.  If,  as  he  desired,  government 
assistance  in  supporting  the  colony  could  not  be  obtained,  there 
was  no  lack  of  whole-heartedness  in  his  continued  endeavors  to 
render  all  possible  aid  with  reference  to  English  colonization  in 
the  new  world. 

Information  concerning  affairs  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc 
after  the  departure  of  the  Mary  and  John  is  derived  for  the  most 
part  from  Strachey's  narrative;  but  such  information  is  exceed- 
ingly meagre.  The  colonists,  he  says,  finished  the  fort  and  for- 
tified it  with  twelve  pieces  of  ordnance.  They  also  built  fifty 
houses  within  the  inclosure,  besides  a  church  and  a  storehouse. 
In  this  mention  of  the  number  of  houses  erected  by  the  colonists 
there  is  evidently  an  error.  No  such  number  was  required  for 
present  occupancy.  Moreover,  the  plan  of  the  fort  found  in  the 
library  at  Simancas,  which  apparently  was  drawn  with  reference 
to  completeness  of  design,  shows  not  a  third  of  the  number  of 
buildings  mentioned  by  Strachey.  To  have  completed,  before 
winter  set  in,  even  the  number  indicated  on  the  plan,  would  have 
required  a  force  of  workmen  far  beyond  that  which  was  at 
Popham's  command.  The  most  that  was  attempted,  doubtless, 
was  to  provide  for  the  colonists  as  comfortable  quarters  as  the 
means  at  their  disposal  admitted. 

Added  information  with  reference  to  the  colonists  is  furnished  in  a 
letter1  written  by  Gorges  February  7,  1608,  to  Secretary  Cecil, 
informing  him  of  the  arrival  of  the  Gift  of  God  in  the  harbor  of  Ply- 
mouth.    Probably  the  date  of  the  letter  is  the  date  of  the  arrival  of 

1  lb.,  Ill,  161-164. 


THK   POPHAM    COLONY.  91 

the  Gift,  as  Gorges  was  not  likely  to  lose  anytime  in  conveying  to 
the  government  this  latest  intelligence  from  the  mouth  of  the  Saga- 
dahoc. First  of  all,  he  refers  to  the  severity  of  the  cold  at  Sagada- 
hoc, by  which  the  colonists  had  been  sorely  pinched,  although  it  was 
probably  not  later  than  the  middle  of  December  when  the  Gift's 
return-voyage  was  commenced  and  the  winter  then  was  only  in 
its  early  stages.  The  health  of  the  colonists,  however,  was  good. 
But  the  troubles  among  them  which  had  appeared  even  before  the 
departure  of  the  Mary  and  John  were  still  operative,  and  Gorges 
was  compelled  to  report  "idle  proceedings"  and  the  existence 
of  "divisions",  "factions",  each  "disgracing  the  other,  even  to 
the  savages".1  The  picture  was  a  dark  one  and  might  have 
been  made  even  darker.  Certainly  Gorges  could  have  found  in 
the  report  little  encouragement,  either  for  himself  or  Cecil,  with 
reference  to  the  success  of  an  undertaking  to  which  he  had  given 
his  best  endeavors.  In  fact,  his  only  hopes  in  connection  with 
English  colonization  upon   American   soil   seemed   now  to  hang 

upon  the  king,   "the  chief  spring  of  our  happiness 

who  at  the  last  must  reap  the  benefit  of  all  our  travail,  as  of  right 
it  belongs  unto  him' '  ;  and  so  he  urges  upon  the  secretary  careful 
consideration  of  the  whole  matter,  adding  his  own  public  and  pri- 
vate reasons  in  seeking  to  extend  the  glory  of  England  beyond 
the  sea — namely  "the  certainty  of  the  commodities  that  maybe 
had  from  so  fertile  a  soil  as  that  is,  when  it  shall  be  peopled,  as 
well  for  building  of  shipping,  having  all  things  rising  in  the  place 
wherewith  to  do  it".  This,  also,  would  be  for  "the  increase  of 
the  king's  navy,  the  breeding  of  mariners,  the  employment  of  his 
people,  filling  the  world  with  expectation  and  satisfying  his  sub- 

1  Thayer  {The  Sagadahoc  Colony,  205-211)  has  a  very  carefully  prepared 
paper  on  the  "Character  of  the  Colonists".  The  review  he  presents  is  unfa- 
vorable. After  quoting  various  writers  he  says  (210):  "In  the  dim  reflected 
light  of  these  few  expressions,  we  get  a  blurred  but  not  wholly  misleading 
view  of  the  colonists,  as  at  least  in  part  a  low  class  of  men,  of  light  weight 
in  character  by  former  practices,  or  by  reaction  from  former  pressure  of  severe 
administration  of  law,  inclined  to  be  lawless  and  emulous  of  base  and 
wicked  deeds." 


THE   POPHAM   COLONY.  93 

their  company  back  again".  As  none  of  the  colonists  returned  in 
the  Mary  and  John,  so  far  as  is  known,  the  reference  must  be  to 
the  colonists  who  returned  in  the  Gift  of  God.  Such  a  lessening 
of  the  number  of  the  colonists  before  even  a  single  winter  had 
passed  was  the  most  discouraging  fact  which  the  arrival  of  the 
Gift  revealed  to  Gorges,  and  he  had  no  heart  to  make  it  known 
to  Cecil  in  this  first  report  of  the  arrival  of  the  second  vessel.1 

One  added  report  from  the  colony  is  found  in  a  letter  to  King 
James  written  by  President  Popham,  December  13,  1607. 2  Gorges 
makes  no  reference  to  it,  and  of  its  existence  there  was  no  knowl- 
edge until  it  was  discovered  a  little  more  than  half  a  century  ago 
by  George  Bancroft,  the  historian,  while  making  some  researches 
in  the  Records  Office  in  L,ondon.  The  letter  was  written  in  Latin 
that  cannot  be  called  classic,  and  abounds  in  those  flattering,  adu- 
latory words  and  phrases  that  were  so  pleasing  to  the  heart  of  the 
king.  Popham  makes  no  mention  of  discouraging  circumstances. 
He  had  no  reference  even  to  the  winter  cold  that  had  chilled  so 
thoroughly  the  interest  of  so  many  of  the  colonists.  It  is  his 
"well-considered"  opinion  "that  in  these  regions  the  glory  of  God 
may  easily  be  evidenced",  the  empire  enlarged,  and  its  welfare 
speedily  augmented.  His  report  concerning  the  products  of  the 
country,  however,  is  not  so  well  considered ;  for  he  informs  the 
king  that  "there  are  in  these  parts  shagbarks,  nutmegs  and  cinna- 
mon, besides  pine  wood  and  Brazilian  cochineal  and  ambergris, 
with  many  other  products,  and  these  in  the  greatest  abundance". 
Allowance  must  be  made  for  the  exaggeration  of  enthusiasm,  but 
evidently  the  president's  nutmegs,  cinnamon  and  Brazilian  cochi- 
neal were  the  products  of  excited  imaginations. 

February  5,  1608,  two  days  before  Gorges  wrote  to  Cecil  con- 
cerning the  arrival  of  the  Gift  of  God,  President  Popham  died. 
Gilbert    and  the  remaining  colonists  doubtless  gave   him  fitting 

1  There  is  a  very  full  statement  concerning  the  "Colonists  Sent  Back"  in 
Thayer's  Sagadahoc  Colony,  197-199. 

2  Thayer,  The  Sagadahoc  Colony,  116-119.  The  letter  and  a  translation  by 
Leonard  Woods,  D.  D.,  president  of  Bowdoin  College,  were  printed  in  1857 
in  the  Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,    Series  I,  5,  344-360. 


94  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  maine. 

burial  within  the  enclosure  of  Fort  St.  George.  Gorges  says,  "he 
had  long  been  an  infirm  man".  High  aims  and  purposes,  how- 
ever, still  animated  him.  He  was  not  one  who  would  turn  back  in 
any  worthy  enterprise.  The  opportunity  for  securing  for  his  king 
and  country  a  stronghold  upon  the  American  continent,  he  clearly 
saw,  and  he  embraced  it  with  whatever  of  toil  and  hardship  it 
might  bring  to  him  personally.  We  have  no  information  concern- 
ing his  last  days.  No  other  member  of  the  colony  died  from  sick- 
ness that  winter.  In  fact,  the  health  of  the  colonists  throughout 
the  winter  season  was  exceedingly  good.  In  all  probability  on 
account  of  his  extreme  age,  the  leader  of  the  enterprise  was  ill- 
prepared  to  endure  the  exposures  to  which  an  unusually  severe 
winter  subjected  him  and  his  followers.1  Whether,  however,  the 
end  came  suddenly,  or  after  prolonged  illness,  Popham  manfully 
fulfilled  all  the  duties  devolving  upon  him  as  the  head  of  the  col- 
ony, and  worthily  finished  his  course.  Gorges,  writing  many 
years  afterwards,  paid  beautiful  tribute  to  Popham 's  steadfast  loy- 
alty to  God  and  native  land,  in  the  words  :  "However  heartened 
by  hopes,  willing  he  was  to  die  in  acting  something  that  might  be 
serviceable  to  God  and  honorable  to  his  country. ' ' 

Meanwhile  Gorges,  Sir  Francis  Popham  and  others,  were  busily 
employed  in  securing  supplies  and  forwarding  them  to  the  colo- 
nists at  the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc.  Writing  to  Cecil  March  20, 
1608,  Gorges  said  :8  "As  concerning  our  plantation,  we  have  found 
the  means  to  encourage  ourselves  anew,  and  have  sent  two  ships 
from  Topsham  for  the  supplies  of  those  that  be  there,  with  vict- 
uals and  other  necessaries,  having  set  down  the  means  how  we 
shall  be  able  by  May  next  to  send  one  more  of  two  hundred  tons' ' . 

1  A  bit  of  information  concerning  the  hard  experiences  of  the  Popham  col- 
onists that  winter  is  mentioned  by  Gorges  in  his  Brief e  Narration,  in  the 
statement  that  during  the  winter  the  "store  house  and  most  of  their  provis- 
ions were  burned."  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of 
Maine,  II,  15.  In  the  Relation,  published  in  1622  by  the  Council  for  New 
England,  it  is  stated  that  "their  lodgings"  also  were  burnt. 

2  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  16. 

3  lb.,  Ill,  165. 


THE   POPHAM   COLONY.  95 

The  two  vessels  thus  despatched  brought  to  the  colonists  the  intel- 
ligence of  the  death  of  Sir  John  Popham  in  the  preceding  June. 
This  was  a  loss  as  unexpected  as  it  was  severe.  But  the  welcome 
arrival  of  these  two  ships  with  abundant  supplies  was  ample  testi- 
mony to  the  fact  that  the  colonists  still  had  in  England  ardent 
friends  of  the  enterprise.  In  the  reports  that  have  come  down  to 
us  concerning  the  arrival  of  these  two  vessels,  there  is  no  mention 
of  any  increase  in  the  membership  of  the  colony  by  recruits  from 
England.  Gorges  refers  to  supplies  only.  Of  course  there  was 
need  of  these  ;  but  it  was  not  by  any  means  the  only  need  of  the 
men,  who,  notwithstanding  past  discouragements,  were  loyally 
sustaining  Sagadahoc  interests ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  think  of 
any  such  gathering  of  supplies  by  Gorges  and  his  associates  that 
was  not  at  the  same  time  accompanied  by  the  most  earnest  efforts 
to  reinforce  the  little  company  of  forty-five  left  with  Popham  and 
Gilbert  on  the  departure  of  the  Gift  of  God  in  the  middle  of 
December.  Such  efforts,  however,  seem  to  have  been  unsuccess- 
ful.1 

But  the  affairs  of  the  colonists  brightened  with  the  arrival  of  the 
two  vessels  from  England.  The  winter  with  its  cold  and  storms 
was  behind  them.  Gilbert  had  succeeded  George  Popham  as 
president  of  the  colony.  The  Virginia  had  been  launched  and 
was  ready  for  service.  With  the  promise  of  a  third  vessel  and 
added  supplies  soon  to  be  on  their  way,  the  outlook  for  the  future 
of  the  colony  was  certainly  a  more  favorable  one.  Evidently 
neither  on  the  part  of  the  supporters  in  England,  nor  on  the  part 
of  the  leaders  of  the  enterprise  at  Fort  St.  George,  was  the  possi- 
ble abandonment  of  the  undertaking  in  any  way  under  considera- 
tion. 

Concerning  the  condition  of  affairs  under  the  direction  of  Gil- 
bert we  have  no  information  whatever.     All  we  know  is  that  his 

1  '  'No  evidence  whatever   shows   subsequent    accessions  to  the  depleted 

company The  several  writers  make  references  to  a   new  supply 

furnished,  necessaries  to  supply  them,  ships  sent  back  with  supplies 

but  there  is  joined  no  word  respecting  men  also,  whether  laborers,  mechan- 
ics, planters,  or  persons  for  special  duty."     Thayer,  Sagadahoc  Colony,  198. 


96  the  beginnings  of  colonial  mains. 

presidency  was  brought  to  an  unexpected  end  by  the  tidings 
brought  to  the  Sagadahoc  by  the  third  vessel  despatched  thither. 
When  Gorges,  March  20,  wrote  to  Secretary  Cecil  concerning  this 
third  vessel,  he  thought  it  might  be  ready  to  sail  in  May,  but  for 
some  reason  unknown  there  was  delay  in  the  preparation  for  the 
voyage,  and  in  all  probability  the  vessel  did  not  leave  England 
until  July.  This  is  a  well-founded  inference  from  the  fact  that 
Sir  John  Gilbert,  the  elder  brother  of  President  Ralegh  Gilbert, 
died  July  5,  1608.1  The  third  vessel,  bringing  this  intelligence  to 
President  Gilbert,  could  not  have  left  England  before  that  date. 
Probably  there  was  not  much  added  delay  in  despatching  the  ves- 
sel, and  if  this  was  the  fact  the  arrival  of  the  vessel  must  be  placed 
about  the  first  of  September,  or  a  little  later.  President  Gilbert 
was  his  brother's  heir,  and  on  account  of  the  large  personal  inter- 
ests involved  in  this  fact,  it  became  necessary  for  him  to  make 
preparations  for  an  early  return  to  England.  The  situation  was  a 
peculiar  one.  Among  the  little  company  remaining  there  was  no 
one  who  possessed  the  requisite  qualifications  for  the  successful 
administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  colony.  To  continue  the  enter- 
prise, therefore,  seemed  out  of  the  question.  Accordingly,  the 
complete  abandonment  of  Fort  St.  George  and  all  for  which  it 
stood  followed,  and  preparations  at  once  were  made  for  dismant- 
ling the  fort  and  removing  the  ordnance  and  stores  to  the  vessels 
anchored  near  by.  How  much  time  was  required  in  accomplish- 
ing this  transfer  is  not  known.  In  all  probability  the  embarka- 
tion of  the  colonists  occurred  as  early  as  the  close  of  September. 
In  the  records  that  have  come  down  to  us  concerning  the  return 
of  the  colonists  there  is  not  a  hint  that  the  departure  brought  any 
sorrow  or  even  disappointment  to  those  who  constituted  the  great 
body  of  Gilbert's  company.  Their  interest  in  the  undertaking 
was  of  the  slightest  kind.  In  all  probability  the  experiences  of  a 
single  winter  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc  made  welcome  to 
them  an  opportunity  to  return  thus  early  to  more  desirable  condi- 
tions of   life  in  their   native   land.     Far   otherwise   was   it   with 

1  The  Sagadahoc  Colony,  195. 


THE}   POPHAM   COLONY.  97 

Gorges  and  other  steadfast  friends  of  English  colonization  in 
America,  when  about  the  close  of  November,  or  early  in  Decem- 
ber, the  three  vessels  and  the  pinnace  Virginia,  built  by  the  colo- 
nists,1 arrived  in  Plymouth  harbor  and  announced  the  abandon- 
ment of  the  colony.  This  was  chilling  information,  and  years 
afterward,  Gorges,  in  referring  to  its  effect  upon  himself  and  other 
patrons  of  the  undertaking,  could  only  say :  "all  our  former  hopes 
were  frozen  to  death."2  The  collapse  of  the  colony  was  complete. 
Strachey  says:  "all  embarked and  set  sail  for  Eng- 
land."8 

Why  was  not  the  Popham  colony  assigned  to  a  more  southerly 
location  on  the  American  coast,  one  in  which  the  colonists  would 
have  avoided  that  severity  of  the  winter  season  to  which  they 
were  unaccustomed  in  their  English  homes  ?  Certainly  it  was  not 
from  any  lack  of  knowledge  concerning  the  unfavorable  conditions 
in  which  they  found  themselves  after  the  location  of  the  colony. 
Nor  was  it  because  of  insufficient  information  with  reference  to 
the  character  of  the  country  farther  down  the  coast.  There  had 
been  careful  exploration  of  the  territory  to  the  southward  as  far 
nearly  as  Narraganset  bay.  Pring,  whose  explorations  largely 
determined  the  location  of  the  Popham  colony,  was  familiar  with 
the  coast  as  far  as  Massachusetts  bay.     What  advantage,  then, 

1  The  pinnace  was  one  of  the  vessels  of  the  fleet  that  sailed  from  England  to 
the  southern  colony  in  1609. 

2  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  17. 

3  The  Sagadahoc  Colony,  85,  86.  Baxter's  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his 
Province  of  Maine,  II,  17.  In  "A  Description  of  New  England",  obtained 
in  England  by  Mr.  Henry  F.  Waters,  and  published  in  the  New  England 
Hist,  and  Gen.  Register,  January,  1885,  we  get  a  glimpse  of  the  remains  of 
Fort  St.  George  at  a  little  later  period.  The  description  is  supposed  to  have 
been  written  about  1660  by  Samuel  Maverick,  who  came  to  this  country  in 
1624,  which  is  thought  to  be  the  approximate  date  of  the  visit.  He  says  : 
"Three  leagues  distant  from  Damerell's  Cove  is  Sagadahock  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Kennebeck  river,  on  which  place  the  Iyord  Popham's  people  settled 
about  fifty  years  since,  but  soon  after  deserted  it  and  returned  for  England  ; 
I  found  roots  and  garden  herbs  and  some  old  walls  there,  when  I  first  went 
over,  which  showed  it  to  be  the  place  where  they  had  been." 


98  THE   BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

had  the  location  at  the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc  over  places  in  a 
more  congenial  climate  ? 

Evidently  one  of  the  determining  factors  in  its  selection  was  the 
great  value  of  the  fisheries  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Fort  St. 
George.  The  early  explorers  on  the  coast,  in  their  printed  reports, 
and  much  more  by  word  of  mouth,  had  called  attention  to  the  rich 
returns  that  these  fisheries  promised.  English  fishermen  also 
were  already  acquainted  to  some  extent  with  the  fishing  privileges 
in  these  waters.  Those  who  were  especially  interested  in  the 
establishment  of  the  colony  were  merchants  of  Plymouth  and 
Bristol,  long  connected  with  fishing  interests,  and  attracted 
hither  by  the  reports  of  the  greater  abundance  of  fish  on  the 
American  coast.  Certainly,  these  fishing  grounds  had  a  value 
that  could  not  be  overestimated.  France  was  endeavoring  to 
seize  and  hold  these  grounds,  but  England  claimed  them  and  their 
possession  was  deemed  worthy  of  a  supreme  effort  on  the  part  of 
the  English  nation. 

Another  determining  factor  in  the  location  of  the  Popham  col- 
ony is  to  be  found  in  the  opportunity  that  the  river  Sagadahoc 
offered  for  profitable  trade  with  the  Indians,  especially  in  valuable 
furs.     There  was  no  such  opportunity  farther  down  the  coast. 

From  a  commercial  point  of  view,  therefore,  the  location  of  the 
Popham  colony  seems  to  have  been  amply  justified. 

Why,  then,  did  the  colony  fail?  Primarily,  the  death  of  the 
Pophams,  Sir  John  in  England  and  Captain  George,  the  president 
of  the  colony,  in  Fort  St.  George,  was  a  heavy  blow  at  the  enter- 
prise. Then,  too,  Gilbert's  recall  to  England  on  account  of  the 
death  of  his  brother  was  doubtless  a  heavy  stroke,  inasmuch  as 
among  the  other  colonists  no  one  could  be  found  who  was  capable 
of  taking  Gilbert's  place.  This  statement,  however,  reveals  only 
partially  the  difficulties  of  the  situation.  Not  only  were  the  Pop- 
ham colonists  generally  lacking  in  those  sturdy  qualities  that  such 
an  enterprise  demands,  but  if  we  may  accept  the  testimony  that 
is  furnished  by  contemporary  writers,  the  company  comprised 
the  vagrant  and  the  dissolute  to  such  an  extent  that  Gorges  is 


w 
o 

o 

w 

o 

to 

o 
5s 

o 

h-r 
o 
o 


TH£   POPHAM    COLONY.  99 

believed  to  have  stated  the  fact  mildly  when  he  wrote,  that  they 
were  '  'not  such  as  they  ought' ' .  Indeed,  as  later  he  reflected  upon 
the  disastrous  ending  of  the  undertaking,  he  felt,  and  had  reason 
for  feeling,  that  if  he  and  others  interested  in  American  coloniza- 
tion would  achieve  success  in  connection  with  their  desires  and 
endeavors,  "there  must  go  other  manner  of  spirits"  than  were 
found  so  largely  in  the  Sagadahoc  colony.1 

1  The  tercentenary  of  the  landing  of  the  Popham  colony  was  celebrated  by 
the  Maine  Historical  Society  August  29,  1907.     It  was  one  of  the  fairest  and 
brightest  of  summer  days.     The  site  of  Fort  St.  George  was  first  visited. 
The  literary  exercises  that  followed  were  held  in  the  Popham  Beach  village 
meetinghouse.     Addresses  were  delivered  by  Hon.  James  P.  Baxter,  presi- 
dent of  the  society,  and  Prof.  Henry  L.  Chapman  of  Bowdoin  College.     A 
poem,  The  Virginia  of  Sagadahoc,  by  Mr.  Harry  L.  Koopman,  librarian  of 
Brown  University,  was  read  by  Rev.  Dr.  John  Carroll  Perkins  of  Portland. 
On  the  rocky  eminence  overlooking  the  site  of  Fort  St.  George,  and  a  part  of 
the  fort  inclosure,  a  memorial  had  been  placed  with  this  inscription  : 
THE  FIRST  ENGLISH  COLONY 
ON  THE  SHORES  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 
WAS  FOUNDED  HERE 
AUGUST  29,  N.  S.  1607 
UNDER  GEORGE  POPHAM. 
The  memorial  was  unveiled  by  Mrs.  William  Addison  Houghton,  president 
of  the  Maine  Society  of  Colonial  Dames,  and  Mr.  Fritz  H.  Jordan,  governor 
of  the  Maine  Society  of  Colonial  Wars  ;  and  addresses  were  made  by  Rev. 
Henry  S.  Burrage,  D.  D.,  and  Mr.  Fritz  H.  Jordan.     Following  the  unveil- 
ing, the  U.  S.  Revenue  Cutter,  at  her  anchorage  north  of  the  site  of  Fort  St. 
George,  fired  a  governor's  salute  in  honor  of  George  Popham,  the  first  gov- 
ernor of  the  Popham  colony,  who  died  in  Fort  St.  George  and  was  buried 
within  the  inclosure. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  French  Colony  at  Mount  Desert. 

SO  great,  however,  was  the  disappointment  in  England  over 
the  failure  of  the  Popham  colony,  that  the  adventurers  in 
the  enterprise  made  no  attempt  to  renew  the  undertaking. 
As  Gorges  says,  the  colonists  had  branded  the  plantation  "as 
being  over  cold,  and  in  respect  of  that  not  habitable  by  our 
nation".  Besides,  he  says,  "they  understood  it  to  be  a  task  too 
great  for  particular  persons  to  undertake".  This  also  seems  to 
have  been  the  opinion  of  Gorges,  who  would  have  the  king  mani- 
fest an  interest  in  American  colonization  as  a  matter  of  national 
importance.  England,  as  a  growing  power,  was  not  playing  the 
influential  part  in  matters  across  the  sea  which  in  his  view  the 
opportunity  demanded.  In  fact  Gorges,  who  had  had  high  hopes 
for  the  future  of  his  nation  in  connection  with  the  opening  of  the 
new  world,  was  for  a  time  utterly  cast  down  because  of  this  lack 
of  interest  in  England  in  extending  the  national  domain.  It  was 
a  depressing  thought  that  he  could  not  find  the  men  who  were 
willing  to  second  him  in  an  attempt  to  revive  the  colony.  But 
though  cast  down  he  was  not  destroyed,  "not  doubting",  he  says, 
'  'but  God  would  effect  that  which  man  despaired  of ' }  As  for 
the  coldness  of  the  climate  at  Sagadahoc,  he  said,  he  had  had  too 
much  experience  in  the  world  to  be  frightened  by  such  a  blast, 
"as  knowing  many  great  kingdoms  and  large  territories  more 
northerly  seated  and  by  many  degrees  colder"  ;  and  so,  though 
others  abandoned  hope,  he  would  not.2  If  organized  effort  had 
failed,  however,  there  was  still  an  opportunity  for  individual 
enterprise;  and  Gorges  makes  mention  of  Sir  Francis  Popham, 

1  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  17. 

2  lb.,  II,  18. 


THE  FRENCH  COLONY  AT  MOUNT  DKSERT.        101 

Sir  John's  only  son  and  successor,  who,  "having  the  ships  and 
provisions  which  remained  of  the  northern  company  and  supply- 
ing what  was  necessary  for  his  purpose,  sent  divers  times  to  the 
coast  for  trade  and  fishing",  but  his  endeavors  likewise  proved 
fruitless;  so  that,  as  Gorges  says,  Sir  Francis  "was  necessitated 
at  last  to  sit  down  with  the  loss  he  had  already  undergone". 

It  was  Gorges  greatest  anxiety  with  reference  to  English  inter- 
ests in  America,  however,  .that  while  England  was  neglecting  the 
opportunity  for  planting  colonies  on  the  northern  American  coast, 
France,  disappointed  at  the  failure  of  de  Monts'  colony  at  St. 
Croix  island,  would  now  make  a  new  and  stronger  effort  to  secure 
a  foothold.  What  Gorges  foresaw,  and  naturally  greatly  depre- 
cated, soon  happened;  "the  Frenchmen",  he  says,  "immediately 
took  the  opportunity  to  settle  themselves  within  our  limits".1 

The  reference  is  to  such  facts  as  are  recorded  in  the  Relation 2  of 
Father  Pierre  Biard  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  Sieur  de  Monts' 
entire  company,  abandoning  Port  Royal,  and  returning  to  France 
in  October,  1607,  preceded  the  return  of  the  Popham  colony  to 
England.  Even  before  de  Monts  left  Port  Royal,  Jean  de  Bien- 
court  (de  Poutrincourt)  requested  a  gift  of  that  place,  which  de 
Monts  granted,  stipulating  only  "that  within  the  two  succeeding 
years  Sieur  de  Poutrincourt  should  go  there  with  several  other 
families  to  cultivate  and  inhabit  it,  which  he  promised  to  do".3 
The  deed  of  gift  was  made,  and  Poutrincourt  laid  it  before  Henry 
IV,  requesting  him  to  ratify  it.  The  king  acceded,  and  in  the 
interest  of  mission  work  among  the  Indians,  in  connection  with 
colonial  undertakings,  he  appealed  to  the  head  of  the  Jesuit  order 
for  the  appointment  of  missionary  priests  to  accompany  the  expe- 
dition. Toward  the  end  of  1608,  such  an  appointment  was 
received  by  Father  Biard,  then  a  teacher  of  theology  in  Eyons ; 

1  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  I,  207. 

2  The  Relation,  in  both  the  French  text  and  English  translation,  comprises 
volumes  III  and  IV  of  the  Jesuit  Relations  and  Allied  Documents,  edited  by 
Reuben  Gold  Thwaites,  and  published  by  the  Burrows  Brothers,  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  1897. 

8  The  Jesuit  Relations,  III,  161. 


102  the;  beginnings  of  COLONIAL  MAINE). 

but  on  repairing  to  Bordeaux  as  directed,  he  found  he  had  been 
as  much  "deceived  in  regard  to  the  place,  as  the  time".1 

About  a  year  later  Poutrincourt  appeared  in  Paris,  and  the  king, 
learning  to  his  surprise  that  he  had  not  left  France,  addressed  him 
with  such  severity  of  words  and  manner  that  Poutrincourt  has- 
tened to  make  preparations  for  the  voyage.  Father  Biard  again 
offered  the  services  of  himself  and  others  of  his  order  in  connec- 
tion with  the  expedition ;  but,  evidently  adverse  to  the  presence 
of  missionaries  in  the  colony,  Poutrincourt  advised  him  to  await 
developments  on  the  American  coast,  saying  '  'that  as  soon  as  he 
arrived  at  Port  Royal  he  would  send  his  son  back  to  France,  and 
that  with  him  all  things  being  better  arranged,  such  persons 
should  come  as  it  might  please  the  king  to  send".2 

Poutrincourt  finally  sailed  toward  the  end  of  February,  1610, 
and  arrived  at  Port  Royal  about  the  beginning  of  June.  When, 
however,  the  son  returned  to  France,  and  failed  to  fulfill  the  prom- 
ise of  his  father  concerning  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  Madam  de 
Guercheville3,  who  had  become  much  interested  in  religious  work 
among  the  Indians,  took  the  matter  in  hand  with  the  result  that 
Father  Pierre  Biard  and  Father  Knemond  Masse  were  able  to 
make  arrangements  for  their  departure.  There  were  still  added 
delays,  it  is  true ;  but  at  length  they  were  received  on  board  a 
small  vessel  that  sailed  from  Dieppe,  January  26,  1611,  and  arrived 
at  Port  Royal  on  June  22,  following. 

The  little  colony  was  found  to  be  in  straits  even  with  the  sup- 
plies that  the  newly  arrived  vessel  brought ;  and  Poutrincourt, 
about  the  middle  of  July,  sailed  for  France,  leaving  his  son,  Bien- 

1  The  Jesuit  Relations,  III,  163. 

2  lb.,  Ill,  165. 

3  She  was  a  lady  of  honor  to  Marie  de  Medici,  Queen  of  France,  and  is 
rightly  characterized  by  John  Fiske  in  his  New  France  and  New  England 
(74,  75)  as  one  whom  Henry  IV  "wooed  in  vain".  She  had  purchased  all 
the  rights  and  claims  of  de  Monts  to  land  in  Acadia,  and  she  had  also 
obtained  from  the  boy  king,  Louis  XIII,  a  grant  of  all  the  territory  between 
the  river  St.  Lawrence  and  Florida.  Father  Biard  refers  to  her  as  "ardently 
zealous  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  conversion  of  souls".     Ill,  167. 


THE;  FRENCH  COLONY  AT  MOUNT  DESERT.        103 

court,  in  command  of  the  colony.  With  a  view  to  added  explora- 
ation  evidently,  Biencourt  proceeded  down  the  coast.  Father 
Biard  accompanied  him,  and  the  party  reached  the  Kennebec 
toward  the  close  of  October.  In  his  Relation,  Father  Biard  makes 
brief  mention  of  such  information  as  was  received  at  this  time  and 
place  concerning  the  Popham  colonists,1  who,  they  were  told,  had 
been  driven  away  by  the  Indians.  "They  made  excuses  to  us  for 
this  act",  says  Father  Biard,  "and  recounted  the  outrages  that 
they  had  experienced  from  these  English ;  and  they  flattered  us, 
saying  that  they  loved  us  very  much",  etc.  In  relating  this  story 
as  to  the  cause  of  the  abandonment  of  Fort  St.  George,  the  Indi- 
ans evidently  flattered  themselves  as  well  as  their  French  visitors. 
The  story  is  without  support  of  any  kind.  Friendly  relations  the 
Popham  colonists  desired  and  sought  in  their  brief  stay.  The 
Indians,  doubtless,  were  glad  to  witness  their  departure,  and  prob- 
ably believed  their  own  story  that  the  compelling  force  in  the 
departure  of  the  Popham  colonists  was  to  be  found  in  them  ;  but, 
as  is  well  known,  the  flag  of  St.  George  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saga- 
dahoc was  lowered  primarily  by  remote  circumstances,  with  which 
the  Indians  on  the  Kennebec  had  no  connection  whatever. 

Biencourt  remained  at  the  Kennebec  with  his  party  until 
November  4,  or  5,  and  then  set  out  on  the  return  to  Port  Royal. 
At  Pentegoet,2  he  found  an  assemblage  of  eighty  canoes  and  about 
three  hundred  Indians.  Then,  passing  up  the  coast,  he  visited 
the  site  of  de  Monts'  settlement  at  St.  Croix  island.  Finally,  on 
an  unknown  date,  the  exploring  party  reached  Port  Royal,  where 
snow  began  to  fall  on  November  26. 

Father  Biard's  narrative  shows  that  the  relation  of  the  Jesuits 
to  the  other  members  of  the  colony  at  Port  Royal,  during  the  win- 
ter that  followed,  was  by  no  means  an  harmonious  one.  Evidently 
complaints  of  hindrances  of  various  kinds,'  if  not  of  ill  treatment 
and  open  opposition,  were  made  by  the  Jesuits  to  their  friends  in 

1  Father  Biard  assigns  to  the  Popham  colony  the  years  1608  and  1609. 
They  should  be  1607  and  1608.     Ill,  223. 

2  The  present  Castine. 


104  THE)   BEGINNINGS   OP   COIvONIAI,   MAINE). 

France.1  Meanwhile  the  missionaries  devoted  themselves  to  the 
study  of  the  language  of  the  natives,  and  to  such  other  matters  as 
opportunity  offered,  displaying  considerable  adaptability  to  their 
surroundings.  At  length  relief  from  unhappy  conditions  was  at 
hand.  In  response  to  the  appeal  of  the  missionaries,  Madame  de 
Guercheville  and  her  friends  in  France  fitted  out  a  vessel  '  'to  take 
the  Jesuits  away  from  Port  Royal,  and  to  found  a  new  French  set- 
tlement in  a  more  suitable  place' '  .2 

Such  is  Father  Biard's  statement  concerning  this  added  effort  to 
advance  French  interests  on  the  American  coast.  Zeal  for  reli- 
gion was  a  motive  of  importance  in  connection  with  the  movement ; 
but  it  had  also  another  motive,  namely,  the  establishment  of  "a 
new  French  settlement  in  a  more  suitable  place  than  Port  Royal". 
That  more  suitable  place  was  only  to  be  found  within  the  English 
claim  farther  down  the  coast,  a  movement  which  Father  Biard, 
who  had  been  as  far  as  the  Kennebec,  had  doubtless  urged. 

At  the  head  of  this  new  expedition  in  the  interest  of  religion 
and  French  colonization  was  Captain  Saussaye.  He  was  to  take 
with  him  two  Jesuits,  Father  Quantin,  and  a  lay  brother,  Gilbert 
du  Thet,  and  on  his  arrival  at  Port  Royal,  he  was  to  receive  on 
board  his  vessel  Father  Biard  and  Father  Bnemond  Masse .  His 
entire  company,  including  sailors,  numbered  forty-eight  persons. 
Charles  Flory,  "a  discreet,  hardy  and  peaceable  man",  was  the 
master  of  the  vessel,  which  was  not  only  amply  provided  with  pro- 
visions for  a  year,  also  with  horses  and  goats  for  domestic  pur- 
poses, but  the  queen  contributed  "four  of  the  king's  tents  or 
pavilions,  and  some  munitions  of  war". 

1  "A  lay  brother,  named  Gilbert  du  Thet,  had  brought  out  supplies,  and  on 
his  return  to  France,  he  acquainted  the  Marchioness  de  Guercheville,  the 
patroness  of  the  mission,  with  the  wretched  state  of  the  two  fathers,  and  the 
wrong  done  them,  and  sought  to  make  some  arrangement  which  would  leave 
the  missionaries  at  liberty  to  prosecute  their  labors.  Failing  in  this,  she 
resolved  to  found  in  some  other  spot  a  mission  colony."  History  of  the 
Catholic  Missions  among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United  States,  1529-1854, 
by  John  Gilmary  Shea,  131. 

2  Relations,  III,  261. 


THE  FRENCH    COLONY  AT   MOUNT  DESERT.  105 

The  expedition  sailed  from  Honfieur,  France,  March  12,  1613, 
and  in  two  months  la  Saussaye  reached  Cape  la  Have  on  the  coast 
of  Acadia,  where  he  landed  and  erected  a  cross,  upon  which  he 
placed  the  coat  of  arms  of  Madame  de  Guercheville,  "as  a  sign  of 
his  having  taken  possession  there  in  her  name".1  Thence  the 
vessel  proceeded  to  Port  Royal,  but  the  date  of  the  arrival  is 
unknown.  The  royal  command,  in  letters  of  the  queen,  "to 
release  the  Jesuits",  was  at  once  presented,  the  arrangements  for 
the  departure  were  soon  made,  and,  in  a  few  days,  la  Saussaye, 
having  taken  the  missionaries  on  board,  left  Port  Royal  and 
started  down  the  coast  "to  go  to  the  river  Pentegoet,  to  the  place 
called  Kadesquit,2  the  site  destined  for  the  new  colony",  and  a 
most  advantageous  place,  it  was  believed,  for  such  an  enterprise. 
"But  God  ordained  otherwise",  wrote  Father  Biard.  A  dense 
fog  enveloped  the  vessel  on  the  way,  and  the  wind  not  permitting 
the  captain  to  stand  out  to  sea,  all  on  board  were  in  imminent 
peril  from  breakers  and  rocks  throughout  two  days  and  nights. 
Prayers  were  offered  for  divine  help.  "When  evening  came  on", 
says  Father  Biard,  "we  began  to  see  the  stars,  and  by  morning 
the  fogs  had  all  disappeared".  At  once  the  position  of  the  ves- 
sel was  made  out  by  those  on  board  who  were  familiar  with  the 
coast.  "We  recognized  that  we  were  opposite  Mount  Desert 
(au  devant  des  Monts  deserts)  8  an  island,  which  the  savages  call 
Pemetiq.  The  pilot  turned  to  the  eastern  shore  of  the  island,  and 
there  located  us  in  a  large  and  beautiful  port,  where  we  made  our 
thanksgiving  to  God,  raising  a  cross  and  singing  to  God  his 
praises  with  the  sacrifice  of  the  holy  mass.  We  called  this  place 
and  port  Saint  Sauveur. ' ' 4 

1  Relations,  III,  263. 

2  The  Kenduskeag  river  enters  the  Penobscot  at  Bangor;  and  Kenduskeag 
is  evidently  a  corruption  for  Kadesquit,  the  junction  of  the  two  rivers  being 
the  site  of  the  Indian  village,  the  proposed  site  of  the  colony. 

3  lb.,  Ill,  265. 

4  John  Gilmary  Shea  {History  of  the  Catholic  Missions  among  the  Indian 
Tribes)  writes  carelessly  concerning  locations  mentioned  in  Father  Biard's 
Relation.     For  example,  he  tells  us  that  la  Saussaye  "sailed  for  Mt.  Desert, 


106  THE  BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

This  port,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Mount  Desert,  is  easily  iden- 
tified with  that  of  the  present  Bar  Harbor.  But  Saint  Sauveur 
was  not  Kadesquit,  and  a  dispute  soon  arose  between  the  sailors 
and  the  leaders  of  the  colony,  because  of  a  difference  in  interpret- 
ing the  contract  drawn  up  in  France  concerning  the  voyage.  The 
sailors  held  that  the  period  of  three  months,  for  which  they  were 
holden  after  the  arrival  of  the  vessel  at  a  port  of  Acadia,  should 
commence  with  the  arrival  at  Mount  Desert.  When  it  was 
explained  to  them  that  Kadesquit  was  the  designated  place,  not 
Saint  Sauveur,  and  that  the  three  months  would  not  be  counted 
until  they  were  there,  the  pilot,  who  was  in  agreement  with  the 
sailors,  maintained  "that  a  ship  had  never  gone  so  far  as  Kades- 
quit, and  that  he  had  no  intention  of  becoming  the  discoverer  of 
new  routes".  "Nothing  but  argument",  wrote  Father  Biard,  "a 
bad  augury  for  the  future."1     So  it  seemed. 

But  more  favorable  omens  were  discovered.  During  this  wrang- 
ling, a  party  of  Indians  signaled  to  the  vessel,  and  in  the  confer- 
ence that  followed  the  Indians  learned  that  the  Port  Royal  fathers 
were  on  the  ship.  They  asked  to  see  Father  Biard,  whom  they 
had  met  at  Pentegoet.  Father  Biard  came  on  shore,  and  when  in 
the  conversation  that  followed  he  asked  the  Indians  the  way  to 
Kadesquit,  they  replied,  "if  you  wish  to  stay  in  these  regions, 
why  not  remain  with  us?"  affirming  that  they  had  as  good  and 
beautiful  a  location  for  the  colony  as  Kadesquit.  Father  Biard 
records  that  he  was  not  moved  by  these  appeals,  for  "he  knew 
that  the  savages  did  not  lack  that  with  which  almost  everyone  is 
abundantly  provided,  namely,  the  ability  to  praise  his  own 
wares";2  but  when  the  Indians  informed  him  that  their  chief, 

at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec",  and  he  locates  the  colony  on  "the  east  side 
of  the  island".  He  is  also  exceedingly  free  in  his  use  of  Father  Biard' s 
Relation,  when  he  writes,  "Their  pilot,  by  some  mistake,  carried  them  to  the 
east  side  of  the  island"  [Mount  Desert].  The  Relation  has  no  hint  even  of 
a  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  pilot,  but  clearly  states  the  circumstances  con- 
nected with  the  approach  to  Mount  Desert. 

1  Jesuit  Relations,  III,  267. 

2  lb.,  Ill,  269. 


THE  FRENCH  COLONY  AT  MOUNT  DESERT.        107 

Asticou,  was  sick  unto  death  and  wished  to  be  baptized,  saying 
that  if  the  chief  did  not  receive  baptism  before  death  he  would  not 
go  to  heaven,  Father  Biard  yielded  to  an  argument  "so  naively 
deduced",  and  with  two  of  his  associates  started  in  a  canoe  for 
Asticou' s  camp.  On  their  arrival  they  found  the  chief  sick,  but 
with  a  cold  only;  and  having  assured  themselves  of  Asticou' s 
favorable  condition,  and  finding  they  had  plenty  of  leisure  for  a 
visit  to  the  promised  better  location  for  a  settlement,  Father  Biard 
and  his  associates  made  their  way  thither.  The  Indians  had  not 
overpraised  the  location.  Nothing  more  desirable  could  be 
expected ;  and  on  their  return  to  the  ship  Father  Biard  confirmed 
the  statement  of  the  Indians.  The  other  members  of  the  colony 
were  asked  to  examine  the  location ;  they  did  so,  and  on  their 
return  it  was  an  unanimous  agreement  that  the  colonists  ought 
not  to  look  for  anything  better,  and  all  thought  of  proceeding  to 
Kadesquit  was  at  once  abandoned.  The  following  is  Father 
Biard's  description  of  the  accepted  location  of  the  Jesuit  colony: 

"This  place  is  a  beautiful  hill,  rising  gently  from  the  sea,  its 
sides  bathed  by  two  springs  ;  the  land  is  cleared  for  twenty  or 
twenty-five  acres,  and  in  some  places  is  covered  with  grass  almost 
as  high  as  a  man.  Its  aspect  is  to  the  south  and  east,  like  that  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Pentegoet,1  and  looking  to  where  several  attrac- 
tive brooks,  abounding  in  fish,  discharge  themselves.  The  soil  is 
dark,  rich  and  fertile.  The  port  and  harbor  are  as  fine  as  can  be 
seen,  and  are  in  a  position  favorable  to  command  the  entire  coast. 
The  harbor  especially  is  as  safe  as  a  pond.  For  besides  being 
sheltered2  by  the  great  island  of  Mount  Desert,  it  is  still  more  pro- 

1  The  reference  apparently  is  to  the  situation  of  Castine. 

2  Father  Biard  says  :  "Car  outre  qu'il  est  repari  de  la  grande  Isle des  Mots 
deserts  il  Pest  encores  de  certaines  petites  Islettes,  qui  rompent  lesflots  &  les 
vents,  &  fortiplent  son  entree.''''  The  translation,  as  given  in  connection  with 
the  text,  is  as  follows  :  '  'For  besides  being  strengthened  by  the  great  island 
of  Mount  desert,  it  is  still  more  protected  by  certain  small  Islands  which 
break  the  currents  and  the  winds,  and  fortify  the  entrance"  {Jesuit  Rela- 
tions, III,  270,  271).  The  word  strengthened  evidently  misses  the  meaning  of 
repari.     It  is  the  sheltered,  protected  situation  of  the    location   that  the 


108  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

tected  by  certain  small  islands  which  break  the  currents  and  the 
winds  and  fortify  the  entrance.  There  is  not  a  fleet  which  it  is 
not  capable  of  sheltering,  nor  a  ship  so  deep  that  could  not 
approach  within  a  cable's  length  of  the  shore  to  unload.  It  is 
situated  in  latitude  forty-four  and  one  third  degrees,  a  position 
still  less  northerly  than  that  of  Bordeaux." 

This  careful  description  clearly  indicates  the  location.  It  was 
on  the  western  side  of  Somes  Sound,  about  a  mile  from  the  open 
sea,  and  near  where  the  eastern  and  western  mountains  on  the 
ocean  front  of  the  island  are  divided  by  the  waters  of  the  sound. 
The  place  is  now  known  as  Fernald's  Point,  and  its  beautiful 
slope  is  as  attractive  in  these  days  as  it  was  when  Father  Biard 
and  his  associates  looked  upon  its  green,  grass-grown  acres. 
The  harbor,  too,  has  all  the  advantages  indicated  in  the  descrip- 
tion ;  and  the  claim  in  our  time  has  been  made,  perhaps  somewhat 
boastfully,  that  it  is  "the  third  for  majestic  amplitude  in  all  the 
world".1  Moreover  the  two  springs  are  as  noteworthy  to-day  as 
then. 

But  Father  Biard,  in  his  description  of  the  location,  had  in  view 
something  more  than  a  favorable  spot  for  a  mission.  The  real 
significance  of  Saint  Sauveur  he  grasped  and  proclaimed  when  he 
made  mention  of  its  position  as  "favorable  to  command  the  entire 
coast' ' .  It  could  be  made  of  national  use  in  extending  the  bound- 
aries of  New  France.  Moreover,  Father  Biard 's  statement  con- 
cerning the  latitude  of  the  place  establishes  the  fact  that  he  knew 

writer  plainly  has  in  view.  Parkman  {Pioneers  of  New  France,  304)  has 
separi  for  repari  in  this  passage,  and  adds  that  Father  Biard  '  'was  evidently 
mistaken  in  this  (that  he  could  go  from  the  eastern  part  of  the  island  to  St. 
Sauveur  and  return  in  an  afternoon).  St.  Sauveur  being  on  the  east  side 
of  Mount  Desert,  there  is  no  place  separated  from  it,  and  answering  to  his 
description,  which  he  could  have  reached  within  the  time  mentioned". 
Parkman  was  misled  by  his  wrong  text.  He  fails  also  in  the  passage  to 
notice  that  two  locations  are  mentioned  in  Father  Biard's  Relation,  the  St. 
Sauveur  of  the  landing  on  the  east  side  of  the  island  and  the  St.  Sauveur  of 
the  settlement  on  Somes  Sound. 

1  Biard's  Relation  of  1616  and  St.  Sauveur,  by  Rev.  E.  C.  Cummings, 
Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  Series  II,  5,  99. 


THE)  FRENCH  COLONY  AT  MOUNT  DKSKRT.        109 

the  location  was  within  the  limits  of  the  English  claim,  which  was 
to  latitude  forty-five  north. 

L,a  Saussaye,  having  brought  his  vessel  to  the  accepted  location, 
landed  the  colonists  and  the  work  of  establishing  them  there  was 
commenced.  But  this  was  all,  for  also  commenced  "the  quarrels, 
a  second  sign  and  augury  of  our  ill-luck",  says  Father  Biard. 
The  occasion  of  this  new  outbreak  of  dissension  was  attributed  to  la 
Saussaye,  who  is  said  to  have  "amused  himself  too  much  in  culti- 
vating the  land,  while  all  the  chiefs  of  the  enterprise  were  urging 
him  not  to  employ  the  laborers  for  that  purpose,  but  to  get  to  work 
without  delay  upon  the  houses  and  fortifications,  which  he  did  not 
wish  to  do."1  The  French  commander  seems  not  to  have  had 
even  a  dream  of  insecurity  for  himself  and  his  colony,  and  was  in 
no  wise  moved  by  the  appeals  of  Father  Biard  and  his  associates. 
How  long  la  Saussaye  was  left  to  his  enjoyment  in  the  cultivation 
of  the  rich,  fertile  soil  of  this  delightful  location  is  unknown.2  It 
may  have  been  several  weeks,  and  perhaps  months.  But  the  day 
for  which  la  Saussaye  had  not  looked,  and  for  which  he  was  wholly 
unprepared,  at  length  came. 

Captain  Samuel  Argall,3  connected  with  the  Virginia  colony  at 

*  Jesuit  Relations,  III,  273. 

2  The  dates  are  wholly  lacking  in  Father  Biard's  Relation. 

3  Captain  Samuel  Argall,  though  a  young  man,  was  an  experienced  navi- 
gator in  1609,  when  he  was  selected  to  find  a  direct  passage  to  Virginia.  He 
accomplished  the  task  assigned  to  him,  and  in  the  following  year  he  con- 
ducted Lord  de  la  Warr  to  the  Jamestown  colony.  In  the  same  year  also  he 
made  a  voyage  to  the  New  England  coast  (Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United 
States,  I,  428-439),  where  he  engaged  in  fishing,  thus  making  the  beginning 
of  the  fishing  voyages  from  Virginia  to  this  vicinity.  He  returned  to  Eng- 
land in  1611,  and  was  again  in  Virginia  in  1612,  with  a  commission  to  remain 
in  Virginia  and  to  drive  out  foreign  intruders  from  the  country  granted  to 
Englishmen  by  the  three  patents  of  James  I.  {Genesis  of  the  United  States, 
II,  815.)  He  returned  to  England  in  1614,  and  to  Virginia  in  1615.  In  1617, 
he  was  made  deputy  governor  and  admiral  of  Virginia.  In  the  distribution 
of  "the  land  of  New  England  by  lots  in  1622",  Cape  Cod  fell  to  him.  The 
date  of  his  death  is  unknown,  but  it  was  probably  in  1633.  His  mother  was 
married  (a  second  marriage)  to  Lawrence  Washington,  an  ancestor  of  George 
Washington.    Jesuit  Relations  and  Allied  Documents,  II,  309. 


110  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

Jamestown,  and  described  as  "an  ingenious,  active,  forward  young 
gentleman",1  arrived  one  day  on  the  coast.  He  had  come  hither 
for  the  purpose  of  supplying  the  Virginia  colonists  with  fish ;  but 
having  in  view  the  possibility  of  French  encroachments  within 
the  limits  of  England's  claims,  Sir  Thomas  Dale,  governor  of  Vir- 
ginia, had  given  Argall  orders,2  when  starting  north,  to  expel  the 
French  from  any  settlements  they  might  have  made  within  the 
limits  of  King  James'  patent  of  1606.  Because  of  the  return  of 
the  Popham  colonists  in  1608,  Governor  Dale  evidently  deemed  it 
incumbent  on  him,  as  England's  representative  on  the  American 
coast,  to  protect  the  nation's  interests  in  northern  Virginia,  as 
well  as  in  the  territory  under  his  immediate  command ;  and  he 
saw  to  it  that  Argall 's  vessel,  before  proceeding  northward,  was 
properly  armed  and  equipped.  Accordingly,  when  Argall,  hav- 
ing reached  the  vicinity  of  Mount  Desert,  learned  from  some 
Indians  that  there  were  white  colonists  in  the  neighborhood — 
Frenchmen,  as  he  surmised  from  their  use  of  the  word  "Norman- 
dia"  which  the  Indians  had  caught  up,  as  well  as  from  certain 
reported  acts  of  courtesy  which  Argall  and  his  company  '  'recog- 
nized as  French  ceremonies  of  civility  and  politeness", — he  at 
once  prepared  for  action ;  and  guided  by  one  of  the  Indians,  who 
supposed  he  was  doing  the  French  colonists  a  favor  in  bringing 

1  Howe's  Chronicles  in  Brown's  Genesis  of  the  United  States ,  II,  751. 

2  The  Virginia  council,  in  response  to  a  request  from  the  privy  council  in 
England  for  a  statement  of  the  affair,  wrote  :  "It  is  true  Capt.  Argall  did 
take  a  French  ship  within  the  limits  of  our  colony,  who  were  about  to  plant 
contrary  to  the  extent  and  privilege  of  his  majesty's  letters  patent  to  us 
granted.  That  he  did  it  by  the  command  of  the  governor  of  our  colony  by 
his  commission  to  him  given  under  the  seal  of  the  colony,  and  by  virtue  of 
such  authority  as  is  to  him  derived  from  his  majesty's  great  seal  of  Eng- 
land". Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  II,  731.  As  to  Governor  Dale's 
authority  for  his  orders  to  Argall,  it  should  be  said  that  the  Virginia  charter 
of  1606  conferred  upon  the  two  colonies  power  to  "encounter,  expulse,  repel, 
and  resist,  as  well  by  sea  as  by  land,  by  all  ways  and  means  whatsoever,  all 
and  every  such  person  and  persons,  as  without  the  especial  license  of  the  said 
several  colonies  and  plantations,  shall  attempt  to  inhabit  within  the  said 
several  precincts  and  limits  of  the  said  several  colonies  and  plantations,  or 
any  of  them".     Genesis  of  the  United  States,  I,  59. 


THE)  FRENCH  COLONY  AT  MOUNT  DE)SE)RT.        Ill 

the  ship  in,  Argall,  with  all  sails  set  to  a  propitious  breeze, 
entered  Somes  Sound  with  '  'the  banners  of  England  flying  and 
three  trumpets  and  two  drums  making  a  horrible  din",  and 
opened  fire  upon  everything  French  in  sight. 

I^a  Saussaye  was  on  shore,  and  disappeared  when  the  attack 
upon  the  settlement  was  made,  showing  no  signs  of  fitness  for 
leadership.  The  captain  of  the  French  ship  was  as  unprepared 
for  the  attack  as  were  the.  colonists  on  the  land,  his  sails  even 
having  been  arranged  as  awnings  for  the  deck;  and  when,  as  a 
response  to  Argall's  terrific  volley,  he  cried  to  his  men,  "Fire!" 
the  cannoneer  was  not  at  his  post.  Gilbert  du  Thet,  a  lay  brother, 
obeyed  the  command,  however,  but  "unfortunately",  says  Father 
Biard,  "he  did  not  take  aim";  and  his  associate,  who  was  on 
shore  at  the  time,  naively  adds,  "if  he  had,  perhaps  there  might 
have  been  something  worse  than  mere  noise."  1 

Moving  rapidly,  having  fired  a  single  volley  only,  Argall  sought 
to  place  his  vessel  alongside  of  the  French  ship ;  but  Captain 
Flory,  making  no  sign  of  surrender,  the  English  commander 
renewed  the  attack  at  close  quarters.  The  lay  brother  was  one  of 
those  struck  down  at  this  time.  His  wound  was  a  mortal  one, 
and  he  died  the  next  day.  Captain  Flory,  also,  was  wounded, 
and  three  of  his  men.  Two  young  men,  who  had  leaped  from  a 
boat  in  order  to  swim  to  the  shore,  were  drowned,  possibly  hav- 
ing first  been  wounded.     The  French  now  surrendered.2 

Argall  at  once  landed  and  sought  for  la  Saussaye,  but  he  was 
not  to  be  found.  Then,  the  locks  of  the  French  commander  hav- 
ing been  skilfully  picked,  a  search  was  made  for  his  commission 
and  other  papers.  Having  found  the  commission,  Argall  care- 
fully returned  the  papers,  leaving  the  trunks  as  if  they  had  not 
been  opened.  On  the  following  day,  la  Saussaye  came  out  of  his 
hiding-place  and  gave  himself  up.  First  of  all,  Argall  asked  to 
see  his  commission.  Not  suspecting  from  the  appearance  of  his 
trunks  that  they  had  been  opened,  la  Saussaye  turned  to  them 

x  Jesuit  Relations,  III,  281. 
2Ib.,  Ill,  283. 


112  THE  BEGINNINGS   OF   COIyONIAIy   MAINE. 

confidently ;  but  the  papers  he  sought  could  not  be  found.  Argall 
at  once  assumed  an  appearance  of  indignation  and  exclaimed, 
"You  give  us  to  understand  that  you  have  a  commission  from 
your  king,  and  you  cannot  produce  any  evidence  of  it",  adding 
that  he  regarded  him  and  his  company  as  "outlaws".1 

It  was  harsh  treatment,  but  not  as  severe  as  Father  Biard  and 
his  associates  anticipated.  "We  expected  only  death  or  at  least 
slavery",  he  wrote,  having  in  mind  the  hard  experiences  of  others 
in  the  international  conflicts  of  that  time.  Argall  took  down  the 
cross  that  had  been  erected  at  Saint  Sauveur,  and  removed  the 
French  armament  and  stores  to  his  own  ship ;  but  he  seems  to 
have  acted  discreetly,  for  Father  Biard,  while  designating  him  as 
"a  very  shrewd  and  cunning  captain",  added  that  nevertheless 
he  was  "a  gentleman  of  truly  noble  courage;  nor  were  his  men 
inhuman  or  cruel  to  any  of  us."  2  In  fact,  Father  Biard  has  only 
words  of  commendation  for  the  personal  bearing  of  the  English 
commander  so  far  as  the  French  colonists  were  concerned. 

In  various  ways,  and  after  many  mishaps,  two-thirds  of  the 
French  company  captured  at  Saint  Sauveur  were  enabled  to  make 
their  way  back  to  France  in  French  vessels  farther  up  the  coast.8 
Those  remaining  with  Argall,  including  Father  Biard,  were  dis- 
tributed among  the  vessels  of  Argall' s  fleet,  namely,  Argall' s  own 
ship,  la  Saussaye's  captured  vessel  and  a  bark  of  twelve  tons,  also 
taken  from  the  French.  Argall,  with  his  party  of  the  French 
colonists,  returned  to  Virginia,  where  he  received  a  hearty  greet- 
ing from  the  governor,  who,  pleased  with  the  results  of  Argall 's 
work  at  Saint  Sauveur,  directed  him  to  return  and  complete  the 
work  of  removing  every  landmark  of  France  "along  the  entire 
coast  as  far  as  Cape  Breton" .  Argall  was  prompt  in  his  response  ; 
and  sailing  northward  with  his  own  and  the  captured  vessels, 
having  with  him  also  Father  Biard  and  other  French  captives,  he 
soon  reached  Saint  Sauveur,  where  he  destroyed  the  French  fortifi- 

1  Jesuit  Relations,  IV,  11. 

2  lb.,  IV,  17. 

3  lb.,  IV,  27. 


THE  FRENCH  COLONY  AT  MOUNT  DESERT.        113 

cations  and  raised  another  cross,  carving  upon  it  the  name  of 
James  I  as  a  sign  of  English  dominion  on  American  soil.  Then 
he  made  his  way  to  St.  Croix  island  in  the  St.  Croix  river,  where 
he  destroyed  all  traces  of  '  'the  name  and  claims  of  France' '  left 
by  de  Monts'  company  when  they  withdrew  to  Port  Royal  in  1605. 
Argall  had  difficulty  in  finding  St.  Croix  island,  but  he  was  in  far 
greater  straits  in  his  search  for  Port  Royal.  At  length,  "by  dint 
of  much  running  about,  lying  in  ambush,  inquiring  and  skilful 
maneuvering",  he  captured  an  Indian  chief,  "a  very  experienced 
man  and  well-acquainted  with  the  country' ' ,  who  guided  the  Eng- 
lish commander  safely  to  his  desired  port.  No  one  was  found  at 
Port  Royal  when  Argall  landed,  and  taking  possession  of  the 
French  stores  and  other  property  at  the  fort  without  opposition  of 
any  kind,  he  set  the  buildings  on  fire  and  destroyed  all  "monu- 
ments and  evidences"  of  French  dominion  at  the  place.1 

Having  thus  accomplished  the  task  assigned  to  him  by  the  gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  Argall,  with  his  three  vessels,  set  sail  for  the 
return  voyage,  November  9,  1613.  His  own  vessel  reached  the 
James  river  in  about  three  weeks,  but  la  Saussaye's  vessel,  under 
the  direction  of  Captain  Turnel,  Argall 's  second  in  command,  was 
driven  by  a  storm  far  out  of  her  course;  and  Turnel,  losing  all 
hope  of  being  able  to  reach  Virginia,  decided  to  make  the  Azore 
islands  and  await  more  favorable  conditions.  At  Fayal,  however, 
where  Turnel  remained  three  weeks,  all  further  effort  to  return  to 
the  American  coast  was  abandoned.  The  vessel  then  proceeded 
to  England,  and  arrived  at  Milford  Haven  in  Wales  on  an 
unknown  date,  but  probably  in  February,  1614.  After  a  short 
delay,  Father  Biard  and  the  other  Frenchmen  on  board  were 
released  and  returned  to  France.  The  French  ambassador  at  Lon- 
don commenced  negotiations  for  the  surrender  of  la  Saussaye's 
vessel,  and  reparation  for  the  losses  sustained  by  the  French  at 
Saint  Sauveur.  The  vessel  was  given  up,  but  the  claim  for  repara- 
tion  was  denied,   the  privy  council  stating  in  a   communication 

1  Jesuit  Relations,  IV,  35-39. 


114  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

addressed  to  the  ambassador,  "As  to  Madame  the  Marchioness  of 
Guercheville  she  has  no  reason  to  complain,  nor  to  hope  for  any 
reparation,  seeing  that  her  ship  entered  by  force  the  territory  of 
said  colony  to  settle  there,  and  to  trade  without  their  permission, 
to  the  prejudice  of  our  treaties  and  of  the  good  understanding  there 
is  between  our  kings".1 

The  governor  of  Virginia  based  his  action  in  this  affair  on  the 
following  facts.  In  the  charter  of  1606,  granted  by  King  James 
to  the  southern  and  northern  colonies  of  Virginia,  that  part  of 
North  America  between  the  thirty-fourth  and  forty-fifth  degrees 
of  north  latitude  was  plainly  recognized  as  belonging  to  Great 
Britain.  The  grant  was  in  response  to  a  petition  for  royal  permis- 
sion "to  make  habitation,  plantation,  and  deduce  a  colony  of  sun- 
dry of  our  people  into  that  part  of  America,  commonly  called 
Virginia,  and  other  parts  and  territories  in  America,  either  apper- 
taining unto  us,  or  which  are  not  now  actually  possessed  by  any 
Christian  prince  or  people,  situate,  lying  and  being  all  along  the 
sea  coasts,  between  four  and  thirty  degrees  of  northerly  latitude 
from  the  equinoctial  line,  and  five  and  forty  degrees  of  the  same 
latitude".  The  king  agreed  to  these  "humble  and  well-intended 
desires",  and  granted  to  the  two  colonies  the  territory  indicated 
in  the  petition.2 

It  has  been  claimed  by  some  writers8  that  the  clause  "not  now 
actually  possessed  by  any  Christian  prince  or  people"  was  vio- 
lated in  Argall's  destruction  of  the  Saint  Sauveur  colony;  that  the 

1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States ,  II,  734. 

2  lb.,  I,  52,  53. 

3  For  example  :  "It  [the  South  Virginia  colony]  was  able  in  1613  to  fit  out 
an  armed  vessel,  commanded  by  Capt.  Argall,  which  broke  up  the  French 
settlements  at  Port  Royal,  Mount  Desert,  etc.,  and  compelled  their  inhabi- 
itants  to  retire  towards  Canada ;  protesting  all  the  while  that  whatever 
abstract  rights  Great  Britain  might  possess,  if  any  there  were,  the  Virginia 
charter  expressly  excepted  in  its  grants  regions  already  occupied  by  any 
Christian  prince  or  people,  they  [the  French]  being  a  Christian  people." 
History  of  Grants  under  the  Great  Council  for  New  England,  by  Samuel  F. 
Haven,  in  Early  History  of  Massachusetts.  Lectures  before  the  Lowell 
Institute  in  Boston  by  members  of  the  Mass.  Hist.  Society,  142. 


THE  FRENCH  COLONY  AT  MOUNT  DESERT.        115 

French  on  the  shores  of  Somes  Sound,  being  a  Christian  people, 
were,  by  the  charter  of  1606,  expressly  declared  to  be  in  rightful 
possession,  although  they  had  located  within  the  territorial  limits 
mentioned  in  the  charter.  It  should  be  noticed,  however,  that 
the  words  of  the  petition,  "not  now  actually  possessed  by  any 
Christian  prince  or  people",  are  not  repeated  in  the  king's  grant; 
moreover,  even  if  they  had  been  repeated,  no  appeal  in  behalf  of 
the  Saint  Sauveur  colony  could  be  made  to  this  clause  inasmuch  as 
it  had  reference  to  the  time  when  the  charter  was  granted — "not 
now  actually  possessed" — and  not  to  a  subsequent  occupation,  as 
was  the  case  at  Saint  Sauveur. 

England's  claim  to  territory  in  North  America,  however,  was 
not  based  primarily  on  King  James'  charter  of  1606,  but  on  Cabot's 
discovery  in  1497.  This  fact  was  recognized  in  the  charter  which 
Queen  Elizabeth  bestowed  on  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  in  1578,  in 
accordance  with  which,  in  1583,  he  took  formal  possession  of 
Newfoundland  in  the  name  of  the  queen.  Continuous  possession 
in  that  locality  did  not  follow,  it  is  true.  At  that  early  period 
matters  pertaining  to  territorial  rights  on  this  side  of  the  sea  were 
in  an  unsettled  state.  But  the  English  claim  within  certain  defi- 
nite limits  was  renewed  in  the  charter  of  1606,  which  virtually 
was  a  public  announcement  that  the  portion  of  North  America 
between  thirty-four  and  forty-five  degrees  north  latitude,  under 
the  name  Virginia,  was  territory  belonging  to  the  English  crown. 
Sir  Thomas  Dale,  therefore,  was  entirely  within  what  he  regarded 
the  rights  of  the  mother  country  when  he  gave  Argall  a  well- 
armed  vessel  and  directed  him,  properly  commissioned,  to  destroy 
any  French  settlements  on  the  Atlantic  coast  as  far  as  the  forty- 
fifth  degree  north  latitude.  Saint  Sauveur,  St.  Croix  island  and 
Port  Royal  were  within  the  limits  laid  down  by  the  crown,  and 
though  no  word  of  command  had  come  to  the  governor  from 
the  king,  he  evidently  deemed  that  he  needed  no  such  word  of 
command.  To  call  him  a  "self- constituted  champion  of  British 
rights"  1  does  him  injustice.     He  was  the  acknowledged  represen- 

1  Parkman,  Pioneers  of  France  in  the  New  World,  313. 


116  THE)   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE}. 

tative  of  English  sovereignty  on  American  soil ;  and  recognizing 
this  fact,  having  in  view  the  just  requirements  of  his  office,  he 
doubtless  considered  that  he  would  fail  in  his  allegiance  to  the 
crown  if  he  allowed  any  encroachment  upon  territory  within  the 
limits  established  by  the  charter  of  1606. 1 

So  far  as  English  interests  in  the  new  world  were  concerned, 
the  importance  of  Argall's  mission  to  our  coast  in  1613  can  hardly 
be  overestimated.  As  has  well  been  said,  "New  England  was 
reserved  for  the  English  by  Argall's  decisive  action' '  .2  England's 
privy  council  not  only  refused  to  disavow  that  action  by  the  pun- 
ishment of  Argall,  but  continued  him  in  higher  and  higher  com- 
mands. Here,  at  Somes  Sound,  was  the  beginning  of  that  long 
struggle  between  England  and  France  for  dominion  on  American 
soil.  Grand  tactics  later  were  displayed  on  both  sides.  The 
prize  to  be  won  was  an  alluring  one.  Nothing  is  clearer  than 
that  from  this  early  period  the  determination  was  strong,  and  ever 
stronger  in  English  minds  and  hearts,  to  maintain  at  any  cost  the 
English  claim  to  American  territory.  Naturally  there  was  con- 
flict, and  the  conflict  was  long  continued.  In  the  course  of  time 
the  right  of  discovery  was  exchanged  for  the  right  of  conquest, 
until  in  1763,  by  treaty,  New  France  disappeared  from  the  map 
of  North  America,  and  the  whole  of  England's  claim  to  territory 
on  this  side  of  the  sea  was  finally  established.3 

1  "In  this  manner  England  vindicated  her  claim  to  Maine  and  Acadia". 
Bancroft,  History  of  the  United  States,  I,  113. 

2  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  II,  816. 

3  Concerning  the  legal  points  involved  in  such  cases,  see  A  Digest  of 
International  Law  by  John  Bassett  Moore,  I,  258,  and  following.  Chief 
Justice  Marshall,  in  1828,  Johnson  vs.  Mcintosh,  said:  "On  the  discovery 
of  this  immense  continent  the  nations  of  Europe  were  eager  to  appropriate 

to  themselves    so  much  of  it  as  they  could  respectively  acquire 

The  potentates  of  the  Old  World  found  no  difficulty  in  convincing  them- 
selves that  they  made  ample  compensation  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  New,  by 
bestowing  on  them  civilization  and  Christianity,  in  exchange  for  unlimited 
independence.  But,  as  they  were  nearly  all  in  pursuit  of  the  same  object, 
it  was  necessary,  in  order  to  avoid  conflicting  settlements  and  consequent 
war  with  each  other,  to  establish  a  principle  which  all  should  acknowledge 
as  the  law  by  which  the  rights  of  acquisition,  which  they  all  asserted,  should 


TH£  FRENCH  COLONY  AT  MOUNT  DKSKRT.        117 

be  regulated  as  between  themselves .  This  principle  was  that  discovery  gave 
title  to  the  government  by  whose  subjects,  or  by  whose  authority  it  was 
made,  against  all  other  European  governments,  which  title  might  be  con- 
summated by  possession.  The  exclusion  of  all  other  Europeans  necessarily 
gave  to  the  nation  making  the  discovery  the  sole  right  of  acquiring  the  soil 
from  the  natives,  and  establishing  settlements  upon  it".  Moore  Digest 
etc.,  I,  258,  259. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Voyages  by  Captain  John  Smith  and  Others. 

NOTWITHSTANDING  Strachey's  explicit  statement  assert- 
ing the  complete  collapse  of  the  Sagadahoc  colony  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Kennebec — a  statement  abundantly  con- 
firmed by  other  contemporary  writers — attempts  have  been  made 
to  give  apparent  support  to  vague  surmisings  that  some  of  the 
colonists  remained  in  the  country.1  "However  first  originated", 
these  statements  "have  been  elaborated  and  promulgated  by  vari- 
ous persons,  have  been  supported  by  sundry  considerations  with 
insistence  and  repetition.  They  have  assumed  a  place  in  history 
and  literature,  have  been  frequently  set  before  the  public  eye  in 
the  newspapers  and  been  enforced  on  occasion  in  historical  or 
public  assemblies.  It  is  believed  they  are  quite  widely  diffused 
among  reading  people,  and  have  been  accepted  partially,  or  fully, 
by  many  persons  interested  in  the  history  of  the  locality,  or  the 
state' '  .2 

Especially  has  the  effort  been  made  to  locate  at  Pemaquid 
Popham  colonists,  who  are  said  to  have  remained  on  the  coast 
after  the  abandonment  of  Fort  St.  George.     There  is  no  evidence, 

1  The  latest,  perhaps,  is  in  Herbert  Edgar  Holmes'  Makers  of  Maine, 
I/ewiston,  Maine,  1912,  149:  "When  the  [Popham]  colonists  at  the  end  of 
the  year  returned  to  England,  they  returned  in  the  'Mary  and  John'  and  the 
'Virginia  of  Sagadahoc'!  The  ship  'Gift  of  God',  with  forty-five  men, 
remained  behind.  What  became  of  these  men  and  their  ship  is  doubtful, 
but  the  weight  of  evidence  tends  to  prove  that  they  went  to  Pemaquid  and 
Monhegan  and  became  those  scattered  settlements  of  Englishmen  along  the^ 
coast  of  Maine."  There  is  no  evidence  whatever  that  these  men  went  to?' 
Pemaquid  and  Monhegan.  The  persistence  of  such  statements  that  overlook 
well-established  facts  is  one  of  the  surprises  of  well-informed  readers  con- 
cerning our  colonial  history. 

2  Coll.  of  the  Me.  Hist.  Society,  Series  II,  6,  64. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH   AND  OTHERS.  119 

however,  upon  which  such  an  attempt  can  be  based  with  any 
show  of  reason.  Not  only  is  there  positive  testimony,  which  the 
sources  of  this  part  of  our  history  abundantly  furnish,  that  all  the 
colonists  connected  with  the  Popham  plantation  at  the  time  of  its 
abandonment  returned  to  England,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that 
there  was  any  English  occupation  of  Pemaquid  following  the 
breaking  up  of  the  settlement  on  the  Kennebec.  When,  for 
example,  it  is  said  that  French  missionaries  report  English  people 
at  Pemaquid  in  1608,  and'  1609,  a  good  illustration  is  furnished 
of  the  foundation  upon  which  this  claim  of  English  occupation  at 
Pemaquid  at  this  time  is  made  to  rest.  The  reference  plainly  is 
to  the  statement  made  by  Father  Biard,  in  his  Relation,  that  the 
Indians  told  him  "they  drove  away  the  English  who  wished  to 
settle  among  them  in  1608  and  1609".  But  the  connection  shows 
that  Father  Biard,  in  this  statement,  had  in  mind  the  Popham 
colony  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec,  whither  he  went  with 
Biancourt  in  the  autumn  of  1611.  It  is  true  that  he  makes  a  mis- 
take in  the  date  he  gives  and  should  have  written  1607  and  1608, 
the  dates  of  the  Sagadahoc  settlement ;  but  the  error  is  easily  cor- 
rected by  the  reader,  as  Father  Biard  has  no  record  of  any  visit  to 
Pemaquid  in  his  narrative  of  this  trip.  In  the  passage  to  which 
reference  is  made,  he  is  recording  what  he  learned  from  the 
Indians  during  his  visit  to  the  Kennebec  (Kinibequi)  with  Bian- 
court, allusion  to  which  is  made  in  the  preceding  chapter. 
Other  statements,  presented  as  a  basis  for  Pemaquid  settlement  at 
this  time  are  equally  without  foundation.  They  are  figments  of 
the  imagination  only.1 

Certainly  if  any  one  had  known  of  English  settlers  on  the  Maine 
coast  immediately  following  the  return  of  the  Popham  colonists  to 
England,  it  would  have  been  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  who  was  so 
bitterly  disappointed  at  the  outcome  of  an  enterprise  into  which 

1  For  a  clear  and  exhaustive  statement  concerning  "Beginnings  at  Pema- 
quid" see  a  paper  with  that  title  read  before  the  Maine  Historical  Society, 
September  7,  1894,  by  Rev.  H.  O.  Thayer,  and  printed  in  the  Society's  Col- 
lections, Series  II,  6,  62-85  ;  also  The  Sagadahoc  Colony, Gorges  Society,  IV, 
217-239. 


120  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COI/JNIAI,   MAINE). 

he  had  put  so  much  of  heart  and  hope.  His  writings,  however, 
lack  even  a  hint  of  any  such  information. 

Already,  under  the  reign  of  James  I,  the  condition  of  affairs  in 
England  was  such  as  to  awaken  serious  consideration  among 
thoughtful  men.  Two  letters  of  Gorges,1  written  to  Lord  Salis- 
bury in  1611,  touch  upon  this  unhappy  condition.  Matters  con- 
nected with  English  commerce  especially  distressed  Gorges,  who, 
at  Plymouth,  was  made  familiar  with  the  piratical  assaults  of 
English  adventurers  upon  the  vessels  of  London  merchants  in  the 
English  channel,  and  with  the  contempt  with  which  these  free- 
booters regarded  both  the  king  and  the  government.  Gorges 
also  was  distressed  because  of  the  very  large  number  of  men  in  the 
great  cities  and  towns  who  were  out  of  employment.  Accord- 
ingly, with  his  thoughts  still  busy  with  reference  to  the  oppor- 
tunities for  English  expansion  on  this  side  of  the  sea,  he  ven- 
tured the  suggestion  to  Cecil  that  in  this  unhappy  state  of  affairs 
in  the  kingdom  relief  might  be  sought,  as  had  been  done  before  in 
the  history  of  nations,  by  "the  planting  of  colonies  in  barbarous 
and  uninhabited  parts  of  the  world",  to  the  great  honor  and  hap- 
piness of  all  concerned.  But  his  suggestion,  if  it  found  support 
in  Cecil,  evidently  found  little  support  elsewhere,  and  the  coun- 
try continued  to  drift  on  and  on  into  a  still  more  deplorable  con- 
dition. 

Between  1608  and  1614,  no  evidence  whatever  is  found  in 
authoritative  sources  that  there  were  English  colonists  on  the 
coast  of  Maine,  and  they  afford  only  glimpses — provokingly  faint 
glimpses — of  English  vessels.  In  the  Brief  Relation  of  the  Dis- 
covery and  Plantation  of  New  England,  prepared  by  the  "Presi- 
dent and  Council  for  the  affairs  of  New  England"  and  published 
in  1622,  after  a  reference  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  Popham  col- 
ony in  1608,  and  the  return  of  "the  whole  company"  to  England, 
and  the  discouragement  that  followed  so  that  "there  was  no  more 
speech  of  settling  any  other  plantation  in  those  parts  for  a  long 
time  after",  it  is  added  :    "Only  Sir  Francis  Popham,  having  the 

1  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  III,  171-176. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH   AND   OTHKRS.  121 

ships  and  provisions  which  remained  of  the  company,  and  supply- 
ing what  was  necessary  for  his  purpose,  sent  divers  times  to  the 
coasts  for  trade  and  fishing' '  /  Gorges  makes  mention  of  a  voyage 
made  by  Captain  Henry  Harley  to  the  New  England  coast  about 
this  time ;  and  as  he  adds  that  Harley  was  "one  of  the  plantation 
sent  over  by  the  lord  chief  justice' ' ,  in  other  words  a  member  of 
the  Popham  colony,  it  is  difficult  to  think  of  him  as  master  of  a 
vessel  in  New  England  waters  and  not  making  his  way  to  the 
coast  of  Maine.  On  his  return,  Captain  Harley  called  on  Sir 
Ferdinando  at  Plymouth,  bringing  with  him  an  Indian  whose 
name  was  Epenow,2  a  native  of  the  island  of  Capawick,  or 
Martha's  Vineyard.  "At  the  time  this  new  savage  came  to  me", 
writes  Gorges,  "I  had  recovered  Assacumet,  one  of  the  natives  I 
sent  with  Captain  Chalownes  (Challons)  in  his  unhappy  employ- 
ment".3    This  Indian  Assacumet,  will  be  recognized    as  one  of 

1  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  I,  207. 

2  Gorges  says  he  was  "a  person  of  goodly  stature,  strong  and  well  propor- 
tioned", and  that  he  was  ''taken  upon  the  main  with  some  twenty-nine 
others  by  a  ship  qf  London  that  endeavored  to  sell  them  for  slaves  in  Spain  ; 
but  being  understood  that  they  were  Americans,  and  found  to  be  unapt  for 
their  uses,  they  would  not  meddle  with  them,  this  being  one  of  them  they 
refused.  How  Captain  Harley  came  to  be  possessed  of  this  savage  I  know 
not,  but  I  understood  by  others  how  he  had  been  showed  in  London  for  a 
wonder".  Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II, 
20.  Some  writers  mention  Epenow  as  one  of  the  Indians  captured  by  Hunt  ; 
but  as  Epenow  was  placed  by  Gorges  on  Hobson's  vessel,  which  sailed  from 
England  in  June,  1614  {Brief e  Narration,  II,  22),  he  could  not  have  been 
included  in  Hunt's  captives,  as  Hunt  had  not  at  that  time  captured  the  Indi- 
ans which  he  took  to  Spain.  Tisquantum,  a  Cape  Cod  Indian,  was  probably 
captured  by  the  same  party  that  captured  Epenow.  He  is  mentioned  in 
Bradford's  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation  under  the  name  of  Squanto. 
The  Pilgrims  came  to  know  him  through  Samoset  as  one  who  could  speak 
better  English  than  himself.  He  taught  the  Pilgrims  corn  planting  and 
befriended  them  in  many  ways.  In  recording  Squanto 's  death  in  1622,  Brad- 
ford says  {History  of  Plymouth's  Plantation,  155)  that  he  desired  "the  gov- 
ernor to  pray  for  him  that  he  might  go  to  the  Englishmen's  God  in  heaven, 
and  bequeathed  sundry  of  his  things  to  sundry  of  his  English  friends,  as 
remembrances  of  his  love,  of  whom  they  had  great  loss". 

3  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  22. 


122  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL   MAINE). 

those  captured  by  George  Waymouth  in  1605  and  taken  to  Eng- 
land. He  accompanied  Challons  in  the  voyage  of  1606,  and  with 
him  and  the  rest  of  his  company  was  captured  and  taken  to  Spain. 
In  August,  1607,  Captain  John  Barlee  wrote  to  Secretary  Cecil, 
inclosing  in  his  letter  a  list  of  Challons'  prisoners  at  Seville,  and 
urged  him  to  use  his  influence  in  the  recovery  of  two  savages, 
Manedo  (Maneddo)  and  Sassacomett  (Saffacomoit)1.  Doubtless 
there  was  delay  in  the  matter,  and  it  may  have  been  several  years 
before  Saffacomoit  arrived  in  Plymouth.  His  return,  however, 
whether  sooner  or  later,  quickened  Gorges'  interest  in  American 
matters,  and  in  June,  1614, 2  he  despatched  a  vessel  under  Captain 
Nicholas  Hobson  to  the  New  England  coast — the  company  includ- 
ing three  Indians,  "Epenow,  Assacomet  and  Wanape",  who  were 
to  be  used  as  pilots  after  the  vessel's  arrival  at  its  destination. 
But  the  voyage,  apparently  directed  primarily  to  Martha's  Vine- 
yard (where,  it  would  seem,  the  adventurers  were  to  search  for  a 
gold  mine),  was  a  failure,  and  Gorges,  after  telling  briefly  the 
story,  recorded  his  added  disappointment  in  connection  with  this 
new  enterprise  in  these  words  :  '  'Thus  were  my  hopes  of  that  par- 
ticular made  void  and  frustrate,  and  they  returned  without  doing 
more,  though  otherwise  ordered  how  to  have  spent  that  summer 
to  good  purpose".3  Search  for  the  gold  mine  might  prove  a  fail- 
ure, but  fishing  on  the  coast  of  Maine  had  promise  of  success,  and 
in  his  supplemental  orders  doubtless  Gorges  directed  Hobson  to 
make  his  way  thither.  Assacomet  probably  returned  to  England 
with  Hobson,  though  he  is  not  again  mentioned. 

At  this  time  a  picturesque  figure  appeared  on  the  Maine  coast 
in  the  person  of  Captain   John   Smith,  who  says4  that   "in  the 

1  Thayer,  Sagadahoc  Colony,  164. 

2  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  23. 

3  lb.,  II,  25.  A  somewhat  different  account  appears  in  The  Discovery  and 
Plantation  of  New  England,  published  by  the  president  and  council  for  New 
England  in  1622.  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of 
Maine,  I,  209,  210.  Also  see  Captain  John  Smith's  A  Description  of  New 
England :  Veazie  reprint  of  edition  of  1616,  Boston,  1865,  67,  68. 

*  A  Description  of  New  England,  Veazie  reprint,  19. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH   AND  OTHERS.  123 

month  of  April,  1614,  with  two  ships  from  IyOndon",  he  "chanced 
to  arrive  in  New  England,  a  part  of  America,  at  the  isle  of  Mona- 
higgon  in  43 £  of  northerly  latitude".  In  this  record  is  found  the 
first  appearance  in  print  of  the  designation  New  England,  and 
here,  also,  appears  for  the  first  time  the  Indian  name  of  Monhegan 
island,  which  Waymouth  named  "St.  George's  Island".1 

Captain  Smith  became  interested  in  new  world  enterprises  after 
many  adventures  in  European  countries.2  This,  he  records,  was 
two  years  before  the  departure  of  the  Jamestown  colonists,  who 
left  England  December  19,  1606,  and  whom  he  accompanied.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  first  Virginia  council,  and  was  elected  presi- 
dent of  the  colony  in  1608.  This  office  he  held  until  he  was 
arrested  in  September,  1609,  and  sent  to  England  "to  answer  to 
some  misdemeanors",  probably  as  the  result  of  factional  condi- 
tions in  the  colony,  which  Smith,  doubtless,  had  a  share  in  creat- 
ing. He  remained  in  England  until  1614 ;  and  though  he  was 
not  again  identified  with  affairs  in  Virginia,  he  seems  to  have  so 

1  Rosier's  Relation  of  Waymouth' s  Voyage  to  the  Coast  of  Maine  in  1605, 
Gorges  Society,  1887,  138. 

2  These  are  recounted  by  himself  in  his  True  Travels,  Adventures  and 
Observations  of  Captain  John  Smith  in  Etirope,  Asia,  Africa  and  America. 
Republished  in  Richmond,  Va.,  in  1819,  from  the  I/ondon  edition  of  1629. 
Smith's  trustworthiness  as  a  historian  has  been  strongly  assailed  during  the 
past  half  century  by  some  writers,  especially  by  Alexander  Brown  in  his  Gen- 
esis of  the  United  States,  Boston,  1890,  II,  1006-1010.  "Smith's  position  in 
our  early  history",  he  says,  "is  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  maxim,  'I 
care  not  who  fights  the  battles,  so  I  write  the  dispatches'  "  ;  and  he  adds, 
"He  was  certainly  incapable  of  writing  correct  history  when  he  was  personally 
interested".  On  the  other  hand  the  article  on  Captain  John  Smith  in  the 
1911  edition  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  is  exceedingly  favorable  to  him, 
and  defends  him  against  the  charge  of  untrustworthiness.  The  writer  is 
inclined  to  think  that  the  truth  is  not  on  the  one  side  or  the  other,  but 
between  the  two.  Smith's  Description  of  New  England  is  certainly  a  work 
for  which  we  owe  to  him  grateful  remembrance.  He  had  his  faults,  but  he 
had  also  his  excellences.  He  died  in  London,  in  the  house  of  Sir  Samuel 
Saltonstall,  June  21,  1631,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Sepulchre's  church,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  choir,  where  an  elaborate  epitaph  still  records  his  deeds  in 
eulogistic  lines.  The  original  monument,  however,  was  destroyed  by  fire  in 
1661. 


124  THE    BEGINNINGS   OF    COLONIAL    MAINE. 

far  made  good  his  defense  against  the  Virginia  charges  as  to  secure 
general  confidence  in  England,  so  that  some  London  merchants 
furnished  him  with  two  vessels  for  a  venture  to  the  territory 
assigned  to  the  North  Virginia  colony.1 

One  object  of  the  voyage,  he  says,  "was  there  to  take  whales 
and  make  trials  of  a  mine  of  gold  and  copper.  If  these  failed, 
fish  and  furs",  he  added,  "was  then  our  refuge".  Evidently,  in 
his  preparation  for  the  undertaking,  Captain  Smith  had  inter- 
viewed his  predecessors  in  voyages  to  the  New  England  coast, 
and  doubtless  had  obtained  from  them  reports  of  whales  in  Ameri- 
can waters,  and  suggestions  as  to  the  possibility  of  discovering 
mines  of  gold  and  copper.  But  he  knew  that  other  fisheries  than 
the  whale  fishery  had  proved  remunerative,  as  also  had  fur-trading 
with  the  Indians.  Accordingly  he  felt  reasonably  confident  that 
in  his  prosecution  of  the  enterprise  he  was  warranted  in  looking 
for  such  returns  as  would  satisfy  the  London  adventurers.  He 
acted  wisely,  therefore,  in  broadening  the  scope  of  his  intended 
operations. 

The  fitness  of  Monhegan  as  a  favorable  location  for  the  prosecu- 
tion of   such    an   undertaking   was    doubtless  suggested    to  him 

1  In  his  General  Historie,  II,  206,  Smith  mentions  two  Indians  in  connec- 
tion with  his  voyage  of  1614,  Dohoday,  "one  of  their  greatest  lords,  who  had 
lived  long  in  England",  and  another  called  Tantum  whom  he  says  "I  carried 
with  me  from  England  and  set  on  shore  at  Cape  Cod".  The  first,  doubtless, 
is  to  be  identified  with  Tahanedo,  mentioned  by  Rosier  in  his  list  of  the  five 
Indians  captured  hy  Waymouth  in  1605  [Rosier's  Relation,  Gorges  Society 
reprint,  161)  and  taken  to  England;  also  mentioned  by  Gorges  as  Dehamda 
(Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  14).  He  was 
returned  with  Pring  in  1606,  and  was  visited  by  the  Popham  colonists  in 
1607.  Rosier  designates  him  as  "Sagamo  or  Commander",  and  Smith  here 
calls  him  "one  of  their  greatest  lords".  But  if  we  are  to  identify  Tantum 
with  Tistquantum  (Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  I, 
104)  he  certainly  was  not  one  of  the  Indians  treacherously  seized  by  Hunt 
after  Smith  left  Monhegan  for  England,  as  Smith  says  he  set  him  '  'on  shore 
at  Cape  Cod";  and  this  he  must  have  done  before  Hunt's  capture  of  the 
Indians  if  Smith  has  correctly  recorded  his  disposal  of  Tantum,  inasmuch  as 
it  is  hardly  supposable  that  having  been  landed  on  Cape  Cod,  the  Indian 
hurried  back  to  Monhegan  in  time  to  fall  into  Hunt's  hands,  and  so  was 
carried  by  him  to  Malaga. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH   AND   OTHERS.  125 

before  he  left  England ;  and  on  his  arrival  there,  if  not  before, 
whale  fishing  was  attempted,  but  without  success.  "We  found 
this  whale  fishing  a  costly  conclusion",  he  said.  "We  saw  many, 
and  spent  much  time  in  chasing  them,  but  could  not  kill  any : 
they  being  a  kind  of  Inbartes,  and  not  the  whale  that  yields  fins 
and  oil  as  we  expected".  The  search  for  gold  and  copper  also 
was  not  attended  with  success.  How  the  search  came  to  have  a 
place  in  the  proposed  objects  of  the  voyage,  Captain  Smith 
relates:  "For  our  gold,  it  was  rather  the  master's  (Hunt's) 
device  to  get  a  voyage  that  projected  it,  than  any  knowledge  he 
had  at  all  of  any  such  matter' ' . 

But  invaluable  time  was  consumed  in  these  endeavors.  There 
was  "long  lingering  about  the  whole",  says  Captain  Smith.  The 
best  opportunity  for  obtaining  furs  from  the  Indians,  and  for 
coast  fishing,  "were  past  ere  we  perceived  it",  he  adds,  "we 
thinking  that  their  seasons  served  at  all  times  ;  but  we  found  it 
otherwise,  for  by  the  midst  of  June,  the  fishing  failed.  Yet  in 
July  and  August  some  was  taken,  but  not  sufficient  to  defray  so 
great  a  charge  as  our  stay  required.  Of  dry  fish  we  made  about 
40,000,  of  corfish1  about  7,000."  2 

Monhegan  harbor,  in  which  Captain  Smith  found  anchorage  for 
his  vessels,  must  have  presented  a  busy  scene  during  that  summer 
of  1614.  It  was  a  scene  that  became  a  familiar  one  on  the  Maine 
coast.  Without  doubt  others,  in  previous  years,  had  erected 
stages  there  and  dried  their  fish ;  but  now,  for  the  first  time,  the 
parties  are  known  and  it  is  not  difficult  to  reproduce  in  imagina- 
tion the  fishermen  on  the  harbor  beach  and  the  stages  on  the 
grassy  slopes  not  far  away ;  while  between  the  beach  and  the 
stages  were  scattered  here  and  there  boats,  cordage,  canvas  and 
the  various  articles  of  one  kind  or  another  connected  with  fishing 
interests. 

While  the  larger  number  of  the  men  of  the  two  vessels  were 
employed  in  fishing,  Smith  himself,  with  eight  or  nine  others  who 

1  Corned  fish. 

2  Smith,  Description  of  New  England,  Veazie  reprint,  19,  20. 


126  the;  beginnings  of  col,oniai<  mains. 

"might  best  be  spared",  gave  some  attention  to  fur-trading  with 
the  Indians.  "We  ranged  the  coast  both  east  and  west  much 
further",  he  says,  "but  eastwards  our  commodities  were  not 
esteemed,  they  were  so  near  the  French  who  affords  them  better; 
and  right  against,  in  the  main,  was  a  ship  of  Sir  Francis  Popham's 
that  had  there  such  acquaintance,  having  many  years  used  only 
that  port,  that  the  most  part  there  was  had  by  him.  And  forty 
leagues  westwards  were  two  French  ships,  that  had  made  there 
great  voyage  by  trade,  during  the  time  we  tried  those  conclusions, 
not  knowing  the  coast  nor  savages'  habitations."  Popham's  ship 
evidently  was  at  what  is  now  known  as  New  Harbor,  on  the  east- 
ern side  of  Pemaquid  peninsula.  The  words,  "right  against,  in 
the  main",  plainly  point  to  the  place.  Here  it  was  that  Way- 
mouth,  in  1605,  met  the  Pemaquid  Indians,  and  came  to  the 
determination  to  capture  some  of  them  and  take  them  to  England.1 
It  was  here  that  Captain  Gilbert,  of  the  Mary  and  John,  landed 
Skidwarres,  when  the  Popham  colonists  came  to  Pentecost  harbor, 
two  years  later.2  Nothing  could  be  more  natural  than  that  the 
master  of  Sir  Francis  Popham's  vessel  should  anchor  there,  or 
that  he  should  secure  "the  most  part"  of  the  trade  with  the 
Pemaquid  Indians,  because  of  acquaintance  with  Nahanada,  the 
chief  of  the  tribe,  who  had  been  in  England,  and  kindly  treated. 
But  Captain  Smith  did  not  confine  his  personal  attention  to  the 
fur  trade  alone.  He  was  a  careful,  busy  observer  and  passing 
along  the  coast  "from  point  to  point,  isle  to  isle,  and  harbor  to 
harbor' ' ,  he  gathered  materials  for  a  map.8  Soundings  were  made 
and  recorded.  Rocks  and  landmarks  were  located.  The  map 
was  not  as  perfect  as  he  desired.  The  haste  of  other  affairs  pre- 
vented fuller  details,  but  it  was  all  that  the  circumstances  allowed, 
"being  sent",  he  writes,  "more  to  get  present  commodities  than 
knowledge  by  discoveries  for  any  future  good yet  it 

1  Rosier's  Relation,  Gorges  Society  reprint,  129. 

2  Thayer,  Sagadahoc  Colony,  57,  note  78. 

3  The  map  has  often  been  reprinted.  Alexander  Brown  reproduces  it  in 
his  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  II,  780.  There  is  also  a  good  reproduction 
of  the  map  in  the  Veazie  reprint  of  Smith's  Description  of  New  England. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH   AND  OTHERS.  127 

will  serve  to  direct  any  shall  go  that  ways  to  safe  harbors  and  the 
savages'  habitations".1 

Captain  Smith's  Description  comprises  the  New  England  coast 
from  Penobscot  bay  to  Cape  Cod.  It  is  full  of  valuable  informa- 
tion, giving  the  results  of  intelligent  observation.  The  following 
is  his  account  of  his  observations  of  the  Maine  coast  from  Penob- 
scot bay  to  the  Piscataqua. 

"The  most  northern  part  I  was  at  was  the  bay  of  Penobscot, 
which  is  east  and  west,  north  and  south,  more  than  ten  leagues ; 
but  such  were  my  occasions,  I  was  constrained  to  be  satisfied  of 
them.  I  found  in  the  bay,  that  the  river  ran  far  up  into  the  land, 
and  was  well  inhabited  with  many  people  ;2  but  they  were  from 
their  habitations,  either  fishing  among  the  isles,  or  hunting  the 
lakes  and  woods  for  deer  and  beavers.  The  bay  is  full  of  great 
islands,  of  one,  two,  six,  eight  or  ten  miles  in  length,  which 
divides  it  into  many  fair  and  excellent  good  harbors.  On  the  east 
of  it  are  the  Tarrantines,  their  mortal  enemies,  where  inhabit  the 
French8  as  they  report  that  live  with  those  people,  as  one  nation 
or  family.  And  northwest  of  Penobscot  is  Mecaddacut,  at  the  foot 
of  a  high  mountain,  a  kind  of  a  fortress  against  the  Tarrantines 
adjoining  to  the  high  mountains  of  Penobscot,  against  whose  feet 
doth  beat  the  sea.  But  over  all  the  land,  isles,  or  other  impedi- 
ments, you  may  well  see  them  sixteen  or  eighteen  leagues  from 

1  Veazie  reprint  of  Smith's  Description  of  New  England,  23. 

2  The  reference,  of  course,  is  to  the  Penobscot  Indians. 

3  This  report  can  have  no  reference  to  a  French  settlement  at  Castine 
(called  by  the  English,  Penobscot,  and  by  the  French,  Pentegoet).  There 
were  no  Frenchmen  residing  there  in  1613,  for  Father  Biard,  who  had  oppor- 
tunities for  receiving  information  from  Indian  sources,  would  have  known  it 
and  have  mentioned  it.  Moreover  Argall  had  no  knowledge  of  French  occu- 
pation there,  or  at  any  other  place  on  the  French  coast  in  that  year  except 
at  St.  Sauveur  on  Mount  Desert.  In  his  map-making  in  Penobscot  bay  in 
1614,  Captain  John  Smith  was  at  Castine — "The  principal  habitation  north- 
ward we  were  at  was  Penobscot' ' ,  Description  of  New  England,  Veazie 
reprint,  26, — but  he  makes  no  mention  of  finding  Frenchmen  there.  The 
report  made  to  him  concerning  the  French  at  the  eastward  doubtless  had  its 
foundation  in  some  mention  of  the  French  colony  at  St.  Sauveur,  which  was 
broken  up  by  Argall  in  1613. 


128  the;  beginnings  op  colonial  maine. 

their  situation.  Segocket  is  the  next,  then  Nasconcus,  Pemaquid 
and  Sagadahock.  Up  this  river,  where  was  the  Western  planta- 
tion, are  Aumuckcawgen,  Kinnebeck  and  divers  others,  where 
there  is  planted  some  corn  fields.  Along  this  river,  forty  or  fifty- 
miles,  I  saw  nothing  but  great  high  cliffs  of  barren  rocks  over- 
grown with  wood  ;  but  where  the  savages  dwelt,  there  the  ground 
is  exceedingly  fat  and  fertile.  Westward  of  this  river  is  the 
country  of  Aucocisco  in  the  bottom  of  a  large,  deep  bay,  full  of 
many  great  isles,  which  divide  it  into  many  good  harbors.  Sowo- 
cotuck  is  the  next  in  the  edge  of  a  large  sandy  bay,  which  hath 
many  rocks  and  isles,  but  few  good  harbors  but  for  barks,  I  yet 
know.  But  all  this  coast  to  Penobscot,  and  as  far  as  I  could  see 
eastward  of  it,  is  nothing  but  such  high  craggy  cliffs  rocks  and 
stony  isles,  that  I  wondered  such  great  trees  could  grow  upon  so 
hard  foundations.  It  is  a  country  rather  to  affright  than  delight 
one.  And  how  to  describe  a  more  plain  spectacle  of  desolation  or 
more  barren  I  know  not.  Yet  the  sea  there  is  the  strangest  fish- 
pond I  ever  saw ;  and  those  barren  isles  so  furnished  with  good 
woods,  springs,  fruits,  fish  and  fowl,  that  it  makes  me  think 
though  the  coast  be  rocky,  and  thus  affrightable,  the  valleys, 
plains  and  interior  parts  may  well  (notwithstanding)  be  very 
fertile.  But  there  is  no  kingdom  so  fertile  hath  not  some  part 
barren  ;  and  New  England  is  great  enough  to  make  many  king- 
doms and  countries,  were  it  all  inhabited.  As  you  pass  the  coast 
still  westward,  Accominticus  and  Passataquack  are  two  convenient 
harbors  for  small  barks  ;  and  a  good  country,  within  their  craggy 
cliffs".1 

One  has  little  difficulty  in  following  the  writer  in  this  descrip- 
tion of  so  large  a  part  of  the  Maine  coast.  The  obvious  physical 
features  of  the  country  are  mentioned  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  read- 
ily recognized.  Of  course  distances  are  estimates  only,  and  are 
easily  exaggerated  in  the  narrative,  as  is  illustrated  not  infre- 
quently in  the  writings  of  the  early  voyagers  upon  the  coast. 
The    Androscoggin    (Aumuckcawgen)     and    the    Kennebec    are 

1  Smith,  Description  of  New  England,  41-43. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH   AND  OTHERS.  129 

clearly  noted.  So  also  are  Casco  (Aucocisco)  bay  and  Old 
Orchard  bay  under  the  Indian  name  Sowocotuck ;  together  with 
Accominticus  (Agamenticus  or  York)  and  Passataquack  (Piscata- 
qua).  It  has  been  doubted1  if  Smith's  map  of  New  England, 
accompanying  his  Description,  was  drawn  from  his  own  surveys  as 
he  claims.  However  this  may  be,  certainly  there  can  be  no  doubt 
whatever  that  the  above  description  of  the  Maine  coast  is  Smith's 
own  work.  We  have  the  narratives  of  the  earlier  explorers  upon 
the  coast  except  that  of  Pfing  or  Hanham  in  1606 ;  but  as  they 
were  obliged  to  cut  short  their  work  of  exploration  by  reason  of 
the  approach  of  winter,  and  were  on  the  coast  only  four  weeks,  as 
is  conjectured  from  all  the  available  facts  in  the  absence  of  dates, 
it  is  probable  that  they  could  not  have  made  any  such  extended 
examination  of  the  coast  as  that  made  by  Captain  Smith,  espe- 
cially as  the  explorations  of  Pring  and  Hanham  determined  the 
location  of  the  Popham  colony  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec — a 
work  that  in  the  short  period  available  for  exploration  would 
necessarily  be  confined  to  that  part  of  the  Maine  coast  that  is  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec,  where  the  settlement 
was  made. 

In  his  mention  of  "The  Landmarks"  Captain  Smith,  referring 
to  the  islands,  says:  "The  highest,  or  Sorico  [is]  in  the  bay  of 
Penobscot ;  but  the  three  isles  and  a  rock  of  Matinnack  are  much 
further  in  the  sea.  Metinicus  is  also  three  plain  isles  and  a  rock, 
betwixt  it  and  Monahigan  ;  Monahigan  is  a  round  high  isle ;  and 
close  by  it,  Monanis,  betwixt  which  is  a  small  harbor  where  we 
ride.  In  Damerils  isles  is  such  another.  Sagadahock  is  known 
by  Satquin,  and  four  or  five  isles  in  the  mouth.  Smith's  isles 
[Isle  of  Shoals]  are  a  heap  together,  none  near  them,  against 
Accominticus. ' ' 2 

Monanis  here  has  its  first  recorded  mention,  and  in  connection 
therewith  the  location  of  Smith's  two  vessels  during  the  summer 

1  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  II,  780. 

2  Smith,  Description  of  New  England,  Veazie  reprint,  46,  47. 


130  THE)   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE). 

of  1614  is  definitely  fixed.  Here,  also,  we  have  the  earliest  men- 
tion of  the  Damariscove  islands  under  the  designation  Dameril's 
isles.  Humphrey  Damerill  of  Boston,  dying  about  1650,  claimed 
to  own  a  part  or  all  of  this  island.  He  or  another  of  that  name, 
fishing  on  the  coast,  may  have  used  its  harbor  and  shore  privi- 
leges several  years  before  1614.  Damaris  Cove,  as  a  variation  of 
the  name,  appears  among  the  various  references  to  the  island 
found  in  the  writings  of  that  century  pertaining  to  matters  on  the 
coast  of  Maine.1 

In  his  further  description  of  the  country,  after  referring  to  the 
mountains — "them  of  the  Penobscot"  (the  Union  and  Camden 
mountains),  the  "twinkling  mountain  of  Augocisco  [Mount  Wash- 
ington], and  the  great  mountain  of  Sasanou"  ( Agamenticus) ,  all 
indicated  on  his  map,  Captain  Smith  makes  mention  of  the  vari- 
ous kinds  of  trees,  birds,  fishes,  animals,  etc.,  that  had  come 
under  his  observation  in  ranging  the  coast.  He  also  enlarges  here 
and  there  on  "the  main  staple"  fish,  alludes  to  the  seasons  favor- 
able for  fishing,  calls  attention  to  the  fertility  of  the  soil2  and  to 
the  great  value  of  its  products  and  refers  to  many  other  matters 
indicating  the  suitableness  of  the  country  for  plantation  and 
development.  In  fact,  he  was  so  favorably  impressed  with  what 
he  saw  during  his  summer  on  the  American  coast  that  he  wrote : 
"Of  all  the  four  parts  of  the  world  that  I  have  yet  seen  not  inhab- 
ited, could  I  have  but  means  to  transport  a  colony,  I  would  rather 
live  here  than  anywhere. ' ' 3 

1  In  the  words,  '  'In  Damerils  isles  is  such  another",  the  reference  is  to  the 
unique  harbor  in  the  outer  island  of  the  group.  Thayer,  Me.  Hist.  Society 's 
Coll.,  Series  II,  6,  80. 

2  "The  ground  is  so  fertile,  that  questionless  it  is  capable  of  producing  any 

grain,  fruits  or  seeds  you  will  sow  or  plant But  it  may  be  not  every 

kind  to  that  perfection  of  delicacy;  or  some  tender  plants  may  miscarry, 
because  the  summer  is  not  so  hot,  and  the  winter  is  more  cold  in  those  parts 
we  have  yet  tried  near  the  sea  side,  than  we  find  in  the  same  height  in 
Europe  or  Asia.  Yet  I  made  a  garden  upon  the  top  of  a  rocky  isle  in  432, 
four  leagues  from  the  main  [Monhegan]  in  May  that  grew  so  well  as  it  served 
us  for  salads  in  June  and  July."  A  Description  of  New  England,  Veazie 
reprint,  34,  35. 

8  lb.,  28. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH   AND  OTHERS.  131 

The  summer  passed — a  summer  that  awakened  in  the  adven- 
turous spirit  of  Captain  John  Smith  bright  visions  of  a  New  Eng- 
land, and  the  greater  glory  of  the  mother  country  by  reason  of 
England's  expansion  on  this  side  of  the  sea.  "Here  nature  and 
liberty",  he  wrote,  "afford  us  freely  which  in  England  we  want 
or  it  costeth  us  dearly. ' ' 1  His  mind  aglow  with  this  thought,  and 
evidently  with  a  purpose  to  impress  it  upon  the  hearts  of  his 
countrymen,  Captain  Smith  sailed  out  of  Monhegan  harbor  as  the 
summer  drew  to  a  close.  The  date  of  his  sailing  he  does  not 
give,  but  he  records  the  fact  that  he  arrived  in  England  '  'within 
six  months"  after  his  departure  from  the  Downs",2  which  was  in 
the  month  of  April.  He  landed  at  Plymouth,  where  he  informed 
Gorges  concerning  his  venture,  and  gave  him  such  an  enthusiastic 
report  concerning  the  country  and  its  capabilities  that  Gorges' 
interest  in  English  colonization  on  the  American  coast  was  at  once 
reawakened.3  Smith's  report  had  the  same  effect  upon  other 
members  of  the  Plymouth  company.  It  was  the  general  feeling  of 
those  interested  in  the  territory  of  the  northern  colony  that  Cap- 
tain John  Smith  was  the  man  for  the  task  to  which  the  Popham 
colonists  proved  unequal ;  and  forthwith  negotiations  with  him 
were  opened  with  reference  to  a  new  colonial  undertaking.  "I 
was  so  encouraged  and  assured  to  have  the  managing  their  author- 
ity in  those  parts  during  my  life,  and  such  large  promises",  wrote 
Smith,  "that  I  engaged  myself  to  undertake  it  for  them".4 

Smith  disposed  of  his  cargo  of  fish  readily.  The  other  vessel, 
of  which  Thomas  Hunt  was  master,  tarrying  awhile  longer  at 
Monhegan,  at  length  sailed  for  Spain,  and  the  cargo  was  sold  at 
Malaga.  Before  Hunt  left  the  coast,  however,  thinking  to  make 
it  difficult  for  Smith  to  accomplish  his  purpose  to  establish  a  col- 
ony there,5  he  seized  twenty-four  Indians  whom  he  had  enticed  on 

1 A  Description  of  New  England,  Veazie  reprint,  56. 

2  General  Historie,  Iteration  edition  of  1629,  Richmond,  Va.,  1819,  II,  176. 

3  A  Description  of  New  England,  Veazie  reprint,  66. 
*  General  Historie,  II,  177,  178. 

5  lb.,  II,  176. 


132  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL  MAINE . 

board  his  vessel,  and  on  his  arrival  at  Malaga  sold  them  "for  a 
little  private  gain".  He  received  punishment  in  part,  however, 
for  as  Smith  says,  "this  vile  act  kept  him  ever  after  from  any- 
more employment  to  those  parts":1  but  the  prejudicial  effects  of 
Hunt's  treachery  must  have  lingered  long,  embittering  the  Indians 
against  the  English  and  attaching  them  even  more  strongly  than 
hitherto  to  their  French  rivals. 

Having  made  an  agreement  with  the  Plymouth  company  to  take 
the  leadership  in  planting  an  English  colony  on  the  American 
coast,  Smith  proceeded  to  London  to  report  to  the  adventurers  at 
the  metropolis  the  results  of  their  undertaking  under  his  super- 
vision. When  on  his  arrival  he  announced  his  engagement  with 
the  Plymouth  company,  he  found  some  who  promised  their  assist- 
ance in  this  new  enterprise ;  but  there  were  others,  and  in  all 
probability  those  who  had  fitted  out  the  two  ships  with  which  he 
had  summered  at  Monhegan,  who  evidently  thought  that  they  had 
a  prior  claim  to  his  services  because  of  existing  relations ;  and 
they  offered  him  employment  in  a  similar  undertaking.  This 
added  offer  Smith  was  obliged  to  decline,  on  account  of  the  agree- 
ment he  had  concluded  with  the  Plymouth  company.  "I  find  my 
refusal  hath  incurred  some  of  their  displeasures,  whose  favor  and 
love  I  exceedingly  desire,  if  I  may  honestly  enjoy  it' ' ,  he  wrote ; 
but  he  added,  "though  they  do  censure  me  as  opposite  to  their 
proceedings,  they  shall  yet  still  in  all  my  words  and  deeds  find  it 
in  their  error,  not  my  fault,  that  occasions  their  dislike ;  for  hav- 
ing engaged  myself  in  this  business  to  the  west  country,  I  had 
been  very  dishonest  to  have  broken  my  promise' '  .2    These  words 

1  General  Historie,  II,  176.  The  president  and  council  for  New  England, 
in  A  Brief  Relation  of  the  Discovery  and  Plantation  of  New  England,  state 
that  Hunt  sold  "as  many  as  he  could  get  money  for"  and  add  :  "But  when 
it  was  understood  from  whence  they  were  brought,  the  Friars  of  those  parts 
took  the  rest  from  them,  and  kept  them  to  be  instructed  in  the  Christian 
faith  ;  and  so  disappointed  this  unworthy  fellow  of  the  hopes  of  gain  he  con- 
ceived to  make  by  this  new  and  devilish  project."  Reprint  in  Baxter's  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  I,  210. 

2  lb.,  II,  179. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH   AND  OTHERS.  133 

are  exceedingly  creditable  to  their  author.  The  London  adven- 
turers pressed  their  case  with  urgency ;  and  failing  to  move  Smith 
from  his  position,  they  proceeded  to  fit  out  four  ships  which  were 
placed  under  the  direction  of  Captain  Michael  Cooper,  and  they 
were  ready  for  sea  before  the  Plymouth  company  '  'had  made  any 
provision  at  all",  as  Smith,  in  his  disappointment  over  conditions 
at  Plymouth,  records. 

Concerning  Cooper's  adventure  only  meager  details  have  come 
down  to  us.  The  vessels  sailed  in  January  following  Smith's 
return,  and  arrived  at  Monhegan  in  March.  Here  they  remained 
until  June,  Cooper  employing  his  men  in  fishing.  The  four  ves- 
sels taking  the  place  of  Smith's  two  in  the  preceding  season,  the 
little  harbor  at  Monhegan  must  have  presented  a  busy  scene  day 
by  day,  boats  moving  out  of  the  harbor  on  their  fishing  trips  to 
the  waters  around  the  island,  and  later  returning  heavily  laden 
with  their  abundant  catches  to  be  cured  when  landed  on  the  sandy 
beaches  of  the  harbor.  One  of  the  vessels,  a  ship  of  three  hun- 
dred tons,  was  sent  in  June  directly  from  Monhegan  to  Spain 
loaded  with  fish,  but  was  captured  by  Turks  on  the  way. 
Another  vessel,  also  loaded  with  fish,  was  sent  to  the  South  Vir- 
ginia colony.  A  third  vessel  returned  with  fish  and  oil  to  Eng- 
land, probably  to  London.  Concerning  Cooper's  fourth  ship 
there  is  no  information.1 

In  the  same  year,  1615,  Richard  Hawkins,  who  at  that  time 
was  president  of  the  Plymouth  company,  made  a  voyage  to  the  New 
England  coast,  leaving  England  in  October.  Only  a  brief  record 
of  his  undertaking  has  been  preserved.  In  all  probability  he 
made  his  way  to  Monhegan,  and  anchored  in  its  picturesque  har- 
bor. He  seems  to  have  spent  some  time  in  fishing  there.  Thence, 
making  explorations  along  the  coast,  he  visited  the  South  Vir- 
ginia colony,  and  returned  to  England  by  way  of  Spain,  whither 
he  went  to  sell  his  fish.2 

Referring  to  Hawkins'  voyage,  Gorges  says,  "this  was  all  that 

1  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  III,  181. 

2  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  25,  26. 


134  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE- 

was  done  by  any  of  us  that  year".1  In  1616,  there  were  signs  of 
activity.  In  his  Description  of  New  England,  which  was  pub- 
lished in  London,  June  18,  1616,  Captain  John  Smith  (in  the 
closing  pages,  which  were  probably  added  to  his  manuscript  in 
the  year  of  publication),  says,  "From  Plymouth  this  year  are  gone 
four  or  five  sail,  and  from  London  as  many."  2  He  is  careful  to 
add,  however,  that  they  were  not  voyages  with  reference  to  colo- 
nization, but  "voyages  of  profit"  only. 

It  was  during  this  year,  it  is  thought,  that  Gorges  became 
owner  of  a  vessel  and  sent  it  to  the  coast  of  Maine  "under  color 
of  fishing  and  trade".  Among  those  connected  with  the  voyage 
was  Gorges'  trusted  friend,  Richard  Vines.8  In  his  account  of 
this  voyage,  Gorges  is  provokingly  brief,  but  that  he  received  some 
encouragement  from  the  venture  is  indicated  in  the  statement  that 
from  those  connected  with  it,  probably  Vines,  he  came  to  be 
truly  informed  "of  so  much  as  gave  him"  assurance  that  in  time 
"he  should  want  no  undertakers".  Vines  is  said  to  have  landed 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Saco  river,  where  he  spent  the  winter  in  the 
wigwams  of  the  savages,  then  so  sorely  afflicted  with  the  plague 
"that  the  country  was  in  a  manner  left  void  of  inhabitants". 
Vines  and  his  company  happily  were  unaffected  by  it,  '  'not  one 
of  them  ever  felt  their  heads  to  ache  while  they  stayed  there' ' . 

During  the  following  year  a  voyage  was  made  hither  in  the 
Nachen,  a  vessel  of  two  hundred  tons,  commanded  by  Captain 
Edward  Brawnde,  whose  account  of  his  experience  is  contained  in 
a  letter  addressed  to  "his  worthy  good  friend  Captain  John  Smith, 

1  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  26. 

2  A  Description  of  New  England,  Veazie  reprint,  77. 

3  Vines  is  supposed  to  have  made  earlier  voyages  to  the  coast  of  Maine. 
Ivater  we  find  him  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saco,  where  he  established  himself. 
Baxter  says  of  him,  "Richard  Vines  was  a  man  of  high  character,  but,  being 
an  Episcopalian,  was  antagonistic  to  the  Puritan  rule,  which  was  finally 
extended  over  the  Province  of  Maine,  hence  in  1645,  he  removed  to  Barba- 
does,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine  until  his  death  in 
1651".  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine ,  I,  132,  note;  also 
II,  18,  19. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH   AND  OTHERS.  135 

admiral  of  New  England".  Brawnde  is  said  to  have  sailed  from 
Dartmouth,  March  8,  1616,  and  to  have  reached  Monhegan,  April 
20.  In  his  letter,  he  makes  mention  of  a  difficulty  with  Sir  Rich- 
ard Hawkins,  who  detained  his  boats ;  but  he  has  only  good  words 
concerning  the  country  and  the  opportunities  there  afforded  for 
fishing  and  fur  traffic  with  the  Indians,  whom  he  describes  as  "a 
gentle  natured  people",  well  disposed  toward  the  English.1 

Meanwhile  the  lack  of  energy  displayed  by  the  Plymouth  com- 
pany must  have  had  a  depressing  effect  upon  Smith.  '  'At  last, 
however",  he  could  write,  "it  pleased  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and 
Master  Dr.  Sutliffe,2  Dean  of  Kxeter,  to  conceive  so  well  of  these 
projects  and  my  former  employments,  as  induced  them  to  make  a 
new  adventure3  with  me  in  those  parts,  whither  they  have  so 
often  sent  to  their  loss".  A  few  gentlemen  in  London,  friends 
of  Smith,  had  a  part  in  the  enterprise,  but  mostly  the  adventurers 
were  from  the  west  country.  A  vessel  of  two  hundred  tons,  and 
one  of  fifty,  were  secured  and  made  ready  for  the  voyage.  Smith 
does  not  mention  the  date  of  his  sailing  from  Plymouth,  but  he 
tells  us  that  he  had  not  proceeded  one  hundred  and  twenty  leagues, 
when  his  own  vessel  not  only  lost  all  her  masts  in  a  storm  but 
sprang  aleak,  and  under  a  jury  mast  he  returned  to  the  harbor  he 
had  just  left.  While  the  smaller  vessel,  her  captain  not  knowing 
of  Smith's  mishaps,  was  making  her  way  to  Monhegan,  Smith 
secured  a  barque  of  sixty  tons,  in  which  June  24,  with  thirty  men, 
he  again  set  sail.  But  ill  fortune  a  second  time  attended  the 
undertaking,  for  he  had  not  proceeded  far  when  French  privateers 
bore  down  upon  him,  and  although  the  vessel  returned  to  Ply- 
mouth, Smith  himself  was  held  as  a  captive,  partly  it  would  seem 
by  the  mutinous  conduct   of   some   of  his  subordinates. 4    After 

1  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  III,  181,  182.  Brawnde's 
mention  of  Sir  Richard  Hawkins  is  an  indication  that  the  latter  passed  the 
winter  of  1615-16  at  Monhegan. 

2  Captain  John  Smith,  General  Historic,  II,  205-206. 

3  He  says  it  was  in  the  year  1615.     General  Historie,  II,  218. 

4  A  fuller  account  of  the  affair  is  given  in  Smith's  General  Historie  II 
209. 


136  the;  beginnings  OF  COLONIAI,  MAINE. 

various  vicissitudes  and  brief  delays  in  Rochelle  and  Bordeaux, 
he  was  finally  liberated1  and  made  his  way  back  to  Plymouth.  An 
investigation  of  the  circumstances  attending  the  voyage  was  held 
at  Plymouth,  December  8,  1615.  The  result  proved  favorable  to 
Smith,  who,  to  use  his  own  words,  "laid  by  the  heels"  such 
"chieftains  of  the  mutiny"  as  could  be  found.2 

Unquestionably  Smith's  misfortunes  in  connection  with  his 
employment  by  the  Plymouth  company  disheartened  those  who 
had  discovered  in  him  just  such  a  leader  as  was  needed  in  order 
successfully  to  plant  a  colony  upon  the  American  coast.  Though 
he  raised  money  in  L,ondon  for  another  venture,  there  was  no 
enthusiasm  at  Plymouth  for  joining  Smith's  I,ondon  friends  in  the 
proposed  enterprise.  However,  he  was  not  to  be  turned  aside  by 
the  indifference  of  his  former  Plymouth  associates,  and  he  spent 
the  summer  of  1616  in  visiting  Bristol,  Exeter,  Barnstable,  Bod- 
min, Penryn,  Fowey,  Millbrook,  Saltash,  Dartmouth,  Absom, 
Totnes  and  the  most  of  the  gentry  in  Cornwall  and  Devonshire, 
giving  them  books  and  maps.  By  this  help  and  information  he 
had  secured  personally  with  reference  to  the  fishing  interests  upon 
the  New  England  coast,  he  endeavored  to  enlist  support  in  further 
efforts.  Such  success  attended  him  in  this  campaign  of  publicity, 
that,  he  says,  a  promise  of  twenty  ships  to  go  with  him  to  the 
American  coast  in  the  following  year  was  made  to  him ;  and  he 
adds  that  the  western  commissioners  in  behalf  of  themselves  and 
the  rest  of  the  Plymouth  company,  together  with  those  who 
should  join  them,  contracted  with  him,  "by  articles  indented 
under  our  hands",  that  in  the  renewing  of  the  company's  let- 
ters patent  he  should  be  nominated  "Admiral  of  that  Country" 
during  his  life,  while  the  profits  were  to  be  divided  between 
the  patentees  and  Smith  and  his  associates.  Smith  claimed  that 
the  promise  was  not  fulfilled,  "i  am  not  the  first  they  have 
deceived",8  he  wrote. 

1  Smith  tells  us  that  he  wrote  his  Description  of  New  England  while  a 
captive  at  this  time.     See  Veazie  reprint,  72. 

2  General  Historie,  III,  213. 
8  lb.,  Ill,  218. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH   AND   OTHERS.  137 

Yet  notwithstanding  these  many  discouragements,  Smith  did 
not  cease  his  activities  in  new  world  enterprises  ;  and  in  1617,  he 
succeeded  in  securing  three  vessels  for  another  attempt  at  colonial 
undertakings.  But  the  ill  fortune  that  had  attended  his  efforts 
since  his  return  from  Monhegan  in  1614  followed  him  still. 
When  at  length  his  vessels  were  ready  for  the  voyage,  he  was 
detained  by  contrary  winds  with  a  hundred  other  sail  in  the  har- 
bor of  Plymouth  three  months,  during  which  time  the  adventurers 
of  the  expedition  seem  to  have  lost  heart  to  such  an  extent  that 
the  undertaking  was  wholly  abandoned.1  Gorges  makes  no  men- 
tion of  Smith  in  any  of  his  writings  that  have  come  down  to  us  ; 
and  now,  upon  this  added  discouragement,  he  evidently  dismissed 
all  hopes  concerning  the  "Admiral's"  availability  in  connection 
with  English  colonization  upon  the  coast  of  Maine.2 

Admirable  qualities  are  easily  discoverable  in  Captain  John 
Smith's  somewhat  remarkable  personality.  He  was  resourceful, 
energetic,  courageous,  optomistic.  He  saw  clearly,  indeed  much 
more  clearly  than  many  of  his  countrymen,  that  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  England's  opportunity  for  empire-building  was 
large  and  inviting.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  he  never  lost  sight 
of  Captain  John  Smith.  His  own  fortunes  were  ever  held  in  full 
view.  He  found  it  difficult  to  abide  long  in  harmonious  relations 
with  others  unless  the  chief  direction  of  affairs  was  given  to  him. 
Because  of  these  defects  in  his  temperament  and  character,  not- 
withstanding his  great  services  in  connection  with  early  American 
undertakings,  he  failed  to  obtain  a  place  among  the  successful 
founders  of  states. 

But  Captain  John  Smith,  notwithstanding  the  many  discourage- 
ments connected  with  his  attempts  to  promote  English  interests 
on  the  coast  of  Maine,  kept  a  watchful  eye  in  this  direction  ;  and 

1  Purchas  his  Pilgrimes,  IV,  1839. 

2  In  the  Public  Records  Office,  London,  there  is  a  letter  of  Captain  John 
Smith  to  Lord  Bacon,  written  in  1618,  in  which  '  'he  offered  to  adventure 
with  five  thousand  pounds  'to  bring  wealth,  honor  and  a  kingdom'  to  the 
king's  prosperity'  ".  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of 
Maine,  I,  102. 


138  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

in  his  General  Historie1  he  makes  mention  of  four  good  ships  pre- 
pared at  Plymouth  in  1618  for  voyages  thitherward.  Disagree- 
ments, however,  attended  the  fitting  out  of  the  expedition,  with 
the  result  that  so  much  of  the  season  was  spent  in  discussing  these 
differences  that  only  two  of  the  vessels  crossed  the  Atlantic,  one 
of  two  hundred  tons,  which  made  a  successful  voyage,  returning 
to  Plymouth  within  five  months,  and  the  other  of  eighty  tons, 
which  was  equally  successful,  and  disposed  of  her  cargo  of  fish  at 
Bilboa,  Spain. 

About  the  same  time,  evidently,  Gorges  sent  Captain  Edward 
Rocroft  to  Monhegan  with  a  company  he  '  'had  of  purpose  hired 
for  the  service' ' ,  with  instructions  to  await  there  the  arrival  of 
Captain  Thomas  Dermer,  formerly  associated  with  Captain  John 
Smith  in  one  of  his  unfortunate  voyages,  but  who  now  was  at 
Newfoundland.  There  he  met  the  Indian  Tisquantum,  who,  hav- 
ing been  released  from  captivity  in  Spain,  had  succeeded  in  pro- 
ceeding thus  far  in  an  endeavor  to  return  to  his  old  home  and  his 
own  people.  His  description  of  the  country  farther  down  the 
coast  interested  Dermer  to  such  an  extent  that  the  latter  pro- 
ceeded to  make  his  way  thither.  While  on  the  Maine  coast, 
impressed  by  what  he  saw  and  by  the  knowledge  he  had  gained 
concerning  the  great  opportunities  for  English  colonization  that 
the  country  afforded,  Dermer  wrote  letters  to  Gorges,  in  which  he 
made  mention  of  these  impressions  and  suggested  that  a  commis- 
sion should  be  sent  to  meet  him  there,  promising  to  come  from 
Newfoundland  for  a  conference  with  such  a  commission  if  the 
suggestion  should  be  favorably  received.  It  was  because  of  these 
letters  that  Gorges  sent  Rocroft  to  the  coast  of  Maine  in  the  hope 
that  he  would  meet  Dermer.  On  Rocroft 's  arrival  or  soon  after 
however,  he  fell  in  with  a  French  barque  of  Dieppe,  engaged  in 
fishing  and  trading  within  what  were  regarded  as  English  sover- 
eignty rights.  He  accordingly  seized  the  vessel,  and  placing  the 
French  captain  and  his  crew  on  his  own  vessel,  Rocroft  trans- 
ferred his  crew,  provisions,  etc.,  to  the  captured  barque.     The 

1  Richmond,  Va.,  edition  1819,  II,  218. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  SMITH   AND  OTHERS.  139 

French  captain,  on  his  arrival  at  Plymouth,  laid  his  case  before 
Gorges,  who  acted  with  tact  in  his  disposal  of  it.  Referring  to 
the  French  captain  as  "being  of  our  religion",  he  wrote,  "I  was 
easily  persuaded  upon  his  petition  to  give  content  for  his  loss".1 

Rocroft,  in  possession  of  the  captured  barque,  concluded  to 
remain  on  the  coast  that  winter,  "being  very  well  fitted  both  with 
salt,  and  other  necessaries"  ;  but  he  soon  discovered  that  some  of 
his  men  had  entered  into  a  conspiracy  to  take  his  life,  seize  the 
vessel  and  seek  "a  new  fortune  where  they  could  best  make  it". 
Rocroft,  however,  proved  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  arresting 
the  conspirators  "at  the  very  instant  that  they  were  prepared  to 
begin  the  massacre",  he  put  them  ashore  at  a  place  called 
"Sawaguatock"  (Saco)  ;  and  though  the  barque  was  now  weakly 
manned,  and  "drew  too  much  water  to  coast  those  places  that  by 
his  instructions  he  was  assigned  to  discover",  without  waiting  for 
Dermer,  he  set  sail  for  Virginia,  where  in  a  storm  the  vessel  was 
wrecked,  and  where  also  at  length  Rocroft,  in  a  quarrel,  was 
killed.2 

The  conspirators  did  not  remain  long  at  Saco,  but  made  their 
way  to  Monhegan,  where  they  spent  the  long,  cold  winter  "with 
bad  lodging  and  worse  fare' ' .  One  of  their  number  died  on  the 
island,  and  the  rest  returned  to  England  in  a  vessel  sent  to  make 
a  fishing  voyage  and  "for  Rocroft 's  supply  and  provision". 

But  meanwhile  Captain  John  Mason,8  then  at  Newfoundland, 
had  advised  Dermer  to  go  to  England  and  consult  with  Gorges 
and  others  before  returning  to  the  Maine  coast.  This  he  did, 
taking  with  him  Tisquantum ;  and  because  of  this  change  in  his 
plans  he  was  not  "at  the  usual  place  of  fishing",  namely  Monhe- 

1  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  27. 

2  A  Brief  Relation  of  the  Discovery  and  Plantation  of  New  England  by 
the  President  and  Council  for  New  England,  1622.  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  I,  212-215. 

8  Afterward  prominently  associated  with  Gorges  in  colonial  enterprises. 
When  ("Nov.  7,  1629)  they  divided  their  Province  of  Maine,  Mason  received 
that  part  of  the  grant  lying  between  the  Merrimac  and  Piscataqua  rivers, 
which  then  received  the  name  New  Hampshire.  Captain  Mason  died  in  I^on- 
don  in  1635. 


140  ?H£  BEGINNINGS  OE   COIvONIAI,   MAINE. 

gan,  when  Rocroft  arrived.  But  when,  in  the  spring  of  1619,  he 
reached  the  island  in  one  of  the  Plymouth  company's  fishing  ves- 
sels, he  learned  from  the  conspirators,  who  were  still  there,  that 
Rocroft  had  gone  to  Virginia.  Until  he  heard  at  length  of  the 
misfortunes  that  befel  Rocroft  there,  he  was  hopeful  of  his  return. 
Then  he  took  the  pinnace  assigned  the  year  before  to  Rocroft  for 
Dermer's  use,  and  with  Tisquantum  as  a  guide,  he  explored  the 
coast  as  far  as  Cape  Cod,  returning  June  23,  to  Monhegan,  where 
on  a  vessel  about  to  sail  for  Virginia,  he  placed  a  part  of  his  pro- 
visions and  other  stores,  and  then,  in  the  pinnace,  he  proceeded 
to  follow  the  coast  as  far  as  Chesapeake  bay.  In  a  letter  to 
Samuel  Purchas,1  Dermer  gave  an  interesting  account  of  his 
adventures  by  the  way.  At  Cape  Cod,  he  left  Tisquantum,  who 
desired  now  to  return  to  his  own  people.  On  the  southern  part 
of  Cape  Cod  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  Indians,  but  fortunately 
succeeded  in  making  his  escape.  At  Martha's  Vineyard,  he  met 
Kpenow,  the  Indian  who  accompanied  Hobson  to  the  American 
coast  in  1614.  "With  him",  says  Dermer,  "I  had  such  confer- 
ence" that  he  'gave  me  very  good  satisfaction  in  everything 
almost  I  could  demand".  Continuing  his  journey  he  passed 
through  Long  Island  sound2  "to  the  most  westerly  part  where  the 
coast  begins  to  fall  away  southerly' ' ,  and  thence,  through  New 
York  bay, 8  down  the  coast  to  Virginia.  Here,  as  was  the  case 
with  most  of  his  men,  Dermer  was  "brought  even  unto  death's 
door"  by  a  burning  fever,  but  recovered.  In  the  spring  of  1620, 
he  returned  to  Monhegan,  and  having  spent  the  summer  in 
exploration  on  the  coast,  he  again  started  for  Virginia.  At 
Martha's   Vineyard   he  tarried   to  visit  Kpenow;  but  this  time, 

1  Purchas  his  Pilgrimes,  IV,  1178,  1179. 

2  "Discovering  land  about  thirty  leagues  in  length  heretofore  taken  for 
main" — the  first  record  of  a  passage  through  the  Sound. 

8  "In  this  place  I  talked  with  many  savages,  who  told  me  of  two  sundry 
passages  to  the  great  sea  on  the  west,  offered  me  pilots,  and  one  of  them 
drew  me  a  plot  with  chalk  upon  a  chest,  whereby  I  found  it  a  great  island, 
parted  the  two  seas  ;  they  report  the  one  scarce  passable  for  shoals,  perilous 
currents,  the  other  no  question  to  be  made  of."  Dermer  seems  to  have  had 
in  mind  a  possible  route  to  China  as  he  records  this  interview. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH   AND  OTHERS.  141 

with  the  Indian  it  was  war,  not  peace ;  and  in  the  sudden,  unex- 
pected conflict  that  followed  his  landing,  all  of  Dermer's  men 
except  one  were  slain;  and  Dermer  himself  was  so  severely 
wounded  in  the  desperate  encounter,  that  although  he  managed  to 
escape  and  reached  Virginia,  he  died  soon  after  his  arrival.  His 
death  was  a  great  loss  to  the  northern  colony.  He  possessed  the 
confidence  of  Gorges  and  those  associated  with  him  in  the  affairs 
of  the  Plymouth  company.  The  president  and  council  for  New 
-  England  in  their  reference  to  his  services  and  death  make  men- 
tion of  him  as  "giving  us  good  content  in  all  he  undertook".1 

From  what  is  known  of  Dermer,  Gorges  and  his  associates  at 
Plymouth  were  fully  justified  in  their  expectations  concerning 
him.  Such  was  his  ability  for  the  successful  administration  of 
important  affairs,  and  such  promise  did  he  give  of  steadfastness 
of  purpose  and  energy  in  overcoming  difficulties,  at  the  same  time 
possessing  considerable  experience  in  matters  pertaining  to  his 
country's  interest  upon  the  American  coast,  that  hopes  concern- 
ing English  colonial  opportunities  had  been  happily  reawakened. 
By  the  tidings  of  Dermer's  death,  however,  these  hopes  again 
received  an  unexpected  blow. 

By  this  time  the  fishing  interests  that  centered  at  Monhegau 
were  becoming  quite  prosperous.  All  of  the  prominent  voyagers 
to  the  coast  of  Maine,  from  Gosnold's  exploration  in  1602,  had 
emphasized  the  very  great  value  of  the  coast  fisheries.  The 
waters  around  the  island  kingdom,  and  even  those  of  the  North 
Sea  to  which  English  fishermen  were  wont  to  repair,  offered  no 
such  opportunity  for  successful  fishing  as  the  waters  abont  Mon- 
hegan.  Plymouth  and  Bristol  were  ports  from  which  vessels  had 
long  made  their  way  "to  exercise  the  trade  of  fishing".  Indeed 
it  was  because  of  her  fisheries  that  England  possessed  the  hardy 

1  July  10,  1621,  there  was  read  before  the  Virginia  company  in  London  a 
relation  of  "Mr.  Dermer's  discoveries  from  Cape  Charles  to  Cape  Cod,  up 
Delaware  river  and  Hudson's  river,  being  but  twenty  or  thirty  leagues  from 
our  plantation,  and  within  our  limits,  within  which  rivers  were  found  divers 
ships  of  Amsterdam  and  Horn",  etc.  Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States, 
II,  877. 


142  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

and  daring  seamen,  who  won  her  great  victory  over  Spain  in  the 
defeat  of  the  Armada.  Down  to  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  the  for- 
eign trade  of  England  is  said  to  have  been  largely  in  the  hands  of 
German  merchants.  But  the  fishing  fleets  of  the  kingdom  were 
so  many  schools  for  training  experienced  seamen.  Plymouth  was 
the  birth  place  of  great  sailors  and  furnished  men  for  great  enter- 
prises.1 It  was  a  native  of  Plymouth,  Martin  Frobisher,  who 
sailed  from  that  port  in  1576  to  explore  the  coast  of  Labrador.  It 
was  from  Plymouth  that  Sir  Francis  Drake  in  1577  sailed  on  his 
celebrated  voyage  around  the  world.  It  was  from  Plymouth  that 
Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert  in  1584  made  his  way  to  Newfoundland  to 
take  possession  of  the  island  and  safeguard  national  interests  in 
the  name  of  the  queen.  It  was  from  Plymouth,  also,  that  Sir 
Walter  Ralegh  obtained  sailors  for  the  vessels  he  secured  in  his 
effort  to  plant  an  English  colony  on  the  American  coast.  Bristol, 
likewise,  early  had  its  large  fishing  interests  and  became  a  port 
for  the  supply  of  hardy  fishermen.  When  Edward  III  invaded 
France  in  1337,  Bristol  contributed  twenty-four  ships  and  six 
hundred  and  eight  men,  while  larger  London  contributed  twenty- 
five  ships  and  six  hundred  and  sixty-two  men.  It  was  from  Bris- 
tol that  John  Cabot  sailed  on  the  voyage  of  discovery  that  fur- 
nished the  basis  for  the  English  claim  to  the  possession  of  so  large 
a  part  of  North  America.  When  Captain  Martin  Pring,  a  native 
of  Bristol,  sailed  in  1603  for  the  New  England  coast,  he  was  sent 
thither  by  Master  John  Whitson,  Master  Robert  Aid  worth,  and 
other  of  the  chief  est  merchants  of  Bristol.  Notwithstanding  dis- 
couragements with  reference  to  colonization,  therefore,  the  mer- 
chants of   Bristol  and  Plymouth  in  1620  had  at  Monhegan,  and 

1  Plymouth  Municipal  Records,  R.  N.  Worth,  F.  G.  S.,  p.  203.  "Small 
however  as  the  English  ships  were,  they  were  in  perfect  trim  ;  they  sailed 
two  feet  for  the  Spaniards  one  ;  they  were  manned  with  9000  hardy  seamen, 
and  their  admiral  was  backed  by  a  crowd  of  captains  who  had  won  fame  in 
the  Spanish  seas.  With  him  was  Hawkins,  who  had  been  the  first  to  break 
into  the  charmed  circle  of  the  Indies,  Frobisher,  the  hero  of  the  northwest 
passage;  and  above  all  Drake,  who  held  command  of  the  privateers." 
Green,  Short  History  of  the  English  People,  p.  419. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN   SMITH   AND   OTHERS.  143 

the  waters  near  it,  vessels  successfully  employed  in  fishing  and  in 
building  up  profitable  trade  relations  with  the  Indians  on  the 
main  land. 

But  up  to  this  time  since  the  return  of  the  Popham  colonists  in 
1608,  nothing  is  heard  concerning  permanent  settlements  on  the 
Maine  coast. x  Even  of  winter  occupants,  we  have  no  information 
whatever,  except  what  has  come  down  to  us  concerning  Vines' 
company  at  the  mouth  of  the  Saco  in  1616  and  1617  and  the 
Rocroft  conspirators  at  Monhegan  in  1618  and  1619.  Captain 
John  Smith,  who,  as  already  stated,  carefully  examined  the  coast 
in  the  summer  of  1614,  says:  "When  I  went  first  to  the  north 
part  of  Virginia  where  the  western  colony  had  been  planted,  it 
had  dissolved  itself  within  a  year,  and  there  was  not  one  Christian 
in  all  the  land". 2  In  his  General  His torie,  although  he  refers  to 
the  various  efforts  he  and  others  had  made  in  the  hope  of  estab- 
lishing a  colony  on  the  New  England  coast,  the  record  for  the 
most  part  is  a  record  of  failures.  Books,  pamphlets,  maps,  he 
freely  distributed  among  his  countrymen  as  he  went  hither  and 
thither,  spending  nearly  a  year  in  these  busy  endeavors  to  estab- 
lish plantations  in  so  goodly  a  land  as  he  described  ;  but  it  was  of 
no  avail.  One  might  as  well,  "try  to  hew  rocks  with  oyster 
shells",  he  said,  as  to  induce  merchants  and  others  to  furnish 
funds  for  colonization  undertakings. 8 

1  "It  is  well  known  that  this  [Pemaquid]  was  a  gathering  place  for  voy- 
agers, fishermen  and  temporary  sojourners  from  the  later  part  of  the  six- 
teenth century. ' '  Report  of  the  Commissioners  in  charge  of  the  Remains 
of  the  Ancient  Fortifications  at  Pemaquid,  Dec.  13,  1902.  There  is  no 
foundation  whatever  for  this  statement.  The  earliest  mention  of  Pemaquid 
by  any  voyager  is  in  connection  with  Waymouth's  voyage  of  1605.  As  to 
fishermen  and  fishing  vessels  at  Pemaquid,  neither  de  Monts  nor  Waymouth, 
who  were  on  the  coast  in  the  summer  of  1605  report  any.  In  the  Relation  of 
the  colonists,  1607-8,  there  is  no  mention  of  either  men  or  vessels  at  Pema- 
quid. They  visited  the  Indians  there,  but  found  no  "voyagers,  fishermen 
and  temporary  sojourners".  In  fact,  it  was  late  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
seventeenth  century  before  any  such  gathering  at  Pemaquid  could  have  been 
reported. 

2  True  Travels,  Adventures  and  Observations,  Arber's  reprint,  1884,  89. 

3  Richmond,  Va.,  E)d.  1819,  II,  220. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

^  The  Fight  for  Free  Fishing. 

BUT  while  Gorges  and  those  associated  with  him  in  the  admin- 
istration of  the  affairs  of  the  northern  colony  had  failed  in 
all  of  their  efforts  to  plant  permanent  settlements  on  the 
coast  of  Maine,  the  southern  colony  in  Virginia,  notwithstanding 
many  difficulties,  had  succeeded  in  obtaining  there  a  firm  foot- 
hold. But  the  Virginia  colonists  lacked  the  fishing  privileges  that 
attracted  their  own  vessels,  as  well  as  vessels  from  England,  to 
the  waters  in  the  vicinity  of  Monhegan ;  and  they  desired  to 
extend  their  boundaries  farther  north  so  as  to  bring  the  fisheries 
of  the  northern  colony  within  their  own  limits.  Accordingly, 
after  the  breaking  up  of  the  Popham  colony,  the  council  of  Vir- 
ginia wrote  to  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  Plymouth1  inviting 
them,  inasmuch  as  on  account  of  "the  coldness  of  the  climate  and 
other  connatural  necessities"  their  "good  beginnings"  had  not 
"so  well  succeeded  as  so  worthy  intentions  and  labors  did  merit", 
to  unite  with  them  in  their  efforts  farther  down  the  coast,  where 
the  conditions,  as  they  viewed  them,  were  more  favorable.  But 
the  members  of  the  Plymouth  company,  although  greatly  disap- 
pointed and  discouraged  by  the  return  of  the  Popham  colonists  to 
England,  were  not  ready  to  abandon  their  interests.  I/mg  con- 
tinued ill  success,  however,  had  had  a  depressing  effect  upon  all 
of  them,  and  Captain  John  Smith,  in  recording  his  experiences  in 
connection  with  the  Plymouth  company,  had  some  reason  for  his 
assertion  that  the  charter  of  the  company  was  virtually  dead.2 

Nevertheless,  it  was  not  dead ;  but  there  was  need  of  the  influ- 
ence of  new  forces,  and  a  revival  of  colonial  interests  in  the  west- 

1  Calendar  of  the  Plymouth  Municipal  Records,  R.  N.  Worth,  F.  G.  S.,  203. 

2  General  Historic,  Richmond,  Va.,  Ed.  II,  177. 


THE   FIGHT   FOR   FREE   FISHING.  145 

ern  countries  of  England,  if  anything  was  to  be  accomplished  in 
connection  with  the  charter.  Some  important  lessons  had  been 
learned  from  the  London  or  South  Virginia  company,  which  twice 
(in  1609  and  1612)  had  secured  an  enlargement  of  its  privileges, 
and  was  now  enjoying  considerable  prosperity.  Accordingly,  an 
application  for  a  like  enlargement  was  made  by  the  Plymouth 
company  March  3,  1619.  After  mention  of  the  "great  charge 
and  extreme  hazard"  that  had  attended  the  efforts  of  the  company 
in  its  continued  endeavor  to  discover  a  place  fit  to  entertain  such 
a  design ,  as  also  to  find  the  means  to  bring  to  pass  so  noble  a 
work",  the  company  asked  for  like  privileges  as  the  Virginia 
company.1  In  response  to  this  request  a  warrant  was  obtained  for 
a  patent  giving  to  the  adventurers  of  the  northern  colony  '  'like 

liberties,  privileges,  powers,  authorities,  lands as  were 

heretofore  granted  to  the  company  of  Virginia' ' ,  with  an  excep- 
tion as  to  freedom  of  customs.2 

Notwithstanding  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Virginia  com- 
pany, a  patent,  known  as  the  "Great  Patent  of  New  England", 
was  issued  by  James  I,  November  3,  1620,  to  the  "Council  estab- 
lished at  Plymouth  in  the  County  of  Devon,  for  the  planting,  rul- 
ing, ordering  and  governing  of  New  England  in  America' '  .3 

Gorges,  who  had  been  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  Plymouth 
company,  as  long  as  it  had  any  affairs,  was  no  less  prominent  in 
this  new  movement,  cherishing  the  hope  that  he  might  yet  secure 
the  ends  at  which  he  had  aimed  with  so  much  labor  and  loss. 
Evidently  he  had  given  to  many  men  of  influence  within  his  circle 
of  friends  sound  reasons  for  securing  an  enlargement  of  privileges 
by  a  re-incorporation  of  the  Plymouth  company;  but  now,  he 
says,  "I  was  bold  to  offer  the  sounder  considerations  to  divers  of 
his  majesty's  honorable  privy  council,  who  had  so  good  liking 
thereunto,  as  they  willingly  became  interested  themselves  therein 

1  Famham  Papers,  I,  15-18. 

2  lb.,  18,  19. 

3  lb.,  20-45. 

10 


146  THK   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL   MAINE). 

as  patentees  and  counselors  for  the  managing  of  the  business,  by 
whose  favors  I  had  the  easier  passage  in  the  obtaining  his 
majesty's  royal  charter  to  be  granted  us  according  to  his  warrant 
to  the  then  solicitor-general."1  This  proposed  re-incorporation 
of  the  Plymouth  company,  whose  territorial  limits  were  from  the 
thirty-eighth  degree  north  latitude  to  the  forty-fifth,  changed 
those  limits  so  that  they  included  the  territory  from  the  fortieth 
degree  to  the  forty-eighth,  and  from  the  Atlantic  westward  to  the 
Pacific.  Its  affairs  were  entrusted  to  forty-eight  patentees,  thir- 
teen of  whom  were  peers  of  the  realm,  and  all  men  of  distinction. 
They  were  to  have  not  only  the  planting,  ruling  and  governing 
of  this  vast  territory,  but  they  were  also  "to  have  and  to  hold, 
possess  and  enjoy"  the  firm  lands,  soils,  grounds,  havens,  ports, 
rivers,  waters,  fishings,  mines  and  minerals,  as  well  royal  mines 
of  gold  and  silver,  or  other  mine  and  minerals,  precious  stones, 
quarries  and  all,  and  singular  other  commodities,  jurisdictions, 
royalties,  privileges,  franchises  and  pre-eminencies,  both  within 
the  same  tract  of  land  upon  the  main,  and  also  within  the  said 
islands  and  seas  adjoining.2  No  other  of  the  king's  subjects  could 
enter  and  visit  any  of  the  ports  of  New  England  in  America,  or 
trade  or  traffic  therein,  without  a  license  from  the  council  for  New 
England  on  penalty  of  the  forfeiture  of  both  ships  and  goods. 

To  a  certain  extent  monopolies  had  flourished  during  the  reign 
of  Queen  Elizabeth.  In  fact,  toward  the  close  of  her  reign,  they 
flourished  to  such  an  extent  that,  as  Macaulay8  says,  "There  was 
scarce  a  family  in  the  realm  which  did  not  feel  itself  aggrieved  by 
the  oppression  and  extortion  which  this  abuse  naturally  caused. 
Iron,  oil,  vinegar,  coal,  saltpetre,  lead,  starch,  yarn,  skins,  leather, 
glass,  could  be  bought  only  at  exhorbitant  prices".  This  condi- 
tion of  affairs  aroused  strong  opposition  and  in  the  Parliament  of 
1601,  the  first  great  battle  with  monopoly  was  successfully  fought 

1  Gorges,  Briefe  Narration.     Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of 
Maine,  II,  30,  31. 

2  Farnham  Papers,  I,  33. 

3  History  of  England,  I,  49. 


THF   FIGHT   FOR  FRFF  FISHING.  147 

in  the  House  of  Commons,  the  queen,  with  admirable  tact,  plac- 
ing herself  at  the  head  of  the  party  redressing  the  grievance,  and 
leaving  to  her  successor,  says  Macaulay,  "a  memorable  example 
of  the  way  to  deal  with  public  movements". 

But  James,  a  stout  asserter  of  royal  prerogatives,  did  not  fol- 
low Elizabeth's  wise,  tactful  example.  Gorges,  who  was  a  most 
devoted  royalist,  had  the  king's  ear,  as  well  as  the  ears  of  those 
nearest  to  the  throne ;  and  in  the  patent  of  1620,  a  gigantic  mon- 
opoly was  created.  In  the  patent  of  1606,  the  privilege  of  "fish- 
ings' '  was  conferred  upon  the  patentees ;  but  this  may  have 
meant  "fishings"  in  rivers  and  ponds  only,  and  not  in  the  seas 
adjoining  the  main.  In  the  patent  of  1620,  however,  the  words 
"seas  adjoining"1  are  used  in  connection  with  the  privileges 
granted,  and  "sea  waters"  in  connection  with  "fishings". 

The  southern,  or  Virginia  company,  was  the  first  to  protest 
against  such  a  denial  of  the  rights  of  free  fishing  on  the  seas. 
Early  information  concerning  the  privileges  for  which  Gorges  and 
his  associates  asked  seems  to  have  reached  the  members  of  the 
Virginia  company  ;  and  the  treasurer  of  the  company,  Sir  Edwin 
Sandys,  at  a  meeting  held  on  March  15th,  only  a  few  days  after 
Gorges  and  his  associates  made  their  request  for  a  new  charter, 
called  the  attention  of  the  members  of  the  company  to  the  pur- 
poses of  the  northern  company ;  and  a  committee  was  appointed 
to  appear  before  the  privy  council  on  the  following  day,  and  pro- 
test against  this  attempt  to  overthrow  the  right  of  free  fishing  on 
the  New  England  coast.2 

At  the  interview,  Gorges  was  present.  As  a  result  of  the  con- 
ference, the  matter  at  issue  was  referred  to  two  members  of  the 
council,  the  duke  of  Lennox  and  the  earl  of  Arundell,  both  of 
whom  were  interested  in  the  re-incorporation  of  the  Plymouth 
company.  In  their  report  they  suggested  and  recommended  a 
modification  of  the  charter,  so  that  each  company  should  have  the 
right  to  fish  within  the  limits  of  the  other,  with  the  provision  that 

1  Famham  Papers,  I,  33. 

2  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  the  United  States ,  III,  297. 


148  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

such  fishing  should  be  "for  the  sustentation  of  the  people  of  the 
colonies  there".  This  was  not  acceptable  to  either  company,  and 
when,  July  21,  1620,  the  matter  again  came  before  the  privy 
council,  its  members  confirmed  the  recommendation  of  March  16 ; 
and  July  23,  1620,  the  warrant  for  the  preparation  of  a  patent  for 
the  northern  company  was  granted  by  the  king,  and  the  issue  of 
the  great  patent  of  New  England  followed,  November  3,  1620. 

But  the  South  Virginia  company  was  not  the  only  party  affected 
by  the  monopoly  thus  created.  Far  heavier  was  the  blow  that 
now  fell  on  the  merchants  of  Plymouth,  Bristol  and  other  western 
ports  of  England,  whose  vessels  in  increasing  numbers  now  made 
their  way  annually  to  Monhegan  and  Damariscove.  As  from  the 
ancient  harbor  of  Plymouth,  known  as  Sutton's  Pool1 — whence 
the  Mayflower  colony  sailed  in  1620 2 — fishing  vessels  at  the  pres- 

1  Plymouth  is  on  the  south  side  of  the  river  Plym,  and  was  called  by  the 
Saxons  Tameorworth,  afterwards  Sutton  or  South-Town,  and  was  divided 
into  Sutton  Prior  and  Sutton  Ralph.  As  far  back  as  1383,  it  had  occasion- 
ally received  the  name  of  Plymouth  and  in  a  petition  to  Parliament  in  1411, 
it  is  called  Sutton.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  II  it  was  little  more  than  a 
small  fishing  village ;  but  in  1253  it  had  grown  into  such  importance  that  a 
market  was  established  there.  In  1377,  only  three  towns  in  England  had  a 
larger  population,  viz.,  London,  York  and  Bristol.  Historical,  Practical  and 
Theoretical  Account  of  the  Breakwater  in  Plymouth  Sound,  by  Sir  John 
Rennie,  F.  R.  S.,  5. 

2  There  is  no  spot  in  Plymouth,  England,  of  so  great  interest  to  a  native 
of  New  England,  as  the  pier  whence  the  Mayflower  sailed  on  her  mem- 
orable voyage.  For  many  years  before  1620,  hardy  Plymouth  fishermen 
had  passed  this  entrance  to  Sutton's  Pool,  as  they  left  Plymouth  on 
their  way  to  Monhegan  and  the  waters  of  the  Maine  coast.  In  the  pavement 
in  the  middle  of  the  pier  is  this  record  : 

Mayflower, 
1620 

In  the  wall  on  the  seaward  side  of  the  pier  a  bronze  tablet  bears  this 
inscription  : — 

"On  the  6th  of  September,  1620,  in  the  mayoralty  of  Thomas  Townes, 
after  being  kindly  entertained  and  courteously  used  by  divers  friends  there 
dwelling,  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  sailed  from  Plymouth  in  the  Mayflower,  in 
the  Providence  of  God,  to  settle  in  New  England  and  to  lay  the  foundation 
of  the  New  England  States.     The  ancient  causeway  whence  they  embarked 


THF,   FIGHT  FOR  FRFF   FISHING.  149 

ent  time  sail  out  of  its  narrow  entrance  on  their  way  to  their 
accustomed  fishing  grounds,  so  was  it  then.  So  also  was  it  with 
fishing  vessels  then,  as  now,  at  Bristol,  whence  John  Cabot  sailed 
on  his  voyage  of  discovery  in  1497.  For  nearly  a  score  of  years 
at  least  the  great  value  of  the  fisheries  on  the  coast  of  Maine  had 
been  sufficiently  attested  to  the  people  of  England  by  both  explor- 
ers and  fishermen,  and  the  little  harbor  at  Monhegan,  and  that  at 
Damariscove,  as  well  as  the  waters  about  these  islands,  presented 
busy  scenes  as  vessels  from  English  ports  came  hither  with  each 
opening  spring.  Not  only,  therefore,  did  this  assault  upon  free 
fishing  call  forth  the  protest  of  the  Virginia  colonists,  but  it 
aroused  a  feeling  of  intense  indignation  on  the  part  of  the  mer- 
chants and  fishermen  connected  with  the  fishing  interests  of  the 
western  counties  of  England;  and  with  united  voices  they 
insisted,  "Fishing  is  free!"  The  state  of  feeling  in  Plymouth 
and  vicinity  found  strong  expression  in  the  following  letter1 
addressed  to  Cranfield,  the  lord  treasurer,  February  12,  1621 : 

It  pleased  your  honor  upon  the  motion  of  Sir  Warwick 
Hele,  to  signify  your  pleasure  that  our  ships  bound  on  their 
fishing  voyages  for  the  northern  parts  of  Virginia  should 
not  be  stayed,  or  interrupted  in  their  proceedings  as  was 
by  some  intended,  for  which  your  humble  favor  the  inhabi- 
tants of  this  town,  and  others  in  these  western  parts  do 
acknowledge  themselves  much  bound  to  your  lordship; 
yet  seeing  some  threats  have  been  given  out  by  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges,  either  to  disturb  the  poor  men  in  their  pres- 
ent voyages,  or  to  procure  their  trouble  in  their  return,  and 
being  that  it  is  suspected  he  is  now  in  pursuit  of  such  his 
intention;  we,  being  assured  that  no  such  thing  can  be 

was  destroyed  not  many  years  afterwards  ;  but  the  site  of  their  embarkation 
is  marked  by  the  stone  bearing-  the  name  of  the  Mayflower  in  the  pavement 
of  the  adjacent  pier.  This  tablet  was  erected  in  the  mayoralty  of  J.  T. 
Bond,  1891,  to  commemorate  their  departure  and  the  visit  to  Plymouth  in 
July  of  that  year  of  a  number  of  their  descendants  and  representatives." 
1  Public  Records  Office,  London,  I.  S.  P.  Dom.  James  I,  V,  127,  92. 


150  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

effected,  but  your  honor  must  have  notice  thereof,  both  in 
respect  your  lordship  is  a  patentee  in  that  patent  for  New 
England,  as  also  in  regard  of  your  other  honorable  places, 
we  humbly  beseech  your  lordship  that  you  would  be 
pleased  to  give  order  that  nothing  be  done  against  us  in 
this  business  till  we  have  been  heard  both  for  the  interest 
we  have  in  regard  of  your  former  adventures  and  employ- 
ments that  way,  and  the  general  estate  of  these  western 
parts  of  the  realm,  having  little  or  no  other  means  left  them 
for  employment  of  their  people  and  shipping.  Humbly 
submitting  the  consideration  hereof  to  your  honor's  grave 
wisdom  do  in  all  duty  remain, 

Your  honor's  to  be  commanded, 

John  Bownd,  Mayor. 
Robert  Rawlin,    Thomas  Sherwill,  James  Bagg,  Nicholas 
Sherwill,  Leonard  Pomery,  Thomas  Townes,  John  Scob- 
bett. 

Plymouth,  this  12th  of  February,  1621. 
The  feeling  was  intense  not  only  in  Plymouth,  but  in  Bristol 
and  other  seaport  towns.  The  monopoly  thus  created  meant  to 
each  English  fishing  vessel  on  the  New  England  coast  a  charge  of 
about  eighty-three  cents  a  ton,  which,  considering  the  probable 
average  size  of  the  fishing  vessels  of  the  period,  was  a  demand  of 
more  than  a  hundred  dollars  for  each  vessel.1  Moreover,  the 
right  to  take  wood  for  the  erection  of  stages  and  other  uses  was 
denied,  a  matter  of  importance  to  all  fishing  vessels  making  their 
way  hither.  In  response  to  this  popular  uprising  against  Gorges 
and  his  associates,  the  House  of  Commons,  more  responsive  to 
popular  feeling  than  ever  before,  became  the  field  on  which  was 
to  be  fought  the  battle  in  behalf  of  the  immemorial  right  of  every 
Englishman  to  free  fishing  upon  the  seas. 

1  Sabine,  Report  on  the  Principal  Fisheries  of  the  American  Seas,  43.  In 
1623,  Melshare  Bennett  of  Barnstable,  England,  paid  to  the  Plymouth 
Council  161^,  13s,  4d,  for  a  fishing  license  for  his  ship  Eagle,  Witheridge, 
master.  The  vessel  was  on  the  coast  of  Maine  that  season.  Me.  Hist. 
Society 's  Coll.,  Series  I,  5,  186,  note  2. 


THF,   FIGHT   FOR   FRFE   FISHING.  151 

For  the   first  time  in  seven  years  Parliament  met  January  16, 
1621.     The    matter   of   monopoly  received  early  attention,   and, 
April  17  following,  an  act    was  introduced,  entitled   "An  act  for 
the  freer  liberty  of   fishing  and  fishing  voyages,  to  be  made  and 
performed  on  the  sea-coasts  and  places  of  Newfoundland,  Virginia 
and  New  England  and  other  coasts  and  parts  of  America' '  .*     Dis- 
cussion followed  April  25,  and  was  opened  by  Sir  Edwin  Sandys. 
Two   colonies,  the   northern   and    southern,    he   said,    had   been 
granted  land  in  America.   .  The  southern  colony,  at  an  expense  of 
one  hundred  thousand  pounds,  had  established  a  foothold  there. 
The   northern   colony   had    not   been   as   successful;  but  it  now 
desired   to   proceed  in  its  territory  known  as  New   England,  on 
whose  coast  there   is  fishing  twice    a  year  and  far  better  than  at 
Newfoundland.     As  the  new  patent  of  this  company  confers  upon 
the  patentees  the  sole  right  to  fish  there,  the  attention  of  the  king 
has  been  called  to  the  matter  and  he  has  stayed  the  delivery  of  the 
patent.     By  reason  of  the  monopoly  thus  secured  English  fisher- 
men are  denied  their  free  fishing  rights,  a  loss  to  them  and  to  the 
nation  ;  for  the  privilege  costs  the  kingdom  nothing,  while  these 
fisheries  give  employment  to  men  and  ships  and  secure  a  profita- 
ble cash  trade  with  Spain,  fish  being  an  article  of  food  that  can 
lawfully  be  carried  to  Spanish  ports.     He  therefore  moved  "free 
liberty  for  all  the  king's  subjects  for  fishing  there",  saying  it  was 
pitiful  that  Englishmen   should   be  denied   a  liberty  enjoyed  by 
French  and  Dutch,  who  come  and  will  fish  there  notwithstanding 
the  company's  monopoly ;   and  he  added,  "The  northern  company 
also  prohibiteth  timber  and  wood,  which  is  of  no  worth  there,  and 
they  take  away  the  salt  the  merchants  leave". 

Mr.  Glanvyle,  continuing  the  debate,  thought  there  should  be 
some  government  control  of  the  fishermen,  who  "spoil  havens 
with  casting  out  ballast",  etc. 

Secretary  Calvert  said  the  sub-committee  had  not  heard  the 
other    side.     The  fishermen   are  hinderers   of    the   plantations. 

1  Journal  of  the  House  of  Commons,  I,  591,  592.  The  discussion  is 
reported  in  brief  as  was  the  custom  at  that  early  period. 


152  THK  BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE- 

"They  burn  a  great  store  of  wood  and  choke  the  havens",  as 
mentioned.  While  he  would  not  strain  the  king's  prerogative 
against  the  good  of  the  commonwealth,  at  the  same  time  he  did 
not  think  it  fit  to  make  laws  for  those  countries  that  have  not  as 
yet  been  annexed  to  the  crown. 

Mr.  Neale  said  that  at  least  three  hundred  vessels  had  gone  to 
Newfoundland  this  year  out  of  these  parts.  Earlier  complaints 
had  been  made  to  the  lords  of  the  council.  Not  public  good  but 
private  gains  were  sought  by  the  monopolists.  From  the  time  of 
Edward  VI  there  had  been  liberty  for  all  subjects  to  fish  in 
American  waters.  In  various  ways  the  fishermen  had  been  hin- 
dered. Iyondon  merchants,  by  restraining  trade,  and  imposing 
Upon  trade,  undo  all  trade. 

Mr.  Guy  thought  the  L,ondon  merchants  were  to  be  commended, 
"howsoever  their  greediness  in  other  things"  was  an  occasion  for 
complaint.  He  claimed  that  the  king  by  his  great  seal  had 
already  done  as  much  as  could  be  done  by  the  act  now  before  the 
House.  Provision  might  be  made  for  the  fishermen  to  secure 
wood  and  timber. 

Mr.  Brooks  said,  "We  may  make  laws  here  for  Virginia;  for  if 
the  king  consents  to  this  bill,  passed  here  and  by  the  lords,  such 
action  will  control  the  patent". 

It  was  then  voted  to  commit  the  bill  to  Sir  Edwin  Sandys  for 
a  hearing  upon  the  matter  by  the  burgesses  of  Iyondon,  York  and 
the  seaport  towns — "all  that  will  come  to  have  voice,  this  day 
seven-night  exchequer  chamber".  So  far  as  is  known,  this  meet- 
ing was  not  reported  ;  but  that  it  was  held  hardly  admits  of  doubt, 
so  strong  was  the  popular  feeling  in  the  communities  interested  in 
the  proposed  bill. 

May  24,  1621,  Mr.  Earle  reported  the  bill  for  free  fishing  upon 
the  coast  of  America,  also  amendments,  which,  with  the  bill,  were 
twice  read.1  Mr.  Guy  claimed  that  the  bill  pretended  to  make 
fishing  free,  but  in  fact  it  took  this  liberty  away  from  those  who 
had  established  themselves  at  Newfoundland.     This,  Mr.  Neale 

1  Journal  of  the  House  of  Commons,  I,  626. 


THF,  FIGHT  FOR  FRFF  FISHING.  153 

denied.  Secretary  Calvert  again  raised  the  objection  that  the  bill 
was  "not  proper  for  this  House,  because  it  concerned  America". 
The  fishermen  must  be  ruled  by  laws.  He  would  have  the  word 
"unlawful"  added  to  the  word  "molestation".  This  was  done. 
After  added  discussion  by  Sir  Edward  Sandys  and  Sir  Edward 
Gyles,  the  bill  was  recommitted. 

Further  action  with  reference  to  the  bill  was  delayed,  however, 
by  a  message  received  by  the  House  of  Commons  from  the  House 
of  I^ords  June  4,  1621,  conveying  the  information  that  the  king, 
under  the  great  seal  of  England,  had  sent  a  commission  adjourn- 
ing Parliament  until  November  14.  The  commission  had  been 
read  and  the  House  of  IyOrds  had  adjourned.  It  was  his  majesty's 
pleasure,  it  was  added,  that  all  matters  before  Parliament  should 
be  left  in  the  same  state  as  at  present.  The  announcement  evi- 
dently greatly  embittered  the  opponents  of  the  king,  and  Sir  Rob- 
ert Philips  objected  to  the  reading  of  the  king's  missive.  Then, 
according  to  the  journal  of  the  House  of  Commons,  "Mr.  Speaker 
letteth  them  know  that  this  House  taketh  [notice]  of  his  majesty's 
pleasure,  by  his  commission  for  the  adjournment  of  Parliament, 
and  that  [the]  House  will  adjourn  itself  accordingly".  After 
proceedings  expressive  of  indignation  and  even  derision,1  the 
speaker  declared  the  House  adjourned  until  November  14,  1621. 

Notwithstanding  the  strong  opposition  to  the  patent  in  that  it 
gave  the  sole  right  of  fishing  on  the  American  coast  to  the  patent- 
ees, the  privy  council,  November  18,  passed  an  order  delivering 
the  patent  to  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  with  a  provision  that  both 
the  northern  and  southern  companies  should  have  like  freedom 
for  drying  nets,  taking  and  curing  fish,  also  wood  for  necessary 
uses  ;  the  patent  to  be  renewed  in  accordance  with  these  premises, 
and  the  southern  company  to  have  the  privilege  of  examining  the 

1  ''Then  Sir  Edw.  Coke,  standing  up,  desired  the  House  to  say  [after  him] 
and  he  recited  the  collect  for  the  King  and  his  children,  with  some  altera- 
tion : — 

"O  Almighty  God,  which  hath  promised  to  be" — 

Journal  of  the  House  of  Commons,  I,  639. 


154  the  beginnings  of  colonial  maine. 

patent  before  it  was  engrossed  and  delivered  to  the  patentees.1 
Parliament  reassembled  in  November  according  to  adjournment, 
and  November  20,  it  being  represented  that  Gorges  had  executed  a 
patent  since  the  recess,2  and  had  by  letters  from  the  lords  of  the 
council  not  only  stayed 3  the  fishing  vessels  ready  to  sail  but  had 
'  'threatened  to  send  out  ships  to  beat  them  off  from  their  free  fish- 
ing", Mr.  Glanvyle  moved  to  speed  the  bill  for  free  fishing  on  the 
coast  of  America.  Sir  Bdward  Coke  also  asked  that  the  patent4 
should  be  laid  before  the  committee  for  grievances.5 

June  1,  1621,  the  council  for  New  England  had  issued  a  pat- 
ent to  John  Pierce  and  his  associates — the  patent  for  the  May- 
flower colonists.  Furthermore,  the  king,  influenced  by  Captain 
John  Mason,6  who  was  now  in  L,ondon,  had  requested  Gorges  in 
"a  gracious  message"  to  have  the  council  for  New  England  con- 
vey the  northern  part  of  the  territory  he  had  granted  to  the  coun- 
cil for  New  England  to  Sir  William  Alexander,  which  was  done 
and  it  was  confirmed  to  him  by  a  royal  charter,  September  10, 
1621,  the  territory  receiving  the  designation  Nova  Scotia.7  Evi- 
dently it  was  supposed,  that  though  the  New  England  patent  had 

1  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  the  United  States,  III,  299. 

2  The  reference  is  to  the  Pilgrim  patent  which  was  granted  to  John  Pierce 
June  1,  1621,  by  the  council  for  New  England,  not  by  Gorges.  Doubtless 
its  source  was  attributed  to  Gorges  because  he  was  so  prominent  in  the  coun- 
cil's affairs,  and  also  because  of  his  prominence  in  securing  the  patent.  In 
this  patent,  the  Pilgrims  received  "free  liberty  to  fish  in  and  upon  the  coast 
of  New  England" — a  recognition  of  the  council's  monopoly.  Strictly  stated 
the  patent  was  issued  three  days  before  the  recess  occurred. 

3  "This  was  true",  said  Sir  W.  Heale;  "but  my  lord  treasurer  hath  given 
order  that  the  ships  shall  go  forth  presently  without  stay".  Journal  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  I,  641. 

4  The  reference  is  to  the  great  patent  for  New  England. 
h  Journal  of  the  House  of  Commons,  I,  646. 

6  He  had  been  governor  of  a  plantation  in  Newfoundland.  His  term  of 
office  having  expired,  he  returned  to  England.  For  an  extended  account  of 
his  various  activities,  especially  later  in  connection  with  interests  of  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  see  Captain  John  Mason, 
edited  by  John  Ward  Dean  and  published  by  the  Prince  Society,  Boston,  1887. 

7  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  II,  55,  56. 


?H£  FIGHT  FOR  FRF3   FISHING.  155 

passed  the  seals,  its  delivery  to  the  council  for  New  England  had 
been  stopped  pending  the  consideration  of  the  grievances  it  had 
called  forth  and  which  had  been  received  by  the  House  of  Com- 
mons. The  bill  for  free  fishing  was  again  before  the  House  on 
December  1,  1621,  when  Mr.  Guy  tendered  a  proviso  in  "parch- 
ment", insisting  that  the  bill  took  away  "trade  of  fishing  from 
those  who  are  inhabitants  of  Newfoundland".  Secretary  Calvert 
was  of  the  opinion  that  without  this  proviso  the  bill  would  never 
receive  the  royal  assent.  Mr.  Sherwell  and  Mr.  Glanvyle  were 
opposed  to  the  proviso  and  it  was  rejected.  The  bill  was  then 
passed. 

On  December  18,  the  House  of  Commons  summoned  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges  and  Sir  John  Bowcer  "to  appear  here  the  first  day 
of   the  next  access  and  to  bring  their  patent  or  a  copy  thereof. 
Parliament  then  adjourned. 

Until  February  19,  1624,  there  is  no  record  in  the  journal  of  the 
House  of  Commons  after  December  18,  1621.  The  reason  is  not 
far  to  seek.  On  that  day,  the  members  of  the  House,  alleging 
that  the  king  had  threatened  that  body  for  exercising  liberty  of 
speech,  entered  in  the  journal  their  famous  "Protestation",  in 
which  they  declared  "That  the  liberties,  franchises,  privileges 
and  jurisdictions  of  Parliament  are  the  ancient  and  undoubted 
birthright  and  inheritance  of  the  subjects  of  England,  and  that 
the  arduous  and  urgent  affairs  concerning  the  king,  state  and 
defence  of  the  realm,  and  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  the 
making  and  maintenance  of  laws  and  redress  of  grievances, 
which  daily  happen  within  this  realm,  are  proper  subjects  and 
matter  of  council  and  debate  in  Parliament' '  .2  The  significance 
of  this  declaration  the  king  clearly  saw,  and  he  answered  it 
with  a  characteristic  exhibition  of  passion.     Having  sent  for  the 

1  Journal  of  the  House  of  Commons,  I,  668,  669.  Gorges  (Baxter,  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  35-43)  says  he  appeared  three 
times  before  the  House  of  Commons  concerning  this  free  fishing  matter  (the 
second  and  third  time  with  counsel),  and  gives  quite  a  vivid  account  of  the 
proceedings  in  connection  with  his  appearance. 

2  Green,  Shorter  History  of  the  English  People,  492,  493. 


156  THE   BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

journal,  he  tore  out  the  pages1  on  which  the  "Protestation"  was 
recorded,  saying,  "I  will  govern  according  to  the  common  weal, 
but  not  according  to  the  common  will".  This,  however,  was  not 
the  limit  of  the  king's  exhibition  of  temper.  Having  dissolved 
Parliament  he  immediately  proceeded  to  inflict  punishment  upon 
the  most  conspicuous  leaders  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Sir 
Edward  Coke  and  Sir  Robert  Philips  were  committed  to  the 
Tower,  while  those  less  conspicuous  were  made  to  feel  the  weight 
of  his  displeasure  in  other  places  of  confinement. 

But  Gorges  and  those  associated  with  him  in  the  council  for 
New  England,  while  recognizing  "these  troubles"  as  "unfortu- 
nately falling  out",2  still  relied  on  the  assistance  of  the  king  in 
maintaining  their  charter  privileges,  especially  as  Parliament  had 
been  dissolved,  and  they  no  longer  felt  the  restraints  of  popular 
feeling  manifested  in  the  House  of  Commons.  Meanwhile,  how- 
ever, without  securing  license  from  the  council,  fishermen  were 
taking  fish  as  formerly  in  the  waters  in  the  vicinity  of  Monhegan 
and  Damariscove  ;  and  the  council  adopted  measures  for  bringing 
"these  troubles",  if  possible,  to  an  end.  Robert  Gorges,3  a 
younger  son  of  Sir  Ferdinando,  was  sent  over  to  New  England  as 
governor  and  lieutenant  general  of  the  territory  conveyed  to  them 
by  their  patent ;   and  hither,   also,  came  Captain  Francis  West, 

1  "The  Commons  put  themselves  on  their  strongest  ground,  when  they 
entered  in  the  journals  of  the  House  a  just  and  sober  protestation  of  their 
privilege  to  speak  freely  on  all  subjects.  James  put  himself  as  much  as  pos- 
sible in  the  wrong  when  he  sent  for  the  book  and  tore  out  the  page  with  his 
own  hand".     Trevelyan,  England  under  the  Stuarts ,  127. 

2  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  I,  225. 

3  He  brought  with  him  a  patent  from  the  council  for  New  England, 
granted  November  3,  1622  for  "all  that  part  of  the  main  land  in  New  Eng- 
land aforesaid,  commonly  called  or  known  by  the  name  of  Messachusiack 
[Massachusetts] for  ten  miles  in  a  straight  line  towards  the  north- 
east   and   thirty  English  miles  unto  the  main  land to 

be  executed  according  to  the  great  charter  of  England  and  such  laws  as 
shall  hereafter  be  established  by  public  authority  of  the  state  assembled  in 
Parliament  in  New  England".  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  II,  51-54. 
The  return  of  Robert  Gorges  to  England,  after  a  brief  stay,  led  to  the 
abandonment  of  this  patent. 


THF,   FIGHT  FOR   FRFF  FISHING.  157 

who  was  made  admiral  of  New  England,  and  Rev.  William  Mor- 
rell,  who  was  to  superintend  the  establishment  of  churches  in 
New  England  in  connection  with  the  Church  of  England.  Brad- 
ford1 says  West  preceded  Gorges,  arriving  at  the  end  of  June, 
1623,  while  Governor  Gorges  reached  the  coast  in  the  middle  of 
September.2  West  had  authority  "to  restrain  interlopers,  and 
such  fishing  ships  as  come  to  fish  and  trade  without  a  license  from 
the  council  of  New  England,  for  which  they  should  pay  a  round 
sum  of  money.  But  he  could  do  no  good  of  them,  for  they  were 
too  strong  for  him,  and  he  found  the  fishermen  to  be  stubborn 
fellows"  .3  Unable  to  accomplish  anything,  therefore,  West4  made 
his  way  back  to  England  not  long  after,  as  also  did  Gorges, 
"having  scarcely  saluted  the  country  in  his  government",  says 
Bradford,  "not  finding  the  state  of  things  here  to  answer  to  his 
quality  and  condition' ' . 5 

King  James'  fourth  Parliament  assembled  February  19,  1624. 
March  15  following,  "An  act  for  the  freer  liberty  of  fishing",  pre- 
viously introduced,6  was  committed  to  a  large  committee  on  griev- 
ances, of  which  Sir  Edward  Coke  was  chairman.  Two  days  later 
the  committee  reported 7  that  it  had  condemned  one  grievance, 
namely,  that  occasioned  by  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges'  patent. 8   Coun- 

1  Bradford,  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  178. 

2  Bradford,  lb.,  169. 

3  lb.,  169,  170. 

4  West  accompanied  Newport  to  Virginia  in  1608,  and  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  council  in  the  following  year.  He  was  commander  at  Jamestown 
many  years.  Having  returned  to  England,  he  received  the  appointment 
that  brought  him  to  New  England  in  1623.  After  he  returned  to  England, 
he  again  went  to  Virginia,  where  he  was  elected  governor  in  1627,  and  was 
continued  in  office  until  March  5,  1627.  He  is  not  mentioned  in  Virginia 
records  after  February,  1633.  A  Colonel  Francis  West  was  lieutenant  of  the 
Tower  in  London  in  1645,  and  he  may  be  the  one  to  whom  reference  is  here 
made.     Brown,  Genesis  of  the  United  States,  II,  1047. 

5  Bradford,  History,  184. 

6  The  bill,  passed  by  the  House  of  Commons,  December  1,  1621,  was  not 
acted  upon  by  the  House  of  Lords  and  so  failed. 

7  fournal  of  the  House  of  Commons,  I,  688. 

8  Here,  also,  the  reference  is  to  the  great  patent  for  New  England.  See 
Journal  of  the  House  of  Commons,  I,  738. 


158  THE    BEGINNINGS    OF    COIyONIAI,    MAINS. 

sel  for  Gorges  were  heard.  As  to  the  clause  in  the  patent,  dated 
November  3,  1620,  that  no  subject  of  England  shall  visit  the 
coast  upon  pain  of  forfeiture  of  the  ship  and  goods,1  the  patentees 
had  yielded ;  the  English  fishermen  were  not  to  be  interrupted, 
and  were  to  have  the  privilege  of  drying  their  nets,  salting  their 
fish,  and  of  whatever  was  "incident  to  their  fishing",  including 
necessary  wood  and  timber. 

That  the  council  for  New  England  had  yielded,  however,  did 
not  satisfy  its  opponents  in  the  House  of  Commons.  They  wished 
by  higher  authority  to  make  void  the  objectionable  clauses  in  the 
patent.  When,  therefore,  the  bill  came  up  for  final  action  in  the 
House,  May  3,  1624,  Sir  Edward  Coke  maintained  in  the  debate 
that  the  part  of  the  patent  forbidding  free  fishing  should  be  con- 
demned ;  that  it  made  "a  monopoly  upon  the  sea  which  [was] 
wont  to  be  free,  that  it  was  a  monopoly  attempted  of  the  wind 
and  sun  by  the  sole  packing  and  drying  of  fish' ' .  Secretary  Cal- 
vert said  that  "free  fishing,  prayed  for  by  this  bill,  overthrows  all 
plantations  in  those  countries".  In  other  words,  it  was  of  no 
advantage  for  the  patentee  to  hold  lands  on  the  New  England 
coast  unless  the  fishing  rights  in  the  adjoining  coast  waters  were 
his.  All  opposition,  however,  proved  unavailing.  At  the  close 
of  the  debate,  the  amendments  proposed  by  the  opponents  of  the 
bill  were  rejected  and  the  bill  was  passed.2 

Evidently  it  was  not  expected  by  the  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons  that  the  Lords  would  sustain  this  action,  or  take  any 
notice  of  it ;  and  on  May  28,  1624,  the  House  addressed  a  letter  to 
the  king  calling  his  attention  to  the  grievances  they  had  sustained, 
and  its  source  in  the  king's  patent  of  November  3,  1620,  whereby 
all  his  subjects  visiting  that  part  of  the  coast  of  New  England  to 
which  English  fishing  vessels  were  wont  to  resort  were  forbidden 
to  fish  without  a  license  from  the  patentees  on  penalty  of  a  for- 
feiture of  ship  and  goods.  The  trade  of  fishing,  the  Commons 
maintained,  was  a  most  beneficial  one   for  the  realm.     Shipping 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  37. 

2  Journal  of  the  House  of  Commons,  I,  795. 


the;  fight  for  free  fishing.  159 

thereby  was  enlarged ;  there  was  an  increase  in  the  number  of 
seamen,  and  the  commerce  of  the  kingdom  was  more  widely 
extended ;  furthermore,  the  council  had  agreed  to  relinquish  the 
monopoly  which  the  great  patent  created,  and  of  which  complaint 
had  been  made.  It  was  asked,  therefore,  that  the  king  would  be 
pleased  to  declare  the  patent,  so  far  as  free  fishing  was  forbidden, 
also  the  incidents  thereunto,  including  the  confiscation  of  ships 
and  goods,  together  with  the  restraints  and  penalties  that  followed, 
'  'void  and  against  your  laws  and  never  hereafter  to  be  put  in  exe- 
cution".1 

If  James  I  paid  any  attention  to  this  address,  there  is  no  known 
record  of  the  fact.  The  king  evidently  was  not  in  a  mood  for  any 
such  action  on  his  part.  He  could  not,  or  would  not,  read  the 
handwriting  on  the  wall.  But  Gorges  and  his  associates  in  the 
council  for  New  England  kept  their  promise  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons ;  and  the  English  fishermen  in  the  vicinity  of  Monhegan 
were  allowed  to  continue  their  labors  unmolested.  The  battle  in 
their  interest  had  been  won,  and  not  only  had  the  voice  of  the 
people  been  heard  in  the  voice  of  the  House  of  Commons,  but  it 
had  been  recognized  and  heeded.  Both  were  voices  that  were 
soon  to  become  more  and  more  insistent,  and  with  reference  to 
larger  popular  demands. 

1  I.  S.  P.  Domestic,  James  I,  Vol.  CLXV,  53,  Public  Records  Office,  Lon- 
don. This  document  has  received  no  attention  from  English  historians. 
It  has  this  title  :  '  'Address  of  the  House  of  Commons,  presenting  the 
grievances  of  which  they  request  redress,  viz.  :  I.  Sir  Ferd.  Gorges'  patent 
for  sole  fishing  on  the  coasts  of  New  England,  May  28,  1624.  Against  a 
patent  restraining  fishing  on  the  sea  coast  of  New  England."  On  the  back 
of  the  leaf  are  the  words,  "The  petition  to  the  king  to  moderate  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges' patent".  Plainly  it  was  the  denial  that  fishing  is  free  that 
made  the  fishing  grievance  the  most  prominent  of  all  the  grievances  to 
which  the  House  of  Commons  directed  attention. 


CHAPTER  X. 

Various  Schemes  and  IvKvett's  Explorations. 

NATURALLY  during  this  battle  royal  for  free  fishing,  the 
council  for  New  England,  notwithstanding  its  new  char- 
ter privileges,  was  not  making  any  progress  in  establish- 
ing settlements  upon  the  Maine  coast.  In  fact,  as  has  already 
appeared,  the  affairs  of  the  council  were  in  a  very  languishing 
condition.  Its  members,  or,  more  accurately,  some  of  its  mem- 
bers, including  Gorges,  were  still  considering  plans  for  obtaining 
funds  with  which  to  advance  colony  planting ;  but  their  schemes 1 
were  not  received  with  favor.  Indeed,  while  they  were  being 
put  forth,  "and  likely  to  have  taken  a  good  foundation",  says  the 
council,  "the  news  of  the  Parliament  flew  to  all  parts,  and  then 
the  most  factious  of  every  place  presently  combined  themselves  to 
follow  the  business  in  Parliament,  where  they  presumed  to  prove 
the  same  to  be  a  monopoly,  and  much  tending  to  the  prejudice  of 
the  common  good".2 

One  of  these  schemes  had  reference  to  a  settlement  forty  miles 
square,  "the  most  convenient  upon  the  river  Sagadahoc",  to  be 
called  the  "State  County",  the  city  and  county  to  be  equally 
divided  amongst  the  patentees,  who  shall  cast  lots  for  their  sev- 
eral shares".3  It  was  evidently  a  dream  of  Gorges,  of  which  the 
reader  will  be  reminded  at  a  later  period  in  Sir  Ferdinando's  for- 
tunes, when,  upon  the  foundation  of  Agamenticus,  he  sought  to 
rear  the  elaborate  structure  of  Gorgeana.  The  '  'State  County' '  on 
the  Kennebec  was  a  dream  and  a  dream  only. 

1  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  I,  222,  223. 

2  lb.,  I,  224. 

3  Records  of  the  Council  for  New  England  in  Proceedings  of  the  American 
Antiquarian  Society,  April  24,  1867,  84,  85.  "As  for  the  name  of  the  city, 
the  council  will  be  humble  petitioners  unto  the  king's  majesty  to  give  the 
same." 


VARIOUS   SCHEMES   AND  LEVETT'S   EXPI^O RATIONS.  161 

Indeed,  up  to  this  time,  1622,  there  is  no  evidence  whatever 
that  English  settlers  had  gained  a  single  foothold  on  any  part  of 
what  is  now  the  coast  of  Maine.  Extravagant  claims  have  been 
made,  especially  in  behalf  of  Pemaquid,  but  an  examination  of 
these  claims  reveals  their  worthlessness.  They  have  been  well 
summarized  in  these  words :  "it  is  alleged  that  Englishmen  made 
seizure  of  its  [Pemaquid]  soil,  and  introduced  colonial  life  a 
dozen  years  anterior  to  the  patent  of  John  Pierce  [1621].  By 
rare  power  of  vision  a  ship'  was  seen  to  enter  St.  John's  bay ;  a 
withered  colony  was  landed,  planted,  and  so  nursed  and  guarded 
as  to  maintain  life.  Errant  fancy  on  wings  of  theory,  gathering 
dismembered  facts,  has  built  up  a  showy  fabric,  though  unsub- 
stantial." * 

In  support  of  this  claim  of  an  early  settlement  at  Pemaquid  it  is 
said  that  there  were  "granaries"  there,  and  accordingly  settlers, 
from  whom  the  Pilgrims  received  supplies  in  a  time  of  food  dis- 
tress. The  reference  is  to  the  conditions  at  Plymouth  in  1622. 
The  Pilgrims  were  in  need,  and  their  pressing  necessities  were 
met,  but  not  from  "granaries"  at  Pemaquid.  Both  Bradford  and 
Winslow  tell  the  story,  the  latter  in  greater  fulness  as  he  was  the 
one  who  secured  the  supplies  that  relieved  the  distress  of  the  Pil- 
grims, "it  was  about  the  end  of  May,  1622",  he  writes,  "at 
which  time  our  store  of  victuals  was  wholly  spent,  having  lived 
long  before  with  a  bare  and  short  allowance' ' .  In  this  exigency 
it  was  suggested  to  the  sufferers  that  help  might  be  received  from 
the  fishing  vessels  at  the  eastward  ;  and  at  the  request  of  the  gov- 
ernor, Winslow  proceeded  thither,  finding  at  Damariscove  island, 
near  Monhegan,  "above  thirty  sail  of  ships".  From  the  masters 
of  these  English  fishing  vessels  Winslow  received  kind  entertain- 
ment, he  says,  and  generous  food  supplies.  Payment  for  these 
the  masters  declined,  doing  "what  they  could  freely,  wishing 
their  store  had  been  such  as  they  might  in  greater  measure  have 
expressed  their  own  love,  and  supplied  our  necessities  ;  for  which 
they  sorrowed,  provoking  one  another  to  the  utmost  of  their  abili- 

1  Thayer,  Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  Series  II,  6,  64,  65. 
11 


162  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  maine;. 

ties,  which,  although  it  was  not  much  amongst  so  many  a  people 
as  were  at  the  plantation,  yet  through  the  provident  and  discreet 
care  of  the  governor  recovered  and  preserved  strength  till  our  own 
crop  on  the  ground  was  ready. "  *  In  this  narrative  of  the  trans- 
action, by  the  principal  character  in  it,  there  is  no  mention  of 
Pemaquid.  In  fact  there  was  at  that  time  no  English  settlement 
at  Pemaquid,  and  therefore  no  "granaries",  or  anything  else 
indicating  English  occupation.  The  supplies  Winslow  received 
came  from  England,  in  English  fishing  vessels,  as  the  narrative 
clearly  shows,  and  the  masters  of  those  vessels  should  not  be 
robbed  of  the  beautiful  tribute  that  Winslow  gratefully,  lovingly 
pays  to  them. 

When  the  Pilgrims  at  L,eyden  decided  to  leave  the  old  world  for 
the  new,  it  was  their  purpose  to  make  their  settlement  within  the 
limits  of  the  South  Virginia  company,  "at  some  place  about  Hud- 
son's river".  Accordingly  a  patent  in  their  interest,  but  in  the 
name  of  John  Wincob,  was  secured  from  that  company  February 
2,  1619.  On  approaching  the  American  coast,  the  Mayflower, 
having  made  her  landfall  at  Cape  Cod,  stood  southward  in  order  to 
proceed  to  her  destination  ;  but  the  vessel  falling  "amongst  dan- 
gerous  shoals    and    roaring  breakers and    the  wind 

shrinking  upon  them  withal,  they  resolved  to  bear  up  again  for 
the  cape",  and  came  to  anchor  on  the  following  day  in  the  Cape 
harbor.2  Making  their  settlement  at  length  at  Plymouth,  within 
the  limits  of  the  territory  of  the  council  for  New  England,  their 
patent  became  void,  and  on  the  return  of  the  Mayflower  to  Eng- 
land, at  their  request,  a  new  patent  in  their  interest,  and  with 
Gorges'  assistance  as  already  stated,  was  issued  June  1,  1621, 3  by 
the  council  for  New  England,  to  John  Pierce  of  I<ondon  and  his 

1  Good  News  from  New  England,  Mass.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  VIII,  245, 
246. 

2  Bradford,  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  93. 

3  The  patent  is  given  in  full  in  the  Farnham  Papers,  I,  45-53.  It  was 
written  on  parchment  of  considerable  size,  but  in  some  way  disappeared,  and 
was  found  in  1741  among  some  old  papers  in  the  land  office  in  Boston.  In 
1853,  it  was  deposited  in  Pilgrim  Hall  in  Plymouth.  It  is  believed  to  be  the 
oldest  state  document  in  the  United  States. 


VARIOUS   SCHEMES   AND   LEVETT'S   EXPLORATIONS.  163 

associates,  and  the  new  patent  was  brought  over  in  the  ship  For- 
tune, which  arrived  at  Plymouth,  November  11,  1621.  It  made 
no  mention  of  territorial  limits  ;  but  gave  to  each  of  the  colonists 
and  those  who  should  join  them,  together  with  their  heirs  and 
assignees,  one  hundred  acres  of  land  in  any  place  or  places  "not 
already  inhabited  by  any  English".  So  far  as  is  known,  this  was 
the  first  grant  of  land  made  by  the  council  for  New  England 
under  its  charter  of  1620.  On  April  20,  1622,  without  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  Plymouth  colonists,  Pierce  obtained  another  patent, 
superseding  that  of  June  1,  1621.  When  this  action  on  Pierce's 
part  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Pilgrims,  they  were  indignant 
with  Pierce  and  carried  their  case  to  the  council  for  New  Eng- 
land. Claiming  that  they  had  been  deceived  by  Mr.  Pierce,  they 
asked  the  council's  assistance  in  obtaining  redress,  and  May  18, 
1623,  the  patent  was  yielded  to  them  on  the  payment  of  five  hun- 
dred pounds,  the  council  passing  an  order,  that  the  associates  "are 
left  free  to  hold  the  privileges  by  the  said  former  grant  of  the  first 
of  June  [1621],  as  if  the  latter  had  never  been.  And  they,  the 
said  associates,  to  receive  and  enjoy  all  that  they  do  or  may  pos- 
sess by  virtue  thereof,  and  the  surplus  that  is  to  remain  over  and 
above  by  reason  of  the  later  grant,  the  said  Pierce  to  enjoy,  and 
to  make  his  best  benefit  of,  as  to  him  shall  seem  good".1 

On  the  ground  of  this  relation  of  John  Pierce  to  the  Pilgrim 
grant,  the  claim  of  an  early  Pierce  settlement  at  Broad  bay,  within 
the  limits  of  ancient  Pemaquid,  has  been  advanced.  It  has  been 
shown  conclusively,  however,  that  this  claim  cannot  be  made  to 
rest  upon  any  such  foundation.  "No  evidence  has  been  found 
that  Pierce  ever  intimated  an  intention  to  make  such  a  use  of  the 
patent  of  June  1,  1621;  and  more  important  still,  so  far  as  we 
know,  his  son  Richard,  during  his  life-time  here,  never  put  for- 
ward any  claim  based  upon  the  provisions  of  that  charter. ' ' 2     This 

1  Bradford,  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  Ed.  1913, 
I,  306. 

2  Professor  John  Johnston's  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  53.  Prof. 
Johnston  was  a  native  of  Bristol,  and  devoted  many  years  to  the  preparation 
of  his  valuable  work. 


164  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

is  the  statement  of  a  most  careful  writer  of  early  Maine  history, 
who  says  the  claim  is  that  of  the  Pierce  heirs  of  a  late  generation, 
indeed  as  late  as  1734,  and  he  adds;  "probably  we  shall  best 
regard  it  as  an  after-thought,  adopted  by  them  to  strengthen  their 
supposed  claim  to  a  proprietary  interest  here,  by  virtue  of  the 
irregular  transactions  of  their  ancestors."  1 

At  this  time,  however,  we  get  a  glimpse  of  the  beginnings  of 
the  ownership  of  Monhegan.  At  a  meeting  of  the  council  for 
New  England  held  July  24,  1622,  the  matter  of  a  division  of  the 
land  held  by  the  council  under  the  patent  of  November  3,  1620, 
was  under  consideration,  and  it  was  ordered  that  the  earl  of 
Arundell  should  have  for  his  "devident"  from  "the  middle  of 
Sagadahoc  and  to  go  northeast  so  much  on  his  side  as  Mr.  Secre- 
tary [Calvert]  goes  on  the  other  side  upon  the  coast  [z*.  e. ,  west  of 

the  Kennebec]  and  to  reach 2  miles  backward  into  the  main 

and  three  leagues  into  the  sea  ;  and  to  have  further  into  his  devi- 
dent the  island  called  Menehigan".8  At  this  meeting  two  other 
divisions  were  made,  one  to  the  lord  duke  of  L,enox  and  one  to 
Secretary  Calvert.  The  division  of  the  former  was  to  extend 
from  "the  middle  of  Sawahquatock",  that  is,  from  the  middle  of 
the  Saco  river,  half  way  to  the  Sagadahoc,  and  back  into  the 
country  thirty  miles ;  while  Secretary  Calvert's  division  was  to 
comprise  the  territory  between  the  division  assigned  to  the  duke 
of  L,enox  and  that  assigned  to  the  earl  of  Arundell  ;  also  the 
island  of  Seguin.  This  is  known  as  the  first  division  of  the  great 
patent  for  New  England. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  council  held  twelve  days  earlier  (July  12, 
1622),  William  Cross  and  Abraham  Jennings,4  merchants  (who 

1  ,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  51. 

2  The  blank  was  not  filled,  but  the  distance  was  probably  thirty  miles,  as 
in  the  "devident"  of  the  duke  of  Lenox  made  on  the  same  date. 

3  Farnham  Papers,  I,  62. 

*  Although  Abraham  Jennings  was  a  prominent  merchant  in  Plymouth, 
little  is  known  concerning  him.  So  far  as  the  writer  is  aware,  there  is  no 
memorial  of  him  in  Plymouth  of  any  kind.  The  first  volume  of  the  records 
of  the  parish  of  St.  Andrew's  Church,  Plymouth,  goes  back  to  1581.     Abra- 


VARIOUS  SCHEMES   AND  EEVETT'S   EXPLORATIONS.  165 

apparently  were  present)  were  invited  "to  enter  the  great  pat- 
ent", that  is  to  become  members  of  the  council  for  New  England. 
Jennings  was  a  prominent  merchant  of  Plymouth,  and  had  large 
fishing  interests  on  the  coast  of  Maine.  Both  of  the  men 
requested  time  for  the  consideration  of  membership.     Jennings 

ham  Jennings  was  born  about  that  time.  The  record  of  his  baptism  is 
not  found  in  the  early  years  of  this  record.  It  may  be  that  he  was  born 
before  1581,  or  that  he  was  not  born  in  Plymouth.  In  1605,  he  paid  for  his 
freedom  {Black  Book,  city  clerk's  office,  Plymouth,  307,  verso),  and  on  May 
22,  1608,  he  married  Judith,  a  daughter  of  Nicholas  Cheere,  of  Plymouth. 
The  record  of  her  baptism,  which  occurred  November  6,  1586,  the  writer 
found  in  the  first  volume  of  the  parish  records  of  St.  Andrew's  Church,  Ply- 
mouth, under  that  date.  From  the  city  records  of  Plymouth,  little  can  be 
gleaned  concerning  Abraham  Jennings.  He  was  alive  in  1641,  when  an 
assessment  for  a  poll  tax  was  made  by  Parliament  upon  the  inhabitants  of 
Ventre  Ward.  The  assessment  of  the  mayor,  William  Byrch,  was  five 
pounds,  that  of  Abraham  Jennings  seven  pounds.  Robert  Trelawny's  assess- 
ment was  ten  pounds.  A  reference  toj  ennings'  business  interests  appears  in 
the  fact  that  a  question  as  to  the  title  of  "Jennings'  Key"  (quay)  Plymouth, 
came  up  in  1675.  The  quay  was  then  in  possession  of  Jennings  and  Warren, 
Jennings  being  Abraham  Jennings'  son  William,  and  in  the  inquiry  then 
made  concerning  the  title  it  was  stated  that  this  quay,  known  as  Jennings' 
Key,  was  part  of  an  ancient  quay  called  Hawkins'  Key,  which  by  lease 
passed  to  William  Stalling  and  from  Stalling  to  Abraham  Jennings,  '  'by 
assignment  sixty  seven  years  since".  As  this  statement  was  made  in  1675, 
the  quay  came  into  Abraham  Jennings'  possession  in  1608.  It  is  further 
stated  that  "about  fifty  three  years  since"  (and  accordingly  about  1622) 
Abraham  Jennings  purchased  of  Hawkins,  and  those  who  claimed  under  him, 
a  lease  of  the  Hawkins'  interest  in  the  quay ;  and  that  '  'about  thirty  six 
years  since",  that  is,  about  1639,  he  purchased  for  himself  and  heirs  "the 
reversion  of  one  sixth  part  of  the  Key  in  question,  which  the  said  Abraham 
Jennings  by  his  last  will  and  testament  gave  to  the  said  William  Jennings" 
his  son.  The  writer,  in  the  summer  of  1912,  made  diligent  search  for  this 
will  at  Plymouth  and  later  in  London,  but  without  success.  "For  divers 
good  causes  and  considerations"  all  claims  to  the  Jennings'  "Key"  were 
released  by  Jennings  and  Warren  to  the  mayor  and  commonalty  of  Plymouth, 
and  the  quitclaim,  on  parchment,  is  preserved  in  the  city  clerk's  office  in 
Plymouth,  with  fine  signature  and  seal  of  William  Jennings,  who  still  spelled 
the  name  "Jennens".  In  the  record  of  the  freedom  payment  in  1605,  the 
name  is  spelled  "Jennyngs";  but  in  the  record  of  his  marriage  in  1608,  it  is 
"Jennens". 


166  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  mains. 

after  such  consideration  accepted  membership,  and  paid  one  hun- 
dred and  ten  pounds  into  the  treasury  of  the  council  as  the  cost 
of  membership,  for  which  a  receipt  was  ordered  by  the  council  on 
November  27,  1622.  Three  days  later,  "A  bill  of  receipt  of 
110  pounds"  was  sealed  to  Mr.  Abraham  Jennings  "with  covenant 
for  his  devident  in  the  main  land  of  New  England".1  At  a  meet- 
ing held  nearly  two  months  later  (January  28,  1622,  O.  S.),  the 
records  of  the  council  show  that  on  that  date  "the  commission 
for  seizing  of  the  island  of  Monhegan  is  this  day  sealed  and 
signed  by  the  lord  duke  of  L,enox"  and  eight  others,  including 
the  earl  of  Arundell".2  A  second  division  of  the  great  patent 
for  New  England  occurred  on  June  29,  1623,  when  the  king  was 
present  and  participated  in  the  drawing,  which  was  by  lot.  "A 
plot  of  all  the  coasts  and  lands,  divided  into  twenty  parts,  each 
part  containing  two  shares",  had  been  prepared  "with  the  names 
of  twenty  patentees  by  whom  these  lots  were  to  be  drawn".  Mr. 
Abraham  Jennings  was  not  present,  and  his  lot,  which  was  the 
fifth,  was  drawn  for  him  by  Sir  Samuel  Argall.3  This  division, 
like  the  first,  was  not  consummated.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
the  earl  of  Arundell  ever  acquired  possession  of  the  island  of 
Monhegan,  or  that  there  was  any  authority  for  the  seizure  of  the 
island  in  accordance  with  the  action  of  the  council  January  28, 
1622  ;  but  it  was  in  the  possession  of  Abraham  Jennings  not  long 
after.  It  seems  probable,  therefore,  that  he  acquired  possession 
of  the  island  about  the  time  he  became  a  member  of  the  council, 
and  it  may  be  that  he  accepted  membership  in  this  languishing 
enterprise  in  order  to  open  the  way  for  its  possession.  It  cer- 
tainly was  of  value  to  him  because  of  the  advantages  it  would 
secure  to  those  who  had  the  management  of  his  fishing  and  trad- 
ing interests  on  that  part  of  the  New  England  coast. 

August  10,  1622,  without  having  consummated  its  action  with 
reference  to  a  division  of  its  territory,  the  council  for  New  Eng- 

1  Proceedings  of  American  Antiquarian  Society,  April  24,  1867,  76. 

2  lb.,  82. 

3  Farnham  Papers,  I,  75. 


VARIOUS  SCHEMES   AND  EEVETT'S  EXPLORATIONS.  167 

land  made  a  second  grant  of  land  within  the  limits  of  its  charter. 
The  grantees  were  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  Captain  John 
Mason.  From  the  success  of  the  Pilgrim  colony  at  Plymouth,  in 
whose  interest  the  first  grant  was  secured,  Gorges  evidently  had 
received  new  encouragement  with  reference  to  colonial  undertak- 
ings in  New  England.  His  acquaintance  with  Mason,  also,  had 
brought  him  into  relations  with  a  man  of  great  energy,  whose 
readiness  to  embark  in  such  undertakings  had  greatly  strength- 
ened his  own  former  hopes. and  aims.  By  this  action  of  the  coun- 
cil there  was  granted  to  Gorges  and  Mason  "all  that  part  of  the 
mainland  in  New  England  lying  upon  the  sea  coast  betwixt  the 
rivers  of  Merimack  and  Sagadahock  and  to  the  furtherest  heads 
of  the  said  rivers  and  so  forward  up  into  the  new  land  westward 
until  three  score  miles  be  finished  from  the  first  entrance  of  the 
aforesaid  rivers  and  half  way  over,  that  is  to  say  to  the  midst  of 

the  said  two  rivers said  portions  of    lands  with  the 

appurtenances  the  said  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  Captain  John 
Mason,  with  the  consent  of  the  president  and  council,  intend  to 
name  the  Province  of  Maine".  This  is  the  first  use  of  the  desig- 
nation, Province  of  Maine,  in  any  printed  document.  The  grant- 
ees were  authorized  to  "establish  such    government  in  the  said 

portions  of  lands  and  islands as  shall  be  agreeable  as 

near  as  may  be  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  realm  of  Eng- 
land."1 

Within  the  limits  of  this  grant  to  Gorges  and  Mason,  the  coun- 
cil for  New  England  (of  which  Gorges  himself  was  still  the  lead- 
ing spirit)  proceeded  May  5,  1623,  to  grant  six  thousand  acres  of 
land  to  Christopher  L,evett.2  Beyond  a  brief  memorandum  in  the 
Records  of  the  Great  Council  and  in  the  Calendar  of  State  Papers, 
no  documentary  evidence  of  such  a  grant  has  as  yet  been  discov- 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  64-71.  The  Province  of  Maine  was  divided  by 
the  November  grantees  7,  1629,  Mason  receiving  the  territory  between 
the  Merritnac  and  the  Piscataqua . 

2  He  was  born  in  York,  England,  April  5,  1586.  His  father,  Percival  Lev- 
ett,  was  city  chamberlain  of  York  in  1584  and  sheriff  in  1597-8. 


168  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

ered,  but  contemporary  writers  supply  some  added  information 
concerning  it.1 

Levett  had  caught  the  spirit  of  adventure  abroad  in  English 
hearts  and  homes  in  the  last  years  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  and  which 
continued  into  the  reign  of  James.  Following  the  seas,  as  his 
chosen  occupation,  he  was  mentioned  in  1623  as  one  of  the  cap- 
tains of  his  majesty's  ships.  But  he  had  now  become  interested 
in  new  world  enterprises.  He  saw  the  possibilities  which  the 
situation  of  affairs  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  afforded,  and  he 
resolved  to  make  his  way  hither  with  the  purpose  of  planting  a 
colony  on  New  England  soil.  In  some  way,  he  interested  the 
king  in  his  enterprise,  and  Conway,  the  secretary  of  state,  by 
direction  of  James,  addressed  a  letter2  to  the  lord  president  of 
York,  June  26,  1623,  calling  his  attention  to  the  proposed  under- 
taking, as  one  "honorable  to  the  nation  and  to  the  particular 
county  and  city  of  York",  as  it  was  L,evett's  purpose  "to  build  a 
city  and  call  it  by  the  name  of  York".  L,evett,  however,  needed 
helpers  in  "so  notable  a  good  work".  He  must  have  adventur- 
ers to  join  him  in  the  enterprise,  and  he  must  secure  fifty  men  as 
colonists  ;  also  contributions  for  the  erection  of  a  fort ;  and  Con- 
way requests  the  lord  president  '  'by  all  fair  persuasions  to  wean 
from  the  county  some  assistance  upon  such  conditions  as  may  be 
just  and  suitable' ' . 

Difficulties  were  encountered  in  securing  the  assistance  thus 
sought.  At  length,  however,  a  vessel  was  procured,  some  colo- 
nists were  made  ready,  and  Levett,  who  had  been  appointed  a 
member  of  Robert  Gorges'  council,  set  sail  for  the  New  England 

1  Maverick,  in  his  Description  of  New  England,  describes  the  grant  in 
terms  nearly  identical  with  the  memorandum  in  the  Records  of  the  Great 
Council.  Edward  Godfrey  mentioned  it  in  his  "Cattalogue  of  such  Patent- 
ees as  I  know  granted  for  making  Plantations  in  New  England".  Espe- 
cially is  such  information  to  be  found  in  Christopher  L,evett's  own  story,  "A 

Voyage  into  New  England  begun  in  1623  and  ended  in  1624",  in  James 
Phinney  Baxter's  Christopher  Levett  of  York,  the  Pioneer  of  Casco  Bay, 
Gorges  Society,  Portland,  1893. 

2  Baxter,  Christopher  Levett  of  York,    14,  15. 


VARIOUS  SCHEMES   AND  LEVETT 'S  EXPLORATIONS.  169 

coast.  The  auspices  certainly  were  favorable.  L,evett  was  in  the 
prime  of  life,  and  as  a  member  of  the  council  for  New  England1, 
as  well  as  of  the  council  under  Robert  Gorges,  in  the  latter's  admin- 
istration of  the  affairs  of  New  England  about  to  be  established,  he 
seemed  admirably  fitted  for  the  work  he  had  undertaken. 

He  reached  the  Isles  of  Shoals2  in  the  autumn  of  1623.  Land- 
ing at  Odiorne's  Point3  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua,  he  met 
Robert  Gorges  and  Captain  Francis  West,  also  two  members  of 
the  colony  at  Plymouth,  who  were  awaiting  his  arrival ;  and  the 
organization  of  the  government  of  New  England  was  now  effected.4 
Here  L,evett  remained  about  a  month,  and  then,  the  season  being 
well  advanced,  he  proceeded  up  the  coast  with  the  company  he 
had  brought  with  him  (and  those  who  had  arrived  in  other  ves- 
sels) to  make  the'  selection  of  a  location  for  his  colony.  Fortu- 
nately we  have  his  own  record  of  his  explorations.5 

Two  open  boats  conveyed  the  party  and  its  stores.  First,  Levett 
examined  the  vicinity  of  York  harbor,  or  Aquamenticus,  as  he 
called  it.  There  he  found  much  land  already  cleared,  "fit  for 
planting  corn  and  other  fruits,  having  heretofore  been  planted  by 
the  savages,  who  are  all  dead".  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Cape 
Porpoise,  "which  is  indifferent  good  for  six  ships,  and  it  is  gen- 
erally thought  to  be  an  excellent  place  for  fish".  A  good  planta- 
tion, he  indicated,  could  be  made  there,  but  it  would  require  some 
labor  and  expense.  The  next  place  he  mentions  is  "Sawco", 
four  leagues  farther  east.     On  his  way  thither  a  heavy  fog  set- 

1  He  was  made  a  member  of  the  council  by  the  payment  of  a  like  sum  as 
Abraham  Jennings. 

2  "The  first  place  I  set  my  foot  upon  in  New  England,"  says  Iyevett :  and 
he  adds,  "Upon  these  islands,  I  neither  could  see  one  good  timber  tree,  nor 
so  much  good  ground  as  to  make  a  garden".  Baxter,  Christopher  Levett  of 
York,  89. 

3  David  Thompson,  shortly  before,  had  established  a  small  settlement  here. 
He  was  a  Scotchman.  Two  years  later,  he  removed  to  an  island  in  Boston 
harbor,  which  still  bears  his  name,  and  where  he  died  two  years  afterward, 
lb.,  90,  note. 

*  Of  its  brief  duration,  mention  has  already  been  made. 
5  Baxter,  Christopher  Levett  of  York. 


170  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

tied  down  upon  the  explorers,  the  boats  became  separated,  and  a 
fierce  storm  assailing  them  they  were  forced  to  strike  sail  and  take 
to  their  oars.  Night  coming  on  they  anchored,  and  their  anchor 
held  them  securely  until  morning,  when  they  succeeded  in  making 
their  way  "into  Sawco",  which  Levett  describes  as  "about  one 
league  to  the  northeast  of  a  cape  land ;  and  about  one-eighth  mile 
from  the  main  lieth  six  islands,  which  make  an  indifferent  good 
harbor.  And  in  the  main  there  is  a  cove  or  gut,  which  is  about  a 
cable's  length  in  breadth  and  two  cable's  length  long,  where  two 
good  ships  may  ride  being  well  moored  ahead  and  stern ;  and 
within  the  cove  there  is  a  great  marsh,  where  at  a  high  water  a 
hundred  sail  of  ships  may  float,  and  be  free  from  all  winds,  but  at 
low  water  must  lie  aground,  but  being  soft  oase  they  can  take  na 
hurt".1 

There  they  found  the  other  boat  and  tarried  five  days,  the  wind 
being  contrary.  Mention  is  made  of  "rain  and  snow",  but  not- 
withstanding the  unfavorable  weather,  L,evett  followed  the  shore 
of  Old  Orchard  bay  as  far  as  the  northern  extremity  of  the  beach. 
In  his  mention  of  the  Saco  river,  he  says  the  Indians  told  him  it 
had  its  source  at  a  great  mountain  called  "the  Crystal  Hill", 
evidently  Mount  Washington,  "being  as  they  say  one  hundred 
miles  in  the  country,  yet  is  it  to  be  seen  at  the  sea  side,  and  there 
is  no  ship  arrives  in  New  England,  either  to  the  west  so  far  as 
Cape  Cod,  or  to  the  east  so  far  as  Monhegan,  but  they  see  this 
mountain  the  first  land,  if  the  weather  be  clear".2 

Making  his  way   still   farther   up   the  coast,    I,evett   came  to 

1  "It  is  difficult  to  identify  the  locality  which  Levett  calls  Saco;  but  his 
description  plainly  comprises  Fletcher's  Neck  and  Biddeford  Pool,  as  well 
as  the  islands,  Wood,  Negro,  Ram,  Eagle,  Stage  and  Basket".  Baxter, 
Christopher  Levett,  93,  note. 

2  Approaching  Portland  from  the  east  and  sailing  between  Monhegan  and 
the  main  land  for  many  years,  the  late  Captain  Charles  Deering,  of  the 
steamer  Lewiston,  told  the  writer  that  he  had  never  seen  Mount  Washington 
from  the  sea  until  he  had  passed  Small  Point.  Approaching  Portland  in  one 
of  the  New  York  steamers,  Mount  Washington  is  seen  on  a  clear  day  when 
within  a  few  miles  of  the  Two  Lights  on  Cape  Elizabeth. 


VARIOUS  SCHEMES   AND  1,3  VETT '  S  EXPLORATIONS.  171 

"Quack",  which,  he  says,  "I  have  named  York" — the  name  he 
had  selected  for  his  proposed  settlement  before  he  left  England. 
Quack,  he  describes,  as  "a  bay  or  sound  betwixt  the  main  and 
certain  islands  which  lyeth  in  the  sea  about  one  English  mile  and 
a  half ' .  Clearly  the  reference  is  to  Portland  harbor,  the  western 
part  of  Casco  bay.  Continuing  his  narrative,  I^evett  adds  :  '  'There 
are  four  islands1  which  make  one  good  harbor;  there  is  very 
good  fishing,  much  fowl  and  the  main  as  good  ground  as  any  can 
desire".  Fore  river  he  named  Invert's  river.2  As  in  his  boat 
the  explorer  passed  up  into  this  river  and  thought  of  the  York 
that  was  his  birthplace,  and  of  the  York  whose  beginnings  he 
purposed  to  make,  imagination  kindling  at  the  scene,  he  could 
hardly  have  failed  to  catch  a  vision  of  the  spires  and  fair  resi- 
dences of  the  Portland  of  which  Longfellow  loved  to  sing  as 

"the  beautiful  town 
That  is  seated  by  the  sea".3 

"At  this  place",  says  ^evett,  "there  fished  divers  ships  of  Way- 
mouth4  this  year",  the  first  fishing  vessels  of  which  we  have  any 
record  in  connection  with  Portland  harbor. 

Continuing  his  exploration  eastward,  I,evett  makes  mention  of 
another  river,  our  Presumpscot :  "up  which",  he  writes,  "I  went 
about  three  miles,  and  found  a  great  fall  of  water  much  bigger 
than  the  fall  at  London  bridge  at  low  water".  Thence  to  the 
Sagadahoc,  he  says,  "is  all  broken  islands  in  the  sea,  with  many 
excellent  harbors,  where  a  thousand  sail  of  ships"  might  ride  in 
safety.  Especial  mention  is  made  of  Casco,  a  place  evidently  on 
the  mainland  having  "a  good  harbor,  good  fishing,  good  ground 
and  good  fowl,  and  a  site  for  one  of  the  twenty  good  towns  well- 

1  Cushing's,  House,  Peak's  and  Diamond. 

2Ivevett  says,  "I  made  bold  to  call  [it]  by  my  own  name".  It  should 
bear  the  name  still. 

8  All  the  explorers  who  preceded  I/evett  seem  to  have  failed  to  enter  Port- 
land harbor,  and  so  not  to  have  noticed  the  fitness  of  the  location  of  Port- 
land for  settlement  purposes. 

4  On  Waymouthbay,  between  Plymouth  and  Southampton,  England. 


172  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

seated  to  take  the  benefit  both  of  the  sea  and  fresh  rivers' ' . 1  The 
whole  distance  from  Cape  Elizabeth  to  the  Sagadahoc,  L,evett 
found  exceedingly  favorable  for  plantations.  "Of  Sagadahoc", 
he  said,  "I  need  say  nothing  of  it;  there  hath  been  heretofore 
enough  said  by  others,  and  I  fear  too  much."  Plainly  he  had  no 
heart  to  make  any  reference  to  it.  Seventeen  years  had  not  erased 
the  memories  of  the  disappointments  connected  with  the  failure 
of  the  Popham  colony ;  and  yet  it  is  to  be  wished  that  so  interest- 
ing a  writer  as  L,evett  had  held  his  feelings  sufficiently  in  control 
to  have  given  us  a  sketch  of  the  ruins  of  Fort  Saint  George  as  he 
found  them  at  that  time.  All  he  tells  us  is  that  "the  place  is 
good,  there  fished  this  year  two  ships." 

Levett  then  passed  on  to  Capemanwagan,  where  nine  vessels 
had  "fished"  that  year.  In  the  present  Cape  Newaggen,  there  is 
evidently  an  echo  from  that  early  period.  The  reference  may  be 
to  Southport,  or  perhaps  Boothbay  harbor.  There  he  remained 
four  days  and  met  many  Indians  with  their  wives  and  children, 
prominent  among  them  three  sagamores,  Menawormet,  Cogawesco 
(the  sagamore  of  Casco  and  Quack)  and  Somerset,    who  he  men- 

1  Possibly  the  little  harbor  at  Harpswell  point,  as  "well-seated  to  take  the 
benefit  both  of  the  sea  and  fresh  rivers".  Royal  river  at  Yarmouth  and  the 
Harraseeket  at  South  Freeport  are  such  rivers. 

2  He  is  first  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  Plymouth  colonists,  whom 
he  saluted  March  16,  1621,  with  the  word  "Welcome",  adding  that  "he  was 
not  of  those  parts,  but  of  Morattiggon"  as  recorded  in  Mourts'  Relation, 
and  Which  is  there  described  as  '  'lying  hence  a  day's  sail  with  a  great  wind 
and  five  days  by  land".  By  some,  accordingly,  Morattiggon  is  identified 
with  Monhegan ;  but  more  probably  the  reference  is  to  some  place  on  the 
Maine  coast  in  that  vicinity.  From  Somerset  the  Pilgrims  learned  that  the 
Indian  name  of  their  plantation  was  Patuxet.  His  name  appears  in  early 
records  as  above,  and  is  also  written  Samoset,  Samosett,  Sameset,  Sammer- 
set,  Sammeset,  etc.  Bradford,  after  a  reference  to  some  skulking  Indians, 
had  this  reference  to  him  :  "But  about  ye  16th  of  March  a  certain  Indian 
came  boldly  amongst  them  [the  colonists]  and  spoke  to  them  in  broken 
English,  which  they  could  well  understand,  but  marvelled  at  it.  At  length 
they  understood  by  discourse  with  him,  that  he  was  not  of  these  parts,  but 
belonged  to  the  eastern  parts,  where  some  English  ships  came  to  fish,  with 
whom  he  was  acquainted,  and  could  name  sundry  of  them  by  their  names, 


VARIOUS   SCHEMES   AND   LEVETT'S   EXPLORATIONS.  173 

tions  as  "one  that  hath  been  found  very  faithful  to  the  English, 
and  hath  saved  the  lives  of  many  of  bur  nation,  some  from  starv- 
ing, others  from  killing".  L,evett  proceeded  no  farther  to  the 
eastward,  being  told  by  the  sagamores  mentioned  "that  Pema- 
quid  and  Capemanwagan  and  Monhigon  were  granted  to  others", 
and  especially  as  Cogawesco  said  to  him  that  if  he  would  plant  his 
colony  at  either  Quack  or  Casco,  he  would  be  welcome. 

Already  Iyevett  had  settled  upon  Quack  as  the  location  of  his 
colony,  and  on  the  next  day,  the  wind  being  fair,  he  set  out  on 
his  return,  taking  with  him  Cogawesco,  also  his  wife  and  son, 
"bow  and  arrows,  dog  and  kettle,  his  noble  attendants  rowing  by 
us  in  their  canoe".  On  his  arrival  at  Quack,  now  called  by 
L,evett,  York,  he  was  welcomed  by  the  masters  of  the  fishing  ves- 
sels there,  and  at  once  commenced  the  erection  of  a  house,  which 
he  fortified  "in  a  reasonable  good  fashion."  Where  the  house 
was  located,  he  does  not  record ;  but  Maverick,  writing  about 
1660,  and  referring  to  his  visit  to  Casco  bay  in  or  about  1624, 
says  it  was  "on  an  island  lying  before  Casco  river",1  now  sup- 
posed to  be  House  Island.2 

But  clouds  soon  settled  down  upon  the  little  settlement.  The 
master  of  one  of  the  vessels  in  the  harbor,  "a  great  ship  with 
seventeen  pieces  of  ordnance  and  fifty  men",  evidently  an  English 
trading  vessel,  was  monopolizing  those  traffic  privileges  of  the 
vicinity,  which  I^evett  insisted  were  his  own  by  reason  of  his  pat- 
ent of  land,  in  accordance  with  which  he  had  now  located.     Defied 

amongst  whom  he  got  his  language.  He  became  profitable  to  them  in 
acquainting  them  with  many  things  concerning  the  state  of  the  country  in 
the  east  parts  where  he  lived,  which  was  afterwards  profitable  unto  them  ; 
as  also  of  the  people  here,  of  their  names,  number  and  strength  ;  of  their 
situation  and  distance  from  this  place,  and  who  was  chief  amongst  them. 
His  name  was  Samasett".  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  Mass.  Hist. 
Soc.  Ed.,  1913,  I,  199.  It  was  Somerset,  who  made  the  Pilgrims  acquainted 
with  Squanto  or  Tisquantum. 

1  New  England  Hist,  and  Gen.  Register,  January,  1885. 

2  Baxter,    Christopher  Levett  of    York,  105-107,  has  an  interesting  note 
concerning  the  location  of  L,evett's  fortified  house. 


174  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

by  the  master  of  the  vessel,  Levett  reported  the  case  to  his  asso- 
ciates of  the  council  for  New  England  as  a  fit  occasion  for  the 
council's  vindication  of  its  authority. 

Levett  completed  his  house  and  fortifications,  and  then,  prob- 
ably in  the  summer  of  1624,  leaving  ten  men  in  charge  of  his 
interests  in  Casco  bay,  he  took  passage  for  England,  doubtless  in 
one  of  the  returning  fishing  or  trading  vessels  upon  the  coast. 
There  he  attempted  to  enlist  his  countrymen  in  the  settlement 
whose  beginnings  he  had  made  at  York.  But  the  times  in  Eng- 
land were  unpropitious  for  colonial  enterprises.  Prince  Charles, 
after  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  conclude  a  marriage  arrangement 
with  the  princess  Maria  of  Spain, — an  unpopular  proceeding, — 
was  now  seeking  the  hand  of  Henrietta,  a  sister  of  the  king  of 
France,  who  had  rival  interests  in  American  territory.  More- 
over, the  discouraging  report  concerning  affairs  in  New  England, 
brought  back  by  Robert  Gorges,  had  not  been  helpful  to  such  an 
enterprise  as  Levett  had  in  hand  ;  and  he  failed  to  awaken  enthu- 
siasm in  his  appeal  for  assistance.  Accordingly,  he  found  him- 
self compelled  to  seek  employment  elsewhere.  This  he  obtained 
in  the  autumn  of  1625,  receiving  an  appointment  as  captain  of  a 
ship  in  the  expedition  against  Spain  under  the  command  of  Lord 
Wimbledon — an  unsuccessful  affair. 

After  his  return  from  this  service,  Levett 's  thoughts  again 
reverted  to  his  interests  in  Casco  bay,  but  no  way  for  his  return 
opened.  What,  meanwhile,  had  become  of  the  ten  men  whom  he 
left  in  charge  of  those  interests  is  unknown,  as  no  information 
concerning  them  has  come  down  to  us.  Probably,  as  Levett 
failed  to  return  to  Casco  bay,  they  closed  the  house  and  finding 
employment  upon  some  fishing  or  trading  vessel,  it  may  be,  they 
succeeded  at  length  in  making  their  way  back  to  England,  or 
repaired  to  one  of  the  small  settlements  beginning  to  spring  up 
here  and  there  along  the  coast  soon  after  Levett 's  return  to  Eng- 
land. 

Levett  found  no  such  settlements  in  his  explorations  from  the 
Piscataqua  to  Cape  Newaggen.     Fishing  vessels  there  were  in  the 


VARIOUS    SCHEMES    AND   LEVETT'S    EXPLORATIONS.  175 

-coast  harbors,  but  none  until  lie  reached  Quack,  where  upon  the 
islands  the  fishermen  had  doubtless  set  up  their  stages.  Two  ves- 
sels had  made  their  anchorage  at  Sagadahoc  and  nine  at  Cape 
Xewaggen.  From  the  master  of  one  of  the  vessels  at  Cape  New- 
aggen,  Levett  had  learned  that  at  Pemaquid  there  was  a  Barn- 
stable vessel,  "Witheridge,  Master".1  At  Monhegan  and  Dam- 
ariscove  the  number  of   fishing  vessels  was  much  larger. 

But  it  was  inevitable  that  fishing  interests  in  the  waters  along 
the  coast  would  lead  to  settlements  upon  the  main  land  ;  and  clear 
and  definite  proofs  of  the  beginnings  of  such  settlements  have 
now  been  reached. 

1  Christopher  Levett  of  York,  102. 


CHAPTER  XI. 
Beginnings  Here  and  Re  awakenings  in  England. 

IT  should  be  noticed,  however,  that  connected  with  these  infant 
settlements  now  springing  up  on  the  Maine  coast  there  was 
no  organization  like  that  which  planted  the  colony  at  James- 
town in  Virginia,  or  that  which  attempted  to  establish  the  Popham 
colony  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec.  It  was  not  even  as  it  was 
with  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth — a  body  of  men  and  women  who, 
not  finding  in  the  old  world  those  conditions  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  under  which  they  desired  to  live,  sought  such  conditions 
in  the  new  world,  and  associated  themselves  together  for  this  pur- 
pose. Here,  even  formal  association  preliminary  to  such  begin- 
nings was  lacking,  and  only  individual  enterprise,  pure  and  sim- 
ple, is  discoverable. 

When  I,evett  was  told  by  the  Indians  at  Cape  Newaggen  that 
Pemaquid  had  been  "granted",  the  reference  evidently  was  to  the 
beginning  of  a  settlement  that  John  Brown  had  made  at  New 
Harbor  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Pemaquid  peninsula.  At  that 
time,  so  far  as  is  known,  there  was  no  such  occupation  at  Pema- 
quid on  the  western  shore  of  the  peninsula;  but  in  1625,  John 
Brown  had  been  a  resident  on  the  eastern  shore  long  enough  to 
have  become  known  as  "John  Brown  of  New  Harbor" — this 
being  his  designation  in  the  deed  of  a  tract  of  land  acquired  by 
him  from  the  Indians  July  15  of  that  year.  As  the  first  deed  of 
land  within  the  limits  of  the  territory  of  the  State  of  Maine,  and 
comprising  most  of  the  town  of  Bristol,  all  the  towns  of  Noble- 
borough  and  Jefferson,  also  part  of  the  town  of  Newcastle, 1  the 
document  has  especial  interest : 

1  Report  of  [Massachusetts]  Commissioners  to  Investigate  the  Causes  of  the 
Difficulties  in  the  County  of  Lincoln  (1811),  23. 


REAWAKENINGS   IN   ENGLAND.  177 

"To  all  people  whom  it  may  concern.  Know  ye  that  I, 
Capt.  John  Somerset  and  Unongoit  [sic]  Indian  sagamores, 
they  being  the  proper  heirs  to  all  the  lands  both  sides  of 
Muscongus  river,  have  bargained  and  sold  to  John  Brown 
of  New  Harbor  this  certain  tract  or  parcel  of  land  as  fol- 
loweth,  that  is  to  say,  beginning  at  Pemaquid  falls  and  so 
running  a  direct  course  to  the  head  of  New  Harbor,  from 
thence  to  the  south  end  of  Muscongus  island,  taking  in 
the  island,  and  so  running  five  and  twenty  miles  into  the 
country  north  and  by  east,  and  thence  eight  miles  north- 
west and  by  west,  and  then  turning  and  running  south  and 
by  west  to  Pemaquid  where  first  begun — To  all  which  lands 
above  bounded,  the  said  Captain  John  Somerset  and  Unnon- 
goit  [sic],  Indian  sagamores,  have  granted  and  made  over 
to  the  above  said  John  Brown,  of  New  Harbor,  in  and  for 
consideration  of  fifty  skins,  to  us  in  hand  paid,  to  our  full 
satisfaction,  for  the  above  mentioned  lands,  and  we  the 
above  said  sagamores  do  bind  ourselves  and  our  heirs  for- 
ever to  defend  the  above  said  John  Brown  and  his  heirs  in 
the  quiet  and  peaceable  possession  of  the  above  lands.  In 
witness  whereunto,  I  the  said  Capt.  John  Somerset  and 
Unnongoit  have  set  our  hands  and  seals  this  fifteenth  day 
of  July  in  the  year  of  our  L,ord  God  one  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  twenty -five. 

Capt.  John  Somerset     [seal] 
Unnongoit,  [seal] 

Signed  and  sealed  in  presence  of  us, 

Matthew  Newman, 
Wm.  Cox1 

1  Both  of  these  men  probably  came  from  Bristol,  England,  with  John  Brown. 
Of  the  former,  Matthew  Newman,  nothing  is  now  known.  He  may  have  died 
after  a  short  residence  in  the  new  world,  or  he  may  have  returned  to  Eng- 
land. Descendants  of  William  Cox  have  been  well-known  residents  of  Bris- 
tol to  the  present  day.     Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  55,  56. 

12 


178  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL,   MAINE. 

July  24,  1626,  Capt.  John  Somerset  and  Unongoit, 
Indian  sagamores,  personally  appeared  and  acknowledged 
this  instrument  to  be  their  act  and  deed,  at  Pemaquid, 
before  me,  Abraham  Shurte. 

Charlestown,  December  26,  1720.  Read,  and  at  the 
request  of  James  Stilson,  and  his  sister,  Margaret  Hilton, 
formerly  Stilson,  they  being  claimers  and  heirs  of  said 
lands,  accordingly  entered. 

Per  Samuel  Phipps, 
One  of  the  Clerks  of  the  Committee  for  Eastern  Lands''.1 
An  early  document2  in  the  records  of  Bristol,  England,  men- 
tions this  John  Brown  as  a  son  of  Richard  Brown  of  Barton  Regis 
in  Gloucester,  England,  and  adds  that  he  married  Margaret, 
daughter  of  Francis  Hay  ward  of  Bristol.  It  is  supposed  that  he 
came  to  the  Maine  coast  directly  from  Bristol,  probably  in  one  of 
the  fishing  or  trading  vessels  of  that  prosperous  city.  He  not 
only  became  the  possessor  of  the  large  tract  of  land  above  men- 
tioned, but,  in  1639,  he  purchased  of  the  Indians  land3  at  what 
was  then  known  as  Naquasset,  now  Woolwich,  on  the  Kennebec, 
a  little  above  Bath,  but  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  and  thither 
he  removed.  A  daughter,  Elizabeth,  married  Richard  Pearce,4 
who,  in  1641,  secured  an  Indian  title  to  land  at  Muscongus,  a  part 

1  Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  54,  55.  An  attested  copy  of 
this  deed  was  recorded  in  York  County  Register,  August  3,  1739.  With  ref- 
erence to  the  authenticity  of  the  deed,  those  connected  with  the  transaction 
offered  the  deposition  of  Simon  Frost,  formerly  deputy  secretary  of  the 
province  under  Josiah  Willard,  Esq.,  in  which  he  testified  that  when  he  was 
in  the  office  he  drew  from  one  of  its  books,  called  the  Book  of  Records,  the 
aforementioned  deed  which  was  there  fairly  recorded,  and  of  which  the 
deed  aforesaid  is  a  true  copy  ;  and  the  deponent  further  testified  that  when 
the  court  house  in  Boston  was  burnt,  about  the  year  1748,  he  had  reason  to 
believe  the  said  Book  of  Records  was  consumed  by  fire.  See  Report  of 
[Massachusetts]  Commissioners  to  Investigate  the  Causes  of  the  Difficulties 
in  the  County  of  Lincoln  (1811),  16. 

2  Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  54. 

3  lb.,  237. 

4  He  was  a  son  of  John  Pierce  of  London,  but  spelled  his  name  Pearce. 
lb.,  50. 


RE  AWAKENINGS   IN   ENGLAND.  179 

of  the  same  being  within  the  bounds  of  Brown's  purchase  in  1625, 
the  father-in-law  being  a  witness  to  the  transaction.  Brown  sold 
his  land  at  Naquasset  in  1646,  and  returned  to  his  eastern  posses- 
sions. In  1654,  he  was  living  at  Damariscotta.  In  a  deposition 
of  Benjamin  Prescott  of  Danvers,  made  in  Salem,  Mass.,  in  1765, 
Brown  is  mentioned  as  living  during  the  last  years  of  his  life  in 
Boston  with  his  son,  John  Brown,  Jr.  Another  daughter,  Mar- 
garet, married  Sander  or  Alexander  Gould.1 

Concerning  Somerset,  one  of  the  Indian  sagamores,  from 
whom  John  Brown  obtained  the  large  tract  of  land  described  in 
the  above  deed,  mention  has  already  been  made.  Unongoit  is 
known  only  in  connection  with  this  transaction.2 

Abraham  Shurt,3  before  whom  the  acknowledgment  of  John 
Brown's  Indian  deed  of  land  was  made  July  24,  1626,  was  not  on 
this  side  of  the  ocean  when  the  deed  was  executed,  but  came 
hither  in  1626,  and  soon  after  his  arrival  took  up  his  residence  at 
Pemaquid,  where  he  spent  the  large  part  of  his  long  and  useful 
life,  engaged  in  business  relations  that  extended  to  Massachusetts 
on  one  side  and  to  Nova  Scotia  on  the  other.  In  his  participa- 
tion in  the  acknowledgment  of  the  above  deed,  Shurt  appended  no 
title  to  his  signature,  and  probably  claimed  no  legal  authority  for 

1  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  56. 

2  It  was  creditable  in  Brown  that  he  obtained  possession  of  these  lands  by 
a  recognition  of  Indian  rights. 

3  Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  56,  57.  Evidently  he  had  been 
in  Robert  Aldworth's  employ  in  Bristol.  In  his  will,  dated  August  30, 
1634,  Aldworth  bequeathed  to  him  two  hundred  pounds  in  current  English 
money,  and  mentions  him  as  "my  servant",  meaning  doubtless  one  in  his 
employ.  Abraham  Shurt  was  a  brother  of  George  Shurt  of  Biddeford,  Eng- 
land. Waters,  Genealogical  Gleanings  in  England,  II,  983.  In  1653,  he 
was  a  witness  to  an  instrument  in  which  he  is  recorded  as  '  'Abraham  Shurt 
of  Charlestown"  [Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay].  York  Deeds,  II,  folio  84. 
He  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age.  In  connection  with  a  deposition  made  by  him, 
December  25,  1662,  he  is  said  then  to  have  been  "aged  fourscore  years  or 
thereabouts".  Accordingly  at  the  time  of  this  transaction,  he  was  about 
forty-four  years  old.  Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  59,  says, 
"It  is  altogether  probable  that  he  ended  his  days  at  Pemaquid". 


180  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COEONIAI,   MAINE. 

the  service  lie  rendered  ;  but  familiar  with  common  English  forms 
in  business  transactions,  evidently  a  man  of  ability  and  integrity, 
he  was  doubtless  recognized  as  the  best  fitted  for  the  service  of 
any  of  the  residents  on  the  Pemaquid  peninsula.1 

Shurt  came  to  this  country  from  Bristol,  England,  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  Robert  Aid  worth2  and  Giles   Elbridge,3  prominent 

1  John  Wingate  Thornton,  Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  5,  195,  wrote,  "There 
was  no  precedent  for  the  acknowledgment,  or  the  formula,  and  Mr.  Shurt 
is  well  entitled  to  be  remembered  as  the  father  of  American  conveyancing". 
Nathaniel  I.  Bowditch  dedicated  his  Suffolk  Surnames  to  him.  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton learned  later,  however,  that  the  same  form  was  in  use  in  England  long 
before.     Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  57,  note. 

2  Robert  Aldworth  was  a  son  of  Thomas  Aldworth,  who  in  1582,  as  mayor  of 
Bristol,  interested  the  merchants  of  that  city  in  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert's  expe- 
dition to  the  American  coast  in  1583.  The  son  was  born  in  Bristol,  November 
8,  1561,  and  evidently  inherited  his  father's  business  qualifications.  One  of 
the  historians  of  Bristol  (Barrett,  History  of  Bristol,  688)  mentions  him  as  "a 
great  adventurer  in  trade  and  successful  in  merchandise".  He  was  master 
of  the  Merchant  Venturers  of  Bristol  in  1609,  and  served  in  the  same  office 
in  subsequent  years.  He  was  one  of  those  who  Assisted  in  sending  Pring  to 
the  Maine  coast  in  1606.  He  was  prominent  also  in  civic  affairs.  In  1596  he 
was  sheriff,  mayor  of  Bristol  in  1609,  and  alderman  1614-1634.  As  a  mer- 
chant he  was  so  successful  that  he  might  have  retired  with  a  competence  at 
an  early  period  in  his  business  career,  but  he  seems  to  have  preferred  to 
retain  his  connection  with  his  extensive  commercial  interests  because  they 
furnished  him  with  added  means  for  large  assistance  to  the  poor  of  Bristol 
(Pryce,  History  of  Bristol,  219),  whom  he  remembered  not  only  while  liv- 
ing, but  also  in  his  will.  His  elegant  mansion  in  Bristol,  in  the  rear  of  St. 
Peter's  church,  which  was  purchased  by  him  in  1607,  and  in  part  was 
restored  by  him  at  that  time,  is  still  standing  and  some  of  the  rooms  are 
shown  to  visitors.  After  Aldworth's  death,  which  occured  November  6, 
1634,  it  was  occupied  by  Giles  Elbridge,  and  later  by  others.  In  1698,  it 
became  that  "spacious  and  general  asylum  for  the  poor,  the  old,  the  infirm, 
the  diseased  and  the  helpless",  which  has  since  been  known  as  St.  Peter's 
Hospital  (Pryce,  History  of  Bristol,  224,  225).  Aldworth's  costly  monu- 
ment, surmounted  by  the  arms  of  the  Merchant  Venturers  of  Bristol,  is  in 
St.  Peter's  church.  On  it  Aldworth  and  wife  are  represented  in  effigy, 
kneeling  and  facing  each  other.     The  inscription  to  the  wife  is  as  follows  : 

Martha  Aldworth  the  loving  and  beloved  wife 
Of  Robert  Aldworth,  merchant,  adventurer  & 
alderman  of  this  citie  of  Bristol  lyeth  heere 


ALD WORTH   AND   ELBRIDGE   MEMORIAL   IN   ST.  PETER 'S   CHURCH,  BRISTOL. 


RE  AWAKENINGS   IN   ENGLAND.  181 

merchants  of  that  city,  who  doubtless  already  had  large  fishing 
and  trading  interests  on  the  coast  and  wished  to  avail  themselves 
of  better  facilities  in  conducting  their  business.  In  some  way  it 
had  become  known  to  them  that  Abraham  Jennings  of  Plymouth, 

Under  interred,  to  whose  pious  and  everlivinge 
Memory,  and  as  a  perpetual  testimonie  of  his 
Dear  love  and  her  matchless  virtues,  her 
Sorrowful  surviving  husband  aforesaide 
Hath  dedicated  this  monument. 
She  died  on  May  2nd,  1619,  aged  58. 

The  following  is  a  translation  of  a  Latin  inscription  on  the  central  panel  of 
the  base  of  the  monument  : 

Although  this  statue  of  the  venerable  man  is  silent 

Learn,  O  reader  and  beholder  who  he  was — 

A  famous  merchant,  a  successful  voyager  through 

Many  seas,  seeking  rather  the  glory  of  his  country 

And  the  relief  of  the  poor  than  thirsting  for 

The  accumulation  of  hoards  of  wealth. 

And,  therefore,  by  the  will  of  God, 

He  became  richer,  an  exemplary  magistrate  of  the  city, 

Full  of  honor  and  fidelity,  serving  Christ  and  God 

According  to  the  teaching  of  the  Church  of  England 

(Which  was  dear  to  his  heart) ;  he  closed  his  life  in  peace 

And  now  enjoys  eternal  peace  beyond  the  stars. 

In  the  panel  under  the  effigy  of  Aldworth's  wife  are  the  following  lines  in 

English : 

What  riches,  grace  and  nature  coulde  bestowe 
In  her  (that's  here  interred)  as  streames  did  flowe 
A  second  Martha  one  whose  faith  did  even 
Wing'd  with  hope  and  love  mount  up  to  heaven, 
Heere  sweetlie  sleepes  her  dust  her  soule  dievine 
Is  fledd  from  hence  and  now  above  doth  shine  ; 
As  loathinge  earth  shoulde  longer  kept  inthrall 
From  Christ,  to  be  with  whome  is  best  of  all, 
Where  now  shee  lives  in  blisse  and  left  us  heere 
To  mourne  her  losse  yet  joy  to  meete  her  there. 

The  entire  monument  was  thoroughly  cleaned  and  decorated  in  1901. 
Formerly  the  whole  of  the  monument  was  richly  embellished  with  gilt  and 
colors.  Now,  the  figures  are  not  painted,  but  the  cushions  on  which  Aldworth 
and  his  wife  are  kneeling  are  painted  red,  and  there  is  some  ornamentation 
in  red  and  gold. 


182  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

England,  who  had  secured  the  ownership  of  Monhegan  as  already- 
stated,  was  willing  to  sell  the  island.  Here  were  the  facilities  they 
desired  to  secure,  and  Abraham  Shurt,  in  their  employ,  was  com- 
missioned by  them  to  proceed  to  Monhegan  and  purchase  the 
property  in  their  behalf.  This  he  did,  and  he  made  payment  for 
the  same  by  a  bill  drawn  upon  Robert  Aldworth  for  the  sum  of 
fifty  pounds. 

When  he  declared  his  willingness  to  sell  the  island  of  Monhegan, 
Abraham  Jennings  also  let  it  be  known  that  he  wished  to  close  out 
his  business  interests  on  the  island  by  a  sale  of  the  stock  of  goods 
in  his  storehouse  there.  Such  information  reached  the  Pilgrims 
at  Plymouth.  Bradford  says:  "Wanting  goods  they  understood 
that  a  plantation,  which  was  at  Monhegan,  and  belonged  to  some 
merchants  of  Plymouth  [England]  was  to  break  up,  and  divers 
useful  goods  was  there  to  be  sold,  the  governor  and  Mr.  Winslow 
took  a  boat  and  some  hands  and  went  thither".  This  was  in  the 
summer  of  1626. 

On  their  way  they  stopped  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscataqua  and 
called  on  David  Thomson,  who  had  established  himself  there  as 
already  mentioned.  It  was  a  somewhat  regretable  call  on  the  part 
of  Bradford  and  his  associate,  for,  as  the  governor  records,  Mr. 
Thomson  had  not  heard  of  the  sale,  and  now  "understanding  their 

3  Giles  Elbridge  married  a  niece  of  Robert  Aldworth,  and  became  not  only 
his  partner  in  business,  but  the  sole  executor  of  his  will.  In  that  instru- 
ment Aldworth  mentions  Elbridge  as  his  "well  beloved  kinsman",  adding 
"I  have  found  him  always  true,  honest  and  careful  in  managing  of  my  busi- 
nesses and  in  his  employment  in  mine  affairs";  and  to  him,  after  making 
mention  of  various  bequests  to  relatives,  friends  and  public  charities,  he 
bequeathed  the  residue  of  his  large  estate.  Elbridge  was  warden  of  the  Mer- 
chant Venturers  of  Bristol  in  1620,  1621,  1638,  1639,  and  treasurer  1633,  1634 
and  sheriff  in  1629,  1630.  A  son,  Thomas  Elbridge,  came  to  the  Province  of 
Maine  about  the  year  1647,  and  will  be  mentioned  later.  Giles  Elbridge  died 
February  4,  1643-4.  His  monument  in  St.  Peter's  church,  Bristol,  adjoins 
on  the  left  that  of  Robert  Aldworth,  and  is  of  like  design  as  the  Aldworth 
monument.  Indeed,  the  position  of  the  Venturer's  arms  over  the  center 
of  the  Aldworth  monument  is  the  only  indication  that  the  Elbridge  memo- 
rial is  not  a  part  of  the  Aldworth  structure  (Boucher,  Transactions  of  Bris- 
tol and  Gloucestershire  Archceological  Society  for  1909 ',  XXXII,  24). 


KEAWAKKNINGS   IN   ENGLAND.  183 

purpose,  took  opportunity  to  go  with  them,  which  was  some  hin- 
drance to  them  both  ;  for  they  [the  parties  representing  Jennings 
in  the  sale]  perceiving  their  joint  desires  to  buy,  held  their  goods 
at  higher  rates,  and  not  only  so,  but  would  not  sell  a  parcel  of 
their  trading  goods,  except  they  sold  all".  The  result  was  that 
"least  they  should  further  prejudice  one  another,  they  agreed  to 
buy  all",  and  divide  the  goods  equally  between  them.  This  was 
done.  Also  "they  bought  a  parcel  of  goats,  which  they  distrib- 
uted at  home  as  they  saw  need  and  occasion  and  took  corn  for  them 
of  the  people,  which  gave  them  good  content".  The  Pilgrims' 
expenditure  in  this  transaction  amounted  to  four  hundred  pounds 
sterling.  Bradford  gives  this  further  information,  that  a  French 
vessel,  "in  which  were  many  Biscay  rugs  and  other  commodities", 
was  wrecked  that  spring  at  Sagadahoc,  and  that  those  who  were 
conducting  the  sale  at  Monhegan  had  secured  from  the  wreck 
some  things  that  were  saved  from  the  cargo,  also  some  secured  by 
the  Damariscove  fishermen.  These  also  were  purchased  by  Brad- 
ford and  Thomson,  and  the  total  purchase  of  the  Pilgrims  at  the 
sale  amounted  to  more  than  five  hundred  pounds  sterling.1 

This  large  sum  and  that  paid  by  Thomson  furnish  evidence 
with  reference  to  the  importance  of  Monhegan  at  this  time  as  a 
trading  station.  There  is  no  inventory  of  the  sale,  but  the  goods 
that  were  sold  doubtless  included  such  as  the  fishermen  on  the 
coast  were  likely  to  need  during  the  fishing  season ;  also  such 
supplies  as  the  scattered  settlers,  who  had  established  themselves 
at  favorable  locations  on  the  main  land  here  and  there,  would 
need  for  themselves  and  for  trading  with  the  Indians. 

At  this  time  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  associates  in  the 

1  Bradford  tells  us  that  for  the  most  part  the  Pilgrims  raised  the  money  for 
the  purchases  made  by  them  at  this  time  from  the  sale  of  '  'the  beaver  and 
commodities  they  had  obtained  during  the  preceding  winter",  and  also  by 
"what  they  had  gathered  up  that  summer"  ;  and  the  governor  adds  :  "With 
these  goods  and  their  corn  after  harvest,  they  got  good  store  of  trade,  so  as 
they  were  enabled  to  pay  their  engagements  against  the  time  and  to  get 
some  clothing  for  the  people".  History  of  the  Plymouth  Plantation,  Mass. 
Hist.  Soc,  Ed.  1913,  I,  449. 


184  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

council  for  New  England  were  giving  little  attention  to  affairs  on 
this  side  of  the  sea.  Gorges  was  still  in  command  of  the  fort  at 
Plymouth  and  being  a  devoted  royalist  other  interests  engrossed 
his  attention.  His  correspondence  in  this  period  illustrates  the 
fact  that  he  found  abundant  occupation  in  connection  with  public 
concerns,  especially  those  pertaining  to  England's  relations  with 
France  and  Spain.1 

James  I  died  March  27,  1625,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  son, 
Charles  I,  whose  marriage  with  the  princess  Henrietta  Maria  of 
France  followed  on  May  11.  His  first  Parliament  assembled  on 
June  18.  It  soon  became  evident  that  the  new  king  and  his 
advisers  had  learned  nothing  from  the  ill  success  that  had  attended 
James  in  his  dealings  with  the  House  of  Commons.  "We  can 
hope  everything  from  the  king  who  now  governs  us",  exclaimed 
Sir  Benjamin  Rudyerd  in  a  moment  of  optomistic  enthusiasm ; 
but  the  hope  soon  vanished.  The  declared  purpose  of  the  House 
to  take  up  public  grievances  before  proceeding  to  any  other  busi- 
ness enraged  the  king,  and  Parliament  adjourned  to  meet  in 
Oxford  on  July  11.  As  the  king  proceeded  to  levy  the  disputed 
customs  in  defiance  of  law,  the  members  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, when  Parliament  reassembled,  were  in  an  angry  mood. 
"England",  said  Sir  Robert  Phelps,  "is  the  last  monarchy  that 
yet  retains  her  liberties.  Let  them  not  perish  now" .  The  king 
made  answer  by  the  dissolution  of  Parliament,  which  followed  on 
August  12. 

The  second  Parliament  of  Charles  I  assembled  February  6,  1626. 
Sir  Robert  Phelps  and  four  others,  who  had  been  prominent  in 
asserting  the  rights  of  the  House  of  Commons,  were  prevented 
from  taking  their  seats  in  that  body  by  Buckingham's  act  in  mak- 
ing them  sheriffs.  But  the  new  House,  under  the  leadership  of 
Sir  John  Eliot,  was  no  less  determined  in  its  opposition  to  misrule 
than  the  last ;  and  early  in  the  session  the  attention  of  the  king 
was  called  to  the  matter  of  grievances.  His  answer  was  not  sat- 
isfactory, and  May  24,  1626,   Mr.  Whitby,  seeking  still  for  gov- 

1  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  III,  191-251. 


RE  AWAKENINGS   IN   ENGLAND.  185 

ernment  action  concerning  "liberty  of  free  fishing  in  the  parts  of 
America,  with  the  incidents  of  timber,  &c. , ' '  referred  to  the  king's 
answer  as  a  grievance.1  Strong  opposition  to  Buckingham,  the 
king's  favorite  minister,  rapidly  developed,  and  Sir  John  Eliot 
and  Sir  Dudley  Digges  were  imprisoned  in  the  Tower.  The 
House  of  Commons,  however,  demanded  their  release,  refusing  to 
proceed  with  the  affairs  of  the  kingdom  until  this  was  done. 
Their  release  followed,  but  Charles  dissolved  Parliament  June  15, 
thus  widening  the  breach  that  already  separated  him  from  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  whose  liberties  he  had  sworn  to 
maintain,  and  foreshadowing  events  that  were  to  characterize  his 
unhappy  reign. 

Meanwhile,  the  Pilgrims  had  firmly  established  themselves  at 
Plymouth,  but  their  indebtedness  to  the  London  adventurers  for 
money  advanced  in  fitting  out  the  Mayflower,  interest  charges, 
etc.,  had  loaded  them  with  increasingly  burdensome  obligations; 
and,  in  1625,  Miles  Standish  was  sent  to  London  to  make  some 
arrangement  if  possible  with  the  creditors,  whereby  it  would  not 
be  necessary  for  them  to  pay  "such  high  interest,  or  to  allow  so 
much  per  cent".  But  he  reached  England  "at  a  very  bad  time", 
says  Bradford,  "for  the  state  was  full  of  trouble,  and  the  plague 
very  hot  in  London,  so  as  no  business  could  be  done";  and  he 
returned  to  Plymouth  without  accomplishing  what  he  and  his  fel- 
low colonists  hoped  would  be  the  result  of  his  negotiations.2 

But  happily  a  trip  to  the  Kennebec  after  the  abundant  harvest 
of  that  year,  enabled  Winslow  to  exchange  with  the  Indians  of 
that  river  a  shallop's  load  of  corn  for  "seven  hundred  pounds  of 
good  beaver  and  some  other  furs";  and  when  at  length  in  the 
fur-laden  shallop  he  floated  down  the  river  to  its  mouth,  and  made 

1  "Mr.  Whitby  reported  grievances 31y.     That  the  subject  may 

have  liberty  of  free  fishing  in  the  parts  of  America  with  the  incidents  of 
timber,  etc.  Which  being  restrained  in  the  king's  answer,  to  desire  that  it 
be  enlarged,  and  the  restraint  to  be  presented  as  a  grievance."  Journal  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  May  24,  1625,  I,  863. 

2  Bradford,  History  of  the  Plymouth  Plantation,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  Ed. 
1913,  I,  436. 


186  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  mainb. 

his  way  back  to  Plymouth,  he  had  laid  the  foundation  of  an* 
exceedingly  profitable  Indian  trade.1 

In  the  following  year  the  Pilgrims  sent  another  of  their  number, 
Mr.  Isaac  Allerton,  to  I,ondon  and  directed  him  "upon  as  good 
terms  as  he  could"  to  renew  the  negotiations  with  the  adventurers 
undertaken  by  Standish ;  but  he  was  not  to  conclude  any  arrange- 
ment with  them  until  the  Pilgrims  themselves  '  'knew  the  terms 
and  had  well  considered  of  them."  Allerton  returned  having 
succeeded  in  making  a  settlement  with  the  adventurers  whereby 
the  Plymouth  colonists  were  to  pay  their  L,ondon  creditors  eight- 
een hundred  pounds  in  nine  annual  payments  of  two  hundred 
pounds  each,  the  first  payment  to  be  made  in  1628.  This  agree- 
ment was  approved  by  the  colonists,  "though  they  knew  not  well 
how  to  raise  the  payment,  and  discharge  their  other  engagements 

and  supply  the  yearly  wants  of  the  plantation yet  they 

undertook  it",  seven  or  eight  of  the  colonists,  "the  chief  of  the 
place",  becoming  jointly  bound  to  meet  the  annual  payments  at 
the  time  agreed  upon.2 

In  meeting  these  and  other  financial  obligations,  the  Pilgrims 
directed  added  attention  to  their  Kennebec  trade.  But  they  found 
that  they  had  as  rivals  there  settlers  at  the  mouth  of  the  Piscata- 
qua,  and  farther  to  the  eastward,  also  masters  of  fishing  vessels, 
who  were  accustomed  to  enlarge  the  profits  of  their  voyages  to  the 
coast  by  traffic  with  the  Indians  ;  and  in  order  to  secure  the  trade 
of  the  river,  learning  that  others  had  threatened  to  procure  a 
patent  for  this  purpose,  they  directed  Mr.  Allerton,  while  in  Eng- 
land, to  obtain  a  patent  for  the  Plymouth  colonists.  This  he  did, 
but  they  found  '  'it  was  so  strait  and  ill-bounded' ' ,  says  Bradford, 
that  it  was  subsequently  renewed  and  enlarged.  Its  limits,  in  the 
final  arrangement,  were  as  follows  : 

"The  said  council  [for  New  England]  hath  further 
given,  granted,  bargained,  sold,  enfeoffed,  alloted,  assigned 
and  set  over,  and  by  these  presents  do  clearly  and  abso- 

1  History  of  the  Plymouth  Plantation,  I,  439. 

2  lb.,  II,  3-7. 


k 
> 


Out 


RKAWAKKNINGS   IN   ENGLAND.  187 

lutely  give,  grant,  bargain,  sell,  alien,  enfeofe,  allot,  assign 
and  confirm  unto  the  said  William  Bradford,  his  heirs, 
associates  and  assignees  all  that  tract  of  land  or  part  of 
New  England  in  America  aforesaid,  which  lyeth  within  or 
between  and  extendeth  itself  from  the  utmost  [extent]  of 
Cobestcont,  which  adjoineth  to  the  river  of  Kenibeck, 
towards  the  western  ocean,  and  a  place  called  the  falls  of 
Nequamkick1  in  America,  aforesaid,  and  the  space  of  fifteen 
English  miles  on  each  side  of  the  said  river,  commonly 
called  Kenebeck  river,  and  all  the  said  river  called  Kene- 
beck  that  lies  within  the  said  limits  and  bounds  eastward, 
westward,  northward  and  southward,  last  afore  mentioned, 
and  all  lands,  grounds,  soils,  rivers,  waters,  fishing,  hered- 
itaments and  profits  whatsoever  situate  lying  and  being 
arising  and  accruing  or  which  shall  arise  happen  or  accrue 
in  and  within  the  said  limits  and  bounds  or  either  of  them 
together  with  free  ingress,  egress  and  regress  with  ships, 
boats,  shallops  and  other  vessels  from  the  sea  commonly 
called  the  western  ocean  to  the  said  river  called  Kenebec 
and  from  the  river  to  the  said  western  ocean,  together  with 
all  prerogatives,  rights,  royalties,  jurisdictions,  privileges, 

franchises,  liberties    and  immunities And  by 

virtue  of  authority  to  us  derived  by  his  late  majesty's  letters 
patents,  to  take,  apprehend,  seize  and  make  prize  of  all  such 
persons,  their  ships  and  goods  as  shall  attempt  to  inhabit 
and  trade  with  the  savage  people  of  that  country  within 
the  several  precincts  and  limits  of  his  and  their  several 
plantations",  etc.2 

1  On  what  is  known  as  Johnston's  map,  compiled  from  "an  ancient  plan  of 
E.  Hutchinson's,  Esq.,  and  from  Jos.  Heath  in  1719,  and  Phin's  Jones'  survey- 
in  1731,  and  from  John  North's  late  survey  in  1752",  the  "falls  of  Nequam- 
kick' '  [Negumkikee  on  the  map]  are  about  half  way  between  Augusta  and 
Waterville.  The  copy  of  this  map  herewith  presented  is  from  the  original  in 
possession  of  the  Maine  Historical  Society. 

2  The  above  is  an  extract  from  what  is  known  as  the  charter  of  Plymouth 
colony,  which  was  confirmed  to  William  Bradford  and  his  associates  by  the 


188  THE  BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

The  territory  on  the  Kennebec,  thus  acquired  by  the  Pilgrims, 
extended  from  Gardiner  to  falls  in  the  river  about  half  way  between 
Augusta  and  Waterville,  and  they  proceeded  at  once,  on  obtaining 
the  grant,  to  take  possession  of  it  by  the  erection  of  a  trading  house 
at  Cushenoc,  now  Augusta,  which  they  conceived,  says  Bradford, 
to  be  the  most  convenient  place  on  the  river  for  trade.1 

Williamson  says  the  Pilgrims  had  three  stations  for  local  traffic 
on  the  Kennebec — one  at  Popham's  fort,  one  at  Richmond's  land- 
ing and  one  at  Cushenoc.2  There  is  no  evidence,  however,  that 
they  had  any  other  trading  post  on  the  river  than  that  at  Augusta. 
Neither  of  the  other  places  mentioned  were  within  the  limits  of 
their  patent.  Moreover,  the  early  Pilgrim  writers  make  mention 
of  only  one.  Bradford,  in  referring  to  events  that  occurred 
on  the  river  in  1631 ,  mentioned  '  'the  house  there' '  .8  Again  writing 
of  events  that  occurred  in  1634,  he  refers  to  some  who  "would 
needs  go  up  the  river  above  their  house  (towards  the  fall  of  the 
river)  and  intercept  the  trade  that  should  come  to  them"  [the 
Pilgrims]  .4 

great  council  for  New  England  January  23,  1630,  and  is  now  in  the  Registry 
of  Deeds  at  Plymouth,  with  the  box  in  which  it  was  brought  from  England. 
For  a  time  its  location  was  unknown,  but  in  1741  it  was  found  at  Plympton, 
Mass.,  "after  a  deal  of  labor  and  cost".  It  is  printed  in  full  in  the  Farnham 
Papers,  I,  108-116.  Bradford  assigned  the  patent  to  the  freeman  of  the 
Plymouth  colony,  March  12,  1642. 

1  Bradford,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  Ed.  1913,  II,  41. 

2  History  of  Maine,  I,  237.  In  another  place  (I,  252)  he  mentions  two, 
one  at  Fort  Popham  and  one  at  Cushenoc. 

3  Bradford,  II,  113. 

*  Bradford,  II,  176.  Concerning  the  Pilgrim  trade  on  the  Kennebec, 
Williamson  (I,  235,  236)  says:  It  was  "trade  in  anew  article  called  wam- 
pum ;  which  herv  people  were  pursuing  with  great  profits.  It  consisted  of 
white  and  blue  beads,  long  and  as  large  as  a  wheat  corn,  blunt  at  the  ends, 
perforated  and  strung  ;  possessing  a  clearness  and  beauty  which  rendered 
them  desirable  ornaments.  They  were  only  known  to  the  Narragansetts, 
the  Pequots  and  the  natives  on  Long  island  ;  from  whom  they  were  obtained 
at  a  low  price  for  corn,  or  small  articles  of  foreign  fabric,  and  transported 
into  this  eastern  country  and  bartered  for  furs."  The  Pilgrims  also  kept 
for  their  Indian  trade  such  articles  as  coats,  shoes,  blankets,  biscuit,  fruits 
and  trinkets,  but  wampum  commanded  a  more  ready  market  than  any  other 
commodity.     Prince's  Annals,  172,  3. 


RBAWAKKNINGS  IN   ENGLAND.  189 

After  they  had  thus  firmly  established  themselves  on  the  Ken- 
nebec, Bradford  and  his  Plymouth  associates  came  into  possession 
of  a  trading  house  at  Penobscot.  In  1630  some  of  the  English 
adventurers,  who  were  interested  in  the  Pilgrim  enterprise, 
entered  into  business  relations  with  one  Edward  Ashley  and  fur- 
nished him  with  goods  for  trading  purposes.  Bradford  describes 
Ashley  "as  a  very  profane  young  man",  who  had  "for  some  time 
lived  among  the  Indians  as  a  savage".1  Ashley  opened  his  trad- 
ing house  at  Penobscot.  While  the  Pilgrims  had  no  confidence  in 
the  man,  they  foresaw  that  a  trading  house  at  that  place  in 
unfriendly  hands  would  be  prejudicial  to  their  interests  on  the 
Kennebec.  So,  "to  prevent  a  worst  mischief",  as  Bradford  says, 
they  resolved  to  join  in  the  enterprise  and  furnished  Ashley  with 
supplies.  But  he  soon  exhibited  his  true  character ;  and  having 
been  detected  in  selling  powder  and  shot  to  the  Indians,  which  he 
was  under  bonds  not  to  do,  he  was  arrested  by  parties  not  men- 
tioned and  taken  to  England,  where  he  was  imprisoned  in  the 
Fleet.2  In  this  way  the  trading  post  at  Penobscot  wholly  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Plymouth  colonists. 

But  it  was  not  altogether  a  source  of  profit  to  the  Pilgrims.  In 
1631  the  house  was  robbed  by  some  Frenchmen,  who  secured 
beaver  and  goods  valued  at  four  or  five  hundred  pounds.  The 
man  in  charge  of  the  post  and  some  of  his  assistants  were  at  the 
westward  in  order  to  get  a  supply  of  goods,  when  one  day  a  small 
French  vessel  came  into  the  harbor.  The  story  of  those  on  board 
was  that  they  knew  not  where  they  were,  that  their  vessel 
leaked,  etc.  Discovering  soon  the  absence  of  the  officer  in  charge, 
and  the  weakness  of  the  post,  they  noticed  the  guns  in  the  racks, 
praised  them,  and  one  was  taken  down  for  examination.  The 
man  who  had  secured  it,  and  another  who  had  a  pistol,  then 
ordered  the  unarmed  garrison  of  three  or  four  men  to  surrender, 
which  they  did  and  they  were  held  as  prisoners  and  compelled  to 
aid  in  carrying  the  goods  to  the  French  vessel.     Then  setting  the 

1  Bradford,  II,  83. 

2  lb.,  II,  107,  108. 


190  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

prisoners  at  liberty,  the  Frenchmen  sailed  away,  mockingly  tell- 
ing them  to  say  to  their  master  on  his  return  "that  some  of  the 
Isle  of  Rey  gentlemen  had  been  there".1  Of  course  the  Plymouth 
colonists  could  not  expect  reparation  for  their  loss,  and  Bradford 
closes  his  account  of  the  affair  without  comment,  but  evidently 
not  without  a  groan. 

Meanwhile  L,evett  had  not  lost  sight  of  his  far-away  possessions 
on  this  side  of  the  sea.  On  November  29,  1626,  writing  from 
Dartmouth  to  Sir  John  Coke,  chief  secretary  of  state  and  one  of 
the  king's  privy  council,  he  earnestly  called  the  attention  of  the 
government  to  the  importance  of  New  England  to  the  nation,  and 
his  desire  to  serve  his  country  there.  "No  man  knows  better 
than  myself",  he  wrote,  "what  benefit  would  accrue  unto  this 
kingdom  by  that  country,  if  it  were  well-planted  and  fortified, 
which  makes  me  so  desirous  to  tread  out  a  path  that  all  men  may 
follow";2  and  he  urged  the  secretary  to  place  him  in  command  of 
a  vessel  for  this  purpose. 

No  response  seems  to  have  been  made  to  this  appeal,  and  Octo- 
ber 10,  1627,  L,evett  wrote  again  to  Secretary  Coke,  inclosing  in 
his  letter  a  communication  he  had  received  from  a  New  England 
correspondent— some  one  in  charge  of  his  fortified  house  on  an 
island  in  Portland  harbor,  it  may  be — in  which  he  urged  the  sec- 
retary not  to  let  the  multiplicity  of  weighty  affairs  crowd  out  of 
his  thoughts  vast  interests  in  New  England,  suggesting  also  an 
audience  in  order  that  he  might  more  fully  lay  before  him  consid- 
erations of  national  importance.3 

In  returning  from  his  disastrous  French  expedition,  Bucking- 
ham landed  at  Plymouth,  and  on  his  way  to  London  passed 
through  Sherborne,  where  L,evett  lived.  Here  the  latter  had  an 
interview  with  one  near  the  king.     Doubtless  Buckingham  was 

1  This  illustration  of  French  pleasantry  has  reference  to  the  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham's disastrous  expedition  of  July,  1627,  for  the  relief  of  Rochelle,  in 
which  he  lost  two  thousand  men,  and  his  opponents  not  one.  Isle  de  Rhe 
is  on  the  French  coast  near  Rochelle. 

2  Baxter,  Christopher  Levett  of  York  :  the  Pioneer  of  Casco  Bay,  58. 

3  lb.  61,  62. 


REJAWAKKNINGS   IN    ENGLAND.  191 

glad  to  seize  hold  of  any  matter  of  concern  that  would  draw  pub- 
lic attention  from  a  great  national  defeat ;  and  he  promised  Eevett 
that  on  reaching  London  he  would  look  into  matters  pertaining  to 
New  England.  L,evett,  so  far  as  is  known,  had  not  received  any 
encouragement  in  answer  to  his  previous  letter  to  Coke ;  and  he 
now  wrote  again  to  the  secretary,  informing  him  of  the  interview 
he  had  held  with  the  duke— the  letter  is  dated  November  17,  1627, 
probably  immediately  after  Buckingham's  departure  for  L,ondon— 
and  inclosing  a  statement1  that  he  had  prepared  to  be  used  in  con- 
nection with  the  matter  in  any  consideration  it  might  receive.  He 
was  willing,  he  said,  to  go  to  L,ondon  if  his  presence  there  was 
desired ;  and  he  closed  his  letter  to  Coke  by  informing  him  that 
further  neglect  on  the  part  of  the  government  would  compel  him 
to  order  his  men  "now  going  to  fish  there",  that  is,  on  the  New 
England  coast,  to  come  away  with  their  vessels.2 

In  this  added  attempt  to  reach  the  ear  of  Charles,  L,evett  was 
successful;  and  the  king  February  11,  1628,  issued  a  proclama- 
tion, calling  attention  to  existing  "differences"  between  England 
and  England's  rivals,  France  and  Spain,  and  the  necessity  of  pro- 
tecting English  interests  on  the  coast  of  New  England  from  those 
whom  he  designates  as  "foreign  enemies".  He  referred  also  to 
the  fact  that  those  who  were  inclined  to  become  adventurers  there 
had  become  "altogether  discouraged  and  disabled  to  proceed  to 
their  intention"  ;  while  at  the  same  time  the  conditions  were  such 
in  England  that  the  government  could  not  give  needed  assistance 
to  these  remote  parts  and  so  secure  to  the  nation  '  'the  many  com- 
modities and  merchandise  thence  to  be  had,  and  the  store  of  tim- 
ber there  growing,  very  necessary  for  the  provision  of  shipping". 
Not  to  protect  such  interests  meant  loss  and  dishonor  to  the 
nation,  and  advantage  and  encouragement  to  England's  enemies. 

L,evett 's  appeal,  evidently,  had  awakened  the  king  to  a  consid- 
eration of  conditions  not  only  on  this  side  of  the  sea,  but  also  in 
England.     The    government   was   handicapped    because   of    the 

1  Baxter,  Christopher  Levett  of  York  :.  the  Pioneer  of  Casco  Bay,  64-66. 

2  lb.,  63,  64. 


192  THE    BEGINNINGS   OF    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

strained  relations  existing  between  the  king  and  the  House  of 
Commons.  What  then  ?  Something  must  be  done,  and  it  must 
be  done  speedily.  In  a  proclamation,  accordingly,  Charles  now 
outlined  a  plan  of  procedure,  and  called  for  public  contributions 
in  L,evett's  behalf. 

"Whereas  we  have  been  informed  that  our  well-beloved 
subject,  Captain  Christopher  I,evett,  being  one  of  the  coun- 
cil for  the  said  plantation,  and  well  knowing  the  said 
country  and  the  harbors  of  the  same  and  the  strength  and 
disposition  of  the  Indians  inhabiting  in  that  country,  hath 
undertaken  and  offered  to  add  unto  his  former  adventure 
there  all  his  estate,  and  to  go  in  person  thither,  and  by 
God's  assistance  either  to  secure  the  planters  from  enemies  > 
keep  the  possession  of  the  said  country  on  our  behalf  and 
secure  the  fishing  for  our  English  ships,  or  else  to  expose 
his  life  and  means  to  the  utmost  fill  in  that  service.  Upon 
which  his  generous  and  free  offer  we  have  thought  fit,  by 
the  advice  of  our  privy  council  and  appointed  him  to  be 
governor  for  us  in  those  parts,  and  because  the  charge  in 
preparing,  furnishing  and  setting  forth  of  ships  for  this 
service  at  the  first  will  be  very  great,  so  as  without  the  help 
and  assistance  of  others  (well  wishers  of  those  plantations) 
those  designs  cannot  be  so  well  accomplished,  as  we  desire  : 
"Know  ye  that  we,  out  of  the  love  and  affection  which 
we  bear  to  works  of  this  nature  and  especially  for  the  prop- 
agation of  the  true  religion,  which  by  this  means  may  be 
effected,  by  converting  those  ignorant  people  to  Chris- 
tianity : 

"Have  thought  fit,  by  the  advice  of  our  said  privy  coun- 
cil, to  commend  this  so  pious  a  work  to  the  consideration 
and  assistance  of  all  our  loving  and  well-disposed  subjects  ; 
not  doubting  but  they  (well  weighing  the  necessity  of  this 
work,  and  considering  the  present  troubles  of  these  times) 
will  be  ready  and  willing  to  yield  such  assistance  to  the 
same  by  their  voluntary  contributions  towards  the  effecting 


RKAWAKKNINGS   IN   ENGLAND.  193 

thereof,  as  may  in  some  measure  help  to  defray  the  present 
charge,  now  to  be  dispended  for  the  accomplishing  thereof, 
for  the  honor  and  safety  of  this  kingdom  and  the  upholding 
of  the  said  plantation  :     Wherefore  our  will  and  pleasure  is, 
and  we  do,  by  these  presents  will,  require  and  command  all 
and  singular  archbishops,  bishops,  archdeacons  and  deans, 
within  their  several  dioceses  and  jurisdictions,  that  forth- 
with, upon  sight  of  these  our  letters  patent,  they  command 
and  cause  the  same,  or  the  true  brief  thereof,  to  be  read  and 
published  in  all  the  several  parish  churches  of  and  within 
their  several  dioceses,  precincts  and  jurisdictions,  and  that 
the  church  wardens  of  every  several  parish  shall  gather  and 
collect  all  such  sum  and  sums  of  money,  as  shall  be  freely 
and   voluntarily   given,  and   contributed   to   the   purposes 
aforesaid,  and  the  same  being  gathered  and  collected,  forth- 
with to  pay  and  deliver  over  unto  the  said  Captain  Christo- 
pher Levett,  or  to  such  person  or  persons  as  shall  by  him  in 
writing  under  his  hand  and  seal  thereunto  authorized  and 
appointed,  whom  we  do  think  most  fit  in  regard  of  his  said 
employment  to  be  trusted  with  the  disposing  of  the  same. 
In  witness  whereof  we  have  caused  these  our  letters  to  be 
made  patents  for  the  space  of  one  whole  year  next  ensuing, 
the  date  of  these  presents  to  endure."  1 
This  document  invites  attention  to  considerations  in  old  Eng- 
land as  well  as  to  those  in  New  England.     Charles  was  in  sore 
conflict  with  the  House  of  Commons,  as  his  father  had  been  in 
his  unhappy  reign  ;  but  the  conflict  had  become  increasingly  bit- 
ter both  on  the  side  of  the  king  and  of  the  Commons.     The  king 
had  refused  to  listen  to  the  grievances  that  the  representatives  of 
the  people  had  laid  before  him,  and  the  Commons  had  refused  to 
vote  such  subsidies  as  the  king  demanded,  unless  he  would  first 
listen  to  their  demands  concerning  the  grievances.     In  this  state 
of  affairs  Charles  proceeded  to  levy  taxes  by  his  own  authority, 

1  Baxter,  Christopher  Levett  of  York,  68-71. 

13 


194  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

with  the  result  that  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Commons  rang  with 
indignant  protestations  at  such  an  outrage  upon  their  ancient 
rights,  and  the  king  angrily  responded  by  dissolving  Parliament. 
But  each  succeeding  Parliament  proved  more  intractable,  and  the 
relations  of  the  king  to  the  no  less  angry  members  of  the  House 
of  Commons  were  greatly  strained. 

It  was  in  this  state  of  affairs  in  England  that  Charles  issued 
this  remarkable  proclamation.  It  is  difficult  to  escape  the  impres- 
sion that  the  underlying  motive  of  the  king  in  issuing  the  procla- 
mation was  not  so  much  that  he  might  render  assistance  to  L,evett 
in  New  England,  as  a  desire  to  divert  attention  from  the  sad  con- 
dition of  England  itself  by  an  appeal  to  the  patriotism  of  his  sub- 
jects in  connection  with  national  interests  abroad,  whither  Charles' 
eyes  had  been  turned  by  L,evett's  urgent,  stirring  words. 

How  much  money  came  into  L,evett's  hands  from  contributions 
gathered  at  this  time  in  the  parish  churches  of  England  is 
unknown.  In  all  probability  the  amount  was  not  large.  The 
sympathy  of  the  people  throughout  the  realm  was  with  the  House 
of  Commons  rather  than  with  the  king.  Moreover,  money  for 
any  purpose,  however  commendable,  was  not  abundant.  L,evett 
was  in  England  in  1628,  for  in  that  year  he  published  in  London 
his  book  entitled  ' l A  Voyage  into  New  England.  Begun  in  1623 
and  Ended  in  1624"  }  It  was  dedicated  to  the  duke  of  Bucking- 
ham and  other  of  Levett's  fellow  members  of  the  council  for  New 
England,  and  evidently  its  publication  at  that  time  was  designed 
to  promote  the  objects  to  which  the  proclamation  of  the  king  had 
called  attention.  The  journal  of  the  House  of  Commons  shows 
that  on  April  19,  1628,  a  petition  from  Christopher  I^evett  was 
presented  to  that  body ;  and  that  on  May  27  following,  I,evett 
was  summoned  to  appear  in  the  House  and  bring  with  him  the 

1  Baxter,  Christopher  Levett  oj  York,  the  Pioneer  Colonist  in  Casco  Bay, 
Gorges  Society,  Portland,  Maine,  1893,  79-139.  To  the  memoir  of  Iyevett  in 
this  volume  the  writer  is  chiefly  indebted  for  the  main  facts  in  Levett's 
life.  Mr.  Baxter,  in  his  researches  in  England  with  reference  to  Levett, 
apparently  left  nothing  to  be  gleaned  by  later  pilgrims. 


RKAWAKENINGS   IN   ENGLAND.  195 

papers  relating  to  the  petition  he  had  presented.  We  learn 
nothing-  at  this  time  concerning'  his  enterprise  here.1 

But  if  the  parish  churches  in  England  failed  to  render  to  Levett 
that  assistance  for  which  he  asked  and  doubtless  hoped  to  secure, 
the  king's  proclamation  certainly  had  this  result — that  it  called 
the  widest  possible  attention  throughout  the  kingdom  to  England's 
American  possessions,  and  inevitably  awakened  in  many  hearts 
and  homes  a  rapidly  wide-spreading  conviction  that  on  this  side 
of  the  sea  opportunities  were  opening  for  the  average  man  that 
England  did  not  afford.  As  these  considerations  became  matters 
of  conversation  at  the  fireside,  in  the  shop,  or  wherever  the  peo- 
ple were  employed  in  their  daily  occupations,  an  impetus,  in  all 
probability  undesired  and  unexpected  by  the  king,  was  given  to 
the  great  Puritan  movement  to  New  England,  which  was  very 
soon  in  evidence  on  the  Massachusetts  coast,  as  also  in  those 
colonizing  efforts  that  were  discoverable  here  and  there  on  the 
coast  of  the  Province  of  Maine  not  long  after. 

Unquestionably,  some  contributions  made  in  English  parish 
churches  reached  L,evett  ;  for  when  Endicott  and  his  company,  on 
June  19,  1630,  entered  Salem  harbor,  leading  a  band  of  Puritan 
colonists  under  authority  of  a  charter  granted  by  the  council  for 
New  England,  Captain  Christopher  I^evett  was  one  of  those  who 
welcomed  them  to  New  England.  The  proclamation  of  the  king, 
February  4,  1627,  made  L,evett  governor  of  "those  parts".  Evi- 
dently, however,  he  was  not  in  New  England  as  its  governor. 
There  is  no  record  of  any  such  claim  on  I^evett's  part.  Concern- 
ing when  and  why  he  came  hither  is  as  yet  unknown.  That  he 
was  in  command  of  a  vessel  is  ascertained  from  Winthrop,  who 
records  in  his  journal  Levett's  departure  for  England  not  long 
after  the  arrival  of  the  Arabella.  At  that  time,  he  had  disposed 
of  his  interests  in  and  about  Casco  bay  to  some  Plymouth  mer- 
chants, and  apparently  there  were  no  ties  that  now  bound  him 
here.     On  the  homeward  voyage  I^evett  died  and  was  buried  at 

1  Baxter,  Christopher  Levettof  York,  73. 


196  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

sea.  The  records  of  the  Probate  Court  at  Bristol,  the  port  which 
L,evett's  ship  entered  on  the  return  voyage,  show  that  on  January 
22,  1630,  Iyevett's  widow,  having  journeyed  thither  from  her  des- 
olate home  in  Sherborne,  administered  on  his  effects  brought  by 
the  ship  ; *  and  with  this  record  the  story  of  her  husband's  event- 
ful life  was  brought  to  an  end.  Others  were  to  witness,  in  grow- 
ing, prosperous  American  settlements,  what  L,evett  had  seen  only 
in  the  dreams  that  lured  him  to  our  coast. 

1  Baxter,  Christopher  Levett  of  York,  74-77. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Numerous  Grants  for  Settlements. 

GORGES  seems  to  have  had  no  part  in  efforts  connected  with 
the  new  awakening  of  England's  interests  in  New  England, 
to  which  reference  has  just  been  made.  But  he  was  no 
disinterested  spectator  of  the  movement  hither  that  followed. 
Very  soon  he  is  found  in  communication  with  Captain  John  Mason 
concerning  a  division  of  the  Province  of  Maine  granted  to  Gorges 
and  Mason  by  the  council  for  New  England,  August  10,  1622. 
By  an  amicable  arrangement  made  November  7,  1629,  Mason 
received  "all  that  part  of  the  main  land  in  New  England,  lying 
upon  the  sea  coast,  beginning  from  the  middle  part  of  Merrimack 
river  and  from  thence  to  proceed  northwards  along  the  sea  coast 
to  Piscataqua  river,  and  so  forwards  up  within  the  said  river,  and 
to  the  furthest  head  thereof,  and  from  thence  northwestwards 
until  three  score  miles  be  finished  from  the  first  entrance  of  Pis- 
cataqua river,  and  also  from  Merrimack  through  the  said  river, 
and  to  the  furthest  head  thereof,  and  so  forwards  up  into  the  land 
westwards  until  three  score  miles  be  finished  ;  and  from  thence  to 
cross  over  all  islands  and  islets  within  five  leagues  distance  from 
the  premises,  and  abutting  upon  the  same  or  any  part  or  parcel 
thereof."1 

To  this  tract  of  land,  with  the  consent  of  the  president  and 
council  for  New  England,  Mason  gave  the  name  New  Hampshire.2 
The  rest  of  the  grant  of  August  10,  1622,  namely  the  territory 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  95-98. 

2  lb.,  97.  Ten  days  after  this  grant  to  Mason,  the  council  for  New  Eng- 
land issued  to  Gorges  and  Mason  a  grant  known  as  the  Laconia  patent.  Sir 
David  Kirke  had  accomplished  the  conquest  of  Canada,  and  Gorges  and 
Mason  hastened  to  acquire  a  part  of  the  captured  lands  that  bordered  "upon 
the  great  lake  or  lakes  or  rivers  commonly  called  or  known  by  the  name  of 
the  river  and  lake  or  rivers  and  lakes  of  the  Irroquois,  a  nation  or  nations 


198  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

between  the  Piscataqua  and  the  Kennebec,  extending  from  the 
sea  coast  up  into  the  land  as  far  as  is  stated  in  Mason's  grant, 
remained  in  Gorges'  possession,  and  was  still  known  as  the  Prov- 
ince of  Maine. 

But  settlers  outside  of  the  limits  of  Gorges'  patent  were  earliest 
in  evidence  in  the  new  movement  toward  the  Maine  coast.  Those 
who  had  followed  Brown,  and  had  located  with  him  on  the  eastern 
shore  of  the  Pemaquid  peninsula,  were  doubtless  from  the  western 
counties  of  England,  probably  from  Bristol  and  Plymouth.  Fish- 
ermen sailing  from  those  ports,  and  returning  at  the  close  of  the 
fishing  season,  could  not  fail  to  tell  the  story  of  the  trip,  includ- 
ing their  impressions  of  the  country  as  they  sailed  along  the  coast, 
or  as  they  landed  at  times  here  and  there  in  its  commodious  har- 
bors. Among  them,  doubtless,  were  those  who  discovered  the 
opportunities  opening  here  for  better  conditions  than  were  obtain- 
able in  their  English  homes.  The  record  is  not  available,  in  most 
cases  it  was  never  made;  but  from  those  hardy  fishermen,  and 
those  who  listened  to  their  tales  of  new- world  experiences,  came 
hither  the  settlers  in  those  early  years. 

The  proclamation  of  the  king,  calling  attention  to  England's 
interests  on  this  side  of  the  sea,  gave  an  added  impulse  to  English 
settlements  on  the  Maine  coast.  Pemaquid  began  to  develop  into 
a  prosperous  community.  It  is  stated  that  by  1630,  no  less  than 
eighty-four  families  had  located  there,  on  the  St.  George's  river 
and  at  Sheepscot.1     The  first  fort  at  Pemaquid,  probably  a  stock- 

of  savage  people  inhabiting  into  the  landwards  betwixt  the  lines  of  the  west 
and  northwest  conceived  to  pass  or  lead  upwards  from  the  rivers  of  Sagada- 
hock  and  Merrimack  in  the  country  of  New  England",  etc.  Neither  Gorges 
nor  Mason  had  any  very  clear  idea  of  the  territory  thus  granted  to  them  ; 
but  the  rivers  named,  also  the  Piscataqua,  were  supposed  to  be  water-ways 
into  a  very  profitable  region  for  Indian  trade.  The  grant  has  a  history  on 
paper  only.  For  the  text  of  the  grant,  see  the  Farnham  Papers,  I,  98-107. 
1  This  is  the  statement  of  Sullivan,  History  of  the  District  of  Maine,  167  ; 
and  Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  64,  adds,  "Files  in  secretary's 
office,  Boston".  There  are  no  such  files  in  the  secretary's  office  now,  and 
search  there  and  elsewhere  has  yielded  no  information  upon  which  such  a 
statement  could  be  based.     But  the  gain  in  residents  at  that  point  was 


NUMEROUS   GRANTS   FOR   SETTLEMENTS .  199 

ade  (but  not  so  much  a  defense  against  Indian  assaults  as  against 
outlaws  and  plunderers  or  French  emissaries),  must  have  been 
erected  about  this  time,  and  doubtless  upon  the  same  site  occupied 
by  the  later  and  more  substantial  structures  connected  with  which 
are  events  that  make  this  historic  spot  memorable  for  all  time  to 
come. 

Westward,  I^evett's  York  was  still  unoccupied.  Richmond's 
island,  at  the  northern  opening  of  Old  Orchard  bay,  was  held  as 
a  trading  station  in  1627,  and  perhaps  earlier,  by  John  Burgess, 
senior.  He  was  "lying  sick"  there  in  1627,  made  his  will  on 
April  11  of  that  year,  and  probably  died  on  the  island.  His  will 
was  proven  in  England,  May  24,  1628. 1  At  some  time  in  that 
year  Walter  Bagnall  opened  a  trading  station  there.  He  may 
have  been  one  of  the  men  left  by  L,evett  in  charge  of  his  interests 
at  House  island,  Portland  harbor  and  vicinity.2  It  has  also  been 
suggested3  that  before  coming  to  Richmond's  island  he  was  one 
of  Thomas  Morton's  merry  crew,  whose  orgies  at  Merry  Mount 
(on  Massachusetts  bay  between  Boston  and  Plymouth)  were  such 
a  scandal  both  to  the  Pilgrims  and  the  Puritans.  Winthrop,4  who 
refers  to  him  as  "sometimes  servant  for  one  in  the  bay",  calls 
him  "a  wicked  fellow"  ;  and  other  references  to  him  by  the  early 
writers  are  no  more  favorable.  This  also  seems  to  have  been  the 
estimate  of  Bagnall  held  by  the  Indians  with  whom  he  had  trade 
relations.  To  such  an  extent  had  he  cheated  them  in  their  trans- 
actions with  him  (as  they  at  length  learned),  that  they  were 
incited  by  the  discovery  to  avenge  their  wrongs  ;  and  in  the  fall 
of  1631,  making  their  way  one  evening  to  the  island,  Scitterygus- 
set,5  an  Indian  chief,  and  some  of  his  tribe,  killed  Bagnall  and  a 
man  associated  with  him,  plundered  his  house  and  then  burned 

•undoubtedly  large.  Families  were  beginning  to  make  their  way  hither. 
The  center  of  the  English  fishing  interests  were  in  this  vicinity. 

1  Me.  Hist,  and  Gen.  Recorder,  1884,  62. 

2  Me.  Hist.  Society'' s  Documentary  Series,  III,  5. 
8  Me.  Hist,  and  Gen.  Recorder,  1884,  61. 

*  Winthrop,  Journal,  30. 

5  Concerning  him  see  Willis,  History  of  Portland,  26. 


200  THE  BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

it.1  On  being  informed  of  the  tragedy,  Walter  Neale,  at  Piscata- 
qua,  sent  a  party  thither  in  pursuit  of  the  murderers.  On  their 
arrival  they  found  at  the  island  an  Indian,  known  as  Black  Will, 
whom  they  hung  in  retaliation  for  the  murders  committed  by  the 
Indians.  But  it  was  soon  ascertained,  if  it  had  not  been  learned 
before,  that  Indians  could  retaliate  as  well  as  white  men  ;  and  in 
the  winter  following,  finding  an  Englishman  who  was  exploring 

1  Thomas  Morton,  New  English  Canaan,  78,  says,  "A  servant  of  mine 
[referring  to  Bagnall]  in  five  years  was  thought  to  have  one  thousand  pounds 
in  ready  gold  gotten  by  beaver,  when  he  died".  May  11,  1855,  a  small 
earthen  vessel  containing  gold  and  silver  coins  was  ploughed  up  on  Rich- 
mond's island.  Specimens  of  these  coins  are  in  the  possession  of  the  Maine 
Historical  Society,  and  a  photographic  representation  of  the  vessel  and  some 
of  the  coins  faces  page  7  of  the  Trelawny  Papers.  In  the  Me.  Hist.  Soci- 
ety''s  Coll.,  Series  I,  6,  137-147,  Hon.  William  Willis  gives  an  interesting 
account  of  these  coins,  their  discovery,  etc.  The  oldest  is  of  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth.  Of  the  silver  coins  there  were  four  one  shilling  pieces, 
sixteen  sixpences,  one  groat  or  fourpenny  piece  and  two  half  groats.  The 
shillings  have  no  date,  but  all  the  sixpences  and  some  of  the  smaller  pieces 
have  dates  extending  from  1564  to  1593.  Of  the  reign  of  James  I,  there  were 
four  one  shilling  pieces  and  one  sixpence ;  the  shillings  not  dated,  the  six- 
pence bearing  date  1606.  Of  the  reign  of  Charles  I,  there  were  but  one 
shilling  and  one  sixpence,  the  last  bearing  date  1625.  Of  the  gold  coins 
there  were  twenty-one,  of  which  ten  were  sovereigns  of  the  reign  of  James 
I,  and  of  the  value  of  twenty  shillings  each  ;  there  were  half  sovereigns  or 
double  crowns,  of  the  value  of  ten  shillings  each  ;  seven  were  sovereigns  of 
the  reign  of  Charles  I,  and  one  was  a  Scottish  coin  of  the  last  year  of  the  reign 
of  James  as  king  of  Scotland  onty,  and  dated  1602.  It  was  of  the  size  and 
value  of  the  half  sovereign  or  double  crown.  None  of  the  English  gold  coins 
had  dates,  and  all  of  the  coins,  both  silver  and  gold,  were  much  thinner  and 
broader  than  modern  coins  of  similar  value.  The  impressions  on  those  in 
possession  of  the  Maine  Historical  Society  are  clear  and  distinct,  especially 
upon  the  gold  coins,  which  are  less  worn  than  the  silver,  and  nearly  as 
bright  as  when  issued.  In  the  vessel  a  wedding  signet  ring  of  fine  gold  was 
found,  bearing  the  letters  "G.  V."  and  the  figure  of  two  united  hearts  with 
the  words,  "Death  only  Partes".  Mr.  Willis  was  of  the  opinion  that  the 
deposit  of  coins  and  ring  was  connected  with  the  fate  of  Walter  Bagnall. 
December  2,  1631,  a  grant  of  this  island  was  made  to  Bagnall  by  the  council 
for  New  England,  but  he  was  killed  before  receiving  it.  In  the  grant  it 
was  stated  that  he  had  been  in  New  England  seven  years.  See  Farnham 
Papers,  I,  162,  163. 


NUMEROUS   GRANTS   FOR   SETTLEMENTS.  201 

up  the  Saco  river,  they  meted  out  to  him  the  same  punishment 
that  Neale's  men  had  meted  out  to  Black  Will.1 

But  the  new  movement  toward  the  coast  of  Maine  was  also  soon 
in  evidence  by  reason  of  the  applications  frequently  made  about 
this  time  to  the  council  for  New  England  for  grants  of  land  under 
the  authority  that  the  council  received  in  the  great  patent  for 
New  England,  November  3,  1620.  Two  such  grants  were  made 
February  12,  1630.  One  of  these  was  to  Thomas  Lewis  and  Rich- 
ard Bonighton  [Bonython] ,  the  land  granted  being  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Saco  river  and  included  the  land  now  occupied  by  the 
city  of  Saco.  Lewis,  it  was  stated  in  the  grant,  had  already  been 
at  the  charge  of  transporting  hither  himself  and  others  for  the 
purpose  of  seeking  a  favorable  location  for  a  colony,  "and  doth 
now  wholly  intend,  by  God's  assistance,  with  his  associates  to 
plant  there,  both  for  the  good  of  [his]  majesty's  realms  and  domin- 
ions, and  for  the  propagation  of  [the]  Christian  religion  among 
those  infidels".  They  also  purposed,  at  their  own  costs,  to  trans- 
port fifty  persons  thither  within  seven  years  next  ensuing.2 

The  other  grant  was  made  to  John  Oldham  and  Richard  Vines,3 
and  included  the  land  south  of  the  Saco  river,  now  occupied  by 
the  city  of  Biddeford.  Oldham,  it  is  stated  in  the  grant,  had  at 
that  time  lived  in  New  England  six  years,  had  already  at  his  own 
costs  transported  hither  and  established  divers  persons,  and  in 
effecting  so  good  a  work  had  labored  hard  and  suffered  much. 
Moreover,  both  Oldham  and  Vines  had  undertaken  at  their  own 
expense  to  bring  to  the  Maine  coast  fifty  persons  in  the  space  of 
seven  years  next  ensuing,  here  "to  plant  and  inhabit",  having  in 
view  the  advancement  of  the  general  plantation  of  the  country 

1  Hubbard,  General  History  of  New  England,  142,  145,  169. 

2  Farnham  Papers,  I,  117-121. 

3  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  I,  132,  note, 
calls  Vines  the  founder  of  Biddeford,  which  he  named  doubtless  in  honor  of 
Bideford,  England,  in  which  locality  the  Vines  family  resided.  Vines  rep- 
resented the  Gorges  interests  here  for  many  years.  Because  of  his  rela- 
tions with  Gorges  he  was  in  frequent  conflict  with  George  Cleeve,  the 
founder  of  Portland. 


202  THE  BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

with  provision  for  holding  it  as  a  part  of  England's  territory.1 
March  13,  1630,  another  grant,  commonly  known  as  the  Mus- 
congus  or  Waldo  patent,  was  made  by  the  council  for  New  Eng- 
land to  John  Beauchamp  of  Eondon  and  Thomas  Eeverett  of 
Boston,  England.  Beauchamp  was  one  of  the  Eondon  adventur- 
ers in  the  Pilgrim  enterprise,  and  in  the  agreement  of  November 
15,  1 62 7, 2  he  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  five  who  were  deputed  by 
the  adventurers  to  receipt  in  full  for  the  Pilgrim  indebtedness,, 
when  the  Plymouth  settlers  should  have  paid  the  eighteen  hundred 
pounds  for  which  they  were  holden  in  that  agreement.  Thomas 
Eeverett,  about  the  time  when  this  grant  of  land  was  made,  was- 
an  alderman  of  the  borough  of  Boston,  England,  and  a  highly 
esteemed  friend  of  Rev.  John  Cotton,  vicar  of  St.  Botolph's. 
church  in  that  place.  He  may  have  been  one  of  those  who  accom- 
panied Mr.  Cotton  to  Southampton,  when  John  Winthrop's  com- 
pany embarked  for  New  England,  and  when  Mr.  Cotton  preached 
the  farewell  sermon,  "God's  Promise  to  his  Plantation".  Subse- 
quently both  Cotton  and  Eeverett  made  their  way  to  Boston  in 
New  England.  At  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Cotton  as  teacher  of 
the  church  in  Boston,  Mr.  Eeverett  was  chosen  one  of  the  two 
"Ruling  Elders"  of  the  church  ;  and  he  continued  prominent  in 
civil  and  religious  affairs  in  Boston  during  the  remainder  of  his. 
useful  and  honored  life.3 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  121-125.  The  same  persons— William  Blackstone,. 
William  Jefferris,  and  Edward  Hilton—were  authorized  by  the  council  to- 
give  possession  both  to  Lewis  and  Bonighton  [Bonython]  and  to  Oldham 
and  Vines. 

2  Bradford,  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  Ed.  1913,. 
II,  4,  7. 

3  John  Leverett,  only  son  of  Thomas  Leverett,  born  in  Boston,  England, 
July  7,  1616,  had  a  distinguished  career.  He  was  made  a  freeman  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  colony,  May  13,  1640.  His  sympathies  were  with  the 
Parliamentary  party  in  England  ;  and  as  early  as  1644,  he  participated  in 
the  civil  war  there,  having  the  command  of  the  Rainsborrow  regiment- 
Returning  to  his  New  England  home,  he  was  a  selectman  in  Boston  in  1651 ; 
member  of  the  legislature  in  1652  and  1653  ;  major  general  of  Massachu- 
setts military  forces  in  1663  ;  deputy  governor  of  Massachusetts  in  1671,  and 


NUMEROUS  GRANTS  FOR  SETTLEMENTS.  203 

As  expressed  in  the  patent,  the  grant  included  "all  and  singu- 
lar those  lands,  tenements  and  hereditaments  whatsoever,  with 
the  appurtenances  thereof,  in  New  England  aforesaid,  which  are 
situate,  lying  and  being  within  or  between  a  place  thence  com- 
monly called  or  known  by  the  name  of  Musrongruss,  toward  the 
south,  or  southwest  and  a  straight  line  extending  from  thence 
directly  ten  leagues  up  into  the  mainland  and  continent  thence 
toward  the  great  sea  commonly  called  the  south  sea,  and  the  ut- 
most limits  of  the  space  of  ten  leagues on  the  north 

and  northeast  of  a  river  in  New  England  aforesaid,  commonly 
called  Penobscot,  towards  the  north  and  northeast  and  the  great 
sea  commonly  called  the  western  ocean,  towards  the  east,  and  a 
straight  and  direct  line  extending  from  the  most  western  part 
and  point  of  the  said  straight  line  which  extends  from  Mecongoss 
aforesaid  towards  the  south  sea  to  the  uttermost  northern  limits 
of  the  said  ten  leagues  on   the   north   side  of  the  said  river  of 

Penobscot  towards  the  west together  with  all   islands 

that  lie  and  be  within  the  space  of  three  miles  of  the  said  lands 
and  premises  or  any  of  them",  etc.1 

Neither  John  Beauchamp  nor  Thomas  Leverett,  so  far  as  appears, 
made  any  use  of  this  grant ;  but  through  Thomas  I,everett,  the 
surviving  patentee,  the  grant  descended  to  John  Leverett  of 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  "great  grandson  and  heir-at-law  of  Thomas 
I^everett",  who,  in  1719,  admitted  other  direct  and  lineal  descend- 
ants of  Thomas  L,everett  to  membership  in  a  land  company  known 
as  "The  Lincolnshire  Company  and  Twenty  Associates",  under 

governor  in  1673  and  until  his  death  in  1679.  See  Memoir  of  Sir  John  Lev- 
erett,  Knight,  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  by  Charles  F,.  L,everett,  Boston, 

1856. 

1  It  is  stated  in  the  Farnham  Papers,  I,  126,  that  this  patent  was 
destroyed  by  fire  about  1833,  after  it  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Knox 
family.  This  is  an  error.  Mr.  Henry  A.  Pierce,  of  Boston,  presented  the 
original  patent,  on  parchment,  to  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  in 
1853.  See  Mass.  Hist.  Proceedings,  II,  543.  For  a  facsimile  of  the  Mus- 
congus  patent,  see  Bradford's  History  of  Plymouth  Plantations,  Mass.  Hist. 
Soc.  Ed.,  II,  80. 


204  TH3   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

which  the  affairs  of  the  Muscongus  grant  continued  to  be  man- 
aged.1 

Still  another  grant,  commonly  known  as  the  L,ygonia  or  Plough 
patent,  was  granted  by  the  council  for  New  England  June  26, 
1630.  The  patent  itself,  so  far  as  is  known,  has  not  been  pre- 
served, but  that  such  a  grant  was  made  is  recorded  by  Winthrop 
in  his  journal  under  date  of  July  6,  1631,  as  follows:  "A  small 
ship  of  sixty  tons  arrived  at  Natascott  [Nantasket],  Mr.  Graves, 
master.  She  brought  ten  passengers  from  L,ondon.  They  came 
with  a  patent  for  Sagadahoc,  but  not  liking  the  place  came  hither. 
Their  ship  drew  ten  feet  and  went  up  to  Watertown,  but  she  ran 
on  ground  twice  by  the  way.  These  were  the  company  called  the 
Husbandmen  and  their  ship  called  the  Plough.  Most  of  them 
proved  Familists  and  vanished  away."2 

Among  the  Pejepscot  papers  in  possession  of  the  Maine  Histori- 
cal Society  is  a  document  entitled  Abstract  of  the  Title  of  Edward 
Rigby  to  the  Province  of  Ligonia.3  In  this  document,  drawn 
up  in  1686  by  George  Turfrey,  attorney  of  Edward  Rigby, 
a  grandson  of  Sir  Alexander  Rigby,  the  recorded  grantees  are 
"Bryan  Bincks,  John  Dye,  John  Smith",  with  whom  were  asso- 
ciated others  whose  names  are  not  given.  But  Winthrop,  who 
evidently  saw  the  patent,  adds  to  the  above  names  Thomas  Jupe 
and  John  Crispe.  The  date  of  the  grant  was  June  26,  1630.  As 
described  in  this  Abstract,  the  territory  granted  by  the  patent 
was  "the  tract  containing  forty  miles  in  length  and  forty  miles  in 
breadth  upon  the  south  side  of  the  river  Sagadahock  with  all  bays, 
rivers,  ports,  inlets,  creeks",  etc.,  and  this  territory  was  to  be 
known  by  the  name  of  '  'the  Province  of  Iyigonia' ' .  With  a  singu- 
lar disregard  of  the  fact  that  in  1622  the  council  for  New  England 

1  See  manuscript  records  of  ' '  The  Lincolnshire  Company  and  Twenty 
Associates ",  aland  company  organized  for  the  management  of  affairs  con- 
ducted under  the  Muscongus  patent.  This  folio  volume  of  543  pages  was 
presented  to  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  in  1853,  by  Mr.  Henry  A. 
Pierce,  together  with  the  original  patent,  as  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note. 

2  Winthrop,  History  of  New  England  from  1630  to  1649,  I,  58. 

3  Farnham  Papers,  I,  133-136. 


NUMEROUS.- GRANTS   FOR  SETTLEMENTS.  205 

had  granted  all  the  land  between  the  Sagadahoc  and  the  Merri- 
mac  to  Gorges  and  Mason,  and  that  in  1629,  in  confirming  the 
division  of  the  land,  the  council  had  granted  to  Mason  the  terri- 
tory between  the  Merrimac  and  the  Piscataqua,  leaving  to  Gorges 
the  territory  between  the  Piscataqua  and  the  Sagadahoc,  the 
council  now  took  from  Gorges'  territory  a  tract  forty  miles  square 
and  bestowed  it  upon  this  company  of  Husbandmen.  But  this 
action  could  not  have  been  without  Gorges'  knowledge,  as  he  was 
still  an  influential  member  of  the  council.  Moreover,  the  name 
given  in  the  patent  to  the  territory  thus  granted  was  derived  from 
the  maiden  name  of  his  mother,  a  daughter  of  William  I,ygon, 
and  it  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  suggested  at  least  by  Gorges 
himself.1 

From  Winthrop's  statement,  it  seems  probable  that  the  Plough 
colonists,  upon  their  arrival  on  the  coast,  proceeded  first  to  the 
Sagadahoc.  This  may  have  been  in  April  or  May,  1631,  as  Win- 
throp's record  seems  to  indicate  that  a  little  time  was  spent  in 
exploring  the  Sagadahoc,  seeking  a  favorable  location  for  a  set- 
tlement. Doubtless  they  were  familiar  with  the  story  of  the  ex- 
perience of  the  Popham  colonists  in  1607-8,  and  that  was  not  an 
encouraging  one.  In  the  absence  of  other  records  we  have  only 
Winthrop's  brief  statement  concerning  their  visit  to  the  Saga- 
dahoc, including  the  remark  that  "not  liking  the  place"  they 
headed  the  prow  of  the  Plough  down  the  coast.  In  all  proba- 
bility, therefore,  the  disappointed  Husbandmen  examined  no 
other  location  within  the  limits  of  their   patent.2 

1  The  council  for  New  England  paid  little  attention  to  these  matters .  The 
Lygonia  grant  included  territory  already  granted  to  Levett  in  1623,  also  to 
Lewis  and  Bonighton  and  Oldham  and  Vines  in  1630. 

2  Our  information  concerning  these  colonists  is  exceedingly  limited. 
Among  themselves  they  were  known  as  a  "company  of  Husbandmen".  But 
Winthrop,  in  his  brief  reference  to  them,  while  making  mention  of  them  at 
first  in  the  words,  "These  were  the  company  called  Husbandmen",  closes 
his  statement  thus:  "Most  of  them  proved  Familists".  Unfortunately  we 
are  not  helped  by  these  added  words,  inasmuch  as  the  Puritans  were  accus- 
tomed to  apply  the  term  "Familist"  very  loosely,  making  it  a  convenient 


206  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

But  two  vessels,  bringing  added  Husbandmen,  left  London  for 
the  Sagadahoc  in  the  following  year,  one  it  is  said  March  9  and 
the  other  March  12,  1632. 1  As  the  first  company  arrived  at  Boston, 
July  6,  1631,  its  members  had  ample  opportunity,  before  the  close 
of  that  season,  for  sending  to  L,ondon  early  information  concern- 
ing their  failure  to  find  on  the  Sagadahoc  a  suitable  location  for 
the  colony.  Apparently,  however,  no  such  information  was  sent, 
certainly  none  that  reached  these  added  colonists  or  sufficiently 
disheartened  them  from  making  their  way  hither.  These,  too, 
soon  '  'vanished  away' ' ,  as  did  the  ten  of  the  preceding  year ;  and 
after  the  record  of  a  division  of  the  assets  of  the  company  among 
those  who  had  not  "vanished  away"  we  hear  nothing  more  con- 
cerning the  Husbandmen  until  April  7,  1643,  when  John  Dye, 
John  Smith,  Thomas  Jupe,  and  other  survivors  of  the  grantees  of 
the  Iyygonia  patent,  transferred  all  their  estate,  interest  and  claim 
"in  the  Province  of  L,ygonia",  to  Sir  Alexander  Rigby.2  George 
Cleeve,  now  coming  into  prominence  in  connection  with  affairs  in 
the  Province  of  Maine,  was  instrumental  in  inducing  Rigby  to 
purchase  the  L,ygonia  patent ;    and  it  is  this  fact,  and  the  added 

designation  for  persons  who  never  heard  of  Hendrick  Nicholas  or  of  any  of  his 
widely  differing  followers.  But  these  Husbandmen  could  not  have  been 
in  any  wise  very  bad  if  they  found  in  Familism  what  the  last  edition  of  the 
Encyclopedia  Britannica,  under  the  article  Familist,  says  was  to  be  found 
in  it — "In  an  age  of  strife  and  polemics,  it  seemed  to  afford  a  refuge  for  quiet, 
gentle  spirits  and  meditative  temperaments".  Richard  Dummer  of  New- 
bury, who  came  to  New  England  with  the  second  company  of  Husbandmen, 
and  afterwards  was  governor  of  Massachusetts  bay,  became  an  associate 
member  of  the  company  in  1638.  He  had  in  his  possession  the  Plough 
patent,  and  by  order  delivered  the  same  to  George  Cleeve  after  its  purchase 
by  Sir  Alexander  Rigby. 

1  One  account  says  the  second  vessel,  the  William  and  Francis,  sailed  April 
8,  1632  ;  and  that  among  the  passengers  were  Edward  Winslow  and  Rev. 
Stephen  Bachiler,  the  aged  pastor  of  the  Husbandmen  in  London,  transferred 
to  missionary  labors  in  the  colony. 

2  Rigby  saw  service  in  the  civil  war  in  England  in  connection  with  the 
Parliamentary  army,  and  was  known  as  Col.  Alexander  Rigby.  An  extended 
notice  of  him  will  be  found  in  the  Me.  Hist,  and  Gen.  Recorder,  II.  See 
also  Trelawny  Papers,  365-367. 


NUMEROUS   GRANTS   FOR   SETTLEMENTS .  207 

fact  that  the  patent  came  into  Cleeve's  possession,  that  give  to  it 
an  interest  in  the  history  of  colonial  Maine  that  otherwise  it 
would  not  have  possessed.1 

In  1631,  in  making  grants  of  land,  the  council  for  New  England 
was  even  more  active  than  in  the  previous  year.  It  was  not  until 
the  latter  part  of  the  year,  however,  that  this  activity  was  mani- 
fested. The  first  of  these  grants  was  in  the  name  of  Thomas 
Cammock,  a  nephew  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  who  at  that  time 
was  president  of  the  council.  In  this  grant,  which  was  made 
November  3,  1631,  it  is  stated  that  Cammock  had  lived  in  New 
England  "for  these  two  years  last  past",  and  had  there  inhabited, 
planted  and  built  "some  convenient  housing".  It  is  supposed, 
therefore,  that  he  came  hither  in  1629.  It  is  known  that  he  spent 
some  time  with  Neale's  company  on  the  Piscataqua,  and  while  he 
was  there  he  is  said  to  have  taken  up  some  land  on  the  eastern 
bank  of  that  river.  In  exploring  farther  up  the  coast,  however, 
he  found  at  Black  Point,  on  the  northern  shore  of  Old  Orchard 
bay,  a  more  attractive  location,  and  returning  to  England  he 
obtained  a  grant  of  fifteen  hundred  acres  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Black  Point  [now  Nonesuch]  river  and  extending  to  the  Spurwink 
river.2 

Returning  hither,  in  order  to  take  possession  of  his  grant,  Cam- 
mock reached  Richmond's  island  April  22,  1632. 3  It  is  supposed 
that  he  did  not  at  once  occupy  his  Black  Point  grant,  but  returned 
to  the  Piscataqua  and  resided  there,  where  he  had  the  "conven- 
ient housing"  mentioned  in  the  grant  of  1631,  and  where  he 
secured  a  grant  of  land  from  Gorges  in  1633.  This  land  at  the 
Piscataqua  he  sold  to  James  Treworgy  in  1636,4  and  then,  prob- 
ably, he  took  up  his  residence  at  Black   Point  on  what  is  now 

1  Cleeve  had  seen  this  patent,  and  discovered  its  possible  uses,  when  it  was 
in  the  possession  of  Richard  Dummer  at  Newbury.  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  I,  189. 

2  The  Farnham  Papers,  I,  137-142. 

3  The  Trelawny  Papers,  18. 
*  lb.,  2. 


208  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

known  as  Prout's  Neck.1  Here  he  lived  with  his  wife  Margaret r 
and  his  faithful  friend,  Henry  Josselyn.  In  1638,  Cammock  was 
in  England,2  partly  with  reference  to  his  patent,  it  would  seem, 
as  there  was  a  disagreement  concerning  its  bounds.  On  his 
return,  he  had  as  fellow  voyagers,  Sir  Thomas  Josselyn,  the  aged 
father  of  Henry  Josselyn,  and  John  Josselyn,  Henry's  brother. 
They  accompanied  Cammock  to  Black  Point,  and  John  Winter,  on 
Richmond's  island,  writing  July  30,  1638,  to  Robert  Trelawny  of 
Plymouth,  Kngland,  makes  mention  of  their  arrival  as  follows: 
"Mr.  Josselyn's  father  is  now  come  over,  and  another  of  his  sons 
with  him,  and  doth  purpose  to  live  there  with  him ;  they  live  all 

yet  with  Captain  Cammock Mr.  Josselyn's  father  is 

an  ancient  old  knight ;  he  is  four-score  years  old  wanting  but 
two."3  It  is  doubtful,  however,  if  in  coming  hither  Sir  Thomas 
and  his  son  John  had  in  view  anything  more  than  a  visit  to  Black 
Point,  and  such  glimpses  of  England's  new  possessions  as  could 
be  obtained  in  connection  with  such  a  visit,  including  a  few  days 
in  Boston  on  their  arrival  in  New  England  and  at  the  time  of 
their  departure.4 

Ivife  at  Black  Point  must  have  missed  much  by  the  departure  of 
the  "ancient  old  knight"  and  his  versatile  son  John.  Only 
glimpses  of  that  life,  however,  are  afforded  us  in  the  meagre 
records  of  that  period.  In  one  of  these  glimpses,  we  find  Thomas 
Gorges,  a  nephew  and  deputy  of  Sir  Ferdinando,  confirming  to 
Cammock  March  15,  1641,  by  a  deed,  all  the  land  granted  to  him 
by  the  council  for  New  England,  together  with  Stratton's  island. & 

1  Samuel  Checkley  of  Boston,  Mass.,  deeded  this  land  to  Timothy  Prout  of 
Boston,  March  24,  1727.  The  original  deed  is  in  the  John  Wingate  Thornton 
Papers  in  the  State  Library  at  Augusta,  I,  32. 

2  An  Account  of  Two  Voyages  to  New  England,  1638,  1663,  by  John 
Josselyn,  Gent.,  9,  11,  12. 

3  The  Trelawny  Papers,  140. 

4  An  Account  of  Two  Voyages  to  New  England,  1638,  1663,  13,  20,  25-27. 

5  York  Deeds,  II,  folios  85,  86.  On  this  island  opposite  Black  Point,  John 
Stratton  is  said  to  have  lived  before  the  grant  to  Cammock.  See  Trelawny 
Papers,  199. 


NUMEROUS  GRANTS  FOR   SETTLEMENTS.  209 

Cammock  thus  obtained  that  for  which  he  had  long  contended, 
and  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  boundaries  securely  estab- 
lished. 

While  on  a  voyage  to  the  West  Indies  in  1643,  Thomas  Cam- 
mock  died  at  Barbadoes.  In  making  his  will  before  leaving  his 
home  at  Black  Point,  he  bequeathed  his  property  to  Henry  Jos- 
selyn,  reserving  for  his  widow  five  hundred  acres.  The  widow 
subsequently  married  Henry  Josselyn,  her  husband's  counselor 
and  friend,  and  Cammock' s  acres  remained  undivided.1 

Connected  with  the  grant  made  to  Richard  Bradshaw  by  the 
council  for  New  England  November  4,  1631,  there  is  somewhat 
of  a  mystery.  It  was  a  grant  of  fifteen  hundred  acres  "above 
the  head  of  Pashippscot  [Pejepscot]  on  the  north  side  thereof", 
the  consideration  being  the  expense  Bradshaw  had  incurred  "in 
his  living  there  some  years  before' ' ,  and  that  he  now  purposed  to 
settle  at  Pejepscot,  with  other  friends  and  also  servants.2  The 
original  grant  has  disappeared,  and  the  above  extract  from  the 
records  of  the  council  for  New  England  contains  all  the  informa- 
tion that  has  come  down  to  us  concerning  it.  Aside  from  this 
extract  there  is  no  evidence  whatever  that  Richard  Bradshaw  had 
lived  at  Pejepscot  "some  years  before",  or  at  any  time  before;  or 
that  he  now  purposed  to  settle  there.  What  we  do  know  concern- 
ing him,  or  may  infer,  is  this,  that  with  others  who  were  seeking 
homes  for  themselves  in  this  part  of  the  new  world,  he  had  made 
his  way  hither  from  England,  moved  thereto  by  the  opportunities 
for  settlement  that  were  opening  here.  Doubtless  after  his  arrival 
upon  the  coast,  he  spent  some  time  in  seeking  a  favorable  location 
for  residence.  Such  a  location  he  found  on  the  southern  shore  of 
Cape  Elizabeth,  east  of  the  Spurwink  river.  Its  attractions  were 
easily  discoverable,  and  Bradshaw  lost  no  time  in  obtaining  from 
Captain  Walter  Neale  (who  was  supposed  to  have  authority  in 
these  matters)  such  a  "delivery"  of  this  tract  of  land  as  would 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  2. 

2  Farnham  Papers,  150,  151. 

14 


210  the;  beginnings  of  COLONIAL  MAINE. 

give  to  him  the  right  to  claim  it  as  his  by  pre-emption  and  occupa- 
tion. 

It  was  this  tract,  possibly,  that  Bradshaw  sought  to  obtain  from 
the  council  for  New  England,  and  that  an  error  was  made  in  care- 
lessly substituting  Pashippscot  for  Spurwink1  in  recording  the 
grant,  inasmuch  as  Bradshaw  in  all  probability  had  resided  at 
Spurwink  sometime  when  he  applied  for  a  grant,  and  was  intend- 
ing still  to  remain  there  in  accordance  with  the  purpose  announced 
in  the  grant.  But  Richard  Tucker2  and  George  Cleeve3  had  fixed 
their  eyes  upon  the  same  favorable  locality  for  a  settlement,  and 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve  of  Casco  Bay,  41. 

2  Worth,  History  of  Plymouth  [England~\,  85,  mentions  Tucker  as  with- 
out doubt  a  native  of  Devon,  England.  His  name  frequently  occurs  in  the 
history  of  this  part  of  colonial  Maine,  but  generally  in  connection  with  the 
controversies  concerning  land  titles,  etc.,  with  which  he  and  his  partner, 
George  Cleeve,  were  inseparably  connected  for  many  years.  Baxter,  Tre- 
lawny  Papers,  211,  note,  says  concerning  him  :   "He  was  evidently  a  man  of 

far  less  importance  in  his  day  than  Cleeve Their  interests  in 

lands  was  not  divided,  for  as  late  as  1662  he  joined  his  old  partner  in  a  deed 
of  land  on  the  Neck  [Portland],  at  which  time  he  was  living  on  Sagamore 
Creek,  in  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  where  he  doubtless  died,  as  his  widow  was 
living  there  in  1681." 

3  Cleeve  was  a  native  of  Plymouth,  England  (Worth,  History  of  Plymouth, 
85).  He  was  not  only  acquainted  with  Gorges,  who  for  so  many  years 
was  in  command  of  the  fort  at  Plymouth,  but  he  had  doubtless  talked  with 
him  many  times  with  reference  to  the  opportunities  for  settlement  that  were 
opening  for  Englishmen  in  the  Province  of  Maine.  In  Cleeve,  Gorges  evi- 
dently found  a  man  of  energy  and  decision,  and  he  was  ready  to  give  him 
information  and  encouragement.  The  enthusiasm  of  Sir  Ferdinando  with 
reference  to  the  brightening  prospects  here  was  evidently  contagious,  and 
in  1630,  with  his  wife  and  daughter,  Cleeve  made  his  way  to  the  Maine 
coast.  With  what  purposes  he  came  as  to  location  is  unknown,  but  he 
is  soon  found  on  the  shore  of  Cape  Elizabeth,  not  far  from  Richmond's 
island,  where  his  long  and  troublesome  life  on  this  side  of  the  sea  seems  to 
have  begun.  The  story  of  that  life,  Mr.  Baxter  has  told  in  his  valuable 
work  entitled  George  Cleeve  of  Casco  Bay,  1630-1667,  published  by  the 
Gorges  Society  in  1885.  In  no  other  work  has  the  life  of  the  founder  of 
Portland  been  narrated  with  such  fulness  of  detail,  or  with  such  an  intelli- 
gent understanding  of  the  facts  connected  with  the  history  of  the  period  in 
which  Cleeve  lived  and  labored. 


NUMEROUS   GRANTS   FOR   SETTLEMENTS.  211 

Bradshaw's  purposes  failed  of  accomplishment.  Tucker  was  ready 
with  money  considerations  to  obtain  the  pre-emption  right  that 
Bradshaw  had  secured  by  Neale's  "delivery".  Cleeve,  too,  re- 
garded himself  as  having  a  valid  claim  to  the  same  territory  by 
virtue  of  a  promise  which  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  made  to  him 
concerning  a  grant  before  Cleeve  left  England.  But  Tucker  and 
Cleeve  were  not  rival  claimants.  They  joined  their  interests,1  and 
awaited  a  favorable  opportunity  for  presenting  to  the  council  for 
New  England  a  request  for  a  patent  covering  the  territory  which 
they  had  pre-empted  and  occupied.  Only  failure  and  disappoint- 
ment, however,  followed.  Others  had  discovered  the  advantages 
of  the  location,  and  the  coveted  grant  had  already  been  made  to 
them. 

This  grant,  dated  December  1,  1631,  was  in  the  name  of  Robert 
Trelawny2  and  Moses  Goodyear,3  prominent  merchants   of   Ply- 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  206,  207. 

2  Robert  Trelawny,  born  in  Plymouth,  County  of  Devon,  March  25,  1598, 
belonged  to  a  distinguished  family  in  the  west  of  England.  His  father, 
Robert  Trelawny,  settled  in  Plymouth  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
became  a  successful  merchant  there,  was  thrice  mayor  of  Plymouth,  and  his 
monument  in  St.  Andrew's  church  (he  died  in  1627)  records  his  benefactions 
to  the  poor  as  well  as  his  civic  honors.  The  son,  who  succeeded  his  father 
as  a  merchant,  directed  his  attention  to  American  business  interests  ;  and 
when  he  secured  his  patent  it  was  doubtless  his  purpose  to  enlarge  his  mer- 
cantile operations  by  availing  himself  of  facilities  there  that  now  were  within 
his  reach.  What  he  and  his  partner,  Moses  Goodyear,  accomplished  in  con- 
nection with  the  patent  is  made  known  to  us  in  a  very  interesting  way  in 
the  Trelawny  Papers,  published  by  the  Maine  Historical  Society  in  1884. 
These  papers  were  secured  by  the  society  through  John  Wingate  Thornton, 
Esq.,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  who,  about  the  year  1872,  ascertained  from  the  Rev. 
C.  T.  Collins  Trelawny  (died  April  19,  1878),  a  descendant  of  Robert  Tre- 
lawny, that  in  his  ancestor's  old  home  in  the  vicinity  of  Plymouth,  known 
as  Ham,  and  still  occupied  by  the  family,  was  a  chest  containing  Robert  Tre- 
lawny's  papers.  Mr.  Thornton  secured  a  list  of  these  papers,  and  learned 
that  they  comprised  not  only  many  business  letters,  but  the  original  patent 
of  Richmond's  island,  etc.,  concerning  which  Willis  {History  of  Portland, 
33)  supposed  that  the  wife  of  a  descendant  of  Robert  Jordan,  '  'needing  some 
paper  to  keep  her  pastry  from  burning,  took  from  a  chest  of  papers  Tre- 
lawny's  patent,  and  used  it   for  that   purpose,    which  thus  perished,  like 


212  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

mouth,  England.  Doubtless  they  had  had  a  part  in  the  fishing 
and  trading  interests  that  for  a  score  of  years  and  more  had 
attracted  the  attention  of  Plymouth  adventurers.  But  with  the 
enlargement  of  their  operations  they  desired  better  accommoda- 

many  other  ancient  and  valuable  manuscripts".  Mr.  Thornton  visited  Ply- 
mouth and  secured  these  papers — a  gift  from  the  Trelawny  family  to  the 
Maine  Historical  Society.  On  receiving  the  papers  in  1875,  he  commenced 
to  arrange  them  for  publication,  and  some  pages  of  his  manuscript  had  been 
printed,  when  his  death,  greatly  lamented,  put  an  end  to  a  task  upon  which 
he  had  entered  with  great  interest.  General  John  Marshall  Brown  purposed 
to  continue  Mr.  Thornton's  work,  but  the  death  of  his  father  laid  upon  him 
duties  that  compelled  him  to  relinquish  the  task.  Fortunately,  Mr.  James  P. 
Baxter  was  willing  to  undertake  the  work.  His  equipment  for  it  had  been 
obtained  by  long  study  and  research  at  the  sources  of  our  colonial  history  ; 
and  as  the  result  of  his  labors  we  have  in  the  Trelawny  Papers  a  storehouse 
of  valuable  information  concerning  fishing  and  trading  interests  on  the  coast 
of  Maine  in  the  third  and  fourth  decades  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Also 
in  these  papers  we  are  made  acquainted  with  some  of  the  more  prominent 
characters  in  that  early  period ;  while  from  them  we  get  many  interesting 
glimpses  of  family  life,  the  proceedings  of  colonial  courts,  and  the  various 
movements  connected  with  political  affairs.  An  interesting  sketch  of  Robert 
Trelawny,  by  Rev.  C.  T.  Collins  Trelawny,  occupies  the  opening  pages  of 
the  Trelawny  Papers. 

3  Iyittle  is  known  concerning  Moses  Goodyear  beyond  what  is  mentioned 
above.  In  the  Trelawny  Papers,  416,  there  is  an  abstract  of  Mrs.  Trelawny's 
title  to  lands  in  New  England.  This  was  not  the  wife  of  Robert  Trelawny, 
Goodyear's  co-partner,  as  she  died  before  her  husband,  but  a  Mrs.  Trelawny 
of  a  later  period,  who  was  interested  in  establishing  a  claim  to  the  land 
granted  by  the  council  for  New  Engand  to  Robert  Trelawny  and  Moses 
Goodyear.  In  this  abstract  occurs  the  following:  "Robert  Trelawny,  surviv- 
ing Moses  Goodyear,  who  died  the  26th  day  of  March,  1637,  became  entitled 
to  the  whole  lands  granted  them  in  jointenancy."  This  is  a  clear  state- 
ment concerning  the  death  of  Moses  Goodyear,  Robert  Trelawny's  co-part- 
ner. Winter,  writing  to  Robert  Trelawny  at  Richmond's  island,  October  7, 
1640  {Trelawny  Papers,  243),  says  :  "and  they  [Thomas  Gorges  and  Richard 
Vines]  have  charged  their  bills  upon  Mr.  Moses  Goodyear,  of  Plymouth,  the 
elder",  etc.  Accordingly,  there  was  in  Plymonth,  in  1640,  a  Moses  Good- 
year, the  elder,  probably  the  father  of  Moses  Goodyear,  who  was  associated 
with  Robert  Trelawny  in  fishing  and  trading  operations  at  Richmond's 
island.  In  Worth's  History  of  Plymouth  [England],  312,  there  is  this 
record  :  "Moses  Goodyear,  merchant,  left  under  will  in  1663,  two  sums  of 
50^" — one  to  the  Hospital  of  Poor's  Portion,  and  the  other  to  the  Old  Alms- 


NUMEROUS   GRANTS  FOR   SETTLEMENTS.  213 

tions  than  they  as  yet  possessed.  Neither  Trelawny  nor  Good- 
year had  been  on  the  New  England  coast.  From  time  to  time, 
however,  others  whom  they  knew  had  made  their  way  hither  and 
returned.  When  Thomas  Cammock  was  in  England,  seeking  a 
grant  of  land  at  Black  Point,  he  visited  Robert  Trelawny  at  his 
fine  residence  in  the  vicinity  of  Plymouth.1  This  visit  gave  Tre- 
lawny a  favorable  opportunity  for  obtaining  desired  information 
with  reference  to  business  interests  upon  the  coast  of  Maine. 
Evidently  on  his  part  there  were  many  inquiries  concerning  loca- 
tions and  business  advantages.  To  Trelawny' s  questions  Cam- 
mock  had  ready  answers,  and  Richmond's  island  and  the  well- 
wooded  shores  of  Cape  Elizabeth  in  full  view  of  Black  Point  were 
doubtless  mentioned  as  possessing  just  those  advantages  that  Tre- 
lawny and  Goodyear  coveted  as  a  suitable  fishing  and  trading 
station. 

No  time  was  lost  by  these  enterprising  merchants  in  securing 
such  a  grant  as  Cammock  had  suggested,  and  favorable  action  by 
the  great  council  for  New  England  followed  December  1,  1631, 
just  one  month  after  the  grant  of  Black  Point  was  made  to  Cam- 
mock. The  grant  included  all  the  territory  between  the  grant 
made  to  Cammock  and  "the  bay  and  river  of  Casco,  extending 
and  to  be  extended  northwards  into  the  main  land  so  far  as  the 
limits  and  bounds  of  the  lands  granted  to  the  said  Captain  Thomas 
Cammock",  together  with  liberty  to  erect  and  maintain  stages 
and  places  for  preserving  fish  "in  and  upon  and  near  the  islands 
commonly  called  Richmond's  island2  and  all  other  islands  within 

house,  his  direction  being  that  these  sums  should  be  laid  out  in  the  purchase 
of  freehold  lands  for  these  two  charities. ' '  The  writer  is  inclined  to  consider 
the  Moses  Goodyear  of  this  record  as  Moses  Goodyear  the  elder,  and  the 
father  of  Moses  Goodyear,  who  died  in  1637.  This  will  is  in  the  manuscript 
collection  in  the  office  of  the  city  clerk  of  Plymouth.  It  should  be  added 
that  Moses  Goodyear  was  a  son-in-law  of  Abraham  Jennings,  the  first  owner 
of  Monhegan. 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  18. 

2  To  this  island  Champlain  gave  the  name  Isle  de  Bacchus  ( Voyages, 
Prince  Society,  II,  62).  Winthrop  says  Walter  Bagnall  was  living  on  Rich- 
mond's island  in  1627.     "Between  this  date  and  that  of  the  visit  of  Cham- 


214  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

or  near  the  limits  and  bounds  aforesaid,  which  are  not  formerly 
granted  to  the  said  Captain  Thomas  Cammock' '  .* 

It  will  be  noticed  that  only  the  use  of  Richmond's  island  was 
granted  to  Trelawny  and  Goodyear  by  the  patent.  The  reason 
for  this  limitation  is  doubtless  to  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
members  of  the  council,  or  at  least  some  of  them,  had  already 
committed  themselves  with  reference  to  the  disposition  of  Rich- 
mond's island;  for  on  the  following  day,  December  2,  1631, 2  a 
grant  of  that  island,  and  fifteen  hundred  acres  upon  the  main 
land,  was  made  by  the  council  to  Walter  Bagnall,  whose  connec- 
tion with  the  island  has  already  been  mentioned.  Bagnall,  it 
seems,  had  applied  for  a  grant  of  the  island,  and  doubtless  had 
secured  from  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  a  promise  that  the  grant 
should  be  made.  Gorges,  while  holding  to  his  promise,  evidently 
allowed  the  grant  to  Trelawny  and  Goodyear  to  be  recorded  in 
such  words  that  the  use  of  the  island  was  secured  to  them,  while 
the  title  was  held  by  Bagnall.  In  this  way  occasion  was  provided 
for  endless  controversies  and  troublesome  litigations.  Bagnall, 
however,  died  before  his  grant  was  made.  His  title,  therefore, 
lapsed  and  Trelawny  and  Goodyear  were  left  in  undisputed  posses- 
sion of  a  most  desirable  location  for  the  development  of  large 
business  plans  and  purposes. 

plain  in  1605" ,  says  Baxter  {George  Cleeve  of  Casco  Bay,  19,  20), '  'it  acquired 
its  name  of  Richman's  or  Richmond's  island.  Dim  and  uncertain  are  the 
glimpses  we  get  of  this  period.  We  have  the  names  of  several  men  who 
were  living  in  the  house  at  Casko  in  1630,  and  for  a  brief  moment  the  shadowy 
curtain  of  the  past  is  lifted,  revealing  to  us  one  George  Richmond  of  Bandon- 
Bridge  in  Ireland,  the  cradle  of  Puritanism  in  that  unfortunate  land  [Tre- 
lawny Papers,  143,  144),  but  he  suddenly  disappears,  leaving  us  perplexed 
and  disappointed.  Certain,  however,  is  it  that  George  Richmond  was  at 
the  head  of  some  enterprise,  which  employed  men;  which  required  the 
building  of  a  vessel  and  the  possession  of  a  considerable  stock  of  mer- 
chandise; and  there  seems  to  be  reason  to  believe  that  he  gave  his  name  to 
this  island,  which  was  soon  to  become  an  important  station  for  trade  and  a 
goal  to  which  ships  coming  upon  the  coast  should  direct  their  course' ' . 

1  Farnham  Papers,  1,  152-156. 

2  lb.,  162,  163. 


NUMEROUS   GRANTS   FOR  SETTLEMENTS.  215 

Concerning  the  grant  of  two  thousand  acres  of  land  at  Cape 
Porpoise  made  by  the  council  for  New  England  to  John  Stratton, 
December  2,  1631,  we  have  little  information.     Baxter  says  Strat- 
ton came  hither  from  Shotley,  Suffolk  county,  England.1     The 
earlier  settlers,  as  the  reader  already  has  noticed,  sought  the  islands 
on  the  coast  before  establishing  themselves  upon  the  main  land  ; 
and  in  all  probability,  before  Cammock  discovered  the  attractive- 
ness of  Black  Point,  Stratton  was  in  possession  of  the  two  islands2 
off  Cammock' s  location,  and  already  known  as  Stratton 's  islands. 
But  when  Cammock  returned  to  England   in   order  to  secure  a 
grant  of  Black  Point,  Stratton,  possibly  after  consultation  with 
Cammock,  was  impressed  with  the  desirability  of  seeking  in  his 
own  right  a  place  for  settlement  on  the  main  land.     Cape  Porpoise 
was  not  far  away,  and  possessed  advantages  for  fishing  and  trade 
that  a  man  of  Stratton 's  experience  was  not  likely  to  overlook. 
Application,  accordingly,  was  made  for  a  grant  of  that  location. 
The  patent  as  issued  gave  to  Stratton  two  thousand  acres,  "but- 
ting upon  the  south  side  of  border  of  the  river  or  creek  called  by 
the  name  of  Cape  Porpus,  and  on  the  other  side  northwards  creek 
mouth  of  Cape  Porpus,  into  the  south  side  of  the  harbor's  mouth 
of  Cape  Porpus  aforesaid,  with    all   commodities    and    privileges 
proper  for  his  necessary  occasions,  as  by  his  said  grant  more  at 
large  appeareth".3     The  patent  itself,  however,  long  ago  disap- 
peared, and  that  which  "more  at  large"  would  appear  if  the  orig- 
inal grant,  or  a  copy,  had  been  preserved,  has  disappeared  with  it, 
and  only  the  above  abstract  of  the  limits  of  the  grant  has  come 
down    to    us.4     According   to   these   Records   the   considerations 
that  moved  the  members  of  the  council  to  make  the  grant  were 
that  Stratton  "had  lived  in  New  England  these  three  years  past" 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  199. 

2  The  larger  island  is  still  known  as  Stratton 's  island;  the  other  is  called 
Bluff  island. 

3  Farnham  Papers,  163,  164. 

4  Records  of  the  Great  Council,  Proceedings  of  the  American  Antiquarian 
Society,  1867,  100,  101. 


216  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE). 

and  had  expended  1,000^  in  transporting  cattle  hither,  providing 
care-takers,  etc.  It  is  not  thought  that  Stratton  lived  long  in  his 
new  settlement  as  his  name  is  on  the  list  of  inhabitants  in  Salem, 
Mass.,  in  1637.  His  "Stratton  islands",  he  conveyed  to  Thomas 
Cammock  in  1640.1  Of  his  Cape  Porpoise  grant,  he  was  dispos- 
sessed by  Thomas  Gorges,  who  as  the  deputy  governor  of  the 
Province  of  Maine  was  here  in  1640-1643,  representing  the  inter- 
ests of  his  cousin,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  in  the  government  of 
New  England.2  But  Stratton  may  not  have  regarded  this  as  a 
loss.  Winter,  writing  to  Trelawny  from  Richmond's  island,  July 
7,  1634,  mentioned  the  large  number  of  new  arrivals  from  Eng- 
land, but  adds,  "they  all  set  themselves  in  the  bay  of  Massachu- 
setts". It  is  possible  that  Stratton  abandoned  his  acres  at  Cape 
Porpoise  in  order  to  join  those  who  were  making  their  way 
towards  the  more  flourishing  Massachusetts  settlements. 

On  the  same  day,  December  2,  163 1,3  the  council  for  New 
England  granted  to  Ferdinando  Gorges,  Lieut.  Col.  Walter  Nor- 
ton and  others,  twelve  thousand  acres  of  land  on  each  side  of  the 
Agamenticus  river,  together  with  one  hundred  acres  of  land 
adjoining  for  each  colonist  transported  thereto  within  the  next 
seven  years,  and  who  should  abide  there  three  years  "either  at 
one  or  several  times".4  The  location  was  a  peculiarly  attractive 
one.  Ferdinando  Gorges,  the  first  mentioned  of  the  grantees, 
was  the  son  and  heir  of  John  Gorges  of  London  and  the  grandson 
and  heir  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges.  Referring  in  his  Brief e  Nar- 
ration? to  this  grant,  Sir  Ferdinando  says  that  Lieut.  Col.  Nor- 

1  York  Deeds,  I,  folios  85,  86. 

2  For  an  interesting  sketch  of  Thomas  Gorges,  and  also  his  will,  see  Bax- 
ter, Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  186-192. 

3  "On  account  of  changes  among  the  grantees  a  new  patent  of  nearly  the 
same  tenure  was  issued  March  12,  1632. ' '     Farnham  Papers,  I,  159. 

4  Farnham  Papers,  159-161.  Concerning  a  renewal  of  the  grant  to  Fydward 
Godfrey  and  others  in  1639,  see  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  Colonial  Series,  I, 
266.  Search  for  the  original  of  the  grant  of  December  2,  1631,  has  not  been 
rewarded. 

5  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  57. 


NUMEROUS  GRANTS  FOR   SETTLEMENTS.  217 

ton,  "strongly  suggested  to  the  business  of  plantation",  made 
him  acquainted  with  his  plans  and  purposes,  and  asked  his  aid  in 
obtaining  a  patent,  expressing  at  the  same  time  his  desire  that 
Sir  Ferdinando  himself  would  consent  to  become  "an  undertaker 
with  him' ' .  Gorges  declined  any  such  close  personal  connection 
with  the  enterprise,  but  showed  his  deep  interest  in  it  by  making 
his  grandson,  Ferdinando  Gorges,  his  representative  in  connec- 
tion with  the  undertaking.  A  further  glimpse  of  the  enterprise 
Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  records  in  these  words:  "Hereupon  he 
[lyieut.  Col.  Norton]  and  some  of  his  associates  hastened  to  take 
possession  of  their  territories,  carrying  with  them,  their  families, 
and  other  necessary  provisions,  and  I  sent  over  for  my  son  my 
nephew,  Captain  William  Gorges,  who  had  been  my  lieutenant 
in  the  fort  of  Plymouth,  with  some  other  craftsmen  for  the  build- 
ing of  houses,  and  erecting  of  saw-mills".1 

The  hopes  of  Gorges  with  reference  to  his  interests  here  were 
greatly  strengthened  by  this  plantation  on  the  Agamenticus.  At 
the  first  his  thoughts  with  reference  to  an  English  settlement 
within  the  limits  of  his  domain  had  centered  in  the  region  of  the 
Sagadahoc.  More  and  more  they  were  centered  here.  The  town 
that  sprang  up  on  the  banks  of  the  Agamenticus,  and  at  first  was 
known  as  Agamenticus,  received  at  length  from  Gorges  the  name 
Gorgeana.  L,ater,  it  came  to  be  known  as  York,  the  name  L,evett 
gave  to  his  settlement  in  Casco  bay  in  honor  of  York,  England, 
his  birthplace,  and  which  now  was  again  bestowed  to  commem- 
orate on  this  side  of  the  sea  that  historic  English  town. 

Having  made  this  grant  near  the  southern  limit  of  what  is  now 
known  as  the  State  of  Maine,  the  council  for  New  England 
returned  to  that  part  of  the  Maine  coast  which  earliest  received  its 
attention;  and  on  February  29,  1631,  issued  to  Robert  Aldworth 
and  Giles  Elbridge  a  patent  conveying  twelve  thousand  acres  of 
land  "to  be  laid  out  near  the  river  commonly  called  or  known  by 
the  name  of  Pemaquid".  The  grant  also  included,  as  in  the 
Agamenticus  grant  and  upon  the  same  conditions,  one  hundred 

1  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  aud  his  Province  of  Maine,  58. 


218  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

acres  of  land  for  each  person  transported  thither  by  those  receiv- 
ing the  grant  of  twelve  thousand  acres.  The  grant  was  made 
more  specific  by  the  statement  that  the  twelve  thousand  acres 
were  to  be  located  '  'next  adjoining  to  the  lands  where  the  people 
or  the  servants  of  the  said  Robert  Aldworth  and  Giles  Elbridge 
are  now  seated  or  have  inhabited  for  the  space  of  three  years  last 
past.1 

In  these  words  there  is  clear  evidence  of  the  growth  of  coloniz- 
ing efforts  on  this  part  of  the  Maine  coast.  Robert  Aldworth  and 
Giles  Elbridge  have  already  been  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  sale  of  Monhegan,  which  they  purchased  in  1626  of  Abraham 
Jennings.  Aldworth  and  Elbridge,  prominent  merchants  in  Bris- 
tol, England,  bought  the  island  for  the  purpose  of  securing  greater 
advantages  in  the  prosecution  of  their  business  interests.  They 
now  sought  to  enlarge  these  interests  by  establishing  their  varied 
operations  on  the  main  land.  In  fact,  they  seem  already,  in  part 
at  least,  to  have  transferred  their  business  interests  thither,  and 
only  needed  enlarged  opportunities  and  facilities  in  order  to 
develop  a  prosperous  English  community  on  American  soil.  In 
all  probability  they  had  received  advice  and  encouragement  in 
these  proceedings  from  Abraham  Shurt,  whom  they  sent  hither 
as  their  agent  in  the  purchase  of  Monhegan.  A  resident  of  Pema- 
quid,  he  had  been  there  long  enough  to  become  familiar  with  the 
advantages  which  the  place  offered  for  business  purposes,  and 
for  introducing  colonists  to  favorable  locations  for  settlement. 
Unquestionably,  too,  large  land-ownership  had  its  attractiveness 
to  English  eyes.  In  all  probability,  also,  the  issue  of  the  Mus- 
congus  grant  of  the  preceding  year  was  not  without  influence 
upon  Aldworth  and  Elbridge.  They  lost  no  time,  therefore,  in 
securing  from  the  council  for  New  England  the  grant  that  meant 

1  Farnham  Papers,  165-172.  A  certified  copy  of  this  patent,  made  on 
parchment  for  notarial  purposes,  is  in  the  library  of  the  American  Antiqua- 
rian Society  at  Worcester,  Mass.  In  1737,  the  patent  was  recorded  at  York. 
See  manuscript  volume  of  York  Deeds,  XVIII,  folios  112-114.  The  original 
has  disappeared. 


NUMEROUS    GRANTS    FOR   SETTLE MENTS.  219 

so   much,   to   them   in    connection    with    their    varied    business 
interests. 

The  date  of  the  grant  is  noteworthy,  as  it  was  issued  by  the 
council  on  February  29,  and  therefore  in  leap  year.1  Its  limits, 
also,  are  noteworthy  because  of  their  indefiniteness.  The  grant 
was  to  be  laid  out  "near  the  river  commonly  called  or  known  by 
the  name  of  Pemaquid",  and  "along  the  sea  coast  as  the  coast 
lyeth,  and  so  up  the  river  as  far  as  may  contain  the  said  twelve 
thousand  acres".  If  there  were  difficulties  in  determining  the 
bounds  of  a  grant  thus  laid  out,  the  difficulties  were  easily 
removed,  according  to  a  deposition  made  by  Abraham  Shurt 
December  25,  1662.  Shurt  was  then  about  fourscore  years  old, 
and  his  memory  was  not  good  when  he  mentioned  dates  ;  but  he 
seems  to  have  been  clear  in  his  recollection  that  when  Captain 
Walter  Xeale.  at  the  request  of  Aldworth  and  Elbridge,  placed 
him  in  possession  of  the  twelve  thousand  acres,  the  grant  was 
made  to  extend  "from  the  head  of  the  river  of  Damariscotta  to 
the  head  of  the  river  of  Muscongus  and  between  it  to  the  sea. 

Damariscove  was  included  as  belonging  to  Pemaquid, 

it  being  an  island  situate  and  lying  within  three  leagues  of  Pema- 
quid Point".2 

Another  matter  of  interest  in  connection  with  the  grant  is  the 
provision  it  contained  for  the  establishment  of  civil  government 
within  its  limits,  the  grantees  being  given  authority  for  incorpora- 
tion "by  some  usual  and  fit  name  and  title,  with  liberty 

to  make  orders,  laws,  ordinances  and  constitutions  for  the  rule, 
government,  ordering  and  directing  of  all  persons  to  be  trans- 
ported and  settled  upon  lands  hereby  granted,  intended  to  be 
granted  or  hereafter  to  be  granted' ' .  With  the  increase  of  set- 
tlers, the  need  of  laws  and  the  administration  of  law  would  read- 
ily appear,  and  the  inference  doubtless  is  not  unwarranted  that 
this  provision  was  included  in   the   patent  at  the  suggestion  of 

1  February  29,  1631,  is  old  style. 

2  Report  of  Commissioners  to  Investigate  the  Causes  of  the  Difficulties  in 
the  County  of  Lincoln,  40. 


220  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

Abraham  Shurt,  who,  from  what  is  known  concerning  him,  may- 
be regarded  as  standing  for  law  and  order  at  Pemaquid  and 
vicinity.1 

1  Farnham  Papers,  170.  There  was  much  complaint  of  the  prevalence  of 
lawlessness  in  the  early  settlements.  Winter,  writing  to  Robert  Trelawny 
from  Richmond's  island,  June  26,  1635,  said  :  "Here  lacks  good  government 
in  the  land,  for  a  great  many  men  deal  very  ill  here  for  want  of  govern- 
ment."    Trelawny  Papers ',  61 . 


JiyVlftiyrvyJ'' 

C  ;._  fry-/1  tyofd^   t/UWllft- 


■  m>\ 


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J- 


'  Uv  .         H       Jfi     ,  J?S  •    /  to 

> 


,  ^Jojja..        t,„, 


Affidavit  of  Richard  Vines  and  Henry  Josselyn,  October  3,  1640. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Some  Settlement  Ceashings. 

BUT  what  of  Cleeve  and  Tucker,  who  in  their  cabin  on  the 
Spurwink  soon  received  from  Winter,  the  agent  of  Tre- 
lawny  and  Goodyear,  orders  to  quit?  Although  Tucker 
had  purchased  of  Richard  Bradshaw  his  claim  to  the  land,  and 
had  been  placed  in  legal  possession  of  the  same  by  Captain  Walter 
Neale,  the  representative  of  the  council  for  New  England  in  such 
transactions,  Winter  denied  that  Neale  had  any  authority  for  such 
a  delivery,  and  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  council  for 
New  England  had  assigned  and  confirmed  the  grant  that  he  had 
exhibited  to  the  claimants.  Moreover,  as  to  Cleeve's  assertion  of 
a  pre-emption  right,  because  of  a  promise  made  by  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  Winter  refused  to  listen,  insisting  that  it  had  no  founda- 
tion inasmuch  as  Cleeve  could  show  neither  when  nor  where  the 
promise  was  made.1 

Winter  arrived  at  Richmond's  island  about  April  17,  1632. 2  It 
was  stated  in  the  patent  he  brought  that  possession  of  the  territory 
granted  by  it  was  to  be  given  by  Walter  Neale,  Henry  Josselyn 
and  Richard  Vines,  "or  any  of  them".  The  mention  of  Walter 
Neale  is  against  Winter's  contention  as  to  the  services  of  Neale 
in  connection  with  Richard  Bradshaw' s  grant ;  and  it  may  have 
been  on  this  account  that  Winter  secured  the  services  of  Richard 
Vines  in  placing  Trelawny  and  Goodyear  in  legal  possession  of 
the  territory.  This  formal  action  was  not  taken  until  July  21, 8 
or  about  three  months  after  Winter's  arrival.  Trelawny  says  that 
permission  was  given  to  Cleeve  and  Tucker  "to  enjoy  a  first  and 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  229,  230. 

2  lb.,  18. 

3  lb.,  17. 


222  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF    COLONIAL    MAINE. 

second  crop"  1  before  leaving  the  Spurwink  ;  and  Winter  makes 
the  added  statement  concerning  his  conferences  with  the  dispos- 
sessed parties  that  he  proffered  to  Cleeve — if  he  so  pleased — an 
opportunity  to  become  a  tenant  of  Robert  Trelawny  "in  some 
other  part  of  his  land",  and  "on  such  conditions"  as  he  (Winter) 
should  make.2  Cleeve 's  ready  response  to  this  offer,  "that  he 
would  be  tenant  to  never  a  man  in  New  England",3  was  a  mani- 
festation of  an  independent,  freedom-loving  spirit  that  evidently 
was  characteristic  of  the  man.  In  leaving  England  and  making 
his  way  hither,  he  had  turned  his  back  upon  a  system  of  tenancy 
with  whose  practical  workings  he  was  familiar,  and  the  evils  of 
which  he  desired  to  escape.  He  had  caught  the  breath  of  a  new 
era,  and  animated  by  it  he  exhibited  an  uprising  of  soul  and  an 
assertion  of  personal  freedom  that  often  in  later  years  found 
expression  among  British  colonists  upon  American  soil,  and  espe- 
cially in  those  battle  years  that  witnessed  the  colonists'  protracted 
struggle  for  American  independence. 

The  work  Winter  had  planned  for  himself  in  this  preliminary 
visit  to  Richmond's  island  was  now  accomplished.  He  had  placed 
Trelawny  and  Goodyear  in  possession  of  their  lands,  and  had 
gained  information  that  would  be  valuable  in  securing  men  and 
materials  for  such  fishing  and  trading  operations  as  his  employers 
had  in  view  when  they  secured  their  grant  from  the  council  for 
New  England.  Accordingly,  leaving  their  interests  in  the  care 
of  a  few  men  whom  he  found  at  Casco,  and  were  available  for 
such  a  purpose,  Winter  sailed  for  Plymouth,  England,  well  satis- 
fied with  the  success  he  had  already  achieved. 

In  the  autumn  that  followed,  Cleeve  and  Tucker  gathered  their 
little^harvest  at  the  Spurwink,  and  then  came  the  long,  cold  win- 
ter. It  afforded  them  time  for  needed  deliberation  with  reference 
to  the  course  they  should  pursue  under  their  changed  circum- 
stances.    It  was  evident  that  little  was  to  be  expected  from  any 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  102. 

2  lb.,  230. 

3  lb.,  265. 


SOME  SETTLEMENT  CLASHINGS.  223 

added  assertion  of  territorial  rights  supposed  to  have  been  secured 
by  Tucker  in  his  purchase  from  Bradshaw.  Tucker  had  nothing 
to  show  that  the  Bradshaw  claim  rested  upon  any  valid  grounds. 
The  patent  under  which  Bradshaw  had  been  given  possession  of 
Cape  Elizabeth  territory  should  have  been  transferred  to  Tucker 
in  connection  with  that  transaction ;  but  evidently  this  was  not 
done.  No  mention  whatever  is  made  of  it  either  by  Tucker  or 
Cleeve,  and  the  patent  does  not  seem  to  have  been  at  any  time  in 
Tucker's  possession.  As  also  little  prospect  of  a  successful  con- 
test was  afforded  by  Cleeve' s  claim  to  Cape  Elizabeth  territory  on 
the  ground  of  a  promise  from  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  Cleeve  and 
Tucker  decided  to  abandon  their  coveted  location  on  the  Spur- 
wink  and  seek  a  place  of  settlement  elsewhere.  The  neighboring 
coast,  both  southward  and  northward,  was  doubtless  familiar  to 
them.  Possibly  there  was  added  exploration  of  suggested  loca- 
tions. At  all  events,  when  the  spring  opened  the  question  of 
location  had  been  settled,  and  on  "Winter's  reappearance  at  Rich- 
mond's island  on  his  return  from  England,  March  2,  1633, *  prepa- 
rations for  removal  had  been  made.  A  boat  borrowed  from  Win- 
ter2 carried  their  few  household  goods.  In  it,  also,  embarked 
Cleeve,  his  wife  Joan,  daughter  Elizabeth,  and  servant,  Oliver 
Weeks,  together  with  Richard  Tucker,  Cleeve' s  partner  in  the 
new  enterprise  as  he  had  been  in  that  now  closed.  Passing 
between  Richmond's  island  and  the  main  land,  doubtless  with 
many  lingering  glances  backward  while  the  shore  line  as  far  as 
Black  Point  was  still  in  view,  they  soon  rounded  the  rocky  head- 
land now  crowned  by  the  white  towers  of  the  Cape  Elizabeth 
lights  and  skirting  the  eastern  shore  of  the  cape  at  length  entered 
the  beautiful  harbor,  which  L,evett  discovered  ten  years  before, 
and  on  whose  shores  he  had  purposed  to  establish  his  settlement. 
But  Cleeve  made  no  tarrying  at  the  island  on  which  L,evett 
erected  his  fortified  house.  Farther  up  the  bay  was  the  location 
he  sought.     Already  it  was  coming  into  view — a  peninsula  heavily 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  22. 

2  lb.,  265. 


224  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

wooded,  elevated  at  either  extremity,  and  attractive  in  all  its  out- 
lines. In  the  valley  separating  its  hilly  extremities,  a  brook 
hastened  on  its  way  to  the  waters  of  the  harbor.  The  Indians 
called  the  place  Machegonne.  An  authority  on  Abenaki  words 
says  the  designation  signifies  a  bad  or  worthless  camp.1  Such, 
however,  was  not  the  camp  that  Cleeve  now  made  for  himself  and 
his  companions.  Certainly  a  more  favorable  location  for  a  settle- 
ment could  not  be  desired.  Here  was  a  harbor  deeper,  more  spa- 
cious and  more  easily  accessible  than  could  be  found  at  most 
places  along  the  coast.  Here,  too,  were  advantages  for  fishing 
interests  and  for  traffic  with  the  Indians  such  as  even  Richmond's 
island  did  not  possess.  The  whole  scene  was  animating,  inspir- 
ing ;  and  directing  his  boat  into  a  small  cove  on  the  harbor  front 
of  Machegonne,  near  the  outlet  of  Machegonne' s  brook,  Cleeve 
landed  his  little  company  and  entered  upon  what  he  hoped  would 
prove  a  permanent  abode.2  Hard  work  he  must  expect,  but  from 
hard  work  he  did  not  shrink.  An  opening  at  once  was  made  in 
the  fair  forest,  extending  back  from  the  pebbly  beach,  and  it  was 
not  long  before  the  beginnings  of  a  comfortable  settlement  were 
easily  discoverable. 

But  what  security  had  Cleeve  and  Tucker  that  they  would  be 
allowed  to  remain  at  Machegonne  unmolested  ?  In  both,  the  ques- 
tion must  have  awakened  anxious  thoughts  as  often  as  it  recurred . 
An  announcement  by  Winter,  that  Machegonne  was  within  the 
limits  of  the  Trelawny  patent,  doubtless  first  occasioned  anxiety. 
How  soon  the  announcement  was  made  after  Cleeve  and  Tucker 
established  themselves  at  Machegonne  is  not  known.  Robert 
Trelawny,  in  a  letter  to  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  written  in  the 
early  part  of  1637,  complained  of  Cleeve' s  encroachment  upon 
"lands  he  is  now  planted  on,  being  mine  by  patent",8  and  asked 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  225. 

2  Willis,  History  of  Portland,  46,  says  Cleeve  and  Tucker  erected  their 
house  on  the  corner  of  Hancock  and  Fore  streets.  Their  cornfield  extended 
westerly  toward  Clay  cove.  The  location  is  fixed  by  a  comparison  of  several 
documents  cited  by  Willis. 

3  Trelawny  Papers,  104. 


SOME)   SETTLEMENT   CEASHINGS.  225 

assistance  in  removing  him  from  the  Trelawny  acres,  which  he 
claimed  extended  "about  two  miles  up  in  the  river  of  Casco 
beyond  his  [Cleeve's]  dwelling".  Unquestionably  Winter  was 
authority  for  the  statement.  His  correspondence  with  Trelawny 
shows  that  he  regarded  Cleeve  at  Machegonne  as  still  trespassing 
upon  the  Trelawny  grant.  Plainly  this  was  a  misrepresentation 
upon  Winter's  part.  In  a  description  of  the  grant  which  Winter 
had  sent  to  Trelawny,  Machegonne  found  no  place.  In  fact,  the 
patent  itself,  which  made  "the  bay  and  river  of  Casco"  the 
northern  limit  of  the  Trelawny  patent,  should  have  made  the  mis- 
representation impossible. 

But  there  were  other  considerations  that  impressed  upon  Cleeve 
and  Tucker  the  importance  of  obtaining  as  soon  as  possible  a  valid 
title  to  the  territory  upon  which  they  had  located  at  Machegonne. 
In  this  undertaking,  as  in  the  troubles  at  Spurwink,  Cleeve  was 
most  in  evidence.  The  difficulties  of  the  situation  he  well  under- 
stood, but  they  must  be  surmounted.  First  of  all  he  turned1  to 
the  proclamation  of  James  I,  offering  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres 
of  land  to  any  of  the  king's  subjects,  who  at  his  own  expense 
should  make  his  way  to  the  American  coast  with  the  purpose  of 
establishing  a  home  there  ;  also  the  same  number  of  acres  to  any 
person  whom  he  should  bring  with  him.  Little  encouragement, 
however,  could  he  have  received  from  that  source.  Not  only  had 
the  king  died  and  in  all  probability  his  proclamation  with  him, 
but  Machegonne  had  been  granted  to  Levett,  and  claim  to  posses- 
sion under  such  circumstances  needed  some  valid  support. 

As  has  already  been  stated,  Levett  died  at  sea  in  1630.  In  all 
probability  Cleeve  commenced  an  early  search  with  reference  to 
the  ownership  of  Levett' s  patent.     Maverick  says2  it  was  pur- 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  108. 

2  This  is  Maverick's  record:  "About  the  year  1632  [1623]  there  was  a 
patent  granted  to  one  Captain  Christopher  Levett  for  6000  acres  of  land 
which  he  took  up  in  this  bay  [Casco  bay]  near  Cape  Elizabeth,  and  built  a 
good  house  and  fortified  well  on  an  island  lying  before  Casco  river.  This 
he  sold  and  his  interest  in  the  patent  to  Mr.  Ceeley,  Mr.  Jope  and  Company 
of  Plymouth".     Proceedings  of  Mass.  Hist.  Society,  Series  II,  1,  232. 

15 


226  THK   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINS. 

chased  by  some  Plymouth  merchants.  If  so,  it  was  after  I^evett's 
death  probably.  Whether  the  patent  remained  in  their  hands,  or 
was  sold  to  other  parties,  is  unknown.  Another  owner  of  the 
patent,  however,  is  mentioned  by  Robert  Trelawny  in  a  letter  to 
Gorges  in  which  he  complains  of  Cleeve  as  going  about  "under  a 
dead  and  outworn  title  to  out  me  of  the  best  part  of  my  patent, 
being  that  on  which  he  is  seated  and  a  great  part  thereabout,  say- 
ing it  was  formerly  granted  to  one  L,evite  [Levett]  and  by  him  to 
one  Wright."1  It  might  be  inferred  from  these  words  that  when 
this  letter  was  written  Trelawny  supposed  that  Cleeve,  through 
Wright  or  some  other  party,  had  secured  possession  of  L,evett's 
grant.  There  is  no  evidence,  however,  that  this  was  the  fact.  In 
all  probability  the  impression  Trelawny  had  received  had  no  other 
foundation  than  Winter's  report  of  some  careless  remark  made  by 
Cleeve,  in  denying  that  Machegonne  was  within  the  limits  of 
Trelawny 's  patent.  Certainly  L,evett's  patent,  so  far  as  is  known, 
was  never  in  Cleeve 's  possession. 

But  this  was  not  the  only  claim  made  by  Winter  for  territory 
not  included  in  Trelawny' s  patent.  Walter  Neale,  in  laying  out 
Cammock's  grant,  made  the  Spurwink  river  Cammock's  eastern 
boundary ;  and  this  fact  was  recognized  by  Winter,2  only  he 
insisted  that  the  boundary  was  not  to  be  found  in  the  windings  of 
the  Spurwink,  but  in  a  line  drawn  due  north  from  the  mouth  of 
the  river.  Such  a  boundary  would  include  in  the  Trelawny  grant 
some  desirable  grass  lands  which  otherwise  would  be  included  in 
Cammock's  territory. 

In  the  summer  of  1635,  Winter  left  the  Richmond's  island 
interests  of  his  employers  in  the  care  of  a  subordinate,  and  took 
passage  for  England.  His  correspondence  with  Trelawny  throws 
no  light  upon  the  occasion  of  his  visit,  which  seems  to  have  been 
arranged  somewhat  suddenly.  On  his  arrival,  however,  he  was 
not  likely  to  put  first  things  last.  His  quarrel  with  Cammock 
was  evidently  the  matter  that  was  most  prominent  in  his  thoughts, 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  102,  103. 

2  Trelawny  Papers,  63. 


some;  settlement  clashings.  227 

and  he  doubtless  sought  an  early  opportunity  in  which  to  present 
his  side  of  the  case  to  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges.  Gorges,  however, 
would  not  give  any  decision  without  hearing  from  Cammock,  and 
Winter,  who  had  urged  his  views  with  his  usual  vigor,  doubtless 
was  assured  in  diplomatic  terms  that  a  settlement  of  the  matter 
would  follow  in  due  time,  also  official  recognition  of  Winter. 

Undoubtedly  Winter  made  much  of  this  interview  on  his  return 
to  Richmond's  island  in  May,  1636.  When,  however,  the 
announcement  of  the  settlement  came,  it  was  found  that  Cammock 
was  left  in  the  possession  of  the  territory  he  claimed;  but  "for 
the  better  settling  and  satisfaction  of  both  parties",  Gorges  gave 
directions  for  an  enlargement  of  the  Trelawny  grant  by  the  addi- 
tion of  two  thousand  acres  more  "towards  the  river  of  Casco". 
Gorges  also  directed  that  to  John  Winter,  "governor  of  Mr.  Tre- 
lawny's  people",  there  should  be  given  "such  authority  as  hath 
the  rest  of  the  justices  in  these  my  limits,  that  thereby  he  may  be 
the  better  enabled  to  second  and  further  the  peaceable  happiness 
of  what  belongs  unto  me".1 

This  announcement,  and  especially  Gorges'  recognition  of  Win- 
ter as  an  official  of  some  importance,  very  naturally  increased 
Cleeve's  apprehensions  of  insecurity  at  Machegonne,  and  im- 
pressed him  strongly  with  the  necessity  of  prompt  and  strenuous 
action  in  seeking  to  protect  his  interests  there.  Accordingly,  he 
decided  to  proceed  at  once  to  England,  in  order  to  present  his 
case  to  Gorges  in  person. 

There  is  no  information  concerning  the  way  in  which  Cleeve 
journeyed.  Trading  and  fishing  vessels  had  long  been  accus- 
tomed to  anchor  in  the  harbor  at  Machegonne.  On  one  of  these 
doubtless  he  embarked.  Funds  he  would  not  lack,  inasmuch  as 
his  opportunities  for  traffic  with  the  Indians  must  have  furnished 
him  with  whatever  was  necessary  for  such  a  journey.  On  his 
arrival  in  England  he  lost  no  time  in  seeking  an  interview  with 
Gorges.  Unquestionably  he  reminded  the  aged  knight  of  the 
encouragement  he  received  in  the  promise  of  a  grant  of  land  when 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  98,  99. 


228  THK   BEGINNINGS  OP*   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

he  was  inquiring  with  reference  to  settling  in  New  England,  and 
in  accordance  with  which  he  concluded  to  seek  his  fortune  in  the 
new  world.  Then  followed  the  story  of  his  location  on  the  banks 
of  the  Spurwink,  of  his  ejection  by  Winter  and  of  his  removal 
to  Machegonne  ;  also  of  his  need  of  security  there.  It  was  a 
straightforward,  earnest  appeal,  and  it  found  favor  with  Sir  Fer- 
dinando.  Soon  after  the  opening  of  the  new  year — January  27, 
1637 — Gorges  issued  a  patent  to  George  Cleeve  and  Richard 
Tucker  "of  a  neck  of  land  called  by  the  Indians  Machegonne  and 
now  and  forever  from  henceforth  to  be  called  or  known  by  the 
name  of  Stagomor,1  and  so  along  the  same  westwardly  as  it  tend- 
eth  to  the  first  fall  of  a  little  river  issuing  out  of  a  very  small 
pond,  and  from  thence  over  land  to  the  falls  of  Pessumpsca  [Pre- 
sumpscot] ,  being  the  first  falls  in  that  river  upon  a  straight  line 
containing  by  estimation  from  fall  to  fall  as  aforesaid  near  about 

one  English  mile estimated  in  the  whole  to  be  fifteen 

hundred  acres  or  thereabout,  as  also  an  island  adjacent 

commonly  called  or  known  by  the  name  of  Hog  island".2 

This  grant  to  Cleeve  and  Tucker,  it  will  be  noticed,  did  not 
proceed  from  the  council  for  New  England,  but  from  Gorges  him- 
self. The  council  for  New  England  was  in  a  moribund  condition. 
Its  recent  activity  in  making  grants  of  land  was  not  evidence  of 
new,  vigorous  life  in  the  council  itself,  following  years  of  great 
and  increasing  discouragement  in  its  colonizing  efforts  in  New 
England  ;  but  rather  was  it  evidence  of  the  pressure  brought  upon 
its  members  either  by  those  whose  business  interests  sought  new 

1  Stagomor  (the  modern  Stogumber),  in  Somersetshire,  England,  was  the 
birthplace  of  John  Winter  and  Richard  Tucker,  the  former  having  been 
christened  January  9,  1575,  and  the  latter  January  22,  1594.  This  name,  des- 
ignated by  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  could  hardly  have  been  acceptable  to 
Cleeve,  even  though  Stagomor  was  the  birthplace  of  Tucker  as  well  as  of 
Winter.  "Not  far  away  is  Cleeve  and  Cleeve  Bay,  suggestive  certainly  of 
the  early  home  of  the  Cleeve  family,  though  of  this  there  is  no  existing 
proof. ' '  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  has  an 
interesting  note  concerning  Stagomor,  I,  175. 

2  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  216-221.  Strictly  it  was  a  lease  "to  the  end  and 
full  term  of  two  thousand  years". 


SOME   SETTLEMENT   CLASHINGS.  229 

fields  for  enlargement,  or  by  those  whose  hopes  for  themselves 
and  for  their  families  prompted  them  to  seek  new  homes  and 
larger  opportunities  on  this  side  of  the  sea.  In  a  word,  the  coun- 
cil was  ill  constituted  for  conditions  then  existing  in  England. 
Its  members  stood  with  the  king  in  his  struggle  to  maintain  the 
prerogatives  to  which  Charles  so  tenaciously  clung ;  while  in  the 
country  at  large  the  sympathies  of  the  people  in  increasing  num- 
bers were  with  those  who  had  arrayed  themselves  in  opposition  to 
the  king.  It  was  not  yet  civil  war,  but  the  country  in  its  opposi- 
tion to  a  king  ruling  without  a  Parliament,  levying  taxes  illegally, 
raising  money  by  the  sale  of  monopolies  and  in  such  other  ways 
as  ingenuity  and  government  distress  could  invent,  was  fast  drift- 
ing toward  it.1 

Few  of  the  members  of  the  council  now  attended  its  meetings  ; 
but  these  few  proceeded  to  carry  into  effect  a  plan  which  involved 
a  surrender  of  the  great  charter  of  the  council  with  the  under- 
standing that  the  territory  covered  by  it  should  be  divided  among 
themselves,  a  scheme  at  least  suggestive  of  colossal  self-interest.2 
Such  a  division  took  place  in  Iyondon,  February  13,  1635,  when 
the  whole  territory  of  New  England,  beginning  "at  the  middle  of 
the  entrance  of  Hudson's  river  eastward",  following  along  the 
coast,  was  divided  into  eight  parts,  each  of  which,  except  the  last 
two,  was  to  have  an  additional  section  of  ten  thousand  acres  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Sagadahoc.  In  this  division  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges  received  the  territory  (assigned  to  him  by  the  council  in 
1622)  extending  from  the  Piscataqua  to  the  Kennebec,  and  then 
designated  as  the  Province  of  Maine.3 

1  "His  [Charles  I]  was  a  government  not  of  fierce  tyranny,  but  of  petty 
annoyances.  It  was  becoming  every  year  not  more  odious,  but  more  con- 
temptible. It  inspired  no  one  with  respect  and  very  few  with  good  will. 
In  1636  the  silence  of  the  crowds  which  witnessed  the  king's  entry  into 
Oxford  had  given  evidence  of  the  isolation  in  which  he  stood."  S.  R. 
Gardiner,  History  of  England,  VIII,  223. 

2  "Let  not  the  stockholders  in  modern  corporations  bemoan  the  degen- 
eracy of  morals  in  boards  of  directorship  in  these  prosaic  times!  Here  was 
a  scheme  worthy  of  a  Napoleonic  financier  of  the  nineteenth  century." 
Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine ,  I,  167. 

3  Farnham  Papers,  I,  183-188. 


230  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COEONIAI,  MAINE). 

To  regard  this  transaction  merely  as  one  of  official  aggrandize- 
ment, however,  would  be  to  lose  sight  of  the  real  purpose  that 
prompted  it.  The  royalist  party  in  England,  standing  in  closest 
relations  to  those  most  prominent  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church  of 
England,  had  for  some  time  looked  with  disfavor  upon  the  rapid 
growth  and  development  of  the  Massachusetts  bay  colony.  In 
its  beginnings  that  colony  attracted  little  attention  in  England  on 
the  part  of  high  officials  in  church  and  state.  Doubtless  its 
charter  received  the  approval  of  the  king,  either  as  a  matter  of 
formality  only,  or  as  opening  the  way  for  a  desirable  removal  of 
disaffected  people  to  distant  parts.  But  it  had  been  learned  that 
New  England  was  attracting  those — and  that,  too,  in  large  num- 
bers— whom  old  England  could  ill  afford  to  lose.  Moreover,  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts  bay  was  already  giving  evidence  of  such 
rapid  development  in  the  direction  of  self-government  as  to  attract 
the  attention  and  awaken  even  the  fears  of  those  who  were  fore- 
most in  the  counsels  of  the  royalist  party  in  England.  In  fact, 
as  early  as  1634,  probably  in  April  or  May,  in  order  that  the  gov- 
ernment might  assume  control  of  affairs  in  New  England,  the 
power  of  "protection  and  government"  of  the  English  colonies 
was  placed  by  the  king  in  the  hands  of  eleven  commissioners, 
prominent  among  whom  was  William  Laud,1  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury. These  commissioners  were  authorized  to  make  '  'laws  and 
orders  for  government  of  English  colonies  planted  in  foreign  parts, 
with  power  to  impose  penalties  and  imprisonment  for  offences  in 
ecclesiastical  matters  ;  to  remove  governors  and  require  an  account 
of  their  government ;  to  appoint  judges  and  magistrates  and  estab- 
lish courts  to  hear  and  determine  all  manner  of  complaints  from 
the  colonies  ;  to  have  power  over  all  charters  and  patents ;  and  to 
revoke  those  surreptitiously  obtained".2     Evidently  the  king  and 

1  Iyaud  was  a  man  of  learning  and  a  great  patron  of  learning,  but  he  was 
intolerant  in  the  highest  degree  and  used  his  position  in  enforcing  ecclesi- 
astical and  political  measures  that  were  extremely  obnoxious.  These  brought 
upon  him  popular  indignation  and  popular  condemnation,  and  he  was 
beheaded  January  10,  1645. 

2  Colonial  Papers,  Charles  I,  VIII,  No.  12,  Public  Records  Office,  Iyondon. 


SOME   SETTLEMENT   CEASHINGS.  231 

his  advisers  had  reached  the  conclusion  that  if  the  New  England 
colonists  were  to  take  to  themselves  "new  forms  of  ecclesiastical 
and  temporal  government",  the  people  of  England  would  be  likely 
before  long  to  insist  upon  the  same  rights ;  and  existing  tenden- 
cies were  plainly  in  that  direction. 

That  Gorges  not  only  was  in  close  sympathy  with  I^aud  and 
those  who  were  associated  with  him  in  this  new  movement,  but 
was  actively  engaged  in  promoting  it,  is  evident  from  a  letter  that 
he  addressed  to  the  king  May  12,  1634, 1  in  which  he  suggested 
that  New  England  should  be  divided  into  several  provinces,  to 
which  should  be  assigned  "governors  and  other  assistants  and 
officers  for  administration  of  public  justice  and  preservation  of  the 
common  peace".  He  also  suggested  that  "both  for  the  honor  of 
his  majesty  and  the  satisfaction  of  such  noble  and  generous  spirits 

as  willingly  interest  themselves  in  those  undertakings 

that  some  person  of  honor  may  be  assigned  under  the  title  of  lord 
governor,  or  lord  lieutenant,  to  represent  his  majesty  for  the  set- 
tling of  a  public  state".  Among  the  officers  regarded  by  Gorges 
as  "proper  to  such  a  foundation"  was  one  lord  bishop,  a  chancel- 
lor, a  treasurer,  a  marshal,  an  admiral,  a  master  of  the  ordnance 
and  a  secretary  of  state,  with  such  other  councilors  as  might  be 
thought  necessary.  In  other  words,  "government  of  the  people, 
by  the  people,  for  the  people' ' ,  already  established  in  New  Eng- 
land, was  to  disappear  ;  and  the  several  provinces,  by  which  evi- 
dently was  meant  the  eight  divisions  of  the  territory  already  made 
by  allotment  to  members  of  the  council,  were  to  be  governed  by 
officers  of  royal  appointment,  exercising  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
powers. 

These  suggestions  were  favorably  received  by  the  king,  and  in 
a  letter  to  Charles'  secretary,  Sir  Francis  Windebank,  dated  March 
21,  1635, 2  Gorges  gratefully  acknowledged  the  king's  gracious 
pleasure  in  assigning  him  to  the  governorship  of  New  England ; 
and   made  the   added   suggestion   that   expedition   "be  used   in 

1  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  III,  260-263. 

2  lb.,  273,  274. 


232  the;  beginnings  op  colonial  mains. 

repealing  of  the  patents  of  those  already  planted  in  the  bay  of 
Massachusetts,  that   there  be  not  just  cause  left  of   contention 

when  I  shall  arrive  in  those  parts".     Evidently  when 

Gorges  wrote  this  letter,  he  was  confidently  looking  for  the  fulfil- 
ment of  a  long  cherished  hope  in  connection  with  the  governorship 
of  all  New  England.  He  had  made  haste  in  preparing  "Consid- 
erations necessary  to  be  resolved  upon  in  settling  the  governor  for 
New  England"  ; 1  and  all  things  seemed  to  be  moving  in  the  direc- 
tion in  which  he  and  other  advisers  of  the  king  with  reference  to 
affairs  in  New  England  had  already  marked  out  in  their  plan. 

Thus  far  the  plan  had  unfolded  in  the  way  contemplated  by 
those  connected  with  it.  But  the  procedure  was  slow,  as  Laud 
found  in  the  affairs  of  England  alone  enough  to  occupy  his  atten- 
tion fully;  but  before  the  close  of  1634,  the  lords  commissioners 
issued  an  order2  placing  restrictions  on  emigration,  prohibiting 
any  one  of  sufficient  means  to  be  rated  as  "a  subsidy  man"  to  go 
to  New  England  without  a  special  license,  and  all  persons  of  less 
means  without  taking  the  oaths  of  supremacy  and  allegiance,  and 
securing  a  certificate  of  conformity  from  the  parish  minister. 

A  declaration  of  the  council  for  New  England,  giving  its  rea- 
sons for  the  surrender  of  its  charter,  followed,  May  5,  1635.  In 
this  declaration  a  direct  attack  was  made  upon  the  Massachu- 
setts bay  colonists  for  excluding  "themselves  from  the  public 
government  of  the  council  authorized  for  those  affairs  and  made 
themselves  a  free  people and  so  framed  unto  them- 
selves both  new  laws  and  new  conceits  of  matters  of  religion,  and 
forms  of  ecclesiastical  and  temporal  orders  and  government".8 

The  formal  act  of  the  council  in  surrendering  its  charter  to  the 
king  occurred  June  17,  1635. 4    Such  legal  difficulties  as  stood  in 

1  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  265-268. 

2  Gardiner,  History  of  England,  VIII,  167. 

3  Farnham  Papers,  I,  199. 

4  lb.,  203-205.  The  humble  petition  of  the  council  for  New  England  for 
the  act  of  surrender  of  the  great  patent  was  presented  to  Charles  I,  May  1, 
1635.  Farnham  Papers,  I,  201,  202.  The  council  took  action  concerning  it 
as  above. 


SOME   SETTLEMENT   CEASHINGS. 


233 


the  way  of  the  transaction  were  easily  removed  before  the  end  of 
the  year;  and  on  the  application  of  the  attorney  general,  the 
court  of  King's  Bench  declared  the  charter  of  the  Massachusetts 
bay  colony  to  be  null  and  void. 

This  last  action,  the  Massachusetts  bay  colonists  had  already 
foreseen.  In  the  various  transactions  leading  up  to  it,  reports  of 
which  soon  reached  them,  they  had  received  more  than  intima- 
tions of  the  peril  threatening  their  infant  liberties.  Opposition 
was  awakened,  and  this  not  only  found  expression  in  words,  but 
in  deeds.  As  early  as  March  4,  1635,  the  general  court  of  the 
colony  passed  an  order  "that  the  fort  at  Castle  island,  now  begun, 
shall  be  fully  perfected,  the  ordnances  mounted  and  every  other 
thing  about  it  finished";  and  to  this  end  the  deputy  governor  was 
authorized  "to  press  men  for  that  work  for  so  long  time  as  in  his 
discretion  he  shall  think  meet".2  A  military  commission,  also, 
was  appointed,  consisting  of  the  governor,  deputy  governor  and 
other  prominent  colonists,  who  were  empowered  "to  dispose  of 
all  military  affairs  whatsoever".  May  6,  the  commission  was 
given  additional  powers  such  as  "to  appoint  the  general  captain"; 
to  order  out  the  troops  "upon  any  occasion  they  think  meet;  to 
make  any  defensive  war  as  also  to  do  whatsoever  may  be  further 
behoofful  for  the  good  of  the  plantation  in  case  of  any  war".3 
September  3,  a  second  order  to  press  men  "to  help  towards  the 
finishing  of  the  fort  at  Castle  island"  was  passed  ;  and  March  3, 
1636,  fortifications  on  Fort  Hill  in  Boston,  also  in  Charlestown, 
were  authorized.  The  spirit  of  the  colonists  was  aroused,  but  to 
an  extent  of  which  the  colonial  records  make  no  mention. 

In  this  uncertain  state  of  affairs  both  at  home  and  in  New  Eng- 
land, Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  was  not  unmindful  of  his  Maine  pos- 
sessions, and  gave  them  such  consideration  as  was  in  his  power. 
Doubtless  again  and  again  representations  had  been  made  to  him 
by  Vines  and  others  that  there  was  need  of  some  kind  of  govern- 

1  Gardiner,  History  of  England,  VIII,  167. 

2  Records  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  I,  139. 

3  lb.,  I,  146. 


234  tun  BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAL  MAINS. 

mental  organization  in  the  province  for  the  proper  administration 
of  justice  between  man  and  man.  In  the  existing  condition  of 
political  matters  in  England,  on  account  of  a  feeling  of  loyalty 
Gorges  could  not  make  arrangements  that  would  take  him  out  of 
the  country ;  but  he  gave  his  nephew,  William  Gorges,  a  commis- 
sion as  governor  of  the  Province  of  New  Somersetshire  (the  new 
name  by  which  the  province  was  known),1  and  sent  him  hither  as 
his  representative. 

Upon  his  arrival  on  the  coast  in  the  early  part  of  1636,  he  seems 
to  have  taken  up  his  residence  in  Saco,  where  he  proceeded  with- 
out delay  to  organize  the  institutions  of  civil  government.  Espe- 
cially was  the  province  in  need  of  a  legal  tribunal  for  the  trial  of 
such  breaches  of  law  and  order  as  the  increase  of  settlers  upon 
the  coast  now  urgently  demanded.  Gorges  accordingly  estab- 
lished at  Saco  a  court  of  commissioners,  which  was  composed  of 
Governor  Gorges,  Captain  Richard  Bonython  of  Saco,  Captain 
Thomas  Cammock  and  Henry  Josselyn  of  Black  Point,  Thomas 
Purchase  of  Pejepscot,  Edward  Godfrey  of  Agamenticus  and 
Thomas  Lewis  of  Winter  Harbor.2  The  commissioners  were  sum- 
moned to  meet  at  Saco,  March  21,  1636,  and  court  was  opened  on 
that  day.  Some  simple  form  of  government  may  have  been  insti- 
tuted previously  at  Saco  by  the  settlers  themselves  ;  but  the  gov- 
ernment established  by  Governor  William  Gorges  was  the  first 
authorized  organization  attempted  in  the  province. 

In  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  province,  the  gov- 
ernor seems  to  have  made  a  favorable  impression.  He  remained  in 
the  country,  however,  a  very  short  time,  returning  to  England 
early  in  1637.  In  all  probability,  like  Robert  Gorges,  who  came 
over  in  1623  as  governor  and  lieutenant  general  of  New  England, 
William  Gorges  did  not  find  the  position  he  was  to  occupy  in  any 
way  congenial  to  him,  and  so  sought  an  early  release  from  the 
task  to  which  he  had  been  assigned. 

1  Winthrop,  in  his  mention  of  the  new  province,  makes  its  boundaries  from 
"Cape  Elizabeth  to  the  Sagadahoc".    Journal,  I,  176. 

2  Early  Records  of  Maine,  I,  1. 


SOME   SETTLEMENT   C^ASHINGS.  235 

When  Winter  arrived  in  England  in  the  summer  of  1635,  the 
council  for  New  England  had  surrendered  its  charter.     When  he 
returned  to  Richmond's  island  in  May  of  the  following  year,  the 
plans  of  L,aud  and  his  associates  with  reference  to  a  general  gov- 
ernment of  New  England  were  shaping   themselves  gradually. 
Sharing  the  views  of  Trelawny  and  the  royalist  and  prelatical 
parties,  Winter  probably  saw  no  peril  in  the  movements  in  this 
direction  which  he  must  have  seen  were  already  in  progress.     To 
him  these  suggested  an  order  of  things,  which  doubtless  he  looked 
upon  as  making  for  the  general  advancement  of  colonial  interests 
in  New  England.     As  to  what  Winter  on  his  return  said  concern- 
ing these  matters,  there  is  no  information ;  but  he  hardly  could 
have  remained  silent  with  reference  to  them.     In  all  probability 
something  directly  or  indirectly  reached  Cleeve  from  this  source. 
At  all  events  such  information  must  have  reached  him  from  other 
sources,  especially  from   the   Massachusetts   bay   colonists,  with 
whom  settlers  on  the  coast  of  Maine  were  now  in  frequent  com- 
munication.    Not  only  his  own   private  affairs,    therefore,    had 
determined  Cleeve  in  his  resolutions  to  make  his  way  at  once  to 
England,  but    a   better  understanding  with   reference   to  future 
prospects  as  to  governmental  relations    here  could    hardly  have 
been  absent  from  his  purposes.     Possibly,  too,  he  may  have  been 
moved  by  the  thought  that  in  such  new  relations  he  would  be 
able  to  secure  for  himself  some  official  position  that  would  be  help- 
ful to  him  in  connection  with  his  interests  at  Machegonne.     In  this 
he  was  much  more  successful  than  his  ambitions,  which  now  were 
beginning  to  dominate  him,  had  even  suggested.     He  soon  learned 
that  the  movement  to  place  Gorges  at  the  head  of  the  government 
of  New  England  was  still  unaccomplished.1     It  had  encountered 
obstacles  that  under  existing  circumstances  were  formidable,   if 
not  insurmountable.     While  not  relinquishing  further  endeavors 

1  Winthrop  says,  '  'The  I^ord  frustrated  their  designs" .  Journal,  1630-1649, 
edited  by  J.  K.  Hosmer,  I,  153.  Several  events  indicated  to  Winthrop 
divine  interpositions.  One  of  these  was  that  the  strong  new-built  ship,  that 
was    to  bring  Gorges  to  New  England  as  lord   governor,  fell   to  pieces  in 


236  The  beginnings  oE  colonial  mAine. 

Gorges  was  as  ready  as  ever  to  make  any  added  attempt  to 
advance  the  interests  of  New  Somersetshire  that  seemed  to  prom- 
ise success. 

Here  was  Cleeve's  opportunity  for  reaching  such  a  position  of 
influence  as  he  had  hoped  would  open  to  him  in  connection  with 
his  visit,  and  he  at  once  entered  into  close  relations  with  Gorges, 
who  received  him  cordially  and  had  an  open  ear  for  latest  infor- 
mation concerning  affairs  in  New  Somersetshire.  Of  course 
Cleeve  did  not  forget  the  business  that  was  the  occasion  of  his 
visit,  and  he  had  no  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  grant  of  Machegonne  ; * 
but  having  secured  the  ear  of  Gorges,  Cleeve  advanced  to  other 
matters. 

Possibly,  before  leaving  home,  he  had  learned  of  the  purpose  of 
William  Gorges  to  resign  the  governorship  of  New  Somersetshire 
and  return  to  England.  But  even  if  he  had  not  received  such 
information,  he  must  have  been  informed  of  the  governor's 
intended  resignation  soon  after  his  arrival  by  Sir  Ferdinando  him- 
self ;  for  we  know  that  the  future  government  of  the  province  was 
one  of  the  matters  to  which  they  gave  consideration.  And  here 
Cleeve  added  to  the  favorable  impression  he  had  made  upon 
Gorges  by  a  suggestion  that  the  government  of  the  province 
should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  commission  that  should  include 
in  its  membership  representative  men  of  New  England.  Gorges 
already  had  urged  such  a  joint  government  for  all  New  England, 
but  evidently  his  scheme  was  not  acceptable  to  the  leaders  of  the 
prelatical  party  in  England,  and  it  failed  of  adoption.  But  Gorges 
was  supreme  in  his  own  Province  of  New  Somersetshire,  and  he 
not  only  welcomed  the  suggestion  but  he  gave  Cleeve  a  place  on 

launching.  Another  was  the  death  of  Captain  John  Mason,  who  had  been 
more  active  than  Gorges  in  the  movement  for  establishing  a  vice-regal  gov- 
ernment in  New  England.  Concerning  Mason,  Winthrop  wrote  :  "The  last 
winter  Captain  Mason  died.  He  was  the  chief  mover  in  all  the  attempts 
against  us,  and  was  to  have  sent  the  general  governor,  and  for  this  end  was 
providing  shipping ;  but  the  lord  in  mercy,  taking  him  away,  all  the  busi- 
ness fell  on  sleep."  Journal,  1, 181. 
1  Trelawny  Papers,  110. 


SOME  SETTLEMENT   CLASHINGS.  237 

the  commission,  associating  him  with  Winthrop  and  four  promi- 
nent men  in  New  England  outside  of  the  province. 

Cleeve  had  now  achieved  a  degree  of  success  in  advancing  his 
personal  interests  that  must  have  exceeded  largely  his  highest 
anticipations  on  leaving  his  home  ;  and  in  the  closing  days  of 
March,  1637,  he  set  sail  from  Bristol  on  his  return,  bearing  with 
him  his  grant  of  Machegonne,  also  papers  for  the  establishment 
of  the  government  of  New  Somersetshire,  and  a  commission, 
dated  February  25,  1637,  for  letting  and  settling  all  or  any  part 
of  Gorges'  "lands  or  islands  lying  between  the  Cape  Elizabeth  and 
the  entrance  of  Sagadahock  river,  and  to  go  into  the  main  land 
sixty  miles".  Cleeve  reached  his  home  late  in  May,  or  early  in 
June,1  for  June  8,  Arthur  Mackworth;2  as  duly  authorized,  placed 
Cleeve  and  Tucker  in  legal  possession  of  the  territory  upon  which 
they  had  located  a  little  more  than  four  years  before.  It  was  a 
proud  day  for  Cleeve  and  the  little  company 3  that  witnessed  the 
ancient  "turf  and  twig"  delivery  in  the  clearing  that  had  been 
made  on  the  harbor  shore,  and  their  celebration  of  the  happy  event 
could  not  have  lacked  enthusiastic  expression. 

In  one  way  or  another  information  with  reference  to  the  new 
order  of  things  in  the  province  soon  reached  the  scattered  settlers 
on  the  coast  of  Maine.  Doubtless  Winter,  at  Richmond's  island, 
received  such  information  as  early  as  any  of  the  New  Somerset- 
shire colonists.  Writing  early  in  July  to  Trelawny,  his  employer, 
he  informed  him  that  Cleeve's  grant  from  Gorges  of  fifteen  hun- 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve  of  Casco  Bay,  69. 

2  He  was  a  near  neighbor  of  Cleeve,  having  settled  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Presumpscot  before  Cleeve  took  up  his  residence  at  Machegonne.  In  1637, 
he  married  Jane  Andrews,  widow  of  Samuel  Andrews,  who,  with  her  hus- 
band probably,  came  hither  from  London  in  the  same  vessel  with  Mackworth. 
Mackworth  died  in  1657.     For  a  fuller  reference  see  Trelawny  Papers,  213. 

3  The  delivery  was  made  by  Thomas  Lewis,  John  Bickford  and  George 
Frost.  Lewis  was  associated  with  Captain  Bonython  on  the  northern  bank  of 
the  Saco.  Bickford,  who  lived  at  Oyster  River,  N.  H.,  chanced  to  be  in  the 
vicinity  of  Machegonne.  Frost  was  a  resident  of  Winter  Harbor.  Michael 
Mitton,  who  accompanied  Cleeve  on  his  return  from  England,  was  also  pres- 
ent and  subsequently  married  Cleeve's  daughter,  Elizabeth. 


238  THE    BEGINNINGS   OF    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

dred  acres  of  land  from  Casco  bay  to  the  falls  of  the  river  of  Casco, 
was  an  infringement  upon  Trelawny's  territorial  rights,  as  he  and 
others  thought.  "You  may  please  to  advise  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges  of  it,  to  know  if  it  be  so  or  no",  he  added,  in  his  indigna- 
tion at  such  a  thought.  Winter's  attitude  toward  Sir  Ferdinando 
evidently  had  somewhat  changed,  and  his  state  of  mind  because 
of  Gorges'  recognition  of  Cleeve  probably  finds  explanation  in  his 
added  words  to  Trelawny  :  '  'Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  hath  made 
Cleeve  governor  of  his  province,  as  he  reports ;  now  he  thinks  to 
wind  all  men  to  his  will."  * 

But  the  affairs  of  the  colony  were  not  in  such  a  desperate  condi- 
tion as  Winter  supposed.  Having  settled  his  own  matters  at 
Machegonne,  Cleeve  proceeded  to  Boston  for  consultation  with 
Winthrop,  having  in  his  possession  the  papers  he  had  received 
from  Gorges  relating  to  the  government  of  New  Somersetshire. 
Under  date  of  June  26,  1637,  Winthrop2  made  this  record  :  "We 
had  news  of  a  commission  granted  in  England  to  divers  gentle- 
men here  for  the  governing  of  New  England,  etc.,3  but  instead 
thereof  we  received  a  commission  from  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  to 
govern  his  Province  of  New  Somersetshire,  which  is  from  Cape 
Elizabeth  to  Sagadahoc,  and  withal  to  oversee  his  servants  and 
private  affairs ;  which  was  observed  as  a  matter  of  no  good  dis- 
cretion, but  passed  in  silence."  Winthrop's  silence,  evidently, 
was  toward  Gorges.  To  Cleeve,  however,  he  made  courteous 
explanation,  mentioning  some  technical  reasons  for  declining  to 
have  any  part  in  the  proposed  government  of  New  Somersetshire 
— such  as  the  discovery  of  an  error  in  the  name  of  one  of  the  com- 
missioners, another  had  removed  to  Connecticut,  etc.  ;  and  besides 
he  questioned  Gorges'  authority  to  appoint  such  a  commission. 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  111. 

2  Journal,  Hosmer's  Ed.,  I,  222. 

3  We  have  no  details  concerning  the  commission  to  which  reference  is  here 
made.  It  was  evidently  appointed  by  the  king  during  the  earlier  part  of 
Cleeve's  presence  in  England,  and  it  is  thought  that  Cleeve  may  have  been 
given  a  place  on  it ;  but  it  encountered  strong  opposition  both  from  the  Bay 
colonists  and  their  friends  in  England  and  failed  as  Winthrop  records. 


SOME   SETTLEMENT   CLASHINGS.  239 

In  all  probability,  however,  other  and  stronger  reasons  influenced 
Winthrop  in  declining  the  position  tendered  to  him.  The  affairs 
of  the  Bay  colony,  both  because  of  hostility  in  England  and  of 
differences  existing  among  the  colonists  themselves,  were  in  such 
a  condition  that  Winthrop  might  well  hesitate  to  turn  his  atten- 
tion to  matters  with  which  he  had  no  concern,  and  to  hold  steadily 
and  firmly  to  that  singleness  of  purpose  which  characterized  all  his 
efforts  in  connection  with  New  England  colonization. 

It  must  have  been  a  great  disappointment  to  Cleeve  to  witness 
so  soon  the  disappearance  of  the  bright  vision  that  had  awakened 
within  him  hopes  of  new  and  larger  successes  in  connection  with 
his  return  to  Machegonne.  Still  further  must  Cleeve  have  been 
chastened  in  spirit,  when,  after  his  return  homeward,  he  learned 
that  notwithstanding  his  grant  of  Machegonne  from  Sir  Ferdi- 
nando  Gorges,  the  rightfulness  of  his  possession  was  denied  by 
Winter  as  strongly  as  heretofore.  Winter  carried  the  matter  to 
Trelawny,  calling  attention  to  a  house  built  on  the  peninsula  "a 
little  above  Cleeve' ' , 1  which  he  claimed  was  within  the  limits  of 
Trelawny' s  patent — a  claim  that  was  wholly  without  foundation, 
even  as  Winter's  own  statements  concerning  Trelawny 's  boun- 
daries show.  In  another  letter,  dated  July  29,  1637,  Winter 
wrote,  "I  have  given  him  [Cleeve]  warning  to  depart  betwixt  this 
and  Michaelmas".  Apparently  this  interview,  which  was  held 
July  26,  was  without  much  heat.  While  it  was  in  progress,  Cleeve 
produced  a  letter  from  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  containing  a  sug- 
gestion that  the  matters  in  dispute  between  Cleeve  and  Winter 
should  be  referred  to  three  "indeferent  men".  According  to 
Winter's  own  account,  he  expressed  no  opinion  upon  this  matter 
of  arbitration,  but  left  the  decision  with  Trelawny.  "I  do  desire 
to  know,"  he  wrote,  "how  I  shall  be  freed  from  Cleeve  for  his 
first  house  before  I  enter  upon  his  second ;  and  though  I  have 
given  him  warning  to  depart,  I  am  desirous  to  live  quiet  here 
among  the  neighbors  hereabout,  if  I  may,  considering  we  live 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  111. 


240  THE   BEGINNINGS   OE   COEONIAE   MAINE. 

here  among  the  heathen".1  These  words  were  written  three  days 
after  the  interview  between  these  two  neighbors,  and  on  the  part 
of  the  writer  give  evidence  of  subdued  feelings  that  seem  to  have 
been  occasioned  by  the  fact  that  Cleeve,  before  leaving  Richmond's 
island,  served  a  warrant  upon  Winter  to  appear  before  the  king 
in  England  October  11,  to  answer  for  the  wrong  he  had  suffered 
in  being  ejected  from  his  house  at  Spurwink.2 

Cleeve  soon  found  that  there  were  persons  in  the  province 
beside  Winter  who  were  unfriendly  to  his  interests.  Vines  and 
others,  near  neighbors  of  Winter  and  having  like  religious  sym- 
pathies, wrote  to  Gorges  in  their  displeasure  because  of  the  prom- 
inence he  had  given  to  Cleeve  in  connection  with  the  affairs  of 
New  Somersetshire ;  and  their  communications  made  such  an 
impression  upon  Gorges  that  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Vane,  Win- 
throp  and  others  in  the  Bay  colony,3  asking  their  aid  in  settling 
troubles  in  his  province.  Vane,  however,  had  returned  to  Eng- 
land ;  Winthrop  saw  no  reason  why  he  should  depart  from  the 
position  he  had  taken  not  to  interfere  in  matters  outside  of  the 
Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay;  the  other  parties  also  had  excuses  ; 
and  the  New  Somersetshire  colonists  were  left  to  attend  to  their 
own  concerns.  But  though  in  the  truce  that  followed,  Cleeve 
remained  in  undisturbed  possession  of  his  grant,  he  must  have 
felt  somewhat  insecure  on  account  of  the  number  and  prominence 
of  his  opponents  ;   and  he  awaited  further  developments. 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  118. 

2  Baxter,  George  Cleeve  of  Casco  Bay,  75-77. 

3  lb.,  224-226. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Added  Settlements  and  General  Conditions. 

MENTION  has  already  been  made  of  Thomas  Purchase  of 
Pejepscot,  one  of  the  commissioners  associated  with  Wil- 
liam Gorges  in  the  government  of  the  Province  of  New 
Somersetshire.1     It  is  supposed  that  he  came  to  this  country  from 

1  Purchase  was  born  in  England  about  the  year  1577.  According  to  the 
record  in  the  probate  office  at  Salem,  Mass.,  Thomas  Purchase  died  in  Lynn, 
May  11,  1677,  aged  one  hundred  and  one  years.  There  is  no  known  relation- 
ship between  him  and  the  well-known  author  of  Purchas'  Pilgrimes;  but  John 
Winter  of  Richmond's  island  stated  in  a  letter,  dated  August  2,  1641,  that 
Purchase  was  a  kinsman  (  Trelawny  Papers,  288)  of  Rev.  Robert  Jordan,  who 
subsequently  married  Winter's  daughter.  Purchase  was  twice  married.  It 
is  not  known  that  he  had  any  children  by  his  first  wife,  Mary  Gove.  By  his 
second  wife,  Elizabeth  Williams,  he  had  five  children,  of  whom  the  names 
of  only  three  have  been  preserved,  Thomas,  Jane  and  Elizabeth.  In  1675, 
Purchase  added  to  the  grant  made  by  the  council  for  New  England  a  large 
tract,  which  he  is  said  to  have  purchased  from  the  Indians.  About  the  year 
1659,  Nicholas  Shapleigh  of  Kittery  purchased  of  like  parties  Harpswell 
Neck  and  the  island  of  Sebascodegan .  July  4,  1685,  the  grant  to  Purchase 
and  Way,  and  the  land  obtained  by  Nicholas  Shapleigh,  came  into  the  pos- 
session of  Richard  Wharton,  a  Boston  merchant.  Also  October  10,  1685, 
Eleazer  Way  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  son  and  heir  of  George  Way,  co-partner  with 
Thomas  Purchase,  sold  to  Richard  Wharton  his  inherited  rights  in  the  Pejep- 
scot patent.  For  fuller  information  see  the  biographical  sketch  of  Thomas 
Purchase  in  Wheeler's  History  of  Brunswick,  Tops  ham  and  Harpswell,  788- 
797.  July  7,  1684,  Worumbo  and  other  Indian  sagamores  deeded  additional 
lands  on  the  Androscoggin  river  to  Richard  Wharton.  It  was  Wharton's 
purpose  by  these  various  purchases  to  establish  for  himself  a  "manory"  in 
New  England.  He  died  insolvent,  however,  in  1689.  Captain  Ephraim,  as 
the  administrator  of  Wharton's  estate,  sold  his  lands  to  the' Pejepscot  pro- 
prietors November  5,  1714,  and  the  deed  was  recorded  at  York  during  that 
month.  See  Farnham  Papers,  I,  361.  The  Pejepscot  "records"  and 
"papers"  are  in  the  archives  of  the  Maine  Historical  Society,  Portland, 
Maine. 

16 


242  THE   BEGINNINGS  OP    COLONIAL   MAINE). 

England  about  the  year  1626,  landing  at  Saco.  He  was  there 
June  25,  1630,  with  Isaac  Allerton,  Captain  Thomas  Wiggin  and 
others,  when  Richard  Vines  took  legal  possession  of  his  grant  on 
the  south  side  of  the  Saco  river.  Doubtless  after  his  arrival  in 
the  province,  Purchase  spent  some  time  in  seeking  a  favorable 
location  for  a  settlement.  From  the  eastern  part  of  Casco  bay- 
there  was  an  Indian  thoroughfare  that  led  to  the  falls  of  the 
Pejepscot  in  what  is  now  the  town  of  Brunswick.  Skirting  the 
shores  of  Casco  bay  and  journeying  by  this  well-known  route, 
Purchase  probably  reached  the  falls  ;  or  he  may  have  made  his 
way  thither  by  the  Sagadahoc  to  Merrymeeting  bay,  and  thence 
by  the  waters  of  the  Pejepscot  river.  However  this  may  be,  by 
one  route  or  the  other,  he  discovered  a  very  favorable  location  for 
trade  with  the  Indians  as  they  descended  the  river  in  passing 
from  their  villages  to  the  mouth  of  the  Sagadahoc,  or  to  the 
pleasant  camping  grounds  on  the  shores  or  islands  of  Casco  bay. 
The  precise  location  selected  by  Purchase  for  his  settlement  can 
only  be  conjectured.  Among  the  Pejepscot  papers  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Maine  Historical  Society  are  many  depositions  in 
which  there  are  references  to  Purchase's  residence  at  Pejepscot ; 
but  these  depositions  were  made  by  persons  who  reported  from 
memory  what  they  had  heard  in  their  earlier  years  from  aged  resi- 
dents at  Pejepscot.  Some  of  these  old  people  testified  in  these 
depositions  that  according  to  common  report,  as  received  by  them, 
Thomas  Purchase  lived  at  the  Ten  Mile  Falls  (Lisbon  Falls) ,  and 
some  said  they  had  seen  a  cellar  and  an  old  chimney  that  were 
pointed  out  to  them  as  the  ruins  of  Purchase's  house.  Others 
testified  they  had  heard  from  their  parents  and  other  old  people 
that  Purchase  lived  at  the  head  of  New  Meadows  river,  at  a  place 
since  known  as  "Stevens'  carrying  place".  Still  others  main- 
tained that  from  information  they  had  received,  Purchase  resided 
at  Pejepscot  Falls,  now  Brunswick.  It  is  possible  that  he  changed 
his  residence  several  times  and  hence  these  differing  statements. 
Indeed  such  seems  to  have  been  the  fact.  Good  authorities, 
however,  are  of  the  opinion  that  Purchase  made  his  earliest  resi- 


ADDED   SETTLEMENTS.  243 

dence  near  the  Pejepscot  Falls.  In  favor  of  this  view  it  is  said 
that  early  after  coming  to  Pejepscot— the  territory  in  which  he 
made  his  settlement— Purchase  was  engaged  in  the  salmon  fishery, 
which  of  course  was  carried  on  at  the  falls,  and  the  inference  fairly 
follows  that  his  residence  was  not  far  away.  The  opinion  is  still 
further  strengthened  by  the  fact  that  the  location  was  carefully 
selected  by  Purchase.  In  establishing  himself  at  the  falls  he 
secured  the  Indian  trade  of  the  Androscoggin  in  the  same  way  as 
the  Pilgrims  of  Plymouth,  in  erecting  their  trading  house  at 
Cushenoc,  now  Augusta,  secured  the  Indian  trade  of  the  Ken- 
nebec. 

Having  made  this  careful  selection  of  a  location  for  his  settle- 
ment, Purchase  seems  to  have  allowed  some  time  to  pass  before 
entering  upon  negotiations  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  legal  pos- 
session of  the  territory.  The  records  of  the  council  for  New  Eng- 
land for  June  16,  1632,  make  mention  of  a  grant  by  the  council  to 
George  Way  and  Thomas  Purchase  of  "certain  lands  in  New 
England  called  the  river  Bishopscotte  [Pejepscot]  and  all  that 
bounds  and  limits  the  main  land  adjoining  the  river  to  the  extent 
of  two  miles,  from  the  said  river  northward  four  miles,  and  from 
the  house  there  to  the  ocean".1 

There  is  no  evidence  that  George  Way,  who  lived  in  Dorchester, 
England,  when  the  patent  was  issued,  settled  at  any  time  on  the 
territory  thus  secured.  His  widow  and  sons  are  known  to  have 
resided  at  a  later  period  at  Hartford,  Connecticut.2  In  all  proba- 
bility the  grant  was  obtained  by  George  Way  at  the  request  of 
Thomas  Purchase,  and  his  half  interest  in  it  was  doubtless  secured 
because  of  his  services.  The  original  patent  was  never  in  Pur- 
chase's possession,  so  far  as  is  now  known.     It  is  said  to  have 

1  Sainsbury's  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  I,  152.  Mention  of  the  grant  is 
found  in  Edward  Godfrey's  "Cattalogue",  a  list  of  twenty  patents  for  plan- 
tations in  New  England,  the  manuscript  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  Public 
Records  Office  in  London.  Calendar  of  State  Papers,  I,  35.  Frequent  ref- 
erences to  it  are  also  found  in  the  Pejepscot  papers,  and  in  conveyances 
recorded  at  York  in  the  colonial  period. 

2  Wheeler,  History  of  Brunswick,  etc.,  812. 


244  THE  BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

been  entrusted  to  Francis  Ashley,1  and  no  later  reference  to  its 
location  has  come  down  to  us.  Purchase  had  a  copy  of  the 
patent,  but  that  is  said  to  have  been  destroyed  in  the  burning  of 
the  first  house  he  erected.  He  then  built,  it  is  supposed,  "a  small 
cottage  for  a  present  shelter' ' ,  which  at  length  was  replaced  by  a 

fair  stone  house",  in  which  Purchase  had  his  home  during  his 
subsequent  residence  at  Pejepscot.2 

As  has  been  already  suggested,  Purchase  had  excellent  oppor- 
tunities for  traffic  with  the  Indians.  Their  furs  and  peltry  were 
exchanged  for  trinkets  of  various  kinds  and  such  articles  and 
implements  of  English  manufacture  as  were  coveted  by  the  natives. 
But  Purchase's  business  relations  were  increased  by  his  fishing 
interests,  which  included  the  taking  of  salmon  and  sturgeon,  and 
the  preparation  of  the  same  for  exportation  to  I^ondon.  These 
various  enterprises  required  the  services  of  helpers ;  and  in  this 
and  other  ways  Purchase  soon  gathered  around  him  quite  a  num- 
ber of  settlers,  who  had  landed  upon  the  coast  of  Maine  with  other 
emigrants  now  making  their  way  hither  in  increasing  numbers. 
In  a  short  time,  therefore,  through  his  business  relations  and 
otherwise,  Purchase  became  well  known  in  the  province  and  was 
recognized  as  one  of  its  prominent  men.3 

July  3,  1637,  not  long  after  Cleeve  and  Tucker  received  their 
grant  of  land  at  Machegonne,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  granted  to 
Sir  Richard  Edgecomb,4  his  friend  and  neighbor  at  Mount  Edge- 

1  Maine  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  Series  I,  3,  330. 

2  Wheeler,  History  of  Brunswick,  etc.,  793. 

3  Williamson  {History  of  Maine,  I,  690)  says  Purchase  "was  one  of  those 
flexible  patriots  who  could  accommodate  his  politics  to  the  changes  of  the 
times".  Wheeler  {History  of  Brunswick,  796)  calls  this  "rather  a  harsh 
judgment",  and  adds  that  while  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  Purchase  held 
office  "under  different  and  opposing  governments",  yet  it  is  to  be  remem- 
bered that  this  is  true  of  Robert  Jordan,  Henry  Josselyn  and  Edward  Rish- 
worth,  against  whom  no  such  reflection  is  brought. 

4  Sir  Richard  Edgecomb,  like  Gorges,  was  one  of  the  charter  members  of 
the  council  for  New  England.  Mount  Edgecomb,  overlooking  the  entrance 
to  the  harbor  of  Plymouth,  England,  is  the  most  attractive  place  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Plymouth  to-day. 


ADDED   SETTLEMENTS.  245 

comb,  Plymouth,  eight  thousand  acres  of  land  lying  between  the 
river  Sagadahoc  and  Casco  bay.  Sullivan1  makes  mention  of  the 
grant,  but  it  is  not  included  in  the  Farnham  Papers,  no  copy 
probably  having  been  found.  That  such  a  grant  was  made,  how- 
ever, cannot  now  be  doubted.  Sir  Richard  Edgecomb  died  March 
28,  1638,  and  so  was  unable  to  carry  out  any  plans  he  may  have 
formed  with  reference  to  this  grant.  But  in  1718,  John  Edge- 
comb,2  who  is  described  by  Sullivan  as  living  in  the  District  of 
Maine,  and  "one  of  the  family  of  Mount  Edgecomb  in  Great 
Britain' ' ,  entered  in  the  book  of  claims  in  the  Province  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  a  claim  for  the  grant  in  behalf  of  the  heirs  of  Sir 
Richard  Edgecomb.  The  matter  received  no  further  attention 
until  1756,  when  Eord  Edgecomb,  of  Mount  Edgecomb,  author- 
ized Sir  William  Pepperrell  to  take  charge  of  the  matter  for  him. 
On  account  of  Sir  William's  death,  which  occurred  not  long 
after,  little  if  anything  was  done  by  him  ;  but  in  1768,  Eord  Edge- 
comb secured  the  services  of  Nathaniel  Sparhawk,  Pepperrell' s 

1  History  of  the  District  of  Maine,  125. 

2  Baxter  (Trelawny  Papers,  328)  calls  John  Edgecomb  "the  supposed 
grandson  of  Nicholas  Edgecomb",  who  was  in  Trelawny 's  employ  at  Rich- 
mond's island.  Concerning  the  relation  of  John  Edgecomb  and  other  heirs 
of  Nicholas  Edgecomb  to  the  Edgecombs  of  Mount  Edgecomb,  Sullivan 
makes  the  statement  that  "it  is  said  that  they  were  a  branch  of  Sir  Richard's 
family"  (126).  On  the  next  page,  however,  he  adds,  "The  Edgcombs  who 
have  been  mentioned  were  no  doubt  of  the  younger  branches  of  Sir  Richard's 
family,  and  were  sent  over  to  possess  the  territory,  which  was  then  in  the 
possession  of  Dr.  Smith  and  others,  under  a  grant  from  the  council  of 
Plymouth"  (127).  Mr.  Baxter,  while  doubtful  of  the  success  of  the  effort 
to  connect  Nicholas  Edgecomb  with  the  Edgecombs  of  Mount  Edgecomb, 
says,  "though  he  had  not  the  rank  he  was  a  man  for  a'  that".  Nicholas 
Edgcomb  married  Wilmot  Randall,  who  was  in  the  service  of  Mrs.  Winter 
at  Richmond's  island.  In  an  account  rendered  by  John  Winter  to  Robert  Tre- 
lawny, in  1641,  occurs  the  entry,  "Received  from  Nicholas  Edgecomb  for 
yielding  up  of  the  maid  Wilmot's  time,  which  he  married  before  her  time 
was  out,  5^"".  After  his  marriage  Nicholas  Edgecomb  leased  a  farm  of  Cap- 
tain Bonython  at  Blue  Point.  In  1660,  he  removed  with  his  wife  and  six 
children  to  Saco.  The  posterity  of  the  Edgecombs  "is  there  now",  wrote 
Sullivan,  when  he  published  his  History  of  the  District  of  Maine.  See  Mr. 
Baxter's  note  on  Nicholas  Edgecomb,  Trelawny  Papers,  327,  328. 


246  thp  beginnings  op  colonial  maine. 

son-in-law,  who,  in  reviving  the  claim  of  the  Bdgecomb  heirs,  was 
directed  to  claim  eight  thousand  acres  of  land  on  the  Kennebec 
river.  The  original  grant  seems  to  have  been  in  Sparhawk's 
hands.  An  additional  description  of  the  grant  in  the  book  of 
claims  was  more  specific  than  that  in  the  original  grant,  as  the 
eight  thousand  acres  were  there  recorded  as  "near  the  lake  of 
New  Somerset,  fifteen  miles  from  Casco  bay"  ;  but  L,ord  Bdge- 
comb's  counsel  "endeavored  to  fix  it  on  a  grant  fifteen  miles  from 
the  sea  on  the  west  side  of  the  river  Kennebec,  and  adjoining  to 
Merrymeeting  bay,  calling  that  the  lake  of  New  Somerset".1  As 
this  claim  conflicted  with  that  of  other  claimants  to  land  on  the 
Kennebec,  litigation  followed  in  which  L,ord  Bdgecomb  lost  his 
case. 

The  Indian  trade  of  the  Plymouth  colonists  on  the  Kennebec 
had  been  so  profitable  that  at  the  close  of  1633,  Bradford  recorded 
with  gratitude  the  fact  that  the  sale  of  beaver  sent  to  Bngland  by 
the  Pilgrims  during  the  year — "thirty -three  hundred  and  sixty- 
six  pounds  weight  and  much  of  it  coat  beaver,  which  yielded 
twenty  shillings  per  pound,  and  some  of  it  above" — had  enabled 
them  to  pay  all  their  debts  in  Bngland,  and  so  to  relieve  them- 
selves of  a  burden  that  had  long  weighed  heavily  upon  them. 

But  early  in  the  next  year,  in  returning  to  his  record  of  affairs 
connected  with  the  Pilgrim  trading  house  on  the  Kennebec,  Brad- 
ford mentioned2  "one  of  the  saddest  things"  that  had  befallen  the 
Pilgrims  since  the  commencement  of  their  enterprise  on  that  river. 
One  John  Hocking,  who  lived  at  Piscataqua,  agent  for  Lords  Say 
and   Brooke  and  other  Bnglishmen  interested  in   the  settlement 

1  Sullivan,  History  of  the  District  of  Maine,  Yl£>.  In  a  note  (127)  Sullivan 
adds  :  "There  is  no  doubt  but  that  Gorges  and  Bdgecomb  intended  the 
lands  contained  in  the  grant  to  be  on  the  west  side  of  Saco  river,  which  was 
then  called  Sagadahock".  The  Sagadahoc  was  the  eastern  boundary  of  the 
Province  of  Maine,  or  New  Somersetshire,  and  so  well  known  to  Gorges, 
that  to  think  of  him  as  confounding  two  such  important  rivers  within  the 
limits  of  his  territory  as  the  Sagadahoc  and  the  Saco  is  impossible. 

2  Bradford,  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  Ed.  1912, 
II,  174-189. 


ADDED   SETTLEMENTS.  247 

there,  made  his  way  to  the  Kennebec,  purposing  to  proceed  in  his 
vessel  up  the  river  beyond  the  Pilgrims'  house  at  Cushenoc,  and  so 
to  secure  trade  with  the  Indians  that  otherwise  would  fall  into  the 
hands  of  the  Plymouth  men.  John  Howland,  who  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  trading  house,  protested  against  this  effort  on  the 
part  of  Hocking,  insisting  that  it  was  an  infringement  of  rights 
secured  to  the  Pilgrims  by  their  patent  from  the  council  for  New 
England.  The  appeal  was  to  that  clause  in  the  grant  which 
authorized  Bradford  and  his  associates  "to  take,  apprehend,  seize 
and  make  prize  of  all  such  persons,  their  ships  and  goods,  as  shall 
attempt  to  inhabit  or  trade  with  the  savage  people  of  that  country 
within  the  several  precincts  and  limits  of  his  and  their  several 
plantations".1  But  Hocking  refused  to  heed  the  protest  made  by 
Howland.  As  Bradford  records  his  language,  he  said  he  "would 
go  up  and  trade  there  in  despite  of  them",  and  he  would  stay 
there  "as  long  as  he  pleased".  In  the  effort  to  make  good  his 
words,  Hocking  sailed  past  the  Pilgrim  post  and  anchored. 
Howland  then  again  went  to  Hocking,  and  having  called  his 
attention  to  this  violation  of  the  Pilgrim  rights  as  received  in  their 
patent,  he  urged  him  to  take  his  vessel  down  the  river  ;  but  Hock- 
ing still  refused.  Howland  "could  get  nothing  of  him  but  ill 
words".  Accordingly  he  proceeded  to  action.  Instructing  his 
men  not  to  fire  their  guns  upon  any  provocation,  he  sent  two  of 
them  to  cut  the  cable  of  Hocking's  vessel.  This  they  succeeded 
in  doing,  and  as  the  vessel  started  down  the  river,  Hocking 
seized  a  musket  and  killed  one  of  the  Plymouth  men,  Moses  Tal- 
bot. His  companion,  in  the  canoe,  who  loved  him  well  Brad- 
ford says,  could  not  restrain  himself;  and  levelling  his  musket  at 
Hocking  he  shot  him  in  retaliation.  The  vessel  continued  on  its 
course  down  the  river,  and  Hocking's  men,  on  their  return  to  the 
Piscataqua,  carried  the  tidings  of  the  affair  thither. 

The  report  in  due  time  reached  L,ords  Say  and  Brooke  in  Eng- 
land. In  it  the  fact  was  withheld  that  Hocking  had  killed  one  of 
the  Plymouth  men ;  and  the  same  version  of  the   affair,    either 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  115. 


248  THE)   BEGINNINGS   OP    COLONIAL   MAINE). 

from  the  Piscataqua  or  from  England,  was  carried  to  the  colonists 
of  Massachusetts  bay.  When,  not  long  after,  the  Plymouth  col- 
onists sent  their  vessel  to  Boston,  the  authorities  there  arrested 
John  Alden,  who,  though  not  a  participant  in  the  affair,  was  at 
the  Kennebec  trading  house  when  Hocking  was  killed.  The 
Pilgrims  regarded  Alden 's  arrest  as  an  unfriendly  proceeding  on 
the  part  of  the  Massachusetts  officials,  and  sent  Captain  Miles 
Standish  to  Boston  with  letters  from  Bradford  and  others  to  secure 
Alden' s  release.  This  was  effected,  but  at  the  same  time  Captain 
Standish  was  put  under  bonds  to  appear  at  the  next  court,  June 
3,  1634,  with  a  certified  copy  of  the  patent,  showing  the  rights  of 
the  Plymouth  colonists  on  the  Kennebec.  At  this  meeting  of  the 
court,  the  Massachusetts  bay  authorities  made  it  evident  that  they 
did  not  wish  to  give  offence  to  their  Plymouth  neighbors,  while 
equally  they  made  it  evident  that  they  desired  to  disavow  How- 
land's  action,  "which",  asWinthrop  recorded,  "was  feared  would 
give  occasion  to  the  king  to  send  a  general  governor  over".1  In 
a  private  letter,  Governor  Dudley  counselled  patience  on  the  part 
of  the  Plymouth  authorities.  After  awhile  Mr.  Winthrop  sug- 
gested a  conference  in  which  the  Plymouth  colonists,  the  colonists 
at  the  Piscataqua,  and  those  of  Massachusetts  bay  should  be 
requested  '  'to  consult  and  determine  in  this  matter,  so  as  the  par- 
ties meeting  might  have  full  power  to  order  and  bind,  etc.,  and 
that  nothing  should  be  done  to  the  infringing  or  prejudice  of  the 
liberties  of  any  place".2  Such  a  conference  was  held  in  Boston, 
but  only  the  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  bay  colonists  were  rep- 
resented. The  matter,  however,  was  fully  discussed  with  the  result 
that  while  "they  all  wished  these  things  had  never  been,  yet  they 
could  not  but  lay  the  blame  and  guilt  on  Hocking's  own  head". 
At  the  same  time  "grave  and  godly  exhortations"  were  made  to 
the  Plymouth  men,  which  they  "embraced  with  love  and  thank- 
fulness, promising  to  endeavor  to  follow  the  same";3  and  with 

1  Winthrop,  Journal,  I,  124. 

2  Bradford,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  Ed.  1912,  II,  187. 

3  lb.  II,  188. 


ADDED   SETTLEMENTS.  249 

this,  further  agitation  of  the  matter  ceased.  Mr.  Winslow  was 
sent  to  England  not  long  after  in  order  to  see  that  no  harm  should 
come  to  the  colony  in  consequence  of  the  affair ;  but  he  found 
that  agitation  had  ceased  there  also. 

Of  settlers  on  the  lower  Kennebec  at  this  time  there  is  little 
information ;  but  Sullivan  is  doubtless  quite  right  in  saying  that 
from  the  year  1626  to  the  year  1660,  there  were  inhabitants, 
traders  and  settlers  on  the  river. *  But  the  number  was  not  large. 
As  late  as  1670,  according  to  Sullivan,2  there  were  only  twenty 
families  on  the  west  side  and  thirty  on  the  east  side.  Few  favor- 
able locations  were  reached  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  river,  and  on 
other  accounts  settlers  were  not  generally  inclined  to  make  their 
homes  far  away  from  the  seacoast. 

The  broad  opening  of  the  Sheepscot,  however,  proved  more 
inviting  to  settlers  than  the  comparatively  narrow  entrance  to  the 
Kennebec ;  and  as  the  arrivals  on  the  coast  increased  in  number 
in  the  third  decade  of  the  century,  those  seeking  an  attractive 
location  for  settlement  could  not  fail  to  make  their  way  up  the 
Sheepscot  into  Wiscasset  bay  and  farther  on  to  what  has  come  to 
be  known  as  the  Sheepscot  Farms.  Here  was  the  site  of  a  pros- 
perous community  in  that  early  period  of  our  colonial  history. 
Strangely,  however,  no  record  has  preserved  to  us  even  the  names 
of  those  who  first  made  their  homes  on  these  fertile  lands.  The 
only  record  that  reminds  us  of  their  dwelling  here  is  found  in  the 
remains  of  a  large  number  of  well-defined  cellars,  still  plainly 
visible  to  those  who  seek  for  them.  Two  fortifications,  also, 
known  as  Fort  Anne  and  Garrison  Hill — the  former  believed  to  be 
the  fort  of  the  first  occupancy  of  the  Farms,  the  latter  with  stock- 
ade lines  of  great  extent — provided  for  the  protection  of  the  set- 
tlers ;  and  though  time  has  obliterated  timberwork,  and  in  a 
measure  earthworks,  yet  enough  is  left  to  mark  the  places    to 

1  History  of  the  District  of  Maine,  170. 

2  The  statement  is  based  on  a  report  of  the  English  settlements  on  the 
coast  east  of  Kennebec,  along  the  seacoast  to  Matinicus,  "some  70  and  some 
40  years  ago",  made  by  Captain  Sylvanus  Davis  in  1701.     Sullivan,  170,  391. 


250  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

which  the  settlers  could  repair  in  time  of  need  for  common 
defence.1 

Proceeding  now  still  farther  eastward  we  have  equal  difficulty 
in  attempting  to  ascertain  the  number  of  settlers  along  the  coast, 
and  in  the  country  back  from  the  coast.  The  report  made  by 
Captain  Sylvanus  Davis  in  1701,  and  on  which  Sullivan  relied  in 
his  estimate  of  the  population,  includes  the  settlements  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Kennebec  and  eastward  as  far  as  the  St. 
George's  river ;  but  from  it  no  information  is  received  that  enables 
us  to  ascertain  the  number  of  settlers  found  in  these  places  in 
1630,  and  the  number  found  in  1660.  The  report,  therefore,  is 
not  a  satisfactory  one,  as  there  is  no  means  of  obtaining  from  it 
the  number  of  settlers  east  of  the  Kennebec  on  either  of  these 
dates.  The  whole  number  of  families  recorded  for  this  large  ter- 
ritory is  one  hundred  and  fifty-five.  Reckoning  each  family  as 
having  five  members,  we  obtain  a  population  of  seven  hundred 
and  seventy-five.  The  estimate  is  probably  somewhat  large,  but 
it  cannot  be  far  out  of  the  way.2 

Very  little,  however,  is  learned  from  such  figures.  How  came 
these  settlers  hither,  and  in  what  way  did  they  spend  their 
changed  lives  after  they  had  reached  their  new  surroundings  ? 

Happily,  with  reference  to  their  ocean  experiences,  the  daily 
record  of  one  voyager  to  the  American  coast  in  that  early  period 
has  come  down  to  us  in  the  diary  of  Rev.  Richard  Mather,8  who, 

1  For  an  exceedingly  interesting  account  of  the  approaches  to  the  Sheep- 
scot  Farms,  and  a  description  of  the  cellar  remains  still  discoverable  there, 
see  a  paper  entitled  "The  Sheepscot  Farms",  read  March  14,  1878,  before 
the  Maine  Historical  Society,  by  Alexander  Johnston,  and  printed  in  the 
Society's  Collections,  Series  I,  9,  129-155. 

2  For  the  report  made  by  Captain  Sylvanus  Davis  see  Sullivan,  History  oj 
the  District  of  Maine,  390,  391. 

3  Richard  Mather  was  born  in  1596  in  the  south  of  Winwick,  County  of 
Lancaster,  England.  While  at  Brasenose  College,  Oxford,  he  received  from 
the  people  in  Toxteth,  whose  children  had  been  taught  by  him,  an  invitation 
to  come  and  teach  them  "in  the  things  of  God".  Having  been  ordained  and 
having  spent  fifteen  years  in  the  ministry,  complaints  were  made  against  him 
for  nonconformity.     He  was  suspended  from  his  office,  but  soon  after  was 


ADDED   SETTLEMENTS.  251 

in  1635,  with  his  family,  sailed  for  Boston  from  Bristol,  England, 
on  the  James,  a  vessel  of  220  tons.  On  the  day  of  their  embarka- 
tion, May  23,  two  "searchers"  came  on  board  the  ship  and 
'  'viewed  a  list  of  all  our  names,  ministered  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  all  of  full  age,  viewed  our  certificates  from  the  ministers  in  the 
parishes  from  which  we  came,  approved  well  thereof,  and  gave  us 
tickets,  that  is  licenses  under  their  hands  and  seals,  to  pass  the 
seas,  and  cleared  the  ship,  and  so  departed."1  Here,  too,  we 
have  the  glimpse  of  the  effect  of  a  recent  proclamation  of  the 
king,  commanding  all  seaport  officers  to  forbid  "the  embarkation 
of  passengers  for  New  England  without  a  license  from  the  com- 
missioners of  plantations,  and  a  certificate  of  having  taken  the 
oaths  of  supremacy  and  allegiances,  also  a  certificate  from  the 
parish  minister. ' ' 

Several  days  were  now  passed  in  waiting  for  a  favorable  wind. 
At  anchor  near  the  James  was  another  vessel,  the  Angel  Gabriel 
of  240  tons,  "a  strong  ship,  and  well-furnished  with  fourteen  or 
sixteen  pieces  of  ordnance",  bound  for  Pemaquid.  One  day, 
during  this  delay,  Mr.  Mather,  with  the  captain  of  the  James  and 
a  few  other  passengers,  went  on  board  of  the  Angel  Gabriel.  In 
his  account  of  this  visit,  Mr.  Mather  wrote  :  "Soon  after  we  were 
come  aboard  there,  there  came  three  or  four  more  boats  with  more 
passengers,  and  one  wherein  came  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  who 
came  to  see  the  ship  and  the  people.  When  he  was  come  he 
inquired  whether  there  were  any  people  there  that  went  to  Massa- 
chusetts bay,  whereupon  Mr.  Maud  and  Barnabas  Fower  were 
sent  for  to  come  before  him ;  who  being  come  he  asked  Mr.  Maud 

restored.  Being  silenced  a  second  time,  he  decided  to  remove  to  New  Eng- 
land. After  his  arrival  at  Boston,  his  services  were  desired  at  Plymouth, 
Dorchester  and  Roxbury.  In  1636,  he  was  settled  over  the  newly  organized 
church  in  Dorchester.  As  the  minister  of  this  church  he  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  long  and  useful  life,  dying  April  22,  1669,  in  the  seventy-third  year 
of  his  age.  He  was  the  father  of  Increase  Mather,  president  of  Harvard 
College,  and  father  of  the  no  less  celebrated  Cotton  Mather. 

1  Journal  of  Richard  Mather,  Dorchester  Genealogical  and  Historical  Soci- 
ety, 1850,  6. 


252  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

of  his  country,  occupation  or  calling  of  life,  &c,  and  professed 
his  goodwill  to  the  people  there  in  the  bay,  and  promised  that  if 
he  ever  came  there,  he  would  be  a  true  friend  unto  them."1  Only 
a  few  days  before  this  visit  the  council  for  New  England  had  sur- 
rendered its  charter  to  the  king  ;  and,  in  connection  with  the  sur- 
render, Gorges  was  expecting  an  appointment  as  governor  of  New 
England.  Hence  the  significance  of  Gorges'  promise,  as  recorded 
by  Mather,  Sir  Ferdinando  evidently  intending  that  those  who 
were  on  the  ship  and  purposed  to  make  their  way  to  the  Bay  col- 
ony should  repeat  his  promise  on  their  arrival. 

Mather  and  his  companions  spent  five  Sundays  on  the  James 
before  the  vessel,  and  also  the  Angel  Gabriel,  put  to  sea.  More- 
ever,  the  passage  was  long  and  wearisome,  but  in  it  there  was 
much  of  interest.  For  a  part  of  the  way  the  two  vessels  were  in 
company,  and  one  day  in  mid-ocean,  the  sea  permitting,  the 
Angel  Gabriel  sent  a  boat  to  the  James  "to  see  how  we  did";  and 
when  the  boat  returned,  Mather  accompanied  the  captain  of  the 
James  to  the  Angel  Gabriel,  returning  after  "loving  and  courteous 
entertainment' ' . 

At  length  the  wearisome  voyage  was  over.  Saturday  morn- 
ing, August  8,  after  the  seamen  had  taken  "abundance  of  macker- 
ell",  all  had  "a  clear  and  comfortable  sight  of  America".  The 
land  was  "an  island  called  Menhiggin",  and  Mather  adds  the 
noteworthy  statement  that  Monhegan  at  that  time  was  "without 
inhabitants",  the  Aid  worth  and  Elbridge  interests  having  been 
transferred,  probably  several  years  before,  to  the  mainland  at  Pem- 
aquid.  The  coast  line  was  now  in  view.  "A  little  from  the 
islands  we  saw  more  northward  divers  other  islands  and  the  main 
land  of  New  England,  all  along  northward  and  eastward  as  we 
sailed."  On  the  high  deck  of  the  vessel  the  passengers  gathered  ; 
and  in  the  bright  sunlight  of  that  fair  August  day,  they  had 
before  them,  as  they  looked  landward,  the  same  delightful  scenes 
that  possess  such  fascinating  interest  at  present  to  many  a  sum- 
mer visitor,  sailing  up  or  down  the  coast  of  Maine. 

1  Journal  of  Richard  Mather,  7,  8. 


ADDED   SETTLEMENTS.  253 

A  westerly  wind  detaining  them,  so  that  they  "were  forced  to 
tack  too  and  again  southward  and  northward,  gaining  little",  the 
James  came  to  anchor  Monday  morning,  August  10,  at  Rich- 
mond's island.  "When  we  came  within  sight  of  the  island", 
wrote  Mather,  "the  planters  there,  being  but  two  families  and 
about  forty  persons,  were  sore  afraid  of  us,  doubting  least  we  had 
been  French  come  to  pillage  the  island,  as  Penobscot  *  had  been 
served  by  them  about  ten  days  before.  When  we  were  come  to 
anchor,  and  their  fear  was  past,  they  came  some  of  them  aboard 
to  us  in  their  shallops,  and  we  went  some  of  us  ashore  into  the 
island,  to  look  for  fresh  water  and  grass  for  our  cattle  ;  and  the 
planters  bade  us  welcome,  and  gave  some  of  us  courteous  enter- 
tainment in  their  houses." 

The  James  remained  at  anchor  at  Richmond's  island  August 
10-12.  At  this  time,  as  already  stated,  John  Winter  was  on  his 
way  to  England,  and  therefore  could  not  have  been  one  of  those 
who  gave  generous  welcome  to  the  weary  voyagers,  as  Mather 
records.  However,  he  had  left  Trelawny's  affairs  in  the  hands  of 
Narias  Hawkins,  a  near  neighbor,  who  seems  to  have  had  fishing 
interests  of  his  own,  and  who  with  Winter's  wife  and  daughter 
well  represented  Trelawny's  absent  agent.  It  is  possible,  also, 
that  Edward  Trelawny,  a  brother  of  Robert  Trelawny,  Winter's 
employer,  was  at  Richmond's  island  at  this  time;  and  as  his  reli- 
gious sympathies  were  with  the  Puritans,2  he  would,  if  present, 

1  The  reference  is  to  Aulney's  seizure  of  the  Pilgrims'  trading  house  at 
Penobscot  (Castine)  in  1635.     Mather's  Journal,  26,  27. 

2  Edward  Trelawny,  in  a  letter  from  Boston  to  Robert  Trelawny  about  this 
time,  wrote  :  "Let  all  idle  reports,  touching  the  conversation  of  God's  people 
here,  be  utterly  abolished  and  find  no  credence  with  any  who  wish  well 
unto  Zion  ;  for  I  assure  you,  they  deserve  it  not ;  if  I  may  speak  my  conscience 
that  tells  me  they  are  a  people  truly  fearing  God,  and  follow  the  paths  that 
lead  to  Jerusalem,  for  they  manifest  the  same  apparently  in  the  whole  course 
of  their  conversation.  For  my  part  I  have  just  cause  ever  to  bless  the  Lord 
for  so  high  a  favor  in  bringing  me  hither,  and  shall  account  it  the  greatest 
happiness  that  ever  befell  me  ;  and  though  I  must  confess,  at  your  first 
motioning  of  it,  it  was  somewhat  averse  and  distasteful  to  my  untamed  and 
unbridled  nature,  yet  since  the  heavenly  conversations  and  sweet  life  of  the 


254  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

have  taken  pleasure  doubtless  in  extending  a  hearty  welcome  to 
one  so  well  and  so  favorably  known  as  Richard  Mather. 

The  James,  having  August  12  continued  her  voyage  to  Massa- 
chusetts bay,  encountered  heavy  winds  August  13  and  14,  and 
then  anchored  at  the  Isles  of  Shoals.  There  the  great  storm  that 
desolated  the  New  England  coast  on  the  following  day  broke  upon 
the  vessel  at  its  island  anchorage.  Seamen  and  passengers  alike 
trembled  at  the  violence  of  winds  and  waves.  The  ship,  in  immi- 
nent peril  from  the  first,  lost  her  anchors  at  length,  but  miracu- 
lously, as  all  thought,  escaped  the  rocks  that  showed  themselves 
here  and  there  above  the  breaking  billows,  and  reached  open  sea  ; 
whence,  after  the  storm  ceased,  the  James  made  her  way  in  safety 
into  Massachusetts  bay  and  finally  into  Boston  harbor.  "The 
Iyord  granted  us  as  wonderful  a  deliverance  as  ever  people  had", 
wrote  Mather  in  his  journal. 

The  Angel  Gabriel  seems  to  have  reached  Pemaquid  about  the 
time  this  destructive  storm  descended  upon  the  New  England 
coast,  and  was  at  anchor  in  the  harbor.  Abraham  Shurt  and 
many  others  were  there  to  extend  to  the  new  colonists  a  good 
English  welcome.  But  though  the  vessel  was  securely  anchored 
in  her  desired  haven,  the  fury  of  the  storm  wrought  her  total 
destruction.  When  Richard  Mather  received  the  tidings  of  the 
loss  of  the  Angel  Gabriel,  which  included  one  seaman  and  three 
or  four  passengers  as  well  as  a  valuable  cargo,  he  entered  the 
record  in  his  journal  with  a  chastened  heart  and  hand.  Indeed 
the  sudden,  unexpected  destruction  of  the  strong  ship  made  a 
deep,  abiding  impression  not  only  upon  those  who  witnessed  the 
scene,  but  upon  the  dwellers  in  every  hamlet  whither  the  story  of 
the  loss  of  the  Angel  Gabriel  was  carried.  More  than  a  century 
afterward  the  Pemaquid  proprietors  placed  upon  their  seal  the 

people  here  hath  so  far  wrought  upon  and  vindicated  my  conscience,  that  I 
would  not  (I  profess  seriously  from  my  very  soul)  be  in  my  former  base,  abom- 
inable, odious  condition,  no,  not  for  the  whole  riches  of  the  world."  Tre- 
lawny  Papers,  72,  73. 


ADDED   SETTLEMENTS. 


255 


device  of  a  ship,  and  surrounded  it  with  the  legend,  "The  Angel 
•Gabriel.     A.  K.  Pemaquid,  1631".1 

There  are  few  sources  of  information  concerning  the  lives  of  the 
early  settlers.  So  far  as  is  known,  no  one  among  them  kept  a 
journal  in  which  were  recorded  the  common  experiences  of  daily 
life  on  the  Maine  coast  at  that  time.  Certainly  no  such  journal 
has  come  down  to  us.  In  fact  the  Trelawny  Papers,  in  which  is 
preserved  the  correspondence  of  John  Winter  and  others  asso- 
ciated with  him  at  Richmond's  island  in  the  interests  of  Robert 
Trelawny,  are  almost  our  only  source  of  information  along  this 
line  of  inquiry.  These,  it  is  true,  give  us  glimpses  of  every  day 
matters  at  a  single  locality  for  the  most  part;  but  even  such 
.glimpses  may  be  fairly  regarded  as  representing  life  at  other 
points  from  Agamenticus  to  Pemaquid. 

The  choice  of  a  settlement  was  not  an  unimportant  matter. 
Previous  to  1630,  the  country  for  the  most  part  was  open,  and  the 
settler  who  ventured  to  locate  on  the  mainland  made  his  habita- 
tion without  much  inquiry  as  to  land  titles.  After  that  time, 
arrangements  were  made  with  the  various  patentees  who  received 
grants  from  the  council  for  New  England,  or  from  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges. 

Having  selected  a  location,  the  settler  cleared  a  plot  of  ground 
and  erected  his  dwelling,  a  rude,  log  structure  in  the  early  period. 
At  Richmond's  island  suitable  buildings  were  provided  for  living 
and  trading  purposes.  Winter's  house  was  forty  feet  in  length, 
eighteen  feet  in  breadth,  and  had  a  fireplace  so  large  that  brew- 
ing, baking  and  boiling  operations  were  carried  on  at  the  same 
time.  In  an  adjoining  house  was  the  kitchen ;  and  here,  also, 
were  '  'sieves  and  mill  and  mortar' ' .  Corn  was  first  broken  in  the 
mortar,  then  ground  in  a  hand-mill  and  afterward  sifted.  Over 
the  kitchen  were  two  chambers.  All  of  the  men  in  Winter's 
employ — there  were  forty-seven  in  1637— slept  in  one  of  these 
chambers,  and  each  man  had  his  close-boarded  cabin  or  bunk. 

1  A  stands  for  Aldworth,  K  for  Klbridge,  the  two  Pemaquid  patentees  ; 
1631  is  the  date  of  the  patent.     Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  Series  I,  5,  218. 


256  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF    COI,ONIAE   MAINE. 

"I  have  room  enough",  adds  Winter  in  a  letter  to  Trelawny,  "to 
make  a  dozen  close-boarded  cabins  more,  if  I  have  need  of  them, 
and  in  the  other  chamber  I  have  room  enough  to  put  the  ship's 
sails  into  and  all  our  dry  goods". * 

In  the  open  space  on  the  mainland,  near  the  house  built  by 
Cleeve  and  Tucker,  and  which  they  cleared  for  their  own  uses, 
Winter  had  a  cornfield,  containing  four  or  five  acres  and  fenced 
with  poles  six  feet  high,  driven  into  the  ground  and  pointed. 
Writing  to  Trelawny  in  the  early  part  of  October,  1634,  Winter 
could  say:  "Our  harvest  of  Indian  corn  is  not  all  in  yet,  but  if 
fair  weather  [continues],  it  will  be  in  about  five  or  six  days  hence. 
I  think  we  shall  have  about  twenty  hogsheads  of  corn  good  and 
bad ;  the  frost  has  taken  some  of  our  corn  that  was  not  fully  ripe, 
but  [it  is]  not  much  the  worse  for  it' '  .2  Winter  also  had  swine 
on  the  mainland,  "about  seventy  pigs,  young  and  old",  he  writes  ; 

and  I  hope  we  shall  have  more  very  shortly they 

feed  themselves  when  the  acorns  do  fall".3 

The  fertility  of  the  soil  is  often  mentioned  by  the  early  New 
England  writers.  Winter  makes  reference  to  it.  "There  is 
nothing  that  we  set  or  sow  but  doth  prove  very  well.  We  have 
proved  divers  sorts  as  barley,  peas,  pumpkins,  carrots,  parsnips, 
onions,  garlic,  radishes,  turnips,  cabbage,  lettuce,  parsley,  melons, 
and  I  think  so  will  other  sorts  of  herbs  if  they  be  set  or  sown."4 
This  record  occurs  in  a  letter  written  in  the  autumn  of  1634. 
Winter's  diligence  in  establishing  so  soon  a  well-cultivated  gar- 
den was  doubtless  manifested  by  other  early  settlers. 

From  the  sea,  however,  the  colonists  derived  largely  their  means 
of  subsistence.  Cod,  haddock,  halibut,  bass,  abounded  and  mack- 
erel at  certain  seasons  of  the  year.  The  dwellers  on  the  shores  of 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Sheepscot  were  especially  favored  in  their 
food    supplies.      "They   wanted    nothing    they   did   not   have." 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  31,  32. 

2  lb.,  53. 

3  lb.,  31. 
Mb.,  50. 


ADDED   SETTLEMENTS.  257 

Plenty  surrounded  them.  All  kinds  of  fish  still  known  in  our 
rivers  and  streams,  such  as  salmon,  trout,  bass,  shad,  herring, 
alewives,  smelts,  etc.,  were  to  be  had  in  their  season;  also  clams 
and  oysters.  The  marshes,  at  certain  times  in  the  year,  furnished 
a  rendezvous  for  wild  geese,  ducks,  teals  and  other  birds.  The 
nearby  forests,  also,  abounded  in  game,  furnishing  extensive  hunt- 
ing grounds  for  those  who  ventured  to  make  their  way  into  such 
primeval  seclusions;1  some  of  them  "gentle  sportsmen"  like 
Cammock,  the  Josselyn  brothers  and  Michael  Mitton,  who  mar- 
ried Cleeve's  daughter  Elizabeth. 

Household  articles  were  doubtless  few  and  of  a  primitive  kind. 
When  Cammock  set  up  housekeeping  he  gave  Trelawny  a  some- 
what extended  order,  thus  :  "two  good  kettles  of  copper,  one  big- 
ger than  another,  one  iron  pot,  one  iron  possnett  [a  small  pot], 
one  frying  pan  of  a  good  size,  one  gridiron,  a  fire  pan  and  tongs, 
pot-hooks  and  pot-hangers  ;  one  dozen  of  howes  [hoes] ,  six  iron 
wedges,  one  hand  saw,  three  sieves  for  corn,  one  finer  than  the 
other ;  and  one  dozen  of  wooden  platters  and  one  good  dripping 
pan  and  a  pair  of  bellows."  2  With  such  an  outfit  Cammock  cer- 
tainly had  no  difficulty  in  providing  generous  entertainment  for 
the  good  livers  whom  he  made  his  guests. 

The  chief  industry  among  the  early  settlers  was  fishing.  In 
fact,  it  was  the  great  value  of  the  fisheries  that  attracted  many  of 
these  settlers  to  the  coast  of  Maine.  Winter's  reports  to  Trelawny 
were  not  as  favorable  as  those  that  first  awakened  attention  in 
England.  The  best  fishing,  he  said,  was  in  January  and  Febru- 
ary, while  the  reports  of  explorers  and  voyagers  had  reference  for 
the  most  part  to  the  abundance  of  fish  off  the  coast  of  Maine  in 
summer  time.  Writing  June  18,  1634,  to  Trelawny,  Winter  said  : 
"if  you  purpose  to  follow  your  fishing  here,  you  must  expect  to 
have  your  ship  here  by  Christmas.  Since  March  we  have  had  bad 
fishing  this  year."     June  11,    1635,  Winter  writes,    "the   later 

1  The  Sheepscot  Farms,  by  Alexander  Johnston.     Me.  Hist.  Society'' s  Coll. , 
Series  I,  9,  138. 

2  Trelawny  Papers,  21 . 

17 


258  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

fishing  hath  proved  but  ill  with  us".  A  like  report  followed  in 
June,  1636:  "The  fishing  this  year  hath  proved  very  ill".  So, 
too,  July  8,  1637,  he  wrote,  "The  fishing  since  the  middle  of  Feb- 
ruary hath  proved  very  ill."  But  as  Winter,  in  this  last  letter, 
adds,  "there  is  but  little  hope  of  doing  good  here  upon  fishing 
except  we  have  good  pliable  men,  and  such  I  lack",  he  discloses, 
in  part  at  least,  the  reasons  for  the  want  of  success  which  he  so 
frequently  deplores.1 

Probably  most  of  the  settlers  traded  more  or  less  with  the 
Indians,  who  soon  found  that  furs  could  easily  be  exchanged  for 
hatchets,  trinkets  and  especially  the  "strong  waters",  of  which 
there  seems  to  have  been  no  lack  at  any  part  of  the  coast.  The 
best  places  for  such  traffic  were  on  the  large  rivers,  those  natural 
highways  by  which  the  Indians  easily  descended  from  their  vil- 
lages back  in  the  country  to  the  trading  posts  established  on  the 
river  banks,  or  at  some  convenient  location  not  far  away.  Win- 
ter, at  Richmond's  island,  was  at  a  disadvantage  in  seeking  to 
secure  trade  with  the  Indians.  In  one  of  his  first  letters  to  Tre- 
lawny,  who  evidently  had  suggested  efforts  in  this  direction,  Win- 
ter wrote  :  "I  have  not  received  from  them  [the  Indians]  since  I 
came  to  this  land  but  three  skins,  and  that  was  two  months  after 
I  came  hither,  and  was  for  strong  waters.  There  hath  not  been 
to  this  island  one  Indian  all  this  year,  nor  to  the  main  to  our 
house,  that  brought  any  skins  to  trade. ' '  Having  discovered  that 
at  Richmond's  island  he  was  remote  from  the  lines  of  traffic,  Win- 
ter attempted  to  reach  the  Indians  in  their  villages  forty  or  fifty 
miles  in  the  country ;  but  waistcoats,  shirts  and  stockings  attracted 
no  trade.  When,  however,  he  bought  a  few  beads  and  sought 
trade  by  them,  beaver  was  produced  and  trade  effected.2 

Winter's  reference  to  an  Indian  trade  in  which  "strong  waters" 
entered  into  the  account  recalls  the  fact  that  the  importation  of 
intoxicating  liquors  was  a  matter  of  not  unfrequent  occurrence  at 
Richmond's   island.     "Great   store   of    sack   and   strong  waters 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  26,  55,  83,  107,  108. 

2  lb.,  27,  28. 


ADDED  SETTLEMENTS.  259 

comes  in  all  the  ships  that  come  hither",  Winter  wrote  to  Tre- 
lawny  in  one  of  his  letters ;  and  in  the  same  connection  he  men- 
tions the  arrival  of  a  vessel  from  the  Canaries  '  'laden  with  wine, 
strong  waters,  sugar  and  some  pitch".  "Aquavite"  had  a  prom- 
inent place  in  his  invoices  and  accounts,  and  mention  is  also  made 
of  "butts  of  sack",  "pipes  of  Portugal  wine",  etc.  "if  you  can 
send  some  good  sack  you  may;  that  will  sell",  wrote  Winter  to 
Trelawny,  July  8,  1637.  Doubtless  a  part  of  the  supply  was  for 
use  in  trafficking  with  the  Indians,  but  the  accounts  show  that 
both  fishermen  and  settlers  brought  with  them  to  the  new  world 
the  drinking  customs  of  the  old.1 

The  absence  of  women  among  the  early  settlers  is  a  noteworthy 
fact  in  this  connection.  No  women  came  with  the  Popham  colo- 
nists. Furthermore,  no  mention  is  made  of  women  in  connection 
with  the  efforts  put  forth  by  Captain  John  Smith  and  others  to 
bring  settlers  to  the  Maine  coast  in  1615  and  later.  John  Brown 
of  New  Harbor  probably  brought  his  family  with  him  ;  and  this 
may  be  true  of  William  Cox  and  others  in  the  same  vicinity. 
John  Winter  left  his  wife  in  England  when  he  came  to  Richmond's 
island  as  Trelawny's  agent.  The  first  mention  of  his  wife,  as 
present  with  him  in  his  island  home,  occurs  in  a  letter  written 
July  10,  1637, 2  and  it  is  supposed  that  Mrs.  Winter  and  the 
daughter  Sarah  accompanied  Winter  on  his  return  from  England 
in  1636.  Cleeve's  wife,  and  daughter  Elizabeth,  were  with  him 
when  he  is  first  mentioned  as  a  dweller  at  Spurwink,  and  evi- 
dently the  two  came  hither  with  him.  But  the  Trelawny  papers 
give  us  few  glimpses  of  women  in  that  early  period.  Winter, 
writing  to  Trelawny  July  11,  1633,  says:  "if  any  of  our  com- 
pany's wives  ask  for  their  husbands,  tell  them  that  they  are  all  in 
good  health."8  Some  of  these  husbands,  it  may  be,  were  here 
only  temporarily,  and  intended  to  return  to  England  sooner  or 
later.     It  is  probable,  however,  that  others  intended  to  remain 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  Yl\,  183-198. 

2  lb.,  115. 

3  lb.,  24. 


260  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

and  send  for  their  wives  as  soon  as  they  found  conditions  favor- 
able. When  such  conditions  were  discoverable  as  the  settlers 
became  more  numerous  and  secured  for  themselves  comfortable 
homes  on  cleared  land,  families  that  had  been  separated  were 
reunited  and  family  life  was  re-established.  But  unfavorable  con- 
ditions were  found  at  Jamestown,  Va.,  in  1607,  and  at  Plymouth, 
Mass.,  in  1620;  so  also  in  the  beginnings  of  the  later  Puritan 
movement  to  Massachusetts  bay,  though  doubtless  in  a  less  degree 
than  among  the  earlier  colonists.  One  can  hardly  escape  the  con- 
clusion, therefore,  that  colonization  upon  the  Maine  coast  would 
have  been  followed  by  better  and  more  enduring  results,  if  from 
the  beginning  the  scattered  settlements  in  a  larger  degree  had 
enjoyed  the  helpful,  encouraging,  restraining  influences  of  women. 

The  great  patent  issued  by  James  I,  November  3,  1620,  placing 
the  northern  or  Plymouth  Company  on  an  equal  footing  with  the 
southern  or  Jamestown  Company,  authorized  the  council  for  New 
England  "to  make,  ordain  and  establish  all  manner  of  orders, 
laws,  directions,  instructions,  forms  and  ceremonies  of  govern- 
ment and  magistracy  fit  and  necessary  for  and  concerning  the 
government  of  the  said  colony  and  plantation  so  always  as  the 
same  be  not  contrary  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  this  our  realm  of 
England".1  The  council,  however,  made  no  efforts  to  exercise 
this  authority.  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  as  had  been  stated,  made 
some  attempts  in  this  direction  within  his  own  territorial  limits, 
but  they  were  ineffectual. 

The  grant  of  Pemaquid  to  Robert  Aldworth  and  Giles  Elbridge, 
in  1631,  gave  them  liberty  "to  make  orders,  laws,  ordinances  and 
constitutions  for  the  rule,  government,  ordering  and  directing  of 
all  persons  to  be  transported  and  settled  upon  lands  hereby 
granted".2  There  is  no  evidence,  however,  that  Aldworth  and 
Elbridge,  or  either  of  them — Aldworth  died  in  1634 — attempted 
to  establish  civil  government  within  their  territorial  limits. 
Abraham  Shurt,  their  agent  at  Pemaquid,  seems  for  awhile  to 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  31. 

2  lb.,  170. 


ADDED   SETTLEMENTS.  261 

have  represented  his  patrons'  interests  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic ; 
but  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  he  was  in  any  way  empow- 
ered by  them  to  assume  any  governmental  proceedings.  Later, 
Thomas  Elbridge  (a  son  of  Giles  Blbridge,  who  died  in  1644) 
came  over  to  Pemaquid  to  look  after  his  father's  interests  ;  and  is 
said  by  Shurt  to  have  "called  a  court",1  but  it  was  rather  for  the 
purpose  of  collecting  payment  for  certain  fishing  interests  than  for 
the  trial  of  civil  causes  generally. 

It  was  natural,  therefore,  as  the  number  of  settlements  increased 
on  the  coast  of  Maine,  that  the  lack  of  good  government  should 
be  noticed  and  made  a  matter  of  comment  and  complaint  on  the 
part  of  those  who  desired  better  conditions.  "Here  lacks  good 
government  in  the  land",  wrote  Winter  to  Robert  Trelawny,  June 
26,  1635,  and  he  added,  "for  a  great  many  deal  very  ill  here  for 
want  of  government' ' .  A  part  of  his  trouble  was  with  the  men 
in  his  employ,  as  Trelawny's  agent.  "They  think  to  do  what 
they  list",  he  wrote,  "for  here  is  neither  law  nor  government 
with  us  about  these  parts  to  right  such  wrongs,  and  I  am  but  one 
man".  Later,  urging  Trelawny  to  send  over  "honester  men", 
Winter  added,  "for  I  have  a  bad  company  to  deal  withal,  being 
here  in  a  lawless  country".  He  had  in  mind  not  only  fishermen, 
however.  "Our  husbandmen",  he  added,  "prove  also  bad".2 
Such  complaints  are  frequent  in  Winter's  letters.  Moreover, 
Winter  had  his  trials  in  wider  circles,  complaining  loudly  of 
Cleeve,  and  living  at  times  in  strained  relations  with  Cammock 
and  Mackworth.  This  state  of  things  at  Richmond's  island  and 
vicinity  existed  at  other  places  on  the  Maine  coast.  A  sore  lack 
of  organized  government  was  everywhere  felt  and  acknowledged. 
Manifestly  Gorges  and  the  other  members  of  the  council  for  New 
England  had  not  sufficiently  considered  their  responsibility  in 
making  suitable  provision  for  the  establishment  of  some  kind  of 
civil  government  over  that  part  of  New  England  which  they  had 

1  Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  58. 

2  Trelawny  Papers,  61,  109,  136. 


262  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE- 

opened  to  settlement,  and  into  which  they  had  encouraged  men  to 
enter. 

Here  on  the  Maine  coast,  there  was  lack  also  of  the  restraining 
influences  of  religion.  It  is  true  that  Gorges,  and  those  interested 
with  him  in  the  Popham  colony,  sent  hither  with  the  colony  Rev. 
Robert  Seymour  ;  but  when  the  colonists  returned  to  Kngland  in 
the  following  year,  he  returned  with  them.  So,  also,  when  Rob- 
ert Gorges  was  sent  over  in  1623  as  governor  of  New  Kngland, 
Rev.  William  Morrell,  who  had  received  an  appointment  as  super- 
intendent of  the  churches  of  New  Kngland,  came  with  him ;  but 
both  returned  in  the  following  year  without  having  assumed  offi- 
cial functions.  A  third  Kpiscopal  clergyman,  Rev.  Richard  Gib- 
son, accompanied  Winter,  it  is  thought,  when  he  returned  to 
Richmond's  island  in  1636.  He  soon  had  trouble  with  Winter, 
which  is  not  surprising;  and  there  were  other  "troublous  spirits" 
in  the  neighborhood,  so  that  after  about  three  years,  having  mar- 
ried the  daughter  of  Thomas  L,ewis  of  Saco,  he  removed  from  the 
province,  and  not  long  afterward  he  also  returned  to  Kngland.1 
Until  after  1640,  these  were  the  only  ordained  Protestant  clergy- 
men connected  with  the  Gorges  interests. 

Kdward  Trelawny,  a  brother  of  Robert  Trelawny,  was  at  Rich- 
mond's island  in  1635.  A  letter  written  by  him  to  his  brother 
not  long  after  his  arrival  mentions  an  earlier  request  "for  a  reli- 
gious, able  minister".  It  is  "most  pitiful  to  behold  what  a  most 
heathen  life  we  live";  and  he  contrasts  conditions  at  Richmond's 
island  with  those  he  was  made  familiar  with  during  a  visit  to  Bos- 
ton, making  mention  of  "those  sweet  means  which  draws  a  bless- 
ing on  all  things,  even  those  holy  ordinances  and  heavenly  manna 
of  our  souls,  which  in  other  parts  of  this  land  flows  abundantly 
even  to  the  great  rejoicing  and  comforting  of  the  people  of  God".2 
It  may  have  been  this  appeal  that  led  to  the  appearance  of  Rev. 
Richard  Gibson  at  Richmond's  island  in  the  following  year. 

In  the  absence,  therefore,  of  regular,  continuous  governmental 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve  of  Casco  Bay,  81,  82. 

2  Trelawny  Papers,  72,  79. 


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Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  to  Governor  Wieeiam  Gorges. 


ADDED  SETTLEMENTS.  263 

restraints  of  any  kind,  and  also  of  the  helpful  influence  of  reli- 
gious institutions,  except  as  mentioned  above,  conditions  in  the 
Maine  settlements  were  such  that  the  colonists  found  themselves 
in  circumstances  which  must  have  been,  at  least  to  many,  distress- 
ing in  a  very  large  degree.  Nor  was  this  all.  These  conditions 
influenced  many  who  came  hither  intending  to  make  homes  for 
themselves  between  the  Penobscot  and  the  Piscataqua ;  but  who 
on  their  arrival  met  with  disappointment  at  what  they  saw  and 
heard,  and  continuing  their  journey  established  themselves  in  the 
more  orderly  settlements  of  Massachusetts  bay. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
The  French  at  Casting. 

THE  charter  of  Nova  Scotia,  granted  by  James  I,  September 
10,  1621,  to  Sir  William  Alexander,1  secretary  of  state  to 
the  king,  included  the  territory  on  the  Atlantic  coast  from 
Cape  Sable  to  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Croix  river,  and  northward 
to  its  "remotest  source"  ;  thence  northward  to  the  nearest  river 
"discharging  itself  into  the  great  river  of  Canada  and  proceeding 
from  it  by  the  sea  shores  of  the  same  river  of  Canada  eastward  to 

the  river commonly  known  and  called  by  the  name  of 

Gathepe  or  Gaspie,  and  thence  southeastward  to  the  islands  called 

Baccaloes thence  to  the  cape  or  promontory  of  Cape 

Britton lying  near  the  latitude  of  forty-five  degrees  or 

thereabout ;  and  from  the  said  promontory  of  Cape  Britton  toward 
the  south  and  west  to  the  aforesaid  Cape  Sable,  where  the  circuit 
began";  also  "all  seas  and  islands  toward  the  south  within  forty 

leagues including  the  great  island,  commonly  called 

Isle  de  Sable  or  Sablon".2     By  a  subsequent  charter,  Charles  I, 

1  It  is  conjectured  that  Sir  William  Alexander's  attention  was  first  directed 
to  Nova  Scotia  by  Claude  de  la  Tour,  a  French  Protestant  who  had  been  in 
that  country  with  Pourtrincourt.  It  is  known  that  in  1621  he  was  in  Scot- 
land, where  Sir  William  was  secretary  of  state  to  King  James.  When  Cap- 
tain John  Mason  returned  from  Newfoundland,  Sir  William  sought  an  inter- 
view with  him  by  inviting  him  to  his  house.  Mason  advised  him  to  avail 
himself  of  the  opportunity  opening  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  for  securing 
large  land  possessions,  suggesting  that  he  confer  with  Gorges  and  seek  his 
assistance  in  securing  from  the  king  a  grant  of  territory  northeast  of  the 
grant  to  the  council  for  New  England.  But  Sir  William  went  directly  to  the 
king,  who  conveyed  to  him  the  territory  of  Nova  Scotia.  For  an  extended 
account  of  Sir  William's  connection  with  American  affairs,  see  Sir  William 
Alexander  and  American  Colonization,  by  Rev.  Edmund  F.  Slafter,  A.  M., 
Prince  Society,  Boston,  1873. 

2  Farnham  Papers,  I,  59,  60. 


TH£   FRENCH   AT   CASTING.  265 

July  12,  1625,  confirmed  the  grant  of  James  I,  and  a  clause  was 
added  which  incorporated  Nova  Scotia  with  Scotland.1 

Two  years  later,  with  the  aid  of  Sir  David  Kirk,  who  was  a 
French  Protestant,  Sir  William  Alexander  instituted  measures  for 
the  expulsion  of  French  settlers  within  the  limits  of  his  grant, 
and  to  a  considerable  degree  these  measures  were  successful. 
Opposition,  however,  was  awakened  on  the  part  of  France,  the 
French  king  insisting  that  the  territory  invaded  was  within  the 
limits  of  New  France ;  and,  in  order  to  advance  the  interests  of 
the  monarchy  within  the  disputed  territory,  an  organization  was 
formed,2  known  as  the  Company  of  New  France.  To  this  com- 
pany, the  whole  territory  was  ceded  by  the  king  on  condition  that 
French  occupation  of  Acadia  should  be  strengthened  by  new  colo- 
nists. With  this  end  in  view,  preparations  were  made  for  an 
expedition  thither  under  the  direction  of  Isaac  de  Razillai.3 

By  a  charter  granted  February  2,  1629,*  Charles  I  extended  the 
bounds  of  Sir  William  Alexander's  territory  to  the  "gulf  of 
California",    with    "the   islands    lying    within    the    said    gulf; 

as  also  all  and  whole  the  lands  and  bounds  adjacent  to 

the  said  gulf  on  the  west  and  south,  whether  they  be  found  a  part 
of  the  continent  or  mainland  or  an  island  (as  it  is  thought  they 
are)  which  is  commonly  called  and  distinguished  by  the  name  of 
California' ' .  This  was  for  the  encouragement  of  Sir  William  in 
"the  expected  revealing  and  discovery  of  a  way  or  passage  to 
those  seas,  which  lie  upon  America  on  the  west,  commonly  called 
the  South  Sea,  from  which  the  head,  or  source  of  that  great  river, 
or  gulf  of  Canada,  or  some  river  flowing  into  it,  is  deemed  to  be 
not  far  distant".     The  lack  of  geographical  knowledge,  evinced 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  76-80. 

2  The  company  was  organized  by  Cardinal  Richelieu  in  1627.  Its  charter 
not  only  gave  the  company  all  New  France,  but  also  the  right  to  confer 
titles  of  distinction.     Farnham  Papers,   I,  172. 

3  He  was  a  distinguished  naval  commander  and  belonged  to  a  well-known 
Touraine  family. 

*  Farnham  Papers,  I,  82-85. 


266  the;  beginnings  OF  COLONIAL  MAINE. 

in  this  description,  is  not  surprising  in  a  document  of  that  period. 
Exploration  of  the  American  continent  westward  required  time. 

Sir  William  Alexander  doubtless  received  early  information 
with  reference  to  the  designs  of  the  Company  of  New  France ; 
and  April  30,  1630, x  he  granted  to  Claude  de  la  Tour,  his  son 
Charles  de  la  Tour  and  their  heirs,  "the  country  and  coast  of 
Acadia",  both  father  and  son  having  promised  "to  be  good  and 
faithful  vassals"  of  the  king  of  Scotland.  Conditions,  however, 
were  soon  and  unexpectedly  changed.  About  the  time  Razillai 
was  ready  to  sail  for  Nova  Scotia  with  his  expeditionary  force, 
Charles  I,  March  29,  1632,  by  the  treaty  of  St.  Germains2  restored 
to  I<ouis  XIII,  king  of  France,  the  whole  of  Acadia — a  heavy 
blow  to  English  interests  and  claims  on  the  American  coast. 
Razillai  was  appointed  governor  of  Acadia,  and  having  now  no 
need  of  the  forces  he  had  collected  for  reconquering  the  country, 
and  with  a  grant  to  himself  of  the  river  and  bay  of  St.  Croix,3  he 
set  sail  to  assume  command  in  Acadia.  Charles  de  la  Tour  was 
made  one  of  his  lieutenants,  and  seems  to  have  been  assigned  to 
the  command  of  the  territory  extending  east  of  the  St.  Croix 
river.  He  made  his  headquarters  at  St.  John,  where  the  river 
St.  John  empties  into  the  Bay  of  Fundy.  Aulnay,  the  other 
lieutenant,  who  was  directed  to  dispossess  the  English  at  Penob- 
scot, was  given  command  there  with  instructions,  it  is  said,  to 
extend  French  control  as  far  as  the  Kennebec  if  possible.4 

The  treaty  of  St.  Germains  restored  to  France  "all  the  places 

1Farnham  Papers,  I,  128-132. 

2  lb.,  I,  175-177. 

8  lb.,  I,  172-174. 

4  So  little  is  known  concerning  Razillai's  orders  to  his  lieutenants  that 
while  in  the  Farnham  Papers  (I,  260)  we  have  the  statement,  "It  is  believed 
that  De  Razilly,  at  the  same  time  at  which  he  made  la  Tour  commander  in 
West  Acadia,  appointed  D'Aulney  his  lieutenant  in  I$ast  Acadia",  in  the 
Mass.  Hist.  Soc.  Ed.  of  Bradford's  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation  (II,  206) 
la  Tour  is  said  to  have  been  assigned  command  east  of  the  St.  Croix  river  and 
Aulnay  that  to  the  west  of  that  river.  This  seems  to  have  been  the  arrange- 
ment, but  documentary  evidence,  for  which  search  has  been  made,  is  lack- 
ing. 


THE   FRENCH   AT   CASTINE.  267 

occupied  in  New  France,  Acadia  and  Canada  by  the  subjects  of 
the  king  of  Great  Britain".  Evidently  the  Pilgrims  regarded 
their  trading  post  at  Penobscot,  now  Castine,  as  within  the  limits 
of  British  territory,  and  continued  occupation  and  trade  there, 
notwithstanding  the  rifling  of  their  trading  house  in  1631,  as 
already  mentioned.  There  was  also  English  occupation  still  far- 
ther to  the  eastward.  Bradford,  under  date  of  1631,  records1  the 
opening  of  a  trading  house  "beyond  Penobscot",  by  Mr.  Allerton 
of  Plymouth.  The  location  was  at  what  is  now  known  as  Machias. 
It  was  not  a  Pilgrim  enterprise,  however  ;  in  fact,  it  disregarded 
Pilgrim  interests.  Bradford,  in  his  allusion  to  it,  says  that  Aller- 
ton's  purpose  was  "to  cut  off  the  trade"  at  Penobscot.  He  is 
said  to  have  had  as  a  partner,  or  agent,  Richard  Vines  of  Saco. 
Vines,  as  has  been  stated,  had  a  grant  of  land  at  Saco,  with  John 
Oldham  as  a  co-partner  ;  but  that  grant  in  no  way  could  be  made 
a  basis  of  a  claim  at  Machias.  Allerton,  and  those  associated 
with  him,  were  in  possession  of  territory  there,  as  indeed  were 
the  Pilgrims  at  Penobscot,  considering  the  place  within  British 
territory.  In  character,  Allerton  and  his  company  were  so  defi- 
cient that  Bradford  describes  them  as  "a  company  of  base  fel- 
lows", and  mentions  "gross  miscarriages",  for  which  Allerton 
subsequently  was  called  to  account  by  the  church  at  Plymouth 
and  made  confession.  The  French,  also,  called  Allerton  and  his 
associates  to  account.  In  the  fall  of  1633,  la  Tour  descended 
upon  them  as  interlopers  on  French  territory ;  and  in  the  conflict 
connected  with  the  affair,  as  Winthrop  records,2  two  of  the  men 
were  killed,  three  others  were  carried  away  and  also  "the  goods". 
Bradford,  in  his  statement  of  the  case,  adds,  "This  was  the  end 
of  that  project".3 

Razallai,  in  arriving  on  the  American  coast,  established  himself 
at  Iya  Heve  (Iyiverpool) ,  Nova  Scotia,  where  he  erected  a  fort. 
Aulnay,  in  accordance  with  his  orders  "to  clear  the  coast  unto 

1  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc,  Ed.  1912,  II,  133. 

2  Journal,  I,  117. 

3  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  II,  133,  134 


268  The)  beginnings  of  colonial  maine. 

Pemaquid  and  Kennebec  of  all  persons  whatever",1  proceeded  to 
take  possession  of  Penobscot.  Bradford,  in  his  account  of 
Aulnay's  procedure,  wrote:2  "Aulnay,  coming  into  the  harbor 
of  Penobscot,  and  having  before  got  some  of  the  chief  that 
belonged  to  the  house  aboard  his  vessel,  by  subtlety  coming  upon 
them  in  their  shallop,  he  got  them  to  pilot  him  in ;  and  after  get- 
ting the  rest  into  his  power,  he  took  possession  of  the  house  in 
the  name  of  the  king  of  France ;  and  partly  by  threatening,  and 
otherwise,  made  Mr.  Willett  (their  agent  there)  to  approve  of  the 
sale  of  the  goods  there  unto  him,  of  which  he  set  the  price  him- 
self in  effect,  and  made  an  inventory  thereof  (yet  leaving  out  sun- 
dry things) ,  but  made  no  payment  for  them  ;  but  told  them  in 
convenient  time  he  would  do  it  if  they  came  for  it.  For  the 
house  and  fortifications,  etc.,  he  would  not  allow,  nor  account 
anything,  saying  that  they  which  build  on  another  man's  ground 
do  forfeit  the  same.  So  thus  turning  them  out  of  all  (with  a 
great  deal  of  compliment  and  many  fine  words) ,  he  let  them  have 
their  shallop,  and  some  victuals  to  bring  them  home."  3 

On  their  arrival  at  Plymouth,  the  Pilgrim  party  reported  the 
facts  connected  with  Aulnay's  seizure  of  the  trading  house  and  its 
goods.     At  once  the  Pilgrim  spirit  was  stirred,4  and  their  leaders 

1  Mass.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  3rd  Series,  VII,  94. 

2  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  II,  206,  207. 

3  In  his  account  of  the  great  storm  that  struck  the  James  at  the  Isles  of 
Shoals,  Rev.  Richard  Mather  mentions  an  incident  in  connection  with  this 
French  descent  upon  the  Pilgrim  trading  house  at  Penobscot.  The  trading 
house  was  in  charge  of  Thomas  Willett  of  Plymouth,  and  Mather  records  : 
"In  the  storm,  one  Mr.  Willett  of  New  Plimouth,  and  other  3  men  with  him, 
having  been  turned  out  of  all  their  havings  at  Penobscot  about  a  fortnight 
before,  and  coming  along  with  us  in  our  ship  from  Richmond's  island,  with 
his  boat  and  goods  in  it  made  fast  at  the  stern  of  our  ship,  lost  his  boat  with 
all  that  was  therein,  the  violence  of  the  waves  breaking  the  boat  in  pieces, 
and  sinking  the  bottom  of  it  into  the  bottom  of  the  sea. ' '  Journal,  August 
15,  1635. 

*  Edward  Trelawny,  at  Richmond's  island,  also  had  stirrings,  and  he  urged 
his  brother,  in  Plymouth,  England,  to  petition  to  the  L/ords  "for  some  sea- 
sonable course  to  be  taken  with  the  French  here,  otherwise  there  will  be 
but  small  hopes  in  continuing  our  plantations  so  near  them  who  daily  draw 


THE   FRENCH   AT   CASTING.  269 

proceeded  "to  consult  with  their  friends  in  the  Bay",  intending 
with  their  approval  "to  hire  a  ship  of  force  and  seek  to  beat  out 
the  French"  ;  regarding  evidently  the  St.  Croix,  not  the  Penob- 
scot, as  the  western  boundary  of  French  territory,  as  in  the  grant 
to  Sir  William  Alexander.  The  Bay  colonists  gave  their  approval 
to  the  Pilgrim  project,  "if  themselves  could  bear  the  charge". 
Accordingly  the  Pilgrims  secured  for  their  purpose  a  vessel  of 
above  three  hundred  tons,  named  the  Great  Hope,  "well  fitted 
with  ordnance"  and  commanded  by  "one  Girling",  who  agreed 
to  drive  off  the  French  and  deliver  the  trading  house  again  into 
the  hands  of  the  Plymouth  men  for  seven  hundred  pounds  of 
beaver,  which  was  to  be  delivered  to  him  there  when  he  had 
accomplished  the  undertaking.  If  he  failed,  Girling  was  "to  lose 
his  labor  and  have  nothing' ' . 

Captain  Myles  Standish,  with  twenty  men,  accompanied  Girling 
to  Penobscot  in  a  Pilgrim  vessel,  on  which  was  the  promised 
beaver.  He  piloted  the  Great  Hope  to  the  harbor  of  Penobscot ; 
but  before  the  French  fort  was  within  reach  of  his  guns,  Girling, 
without  waiting  to  summon  the  French  to  surrender,  as  Captain 
Standish  "had  commission  and  order  so  to  do,  neither  would  do 
it  himself",  and  so  come  to  "a  fair  parley"  ;  but  he  began  "to 
shoot  at  a  distance  like  a  mad  man,  and  did  them  no  hurt  at  all" . 
The  Pilgrims  were  indignant  and  remonstrated  with  Girling,  who 
"at  last,  when  he  saw  his  own  folly",  placed  his  vessel  in  the 
position  he  should  have  taken  at  first  and  '  'bestowed  a  few  shot 
to  good  purpose' ' .  But  with  these  few  shot  he  exhausted  his  sup- 
ply of  powder,  and  was  obliged  to  retire,  "by  which  means", 
says  Bradford,  "the  enterprise  was  made  frustrate,  and  the  French 
encouraged ;  they  lay  close  under  a  work  of  earth,  and  let  him 
consume  himself ' .  When  Girling  made  known  this  condition  of 
things  to  Captain  Standish,  the  latter,  in  order  that  the  expedition 
might  not  prove  a  failure,  offered  to  get  a  supply  of  powder  at  the 

towards  us,  whose  neighborhood  (I  much  fear)  will  prove  very  prejudicial 

unto  us for  either  we  must  better  fortify,  or  else  expose  ourselves 

to  the  loss  of  all".     Trelawny  Papers,  78. 


270  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  mains. 

nearest  plantation.  The  offer  was  accepted  and  Standish  bore 
away ;  but  subsequently,  learning  that  Girling  intended  to  seize 
the  Pilgrim  vessel  on  his  return  and  so  secure  the  beaver,  Standish 
sent  to  Girling  the  promised  powder  supply,  but  took  the  beaver 
home.  Girling  made  no  further  attempt  to  recover  the  trading 
house  at  Penobscot  and  "went  his  way".1 

This  "Rooting  out  of  the  English  at  Penobscot"  was  an  occa- 
sion of  anxiety  to  the  English  settlers  farther  down  the  coast. 
Winthrop,  from  some  source,  received  a  report  that  the  French 
with  a  larger  expedition,  threatened  "to  displant  them  all"  as  far 
as  forty  degrees.  The  extent  of  the  French  claim,  however,  was 
only  "unto  Pemaquid  and  Kennebec"  ;  but  such  a  report  may 
have  had  some  basis  in  irresponsible  statements  that  soon  found 
their  way  to  the  Maine  settlements.  The  report  occasioned  alarm. 
Edward  Trelawny,  writing  January  10,  1636,  from  Richmond's 
island  to  his  brother,  expressed  a  fear  of  such  an  encroachment. 
We  must  better  fortify",  he  urged,  "or  else  expose  ourselves  to 
the  loss  of  all,  which  may  be  prevented  by  a  speedy  preparation 
against  all  assaults"  .2  Winter,  writing  from  the  same  place  in  the 
following  summer,  and  also  to  Robert  Trelawny,  added:  "The 
French  have  made  themselves  strong  at  the  place  they  took  last 
year  here  from  the  English,  and  do  report  they  will  have  more  of 
the  plantations  here  about  us,  and  this  [island]  for  one  ;  therefore 
we  shall  need  to  strengthen  this  plantation  for  it  lies  very  open  as 
yet  for  the  enemy."  3 

In  their  disappointment  occasioned  by  Girling' s  failure,  the 
Pilgrims  gave  consideration  to  added  measures  having  reference 
to  the  recovery  of  their  possessions  at  Penobscot.  The  result  was 
that  they  turned  again  to  their  friends  in  the  Bay,  expressing 
their  fears  that  the  French  were  now  likely  to  fortify  themselves 
strongly  in  the  position  they  had  taken  and  would  prove  "ill 

1  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  II,  210,  211. 

2  Trelawny  Papers,  78. 

3  lb.,  86. 


THE  FRENCH   AT   CASTINE.  271 

neighbors  to  the  English".1  The  Bay  colonists  at  first  evidently 
shared  their  apprehensions  ;  and  at  the  September  meeting  of  the 
court,  it  was  "Agreed,  that  Plymouth  shall  be  aided  with  men 
and  munitions  to  supplant  the  French  at  Penobscot ;  and  it  was 
ordered,  that  Captain  Sellanova  shall  be  sent  for,  to  confer  with 
about  this  business"  .2  Moreover,  the  governor  of  the  Bay  colony 
and  his  assistants,  in  a  letter  dated  October  9,  1635,  and  signed 
by  all  of  these  officials,  replied  formally  to  the  Pilgrim  request, 
recognizing  the  '  'weightiness' '  of  the  communication,  and  express- 
ing a  desire  for  a  conference  with  some  "man  of  trust,  furnished 
with  instructions  from  yourselves,  to  make  such  agreement  with 
us  about  this  business  as  may  be  useful  for  you  and  equal  for  us" . 
In  response  to  this  request,  the  Pilgrims  sent  to  Boston  two  of 
their  number,  Thomas  Prence  and  Captain  Myles  Standish, 
instructing  them  to  make  an  agreement  with  the  Bay  colonists 
upon  these  terms— "that  if  they  would  afford  such  assistance  as, 
together  with  their  own,  was  like  to  effect  the  thing,  and  also 
bear  a  considerable  part  of  the  charge,  they  would  go  on ;  if  not, 
they  (having  lost  so  much  already)  should  not  be  able,  but  must 
desist  and  wait  further  opportunity  as  God  should  give,  to  help 
themselves."  3 

The  conference  was  a  disappointment  to  the  Pilgrims;  "for 
when  it  came  to  the  issue,  they  [the  Bay  colonists]  would  be  at 
no  charge",  says  Bradford.  Deputy  Governor  Bellingham,  in  a 
letter  referring  to  the  conference  and  its  results,  wrote:  "We 
showed  our  willingness  to  help,  but  withal  we  declared  our  pres- 
ent condition,  and  in  what  state  we  were,  for  our  ability  to  help  ; 
which  we  for  our  parts  shall  be  willing  to  improve,  to  procure 
you  sufficient  supply  of  men  and  munition.  But  for  matter  of 
moneys  we  have  no  authority  at  all  to  promise  ;  and  if  we  should, 
we  should  rather  disappoint  you  than  encourage  you  by  that  help, 
which  we  are  not  able  to  perform."  * 

1  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  II,  211. 

2  Mass.  Colony  Records,  I,  160. 

3  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  II,  212. 
*  lb.,  II,  213. 


272  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE). 

The  Pilgrims  evidently  regarded  these  words  as  a  diplomatic 
expression  of  a  refusal  on  the  part  of  the  Bay  colonists  to  engage 
in  the  proposed  enterprise  on  the  terms  submitted.  Bradford 
refers  to  Bellingham's  letter  as  a  "breaking  off"  of  these  consid- 
erations concerning  a  recapture  of  Penobscot ;  and  accuses  some 
of  their  merchants  of  entering  into  trade  relations  with  the  French 
there,  furnishing  them  shortly  after  both  "provisions  and  powder 
and  shot",  and  continuing  so  to  do  afterward  "as  they  have 
opportunity  for  their  profit".  In  fact,  he  adds,  "the  English 
themselves  have  been  the  chiefest  supporters  of  these  French  ;  for 
besides  these  [Boston  merchants],  the  plantation  at  Pemaquid 
(which  lies  near  unto  them)  doth  not  only  supply  them  with  what 
they  want,  but  gives  them  continual  intelligence  of  all  things  that 
passes  among  the  English  (especially  some  of  them) ,  so  as  it  is 
no  marvel  though  they  still  grow,  and  encroach  more  and  more 
upon  the  English,  and  fill  the  Indians  with  guns  and  munition  to 
the  great  danger  of  the  English,  who  lie  open  and  unfortified, 
living  upon  husbandry ;  and  the  other  closed  up  in  their  forts, 
well  fortified,  and  live  upon  trade  in  good  security.  If  these 
things  be  not  looked  to,  and  remedy  provided  in  time,  it  may 
easily  be  conjectured  what  they  may  come  to.  But  I  leave 
them".1  Bradford  had  abundant  occasion  for  such  complaints, 
and  only  by  the  exercise  of  great  self-restraint,  doubtless,  did  he 
now  withhold  added  and  even  stronger  reflections. 

French  interests  in  territory  adjoining  the  Maine  settlements, 
and  even  farther  down  the  coast,  were  affected  by  the  death  of 
Razillai,  which  occured  at  I^a  Heve  in  November,  1635.  No  time 
seems  to  have  been  lost  by  la  Tour  in  seeking  to  obtain  for  him- 
self from  the  company  of  New  France  a  concession  of  the  territory 
he  occupied  on  the  St.  John  river.  Such  a  concession,  includ- 
ing lands  between  the  forty-fifth  and  forty-sixth  degrees  of  lati- 
tude, was  accorded  to  him  January  15,  1636. 2  Nominally  a  Prot- 
estant, he  is  mentioned  in  the  concession  as  possessing  zeal  for  the 

1  History  of  Plymouth  Plantation,  II,  213,  214. 

2  Farnham  Papers,  I,  212,  213. 


THE  FRENCH   AT   CASTINE.  273 

"Catholic  religion,  Apostolic  and  Roman".  He  received  at  the 
same  time  the  title  of  "lieutenant  general,  for  the  king,  of  Acadia 
in  New  France' ' .  The  intention  seems  to  have  been  to  make  la 
Tour  the  successor  of  Razillai.  But  however  this  may  be,  la  Tour 
and  Aulnay  were  soon  engaged  in  a  struggle  for  the  supremacy, 
which  was  continued  through  many  years  and  was  most  destructive 
to  French  interests. 

When  reports  of  this  struggle  reached  France,  the  king,  Louis 
XIV,  endeavored  to  allay  dissension  by  directing  the  rivals  to 
limit  their  activities  to  matters  within  the  territory  to  which  they 
had  been  assigned  by  Razillai.  Inasmuch,  however,  as  la  Tour, 
by  the  Company  of  New  France,  had  been  designated  '  'lieutenant 
general  of  Acadia",  he  had  ground  for  regarding  his  authority  as 
extending  as  far  as  that  bestowed  upon  Razillai.  So  the  quarrel 
was  continued.  At  length,  Aulnay  seems  to  have  reached  the  ear 
of  the  king,  and  his  statement  concerning  affairs  in  New  France 
evidently  made  an  impression  favorable  to  his  interests ;  for  the 
king,  early  in  1641,  issued  an  order  authorizing  Aulnay  to  arrest 
la  Tour  and  send  him  to  France.  L,a  Tour,  however,  was  so 
strongly  intrenched  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John  that  Aulnay 
was  unable  to  exercise  the  authority  he  had  received.  Moreover 
at  that  time  the  French  government  had  in  hand  matters  that 
were  regarded  as  of  greater  importance  than  the  quarrels  of  French 
officials  in  America ;  and  the  rivals  were  allowed  to  continue  the 
struggle  in  which  they  were  engaged  without  further  interference. 

L,a  Tour,  avowing  himself  a  Protestant,  his  interests  at  the  time 
doubtless  suggesting  the  avowal,1  now  turned  to  the  Puritans  of 
Massachusetts  bay  for  sympathy  and  aid  ;  and  some  Boston  mer- 
chants, to  whom  he  offered  desired  trading  privileges,  grasping 
the  opportunity,  sent  a  small  vessel  thither  with  a  supply  of  goods. 
The  parties  connected  with  the  transaction  stopped  on  their  return 
at  Pemaquid,  where  to  their  surprise  they  found  Aulnay,  who 

1  '%a  Tour  was  ready  at  any  time  to  change  his  religious  belief  for  his 
own  advantage."     Farnham  Papers,  I,  260. 

18 


274  THE   BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

informed  the  Boston  traders  that  he  had  authority  for  the  arrest 
of  la  Tour ;  and  to  emphasize  his  present  relations  to  the  French 
government,  he  threatened  to  seize  any  Massachusetts  vessel  that 
should  again  attempt  trading  relations  with  the  French  at  St. 
John. 

In  the  spring  of  1642,  Aulnay  entered  upon  offensive  operations, 
and  blockaded  the  mouth  of  the  St.  John  river.  Accordingly, 
when  a  vessel  from  Rochelle  arrived  on  the  coast,  bringing  one 
hundred  and  forty  colonists  to  la  Tour,  the  vessel  was  unable  to 
reach  the  settlement,  and  proceeded  to  Boston,  taking  on  board 
la  Tour  and  his  wife,  who  under  cover  of  night  succeeded  in 
avoiding  the  blockade.  Prominent  citizens  of  Boston  were  ready 
to  render  la  Tour  assistance;  but  the  governor  and  others,  for 
prudential  reasons,  were  unwilling  to  involve  the  colony  in  French 
dissensions.  All,  however,  were  in  sympathy  with  la  Tour,  in 
the  hope,  doubtless,  that  the  rivals  would  destroy  each  other  sooner 
or  later ;  and  they  allowed  la  Tour  to  obtain  both  men  and  ships 
as  opportunity  offered.  In  this  way,  la  Tour  at  length  secured 
four  vessels  and  one  hundred  and  forty-two  soldiers  and  sailors 
for  an  expedition  against  Aulnay.  When  all  preparations  were 
completed,  the  expedition  set  sail  for  Penobscot.  It  was  midsum- 
mer, and  on  la  Tour's  arrival  there,  he  made  a  vigorous  attack 
upon  Aulnay' s  fort.  But  Aulnay  defended  his  position  with  such 
skill  and  success  that  la  Tour  was  compelled  to  withdraw,  and  the 
Massachusetts  vessels  returned  to  Boston.  The  Bay  officials  were 
careful  to  inform  Aulnay  of  their  non-action  in  the  affair ;  and 
though  Aulnay  was  not  inclined  to  accept  their  explanations,  he 
was  not  in  a  situation  in  which  he  could  give  exact  expression  to 
his  feelings.  His  situation,  however,  was  such  that  he  deemed  it 
important  to  strengthen  himself  with  prominent  French  officials  ; 
and  he  decided  to  return  to  France  and  present  his  case  to  the 
government  in  person. 

Finding  conditions  in  France  unfavorable  for  any  attention  to 
his  interests,  Aulnay  returned  to  Acadia  and  allowed  matters  to 
drift  on  as  heretofore.     But  at  length  the  traders  on  the  coast, 


THE)  FRENCH   AT   CASTING.  275 

having  business  relations  with  both  Aulnay  and  la  Tour,  not  find- 
ing it  easy  to  secure  settlement  with  either,  held  a  conference  and 
decided  to  press  their  claims  jointly  and  personally.  Accordingly 
Mr.  Shurt  of  Pemaquid,  Mr.  Vines  of  Saco  and  Mr.  Wannerton 
of  Piscataqua,  set  out  in  midsummer,  1644,  with  this  purpose  in 
view.  On  their  arrival  at  Penobscot,  Aulnay  held  them  as  pris- 
oners a  few  days,  and  then  allowed  them  to  depart.  There  was 
no  debt  collecting,  and  the  creditors  evidently  regarded  themselves 
as  fortunate  in  escaping  added  indignity.  Then  they  proceeded 
to  St.  John,  where  la  Tour  suggested  an  attack  upon  Aulnay  at 
Penobscot.  Wannerton — a  worthless  fellow  according  to  such 
reports  as  have  come  down  to  us  concerning  his  character — con- 
cluded to  join  la  Tour  in  such  an  expedition.  Shurt  and  Vines 
seem  to  have  stood  aloof  in  the  matter,  though  both  doubtless 
were  ready  to  share  in  any  financial  results  that  would  enable 
la  Tour  to  discharge  his  obligations  to  them. 

I^a  Tour's  force  in  the  expedition  consisted  of  about  twenty 
men.  Possibly  on  their  arrival  it  was  found  that  Aulnay' s  fort 
was  more  strongly  defended  than  they  expected.  At  least  such 
would  seem  to  have  been  the  fact ;  for  instead  of  making  the  pro- 
posed attack  they  proceeded,  probably  undetected  by  Aulnay,  to 
a  farmhouse  about  six  miles  from  the  fort  where  three  of  Aulnay' s 
men  were  posted.  One  of  these  was  killed  in  the  attack  made 
upon  the  house,  as  also  was  Wannerton  ;  while  the  remaining  two 
of  Aulnay 's  men  were  taken  prisoners.  The  house  was  then 
burned,  some  cattle  were  killed  and  the  attacking  party  soon  with- 
drew ;  but  instead  of  returning  to  St.  John,  they  made  their 
way  to  Boston.1 

The  evident  sympathy  of  the  Bay  colonists  for  la  Tour  was 
resented  by  Aulnay,  and  not  long  after  the  Penobscot  affair  he  sent 
a  commissioner,  M.  Morie,  and  ten  men,  to  Boston  with  documents 
attesting  the  French  government's  recognition  of  Aulnay  as  gov- 
ernor of  Acadia  and  lieutenant  general,  and  its  withdrawal  of  its 

1  The  story  is  told  by  Hubbard,  Hutchinson  and  the  early  writers  of  New 
England  history  ;  also  by  Williamson,  History  of  the  State  of  Maine,  I,  315. 


276  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  maine. 

earlier  recognition  of  la  Tour.  The  result  of  the  conference  that 
followed  was  an  agreement  on  the  part  of  Governor  Endicott  and 
Aulnay's  commissioner,  made  and  ratified  October  8,  1644,  to 
"observe  and  keep  firm  peace"  with  "Aulnay  and  all  the  French 
under  his  command  in  Acadia".  It  was  also  expressly  stipulated 
that  it  should  be  "lawful  for  all  men,  both  French  and  English, 
to  trade  with  each  other".1  This  agreement  was  ratified  by  the 
United  Colonies.  Aulnay,  however,  continued  to  make  trouble, 
and  seized  the  Massachusetts  vessels  that  attempted  to  trade  with 
la  Tour  at  St.  John.  When  the  Bay  authorities  called  attention 
to  this  action  as  breaking  the  agreement  recently  made,  Aulnay 
threatened  resentment  on  the  part  of  the  king  of  France.  Endi- 
cott and  his  associates  could  make  no  such  claim  to  royal  support. 
For  two  years  the  forces  of  Charles  I,  and  those  of  the  parliamen- 
tary commanders,  had  been  engaged  in  the  fierce  conflicts  of  civil 
war.  The  battle  of  Marston  Moor  was  fought  July  2,  1644,  only 
three  months  before  the  above  agreement  was  made ;  and  when 
Aulnay  threatened  the  Puritan  colonists  with  resentment  on  the 
part  of  the  French  king,  Charles  I  was  in  no  condition  to  aid  his 
own  supporters,  much  less  the  colonists  of  Massachusetts  bay. 
But  the  colonists  manifested  no  signs  of  trepidation  in  their 
answer  to  Aulnay.  "They  were  not  afraid",  they  said,  "of  any- 
thing that  he  could  do  for  them,  and  as  for  his  master,  they  knew 
he  was  a  mighty  prince,  but  they  hoped  he  was  just,  as  well  as 
mighty,  and  that  he  would  not  fall  upon  them  without  hearing 
their  cause ;  but  if  he  should,  they  had  a  God  in  whom  they  put 
their  trust,  when  all  failed".2 

In  the  spring  of  1645,  learning  that  la  Tour  was  not  at  St. 
John,  Aulnay  saw  an  opportunity,  as  he  thought,  for  a  success- 
ful attack  upon  the  garrison  there.  On  his  way  thither,  he  fell 
in  with  a  Massachusetts  trading  vessel,  which  he  seized,  and 
then  landed  the  crew  on  a  desolate  island  without  food  and  other- 
wise in  a  destitute  condition.     Arriving  at  St.  John,  he  at  once 

1  Sullivan,  History  of  the  District  of  Maine,  278,  279. 

2  lb.,  280. 


THE   FRENCH   AT   CASTING.  277 

attacked  la  Tour's  fort ;  but  the  commander's  wife,  in  the  absence 
of  her  husband,  proved  equal  to  the  occasion  and  made  such  a 
vigorous  defense  of  the  fort  that  Aulnay  was  compelled  to  abandon 
the  undertaking  with  a  loss  of  twenty  killed  and  thirteen  wounded. 
On  his  voyage  back  to  Penobscot,  Aulnay  stopped  at  the  island 
where  he  landed  his  Massachusetts  captives  taken  on  his  way  to 
St.  John.  They  had  suffered  much  in  the  ten  days  they  had 
spent  under  distressing  circumstances.  Without  returning  either 
their  vessel  or  goods,  Aulnay  gave  them  an  old  shallop,  and  the 
men  made  their  way  homeward  as  best  they  could.1 

The  Puritan  spirit  asserted  itself  when  the  men  on  their  arrival 
made  known  their  story  of  inhumane  treatment ;  and  the  Massa- 
chusetts authorities  sent  a  message  to  Aulnay  calling  him  to 
account  for  his  continued  disregard  of  his  agreement  with  them. 
Aulnay  promised  to  send  messengers  to  Boston  for  further  confer- 
ence ;  but  it  was  not  until  late  in  1646  that  the  messengers  made 
their  way  thither.  On  their  arrival,  they  presented  a  demand  for 
eight  thousand  pounds  on  account  of  injuries  which  Aulnay 
claimed  he  had  received  from  Puritan  sources.  Massachusetts 
indignantly  denied  the  rightfulness  of  the  claim  and  insisted  upon 
strict  fulfilment  of  existing  obligations.  Finally  Aulnay 's  mes- 
sengers yielded,  the  former  agreement  to  be  regarded  by  both 
parties  as  still  binding  ;  and  the  Massachusetts  governor,  on  the 
return  of  the  messengers,  sent  to  Aulnay  a  costly  sedan,  which 
the  viceroy  of  Mexico  had  presented  to  his  sister  in  the  West 
Indies.  In  some  transaction,  the  sedan  had  come  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  captain  of  a  Boston  vessel  in  a  harbor  there.  On 
returning  home,  the  captain  brought  the  sedan  with  him,  and 
presented  it  to  the  governor,  who  doubtless  found  pleasure  in 
passing  it  on  to  Aulnay.2 

Meanwhile  Aulnay  and  la  Tour  continued  their  bitter  warfare. 
In  the  spring  of  1647,  in  the  absence  of  la  Tour,  Aulnay  again 
attacked  the  fort  at  St.  John.     Madame  la  Tour,  as  before,  made 

1  Williamson,  I,  218. 

2  Hubbard,  496,  497,  Williamson,  I,  319. 


278  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP    COLONIAL    MAINE. 

a  spirited  resistance ;  but  at  length,  accepting  favorable  proffered 
terms  of  surrender,  she  delivered  the  fort  into  the  possession  of 
Aulnay,  who,  disregarding  the  agreement  into  which  he  had 
entered,  put  the  garrison  to  death  with  the  exception  of  a  single 
man,  and  compelled  Madame  la  Tour,  with  a  rope  around  her 
neck,  to  witness  the  execution.  Sinking  under  the  heavy  burden 
of  her  sufferings,  Madame  la  Tour,  in  the  short  time  of  three 
weeks,  died.  L,a  Tour,  for  awhile,  lived  a  low,  marauding  exist- 
ence. As  to  Aulnay,  little  information  is  recorded  concerning 
him  covering  the  years  that  followed  the  massacre  at  St.  John. 
He  died  in  1651.  A  single  gleam  of  romance  falls  at  length  upon 
this  long  record  of  strife  between  these  two  rivals.  For  notwith- 
standing the  bitterness  of  the  conflict,  and  its  many  unhappy, 
and  even  bitter  memories,  la  Tour,  in  1652,  married  Aulnay's 
widow.  Then,  returning  to  his  possessions  on  the  St.  John  river, 
and  developing  under  changed  circumstances  some  better  traits  of 
character,  though  not  to  an  extent  desired  by  his  Massachusetts 
creditors,  la  Tour  spent  the  closing  years  of  his  life  in  the  undis- 
turbed enjoyment  of  his  large  estate.1 

Penobscot  for  awhile  remained  a  French  outpost,  though  no 
mention  is  made  of  la  Tour's  interest  in  the  place.  Meanwhile 
events  of  the  greatest  importance  in  the  political  history  of  Eng- 
land rapidly  succeeded  one  another.  A  great  civil  war  opened 
and  ended.  Charles  I  was  beheaded  January  29,  1649.  The  com- 
monwealth of  England  took  the  place  of  the  kingdom  of  England. 
The  protectorate  followed,  and  the  year  1653  found  the  executive 
power  in  England  lodged  in  Oliver  Cromwell  as  lord  protector. 
At  that  time,  twenty-one  years  had  elapsed  since  Charles  I,  by  the 
treaty  of  St.  Germain,  ceded  to  the  French  king  "all  the  places 
occupied  in  New  France,  Acadia  and  Canada  by  the  subjects  of 
Great  Britain".2  The  designation  evidently  was  understood  to 
include  all  the  territory  northeast  of  the  Penobscot  bay  and  river, 
a  very  small  part  of  which  was  occupied  by  British  subjects,  and 

1  Hutchinson,  History  of  Massachusetts,  I,  127. 

2  Farnham  Papers,  I,  176. 


THE)   FRENCH    AT    CASTINE).  279 

its  delivery  to  the  French  monarch,  an  arbitrary  act  on  the  part  of 
Charles,  was  strongly  denounced  at  the  time  by  many  of  the 
king's  subjects  on  both  sides  of  the  sea,  but  especially  in  New 
England,  where  the  near  settlements  of  the  French  were  a  con- 
stant source  of  irritation. 

Under  existing  conditions  in  England,  the  Puritans  of  Massa- 
chusetts now  found  easy  approach  to  the  lord  protector,  who  in 
1654  gave  orders  for  the  reconquest  of  Acadia.  This  was  soon 
accomplished  by  an  expedition  under  the  command  of  Major  Rob- 
ert Sedgwick  of  Chariest,  own.  No  opposition  was  made  at  Penob- 
scot, nor  even  at  St.  John,  where  doubtless  any  change  in  terri- 
torial matters  would  not  have  disturbed  la  Tour  so  long  as  he  was 
left  in  possession  of  his  large  estate.  By  a  treaty  of  peace,  made 
at  Westminster,  November  3,  1655,  between  Cromwell  and 
I,ouis  XIV,  king  of  France,  "the  right  of  either  to  the  three  forts 
of  Pentecost  [Pentagoet  or  Penobscot],  St.  John  and  Port  Royal 
in  America",  was  left  to  be  determined  by  commissioners.  The 
commissioners,  however,  did  not  proceed  to  action,  and  the  ques- 
tions involved  remained  unsettled  until  the  ratification  of  the 
treaty  of  Breda,1  July  21,  1667;  but,  notwithstanding  this  non- 
action, Cromwell,  September  17,  1656,  proceeded  to  appoint,  as 
governor  of  Nova  Scotia,  Colonel  Thomas  Temple,  whose  terri- 
tory was  extended  along  the  Maine  coast  to  the  St.  George's  river 
and  "Muscontus"  (Muscongus). 

This  account  of  the  French  at  Castine  is  carried  forward  thus 
far  in  order  to  bring  within  the  limits  of  a  single  chapter  the  story 
of  the  occupation  of  this  interesting  location  on  the  Maine  coast 
throughout  the  period  under  review  in  this  volume.     The  name 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  311-313.  By  this  treaty  Charles  II  restored  to  France 
"the  country  of  Acadia  in  North  America",  without  defining  its  limits.  But 
notwithstanding  the  royal  proclamation,  Colonel  Temple  retained  posses- 
sion of  the  territory  until  the  following  year.  Charles  then  ordered  him  to 
comply  with  the  treaty  stipulations.  Accordingly,  Colonel  Temple,  July  7, 
1670,  "by  reason  of  present  sickness  of  body  upon  myself",  laid  the  unpleas- 
ant duty  upon  one  of  his  subordinates,  and  Acadia  again  became  a  French 
possession. 


280  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  mains. 

Castine  belongs  to  a  later  and  more  romantic  period  in  the 
history  of  colonial  Maine.  Pilgrim  occupation  of  this  beautiful 
peninsula  at  the  head  of  Penobscot  bay  unquestionably  became  an 
important  fact  in  strengthening  the  claim  of  Great  Britain  to  ter- 
ritory east  of  the  Penobscot ;  and  Castine  shares  distinction  with 
Pemaquid  because  of  its  manifold  historical  relations  throughout 
a  large  portion  of  colonial  period. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Gorges  Receives  a  Royal  Charter. 

REFERENCE  already  had  been  made  to  the  division  of  the 
territory  of  New  England  by  the  council,  February  3,  1635, 
a  little  more  than  four  months  before  the  surrender  of  its 
charter  to  the  king.  The  division  was  into  eight  parcels,  which 
by  lot  were  assigned  to  eight  of  the  members  of  the  council,  each 
of  whom,  except  the  last  two — Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  who 
received  number  seven,  and  Sir  William  Alexander,  who  received 
number  eight — were  to  have  an  additional  grant  of  ten  thousand 
acres  to  be  laid  out  on  '  'the  east  part  of  Sagadahoc' ' .  Gorges'  part 
was  the  territory  already  granted  to  him  by  the  council,  extend- 
ing from  the  Piscataqua  to  the  Sagadahoc;  and  Sir  William 
Alexander's  included  the  territory  from  the  St.  Croix  river  to 
Pemaquid,  up  the  Pemaquid  to  its  source  "as  it  tendeth  north- 
wards", thence  to  the  Kennebec  and  "up  that  river  by  its  short- 
est course  to  the  river  of  Canada' ' .  These  two  parcels,  with  sixty 
thousand  acres  east  of  Sagadahoc,  granted  to  those  receiving  the 
remaining  six  allotments,  covered  in  general  what  is  now  known 
as  the  territory  of  the  State  of  Maine.1  The  parcel  assigned  to 
Captain  John  Mason  was  confirmed  to  him  by  the  council  April 
22,  1635  ;  and  to  the  ten  thousand  acres  "on  the  southeast  part  of 
Sagadahoc,  at  the  mouth  or  entrance  of  it",  which  was  added  to 
his  original  grant  of  New  Hampshire,  was  given,  by  the  council, 
the  name  of  Massonia  (Masonia).2 

Four  days  later,  at  a  meeting  held  in  the  chamber  of  the  earl 
of  Carlisle  at  Whitehall,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  in  his  own  name 
and  in  the  name  of  divers  lords  and  others,  ancient  patentees  and 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  183-188. 
3  lb.,  I,  194. 


282  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

adventurers  in  the  plantation  of  New  England,  requested  the  king 
to  give  the  attorney  general  orders  to  draw  patents  for  the  allot- 
ments of  the  lands  mutually  agreed  upon  by  the  council ;  so  that 
those  who  had  received  allotments,  "having  his  majesty's  grant 
of  the  same' ' ,  might  '  'the  more  cheerfully  proceed  in  the  plant- 
ing" of  their  several  provinces  under  laws  and  ordinances  "there 
to  be  established  and  put  in  execution  by  such  [of]  his  majesty's 
lieutenants  or  governor  as  shall  be  employed  for  those  services."1 
The  petition  was  drafted  by  Gorges,  who,  as  early  as  1635,  had 
perceived,  as  he  recorded,  that  it  was  the  pleasure  of  the  king  to 
make  him  governor  of  New  England ;  but  while  in  the  petition 
he  refrained  from  any  mention  of  his  own  name  in  connection 
with  the  office  of  governor  of  New  England,  he  still  had  the  gov- 
ernorship in  view. 

The  presentation  of  this  petition  occurred  May  1,  1635, 2  and  the 
formal  act  in  the  surrender  of  the  great  patent  by  the  council  for 
New  England  followed  a  little  more  than  a  month  later.3  Thus 
far  the  plans  of  Gorges  and  his  associates  were  advanced  without 
delay.  But  the  eight  patentees,  among  whom  the  territory  of 
New  England  had  been  divided,  not  receiving  from  the  king  char- 
ters of  their  allotments  as  promptly  as  they  expected,  held  a  meet- 
ing November  26,  at  which  it  was  voted,  "That  the  passing  of 
the  particular  patents  was  to  be  expedited  with  all  conveniency"  ; 
and  a  committee  was  appointed  to  confer  with  the  attorney  gen- 
eral and  hasten,  if  possible,  the  desired  action.  No  report  of  this 
committee  has  been  preserved,  so  far  as  is  known.  Doubtless  the 
"particular  patents"  were  prepared,  and  one  of  these,  it  is  sup- 
posed, has  come  down  to  us  in  a  copy  of  the  charter  of  New 
Hampshire,  granted  to  Captain  John  Mason  August  19,  1635,  and 
was  discovered  in  recent  years  in  a  collection  of  documents  bear- 
ing upon  Mason's  claims  to  lands  in  New  England.4     It  is  with- 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  200-202. 

2  lb.,  I,  201. 

3  lb.,  I,  203-205. 

4  These  documents,  formerly  in  the  possession  of  Mr.  Moses  A.  Safford  of 


GORGES   RECEIVES   A   ROYAI,   CHARTER.  283 

out  the  signature  of  the  king,  a  fact  that  may  account  for  delay  in 
its  delivery,  as  well  as  for  the  delay  that  occasioned  anxiety  on 
the  part  of  all  the  patentees.  Gorges  certainly  already  regarded 
himself  as  legally  in  possession  of  his  part  of  the  division  ;  for  in 
an  indenture,  dated  September  17,  1635,  he  conveyed  lands  on 
the  Newichewannock  [Salmon  Falls]  river  to  Captain  John 
Mason.1 

There  was  added  delay,  also,  in  connection  with  Gorges'  appoint- 
ment as  governor  of  New  England,  which  the  king  seemed  to 
have  on  his  heart  in  recognition  of  the  veteran's  services  in  con- 
nection with  English  colonization  in  America,  but  which,  for 
some  reason,  had  been  postponed  again  and  again.  The  royal 
purpose,  however,  was  finally  accomplished,  Gorges'  commission 
bearing  date  July  23,  1637.  More  clearly  in  connection  with  this 
transaction  is  seen  the  design  Charles  had  in  view  in  establishing 
a  general  government  in  New  England.  Many  mischiefs,  the 
king  said,  had  arisen  there,  "and  are  like  more  and  more  to  arise 

by  reason  of  the  several  opinions,  differing  humors 

and  many  other  differences  springing  up  between  them".  Rec- 
ognizing it  as  a  duty,  therefore,  not  to  suffer  the  people  of  New 
England  "to  run  to  ruin,  and  so  religious  and  good  intents  to 
languish  for  want  of  timely  remedy  and  sovereign  assistance", 
the  king  made  mention  of  Gorges'  "fidelity,  circumspection  and 
knowledge  of  his  government  in  martial  and  civil  affairs,  besides 
his  understanding  of  the  state  of  those  countries  wherein  he  hath 
been  an  immediate  mover  and  a  principal  actor,  to  the  great  preju- 

Kittery,  Me.,  but  now  of  the  Maine  Historical  Society,  were  brought  to  notice 
by  Mr.  William  M.  Sargent  of  Portland  in  1887,  when  superintending  the 
publication  of  the  York  Deeds  ;  and  the  royal  charter  was  printed  by  him  in 
the  introduction  to  II,  20-39.  John  Ward  Dean  also  reprinted  it  in  his  Cap- 
twin  John  Mason,  the  Founder  of  New  Hampshire,  Prince  Society,  1887,  360- 
378.  An  extract  from  this  charter,  relating  to  Maine  territory,  is  printed  in 
the  Farnham  Papers,  I,  205-208. 

1  This  is  one  of  the  collection  of  documents  to  which  reference  is  made  in 
the  preceding  note.  See  York  Deeds,  II,  39-42,  Captain  John  Mason,  the 
Founder  of  New  Hampshire,  387-390,  and  Farnham  Papers,  I,  208-211. 


284  the;  beginnings  op  colonial  mains. 

dice  of  his  estate,  long  troubles  and  the  loss  of  many  of  his  good 
friends  and  servants  in  making  the  first  discovery  of  those  coasts' ' , 
and  announced  Gorges'  appointment,  and  declared  his  purpose  to 
second  him  with  '  'royal  and  ample  authority' '  -1 

It  was  a  proud  day  in  Sir  Ferdinando's  life  when  this  royal 
commission  came  into  his  hands.  Doubtless  his  hope  was  strong 
that  in  a  short  time  he  would  find  himself  at  the  head  of  a  general 
government  for  all  New  England ;  but  even  in  his  commission 
there  was  an  intimation  that  circumstances  might  make  it  neces- 
sary for  a  deputy  to  take  Gorges'  place  "during  his  abode  here  in 
England".  He  cherished  his  hope,  however,  and  as  the  years 
came  and  went  it  still  continued  alluringly  to  beckon  him  on. 

The  rapid  growth  of  the  New  England  settlements  at  this  time 
was  now  attracting  the  attention  of  the  government,  and  attempts 
were  made  to  restrict  emigration  hither.  In  Gorges'  commission 
as  governor,  it  was  expressly  stated  that  none  were  to  be  "per- 
mitted to  go  into  any  those  parts  to  plant  or  inhabit,  but  that 
they  first  acquaint  our  said  governor  therewith",  and  shall  receive 
directions  "where  to  sit  down".2  In  this  emigration  movement 
Gorges  was  deeply  interested,  especially  after  the  king  had 
declared  it  to  be  his  purpose  to  send  him  to  New  England  as  gov- 
ernor.    Sir  Ferdinando's  attitude  toward  these  departing  colonists 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  219-221. 

2  A  license  of  this  kind,  issuing  from  Whitehall  and  bearing  date,  July  21, 
1639,  is  of  special  interest  because  of  the  party  to  whom  it  was  granted  : 
'  'Upon  the  humble  petition  of  Giles  Elbridge,  of  the  city  of  Bristol,  merchant, 
praying  license  for  the  exportation  of  about  eighty  passengers  and  some  pro- 
visions, formerly  accustomed  for  the  increase  and  support  of  his  fishing  plan- 
tation in  New  England,  their  lordships  did  this  day  give  leave  unto  the  said 
Elbridge  to  export  for  New  England  the  said  eighty  passengers,  together  with 
such  provisions  as  hath  been  formerly  accustomed,  provided  that  he  do  give 
bond  here  by  himself,  or  some  other  sufficient  man  to  the  clerk  of  the 
council,  to  his  majesty's  use,  that  none  of  the  said  persons  shall  be  shipped 
until  publicly,  before  the  mayor  of  Bristol,  they  have  taken  the  oaths  of  alle- 
giance and  supremacy.  And  the  lord  treasurer  is  hereby  prayed  and 
required  to  give  order  to  the  officers  of  the  port  of  Bristol  accordingly,  any 
former  order  of  the  board,  or  other  restraint  to  the  contrary  in  any  wise 
notwithstanding."      Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  Series  I,  5,  222,  223. 


GORGES  RECEIVES  A  ROYAE  CHARTER.  285 

found  expression  in  what  he  said  to  the  passengers  on  the  Angel 
Gabriel  in  the  harbor  at  Bristol  before  that  vessel  set  sail  on  her 
ill-fated  voyage  to  Pemaquid, — "that  if  he  ever  came  there,  he 
would  be  a  true  friend  unto  them". 

There  is  a  letter1  from  Lord  Maynard  to  Archbishop  Laud, 
written  March  17,  1638,  in  which  reference  is  made  to  "incredible 
numbers  of  persons  of  very  good  abilities  who  have  sold  their 
lands  and  are  upon  their  departure  thence".  Fourteen  ships,  it 
was  stated,  were  ready  to  sail  from  London  as  soon  as  the  spring 
opened.  There  is  also  an  early  reference  to  an  order  that  the 
"lord  treasurer  of  England  should  take  speedy  and  effectual 
course  to  stay  eight  ships  in  the  river  of  Thames,  bound  for  New 
England".2  Cotton  Mather  says  that  dissatisfaction  with  condi- 
tions in  England  was  the  cause  of  this  increased  emigration,  and 
he  adds  :  '  'There  were  many  countermands  given  to  the  passage 
of  the  people  that  were  now  steering  of  this  western  course  ;  and 
there  was  a  sort  of  uproar  made  among  no  small  part  of  the  nation 
that  this  people  should  not  be  let  go."  Among  those  bound  for  f 
New  England,  who  were  "so  stopt",  he  mentions  Oliver  Crom-  \v 
well,  John  Hampden  and  Sir  Arthur  Haselrig,  "whom  I  suppose 
their  adversaries",  he  adds,  "would  not  have  so  studiously 
detained  at  home,  if  they  had  foreseen  events".8 

This  story,  which  in  various  forms  has  found  a  place  in  English 
literature  on  both  sides  of  the  sea,  and  in  the  writings  of  such 
historians  as  Henry  Hallam  and  Lord  Macaulay  (but  is  denied  or 
rejected  by  Bancroft  and  others),  has  its  earliest  mention,  it  is 
supposed,  in  a  work  published  in  1660,  by  Dr.  Charles  Bates,  an 
ardent  royalist,  who  was  physician  to  Charles  I  when  at  Oxford, 
to  Oliver  Cromwell  while  lord  protector,  and  to  Charles  II  after 
the  restoration.  He  refers  to  Cromwell's  squandering  his  own 
and  his  wife's  estate,  then  "playing  the  penitent",  etc.,  and  he 
adds  :    "after  that,  by  means  of  Sir  Robert  Steward,  some  royal- 

1  Public  Records  Office,  London,  Colonial  Papers,  Charles  I,  IX,  No.  38. 

2  Oldmixon,  British  Empire  in  America,  1st  Ed.,  I,  42,  43. 

3  Magnalia,  Book  I,  23,  1st  Ed. 


286  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

ists  and  clergymen,  he  was  reconciled  to  his  uncle,  who  could  not 
before  endure  him,  so  that  he  made  him  his  heir.  But  shortly 
after,  having  again  run  out  all,  he  resolved  to  go  to  New  England, 
and  prepares  all  things  for  that  end.  In  the  meantime,  by  the 
help  of  sectarians,  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  Parliament",  etc.1 
In  this  earliest  printed  report  of  the  story,  there  is  no  mention  of 
embarkation.  The  writer  records  only  Cromwell's  resolution  and 
preparation  for  a  voyage  hither.  The  next  writer  who  referred 
to  the  matter  was  William  Lilly,  who,  in  1667,  wrote  his  History 
of  his  Life  and  Times,  and  states  that  Cromwell  "hired  a  passage 
in  a  ship"  going  to  New  England,  "but  ere  she  launched  out  for 
her  voyage,  a  kinsman  dieth  leaving  him  a  considerable  fortune ; 
upon  which  he  returns,  pays  his  debts,  became  affected  to  reli- 
gion;  is  elected  in  1640  a  member  of  Parliament,  etc."'  Hutch- 
inson, in  his  History  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  which  was  published 
in  1764,  added  Pym  to  the  number  of  those  "who  are  said  to  have 
been  prevented  by  express  order  of  the  king  "from  removing  to 
New  England".3 

Such  a  report,  having  its  origin  and  becoming  current  so  soon 
after  this  alleged  refuge-seeking  on  the  part  of  Cromwell  is  said 
to  have  occurred,  must  have  had  some  basis.  May  it  not  have- 
been  in  some  sudden  outburst  on  the  part  of  Cromwell  in  a 
moment  of  great  discouragement  and  consequent  depression, 
when  conditions  in  England  seemed  to  him  well  nigh  hopeless  ? 
Lord  Clarendon  tells  us4  that  after  the  passage  of  the  "Grand 
Petition  and  Remonstrance"  by  Parliament,  November  22,  1641, 
Cromwell  whispered  to  Lord  Falkland  as  they  left  the  House  of 
Commons  in  company,  "That  if  the  remonstrance  had  been 
rejected,  he  would  have  sold  all  he  had  the  next  morning  and 

1  For  an  interesting  and  valuable  paper  by  John  Ward  Dean,  entitled  The 
Reported  Embarkation  of  Cromwell  and  his  Friends  for  New  England,  see 
New  England  Hist,  and  Gen.  Register  for  1866,  113-120.  To  it  the  writer 
is  largely  indebted  for  materials  for  the  above  account. 

London,  1822,  175,  176. 

3  I,  41,  42. 

4  History  of  the  Rebellion,  Oxford,  1720,  I,  312. 


GORGES  RECEIVES  A  ROYAL  CHARTER.  287 

never  have  seen  England  more".  Carlyle  calls  this  "a  vague 
report,  gathered  over  dining  tables  long  after".1  It  may  have 
been.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  story  has 
reference  to  a  great  crisis  in  England's  history.  Strong  feelings 
were  aroused.  At  one  time  in  that  session  members  of  the  House 
"snatched  their  swords  from  their  belts  and  handled  them  with 
significant  gestures".  But  victory  then  was  on  Cromwell's  side. 
At  other  times  in  those  years  of  stress  and  storm  he  knew  what 
it  was  to  suffer  defeat.  Things  did  not  always  go  as  he  would 
have  them  ;  under  such  circumstances,  however,  he  did  not  turn 
and  flee.  It  was  a  new  England,  not  New  England,  that  was  ever 
in  Cromwell's  thoughts  and  actions.  For  that  new  England  he 
battled  long  and  for  it  he  was  ready  to  give  up  his  life.2 

Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  as  has  already  appeared,  was  a  staunch 
royalist,  standing  for  all  that  Charles  stood  in  his  attempt  to 
govern  England  without  any  reference  to  Parliament,  and  so 
making  it  necessary  that  Parliament  in  turn  should  govern  with- 

1  Cromwell,  1845,  I,  119. 

2  "On  August  30  a  mighty  storm  swept  over  England.  The  devil,  said 
the  cavaliers,  was  fetching  home  the  soul  of  the  tyrant.  Oliver  little  recked 
of  their  sayings  now.  The  winds  howled  around.  His  voice  found  utterance 
in  one  last  prayer  of  faith  :  'Lord',  he  cried,  'though  I  am  a  miserable  and 
wretched  creature,  I  am  in  covenant  with  thee  through  grace.  And  I  may, 
I  will  come  to  thee,  for  thy  people.  Thou  hast  made  me,  though  very 
unworthy,  a  mean  instrument  to  do  them  some  good,  and  thee  service  ;  and 
many  of  them  have  set  a  high  value  upon  me,  though  others  wish  and  would 
be  glad  of  my  death.  Lord,  however  thou  do  dispose  of  me,  continue  and  go 
on  to  do  good  to  them.  Give  them  consistency  of  judgment,  one  heart,  and 
mutual  love  ;  and  go  on  to  deliver  them,  and  with  the  work  of  reformation  ; 
and  make  the  name  of  Christ  glorious  in  the  world.  Teach  those  who  look 
too  much  on  thy  instruments  to  depend  more  upon  thyself.  Pardon  such  as 
desire  to  trample  upon  the  dust  of  a  poor  worm,  for  they  are  thy  people  too. 
And  pardon  the  folly  of  this  short  prayer,  even  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake.  And 
give  us  a  good  night,  if  it  be  thy  pleasure.  Amen.'  For  three  more  days 
Oliver  lingered  on.  September  3  [1658]  came— the  day  of  Dunbar  and  Wor- 
cester. In  the  afternoon  the  brave  spirit  passed  away  to  the  rest  which  it 
had  never  known  upon  earth."  S.  R.  Gardiner,  The  Puritan  Revolution, 
190,  191. 


288  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

out  any  reference  to  him.1  Out  of  regard  for  one  so  devoted  to 
his  person  and  interests,  Charles  had  appointed  Sir  Ferdinando 
governor  of  all  New  England.  Almost  a  year  passed  after  this 
appointment  was  made,  and  the  New  England  colonists  were  still 
directing  their  governmental  affairs  as  hitherto.  This  was  not 
according  to  the  mind  of  Gorges,  however,  who  June  20,  1638, 
wrote  to  Secretary  Windebank,2  calling  attention  to  the  import- 
ance of  "maintaining  and  supporting  foreign  plantations",  and 
noticing  objections  that  evidently  had  been  urged  in  certain 
royalist  circles.  One  of  these  was  the  statement  "that  many  of 
our  planters  have  undertaken  these  designs  rather  out  of  seditious, 
phantastical  and  schismatical  humors,  than  out  of  zeal  to  the 
honor  of  God  or  service  to  his  majesty".  The  reference,  doubt- 
less, was  to  the  Pilgrim  and  Puritan  settlers  in  Massachusetts 
bay.  But  though  Gorges  had  no  sympathy  with  such  "humors", 
he  replied  that  even  if  this  were  true,  '  'seldom  doth  any  prince 
abandon  people  or  leave  the  possession  of  kingdoms  for  those 
causes  ;  but  rather  seeks  to  win  them  with  the  largest  conditions 
of  all  favor  and  freedom".  Other  objections  were  also  consid- 
ered and  refuted ;  and  finally  Gorges  directed  attention  to  a  ques- 
tion he  deemed  especially  worthy  of  presentation  in  this  connec- 
tion, namely,  "By  what  means  those  refractory  people  may  be 
drawn  to  submit  themselves  to  a  general  governor"?  In  his 
answer  to  this  question  Gorges  said  that  if  the  lords  of  the  sev- 
eral provinces  of  New  England  would  be  pleased  to  settle  their 
deputies  and  officers  with  some  power  for  such  a  service,  it  would 
be  well ;  but  for  the  present  Gorges  suggested  the  appointment  of 
some  one  province  '  'not  yet  pestered  with  such  people  as  are  like 
to  refuse  any  authority  sent  from  hence  to  command  them". 
Plainly  he  had  in  mind  neither  the  province  of  Plymouth  nor  the 
province  of  Massachusetts  bay,  but  rather  his  own  province  of 
New  Somersetshire,  which  he  desired  to  elevate  to  a  more  com- 
manding position   than   it  had  hitherto  reached.     Whether   the 

1  S.  R.  Gardiner,  The  Puritan  Revolution,  Y19. 

2  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  III,  287-291. 


GORGES   RECEIVES   A   ROYAE   CHARTER.  289 

king  gave  to  these  considerations  any  serious  attention  is  doubt- 
ful. Matters  nearer  home  were  pressing  upon  him  with  greater 
force  than  matters  in  New  England.  There  was  commotion  in 
Scotland,  and  if  Scotland  was  allowed  to  throw  off  the  yoke  as 
seemed  imminent,  why  not  England  itself? 

But  April  3,  1639,  amid  these  troublesome  distractions,  Charles 
paused  long  enough  to  confirm  to  Gorges  his  allotment  in  the 
division  of  the  great  patent.  In  this  new  charter,1  the  title 
"Province  of  Maine",  used  in  the  grant  made  to  Gorges  by  the 
council  for  New  England  in  1622,  and  later  changed  to  New 
Somersetshire,  was  happily  restored,  the  king  directing  that 
Gorges'  "portion  of  the  main  land"  should  "forever  hereafter  be 
called  and  named  the  Province  or  County  of  Maine,  and  not  by 
any  other  name  or  names  whatsoever".  It  was  indeed  a  royal 
charter,  the  king  granting  to  his  loyal,  devoted  adherent  privi- 
leges that  were  almost  without  limit.  Only  such  churches  and 
chapels  could  be  erected  in  the  province  as  Gorges  deemed  '  'meet 
and  convenient".  He  was  given  authority  to  dedicate  and  con- 
secrate the  same,  or  cause  the  same  to  be  dedicated  and  conse- 
crated, according  to  the  ecclesiastical  laws  of  England ;  and  in 
this  connection  it  was  declared  to  be  the  king's  will  that  "the 
religion  now  professed  in  the  Church  of  England  and  ecclesiastical 
government  now  used  in  the  same  shall  be  forever  hereafter  pro- 
fessed, and  with  as  much  convenient  speed  as  may  [be],  settled 
and  established  in  and  throughout  the  said  province' ' .  To  Gorges, 
also,  was  given  authority,  with  the  assent  of  the  greater  part  of 
the  freeholders,  "when  there  shall  be  any",  to  make  and  publish 
laws,  ordinances,  constitutions,  reasonable  and  not  repugnant  or 
contrary  but  agreeable  as  near  as  conveniently  may  be  to  the  laws 
of  England,  the  authority  extending  to  the  imposition  of  "penal- 
ties, imprisonments,  or  other  correction";  and,  if  the  offense 
should  require,  the  power  of  life  and  death  was  added,  also  par- 
doning  power.     Furthermore   Gorges    was    given    authority  to 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  222,  243. 
19 


290  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

establish  courts,  ecclesiastical  and  civil,  to  constitute  judges,  jus- 
tices, magistrates  and  officers  for  hearing  and  determining  all 
manner  of  cases,  and  to  order  and  appoint  what  matters  or  things 
should  be  heard,  determined  or  ordered  in  such  courts ;  also  to 
displace  and  remove  such  judges,  magistrates,  etc.,  when  Gorges 
saw  fit.  In  cases  of  appeal,  he  was  to  proceed  as  in  like  cases  in 
England.  Also  full  power  was  given  to  him  to  raise,  arm  and 
employ  troops  in  the  province  in  case  of  "rebellion,  tumult  or 
mutiny",  and  to  execute  martial  law  against  "rebels,  traitors, 
mutineers  and  seditious  persons  in  as  ample  manner  and  form  as 
any  captain  general  in  the  wars,  or  as  any  lieutenant  or  lieuten- 
ants of  any  county"  in  England  ;  also  to  erect  "forts,  fortresses, 
platforms,  castles,  cities,  towns  and  villages",  and  to  fortify  the 
same  "with  men,  ordnances,  powder,  shot,  armor,  etc."  He  was 
given  power  also  to  fix  custom  charges.  Liberty  of  fishing  was  to 
be  granted  to  all  of  the  king's  subjects,  "as  well  in  the  sea  as  in 
the  creeks  of  the  province' ' ,  also  the  privilege  of  salting  and  dry- 
ing fish,  and  nets  upon  the  shore,  but  "without  any  notable  dam- 
age or  injury"  to  Gorges.  Moreover,  trading  or  settlement  in  the 
province,  "without  the  special  license"  of  Gorges,  was  forbidden 
to  all  of  the  king's  subjects  of  "whatever  degree,  quality  or  con- 
dition soever",  and  "oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy"  accord- 
ing to  forms  already  established  in  England,  were  to  be  duly 
administered.  In  fact,  the  powers  conferred  upon  Gorges  by  the 
charter  of  the  Province  of  Maine  were  well-nigh  unlimited  ;  and 
the  charter  may  be  regarded  as  furnishing  an  indication  of  the 
authority  Gorges  was  likely  to  have  received  had  the  king's  pur- 
pose to  send  him  to  New  England,  as  the  head  of  a  general  gov- 
ernment of  its  several  provinces,  ripened  into  fulfilment. 

For  thirty-five  years,  at  least,  Gorges  had  been  prominently 
identified  with  colonization  upon  what  is  now  known  as  the  coast 
of  Maine  ;  and  his  valuable  services,  especially  with  royalist  ends 
in  view,  had  now  been  generously  rewarded  and  in  such  a  way  as 
must  have  been  most  gratifying  to  the  aged  knight.  That  it  still 
was  his  purpose  to  proceed  to  New  England  is  intimated  in  a  let- 


GORGES  RECEIVES  A  ROYAL  CHARTER.  291 

ter  addressed  January  28,  1640,  to  Secretary  Windebank.  Some 
there  were,  that  is,  in  his  own  province,  he  says,  "flying  to  the 
governors  of  the  Bay  for  authority  to  order  their  affairs  (as  if  they 
were  the  supreme  lords  of  that  part  of  the  world) ' ' .  But  how  he 
should  "speed  in  his  resolution  to  make  good  his  majesty's  royal 
grant"  did  not  appear.  God,  that  governs  all,  only  knows,  he 
wrote;  yet  having  his  majesty's  gracious  favor,  he  suggested 
"nothing  shall  deter  me  from  my  attempt  to  make  his  powers 
available  where  I  have  his  warrant  to  do  it".  His  thoughts  evi- 
dently had  been  stirred  by  the  contents  of  letters  that  he  had 
received  from  New  England  ;  and  in  closing,  he  rightly  designated 
himself  as  an  humble  servant  and  faithful  subject  of  the  king, 
coveting  '  'nothing  more  in  this  world  than  the  honor  of  his  sover- 
eign and  prosperity  of  his  nation' ' . 

The  way  not  opening  to  him  for  proceeding  to  assume  in  person 
the  government  of  his  Province  of  Maine,  Gorges  in  his  planning 
concerning  it,  divided  the  territory  into  eight  bailiwicks  or  coun- 
ties ;  and  these  again  into  sixteen  several  hundreds  and  the  hun- 
dreds into  parishes  and  tithings  "as  the  people  did  increase". 
Until  he  himself  should  be  able  to  proceed  to  New  England,  he 
made  provision  for  a  deputy,  chancellor,  treasurer,  marshal, 
judge-marshal,  admiral,  judge  for  determining  maritime  cases, 
master  of  the  ordnance,  also  a  secretary  to  the  governor  and 
council.  These  constituted  the  "standing  councillors",  to  whom 
were  added  eight  deputies  "to  be  elected  by  the  freeholders  of  the 
several  counties",  who  were  empowered  not  only  to  sit  in  the 
provincial  courts  but  "to  be  assistants  to  the  presidents  thereof". 
In  this  arrangement  for  governing  the  province  expression  was 
also  given  to  added  provisions  deemed  by  Gorges  necessary  for 
the  ordering  of  the  public  affairs  of  the  province.2  It  was  an 
elaborate  scheme,  worked  out  with  reference  to  a  growth  and 
prosperity  to  which  the  Province  of  Maine  had  not  as  yet  attained. 
But  in  the  added  evidences  that  so  many  of  his  countrymen  were 

1  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  III,  294,  295. 

2  lb.,  II,  65-69. 


292  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

now  making  their  way  to  New  England,  Gorges  saw  a  prospect  of 
securing  a  part  of  this  emigration  for  his  own  province.  There 
must  be  better  protection  for  the  settlers,  however,  and  he  felt,  as 
he  had  not  felt  before,  the  necessity  of  governmental  organization 
and  arrangements  for  the  proper  administration  of  law,  without 
which  the  prosperity  he  desired  for  his  growing  communities 
could  not  be  obtained. 

Accordingly,  Gorges  forthwith  proceeded  to  execute  his  pur- 
poses. The  supreme  power  in  the  province  he  reserved  for  him- 
self ;  but  he  appointed  a  permanent  council  of  seven  members,  by 
whom  in  his  absence  the  government  of  the  province  was  to  be 
administered,  one  of  whom  was  designated  as  deputy  governor. 
These  appointments  were  made  September  2,  1639, *  and  a  code  of 
instructions  for  the  council  and  other  documents  were  prepared 
and  sent  hither,  all  of  which  were  to  be  read  in  public  at  the 
inauguration  of  the  government  in  order  that  the  people  "might 
know  how  they  were  to  be  governed" .  Receiving  no  report  of  the 
reception  of  these  appointments,  instructions,  etc.,  Gorges  exe- 
cuted March  10,  1640,2  similar  papers,  but  somewhat  enlarged 
and  amended,  which  became  the  basis  of  the  government  of  the 
province.  The  council  as  thus  constituted  comprised  the  follow- 
ing members  :  Deputy  Governor  Thomas  Gorges  ;8  Richard  Vines 
of  Saco ;  Henry  Josselyn  of  Black  Point ;  Francis  Champernoun4 
of  Piscataqua ;    Richard   Bonython  of  Saco;    William  Hook5  of 

1  Williamson,  History  of  Maine,  I,  278. 

2  Sullivan,  History  of  the  District  of  Maine,  307. 

3  Thomas  Gorges  made  Agamenticus  his  residence.  In  Gorges'  first  com- 
mission, September  2,  1639  {Farnham  Papers,  I,  245-248),  "Thomas  Josse- 
lyn, Knight' '  was  made  deputy  governor.  In  the  commission  of  March  10, 
1640  {Farnham  Papers,  I,  248-256),  Thomas  Gorges  was  substituted  for  Thomas 
Josselyn.  Baxter,  George  Cleeve  of  Casco  Bay,  Gorges  Society,  1885,  85, 
says  :  "Thomas  Gorges  was  a  cousin  of  Sir  Ferdinando  and  had  but  just  fin- 
ished his  studies  at  Westminster,  when  he  was  called  to  fill  the  place  of  Sir 
Thomas  Josselyn  in  the  new  government' ' . 

4  He  was  a  nephew  of  Gorges  and  one  of  the  founders  of  Piscataqua. 

5  Winthrop  (fournal,  II,  125)  calls  him  a  "godly  gent".  He  left  Aga- 
menticus apparently  on  account  of  religious  sympathy  with  the  Puritans  of 


* 


294  the;  beginnings  op  colonial,  maine. 

The  first  was  for  damages  in  dispossessing  him  of  his  possessions 
at  the  former  place,  and  the  second  was  for  hindrances  and  annoy- 
ances received  after  his  removal  from  Spurwink,  and  securing  at 
Machegonne  rights  which  he  had  enlarged  "for  a  sum  of  money 
and  other  considerations",  Winter  being  the  occasion  of  such 
hindrances  and  annoyances  moved  thereto  '  'with  envy  and  without 
demand  or  title  pretended".  In  both  of  these  cases  verdicts  were 
rendered  in  Cleeve's  favor.1  In  the  first  case  he  was  awarded 
damages  amounting  to  eighty  pounds  sterling,  also  the  title  to 
four  acres  of  land  or  thereabouts  at  Spurwink  and  the  house 
which  Cleeve  and  Tucker  had  erected  thereon.2  Winter  immedi- 
ately requested  a  stay  of  judgment3  in  the  suits  that  had  been 
decided  in  favor  of  Cleeve ;  but  his  request  was  denied. 

Another  case  before  the  court  at  this  time — eighteen  civil  actions 
and  eight  complaints  in  all  were  entered — was  a  suit  for  debt 
amounting  to  eight  pounds  and  six  shillings,  brought  by  John 
Bonython  of  Saco  against  Rev.  Richard  Gibson.  The  latter,  by 
his  attorney,  Francis  Robinson,  admitted  the  rightfulness  of  the 
claim,  and  asked  that  it  might  "be  referred  to  arbitration".  It 
was  so  ordered.  George  Cleeve  and  Arthur  Mackworth  were 
appointed  arbitrators  ;  and  it  was  agreed  that  the  corn  which  the 
defendant  had  growing  at  Saco  "should  remain  to  the  plaintiff " 
as  his  security  for  the  payment  of  the  debt  "according  to  the 
arbitration  or  otherwise' ' . 

When  the  marshal  proceeded  to  Richmond's  island  to  levy  exe- 
cution against  Winter,  in  accordance  with  the  judgment  of  the 
court,  knowing  well  the  character  of  the  man  with  whom  he  had 
to  deal,  and  probably  with  a  knowledge  of  Winter's  declared  atti- 
tude with  reference  to  that  judgment,  he  took  with  him  thirty 
men.  As  he  expected,  he  found  Winter  prepared  to  defy  the 
marshal  and  his  assistants ;  and  so  stoutly  did  Winter  and  the 
hardy  fishermen  in  his  employ  maintain  their  appearance  of  defi- 

1  Early  Records  of  Maine,  I. 

2  Trelawny  Papers,  235,  236. 

3  lb.,  233. 


GORGES   RECEIVES   A   ROYAL    CHARTER.  295 

ance  that  the  marshal  at  length  withdrew,  and  reported  his  lack 
of  success.1  The  deputy  governor,  enraged  at  Winter's  purpose 
to  resist  with  force  a  decree  of  the  court,  took  the  matter  into  his 
own  hands ;  and  not  long  after,  when  Winter,  on  his  way  to 
Boston,  entered  the  harbor  of  Agamenticus  in  a  stress  of  weather, 
the  deputy  governor  sent  officers  aboard  the  vessel,  who  arrested 
Winter  and  he  was  required  to  give  bail2  for  his  appearance  at  a 
general  court  in  the  following  June  to  answer  for  his  action  in 
resisting  by  force  of  arms  the  provost  marshal  in  the  performance 
of  his  sworn  duty.  He  was  also  required  to  deliver  forthwith  to 
Richard  Vines,  Richard  Bonython  and  Henry  Josselyn  "so  much 
goods  as  shall  amount  to  eighty  pounds  sterling,  to  remain  in  the 
custody  of  the  court".3 

When,  however,  the  court  convened  at  Saco,  June  25,  1641, 
Winter  still  in  default,  appeared  with  a  petition,  in  which  he  men- 
tioned the  injustice  of  the  verdict  of  the  court  as  his  reason  for 
defying  the  officers  in  their  procedure,  claiming  that  his  action 
was  "not  out  of  any  stubborn,  rebellious  or  unreverent  disrespect" 
to  the  council  or  its  authority,  and  that  he  was  '  'ready  now  and 
always  to  demean  and  behave  himself  in  a  befitting  manner  to  the 
government  here  estated  with  all  submission  and  obedience' ' .  He 
also  declared  that  he  was  "hoping  for  a  future  opportunity  to 
make  his  case  and  aggrievances  known  more  fully' '  both  to  Gorges 
and  the  council.4 

Doubtless  since  the  judgment  of  the  court,  Winter  had  received 
counsel  from  Trelawny  with  reference  to  the  further  management 
of  his  court  troubles  ;  and  he  now  reopened  the  whole  matter  by 

1  Winter,  in  his  account  of  the  affair,  says  the  marshal  and  his  men  "lay 
about  the  island  and  about  Spurwink  two  or  three  days  and  nights",  and 
that  he  was  obliged  to  keep  his  own  men  '  'ashore  a  whole  week  following 
from  sea".     Trelawny  Papers,  253. 

2  lb.,  255,  256. 

3  Rev.  Robert  Jordan,  in  a  letter  to  Robert  Trelawny  July  31,  1642,  wrote 

that  Winter,   "thus  way-laid did  deposit  so  much  beaver  as  did 

amount  to  thirty  pounds  sterling".     lb.,  315. 

*Ib.,  260,  261. 


296  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  mains. 

announcing  his  purpose  to  attaint  the  jury  on  account  of  its  ver- 
dict, asserting,  as  the  ground  of  this  action,  that  "Captain  Thomas 
Cammock,  one  of  the  inquest,  moved  with  envy",  had  stated 
among  other  things  that  he  did  not  believe  a  certain  witness  of 
Winter's,  a  statement,  he  contended,  that  discredited  in  the  minds 
of  the  jury  the  evidence  that  Winter  had  presented,  "a  taint  in 
one  being  a  taint  in  all".1 

This  indictment  of  the  jury  of  the  previous  year  on  a  charge 
that  in  law  was  an  offense  against  the  king,  and  if  allowed  would 
transfer  further  legal  consideration  of  the  matter  to  a  tribunal  in 
the  mother  country,  must  have  awakened  deep  solicitude  as  well  as 
fiery  indignation  among  the  parties  involved.  Evidently  the 
members  of  the  jury  had  rendered  a  verdict  in  accordance  with 
the  evidence  presented  and  their  ideas  of  the  requirements  of  jus- 
tice between  man  and  man.  But  they  knew  enough  of  court  pro- 
ceedings to  understand  how  difficult  it  would  be  in  far-away  Eng- 
land to  defend  themselves  with  any  hope  of  success,  having  as  an 
opponent  one  so  rich  and  powerful  as  Robert  Trelawny,  assisted 
by  skilful  lawyers  whose  services  he  could  easily  secure.  The 
excitement  that  followed  the  reading  of  the  petition  can  easily  be 
imagined.2  If  there  were  faces  that  suddenly  blanched,  it  was 
not  because  of  fear  of  John  Winter,  but  of  English  court  proceed- 
ings such  as  Bunyan  has  described  for  us  in  his  immortal  allegory, 
and  especially  judges  against  whom  these  jurymen  in  coming 
hither  had  turned  their  backs,  and  from  whose  reach  they  had 
desired  to  escape.  There  was  eager,  thoughtful  consideration. 
Thomas  Gorges,  the  deputy  governor,  had  brought  with  him  a 
volume  of  English  law,  and  from  its  pages  information  was  sought 
and  reported  to  anxiously  awaiting  listeners  as  extracts  were 
read.3     Of  course  there  was  excitement,  and  even  clamor  as  the 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  263. 

2  "The  clamor  was  great.  Mr.  Gorges  on  the  one  side  promising  to  salve 
their  reputation,  and  they  on  the  other  side  hasty  to  enter  actions  of  the 
slander,  without  any  more  ado,  against  him."  Rev.  Robert  Jordan,  in  a 
letter  to  Robert  Trelawny,  lb.,  318. 

8  "Hereupon  Mr.  Gorges  (how  inclined  in  the  cause  I  may  not  judge),  pre- 


GORGES  RECEIVES   A  ROYAI,   CHARTER.  297 

significance  of  Winter's  words  in  his  petition  was  apprehended ; 
and  upon  consideration  that  followed  it  was  wisely  suggested  by 
some  one  to  endeavor  to  have  the  matter  settled  there  and  not  in 
England.  At  length  an  agreement  was  reached  to  refer  it  to  four 
arbitrators,1  with  Rev.  Stephen  Bachiler2  as  umpire  ;  both  Winter 
and  Cleeve,  under  bonds  amounting  to  one  thousand  pounds, 
agreeing  to  abide  by  the  decision  "for  the  final  ending  of  all  con- 
troversies between  them",  including  an  action  now  brought  by 
Winter  against  Cleeve  for  defamation  of  character  of  Winter's 
wife.8     It  seemed  to  be  a  happy  solution  of  a  difficult  problem. 

Rev.  Robert  Jordan  says  that  Winter  yielded  with  much  unwill- 
ingness ;  "yet,  seeing  which  way  the  wind  hanged,  any  man 
would  have  shaped  such  a  course,  rather  than  stand  to  a  worse 
hazard".4  The  arbitrators  found  the  jury  right  in  awarding  dam- 
ages to  Cleeve  for  the  loss  of  his  house  and  land  at  Spurwink,  but 
they  reduced  the  amount  from  eighty  pounds  to  sixty.5  They 
also  confirmed  Cleeve' s  title  to  Machegonne.  With  reference  to 
Cleeve' s  defamation  of  Winter's  wife,  they  decided  that  Cleeve 
should  "Christianly  acknowledge",  both  to  the  court  and  to  Mrs. 
Winter,  "his  failing  therein".6 

This  should  have  closed  the  controversy.     But  neither  Winter 

tended  a  great  wrong  that  Mr.  Winter  should  do  to  the  honest  jurors;  and  that 
it  was  insufferable  that  men  doing  their  consciences  should  be  so  questioned; 
reading  an  old  act  in  Hen.  8  (as  I  take  it  concerning  penalty  in  such  cases, 
not  considering  the  mitigation  in  Q.  Eliz.)."  Robert  Jordan  to  Trelawny, 
Trelawny  Papers,  316,  317.  Regarding  this  penalty,  Baxter,  lb.,  318,  makes 
this  citation  :  "Their  bodies  shall  be  imprisoned  in  the  common  gaol ;  their 
wives  and  children  removed  out  of  their  houses  ;  all  their  houses  and  lands 
shall  be  seized  with  the  king's  hands  and  the  houses  wasted  and  the  trees 
extirpated  ;  all  their  goods  and  chattels  forfeited  to  the  king ;  they  shall 
forever  lose  the  freedom  and  franchise  of  the  law. ' ' 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  319. 

2  For  a  valuable  biographical  sketch  of  Rev.  Stephen  Bachiler,  see  Mr. 
Baxter's  note  3,  lb.,  270,  271. 

8  lb.,  272. 
4  lb.,  319. 
6  lb.,  270. 
6  lb.,  272. 


298  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  maine. 

nor  Robert  Trelawny  was  satisfied  with  the  decision.  The  latter 
was  kept  fully  informed  with  reference  to  the  case ;  and  in  his 
own  interest,  as  well  as  to  support  his  agent's  contentions,  he 
now  carried  the  Cleeve-Winter  matter,  with  related  matters,  to 
Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges.  Kre  long  Winter  learned  from  Trelawny 
that  the  lord  proprietor  of  the  province  had  entertained  his  appeal 
and  stopped  all  proceedings,  listening  to  Trelawny  rather  than  to 
the  deputy  governor.  Trelawny,  however,  authorized  Winter  to 
pay  Cleeve  twenty  pounds  for  his  house  and  land  at  Spurwink ; 
but  was  directed  to  commence  a  new  suit  for  land  at  Machegonne, 
evidently  in  the  expectation  that  Cleeve  would  be  found  a  tres- 
passer there.  Trelawny  closed  his  letter  with  these  words  :  '  'in 
case  justice  be  not  done  you,  send  me  over  a  certificate,  and  I 
shall  send  a  warrant  hence  from  the  Parliament  to  bring  them  all 
over  here  to  answer  it,  where  I  believe  they  will  not  justify  their 
doings.  All  things,  thanks  be  to  God,  goes  well  in  Parliament. 
Many  plots  and  treasons  have  been  discovered.  The  king  is  very 
gracious.  Hope  within  very  few  days  we  shall  settle  religion  in 
peace  and  restore  the  subject  to  his  ancient  liberty  and  right  of 
property."  x  Only  one  who  was  blind  to  political  events  occurring 
in  England  at  that  very  time,  or  saw  things  with  a  distorted 
vision,  could  have  written  these  words.  From  a  royalist  point  of 
view  things  were  not  going  well  in  Parliament.  Its  members 
sent  Strafford,  the  king's  ablest  and  most  faithful  supporter,  to 
the  scaffold,  May  12,  1641.  His  words  when  he  was  awaiting 
the  execution,  "Put  not  your  trust  in  princes" — Charles  having 
promised  him  that  not  a  hair  of  his  head  should  be  touched  and 
finally  consigning  him  to  death  as  a  public  enemy — expressed  his 
estimate  of  the  king.  Virtually,  Strafford's  execution  was  the 
commencement  of  the  civil  war  in  England,  although  it  was  not 
until  August  22,  1642,  that  Charles  unfurled  his  standard  at  Not- 
tingham and  called  upon  all  his  loyal  subjects  to  rally  around  it 
in  his  and  their  interest  against  a  rebellious  Parliament.  In  the 
same  month  in  which  Strafford  was  executed,  Charles  was  in  con- 

1  Trelawny  Papers ',  274. 


GORGES  RECEIVES  A  ROYAE  CHARTER.  299 

flict  with  Parliament,  and  was  brought  to  an  agreement  that  that 
body  should  not  be  dissolved  without  its  own  consent.  Thick 
and  fast  fell  the  blows  that  were  shattering  Charles'  claim  to 
supremacy.  "One  after  another  the  instruments  by  which  the 
king  had  been  enabled  to  defy  the  nation  were  snatched  from  his 
hands.  Ship-money  was  declared  to  be  illegal,  and  tonnage  and 
poundage  were  no  more  to  be  levied  without  parliamentary  con- 
sent. An  end  was  put  to  the  star  chamber  and  the  high  commis- 
sion".1 All  of  these  great  changes  in  matters  of  high  concern  in 
England  at  that  time  were  accomplished  before  July,  1641  ;  and 
it  is  difficult  to  discover  any  warrant  whatever  for  the  confidence 
Trelawny  expressed  in  his  letter  to  Winter.  Not  days,  but  years, 
must  elapse  before  religion  in  England  would  be  settled  in  peace, 
and  the  subject  restored  to  his  ancient  liberty. 

1  S.  R.  Gardiner,  The  Puritan  Revolution,  118,  119. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Some  Unrelated  Matters. 

REV.  RICHARD  GIBSON  remained  at  Richmond's  island 
until  his  contract  with  Robert  Trelawny  for  three  years' 
service  expired.  Concerning  him  Winter  wrote  to  Tre- 
lawny soon  after  Mr.  Gibson's  arrival:  "Our  minister  is  a  very 
fair  condition  man  and  one  that  doth  keep  himself  in  very  good 
order,  and  instructs  our  people  well,  if  please  God  to  give  us 
the  grace  to  follow  his  instruction."  1  Sometime  later,  however, 
Winter's  attitude  toward  Mr.  Gibson  changed,  and  his  ministry 
at  the  island  and  vicinity  henceforth  was  by  no  means  a  happy 
one.  Ill  and  even  slanderous  reports  concerning  him  at  length 
reached  Plymouth,  England.  Mr.  Gibson  alludes  to  them  in  a 
letter  to  Robert  Trelawny  dated  June  11,  1638.  Their  source  is 
not  stated,  but  without  difficulty  it  may  be  inferred.  Having 
mentioned  the  willingness  of  the  people  of  Richmond's  island  and 
vicinity  to  increase  out  of  their  wages  his  allowance  from  Tre- 
lawny by  twenty-five  pounds  a  year — one-half  of  the  amount  he 
received  from  Trelawny — Mr.  Gibson  says  Winter  opposed  it, 
"because  he  was  not  so  sought  unto",  that  is,  consulted  or  solic- 
ited, as  he  expected.2  It  is  in  this  connection  that  Mr.  Gibson 
refers  to  these  defamatory  reports.  There  were  no  such  reports 
at  the  island,  he  affirms,  "and  have  not  been"  ;  and  he  continues, 
"it  is  not  in  my  power  what  other  men  think  or  speak  of  me,  yet 
it  is  in  my  power  by  God's  grace  so  to  live  as  an  honest  man  and 
a  minister  and  so  as  no  man  shall  speak  evil  of  me  but  by  slander- 
ing, nor  think  amiss  but  by  too  much  credulity,  nor  yet  aggrieve 
me  much  by  any  abuse".     Trelawny  even,  to  whom  Mr.  Gibson 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  86,  87. 

2  lb.,  127. 


SOME  UNRELATED  MATTERS.  301 

had  written  concerning  these  reports,  seems  to  have  been  influ- 
enced by  them  ;  and  Mr.  Gibson  appeals  to  him  to  seek  other  tes- 
timony than  that  he  had  furnished,  adding,  "You  may,  if  you 
please,  hear  of  them  that  have  been  here  or  come  from  hence,  if 
they  have  known  or  heard  of  any  such  drinking  as  you  talk  of. 
I  had  rather  be  under  ground  than  discredit1  either  your  people 
or  plantation,  as  you,  believing  idle  people,  suppose  I  do.  If  you 
have  any  jealousy2  this  way  (so  doubtfully  you  write),  I  think  it 
best  you  hold  off  and  proceed  no  further  with  me  either  in  land 
or  service".8 

It  is  altogether  probable  that  Mr.  Gibson's  marriage  to  a  daugh- 
ter of  Thomas  I,ewis  of  Saco  was  not  regarded  with  favor  at 
Richmond's  island,  where  Winter  had  a  daughter,  who  subse- 
quently became  the  wife  of  Rev.  Robert  Jordan.  Gibson  makes 
mention  of  his  marriage  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Winthrop  dated 
January  14,  1639,  in  which  he  designates  it  "as  a  fit  means  for 
closing  of  differences  and  setting  in  order  both  for  religion  and 
government  in  these  plantations' ' .  But  it  did  not  have  that  effect. 
At  length  the  way  opened  for  Mr.  Gibson  to  go  to  Piscataqua, 
whither,  in  the  summer  of  1636,  some  of  the  men  in  the  employ 
of  Winter,  so  dissatisfied  with  him  that  they  "fell  into  a  mutiny", 
had  made  their  way  purposing  "to  fish  for  themselves".4  One  of 
these  men,  mentioned  at  the  time  by  Winter  as  "the  leader  of 
them  all",  was  one  of  the  parishioners,  who  "founded  and  built" 
at  Piscataqua  the  parsonage  house,  chapel,  with  the  appurtenances, 
at  their  own  proper  costs  and  charges",  and  "made  choice  of  Mr. 
Richard  Gibson  to  be  the  first  parson  of  the  said  parsonage".5 

Mention  of  Mr.  Gibson's  approaching  removal  is  made  in  a  let- 
ter written  at  Richmond's  island,  July  8,  1639,  by  Stephen  Sar- 

1  Disgrace. 

2  Doubt  or  question. 

3  Trelawny  Papers,  129. 

4  lb.,  93. 

5  In  a  note  {Trelawny  Papers,  93)  Mr.  Baxter  has  an  interesting  account  of 
these  men  after  they  left  Winter's  service.  He  says  they  all  probably  went 
to  Piscataqua  (Portsmouth)  and  became  citizens  of  good  repute. 


302  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

gent,  in  Trelawny's  employ  under  Winter,  and  addressed  to  Tre- 
lawny.  Mr.  Gibson,  he  wrote,  "is  going  to  Piscataqua  to  live, 
the  which  we  are  all  sorry,  and  should  be  glad  if  that  we  might 
enjoy  his  company  longer".1  In  any  such  expression  of  appreci- 
ation Winter  had  no  share.  All  that  he  said  to  Trelawny  con- 
cerning the  matter  is  in  a  letter  written  two  days  later:  "Mr. 
Gibson  is  going  from  us ;  he  is  to  go  to  Piscataway  to  be  their 
minister,  and  they  give  him  sixty  pounds  per  year,  and  build  him 
a  house  and  clear  him  some  ground  and  prepare  it  for  him  against 
he  come' '  .2  Mr.  Gibson  himself,  writing  on  the  same  day  as  Mr. 
Sargent,  and  also  to  Mr.  Trelawny,  used  these  words  :  "For  the 
continuance  of  my  service  at  the  island,  it  is  that  which  I  have 
much  desired,  and  upon  your  consent  thereunto  I  have  settled 
myself  into  the  country,  and  expended  my  estate  in  dependence 
thereupon ;    and  now  I  see  Mr.  Winter  doth  not  desire  it,  nor 

hath  not  ever  desired  it,  but hath  entertained  me  very 

coarsely  and  with  much  discourtesy,  so  that  I  am  forced  to  remove 

to  Piscataway  for  maintenance  to  my  great  hindrance 

I  shall  not  go  from  these  parts  till  Michaelmas,  till  which  time  I 
have  offered  my  service  to  Mr.  Winter  as  formerly,  if  he  please, 
which  whether  he  will  accept  or  no  I  know  not ;  he  maketh  diffi- 
culty and  suspendeth  his  consent  thereunto  as  yet".3  Folsom4 
places  the  date  of  Mr.  Gibson's  removal  to  Piscataqua  "at  the 
close  of  1640,  or  early  in  the  following  year".     Inasmuch,  how- 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  158. 

2  lb.,  170. 

8  lb.,  160.  Mr.  Gibson  remained  at  Piscataqua  holding  church  services 
there,  and  at  the  Isles  of  Shoals,  until  1642,  when  '  'being  wholly  addicted 
to  the  hierarchy  and  discipline  of  England",  he  was  brought  before  the  court 
at  Boston  on  a  charge  of  marrying  and  baptizing  at  the  Isles  of  Shoals,  the 
southern  half  of  the  islands  being  at  that  time  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
Massachusetts.  He  was  also  charged  with  disrespect  to  the  authority  of  the 
Bay  colony,  and  committed  to  jail.  Having  "made  a  full  acknowledgment 
of  all  he  was  charged  with  and  the  evil  thereof,  as  he  was  a  stranger  and  was 
to  depart  the  country  in  a  few  days,  he  was  discharged  without  any  fine  or 
other  punishment".     Winthrop,  Journal,  2,  66. 

4  History  of  Sac o. 


SOME  UNRELATED  MATTERS.  303 

ever,  as  lie  was  paid  by  Winter  "for  six  weeks'  service  after  his 
three  years  expired",1  and  he  came  to  this  country  with  Winter, 
reaching  Richmond's  island  May  24,  1636,  as  is  supposed,  it 
would  seem  as  if  his  departure  from  that  place  is  likely  to  have 
occurred  in  the  latter  part  of  the  summer  of  1639.  Between  that 
time  and  Michaelmas  he  may  have  tarried  with  friends  at  Saco, 
the  home  of  his  father-in-law. 

Concerning  the  settlements  between  the  Presumpscot  and  the 
Kennebec  immediately  after  Thomas  Purchase  established  his 
fishing  interests  at  Pejepscot,  there  is  little  information.  Unques- 
tionably a  proprietor  so  capable  and  energetic  as  Purchase  drew 
to  the  banks  of  the  Androscoggin  other  settlers,  who  were  con- 
nected in  one  way  or  another  with  his  varied  business  operations. 
Doubtless  others,  too,  there  were,  who  at  different  points  in  this 
part  of  the  Province  of  Maine  established  homes  for  themselves 
and  commenced  the  task  of  subduing  the  wilderness  in  the  effort 
to  obtain  such  a  living  as  the  country  at  that  time  afforded.  But 
the  lack  of  a  firm,  settled  government  in  the  territory  was  easily 
discoverable.  The  brief  administration  of  provincial  affairs  at 
Saco  by  Governor  William  Gorges  extended  but  a  little  way,  and 
soon  came  to  an  end.  As  settlers  in  larger  numbers,  however, 
came  hither  from  England,  and  especially  as  the  Massachusetts 
bay  colonies  in  a  little  while  developed  prosperous  communities 
under  governmental  regulations  that  were  effectual  in  securing  law 
and  order,  there  was  naturally  in  the  Province  of  Maine  an 
increasingly  wider  recognition  of  the  value  and  necessity  of  such 
regulations,  and  a  growing  demand  for  their  speedy  establishment. 

One  of  those  who  recognized  the  need  of  like  regulations, 
because  of  existing  conditions  in  the  Province  of  Maine,  was 
Thomas  Purchase  of  Pejepscot.  For  aid  in  improving  these  con- 
ditions in  so  far  as  his  own  proprietary  interests  extended,  he 
now  turned  toward  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay  ;  and  in  the 
negotiations  that  followed,  Massachusetts  through  him  acquired 
her  first  right  of  jurisdiction  within  the  limits  of  Sir  Ferdinando 

1  Trelawny  Papers ;  299. 


304  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

Gorges'  original  grant.  Doubtless  from  an  early  period  after  his 
arrival  in  the  country,  Purchase  was  recognized  as  a  man  of 
importance  not  only  within  the  limits  of  his  own  domain,  but 
throughout  the  province.  As  has  already  been  mentioned,  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges,  in  1636,  made  him  a  member  of  his  court  of 
commissioners  under  Governor  William  Gorges.  He  may  also 
have  been  one  of  the  commissioners  including  Winthrop,  Cleeve 
and  others  whose  names  are  not  now  known,  whom  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  after  the  return  of  Governor  William  Gorges  to  England 
early  in  1637,  appointed  to  govern  his  colony  of  New  Somerset- 
shire in  accordance  with  a  scheme  of  Gorges  which,  Winthrop 
says  "was  passed  in  silence"  and  which  he  designates  "as  a  mat- 
ter of  no  good  discretion".1  At  all  events,  in  the  failure  of 
Gorges  to  establish  within  his  jurisdiction  such  an  administration 
of  civil  government  as  was  necessary  for  the  proper  protection  of 
life  and  property,  Purchase  deemed  it  imperative  to  make  an  effort 
in  some  direction,  and  he  made  his  appeal  to  the  governor  of  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts  bay.  Winthrop  evidently  listened  sym- 
pathetically to  a  description  of  conditions  among  the  settlers  along 
the  Androscoggin  river,  and  as  a  result  of  the  interview,  by  an 
indenture  executed  August  22,  1639,  Purchase  conveyed  "to  John 
Winthrop  and  his  successors,  the  governor  and  company  of  the 

Massachusetts  forever,  all  that  tract  of  land  at  Pejepscot 

upon  both  sides  of  the  river  of  Androscoggin,  being  four  miles 
square  towards  the  sea,  with  all  liberties  and  privileges  thereunto 
belonging".  The  right  to  plant  there  "an  English  colony"  was 
included  in  the  rights  conveyed,  as  also  "full  power  forever  to 
exercise  jurisdiction  there  as  they  have  in  the  Massachusetts"  ; 
while  Purchase,  his  heirs  and  assignees,  together  with  all  other 
inhabitants  within  the  limits  of  the  Pejepscot  grant,  were  to  be 
given  that  "due  protection  of  the  said  governor  and  company"  as 
was  enjoyed  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Bay  colony.2 

1  Journal,  1,  276. 

2  Farnham  Papers,  I,  243,  244.     The  original  deed  in  connection  with  this 
transaction  was  entered  in  the  "Records  of  the  Governor  and  Company  of 


\^p»o^  J^C*^ 


%r-pL„3<j<M^ct  ^ , 


■Kaf-  f<?- '/\vo*$ o/t Jv^  i™yff~h.i4~  \y-Jy/^fyy^J  f^j- «^Lf«J,vl,  Ad-par***^ 
y^J-  tUp^fiA  ^W  fyb-fy£rfi  &>fi£i+  ^    fy-    ^^^fy*  Z  4o-*»» 


yo*o~nd  bJ^&jP^^^^^&^j  „V^fty'0f>  d^j-^o^X^ 
John  Winter  to  Robert  Trklawny,  August  2,  1641. 


SOME  UNRELATED  MATTERS.  305 

Massachusetts,  however,  made  no  effort  to  assume  the  obliga- 
tions set  forth  in  this  agreement.  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges'  com- 
mission to  Sir  Thomas  Josselyn  and  his  councilors  "for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  Province  of  Maine  according  to  his  ordinances", 
issued  September  2,  1639 x — only  eleven  days  after  this  convey- 
ance of  land  at  Pejepscot,— indicated  a  purpose  on  the  part  of  Sir 
Ferdinando  to  meet  within  his  territorial  limits  the  need  Purchase 
and  others  so  strongly  felt ;  and  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  bay 
wisely  determined  to  hold  matters  in  abeyance  awhile  and  await 
the  development  of  movements  already  in  progress. 

Rev.  Richard  Gibson's  place  at  Richmond's  island  was  filled  by 
the  coming  thither  of  Rev.  Robert  Jordan,  a  kinsman  of  Thomas 
Purchase,  with  whom  Mr.  Jordan  had  lived  at  Pejepscot  about 
two  years.  Winter  made  mention  of  him  in  a  letter  to  Trelawny 
dated  August  2,  1641. 2  "Here  is  one  Mr.  Robert  Jordan,  a  min- 
ister, which  hath  been  with  us  this  three  months,  which  is  a  very 
honest  religious  man  by  anything  as  yet  I  can  find  in  him.  I 
have  not  yet  agreed  with  him  for  staying  here,  but  did  refer  it  till 
I  did  hear  some  word  from  you.  We  were  long  without  a  minis- 
ter, and  were  in  but  a  bad  way,  and  so  we  shall  be  still  if  we  have 
not  the  word  of  God  taught  unto  us  sometimes".  In  these  last 
words  there  is  doubtless  a  reference  to  the  fact  mentioned  by  Win- 
ter that  negotiations  had  already  been  commenced  with  settlers  at 
Pemaquid  indicating  a  desire  on  the  part  at  least  of  some  of  them 
to  secure  Mr.  Jordan's  services  one-half  of  the  year,  Richmond's 
island  to  have  them  the  other  half,  "i  know  not  how  we  shall 
accord  upon  it  as  yet",  adds  Winter;  but  an  agreement  was  not 
reached,  and  Mr.  Jordan  remained  at  Richmond's  island,  identify- 
ing himself  prominently  with  matters  there  and  in  the  vicinity. 
A  student  at  Baliol  College,  Oxford,  and  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 

the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England",  and  is  found  in  the  printed  "Rec- 
ords", I,  272,  273.  There  is  an  early  manuscript  copy  in  the  possession  of 
the  Maine  Historical  Society,  Pejepscot  Papers,  VII,  489. 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  245. 

2  lb.,  288. 

20 


306  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

versity  of  Oxford,1  he  became  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land and  doubtless  had  held  religious  services  at  Pejepscot  during 
his  residence  there.  Not  long  after  his  removal  to  Richmond's 
island  he  married  John  Winter's  daughter  Sarah,  and  by  his 
endowments,  education  and  wide  interest  in  provincial  matters 
long  occupied  a  place  of  large  influence.2 

The  above  reference  to  negotiations  having  in  view  the  estab- 
lishment of  religious  services  at  Pemaquid,  under  the  direction  of 
Rev.  Robert  Jordan,  is  the  only  recorded  fact  concerning  such 
services  in  English  settlements  east  of  the  Kennebec  throughout 
the  whole  period  under  review  in  this  volume,  except  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Popham  colonists  at  St.  George's  harbor  at  the  time 
of  their  arrival  on  the  coast.  Such  services  undoubtedly  were 
held  in  private  and  probably  in  public  assemblies  increasingly  as 
the  settlements  enlarged ;  but  there  was  no  ordained  minister  in 
those  parts,  and  none  came  hither  for  a  long  time  afterward. 

On  the  death  of  Robert  Aldworth  of  Bristol,  England,  which 
occurred  in  1634,  Giles  Elbridge,  Aldworth' s  co -partner  in  the 
Pemaquid  patent,  became  his  heir  and  the  executor  of  his  will. 
His,  now,  were  the  large  business  interests  at  Pemaquid,  where 
Abraham  Shurt  had  his  residence  and  acted  as  his  agent.  With 
Giles  Elbridge' s  death,  which  occurred  February  4,  1644,  the 
Pemaquid  patent  came  into  the  possession  of  his  oldest  son  John, 
who  by  his  last  will  and  testament,  dated  September  11,  1646, 
bequeathed  the  patent  to  his  brother,  Thomas  Elbridge,3  second 
son  of  Giles,  who  not   long   after,  probably  having  settled   his 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  269. 

2  Mr.  Baxter  (Tre lawny  Papers,  270)  says  concerning  Robert  Jordan  :  "He 
was  a  man  of  ability  and  under  other  conditions  might  have  perhaps  ranked 
among  the  leading  divines  of  the  New  World;  but  at  this  time  the  church  for 
which  he  labored  found  an  unkindly  soil  in  New  England,  and  would  not 
take  root  toiled  the  husbandman  never  so  faithfully.  Hence  discouraged  by 
opposition,  and  the  word  within  him  perhaps  becoming  choked  by  the  deceit- 
fulness  of  riches,  he  finally  gave  up  the  ministry  and  devoted  himself  to  his 
private  affairs. " 

3  Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  77,  78,  96,  112,  465,  has  inter- 
esting references  to  Thomas  Elbridge. 


SOME  UNRELATED   MATTERS.  307 

affairs  in  England,  and  perhaps  on  account  of  the  continued  dis- 
turbed state  of  the  country,  made  his  way  to  Pemaquid  and  took 
possession  of  his  inheritance.  The  time  of  his  arrival  is  not 
known.  Johnston  considers  it  probable  that  he  came  about  1647  ; 
but  as  he  was  appointed  executor  to  the  will  of  his  brother,  it 
could  not  have  been  earlier  and  probably  it  was  somewhat  later. 
He  was  here  certainly  in  1650,  for  November  5,  in  that  year,  he 
mortgaged  the  islands  of  Monhegan  and  Damariscove  to  Richard 
Russell  of  Charlestown,  Mass.,  by  a  deed  in  which  he  described 
himself  as  "Thomas  Elbridge  of  Pemaquid  in  New  England,  mer- 
chant".1 He  is  represented  as  a  man  of  small  stature  and  insig- 
nificant appearance",2  and  it  is  evident  that  he  possessed  little,  if 
any,  ability  for  the  management  of  his  Pemaquid  estate.  Appar- 
ently he  made  no  attempt  whatever  to  improve  conditions,  moral 
or  religious,  among  the  settlers  at  Pemaquid,  or  in  any  part  of  his 
large  land  possessions.  Although  he  "called  a  court,  unto  which 
divers  of  the  then  inhabitants"  3  repaired,  it  was  not  an  institution 
of  civil  government,  but  merely  a  proprietary  office  for  the  collec- 
tion of  rents  and  the  conveyance  of  rights  and  privileges.  His 
business  transactions  evidently  were  not  large.  While  his  oppor- 
tunities for  exerting  helpful,  beneficent  influences  in  all  parts  of 
his  domain  were  wide,  he  seems  to  have  been  lacking  in  those 
qualities  that  would  have  enabled  him  to  grasp  and  use  them ;  and 
easily  and  speedily  he  allowed  his  extensive  inherited  lands  to 
pass  into  other  hands,4  and  himself  at  length  to  drop  out  of  sight. 
In  1659,  he  was  either  plaintiff  or  defendant  in  several  cases  at  a 

1  Water's  Genealogical  Gleanings  in  England,  I,  635,  says  the  deed  was 
to  Shurt. 

2  Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  78. 

3  lb.,  465. 

4  February  5,  1652,  Thomas  Elbridge  sold  one-half  of  the  patent  to  Paul 
White,  who  in  May,  1653,  conveyed  it  to  Richard  Russell  and  Nicholas 
Davison  of  Charlestown,  Mass.  Still  another  change  in  the  ownership  of 
the  patent  occurred  in  July,  1657,  when  Russell  sold  his  quarter  to  Davison; 
while  Elbridge,  about  two  months  later,  sold  the  half  he  had  retained  to 
Davison,  who  now  became  the  sole  possessor  of  the  Pemaquid  patent. 
Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  465. 


308  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

court  held  at  York,1  and  in  1672,  his  name  appears  with  other 
residents  at  Pemaquid  on  a  petition  to  the  general  court  in  Boston 
to  be  taken  under  its  government  and  protection.2  With  this 
record  he  passes  from  our  view.  The  names  of  other  children  of 
Giles  Elbridge  are  found  on  the  elaborate  Elbridge  monument  in 
St.  Peter's  church  in  Bristol,  England,  but  the  name  of  Thomas 
Elbridge  is  not  there,  and  the  time  and  place  of  his  death  are 
unknown. 

Fishing  and  traffic  with  the  Indians  continued  to  be  the  chief 
business  of  the  colonists  on  the  Maine  coast.  But  as  the  political 
troubles  in  England  affected  more  and  more  all  industrial  and 
commercial  affairs,  the  supplies  which  the  settlers  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  receive  from  that  source  began  to  fail.  Winter,  writing 
July  19,  1642,  not  only  records  a  scarcity  of  money  at  Richmond's 
island,  but  adds,  "cloth  of  all  sorts  very  scarce;  both  linen  and 
woolen  are  dear".8  It  is  significant  with  reference  to  this  scarcity 
of  money  in  the  province  that  at  this  time  Deputy  Governor 
Thomas  Gorges  and  Richard  Vines  made  their  way  to  the  White 
Mountains,4  passing  through  Pegwackit,  in  search  of  "precious 
metalic  substances",  a  lure  that  had  exploited  the  coast  regions 
from  the  first  arrival  of  explorers  and  colonists,  but  which  now 
led  Gorges  and  Vines  into  the  distant  recesses  of  the  White  Moun- 
tain range,  glimpses  of  whose  fair  outlines  are  afforded  here  and 
there  from  places  along  the  coast  in  the  vicinity  of  Saco.  Thither 
they  made  their  way  safely,  but  their  prospecting  for  gold  and 
silver  was  without  success.  Their  toil,  however,  could  not  have 
failed  of  rich  reward  in  the  experiences  of  the  journey  connected 
with  what  they  saw  of  the  beauty  of  the  valley  of  the  Saco  as  they 
traveled  toward  the  river's  source,  and  of  the  glory  of  the  White 
Mountain  scenery  that  still,  with  each  recurring  season,  irresist- 
ably  attracts  visitors  from  near  and  far. 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve  of  Casco  Bay,  176-179. 

2  Johnston,  History  of  Bristol  and  Bremen,  112. 
8  Tre lawny  Papers,  321. 

4  Winthrop,  Journal,  266. 


some;  unrelated  matters.  309 

The  settlement  at  Wells,  which  occurred  during  the  deputy- 
governorship  of  Thomas  Gorges,  is  traceable  to  the  action  of  the 
Massachusetts  authorities  with  reference  to  theological  differences. 
Rev.  John  Wheelwright,  a  brother-in-law  of  the  celebrated  Anne 
Hutchinson,  had  made  his  way  from  England  to  New  England  in 
the  great  emigration  that  followed  the  establishment  of  the  Bay 
colony.  Williamson  refers  to  him1  as  a  "pious  and  learned" 
preacher  ;  but  apparently  he  was  in  sympathy  with  Mrs.  Hutchin- 
son's peculiar  theological  views,  at  least  to  some  extent.  Among 
other  opinions  he  is  said  to  have  held  that  "the  Holy  Spirit  dwells 
personally  in  a  justified  convert,  and  that  sanctification  can  in  no 
wise  evince  to  believers  their  justifications".  It  was  a  period  of 
theological  speculation  as  well  as  of  Bible  study,  and  uniformity 
in  religious  matters  was  regarded  by  the  general  court  of  Massa- 
chusetts as  desirable  as  it  was  by  Archbishop  Laud  and  the  eccle- 
siastical courts  in  England.  But  Mr.  Wheelwright,  in  making 
his  way  across  the  sea  because  of  oppressive,  intolerable  condi- 
tions in  religious  matters,  expected  to  find  at  least  toleration  if 
not  liberty.  He  soon  learned,  however,  that  he  was  mistaken  ; 
and  having  been  called  to  account  by  the  general  court  for  his 
theological  opinions,  and  being  "extremely  pertinacious"  of  them, 
he  was  sentenced  by  the  court  November  2,  1637,  to  banishment 
from  the  colony.2 

Mr.  Wheelwright  accordingly  removed  to  Exeter,  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  New  Hampshire,  where  he  established  a  church  to  which 
he  ministered  until  by  the  political  union  of  New  Hampshire  with 
the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  he  found  that  again  he  was 
within  the  reach  of  the  Bay  authorities.  Then,  in  search  of 
another  refuge,  he  turned  his  footsteps  toward  the  Province  of 
Maine  ;  and  April  17,  1642,  Deputy  Governor  Thomas  Gorges,  out 
of  the  grant  he  had  received  from  his  uncle,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges, 
conveyed  to  him  "a  tract  of  land  lying  at  Wells  in  the  county 
of  Somerset' ' ,  in  all  about  four  or  five  hundred  acres  of  land  on  or 

1  History  of  Maine,  I,  293. 

2  Records  of  the  Colony  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  I,  207. 


310  the  beginnings  of  colonial  maine. 

near  the  Ogunquit  river,  and  along  the  seashore.  Another  tract 
of  land,  also  conveyed  by  Gorges  and  in  the  same  year,  was 
secured  by  John  Wheelwright,  Henry  Bond  and  others,  greatly 
enlarging  the  territory  of  which  Mr.  Wheelwright  had  obtained 
possession,  and  constituting  the  township  of  Wells.1 

Here  Mr.  Wheelwright  established  a  church.  But  his  theologi- 
cal opinions  still  removed  him  from  the  fellowship  of  other  minis- 
ters and  Christian  people,  who  had  been  his  early  friends,  and 
whom  he  still  held  in  high  esteem  ;  and  in  December,  1643,  he 
addressed  a  communication  to  the  governor  and  assistants  of  the 
colony  of  Massachusetts  bay,  in  which  he  made  confession  that  in 
the  matter  of  justification  his  differences  had  been  magnified  by 
the  "glass  of  Satan's  temptations",  and  distorted  by  his  own 
imaginations.  In  this  way,  his  differences  had  secured  an  impor- 
tance in  his  thinking  that  was  unwarranted.  "I  am  unfeignedly 
sorry",  he  wrote,  "I  took  so  great  a  part  in  those  sharp  and 
vehement  contentions,  by  which  the  churches  have  been  dis- 
turbed ;  and  it  repents  me  that  I  gave  encouragement  to  men  of 
corrupt  sentiments,  or  to  their  errors,  and  I  humbly  crave  par- 
don".2 The  communication,  because  of  its  frankness  and  the 
excellent  spirit  that  characterized  it  throughout,  made  a  very 
favorable  impression  upon  those  to  whom  it  was  addressed ;  and 
Mr.  Wheelwright  not  only  was  given  a  safe  conduct  to  Boston, 
but  in  the  summer  of  1644,  that  action  was  followed  by  the  revo- 
cation of  the  sentence  of  banishment.3  At  a  later  period  he  made 
his  way  back  to  England,  where  he  remained  a  few  years  during 
the  Puritan  rule,  possessing,  it  is  said,  the  friendship  of  Crom- 
well, and  then  returned  to  New  England.* 

1  Sullivan,  History  of  the  District  of  Maine,  408. 

2  Winthrop,  Journal,  J.  K.  Hostner's  Ed.,  II,  165-167. 

3  Records  of  the  Colony  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  II, 
67  ;  III,  6. 

4  Williamson,  History  of  Maine,  I,  294.  On  his  return,  Mr.  Wheelwright 
settled  in  Salisbury,  Mass.,  where,  according  to  Williamson  (I,  293),  he  died 
in  1679,  aged  80  years.  Sullivan  (History  of  the  District  of  Maine,  234) 
says  he  died  in  1680. 


SOME  UNRELATED   MATTERS.  311 

Matters  connected  with  the  settlement  of  Wells  were  among  the 
last  that  received  the  attention  of  Thomas  Gorges  in  his  wise 
administration  of  the  affairs  of  his  uncle's  province.  That  admin- 
istration was  now  drawing  to  a  close.  Unlike  his  uncle,  the  dep- 
uty governor  was  in  sympathy  with  Parliament,  rather  than  with 
Charles,  in  the  breach  between  the  king  and  the  House  of  Com- 
mons ;  and  as  things  in  England  while  he  was  here  had  gone  from 
bad  to  worse,  and  the  civil  war  had  opened,  in  which  was  to  be 
decided  the  great  issue  as  to  which  of  the  contending  parties 
should  rule  England,  Thomas  Gorges  regarded  his  place  of  duty 
there  and  not  here  ;  and  he  began  to  make  preparations  to  leave 
the  province  and  return  home. 

From  the  first,  his  management  of  affairs  as  deputy  governor 
strongly  commended  him  to  all  those  who  longed  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  law  and  order  in  the  Province  of  Maine.  At  Agamen- 
ticus,  which  he  made  his  place  of  residence  at  the  time  of  his 
arrival,  he  at  once  had  his  attention  called  to  a  scandal  that,  in  his 
treatment  of  it,  illustrated  in  a  most  striking  manner  Gorges' 
administrative  ideals  as  well  as  the  low  condition  of  the  morals 
of  the  community.  The  affair  required  boldness,  as  well  as  firm- 
ness, in  its  proper  handling.  The  man  involved,  Rev.  George 
Burdett,  was  a  prominent  resident  at  Agamenticus,  yet  was  known 
to  be  grossly  immoral  in  life  and  had  assumed  an  attitude  of 
brazen  defiance  to  just  requirements,  human  and  divine.  Wil- 
liamson says,  "Pride  and  abilities  had  given  him  self-confidence 
and  obstinacy,  and  he  regarded  no  law  otherwise  than  to  wrest 
it  and  make  it  sanction  or  excuse  his  iniquities' '  .1  On  being  made 
acquainted  with  the  facts  in  the  case,  Thomas  Gorges  at  once 
ordered  Burdett 's  arrest,  and  he  was  promptly  brought  before  the 
court  instituted  by  Gorges  at  Saco.  The  accused  was  found  guilty 
not   only   of  immoralities,    but   of    "slanderous   speeches",    and 

1  History  of  Maine,  I,  284.  Baxter  (Trelawny  Papers,  249)  says  of  Bur- 
dett, '  'Instead  of  leading  his  flock  into  paths  of  righteousness,  he  proved 
to  be  a  wolf  among  them,  and  the  records  of  his  misdeeds  stain  the  pages  of 
history." 


312  the;  beginnings  op  colonial  maine. 

received  sentence  accordingly.  Evidently  Burdett  had  expected 
to  manage  matters  at  the  court  as  he  had  at  Agamenticus ;  but  as 
he  was  adjudged  guilty,  he  appealed  from  the  decision  in  an  out- 
burst of  indignation,  claiming  the  right  of  a  rehearing  in  England. 
The  charter  of  the  province,  however,  contained  no  provision  for 
such  a  rehearing  ;  and  the  deputy  governor,  denying  the  appeal, 
ordered  execution  to  be  levied  on  the  property  of  Burdett  for  the 
payment  of  the  fines  imposed  when  sentence  was  pronounced. 
Railing  against  the  deputy  governor  and  the  court,  Burdett 
returned  to  Agamenticus  and  soon  after  made  his  way  to  England, 
threatening  a  reopening  of  court  proceedings  there.  Failing  in 
this,  he  joined  one  of  the  two  great  parties  in  the  conflict  then 
raging  in  the  kingdom,  and  while  thus  engaged,  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  party  to  which  he  was  opposed,  he  was  thrown  into 
prison,  and  while  there  he  passed  into  such  obscurity  that  his 
subsequent  career  is  unknown.1 

With  the  same  firm  adherence  to  high  moral  standards,  Thomas 
Gorges  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  Province  of  Maine  throughout 
his  administration.  From  first  to  last  he  had  the  respect  of  all 
law-abiding  citizens,  and  his  manifest  aim  in  the  management  of 
public  interests  was  to  proceed  along  the  same  lines  that  were  so 
strictly  followed  in  the  administration  of  the  government  of  the 
affairs  of  the  Bay  colony  by  Governor  Winthrop,  whom  Gorges 
visited  upon  his  arrival  in  New  England,  and  from  whom  he 
wisely  sought  counsel  and  advice.  The  three  years  he  spent  here, 
from  1640  to  1643,  were  passed  in  a  way  not  only  exceedingly 
creditable  to  himself,  but  helpful  to  the  settlers  in  their  desires  to 
secure  better  conditions ;  and  his  name  deserves  to  be  accorded 
high  honor  for  the  services  he  rendered  at  an  important  period  in 
the  beginnings  of  colonial  Maine.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  of 
Thomas  Gorges  that  his  was  by  far  the  one  conspicuously  attrac- 
tive personality  in  the  province  in  all  its  early  history.2 

1  Hubbard,  New  England,  361.     Winthrop,  Journal,  207. 

2  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  and  his  Province  of  Maine,  II,  186-190. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Agamenticus  Becomes  Gorgeana. 

BY  this  time  things  had  come  to  such  a  pass  in  England  that 
one  must  choose  between  the  supremacy  of  Charles  and 
the  supremacy  of  "Parliament.  The  question  at  issue  was 
whether  the  King  or  the  House  of  Commons  was  the  strongest 
power  in  the  realm.1  Certainly  things  were  not  going  well  with 
those  who  supported  the  crown.  Strafford  had  already  been 
brought  to  the  block  as  an  enemy  of  the  country.  Archbishop 
I^aud,  who  mingled  ecclesiastical  matters  with  those  of  the  state, 
and  had  given  great  offence  in  so  doing,  was  behind  prison  bars 
as  early  as  1641.  In  the  opening  of  1642,  the  king,  unable  to  dis- 
cover the  real  significance  of  the  great  uprising  against  his  arbi- 
trary rule,  had  separated  himself  still  farther  from  his  opponents 
in  Parliament  by  demanding  the  impeachment  of  Iyord  Kembolton, 
in  the  House  of  I,ords,  and  Pym,  Hampden  and  three  others  in 
the  House  of  Commons.  When  the  Commons  returned  an  evasive 
answer  to  this  demand,  Charles,  followed  by  a  crowd  of  armed 
retainers,  proceeded  to  the  House.  As  he  stepped  to  the  speaker's 
chair  he  addressed  the  Commons,  saying  that  he  had  come  to 
fetch  the  traitors.  The  words  eliciting  no  response,  the  king, 
looking  over  the  House  and  failing  to  discover  any  of  the  five 
whom  he  had  named  in  his  demand,  turned  to  the  speaker  and 
asked  if  the  men  he  sought  were  present.  "May  it  please  your 
majesty",  replied  L,enthall,  "I  have  neither  eyes  to  see  nor  tongue 
to  speak  in  this  place,  but  as  the  House  is  pleased  to  direct  me' ' . 

1  S.  R.  Gardiner,  The  Puritan  Revolution,  118.  Concerning  trie  attitude 
of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Commons  toward  the  king,  Gardiner  says  : 
"It  is  useless  to  ask  whether  they  might  not  have  regulated  the  king's 
authority  instead  of  shattering  it.  It  was  its  business  to  shatter  it  because, 
with  Charles  upon  the  throne,  it  was  impossible  to  regulate  it." 


314  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

The  king,  again  using  his  own  eyes,  remarked,  "I  see  that  all  my 
birds  have  flown".  He  then  renewed  his  demand,  saying  that  if 
the  men  he  had  named  were  not  surrendered  to  him  upon  their 
return,  he  would  be  obliged  to  take  his  own  course  to  find  them. 
As  the  king  left  the  House,  shouts  of  "Privilege!  privilege!"  fol- 
lowed him. 

Echoes  of  this  parliamentary  struggle  soon  reached  every  part 
of  the  kingdom,  and  the  lines  of  the  two  great  parties  contending 
for  the  mastery  were  now  still  more  closely  drawn.  The  affairs 
of  the  nation  weighed  heavily  on  all  hearts,  and  Gorges,  unable  to 
throw  himself  into  the  conflict  on  account  of  advancing  years, 
sought  relief  by  directing  his  thoughts  toward  his  Province  of 
Maine.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  a  grant  of  land  on 
the  '  'west  most  side' '  of  the  Agamenticus  river  made  December 
2,  1631,  by  the  council  for  New  England  to  Ferdinando  Gorges, 
Sir  Ferdinando 's  grandson  and  heir ;  and  also  to  a  grant  on  the 
east  side  of  the  river  made  at  the  same  time  to  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Francis  Norton  and  others.1  In  his  Briefe  Narration,  Gorges, 
referring  to  these  grants,  says  his  grandson  Ferdinando  and  some 
of  his  associates  hastened  to  take  possession  of  their  territories, 
carrying  with  them  their  families  and  necessary  provisions  ;  '  'and 
I  sent  over  for  my  son  [grandson]  my  nephew,  Captain  William 
Gorges,  who  had  been  my  lieutenant  in  the  fort  at  Plymouth, 
with  some  other  craftsmen  for  the  building  of  houses  and  erecting 
of  saw  mills  ;  and  by  other  shipping  from  Bristol,  some  cattle  with 
other  servants,  by  which  the  foundation  of  the  plantation  was 
laid,  and  I  was  the  more  hopeful  of  the  happy  success  thereof,  for 
that  I  had  not  far,  from  that  place  Richard  Vines,  a  gentleman 
and  servant  of  my  own,  who  was  settled  there  some  years  before. ' ' 

Gorges'  statement  is  a  general  one  covering  a  number  of  years. 
Captain  William  Gorges  came  hither  as  governor  of  New  Somer- 
setshire probably  in  the  spring  of  1636,  and  therefore  several  years 
after  the  Agamenticus  grant  was  made.     If  at  any  time  during  his 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  159-161.     Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  II,  57. 

2  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  II,  58. 


AGAMENTICUS   BECOMES  GORGKANA.  315 

governorship  he  made  his  residence  at  Agamenticus,  there  is  no 
record  of  the  fact.  He  established  his  government  at  Saco,  and 
apparently  he  resided  there  during  the  short  time  he  remained  in 
the  province.  But  Sir  Ferdinando  had  not  lost  sight  of  his  name- 
sake's grant.  As  early  as  1630,  Edward  Godfrey  was  living  at 
Agamenticus.  It  is  possible  that  Godfrey  went  there  in  accord- 
ance with  an  arrangement  made  with  Gorges  before  he  left  Eng- 
land. At  all  events,  his  first  appearance  in  this  country  was  as 
the  "lawful  attorney"  of  the  council  for  New  England  in  trans- 
ferring to  Gorges  and  Mason  the  grant  made  to  them  November 
17,  1629,  and  known  as  the  L,aconia  patent.  Godfrey  served  the 
grantees  for  a  short  time  at  Piscataqua  in  connection  with  their 
fishing  interests,  but  with  broader  aims  in  view  he  soon  took  up 
his  residence  at  Agamenticus,  "being  the  first  that  ever  built  or 
settled  there' '  -1 

Another  indication  of  Sir  Ferdinando 's  acquaintance  with  God- 
frey, and  of  the  favorable  opinion  he  held  concerning  him,  is 
found  in  the  fact  that  when,  in  1634,  Gorges  and  Mason  made  a 
division  of  the  lands  they  had  received  from  the  council  for  New 
England  in  1622,  Godfrey  acted  as  one  of  the  referees.  Also, 
when  Sir  Ferdinando  organized  the  government  of  his  province  in 
1636,  with  William  Gorges  at  its  head,  Edward  Godfrey  of  Aga- 
menticus received  an  appointment  as  a  member  of  the  court  of 
commissioners,  and  took  his  seat  with  his  associates  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  court  March  21,  1636,  in  the  house  of  Richard  Bony- 
thon  of  Saco.  In  a  letter  to  Winthrop  under  date  of  January 
25,  1640,  Richard  Vines  wrote:  "Three  or  four  years  since,  Mr. 
Cleeve,  being  in  England,  procured  a  writ  out  of  the  star  chamber 
office  to  command  Mr.  Edward  Godfrey,  Mr.  John  Winter,  Mr. 
Purchase  and  myself  to  appear  at  the  council  table  to  answer  some 
supposed  wrongs".  It  is  known  that  Godfrey  proceeded  to  Eng- 
land in  answer  to  the  summons,  and  made  a  successful  defence 
against  the  charges  Cleeve  had  preferred.  Probably  this  was  in 
the  year  1637.     Godfrey  remained  in  England,  it  is  supposed,  a 

1  Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  First  Series,  IX,  344. 


316  THE  BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

year  or  more.1  A  part  of  his  time,  he  says,  was  employed  in  an 
endeavor  '  'to  provide  a  patent  from  the  council  for  New  England 
for  himself  and  partners,  the  south  side  to  Ferdinando  Gorges 
and  only  the  north  side  to  himself  and  divers  others  his  asso- 
ciates".2 This  was  the  tract  of  land  granted  by  the  great  council 
December  2,  1631,  to  Ferdinando  Gorges  (grandson  and  heir  of 
Sir  Ferdinando),  Walter  Norton  and  others.  Vines,  in  his  state- 
ment with  reference  to  the  matter,  says  that  he  was  obliged  to  take 
this  course  with  reference  to  the  patent  "by  oppression  of  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges"  .8  What  is  meant  by  the  word  '  'oppression' ' 
is  not  indicated.  It  may  be  that  the  right  to  that  part  of  the  tract 
of  land  granted  to  Norton  and  others  had  lapsed,  partly  because 
of  failure  to  fulfil  prescribed  conditions  with  reference  to  settle- 
ment which  became  the  occasion  of  disagreements  with  Gorges, 
or  partly  because  of  claims  against  those  who  had  settled  upon 
these  lands  and  were  not  legally  in  possession  of  them.  As  there 
was  a  renewal  of  the  grant  to  Edward  Godfrey  and  others  March 
22,  1639, 4  the  matter  seems  to  have  been  adjusted  amicably,  and  if 
there  had  been  differences  between  Godfrey  and  Gorges  previous 
to  this  visit  they  were  now  forever  settled.  From  that  time  on 
Gorges  in  various  ways  manifested  high  regard  for  Godfrey  and 
gave  him  appointments  to  positions  of  honor  and  influence. 

While  Godfrey  was  in  England  at  this  time  he  performed  a  serv- 
ice that  could  not  have  been  otherwise  than  helpful  to  the  colony 
of  Massachusetts  bay.  This  service  was  in  connection  with  Quo 
Warranto  proceedings  brought  in  England  against  the  Bay  colony 
by  Sir  John  Banks  as  attorney  general,  the  charge  being  that  the 
colony,  without  any  warrant  or  royal  grant,  had  usurped  certain 
'  'liberties,  privileges  and  franchises' '  .5  During  these  proceedings, 
when  the  agents  and  friends  of  the  Puritan  colony  were  "called 

1  Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  First  Series,  IX,  310. 

2  lb.,  IX,  344. 

3  IX,  344. 

4  Farnham  Papers,  I,  159. 

6  Hazard,  Historical  Collections,  I,  423,  424. 


AGAMENTICUS  BECOMES  GORGEANA.  317 

on  to  confront  a  peremptory  demand  from  the  lords  commission- 
ers in  England  for  the  surrender  of  the  Massachusetts  charter, 
coupled  with  the  threat  of  sending  over  a  new  governor  general 
from  England",  and  these  agents  and  friends  of  the  colony  "stood 
mute",1  Godfrey,  who  was  present,  rose  and  made  an  effective 
plea  in  their  behalf.  Apparently  this  service  was  not  estimated 
by  the  Massachusetts  colonists  at  its  real  value.  At  least,  Win- 
throp  and  his  associates  preferred  to  attribute  their  deliverance  in 
such  a  crisis  to  the  fact  that  "it  pleased  God  so  to  order  in  his 
good  Providence".2 

An  important  result  of  Godfrey's  interviews  with  Sir  Eerdi- 
nando  Gorges  at  this  time  is  discoverable  in  the  latter 's  thoughts 
and  plans  with  reference  to  his  Province  of  Maine.  Eirst  of  all, 
Gorges  turned  his  attention  to  measures  for  securing  "the  better 
government  and  welfare  of  the  inhabitants"  of  his  province,  a  need 
which  doubtless  Godfrey  had  not  failed  to  impress  upon  him. 

But  especially  at  this  time  were  Gorges'  thoughts  and  plans 
directed  toward  Agamenticus.  In  all  probability  it  was  not  with- 
out his  suggestion,  inspired  by  Godfrey,  that  Thomas  Gorges,  in 
coming  hither  and  taking  up  his  duties  as  deputy  governor, 
decided  to  make  his  residence  there.  Agamenticus  as  yet  was  a 
small  community,  and  the  character  of  its  inhabitants,  as  indicated 
in  court  records,  was  not  of  the  best ;  but  by  making  Agamenticus 
the  seat  of  the  provincial  government,  and  with  adequate  provi- 
sions for  securing  a  firm  and  just  administration  of  law,  better 
conditions,  it  was  believed,  would  inevitably  follow  with  the 
result  that  Agamenticus  would  soon  develop  into  a  large  and 
prosperous  community. 

In  thus  making  Agamenticus  the  center  of  his  thoughts  in  his 
colonial  undertakings,  Sir  Eerdinando  first  of  all  sought  to  confer 
distinction  upon  the  place  by  elevating  it  into  a  borough.  This 
was  done  by  a  charter3  signed  and  sealed  April  10,  1641.     With 

1  Gardiner*  New  England's  Vindication,  5.  Hazard,  Historical  Collec- 
tions, I,  564. 

2  Winthrop,  I,  161. 

3  Hazard,  I,  470-474. 


318  THE  BEGINNINGS   OP   COEONIAE  MAINE. 

characteristic  regard  for  his  official  relation  to  the  ''humble  suit- 
ors" who  had  asked  for  the  incorporation  of  Agamenticus,  Gorges, 
in  the  charter,  referred  to  himself  not  only  as  "Lord  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  Maine",  but  as  "Lord  of  the  Province  of  Maine  within 
the  territories  of  New  England",  calling  attention  in  this  way  to 
that  wider  field  over  which  the  king  had  made  him  governor  gen- 
eral, and  toward  which  his  colonial  dreams  at  this  time  seem  very 
frequently  to  have  attracted  his  thoughts. 

The  charter,  in  its  unfoldings,  conferred  upon  "his  majesty's 
liege  people"  at  Agamenticus  the  right  to  exercise  civil  govern- 
ment among  themselves,  freed  from  the  jurisdiction  and  authority 
of  any  other  officer  or  officers  whatsoever,  unless  called  upon  as 
assistants  in  repelling  armed  invasion  or  in  suppressing  rebellion 
against  the  due  course  of  justice.  In  the  charter,  provision  was 
made  for  the  election  of  a  mayor,  eight  aldermen  and  a  recorder 
by  the  voices  of  the  burgesses  ;  but  in  order  to  assist  in  the  organi- 
zation of  the  new  government  Gorges  proceeded  to  nominate  in 
the  charter,  as  the  first  mayor  of  the  borough,  his  "well-beloved 
cousin",  Thomas  Gorges,  the  deputy  governor  of  the  province. 
As  the  first  eight  aldermen,  he  nominated  Edward  Godfrey, 
Roger  Garde,  George  Puddington,  Bartholomew  Barnett,  Edward 
Johnson,  Arthur  Bragington,  Henry  Simson  and  John  Rogers. 
Edward  Godfrey  was  also  nominated  as  justice  of  the  peace  for  the 
first  year  and  Roger  Garde  as  the  first  recorder. 

The  mayor  and  aldermen  were  authorized  by  the  charter  to 
make  such  laws,  orders  and  ordinances  as  were  "accustomed  to 
be  made  in  towns  corporate  in  England",  and  they  were  to  exe- 
cute the  same  for  the  benefit  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  borough  and 
the  peaceable  ordering  of  the  business  of  the  corporation.  They 
had  power  also  to  make  as  many  free  burgesses  as  they  should 
'  'think  fit' ' ,  and  also  to  disfranchise  any  for  just  and  reasonable 
cause.  Provision,  also,  was  made  for  "one  town  hall",  which 
should  also  serve  for  court  uses  in  hearing  and  determining  civil 
cases.  There  were  to  be  court  sessions  also  for  the  "dispatch  of 
criminal  causes"  by  indictment  and  trial  before  jurors,  provided, 


AGAMENTICUS   BECOMES   GOKGEANA.  319 

however,  that  no  proceeding  in  such  causes  should  be  contrary  to 
the  laws  of  England,  nor  for  offences  committed  outside  of  the 
limits  of  the  borough. 

To  the  mayor  was  given  authority  to  muster  men  and  levy  arms 
for  defence  of  the  borough  in  case  of  hostile  invasion,  and  to 
appoint  and  commission  such  officers  as  should  be  found  neces- 
sary ;  also  to  erect  fortifications  and  provide  armaments  for  the 
same. 

In  granting  to  Agamenticus  such  extraordinary  powers  and 
privileges  it  was  evidently  the  design  of  Gorges  to  give  the  place 
a  prominence  that  would  attract  to  it  additional  settlers,  and  at 
the  same  time  make  it  a  fitting  location  for  the  residence  of  the 
deputy  governor  of  the  province.  For  awhile  the  scheme  thus 
outlined  occupied  Sir  Ferdinando's  thoughts  and  gave  him  pleas- 
ing occupation  ;  but  other  dreams  followed  and  the  scheme  was 
enlarged  to  such  an  extent  that  March  1,  1642,  only  one  year 
later,  Gorges  gave  to  Agamenticus  a  second  and  more  elaborate 
charter,1  transforming  the  borough  into  a  city,  and  bestowing 
upon  it  the  designation  Gorgeana.  Flattering  himself  with  the 
assertion  that  he  had  settled  the  Province  of  Maine  in  a  helpful 
way  of  government,  Sir  Ferdinando  now  announced  his  purpose 
by  all  good  means  to  further  and  advance  the  same ;  and  he 
increased  the  borough  limits,  extending  them  "from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  entrance  in  of  the  river  commonly  called  and  known 
by  the  name  of  Agamenticus  and  so  up  the  said  river  seven 
English  miles  and  all  along  the  east,  and  northeast  side  of  the 
seashore  three  English  miles  in  breadth  from  the  entrance  of  the 
said  river  and  up  into  the  main  land  seven  miles,  butting  with  the 
seven  miles  from  the  seaside  up  the  said  river  the  breadth  of  three 
miles  opposite  thereunto". 

It  was  a  grand  scheme  and  the  territorial  boundaries  of  Aga- 
menticus required  such  ample  expansion  as  the  second  charter 
outlined.  But  with  the  enlargement  of  the  territory  of  Agamen- 
ticus there  was  a  corresponding  enlargement  of  the  governing 

1  Hazard,  Historical  Collections,  I,  480-486. 


320  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

body,  which  was  now  made  to  consist  of  a  mayor,  twelve  alder- 
men and  twenty-four  councilmen.  The  first  mayor  of  Gorgeana 
and  also  the  aldermen  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  deputy  gov- 
ernor of  the  province,  while  the  councilmen  were  to  be  elected  by 
the  freeholders.  Courts  were  to  be  instituted,  one  to  be  held 
twice  a  year  in  the  interest  of  the  public  weal,  and  for  the  pun- 
ishment of  all  offenders ;  also  a  court  of  justice  to  be  held  on 
Monday  of  every  week  for  hearing  and  determining  "all  actions 
and  differences",  the  proceedings  to  be  "as  near  as  may  be  to  the 
course  of  his  majesty's  court  of  chancery  at  Westminster,  wherein 
the  mayor  for  the  time  being  [was]  to  sit  as  judge  with  the  recorder 
and  aldermen,  or  so  many  of  the  said  aldermen  as  shall  be 
there".  The  right  of  appeal  from  any  decree  of  this  court  to  Sir 
Ferdinando,  or  his  deputy,  was  granted.  Provision  also  was 
made  for  two  or  four  sergeants,  known  as  sergeants  of  the  white 
rod,  who  should  serve  and  return  all  precepts  issuing  out  of  this 
court.  They  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  mayor  and  aldermen, 
and  were  also  to  wait  on  the  mayor.  A  market,  also,  was  estab- 
lished to  be  held  on  Wednesday  of  each  week ;    also  two  fairs 

annually  "upon  the  feast  days  of  St.  James  and  St.  Paul, 

the  benefit  of  the  toll,  and  other  customs  incident  and  belonging 
to  fairs  and  markets",  to  redown  "to  the  use  and  advantage"  of 
the  mayor  of  Gorgeana.  In  a  word,  Gorgeana,  as  a  municipality, 
received  "such  and  so  many  privileges,  liberties  and  freedoms  as 
the  city  of  Bristol",  of  which  Thomas  Gorges  was  a  resident. 

When,  in  1642,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  drew  up  this  charter  of 
Gorgeana,  he  was  living,  it  is  said,  at  Bristol  in  the  Great  House 
at  St.  Augustine's  Back,  so  long  known,  at  a  later  date,  as  Col- 
ston's School.  He  had  married  September  28,  1629,  as  his  fourth 
wife,  L,ady  Elizabeth  Smyth,  daughter  of  Sir  Thomas  Gorges, 
and  widow  of  Sir  Hugh  Smyth  of  Ashton  Court,  near  Bristol.1 
The  Great  House  was  the  property  of  his  wife,  as  also  was  the 
Ashton  Phillips  residence  in  which  Gorges  is  said  to  have  died. 
At  this  time  Sir  Ferdinando  by  several  years  had  passed  the  limit 

1  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  II,  167. 


AGAMENTICUS   BECOMES   GORGEANA.  321 

of  threescore  years  and  ten.  He  was  too  old  for  the  duties  of 
camp  and  field,  but  he  was  not  too  old  to  busy  himself  with  his 
possessions  on  this  side  of  the  sea.  Accordingly,  as  Gorges  mused 
and  the  fire  burned,  he  saw  a  new  empire  springing  up  on  the 
shores  of  New  England,  and  stretching  westward  over  an  unex- 
plored continent.  Imagination  was  enkindled.  Even  if  Gorges 
should  not  cross  the  sea  and  assume  the  governorship  of  New 
England,  he  could  still  be  influential  through  others  ;  and  thoughts 
of  Gorgeana  filled  him  with  new  and  brighter  hopes.  Again  the 
aged  knight  was  young  and  he  saw  visions,  he  was  old  and  he 
dreamed  dreams. 

In  the  charter  of  1641,  Thomas  Gorges,  the  deputy  governor  of 
the  province,  was  nominated  by  Sir  Ferdinando  as  the  first  mayor 
of  Agamenticus,  then  elevated  into  a  borough.  In  the  charter  of 
1642,  Thomas  Gorges  was  not  mentioned,  and  it  is  supposed  that 
Edward  Godfrey  was  made  the  first  mayor  of  Gorgeana.1  In  all 
probability  Thomas  Gorges  was  already  in  sympathy  with  Parlia- 
ment in  its  contentions  with  the  king ;  and  when,  in  the  summer 
of  1642,  Charles  set  up  his  standards  at  Nottingham,  and  sum- 
moned his  loyal  subjects  to  come  to  his  aid  against  a  rebellious 
Parliament,  Thomas  Gorges  with  others  could  hardly  have  failed 
to  raise  the  question  of  personal  duty  and  to  give  to  it  thoughtful 
consideration.  When  his  decision  was  made  cannot  now  be  ascer- 
tained, but  it  was  in  favor  of  a  return  to  England;  and  he  com- 
menced to  arrange  the  affairs  of  the  province  with  reference  to 
that  end.  The  precise  date  of  his  retirement  from  the  deputy 
governorship  is  not  known.  In  a  letter  to  Governor  Winthrop, 
dated  June  28,  1643,  however,  he  announced  his  purpose  soon  to 
sail  for  England  ;  and  in  all  probability  his  arrival  in  England  fol- 
lowed in  the  autumn  of  that  year.  How  he  was  received  by  Sir 
Ferdinando  can  only  be  conjectured  in  the  absence  of  any  known 
record.  Interviews  the  two  doubtless  had.  Gorges  naturally 
desired  to  have  a  full  report  of  the  conditions  of  things  in  the 

1  Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  First  Series,  IX,  314. 
21 


322  the;  beginnings  OF  COLONIAL  MAINE. 

Province  of  Maine,  and  such  a  report  the  deputy  governor  would 
expect  to  make.  Thenceforward,  each  went  his  own  way,  Sir 
Ferdinando  still  adhering  to  the  fortunes  of  the  king.  No  oppor- 
tunity, in  which  it  was  possible  for  him  to  manifest  his  loyalty  to 
Charles,  was  overlooked.  At  one  time  he  sought  permission  from 
the  mayor  of  Bristol  to  bring  within  the  city's  defences  a  body  of 
cavalry  under  Lord  Paulet  and  designed  to  serve  the  king,  but  the 
mayor  declined  to  gratify  Gorges  on  the  ground  that  that  part  of 
England  had  declared  for  Parliament,  and  not  for  the  king.  At 
another  time  he  manifested  his  devotion  to  the  interests  of  Charles 
in  such  a  way  that  he  was  summoned  before  Parliament  to  answer 
for  his  conduct.1  On  account  of  his  age  probably,  he  was  not 
made  to  experience  "the  sadness  of  the  times"  as  were  Trelawny 
and  others,  and  he  was  allowed  to  return  to  his  home,  probably 
accompanied  with  admonitions  that  he  deemed  it  wise  to  heed.  It 
was  not  sunshine  with  Sir  Ferdinando,  but  clouds  and  thick 
darkness. 

Not  much  has  come  down  to  us  concerning  the  life  of  Thomas 
Gorges  after  his  return  to  England.2  While  his  sympathies  were 
with  the  Parliamentary  forces,  he  seems  not  to  have  held  any 
conspicuous  position,  either  civil  or  military,  until  1649,  when  he 
was  made  lieutenant  colonel  of  a  cavalry  regiment  in  the  Somerset 
militia.  Both  before  and  after  the  Restoration  he  was  made  a 
member  of  Parliament  from  Taunton.  He  lived  an  honored  and 
useful  life  at  Heavitree,  near  Exeter,  where  he  died  October  17, 
1670.  A  monumental  stone  in  Heavitree  church  marks  the  place 
of  his  burial.3     In  his  will4  he  bequeathed  to  his  son,  Thomas 

1  Barrett,  History  of  Bristol,  England,  414. 

2  For  the  more  prominent  facts  in  his  life,  see  Baxter's  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  II,  186-190. 

3  "Here  lyeth  the  bodyes  of  Thomas  Gorges  of  Hevitree,  Esq.  and  Rose 
his  wife.  He  departed  this  life  the  17th  of  October  1670  and  she  the  14th  of 
April  1671."  Ferdinando,  a  son  of  Thomas  Gorges,  died  at  York,  Maine,  in 
February,  1683,  "having  come  to  New  England  as  early  as  1674,  perhaps  in 
the  interest  of  his  kinsman,  Ferdinando,  the  grandson  of  Sir  Ferdinando, 
and  proprietor  of  the  Province  of  Maine".  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges, 
II,  189. 


AGAMENTICUS   BECOMES   GORGEANA.  323 

Gorges,  five  thousand  acres  of  land  at  "Ogungigg"  (Ogunquit), 
"of  which  five  thousand  acres",  with  cattle  thereon,  the  father 
took  peaceable  possession  on  August  18,  1642,  the  territory  hav- 
ing been  granted  unto  him  by  deed  bearing  date  August  4,  1641. 
Amid  many  discouragements,  Godfrey,  Garde  and  others  upheld 
for  awhile  the  interests  of  Sir  Ferdinando  at  Gorgeana.  But  no 
assistance  came  to  them  from  England.  In  the  battles  of  Marston 
Moor  (July  2,  1644)  and  Naseby  (June  14,  1645),  the  Parliamen- 
tary forces  were  victorious.  At  Naseby  especially,  Charles  I  suf- 
fered overwhelming  defeat.  Indeed,  so  decisive  in  that  action 
was  the  result  that  the  king  was  unable  at  any  later  period  to  rally 
his  forces  upon  any  other  great  battlefield  of  the  civil  war.  A 
few  months  later  the  counties  were  cleared  of  royal  troops  and 
their  garrisons  capitulated.  Raglon  Castle  held  out  the  longest 
against  the  Parliamentary  troops,  but  surrendered  in  August, 
1646.  Meanwhile,  "in  these  sad  seasons",  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges  found  employment1  in  writing  his  Brief e  Narration,  in 
which  he  reviewed  his  long  connection  with  colonial  enterprises. 
It  is  the  work  of  an  old  man  and  furnishes  abundant  evidence  of 
the  writer's  failing  mental  powers  and  his  enfeebled  condition  by 
reason  of  his  advanced  age ;  but,  notwithstanding,  it  is  a  record 
of  great  value  with  reference  to  colonial  beginnings  upon  the 
coast  of  Maine.  Having  finished  this  task,  Gorges  rested  from 
his  labors,  and  patiently  awaited  the  final  call.  It  came  in  the 
springtime  of  1647.  His  will2  was  dated  May  4,  1647,  and  his 
burial  in  the  parish  church  at  L,ong  Ashton  followed  ten  days 
later.  In  the  last  words  of  the  Brief e  Narration  Gorges  gave  fit- 
ting expression  to  his  most  serious  thoughts  as  he  approached  the 
close  of  life  :  "I  end  and  leave  all  to  him,  who  is  the  only  author 
of  all  goodness  and  knows  best  his  own  time  to  bring  his  will  to 

4  The  will  is  inserted  in  full  in  Baxter's  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  II,  190- 
192.     See  also  York  Deeds,  Book  I,  Part  II,  folios  5,  6,  7. 

1  The  words  occur  in  a  letter  written  by  Gorges  at  Ashton,  June  1,  1646. 
See  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  III,  299. 

2  lb.,  II,  149,  150. 


324  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

be  made  manifest,  and  appoints  his  instruments  for  the  accom- 
plishing thereof,  to  whose  pleasure  it  becomes  every  one  of  us  to 
submit  ourselves,  as  to  that  mighty  God,  and  great  and  gracious 
I^ord,  to  whom  all  glory  doth  belong."  1 

1  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  II,  81.  It  may  be  asked  why  it  was  that  one  who 
stood  in  high  favor  with  two  of  England's  kings,  and  in  close  official  rela- 
tions with  men  of  prominence  and  influence,  received  only  scanty  notice  in 
contemporary  history.  The  explanation  is  doubtless  to  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  in  the  great  movements  of  his  time  Gorges  was  on  the  unpopular  side. 
In  the  fight  for  free  fishing  he  was  clearly  in  the  wrong,  and  while  in  the 
civil  war  this  was  equally  true,  he  was  too  old  to  have  any  important  part  in 
it.  Equally  was  he  on  the  losing  side  in  his  new  world  enterprises.  It  was 
the  Puritan  colony  of  Massachusetts  bay  and  not  the  Province  of  Maine  that 
was  aided  by  the  time  spirit. 


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CHAPTER  XIX. 

Ceeeve  Secures  an  Aei^y  in  Coeonee  Rigby. 

THE  relations  between,  Winter  and  Cleeve  were  still  unfriendly 
and  even  hostile.  Unquestionably,  if  Cleeve  had  been  left 
in  peaceable  possession  of  his  lands  at  Machegonne,  the 
earlier  conflicts  would  not  have  been  renewed.  But  Winter,  with- 
out any  ground  for  the  assertion,  insisted  that  Cleeve,  whom  he 
had  unsettled  at  Spur  wink,  was  a  trespasser  also  in  his  present 
location.  Moreover,  he  now  had  an  able  assistant  in  Rev.  Robert 
Jordan,  who,  on  coming  to  Richmond's  island  as  the  successor  of 
Rev.  Richard  Gibson,  had  espoused  Winter's  cause  with  an  inten- 
sity of  interest,  and  a  disposition  to  overreach  not  equalled  even 
by  Winter  himself.1  The  situation,  therefore,  was  one  that  could 
not  fail  to  awaken  in  George  Cleeve  many  anxious,  disturbing 
thoughts.  It  was  not  in  Cleeve,  however,  to  lose  heart  in  the 
face  of  opposition  and  even  possible  defeat;  and  he  entered  at 
once  upon  a  search  for  ways  and  means  with  which  to  strengthen 
his  hold  upon  Machegonne.  In  so  doing  he  recalled  earlier  grants 
of  land  in  the  vicinity,  and  among  them  the  already  mentioned 
L,ygonia  patent,2  of  which  the  patentees  in  coming  hither  made  no 
use  on  account  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  location,  and  so  "van- 
ished away".  This  patent  covered  territory  forty  miles  square, 
extending  from  Cape  Porpoise  to  the  Sagadahoc  river,  and  not 
only  included  but  antedated  the  Trelawny  patent.  What  if  the 
grantees,  or  their  survivors,  could  be  induced  to  part  with  the 
patent,  and  it  should  become  the  possession  of  one  friendly  to 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  314-320. 

2  It  was  known  as  the  Plough  patent,  a  name  derived  from  the  name  of 
the  vessel  that  brought  hither  the  company  of  Husbandmen  in  whose  inter- 
est the  I/ygonia  patent  was  obtained. 


326  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

Cleeve's  interests?  The  answers  suggested  by  such  a  considera- 
tion took  a  strong  hold  upon  Cleeve's  mind  and  heart ;  and  he 
was  not  long  in  outlining  a  course  of  procedure  for  himself  that 
promised  results  of  which  up  to  this  time  he  had  not  even 
dreamed. 

Animated  by  the  hopes  that  were  thus  awakened,  Cleeve  sailed 
from  Boston  for  England  June  4,  1642.  On  his  arrival  in  Lon- 
don, he  lost  no  time  in  putting  himself  in  communication  with 
such  original  grantees  of  the  L,ygonia  patent,  or  their  survivors, 
as  he  could  find.  Some  time  doubtless  was  spent  in  the  necessary 
search ;  and  also  later  in  negotiations  with  reference  to  the  pur- 
chase of  the  patent.  Settlements  in  the  Province  of  Maine  had 
not  as  yet  brought  to  their  promoters  large  financial  returns,  but 
the  prosperity  of  the  Puritan  settlements  in  New  England  aided 
Cleeve  in  his  approach  to  those  who  were  in  sympathy  with  Puri- 
tan ascendency  in  England  ;  and  availing  himself  of  opportuni- 
ties that  opened  to  him  on  account  of  this  ascendency,  he  at  length 
made  the  acquaintance  of  Colonel  Alexander  Rigby,1  an  influential 
member  of  Parliament,  to  whom  he  made  known  his  plans  and 

1  Colonel  Alexander  Rigby  was  born  in  1594 at  Middleton  Hall,  Goosnargh 
parish  (near  Preston) ,  county  of  Lancashire,  England.  He  studied  for  the 
profession  of  law,  and  entered  upon  the  practice  of  law  ;  but  becoming  iden- 
tified with  matters  leading  up  to  the  civil  war,  in  which  he  advocated  the 
popular  cause,  he  devoted  his  attention  largely  to  political  affairs.  In  1640, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  Parliament,  and  soon  by  his  ability  and  careful 
attention  to  business  he  obtained  considerable  distinction.  In  the  progress 
of  the  civil  war,  he  was  made  a  colonel  in  the  parliamentary  forces.  He 
was  also  a  member  of  the  Lancashire  committee  for  sequestrating  "notorious 
delinquent  estates".  He  held  many  important  public  offices.  When  the 
king  was  brought  to  trial  early  in  1649,  Cromwell  nominated  Colonel  Rigby 
as  one  of  the  judges,  but  he  declined  to  serve.  In  that  year  he  was  made  one 
of  the  barons  of  the  Court  of  Exchequer.  He  was  also  one  of  the  two  com- 
missioners appointed  for  the  establishment  of  the  High  Court  of  Justice. 
He  died  in  London,  August  18,  1650,  having  with  other  officials  been  taken 
ill  while  attending  court  at  Croyden  in  Surry.  For  an  extended  account  of 
Colonel  Rigby 's  life  and  services  see  three  papers  by  Dr.  Charles  E.  Banks 
in  the  Maine  Historical  and  Genealogical  Recorder  for  1885  ;  also  a  note  by 
Hon.  James  P.  Baxter  in  the  Trelawny  Papers,  365-367. 


CI^EVE  SECURES   AN   ALLY.  327 

purposes.  Apparently  Cleeve  had  no  difficulty  in  interesting 
Rigby  in  colonial  undertakings,  and  inducing  him  to  make  the 
small  outlay  required  in  securing  possession  of  the  L,ygonia  pat- 
ent. The  purchase  was  consummated  April  7,  1643,  when  "John 
Dye,  John  Smith,  Thomas  Jupe,  and  others,  survivors  of  Bryan 
Bincks  and  others,  with  their  associates",  granted  unto  Colonel 
Alexander  Rigby,  of  Rigby  in  the  county  of  Lancashire,  "all 
their  estate,  interest  and  claim"  in  the  Province  of  L,ygonia,  the 
name  given  to  the  new  province. 

Thus  far  Cleeve' s  efforts  had  been  crowned  with  entire  success. 
But  provision  must  be  made  for  the  government  of  the  new  prov- 
ince. This  received  due  attention  and  Colonel  Rigby  gave  Cleeve 
a  commission  as  deputy  president  of  the  province,  Rigby  retain- 
ing only  nominal  headship  in  recognition  of  proprietary  control. 
Subordinate  administrative  officers  were  also  appointed. 

Cleeve  had  now  secured  all  that  he  sought  in  making  his  way 
to  England.  But  his  eyes  were  not  closed  to  certain  obstacles 
which  must  be  removed  if  he  was  to  reach  the  results  he  had  in 
view.  Robert  Trelawny,  upon  whom  Winter  had  leaned  in  his 
persecution  of  Cleeve,  was  in  a  L,ondon  prison,  withdrawn  from 
the  world  to  such  an  extent  that  even  his  correspondence  with 
Winter  had  ceased.  But  what  of  the  men  on  the  other  side  of 
the  sea — Vines,  Godfrey,  Winter  and  others,  Cleeve' s  most  stren- 
uous opponents  hitherto, — who  were  not  likely  to  accept  without 
question  and  added  conflicts  the  new  order  of  things  about  to  be 
established  ?  Especially  was  opposition  to  be  expected  from  Vines 
and  Godfrey  ;  and  in  order  to  have  the  questions  at  issue  settled 
at  once  upon  his  return  to  New  England,  Cleeve  in  a  petition  to 
the  House  of  Commons — on  his  own  behalf  and  also  of  other 
planters  whose  names  he  added,  probably  by  request  and  for  whom 
he  "avowed"1 — called  attention  to  the  action  of  Sir  Ferdinando 

1  After  Cleeve's  return  and  the  contents  of  this  petition  were  made  known, 
the  charge  was  brought  against  Cleeve  that  he  attached  to  the  petition  the 
names  of  persons  who  had  no  knowledge  of  its  contents  and  had  not  author- 
ized such  a  use  of  their  names.  Depositions,  including  such  statements, 
will  be  found  in  Baxter's  George  Cleeve,  262-264.     The  petition  itself,  how- 


328  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  maine;. 

Gorges  in  placing  over  the  petitioners  and  other  planters  '  'several 
governors  and  other  officers",  who  were  exercising  "unlawful 
and  arbitrary  power  and  jurisdiction  over  the  persons  and  estate' ' 
of  the  petitioners  and  "the  said  other  planters  to  their  great 
oppression,  utter  impoverishment  and  the  hindrance  of  the  plan- 
tation in  these  parts".2     In  certain  "articles"  affixed  to  the  peti- 

ever,  shows  that  while  Cleeve  added  to  the  petition  thirty  names,  he  did  not 
indicate  in  any  way  that  these  were  names  of  signers,  for  at  the  close  of  the 
list  of  names  he  added  the  words,  "Avowed  by  me  George  Cleeve".  In  fact 
in  one  of  these  depositions,  that  of  Francis  Robinson  of  Saco,  an  explana- 
tion of  Cleeve' s  action  in  adding  these  thirty  names  is  given  as  follows  : 
"And  I  do  moreover  testify  that  Mr.  Thomas  Jenner,  minister  of  God's  word, 
told  me  he  asked  Mr.  Cleeve  why  he  put  men's  hands  to  a  petition  that  they 
never  saw,  and  he  said  his  answer  was  the  Parliament  bid  him  do  it"  (Bax- 
ter's, George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  263).  Mr.  Baxter's  remark 
{George  Cleeve,  122)  with  reference  to  this  action  of  Cleeve  places  the  mat- 
ter in  its  true  light.  "We  are  not  for  a  moment  to  suppose  that  the  Parlia- 
ment ordered  him  to  forge  names  to  his  petition,  and  certainly  it  would  be 
nearly  as  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  he  could  have  been  so  foolhardy,  nay, 
such  an  imbecile  as  to  say  that  Parliament  bid  him  commit  forgery;  for  a 
statement  so  palpably  false  to  the  weakest  intellect  would  only  submit  him 
to  instant  condemnation.  A  better  theory  and  one  which  meets  all  require- 
ments readily  presents  itself  to  the  mind,  and  this  is,  that  when  Cleeve  pre- 
sented his  petition  to  Parliament,  he  was  ordered  to  write  upon  it  the  names 
of  such  persons  as  he  thought  he  could  rely  upon  to  aid  in  substantiating  his 
charges,  which  he  did  by  writing  upon  it  the  names  of  persons  residing  in 
the  province  and  cognizant  of  the  acts  charged." 

2  Inquiry  with  reference  to  this  petition  was  made  in  the  Public  Records 
Office  in  London  by  Hon.  James  P.  Baxter  when  he  was  collecting  material 
for  his  George  Cleeve  of  Casco  Bay ;  but  he  was  informed  that  this  was  one 
among  other  papers  of  Parliament  destroyed  by  fire  at  some  period  in  the 
history  of  the  Records  Office.  Fortunately,  however,  a  copy  of  the  petition 
found  its  way  to  this  country,  probably  among  the  papers  which  Cleeve 
brought  with  him  on  his  return,  and  that  copy  in  recent  years  has  come  into 
the  possession  of  the  Maine  Historical  Society.  It  is  herewith  printed  for 
the  first  time : 

' '  To  the  right  honorable,  the  knights,  citizens  and  burgesses  of  the  House 
of  Commons  assembled  in  Parliament : 

"The  humble  petition  of  George  Cleeve,  gent,  on  the  behalf  of  himself 
and  others,  the  planters  and  inhabitants  of  New  Somersetshire  in  New  Eng- 
land, whose  names  are  submitted  : 


CEEEVE  SECURES  AN  AEEY. 


329 


tion  the  "several  oppressions,  injuries  and  offences"  charged 
upon  these  governors  and  other  officers  were  recorded,  and  the 
members  of  the  House  of  Commons  were  asked  to  take  "the 
premises  into  due  consideration  and  to  cause  redress  thereof  to  be 
made". 

Unfortunatelv  the  "articles"  referred  to  in  the  petition  have 

"Most  humbly  showing  that  the  petitioners  and  the  rest  of  the  planters 
there  by  virtue  of  her  patent  made  by  the  late  King  James,  bearing  date  the 
3rd  of  November  in  the  eighteenth  year  of  his  majesty's  reign,  and  by  other 
grant  and  assignment  thereupon  made,  ought  to  be  governed  according  to 
the  rules  and  directions  contained  in  the  said  patent. 

"Yet,  nevertheless,  so  it  is,  that  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  Kt.,  hath  of  late 
years  without  any  lawful  authority  set  over  your  petitioners  and  the  said 
other  planters  several  governors  and  other  officers,  who  contrary  to  the  said 
her  patent  exercise  unlawful  and  arbitrary  power  and  jurisdiction  over  the  per- 
sons and  estate  of  your  petitioners  and  the  said  other  planters  to  their  great 
oppression,  utter  impoverishment  and  the  hindrance  of  the  plantation  in 
these  parts.  And  these  governors  and  officers  amongst  many  other  misde- 
meanors have  done  and  committed  the  several  oppressions,  injuries  and 
offences  contained  in  the  articles  hereto  affixed. 

"Wherefore  your  petitioner  on  the  behalf  of  himself  and  the  said  other 
planters  most  humbly  pray  unto  your  honors  to  take  the  premises  into  due 
consideration,  and  to  cause  redress  thereof  to  be  made  and  due  recompense 
to  the  parties  grieved. 

"And  your  petitioner  as  by  duty  bound  shall  daily  pray  for  your  honor's 
good. 

George  Frost, 

John  Bonython, 

John  West, 

William  Coale, 

John  Smith, 

John  Wadley, 

William  Smith, 

John  Wilkinson, 

Anthony  Newland, 

Francis  Robinson, 

Joseph  Jenks, 

Peter  Weare. 


Richard  Tucker, 
Michael  Mitton, 
Arthur  Mackworth 
William  Ryall, 
Arnold  Allen, 
Henry  Watts, 
Henry  Boade, 
Willm  Hay  ward, 
Thomas  Raynolds, 
Henry  Sympson, 
Richard  Barnard, 


Thomas  Page, 
George  Puddington, 
John  Baker, 
Edward  Johnson, 
Henry  Lyme, 
John  Alcock, 
Andrew  Alger, 


Avowed  by  me 

George  Cleeve." 


330  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

not  come  down  to  us.1  From  the  petition,  however,  as  well  as 
from  the  action  of  the  House  of  Commons,  it  may  be  inferred  that 
these  "articles"  presented  charges  of  "oppressions,  injuries  and 
offences"  against  such  prominent  officials  as  Vines  and  Godfrey. 
But  whatever  may  be  the  fact,  it  is  certain  that  the  Commons 
appointed  a  commission,  consisting  of  four  prominent  residents  in 
New  England— Governor  Winthrop,  Arthur  Mackworth,  Henry 
Boade  and  Captain  Edward  Gibbons — to  take  these  articles  into 
consideration  and  render  a  decision  upon  the  charges  they  con- 
tained. 

With  these  papers  from  the  House  of  Commons,  the  papers  with 
reference  to  the  transfer  of  the  I^ygonia  patent  to  Colonel  Rigby 
and  his  commission  as  deputy  governor  of  the  new  Province  of 
I^ygonia,  Cleeve  once  again  set  his  face  homeward.  He  would 
have  been  less  than  human  if  he  had  not  contrasted  the  conditions 
under  which  he  first  embarked  for  the  new  world  and  those  under 
which  he  now  set  sail,  and  his  reflections  must  have  given  to  him 
peculiar  satisfaction.  He  indulged,  however,  in  no  feelings  of 
bitterness  or  revenge.  All  that  he  claimed  or  desired  was  that  the 
treatment  he  had  hitherto  received  should  now  stop  and  bygones 
be  bygones. 

On  his  arrival  at  Boston,  Cleeve  had  an  interview  with  Governor 
Winthrop,  and  having  made  known  to  him  the  result  of  his  visit 
to  England,  he  endeavored  to  enlist  his  interest  in  the  speedy  and 
peaceful  establishment  of  the  new  government  of  the  Province  of 
Ivygoriia.  Unquestionably  the  sympathy  of  Winthrop  and  his 
associates  was  with  Cleeve  and  the  new  order  of  things  he  desired 
to  institute  in  the  eastward  settlements ;  but  for  prudential  rea- 
sons they  hesitated  to  manifest  their  sympathy  while  matters 
between  the  king  and  Parliament  had  not  as  yet  reached  a  decisive 
issue,  the  General  Court  September  1,  1643,  placing  on  record  its 
attitude  in  the  vote  that  it  was  '  'not  meet  to  write  to  the  eastward 

1  They  were  written  on  a  sheet  or  sheets  of  paper,  and  accompanied  the 
petition,  as  is  indicated  in  the  petition  itself.  Their  loss  is  greatly  to  be 
regretted  as  it  deprives  us  of  information  not  elsewhere  to  be  found. 


CLEEVE  SECURES  AN  ALLY.  331 

about  Mr.  Cleeve  according  to  his  desire' '  .*  It  seems  to  have  been 
understood,  however,  that  Governor  Winthrop  would  send  an 
unofficial  communication  to  Deputy  Governor  Vines  at  Saco, 
informing  him  of  Cleeve' s  return  with  a  commission  as  deputy- 
president  of  the  Province  of  I^ygonia  under  Rigby's  proprietary 
government ;  and  this  was  done  doubtless  with  a  diplomatic 
expression  of  hope  for  a  peaceable  adjustment  of  the  differences 
that  had  hitherto  existed. 

The  information  called  forth  from  Vines  only  an  indignant 
response  dated  January  9,  1644.  It  was  not  sent,  however,  until 
after  the  arrival  of  Cleeve  at  Machegonne,  now  known  as  Casco. 
In  his  reply2  Vines  assailed  the  present  validity  of  the  L,ygonia 
patent.  In  its  purchase,  "Mr.  Rigby  (a  worthy  gent,  by  report) ' ' 
had  secured  what  in  Vines'  estimation  was  "no  better  than  a 
broken  title",  resting  upon  claims  that  were  utterly  indefensible, 
and  furnished  another  illustration  of  the  "insufferable  wrongs" 
he  and  others  had  received  in  connection  with  the  "sinister  prac- 
tices" of  George  Cleeve.  Then  followed  mention  of  the  latter' s 
attempt  to  set  up  his  authority  in  the  territory  covered  by  the 
Lygonia  patent, — his  appointment  of  officials,  also  "a  court  to  be 
kept  in  Casco  bay  the  25th  of  March  next"  (1644).  He  had  also 
sent  his  agent,  Tucker,  with  a  paper  persuading  all  such  as  in  any 
way  were  inclining  to  innovation  "to  set  their  hands  to  it  for  the 
better  approving  of  what  they  have  begun",  and  also  to  entreat 
Winthrop  and  the  rest  of  the  Massachusetts  magistrates  to  defend 
them  from  French,  Indians  and  other  enemies,  "which  we  con- 
strue to  be  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges'  commissioners".  In  addition 
to  these  "seditious  proceedings",  Vines  called  attention  to  Cleeve 's 
assaults  upon  Gorges,  using  the  "foul  name  of  traitor",  accusing 
him  of  counterfeiting  "the  king's  broad  seal",  and  so  inflicting 
upon  "that  grave  knight  a  deeper  wound  in  his  reputation". 
These  and  other  grievances  Winthrop  was  asked  to  take  into  con- 
sideration, Vines  expressing  the  hope  that  if   those  opposed  to 

1  Massachusetts  Colonial  Records,  II,  41. 

2  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents ,  233-236. 


332  the;  beginnings  of  colonial  mains. 

Cleeve  were  forced  to  take  such  courses  as  "the  necessity  and  the 
equity"  of  the  case  required,  the  governor  would  not  think  they 
had  done  amiss. 

Evidently  some  allowances  must  be  made  for  the  excited  state 
of  mind  in  which  Vines  penned  this  letter.  On  the  other  hand, 
Cleeve  in  his  attitude  toward  Vines  and  his  opponents  manifested 
a  calmness  of  demeanor  under  the  circumstances  that  was  hardly 
to  be  expected,  and  which  later  led  so  careful  a  historian  as  Wil- 
liamson1 to  say  of  Cleeve  in  his  relation  to  this  matter,  "he 
adjusted  his  conduct  by  rules  of  strict  prudence  and  moderation." 

As  to  the  validity  of  his  own  grant  on  the  Saco,  Vines  had  no 
occasion  for  anxiety  inasmuch  as  the  grant  antedated  the  L,ygonia 
patent.  But  it  was  otherwise  with  those  who  had  settled  on  land 
within  the  limits  of  that  patent,  especially  as  Cleeve,  when  in 
England,  had  secured  from  Rigby  a  confirmation  of  his  Mache- 
gonne  grant,2  a  procedure  designed  for  the  instruction  of  those 
whose  titles  were  derived  from  a  similar  source.  It  was  certainly 
an  undesirable  state  of  things.  With  two  rival  governments  in 
the  territory  from  Cape  Porpoise  to  the  Sagadahoc,  it  was  not 
likely  that  either  would  exercise  those  helpful,  restraining  influ- 
ences which  are  desirable  and  needful  in  all  civil  relations,  and  of 
which  there  had  been  a  lamentable  lack  in  the  scattered  Maine 
settlements  hitherto. 

The  beginnings  of  a  movement  for  bringing  to  an  end  such  a 
condition  of  affairs  was  made  by  Cleeve,  who  at  his  first  court  at 
Casco  suggested  that  the  question  of  governmental  authority  in 
the  province  should  be  submitted  to  the  magistrates  of  Massachu- 
setts bay.  The  suggestion  was  approved  by  those  present  at  the 
court  and  a  letter  was  prepared,  addressed  to  Cleeve  and  Vines, 
asking  the  Bay  colony  officials  to  arbitrate  their  differences,  and 
pledging  themselves  to  stand  by  the  result  "till  it  shall  be  other- 
wise made  known  unto  them  by  a  trial  in  England".  In  such  a 
reference,  however,  Vines  only  could  see  a  deep-laid  plot  on  the 

1  History  of  Maine,  I,  296. 

2  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  246-250. 


CIvEEVE  SECURES  AN  AU,Y.  333 

part  of  Cleeve,  and  he  declined  to  enter  into  the  agreement 
on  the  ground  that  neither  he  nor  any  other  had  the  right  to 
attempt  anything  of  the  kind  without  the  authority  of  Gorges  ; 
and,  in  his  letter  to  Winthrop,  Vines  added,  "neither  do  I  believe 
that  your  worship  and  the  rest  of  your  honored  court  will  meddle 
with  any  trial  of  this  nature' '  -1 

Evidently  Vines  had  ground  for  this  belief.  While  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  leaders  of  the  Puritan  colony  were  with  Rigby  and 
Cleeve,  it  was  of  the  greatest  importance  that  they  should  have 
regard  to  existing  conditions  in  the  mother  country.  As  yet  no 
decisive  battle  had  been  fought  between  the  forces  of  the  king  and 
the  forces  of  Parliament.  It  was  evident  that  even  in  the  parlia- 
mentary army  there  were  those  who  "did  not  want  to  beat  the 
king  too  much",2  and  Winthrop  and  his  associates,  notwithstand- 
ing their  remoteness  from  the  din  and  shock  of  arms,  needed  to 
be  exceedingly  careful  not  to  imperil  their  own  interests  by  acts 
on  this  side  of  the  sea,  for  which  later  they  might  be  called  to 
answer  in  case  Charles  should  abandon  his  present  hostile  attitude 
and  so  retain  his  crown. 

But  the  matter  did  not  end  with  Vines'  refusal  to  consent  to  the 
suggestion  made  by  Cleeve.  When  Tucker,  who  acted  as  Cleeve 's 
messenger,  appeared  in  Saco  bringing  a  letter  to  Vines  containing 
the  proposal  for  arbitration,  he  was  arrested  for  "peremptory  and 
abusive  language" ;  and  when  Tucker,  indignant  at  the  reception 
he  received,  refused  to  give  security  for  his  appearance  at  the  next 
court  at  Saco,  he  was  committed  to  the  "Marshall".  Security, 
however,  was  furnished  on  the  following  day,  and  Tucker  was 
released.  "He  deserved  much  more",  Vines  wrote  to  Governor 
Winthrop,  "but  we  forbear  till  we  hear  from  your  worship".3 
If  Vines  expected  any  words  from  Winthrop  approving  of  this 
treatment  of  Tucker,  he  was  disappointed. 

In  this  stress  of  affairs  at  the  eastward,  Cleeve,  as  well  as  Vines, 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents ,  241. 

2  S.  R.  Gardiner,  The  Puritan  Revolution,  145. 

3  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  240-242. 


334  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF   COI/DNIAI,  MAINE. 

appealed  to  Winthrop,  referring  to  Rev.  Robert  Jordan  as  a  "min- 
ister of  antichrist",  accusing  him  of  slandering  "the  Parliament 
of  England  with  vile  reproachful  terms"  and  belching  out  "his 
blasphemies  against  the  churches  of  Christ  in  this  land,  charging 
them  with  schism  and  faction  for  fasting  and  praying  for  the 
affliction  of  their  brethren  in  England".1  While  these  words  and 
others  equally  hostile  to  the  "prelatical"  party  in  the  province 
were  plainly  designed  to  enlarge  the  sympathies  of  the  Puritan 
governor  in  his  thoughts  of  Cleeve  and  his  associates  in  the  Prov- 
ince of  Lygonia,  Winthrop  was  not  moved  to  deviate  from  the 
non-partisan  course  he  had  adopted  with  reference  to  the  settle- 
ments upon  the  coast  outside  of  the  limits  of  the  Bay  colony. 

But  there  was  need  that  something  should  be  done  ;  and  a  few 
days  later  Cleeve  reverted  to  the  action  of  the  House  of  Commons 
in  answer  to  the  petition  he  presented  with  reference  to  the 
"great  oppression,  utter  impoverishment  and  the  hindrance  of 
the  plantation  in  these  parts"  by  reason  of  the  exercise  of  "unlaw- 
ful and  arbitrary  power"  as  exhibited  in  certain  "articles"  there- 
with presented  ;  and  he  addressed  a  letter  to  Governor  Winthrop 
and  his  "loving  friend"  Captain  Edward  Gibbons  of  Boston,  ask- 
ing them  to  proceed  against  the  parties  mentioned  in  the  action 
of  the  House,  appointing  a  commission  of  prominent  men  in  New 
England  to  examine  and  act  upon  the  charges  preferred  in  the 
articles  presented.  It  was  suggested  that  the  most  suitable  time 
for  such  a  hearing,  "in  regard  of  men's  occasion  of  planting", 
would  be  about  the  middle  of  May ;  and  a  request  was  made  for 
the  appearance  at  that  time  of  John  Baker  of  Piscataqua,  Francis 
Robinson  of  Saco,  Andrew  Alger  of  Stratton's  island,  John  Bony- 
thon,  William  Royall,  Michael  Mitton  and  Richard  Tucker,  "to 
prove  the  articles".2 

In  all  probability,  however,  there  was  still  hesitancy  on  the 
part  of  Winthrop  and  his  associates  with  reference  to  the  duty 
laid  upon  them  by  the  House  of  Commons,  and  matters  were 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  238-240. 

2  lb.,  243,  244. 


CLEEVE  SECURES  AN  AELY.  335 

allowed  to  drift  on  as  hitherto.  But,  in  accordance  with  a  sug- 
gestion by  Winthrop,  Vines  agreed  that  matters  as  to  govern- 
mental relations  should  be  held  in  abeyance  until  further  orders 
should  come  from  England.  There  is  evidence,  however,  that 
Vines  did  not  hold  to  his  agreement,  and  after  some  time  had 
elapsed,  in  opposition  to  advice  he  had  received  from  Winthrop, 
he  proceeded  to  reopen  hostilities  by  sending  out  warrants  for  the 
arrest  of  Cleeve  and  Tucker,  indicating  a  purpose  also  to  "subdue 
the  rest  unto  obedience".1 

But,  in  1644,  affairs  in. England  were  adverse  to  Charles,  and 
increasingly  so  in  1645.  In  fact,  after  the  battle  of  Naseby,  when 
the  royal  forces  were  so  utterly  defeated  that  the  king  "never 
ventured  to  lift  his  head  again  in  the  field",2  there  was  no  longer 
occasion  for  hesitancy  on  the  part  of  Winthrop  and  his  associates, 
and  they  entered  upon  the  task  assigned  to  them.  This  was  not 
pleasing  to  Vines,  who  complained  to  Winthrop  that  by  the  action 
of  the  House  of  Commons  he  had  not  been  afforded  that  "lawful 
favor  and  means"  he  should  have  received  in  order  to  vindicate 
himself  from  Cleeve's  "most  unjust  accusations".  That  he  had 
not  answered  the  summons  to  appear  in  Boston,  he  explained, 
was  on  account  of  a  fear  of  danger  to  himself  and  lest  some  mis- 
chief should  befall  his  family  in  his  absence.  As  to  Rigby's 
right,  he  regarded  it  as  without  any  foundation.  It  rested  upon 
'  'an  old  broken  title  (for  we  hear  of  nothing  but  the  Plough  patent, 
which  was  deserted  thirteen  years  past) ' ' ,  while  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges'  right  was  from  the  king,  and  in  not  defending  it  he 
"might  be  justly  condemned  of  infidelity  and  pusillanimity". 
This  much,  however,  he  would  concede:  "if  there  come  an 
order,  either  from  King  or  Parliament,  for  the  establishing  of  Mr. 
Rigby  in  that  patent",  he  and  those  in  agreement  with  him 
would  submit.     This  letter  was  written  August  4,  1645.3 

Parliament,    as  represented   by  the  House  of  Commons,   had 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  253. 

2  S.  R.  Gardiner,  The  Puritan  Revolution,  149. 

3  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  258-262. 


336  the;  beginnings  op  colonial  maine. 

already  spoken  ;  but  no  word  came  from  the  king  or  from  Sir 
Ferdinando  Gorges,  whose  authority  Vines  and  his  associates 
recognized.  The  general  court  of  the  Province  of  Maine  accord- 
ingly proceeded  October  21,  1645,  to  elect  Vines  deputy  governor 
"for  one  whole  year",  and  directed  that  a  deputy  governor  should 
be  elected  annually.  It  was  also  provided  that  "in  case  said 
Richard  Vines  should  depart  the  country  before  one  year  expired' ' , 
Henry  Josselyn  should  become  his  successor.1  In  this  last  provi- 
sion there  is  an  indication  that  Vines  had  in  view  intentions  that 
would  withdraw  him  not  only  from  his  official  position  in  the 
province,  but  also  from  the  strife  in  which  largely  because  of  this 
position  he  hitherto  had  been  involved.  And  this  was  the  fact. 
Evidently  Vines  was  disheartened.  Things  on  the  other  side  of 
the  sea  were  not  moving  in  accordance  with  royalist  hopes  and 
expectations  ;  and  wearied  with  this  burden  of  continual  disap- 
pointment, he  decided  to  lay  it  off  and  with  it  the  other  burdens 
he  had  carried  so  long.  Accordingly,  he  sold  his  landed  interests 
on  the  Saco  and  shortly  after  sailed  for  Barbadoes,  where  he 
made  for  himself  and  his  family  a  new  home  under  sunnier  skies 
and  more  peaceful  conditions. 

But  while  the  departure  of  the  deputy  governor  deprived 
Cleeve's  opponents  of  a  forceful,  inspiring  leader,  Vines  had  in 
Henry  Josselyn,  the  new  deputy  governor,  a  successor  no  less 
resolute  and  aggressive.  In  fact,  he  was  so  aggressive  that  he 
proceeded  at  once  to  carry  war  into  Cleeve's  own  territory,  aim- 
ing, as  Cleeve  and  his  friends  reported,  to  draw  away  the  people 
of  L,ygonia  "from  their  subjection  to  Mr.  Rigby's  lawful  author- 
ity", and  by  force  of  arms  to  deal  with  the  supporters  of  Cleeve 
as  opportunity  and  pleasure  suggested.2  Cleeve  had  called  a 
court  to  meet  at  Casco  on  the  last  day  in  March.  This  was  the 
day  selected  by  Josselyn  and  his  associates  for  a  warlike  demon- 
stration, and  Cleeve  and  his  followers,  deprecating  "a  civil  war", 
hastened  to  implore  the  aid  of  the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts  bay. 

1  Early  Records  of  Maine,  I,  107. 

2  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  265-269. 


CLEEVE  SECURES  AN  AUyY.  337 

Governor  Winthrop,  in  his  reply  to  this  appeal,  addressing  a 
letter  to  Josselyn  as  well  as  to  Cleeve,  discouraged  acts  of  hostility 
and  urged  forbearance  on  the  part  of  both  parties  until  expected 
advices,  then  on  the  way  from  England,  were  received.  What 
happened  on  court  day  was  described  by  Rev.  Thomas  Jenner1  of 
Saco  in  a  letter  to  Governor  Winthrop,2  both  Cleeve  and  Josselyn 
having  united  in  a  request  that  Mr.  Jenner,  who  had  opened  the 
proceedings  of  the  day  with  a  sermon,  should  present  the  report. 
"Mr.  Josselyn  and  his  company",  he  said,  "came  armed  with 
guns  and  swords,  or  both  :  Mr.  Cleeve  and  his  company  unarmed. 
After  sermon  was  ended,  Mr.  Josselyn  and  his  company  separated 
themselves  about  a  furlong  from  Mr.  Cleeve  and  his  company. 
They  sent  unto  Mr.  Cleeve  a  demand  in  writing  (with  all  their 
hands  subscribed)  to  have  a  sight  of  his  originals,  promising  a  safe 
return.     After  some  hesitation  and  demur,  Mr.  Cleeve,  upon  con- 

1  Rev.  Thomas  Jenner  was  the  first  Puritan  minister  in  Maine.  That  we 
find  him  in  Saco  was  due  doubtless  to  the  suggestion  of  Governor  Winthrop, 
who  had  known  him  probably  since  his  arrival  in  New  England  in  1634-35.  In 
1640,  he  represented  in  the  General  Court  the  town  of  Weymouth,  where 
he  served  as  pastor.  Williamson  (Me.  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  Second  Series, 
III,  293),  says  it  would  seem  that  his  mission  was  to  "remove  some  impres- 
sions supposed  to  have  been  made  by  Rev.  Mr.  Gibson,  favorable  to  the  Epis- 
copal sentiments  and  form  of  worship".  It  is  easy  to  understand  why  the 
services  of  a  Puritan  minister  at  Saco  would  be  deemed  desirable  by  Governor 
Winthrop  ;  but  that  Richard  Vines  shared  the  governor's  feelings  is  not  to 
be  considered  in  the  least  probable.  It  is  quite  likely,  however,  that  there 
were  those  in  Saco  who  had  made  known  to  the  Massachusetts  governor 
a  desire  for  a  Puritan  minister,  and  that  Winthrop  opened  the  way  for 
Mr.  Jenner's  coming.  This  may  be  inferred  from  a  letter  addressed  by  Mr. 
Jenner  to  Governor  Winthrop,  April  2,  1641,  in  which  he  says  that  his 
preaching  seemed  to  him  to  make  a  good  impression  on  those  who  heard  him 
except  "Mr.  Vines  and  one  more",  who  told  him  he  "struck  at  the  Church 
of  England' ' .  This  Mr.  Jenner  disclaimed,  and  there  was  no  complaint  from 
others.  Unquestionably  at  Saco,  as  in  other  places  in  the  Province  of  Maine, 
there  was  an  increase  of  the  Puritan  element  with  the  increase  of  population 
by  immigration.  It  is  not  known  how  long  Mr.  Jenner  remained  in  Saco. 
Folsom  (History  of  Saco,  82)  limits  his  stay  to  two  years,  but  it  may  have 
been  longer.     Afterwards  he  returned  to  England. 

2  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  273-276. 

22 


338  THE   BEGINNINGS    OP    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

dition  they  would  come  together  in  one  place,  promised  to  gratify 
them".  By  the  "originals"  evidently  were  meant  the  L,ygonia 
patent,  its  assignment  to  Rigby,  Cleeve's  appointment  as  deputy 
president  and  the  instructions  Cleeve  had  received  from  Colonel 
Rigby.  To  place  such  documents  in  the  hands  of  Cleeve's  mili- 
tant opponents  might  well  have  occasioned  hesitation;  but  the 
rightfulness  of  the  demand  was  recognized  and  the  documents 
were  produced.  These  were  "publicly  read  and  scanned",  but 
nevertheless  the  next  morning  there  followed  a  demand  on  the  part 
of  Josselyn  and  his  associates  that  Cleeve  and  his  adherents  should 
"submit  themselves  unto  the  authority  and  government  derived 
from  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  and  that  for  the  future  they  address 
themselves  unto  their  courts".  Thereupon  Cleeve  demanded  a 
sight  of  the  originals  of  the  other  party.  '  'None  being  produced' ' , 
says  Mr.  Jenner,  Cleeve  "disclaimed  obedience,  and  told  them 
there  was  no  equality  between  his  something  and  their  nothing". 
This  ended  the  conference,  the  Gorges  party,  as  a  final  word, 
offering  to  submit  all  matters  in  dispute  to  the  Massachusetts 
magistrates  as  arbitrators.  The  offer  was  accepted  and  both 
parties  bound  themselves  "each  to  other  in  a  bond  of  five  hun- 
dred pounds  personally  to  appear  at  Boston  the  next  court  after 
May,  then  and  there  to  implead  each  other".  In  this  outcome  of 
the  conference,  Mr.  Jenner  saw  "the  power  of  God's  holy  word 
awing  their  hearts",  so  that  "thus  after  two  or  three  days'  agita- 
tion each  man  departed  very  peaceably  to  his  own  home' ' . 

At  the  hearing  in  Boston,  Cleeve  and  Tucker  represented  the 
Rigby  interests,  and  Josselyn  and  Robinson  the  Gorges  interests.1 
At  the  outset  there  was  doubt  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  magis- 
trates as  to  whether  the  matters  in  dispute  came  properly  within 
their  jurisdiction  ;  but  the  majority,  considering  that  it  was  the 
'  'usual  practice  in  Europe  for  two  states  being  at  odds  to  make  a 
third  judge  between  them",  saw  an  opportunity  for  a  peaceful 
settlement,  and  the  trial  proceeded.  The  statements  and  evidence 
presented,  however,  were  of  such  a  contradictory  character  that 

1  Winthrop,  Journal,  under  date  March  26,  1646. 


CEEEVE  SECURES  AN  AELY.  339 

both  parties,  according  to  Winthrop  "failed  in  their  proof".  The 
perplexed  jury,  therefore,  "could  find  for  neither,  but  gave  in  a 
non  liquet ' ;  and  the  magistrates  closed  the  case  with  an  exhorta- 
tion for  "the  parties  to  live  in  peace,  etc.,  till  the  matter  might 
be  determined  by  authority  out  of  England." 

Evidently  it  was  within  the  knowledge  of  the  Massachusetts 
magistrates  that  Parliament  was  about  to  direct  its  attention  to 
these  New  England  matters.  In  fact,  they  themselves  may  have 
urged  such  consideration.  It  is  altogether  likely,  also,  that  simi- 
lar action  had  been  urged  by  Colonel  Rigby,  who  was  in  frequent 
communication  with  Cleeve  and  was  fully  informed  with  reference 
to  the  difficulties  that  Cleeve  had  encountered  in  his  conflict  with 
the  Gorges  interests.  Neither  party,  however,  had  long  to  wait 
for  the  desired  authoritative  decision.  The  case  came  before  the 
Earl  of  Warwick  and  the  commissioners  for  foreign  plantations. 
Colonel  Rigby  appeared  for  himself,  and  John  Gorges,  the  eldest 
son  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  represented  the  Gorges  interests. 
Details  with  reference  to  the  hearing  are  wanting.  March  27, 
1647,  judgment  was  rendered  in  favor  of  Rigby,  who  was  declared 
"the  rightful  owner  and  proprietor"  of  I,ygonia,  which  in  the 
decision  was  made  to  cover  the  territory  from  the  Kennebunk 
river  to  the  Sagadahoc,  leaving  to  Gorges  and  his  heirs  only  the 
small  tract  of  land  between  the  Kennebunk  and  Piscataqua  rivers.1 

Of  course  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  naturally  the  sympathy  of 
the  judges  was  with  Rigby.  It  is  also  to  be  remembered  that 
for  some  time  affairs  in  England  had  been  moving  very  strongly 
against  the  royalist  party.  Had  it  been  otherwise,  the  decision 
might  have  been  different.  It  is  difficult,  however,  to  escape  the 
conclusion  that  the  decision  was  a  just  one.  When,  in  1630,  the 
council  for  New  England  granted  to  the  IyOndon  Husbandmen  the 
Lygonia  patent,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges  was  a  member  of  the 
council,  indeed  one  of  its  prominent  members,  and  so  was  not 
ignorant  of  its  action  in  making  this  grant.  He  never  denied 
participation  in  that  action,  or  protested  against  it.     Moreover,  as 

1  Winthrop,  Journal,  II,  390. 


340  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

the  province  which  the  grant  covered  received  the  designation 
L,ygonia,  in  honor,  it  is  supposed,  of  Cicely  L,ygon,  the  mother  of 
Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  his  connection  with  the  grant  from  the 
first  seems  to  have  been  especially  close.  The  grant  was  legally 
made  ;  it  legally  came  into  the  possession  of  Colonel  Rigby ;  and 
the  Karl  of  Warwick,1  and  his  associates,  the  commissioners  for 
foreign  plantations,  evidently  saw  no  reason  why  they  should  not 
confirm  the  validity  of  Rigby' s  title  to  it. 

It  is  possible  that  no  information  concerning  this  decision  came 
to  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  adding  to  the  disappointments  that  had 
so  frequently  darkened  his  pathway  through  life.  His  last  work 
was  in  writing  his  Brief e  Narration,  in  which  are  found  so  many 
evidences  of  failing  mental  powers.  As  the  decision  of  the 
judges  was  rendered  only  a  few  weeks  before  the  aged  knight 
closed  his  eyes  in  death,2  it  may  be  that  then  the  things  of  earth 
had  so  far  faded  to  his  view  that  the  loss  of  so  large  a  part  of  his 
Province  of  Maine,  as  the  decision  announced,  had  no  message 
and  therefore  no  sorrow  for  him. 

Cleeve,  with  a  commission  as  deputy  president,  now  proceeded 
to  organize  the  Province  of  L,ygonia.  In  this  he  had  the  assist- 
ance of  a  commission  appointed  by  Parliament,  and  consisting  of 
such  prominent  Massachusetts  officials  as  Winthrop,  Dudley  and 

1  He  was  a  member  of  the  council  for  New  England  when  the  grant  was 
made. 

2  He  died  at  his  residence,  Ashton  Phillips,  in  a  suburb  of  Bristol.  "His 
will  bears  the  date  of  May  4th,  1647,  and  the  date  of  his  burial  in  the  church 
at  lyong  Ashton,  a  few  rods  from  his  residence  called  Ashton  Phillips,  is  the 
14th."  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  I,  196.  Lewis  Upton  Way,  in  a 
paper  on  "The  Smyths  of  Ashton  Court ",  Transactions  of  the  Bristol  and 
Gloucestershire  Archaeological  Society,  XXXI,  255,  says,  "Sir  Ferdinando 
[Gorges]  died  in  May,  1647,  and  his  widow  in  1658,  both  being  buried  in  the 
Smyth  vault  at  I/ong  Ashton".  Ashton  Court  is  still  in  the  possession  of 
the  Smyth  family,  and  the  large,  attractive  mansion,  with  its  beautiful  gar- 
dens, extensive  grounds,  and  doubtless  fine  old  trees  as  to-day,  must  have 
been  a  familiar  place  to  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges.  The  widow  of  Sir  Hugh 
Smyth  was  Gorges'  last  wife,  and  a  portrait  of  her  continues  to  adorn  the 
walls  of  Ashton  Court.     The  mansion  was  erected  by  Inigo  Jones  in  1634. 


cmnvn  secures  an  au,y.  341 

Bellingham.     In   the   selection   of    assistants   necessary    for  the 
proper  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  province,  Cleeve's  most 
strenuous  opponents  were  not  overlooked.     Unhappily  only  a  few 
of  the  early  records  of  the  province  have  come  down  to  us,  and 
we  are  unable  to  tell  with  any  fulness  the  story  of  the  establish- 
ment of  generally  recognized  authority  and  order  within  the  pro- 
vincial limits.     Among  these  records,1  however,  in  a  report  of  a 
court  held  at  Black  Point  on  the  last  of  May,   1648,  signed  by 
the  three  judges  of  the  Province   of   Lygonia— George   Cleeve, 
Henry  Josselyn  and  Robert  Jordan,— there  is  furnished  an  illustra- 
tion of  the  new  order  of  things  that  followed  the  establishment  of 
Rigby's  claim.     The  decree  of  Parliament  was  accepted  at  least 
for  the  present;    and  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  however 
divided  hitherto,  worked  together  in  harmonious  relations,  seek- 
ing the  common  weal. 

All  that  now  remained  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges'  Province  of 
Maine  was  the  small  territory  between  the  Kennebunk  and  Pis- 
cataqua  rivers,  comprising  the  settlements  of  Piscataqua   (name 
changed  to  Kittery  in  1647),  Gorgeana  and  Wells.     Since  the 
return  of  deputy  governor  Thomas  Gorges  to  England  in  1643 
Edward  Godfrey,  at  Gorgeana,  had  been  at  the  head  of  the  pro- 
vincial government,  and  had  faithfully  served  the  Gorges  inter- 
ests.    But  from  all  that  has  come  down  to  us  concerning  him  it  is 
evident  he  had  not  caught  even  a  glimpse  of  the  new  political  era 
then  opening  in  England,  and  which  found  its  speediest  develop- 
ment in  the  Puritan  colonies  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.     Old, 
established  forms  of  government  were  good  enough  for  him,  and 
he  deprecated  movements  that  would  bring  in  an  order  of  things 
that  was  new  and  untried.     Sad  days  he  had  seen  in  his  efforts  to 
do  the  right  as  he  saw  the  right ;    but  he  had  fallen  on  what  to 
him  were  evil  times,  but  his  saddest  days  were  those  yet  to  come. 
1  Early  Records  of  Maine,  I,  121. 


CHAPTER  XX. 
Robert  Jordan  as  Winter's  Successor. 

CONCERNING  Winter's  attitude  toward  Cleeve  after  the  lat- 
ter's  return  from  England  as  the  deputy  president  of  the 
Province  of  L,ygonia,  there  is  no  information.  In  his  last 
letter  to  Robert  Trelawny,  written  in  Boston,  July  19,  1642, 
Winter  recorded  Cleeve's  departure  in  these  few  words  :  "Cleeve 
is  come  for  England  in  a  ship  that  came  from  Virginia,  that  spent 
her  masts  and  stopped  here  in  Massachusetts  bay  to  new  mast. 
The  ship  is  of  London."1  Evidently  Cleeve's  latest  movement 
had  no  important  significance  to  John  Winter.  In  charge  of 
Robert  Trelawny' s  interests  at  Richmond's  island  and  vicinity,  he 
then  regarded  those  interests  as  in  every  way  secure.  Plainly  in 
his  opinion  any  effort  on  the  part  of  Cleeve  to  thwart  the  declared 
purposes  of  one  so  powerful  as  Robert  Trelawny  was  sure  to  fail, 
and  accordingly  Winter,  in  his  letter  to  Trelawny,  saw  no  need  of 
added  reference  to  his  Machegonne  opponent. 

Moreover,  while  Cleeve  was  taking  advantage  of  conditions  in 
England  that  opened  to  him  an  easy  way  to  desired  success, 
Winter  apparently  gave  them  no  heed.  His  letters  to  Trelawny 
had  no  reference  to  differences  between  king  and  parliament  then 
dividing  the  kingdom.  He  makes  mention  of  the  fact  that  on  the 
Maine  coast  "the  times  are  very  bad".  He  represents  business 
as  at  a  standstill.  "Here  lies  fish  unsold  for  want  of  a  ship  to 
carry  it  to  a  market",  he  writes.  He  mourns  over  the  distress  of 
the  people  because  there  is  "no  money  to  be  gotten' ' .     He  regrets 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  322.  Probably  the  ship  was  the  Bleanor  of  London. 
"She  was  laden  with  tobacco  from  Virginia,  and  was  well  fitted  with  masts, 
sails,  rigging  and  victuals  at  such  reasonable  rates  as  the  master  was  much 
affected  with  his  entertainment."     Winthrop,  II,  75. 


ROBERT  JORDAN    AS   WINTER'S   SUCCESSOR.  343 

that  English  manufactures  were  not  coming  to  New  England  as 
formerly.  "Cloth  of  all  sorts",  he  says,  is  "very  scarce;  both 
linen  and  woolen  are  dear".1  Indeed  all  trade  relations  were  in 
such  a  depressed  state  that  Trelawny  wrote  to  Winter  concerning 
the  sale  of  his  interests  at  Richmond's  island  and  vicinity.  In 
his  reply,  Winter  praised  the  property,  but  expressed  a  doubt  if, 
under  the  circumstances,  a  purchaser  could  be  found.2  In  a  sub- 
sequent letter,  Winter  added  :  "I  [have]  written  into  the  Bay  to 
give  notice  of  the  intent  and  purpose  of  the  sale  of  [this]  planta- 
tion ;  but  as  yet  I  hear  nothing  from  them I  purpose, 

God  willing,  to  go  into  the  Bay,  but  I  make  doubt  of  find[ing] 
any  there  that  will  buy3  it".  Winter  went  to  Boston  as  he  pur- 
posed, but  he  found  the  same  conditions  there  as  at  the  eastward. 
"I  have  acquainted  some  here  of  the  sale  of  the  plantation",  he 
wrote  to  Trelawny,  "but  cannot  learn  of  any  that  will  buy  it".4 
The  correspondence  shows  that  Winter  saw  and  felt  existing  con- 
ditions in  the  New  England  settlements.  Writing  to  Trelawny 
in  one  of  his  most  depressing  moods,  he  said  :  "There  is  a  great 
many  weary  of  this  country,  and  I  think  have  spent  most  of  their 
estates,  and  now  are  going  for  the  West  Indies  to  live  there,  as 
soon  as  they  can  get  passage"  .5  The  statement  of  course  was'  an 
exaggerated  one,  but  unquestionably  it  represented  a  widespread 
feeling  in  the  province  at  the  time.  The  noteworthy  thing  in 
connection  with  it  is  the  entire  absence  in  Winter's  letters  of  any 
reference  to  affairs  in  England  as  affecting  conditions  in  New 
England. 

Winter's  first  awakening  to  a  recognition  of  the  changed  politi- 
cal conditions  in  England  apparently  occurred  in  connection  with 
the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  Robert  Trelawny.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  in  his  last  letter  to  Winter,  Trelawny,  then  a 
member  of  Parliament,  had  insisted  that  all  things  in  Parliament 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  321. 

2  lb.,  284. 

3  lb.,  309. 

4  lb.,  321. 

5  lb.,  309. 


344  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

were  going  "well",  and  lie  expressed  the  hope  to  Winter  that  in 
a  few  days  its  members  would  "settle  religion  in  peace  and  restore 
the  subject  to  his  ancient  liberty  and  right  of  property".1  Doubt- 
less Winter  without  hesitation  accepted  Trelawny's  encouraging 
statements.  It  was  enough  for  him  that  one  so  well  informed  as 
Robert  Trelawny  had  made  this  forecast  concerning  England's 
immediate  future,  and  he  was  satisfied. 

Winter  was  not  left  long,  however,  in  this  condition  of  satisfac- 
tion. Because  of  his  hearty  sympathy  with  the  royal  cause  and 
his  readiness  to  aid  it  in  all  possible  ways,  Trelawny  soon  fell 
under  suspicion,  and  on  March  9,  1642,  by  order  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  he  was  arrested,  tried  and  expelled  for  having  said 
'  'that  the  House  could  not  appoint  a  guard  for  themselves  without 
the  king's  consent,  under  pain  of  high  treason".  I^ord  Claren- 
don 2  says  an  attempt  was  made  to  prove  the  charge  by  a  witness 
who  pretended  to  have  overheard  Trelawny.  The  person  with 
whom  the  conference  was  held,  however,  "declared  that  he  said  it 
might  be  imputed  to  them  for  high  treason  ;  and  it  was  confessed 
on  all  parts  that  the  words  were  spoken  long  before  the  discovery, 
and  some  days  before  the  House  had  resolved  'that  they  would 
have  a  guard'  ".  According  to  the  Journal  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, also,  the  testimony  presented  at  the  trial  in  support  of  the 
charge  was  of  very  little  worth.3  Obviously  it  would  not  have  been 
given  any  weight  whatever  in  ordinary  times.  But  this  was  not 
an  ordinary  time.  England  was  rapidly  approaching  the  brink  of 
civil  war,  and  suspicions  not  only  were  rife  on  the  part  of  com- 
batants on  either  side,  but  they  were  influential,  and  too  often 
decisive. 

It  is  known  that  the  imprisonment  of  Robert  Trelawny  by  order 
of  the  House  of  Commons  followed  his  expulsion,  but  it  may  not 
have  followed  immediately.     L,ord   Clarendon   says,   "when  the 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  274. 

2  History  of  the  Rebellion,  folio  ed.,  I,  349. 

8  Baxter  (George  Cleeve,  136)  says  Trelawny  was  "a  martyr  to  the  preju- 
dice and  bigotry  which  seemed  to  inspire  all  parties  alike". 


ROBERT  JORDAN   AS  WINTER'S   SUCCESSOR.  345 

war  began  to  break  out",  meaning  the  civil  war,  Trelawny  was 
"again  imprisoned",1  thus  indicating  that  there  had  been  a  pre- 
vious arrest  and  imprisonment ;   and  such  probably  was  the  fact. 

When,  and  in  what  way,  the  tidings  of  Trelawny 's  arrest  and 
imprisonment  reached  John  Winter,  there  is  no  record.  The 
Trelawny  Papers  have  preserved  to  us  important  information  con- 
cerning life  and  affairs  in  connection  with  Trelawny' s  interests  at 
Richmond's  island  and  vicinity,  but  they  fail  us  in  our  search  for 
any  letter  or  letters  in  which  there  is  even  a  hint  at  the  misfor- 
tunes that  overtook  Plymouth's  representative  in  Parliament  and 
the  possessor  of  the  Trelawny  patent.  But  such  information  must 
have  found  its  way  hither.  It  may  have  long  been  delayed. 
Robert  Trelawny  was  arrested  and  tried  March  9,  1642,  as  already 
mentioned ;  but  a  letter  written  by  Winter  to  Trelawny  July  19, 
1642, 2  makes  no  mention  of  Trelawny 's  misfortunes.  Prudential 
considerations  cannot  account  for  such  silence  on  Winter's  part. 
If  Winter  had  received  such  intelligence,  it  seems  impossible  that 
he  should  have  failed  to  give  some  expression  of  regret  and  hope 
in  a  letter  to  one  with  whom  he  had  held  very  close  personal 
business  relations  for  many  years.  It  is  to  be  remembered,  how- 
ever, that  letters  then  came  to  Richmond's  island  only  occasionally, 
and  for  the  most  part  by  some  vessel  making  its  way  to  the  coast 
for  fishing  or  trading  purposes.  Accordingly  the  opportunities 
for  such  transmissal  were  exceedingly  irregular. 

But  one  day,  still  unknown,  a  sail  was  discovered  approaching 
Richmond's  island  from  the  eastward.  It  awakened  at  once  eager 
expectation,  and  all  eyes  were  directed  towards  the  newcomer. 
When  at  length  the  vessel  sailed  into  the  island  harbor  and  the 
anchor  was  dropped,  John  Winter,  we  may  well  believe,  was  at 
the  vessel's  side  and  among  the  first  to  receive  the  tidings  that  she 
brought  from  the  old  England  whence  she  came.  How,  we  shall 
never  know ;  but  in  some  way,  either  by  word  of  mouth,  or  by 
letter  whose  seal  was  hastily  broken,  John  Winter  heard  of  the 

1  History  of  the  Rebellion,  folio  ed.,  I,  349. 

2  Trelawny  Papers,  321,  322. 


346  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

blow  that  had  fallen  upon  Robert  Trelawny,  and  there  was  opened 
to  him  suddenly  such  a  vision  of  conditions  in  England  as  he  had 
not  even  dreamed  of  before.  He  had  supposed  that  things  were 
going  "well",  as  Trelawny  wrote.  That  they  were  not  going 
as  he  would  have  them,  he  now  clearly  saw;  and  from  that  time 
John  Winter  walked  under  a  shadow  that  darkened  the  rest  of  his 
days. 

Possibly  Winter  found  some  encouragement  in  the  thought  that 
Trelawny 's  friends  might  be  able  in  a  short  time  to  secure  his 
release,  and  that  business  relations  between  Plymouth  and  Rich- 
mond's island  might  still  be  maintained.  Indeed,  by  a  petition 
addressed  to  the  House  of  Commons,  November  23,  1642,  Tre- 
lawny attempted  to  secure  his  release.  Evidently  he  had  no 
political  purposes  in  view,  yet  favorable  action  did  not  follow.  In 
fact,  in  denying  the  petitioner's  request,  the  Commons  ordered 
that  Robert  Trelawny  should  be  committed  to  Winchester  House 
— the  old  bishop's  palace  at  Winchester,  then  devoted  by  Parlia- 
ment to  prison  uses — "there  to  remain  during  the  pleasure  of  the 
House".1  In  all  probability  this  was  the  second  imprisonment  to 
which  Lord  Clarendon  referred  in  his  mention  of  the  Trelawny 
case.  March  22,  1643,  Trelawny  presented  to  the  House  of  Com- 
mons a  second  petition  for  his  release,  the  petitioner  expressing 
his  readiness  to  furnish  bail ;  but  this  added  request  was  also 
refused.2 

Among  the  Trelawny  Papers  there  are  Richmond's  island 
accounts  from  July  10,  1641,  to  the  last  of  June,  1643. 3  Evidently 
in  those  years  Winter  continued  to  care  for  the  Trelawny  interests 
as  hitherto,  for  the  accounts  show  it ;  but  they  show  just  as  clearly 
that  these  were  years  in  which  business  at  the  island,  once  so  pros- 
perous, had  greatly  declined.  It  was  under  discouraging  circum- 
stances, therefore,  that  Winter  continued  his  labors.  Then,  too, 
the  tidings  that  from  time  to  time  reached  the  island  from  England 

1  Journal  of  the  House  of  Commons,  II,  854. 

2  lb.,  Ill,  14. 

3  Trelawny  Papers,  323-335,  344-362. 


ROBERT  JORDAN   AS  WINTER'S   SUCCESSOR.  347 

were  in  no  wise  cheering.  Trelawny's  wife,  a  few  days  after  the 
refusal  of  her  husband's  first  petition  for  release,  died  at  the  Tre- 
lawny  residence  at  Ham,  and  was  laid  to  rest  in  the  Trelawny 
vault  in  St.  Andrew's  Church,  Plymouth.  Depressed  by  this 
affliction,  also  by  failing  health,  Robert  Trelawny  made  his  last 
will  and  testament  August  24,  1643,  a  codicil  following  February 
23,  1644. 1  Doubtless  life  had  lost  all  attractions  for  him,  and  not 
long  after,  certainly  before  the  end  of  the  year,  he  closed  his 
career  behind  prison  bars,  and  was  buried  no  one  knows  when  or 
where. 

As  one  thinks  of  Robert  Trelawny's  sad  and  lonely  death,  the 
lines  of  an  old  ballad  have  a  new  application  : 
"And  shall  Trelawny  die? 

And  shall  Trelawny  die  ? 

Forty  thousand  Cornishmen 

Will  know  the  reason  why." 

The  ballad  belongs  to  a  later  date  than  1644,  and  its  question  has 
no  reference  to  Robert  Trelawny.  If,  however,  the  twice  repeated 
question  still  rings  in  our  ears  as  we  recall  Trelawny's  sad  end, 
and  think  of  his  unknown  grave,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  war, 
even  now,  when  so  much  is  done  to  mitigate  its  evils,  is  a  "dreaded 
instrument",  and  that  civil  war  is  the  worst  of  all  wars.  Robert 
Trelawny  suffered,  as  many  another  on  both  sides  in  the  civil 
war  in  England  suffered,  suffering  even  unto  death,  and  there 
were  few,  if  any,  to  ask  the  reason  why. 

After  the  death  of  Robert  Trelawny,  business  at  Richmond's 
island  still  further  declined.  The  Trelawny  interests  there,  how- 
ever, were  maintained,  so  far  as  can  now  be  ascertained  by  John 
King,  a  merchant  of  London.  An  interesting  glimpse  of  Winter 
and  his  family  about  this  time  is  afforded  in  a  letter  from  Winter 
to  his  married  daughter,  Mary  Hooper,  living  in  England.  It  is 
dated  Richmond's  island,  June  13,  1644.  Winter  had  not  then 
heard  of  Robert  Trelawny's  death,  for  in  his  letter  he  informs  his 
daughter  that  he  had  directed  Mr.  Robert  Trelawny  to  pay  her 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  450-456. 


348  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

fifteen  pounds,  "i  pray  demand  it  of  him' ' ,  he  wrote  ;  '  'whereof 
five  pounds  of  it  is  a  token  from  me  sent  unto  you  in  token  of  my 
fatherly  love  unto  you  ;  forty  shillings  of  it  is  a  token  sent  unto 
you  from  your  mother  ;  the  other  eight  pound  is  for  your  sister 
Sara,  whereof  six  pound  of  it  she  desired  you  would  bestow  in 
linen  cloth  for  her  of  these  sorts  :  some  cloth  of  three  quarters 
and  half  quarter  broad,  and  some  of  it  for  neck  cloths,  and  other 
some  for  pillow  cloths,  for  she  is  now  providing  to  keep  a  house. 
She  hath  been  married  this  five  months  to  one  Mr.  Robert  Jordan, 
which  is  our  minister.  The  other  forty  shillings  she  doth  send 
unto  you  for  a  token".1 

When  this  letter  was  written,  Winter  was  evidently  enjoying  a 
measure  of  health  calling  for  grateful  mention.  In  all  probability, 
however,  it  was  not  long  continued.  Trelawny's  death,  under 
circumstances  so  peculiar  and  distressing,  doubtless  laid  upon 
Winter  a  heavy  burden  of  sorrow,  and  may  have  hastened  his  own 
death.  It  is  known  only  that  sickness  at  length  compelled  him 
to  withdraw  from  his  usual  occupations,  and  that  some  time  in 
the  year  1645,  probably  near  the  close  of  the  year,  Winter  died, 
and  was  buried  on  the  island  which  he  made  the  center  of  Tre- 
lawny's interests  in  the  province. 

In  the  above  quotation  from  Winter's  letter,  there  is  a  state- 
ment that  enables  us  to  ascertain  approximately  the  time  when 
Robert  Jordan  married  Sarah  Winter.  It  was  early  in  January, 
1644.  As  Robert  Jordan  came  to  Richmond's  island  in  1641, 2  it 
cannot  be  said  that  he  made  an  early  surrender  to  the  charms  of 
John  Winter's  daughter.  The  Trelawny  Papers  show  that  he  was 
more  expeditious,  however,  in  placing  himself  on  Winter's  side  in 
his  attitude  toward  George  Cleeve  ;  for  only  a  little  more  than  a 
year  after  reaching  the  island  and  entering  upon  his  religious 
work,  Jordan  addressed  a  letter3  to  Robert  Trelawny  in  which  he 
represented  himself  as  "employed  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Winter" 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  363. 

2  lb.,  287. 

3  lb.,  314-320. 


ROBERT   JORDAN    AS   WINTER'S   SUCCESSOR.  349 

in  the  actions  entered  upon  between  him  "and  crafty  Mr.  Cleeve", 
and  expressed  the  hope  that  Trelawny  would  look  upon  him  "as 
a  faithful  agent  therein".  The  letter  shows  that  Jordan  already 
not  only  had  made  himself  familiar  with  Winter's  aims  and  pur- 
poses in  his  contentions  with  George  Cleeve,  but  had  thrown  him- 
self into  the  conflict  with  no  less  energy  and  far  greater  ability 
than  John  Winter  possessed.  He  was  not  satisfied  with  a  court 
decision  that  had  recognized  Cleeve's  rightful  possession  of 
Machegonne.  The  verdict,  he  says,  was  "contrary  to  evidence", 
and  when  the  matter  came  up  again  and  was  settled  by  arbitration 
in  Cleeve's  favor,  Jordan,  in  making  known  this  result  to  Tre- 
lawny, says  the  decision  did  not  seem  to  him  "to  be  reasonable 
law  nor  conscience",  so  completely  thus  early  had  he  taken  posi- 
tion as  an  ardent  ally  of  Winter. 

After  John  Winter's  death,  Robert  Jordan,  as  Winter's  son-in- 
law,  took  charge  of  the  business  interests  at  Richmond's  island 
and  vicinity.  Those  interests,  as  already  mentioned,  had  declined 
before  Winter's  death.  The  period  of  decline  continued.  Neither 
fishing  nor  trading  vessels  came  hither  as  formerly,  and  the  scat- 
tered settlers  anxiously  awaited  the  issue  of  the  civil  war  in  Eng- 
land. So  far  as  is  known,  the  Trelawny  heirs  made  no  attempt 
whatever  to  look  after  their  interests  here.  Probably  the  political 
upheaval  in  England  at  that  time  may  account  in  part  for  this 
neglect.  Then,  too,  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  John  Trelawny, 
Robert  Trelawny's  son  and  heir,  was  less  than  ten  years  of  age 
when  his  father  died,  and  the  duty  of  caring  for  his  American 
interests  rested  upon  those  who  had  affairs  of  their  own  that 
engrossed  their  attention.  Certainly,  those  who  should  have 
given  thought  and  attention  to  Trelawny's  interests  on  this  side 
of  the  sea  failed  to  do  so,  and  so  gave  occasion  for  feelings  at 
least  of  regret  that  have  continued  to  find  expression  in  the 
descendants  of  Robert  Trelawny  in  successive  generations  to  the 
present  time. 

This  neglect  was  not  overlooked  by  Robert  Jordan.  He  knew 
the  value  of  those  interests,  and  saw  the  opportunity  opening 


350  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

before  him  for  acquiring  in  his  own  right  the  shore  privileges  and 
extensive  territory  covered  by  the  Trelawny  patent.  As  the 
executor  of  the  estate  of  John  Winter,  Jordan  attempted  to  open 
communication  with  Robert  Trelawny' s  executors.  This  was  a 
matter  of  considerable  importance  as  from  an  examination  of 
Winter's  accounts  it  appeared  that  Trelawny  was  largely  indebted 
to  Winter.  But  Jordan's  letters  to  the  Trelawny  executors 
brought  no  reply.  Of  course  reply  should  have  been  made.  If 
on  account  of  the  political  crisis  in  Bngland,  and  the  business  dis- 
turbances arising  therefrom,  the  Trelawny  executors  were  unable 
at  that  time  to  undertake  the  settlement  of  these  accounts,  they 
should  have  said  so,  and  asked  for  delay  until  a  more  favorable 
opportunity  should  present  itself.  On  the  contrary,  they  adopted 
an  attitude  of  silence,  and  Winter's  estate  remained  unsettled, 
doubtless  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  all  parties  concerned. 

It  was  in  this  condition  of  things  at  Richmond's  island  that 
Cleeve,  as  deputy  president  of  the  Province  of  I^ygonia,  succeeded 
in  securing  the  support  of  those  who,  after  the  death  of  Winter 
and  the  departure  of  Vines  to  Barbadoes,  had  been  his  most 
strenuous  and  even  bitter  opponents.  Recognizing  their  defeat, 
and  the  importance  of  establishing  law  and  order  in  the  scattered 
settlements  within  the  limits  of  the  province,  they  laid  aside  their 
individual  opinions  and  prejudices,  accepted  office  in  the  new 
government  and  for  awhile  labored  with  Cleeve  and  his  adherents 
for  the  advancement  of  common  interests.  In  the  court  records 
of  that  period  are  documents  signed  by  George  Cleeve,  Henry 
Josselyn  and  Robert  Jordan,  judges  of  the  Province  of  I,ygonia, 
and  sitting  side  by  side  in  harmonious  relations.1 

September  22,  1648,  or  about  three  years  after  Winter's  death, 
Robert  Jordan,  having  received  from  Trelawny 's  executors  no 
response  to  his  letters,  presented  a  petition  to  the  president, 
deputy  president  and  the  general  assembly  of  the  Province  of 
I^ygonia,  in  which  he  called  attention  to  "his  desperate  condi- 
tion".    As  the  executor  of  the  estate  of  John  Winter,  he  had 

1  Early  Records  of  Maine,  I,  121. 


ROBERT  JORDAN  AS  WINTER'S  SUCCESSOR.  351 

"emptied  himself  of  his  proper  estate"  in  order  to  pay  the  lega- 
cies mentioned  in  Winter's  will.  Trelawny,  at  the  time  of  his 
death,  he  said,  was  greatly  indebted  to  Winter.  Indeed,  the  larger 
part  of  Winter's  estate,  he  claimed,  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Tre- 
lawny executors  ;  but  though  by  '  'persuasive  letters' '  he  had  urged 
a  settlement  on  their  part,  he  had  received  no  reply,  and  was  left 
"without  hope  of  any  timely  recovery"  of  what  was  due  Winter 
from  the  Trelawny  estate.  Nor  was  this  all.  '  'Their  intentions 
in  appearance",  he  added,  "are  to  deprive  your  petitioner  of  what 
he  hath  in  his  hands  in  common  employment  with  them,  and  so  to 
forbear  all  satisfaction  of  dues  until  the  heir  of  the  said  Trelawny 
(being  now  about  seven  or  eight  years  old)  shall  come  to  full  age' ' . 
The  result,  he  said,  would  be  "the  destruction  of  your  petitioner 
and  his  whole  family".  It  would  also  be  to  "the  prejudice  of 
this  growing  commonwealth";  while  if  the  petitioner  "could 
obtain  his  rights",  it  was  his  desire  "to  employ  his  estate  to  the 
furtherance  of  public  good,  from  which  he  is  now  disenabled". 
Jordan,  therefore,  asked  for  an  examination  of  Winter's  accounts 
by  committee  or  otherwise,  and  that  '  'upon  the  inventory  thereof ' , 
the  petitioner  might  have  "secured  and  sequestered  unto  himself 
and  for  his  singular  use,  what  he  hath  of  the  said  Trelawny  in  his 
hands,  or  at  least  so  much  as  you  shall  find  due  from  him  to  the 
petitioner' '  .* 

Robert  Jordan's  "proper  estate"  when  he  came  to  Richmond's 
island  could  not  have  been  large,  and,  if  we  may  infer  from  the 
meager  pay  credited  to  him  in  Winter's  accounts,  it  is  not  likely 
that  he  was  able  to  increase  it  while  serving  as  minister  at  the 
island  and  in  the  vicinity.  In  paying  Winter's  bequests,  there- 
fore— it  is  not  known  what  they  were,  as  Winter's  will  has  not 
come  down  to  us — any  small  amount  would  have  drawn  heavily 
upon  Mr.  Jordan's  resources.  Accordingly,  the  statement  of  his 
impoverishment  is  not  to  be  taken  seriously.  Evidently,  in  mak- 
ing the  statement,  the  petitioner  had  in  view  the  members  of  the 
general  assembly,  and  it  was  plainly  his  desire  to  set  before  them 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  365-368. 


352  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

at  the  outset  as  impressively  as  possible  this  view  of  his  '  'desperate 
condition". 

The  petition,  as  may  be  inferred,  was  one  in  which  the  mem- 
bers of  the  general  assembly  of  the  province  were  much  interested. 
With  Trelawny's  territory  and  interests  in  the  possession  of  Rob- 
ert Jordan,  they  were  persuaded  that  improvement  in  business  mat- 
ters would  follow  not  only  at  Richmond's  island,  but  in  the  neigh- 
boring settlements.  The  petition  was  readily  granted,  and  George 
Cleeve,  William  Royall,  Richard  Foxwell  and  Henry  Watts,  were 
appointed  a  committee  to  examine  Winter's  accounts  as  requested ; 
also  to  report  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  assembly  "the  state  of 
the  thing  petitioned  for' ' } 

The  members  of  the  committee  proceeded  to  Richmond's  island 
as  directed  and  examined  Winter's  accounts,  on  which  Jordan's 
claims  rested.  At  the  examination,  the  Trelawny  heirs  were  not 
represented,  and  in  all  probability  they  had  no  such  notice  of  the 
action  of  the  assembly  as  would  enable  them  to  be  represented. 
Indeed  it  is  not  known  that  they  received  any  notice.  The  action 
of  the  assembly  occurred  September  12,  1648,  and  December  18, 
following,  the  committee  having  reported,2  it  was  ordered  by  the 
assembly3  that  it  should  be  lawful  for  the  petitioner,  "Robert 
Jordan,  his  heirs,  executors,  administrators  and  assigns,  to  retain, 
occupy  to  his  and  their  proper  use  and  profit,  to  convert  all  the 
goods,  lands,  cattle  and  chattels  belonging  to  Robert  Trelawny, 
deceased,  within  this  province,  from  this  day  forward  and  forever 
against  any  claim  or  demand  whatsoever  by  what  party  or  parties 
soever". 

In  this  way  the  Trelawny  territory  and  the  Trelawny  interests 
on  this  side  of  the  sea  came  into  the  immediate  legal  possession  of 
Robert  Jordan.  In  the  order  adopted  by  the  assembly  it  was 
indeed  added  that  the  executors  of  Robert  Trelawny  should  have 
the  privilege  of  redeeming  and  releasing  the  Trelawny  goods, 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  369. 

2  lb.,  377-383. 
8  lb.,  370,  371. 


ROBERT  JORDAN   AS  WINTER'S   SUCCESSOR.  353 

lands,  etc.,  "by  the  consent  and  allowance  of  the  said  Robert 
Jordan,  his  heirs,  executors,  administrators  and  assigns".  This 
redemption  clause  in  the  order,  however,  offered  little  hope  to  the 
Trelawny  heirs.  Robert  Jordan  and  his  successors,  placed  in 
possession  of  the  Trelawny  territory  and  interests  in  the  Province 
of  I,ygonia,  were  likely  to  hold  them,  as  was  made  to  appear  in 
the  further  unfoldings  of  proceedings  with  reference  to  Trelawny 's 
American  estate. 

The  order  of  the  assembly  giving  Jordan  possession  of  Tre- 
lawny's  lands  was  signed  by  George  Cleeve  as  deputy  president 
of  the  Province  of  L,ygonia.  In  his  conflicts  with  Winter,  Cleeve, 
in  Robert  Jordan,  had  found  Winter's  ablest  and  most  resourceful 
ally ;  and  in  placing  Jordan  in  such  a  position  of  power  and  influ- 
ence as  that  which  he  now  came  to  occupy  he  exhibited  great 
repression  of  personal  feeling.  Under  the  circumstances  he  doubt- 
less thought  it  was  for  the  general  good  that  such  a  settlement 
should  be  made.  He  had  occasion,  however,  to  regret  this  action 
during  the  remainder  of  his  troubled  life.  Reference  has  already 
been  made  to  Winter's  claim  that  Trelawny 's  patent  embraced 
Machegonne,  or  Casco  Neck,  as  the  place  came  to  be  called.  The 
claim  was  finally  settled  in  court  in  Cleeve's  favor.  But  Jordan, 
not  long  after  he  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Trelawny  acres, 
furnished  evidence  that  he  had  not  forgotten  this  former  claim  in 
which  he  had  supported  Winter;  and  he  at  length  commenced 
proceedings  of  an  artful  kind  by  which,  having  obtained  the  privi- 
lege of  erecting  a  saw-mill  on  the  Presumpscot  river,  he  asserted 
a  prior  claim  based  on  his  possession  of  Trelawny 's  patent.  More 
and  more  heavily  Cleeve  was  now  made  to  feel  the  blows  that  were 
struck  by  his  younger  antagonist. 

The  story  of  the  wrongs  that  Cleeve  suffered  because  of  Jordan's 
efforts  to  maintain  his  claim  to  Casco  Neck  is  a  long  one,  and 
involves  transactions  extending  beyond  the  limits  of  the  period 
under  review  in  this  volume.  Cleeve  sought  to  obtain  redress  for 
his  wrongs,  but  the  death  of  Colonel  Rigby,  in  1650,  deprived 
him  of  needed  support.  During  the  Commonwealth  and  the  Pro- 
23 


354  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

tectorate,  Massachusetts,  having  interests  here  of  her  own,  was  not 
inclined  to  listen  to  the  contentions  of  rival  claimants  within  her 
newly  acquired  jurisdiction.  After  the  restoration  of  Charles  II, 
added  efforts  on  the  part  of  Cleeve  were  useless.  In  fact,  the 
king's  commissioners,  who  came  hither  at  the  request  of  the  royal- 
ist party  in  Maine  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  royalist  interests 
in  the  province,  declared  the  grants  of  territory  made  by  Cleeve, 
on  authority  derived  from  Rigby,  to  be  null  and  void.  In  this 
way  all  hope  of  redress  was  extinguished  ;  and  not  long  after  the 
announcement  of  this  decision  Cleeve  found  in  the  grave  that 
peace  of  which  he  had  known  so  little  in  his  long  and  troubled 
life.1 

Some  time  after  the  death  of  John  Winter,  Robert  Jordan 
removed  his  family  to  the  mainland  and  made  his  residence  at 
Spurwink.  Having  yielded  unwilling  obedience  to  the  authority 
of  the  Massachusetts  bay  colony,  he  was  one  of  those  who,  on  the 

1  '  'George  Cleeve  has  been  criticised  adversely  by  several  writers  who  have 
been  hasty  in  forming  opinions  based  upon  the  careless  remarks  of  a  careless 
writer,  or  upon  an  insufficient  study  of  his  acts.  In  a  time  when  men  of 
upright  lives  were  charged  with  wrong  doing,  the  social  conditions  amid 
which  they  lived  making  such  charges  easy,  the  character  of  Cleeve  appears 
exceptionally  clean.  Every  charge  on  record  against  him  has  been  noted 
in  this  brief  account  of  his  life  and  times,  that  the  reader  might  be  able  to 
form  an  independent  judgment  of  the  correctness  of  this  statement,  by  com- 
parison of  his  record  with  that  of  his  contemporaries  who  have  been  com- 
mended for  moral  attainments  by  their  biographers.  That  he  was  a  man  of 
great  energy  and  perseverance,  ready  to  take  advantage  of  an  opponent  when 
in  conflict ;  aye,  more,  an  ambitious  and  selfish  man  to  the  degree  that  most 
men  since  his  time  have  been,  we  may  justly  admit.  Such  qualities,  some 
of  which  are  not  consonant  with  the  ideal  Christian  character,  have  been 
possessed  by  successful  and  honored  men  of  all  times,  and,  we  may  not 
uncharitably  suppose  are  possessed  by  such  men  even  in  this  more  enlight- 
ened day  ;  but  that  he  was  an  immoral  or  dishonest  man  we  may  not  justly 
admit ;  indeed,  we  may  claim  after  a  careful  examination  of  such  facts  as 
have  been  preserved  relating  to  his  character,  in  connection  with  the  tur- 
bulent times  in  which  he  played  his  part,  that  he  stood  morally  above  the 
average  of  the  people  about  him."  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  210,211.  With 
Mr.  Baxter's  estimate  of  the  character  of  George  Cleeve,  the  writer  of  this 
volume  is  in  entire  agreement. 


ROBERT  JORDAN   AS  WINTER'S   SUCCESSOR.  355 

restoration  of  Charles  II,  sought  the  king's  assistance  in  establish- 
ing new  governmental  relations  in  the  province,  and  with  Josselyn 
and  others  of  the  royalist  party  was  indicted  in  1663  by  the 
Massachusetts  grand  jury  for  renouncing  the  authority  of  the  Bay 
colony.  The  arrival  of  the  king's  commissioners  in  the  province 
in  1665  revived  the  hopes  of  Jordan  and  his  royalist  associates ; 
but  it  was  only  for  a  while.  By  prudent  management  in  her  rela- 
tions with  the  province,  and  also  with  the  governmental  party  in 
England,  Massachusetts  succeeded  in  maintaining  her  authority, 
and  opposition  at  length  ceased. 

In  the  second  Indian  war,  Jordan  left  his  home  at  Spurwink 
and  established  his  residence  at  Great  Island,  now  Newcastle,  N. 
H.,  where  he  died  in  1679.  Through  his  will,1  which  has  come 
down  to  us,  we  get  a  glimpse  of  the  broad  lands  that  came  into 
his  possession  by  order  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  province. 
To  his  wife,  Sarah,  he  bequeathed  three  thousand  acres,  and  to 
his  sons,  Dominicus,  Jedediah  and  Samuel,  he  bequeathed  thirty- 
one  hundred  acres.  Repeated  efforts  at  length  were  made  by  the 
Trelawny  heirs  to  obtain  possession  of  this  large  territory,  but  all 
their  efforts  were  unsuccessful;  so  that  "owing  partly  to  many 
long  minorities,  or  to  the  feeble  and  desultory  manner  in  which 
the  claims  had  been  followed  up,  their  posterity,  under  the  statute 
of  limitation,  became  debarred  from  all  further  attempt  at  recov- 
ery' '  .2  This  fact,  however,  has  not  destroyed  the  interest  of  the 
Trelawny  heirs  in  matters  connected  with  their  family  history 
here.  As  an  evidence  of  their  "Christian  love  and  good  will", 
they  have  presented  to  the  Maine  Historical  Society,  in  recent 
years,  the  valuable,  indeed  priceless  Trelawny  Papers,  which  so 
often  have  been  referred  to  in  these  pages,  and  which  furnish  so 
much  information  concerning  affairs  and  conditions  connected 
with  the  beginnings  of  colonial  Maine. 

1  York  Deeds. 

2  Trelawny  Papers,  Memoir,  page  xxviii. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Massachusetts  Claims  Mains  Territory. 

AT  the  close  of  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  what 
is  now  the  State  of  Maine  included  four  distinct  territorial 
divisions.  The  first  was  the  comparatively  small  tract  of 
country  between  the  Piscataqua  and  Kennebunk  rivers,  the  only 
remaining  part  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges'  royal  Province  of  Maine. 
The  second  division  comprised  the  territory  confirmed  to  Colonel 
Alexander  Rigby  after  his  purchase  of  the  I^ygonia  or  Plough 
patent,  and  known  as  the  Province  of  I^ygonia,  extending  from 
the  Kennebunk  river  to  the  Kennebec.  East  of  the  Kennebec, 
forming  the  third  division,  was  the  tract  of  country  that  may  be 
designated  as  the  Sagadahoc  territory,  situated  between  the  Ken- 
nebec and  the  Penobscot  rivers.  A  fourth  division,  extending 
from  the  Penobscot  eastward  as  far  as  the  St.  Croix  river,  was 
claimed  by  the  French  as  included  within  their  territorial  limits. 
References  to  this  claim  occur  in  some  of  the  preceding  chapters. 
The  claim  itself  reappears  in  the  commission  bestowed  upon 
Aulnay  by  Louis  XIV  in  February,  1647,  the  western  boundary 
of  France  upon  the  Atlantic  coast  being  carried  in  that  commis- 
sion "as  much  and  as  far  as  can  be  as  far  as  the  Virginias".1  At 
that  time  the  word  "Virginias"  was  used  as  a  designation  of  New 
England,  and  "Virginias"  doubtless  had  that  signification  in 
Aulnay 's  commission.  The  rightfulness  of  the  French  claim  was 
denied  in  England  and  by  the  English  colonists  on  the  American 
coast,  and  the  determination  to  maintain  England's  right  to  the 
territory  in  dispute  found  frequent  and  forceful  expression  as  has 
already  appeared. 

When  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  drew  to  a  close, 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  262. 


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MASSACHUSETTS    CLAIMS   MAINE  TERRITORY.  357 

however,  neither  England  nor  the  English  colonists  on  the  Atlan- 
tic seaboard  were  in  a  condition  to  maintain  their  territorial 
claims  in  opposition  to  the  claims  of  France.  The  attempt  to 
establish  in  England  a  new  form  of  government,  to  take  the  place 
of  that  under  which  the  people  of  England  hath  hitherto  lived, 
was  a  work  that  was  pressing  and  demanded  the  strongest  possible 
endeavors  on  the  part  of  those  upon  whom  the  arduous  task  now 
fell.  The  claim  of  England  in  opposition  to  the  claim  of  France, 
however,  was  not  yielded,  but  matters  pertaining  to  territorial 
rights  were  for  the  present  held  in  abeyance. 

In  the  first  three  of  these  territorial  divisions  there  was  growth 
in  the  half  century,  but  it  was  slow.  Help  that  should  have 
come  to  the  colonists  was  not  received.  Gorges,  the  one  domi- 
nant figure  in  the  effort  to  develop  colonial  interests  within  these 
limits,  was  a  strenuous  supporter  of  Charles  and  the  royal  prerog- 
atives. Moreover,  he  had  no  sympathy  with  those  who  were 
opposed  to  the  king  and  had  brought  about  the  great  upheaval  in 
which  the  king's  overthrow  was  accomplished.  The  strong  Puri- 
tan movement  exerted  no  influence  upon  his  wishes  and  hopes. 
What  he  desired  to  see,  and  what  he  aimed  to  create  in  his  colon- 
izing efforts,  was  a  New  England,  of  which  he,  as  governor  gen- 
eral, should  be  the  head.  If  Charles  had  yielded  in  his  conflict 
with  Parliament,  and  there  had  been  no  civil  war  in  England, 
Gorges  might  have  accomplished  his  purpose  and  have  aided 
Archbishop  I^aud  in  his  endeavor  to  establish  the  Anglican  Church 
in  New  England.  But  Charles  did  not  yield,  and  the  civil  war  in 
its  onward  progress  resulted  in  the  destruction  not  only  of  the 
king's  despotic  rule,  but  of  Gorges'  feudal  visions. 

The  death  of  Gorges  not  only  removed  the  strong  support  on 
which  the  royalist  party  in  the  Province  of  Maine  had  leaned, 
but  it  brought  bewilderment  to  the  settlers  in  the  province's 
diminished  territory.  At  first  only  rumors  of  Sir  Ferdinando's 
death  were  received  by  the  colonists ;  but  as  soon  as  the  tidings 
were  confirmed,  in  their  trouble  and  anxiety  they  endeavored  to 
put   themselves  in  communication  with  the  heirs  of  Gorges  in 


358  THE)   BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL  MAINE- 

order  to  obtain  information  with  reference  to  their  future  inter- 
ests. Would  the  form  of  government  under  which  they  had 
hitherto  lived  be  continued  ?  If  it  should  be  continued,  by  whom 
would  its  affairs  be  managed?  Moreover,  was  it  to  be  expected 
that  such  a  government  and  administration  would  be  acceptable 
to  Parliament  ?  These  and  other  inquiries  must  have  been  made 
in  1647  and  1648,  but  they  elicited  no  replies.  Their  failure  in 
seeking  information  they  attributed  to  "the  sad  distractions  in 
En gland";  and  certainly  conditions  there  were  such  as  to  afford 
little  opportunity  for  the  heirs  of  Gorges  to  give  any  attention  to 
matters  in  the  far-away  Province  of  Maine.  In  order,  therefore, 
that  there  might  be  consultation  and  consideration  with  reference 
to  matters  of  such  vital  interest  in  the  province,  Edward  Godfrey, 
whom  Thomas  Gorges  left  in  charge  of  the  Gorges  interests  on 
his  return  to  England  in  1643,  and  who  was  still  the  leading 
spirit  in  the  province,  united  with  the  other  officers  of  the  Gorges 
proprietary  in  calling  the  inhabitants  of  Piscataqua,  Gorgeana 
and  Wells  to  assemble  at  Gorgeana  in  July,  1649.  Such  an 
assembly  was  held,  and  after  full  and  free  discussion  it  was  agreed 
to  enter  into  a  "combination"  or  social  compact  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  such  a  form  of  government  as  would  enable  the  colonists 
to  manage  their  provincial  affairs  until  '  'further  order,  power  and 
authority  shall  come  out  of  England";  binding  themselves  "to 
see  these  parts  of  the  country  and  province  regulated  according  to 
such  laws  as  formerly  have  been  exercised  and  such  others  as 
shall  be  thought  meet,  not  repugnant  to  the  fundamental  laws  of 
our  native  country".1 

It  was  then  also  agreed  "to  make  choice  of  such  governor  or 
governors  and  magistrates  as  by  most  voices  they  shall  think 
meet."  In  the  election  that  followed  Edward  Godfrey  received 
the  "most  voices"  for  the  office  of  governor,  and  thus  became  the 
first  governor  elected  by  the  people  in  what  is  now  the  State  of 
Maine.  Those  who  had  assisted  Godfrey  in  administering  the 
affairs  of  the  province  in  the  preceding  year  were  also  elected  to 

1  Farnham  Papers,  I,  266. 


MASSACHUSETTS   CLAIMS   MAINE  TERRITORY.  359 

fill  the  offices  they  had  hitherto  held.  Under  the  organization 
thus  effected,  the  governmental  affairs  of  the  colonists  between  the 
Piscataqua  and  the  Kennebunk  rivers  were  continued  as  hitherto. 
All  the  while,  however,  existing  conditions  in  England  were  kept 
steadily  in  view,  and  with  the  change  in  the  form  of  government 
there  following  the  death  of  Charles  I,  regarding  themselves  as 
still  holding  to  recognized  authority  in  the  country  whence  they 
came,  the  inhabitants  of  the  province  adjusted  themselves  to  the 
new  order  of  things  in  England  and  wisely  and  prudently  awaited 
the  further  unfolding  of  events. 

Very  different  in  the  Province  of  Eygonia  was  the  effect  of  the 
death  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges.  It  is  true  that  men  like  Jos- 
selyn  and  Jordan  were  in  sympathy  with  the  Gorges  interests  and 
in  their  attachment  to  those  interests  they  shared  the  views  of 
Godfrey  and  his  associates.  But  they  had  recognized  Rigby's 
authority  as  the  proprietor  of  the  Eygonia  patent,  and  had  accepted 
office  in  connection  with  the  administration  of  provincial  affairs, 
which  were  in  no  wise  affected  by  Gorges'  death.  When,  how- 
ever, tidings  reached  the  province  of  the  death  of  Rigby,  which 
occurred  in  London  suddenly,  unexpectedly,  August  18,  1650,  a 
new  situation  presented  itself.  All  along  the  relations  of  Josselyn 
and  others  to  the  L,ygonia  government  were  not  of  their  liking. 
Their  association  with  Cleeve,  the  deputy  president  of  the  prov- 
ince, was  for  prudential  reasons  only.  If  an  opportunity  should 
open  for  a  change  in  these  relations,  there  was  no  reason  in  their 
view  why  they  should  not  avail  themselves  of  it ;  and  such  an 
opportunity  they  recognized  on  receiving  information  of  the  death 
of  the  proprietor  and  president  of  the  Province  of  I^ygonia. 

Their  action,  however,  was  not  hasty.  In  all  probability  they 
held  open  and  secret  meetings  for  consultation.  Doubtless  their 
public  utterances  indicated  a  desire  for  any  change  that  would 
bring  the  Rigby  authority  to  an  end.  But  there  is  no  evidence 
that  on  the  part  of  Josselyn,  Jordan  and  others  there  was  any 
attempt  to  set  up  in  place  of  the  existing  government  such  an 
independent  government  as  was  organized  by  the  inhabitants  of 


360  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

the  Province  of  Maine.  Their  leanings  in  no  wise  were  toward 
democracy.  On  the  other  hand,  Cleeve  and  those  who  were  in 
agreement  with  him  desired  as  a  settlement  of  recognized  difficul- 
ties a  confirmation  of  the  Rigby  authority  by  Parliament.  This 
was  indicated  in  a  petition  to  Parliament  prepared  by  Cleeve  and 
having  such  a  confirmation  in  view.  Similar  action  was  desired 
by  the  inhabitants  of  the  Province  of  Maine,  as  already  men- 
tioned. 

Undoubtedly,  in  this  movement  on  the  part  of  the  general  court 
of  the  Province  of  Maine,  there  was  co-operation  with  Cleeve  and 
those  of  the  Province  of  I,ygonia  in  agreement  with  him,  not 
only  as  a  petition  with  reference  to  L,ygonia  interests  was  pre- 
pared by  Cleeve  having  the  same  end  in  view,  but  especially  as 
Cleeve  was  the  bearer  of  both  petitions,  when  he  sailed  for  Eng- 
land, probably  not  long  after.  Of  the  leading  men  in  both  prov- 
inces Cleeve  unquestionably  was  the  best  fitted  for  the  service 
required.  His  connection  with  the  Rigby  interests  and  his  sym- 
pathy with  the  parliamentary  party  in  the  struggle  through  which 
England  had  passed  in  the  preceding  years,  gave  him  easy  access 
to  those  whose  assistance  he  sought.  First  of  all,  on  his  arrival, 
he  placed  himself  in  communication  with  the  heirs  of  Baron 
Rigby,  and  hastened  to  set  before  them  an  account  of  existing 
conditions  in  both  of  the  provinces  which  he  represented,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  perils  with  which  they  were  threatened. 
Doubtless  among  the  perils,  so  far  as  the  Province  of  Lygonia 
was  concerned,  Cleeve  mentioned  the  attitude  of  Josselyn  and 
others.  But  the  peril  to  which  he  especially  called  attention  was 
occasioned  by  the  encroachments  of  Massachusetts.  In  the  pre- 
ceding decade,  the  Bay  colony  had  gradually  extended  its  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  New  Hampshire  settlements.  Now,  in  the  disturbed 
state  of  feeling  north  of  the  Piscataqua,  it  was  the  evident  purpose 
of  the  Massachusetts  authorities  to  extend  their  jurisdiction  still 
farther  up  the  coast  so  as  to  include  the  territory  over  which 
Gorges  and  Rigby  had  exercised  proprietorship.  This  is  made  to 
appear  in  a  paper  in  the  Records  Office  in  L,ondon,  in  which  it  is 


MASSACHUSETTS   CLAIMS   MAINE  TERRITORY.  361 

stated  that  in  1652,  Edward  Rigby,  the  son  and  heir  of  Colonel 
Alexander  Rigby,  joined  with  the  heirs  of  Gorges  and  other  pat- 
entees of  Maine  and  New  Hampshire  in  a  petition  to  Parliament 
for  relief  from  such  encroachments.  Doubtless  the  reference  is  to 
the  petitions  to  Parliament  brought  by  Cleeve;  and  from  the 
paper  mentioned  it  would  seem  that  Rigby,  in  uniting  with  the 
petitioners,  resented  the  action  of  Massachusetts  as  hostile  to  the 
Gorges  and  Rigby  interests.  Inasmuch  as  there  is  no  further 
information  concerning  these  petitions,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose 
that  the  influential  and  watchful  representatives  of  Massachusetts 
in  London  succeeded  in  defeating  the  efforts  of  Cleeve  and  his 
friends  in  their  effort  to  secure  parliamentary  action. 

While  Cleeve  was  in  England,  he  seems  to  have  made  a  favorable 
impression  upon  Edward  Rigby.  The  latter  not  only  approved 
Cleeve' s  attitude  toward  Josselyn  and  others,  who  were  endeavor- 
ing to  bring  the  Province  of  Maine  and  the  Province  of  Lygonia 
under  one  government  as  in  the  earlier  period  under  the  Gorges 
proprietary,  but  he  increased  Cleeve' s  land-holdings  by  adding  one 
thousand  acres  to  the  territory  already  granted  to  him.  More- 
over, he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  opponents  of  Cleeve,  upbraiding 
them  for  their  wrongs  and  abuses  and  demanding  that  both  they 
and  others,  who  had  taken  office  under  his  father,  should  cease 
further  activity  in  administrative  relations  as  their  commissions 
expired  with  his  father's  death.  He  expressed  sorrow  that  they 
"should  still  act  so  directly"  against  his  father's  and  his  interests 
as  they  did,  and  insisted  that  they  should  no  longer  continue  their 
"private  and  secret  combinations",  but  should  join  with  him,  and 
his  deputy  and  other  officers,  for  the  peace  and  quiet  of  the  prov- 
ince. He  closed  the  letter  with  the  declaration  that  he  should 
strive  to  do  equal  justice  in  all  things,  and  to  this  end  he  informed 
them  that  "with  all  convenient  speed"  he  should  not  only  send 
back  Mr.  Cleeve  but  a  near  kinsman  of  his  own  with  instructions 
and  commissions  to  such  as  he  deemed  fitting  to  receive  them,  not 
doubting  that  upon  the  receipt  of  his  communication  those 
addressed  would  desist  from  their  former  illegal  proceedings  and 


362  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

join  with  those  to  whom  he  should  send  commissions,  adding  the 
assurance  that  with  the  letter  went  "the  respects  of  him  that  is 
your  real  friend  if  yourselves  be  not  your  own  enemies".1 

The  letter  furnishes  us  not  only  with  information  concerning 
Edward  Rigby's  knowledge  of  affairs  connected  with  the  Province 
of  L,ygonia,  but  at  the  same  time  it  gives  us  such  a  glimpse  of  the 
writer  himself  as  can  be  obtained  nowhere  else.  Indirectly,  also, 
the  letter  is  a  tribute  to  the  character  of  George  Cleeve ;  for  it 
was  of  Edward  Rigby  that  Roger  Williams,  in  a  letter  to  John 
Winthrop,  Jr.,  governor  of  Connecticut,  sent  this  message  about 
a  year  and  a  half  later :  "We  have  sound  [rumor]  of  a  general 
governor  [of  New  England],  and  that  Baron  Rigby's  son  is  the 
man".2  That  George  Cleeve,  in  his  position  as  deputy  president, 
and  now  in  repeated  personal  interviews,  should  have  impressed 
such  a  man  as  Edward  Rigby  so  favorably  and  so  strongly  as  to 
continue  him  in  office,  furnishes  certainly  no  slight  testimony  to 
the  ability  and  character  of  George  Cleeve. 

The  time  for  Cleeve's  return  had  not  been  fixed  when  Rigby's 
letter  was  written.  In  fact,  Cleeve  lingered  in  England  some 
time,  doubtless  in  hope  that  added  efforts  might  yet  secure  par- 
liamentary aid  in  behalf  of  the  interests  that  he  represented.  The 
exact  date  of  his  return  is  unknown,  but  there  are  documents  in 
the  Massachusetts  archives  from  which  information  is  derived  that 
he  landed  in  Boston  in  September,  1653. s 

During  Cleeve's  absence  in  England,  Massachusetts  had  con- 
tinued earlier  efforts  to  extend  her  jurisdiction  northward.  This 
was  in  accordance  with  a  purpose  suggested  by  the  death  of 
Mason,  and  was  greatly  strengthened  by  the  success  of  the  Puri- 
tan revolution  in  England.  These  successes,  it  was  believed,  had 
not  only  been  destructive  to  the  establishment  of  royalist  and 
Church  of  England  authority  in  New  England,  but  had  opened 
the  way  for   Puritan   ascendancy  in  the  same  territory.     These 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  284-286. 

2  Mass  Hist.  Society's  Coll.,  Fourth  Series,  VI,  260. 
8  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  161,  162,  287,  288. 


MASSACHUSETTS   CLAIMS   MAINE  TERRITORY.  363 

efforts  on  the  part  of  the  Massachusetts  authorities  were  now 
encouraged  by  political  strife  and  the  lack  of  law  and  order  north 
of  the  Piscataqua.  In  the  scattered  settlements  there  were  those 
who  desired  to  see  an  end  of  the  conditions  under  which  they  had 
lived  so  long.  Some  of  them  had  visited  the  comparatively  strong 
and  prosperous  communities  in  the  Bay,  and  were  familiar  with 
the  more  favorable  conditions  under  which  the  colonists  there 
lived.  It  was  but  natural,  therefore,  that  from  time  to  time 
strong  expressions  on  their  part  for  the  possession  of  like  benefits 
and  governmental  regulation  should  find  their  way  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts settlements. 

Up  to  this  time,  however,  Massachusetts  does  not  seem  to  have 
given  much  attention,  if  any,  to  the  provisions  of  her  charter  with 
reference  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  colony.  In  1651,  how- 
ever, Joseph  Mason,  a  kinsman  of  Captain  John  Mason  (to  whom 
in  1635  the  grant  of  New  Hampshire  was  confirmed),  came  over 
to  New  England  in  the  interest  of  the  widow  of  his  deceased  rela- 
tive. Finding  Richard  Leader  in  possession  of  land  on  the 
Newichwannock  (Salmon  Falls)  river,1  he  brought  an  action  for 
trespass  against  Reader  in  the  Norfolk  county  court,  then  in  ses- 
sion at  Salisbury,  Mass.  At  the  trial  the  defendant,  Leader,  held 
that  the  lands  in  question  were  not  within  the  limits  of  Massa- 
chusetts territory,  and  on  the  point  thus  raised  the  court  declined 
to  rule  and  referred  the  matter  to  the  general  court  of  the  colony 
at  its  annual  session  in  May,  1652. 2 

In  the  records  of  the  colony,  under  date  of  May  31,  1652,  this 
entry  appears :  "On  perusal  of  our  charter,  it  was  this  day  voted 
by  the  whole  court,  that  the  extent  of  the  [boundary]  line  is  to 
be  from  the  northermost  part  of  the  river  Merrimack  and  three 
miles  more  north,  where  it  is  to  be  found,  be  it  an  hundred  miles 
more  or  less  from  the  sea,  and  thence  upon  a  straight  line  east 

1For   Mason's    protest    against  Reader's    possession,  see  Jenness'    New 
Hampshire  Documents,  38. 
2  See  Massachusetts  Archives,  38,  70,  71. 


364  THE   BEGINNINGS   OF    COLONIAL   MAINE). 

and  west  to  each  sea ;  and  this  to  be  the  true  interpretation  of  the 
terms  of  the  limit  northward  granted  in  the  patent".1 

It  is  not  easy  to  follow  the  members  of  the  general  court  in  thus 
arriving  at  "an  interpretation  of  the  terms  of  the  limit"  of  their 
territory  northward.  The  charter  gave  the  Bay  colony  "all  those 
lands  and  hereditaments  whatsoever,  which  lie  and  be  within  the 
space  of  three  English  miles  to  the  northward  of  the  said  river, 
called  Monomack  alias  Merrimack,  or  to  the  northward  of  any 
and  every  part  thereof".2  If  the  language  of  the  charter  with 
reference  to  the  northern  boundary  of  the  colony  embraced  these 
words  only,  the  members  of  the  general  court  would  have  found 
little  if  any  basis  for  the  interpretation  they  made  and  recorded. 
Their  boundary  line,  as  thus  described,  started  on  the  Atlantic 
coast  three  miles  north  of  the  mouth  of  the  Merrimac  river,  and 
followed  the  windings  of  the  river,  at  the  same  distance  from  the 
river,  to  its  source,  or  to  a  point  three  miles  north  of  its  source. 
But  the  charter  description  of  the  northern  boundary  of  the  colony 
does  not  end  with  the  words  now  cited.  Immediately  following 
are  added  words  that  make  the  territory  of  the  colony  to  include 
"all  lands  and  hereditaments  whatsoever,  lying  within  the  limits 
aforesaid,  north  and  south  in  latitude  and  breadth,  and  in  length 
and  longitude,  of  and  within  all  the  breadth  aforesaid,  throughout 
the  main  lands  there,  from  the  Atlantic  and  Western  sea  and 
ocean  on  the  east  part  to  the  South  sea  on  the  west  part' '  .s  Those 
who  wrote  these  words  evidently  attempted  by  them  to  indicate 
more  definitely  the  northern  boundary  of  the  colony's  territory; 
but  their  knowledge  of  the  country  was  exceedingly  defective, 
and  the  words  they  used  convey  no  clear  meaning.  Accordingly, 
as  the  words  needed  interpretation,  the  members  of  the  general 
court,  finding  in  the  boundary  designated  such  words  as  "length" 
and  "breadth",  "latitude"  and  "longitude",  "north"  and 
"south",  "east  part"  and  "west  part",  used  them  as  helps  to  a 

1  Records  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  III,  274. 

2  Hazard,  I,  243. 
8  lb.,  I,  243. 


MASSACHUSETTS   CLAIMS   MAINE  TERRITORY.  365 

decision  and  evidently  found  in  them  the  interpretation  their 
perusal  suggested,  and  which  made  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
colony  a  straight  line  east  and  west  from  a  point  three  miles  north 
of  the  source  of  the  Merrimac  river. 

Before  this  time,  evidently,  Massachusetts  had  not  given  any 
particular  attention  to  her  northern  boundary  as  described  in  her 
charter.1  In  extending  her  jurisdiction  over  the  New  Hampshire 
communities  north  of  the  Merrimac  she  had  not  asserted  charter 
rights.  That  movement  was  designed  to  meet  certain  needs  fol- 
lowing the  death  of  Mason,  an  event  that  left  the  territory  between 
the  Merrimac  and  the  Piscataqua  without  governmental  oversight 
and  protection.  But  while  such  needs  existed  to  a  like  extent,  if 
not  a  greater,  in  the  Maine  provinces,  other  and  more  forceful 
reasons  now  influenced  the  general  court  in  attempting  a  still  far- 
ther advance  up  the  coast.  There  had  been  a  time,  and  that  not 
far  away,  when  royalist  and  Church  of  England  designs  had  seri- 
ously threatened  the  Bay  colony's  existence.  While  for  the  most 
part  these  designs  had  their  origin  in  the  mother  country,  they 
were  fostered  by  some  of  the  more  prominent  settlers  north  of  the 
Piscataqua,  themselves  royalists  and  members  of  the  English 
church.  But  political  conditions  in  England,  as  the  result  of  the 
civil  war,  had  not  only  allayed  all  fear  of  harmful  assaults  from 
across  the  sea,  but  at  the  same  time  had  opened  the  way  for  such 
an  advance  into  Maine  territory  as  would  strengthen  and  make 
dominant  Puritan  influences  in  New  England.  Indeed,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  the  members  of  the  general  court  even  before 

1  In  the  earlier  years  of  the  colony  there  was  no  need  of  examining  the 
charter  -with  reference  to  boundary  lines.  Naturally  the  colonists  devoted 
themselves  to  the  work  of  establishing  comfortable  homes,  and  providing 
means  of  support.  But,  in  1652,  prosperous  settlements  had  been  developed. 
Those  who  founded  and  established  them  had  purposes  that  ripened  fast  and 
stopped  short  of  nothing  less  than  the  building  up  of  a  New  England,  which 
should  be  neither  feudal  nor  monarchical,  but  a  democracy — "an  incorporated 
group  of  individuals  seeking  in  a  new  country  a  permanent  home  and  an 
opportunity  of  worshipping  God  in  their  own  way".  C.  M.  Andrews,  The 
Colonial  Period,  66. 


366  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

their  perusal  of  their  charter  had  reached  clear  and  definite  pur- 
poses with  reference  to  their  boundary  claim,  and  these  the  char- 
ter strengthened.  Men  generally  find  what  they  seek.  At  all 
events  in  their  perusal  of  the  charter  the  Massachusetts  magis- 
trates found  what  they  desired  to  find,  and  their  interpretation  of 
their  charter  with  reference  to  their  northern  boundary  was  an 
important  aid  in  securing  the  accomplishment  of  their  purposes. 

In  this  advance  into  Maine  territory  ambition  on  the  part  of 
Massachusetts  is  not  to  be  denied.  But  it  was  not  a  low,  sordid 
ambition.  It  was  an  ambition  that  sought  fairly  and  squarely  the 
betterment 1  of  existing  conditions,  and  aimed  to  give  to  Maine 
settlers  the  same  measure  of  prosperity  that  the  Bay  colonists 
themselves  enjoyed.  Nearly  a  century  ago  a  son  of  Maine,  who 
had  made  its  history  a  careful  study,  placed  on  record  these  words  : 
"if  Massachusetts  were  actuated  by  motives  of  ambition  in  this 
enlargement  of  her  borders,  and  the  adoption  of  these  plantations, 
it  must  be  acknowledged  she  guided  her  measures  by  maxims  of 
prudence,  and  manifested  great  assiduity  and  zeal  for  the  good 
of  the  inhabitants  so  eagerly  adopted".2  Half  a  century  later, 
another  son  of  Maine,  also  deeply  interested  in  the  history  of  his 
native  state,  and  receiving  its  highest  honors  for  his  educational, 
military  and  other  services,  in  reviewing  this  action  of  Massachu- 
setts, justified  that  action  on  the  ground  of  necessity,  "it  was 
necessary",  he  said,  "that  Massachusetts  should  control  Maine". 
Such  a  necessity  he  found  in  the  fact  that  this  added  territory  was 
needed  in  order  "to  ward  off  her  enemies,  Churchmen,  French- 
men, Indians".3  All  this  is  true,  but  it  is  not  the  whole  truth. 
Not  only  was  it  necessary  that  Massachusetts  should  provide  for 
self-defence,  but  for  growth  and  expansion.  The  planting  of 
Massachusetts  meant  the  planting  of  New  England.     In  time  the 

1  "Massachusetts  was  never  mean.  She  was  square  and  bold.  You  could 
always  see  her  coming;  and  tell  what  she  was  after."  J.  I/.  Chamberlain, 
Maine  :  her  Place  in  History,  59. 

2  Williamson,  History  of  the  State  of  Maine,  I,  356. 

3  Maine :  her  Place  in  History,  58,  67. 


MASSACHUSETTS   CLAIMS   MAINE  TERRITORY.  367 

colony  was  to  become  a  commonwealth,  a  nation,  and  Maine  was 
needed  in  the  development  already  in  progress. 

Massachusetts  lost  no  time  in  entering  upon  the  undertaking 
"for  the  better  discovery"  of  the  north  line  of  the  colony's  terri- 
tory ;  and  on  the  same  day  when  her  interpretation  of  the  boun- 
daries of  the  charter  was  announced,  the  general  court  appointed 
Captain  Simon  Willard  and  Captain  Edward  Johnson  commis- 
sioners, with  "such  artists  and  other  associates"  as  they  desired 
'  'to  find  out  the  most  northerly  part  of  Merrimack  river' ' .  By 
their  instructions  they  were  required  to  use  '  'their  utmost  skill 
and  ability  to  take  a  true  observation  of  the  latitude  of  that  place' ' , 
and  they  were  to  make  a  return  thereof  at  the  next  session  of  the 
court.1 

As  "artists  and  other  assistants"  in  the  task  thus  assigned  to 
them,  the  Massachusetts  commissioners  selected  '  John  Sherman, 
sergeant  at  Watertown,  and  Jonathan  Ince,  student  at  Harvard 
College",  and  they,  with  the  commissioners,  proceeded  to  the 
source  of  the  Merrimac  river.  This  they  found  at  Aquedahian 
where  the  river  "issues  out  of  the  Lake  Winnapusseakit"  (Win- 
nipesaukee) .  Observation  for  the  latitude  was  taken  August  1 , 
1652,  when  according  to  the  report  made  by  Sherman  and  Ince 
October  19,  1652,  it  was  found  "that  the  latitude  of  the  place  was 
43°  40'  12"  besides  those  minutes  which  are  to  be  allowed  for  the 
three  miles  more  north  which  run  into  the  lake' '  .2 

There  is  no  evidence  that  George  Cleeve,  while  in  England, 
received  any  information  concerning  this  action  with  reference  to 
the  northern  boundary  of  the  Bay  colony.  On  landing  in  Boston 
in  September,  1653,  however,  he  was  informed  of  it,  and  his  study 
of  the  new  boundary  showed  that  it  brought  a  part  of  the  Province 
of  Iyygonia  within  the  territory  now  claimed  by  Massachusetts. 
Cleeve,  accordingly,  addressed  a  letter  to  "the  honored  magis- 
trates and  deputies"  of  the  colony,  asking  for  an  explanation  of 
this  action.     In  this  communication  Cleeve  called  attention  to  the 

1  Records  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  III,  278. 

2  Records  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  III,  288. 


368  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

numerous  commissions  and  other  instruments,  "as  well  from  the 
crown,  by  the  council  of  Plymouth  as  also  several  confirmations 
by  the  Parliament  and  council  of  State' ' ,  in  which  the  boundaries 
of  the  Province  of  Lygonia  were  stated.  The  territorial  rights  of 
Baron  Rigby  had  now  descended  to  his  son,  Edward  Rigby,  Esq., 
of  Gray's  Inn,  who  had  directed  Cleeve  on  his  return  to  call  an 
assembly  of  all  the  villages  in  the  province  from  the  Sagadahoc  to 
the  west  side  of  Wells.  This,  he  added,  he  had  intended  to  do, 
but  he  had  learned  it  was  now  claimed  that  the  Province  of  L,ygo- 
nia,  or  a  great  part  of  it,  was  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachu- 
setts. He  asked  the  general  court,  therefore,  to  give  him  in 
writing  a  full  statement  of  its  intentions  in  order  that  he  might 
report  the  facts  "without  any  mistakings"  and  in  the  interest  of 
"peace  and  love".1 

To  this  courteous  inquiry,  the  Massachusetts  magistrates  replied, 
insisting  upon  the  rightfulness  of  their  claim.2  About  the  same 
time  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts  appointed  Samuel  Andrew 
and  Jonas  Clarke  of  Cambridge  ("both  well  skilled  in  the  math- 
ematics, having  had  the  command  of  ships  upon  several  voy- 
ages"), to  mark  on  the  seacoast  the  northern  boundary  of  the 
colony,  and  also  to  "run  the  line  and  mark  trees  forty  poles  into 
the  woods  east  and  west".  This  was  done  October  13,  1654,  and 
in  their  report  the  parties  employed  stated  that  the  line  crossed  the 
norther-most  point  of  Upper  Clapboard  island,  "about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  the  main  in  Casco  bay,  about  four  or  five  miles 
to  the  northward  of  Mr.  Mackworth's  house".8  There  were  few 
trees  at  the  place,  but  four  or  five  were  marked,  one  of  them 
with  the  letters  M.  B.,  and  it  was  added  that  "at  the  seaside, 
where  the  line  doth  extend,  there  lies  a  grayish  rock  at  high 
water  mark  cleft  in  the  middle".4 

1  In  Massachusetts  Archives,  misplaced  under  1662.  The  letter  is  printed 
in  full  in  Baxter's  George  Cleeve,  161,  162. 

2  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  287. 

3  The  house  was  near  the  mouth  of  the  Presumpscot. 

4  Records  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  III,  361,  362. 


MASSACHUSETTS    CLAIMS   MAINE  TERRITORY.  369 

Cleeve,  in  continuing  to  protest  against  this  action  of  Massachu- 
setts, courteously  called  the  attention  of  the  general  court  to  some 
propositions  prepared  by  himself  and  others  of  the  Province  of 
I^ygonia.  In  their  reply,  the  members  of  the  general  court 
insisted  that  their  "general  claim  hath  been  constantly  from  the 
first  to  three  miles  northward  of  the  most  northern  part  of  the 
said  [Merrimac]  river,  in  length  and  longitude,  through  the  main 
land,  from  the  eastern  sea  to  the  sea  on  the  west".  Then  fol- 
lowed a  reference  to  the  fairness  manifested  by  Massachusetts  in 
its  attitude  toward  the  Maine  settlements.1  The  weak  point  in 
this  answer  of  the  general  court  was  in  the  statement  that  the 
present  claim  of  Massachusetts  as  to  her  northern  boundary  had 
been  the  general  claim  of  the  Bay  colony  from  the  first.  Of  this 
no  proof  was  furnished,  and  an  examination  of  the  records  of  the 
colony  seems  to  warrant  the  opinion  that  no  proof  could  be 
furnished. 

But  Massachusetts  now  was  by  far  the  dominant  power  in  New 
England,  and  her  able  representatives  in  England  had  the  ear  of 
those  most  influential  in  national  governmental  relations.  John 
Gorges,  son  and  heir  of  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  and  Edward 
Rigby,  son  and  heir  of  Baron  Rigby,  found  themselves  powerless 
to  render  Godfrey,  Cleeve  and  others  any  assistance  in  their 
efforts  to  resist  the  asserted  claims  of  Massachusetts.  Moreover, 
conditions  in  the  Province  of  Maine  and  the  Province  of  Lygonia 
were  unfavorable  to  growth  and  good  order.  Further  opposition, 
accordingly,  seemed  to  offer  no  hope  of  success,  and  at  length,  in 
the  interest  of  peace  and  orderly  government,  opposition  ceased. 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  294,  295. 

24 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
The  Jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  Accepted. 

THE  members  of  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts,  in  their 
search  for  the  northern  boundary  of  the  colony,  perused 
the  colonial  charter  on  May  31,  1652.  As  has  already 
appeared,  however,  the  attention  of  the  general  court  had  been 
called  to  the  boundary  matter  in  the  preceding  year.  In  fact,  in 
October,  1651,  they  had  reached  the  conclusion  that  from  an 
extension  of  the  northern  boundary  line  of  the  colony,  "it  doth 
appear  that  the  town  of  Kittery,  and  many  miles  to  the  north- 
ward, is  comprehended  within  our  grant."  In  reaching  this  con- 
clusion, the  members  of  the  general  court  were  doubtless  influ- 
enced by  an  effort  on  the  part  of  several  persons  in  Kittery  to 
induce  the  residents  there  ("who  govern  now  by  combination") 
to  present  a  petition  to  Parliament  for  a  grant  of  the  place.  This, 
it  was  said,  a  majority  of  the  inhabitants  refused  to  do,  many  of 
them  expressing  their  willingness  "to  submit  themselves  to  the 
government  of  the  Massachusetts".1  Under  these  circumstances 
the  members  of  the  court,  taking  into  consideration  the  "commo- 
diousness"  of  the  Piscataqua  river,  and  the  fact  that  it  would  be 
prejudicial  to  the  Massachusetts  government  if  Kittery  and  the 
Piscataqua  river  should  be  held  by  those  who  were  unfriendly  to 
the  Bay  colony,  it  was  ordered,  "that  a  loving  and  friendly  letter" 
be  sent  to  the  inhabitants  of  Kittery  informing  them  that  Kittery 
was  within  the  Massachusetts  grant,  and  that  a  commission  had 
been  appointed  consisting  of  Simon  Bradstreet,  Major  Daniel 
Denison  and  Captain  William  Hawthorne  to  treat  with  them  in 
accordance  with  their  instructions,  and  to  receive  them  under  the 
Massachusetts  government  provided  "terms  of  agreement  can  be 

1  Records  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  III,  250. 


THK  JURISDICTION   OF   MASSACHUSETTS   ACCEPTED.  371 

concluded  upon  by  mutual  consent".  If,  however,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Kittery  declined  to  enter  into  such  an  agreement,  the  com- 
missioners, having  "laid  claim  to  the  place",  were  to  protest 
against  any  further  proceedings  '  'by  virtue  of  their  combination 
or  other  interest  whatsoever".1 

Information  concerning  this  action  reached  the  Province  of 
Maine  soon  after  the  action  was  taken,  and  Edward  Godfrey,  as 
governor  of  the  province,  summoned  a  provincial  general  court  to 
meet  December  1,  1651.  On  the  third  day  of  the  session,  the 
court  directed  Mr.  Godfrey,  Mr.  Leader  and  Mr.  Shapleigh  to 
draw  up  a  petition  to  Parliament  for  a  confirmation  of  the  exist- 
ing provincial  government.  This  petition,  prepared  by  Godfrey, 
professing  free  and  willing  submission  to  the  government  of  Eng- 
land as  then  established  "without  a  King  or  House  of  Lords", 
called  attention  to  the  circumstances  under  which  the  colonists 
had  been  compelled  to  take  upon  themselves  the  government  of 
the  province,  making  mention  especially  of  the  death  of  Sir  Fer- 
dinando  Gorges,  and  the  failure  of  his  son  and  heir  to  identify 
himself  with  the  interests  of  the  province.  Having  thus  been 
forced  '  'by  way  of  combination  to  govern  and  rule  according  to 
the  laws  of  England' ' ,  in  behalf  of  the  general  court  the  governor 
asked  for  a  confirmation  of  the  government  thus  established  and 
requested  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  as  free-born  Eng- 
lishmen, might  be  declared  members  of  the  Commonwealth  of 
England.2 

But  Godfrey  did  not  cease  his  opposition  to  the  proposed  action 
of  Massachusetts  with  the  preparation  of  this  petition.  Toward 
the  close  of  May,  1652,  he  addressed  an  earnest  letter  to  Edward 
Rawson,  secretary  of  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts,  chal- 
lenging the  claim  of  the  Bay  colony  to  Maine  territory  as  included 
within  Massachusetts  limits.  In  his  reply,  which  was  by  order 
of  the  general  court,  Rawson  defended  the  action  against  which 
Godfrey   had    remonstrated.     To    this   communication    Godfrey 

1  Records  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  III,  251. 

2  Hazard,  I,  559,  560. 


372  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COIyONIAE  MAINE). 

made  a  vigorous  answer  July  9,  1652.  "For  our  perusal  of  your 
patent  and  your  line",  he  wrote,  "we  apprehend  the  bounds 
thereof  were  set  more  than  twenty  years  last  past,  at  the  sea-side 
and  so  up  into  the  country  from  the  sea  three  miles  on  this  side 
Merrimac,  as  all  other  patents  were  which  are  no  less  than  ten  in 
number,  that  we  perceive  by  the  extension  of  your  unknown  line 
you  now  willingly  labor  to  engraft".  Against  such  pretended 
jurisdiction  Godfrey  earnestly  protested.  "We  are  loath  to  part 
with  our  precious  liberties  for  unknown  and  uncertain  favors " , 
he  wrote.  "We  resolve  to  exercise  our  just  jurisdiction  till  it 
shall  please  the  Parliament,  the  Commonweal [th]  of  England, 
otherwise  to  order  under  whose  power  and  protection  we  are."1 

The  general  court  of  Massachusetts  made  no  haste  in  the  pro- 
cedure. The  action  of  the  court  in  connection  with  the  perusal 
of  its  charter  did  not  take  place  until  May  31,  1652.  The  com- 
missioners did  not  receive  their  instructions  to  repair  to  Kittery 
until  June  11,  1652.  On  account  of  a  change  in  the  membership 
of  the  commission  as  finally  constituted,  William  Hawthorne, 
John  Iyeverett  and  Henry  Bartholomew  represented  the  colony  of 
Massachusetts  bay  in  the  Kittery  conference,  which  seems  to  have 
been  held  July  9,  1652.  Edward  Godfrey,  Richard  Leader, 
Nicholas  Shapleigh,  Thomas  Withers  and  Edward  Rishworth, 
who  declared  themselves  "to  be  persons  in  present  power  for  the 
ordering  and  managing  of  whatsoever  might  be  of  concernment  to 
the  people",  represented  the  Province  of  Maine.  There  is  no 
record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  conference.  Doubtless  there  was 
much  discussion,  but  Godfrey  and  those  associated  with  him 
declined  to  accept  the  overtures  of  the  Massachusetts  commis- 
sioners. 

Because  of  this  action  it  only  remained  for  the  commissioners 
to  present  the  protest  of  Massachusetts  as  their  instructions 
required.  It  did  not  appear  to  them,  the  commissioners  said,  that 
Godfrey  and  others,  representing  the  Province  of  Maine,  pos- 
sessed any  rightful  authority,  inasmuch  as  the  provincial  territory 

1  Hazard,  I,  567,  568. 


THE  JURISDICTION   OF   MASSACHUSETTS   ACCEPTED.  373 

was  included  in  the  limits  of  the  patent  of  the  Bay  colony,  and  so 
by  grant  and  charter,  under  the  great  seal  of  England,  was  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts.  But  they  were  authorized  to 
say  that  those  submitting  themselves  thereunto  should  "freely 
and  quietly  possess  and  enjoy  all  the  lands,  goods  and  chattels 
appertaining  to  and  possessed  by  any  or  every  of  them"  and  that 
they  should  have  "right  and  equally  share"  in  all  acts  of  favor  and 
justice  which  by  virtue  of  government  the  inhabitants  of  Massa- 
chusetts "do  or  may  expect  to  enjoy".  Then  followed  the  pro- 
test of  Massachusetts  against  any  person  or  persons  within  the 
Province  of  Maine  exercising  jurisdiction  over  the  inhabitants  of 
the  province,  or  any  part  thereof,  after  October  10,  1652,  without 
order  from  the  general  court  or  council  of  the  colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts bay.1 

The  commissioners'  announcement  of  this  protest  was  dated 
July  9,  1652.  This,  also,  was  the  date  of  Governor  Godfrey's 
answer  to  Secretary  Rawson's  letter  of  June  12,  1652,  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made.  It  was  also  the  date  of  the 
answer  made  by  Godfrey  and  his  associates,  "sworn  magistrates" 
of  the  Province  of  Maine,  to  the  Massachusetts  protest.  Evi- 
dently, July  9,  1652,  was  a  busy  day  in  Kittery.  The  answer 
made  to  the  protest  by  the  magistrates  of  the  Province  of  Maine 
was  plainly  the  work  of  Governor  Godfrey.  It  assailed  again  the 
action  of  the  Bay  colony  in  attempting  to  extend  its  jurisdiction 
northward.  "The  truth  doth  and  shall  appear",  it  was  said, 
that  where  their  bounds  were  set  up  more  than  twenty  years 
passed,  and  both  before  and  since  many  patents  [have  been] 
granted  for  the  populating  and  propagating  of  the  land' ' .  In  this 
way,  it  was  added,  a  large  sum  of  money  had  been  expended. 
Also  lawful  jurisdiction  had  been  exercised  by  officers  "acknowl- 
edged and  owned  by  you  of  the  Massachusetts",  and  "approved 
and  justified  in  England".  And  now,  for  these  gentlemen  to 
come  "in  the  name  only  and  behalf  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Massachusetts",  saying  that  the  inhabitants  who  "shall  submit 

1  Hazard,  I,  568,  569. 


374  THE  BEGINNINGS  OF   COIvONIAI,   MAINE. 

unto  them  shall  freely  and  quietly  possess  and  enjoy  all  the  lands, 
goods,  chattels,  and  that  we  shall  enjoy  equal  favors  in  acts  of 
government, — these  proposals  are  not  in  our  judgment  meet ;  the 
time,  places  and  persons  considered  we  patiently  bear  them,  and 
submit  to  be  judged  by  those  whom  we  acknowledge  to  be  our 
supreme  judges.  Against  exercise  of  jurisdiction,  we  resolve  and 
intend  to  go  on  till  lawful  power  command  us  the  contrary,  as 
subordinate  and  depending  upon  the  Commonwealth  of  England." 

On  receiving  the  report  of  the  commissioners,  the  general  court 
of  Massachusetts  evidently  saw  no  reason  for  discouragement. 
Its  conference  had  revealed  the  attitude  of  the  provincial  officers 
only.  It  was  now  resolved  to  appeal  to  the  inhabitants  as  a  whole. 
Accordingly,  October  23,  1652,  the  court  appointed  six  commis- 
sioners to  settle  the  civil  government  amongst  the  inhabitants  of 
Kittery,  the  Isles  of  Shoals,  '  'and  so  to  the  most  northerly  extent" 
of  the  colony's  patent.  By  their  instructions,  the  commissioners 
were  to  proceed  to  the  territory  north  of  the  Piscataqua,  and  sum- 
mon the  inhabitants  to  assemble  in  places  deemed  by  the  commis- 
sioners most  convenient  and  require  their  submission,  granting 
unto  them  at  the  same  time  equal  protection  and  privileges  with 
the  inhabitants  of  the  Bay  colony.  They  were  also  to  establish 
courts  for  hearing  and  determining  all  causes,  civil  and  criminal, 
to  appoint  commissioners,  constables  and  such  other  officers  as 
they  deemed  needful  for  preserving  peace  and  good  order,  'and 
otherwise  to  act  in  the  premises"  as  the  general  court  shall  direct, 
doing  whatever  in  their  wisdom  and  discretion  would  be  most  con- 
ducive to  the  glory  of  God,  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  inhabi- 
tants and  the  maintenance  of  their  own  '  'just  rights  and  inter- 
ests."2 

Four  of  the  six  commissioners,  namely,  Simon  Bradstreet  and 
Samuel  Simonds  of  Boston,  Captain  Thomas  Wiggin  of  New 
Hampshire  and  Bryan  Pendleton  of  the  Province  of  Maine,  pro- 

1  Hazard,  I,  569,  570. 

2  2  Massachusetts  Records,  128,  as  cited  by  Williamson,  History  of  the 
State  of  Maine,  I,  343. 


THE   JURISDICTION   OF  MASSACHUSETTS  ACCEPTED.  375 

ceeded  to  Kittery,  where  they  opened  a  court  November  15,  1652, 
and  issued  a  summons  to  the  inhabitants  to  assemble  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  between  seven  and  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  at 
the  house  of  William  Everett.  The  inhabitants  appeared  as  sum- 
moned, and  the  conference  was  opened  by  the  Massachusetts  com- 
missioners, who  presented  evidence  of  their  appointment  and  also 
the  instructions  they  had  received.  For  four  days  there  was  full 
and  free  discussion.  In  general,  the  temper  of  both  parties  was 
good,  but  evidences  of  strong  feeling  are  reported  and  mention  is 
made  of  the  offensive  bearing  and  words  of  one  John  Bursley,  who, 
towards  the  commissioners  and  some  of  the  residents  of  Kittery 
that  apparently  were  ready  to  subscribe  their  submission,  indulged 
in  threats  to  such  an  extent  that  at  once  he  was  brought  to  trial 
and  confession  for  his  misbehavior.  Finally,  the  inhabitants 
declared  their  willingness  to  give  written  consent  to  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Massachusetts,  provided  certain  conditions  offered  by  them 
were  accepted.  This  offer  the  commissioners  declined  on  the 
ground  that  their  instructions  required  the  submission  of  the 
inhabitants  first ;  then,  a  guaranty  of  rights  and  of  ample  privi- 
leges would  follow.  Evidently  further  opposition  was  thought  to 
be  useless,  and  November  20,  1652,  forty-one  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Kittery  subscribed  to  the  following  declaration:  "We  whose 
names  are  underwritten  do  acknowledge  ourselves  subject  to  the 
government  of  Massachusetts  bay  in  New  England." 

In  fourteen  articles  the  commissioners  then  enumerated  the 
rights  and  privileges  the  people  of  Kittery  were  to  possess  under 
the  government  of  Massachusetts.  The  territory  north  of  the 
Piscataqua  was  to  comprise  a  county  known  as  Yorkshire.  The 
inhabitants  were  to  have  "protection  and  equal  acts  of  favor  and 
justice"  with  those  dwelling  on  the  south  side  of  the  Piscataqua. 
Kittery  was  to  remain  a  township,1  and  enjoy  the  privileges  of 
other  Massachusetts  towns.  Titles  to  property  in  houses  and 
lands  "whether  by  the  grant  of  the  town  or  of  the  Indians",  or  of 
those  justly  holding  them.     Kittery  was  promised  a  deputy  to  the 

1  Kittery  was  incorporated  as  a  town  in  1647. 


376  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COEONIAI,   MAINE. 

general  court,  and  two  if  "they  think  good".  All  the  present 
inhabitants  of  the  town  were  to  be  regarded  as  freemen  of  the 
country,  and  having  taken  the  oath  as  freemen  they  were  to  have 
liberty  to  vote  for  "governor,  assistants  and  other  general  officers 
of  the  country".  Moreover,  the  county  of  York  was  to  have 
county  courts  in  the  most  commodious  and  fit  places,  "as  author- 
ity shall  see  meet  to  appoint".  Provision  also  was  made  for  every 
township  to  have  three  men  appointed  by  the  county  court  for  the 
trial  of  minor  causes,  in  places  where  there  was  no  resident  magis- 
trate or  commissioner.  The  county,  also,  was  to  have  three 
associates  to  assist  such  commissioners  as  the  present  commission- 
ers, or  such  as  might  afterwards  be  sent.  Furthermore  the  men 
of  the  whole  county  of  York  were  not  to  be  drawn  upon  for  any 
ordinary  general  trainings  out  of  their  own  territory  without  their 
consent.1 

How  many  of  the  inhabitants  declined  to  acknowledge  their 
submission  to  Massachusetts  at  that  time  is  not  known.  It  is  said 
there  were  some ;  but  the  forty-one  who  yielded,  and  by  subscrip- 
tion acknowledged  themselves  subjects  to  the  government  of 
Massachusetts,  comprised  a  majority  and  probably  a  large  major- 
ity of  the  freemen  of  the  place. 

Having  completed  their  labors  at  Kittery,  the  commissioners  on 
Monday,  November  22,  proceeded  to  Agamenticus,  Gorges'  Gor- 
geana,  where,  in  response  to  the  commissioners'  summons,  the 
inhabitants  assembled  at  the  house  of  Nicholas  Davis.  Prominent 
among  them  was  Edward  Godfrey,  still  representing  the  Gorges 
interests.  Doubtless  during  the  conference  of  the  preceding  week 
at  Kittery  he  had  been  in  close  touch  with  friends  there  holding 
like  views  with  reference  to  the  claims  of  Massachusetts  ;  and  in 
the  submission  of  Kittery' s  inhabitants  he  could  hardly  have 
failed  to  foresee  the  issue  of  the  conference  in  his  own  town. 
None  the  less,  however,  in  a  day  of  "debatements",  his  voice 
rang  out  loud  and  clear  in  opposition  to  any  encroachment  upon 
territory  that  had  long  been  known   as  the  Province  of  Maine. 

1  Hazard,  I,  573,  574. 


the;  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts  accepted.       377 

But  it  was  of  no  avail.  At  the  close  of  the  day,  when  the  vote 
was  taken,  the  inhabitants  of  Agamenticus  took  the  same  action 
as  the  inhabitants  of  Kittery  on  the  preceding  Saturday.  As 
recorded  by  the  commissioners  the  vote  was  as  follows:  "Mr. 
Godfrey  did  forbear  until  the  vote  was  passed  by  the  rest,  and 
then  immediately  he  did  by  word  and  vote  express  his  consent".1 
According  to  Godfrey's  own  statement,  however,  his  submission 
was  with  a  mental  reservation.  In  a  later  appeal  to  Parliament, 
he  wrote,  "Whatever  my  body  was  inforced  unto,  heaven  knows 
my  soul  did  not  consent  unto".2  The  statement  seems  to  belong 
to  a  considerably  later  period  in  Godfrey's  life,  as  in  the  endorse- 
ment at  the  close  of  the  petition  occur  the  words,  "This  was  after 
Richard  Cromwell  was  out",  and  therefore  after  April  22,  1659. 
In  no  sense  could  it  be  said  that  Godfrey  was  under  any  outward 
compulsion  in  yielding  submission  to  the  government  of  Massa- 
chusetts. His  submission,  it  is  true,  was  an  unwilling  one,  but 
the  act  was  his  own.  Of  course  his  conviction  with  reference  to 
his  rights  remained  unchanged.  To  the  best  of  his  ability  he  had 
opposed  the  onward  advance  of  Massachusetts  into  territory  north 
of  the  Piscataqua.  But  now,  even  his  fellow  townsmen  were  not 
in  agreement  with  him  ;  and  when  this  fact  was  made  clear  by 
their  votes  at  the  close  of  the  conference,  he  yielded  and  added 
his  vote  to  the  forty-nine  votes  already  recorded.3 

This  concession  on  the  part  of  Godfrey  has  been  called  a  mistake. 
Rather  it  seems  to  have  been  the  only  course  open  to  him  if  he 
was  to  have  any  helpful  influence  at  Agamenticus.4  The  oppor- 
tunity for  such  helpful  influence  appeared  when  he  received  an 
appointment  as  the  first  of  four  commissioners  to  whom,  with  one 
assistant  of  the  Massachusetts  government,  was  given  authority 

1  Hazard,  I,  575. 

2  Colonial  Papers,  Public  Records  Office,  London,  XIII,  79.  Me.  Hist. 
Society's  Coll.,  First  Series,  IX,  347. 

3  For  the  privileges  granted  to  the  inhabitants  see  Hazard,  I,  576. 

*  From  the  Massachusetts  commissioners  Agamenticus  now  received  the 
designation  York,  and  became  the  second  town  within  the  limits  of  what  is 
the  State  of  Maine. 


378  the  beginnings  of  colonial  maine. 

to  keep  one  county  court  at  York  each  year,  while  any  three  of 
them  were  authorized  to  try  cases  without  a  jury.  They  were 
also  empowered  to  conduct  the  affairs  of  the  county  in  general. 
This  position  Godfrey  held  for  three  successive  years.  But  the 
fires  of  resentment  continued  to  burn  in  his  breast ;  and  at  length, 
probably  in  1655,  he  left  Agamenticus  and  made  his  way  to  Eng- 
land in  the  hope  of  securing  from  the  home  government  redress 
for  the  losses  he  had  sustained.  During  Cromwell's  Protectorate, 
however,  and  also  during  the  Protectorate  of  his  son  Richard, 
conditions  were  unfavorable  for  a  successful  presentation  of  his 
case.  In  1660,  however,  with  the  restoration  of  Charles  II,  the 
withered  hopes  of  Godfrey  and  the  heirs  of  Gorges  and  Mason 
suddenly  brightened.  Yet,  under  even  these  changed  circum- 
stances, disappointment  upon  disappointment  followed  ;  and  when 
we  obtain  our  last  glimpses  of  Godfrey,  he  is  an  inmate  of  L,ud- 
gate  jail,  London,  hopeless,  friendless,  bending  under  the  weight 
of  more  than  fourscore  years ;  and  there,  on  an  unknown  date,  it 
is  supposed  that  he  died.  His  burial  place,  like  that  of  Robert 
Trelawny,  is  unknown.1 

Thus,  in  1652,  by  a  direct  appeal  to  the  people,  Massachusetts 
succeeded  in  extending  her  jurisdiction  over  the  nearest  of  the 
Maine  settlements.  Her  success  foreshadowed  such  added  action 
on  the  part  of  the  Bay  colony  as  would  bring  to  an  end  any 
exercise  of  authority  derived  from  the  proprietary  governments  of 
Gorges  and  Rigby.  Yet  again  there  was  no  hasty  action  in  fur- 
ther procedure.  In  May,  1653,  the  general  court  of  Massachu- 
setts admitted  two  representatives  from  Maine,  one  from  Kittery 

1  The  last  information  concerning  him  is  in  a  letter  written  in  prison  in 
April,  1663.  "There  we  leave  him  in  the  poor  debtor's  cell,  where  he  had 
lived  for  two  years.  The  end  probably  came  soon  after,  for  it  could  not  have 
been  delayed  long  ;  and  Kdward  Godfrey,  once  governor  of  the  Province  of 
Maine,  who  bore  unchallenged  the  arms  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  the  knightly 
king  of  Jerusalem,  was  probably  thence  buried  as  a  public  pauper  in  the 
Potter's  Field,  without  stone  or  stake  to  mark  his  grave,  and  his  name  and 
story  have  been  almost  lost  in  the  two  centuries  that  have  passed."  Dr. 
Charles  F.  Banks,  Maine  Hist '.  Society' 's  Coll.,  First  Series,  IX,  335. 


THE  JURISDICTION   OF   MASSACHUSETTS   ACCEPTED.  379 

and  one  from  York.  Shortly  after,  however,  having  approved 
the  wise  and  successful  work  of  the  commissioners  at  Kittery  and 
York,  the  court  appointed  commissioners  to  extend  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  colony  still  farther  northward  so  as  to  include  Wells, 
Saco  and  Cape  Porpoise.  Equal  success  attended  the  efforts  of 
the  commissioners  in  these  settlements,  and  July  5,  1653,  their 
inhabitants  by  their  votes  placed  themselves  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  Massachusetts.1 

About  this  time  the  Plymouth  colonists,  somewhat  tardily 
indeed,  were  directing  attention  to  the  lack  of  good  government 
in  its  Maine  territory  on  the  Kennebec.  Some  one,  evidently, 
had  reminded  the  Pilgrims  of  their  failure  to  comply  with  the 
requirement  of  their  charter  that  the  English  settlers  on  the  river 
within  the  colony's  territorial  limits  "should  be  orderly  governed 
and  carried  on  in  a  way  of  peace  for  their  common  good  in  civil 
concernments".2  This  requirement  they  had  not  fulfilled,  and 
the  general  court  of  the  Plymouth  colony  now  authorized  Thomas 
Prence,  one  of  the  colony's  honored  magistrates,  to  proceed  to 
the  Kennebec  and  call  together  the  inhabitants  along  the  river 
"for  the  settling  of  a  government" .  Mr.  Prence  made  his  way 
thither,  and  May  23,  1654,  the  people  assembled  at  the  house  of 
Thomas  Ashley  at  Merrymeeting  bay,  where  sixteen  persons, 
including  Thomas  Purchase,  took  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Com- 
monwealth of  England  and  Plymouth  colony,  and  agreed  upon  a 
series  of  articles  designed  to  secure  a  proper  observance  of  law  and 
order  within  the  limits  of  the  Pilgrim  grant.3 

1  Records  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  in  New  England,  III,  332-334. 

2  Hazard,  I,  583. 

3  lb.,  I,  585,  586.  A  glance  at  the  later  history  of  the  Pilgrim  grant  on 
the  Kennebec  is  interesting.  When  the  general  court  of  the  colony  met  at 
Plymouth,  June  6,  1660,  it  was  voted  that  if  ^"500  could  be  obtained  for  the 
colony's  rights  on  the  Kennebec,  the  grant  should  be  sold.  In  accordance 
with  this  vote  the  Pilgrims,  in  1661,  sold  all  their  lands  on  either  side  of  the 
river  to  Antipas  Boies,  Edward  Tyng,  Thomas  Brattle  and  John  Winslow. 
These  four  persons  and  their  heirs  held  these  Kennebec  lands  nearly  a  cen- 
tury, making  no  endeavor  to  colonize  them.  In  September,  1749,  a  meeting 
of  the  proprietors  was  held  with  a  view  to  the  introduction  of  settlers.     Other 


380  THE)   BEGINNINGS   OF    COLONIAL   MAINE. 

As  yet,  still  farther  to  the  eastward,  there  was  little  if  any 
endeavor  to  make  proper  provision  for  securing  the  benefits  of 
good  government.  The  necessity  was  recognized,  but  the  ways 
and  means  were  not  discoverable.  And  still  Massachusetts,  while 
watchful  of  the  territory  beyond  Saco,  delayed  added  action  in 
extending  her  jurisdiction.  There,  men  of  considerable  influence, 
like  Henry  Josselyn,  Robert  Jordan  and  Arthur  Mackworth,  con- 
tinued their  opposition  to  the  claims  of  Massachusetts,  as  also  did 
George  Cleeve  ;  the  former  on  religious  and  political  grounds,  and 
the  latter  in  an  endeavor  to  retain  his  place  in  connection  with  the 
Rigby  interests  which  otherwise  would  be  blotted  out.  To  Cleeve 's 
protest  against  any  further  encroachment  Massachusetts  made 
reply:  "We  have  not  endeavored  to  infringe  the  liberties  of  the 
planters  of  those  lands,  but  have  offered  them  the  same  with  our- 
selves ;  nor  to  nourish  or  ease  ourselves  by  taxing  of  their  estates, 
to  ease  ourselves.  We  expect  no  more  than  what  they  formerly 
did,  namely,  bear  their  own  charges  ;  nor  do  we  seek  to  put  upon 
them  that  which  we  ourselves  would  count  unequal,  namely,  to 
subject  [them]  to  such  laws  and  constitutions  made  by  others 
without  their  consent,  it  being  the  portion  of  most  of  our  present 
inhabitants,  as  of  the  subjects  of  most  countries,  to  be  in  no  other 
capacity  ;  the  constitutions  of  government  and  new  model  of  laws 
not  being  made  in  every  age  of  men,  or  upon  the  arrival  of  new 
comers  to  a  colony".1 

But  all  the  while,  Massachusetts  held  firmly  to  her  purpose. 
At  length,  having  received  "divers  complaints  for  want  of  gov- 
ernment at  the  westward,  the  Massachusetts  authorities  May  15, 
1657,  addressed  a  letter2  to  Henry  Josselyn  and  Robert  Jordan, 
requesting  them  to  meet  the  commissioners  of  the  colony  at  the 

proprietors  were  admitted,  and  in  June,  1753,  a  corporation  was  formed 
under  the  title  of  "The  Proprietors  of  the  Kennebec  Purchase  from  the 
late  Colony  of  New  Plymouth".  The  Kennebec  Purchase  Papers,  carefully 
arranged  chronologically,  were  presented  to  the  Maine  Historical  Society  by 
Hon.  Reuel  Williams,  of  Augusta. 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents ,  295,  296. 

2  lb.,  296,  297. 


THE  JURISDICTION   OP  MASSACHUSETTS   ACCEPTED.  381 

next  county  court  at  York,  to  assist  in  settling  "those  parts 
beyond  Saco,  to  the  utmost  bounds  of  the  Massachusetts  charter. 
As  neither  appeared  in  answer  to  this  request,  Massachusetts  pro- 
ceeded to  summons  the  inhabitants  in  the  territory  mentioner"  to 
present  themselves  at  the  general  court  to  be  held  in  Boston  October 
14,  1657.  Again  there  was  default.  Cleeve,  however,  responded 
by  a  protest  against  the  legality  of  the  action  of  Massachusetts  in 
extending  her  jurisdiction  into  Maine  territory,  adding  an 
announcement  that  the  inhabitants  had  resolved  not  to  yield  sub- 
mission to  the  government  of  the  Bay  colony. 

To  this  protest  the  general  court  of  Massachusetts,  October  23, 
1657,  replied  by  a  "declaration  and  protestation",1  reaffirming  its 
'"'right  and  claim  to  those  parts",  but  asserting  its  purpose  to  "sur- 
cease any  further  prosecution",  at  the  same  time  insisting  that  "if 
any  mischief  or  inconvenience"  should  result  "by  means  of  their 

own  differences,  or  for  want  of  a  settled  government 

all  the  blame  and  danger  must  and  ought  to  be  imputed"   to 
the  inhabitants  themselves.     Here,   also,  it  was  made  to  appear 
that  Josselyn,  Jordan  and  Cleeve,  in  their  attitude  toward  Massa- 
chusetts, did  not  represent  the  people  among  whom  they  lived  ; 
and  in  response  to  added  complaints  of  unsettled  conditions,  com- 
missioners, appointed  by  the  general  court,  were  directed  to  repair 
to  Black  Point,  Richmond's  island  and  Casco  to  receive  the  sub- 
mission of  the  inhabitants.     In  attending  to  this  duty,  the  com- 
missioners held  a  court,  July  13,   1658,   at  the  house  of  Robert 
Jordan,  at  Spurwink.     Hither  came  a  majority  of  the  residents  in 
the  places   mentioned.     As   at   Kittery,  York,  Wells,  Saco   and 
Cape  Porpoise,  there  was  "serious  debate",  but  final  unanimity, 
"the  inhabitants  of  Black  Point,  Blue  Point,  Spurwink  and  Casco 
bay,  with  all  the  islands  thereunto  belonging",   acknowledging 
themselves  to  be  subject  to  the  government  of  Massachusetts  bay. 
Twenty-nine  persons  signed  the  form  of  submission.    Among  them 
appear  such  familiar  names  as  George  Cleeve,  Robert  Jordan  and 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  299. 


382  THE  BEGINNINGS   OP   COEONIAE  MAINE. 

Michael  Mitton.1  In  the  articles  of  agreement  it  was  announced 
that  the  places  formerly  known  as  Black  Point,  Blue  Point  and 
Stratton's  islands  would  be  called  Scarborough  henceforth.  Those 
places,  hitherto  known  as  Spurwink  and  Casco  bay  from  east  side 
of  Spurwink  river  to  the  Clapboard  islands  in  Casco  bay,  and  run- 
ning back  into  the  country  eight  miles,  would  be  called  hence- 
forth Falmouth.  Henry  Josselyn,  Robert  Jordan,  George  Cleeve, 
Henry  "Watts  and  Francis  Neale  were  appointed  commissioners 
for  the  year  ensuing  and  were  invested  with  full  power,  or  any 
three  of  them,  for  the  trial  of  all  causes  without  jury,  within  the 
limits  of  Scarborough  and  Falmouth ;  while  Henry  Josselyn, 
Robert  Jordan,  Nicholas  Shapleigh,  Edward  Rishworth  and 
Abraham  Preble  were  invested  with  magisterial  power  throughout 
the  county  of  York.2 

The  purpose  of  Massachusetts,  at  least  the  initial  purpose,  in 
her  invasion  of  Maine  territory,  was  now  accomplished.  It  was 
not  without  watchfulness  and  skilful  management,  however,  that 
under  changed  political  conditions  in  England  she  succeeded  in 
retaining  her  hold  upon  the  territory  thus  secured.  The  stars  in 
their  courses  seem  to  fight  on  her  side,  and  she  was  able  at  length 
to  extend  her  jurisdiction  into  the  larger  territory  still  farther  to 
the  eastward.  The  story  of  those  added  endeavors  is  one  of  very 
deep  interest,  but  it  belongs  to  a  period  outside  of  that  to  which 
the  present  volume  is  restricted. 

1  Baxter,  George  Cleeve,  Collateral  Documents,  301-303. 

2  lb.,  303-306. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 
Review  of  the  Period. 

IN  its  beginnings  colonial  Maine  seemed  to  possess  advantages 
that  promised  much  for  its  development  and  prosperity.  It 
had  prominent  and  powerful  promoters,  and  they  lost  no 
time  in  obtaining  a  foothold  here.  The  date  of  the  arrival  of  the 
Popham  colonists  at  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  is  only  a  little 
later  than  that  of  the  colonists  who  made  their  settlement  at 
Jamestown,  Virginia.  But  the  Popham  colony  was  a  failure. 
None  of  the  colonists  remained  in  the  country  when  Gilbert  and 
the  ships  returned  homeward.  English  fishermen  and  traders 
continued  to  make  their  way  to  the  coast  of  Maine,  but  of  settlers 
little  is  heard  for  many  years.  As  late  as  1620,  and  for  some  time 
afterward,  Maine  had  no  settlement  that  equalled  in  the  number 
of  its  inhabitants  that  of  the  Pilgrim  colony  at  Plymouth.  Indeed, 
after  the  landing  of  the  Puritans  at  Salem  and  Boston,  colonial 
Maine  had  no  rivals  to  the  larger  and  more  prosperous  communi- 
ties within  the  limits  of  the  BajT  colony.  This  was  also  true  at 
the  time  when  Massachusetts  extended  her  jurisdiction  over  the 
Maine  settlements. 

It  may  properly  be  asked,  therefore,  why  during  the  period 
covered  by  these  pages,  were  Maine  settlements  weak,  lacking 
elements  of  growth  and  stability,  as  compared  with  settlements  in 
other  parts  of  New  England  territory  ? 

Certainly  it  was  not  because  of  racial  differences  in  the  colonists. 
All  the  settlers  in  New  England  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth 
century  had  a  common  ancestry.  They  spoke  the  same  language, 
and  their  political  opinions  were  developed  under  the  same  condi- 
tions. But  they  were  not  all  on  the  same  side  in  the  great  move- 
ment toward  democrac3^  that  was  in  progress  in  the  period  now 


384  THE   BEGINNINGS  OP   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

under  review.  A  recent  English  historian1  tells  us  that  "the 
sovereignty  of  the  people"  and  "the  equality  of  man  with  man  in 
the  scales  of  justice' '  were  first  ushered  into  the  world  of  English 
politics  by  the  trial  of  Charles  I,  that  resulted  in  his  execution. 
As  to  the  final  act  in  the  conflict  between  the  king  and  the  House 
of  Commons  this  is  true.  Charles  had  no  use  for  political  princi- 
ples that  found  expression  in  such  notions  as  '  'the  sovereignty  of 
the  people' '  and  '  'the  equality  of  man  with  man  in  the  scales  of 
justice' ' .  His  own  views  concerning  king  and  people  he  stated 
frankly,  even  bluntly,  on  the  scaffold.  "For  the  people",  he 
said,  "truly  I  desire  their  liberty  and  freedom  as  much  as  any 
body  whatsoever ;  but  I  must  tell  you,  their  liberty  and  freedom 
consists  in  having  government,  those  laws  by  which  their  lives 
and  their  goods  may  be  most  their  own.  It  is  not  their  having  a 
share  in  the  government ;  that  is  nothing  appertaining  to  them. 
A  subject  and  a  sovereign  are  clear  different  things".2 

To  Charles  these  were  old  truths,  needing,  as  he  thought, 
reaffirmation.  For  them  he  was  ready  to  die.  It  has  well  been 
said  that  "nothing  in  Charles'  life  became  him  like  the  manner  in 
which  he  left  it' '  .3  In  that  solemn  hour  he  certainly  exhibited 
calm  dignity  and  bravery.  But  in  these  last  words  the  king  cor- 
rectly represented  his  attitude  towards  the  people  over  whom  he 
had  reigned  so  arbitrarily  as  to  make  his  trial  necessary.4 

Over  against  these  old-world  ideas  that  at  length  wrought  the 
ruin  of  the  Stuarts  stood  those  of  the  new  democracy,  which  for  a 
score  and  more  of  years  had  found  voices  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons declaring  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  and  the  supremacy 
of  Parliament.5     It  was  a  new  democracy.     It  had  its  beginnings 

1  George  Macaulay  Trevelyan,  England  under  the  Stuarts,  281. 

2  lb.,  289. 

3  S.  R.  Gardiner,  Puritan  Revolution,  160. 

*  "England  must  be  brought  under  a  settled  government;  and  a  settled  gov- 
ernment, with  Charles  to  stir  up  discord  against  every  element  in  the  state 
in  turn,  was  a  sheer  impossibility."     lb.,  158. 

5  Some  voices  were  heard  in  the  House  of  Lords,  but  in  the  progress  of 
the  movement  for  democracy,  the  influence  of  the  Lords  rapidly  declined. 


REVIEW  OF  THE   PERIOD.  385 

farther  back  than  the  trial  of  Charles,  however,  and  in  the  interest 
of  religious  rather  than  civil  liberty.  Happily  in  places  on  the 
continent  of  Europe  conditions  were  better  at  that  time  than  in 
England.  For  example,  when  the  Pilgrims,  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  left  the  land  of  their  birth  and  crossed  over 
into  Holland,  it  was  because  there  "they  heard  was  freedom  of 
religion  for  all  men".1  But  in  English  towns  and  villages  the 
word  "freedom"  was  already  stirring  the  thoughts  of  men  and 
becoming  forceful  to  such  a  degree  as  to  call  for  action  and  sacri- 
fice. But  before  their  departure  for  Holland,  the  need  of  civil 
freedom  must  have  been  strongly  impressed  upon  the  Pilgrims  on 
account  of  the  cruel,  it  might  indeed  be  called  brutal  treatment 
they  received  from  the  civil  authorities  in  their  experiences  in 
getting  out  of  England.2  During  their  residence  in  Holland, 
however,  their  civil  and  religious  ideals  were  enlarged  ;  and  at 
length,  looking  for  a  new  home  in  which  their  ideals  might  have 
such  fulfilment  as  they  desired,  the  Pilgrims  crossed  the  sea  and 
made  the  first  permanent  settlement  in  New  England.  To  what 
extent  their  ideals  had  been  enlarged  during  those  years  of  exile 
on  the  continent  appears  in  the  opening  words  of  their  General 
Laws  and  Liberties,  to  which  they  gave  these  fitting  words  of 
introduction : 

At  the  time  of  the  opening  of  the  I/ong  Parliament  (November  3,  1640) ,  it  is 
estimated  that  one-half  of  the  peers  supported  the  king,  while  about  thirty 
remained  at  Westminster  and  continued  to  act  with  the  majority  of  the  House 
of  Commons.  But  just  before  the  execution  of  Charles  (January  29,  1649) ,  the 
House  of  Commons  voted,  "That  the  House  of  Peers  is  useless  and  ought  to 
be  abolished."  It  was  abolished.  "Not  only  was  the  abolition  of  the  Upper 
House  the  necessary  preliminary  to  all  reforms,  it  was  justifiable  by  nature 
and  reason."  The  House  of  Lords  During  the  Civil  War,  by  Charles  Hard- 
ing Firth,  Regius  Professor  of  Modern  History  in  the  University  of  Oxford, 
213,  216. 

1  Bradford,  Journal,  15. 

2  These  experiences  are  quite  fully  related  by  Bradford  in  the  early  part  of 
his  Journal. 

25 


386  THE   BEGINNINGS  OF   COLONIAL   MAINE. 

"We,  the  associates  of  the  colony  of  New  Plymouth, 
coming  hither   as   free-born   subjects  of  the  kingdom  of 
England,   endowed  with   all   and   singular  the  privileges 
belonging  to  such,  being  assembled,  do  enact,  ordain  and 
constitute,  that  no  act,  imposition,  law  or  ordinance,  be 
made  or  imposed  upon  us  at  present  or  to  come,  but  such 
as  shall  be  made  or  imposed  by  consent  of  the  body  of  free- 
men or  associates,  or  their  representatives  legally  assem- 
bled, which  is  according  to  the  free  liberties  of  the  freeborn 
people  of  England".1 
The  causes  of  irritation  that  drove  the  Pilgrims  out  of  England 
in  the  closing  years  of  Elizabeth's  reign  were  also  forceful  during 
the  reign  of  her  successor.     Many  of  the  most  influential  and  con- 
scientious of  the  conformist  Puritans  in  the  English  church  felt 
compelled  to  leave  it.     "About  the  year  1620,  the  storm  began  to 
brew.     Strong  Protestants  of  all  sections  were  drawn  together  by 
a  vague  sense  of  approaching  peril,  which  thenceforward  inspired 

every  word  and  action  of  the  House  of  Commons So 

James  I,  when  he  died  [March  27,  1625],  left  Protestants  angry 
and  suspicious,  and  bold  in  the  consciousness  of  representing  pub- 
lic opinion."  2  Conditions  under  Charles,  however,  were  not  bet- 
ter than  under  James,  but  worse.  In  the  opening  years  of  his 
reign  it  was  only  too  evident  that  he  would  run  a  more  irritating 
course  than  his  father. 

Accordingly,  there  was  still  unrest  in  English  hearts  and  homes, 
and  when  at  length  this  was  aggravated  by  an  outbreak  of  reli- 
gious tyranny  that  became  increasingly  intolerable,  the  Puritans 
followed  the  Pilgrims  hither,3  with  the  purpose,  as  John  Winthrop 

1  From  a  copy  of  these  Laws  and  Liberties,  printed  at  Cambridge  in  1672, 
and  now  in  the  Maine  Historical  Society  library. 

2  Trevelyan,  England  under  the  Stuarts,  149,  150. 

8  "The  men  who  formed  the  strength  of  the  anti-monarchical  and  the 
Puritan  part  of  the  community  were  always  contemplating  emigration. 
England  sent  enough  of  these  elements  to  found  a  new  world  ;  but  if  the 
war  had  gone  differently,  she  would  have  sent  out  enough  to  ruin  herself. 
The  most  advantageous  merchants,  the  most  skilled  artisans,  the  lords  and 


REVIEW  OF  THE   PERIOD.  387 

said  on  the  voyage  over,  "to  seek  out  a  place  of  cohabitation  and 
consortship  under  a  due  form  of  government,  both  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical".1 By  "due  form  of  government"  Winthrop  did  not 
mean  a  form  characterized  by  such  a  measure  of  civil  and  religious 
liberty  as  the  descendants  of  Winthrop  and  his  fellow  voyagers 
now  enjoy.  The  full  vision  of  that  better  day  had  not  broken 
upon  them.  But  they  soon  framed  a  form  of  government  here, 
which,  with  all  its  shortcomings  as  we  now  see  them,  afforded  a 
freedom  from  political  and  ecclesiastical  constraint  greatly  in 
advance  of  what  they  had  known  hitherto,  and  which  in  time, 
under  the  protection  of  just  laws,  would  develop  the  principles  of 
true  freedom,  civil  and  religious,  to  an  extent  not  before  attained 
in  the  history  of  civilization,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  which,  even 
in  the  beginnings  of  the  Bay  colony,  they  greatly  prospered. 

In  this,  indirectly,  the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts  were  greatly 
aided  by  the  course  of  events  in  England.  Not  all  came  hither 
who  were  in  agreement  with  them  in  their  democratic  aspirations. 
Indeed  there  were  many  who  still  hoped  that  in  some  way  Charles 
would  be  made  to  see  how  destructive  to  his  own  interests,  as  well 
as  to  those  of  the  country,  was  the  course  he  had  taken,  and  that 
at  length  he  would  recognize  the  necessity  of  retracing  his  steps. 
But  the  hope  had  no  fulfilment,  and  more  and  more  the  conviction 
was  strengthened  that  "a  king  who  had  ruled  so  badly  in  the  past 
was  incapable  of  ruling  at  all  in  the  future' '  .2  And  so  there  fol- 
lowed what  is  sometimes  designated  as  the  "Puritan  Revolution", 
sometimes  as  the  "Civil  War"  and  sometimes  as  the  "Great 
Rebellion".  Charles  drew  to  his  standard  the  cavaliers,  includ- 
ing all  those  who  for  various  reasons  rallied  to  the  support  of  the 
king ;  while  around  Cromwell  gathered  the  yeomen  freeholders, 

gentlemen  who  took  counsel  for  the  liberties  of  their  country,  the  plough- 
men who  saw  visions,  the  tinkers  who  dreamed  dreams,  were  perpetually 
thinking  of  New  England.  Thither  twenty  thousand  Puritans  had  already 
carried  their  skill  and  industry,  their  silver  and  gold,  their  strivings  and 
hopes."     Trevelyan,  England  under  the  Stuarts ,  225. 

1  The  Puritan  Age,  Rev.  Dr.  George  E.  KHis,  50. 

2  S.  R.  Gardiner,  The  Puritan  Revolution,  126. 


388  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

many  of  the  smaller  country  squires,  tenant  farmers  not  a  few, 
some  of  the  gentry  and  large  numbers  of  the  dwellers  in  cities  and 
towns,  all  inspired  by  the  hope  of  securing  better  conditions  for 
themselves  and  their  children.  Generally  it  can  be  said  that  the 
Puritan  movement  was  the  strongest  in  the  eastern  and  middle 
countries  of  England,  while  the  king,  although  aided  by  devoted 
royalists  and  churchmen  in  towns  and  cathedral  cities,  relied  upon 
the  support  he  received  from  the  southwestern  counties.1  But  the 
cause  for  which  Charles  stood  was  a  losing  one.  Ill  success 
attended  his  forces ;  and  in  the  struggle  until  its  fatal  close  for 
the  king,  affairs  on  this  side  of  the  sea  received  no  attention.  In 
this  condition  of  things  in  England,  the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts 
were  left  to  develop  in  their  own  way  a  form  of  government  based 
upon  civil  liberty  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  people. 

The  colonists  who  came  to  Maine,  however,  were  moved  thereto 
by  other  influences  than  were  forceful  in  the  establishment  of  the 
Bay  colony  and  other  New  England  colonies.  The  Popham  colo- 
nists, on  account  of  their  early  return  homeward,  had  no  part  in 
New  England's  development ;  but  as  they  came  hither  under 
influences  that  continued  to  be  represented  here,  it  is  noteworthy 
that  those  who  were  instrumental  in  their  coming  were  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  king,  who,  by  his  language  and  his  acts,  had 
already  irritated  the  Puritans  of  England  in  such  a  way2  as  thus 
early  to  force  an  issue  between  king  and  Commons,  that  was  finally 
to  be  decided  on  memorable  battlefields  in  a  great  crisis  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  English  people. 

Very  little  is  known  concerning  the  settlers  who  had  homes  on 
the  Pemaquid  peninsula  in  1625,  and  at  other  places  between 
Pemaquid  and  the  Kennebec  at  a  later  period.  There  are  no 
known  facts  that  connect  them  with  any  movement  in  the  mother 

1  Trevelyan,  England  under  the  Stuarts,  228. 

2  Gorges,  in  a  letter  to  Cecil,  referring  to  conditions  in  England  at  the 
time  of  the  Popham  colony,  and  urging  the  importance  of  American  colo- 
nization to  the  English  people,  describes  them  as  "now  sick  in  despair  and 
in  time  will  grow  desperate  through  necessity".  Baxter,  Sir  Ferdinando 
Gorges,  III,  162. 


REVIEW  OP  THE   PERIOD.  389 

country  like  that  which  brought  the  Pilgrims  and  the  Puritans  to 
New  England.  They  seem  to  have  represented  no  organized 
enterprise,  but,  so  far  as  may  be  inferred  from  such  information 
as  has  been  preserved,  they  made  their  way  hither  out  of  personal 
considerations,  some  of  them  bringing  their  families,  allured  in  all 
probability  by  what  they  learned  from  traders  and  fishermen,  who 
called  their  attention  to  favorable  opportunities  for  advantageous 
settlement  upon  the  coast  of  Maine. 

At  the  same  time,  in  the  Province  of  Maine  a  few  voices  were 
heard  that  indicate  in  those  who  uttered  them  the  presence  of  the 
spirit  of  the  Puritan  movement  in  England.  Thus,  when  George 
Cleeve  was  told  by  John  Winter  that  he  was  a  trespasser  at  Spur- 
wink,  but  might  become  a  tenant  to  Trelawny  on  some  other  part 
of  the  latter's  Cape  Elizabeth  estate,  Cleeve  showed  plainly  where 
he  stood  by  his  very  democratic  reply  that  "he  would  be  tenant  to 
never  a  man  in  New  England".1  So  also  a  kindred  spirit  seems 
to  have  been  manifested  at  Richmond's  island  in  1636  by  the  six 
men  in  Winter's  employ,  who  "fell  into  such  a  mutiny"  that  they 
left  the  plantation  '  'to  fish  for  themselves' ' .  As  Winter  in  report- 
ing the  case  to  Trelawny  mentioned  the  names  of  the  men,  it  is 
possible  to  follow  them  and  learn  somewhat  of  their  subsequent 
history.2  They  all  seem  to  have  made  their  way  to  Portsmouth. 
The  one  whom  Winter  called  the  leader  of  the  party  was  evidently 
a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  for  he  was  one  of  the  parish- 
ioners who  "founded  and  built"  at  Portsmouth,  in  1640,  the  "par- 
sonage house,  chapel  with  the  appurtenances  at  their  own  proper 
costs  and  charges".  The  others,  also,  seem  to  have  been  citizens 
of  good  repute.  Evidently  these  men  felt  that  they  were  not 
receiving  just  treatment  from  Winter  ;  and  as  freemen  on  Ameri- 
can soil  they  asserted  what  they  regarded  as  the  right  of  freemen 
and  exchanged  Richmond's  island  and  John  Winter's  hard  condi- 
tions for  better  conditions  farther  down  the  coast. 

Two  others,  not  long  resident  in  Maine,  manifested  sympathy 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  265. 

2  lb.,  93,  and  note  by  Hon.  James  P.  Baxter. 


390  THE  BEGINNINGS   OF   COLONIAL  MAINE. 

with  the  Puritan  movement,  one  as  it  shaped  itself  on  this  side  of 
the  sea,  and  the  other  as  connected  with  efforts  in  England  to 
bring  the  despotic  rule  of  Charles  to  an  end.  The  first  was 
Edward  Trelawny,  who  soon  after  his  arrival  at  Richmond's 
island  in  1635,  drawn  thither  doubtless  on  account  of  the  interests 
of  Robert  Trelawny,  proceeded  to  Boston  on  a  visit.  While  there, 
in  a  letter  written  to  his  brother  Robert,  he  indicated  such  a 
degree  of  sympathy  with  the  Massachusetts  colonists  as  to  make 
it  evident  that  he  had  been  drawn  into  the  Puritan  movement.1 
The  other  was  Thomas  Gorges,  governor  of  the  Province  of 
Maine.  Having  in  1640-1643  faithfully  served  the  Gorges  inter- 
ests here,  finding  himself  out  of  harmony  with  the  supporters  of 
Charles  as  the  civil  war  opened,  he  resigned  his  governorship, 
returned  to  England  and  joined  the  parliamentary  party — an  act 
that  spoke  louder  than  words  as  to  his  attitude  in  that  time  of 
stress  and  storm. 

If  there  were  others  north  of  the  Piscataqua  who  were  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  Puritan  movement — and  doubtless  there  were — 
they  occupied  the  less  conspicuous  places  in  the  walks  of  life  and 
so  were  not  heard  from.  The  royalists  in  general  were  in  the 
positions  of  influence.  Their  voices  were  those  that  made  most 
frequent  and  forceful  expression,  and  thus  largely  gave  tone  to 
public  sentiment  as  it  found  utterance  in  Maine  settlements,  until 
their  inhabitants  came  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts. 

But  like  the  royalists  in  England,  the  Maine  royalists  were  on 
the  wrong  side  in  that  great  movement  in  which  through  Puritan 
warfare  the  battle  for  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  was  fought 

1  Trelawny  Papers,  72-74;  78,  79.  Referring  to  New  England  as  "blest 
and  beloved  of  the  Lord",  Trelawny  asks  :  "And  what  is  the  reason  of  all 
this  ;  surely  one  is  (as  I  conceive)  that  as  God's  people  are  come  into  a  new 
country,  where  they  freely  enjoy  the  liberty  of  his  holy  ordinance  without 
any  trouble  or  molestation  at  all,  either  of  bishop,  archbishop  or  any  other 
inferior  carping  minister  or  gaping  officer,  so  they  come  unto  the  land  and 
to  the  Lord  with  new  hearts  and  new  lives  and  enter  into  a  new  covenant  so 
to  continue  ever  to  their  end.  And  who  would  not  be  among  such  a  people 
and  in  such  a  land?"     Trelawny  Papers,  74. 


REVIEW  OF  TEE  PERIOD.  391 

and  won.  That  battle,  however,  as  subsequent  events  showed, 
was  not  directed  against  royalty,  but  against  the  arbitrary  meas- 
ures for  which  James  I  and  Charles  I  stood,  "it  is  useless  to 
ask",  says  a  recent  distinguished  English  historian,  referring  to 
Charles,  "whether  it  [the  House  of  Commons]  might  not  have 
regulated  the  king's  authority  instead  of  shattering  it.  It  was 
its  business  to  shatter  it,  because  with  Charles  on  the  throne  it 
was  impossible  to  regulate  it".1  It  was  an  important  period  in 
the  history  of  the  English  people.  It  meant  much  for  them  ;  it 
meant  much  for  the  whole  world  in  connection  with  the  develop- 
ment of  free  institutions.  "On  the  continent  of  Europe,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century  absolute  monarchy  had 
everywhere  triumphed  over  the  ruins  of  the  oligarchical  and 
feudal  liberties  of  the  middle  ages.  Never  were  the  notions  of 
right  more  completely  confounded  than  in  the  midst  of  the 
splendor  and  literature  of  Europe ;  never  was  there  less  political 
activity  among  the  people  ;  never  were  the  principles  of  true  free- 
dom less  widely  circulated."  This  is  the  statement  of  a  great 
French  scholar,2  who  turning  from  the  consideration  of  such  con- 
ditions upon  the  continent  found  in  the  Puritan  movement  of  the 
seventeenth  century  in  England  the  "fruitful  germs  of  free  insti- 
tutions" and  "the  doctrine  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people". 
Nor  was  he  satisfied  with  his  investigations  until  he  had  crossed 
the  sea  and  studied  here  the  further  development  of  those  princi- 
ples of  government  for  which  the  Puritans  of  England  contended 
in  the  great  uprising  against  Charles. 

1  S.  R.  Gardiner,  The  Puritan  Revolution,  118. 

2  Alexis  de  Tocqueville  in  Democracy  in  America,  24.  "During  the  sev- 
enteenth century  a  despotic  scheme  of  society  and  government  was  so  firmly 
established  in  Europe,  that  but  for  the  course  of  events  in  England  it  would 

have  been  the  sole  successor  of  the  mediseval  system But  at  this 

moment  the  English,  unaware  of  their  destiny  and  of  their  service,  tenacious 
only  of  their  rights,  their  religion  and  their  interests,  evoked  a  system  of 
government  which  differed  as  completely  from  the  continental  model  as  it 
did  from  the  chartered  anarchy  of  the  middle  ages."  Trevelyan,  England 
under  the  Stuarts,  1,2. 


392  THE   BEGINNINGS   OP    COEONIAE   MAINE. 

It  is  now  readily  admitted  that  those  who  supported  the  king 
in  that  crisis  in  England's  history  did  so  out  of  a  sense  of  loyalty 
and  duty,  having  regard  to  the  right  as  they  saw  the  right.  In 
such  a  crisis,  when  good  men  differ  and  the  lines  are  closely 
drawn,  it  is  not  easy  for  those  of  either  party  to  give  their 
opponents  just  credit  for  sincerity  and  honesty  of  purpose.  Dur- 
ing the  American  revolution,  the  tories  were  not  only  bitterly 
denounced,  but  in  many  cases  were  compelled  to  leave  their 
homes  and  seek  refuge  in  the  provinces,  or  in  England.  They 
are  no  longer  tories,  but  loyalists.1  So,  too,  in  the  civil  war  of 
1861-1865,  those  who  began  the  war  and  fought  until  they  had 
exhausted  the  means  of  war,  were  rebels.  They  are  now  confed- 
erates. Time  is  needed  in  order  to  reach  just  judgment.  But 
we  do  neither  the  loyalists  of  the  revolution,  nor  the  confederates 
of  the  south  any  injustice  in  saying  that  they  were  on  the  wrong 
side.  Some  of  them  have  said  so  themselves.2  The  supporters 
of  Charles  I  were  on  the  wrong  side. 

It   is  here,   therefore,   that  an  answer  is  to  be  found  to  the 

1  '  'A  few  years  ago  the  most  intense  hate  was  cherished  by  colonists  [refer- 
ring to  loyalists  in  the  British  provinces]  towards  people  of  the  United 
States.  Their  fathers  were  the  losers,  ours  were  the  winners  in  the  war  of 
the  Revolution.  Nor  was  kind  feeling  entertained  among  us.  It  was  thought 
disloyal  in  a  colonist,  and  to  evince  a  want  of  patriotism  in  a  citizen  of  the 
republic,  to  seek  to  promote  sentiments  of  love  on  either  side,  and  to  unite 
kinsmen,  who,  two  generations  ago,  were  severed  in  the  dismemberment  of 
the  British  empire.  But  the  change  is  wonderful,  and  some  persons  who 
commend  the  work  of  reconciliation  live  to  witness  the  consummation  of 
their  highest  hopes."  Lorenzo  Sabine,  Loyalists  of  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, I,  137. 

2  '  'The  world  has  not  stood  still  in  the  years  since  we  took  up  arms  for 
what  we  deemed  our  most  invaluable  right — that  of  self-government.  We 
now  enjoy  the  rare  privilege  of  seeing  what  we  fought  for  in  the  retrospect. 
It  no  longer  seems  desirable.  It  would  now  prove  only  a  curse.  We  have 
good  cause  to  thank  God  for  our  escape  from  it,  not  alone  for  our  sake,  but 
for  that  of  the  whole  country  and  even  of  the  world."  Brigadier  General  M. 
P.  Alexander,  chief  of  artillery  in  L/ongstreet's  corps.  Military  Memories 
of  a  Confederate,  introduction,  p.  viii.  General  Alexander  directed  the 
Confederate  artillery  fire  that  preceded  what  is  called  "Pickett's  charge"  at 
the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  July  3,  1863. 


REVIEW  OF  THE   PERIOD.  393 

inquiry,  Why,  during  the  period  under  review  in  the  preceding 
chapters,  did  Maine  settlements  fail  to  grow  and  prosper  as  did 
the  settlements  in  other  parts  of  New  Bngland  ?  Plainly  it  was 
because  the  men  who  were  influential  in  these  settlements  were 
largely  on  the  wrong  side.  Neither  they  nor  their  promoters  in 
England  were  inspired  by  the  high  ideals  with  reference  to  free- 
dom, religion  and  governmental  interests  that  drew  to  the  shores 
of  Massachusetts  bay  the  Pilgrims  and  the  Puritans.  In  new 
relations,  however,  colonial  Maine  more  and  more  caught  the 
spirit  of  the  new  democracy  as  the  years  rolled  on,  and  in  the 
later  unfoldings  of  her  political  history,  in  the  struggle  for 
national  independence,  in  the  founding  and  building  up  of  new 
and  prosperous  states  in  the  middle  west  and  northwest,  and  in 
the  preservation  of  the  Federal  Union,  Maine,  by  the  sturdy 
character  of  her  people  and  the  ability  of  her  statesmen,  has 
achieved  an  honorable  and  prominent  position  among  American 
commonwealths . 


INDEX. 


Abnaki  language,  75,  76. 

Acadia,  acquired  from  de  Monts,  102 ; 
receives  missionary  colony,  105,  106, 
107;  England's  claims,  116;  ceded 
by  French  king  to  company  of  New 
France,  265;  is  restored  to  France 
by  Charles  I,  266;  la  Tour  in  com- 
mand, 273;  Aulnay's  relations  to 
the  country,  274,  275;  reconquest  of 
by  England,  279. 

Accominticus,  128,  129. 

African  slave  trade,  9. 

Agamenticus,  129,  130,  160,  217,  255, 
293,  294,  311,  312,  315;  made  a  bor- 
ough, 317;  charter  provisions,  318; 
becomes  Gorgeana,  319, 320;  receives 
the  designation  York,  377. 

Agamenticus  river,  216,  217. 

Alden,  John,  248. 

Aldworth,  John,  22. 

Aldworth,  Robert,  23,  26,  142,  179; 
prominent  merchant  of  Bristol,  180; 
with  Giles  Flbridge  obtains  grant 
of  land  in  Maine,  217-219,  260,  306. 

Aldworth,  Thomas,  22,  23,  180. 

Aldworth  and  Flbridge,  252,  255,  260. 

Alexander,  Gen.  F.  P.,  concerning 
the  civil  war  in  the  United  States, 
393. 

Alexander,  Sir  William,  receives  royal 
charter  of  Nova  Scotia,  154,  264; 
Charles  I  extends  his  bounds,  265; 
later  cedes  Acadia  to  France,  266, 
269;  in  division  of  New  England, 
281. 

Alger,  Andrew,  334. 


Allen's  island,  43. 

Allerton,  Isaac,  186,  242,  267. 

Alum  from  pyritic  shale,  88,  89. 

Amadas,  Philip,  14. 

Amenquin,  87. 

Amoret,  44. 

Amsterdam,  141. 

Anasou,  34,  44. 

Andrew,  Samuel,  368. 

Andrews,  Prof.  C.  M.,  365. 

Androscoggin,  81,  128. 

Angel  Gabriel,  mention  of  vessel  lost 
at  Pemaquid,  251,  252,  254,  255,  285. 

Annapolis  Basin,  31. 

Antilles,  Lesser,  57. 

Aquamenticus,  169. 

Arabella  arrives  at  Salem  with  Puri- 
tan colonists,  195. 

Archangel,  Waymouth's  vessel,  38, 
39,  40,  41,  42,  43,  44,  45,  46,  48,  49, 
50,  60,  67,  70,  72. 

Argall,  Capt.  Samuel,  destroys  French 
colony  at  Mt.  Desert,  109-116,  127; 
draws  lot  for  Abraham  Jennings  in 
division  of  great  patent  for  New 
England,  166. 

Armada,  Spanish,  10,  11,  15,  24,  142. 

Arundell,  Earl  of,  37,  39,  50,  147,  164, 
166. 

Ashley,  Edward,  189. 

Ashley,  Francis,  244. 

Ashley,  Thomas,  379. 

Ashton,  church  at  Long,  340. 

Ashton  Court,  320,  340. 

Ashton  Phillips,  320,  340. 

Assacumet,  121. 


396 


INDEX. 


Asticou,  107. 

Aucocisco,  128,  129,  130. 

Augusta,  187,  188. 

Aulnay,  Razillai's  lieutenant  seizes 
Pilgrim  trading  house  at  Penobscot, 
253,  266,  268;  quarrels  with  la  Tour, 
273-278. 

Aumuckcawgen,  128. 

Azores  islands,  40,  67,  113. 

Bachiler,  Rev.  Stephen,  206,  297. 

Bacon,  L,ord,  137. 

Bagnell,  Walter,  199,  200,  213,  214. 

Baker,  John,  334. 

Baliol  College,  Oxford,  38,  305. 

Ballard,  Dr.  Edward,  42. 

Bancroft,  George,  26,  46,  93. 

Bangor,  105. 

Banks,  Dr.  Charles  E.,  293,  326. 

Banks,  Sir  John,  317. 

Barbadoes,  134,  209. 

Bar  Harbor,  106. 

Barlee,  Capt.  John,  122. 

Barlow,  Walter,  14. 

Barnett,  Bartholomew,  318. 

Barnstable,  136,  150. 

Bartholomew,  Henry,  372. 

Barton,  Regis,  178. 

Bashabe,  83,  84. 

Bates,  Dr.  Charles,  285. 

Baxter,  Hon.  James  P.,  26,  31,  37,  38, 
56,  65,  67,  89,  94,  99,  120,  122,  134, 
194,  210,  211,  245,  292,  297,  301, 
306,  311,  322,  326,  328,  340,  344,  354. 

Bay  of  Fundy,  31,  266. 

Beauchamp,  John,  202,  203. 

Belknap,  Dr.  Jeremy,  40. 

Bellingham,  deputy  governor,  271, 
272. 

Benner's  island,  43. 

Bessabez,  33. 

Best,  Capt.  Ellis,  80. 

Biard,  Father  Pierre,  101-109,  111- 
113,  119,  127. 

Bickford,  John,  237. 

Biddeford,  201. 


Biddeford  Pool,  170. 

Biencourt,  explores  Maine  coast,  1611, 

103,  119. 
Biscay,  seamen  of,  9, 
Black  Point,  207,  208,  213,  215;  accepts 

jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  381. 
Blackstone,  William,  202. 
Blue  Point  accepts  the  jurisdiction  of 

Massachusetts,  381. 
Boade,  Henry,  330. 
Boies,  Antipas,  379. 
Bond,  Henry,  310. 
Bond,  G.  T.,  149. 
Bonython  (Bonighton),  201,  205,  234, 

237,  245,  292,  294,  295,  315. 
Boothbay  harbor,  43,  44,  172. 
Bordeaux,  102,  108,  136. 
Boston,  England,  202. 
Boston,  New  England,  202,  206,  208, 

274,  275. 
Bowcer,  Sir  John,  155. 
Bowditch,  Nathaniel,  180. 
Bowdoin  College,  93. 
Bownd,  John,  150. 
Bradford,  William,  157,  161,  182,  183, 

185,  187-190,  246,  267,  268,  272,  385. 
Bradshaw,  Richard,  209,  210,  211,  221, 

223. 
Bradstreet,  Simon,  370,  374. 
Bragington,  Arthur,  318. 
Brasenose  College,  Oxford,  73,  250. 
Brattle,  Thomas,  379. 
Brawnde,  Capt.  Edward,  134,  135. 
Breda,  treaty  of,  279. 
Bristol,  England,  1,  5,  8,  16,  18,  22, 

23,  24,  25,  27,  28,  55,  61,  98,  136, 

141,  142,  148,  149, 150,  177,  178,  179, 

180,  198,  218,  251,  284,  285. 
Broad  bay,  163. 
Brooks,  Mr.,  152. 
Brooke,  Iyord,  247. 
Broughton,  Robert,  58. 
Brown,    Alexander,    25,   58,    61,    123, 

126. 
Brown,  John,  176,  177,  178,  179,  198, 

259. 


INDEX. 


397 


Brown,  John,  Jr.,  179. 

Brown,  Gen.  John  Marshall,  212. 

Brown  Library,  John  Carter,  40. 

Brown,  Richard,  178. 

Brunswick,  242. 

Brunswick,  falls  at,  81. 

Buckingham,  Duke  of,  184,  185,  190, 

191,  194. 
Bunyan,  John,  296. 
Burdett,  Rev.  George,  311,  312. 
Burgess,  Bishop  George,  73. 
Burgess,  John,  Sr.,  199. 
Burntisland,  43. 
Burrage,  Henry  S-,  99. 
Byrch,  William,  165. 

Cabot,  John,  1-3;  his  landfall,  4;  his 
second  expedition,  5,  6;  his  discov- 
ery, basis  of  England's  claim,  115; 
sailed  from  Bristol,  2,  142,  149. 

Cabot  bibliography,  4. 

Cabot,  Lewis,  1,  7. 

Cabot,  Sanctus,  1,  7. 

Cabot,  Sebastian,  1,  2,  7. 

Cabot  tower,  Bristol,  6. 

Cadiz,  11,  24. 

California,  Gulf  of,  265. 

Calvert,  Secretary,  151,  153,  155,  158, 
164. 

Cam,  Thomas,  39. 

Camden  and  Union  mountains,  42,  46, 
47. 

Camden  mountains,  68. 

Catnmock,  Capt.  Thomas,  207,  208, 
209,  213,  214,  215,  216,  226,  227,  234, 
257,  261,  296. 

Canada,  conquest  of,  197. 

Canary  islands,  57. 

Capawick,  121. 

Cape  Breton,  5,  7,  13,  20,  31,  57,  112, 
264. 

Cape  Charles,  141. 

Cape  Cod,  124,  127,  140,  141,  162,  170. 

Cape  Elizabeth,  81,  170,  172,  209,  210, 
213,  223,  237,  238. 

Cape  Elizabeth  lights,  223. 


Cape  la  Have,  105. 

Cape  Newaggen  (Capemanwagan)  172- 
176. 

Cape  Porpoise,  169. 

Cape  Porpoise  accepts  the  jurisdiction 
of  Massachusetts,  379. 

Cape  Sable,  264. 

Cape  Small  Point,  75. 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  287. 

Carolina,  North,  14,  15. 

Carew,  Master  Gome,  80. 

Cartier,  Jaques,  8. 

Casco,  171,  172,  173,  222. 

Casco  Bay,  34,  81,  82,  129,  171,  173, 
174,  217,  238,  242. 

Casco  Bay  accepts  the  jurisdiction  of 
Massachusetts,  381. 

Casco,  river  of,  238. 

Castine  (Pentegoet)  visited  by  Bien- 
court  and  Father  Biard  in  1611,  103; 
by  Capt.  John  Smith  in  1614,  127; 
occupied  by  the  Pilgrims  as  a  trad- 
ing post,  189,  267;  Aulnay  gets  pos- 
session, 268;  Pilgrims  attempt  to 
regain  the  place,  269-272;  la  Tour's 
expedition,  274-276;  remains  a 
French  outpost,  278;  restored  to 
France  by  treaty  of  Breda,  July  21, 
1667,  279. 

Cathaye,  Emperor  of,  18. 

Cecil  Papers,  56. 

Cecil,  Secretary,  65,  87,  89,  90,  91,  92, 
94,  120,  122. 

Challons,  Capt.  Henry,  56,  57,  58,  60, 
121,  122. 

Chamberlain,  J.  L.,  366. 

Champernoun,  Francis,  292. 

Champlain,  Samuel  de.,  29,  30,  32,  33, 
34,  35,  84,  213. 

Chapman,  Prof.  Henry  Iy.,  99. 

Charles  I  seeks  hand  of  Henrietta 
Maria  of  France,  174;  is  married, 
184;  dissolves  Parliament,  185; 
issues  proclamation  to  aid  Capt. 
Christopher  Levett,  191-195;  his 
government,    229;    extends  bounds 


398 


INDEX. 


of  Nova  Scotia,  265;  restores  Acadia 
to  France,  266,  has  in  view  a  gen- 
eral government  for  New  England, 
283;  abandons  Strafford,  298;  his 
conflict  with  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, 313,  314;  sets  up  his  stand- 
ard at  Nottingham,  321;  meets  over- 
whelming defeat  at  the  battle  of 
Naseby,  323,  335;  his  views  concern- 
ing king  and  people,  384;  his  execu- 
tion, 278,  384;  character  of  his  gov- 
ernment, 386;  the  things  for  which 
he  stood,  391. 

Charles  II,  279;  also  restores  Acadia  to 
France,  279. 

Charles  V  of  Spain,  2. 

Charter  of  southern  and  northern 
companies,  114. 

Charter,  surrender  of  great,  229,  232. 

Checkley,  Samuel,  208. 

Cheere,  Judith,  165. 

Cheere,  Nicholas,  165. 

Chesapeake  bay,  140. 

Christ  Church,  Oxford,  22. 

Civil  war  in  England,  commence- 
ment of,  298. 

Claim  of  England  in  1650  in  opposi- 
tion to  France,  357. 

Clapboard  islands  in  Casco  bay,  382. 

Clarendon,  I^ord,  286,  344,  346. 

Clarke,  Jonas,  368. 

Cleeve,  George,  locates  at  Spurwink, 
210,  211;  ordered  to  leave  by  John 
Winter,  Trelawny's  agent,  221,  222; 
removes  to  Machegonne,  223;  op- 
posed by  Winter  there  as  on  Tre- 
lawny's grant,  223-226;  goes  to 
England  and  secures  grant  of 
Machegonne  from  Gorges,  227,  228; 
added  opposition  from  Winter  and 
others,  235-240,  244,  256,  261;  mat- 
ters in  court,  293-297;  goes  to  Eng- 
land and  secures  an  ally  in  Col. 
Rigby,  325-327;  petitions  House  of 
Commons,     327-329;      returns     as 


deputy  president  of  Province  of 
Ivygonia,  330-338;  organizes  prov- 
ince and  receives  co-operation  of 
Josselyn  and  Jordan,  340-350;  con- 
flicts with  Jordan,  351-354;  sails  for 
England  and  consults  Edward 
Rigby,  360-362;  returns  and  seeks 
aid  of  Massachusetts,  367,  368;  pro- 
tests against  encroachment  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, 380;  accepts  jurisdiction 
of  Massachusetts,  381,  382;  his  char- 
acter, 354. 

Cleeve,  Elizabeth,  223,  259. 

Cleeve,  Joan,  223,  259. 

Coast  Survey  Pilot,  40. 

Cobestcont,  187. 

Cockington,  birthplace  of  Waymouth, 
17. 

Cogawesco,  172,  173. 

Coins  found  at  Richmond's  island,  200. 

Coke,  Sir  Edward,  153,  154,  156,  157, 
158. 

Coke,  Sir  John,  190,  191. 

Commission  of  Royal  Society  of  Can- 
ada, 4. 

Commons,  House  of,  abolishes  House 
of  I/ords,  385. 

Commonwealth  of  England,  278. 

Company  of  New  France,  263,  266, 
273. 

Concord,  Gosnold's  vessel,  19. 

Conway,  Secretary,  168. 

Cooper,  Capt.  Michael,  133. 

Cornwall,  136. 

Corvo,  40. 

Cotton,  Rev.  John,  202. 

Council  for  planting,  ruling  and  gov- 
erning New  England,  143,  154,  155, 
158,  162,  163,  164,  169,  174,  186,  197, 
201,  204,  205,  207,  209,  213,  215-217, 
221,  229,  232,  235,  243,  255,  260. 

Coves  in  St.  George's  river,  45. 

Cox,  William,  177,  259. 

Cranfield,  lord  treasurer,  149. 


INDEX. 


399 


Cromwell,  Oliver,  278,  279,  285;  con- 
cerning his  proposed  embarkation 
for  New  England,  285-287;  his 
death,  287;  his  supporters,  387,  388. 

Cromwell,  Richard,  377. 

Cross  erected  by  Waymouth  on  Allen's 
island,  43,  69,  70,  72. 

Cross,  tercentenary  memorial  on  Al- 
len's island,  43. 

Cross  erected  by  Waymouth  at  Thom- 
aston,  47. 

Cross,  William,  164. 

Crystal  Hill,  170. 

Cummings,  Rev.  E.  C,  108. 

Curry,  Dr.  J.  i,.  M.,  25,  76. 

Cushenoc,  188. 

Dale,  Sir  Thomas,  110,  115. 

Damariscotta,  179. 

Damariscotta  river,  219. 

Damariscove,  149,  156,  161,  175. 

Damariscove  islands,  130,  148. 

Damerell's  Cove,  97. 

Damerill,  Humphrey,  130. 

Damerils  isles,  129,  130. 

Dartmouth,  135,  136,  190. 

Dartmouth  Haven,  48,  49. 

Davies,  Capt.  James,  66,  79,  80. 

Davies,  Capt.  Richard,  79,  80. 

Davis,  Capt.  Robert,  80,  89. 

Davis,  Capt.  Sylvanus,  249,  250. 

Davis  island,  43. 

Davison,  Nicholas,  307. 

Dawson,  Dr.  S.  E.,  3,  4. 

Dean,  John  Ward,  154,  283,  286. 

Deering,  Capt.  Charles,  170. 

De  Costa,  Dr.  B.  P.,  26,  66. 

Dehamda,  49,  60,  72,  124. 

Dehanada,  72. 

De  la  Warr,  L,ord,  109. 

Delaware  river,  141. 

Democracy,  the  new,  384. 

De  Monts,  Sieur  Pierre  de  Guast,  29; 
receives  charter  of  American  terri- 
tory, 29,  30;  sails  with  colony,  31; 
locates  colony  on  St.  Croix  island, 


32;  explores  farther  down  the  coast, 

33,  34;  settlement  abandoned,    35, 

101,  103,  113,  143. 
Denison,  Maj.  Daniel,  370. 
Dennis,  Prof.  A.  I,.  P.,  26. 
Dermer,  Capt.  Thomas,  138,  139,  140, 

141. 
Devonshire,  136. 
Dieppe,  102,  138. 
Digges,  Sir  Dudley,  185. 
Discoverer  (Pring's  vessel,  1603),  24, 

26. 
Dohoday,  124. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  10,  11,  24,  142. 
Dufferin  and  Ava,  Marquess  of,  6. 
Dummer,  Richard,  206,  207. 
Du  Thet,  Gilbert,  104,  111. 

East  India  Company,  17. 

East  Indies,  61. 

East  Indies,  search  for  northwest  pas- 
sage, 7,  12,  17. 

Edgartown,  26. 

Edgecomb,  John,  245. 

Edgecomb,  Lord,  245,  246. 

Edgecomb,  Mount,  244,  245. 

Edgecomb,  Nicholas,  245. 

Edgecomb,  Sir  Richard,  244,  245,  246. 

Edict  of  Nantes,  30. 

Edward  III,  142. 

Edward  VI,  2,  152. 

Elbridge,  Giles,  co-partner  with  Rob- 
ert Aldworth  in  securing  the  Pema- 
quid  patent,  23,  180,  182,  217,  218, 
219,  260,  261,  284,  306,  307,  308. 

Elbridge,  John,  306. 

Elbridge,  Thomas,  son  of  Giles,  who 
settled  for  awhile  at  Pemaquid,  182, 
261,  306,  307,  308. 

Eliot,  Sir  John,  184,  185. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  8,  9,  10,  11,  12,  13, 
17,  19,  21,  37,  115,  142,  146,  147, 
168,  211. 

Ellis,  Sir  Henry,  18. 

Emigration,    restriction  of,   284,  285. 

Epenow,  121,  122,  140. 


400 


INDEX. 


Endicott,  John,  195,  276. 

England's  early  fishing  vessels  at 
Newfoundland,  8. 

England's  claim  to  American  terri- 
tory, 1,  18,  22,  29,  114-117. 

Essex,  conspiracy  of,  19. 

Essex,  Earl  of,  37,  59. 

Everett,  William,  375. 

Exeter  (England),  55,  135,  136. 

Exeter,  N.  H.,  309. 

Falkland,  Lord,  286. 

Falmouth  (now  Portland),  receives 
its  name,  382. 

Familists,  204,  206. 

Farnham  Papers,  29. 

Fawkes,  Guy,  38,  54. 

Fayal,  113. 

Fernald's  point,  108. 

Fertility  of  the  soil,  130,  256. 

Firth,  Prof.  Charles  H.,  385. 

Fisheries  on  American  coast,  3,  8,  16, 
18,  20. 

Fishing,  licenses  for  and  their  cost, 
150. 

Fishing  on  coast  of  Maine,  41,  68,  98, 
144,  257,  258. 

Fishing,  the  demand  for  free,  147  ;  ac- 
tion by  the  town  of  Plymouth,  149, 
150  ;  action  in  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, 150-159,  185. 

Fiske,  John,  102. 

Flores,  40,  67,  68. 

Florida,  12,  102. 

Flory,  Charles,  104,  111. 

Fort  at  Plymouth,  England,  314. 

Fort  Frederic,  84. 

Fort  Popham,  77. 

Fort  St.  George,  80,  84,  86,  90,  95,  98, 
99,  172. 

Fort  St.  George  (St.  George's  river), 
46. 

Fort  William  Henry,  84. 

Fower,  Barnabas,  251. 

Fox  islands,  25. 

Foxwell,  Richard,  352. 


France     early     represented     on     the 

American  coast,  8,  18,  29. 
France  secures    foothold   on  the  St. 

Lawrence,  12,  29. 
French    claim    of    territory    on  the 

Atlantic  coast  in  1647,  356. 
French  colonists  at  Mt.  Desert,  110. 
French  encroachments,  101,  110. 
French  privateers,  135. 
Frobisher,  Martin,  10,  11,  12,  142. 
Frost,  George,  237. 
Frost,  Nicholas,  293. 
Frost,  Simon,  178. 

Garde,  Roger,  293,  318. 

Gardiner,  188. 

Gardiner,  S.  R.,  391. 

Gates,  Sir  Thomas,  54. 

Georgetown,  89. 

Gibbons,  Capt.  Edward,  330,  334. 

Gibson,  Rev.  Richard,  262,  294,  300, 
301,  302,  305,  325,  337. 

Gift  of  God  (Popham 's  vessel),  64,  65, 
67,  68,  70,  71,  74,  75,  81,  90,  91,  92, 
93,  95,  118. 

Gilbert,  Ralegh,  mentioned  in  char- 
ter of  1606,  54;  commands  the  Mary 
and  John  in  Popham  expedition, 
65-70;  at  St.  George's  harbor,  71-73; 
sails  for  mouth  of  the  Kennebec,  74, 
75;  colony  located  and  work  com- 
menced, 76-80;  explores  westward, 
81,  82;  and  eastward,  83,  84;  and 
ascends  the  Kennebec,  85,  86;  suc- 
ceeds President  Popham,  deceased, 
93-95;  returns  to  England,  96-98. 

Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  12,  13,  14,  19, 
23,  65,  115,  142,  180. 

Gilbert,  Sir  John,  96. 

Glanvyle,  Sir  John,  151,  154,  155. 

Godfrey,  Edward,  living  at  Agamen- 
ticus  as  early  as  1630,  315;  appointed 
to  places  of  influence  by  Gorges, 
316-320;  mayor  of  Gorgeana,  321; 
in  conflict  with  Cleeve,  327,  330; 
head    of    the    government    of    the 


INDEX. 


401 


Province  of  Maine  after  the  depart- 
ure of  Thomas  Gorges,  341;  elected 
governor  of  the  province,  358; 
unites  the  Gorges  interests  in  a 
"combination",  358;  summons  pro- 
vincial court,  371;  opposes  advance 
of  Massachusetts  into  Maine  terri- 
tory, 371-374;  yields  with  mental 
reservation,  376,  377;  goes  to  Eng- 
land, dies,  378. 

Goodyear,  Moses,  211,  212,  213,  214, 
221,  222. 

Gorgeana,  160,  217,  319,  320,  321,  323, 
341,  358;  accepts  the  jurisdiction  of 
Massachusetts,  376,  377. 

Gorges  and  Mason,  315. 

Gorges,  Gov.  William,  217,  234,  236, 
241,  303,  304,  314,  315. 

Gorges,  Edward,  37. 

Gorges,  Ferdinando,  grandson  of  Sir 
Ferdinando,  314,  316. 

Gorges,  John,  216. 

Gorges,  Robert,  156,  157,  168,  169, 
174,  234,  262. 

Gorges,  Sir  Ferdinando,  interested  in 
Waymouth's  voyage,  1605,  37  ;  re- 
ceived three  of  Waymouth's  In- 
dians, 49 ;  interested  in  other  ex- 
plorations, 56-61 ;  especially  in  the 
Popham  colony,  63-73,  87-97  ;  dis- 
appointed but  did  not  despair,  100, 
101,  119-122  ;  encouraged  by  report 
made  by  Capt.  John  Smith,  131 ; 
also  by  Vines,  134 ;  antagonized 
English  fishermen  by  obtaining  a 
sea  fishing  monopoly  on  the  Maine 
coast,  145-158  ;  receives  with  Mason 
a  grant  of  land  from  the  council  for 
New  England,  166,  167  ;  the  grant 
is  divided  and  Gorges  receives  the 
land  between  the  Piscataqua  and 
the  Kennebec,  197,  198  ;  relations 
to  settlers,  201,  205,  207,  208,  210, 
211,  214-217,  221,  224,  227-229  ;  sug- 


gests to  the  king  a  division  into  sev- 
eral provinces,  231 ;  expects  the 
governorship  of  New  England,  232  ; 
makes  William  Gorges  governor  of 
the  province  of  New  Somersetshire, 
234 ;  on  his  resignation  appoints  a 
commission,  236-239  ;  still  expect- 
ing appointment  as  governor  of  New 
England,  252  ;  his  allotment  in  the 
surrender  of  the  charter  of  council 
for  New  England,  281,  282;  ap- 
pointed governor  of  New  England, 
283,  284,  288  ;  receives  a  royal  char- 
ter, 289-291  ;  sends  over  Thomas 
Gorges  as  deputy  governor,  292 ; 
endeavors  to  advance  his  interests, 
309,  314-316  ;  makes  Agamenticus  a 
borough,  317;  then  a  city  to  be 
known  as  Gorgeana,  319-321  ;  wrote 
his  Brief  Narration;  his  death,  323, 
324,  340,  357,  371. 

Gorges,  Thomas,  appointed  deputy 
governor  of  the  Province  of  Maine, 
292 ;  in  court  proceedings,  296 ; 
goes  to  the  White  Mountains,  308  ; 
grants  land,  309  ;  insisted  on  law 
and  order,  311 ;  his  honorable  serv- 
ice, 312 ;  first  mayor  of  Gorgeana, 
318,  321 ;  returns  to  England,  and 
his  subsequent  career,  322,  323,  390. 

Gorges,  Sir  Thomas,  59,  320. 

Gosnold,  Bartholomew,  66,  141. 

Gould,  Alexander,  179. 

Government,  lack  of  good,  261,  263, 
303. 

Gravesend,  39. 

Great  Britain's  claim  to  American  ter- 
ritory, 114-116. 

Great  Hope,  Girling,  master,  269,  270. 

Great  House,  The,  320. 

Great  Lakes,  10,  12,  29. 

Greenland,  11. 

Grenville,  Sir  Richard,  14. 


26 


402 


INDEX. 


Grievances,  House  of  Commons,  Com- 
mittee on,  154,  157,  158,  159. 

Guercheville,  Madam  de,  102,  104, 
105,  114. 

Gyles,  Sir  Edward,  153. 

Hakluyt,  Richard,  7,   8,  9,   10,  15,  16, 

22,  23,  24,  28,  54,  59. 
Hakluyt 's  Principall   Navigations,  7, 

16. 
Hakluyt  Society,  66. 
Hallam,  Henry,  285. 
Ham,  residence  of  Robert  Trelawny, 

211. 
Hampden,  John,  285,  313. 
Han  ham,  Sir  John,  54. 
Hanham,  Penelope  (Popham),  54,  58, 

59. 
Hanham  (Hanam),1  Thomas,  58. 
Hanham,2  Thomas,  54,  58,  59,  60,  61, 

72,  85,  129. 
Hanham,3  Thomas,  59. 
Harley,  Capt.  Henry,  121. 
Harlow,  Capt.  Edward,  79,  80. 
Harpswell  Neck,  241. 
Harpswell  Point,  172. 
Harraseeket,  172. 
Harris,  Dr.  John,  39. 
Harrisse,  Henry,  4,  5. 
Harvard  College,  251. 
Haselrig,  Sir  Arthur,  285. 
Hatfield  House,  87. 
Hawthorne,  Capt.  William,  370,  372. 
Hayward,  Francis,  178. 
Haven,  Samuel  P.,  114. 
Hawkins,  John,  9,  10,  11. 
Hawkins,  Narias,  253. 
Hawkins,  Capt.  Richard,  133,  135, 142. 
Hawkins,  William,  9. 
Hele,  Sir  Warwick,  149,  154. 
Henrietta  Maria,  Queen,  174,  184. 
Henry  II,  148. 

Henry  IV,  King  of  France,  29,  101. 
Henry   VII   grants  letters  patent  to 

John  Cabot  and  sons,  1,  5,  6,  7. 
Henry  VIII,  7,  8. 


Hilton,  Edward,  202. 

Hilton,  Margaret,  178. 

Hine,  Nicholas,  56. 

Hobson,    Capt.    Nicholas,    121,    122, 

140. 
Hocking,  John,  246. 
Hocking  trouble  at  Cushenoc,  246-249. 
Holland,  Pilgrims  in,  385. 
Holmes,  Herbert  E-,  118. 
Honfleur,  105. 
Hook,  William,  292. 
Hooper,  Mary,  347. 
Hore,  Robert,  7. 

Houghton,  Mrs.  William  Addison,  99. 
House  Island,  171,  173,  199. 
House  of  Commons,  184,  185,  192, 193, 

194. 
House  of  Iyords,  its  declining  influence 

in  the  civil  war   in   England,  384, 

385. 
Howland,  John,  247,  248. 
Hudson's  river,  141. 
Hunt,  John,  76. 
Hunt,  Capt.  Thomas,    121,   125,   131, 

132. 
Husbandmen  of  L,ondon,  204,  205,  206, 

339. 
Hutchinson,  Anne,  309. 

Iceland,  4. 

Ince,  Jonathan,  367. 

Indian  corn,  256. 

Indian  encampment  at  Pemaquid,  71. 

Indian  trade,  98,  188,  258. 

Indians  captured  by  Waymouth,  44, 
48,  49,  50,  57,  58,  60. 

Intoxicating  liquors,  their  importa- 
tion and  sale,  258,  259. 

Isle  de  Bacchus,  34,  213. 

Isle  de  Rhe,  190. 

Isle  de  Sable  or  Sablon,  264. 

Isles  of  Shoals,  129,  169,  254,  302. 

James,  vessel  bringing  colonists  from 
England,  251,  254. 

James  I,  sends  map-maker  to  Vir- 
ginia in  1610,  25;  restores  estates  to 


INDEX. 


403 


the  Karl  of  Southampton,  37;  in- 
formed of  Guy  Fawkes  plot,  54; 
issues  patent  for  two  colonies  in 
America,  77,  110,  113-115;  condi- 
tions in  England,  120;  presses  royal 
prerogatives,  147;  adjourns  Parlia- 
ment, 153;  exhibits  temper  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  156;  Commons 
address  a  letter  to  the  king,  158, 
159;  the  king  offers  land  to  settlers 
in  America,  225;  death  of  the  king, 
184. 

Jamestown  colony,  109,  110,  123. 

Jamestown,  Va.,  176,  260. 

Jefferies,  William,  202. 

Jefferson,  Me.,  176. 

Jenner,  Rev.  Thomas,  328,  337,  338. 

Jennings,  Abraham,  first  owner  of 
Monhegan,  164-166,  181,  182,  213, 
218. 

Jennings,  William,  165. 

Jesuit  missionaries  for  work  among 
the  Indians  on  the  American  coast 
requested  by  Henry  IV,  101;  selected 
and  sail  from  France,  102;  Port 
Royal  and  on  the  Maine  coast,  103; 
a  new  expedition  in  the  interest  of 
religion  and  French  colonization, 
104-109;  St.  Sauveur  settlement  on 
Somes  Sound  broken  up  by  Argall, 
110-113;  ground  of  English  claim 
to  the  location,  114-117. 

Jesuits,  their  relation  to  colonists  at 
Port  Royal,  103. 

Jewell's  island,  89. 

Johnson,  Edward,  318. 

Johnston,  Alexander,  250. 

Johnston,  John,  163. 

Johnston's  map,  187. 

Jones,  Inigo,  340. 

Jordan,  Fritz  H.,  99. 

Jordan,  Rev.  Robert,  kinsman  of 
Thomas  Purchase,  241;  arrives  at 
Richmond's  island,  305;  enters  into 
Winter's  quarrel  with  Cleeve,  325; 


marries  Winter's  daughter,  348; 
executor  of  Winter's  estate,  350; 
petitions  for  the  settlement  of  the 
estate,  351;  petition  granted,  352; 
obtains  possession  of  Trelawny's 
territory  and  interests  in  the  prov- 
ince, 352;  order  signed  by  Cleeve, 
353;  opposes  claims  of  Massachu- 
setts, 380;  accepts  her  jurisdiction, 
381,  382;  his  death.  355. 

Josselyn,  Henry,  208,  209,  221,  234, 
244,  292,  295,  336,  337,  338,  341,  359, 
360,  380,  382. 

Josselyn,  John,  208. 

Josselyn,  Sir  Thomas,  208,  305. 

Kadesquit,  105,  106,  107. 

Kembolton,  L,ord,  313. 

Kenduskeag,  105. 

Kennebec  Purchase,  proprietors  of, 
380. 

Kennebec  river,  partly  explored  by 
Champlain,  1604,  33;  is  again  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  in  1605,  34;  not 
visited  by  Waymouth,  46;  Popham 
colonists  enter  it,  74,  75;  explored, 
76,  81,  85;  visited  by  Biancourt  and 
Father  Biard,  103;  also  by  Capt. 
John  Smith,  128;  Pilgrims  secure  a 
grant  of  land  on  the  river,  185-188; 
eastern  boundary  of  Gorges'  Prov- 
ince of  Maine,  197,  198;  western 
boundary  of  French  claim,  267,  268. 

Kennebec,  settlers  east  of  the,  250. 

Kennebec,  settlers  on  the,  249. 

King,  John,  347. 

King's  Library,  British  Museum,  38. 

Kirke,  Sir  David,  197,  265. 

Kittery,  incorporated  in  1647,  ap- 
proached by  Massachusetts  commis- 
sioners, 370-374;  accepts  the  juris- 
diction of  Massachusetts,  375,  376; 
sends  two  representatives  to  the 
general  court,  378. 

Koopman,  Harry  I/.,  99. 


404 


INDEX. 


Labrador,  4,  11,  142. 

Laconia  patent,  197. 

Lambeth  Palace  library,  66,  85. 

Lambeth  Palace  manuscript  journal  of 
Popham  colony,  64,  66,  68,  70,  71,  76, 
77,  81,  82,  83,  85,  86. 

La  Nef,  Champlain's  designation  of 
Monhegan,  34. 

Laud,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  230, 
231,  232,  235,  285,  309,  313,  357. 

Leader,  Richard,  363,  372. 

Leaman,  Master,  80. 

Leigh,  Capt.  Charles,  28. 

Lenox,  Duke  of,  147,  164,  166. 

Lenthall,  speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  313. 

Leverett,  John,  202,  203,  372. 

Leverett,  Thomas,  202,  203. 

Levett,  Capt.  Christopher,  receives 
grant  of  land,  167;  purposes  to 
build  a  city  and  call  it  York,  168; 
examines  coast  north  of  the  Piscata- 
qua,  169-172;  fixes  upon  an  island 
"before  Casco  river",  erects  house 
and  defences,  and  returns  to  Eng- 
land, 173,  174;  seeks  assistance 
there,  190-194;  is  at  Salem,  Mass., 
in  1630,  195;  dies  on  the  homeward 
voyage,  196;  his  patent,  225,  226. 

Levett,  Percival,  167. 

Lewis  and  Bonython  patent,  201,  205. 

Lewis,  Thomas,  201,  205,  234,  237, 
262,  301. 

Leyden,  162. 

Lisbon,  Maine,  89. 

Lisbon,  Spain,  11. 

Litchfield,  89. 

Lizards,  The,  40,  66. 

London,  England,  5,  11,  18,  39,  50, 
56,  132,  134,  142,  148,  152,  185,  186, 
190,  191. 

London  Company  of  Virginia,  50,  55. 

Longfellow,  Henry  W.,  13,  171. 

Long  Island  sound,  140. 

Lords  Say  and  Brooke,  246,  247. 


Louis  XIII  of  France,  102,  266. 

Louis  XIV,  273,  279. 

Love,  Captain,  64. 

Lowell  Institute  lectures,  114. 

Loyalists  of  the  American  Revolution, 

392. 
Lygon,  Cicely,  37,  340. 
Lygon,  William,  205. 
Lygonia  or  Plough  patent,  204,  206, 

325,  326,  330,  338,  339. 
Lygonia,  Province  of,  204,  206,  336, 

340,  341,  353,  359,  360,  361,  367,  368, 

369. 

Macaulay,  Lord,  146,  147,  285. 

Machegonne,  224,  225,  226,  227,  228, 
235,  236,  237,  238,  239,  244,  293,  294, 
297,  332. 

Machias,  Pilgrim  trading  house  at, 
267. 

Mackworth,  Arthur,  237,  294,  330,  380. 

Maine,  Province  of,  first  use  of  the 
designation,  167;  division  of  the 
province,  197;  the  four  territorial 
divisions  in  1650,  356;  growth  slow 
in  the  first  three,  357;  why  the  set- 
tlements failed  to  prosper  like  set- 
tlements in  other  parts  of  New 
England,  383-392;  place  of  Maine 
in  the  history  of  the  United  States, 
393. 

Maine  Historical  Society,  15,  22,  26, 
31,  36,  48,  77,  93,  119,  187,  211,  212, 
242,  255,  257,  283,  305,  328,  380. 

Malaga,  124,  131,  132. 

Maneddo,  44,  49,  57,  122. 

Marshall,  Chief  Justice,  116. 

Marston  Moor,  323. 

Martha's  Vineyard,  121,  122,  140. 

Mary  and  John,  64,  65,  66,  67,  68,  69, 
70,  71,  74,  75,  81,  84,  86,  87,  88,  89, 
90,  91,  93,  118,  126. 

Massachusetts  bay,  97. 

Massachusetts  bay  charter  declared 
null  and  void,  233;  colonists  aroused, 


INDEX. 


405 


233;  the  Bay  colony  asked  to  arbi- 
trate differences  between  Cleeve  and 
Vines,  332;  Massachusetts  seeks  to 
extend  her  jurisdiction  into  Maine 
territory,  360-367;  defines  her 
northern  boundary,  368;  the  weak 
point  in  her  contention,  369;  her 
jurisdiction  accepted  by  Kittery, 
375;  by  Agamenticus,  376-378;  by 
Wells,  Saco,  Cape  Porpoise,  379;  by 
Black  Point,  Blue  Point,  Spurwink 
and  Casco,  381,  382. 

Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  20, 
21,  203,  204,  225,  293,  362. 

Mason,  Capt.  John,  139,  154,  167,  197, 
205,  236,  264,  282,  283,  363,  365. 

Mason,  Joseph,  363. 

Masonia,  281. 

Masse,  Father  Fnemond,  102,  104. 

Mather,  Rev.  Cotton,  251,  285. 

Mather,  Rev.  Increase,  251. 

Mather,  Rev.  Richard,  250,  251,  252, 
253,  254,  268. 

Matinicus  islands,  68,  69,  129. 

Mayflower,  26,  65,  148,  149,  162,  185. 

Mayflower  colonists,  154. 

Maverick,  Samuel,  97,  168,  173,  225. 

McKeen,  John,  42,  46. 

Mecaddacut,  127. 

Medici,  Marie  de,  102. 

Menawormet,  172. 

Merchant  Venturers  of  Bristol,  5,  23, 
28,  180,  182. 

Merrimac  river,  139,  167,  205. 

Merrymeeting  bay,  76,  81,  246. 

Merry  Mount,  199. 

Mexico,  Viceroy  of,  277. 

Milford  Haven,  24,  113. 

Mitton,  Michael,  237,  257,  293,  334, 
382. 

Monanis,  41,  129. 

Monhegan,  23,  34,  41,  42,  43,  47,  48, 
69,  70,  71,  72,  118,  123,  124,  125, 
130,  131,  132,  133,  135,  137,  138,  139, 
140,  141,  142,  143,  144,  148,  149,  156, 


159,  161,  164,  166,  170,  172,  173,  175, 

182,  183,  213,  218,  252.301 
Monhegan  and  Damariscove,  307. 
Monopolies,  146,  147,  151,  158. 
Monts,  Sieur  de,  29,  30,  31,  32,  33,  34, 

35,  44,  84,  101,  102,  113. 
Moore,  John  Bassett,  116. 
Morattiggon,  172. 
Morrell,  Rev.  William,  157,  262. 
Morton,  Thomas,  199,  200. 
Mount  Aid  worth,  26. 
Mount  Desert,  32,  105,   106,  107,  108, 

110,  114,  127. 
Mount  Washington,  42,  47,  170. 
Muscongus  island,  177. 
Muscongus  or  Waldo  patent,  202,  203, 

204,  218. 
Muscongus  river,  177,  219. 

Nachen,  134. 

Nahanada,  126. 

Nantucket  island,  40. 

Naquasset  (now  Woolwich) ,  178,  179. 

Narragansett  bay,  97. 

Naseby,  323,  335. 

Neale,  Walter,  200,  201,  207,  209,  211, 
219,  221,  226. 

Nequamkick  (Negumkikee),  187. 

Newcastle,  176. 

New  England,  great  patent  of,  145, 
148,  157;  first  division  of  the  patent, 
164;  second  division,  166;  patent 
surrendered,  232;  final  division, 
281;  government  for  proposed  by 
Gorges,  231;  Gorges  seeks  the  gov- 
ernorship, 231,  232,  282;  receives 
his  commission,  283;  but  the  way 
to  assume  in  person  the  office  did 
not  open,  291;  great  storm  on  the 
coast,  254;  restriction  of  emigration 
to,  284. 

Newfoundland,  7,  8,  12,  16,  19,  21, 
23,  29,  68,  115,  138,  139,  142,  151, 
152,  154. 

New  France,  108,  116. 


406 


INDEX. 


New  Hampshire,  139,  197,  281,  282. 

New  Harbor,  71,  126,  176,  177. 

Newman,  Matthew,  177. 

New  Meadows  river,  242. 

New  Somerset,  L,ake  of,  246. 

New  Somersetshire,  Province  of,  288, 

289,  304. 
Newport,  Capt.  Christopher,  56. 
New  York  bay,  140. 
Nobleborough,  176. 
North  sea,  141. 

Norton,  Iyieut.  Col.  Francis,  314,  316. 
Norton,  Iyieut.  Col.  Walter,  216,  217. 
Norumbegue,  Norumbega,  33,  79. 
Nova  Scotia,  charter  of,  154,  264,  265, 

266,  267. 
Nova  Scotia  coast,  68. 

O'Brien,  Rev.  M.  C,  75. 

Odiorne's  Point,  169. 

Ogunquit  river,  310. 

Oldham,  John,  201,  205. 

Oldham  and  Vines  patent,  201. 

Old  Orchard  bay,  129,  170,  199,  207. 

Oxford,  England,  184,  285. 

Pacific  Ocean,  10. 

Parker,  William,  54. 

Parkman,  Francis,  108,  115. 

Parliament,  the  I^ong,  385. 

Parliament  encourages  fisheries,  8,  9. 

Pasqualigo,  L/orenzo,  Alvise  and  Fran- 
cesco, 2,  3. 

Passamaquoddy  bay,  32. 

Passataquack,  128,  129. 

Patuxet,  172. 

Pearce,  Richard,  163,  178. 

Pejepscot,  81,  209,  210,  303,  305. 

Pejepscot  falls,  242,  243. 

Pejepscot  papers,  204,  205,  241,  242, 
243. 

Pejepscot  patent,  241,  243. 

Pejepscot  river,  242. 

Pemaquid,  83,  84,  118,  119,  128,  143. 
161,  162,  163,  173,  175,  176,  177, 178, 
179,  198,  218,  220,  251,  252,  254,  255, 
261,  268,  272,  280,  285,  307. 


Pemaquid  commissioners,  84. 

Pemaquid  falls,  177. 

Pemaquid,  first  fort  at,  198. 

Pemaquid  grant,  260. 

Pemaquid  Indians,  126. 

Pemaquid  patent,  306. 

Pemaquid  peninsula,  71,  126,  176,  180, 
198. 

Pemaquid  Point,  73,  84,  219. 

Pemaquid  river,  74,  217,  219. 

Pemaquid,  and  proposed  religious 
services,  305,  306. 

Pendleton,  Bryan,  374. 

Penobscot  (Castine.),  127,  128;  Pil- 
grim trading  house  there,  189,  267, 
268;  French  there,  268-270;  la 
Tour's  expedition  against  Aulnay, 
274,  275;  still  a  French  outpost, 
277-279. 

Penobscot  bay,  25,  32,  42,  127,  129, 
130. 

Penobscot  Indians,  127. 

Penobscot  river,  46,  68,  84,  105,  203, 
269. 

Pentecost  harbor,  43,  46,  48,  49,  60, 
70,  72,  126. 

Pentegouet,  Pentegoet  (Castine),  33, 
103,  105,  106,  107,  127. 

Pepperrell,  Sir  William,  245. 

Perkins,  Rev.  Dr.  John  Carroll,  99. 

Philips,  Sir  Robert,  153,  156,  184. 

Phipps,  Samuel,  178. 

Pierce,  Henry  A.,  203,  204. 

Pierce,  John,  154,  161,  162,  163,  164, 
178. 

Pilgrims,  sailed  from  Plymouth,  Eng- 
land, 148;  at  Plymouth,  35;  friend- 
ship with  Samoset  and  Squanto, 
121,  172,  173;  supplied  with  food  by 
English  fishing  vessels  near  Dam- 
ariscove,  161,  162,  163;  their  Indian 
trade  on  the  Kennebec,  185-188, 
246,  247;  at  Penobscot,  189;  later 
history  of  Pilgrim  grant  on  the 
Kennebec,    379,  380;    enact   "Gen- 


INDKX. 


407 


eral  Liberties  and  Laws",  385;  in- 
troduction to  the  same,  386. 

Pilgrim  hall,  162. 

Pilgrim  patent,  154,  162,  163. 

Piscataqua,  139,  169,  174,  182,  186, 
198,  200,  205,  207,  281,  301,  302, 
358. 

Plough  colonists,  204,  205. 

Plough  patent,  204,  206. 

Plymouth  company,  55,  63,  132,  133, 
135,  136,  140,  141,  144-147. 

Plymouth,  England,  8,  10,  11,  12,  14, 
16,  17,  18,  37,  49,  52,  55,  58,  63,  64, 
65,  87,  90,  97,  98,  131,  134,  135,  136, 
137,  138,  139,  141,  142,  144,  148, 
149,  150,  162,  163,  164,  165,  181,  184, 
190,  198,  210,  211,  217,  222,  244, 
245. 

Plymouth  harbor  identified  with 
Whitson's  bay,  26. 

Plymouth,  Mass.,  26,  182,  185,  186, 
188,  260,  268. 

Plympton,  188. 

Popham  colony,  how  organized,  64; 
sailed,  65;  the  voyage,  66-68;  ar- 
rival on  the  coast  of  Maine,  69-71; 
religious  service,  72,  73;  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Kennebec,  74,  75;  site 
for  colony  selected  and  instructions 
read,  77,  78;  construction  of  Fort 
St.  George,  80^84;  Mary  and  John 
returns  to  England,  87;  Gift  of  God 
later,  90;  death  of  president  Pop- 
ham,  93;  is  succeeded  by  Capt.  Gil- 
bert, 95;  return  of  the  colonists  to 
England,  96;  why  the  colony  failed, 
98,  99;  other  references,  100,  103, 
118,  120,  131,  143,  144,  172,  176, 
259,  383. 

Popham  colony  tercentenary,  99. 

Popham' s  fort,  188. 

Popham  Memorial  Volume,  42. 

Popham,  Edward,  65. 

Popham,  George,  54,  65,  67,  73,    74, 


75,  76,  79,  80,  81,  87,  89,  92,  93,  94, 
98,  99. 

Popham,  Sir  Francis,  80,  94,  100,  101, 
120,  126. 

Popham,  Sir  John,  38,  39,  49,  50,  51, 
52,  54,  55,  56,  58,  59,  61,  63,  64,  65, 
71,  73,  79,  80,  95,  98. 

Porpoise,  Cape,  215,  216. 

Portland,  26,  170,  171;  harbor,  171, 
190. 

Porto  Rico,  57. 

Port  Royal,  32,  35,  101,  102,  103,  104, 
105,  113,  114,  115. 

Poutrincourt,  Sieur  de,  35,  101,  102. 

Powhatan,  15. 

Preble,  Abraham,  382. 

Prence,  Thomas,  271,  379. 

Prescott,  Benjamin,  179. 

Presumpscot  river,  171,  228,  237. 

Prince,  George,  42,  46. 

Pring,  Capt.  Martin,  24,  25,  26,  27, 
28,  29,  37,  56,  58,  59,  60,  61,  67,  68, 
69,  73,  74,  84,  85,  97,  124,  129,  142, 
180. 

Pring  tercentenary,  26. 

Privy  council,  190. 

Proclamation  of  Charles  I,  in  Levett's 
interest,  192,  193. 

Protectorate,  The,  278. 

Prout,  Timothy,  208. 

Prout's  Neck,  208. 

Province  of  Maine,  first  use  of  desig- 
nation, 167;  its  division,  197;  offers 
opportunities  for  settlement,  210; 
the  council  for  New  England  makes 
allotment  to  Gorges,  229;  name 
changed  to  New  Somersetshire,  234; 
name  restored,  289;  under  royalist 
influences  largely,  388-390. 

Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  settle- 
ment commenced,  193,  202;  rapid 
growth,  230;  its  policy  of  non-inter- 
ference, 240;  conference  concerning 
Hocking  affair,  248,  249;  its  govern- 


408 


INDEX. 


ment,  263;  in  sympathy  with  la 
Tour,  275-277;  Godfrey  performs 
helpful  service,  316;  action  of  the 
province  in  an  attempt  to  extend  her 
jurisdiction  into  Maine  territory, 
360;  peruses  her  charter,  363-366; 
advances  her  claim,  367-369;  meets 
opposition,  370-374;  her  jurisdic- 
tion accepted,  375-382. 

Province  of  New  Somersetshire,  234, 
236,  237,  238,  240,  241,  246. 

Public  Records  Office,  London,  137. 

Puddington,  George,  318. 

Purchas,  Samuel,  28,  38,  39,  56,  59, 
66,  92,  140. 

Purchase,  Thomas,  234,  241,  242,  243, 
244,  303,  304,  305,  315. 

Puritans  of  Massachusetts,  why  they 
left  England,  386,  387;  aided  by  the 
course  of  events  in  England,  279, 
388;  the  movement  in  which  they 
had  a  place,  391. 

Pym,  313. 

Quack,  171,  172,  173,  175. 
Quantin,  Father,  104. 
Quebec,  30,  33. 
Quinibequy,  33. 

Ralegh,  Sir  Walter,  13,  14,  15,  16,  19, 
22,  23,  38,  39,  45,  56,  65,  142. 

Ratcliffe,  39. 

Rawson,  Edward,  371,  373. 

Razillai,  Isaac  de,  265,  266,  267,  272, 
273. 

Relation  of  Father  Biard,  101,  103, 
105-108. 

Religion,  lack  of  restraining  influ- 
ence of,  262. 

Rennie,  Sir  John,  148. 

Revenue  service,  U.  S.,  40. 

Richelieu,  Cardinal,  265. 

Richmond,  George,  214. 

Richmond's  island,  34,  82,  199,  200, 
207,  208,  210,  211,  212,  213,  214,  216, 
220,  221,  222,  223,  224,  227,  235,  237, 


240,  245,  253,  255,  258,  259,  261,  294, 
300,  301,  342,  343,  347,  350,  352. 

Richmond's  landing,  188. 

Rigby,  Col.  Alexander,  obtains  pos- 
session of  the  Plough  patent  by 
purchase,  206,  325,  326;  makes 
Cleeve  deputy  president  of  the 
Province  of  Lygonia,  327;  opposi- 
tion encountered,  336,  338;  Rigby 
declared  rightful  proprietor  of  the 
province,  339,  340;  his  death,  359; 
its  effect  in  the  province  of  L/ygo- 
nia,  360. 

Rigby,  Edward,  204,  361,  368,  369. 

Rishworth,  Edward,  244,  372,  382. 

Roanoke  island,  14,  15,  23. 

Robinson,  Francis,  294,  328,  334,  338. 

Rochelle,  136,  190. 

Rocroft,  Capt.  Edward,  138,  139,  140, 
143. 

Rogers,  John,  318. 

Rosier,  James,  38,  39,  40,  41,  43,  44, 
45,  46,  47,  49,  50,  54,  57,  69,  71, 
124. 

Rosier's  Relation,  18,  39,  40,  41,  42, 
43,  44,  46,  47,  48,  72,  74,  75,  76. 

Royal  Society  of  Canada,  4. 

Royalist  party  in  England,  230. 

Royall,  William,  334,  352. 

Rudolph  II,  emperor,  37. 

Rudyerd,  Sir  Benjamin,  184. 

Russell,  Richard,  307. 

Rut,  John,  7. 

Sabine,  Iyorenzo,  7,  8,  9,  16,  150,  392. 

Sabino  peninsula,  76. 

Sable  island  bank,  68. 

Saco,  134,  139,  164,  169,  170,  201,  234, 

315. 
Saco  river,  134,  143,  164,  246. 
Safford,  Moses  A.,  282. 
Sagadahoc  river,  74,  75,  76.  82,  84,  85, 

86,  88,  90,  98,  128,  129,  160,  164,  167, 

171,  172,  183,  205,  206,  217,  237,  242, 

246. 


inde;x. 


409 


Saltash,  136. 

Salterne,  Robert,  24. 

Saltonstall,  Sir  Samuel,  123. 

Sandys,  Sir  Edwin,  147,  151,  152,  153. 

San  Juan  de  Ulua,  10. 

Sankaty  Head,  40. 

Sankey,  Robert,  293. 

Saffacomoit,  44,  57,  58  (Sassacomett), 

122. 
Salisbury,  Lord,  63,  64. 
Sargent,  William  M.,  283. 
Sasanoa,  81,  85,  130. 
Sassafras,  its  medicinal  qualities,  21, 

26. 
Saussaye,  Capt.  la,  104,  105,  109,  111, 

112,  113. 
Scarborough,  382. 
Scitterygusset,  199. 
Scotland,  289. 
Sebanoa,  85,  86. 
Sebascodegan,  241. 
Sedgwick,  Major  Robert,  279. 
Segocket,  128. 
Seguin  (Satquin,  Sutquin)  34,  75,  129, 

164. 
Sellanova,  Capt.,  271. 
Sewall,  R.  K.,  42,  46,  84. 
Seymour,    Rev.    Richard,  73,  79,  89, 

262. 
Sforza,  Ludovico,  Duke  of  Milan,  2,  3. 
Shapleigh,  Nicholas,  241,  372,  382. 
Shea,  John  Gilmary,  104,  105. 
Sheepscot,  198. 
Sheepscot  bay,  86,  249. 
Sheepscot  Farms,  249,  250,  257. 
Sherborne,  190. 
Sherman,  John,  367. 
Sherwell,  Mr.,  155. 
Ship  Cove,  81. 
Shurt,  Abraham,    178,  179,  180,  182, 

254,  260,  275,  306. 
Shurt,  George,  179,  218,  220. 
Simancas  map,  1610,  25,  41,  47. 
Simonds,  Samuel,  374. 


Simson,  Henry,  318. 

Skicowaros,  44,  49,  71,  72,  74,  81,  83, 

84,  86,  87  (Skidwarres),  126. 
Slave  stealing  and  selling,  9. 
Small  Point,  47,  170. 
Smith,  Capt.  John,  24,  41,  66,  75,  79, 

84,  92,  122,  123,  124,  125,  126,  127, 

129,  130,  131,  132, 133,  134,  135,  136, 

137,  138,  143,  144,  259. 
Smith's  isles,  129. 
Smyth,  Ivady  Elizabeth,  320. 
Smyth,  Sir  Hugh,  320,  340. 
Somers,  Sir  George,  54. 
Somerset,  172,  177,  178,  179. 
Somes  Sound,  108,  115,  116. 
Soncino,  Raimondo  di,  2,  3. 
Sorico,  129. 

Southampton,  Earl  of,  37,  39,  50. 
South  Freeport,  172. 
Southport,  172. 

South  Virginia  colony,  133,  144. 
South  Virginia  Company,  63,  145,  147, 

148,  162. 
Sowocotuck,  128,  129. 
Spain  informed    concerning   Cabot's 

discovery,  5. 
Spanish  Armada,  142. 
Sparhawk,  Nathaniel,  245,  246. 
Sprague's  river,  89. 
Speedwell  (Pring's  vessel,  1603),  24, 

26. 
Spurwink,  240,  259,  293,  294,  295,  381. 
Spurwink  river,  209,    210,    222,    223, 

225,  226,  228. 
Squanto,  Tisquantum,  121,  173. 
Stagomor,  228. 
Standish,  Capt.  Myles,  185,  186,  248, 

269,  270,  271. 
Star  chamber  court,  293. 
State  county,  on  the  Sagadahoc,  160. 
Steward,  Sir  Robert,  285. 
Stilson,  James,  178. 
St.  Andrew's  Church,  Plymouth,  164, 

165. 


27 


410 


INDKX. 


St.    Augustine's    Cathedral    Church, 

Bristol,  22. 
St.  Croix  island,  31,  32,  33,  34,  35,  36, 

101,  103,  113,  115. 
St.  Croix  river,  32,  264,  266,  269,  281. 
St.  George's  fort,  mouth  of  the  Ken- 
nebec, 76,  77,  87,  94,  95,  96,  97,  98, 

99,  103,  118. 
St.  George's  harbor,  34,  43,  48,  60,  69, 

71,  77,  306. 
St.  George's  island,  41,  72,  123. 
St.  George's  islands,  69,  70,  71,  72. 
St.    George's  river,  45,   46,   47,    198, 

250,  279. 
St.  Germain,  treaty  of,  266,  278. 
St.  John,  276,  277,  279. 
St.  John  river,  266,  274,  275. 
St.  John's  bay,  161. 
St.  John's,  Newfoundland,  7,  12,  29. 
St.  Iyawrence  river,  12,  29,  30,  102. 
St.  Lucia,  57. 
St.  Malo,  8,  35. 
St.  Mark's  chapel,  Bristol,  22. 
St.  Nicholas  Church,  Bristol,  26. 
St.  Peter's  Church,  Bristol,  180,  182. 
St.  Peter's  hospital,  Bristol,  180. 
St.  Sauveur,  105,  106,  108,  112,  113, 

114,  115,  127. 
St.  Sepulchre  Church,  123. 
St.  Stephen's  Church,  Bristol,  61. 
Stoneham,  John,  39,  56,  57,  58. 
Strachey,  William,  38,  64,  66,  79,  80, 

87,  90,  97,  118. 
Strafford,  execution  of,  313. 
Stratton,  John,  208,  215,  216. 
Stratton's  island,  208,  215,  216. 
Sullivan,  James,  245,  249,  250. 
Sutliffe,  Dr.,  135. 
Sutton's  Pool,  148. 

Tahanedo,  44,  49,  60,  72,  74,  81,  83, 

84,  87. 
Tahanock,  47. 
Talbot,  Moses,  247. 
Tarrantines,  127. 


Tasquantum,  49. 

Temple,  Col.  Thomas,  279. 

Tercentenary  of  de  Monts  settlement 
at  St.  Croix  island,  36. 

Tercentenary  of  the  landing  of  the 
Popham  colonists,  99. 

Tercentenary  of  Pring's  voyage  of 
1603,  26. 

Tercentenary  of  Waymouth's  voyage, 
1605,  43,  48. 

Thayer,  Rev.  Henry  O.,  38,  58,  65, 
67,  75,  87,  91,  93,  119. 

Thomaston,    46,  47,  48. 

Thompson,  David,  169,  182. 

Thornton,  John  Wingate,  180,  211, 
212. 

Thornton  Papers,  John  Wingate,  208. 

Tisquantum,  121,  124,  138,  139,  140. 

Topsham,  England,  94. 

Tour,  Charles  de  la,  266,  273,  274, 
275,  276,  277,  278. 

Tour,  Claude  de  la,  264,  266. 

Tour,  Madame  la,  277,  278. 

Townes,  Thomas,  148. 

Trelawny,  Rev.  C.  T.  Collins,  211,  212. 

Trelawny,  Edward,  253,  262,  268,  270, 
390. 

Trelawny  Papers,  211,  212. 

Trelawny  patent,  225,  226,  325. 

Trelawny,  Robert,  receives  grant  of 
land  with  Moses  Goodyear,  211-214; 
Winter  placed  in  charge  of  Tre- 
lawny's  interests  at  Richmond's 
island,  220,  221,  222;  complains  of 
Cleeve's  encroachment  at  Mache- 
gonne,  224;  grant  is  enlarged  by 
Gorges,  227;  receiving  reports  from 
Winter,  237,  238,  239,  245,  253,  255, 
256,  257,  261,  270;  court  troubles, 
295,  296;  writes  concerning  events 
in  England,  298,  299;  his  arrest  and 
imprisonment,  327,  344,  345;  his 
death,  347;  Trelawny  heirs  unable 
to  recover  the  lands  covered  by 
Trelawny's  grant,  355. 


INDEX. 


411 


Trevelyan,  G.  M.,  concerning  cause  of 
opposition  to  the  Stuarts,  386. 

Treworgy,  James,  207. 

Tucker,  Daniel,  56. 

Tucker,  Richard,  210,  211,  221,  222, 
223,  224,  228,  244,  256,  334,  338. 

Turfrey,  George,  204. 

Turnell,  Captain,  113. 

Turner,  Mr.,  physician  of  the  Mary 
and  John,  89. 

Tyndall,  Robert,  25. 

Tyng,  Edward,  379. 

Union  and  Camden  mountains,  130. 
United  colonies,  276. 
Unongoit,  177,  178,  179. 

Vane,  Sir  Henry,  240. 

Venice,  Cabot's  birthplace,  1. 

Vera  Cruz,  10. 

Victoria,  Queen,  6. 

Vines,  Richard,  goes  to  the  coast  of 
Maine,  134;  receives  a  grant  of  land 
with  John  Oldham,  201,  205;  one  of 
those  who  placed  Winter  in  posses- 
sion of  Trelawny  grant,  221;  urges 
upon  Gorges  need  of  government, 
233,  234;  said  to  be  interested  at 
Machias,  267;  joins  Shurt  in  a 
business  trip  to  the  eastward,  275; 
member  of  council  of  Deputy  Gov. 
Thomas  Gorges,  292;  connected 
with  court  proceedings,  295;  accom- 
panies Gov.  Gorges  to  the  White 
Mountains,  308;  writes  to  Winthrop, 
315;  opposed  to  Cleeve,  327,  is  op- 
posed by  Cleeve,  330;  assails  the 
validity  of  the  Lygonia  patent,  331; 
arrests  Richard  Tucker,  333;  letter 
to  Winthrop,  335;  leaves  Maine  and 
settles  in  Barbadoes,  336. 

Vineyard  Sound,  34. 

Virginia,  14,  25,  140,  141,  151. 

Virginia  colony,  109. 

Virginia,  vessel  built  by  the  Popham 
colonists,  95,  97,  99,  118. 


Waldo  patent,  202. 

Walsingham,  Elizabeth's  Secretary  of 
State,  22,  23. 

Wanape,  122. 

Wannerton,  275. 

Warwick,  Earl  of,  11,  207,  340. 

Washington,  George,  109. 

Washington,  Lawrence,  109. 

Waterville,  187. 

Waters,  Henry  F.,  97. 

Watts,  Henry,  352. 

Way,  Eleazer,  241. 

Way,  George,  241,  243. 

Way,  Lewis  Upton,  340. 

Waymouth,  George,  urges  search  for  a 
northwest  passage  to  the  Indies, 
17;  voyage  unsuccessful,  18;  com- 
mands expedition  to  Maine  coast  in 
1605,  38;  sails  from  London,  39; 
approaches  the  coast,  40;  designates 
Monhegan  as  St.  George's  island, 
41;  anchors  in  Pentecost  harbor  (St. 
George's  harbor),  43;  captures  five 
Indians,  44;  his  discoveries,  45-48; 
returns  to  England,  49-51;  makes 
arrangement  for  another  voyage, 
which  is  abandoned,  52-57;  use 
made  of  his  map  by  the  Popham 
colonists,  68;  discovery  of  the  cross 
erected  by  him  at  St.  George's  har- 
bor, 69,  70;  one  of  his  Indians  was 
on  the  Mary  and  John,  71,  72; 
others  mentioned,  74,  121,  122. 

Weeks,  Oliver,  223. 

Wellington,  Somersetshire,  38. 

Wells,  settlement  of,  309,  310,  311, 
341,  358,  379. 

West,  Capt.  Francis,  156,  157,  169. 

Westminster  Abbey,  22. 

Weymouth,  England,  171. 

Wharton,  Richard,  241. 

Wheelwright,  Rev.  John,  settles  at 
Wells  and  establishes  a  church,  309, 
310. 

Whitby,  Mr.,  184,  185. 


412 


INDEX. 


White,  Gov.  John,  14,  15. 

White,  Paul,  307. 

White  and  Blue  mountains,  42. 

White  Mountains,  34,  42,  308. 

Whitson,  John,  24,  25,  26,  142. 

Whitson's  bay,  25,  26. 

Whitson's  head,  25. 

Wiggin,  Capt.  Thomas,  242,  374. 

Wilkinson,  293. 

Willard,  Josiah,  178. 

Willard,  Captain  Simon,  367. 

Willett,  Thomas,  268. 

Williams,  Capt.  John  F.,  40,  46. 

Williams,  Hon.  Reuel,  380. 

Williamson,  Hon.  W.  D.,  46,  366. 

Willis,  William,  42,  200,  224. 

Wimbledon,  Lord,  174. 

Winchester  house,  346. 

Wincob,  John,  162. 

Windebank,  Sir  Francis,  231,  288, 
291. 

Winnipesaukee,  Lake,  367. 

Winship,  George  Parker,  4,  20,  40. 

Winslow,  Edward,  161,  162,  182,  185, 
206,  249. 

Winslow,  John,  379. 

Winter,  John,  arrives  at  Richmond's 
island,  and  orders  Cleeve  and  Tuck- 
er to  leave,  221;  they  remove  to 
Machegonne,  222,  223;  still  re- 
garded as  trespassers  on  Trelawny's 
territory,  224,  225;  Winter  goes  to 
England  and  Gorges  enlarges  Tre- 
lawny's grant,  226,  227;  shares  Tre- 
lawny's royalist  views,  335;  still  re- 
gards Cleeve  as  trespassing  on  Tre- 


lawny's rights,  238,  239;  is  sum- 
moned to  answer  before  the  king, 
240;  goes  to  England,  253;  his  house 
at  Richmond's  island,  255,  256;  re- 
ports to  Trelawny  concerning  fish- 
ing, 257,  258;  his  correspondence 
with  Trelawny,  259,  261;  court  pro- 
ceedings, 293,  294,  295,  296,  297; 
added  correspondence,  300-302,  305, 
342,  343,  345;  hears  of  Trelawny's 
arrest,  imprisonment  and  death, 
345,  346,  347;  death  of  Winter,  348. 

Winter,  Mrs.  John,  259. 

Winter,  Sarah,  259,  301,  306. 

Winthrop,  John,  195,  199,  202,  204, 
205,  235,  237,  238,  239,  .240,  248, 
293,  301,  304,  317,  321,  330,  331, 
334,  335,  337,  387. 

Witheridge,  master,  150,  175. 

Withers,  Thomas,  372. 

Women,  absence  of  among  colonists, 
259,  260. 

Woods,  Dr.  Leonard,  15,  93. 

Woolwich,  178. 

Worth,  R.  N.,  142,  144. 

Wriothesley,  Henry,  Karl  of  South- 
•  ampton,  19,  39. 

York,  England,  148,  152,  167,  168, 171. 
York,  Lord  president  of,  168. 
York  (Casco  Bay),  171,  173,  174,  199. 
York   (Agamenticus) ,  217,   377,    378, 

379. 
York  harbor,  169. 
Yorkshire,  375. 

Zouche,  Sir  John,  52,  53,  54,  56,  57. 


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