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COLLECTIONS 



OF THE 



MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 




VOL. II. 



PORTLAND: 

PUBLISHED FOE THE SOCIETY 
1847. 



\ 



I 



-2J 



WM. VAN NORDEN, PRINTER, NO. 39 WILLIAM STREET, NEW YORK. 



PREFACE. 



IN presenting to the public a second volume of the Collections of 
the Maine Historical Society, the committee desire to give greater 
publicity to the " Brief Narration" of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and 
the " Voyage " of Christopher Levett, two prominent articles of the* 
volume. They are both rare works and have a peculiar value 
among the historical materials of this State. An apology for this 
republication cannot be needed. 

No part of our country is so deeply interested as Maine, in the 
life and story of Gorges. It was he who engaged most early and 
earnestly in the colonization of our territory ; obtained the first 
charter for it, and established the first regular government which 
it enjoyed. It is peculiarly proper that a narrative written by the 
founder of our State, in the earnestness and ardor of a man zeal- 
ously devoted to the work of colonization, describing his efforts, his 
sacrifices, his disappointments and success, in those undertakings, 
should be preserved in the transactions of a society, which professes 
to search out and perpetuate the early attempts to colonize and 
cultivate our soil. 

The copy of the original edition of this work used in the present 
reprint, was kindly loaned for the purpose, from the Library of 
Harvard College, by President Everett. 

Levett's voyage is also entitled to a place in our Collections, for 
its particular application to our territory. It gives the first minute 
account we have of that part of our coast which lies between the 
Piscataquu and Pemaquid ; and this is done in so simple and artless 
a manner, that it wins greatly on our confidence and regard. It 
was republished in the eighth volume, (third series) of the Massa- 



iv. PREFACE. 

chusetts Historical Collections ; but the circulation of that excellent 
work is so limited among our people, that but few have access to 
it, or know any thing of the voyage or the voyager. Nothing is 
known of Levett but what appears in the " Voyage," and a tran- 
sient remark or two in some contemporary record. He built a 
house on one of the islands within the limits of Portland, with the 
intention of making it his place of residence. When he returned 
home, he assured the natives, whose affections he had gained, that 
it was only for the purpose of bringing his wife and family, to take 
up his permanent abode among them. We hear nothing more of 
him, but are well assured that he never more visited this coast ; 
a circumstance much to be regretted, as from his good judgment 
and conciliatory disposition toward the natives, his services and 
influence would have been valuable to the early colonists. 

The house which he built on an island in Portland harbor, was 
the first erected in that neighborhood by a white man, and ten years 
before any other was built in that town. 

The other articles in the volume are original contributions, with 
one or two exceptions. Several of them are town histories, some 
of which have been in possession of the Society a number of years, 
and are useful as exhibiting the painful struggles and the toilsome 
progress of the pioneers in our early settlements. We have thought 
it best to preserve these documents in a form accessible to future ex- 
plorers. The more recent history of these towns is perpetuated in 
the multiplied and permanent records of the press. 

All the articles contained in the volume, with the exceptions 
before referred to, reach back, in a greater or less degree, into the 
antiquity of our State, and furnish materials or guides to a more 
full development of the foundations and growth of our common- 
wealth. It is hoped that they will lead to a more full and thorough 
investigation of records and documents lying neglected in various 
parts of our State, and cause the abundant materials they contain, 
to be embodied in a convenient and enduring form. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

PREFACE iii. 

I. DISCOURSE BEFORE THE SOCIETY, at its Annual Meeting, 

Sept. 6, 1846, by Hon. George Folsom, of New 

York 380 

2. BRIEF NARRATION of the Original Undertakings of 

Plantations in America. By Sir Ferdinando Gorges, 

Kt., Lord Proprietor of the Province of Maine. 1 

3. A VOYAGE TO NEW ENGLAND, in 1623, by Christopher 

Levett, Esq. - 73 

4. ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, POLAND AND MINOT, by Wil- 

liam Ladd, Esq Ill 

5. HISTORY OF THE SEVEN NARRAGANSET TOWNSHIPS, 

by Charles Coffin, Esq. - 131 

6. SOME ACCOUNT OF NEW GLOUCESTER, by Isaac Par- 

sons, Esq. ... . 151 

7. HISTORY OF NORTH YARMOUTH, by Edward Rus- 

sell, Esq. - - - -165 

8. THE HISTORY OF BATH, by Joseph Sewall, Esq. . 189 

9. SOME ACCOUNT OF AN ANCIENT SETTLEMENT ON SHEEP- 

SCOT RIVER, by Rev. Samuel Johnson, with Supple- 
mentary Remarks, by William Willis, Esq. . 229 

10. ACCOUNT OF PEMAQUID, by Judge Groton. . . 238 

II. EXERTIONS OF THE O'BRIEN FAMILY, at Machias, 

in the American Revolution, by Capt. John O'Brien, 

of Brunswick. 242 



vi. CONTENTS. 

12. LETTER FROM GEN. RUFUS PUTNAM TO Gov. BOWDOIN, 

in relation to Shay's rebellion. ... - 250 

13. NOTICE OF WILLIAM LADD, by William Willis, Esq.] 255 

14. DEED from Ferdinando Gorges, Esq. to John Usher. 257 

15. " John Usher to the Colony of Massachu- 
setts Bay. . .261 

16. OPINION of Richard West, Esq. Counsel to the Board 

of Trade, as to the King's right to the woods in the 
Province of Maine. 265 

17. HISTORY OF THE KENNEBEC PURCHASE, by Robert H. 

Gardiner, Esq. . 269 

18. CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS OF THE SOCIETY, AND 

LIST OF OFFICERS AND MEMBERS. - - . 295 



ANNIVERSARY DISCOURSE, 

DELIVERED AT BRUNSWICK, 

SEPTEMBER GTH, 1846, 
BY GEORGE F O L S O M. 



" But I doubt not * * * it will prove a very flourishing place, and be replenished 
with many faire Townes and Cities, it being a Province both fruitful and pleasant." 

F. GORQKS. Description of the Province of Maine. 



DISCOURSE. 



MR. PRESIDENT, AND GENTLEMEN OF THE HISTORI- 
CAL SOCIETY : 

INDIFFERENCE to the past, considered as a na- 
tional characteristic, is a mark of rudeness and inciv- 
ilizatiori. A purely savage people live only in the 
present moment. The satisfaction of immediate 
wants, the enjoyment of the passing hour, make 
up the sum total of their existence. They have no 
monuments of former generations, and they leave 
none of themselves. To them, the deeds of forefa- 
thers, the exploits of other times, the good or evil 
that marked an earlier day, afford no examples and 
impart no instruction. It is as if none had lived 
before them, and none were to come after. Equally 
indifferent to the future, they make no provision for 
a day beyond that which already dawns upon them, 
and care as little for the next generation as the last. 

Such are mankind in their natural and uncultivated 
state. But as they emerge into the light of civiliza- 
tion, a change comes over the scene. An enlarged 
horizon exhibits new objects to the view. Their 
gaze is no longer fixed, animal-like, upon the narrow 
compass of earth that suffices for present indulgence ; 
but looking upward towards Heaven, as well as 
around upon the outspreading landscape, they begin 
1 



6 DISCOURSE. 

to feel the sublimity of their intellectual nature, and 
to call into exercise the faculties that God has endow- 
ed them with, but of which they were before uncon- 
scious. Now awakens the thirst of knowledge, the 
strong and insatiable desire to grasp at something 
beyond mere existence. The well-spring of thought 
bubbles up, stimulating and fertilizing the perceptions, 
and a thousand imaginations and conceits pour forth 
in undisciplined confusion. Reason and reflection 
soon, however, assert their rights, and the plastic hand 
of cultivation moulds all into shape and order. 

The present moment is now no longer the limit of 
of the mind's ken. It supplies too gross a material 
for the exercise of the awakened powers, and the 
imagination scorns to feed upon it. Stretching back 
to the past, or diving deep into futurity, it delights 
to take to itself the wings of fancy, and revel and 
riot amid the scenes that bear it away from the sen- 
sualities and follies, the cares and distractions, of the 
fleeting moment. It conjures up the realities of a 
by-gone age, and seeks to learn the motives, the 
principles, the habits, both of body and mind, and all 
that was comprised in the career of those who once 
lived and flourished, but have long slumbered in the 
Valley of Silence. It was at this stage of progress, 
that the Father of History unfolded his luminous page, 
and recited to his assembled countrymen the glorious 
deeds and chivalric achievements of their departed 
sires, or traced the daring exploits of the half-fabulous 
heroes who made Greece the arena for the display 
of superhuman courage and unrivalled prowess. It 
is needless to add that the land rung with praises of 
the man, who had thus successfully appealed both to 



DISCOURSE. 7 

the new-born thirst for historic lore, and to that other 
and scarcely less civilized sentiment, THE LOVE or 

ONE'S OWN NATIVE LAND. 

Advancing improvement strengthens the desire to 
converse with departed excellence, and national pride 
leads to the erection of lasting monuments to perpet- 
uate its fame. Memorials are sought on every hand, 
but, alas ! it too often happens that inattention or 
neglect, on the part of contemporaries, occasions the 
loss of what a subsequent age would be sure to prize as 
the precious reliques of genius or distinguished merit. 
How little is known, for instance, of the private his- 
tory of England's great dramatist, and with what 
eagerness are the faintest traces of his every-day life 
sought and treasured up ! Yet with a little care ex- 
ercised either in his own day, or by those of the next 
succeeding generation, enough might have been pre- 
served to enable his admirers, in all ages, to form a 
correct conception of the life and personal character 
of the man whose genius is the proudest boast of 
English literature. 

Great national events likewise often fail of a proper 
appreciation from the want of due care in preserving 
the memorials of their occurrence. To the historical 
student many cases in point will suggest themselves. 
The history of American discovery may be mention- 
ed as singularly deficient in the requisite materials 
for its elucidation. The important voyages of Sebas- 
tian Cabot and Americus Vespucius are involved in 
much obscurity from this cause, and the chart or map 
drawn by the former to illustrate his discoveries, has 
long been classed among the things " lost on earth." 
Navarrete, in Spain, has done much to rescue from 



8 DISCOURSE. 

oblivion the services rendered by his countrymen, in 
the discovery of the New World ; but had the work 
been commenced at an earlier period, the results 
would doubtless have been far more satisfactory and 
complete. 

In this country, something has already been done 
towards the preservation of the materials of history ; 
and it is gratifying to find an increased interest awa- 
kened in the subject, and a higher appreciation of its 
importance entertained, at the present time, than at 
any former period. It marks to some extent the cha- 
racter of the age, and affords, according to the gene- 
ral views just presented, an indication of progress, 
a sign of intellectual growth, in our social character. 
The Documentary History, now in the course of pub- 
lication under the auspices of the general government, 
is a work of which any country might be proud ; 
and if completed according to the plan of its intel- 
ligent editor,* it will be a noble monument to the 
liberality and enlightened patriotism of our national 
legislature. The states individually have also awa- 
kened to the importance of collecting and preserving 
their public records, and in some of the older com- 
monwealths considerable appropriations have been 
made of late years to defray the expense of arranging 
and making secure what is too often regarded as the 
useless lumber of antiquity. It is certainly desirable, 
in every point of view, economical as well as histori- 
cal, that a similar course should be pursued in the 
public offices of all our states ; for often the preser- 
vation of a single document may lead to results of 

PETER FORGE, Esq., late Mayor of the city of Washington. 



DISCOURSE. 9 

greater value than all the labor and expense re- 
quired to effect this object. 

The publications of the English Record Commis- 
sions are an example of what may be accomplished 
by a great and enlightened nation for the preservation 
of its public records. The work was commenced in 
the year 1800, and was continued nearly forty years, 
during which time there were printed of the ancient 
records of the kingdom, commencing with the reign 
of William the Conqueror, one hundred and eleven 
volumes, of which eighty-six are in folio ; and the 
amount expended by the government in connexion with 
this object, during that period, is estimated at nearly 
a million of pounds sterling, or about five millions 
of dollars. The same liberal and munificent spirit that 
has led to the achievement of this great enterprise, 
not satisfied with having provided for the security of 
the documents contained in those massive volumes, 
by their publication, has also governed their distribu- 
tion ; for copies were sent to most of the colleges 
and many other literary institutions of this country, 
which certainly had no claim upon the liberality of 
the British government. This great work has raised 
another monument to the far-famed national spirit of 
that monarchy, which ever seeks, by appropriate 
means, to foster and sustain the reputation of her sons 
and the glory of her ancient name. 

The long connexion of the people of this country 
with the European governments, of which they were 
colonies, renders our own archives incomplete with- 
out resorting to those abroad; and hence some of 
the State Legislatures have so far interested them- 
selves in this subject, as to send agents to the mother 
1* 



10 DISCOURSE. 

countries to procure copies of documents illustrative 
of their early history. The Legislature of New York 
appropriated about fifteen thousand dollars for this 
purpose, and her Agent was employed three years 
in the performance of his labors, during which time 
he examined the archives of London, Paris, and the 
Hague, and brought home an invaluable collection of 
State Papers, and other documents of great value and 
interest. Georgia, likewise, with commendable liber- 
ality, has instituted a similar agency abroad, which re- 
sulted in the acquisition of twenty-two folio manuscript 
volumes, obtained from the English offices, and deposi- 
ted by the direction of the Legislature with the Histor- 
ical Society of that state. Massachusetts, distinguish- 
ed for her enlightened legislation, and ever alive to 
whatever promotes the cause of learning and educa- 
tion, has established a similar agency in London and 
Paris ; and it is believed that many other States are 
prepared to adopt the same course. 

But the most striking evidence of the attention now 
bestowed on the subject of historical investigation 
in this country, is found in the organization of His- 
torical Societies throughout the Union, having in view 
the specific object of collecting and preserving the ma- 
terials of history. The Massachusetts society was the 
first in the field: it has already published twenty- 
nine volumes of Collections, containing a prodigious 
mass of information, relating chiefly to the history 
of New England. One of its founders, and its first 
President, was a native of this State ; I refer to the 
late JAMES SULLIVAN, then a resident of Boston, and 
afterwards Governor of Massachusetts. This gentle- 
man also produced a history of this State, then the 



DISCOURSE. 1 1 

District of Maine, which although far from being a 
faultless work, was highly creditable to the industry 
and patriotism of its Author. Associated with Sulli- 
van in founding and sustaining that Society, were 
BELKNAP, ELIOT, FREEMAN, MINOT, TUDOR, THACH- 
ER, KlRKLAND, WlNTHROP, DAVIS, QlJINCY, SAVAGE, 
BRADFORD, HARRIS, and others, who formed a pha- 
lanx of intellectual strength and erudition not often 
surpassed.* 

The New York Historical Society was founded at 
a somewhat later period than that of Massachusetts, 
but was the next in order of time, and is now in the 
forty-second year of its existence. Among those 
who were among its earliest members, (but now de- 
ceased,) may be named Egbert Benson, John Pintard, 
Rufus King, De Witt Clinton, Dr. Hosack, Bishop 
Hobart, Daniel D. Tompkins, Dr. Mitchell, Brockholst 
Livingston, and Peter A. Jay. The President of this 
society, at the present time, is the Hon. ALBERT GALLA- 
TIN, who at a very advanced age finds solace in literary 
pursuits, to which his time ife chiefly devoted/f The 
Library of this institution is large, and rich in American 
history ; and is the resort of historical students from 

* See an excellent sketch of the history of the Massachusetts Society, by the 
Rev. WILLIAM JENKS, D. D., in the twenty-seventh volume of its Collections. 
Dr. Jenks states, that the Rev. Dr. Belknap, author of a well known and highly 
esteemed History of New Hampshire, " has been uniformly regarded as the prin- 
cipal founder of that Society." 

t This gentleman is also President of the American Ethnological Society, es- 
tablished at New York. The first volume of the Transactions of that learned 
association appeared last year, consisting chiefly of an elaborate essay upon the 
languages, astronomy, &c. of the ancient inhabitants of Mexico and Central 
America, by Mr. Gallatin. This remarkable work, involving much abstruse 
learning, and acute discrimination, is one of the greatest trophies of an intellec- 
tual old age the world ever saw ; having been composed by the venerable author 
in his eighty-fifth year. 



12 DISCOURSE. 

all parts of the country. Its members are numerous, 
and the papers read at its monthly meetings usually 
attract a large concourse of persons of literary taste 
and habits. Besides its volumes of Collections, this 
Society publishes an anual report of its transactions, 
containing the Papers read during the year, 

I have spokea more particularly of the societies 
of Massachusetts and New York, as being the oldest 
in the country ; but there are many others of a more 
recent date, which are equally efficient and useful. 
They bring together much of the learning and talent 
of their respective States, and afford to politicians a 
neutral ground on which they can meet without dan- 
ger of hostile collision ; for surely nothing is better 
fitted to inspire proper feelings in the hearts of the 
living, than the contemplation of the virtues of those 
who have preceded them on the stage of active life, 
and patriotism itself is kindled by surveying the tro- 
phies and memorials which a grateful country exhibits 
to exalt the fame of her distinguished sons. We have 
no Westminster Abbey to perpetuate the remem- 
brance of valor, genius, or beneficence ; even 
Washington sleeps in a common tomb with his kin- 
dred, and of his distinguished associates in the field, 
how few of us can tell where their remains now repose ! 
If Historical Associations should do no more than 
point out the resting places of departed merit, dis- 
encumbering the humble tomb-stone of its moss, and 
freshening the sod that lies upon the grave of genius, 
they will perform a truly grateful though it may be 
humble office, and be the means of holding up to 
public view examples worthy of imitation. 

The Society I have the honor to address was insti- 



DISCOURSE. 13 

tuted in 1822, and numbered among its early friends 
and founders some of the most eminent names in the 
State. It has already rendered good service by the 
publication of a volume that sheds much light on the 
early history of a large portion of Maine ; and should 
its organization give birth to nothing beyond that vol- 
ume, so replete with the fruits of patient research, its 
existence would be marked by no idle or unsatisfactory 
result. But there is no reason it should stop here ; 
there is much more work for it to perform before its 
destiny be accomplished. There is no part of our 
country whose history is more diversified, and in- 
structive, than these Northern shores; none less 
known, or full of more exciting incident.. The long 
subjection of Maine to a rival colony, gave it less inter- 
est and importance in the eyes of the general histori- 
an than it deserved to possess ; but having at length 
resumed its original independence, with the means of 
developing its vast resources, and extending its 
wealth and population, this State must hereafter oc- 
cupy a prominent position in our country, and a con- 
spicuous place on the page of history. 

I propose in the remainder of this discourse to call 
your attention to some of the facts connected with 
the early discovery and settlement of Maine, and the 
character of those who were most active in the work 
of colonization. 

To Columbus belongs the glory of having solved 
the great problem, as to the existence of lands in the 
west ; but in his estimation, the discovery owed its 
chief importance to the supposed identity of those 
lands with the opulent, but remote regions of Cathay, 
or China, and the Indies. Impressed with this idea, 



14 DISCOURSE. 

the great navigator, even in his last voyage, took with 
him persons skilled in the Arabic language, for the 
purpose of being enabled to hold intercourse with the 
Khan of Tartary, as the Emperor of China was then 
styled, whose dominions he expected to reach by sail- 
ing west from Hispaniola. This voyage terminated 
twelve years after the first discovery, and resulted 
only in the exploration of the coast of Central Ame- 
rica, from the bay of Honduras to the Spanish Main. 
The same idea led to the discovery of the continent 
of North America, by the Cabots in 1497. The ac- 
count of the matter given by Sebastian Cabot, who 
was the master spirit on that occasion, is that the 
news of the discoveries made by Columbus, caused a 
great sensation at the court cf Henry VII., who then 
reigned in England, and it was thought a wonderful 
thing, " more divine than human, to sail by the west 
to the lands in the east, where spices grow." The fame 
of this achievement kindled a desire in his own mind 
to attempt something of a similar character, and 
" understanding," he says, " by reason of the sphere, 
that if I should sail by the northwest, I should by a 
shorter tract come into India, I thereupon caused the 
king to be advertised of my device," &c. He after- 
terwards adds, " I began therefore to sail towards the 
northwest, not thinking to find any other land than that 
of Cathay, and from thence to turn towards India ; 
but after certain days, I found that the land ran towards 
, the north, which to me was a great displeasure." * 

i 

k 

* Hakluyt. Thus Lord Bacon characterizes Cabot's discovery as " a memo- 
rable accident," and the great navigator he describes " as one Sebastian Gabato, 
a Venetian, dwelling at Bristol, a man seen and expert in cosmography and na- 
vigation." Hist. Henry VII. 



DISCOURSE. 15 

The accounts of this voyage, and of a second in 
in the same direction, made by Sebastian Cabot the 
following year, are extremely meagre ; no details of 
them were published by the navigator himself, and 
after his death, his original maps and papers disap- 
peared in a mysterious manner. But there is suffi- 
cient evidence to show that he first discovered land, 
after pursuing a northwest course from Bristol Chan- 
nel, on the coast of Labrador, in latitude about 56, 
on the 24th of June, the day of St. John the Baptist. 
In honor of the day, he gave the name of St. John to 
a small island, on the same coast, which has latterly 
disappeared from our maps. It is now supposed that 
Cabot, after making this discovery, continued his 
course to the north, as high as latitude 67, and enter- 
ed Hudson's bay ; finding the sea still open, he said 
that he might and would have gone to Cathay, had it 
not been for the mutinous conduct of the master and 
mariners, who compelled him to retrace his steps. 
The ship in which he sailed was called the Matthew, 
of Bristol. 

Obtaining a new patent from the king, he again 
sailed the following year with several vessels and 
about 300 persons, for the purpose, it is supposed, of 
forming a colony. It was during this voyage that he 
sailed along the whole coast of the United States, and 
laid the foundation of the English claim to the country. 

Some particulars of these voyages are given by 
Peter Martyr, the celebrated Italian, a resident in 
Spain at that period, who derived his information from 
Cabot himself, when a guest at his house. According 
to this writer, Cabot called the lands he had discov- 
ered " BACCALAOS, a name," says Martyr, " given by 



16 DISCOURSE. 

the inhabitants to a large kind of fish, which appear- 
ed in such shoals, that they sometimes interrupted the 
progress of the ships." This word is now used in 
several European languages, to denote the codfish, 
either in its natural or dried state. It is found on 
some of the oldest maps of North America, as applied 
by Cabot to the countries he discovered, but is gene- 
rally restricted to the island since called Newfound*- 
land* 

The name of Labrador is Portuguese, having been 
given with some others by a Portuguese navigator, 
Gaspar de Cortereal, who visited the same coast in 
1501, and left his own name applied to an extensive 
tract of country on the borders of Hudson's Bay, long 
known as Terra Corterealis. 

The name Norumbega was subsequently used to 
designate nearly the whole of the Continent north of 
Florida. This is supposed to be an Indian word, 
with a Latin termination,t and was generally used by 
the French, until it was superseded by another Indian 
name, which the French wrote Cadie, or Acadie, and 
sometimes with the Latin termination, as Cadia, or 
Acadia, but which the English changed into a less 
poetical word, by writing Quoddy instead of Cadie.% 

Norumbega, at a later period, was confined 
to the country lying north of Virginia ; thus on a 

* Thus Cortes, writing in 1524, proposes to explore "the northern coast of 
Florida as far as the Bacallaos." Despatches, p. 417. 

t Sometimes written Arambec, or Arambeag. It is remarked by Sullivan 
that the Indian word eag signifies land, and he thus accounts for its frequent oc- 
currence in local names. Father Rale, in his Dictionary of the Abenaqui dialect, 
gives the words ki and kik, (kee and keek,) as meaning land ; but Gallatin's 
Synopsis of Indian languages, (Long Island Vocabulary,) has " keagh, or eage ;" 
the difference is, however, only in the orthography ; the words are the same. 

t The bay of Passamaquoddy, is on the French maps named Pesmo-cadie. 



DISCOURSE. 17 

map contained in Wytfliet's supplement to Ptolemy, 
published as late as 1603, it has New France on the 
north, and Virginia on the south. A city of the same 
name is also laid down on this map, situated upon a 
large river, supposed to be the Penobscot. A map 
of North America, contained in the Novus Orbis 
of De Laet, published in 1633, distributes the country 
into the following divisions, commencing on the 
north : New France, Cadie, Norumbega, (comprising 
the territory between the St. Croix and Kennebec,) 
New England, New Netherland, Virginia, and Flor- 
ida. Purchas in describing the coast of Maine, refers 
to former accounts of " a great town and fair river 
called Norumbega," and adds, that the French discov- 
erers deny the existence of any such place, affirming 
that there are only cabins, covered with bark or skins, 
to be found in that region, and that the true name of 
the village and river is Pentegoet, a name long ap- 
plied by the French to the Penobscot. This more 
accurate account of the matter was the result of visits 
to that river, by the French, at the period of their 
first settlements in Nova Scotia. 

According to Hakluyt, and other writers, the In- 
dians had a general designation for the territory com- 
prised within the forty -third and forty- fifth degrees 
of north latitude, almost the precise limits of the sea 
coast of Maine, and extending forty leagues into the 
interior. This territory they called MAVOOSHEN, 
" which," says Hakluyt, " was discovered by the Eng- 
lish in the years 1602, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9," implying 
that voyages were made to it by the English in each 
of those years, a statement fully confirmed by evi- 
dence from other sources. The government of all 
2 



18 DISCOURSE. 

the Indians dwelling within these limits, and of others 
as far south as Massachusetts, was in the hands of a 
single Cacique, or Sachem, to whom the inferior 
Sagamores of the various tribes owed allegiance. 
His title as given by the English Navigators who 
first visited the country, was Bashaba, and Dr. Bel- 
knap remarks that " we have no account of any other 
Indian chief in these northern parts of America, 
whose authority was so extensive."* The place of 
his residence was probably on the banks of the Pen- 
obscot, and as it was also the seat of his government, 
the fabulous accounts of a large city in that quarter 
may have arisen from exaggerated descriptions of this* 
humble capital of the Bashaba's dominions. 

Notwithstanding the discoveries of the Cabots, 
with the exception of one or two expeditions from 
Bristol, fitted out by the enterprising merchants of 
that city, no subsequent efforts were made in Eng- 
land for a long period to follow up what had been so 
well begun. During the protracted reign of Henry 
VIII., those important discoveries seem to have been 
forgotten ; nor was their memory revived in the 
succeeding reigns of Edward VI. and Queen Mary. 
The English merchants were satisfied with quietly 
despatching their frail barks to the fishing grounds, 
and drawing from the ocean-depths the more availa- 
ble sources of commercial thrift. Sebastian Cabot 
had gone into the service of Spain, and more than 
seventy years elapsed before the attention of the Eng- 
lish goverment was again directed to the American 
coast. During all this long period, not an English 

* 1 Am. Biog. 351. 



DISCOURSE. 19 

colonist was landed upon any portion of the Ameri- 
can continent, to mark the possession of the country 
on the part of those who afterwards claimed an ex- 
clusive right to every inch of the soil from Florida to 
Greenland. The maxim in those days was, Veni, 
Vidi, Hdbui ; or in the language of the poet, 

"The time once was here, to all be it known, 
When all a man sailed by, or saw, was his own." 

At length, towards the close of the sixteenth centu- 
ry, Sir Humphry Gilbert, one of the most accom- 
plished men in England, undertook an expedition to 
Newfoundland ; and his half brother, Sir Walter 
Raleigh, despatched another for the discovery of land 
to the north of Florida. But these efforts, however 
honorable to their authors, proved disastrous in the 
end. The wretched colonists planted by Sir Walter 
on the meagre coast of North Carolina were finally 
abandoned to their fate, and, cut off from all commu- 
nication with the civilized world, are supposed to 
have perished of hunger, or by the hands of savages. 
The only result of any value or importance that 
followed the spirited exertions of that gifted genius, 
at whose private expense the attempt was made, was 
the opening of the hitherto unexplored wilds of Vir- 
ginia to the knowledge of the world, which led to 
more successful efforts to colonize that portion of 
our country at- a subsequent date. 

The French were equally unsuccessful during the 
same century in all their enterprises to the new 
world ; not a single permanent settlement was effec- 
ted by them on any part of the American coast. 



20 DISCOURSE. 

Although repeated commissions were issued for the 
colonization of the country under the name of New 
France, the whole of North America, with the excep- 
tion of Florida and Mexico, continued an unbroken 
wilderness, without a single European family in all 
its extent, until the commencement of the seventeenth 
century. This vast and dreary solitude was first 
broken on the borders of this State, by the French 
colony of De Monts, who passed the winter of 1603-4 
on the island of St. Croix, situated in the river of 
the same name, on the line separating Maine from 
New Brunswick. 

The spirit of colonization received a new impulse 
in England at the same period. The numerous fish- 
ing voyages from the western ports, especially Bris- 
tol, Exeter, and Plymouth, had divested the ocean of 
its terrors, and a visit to the American coast had 
become no unusual occurrence. In the summer of 
1602, a small party of colonists embarked from Fal- 
mouth, and arrived on the coast of Massachusetts ; 
having selected a location upon a small island near 
the southern shore of that State, to which they gave 
the name of Elizabeth island, they prepared to take 
up their abode there ; but when the ship was about 
to leave on its return to England, their hearts failed 
them, and they hastily abandoned the enterprise. 
But the pleasing accounts these persons gave of the 
country after their return, and the shortness of the 
voyage, produced a favorable impression at home, 
and encouraged other enterprises of a similar 
character. 

Richard Hakluyt, the author of the well known 
geographical work that bears his name, was at that 



DISCOURSE. 21 

time a prebendary of St. Augustine's Church at Bris- 
tol ; taking a lively interest in promoting voyages of 
discovery to different parts of the globe, he induced 
the corporation of Bristol and some of the merchants 
of that city, to unite in fitting out a small expedition 
to America the following year. It consisted of two 
vessels named the Speedwell and the Discoverer, 
with a ship's company of about fifty persons, amongst 
whom were several who had been in the expedition 
of the previous year. The command was given to 
Martin Pring, an experienced seaman. The vessels 
were victualled for eight months, and provided with 
various kinds of clothing, hardware and trinkets, to 
trade with the natives. They sailed on the 10th of 
April, 1603, a few days after the death of Queen 
Elizabeth, and reached the American coast on the 
7th of June, between the 43d and 44th degrees of 
latitude, among those numerous islands with which 
Penobscot bay is studded. There they found good 
anchorage and fishing, and gave the name of Fox 
islands to the group now bearing that name. 

Leaving that part of the coast, Captain Pring ran- 
ged to the southwest, and explored the inlets, rivers 
and bays, as far as the southern coast of Massachu- 
setts. Here he named a bay where they landed, " by 
the name of the Worshipful Master, John Whitson, 
then Mayor of the city of Bristol, and one of the 
chief adventurers." A pleasant hill adjoining they 
called Mount Aldworth, " for Master Robert Wald- 
worth's sake, a chief furtherer of the voyage, as well 
with his purse as his travel." Aldworth was a wealthy 
merchant of Bristol, who nearly thirty years after 
2* 



22 DISCOURSE. 

was one of the grantees at Pemaquid, in conjunction 
with Giles Elbridge. 

The object of this expedition having been accom- 
plished by a careful survey of the country, and the 
vessels having received a full freight of sassafras and 
furs, Pring returned to England, where he arrived 
after a passage of five weeks. The whole voyage 
was completed in six months. 

The next visit to the coast of Maine was in 1605, 
by Capt. George Weymouth, who having in view the 
discovery of Virginia, came in sight of the American 
coast on the 14th of May, in the latitude of 41 20' ; 
but finding himself in the midst of shoals and break- 
ers, he made sail and at the distance of fifty leagues 
discovered several islands, to one of which he gave 
the name of St. George, which is still borne by a 
group of islands near the entrance to Penobscot 
river ; about three leagues from this island, Wey- 
mouth came into a harbor which he called Pentecost 
harbor, and sailed up a noble river, now supposed to 
have been the Penobscot. But the most important 
circumstance connected with this voyage is, that on 
his return to England, Weymouth took with him 
several Indians, three of whom on his arrival at Ply- 
mouth he committed to the charge of Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges, Governor of the Fort at that place. " This 
accident," says Gorges, in his Description of New 
England, " must be acknowledged the means, under 
God, of putting on foot and giving life to all our 
plantations." He adds, that he kept these Indians 
for three years, and endeavored to elicit from them 
as much information as possible respecting their na- 
tive country ; and that the longer he conversed with 



DISCOURSE. 23 

them, the better hope they gave him of those parts 
where they inhabited, as well fitted for the purposes 
of settlement, " especially when he found what good- 
ly rivers, stately islands, and safe harbors those parts 
abounded with." 

Thus encouraged, Sir Ferdinando despatched a ship 
the following year, (1606), under the command of 
Henry Challong, accompanied by two of the natives, 
with directions to keep a northerly course to Cape 
Breton, and then to run to the southward, following 
the coast until he reached Penobscot bay. Instead, 
however, of following these directions, the ship's 
course was shaped for the West Indies ; this led to 
their capture by the Spaniards, who carried them into 
a Spanish port, where, says Sir Ferdinando, " their 
ship and goods were confiscated, themselves made 
prisoners, the voyage overthrown, and both the na- 
tives lost." This was one of those unfortunate mis- 
chances to which projectors of voyages were peculiarly 
exposed at that period, and which served to discourage 
enterprises of this character. 

Soon after the departure of Challong, another ship 
under the command of Capt. Thomas Hanham and 
Capt. Pring, was despatched from Bristol by Lord 
Chief Justice Popham, with instructions to meet 
Challong at the Penobscot ;* but not finding him at 
that place, they continued their course along shore, 
and made, says Gorges, " a perfect discovery of all 



* The Plymouth Company, in a relation or manifesto published by them at a 
subsequent period, say of this voyage, that " it pleased the noble Lord Chief Jus- 
tice, Sir John Popham, knight, to send out another ship, wherein Captain Thom- 
as Hanham went commander, and Martine Prinne of Biistow master, with all 
necessary supplies, for the seconding of Captain Challons and his people ; who ar- 



21 DISCO URSE. 

those rivers and harbors indicated in their instructions, 
and brought with them the most exact discovery of 
that coast that ever came to my hands since." 

In the meantime, new and extensive plans were 
formed for the colonization of the country. Individ- 
ual efforts had been found insufficient for this purpose ; 
it was necessary to awaken the attention of the gov- 
ernment to its importance, and by securing the con- 
currence of the king and persons of rank, to increase 
the general interest in the undertaking. Sir John 
Popham, the Lord Chief Justice of England, was at 
this period in the zenith of his power and influence ; 
venerable for his age, respected for his wise adminis- 
tration of the law, and strong in the confidence of 
the crown. He is accused by a recent writer* of 
having displayed too great alacrity in passing sentence 
upon Sir Walter Raleigh, when convicted of high 
treason ; but the conduct of the Chief Justice on that 
occasion seems to have been marked by forbearance 
throughout. Sir Walter was tried by a special com- 
mission of eleven persons, consisting of several Peers 
of the realm, the Chief Justice and three other 
Justices of the King's Bench and Common Pleas ; 
the jury was composed of knights and gentlemen of 
undoubted integrity. It might be difficult to convict 

riving at the place appointed, and not finding that Captain there, after they had 
made some discovery, and found the coasts, havens and harbors answerable to our 
desires, they returned." " Upon whose relations," say the Company " afterwards, 
the lord chief justice and we all waxed so confident of the business, that the year 
following every man of any worth, formerly interested in it, was willing to join 
in the charge for the sending over a competent number of people to lay the 
ground of a hopeful plantation." 

* Discourse on the Life and Character of Sir Walter Raleigh, delivered by J. 
Morrison Harris, before the Maryland Historical Society, May 19, 1846 ; an 
able and eloquent production. 



DISCOURSE. 25 

a person on the same evidence at the present day, 
and the trial was scandalously managed on the part 
of the prosecuting attorney, Sir Edward Coke, even 
for that period ; but Popham is not answerable for 
the imperfect state of the rules of evidence nearly 
two centuries and a half ago, nor for the brutal con- 
duct of Coke towards the unfortunate prisoner. When 
called upon to pronounce the judgment of the court, 
the Chief Justice manifested feelings of regret and 
sorrow, while at the same time he commented with 
firmness upon the enormity of the offence of which 
one so highly gifted, and so capable of serving the 
state, had been found guilty. " I thought," said the 
venerable judge, no doubt with tears in his eyes, " I 
thought I should never have seen this day, to have 
stood in this place to have given sentence of death 
against you ; because I thought it impossible that one 
of so great parts should have fallen so grievously." 
Again he says, " Now it resteth to pronounce the 
judgment, which I wish you had not been this day to 
have received of me. * * * I never saw the like 
trial, and hope I shall never see the like again." 

The Chief Justice was a native of the west of 
England, and at the period in question resided at 
Wellington, in Somersetshire, where he passed much 
of his time, and entertained with great hospitality and 
splendor. An old writer says of him, that he was the 
greatest housekeeper in England, and would have at 
his seat of Littlecote four or five Lords at a time.* 

In the same county, in the parish of Long Ashton ? 
four or five miles from the city of Bristol, lived Sir 

* Aubrey's 1 ivesof Eminent Men, &c. Vol. 2d. p. 494. 



26 DISCOURSE. 

Ferdinando Gorges, the founder of this State, and the 
Lord Proprietor of the original Province of Maine. 
Among all the friends of American colonization in 
England, none displayed so much zeal, energy and 
perseverance, -as Gorges ; when others were discour- 
aged by unpromising results, he maintained his reso- 
lution, and insisted upon the practicability of his plans. 
Nor was his mind diverted from this great object of 
his life, until the extremities to which the king was 
reduced, demanded the entire services of his loyal 
subjects. Gorges was then an old man ; full forty 
years had elapsed since his attention had been first 
directed to the shores of the New World, and he had 
expended many thousand pounds in furthering its 
discovery and settlement ; but when his services were 
required by his sovereign, with all the instincts of 
English loyalty, the old knight buckled on his sword, 
and followed and shared the fortunes of his royal 
master. 

Such were the two master spirits, who, in 1606, 
undertook the noble work of peopling these northern 
shores from the English coast, and who actually plant- 
ed, at that early period, a numerous and well-pro- 
vided colony on a spot a few miles only from the 
place where we are now assembled. It was sneer- 
ingly said by an old writer, in speaking of Chief 
Justice Popham, that " he not only punished male- 
factors, but provided for them, and first set up the 
discovery of New England to maintain and employ 
those that could not live honestly in the old."* But 
the object was generally acknowledged to be one of 

* Lloyd's State Worthies, p. 46. 



DISCOURSE. 27 

great national importance in many points of view, and 
Popham and Gorges succeeded in enlisting many of 
the first names in England in behalf of the enter- 
prise. The plan was to establish two plantations, one 
in the north, and the other in the south, to be called 
the first and second colony ; the first to be under- 
taken by a London company, and the second, " by 
certain knights, gentlemen, and merchants in the 
west of England." The design received the appro- 
bation of the king, by whom a charter was accord- 
ingly issued, under which the first permanent colony 
was planted in South Virginia, by the London com- 
pany. The other associates of the second colony, 
who took the name of the Plymouth company, suc- 
ceeded in despatching two or three ships with a 
hundred colonists to North Virginia, as this part of 
the country was then called ; the expedition was com- 
manded by Capt. George Popham, a brother of the 
Chief Justice, and Capt. Raleigh Gilbert, a nephew 
of the unfortunate Sir Humphry, who led a colony to 
Newfoundland in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Sir 
John, a brother of Raleigh Gilbert, was also a prom- 
inent member of the Plymouth Company. The ex- 
pedition sailed from Plymouth on the last day of May, 
in the year 1607, consisting of the ships called the 
Gift, and the Mary and John, and arrived on the 
coast of this State, near the island of Monhegan, 
early in August ; thence they proceeded to the mouth 
of the Kennebec, then called Sagadehock, where the 
the colonists disembarked, and selected a site for their 
future residence. There is some doubt as to the pre- 
cise spot on which they erected their temporary 
dwellings and defences, and organized the govern- 



28 DISCOURSE. 

ment of the colony ; Stage Island, Parker's Island, 
and a neighboring peninsula, have respectively en- 
joyed the reputation of having received this band of 
English exiles, who first sought a home on our 
shores ; but time has probably left no traces of the 
settlement. It is stated, however, by Purchas, on the 
authority of a letter from Capt. George Popham to 
Sir John Gilbert, cited by him, that " they chose 
the place of their plantation at the mouth of Saga- 
dehoc, in a westerly peninsula, where they heard a ser- 
mon, read their patent and laws, and built a fort." * 
The peninsula here mentioned was probably that now 
known as Cape Small Point, on which it would seem 
most probable that the colony was located, and Fort 
St. George, as it was called, built for the protection 
of the colonists. 

Measures were immediately taken to explore the 
neighboring country. For this purpose Raleigh Gil- 
bert was despatched, attended by one of the Penob- 
scot Indians that had been carried to England, two 
of whom accompanied the expedition. Gilbert was 
kindly treated by the natives with whom he met, and 
was invited to their cabins. They expressed a desire 
that the head of the colony should pay a visit to the 
Bashaba, the great chief, who dwelt on the banks of 
the Penobscot. Popham consented to go, and had 
proceeded some distance on his journey, when con- 
trary winds and bad weather compelled him to return. 
The Bashaba afterwards sent his son to visit the 
English chief, and open a trade in furs. Such was the 
state observed by this Indian potentate, that he ex- 

* This account was first published by Purchas in 1616. 



DISCOURSE. 29 

pected, says Gorges, " all strangers should have their 
address to him, and not he to them." 

The ships in which the colonists had arrived were 
not ready to return until the 15th of December, when 
a winter of great severity had set in. In England, as 
well as America, that winter was long remembered 
for its unusual degree of cold. The Thames at Lon- 
don was frozen over, and rendered passable upon the 
ice, a circumstance that is said rarely to occur. The 
Sagadehock colonists, unused to such rigorous wea- 
ther, attributed it to the fault of the climate, and 
many of them, disheartened by the farther prospect of 
being exposed to numerous privations on a strange 
and inhospitable coast, resolved to return to England 
with the ships. Of the whole number only forty-five, 
less than one half, had the courage to remain. 

In the meantime another ship with fresh supplies 
for the colony, was on its way to their relief. But 
she bore at the same time the melancholy intelligence 
of the death of Chief Justice Popham, which had oc- 
curred soon after the departure of the first ships from 
England, on the tenth of June, 1607. The Company 
in their manifesto speak of this event in the following 
manner : " In the meanwhile it pleased God to take 
from us this worthy member, the Lord Chief Justice, 
whose sudden death did so astonish the hearts of the 
most part of the adventurers, [the members of the 
Company in England,] as some grew cold, and some 
did wholly abandon the business. Yet Sir Francis 
Popham, his son, and certain of his private friends, 
and others of us, omitted not the next year (holding 
on our first resolution) to join in sending forth a new 
supply, which was accordingly performed. But the 
3 



30 DISCOURSE. 

ships arriving there, did not only bring uncomfortable 
news of the death of the lord chief justice, together 
with the death of Sir John Gilbert, the elder brother 
unto Captain Raleigh Gilbert, who at that time was 
president of that council [the colony] ; but found that 
the old Captain Popham was also dead ; who was the 
only man indeed that died there that winter, where- 
in they endured still greater extremities ; for that in 
the depth thereof, their lodgings and stores were 
burnt, and they thereby wondrously distressed." 

It is not strange that amidst so many discouraging 
circumstances, to which was added the necessity of 
Raleigh Gilbert's return to England on account of his 
brother's death, the remaining colonists should turn 
their eyes wishfully towards their English homes, and 
even resolve to abandon the enterprise. According- 
ly, when the ship that had brought them supplies was 
ready to sail, early in the spring of 1608, they all 
embarked and arrived safely in England. 

In justification of this abandonment of the country, 
it was of course denounced by the returning emigrants 
as unfit to be inhabited by civilized beings ; as cold, 
barren and inhospitable. And yet the letters first 
received from the colony had represented it as 
" stored with grapes, white and red, good hops, onions, 
garlick, oaks, walnuts, and the soil good. They 
found oysters nine inches in length, and heard of 
others twice as great."* As to the climate, although 
the winter was one of almost unprecedented severity 
everywhere, it had produced no mortality among their 
number, unless the death of old Capt. Popham may 

* Purchas. 



DISCOURSE. 31 

be set down to that cause, who was the only one that 
died amidst the hardships suffered by the colonists. 
How superior was the spirit exhibited twelve years 
after by the Pilgrim emigrants at Plymouth, nearly 
half of whose number perished within four months af- 
ter their landing, yet animated by a settled religious 
purpose, no one of the survivors entortained a thought 
of relinquishing their design. Had a tithe of their 
energy and resolute spirit animated the Kennebec 
colonists, whose resources were so much superior, a 
more grateful task might have awaited the pen that 
should relate the story of this enterprise.* 

Nor did the colonists suffer to any considerable ex- 
tent from collisions with the natives ; on the other 
hand, they seem to have been treated by them with 
much kindness and hospitality, owing probably to 
favorable representations made by those of their num- 
ber who had resided in the family of Gorges at Ply- 



* The Massachusetts Colony, under the direction of the prudent WINTHROP, 
scarcely suffered a less mortality than the Pilgrims, although they arrived early 
in summer. " Many died weekly, yea, almost daily," says one of them ; and 
another writes that " almost in every family lamentation, mourning, and woe were 
heard, and no fresh food to cherish them." This was chiefly during the few 
weeks that the colonists remained at Charlestown, and was occasioned in a con- 
siderable degree by the want of good water. After their removal in the same 
summer (1630) to the peninsula on which the foundations of Boston were laid by 
them, the sickness abated in consequence of a better supply of the pure element 
found there. About two hundred died during the season. In the midst of these 
troubles, Gov. Winthrop wrote to his wife, whom he had left in England for the 
present, in the following words : " I thank God, I like so well to be here that I 
do not repent my coming ; and if I were to come again, I would not have al- 
tered my course, though I had foreseen all these afflictions. * * I praise 
God, we have many occasions of comfort here, and do hope that our days 
of affliction will soon have an end, and that the Lord will do us more good in the 
end than we could have expected, that will abundantly recompense for all the 
trouble we have endured." Winthrop's Journal, Savage's ed. vol. 1. p. 377. 
Hist. Charlestown, by R. Frothingham, Jr. pp. 42, 43. 



32 DISCOURSE. 

mouth, and now acted as guides and interpreters to 
the English in their intercourse with the red men. 
Purchas, who derived his information from Raleigh 
Gilbert, and others of the Colony, thus speaks of the 
Indians : " The people seemed affected with our men's 
devotions, and would say, ' king James is a good king, 
his God a good God, and Tanto nought ;' so they call 
an evil spirit which haunts them every moon, and 
makes them worship him for fear. He commanded 
them not to dwell near or come among the English, 
threatening to kill some, and inflict sickness on others, 
beginning with two of the sagamore's children ; saying 
he had power and would do the like to the English 
the next moon, to wit, in December." Then follows 
a story calculated to alarm the poor emigrants, and 
which may have had some effect in unsettling their 
resolution : " The people also told our men of can- 
nibals near Sagadehock with teeth three inches long, 
but they saw them not." One person, styled Master 
Patterson, was killed in an encounter with the Tar- 
rentines, an unfriendly tribe, dwelling beyond the 
Penobscot; with this exception, nothing seems to 
have arisen to disturb the relations of the colonists 
with their uncivilized neighbors. 

The only member of the Plymouth Company who 
seems to have remained undiscouraged and unmoved 
by the breaking up of this colony and the unfavorable 
reports of the country, was Sir Ferdinando Gorges. 
While he regretted, as he says, the Joss of so noble 
a friend as the Chief Justice, and his nation so wor- 
thy a subject, he refused to be influenced by the idle 
stories of the cold being so extreme as to render the 
country unsuitable for settlement and cultivation. 



DISCOURSE. 33 

" As for the coldness of the clime," said he, " I had 
had too much experience in the world to be frighted 
with such a blast, as knowing many great kingdoms 
and large territories more northerly seated, and by 
many degrees colder than the clime from whence they 
came, yet plentifully inhabited, and divers of them 
stored with no better commodities from trade and 
commerce than those parts afforded, if like industry, 
art and labor be used." But the good sense of the 
worthy knight was not capable of reanimating the 
drooping energies of the Plymouth Company. 
" There was no more speech of settling any other 
plantation in those parts for a long time after," say 
the Company in their Relation published at a subse- 
quent period ; " only," they add, " Sir Francis Pop- 
ham having the ships and provision which remained 
of the company, and supplying what was necessary 
for his purpose, sent divers times to the coasts for 
trade and fishing ; of whose loss or gains himself is 
best able to give account." 

Sir Ferdinando pursued a similar course of private 
adventure, at the same time keeping in view his great 
object, the settlement of the country; " finding," he 
says, " I could no longer be seconded by others, I 
became an owner of a ship myself, fit for that employ- 
ment, and under color of fishing and trade, I got a 
master and company for her, to which I sent Vines 
and others my own servants with their provision for 
trade and discovery. By these and the help of those 
natives formerly sent over, I came to be truly inform- 
ed of so much as gave me assurance that in time I 
should want no undertakers, though as yet I was 
3* 



34 DISCOURSE. 

forced to hire men to stay there the winter quarter 
at extreme rates." 

This state of things continued until the year 1614, 
when Captain John Smith, who had been governor 
of the colony in South Virginia, but had retired in dis- 
gust from its service, turned his attention to the 
north. "I desired to see this country," he said, " and 
spend some time in trying what I could find for all 
those ill rumors and disasters." Having induced 
four London merchants to join him in the enterprise, 
he set sail on the third of March from the Downs, with 
two ships and forty -five men and boys, taking with 
him also an Indian named Tan turn, and after a voy- 
age of eight weeks arrived at the island of Monhe- 
gan. Here he built seven boats, in which he sent 
all but eight of his men on a fishing voyage, while 
with the remainder he embarked in a small boat, and 
with his accustomed energy ranged the coast from 
Penobscot to Cape Cod, exploring all its inlets, riv- 
ers and bays, and trafficking with the Indians. The 
commercial results of this voyage must have fully 
satisfied the most sanguine expectations of his part- 
ners in the enterprise ; for in his small boat, in ex- 
change for trifling articles of little value, he ob- 
tained nearly 11,000 beaver skins, 100 martens, 
and as many otters, and the most of them, he says, 
within the distance of twenty leagues. His fishing 
was not equally successful, as he had lost the best of 
the season in the vain pursuit of whales ; but his 
men took and dried about 1,200 quintals of fish, 
which sold in Spain for five dollars per quintal. 

On his return to England, after an absence of 
about six month?, Captain Smith made a highly fa- 



DISCOURSE. 35 

vorable report of the country, to which he gave the 
name of NEW ENGLAND. Having prepared a 
written description of his discoveries, together with 
a map of the coast, he presented them to Prince 
Charles, afterwards Charles I., " humbly entreating 
his Highness," he says, " to change their barbarous 
names for such English as posterity might say " Prince 
Charles was their godfather." The Prince com- 
plied with this request, confirming the name of New 
England, and substituting English names for those 
which had been derived from the Indians, or that had 
been given by former navigators. This experiment, 
however, proved in the main unsuccessful, as it de- 
served to be ; the names of Plymouth, Charles River, 
and Cape Ann, being the only ones recommended by 
Charles that have been sanctioned by general use ; 
while the names of Massachusetts, Piscataqua, Aga- 
menticus, Saco, Casco, Androscoggin, Kennebeck, 
Pemaquid, Penobscot, Monhegan, Matinicus, and 
others, of Indian origin, are still retained. 

The success of this voyage in regard to its pecu- 
niary returns, and the favorable report of the country, 
infused new life into the spirit of colonial enterprise. 
Gorges took the lead as usual, and in conjunction with 
Dr. Sutcliffe, Dean of Exeter, and other western gen- 
tlemen, concerted the plan of a colony to be conduct- 
ed by Capt. Smith to New England the following 
year. Smith also endeavored to interest the London 
merchants in this project, because, he remarks, " the 
Londoners have most money ; " but he preferred sail- 
ing from a western port, as he says it is nearly as 
much trouble, but much more danger, to sail from 
London to Plymouth, than from Plymouth to New- 



36 DISCOURSE. 

foundland.* His plan was that the expedition should 
consist of eight ships, four from London and the same 
number from the west of England ; but in this he 
proved unsuccessful, such was the jealousy of interest 
among them. He finally sailed from Plymouth in 
March, 1615, with only two vessels, one of 200 tons, 
the other of 50 ; besides his ships' company, he was 
attended by fifteen men and two boys, who had 
agreed to remain in New England, and begin a plan- 
tation. Smith gives the names of these persons, and 
adds, " I confess I would have wished them as many 
thousands, had all other provisions been in like pro- 
portion, nor would I have had so few, could I have 
had means for more ; yet if God had pleased we had 
safely arrived, I doubted not but to have performed 
more than I promised, and that many thousands had 
been there ere now." 

With the knowledge we possess of the resolute and 
persevering character of this dauntless and excellent 
man, as previously exhibited in the Virginia Colony, 
and on other occasions, we have little doubt as to the 
success of his efforts to colonize New England, had 
he been permitted to reach its shores with his little 
band of emigrants ; but a series of cruel and almost 
unparalled disasters awaited him on the ocean. The 
vessels had proceeded 120 leagues to sea, when they 
were overtaken by a gale that carried away all the 
masts of the larger ship, which was compelled to re- 
turn to Plymouth under jurymasts, the other vessel at 
the same time parting company. Not discouraged 

* To one familiar with the intricate and dangerous navigation of the river 
Thames and the English Channel, this remark would scarcely seem an exaggera- 

:. 



tion 



DISCOURSE. 37 

by this accident, Smith again set sail on the 24th of 
June in another ship of only sixty tons ; but disasters 
still awaited him. Falling in with an English pirati- 
cal craft of vastly superior force, Smith refused to 
yield to the entreaties of his officers who wished him 
to surrender without striking a blow ; but assuming a 
bold attitude he succeeded in making terms with the 
enemy, and was permitted to continue his voyage. 

Soon after he again fell in with two French pirates, 
also of greatly superior force ; his officers refusing to 
fight, Smith threatened to blow up his ship rather 
than yield. He then opened his four guns upon the 
enemy, and under the fire effected his escape. But 
his next encounter proved fatal to his voyage and all 
his plans. Four French men of war made the odds 
too great for his little bark, and being summoned on 
board the Admiral's ship to show his papers, he obey- 
ed ; but although peace existed between England and 
France at that time, the French commander detain- 
ed him, and took possession of his ship, which was 
then plundered by the French sailors, and his men 
dispersed about their squadron, now increased to 
eight or nine sail. At length these freebooters 
consented to restore his ship and men; but after 
regaining possession, a dispute arose as to continuing 
the voyage, a portion of the officers and men being 
disposed to put back to Plymouth, but Smith and the 
rest were resolved to proceed. In the meantime, he 
was again summoned on board the French admiral's 
ship, and had no sooner reached the quarter deck, 
than a sail hove in sight to which the Frenchman 
gave chase. Thus was he unfortunately separated 
from his command, of which the disaffected part of his 



38 DISCOURSE. 

officers and men took advantage during the night, 
and directed the ship's course to Plymouth, where 
they arrived in safety. 

The French fleet continued to cruise for two 
months, for the purpose of intercepting vessels from 
the West Indies, of which they made several captures. 
When they encountered Spanish vessels, Smith was 
compelled to take part in the actions, and give them 
the benefit of his military skill and experience ; but 
when the prey was English, he was kept carefully out 
of the way, and not allowed to come in contact with 
his countrymen. On their arrival upon the French 
coast near Rochelle, instead of fulfilling their promise 
to make him double amends for his losses, to the 
amount of 10,000 crowns of prize money, they kept 
him a prisoner on board the ship, and threatened him 
with further mischief unless he gave them a full dis- 
charge before the Admiralty. A storm coming on, 
Smith watched his opportunity and escaped in a 
boat during the darkness of the night ; but the cur- 
rent took the boat out to sea instead of enabling him 
to reach the shore. The wind and tide, however, 
changing during the night, the boat at length drifted 
upon a small island, where he was found in the morn- 
ing by some fowlers, nearly drowned, and half dead 
with cold and hunger. 

Pawning his boat for means to reach Rochelle, he 
was informed on his arrival at that place, that on the 
night of his escape the man of war with her richest 
prize had foundered, and the captain and half of the 
ship's company were lost. At Rochelle, Smith sought 
justice in a court of admiralty, libelling the goods 
saved from the wreck of the man of war ; and having 



DISCOURSE. 39 

collected from the survivors the fullest evidence of the 
losses to which he had been subjected, he left his case 
in charge of Sir Thomas Edmonds, the British min- 
ister at Bordeaux, and returned to England. 

Such was the eventful and disastrous issue of the 
second attempt to colonize New England. Yet it 
was not without its good results. While detained on 
board the French ship, Smith found time to write out 
his previous adventures in New England, with a de- 
scription of the country which was the most com- 
plete and satisfactory that had been yet submitted to 
the public. This work was published in June, 1616, 
and contained his original map of New England, with 
the English names suggested by Prince Charles. He 
printed an edition of two or three thousand, he says, 
and spent the summer of 1616, in visiting all the 
larger towns in the west of England, and distributing 
copies of this book and map. He also caused one 
thousand copies to be bound up with a great variety 
of maps, both of Virginia and New England, which he 
presented to thirty of. the principal companies in Lon- 
don, at their Halls. Nearly a year was spent by him 
in this way, with the hope of inducing another effort 
to plant the wilderness of New England ; but all his la- 
bors proved ineffectual, and he was compelled to aban- 
don the project with the loss of the time and money 
he had expended upon it There is no doubt, how- 
ever, that the knowledge Smith diffused, did in the 
end advance the settlement of the country ; and as 
an acknowledgment of the value of his services, the 
Plymouth Company bestowed on him the title of Ad- 
miral of New England. 

The unremitted exertions of Sir Ferdinando Gor- 



40 DISCOURSE. 

ges were now directed to the formation of a new 
company distinct from that of Virginia, whose atten- 
tion should be exclusively devoted to the colonization 
of New England. A liberal charter was granted to 
this company by the sole authority of the king, con- 
stituting them a corporation with perpetual succes- 
sion, by the name of " The Council established at 
Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, 
ruling, and governing of New England in America." 
It consisted of forty noblemen, knights, and gentle- 
men, among whom were the Duke of Lenox, the 
Marquis of Buckingham, the Earls of Arundel and 
Warwick, and others scarcely less distinguished in the 
history of that period. The charter bears date No- 
vember 3d, 1620 ; and as it conveyed to the Council 
the territory extending from the fortieth to the forty- 
eighth degree of north latitude, one half of which was 
comprised in the previous patent to the Virginia 
company, objections were made to it at the outset 
from that quarter. Not succeeding with the king 
and the Privy Council, the complainants carried the 
matter before the House of Commons, and Gorges 
appeared three several times at the bar of the house 
to answer objections ; on the last occasion he was at- 
tended by eminent legal counsel. The result was un- 
favorable, and the house in presenting to the king the 
public grievances of the kingdom, included amongst 
them the patent of New England. The effect of this 
movement was at first prejudicial to the company, for 
it was the means of discouraging those who proposed 
to establish plantations in this quarter, as well as 
some of the Council. But James was not inclined to 
have the propriety of his own acts disputed or deni- 
ed on the floor of Parliament; so that instead of car- 



DISCOURSE. 41 

rying out the design of destroying the Patent, he dis- 
missed the Parliament, and committed to the Tower 
and other prisons the members who had been most 
forward in condemning the charter, and most free in 
questioning the prerogative of the Crown. 

This charter to the Council of Plymouth was the 
next great step towards the colonization of New 
England, as it was the foundation of all the grants 
that were made of the country upon which titles to 
land now rest. One of the first of these was in favor 
of the Pilgrims then settled at Plymouth. They 
had previously obtained a patent from the old Ply- 
mouth Company, which had been taken to Holland 
for their inspection before their departure ; but this 
not answering their purpose, they applied to the 
Council of Plymouth for another after their removal 
to New England. Gorges gives the following account 
of the matter : " After they had well considered the 
state of their affairs, and found that the authority 
they had from the Company of Virginia could not 
warrant their abode in that place, which they found 
so prosperous and pleasing to them, they hastened 
away their ship with order to their solicitor to deal 
with me, to be the means that they might have a 
grant from the Council of New England's Affairs to 
settle in the place ; which was accordingly performed 
to their particular satisfaction and the good content 
of them all ; which place was after called New Ply- 
mouth, where they have continued ever since very 
peaceable, and in all plenty of all necessaries that 
nature needeth, if that could satisfy our vain affec- 
tions." Such was the liberal spirit of this worthy 
man, that although differing in his religious notions 
4 



42 DISCOURSE. 

toto ccelo from the pilgrim fathers, he yet looked 
with evident satisfaction upon the comfortable quar- 
ters they had made for themselves within the limits 
of the Council's Patent, although without having se- 
cured a proper title to their lands ; and it seems he 
did not hesitate to aid them in supplying this 
deficiency.* 

* The Pilgrims after their settlement at Plymouth found themselves without 
a legal title to the soil ; hence their application to the Council for a patent, 
which was granted in the name of John Pierce, a London merchant, who held 
it in trust for them. It was dated June 1st, 1621. But not satisfied with this, 
they procured another, in the name of William Bradford, through the influence 
of Sir Ferdinando Gorges and the Earl of Warwick, dated January 13th, 1630, 
on which their title finally rested. The Pierce patent simply granted to him 
and his associates, (without naming them,) one hundred acres of land for each 
person, if they should continue three years in the country ; the land to be taken 
in any place not already inhabited by English people or selected by the Council 
for other purposes. But the Bradford patent contained a general grant of the 
territory of the Colony, with specific boundaries, constituting a separate jurisdic- 
tion, that existed until the union with Massachusetts in 1691. This patent 
likewise conveyed to Bradford and his associates an extensive territory lying orf 
both sides of the Kennebec, and an exclusive right to the trade on that river ; a 
very liberal concession. The colony at that time contained, as the patent recites,, 
about three hundred people. 

It is a curious fact that the Old Colony of Plymouth came near being annex- 
ed to New York, instead of Massachusetts, in 1691. A strenuous opposition 
was made by the agent of Plymouth, in London, to the connexion with Massa- 
chusetts, which seems to have arisen from a feeling of jealousy towards the sister 
colony. " All the frame of heaven," he says, " moves upon one axis, and the 
whole of New England's interest seems designed to be loaden on one bottom, and 
her particular motions to be concentric to the Massachusetts tropic ; you know who 
are wont to trot after the bay horse," &c. To such length was this opposition, 
carried, that when the commission of Governor Sloughter was made out for the 
government of New York, Plymouth was actually included in it ; but it was 
afterwards changed to meet the views of the Massachusetts agent. Some dis- 
turbances that arose in two or three towns of the Old Colony about the same 
time, were attributed by the authorities at Plymouth to the influence of Sloughter, 
who, however, had enough on his hands, during the three or four months that 
intervened between his arrival at New York, and his death, without intermed- 
dling with the affairs of a distant Colony. See DAVIS, in Appendix to Morton's 
Memorial, pp. 361-3. Ibid. 473-5. 1 Hazard, State Papers, 298. Prince. 
198. note. 



DISCOURSE 43 

The attention of the Council was soon directed to 
the importance of establishing a general government 
over their extensive territory, as complaints were made 
by those who visited the country of disorders com- 
mitted on the coast, which there was no power com- 
petent to restrain or punish. Having determined on 
the appointment ot a Governor to superintend their 
affairs in the country, Robert Gorges, Esq., a son of 
Sir Ferdinando, was selected for this office, with 
whom was joined a board of counsellors, one of whom 
was to be the Governor for the time being of the Ply- 
mouth colony. An extensive grant of territory was 
made at the same time to Robert Gorges, containing 
three hundred square miles, on Massachusetts Bay, 
which he proceeded at once to occupy. He arrived 
in the Bay about the beginning of the autumn of 
1623, " with sundry passengers and families," and 
gave immediate notice of his arrival to the govern- 
ment of Plymouth. " He had a commission from 
the Council of New England," says Bradford, who 
was then Governor of Plymouth, and entitled by vir- 
tue of that office to be one of his Council, " to be 
general Governor of the country ; and they appoint 
for his council and assistants, Capt. West, [who had 
been previously commissioned as Admiral of New 
England,] Christopher Levett, Esq., and the Governor 
of Plymouth for the time being ; giving him author- 
ity to choose others as he should find fit ; with full 
power to him and his assistants, or any three of them, 
(whereof himself was always to be one,) to do and 
execute what to them should seem good in all cases, 
capital, criminal, and civil, with divers other instruc- 
tions, of which and his commission it pleased him to 



44 DISCOURSE. 

offer the Governor of Plymouth to take a copy. He 
gave us notice of his arrival by letter, and before we 
could visit him sails for the eastward with the ship he 
came in ; but a storm rising, they bore into our har- 
bor, are kindly entertained, and stay fourteen days." 
He adds, " Shortly after, Governor Gorges goes to 
the Massachusetts by land, being thankful for his kind 
entertainment. His ship staying here, fits for Vir- 
ginia, having some passengers to deliver there." 

The place selected by the Governor General for 
the residence of the families that had accompanied 
him, is situated on a branch of what is now called 
Boston Bay, then known as Massachusetts Bay, in 
the present town of Weymouth, about twelve miles 
south of the city of Boston. The same place had 
been settled the year previous by a band of English 
emigrants under the auspices of a London merchant, 
named Weston, who had provided them with all the 
necessary supplies for establishing a plantation. The 
same gentleman had been chiefly instrumental in sup- 
plying the P.ymouth colonists with the means of 
transportation to New England, but had undertaken 
this neighboring settlement with a view to his private 
advantage. He employed several vessels in trade and 
fishing on the coast, and the men who formed the 
settlement, had been chosen as suitable for the fur- 
therance of his designs, which were purely of a 
mercantile character.* But owing to various causes, 
this settlement was broken up in less than a year 
from the time it had been commenced, and when 
Gorges arrived at the same place, with a considera- 

* Morton, New Engliih Canaan, p. 106. 



DISCOURSE. 45 

ble reinforcement of men and supplies, Weston's peo- 
ple seem to have wholly disappeared. 

While Gorges was enjoying the hospitality of the 
Pilgrims, Mr. Weston arrived there to look after his 
affairs, when the Governor General called him to ac- 
count for the disorderly conduct of his men, who had 
scandalized the country by their riotous behavior ; 
but as that gentleman had been a great sufferer from 
the abuses that had been committed in his absence, 
by the waste of his property and the frustration of 
his plans, the matter was soon compromised, and 
Gorges embarked in one of his ships for the east- 
ward. He entered the mouth of the Piscataqua, and 
visited the plantation of Mr. David Thompson, where 
he met Christopher Levett, Esq., one of his Counsel- 
lors, who had just arrived from England. The Gov- 
erner there administered to Levett the oath of office, 
in the presence of three more of the Council, and 
thus duly organized his government. 

The Council of Plymouth, in providing for the pro- 
per administration of affairs in New England, did not 
forget the religious interests of the country. They 
sent over with the governor a clergyman of the church 
of England, the Rev. William Morell, for the purpose 
of superintending the establishment of churches, and 
probably to counteract the efforts of the Puritans for 
the spread of their peculiar views. He remained 
about two years, chiefly at Plymouth, where his dis- 
creet deportment seems to have conciliated the good 
will of the colonists ; indeed, such was the condition 
of the country, that he did not undertake to execute 
his ministerial functions, nor was it known in the 
colony that he had an ecclesiastical commission to 
4* 



46 DISCOURSE. 

oversee their religious concerns, until he was about 
going away, when he spoke of it to some of the peo- 
ple. During his abode in the country, Mr. Morrell 
composed a Latin poem, descriptive of the natural 
features of New England, which he dedicated to 
Charles I. and published, together with an English 
translation, after his return.* The following are the 
introductory lines ; 

NOVA ANGLIA. 

Hactenus ignotam populis ego carmine primus, 
Te nova de veteri cui contigit Anglia nomen, 
Aggredior trepidus pingui celebrare Minerva. 
Per mihi numen opem, cupienti singula plectro 
Pandere veridico, quse nuper vidimus ipsi ; 
Ut breviter vereque sonent modulamina nostra, 
Temperiem coeli, vim terrse, munera ponti r 
Et varios gentis mores, velamina, cultus. 

The author's translation : 

NEW ENGLAND. 

" Fear not, poor Muse, cause first to sing her fame 

That's yet scarce known unless by map or name ; 

A grandchild to earth's paradise is born, 

Well limbed, well nerv'd, fair, rich, sweet, yet forlorn. 

Thou blest director ! so direct my verse, 

That it may win her people, friends, commerce ; 



*" Morrell, the clergyman who accompanied Gorges, notwithstanding his dis- 
appointment, conceived a very favorable opinion of New England, which he 
expressed in an elegant Latin poem, descriptive of the country." Grahame, Hist. 
U. $. I. 202. It may be found reprinted in vol. I. Mass. Hist. Coll. Gra- 
hame alludes to the well known lines in Hudibras, founded on an occurrence in 
Weston's colony, where an innocent but bed-rid weaver was said to have been 
httng instead of a guilty but useful cobbler, whom they could not so well spare. 
In clearing the pilgrims of this charge, Grahame, with equal disregard of truth, 
ondeavors to fasten it upon the administration of Gorges. Ibid. 



DISCOURSE. 47 

Whilst her sweet air, rich soil, blest seas, my pen 
Shall blaze, and tell the natures of her men." 

The poem concludes with an appeal to the English 
people in behalf of the country : 

"If these poor lines may win this country love, 
Or kind compassion in the English move 
Persuade our mighty and renowned state 
This pur-blind people to commiserate ; 
Or painful men to this good land invite, 
Whose holy works these natives may inlight : 
If Heaven grant these, to see here built I trust, 
AN ENGLISH KINGDOM FROM THIS INDIAN DUST I" 

Gorges remained in the country until the spring of 
1624, when he returned to England, discouraged by 
not receiving promised succor from home for his colo- 
ny, and perhaps, as Bradford says, "not finding the 
state of things to answer his quality." A portion of 
his people remained, and were kindly assisted with 
supplies from Plymouth ; but most of them went either 
to Virginia or England. He was the oldest son of Sir 
Ferdinando, and had married a daughter of the Earl 
of Lincoln. He died not long after his return, and 
was succeeded in his patent of lands on Massachu- 
setts Bay by his brother John, who conveyed the 
same to General Sir William Brereton, Bart., in 1629; 
the latter is said to have sent over a number of fam- 
ilies and servants, who possessed and improved sev- 
eral large tracts of land comprised in this patent.* 

* This fact is derived from a MS. document recently discovered by Rev. Mr. 
Felt, of Boston, in his indefatigable researches and labors to arrange the ancient 
archives of Massachusetts. 



48 DISCOURSE. 

One of the counsellors of Governor Gorges, Chris- 
topher Levctt, Esq., soon after his return to England, 
published an account of his voyage, from which it 
appears that he firs v t arrived at the Isles of Shoals, 
and passed a month at the plantation of Mr. Thom- 
son, at Piscataqua.* Being there joined by his men, 
who had come over in several ships, he left that 
place in the autumn of 1623, with two boats, to ex- 
plore the eastern coast for the purpose of selecting a 
suitable place to form a settlement. He landed in 
the course of his expedition at various points along 
the coast until he reached what he calls Capeman- 
wagen, now probably Cape Newagen, a few miles 
east of the mouth of the Kennebec, where he says 
nine ships were engaged in fishing during that year. 
Here he remained four nights, " in which time," he 
says, " there came many savages with their wives 
and children, and some of good account among 
them ;" of the latter description he mentions a sag- 
amore named Somerset, " one that hath been found 
very faithful to the English, and hath saved the lives 
of many of our nation, some from starving, others 
from killing [being killed.]" 

Levett states, that when he was about to depart 
from this place, the Indians enquired where he inten- 
ded to establish his plantation ; he answered, that he 
intended to examine the coast farther to the east be- 
fore making a decision. Thereupon they assured him 

* Thomson afterwards (about 1626) removed to an island in Boston harbor, 
still known by his name. See Christian Examiner, Sept. 1846. p. 282. Art. 
Young's Mass. Chronicles. The settlement at Piscataqua, one of the first in 
New Hampshire, was not, however, abandoned, as stated by Young, (Chron. 
Mass. 21.) for it was assessed for certain expenses equally with Plymouth in 
1628, 3 Mass. Hist. Coll. 63. 



DISCOURSE. 49 

there was no suitable place left for him in that quar- 
ter, as Pemaquid and Monhegan, as well as C ape- 
man wagen, had been already granted to others. 
Thus discouraged from pursuing his voyage, Levett 
accepted an invitation from the sagamore of Casco 
to accompany him and his wife on their return ta 
Casco Bay ; where they assured him he should be 
made welcome to as much land as he desired. Ac- 
cordingly the next day he sailed, he says, " with the 
king, queen, and prince, bow and arrows, dog and 
kettle in my boat, his noble attendants rowing by us 
in their canoes." Selecting a place for his planta- 
tion, he gave it the name of York ; it had been the 
property of " the queen's father, who left it to- her at 
his death, having no more children." " And thus," 
he adds, " after many dangers, much labor, and great 
charge, I have obtained a place of habitation in New 
England, where I have built a house, and fortified it 
in a reasonable good fashion, strong enough against 
such enemies as are these savage people." 

The rarity of Levett's book is probably the rea- 
son that this voyage has not been heretofore noticed 
by any of our writers.* What afterwards became of 
him, or his settlement, may be an interesting subject 
of enquiry. His narrative is valuable as showing the 
condition of the coast of Maine at the date of hi& 
voyage ; he mentions no English settlement after 



* It is entitled, " A Voyage into New England, begun in 1623, and ended in 
1624. Performed by Christopher Levett, His Majesty's Woodward of Somer- 
setshire, and one of the Council of New England. Printed at London, &c. 
1628." A transcript was procured by Mr. Sparks from a copy in England, and 
recently printed in Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. 28. A copy of the original edition 
belongs to the New York Hist. Society, from which it is proposed to be reprinted 
in the new volume of the Maine Historical Collections. 



50 DISCOURSE. 

leaving Piscatqua, although the Indians informed him 
that Pemaquid, Cape Newagen, and Monhegan, had 
been granted to others. Sir Ferdinando Gorges had 
a plantation at that period on the island of Monhe- 
gan,* which had long been a place of resort for ves- 
sels engaged in fishing on the coast. The other 
places named were also used by fishermen for curing 
their fish on ' stages ' erected by them, and gradually 
increased into considerable settlements. There is 
extant a deed from Somerset, the sagamore mention- 
ed by Levett as particularly friendly to the English, 
and another, to one John Brown of New Harbor, on 
Pemaquid Point, covering a large tract of land in that 
quarter, dated July 15th, 1625. The next year, 1626, 
two eminent merchants of the city of Bristol, who 
had been long concerned in voyages to this coast, 
Robert Aldworth and Giles Elbridge, sent over Mr. 
Abraham Short to take possession of the island of 
Monhegan, which they purchased at this time ; Short 
remained in the country, as the agent of those gentle- 
men, who soon after obtained a patent of lands at 
Pemaquid from the Council of Plymouth, and estab- 
lished a flourishing colony at that place, where may 
still be found descendants of these early colonists, in 
possession of the allotments of lands made to their 
ancestors under this patent. 

Robert Aldworth, one of these patentees, is still 
remembered at Bristol, for his public spirit and mu- 
nificent charities ; for many years he was one of the 
aldermen of the city, and took a prominent part in 
its affairs. A splendid monument in St. Peter's 

* Prince. 127. 



DISCOURSE. 51 

Church, near the altar, perpetuates his memory. 
*' He is entitled," says a writer of that city, " to dis- 
tinguished notice as a merchant of the first rank of 
the age in which he lived."* He was born in 1561, 
and died in 1634. Having no issue, he bequeathed 
all his estate to Giles Elbridge, Esq., his co-patentee 
at Pemaquid, and also a merchant of Bristol, who had 
married his niece. The town of Bristol, comprising 
a portion of old Pemaquid, commemorates by its name 
the origin of its early settlement and of many of its 
inhabitants. 

The charter of the Council of Plymouth, as has 
been already remarked, laid the foundation of all 
grants of land in New England ; but the geographical 
features of the country were but little understood by 
the members of the Council, and great confusion con- 
sequently ensued in their conveyances. Of all the 
forty noblemen, knights and esquires named in that 
instrument, only one, Raleigh Gilbert, had been on 
this side of the water. The rivers had not been ex- 
plored far beyond their mouths, and nothing was 
known of the interior of the country except from the 
uncertain and indistinct accounts of the Indians. It 
is not strange, therefore, that much perplexity and 
embarrassment arose upon the actual settlement of 
so large a territory, under grants made in England by 
those who had never seen any portion of it. Dr. Bel- 
knap well remarks, that " either from the jarring in- 
terests of the members, or their indistinct knowledge 
of the country, or their inattention to business, or 
some other cause which does not fully appear, their 

* This monument was repaired and embellished as recently as 1807, at the 
expense of a lady. Carry. Hist. Bristol, vol. 2. p. 258* 



52 DISCOURSE. 

affairs were transacted in a confused manner from the 
beginning : and the grants which they made were so 
inaccurately described, and interfered so much with 
ach other, as to occasion difficulties and controver- 
sies, some of which are not yet ended." 

No part of New England has suffered more from 
this cause than Maine, even at last to a complete de- 
nial of the title of its proprietary by a neighboring 
colony. The first grant by the Council that included 
any portion of this State, seems to have been the pa- 
tent of Laconia, to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and John 
Mason, in 1622. This comprised "all the lands 
situated between the rivers Merrimack and Sagade- 
hock, extending back to the great lakes and the river 
of Canada ;" and was intended to embrace a region 
in the vicinity of the lakes, of which highly colored 
and romantic descriptions had been given. Both of 
the patentees acted under this patent, although many 
subsequent grants of the Council were made within the 
same limits. The first settlements in New Hamp- 
shire, and perhaps in this State, on the banks of the 
Piscataqua, were made under it. After seven years 
joint title, Mason, November 7th, 1629, took out a 
separate patent of that portion lying south and west 
of the Piscataqua, to which he gave the name of New 
Hampshire, being at that time Governor of Ports- 
mouth in Hampshire, England. * The remaining por- 
tion became the exclusive property of Gorges, who, 
however, had no separate title until 1635, when he 
gave the territory between the Piscataqua and Ken- 
nebec the name of NEW SOMERSETSHIRE, in compli- 

* 2 Coll, N. H. Hist. Soc., 273. 



DTSCOURSE. 53 

ment to his native county ; and soon after sent over 
his kinsman, Capt. William Gorges as Governor, with 
commissions to several gentlemen residing there, as 
Counsellors of the new Province. This was the first 
general jurisdiction (1636) established in this State. 
A portion of the records of New Somersetshire have 
been preserved, from which it appears that a court 
was held by the Governor and Commissioners at 
Saco, in March, 1636, and at subsequent dates. 

Gorges now flattered himself that his long cherish- 
ed hopes were about to be realized by the speedy 
settlement of the cpuntry, in which he had taken so 
deep an interest. He had as yet experienced little 
else than trouble and disappointment, the only return 
for years of labor and many thousand pounds of ex- 
pense. Before the date of his separate grant from 
the Council, settlements had been made at many dif- 
ferent points within his limits, and there was an en- 
couraging prospect for the future. The flourishing 
condition of the colonies of New Plymouth and Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, had the effect of directing a greater 
share of public attention towards New England, and 
those who did not harmonize with the religious views 
of the Puritans, sought new abodes under the more 
tolerant sway of the lord proprietor. 

When the Council of Plymouth resigned their 
charter, in 1635, the resignation was accompanied by 
a petition to the king for the establishment of a gen- 
eral government in New England, and Sir Ferdinando, 
then about three score years of age, was nominated 
to be the General Governor. The design received 
the approbation of Charles and his privy council, by 
whom an order was issued, establishing the new 



54 ( DISCOURSE. 

government, and appointing Gorges to the office of 
Governor over New England ; but the troubles at 
home, both in England and Scotland, prevented the 
completion of the scheme, which had excited the fears 
of the Puritan colonists to a most intense degree. 
The death of Mason, who had been a most active 
promoter of this plan of a general government, 
occurred at this period, and was another cause 
of its abandonment. Governor Winthrop has the 
following notice of this event in his journal : " 1636, 
The last winter Captain Mason died. He was the 
chief mover in all attempts against us ; and was to 
have sent the General Governor ; and for this end 
was providing ships. But the Lord, in mercy, taking 
him away, all the business fell asleep." 

In the Journal of Richard Mather, grand-father of 
Cotton Mather, under the date of May 27th, 1635, 
there is an interesting notice of a visit paid by Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges to a ship then lying at Bristol, in 
which a number of Puritans were about embarking 
for New England.* At that time there was a great 
probability of Sir Ferdinando's going over as Gen- 
eral Governor of the New England Colonies, to which 
he evidently alludes in his conversation with one of 
the passengers. The passage is as follows : " When 
we came there, we found divers passengers, and 
among them some lovely and godly Christians, that 
were glad to see us there. And soon after we came 
on board, there came three or four boats with more 
passengers, and one wherein came Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges, who came to see the ship and the people. 

* This journal has been recently published for the first time, by Dr. Young, in 
his valuable collection of documents relating to Massachusetts. 



DISCOURSE. 55 

When he was come, he inquired whether there were 
any people there that went to Massachusetts Bay- 
Whereupon Mr. Maud and Barnabas Power were 
sent for to come before him. Who being come, he 
asked Mr. Maud of his country, occupation, or cal- 
ling of life, &c., and professed his good will to the 
people there in the Bay, and promised that if ever he 
came there, he would be a true friend unto them." 

The truth is, an unreasonable jealousy existed to- 
wards Sir Ferdinando, on the part of the leading col- 
onists in Massachusetts, that was not justified by the 
character of that distinguished patron of New Eng- 
land, or by his conduct in reference to the Puritan em- 
igrants. The active part he had taken from the 
beginning, when the country first came into notice, 
through a period of more than thirty years, in all 
measures for encouraging its settlement, and promot- 
ing its prosperity, is sufficient evidence of the sincere 
interest he took in the welfare of New England. To 
him the Puritans, both of Plymouth and Massachu- 
setts, were in the main indebted for their charters, 
and the former deserve the credit of having made a 
grateful acknowledgment of his kindness, and of the 
services he had rendered the country.* But in the 
sister colony it was otherwise ; his name was seldom 
mentioned there without symptoms of fear or distrust. 
The real cause of this unfriendly feeling towards 
Sir Ferdinando Gorges may, perhaps, be traced to his 

* Thus in a letter to him from Governor Bradford and others, in 1G28, they 
say, " Honorable Sir : As you have ever been, not only a favorer, but also a 
most special beginner and furtherer of the good of this country, to your great 
cost and no less honor, we whose names are underwritten, being some of every 
plantation in the land, deputed for the rest, do humbly crave your Worship's help 
and best assistance," &c. 3 Mass. Hist. Coll. 63. 



56 DISCOURSE. 

prominent position as a member of the Council of 
Plymouth ; the just claims of his family to lands on 
Massachusetts Bay, by a grant prior to that of the 
colony ; and the disgust excited in England among 
the friends of the established Church, as well as per- 
sons of moderation generally, by the intolerance and 
fanaticism displayed in some of the first political acts 
of the Massachusetts Company after their removal 
to New England.* Sharing the common feeling 
in England, Gorges was in a situation to exert a 
powerful influence, if he chose, in opposition to the 
interests of the colony ; but he uniformly befriended 
them, until persons suspected of being in his interest 
were imprisoned, or ignominiously thrust out of the 
country, as in the case of Sir Christopher Gardiner, 
who under the pretence of his " having two wives in 



* Gorges, in his description of New England, after stating that there were 
several sorts of persons who did not altogether agree among themselves, yet all 
were disaffected towards Episcopal jurisdiction, adds " Some of the discreeter 
sort, to avoid what they found themselves subject unto, made use of their friends 
to procure from the Council for the Affairs of New England to settle a colony 
within their limits ; to which it pleased the thrice honored Earl of Warwick to 
write to me, then at Plymouth, to condescend that a Patent might be granted 
to such as then sued for it. Whereupon I gave my approbation so far forth as it 
might not be prejudicial to my son Robert Gorges' interest, whereof he had a 
Patent under the seal of the Council. Hereupon there was a grant passed, as 
was thought reasonable [the Mass. Patent] ; but the same was after enlarged by 
his Majesty, and confirmed under the great seal of England ; by the authority 
whereof the undertakers proceeded so effectually, that in a very short time num- 
bers of people of all sorts flocked thither in heaps, that at last it was specially or. 
dered by the king's command, that none should be suffered to go without license 
first had and obtained, and they to take the oath of supremacy and allegiance. 
So that what I had long before prophesied, when I could hardly get any for 
money to reside there, was now brought to pass. The reason of that restraint 
was grounded upon the several complaints that came out of those parts of the 
divers sects and schisms that were amongst them, all contemning the public gov- 
ernment of the ecclesiastical state. And it was doubted that they would, in short 
time, wholly Bhake off the royal jurisdiction of the sovereign state." 



DISCOURSE. 57 

England," was arrested while travelling among the 
Indians, and finally brought back to Boston, where 
he was thrown into prison. It is now admitted that 
nothing criminal was proved against him ;* but when 
the authorities of Massachusetts opened his letters, 
which had been sent to Boston, one was found to be 
from Sir Ferdinando Gorges, " who," says the gov- 
ernor, " claims a great part of the bay of Massachu- 
setts ;" and " it appeared," he adds, " from his letters 
that he had some secret design to recover his pre- 
tended right, and that he reposed much trust in Sir 
Christopher Gardiner." 

The case of Thomas Morton was one of, perhaps, 
less undeserved rigor, though cruel and oppressive ; 
and it is not strange that both he and Gardiner, on 
their return to England, should have blazoned the 
outrages that had been heaped upon them, and turned 
the benevolent mind of even Gorges himself against 
his favorite New England. Yet writing at a later 
period, the worthy knight exonerates many of the 
colonists from the charge of fanaticism, as well as 
from the guilt of a treasonable disposition towards the 
king's government ; " doubtless," he says, " had not 
the patience and wisdom of Mr. Winthrop, Mr. Hum- 
phreys, Mr. Dudley, and others their assistants, been 
the greater, much mischief would suddenly have over- 
whelmed them, more than did befall them. Notwith- 
standing, amongst those great swarms there went 
many that wanted not love and affection to the 
honor of the king, and happiness of their native coun- 



* Davis in Morton's Mem. 165. See also the sensible remarks of Savage, ed. 
Winthrop's Journal. I. 54. 57. Young is less judicious. Chron. Mass. 334. 

5* 



58 DISCOURSE. 

try." Being at length called upon personally by the 
government, as the author and supporter of the obnox- 
ious proceedings in New England, he found it difficult 
to avoid the imputations that were raised against him 
on account of his agency in these matters ; and that 
he might no longer suffer this reproach, he counselled 
and urged upon the Council the expediency of sur- 
rendering their charter to the crown; which was 
accordingly done, on the 25th April, 1635. It thus 
appears that while Sir Ferdinando was an object of 
suspicion and distrust in Massachusetts, he was com- 
pelled to suffer imputations of an offensive character 
at home, on account of the support he gave to the 
fanatics and traitors of which that colony was believed 
to consist. 

The next event of general interest in the history of 
the State, is the confirmation of the patent from the 
Council of Plymouth to Gorges by a new charter 
from the Crown, in which the territory is first styled 
the PROVINCE OF MAINE, * of which he was made 
Lord Palatine, with the same powers and privileges 
as the Bishop of Durham, in the County Palatine of 
Durham. This charter conferred upon the venerable 
knight a high degree of feudal authority, and he im- 
mediately proceeded to reorganize his jurisdiction in 
the province by the appointment of a new board of 

* Sullivan, Hist. Maine, p. 307, says that " the territory was called the Pro- 
vince by way of a compliment to the queen of Charles I, who was a daughter of 
France, and owned as her private estate a province there, called the Province of 
Meyne," &c. Such is the prevailing impression as to the origin of the name 
finally given by Gorges to his province, but unfortunately for its accuracy, the pro- 
vince of Maine in France did not appertain to Queen Henrietta Maria, but to 
the crown ; nor is it discoverable that she possessed any interest in that province. 
The biography of this queen recently published by Miss Strickland, is a work of 
intense interest, and apparently drawn from original and authentic sources. 



DISCOURSE. 59 

Commissioners, at the head of whom he first placed 
Sir Thomas Josselyn, but that gentleman not coming 
over, he substituted in his place his truly and well be- 
loved cousin, Thomas Gorges, Esq., who arrived at 
Boston in the summer of 1640. Governor Winthrop 
speaks of hirn as " a young gentleman of the Inns of 
Court ; * * * sober and well disposed ; he staid 
a few days at Boston, and was very careful to take 
advice of our magistrates how to manage his affairs." 
He took up his residence at Agamenticus, which was 
now incorporated into a city, by the name of Gorge- 
ana, with a mayor and recorder, and seven aldermen.* 
At this place also it was ordained by the charter that 
Wednesday in every week should be market day, and 
that there should be two fairs held every year, viz., 
upon the feast days of St. James and St. Paul. 

The plan of government for ' the Province was 
based upon the Saxon forms existing in England, and 
as old as the days of king Alfred. The province was 
to be divided into eight counties, and these into six- 
teen hundreds ; the hundreds to be subdivided into 
parishes and tythings, as the people should increase. 
In the absence of the Lord Proprietor, a Lieuten- 
ant was to preside. A chancellor for the hearing of 
civil causes ; a treasurer to receive the revenue ; a 
marshal for the command of the militia ; a marshal's 
court for criminal matters ; an admiral and court of 
admiralty for maritime cases ; a master of ordnance, 
and a secretary ; were severally constituted. These 
officers were to be a standing council, together with 
eight deputies to be elected by the people, one for 

* On Smith's map this place is named Boston, at the instance of Prince Charles. 



60 DISCOURSE. 

each county. One lieutenant and eight justices were 
allowed to each county ; two head-constables to every 
hundred ; one constable and four tythingmen to every 
parish ; each tythingman to give an account of the 
demeanor of the families within his tything to the 
constable of the parish, who was to render the same 
to the head constables of the hundred, and they to 
the lieutenant and justices of the county, who were to 
take cognizance of all misdemeanors ; and from them 
an appeal lay to the governor and council. 

Such was the system of government Gorges de- 
signed to introduce into his province of Maine ; but 
it is hardly necessary to say that it was not fully car- 
ried into effect. The civil war in England withdrew 
the attention of the Lord Proprietor from his own 
private affairs ; the governor was called home, and 
in the distractions of the times, the colony of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay undertook to set up a title to the 
greater part of the Province, under color of which 
they took possession of it, and excluded the heirs of 
Gorges from the exercise of their rights. Maine was 
thus summarily annexed to Massachusetts Bay, but 
not without a spirited resistance on the part of the au- 
thorities of the province, and most of the inhabitants. 

The pretext for this usurpation was found in the 
terms of the Massachusetts patent, which established 
the northern boundary on a line three miles north of 
the river Merrimac, and the southern three miles 
south of Charles river, the intermediate space being 
taken for the breadth of the grant. But when it sub- 
sequently appeared that the course of the Merrimac 
changed at a certain distance from the sea, and that 
its head- waters were situated far to the north, the old 



DISCOURSE. 61 

limits were abandoned, and a new line drawn for the 
northern boundary of the patent, beginning at a point 
three miles north of the head waters of the river, and 
so running easterly to the sea. Both New Hampshire 
and the greater part of Maine were found by this con- 
struction to be within the bounds of the Massachu- 
setts patent. 

The New Hampshire towns, having been settled 
chiefly from Massachusetts Bay, were not reluctant 
to be brought within her jurisdiction ; * but it was 
otherwise with the inhabitants of Maine. Commis- 
sioners were sent " to treat with the gentlemen of the 
eastward," in the language of the Massachusetts Re- 
cords, in the summer of 1652. Edward Godfrey, of 
York, was at that time Governor of Maine, and rep- 
resented the interests of the heirs of Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges, who was then dead. Called upon by the 
commissioners of Massachusetts to submit to the 
authority of that colony, Godfrey resolutely refused, 
declaring that the bounds of Massachusetts had been 
determined twenty years ago, since which time many 
grants had been made in Maine, a sum of 35,000 
expended in promoting the settlement of the coun- 
try, and a lawful jurisdiction exercised, which had 
been acknowledged by Massachusetts and approved 
by the English government. "We are resolved," 

* The original settlers of New Hampshire, who planted themselves at the 
mouth of the Piscataqua as early as 1623, under the auspices of Mason and Gor- 
ges, were of the Church of England ; but after the death of Mason, (1635,) the 
new settlers were almost entirely non-conformists. Miss Aikin, in her Me- 
moirs of Charles I., recounting what had been done for the colonization of the 
new world prior to the accession of that monarch, states that " a small band of 
emigrant Puritans had established themselves in New Hampshire." Vol. 1. p. 29. 
This statement is without doubt founded on a misapprehension of the character 
of the settlements in that quarter at the period in question. 



62 DISCOURSE. 

said the Governor, " to exercise our just jurisdiction 
till it shall please the Parliament, the Common Weale 
of England, otherwise to order, under whose power 
and protection we are." 

Gorges had taken care to encourage the settlement 
of members of the church of England in his province, 
and a considerable proportion of the inhabitants 
were of that faith ; hence there was a strong aversion 
among them to coming under the rule of the Puritans, 
by this new process of annexation. But this was not 
all ; a deep sense of the flagrant injustice of the claim 
of Massachusetts to the soil of Maine, after the royal 
confirmation of the grant to Gorges and his heirs, 
produced an exasperated state of feeling throughout 
the Province, and led in many instances to scenes of 
open violence. As a matter of prudence, however, 
the towns gradually decided to acquiesce in the 
change until intelligence could be obtained from the 
heir of Gorges, and there should be a prospect of 
offering a successful resistance to such a palpable 
usurpation. It must be admitted, likewise, that the 
people were somewhat divided in their feelings, a por- 
tion who sympathised with the religious views of the 
claimants forming a party in their favor. The puri- 
tan divines were of course on the side of Massachu- 
setts, and when one of them upon the Lord's day had 
exhorted the people to be earnest in prayer to the 
Lord to direct them in respect they were under two 
forms of government, one of the congregation started 
up and angrily rebuked him, saying, that he " need 
not make such a preamble, for they were under the 
government of Gorges." An Episcopal clergyman, 
whom the Massachusetts authorities had forbidden 



DISCOURSE. 63T 

to baptize children, and perform other duties of his 
sacred office, was presented by a grand jury for 
expressing his opinion of those in power with too 
great freedom; in saying "that the Governor of 
Boston was a rogue, and all the rest thereof traitors 
and rebels against the king." Such was the excited 
state of feeling produced by the unjustifiable course 
of Massachusetts at that period. 

On the restoration of Charles II., Ferdinando 
Gorges, Esq., a grandson of the old Lord Proprietor, 
sent over his agent with letters from the king to the 
Governor of Massachusetts Bay, requiring either a 
restitution of his lawful inheritance, or that they 
should show reason for the occupation of the Province 
of Maine. The next step was the appointment of 
Commissioners by the crown to visit New England, 
and enquire into all existing grievances. They came 
into Maine in the summer of 1665, and issued their 
proclamation, in which they charge the Massachusetts 
colony with having " refused by the sound of the trum- 
pet to submit to his majesty's authority, looking upon 
themselves as the supreme power in those parts, 
contrary to their allegiance and derogatory to his 
Majesty's sovereignty." They then proceed to ap- 
point a number of gentlemen in the Province, known 
to be friendly to the claims of Gorges, as magistrates 
to exercise authority there until his Majesty's 
pleasure be further known. These were Messrs. 
Champernon* and Cutts, of Kittery ; Rishworth and 
Johnson, of York ; Wheelwright, of Wells ; Hook 
and Phillips, of Saco ; Josselyn, of Black Point, now 

* Francis Champernon wag a relative of Sir W. Raleigh, whose mother wag 
a daughter of Sir Philip Champernon of Devonshire. 



64 DISCOURSE. 

Scarborough ; Jordan, of Richmond's Island ; Moun- 
joy, of Casco, now Portland ; and Wincoll, of New- 
ichawanock, afterwards Berwick. 

Massachusetts did not long acquiesce in this ar- 
rangement ; for in July, 1 668, four commissioners 
escorted by a military force entered the Province and 
proceeded to hold a court at York. The king's 
magistrates were present and remonstrated, but to no 
purpose. The account of the matter given by John 
Josselyn, who was then residing with his brother at 
Black Point, is, that " as soon as the commissioners 
were returned from England, the Massachusetts men 
entered the Province in a hostile manner with a 
troop of horse and foot, and turned the judge and his 
assistants off the bench, imprisoned the major or 
commander of the militia, and threatened the judge 
and some others that were faithful to Mr. Gorges' 
interest." * 

At length both parties lo this exciting controversy 
appeared by their agents before the king at the palace 
of Whitehall, and his Majesty, upon a fair hearing of 
their respective claims, " decided that the Province of 
Maine was the rightful property of the heirs of Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges, both as to soil and the govern- 
ment." As soon as this decision was known, an 
agent of Massachusetts made overtures to Mr. Gor- 
ges for the purchase of his title, which he finally sold 
to that colony, in March, 1677, for the sum of 1250 
sterling, or about six thousand dollars. This trans- 
action gave great offence to his friends in the 
Province, who sent a remonstrance to England, but 

* Josselyn's Two Voyages to New England, p. 198. London, 1675. 



DISCOURSE. 65 

it was too late. Such, however, was the continued 
opposition to the authority of Massachusetts on the 
part of the inhabitants, that it became necessary 
to send an armed force into the Province to awe the 
people into submission and prevent disturbances. 

Maine was now fairly annexed to Massachusetts, 
not in accordance with the wishes of the people, but 
by a legal transfer of the soil and government for a 
valuable consideration ; and in the act of taking 
possession by that colony, the title of Gorges was 
duly recited ; nothing further was heard of its being 
embraced in their own patent. A separate govern- 
ment was now organized for the Province, at the 
head of which Thomas Danforth, Esq., of Cambridgej 
was placed with the title of President of the Province 
of Maine. This state of things continued without 
interruption, except during the violent administration 
of Sir Edmund Andros, until the revolution in Eng- 
land, resulting in the deposition of James II. and the 
elevation of William and Mary to the throne. A 
new charter was then received, which united in one 
province the colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts 
Bay, the Province of Maine and the territory east of 
it to the St. Croix, and Nova Scotia. Sir William 
Phipps, a native of Maine, arrived at Boston with 
this charter, on the 14th of May, 1692, at the 
same time bearing a commission as Governor of the 
" Province of Massachusetts Bay," the name given 
in the new charter to the several jurisdictions united 
under it. 

There are other topics to which I had proposed to 
call your attention in connexion with a rapid review 
of the leading events in the early history of this State ; 
6 



66 DISCOURSE. 

but I have already trespassed too long upon the at- 
tention of the society, and shall conclude my 
remarks with a few words more in reference to the 
brave old knight who devoted the best part of a long 
life to efforts for the discovery and settlement of the 
territory of which this state originally consisted. 
Little is known of Sir Ferdinando Gorges before he 
engaged in that great work, but there is no doubt 
that he early distinguished himself in the public ser- 
vice, and received in reward of his services the honor 
of knighthood, which like other honors was sparingly 
bestowed by Queen Elizabeth. The family of Gor- 
ges had an ancient seat at Wraxall in Somersetshire, 
six miles and a half from Bristol ; in the church at 
that place is a large altar tomb, with figures of Sir 
Edmund Gorges, K. B., and Anne, his wife, daughter 
of John Howard, the first Duke of Norfolk.* In the 
same neighborhood, in the parish of Long Ashton, was 
the Manor of Ashton Phillips, belonging to Sir Fer- 
dinando. The village of Long Ashton lies on the 
southeast slope of an eminence called Ashton Hill, 
about five miles from Bristol, affording a fine drive 
from the city, as the road through the parish com- 
mands an extensive view of Bristol, Clifton, and a 
number of villages on the opposite banks of the 
Avon. In a valley to the southwest of the village is 

* They resided at Wraxhall as early as the year 1260, when Ralph de Gorges 
was governor of Sherburne Castle ; " from whose time the family hath been con- 
tinued there, and is lately [about the year 1700] reduced to an issue-female." 
Camderis Britannia, 2d edition. In 1350, one of the Russels of Gloucester- 
shire, " being enriched," says Camden, " by marriage with an heir of the honor- 
able family of the Gorges, assumed that name." This person was of the family 
of Russels since raised to the peerage. Lord Edward Gorges, an active member 
of the Council of Plymouth, and at one time its President, was evidently related 
to Sir Ferdinando ; he was of Wiltshire. 



DISCOURSE. 67 

the manor of Ashton Phillips. The manor-house is 
now in ruins ; it seems to have been a structure of 
considerable extent and grandeur, but only a snlall 
portion of the dwelling apartments, and the chapel 
remain. 

As early as 1597, we find him embarked in the 
expedition of the Earl of Essex against the Spanish 
islands, in the capacity of Serjeant Major, correspon- 
ding to the rank of senior colonel in the army, at 
the same time holding the office of Governor of the 
Forts at Plymouth. We next hear of him as 
a witness on the trial of the Earl of Essex for high 
treason, in the year 1600. The course taken by 
Gorges on that occasion must have been deeply 
painful to his feelings, and has subjected his memory 
to the reproaches of those writers who were more 
moved by sympathy for the unhappy fate of that 
illustrious nobleman, than governed by a strict regard 
to the circumstances of the case. No one can doubt 
on reading the accounts of this matter, that the 
designs of Essex were of a treasonable character, 
and that relying upon his great popularity, he hoped 
at least to overawe the queen, and drive his enemies 
from court. Great discontent prevailed generally 
among the nobility and gentry, of whom one hundred 
and twenty were believed to be favorable to the in- 
tended movement. In this number Gorges was 
reckoned, but although disposed to aid that noble- 
man in all lawful means for counteracting the ma- 
chinations of his enemies, it does not appear that he 
countenanced, or was even made acquainted with, 
any designs against the Queen. When called upon 
by the government in the course of the trial to state 



68 DISCOURSE. 

more fully what had passed between him and the 
conspirators, he was urged both by Essex and the 
Earl of Southampton, (who was tried at the same 
time,) to state fully what he knew of their plans ; 
his reply was : " Some delivered their minds one 
way, and some another ; but by the oath I have 
taken, I did never know or hear any thought or pur- 
pose of hurt or disloyalty intended to her Majesty's 
person by my Lord of Essex." 

In his testimony in chief he admitted that Essex 
had written to him, complaining of his misfortunes 
and expressing a determination to free himself from 
the malice of his enemies ; at the same time request- 
ing Sir Ferdinando to come up to London, that he 
might confer with him. Gorges accordingly repaired 
to town, as he states, a week before the insurrection, 
and had several interviews with the Earl, when he 
endeavored to dissuade him from his imprudent de- 
signs, but all to no purpose. He did not, however, 
abandon him ; on the contrary, he was at Essex-house 
when the insurrection took place ; a large number of 
the conspirators, including several noblemen, were 
assembled there, undecided it would seem for a long 
time as to the course they should pursue. In the 
meantime, Sir Walter Raleigh, w r ho was regarded by 
Essex as his greatest enemy, sent a messenger to 
Gorges at Essex-house, desiring to speak with him 
on the river ; and taking a boat from the garden, 
which appears to have extended down to the water's 
edge, beyond the west gate of the city, Sir Ferdinan- 
do, with the approbation of Essex, proceeded to meet 
Sir Walter, who earnestly advised him to withdraw 
from Essex house, as he valued his life. Raleigh 



DISCOURSE. 69 

also testified on the trial, that Gorges assured him it 
was likely to prove a bloody day's work, and desired 
him to go to Court that measures might be taken to 
prevent it. Gorges then returned to Essex house. 

In the meantime, the Queen being apprised of the 
assemblage at Essex house, resorted to an unusual 

o 7 

step ; for instead of despatching a military force to 
disperse the conspirators, she sent four distinguished 
personages, members of the privy council, among 
whom was Chief Justice Popham, to Essex house to 
use their personal influence as well as the authority 
of their offices, to induce the malecontents to give 
over their designs,. " All four had been chosen," says 
Southey, "not only because of their merit, but also 
because they were persons whom he was supposed 
both to respect, and to regard as friends." They 
found the gates shut, but were admitted without their 
attendants except the pursebearer with the great seal, 
the Lord keeper being one of the four dignitaries, 
who appear to have gone in their official robes and 
badges of office. The leaders and their company 
were assembled in the court-yard, and crowded 
around the counsellors as they advanced towards the 
Earl of Essex, to whom the Lord keeper in a loud 
voice delivered the Queen's message, " that they 
were sent to learn the cause of so great a concourse 
of people, and let them know that they should be 
heard if they complained of any grievances they 
wished to have redressed." Essex replied in an 
angry tone, reciting the causes of his disaffection ; 
and the Earl of Southampton also addressed them 
in a similar strain. The lord chief justice then pro- 
mised that they would faithfully report their com- 
6* 



70 DISCOURSE. 

plaints to her Majesty. But a tumult arising among 
the crowd, the Lord keeper commanded all .upon 
their allegiance to lay down their arms and depart. 
Essex thereupon went into the house, followed by the 
four counsellors, who desired a private interview 
with him ; but when they had entered his library, the 
Earl gave orders to fasten the doors, and committed 
them as prisoners to the charge of three persons, 
one of whom, named Salisbury, is said to have been 
a notorious robber, who "bore a special spleen 
against the lord chief justice." A guard was set by 
these persons at the door of the library, with loaded 
muskets and lighted matches. 

Essex then leaving his house in the charge of Sir 
Gilly Merrick, sallied forth with about 200 men, and 
entered the city by Ludgate, (which was not far from 
Essex-house,) uttering loud cries, the purport of which 
was that the Queen was in danger, and that " Eng- 
land was bought and sold to the Spaniards." Hasten- 
ing along Chenpside, they came to the house of the 
Sheriff, on whom they seem to have reckoned, but 
that official made his escape by the back door of his 
house, and repaired to the lord mayor. Thus check- 
ed, and finding that not so much as one man of even 
the lowest quality joined them y Essex remained in the 
sheriff's house undecided which way he should turn. 

In the meantime, formal proclamation was made in 
another quarter of the city, denouncing Essex and 
his adherents as traitors ; who upon being informed 
of it rushed again into the streets, calling upon the 
citizens to arm ; but in vain. The only resource left 
to the unhappy Earl was to return to his own house, 
and endeavor to obtain pardon by means of the four 



DISCOURSE. 71 

members of the Council whom he had left there in 
confinement. But on reaching Ludgate, he found it 
guarded by a competent force, that refused to allow 
him to pass ; whereupon he gave Gorges a token, 
authorizing him to go alone to Essex-house and re- 
lease the Lord Chief Justice, and by his means inter- 
cede for pardon. Sir Ferdinando, finding that the 
Chief Justice refused his liberty unless the Lord 
keeper also were released, set all the four councillors 
free, and went with them by water to the court. * 
This prudent course on the part of Gorges probably 
saved him from the consequences of having followed 
the fortunes of Essex until they became desperate ; 
to have gone farther would have been madness. 

Meantime, after the sacrifice of several lives in 
their efforts to escape from the city, Essex and his 
followers succeeded in reaching his house, which they 
at first proposed to defend, but finally surrendered, 
and were committed to the Tower and other prisons. 
In eleven days after the failure of this desperate en- 
terprise, the earls of Essex and Southampton were 
arraigned for high treason, and found guilty. A few 
days after, five of their associates, Sir Christopher 
Blount, Sir Charles Davers, Sir John Davis, Sir Gil- 
ly Merrick, and Henry Cuffe, were also tried and 
convicted of the same offence. They all suffered 
death except the Earl of Southampton, who was final- 
ly pardoned. 

After these events Gorges appears to have return- 
ed to his government at Plymouth, where we have 
already seen that he was residing in 1605, when 

* Camden. Annales Rerum Ang. et Hib. 610. 



72 DISCOURSE. 

George Wey mouth arrived at that port from his visit 
to Penobscot river, bringing with him the five Indi- 
ans who first turned the attention of Sir Ferdinando 
to the American coast. He is again noticed in the 
general histories of that period as the commander of 
one of the ships sent to the aid of the king of France 
in 1625; but as soon as it was suspected that they 
were to be used against the French Protestants, there 
was a general desertion of the officers and men, on 
which occasion Sir Ferdinando is described as hav- 
ing behaved with great spirit ; for abruptly breaking 
away from the rest of the fleet, he returned at once 
to England, at the hazard of incurring the displeasure 
of the king and his favorite Buckingham. 

It has already been stated that in the civil wars he 
took up arms in defence of his king. Towards the 
close of 1642> when hostilities had just commenced, 
efforts were made by the royal party to introduce 
troops into the city of Bristol, which had not yet ta- 
ken sides in the contest. For this purpose Sir Fer- 
dinando Gorges and Mr. Smith of Long Ashton, were 
deputed to wait on the mayor to obtain his consent ; 
but the application failed. The city was then invest- 
ed by a large force in the interest of the king, and 
soon after surrendered. In 1645, Cromwell recap- 
tured it by assault ; and it is stated by Josselyn, a 
contemporary writer, that Sir Ferdinando was plun- 
dered and thrown into prison. It is probable that he 
died soon after, for in the same year the following or- 
der was adopted by the court in his Province of 
Maine : " It is ordered, that Richard Vines shall have 
power to take into his possession the goods and chat- 
tels of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and to pay such debts 



DISCOURSE. 73 

as Sir Ferdinando is in any way indebted to any." At 
the same time a public fast was ordered to be " sol- 
emnly kept upon Thursday, 20th of November next, 
through this Province." Vines had been for many 
years the agent of Gorges in this country, before and 
after its settlement, and for at least fifteen years a 
resident on the west side of Saco river, on a patent 
granted him by the Council of Plymouth, now con- 
stituting the town of Biddeford. After the departure 
of Thomas Gorges, he was elected governor of the 
Province, and held that office until the death of his 
patron and friend, when he sold his patent and remo- 
ved to the island of Barbadoes. 

A grandson of the Lord Proprietor, Ferdinando 
Gorges, Esq., as we have already noticed, succeeded 
to the proprietorship of the Province, some time 
before the restoration of Charles II. To him we 
are indebted for the publication of his grandfather's 
Brief Narration, a work evidently written with a 
deep conviction of the future importance of these 
western shores, and illustrating the indomitable spirit 
of enterprise that distinguished its author to the 
very close of a long and useful life. 

I cannot, perhaps, more appropriately conclude 
these remarks than with this imperfect notice of the 
man who must ever be regarded as the most active 
and persevering of all the friends of American colo- 
nization, through periods of discouragement and 
difficulty; and especially as the Founder of this 
Commonwealth. In my humble opinion, Maine owes 
some public acknowledgment to the memory of Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges, for having laid the foundation of 
its existence as a separate and independent commu- 



74 DISCOURSE. 

nity. In ancient times, we are told, the founders of 
colonies were deified by their successors ; this was 
doubtless an exaggerated expression of the proper 
feeling to be entertained for them. But it will not be 
denied that their services merit a substantial com- 
memoration at the hands of their posterity. Nor 
have our American republics altogether neglected to 
pay tributes of gratitude and admiration to the great 
and good men who had the forecast to scatter the 
seeds of future growth and prosperity within their 
borders. Bradford and Winthrop are names that will 
never die amongst their successors at Plymouth and 
Massachusetts Bay ; Pennsylvania will never forget her 
obligations to the illustrious Friend of humanity who 
peopled her wilderness ; nor will Georgia suffer the 
memory of the enlightened Oglethorpe to perish ; 
Maryland has stamped the name of Baltimore upon 
her brilliant commercial metropolis, and North 
Carolina has her " city of Raleigh," although the 
projected colony of Sir Walter proved a splendid 
failure. And shall Maine do nothing to mark her 
sense of the merits of the liberal patron and success- 
ful abettor of the first settlements within her 4 limits 
who expended a large fortune upon his projects of 
discovery and colonization who, when the country 
was abandoned and denounced by others as too cold 
and dreary for human habitation, actually hired men 
to pass the winter here to prove the contrary and 
who died without reaping any substantial return for 
all his labors and outlays, leaving only a legacy of 
law suits to his descendants ? It is time that justice 
was done to his memory. From the small be- 
ginning he made this community has become a wide- 



DISCOURSE. 75 

ly extended, populous and wealthy state rich in 
her resources, and not less distinguished for the active 
enterprise and laborious industry of her population. 
She can well afford to honor the memory of the man 
who foresaw all this, and devoted the energies of a 
long life to its consummation. 

But the appeal is unneccessary ; for I address an 
association that has in its keeping the historical rep- 
utation of the State and its Founder, and that will 
not suffer to perish a single existing memorial of the 
services of those who led the way in planting religion 
and civilization upon these northern shores. The 
wilderness has budded and blossomed like the rose, 
and those who are now living reap the benefits of its 
changed condition. Let them not begrudge a hand- 
ful of its floral treasures to deck the tomb of the 
gallant old cavalier who sowed the seeds from which 
have sprung so much beauty and fragrance. 



DISCOURSE. 



ADDITIONAL NOTES. 



PAGE 14. At the period of the discovery of America, the Tartars had been driven 
from China, and the Khans were of course no longer at the head of its govern- 
ment. This revolution took place A. D., 1366. But this fact was then unknown 
in Europe ; and the only available source of knowledge respecting that vast em- 
pire seems to have been the travels of Marco Polo, whose visit to China preced- 
ed the age of Columbus by a period of two centuries. Strictly, the northern 
part of the country was then called Cathay, or Kathai, and the southern Mangi, 
or Mangee. Had Columbus succeeded in reaching China, his Arabian interpre- 
ters, would have been of course, useless to him. 

PAGE 15. The island of S. Joan is laid down on the map of Ortelius, in about 
latitude 56 degrees north. This writer professes to have seen a map of the 
world by Sebastian Cabot, which he cites among his authorities. " Sebastianus 
Cabotus, Venetus. Universalem Tabulam, quam impressam aneis formis vidi- 
mus, sed sine nomine loci et impressoris." No such map is now extant. 

PAGES 16 and 17. It appears that the first general name for all that portion of 
North America extending to the north of Florida, was BACCALAOS, meaning the 
land or coast of codfish. Such was the interpretation given to the name by the 
Breton and Norman sailors, " La Coste des Molues." DE BRY. America Pars 
Quarta. p. 69. 

Next came the name of NORUMBEGA, at one time of an application equally ex- 
tensive. This was followed by CADIE, or ACADIE, which, however, soon divided 
the honor with VIRGINIA. Virginia, in its turn, was cut up into North and South 
Virginia, and afterwards was still further limited to the country between Florida 
and Delaware Bay, North Virginia taking the names of New England and New 
Netherland. 

PAGE 22. An account of Weymouth's voyage was published the same year at 
London, and attracted public attention to a considerable degree. This work has 
been recently reprinted in the Collections of the Mass. Hist. Society, Vol. 28th, 
from a transcript procured in England by Mr. Sparks. The title of the book is 
as follows : " A True Relation of the most prosperous Voyage made this pres- 
ent year, 1605, by Captain George Weymouth, in the discovery of the LAND 
of VIRGINIA, where he discovered, sixty miles up, a most excellent river ; togeth- 
er with a most fertile land. Written by James Rosier, a gentleman employed 
in the voyage. London ; Impensis Geor. Bishop. 1605." The chapter in 
Purchas containing extracts from this work, has additional particulars of the voy- 



DISCOURSE. . 77 

age, derived doubtless from oral or other communications made to the author by 
the navigators on their return to England. The patron of the enterprise was 
Lord Arundel of Wardour, created Count of the Empire by Rodolph II. Em- 
peror of Germany, for his gallant services against the Turks. 

PAGES 24. 25. " In the south CHAPEL of this church [of Wellington] there is a 
magnificent tomb, erected in honor of Sir John Popham, lord chief justice of 
England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. It is surrounded by a handsome 
pallisado of wood and iron. On the table of the monument are the effigies of 
Sir John Popham and his lady. He is dressed in his judge's robes, chain, and 
small square cap. He reclines with his head towards the west. On the lower 
basement, at the head and feet, are four smaller figures of two men and two 
women, kneeling face to face. On the north side are five boys and eight girls, 
dressed in black, kneeling in a row. On the south side are nine women, kneel- 
ing in the same manner. Over Sir John and his lady is a superb arched cano- 
py, beautifully ornamented with the family arms, roses, paintings, and obelisks. 
The whole is supported by eight round columns of black marble, five feet high, 
with Corinthian capitals, green and gilt. On the west side of this canopy is the 
following inscription : 

' Sir John Popham, knighte, Lord Chief Justice of England ; and of the hon- 
ourable privie counsel to Queen Elizabeth, and after to king James ; died the 
tenth of June, 1607, aged seventy-six, and is here interred.' 

It may not be improper to remark here, that Sir John Popham was one of the 
most upright and able judges that ever sat upon the English bench. He was a 
native of Huntwith, in this county [Somersetshire], and educated chiefly at Ba- 
liol College, in Oxford. From hence he removed to the Temple, and was ad- 
mitted barrister in 1568. He was afterwards successively serjeant at law, solici- 
tor-general, and attorney-general, previous to his ultimate promotion, which 
took place in 1592. Sir John was a munificent patron to Wellington. Here he 
built a large and elegant house, for his own residence, which was converted into 
a garrison for the use of the parliamentary army, in the time of Oliver Cromwell. 
It was soon after besieged by the royalists, and so completely ruined during the 
contest, that it was never attempted to be repaired. He also erected an hospital 
at the west end of the town, for twelve old and infirm persons, the one half being 
men, and the other women. Two children were also to be educated here. It is 
still standing [1813], and the charity applied. Sir John endowed it with an es- 
tate in land, which is now vested in the governors." The Beauties of England 
and Wales, &c. by Rev. J. Nightingale, vol. 13th, Art. SOMERSETSHIRE. 

Aubrey, whose notices of Eminent Men are a repository of contemporary 
scandal, says that, for several years after Popham entered the legal profession, he 
" addicted himself but little to the studie of the lawes, but profligate company, 
and was wont to take a purse with them. His wife considered her and his con- 
dition, and at last prevailed with him to lead another life, and to stick to the 
study of the lawe ; which, upon her importunity, he did, being then about thirtie 
years old. He spake to his wife to provide a very good entertainment for his 
camerades to take his leave of them ; and after that day fell extremely hard to 
his studie, and profited exceedingly. He was a strong, stout man, and could 

7 



78 DISCOURSE. 

endure to sit at it day and night ; became eminent at his calling, had good prac- 
tice, was called to be a serjeant [at law], a judge." Vol. 2. p. 492. 

Tnen follows a story of the judge having been bribed to save the life of a 
man tried for infanticide ; but the manner in which he was able to effect such a 
result, is not stated. The annotator remarks, that " Sir John Popham gave 
sentence according to lawe, but being a great person and a favorite, he procured 
a noli prosequi." 

The author of the Discourse on Sir W. Raleigh, referred to in the text, in his 
zeal to vindicate his hero, does not hesitate to charge the chief justice with 
" taking purses on the highway, and bribes on the bench," on the sole authority 
of the gossiping writer above cited. The reader will be able to satisfy his own 
mind, probably, without much trouble, as to the probability of those charges 
being well founded. 

Grahame, Hist. If. S. is also disposed to treat the chief justice with some 
harshness, for the same cause, namely, his supposed readiness to have Raleigh 
convicted. But that author should have recollected that it was to one of his 
own nation that Sir Walter owed all his misfortunes, namely, king James, the 
Sixth of Scotland. 

PAGES 56. 57. Morton devotes a chapter of his " New English Canaan" to 
Sir Christopher Gardiner, whom he characterizes as " a knight, that had been 
a traveller, both by sea and land ; a good judicious gentleman in the mathema-. 
ticks and other sciences useful for plantations, chimistry, &c. and also being a 
practical Engineer ; he came into those parts intending discovery." p. 182. 
Again, he says, " Sir Christopher was gone with a guide (a salvage) into the in- 
land parts for discovery ; but before he was returned, he met with a salvage that 
told the guide, Sir Christopher would be killed," &c. But he," finding how 
they had used him, with such disrespect, took shipping, and disposed of himself 
for England, and discovered their practices in those parts towards his Majestie's 
true-hearted subjects, whom they made wary of their abode in those parts." 

Morton's testimony will of course pass for what it is worth. Sir Christopher 
and himself both incurred the displeasure of the puritan fathers, and joined com- 
mon cause together in opposing their interests in England ; but it is always best 
to hear both sides of a case. It must be allowed that the treatment of these 
gentlemen was rigorous in the extreme, considering that their chief offence con- 
sisted in not harmonizing in sentiment with the people among whom they 
were thrown. 

PAGES 59, 64. Sir Thomas Josselyn, named in the first charter of Maine at the 
head of the Commissioners to organize the government, was the father of Henry 
Josselyn, Esq., of Black Point, (now Scarborough,) and of John Josselyn, Gent., 
the traveller, whose two voyages to New England are often quoted in connexion 
with its early history. This appears from Morton, who speaking of the " Ero- 
coise Lake," [Lake Champlain], says, "A more complete discovery of those 
parts is (to my knowledge) undertaken by Henry Joseline, Esquire, son of Sir 
Thomas Jose line, ot Kent, knight, by the approbation and appointment of that 
heroic and very good Commonwealth's man, Captain John Mason, Esquire, a 



DISCOURSE. "79 

true foster-father and lover of virtue, who at his own charge hath fitted Master 
Joseline, and employed him to that purpose," &c. New English Canaan, pp. 
98, 99. 

Henry Josselyn resided many years at Black Point, and was highly respected 
as a magistrate. He succeeded Mr. Vines as Governor of the Province, in 1645. 

I cannot conclude this note without expressing my sincere acknowledgments 
to Henry Brevoort, Esq., of the city of New York, for the loan of a copy of 
Morton's New English Canaan, now a very rare book. 



A 

BRIEF IAEEATION 

OF THE 

ORIGINAL UNDERTAKINGS, 

FOR THE 

ADVANCEMENT OF PLANTATIONS IN AMERICA. 

BY 

SIR FERDINANDO GORGES, KT. 

LORD PROPRIETOR OF THE PROVINCE OF MAINE, 
IN NEW ENGLAND. 



VOL. II. 1 



1 






PRELIMINARY NOTICE. 



THIS historical tract was not published until several years after 
the death of its distinguished author, when it was edited by his 
grandson, Ferdinando. Gorges, Esq., as a part of a more general 
work under the title of " America Painted to the Life," &c. This 
work comprised notices of the Spanish discoveries and settlements 
in North and South America, as well as those of the English and 
Dutch on the northern continent, but with a more particular refer- 
ence to New England. The compiler professes to have collected 
his materials from various standard authorities, and from the 
relations and oral discourse of some of the original planters of 
New England. His account of the puritan colonies is chiefly 
taken from an anonymous work, ascribed to a Massachusetts 
planter, named Edward Johnson, which bears the quaint title of 
" Wonder- Working Providence of Sion's Saviour, being a Rela- 
tion of the first planting in New England, in the yeare 1628," first 
published by a London bookseller, in 1654. But all that relates 
to the early voyages for the exploration and settlement of New 
England, under the auspices of the Plymouth Company, and after- 
wards of the Council established at Plymouth, is derived from this 
tract of his grandfather, which he also published in full, in con- 
nexion with his general work, as already stated. The following 
is the title of the latter : 

" AMERICA PAINTED TO THE LIFE. The true History of the Spaniards' Proceed- 
ings in the Conquests of the Indians, and of their Civil Wars among themselves, 
from COLUMBUS his first Discovery, to these later Times. As also, of the 
Original Undertakings of the Advancement of Plantations in those parts ; With 
a perfect Relation of our English Discoveries, shewing their Beginning, Progress, 
and Continuance, from the year 1628, to 1658. Declaring the Forms of their 
Government, Policies, Religions, Manners, Customs, Military Discipline, Wars 
with the Indians, the Commodities of their Countries, a Description of their 
Towns and Havens, the Increase of their Trading, with the names of their 
Governors and Magistrates. 



Vlil PRELIMINARY NOTICE. 

More especially, an Absolute Narrative of the North parts of America, and 
of the Discoveries and Plantations of our English in ^VIRGINIA, NEW ENGLAND, 
and BERBADOES. 

Publisht by Ferdinando Gorges, Esq. ; A Work now at last exposed for the 
publick good, to stir up the Heroick and Active Spirits of these times, to benefit 
their Countrey, and Eternize their Names by such Honorable Attempts. 

For the Reader's clearer understanding of the Countreys, they are lively des- 
cribed in a compleat and exquisite Map. 

* Ovid. Ami sacra fames quid non 
London : Printed for Nath. Brook, at the Angell in Corn-hill, 1659." 

Besides the Map, there is a frontispiece representing a female 
figure seated beneath a tree, with a tiara of feathers upon the 
head and a string of beads about the neck. A slight drapery is 
thrown over the loins, and the left hand rests upon a bow, while 
the right grasps an arrow. Over the head of this figure is the 
word AMERICA ; and in the back-ground are seen two cannibals, 
one of whom is cutting up his victim, and the other roasting the 
limbs over a fire. An Indian hunter is also seen in the distance, 
with his arrow pointed at a deer. The words, " Pavit quigenuit," 
are inscribed upon a scroll on the left of the head of the principal 
figure, and beneath the whole are the following lines : : 

" Though to my sisters long unknown I lay, 
I am as rich and greater farj;han they. 
My barbarous rudeness doth at full express 
What nature is, till we have Grace's dress; 
But where the gloomy shades of death yet be, 
The sunshine of God's love I hope to see." t 

The Preface to this work is not the least interesting part of it ; 
and as a portion of it has some bearing upon the following Narra- 
tion, we proceed to lay it before the reader. 

" TO THE JUDICIOUS READER. 

I SHOTJLD have attempted but an imperfect design, ingenious Reader, in pub- 
lishing this relation of my Grand-Father, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, (which was 

* Virgil. 

t We have been more particular in describing this frontispiece, as Mr. Rich, in his 
Catalogue of books relating to America, describes a different one in the copy of the work 
possessed by him ; he says, " besides the map, there is a portrait of a young Indian woman 
with a human leg in her hand." The lines quoted by him as inscribed on the plate, are 
also entirely different from those cited above. 



PRELIMINARY NOTICE. ix 

left unfinisht, in regard both the late wars put a great stop, and afterwards his 
own death an utter end, to these noble and generous undertakings of which he 
had laid so fair and hopeful a foundation,) had I not myself supplied this defect, 
by adding both out of the choicest authors as Davity,* Jean de Laet, Anthony 
Herrera, Oviedo, Francis Ximenes, Champlain, Sparbot,t and others, by 
selecting from them that which was most materiall in each of them ; as also 
from the relations and discourse of those that have been Governors and Planters 
in those parts, as Mr. Edward Godfrey, Mr. Robert Gorges, and others, a more 
exact and compleat account of that Country than hath been hitherto made pub- 
lick, and particularly of the Province of Maine, of which my Grand-Father was 
Lord and Chief Governor by a Patent from the late King ; upon the description 
of which Province I have insisted the more largely, as well for that it hath not 
been particularly mentioned by others, as for the peculiar interest I myself have 
in it as legally descending to me by right of inheritance ; nor do I doubt, though 
my just claim be opposed by those of Massachusetts Bay, but when the matter 
comes to be decided by a legal hearing, it will be seriously pondered, with what 
indefatigable pains and vast charges my Grand-Father undertook the promoting 
of this Plantation, notwithstanding the powerful opposition he met with both 
from the Virginia Company, and from the French Ambassador, who laid a pow- 
erful claim to that country in behalf of the King, his Master ; so that both law 
and equity require that the heir should possess that which his ancestors have ac- 
quired with so much industry and hazard. Moreover, the care, the vigilance, 
the losses, the dangers of those that have had the management of affaires since 
his death, have been such, (as may appear by the writings herewith published, of 
Mr. Edward Godfrey, who was one of the chiefest of them, and whose long 
travail, experience, and integrity render him a person truly capable of such like 
employments,) that our adversaries can take no advantage against us, thro' 
any default or miscarriage on our parts. But not to dwell longer upon a matter 
which concerns myself only, the consideration of what great honor and advan- 
tage to this nation our foreign Colonies and Plantations have been, is a matter 
of too great concernment to be passed by ; all the Colonies that have been settled 
these latter ages, with how much the more peril and difficulty they have been 
performed, (as what great attempt hath not danger following the heels,) than 
those ancients, so much the more glorious and advantageous they have been to 
the undertakers, at least to their country in general, at the prosperity of which 
all generous spirits do aim.! * * * * 

FERDINANDO GORGES." 

Some mystery hangs over another publication to which the name of 
Sir Ferdinando Gorges is attached as author, and that of his grand- 
son Ferdinando, as editor ; but which is known to have been the pro- 
duction of another. The work referred to is the " Wonder- Work- 



* Misprint, probably, for Da vila. t L'Escarbot. 

I The remainder of this document is without interest in this connexion. 



X PRELIMINARY NOTICE. 

ing Providence," already mentioned, which is found with a new 
title-page, corresponding to that of Gorges, and having the preface 
of Sir Ferdinando's Brief Relation prefixed to it ; but the body of 
the work is the same as the edition of 1654. This counterfeit has in 
the imprint the year 1658, and the name of the bookseller, " Na- 
thaniel Brook, at the Angell in Cornhill," who published both the 
" Wonder- Working Providence," and the work of Gorges. It is 
not improbable that this publisher, finding the " Wonder- Working 
Providence" unsaleable as an anonymous work, after the lapse of 
four years from the date of its publication, took the liberty of giving 
it a new title-page, with the name of Sir Ferdinando Gorges as the 
author, to promote its sale. This seems the most plausible con- 
jecture, as the interest in the " Wonder- Working Providence" 
probably resided in the bookseller, certainly not in Gorges, and it 
is well known that old and unsaleable books are often passed off 
under fresh and more taking titles by their publishers. 

Yet some historical writers have not hesitated to make this mat- 
ter a subject of reproach to the younger Gorges, as if the deception 
had been practised by his agency, of which there is not the slight- 
est evidence. For all that is now known, the deception, when it 
came to his knowledge, may have been denounced by him in 
proper terms. At all events, so far as appears from the occasional 
notices of this gentleman, especially in respect to the maintenance 
of his hereditary rights against the claims of the Colony of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, he bore a highly honorable character, and acquit- 
ted himself in that controversy with firmness and independence. 

F. 



A 

BRIEFE NARRATION 

OF THE 

ORIGINALL UNDERTAKINGS 

OF THE 

ADVANCEMENT OF PLANTATIONS 

INTO THE 

PARTS OF AMERICA, 

ESPECIALLY SHEWING THE 

BEGINNING, PROGRESS AND CONTINUANCE 

OF THAT OF 

NEW ENGLAND. 



WRITTEN BY THE RIGHT WORSHIPFULL, 

SIR FERDINANDO GORGES, 

KNIGHT AND GOVERNOUR OF THE FORT AND ISLAND OF PLYMOUTH, 
IN DEVONSHIRE. 



L ON DON: 

PRINTED BY E. ISRUDENELL, FOR NATH. BROOK, 

AT THE ANQKLL IN CORN-HILL. 

1658. 



TO THE READER. 



I THOUGHT it a part of my duty, in this my Brief Narra- 
tion of our Plantations, to remember the original underta- 
king of those designs in the parts of America, by such 
noble spirits of our nation that first attempted it ; as well 
for the justification of the right thereof, properly belonging 
to kings of our nation, before any other prince or state, as 
also the better to clear the claim made thereunto by the 
ambassador of France, in the behalf of his master, in the 
year 1624, whereto I was required to make answer (as 
more at large it appears in the discourse itself) ; withal to 
leave to posterity the particular ways by which it hath been 
brought to the height it is come unto, wherein the provi- 
dence of our great God is especially to be observed, who 
by the least and weakest means, oftentimes effecteth great 
and wonderful things ; all which I have endeavored to con- 
tract in as short a compass as the length of the time and 
the variety of the accidents would give leave. As for the 
truth thereof, I presume it is so publicly known, as malice 
itself dares not only question it ; though I know none, I 
thank my God, to whom I have given any just cause mali- 
ciously to attempt it, unless it be for the desire I had to do 
good to all without wronging of any, as by the course of 
my life to this present it may appear. 

If in the conclusion of my undertaking and expense of my 
fortunes to advance the honor and happiness of my nation, 
I have settled a portion thereof to those that in nature must 
succeed me, you may be pleased to remember that the 
laborer is worthy of his hire : 
VOL. II. 2 



liv TO THE READER. 

That I have not exceeded others not better deserving, 
that I go hand in hand with the meanest in this great work, 
to whom the charge thereof was committed by royal au- 
thority : 

That I have opened the way to greater employments, and 
shall be (as a hand set up in a cross way) in a desert coun- 
try to point all travellers in such like kind, how they may 
come safe to finish their journey's end, leaving an example 
to others, best affected to designs of such like nature, to 
prosecute their intents for further enlargement of those be- 
gun plantations, without trenching or intruding upon the 
rights and labors of others already possessed of what is 
justly granted them : 

Especially of such, who in some sort may be termed 
benefactors, as secondary donors of what (by God's favor) 
is had, or to be had from those springs they first found and 
left to posterity to bathe themselves in. But if there be any 
otherwise affected, as better delighted to reap what they 
have not sown, or to possess the fruit another hath labored 
for, let such be assured, so great injustice will never want 
a woful attendance to follow close at the heels, if not stayed 
behind to bring after a more terrible revenge. But my 
trust is, such impiety will not be suddenly harbored where 
the whole work is, I hope, still continued for the enlargement 
of the Christian faith, the supportation of justice, and love 
of peace. In assurance whereof, I will conclude, and tell 
you, as I have lived long, so I have done what I could. Let 
those that come after me do for their parts what they may, 
and I doubt not but the God that governs all, will reward 
their labors that continue in his service. To whom be glory 
for ever. Amen. 

FERDINANDO GORGES. 



BRIEF NARRATION, 



CHAPTER I. 



Of the First Seisin, Possession, and Name of Virginia. 

THAT Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and Sir Richard Grenville, 
and many others, noble spirits of our nation, attempted to 
settle a plantation in the parts of America, in the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth, is sufficiently published in the painful 
collections of Mr. Hakluyt, together with the variable 
successes of those undertakers ; of whose labor and charge 
there remained no other fruit than the primor seisin and 
royal possession taken thereof, as of right belonging to 
the crown of England, giving it the name of Virginia, in 
the memory and honor of that virgin queen, the wonder of her 
sex, by whose authority those attempts took their first life, 
and died not till the actors ended their days, and their 
chief supporters and advancers tried with so many fruit- 
less attempts and endless charge without hope of profit to 
follow for many ages to come ; so that that attempt hac 
its end, as many others since that of greater hopes and 
better grounded. But what shall we say ? As nothing is 
done but according to the time fore-decreed by God's sa- 
cred providence, so doth he provide wherewith to accom- 
plish the same in the fulness of it. But the mirror of queens 
being summoned to the possession of a more glorious reign 
left her terrestrial crown to her successor James, the Sixth 
of Scotland, to whom of right it did belong. 



16 THE BRIEF NARRATION 



CHAPTER II. 

The reasons and means of renewing the undertakings of Plantations 
in America. 

THIS great monarch gloriously ascending his throne, 
[1603] being born to greatness above his ancestors, to 
whom all submitted as to another Solomon for wisdom and 
justice, as well as for that he brought with him another 
crown, whereby those kingdoms that had so long conten- 
ded for rights and liberties, perhaps oft-times pretended 
rather to satisfy their present purposes, than that justice 
required it. But such is the frailty of human nature as 
not to be content with what we possess, but strives by all 
means to inthral the weaker that is necessitated to prevent 
the worst, though by such means sometimes to their greater 
ruin. With this union there was also a general peace 
concluded between the State and the King of Spain, the 
then only enemy of our nation and religion, whereby our 
men of war by sea and land were left destitute of all hope 
of employment under their own prince ; and therefore 
there was liberty given to them (for preventing other evils) 
to be entertained as mercenaries under what prince or 
state they pleased, a liberty granted upon show of reason, 
yet of a dangerous consequence, when our friends and 
allies, that had long travailed with us in one and the same 
quarrel, should now find our swords sharpened as well 
against as for them. Howsoever reason of state approved 
thereof, the world forbore not to censure it as their affec- 
tions led them. Others grew jealous what might be the 
issue, especially when it was found that by such liberty 
the sword was put into their hands, the law had prohibited 
them the use. Some there were, not liking to be servants 
to foreign states, thought it better became them to put in 
practice the reviving resolution of those free spirits, that 
rather chose to spend themselves in seeking a new world. 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 17 

than servilely to be hired but as slaughterers in the quar- 
rels of strangers. This resolution being stronger than 
their means to put it into execution, they were forced to 
let it rest as a dream, till God should give the means to 
stir up the inclination of such a power able to bring it 
to life. 

And so it pleased our great God, that there happened to 
come into the harbor of Plymouth [July, 1605,] (where I 
then commanded) one Captain Weymouth, that had been 
employed by the Lord Arundel of Wardour for the discov- 
ery of the North-west passage ; but falling short of his 
course, happened into a river on the coast of America, 
called Pemaquid [the Penobscot,] from whence he brought 
five of {he natives, three of whose names were Manida, 
Skettwarroes, and Tasquantum, whom I seized upon. They 
were all of one nation, but of several parts and several 
families. This accident must be acknowledged the means 
under God of putting on foot and giving life to all our 
plantations, as by the ensuing discourse will manifestly 
appear. 



CHAPTER III. 

Of the use I made of the natives. 

AFTER I had those people some time in my custody, I 
observed in them an inclination to follow the example of the 
better sort, and in all their carriages manifest shows of great 
civility, far from the rudeness of our common people. And 
the longer I conversed with them, 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 
2* 



18 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

allied, what enemies they had, and the like ; of which in his 
proper place. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Captain Henry Challoung sent to make his residence in the country 
till supplies came. 

THOSE credible informations the natives had given me of 
the condition and state of their country, made me [August, 
1606] send away a ship furnished with men and all neces- 
saries, provisions convenient for the service intended, under 
the command of Captain Henry Challoung, a gentleman of 
a good family, industrious, and of fair condition ; to whom 
I gave such directions and instructions for his better direc- 
tion as I knew proper for his use and my satisfaction, being 
grounded upon the information I had of the natives, sending 
two of them with him to aver the same ; binding both the 
captain, his master and company strictly to follow it, or to 
expect the miscarriage of the voyage to be laid unto their 
charge : commanding them by all means to keep the north- 
erly gage, as high as Cape Britton. till they had discovered 
the main, and then to beat it up to the southward, as the 
coast tended, till they found by the natives they were near 
the place they were assigned unto. Though this were a 
direction contrary to the opinion of our best seamen of these 
times, yet I knew many reasons persuading me thereunto, 
as well as for that I understood the natives themselves to be 
exact pilots for that coast, having been accustomed to fre- 
quent the same, both as fishermen, and in passing along the 
shore to seek their enemies, that dwelt to the northward of 
them. But it is not in the wit of man to prevent the provi- 
dence of the Most High. 

For this captain being some hundred leagues of the 
island of Canary, fell sick of a fever, and the winds being 
westerly, his company shaped their course for the Indies, 
and coming to St. John de Porto Rico, the captain himself 
went ashore for the recovery of his health, while the com- 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 19 

pany took in water, and such other provision as they had 
present use of, expending some time there, hunting after 
such things as best pleased themselves. That ended, they 
set their course to fall with their own height they were 
directed unto ; by which means they met the Spanish fleet 
that came from Havana, by whom they were taken and 
carried into Spain, where their ship and goods were confis- 
cate, themselves made prisoners, the voyage overthrown, 
and both my natives lost. This the gain of their breach of 
order, which, afterwards observed, brought all our ships to 
their desired ports. The affliction of the captain and his 
company put the Lord Chief Justice Popham to charge, and 
myself to trouble in procuring their liberties, which was not 
suddenly obtained. 



CHAPTER V. 

The Lord Chief Justice despatching Captain Prin from Bristol 
for the supply of Captain Challoung. 

SHORTLY upon my sending away of Captain Challoung, 
it pleased the Lord Chief Justice, according to his promise, 
to despatch Captain Prin from Bristol, with hope to have 
found Captain Challoung where by his instructions he was 
assigned ; who observing the same, happily arrived there, 
but not hearing by any means what became of him, after he 
had made a perfect discovery of all those rivers and harbors 
he was informed of by his instructions, (the season of the 
year requiring his return) brings with him the most exact 
discovery of that coast that ever came to my hands since ; 
and indeed he was the best able to perform it of any I met 
withal to this present ; which, with his relation of the coun- 
try, wrought such an impression in the Lord Chief Justice 
and us all that were his associates, that (notwithstanding 
our first disaster) we set up our resolutions to follow it with 
effect, and that upon better grounds, for as yet our authority 
was but in motion. 



20 THE BRIEF NARRATION 



CHAPTER VI. 

Of his Lordship's care in procuring His Majesty's authority for 
settling two Colonies. 

IN this interim his Lordship failed not to interest many of 
the lords and others to be petitioners to his Majesty for his 
royal authority, for settling two Plantations upon the coasts 
of America, by the names of the First and Second Colony ; 
the first to be undertaken by certain noblemen, knights, 
gentlemen, and merchants in and about the city of London ; 
the second by certain knights, gentlemen, and merchants in 
the Western parts. This being obtained [1606,] theirs of 
London made a very hopeful entrance into their design, 
sending away [June 2, 1609,] under the command of Sir 
Thomas Gates, Sir George Summers, and many other gen- 
tlemen of quality, a very great and hopeful Plantation to 
repossess the parts of Virginia. Sir Thomas Gates happily 
arrived in the bay of Jessepiok [in August,] in which navi- 
gation Sir George Summers unhapily cast away his ship 
upon the islands of Bermathaes, since called the Summer 
Islands, in memory of him that deserved the honor for the 
great pains, care and industry he used out of the carcass of 
his wrecked ship to build a new barque sufficient for the 
transportation of himself, distressed company and provision, 
to find out Sir Thomas Gates, who timely arrived, to the 
wonder of the rest of his consorts. 



CHAPTER VII. 

The despatch of the first Plantation for the second Colony sent 
from Plymouth. 

BY the same authority all things fully agreed upon between 
both the colonies, the Lord Chief Justice, his friends and 
associates of the West country, sent from Plymouth Captain 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 21 

Popham as President for that employment, with Captain 
Rawley Gilbert, and divers other gentlemen of note, in three 
sail of ships, with one hundred landmen, for the seizing 
such a place as they were directed unto by the Council of 
that colony ; who departed from the coast of England the 
one-and-thirtieth day of May, anno 1607, and arrived at 
their rendezvous the 8th of August following. As soon as 
the President had taken notice of the place, and given order 
for landing the provisions, he despatched away Captain Gil- 
bert, with Skitwarres his guide, for the thorough discovery 
of the rivers and habitations of the natives ; by whom he 
was brought to several of them, where he found civil enter- 
tainment and kind respects, far from brutish or savage na- 
tures, so as they suddenly became familiar friends ; especi- 
ally by the means of Dehamda, and Skitwarres who had been 
in England, Dehamda being sent by the Lord Chief Justice 
with Captain Prin, and Skitwarres by me in company ; so as 
the President was earnestly entreated by Sassenow, Abere- 
met, and others the principal sagamores (as they call their 
great lords) to go to the Bashabas, who it seems was their 
king, and held a state agreeable, expecting that all stran- 
gers should have their address to him, not he to them. 

To whom the President would have gone after several in- 
vitations, but was hindered by cross winds and foul weather, 
so as he was forced to return back without making good 
what he had promised, much to the grief of those saga- 
mores that were to attend him. The Bashabas notwith- 
standing, hearing of his misfortune, sent his own son to visit 
him, and to beat a trade with him for furs. How it suc- 
ceeded, I could not understand, for that the ships were to 
be despatched away for England, the winter being aiready 
come, for it was the 15th day of December before they set 
sail to return ; who brought with them the success of what 
had passed in that employment, which so soon as it came 
to the Lord Chief Justice's hands, he gave out order to the 
Council for sending them back with supplies necessary. 



22 THE BRIEF NARRATION 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The sending supplies to the Colony, and the unhappy death of the Lord 
Chief Justice before their departure. 

THE supplies being furnished and all things ready, only 
attending for a fair wind, which happened not before the 
news of the Chief Justice's death was posted to them to be 
transported to the discomfort of the poor planters ; but the 
ships arriving there in good time, was a great refreshing to 
those that had had their storehouse and most of their pro- 
visions burnt the winter before. 

Besides that, they were strangely perplexed with the 
great and unseasonable cold they suffered, with that ex- 
tremity as the like hath not been heard of since, and it 
seems was universal, it being the same year that our Thames 
was so locked up that they built their boats upon it, and 
sold provisions of several sorts to those that delighted in the 
novelties of the times. But the miseries they had passed 
were nothing to that they suffered by the disastrous news 
they received of the death of the Lord Chief Justice, that 
suddenly followed the death of their President ; but the lat- 
ter was not so strange, in that he was well stricken in years 
before he went, and had long been an infirm man. How- 
soever heartened by hopes, willing he was to die in acting 
something that might be serviceable to God and honorable 
to his country. But that of the death of the Chief Justice 
was such a corrosive to all, as struck them with despair of 
future remedy, and it was the more augmented, when they 
heard of the death of Sir John Gilbert, elder brother of 
Rawley Gilbert that was then their President, a man wor- 
thy to be beloved of them all for his industry and care for 
their well-being. The President was to return to settle the 
state his brother had left him ; upon which all resolved to 
quit the place, [1608] and with one consent to away, by 



OF SIR FERD1NANDO GORGES. 23 

which means all our former hopes were frozen to death ; 
though Sir Francis Popham could not so give it over, but 
continued to send thither several years after in hope of bet- 
ter fortunes, but found it fruitless, and was necessitated at 
last to sit down with the loss he had already undergone. 



CHAPTER IX. 

My resolution not to abandon the prosecution of the business, in tny 
opinion so well grounded. 

ALTHOUGH I were interested in all these misfortunes, and 
found it wholly given over by the body of the adventurers, 
as well for that they had lost the principal support of the 
design, as also that the country itself was branded by the 
return of the Plantation, as being over cold, and in respect 
of that not habitable by our nation. 

Besides, they understood it to be a task too great for par- 
ticular persons to undertake, though the country itself, the 
rivers, havens, harbors upon that coast might in time prove 
profitable to us. 

These last acknowledgments bound me confidently to 
prosecute my first resolution, not doubting but God would 
effect that which men despaired of. As for those reasons, 
the causes of others' discouragements, the first only was 
given to me, in that I had lost so noble a friend, and my na- 
tion so worthy a subject. As for the coldness of the clime, 
I had had too much experience in the world to be frighted 
with such a blast, as knowing many great kingdoms and 
large territories more northerly seated, and by many de- 
grees colder than the clime from whence they came, yet 
plentifully inhabited, and divers of them stored with no bet- 
ter commodities from trade and commerce than those parts 
afforded, if like industry, art and labor be used. For the 
last, I had no reason greatly to despair of means, when God 
should be pleased, by our ordinary frequenting that country, 
to make it appear it would yield both profit and content to 
as many as aimed thereat, these being truly (for the most 



24 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

part) the motives that all men labor, howsoever otherwise 
adjoined with fair colors and goodly shadows. 



CHAPTER X. 

A resolution to put new life into that scattered and lacerated Body. 

FINDING I could no longer be seconded by others, I became 
an owner of a ship myself, fit for that employment, and 
under color of fishing and trade, I got a master and com- 
pany for her, to which I sent Vines and others my own ser- 
vants with their provision for trade and discovery, appoint- 
ing them to leave the ship and ship's company for to follow 
their business in the usual place, (for I knew they would 
not be drawn to seek by any means.) By these and the help 
of those natives formerly sent over, I eame to be truly in- 
formed of so much as gave me assurance that in time I 
should want no undertakers, though as yet I was forced to 
hire men to stay there the winter quarter at extreme rates, 
and not without danger, for that the war had consumed the 
Bashaba and the most of the great sagamores, with 
such men of action as followed them, and those that re- 
mained were sore afflicted with the plague, so that the 
country was in a manner left void of inhabitants. Not- 
withstanding, Vines and the rest with him that lay in the 
cabins with those people that died, some more, some less 
mightily, (blessed be God for it) not one of them ever felt 
their heads to ache while they stayed there. And this course 
I held some years together, but nothing to my private profit, 
for what I got one way I spent another ; so that I began to 
grow weary of that business, as not for my turn till better 
times.* 



Vines is supposed to have passed the winter of 1616-7 at Winter Harbor, 
now a part of the town of Biddeford, near the mouth of Saco river. Prince. 
N. E. Chron. 25. He subsequently procured a patent at the same place, eight 
miles on the river and four miles wide, and resided there many years. 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 25 



CHAPTER XI. 

Captain Harley coming to me with a new proposition of other hopes. 

WHILE I was laboring by what means I might best con- 
tinue life in my languishing hopes, there comes one Captain 
Henry Harley unto me, bringing with him a native of the 
island of Capawick [Martha's VineyardJ a place seated to 
the southward of Cape Cod, whose name was Epenowe, a 
person of a goodly stature, strong and well proportioned. 
This man was taken upon the main with some twenty-nine 
others by a ship of London, that endeavored to sell them for 
slaves in Spain ; but being understood that they were Amer- 
icans, and found to be unapt for their uses, they would not 
meddle with them, this being one of them they refused. 
Wherein they expressed more worth than those that brought 
them to the market, who could not but know that our nation 
was at that time in travail for settling of Christian colonies 
upon that continent, it being an act much tending to our 
prejudice, when we came into that part of the countries, as 
it shall further appear. How Captain Harley came to be 
possessed of this savage, 1 know not ; but I understood by 
others how he had been showed in London for a wonder. 
It is true (as I have said) he was a goodly man, of a brave 
aspect, stout, and sober in his demeanor, and had learned 
so much English as to bid those that wondered at him, 
" Welcome ! Welcome /" this being the last and best use they 
could make of him, that was not grown out of the people's 
wonder. The Captain, falling further into his familiarity, 
found him to be of acquaintance and friendship with those 
subject to the Bashaba, whom the Captain well knew, be- 
ing himself one of the Plantation sent over by the Lord 
Chief Justice, and by that means understood much of his 
language, found out the place of his birth, nature of the 
country, their several kinds of commodities and the like ; by 

VOL.-IL 3 



26 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

which he conceived great hope that good might be made of 
him, if means could be found for his employment. But find 
ing adventurers of that kind were worn out of date, after 
so many failings and so soon upon the return of our late 
colony, the gentleman calling to mind my aptness to designs 
of that nature, lays up his rest to discover his greatest se- 
crets to me, by whom he had hoped to rise or fall in this 
action. After he had spoken with me, and that I had seen 
his savage, though I had some reason to believe the gentle- 
man in what he told me, yet I thought it not amiss to take 
some time before I Undertook a business (as I thought) so 
improbable in some particulars. But yet I doubted not, my 
resolution being such (as is said) I might make some use of 
his service ; and" therefore wished him to leave him with 
me, giving him my word, that when I saw my time to send 
again to those parts, he should have notice of it, and I 
would be glad to accept of his service, and that with as 
great kindnes as he freely offered it ; in the mean time, he 
might be pleased to take his own course, 



CHAPTER XII. 

The reasons of my undertaking the employment for the island of Capawick. 

AT the time this new savage came unto me, I had recov- 
ered Assacumet, one of the natives I sent with Captain 
Chalownes in his unhappy employment, with whom I lodged 
Epenaw, who at the first hardly understood one the other's 
speech ; till after a while I perceived the difference was no 
more than that as ours is between the Northern and South- 
ern people ; so that I was a little eased in the use I made of 
my old servant, whom I engaged to give account of what he 
learned by conference between themselves, and he as faith- 
fully performed it. Being fully satisfied of what he was 
able to say, and the time of making ready drawing on, fol- 
lowing my pretended designs, I thought it became me to 
acquaint the thrice-honored Lord of Southampton with it, 
for that I knew the Captain had some relation to his Lord- 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 27 

ship, and I not willing in those days to undertake any mat- 
ter extraordinary without his I Lordship's advice ; who 
approved of it so well that he adventured one hundred 
pounds in that employment, and his Lordship being at that 
time commander of the Isle of Wight, where the Captain 
had his abiding under his Lordship, out of his nobleness 
was pleased to furnish me with some land soldiers, and to 
commend to me a grave gentleman, one Captain Hobson, 
who was willing to go that voyage and to adventure one 
hundred pounds himself. To him I gave the command of 
the ship, all things being ready, and the company came to- 
gether, attending but for a fair wind. They set sail in 
June, in anno 1614, being fully instructed how to demean 
themselves in every kind, carrying with them Epenow, As- 
sacomet, and Wenape, another native of those parts, sent 
me out of the Isle of Wight for my better information in 
the parts of the country of his knowledge. When as it 
pleased God that they were arrived upon the coast, they 
were piloted from place to place by the natives themselves 
as well as their hearts could desire. And coming to the 
harbor where Epenow was to make good his undertaking, 
the principal inhabitants of the place came aboard, some 
of them being his brothers, others his near cousins ; who* 
after they had communed together, and were kindly enter- 
tained by the Captain, departed in their canoes, promising 
the next morning to come aboard again, and bring some 
trade with them. But Epenow privately (as it appeared) 
had contracted with his friends how he might make his 
escape without performing what he had undertaken, being 
in truth no more than he had told me he was to do though 
with loss of his life ; for otherwise, if it were found that he 
had discovered the secrets of his country, he was sure to 
have his brains knocked out as soon as he came ashore. 
For that cause I gave the Captain strict charge to endeav- 
or by all means to prevent his escaping from them ; and 
for the more surety, I gave order to have three gentlemen 
of my own kindred (two brothers of Sturton's, and Master 
Matthews) to be ever at hand with him, clothing him with 



28 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

long garments, fitly to be laid hold on if occasion should 
require. Notwithstanding all this, his friends being all 
come at the time appointed with twenty canoes, and lying 
at a certain distance with their bows ready, the Captain 
calls to them to come aboard ; but they not moving, he 
speaks to Epenow to come unto him where he was, in the 
forecastle of the ship. He, being then in the waist of the 
ship between two of the gentlemen that had him in guard, 
starts suddenly from them, and coming to the Captain, calls 
to his friends in English to come aboard ; in the interim 
slips himself overboard, and although he was taken hold of 
by one of the company, yet being a strong and heavy man, 
could not be stayed, and was no sooner in the water but 
the natives sent such a shower of arrows, and came withal 
desperately so near the ship, that they carried him away 
in despite of all the musketeers aboard, who were for the 
number as good as our nation did afford. And thus were 
my hopes of that particular made void and frustrate, and 
they returned without doing more, though otherwise order- 
ed how to have spent that summer to good purpose. But 
such are the fruits to be looked for, by employing men 
more zealous of gain than fraught with experience how to 
make it. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Sir Richard Makings undertook, by authority from the Council of the seeond 
Colony to try what service he could do them as President for that year. 

HAVING received his commission and instructions, he de- 
parted in October, 1615, and spent the time of his being in 
those parts in searching of the country and finding out the 
the commodities thereof. But the war was at the height, 
and the principal natives almost destroyed ; so that his ob- 
servation could not be such as could give account of any 
new matter, more than formerly had been received. From 
thence he passed along the coast to Virginia, and stayed 
there some time in expectation of what he could not be 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 29 

satisfied in ; so took his next course for Spain, to make the 
best of such commodities he had got together, as he coasted 
from place to place, having sent his ship laden with fish to 
the market before. And this was all that was done by any 
of us that year. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Of the sending of Captain Rocraft to meet with Captain Dermor in 
New-England. 

ABOUT this time I received letters from Captain Dermor 
out of New-England, giving me to understand that there 
was one of my savages sent into those parts, brought from 
Malaga in a ship of Bristol, acquainting me with the means 
I might recover him : which I followed, and had him sent 
me, who was after employed with others in the voyage 
with Captain Hobson, sent to Capawike, as is above said. 
By this savage Captain Dermor understood so much of the 
state of his country, as drew his affections wholly to follow 
his hopes that way ; to which purpose he writes, that if I 
pleased to send a commission to meet him in New-England? 
he would endeavor to come from the New-found-land to re- 
ceive it, and to observe such other instructions as I pleased 
to give him. Whereupon the next season [1619], I sent 
Captain Rocraft with a company I had of purpose hired for 
the service. At his arrival upon the coast he met with a 
small barque of Dieppe, which he seized upon, according to, 
such liberties as was granted unto him in such cases j not- 
withstanding the poor Frenchman, being of our religion, I 
was easily persuaded, upon his petition, to give content for 
his loss, although it proved much to damage afterwards. 
For Captain Rocraft, being now shipped and furnished with 
all things necessary, left the coast, contrary to my direc- 
tions, and went to Virginia, where he had formerly dwelt ; 
and there falling into company with some of his old; ac- 
quaintance, a quarrel happened between him and another, 
so that before he could get away he was slain ; Tby which, 

a* 



30 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

accident the barque was left at random, (the most of the 
company being on shore). A storm arising, she was cast 
away, and all her provisions lost. Something was saved r 
but nothing ever came to my hands. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Of my employment of Captain Dormer after his failings to come fromr 

the New-found-land to New England. 

CAPTAIN Dormer being disappointed of his means to come 
from New-found-land to New England, took shipping 1 for 
England, and came to me at Plymouth [1619,] where I gave 
him an account of what I had done, and he me what his 
hopes were to be able to do me service, if I pleased to em- 
ploy him. Hereupon I conferred his informations together 
with mine own I received by several ways, and found them 
to agree in many the particulars of highest consequence and 
best considerations. Whereupon I despatched him away 
with the company he had gotten together, as fast as my own 
ship could be made ready for her ordinary employment, 
sending with him what he thought necessary, hoping to have 
met Captain Rocraft, where he was assigned to attend till 
he received further directions from me. But at the ship's 
arrival they found Captain Rocraft gone for Virginia, with 
all his company, in the barque he had taken, of which before. 
Captain Dormer arriving, and seeing Rocraft gone, was; 
much perplexed. Yet so resolved he was, that he ceased 
not to follow his design with the men and means which I 
had sent him ; and so shaped his course from Sagadahock 
in forty-four degrees, to Capawike, being in forty-one and 
thirty-six minutes, sending me a journal of his proceeding, 
with the description of the coast all along as he passed. 
Passing by Capawike, he continued his course along the 
coast from harbor to harbor till he came to Virginia, where 
he expected to meet with Rocraft (as afore.) But finding 
him dead, and all lost that should have supplied him, he was 
forced to shift as he could to make his return, and coming 



OF SIR FERD1NANDO GORGES. 31 

to Capawike and Nautican, and going first to Nautican and 
from thence to Capawike, he set himself and some of his 
people on shore, where he met with Epenow, the savage 
who had escaped, of whom- before. This savage, speaking 
some English, laughed at his own escape, and reported the 
story of it. Mr. Dormer told him he came from me, and 
was one of my servants, and that I was much grieved he had 
been so ill used as to be forced to steat away. This savage 
was so cunning, that after he had questioned him about me 
and Sill he knew belonged unto me* conceived he was come 
on purpose to betray him, and conspired with some of his 
fellows to take the Captain. Thereupon they laid hands 
upon him ; but he being a brave, stout gentleman, drew his 
sword and freed himself, but not without fourteen woundsv 
This disaster forced him to make all possible haste to Vir- 
ginia, to be cured of his wounds. At the second return he 
had the misfortune to fall sick and die of the infirmity many 
of our nation are subject unto at their first coming into those 
parts. The loss of this man, I confess, much troubled me, 
and had almost made me resolve never to intermeddle in 
any of those courses.* 



CHAPTER XVI. 

The reasons of endeavoring to renew our first Patent, and to establish the form 
of Government by way of Corporation at Plymouth. 

AFTER I had made so many trials of the state and com- 
modities of the country, and nature and condition of the 
people, and found all things agreeable to the ends I aimed 



* Dormer performed the voyage from Monhegan to Virginia in an open pinnace, 
in the summer of 1619. He was the first English navigator who sailed through 
Long Island sound and the East river, into the harbor of New York, and thence 
by the Narrows and Sandy Hook, towards the south ; and having by this means 
ascertained that Long- Island was not a part of the mainland, he has enjoyed the 
credit of that discovery ; but the Dutch had explored the Sound several years be- 
fore and were already established on. Manhattan island. A letter from Capt. Dor- 



32 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

at from the first, I thought it sorted with reason and justice 
to use the like diligence, order and care for our affairs in 
the Northern Plantation, the Company of Virginia for the 
Southern, with some alteration of the form of government, 
as more proper (in our judgment) for affairs of that kind, 
and like enlargement of the borders, begining where they 
ended at forty degrees, and from thence to forty-eight north- 
wards, and into the land from sea to sea. Of this my resolu- 
tion 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 them- 
selves therein as patentees and counsellors 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, 
the true copy whereof followeth, viz. 



To Sir Thomas Coventry, Knight, his Majesty's Solicitor General: 

Whereas it is thougth fit that a Patent of Incorporation 
be granted to the adventurers of the Northern Colony in 
Virginia, to contain the like liberties, privileges, power, 
authorities, lands and all other things within their limits, 
namely, between the degrees of forty and forty-eight, as 
were heretofore granted to the company in Virginia, except- 
ing only that whereas the said Company have a freedom of 
custom and subsidy for twenty-one years, and of impositions 
forever, this new Company is to be free of custom and sub- 
sidy for the like term of years, and of impositions after so 
long time as his Majesty shall please to grant unto them. 
This shall be therefore to will and require you to prepare a 
Patent ready for his Majesty's royal signature to the purpos 
aforesaid, leaving a blank for the time of freedom from im- 



mer to Purchas, describing this voyage, is reprinted in 1 New York Historical 
Collections, (new Series,) pp. 343-354. Prince, 64. Holmes. Am. Annals, 
A. D. 1619. 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 33 

position, to be supplied and put in by his Majesty ; for 
which this shall be your warrant. Dated 23d July, IGiiO. 
Signed by the 

LORD CHANCELLOR. C LORD DIGBY. 

LORD PRIVY SEAL. MR. COMPTROLLER. 

EARL OF ARUNDELL. < MR. SECRETARY NAUNTON.. 

MR. SECRETARY CALVERT. I MASTER OF THE WARDS. 

MASTER OF THE ROLLS. \^ 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Showing the troubles I underwent by the reason of the Company of Virginia's 

exceptions, taken at the Patent granted by the Lords and others 

for the Affairs of New-England. 

I HAVE briefly given you an account of the failings and 
disasters of what hath passed in those my former and foreign 
undertakings. I will now (with your patience) let you see 
some of my troubles I met with where I might have hoped 
for a comfortable encouragement. But such is (we com- 
monly see) the condition of human nature, that what is well 
intended and confidently pursued by a public spirit, is not- 
withstanding sometimes by others made subject to excep- 
tions, and so prosecuted as a matter worthy of reprehen- 
sion. So fared it with me at this present. For I had no 
sooner passed the Patent under the great seal, but certain 
of the Company of Virginia took exceptions thereat as 
conceiving it tended much to their prejudice, in that they 
were debarred the intermeddling within our limits, who. 
had formerly excluded us irom having to do with theirs. 
Hereupon several complaints were m-ade to the King and 
Lords of the Privy Council, who, after many deliberate^ 
hearings and large debate on both sides, saw no cause 
wherefore we should not enjoy what the King had granted 
us, as well as they what the King had granted them, es- 
pecially having obtained from him so many gracious favors 
over and above our aims; as namely, several free gifts, 
divers great salaries, and other great advantages, to the 
value (as I have understood) of five or six hundred thou- 



34 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

sand pounds ; whereas our ambition only aimed at the en- 
joying of his Majesty's favor and justice to protect and 
support us in our freedoms, that we might peaceably reap 
the benefits of God's gracious gifts, raised by our own indus- 
tries, without any of their help or hinderances ; our desires 
being so fair that all that were not over partial easily as- 
sented thereunto, and ordered it accordingly, as by the same 
it may appear. But that could not satisfy ; for I was 
plainly told, that howsoever I had sped before the Lords, I 
should hear more of it the next Parliament, assuring me 
that they would have three hundred voices more than I. 
Whereupon I replied, If justice could be overthrown by 
voices, it should not grieve me to lose what I had so hon- 
estly gotten. The next Parliament was no sooner assembled 
[1621,] but I found it too true wherewith I was formerly 
threatened, as you may see it following. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

My being summoned to appear in the House of Parliament to answer what 
was to be objected against the Patent of New-England. 

THE whole House being dissolved into a Committee, Sir 
Edward Cook being in the chair, I was called for to the 
bar, where, after some space, it pleased him to tell me that 
the House understood that there was a Patent granted to 
me and divers other noble persons therein nominated, for 
the establishing of a colony in New-England. This (as it 
seems) was a grievance of the Commonwealth, and so com- 
plained of, in respect of many particulars therein contained 
contrary to the laws and privileges of the subjects, as also 
that it was a monopoly, and the color of planting a colony 
put upon it for particular ends and private gain, which the 
House was to look unto, and to minister justice to all par- 
ties ; assuring me further, that I should receive nothing but 
justice, and that the House would do no wrong to any ; that 
I was a gentleman of honor and worth, but the public was 
to be respected before all particulars. But before they could 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 35 

descend to other matters in the business, the Patent was to 
be brought into the House ; therefore he required the deliv- 
ery of it. 

To this general charge and special command I humbly 
replied, that for my own part I was but a particular person, 
and inferior to many to whom the Patent was granted, hav- 
ing no power to deliver it without their assents ; neither in 
truth was it in my custody, But being demanded who had 
it, I answered that it remained still (for aught I knew) in 
the Crown Office, where it was left since the last Parlia- 
ment ; for that it was resolved to be renewed for the amend- 
ment of some faults contained therein ; from whence, if it 
pleased the House, they might command it, and dispose 
thereof as their wisdoms thought it good. But to the gen- 
eral charge I know not (under favor) how any action of 
that kind could be a grievance to the public, seeing at first 
it was undertaken for the advancement of religion, the en- 
largement of the bounds of our nation, the increase of trade, 
and the employment of many thousands of all sorts of people. 

That I conceived it could not be esteemed a monoply, 
though it is true at the first discovery of the coast few 
were interested in the charge thereof, for many could not 
be drawn to adventure in actions of that kind where they 
were assured of loss, and small hopes of gain. 

And indeed so many adventures had been made, and so 
many losses sustained and received, that all or the most 
part that tasted thereof grew weary, till now it is found by 
our constant perseverance therein, that some profit, by a 
course of fishing upon that coast, may be made extraordi- 
nary ; which was never intended to be converted to private 
uses by any grant obtained by us from his Majesty, as by 
the several offers made to all the maritime cities and towns 
in the Western parts, that pleased to partake of the liber- 
ties and immunities granted to us by his Majesty ; which 
was desired principally for our warrant to regulate those 
affairs, the better to settle the public Plantation by the 
profits to be raised by such as sought the benefit thereof ; 
being no more in effect than many private gentlemen and 



36 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

lords of manors within our own countries enjoyed at this 
present, and that both agreeable to the laws and justice of 
our nation without offence to the subjects' liberties. But 
for my particular, I was glad of the present occasion that 
had so happily called them together from all parts of the 
kingdom, to whom I was humbly bold, in the behalf of my- 
self and the rest of those intrusted in the Patent, to make 
present proffer thereof to the House for the general estate 
of the whole kingdom, so they would prosecute the settling 
the Plantation, as from the first was intended ; wherein we 
would be their humble servants in all that lay in our pow- 
er, without looking back to the great charge that had been 
expended in the discovery and seizure of the coast, and 
bringing it to the pass it was come unto* That what was 
more to be said to the Patent for the present, I humbly 
prayed I might receive in particular, to the end I might be 
the better furnished to give them answer thereunto by my 
counsel, at such time they pleased to hear me again, being 
confident I should not only have their approbation in the 
further prosecuting so well-grounded a design, but their 
furtherance also. Howsoever, I was willing to submit the 
whole to their honorable censures. Hereupon it was or- 
dered, that the Patent should be looked into by a committee 
assigned for that purpose, and the exceptions taken against 
it delivered to me, that had a prefixed day to attend them 
again with my counsel at law to answer to those their 
objections. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

My second appearance, with my Counsel. 

THE time assigned being come, and I not receiving their 
objections (as by the House it was ordered) I attended with- 
out my counsel, in that I wanted upon which to build my 
instructions for preparing them, as in duty I ought. But 
being called, I humbly told them, that in obedience to their 
commands, I attended to receive the House's objections 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 37 

against the Patent of New-England ; but it was not yet 
come to my hands. Where the fault was I knew not, and 
therefore I besought them to assign me a new day, and to 
order I might have it delivered to me as was intended. Or 
otherwise, if they so pleased, I was ready without my coun- 
sel to answer what could be objected, doubting they might 
conceive I sought by delays to put off the business. To this 
it was answered by Sir Edward Cooke, that I had gained 
great favor of the House to receive the particulars in wri- 
ting, by which I was able to plead my own cause (though 
as yet I had it not.) But I acknowledged the greatness of 
their favors, and attended their further commands, according 
to the time assigned. 



CHAPTER XX. 

My appearance the third time, together with my Counsel at Law, 

HAVING received the House's exceptions against the Patent, 
I drew up my full answers to every particular, and enter^ 
tained for my counsel Mr. Finch of Gray's Inn (since that the 
Lord Finch,) and Mr. Caltrup, afterwards Attorney General 
of the Court of Wards. To these I delivered my instructions, 
assigning them to proceed accordingly. But, as in great 
causes before great states, where the Court seems to be a 
party, counsel oftentimes is shy of wading farther than with 
their safety they may return. However both did so well, 
the one for the matter of justice, the other for the matter of 
law, as in common judgment the objections were fully an- 
swered ; and they seeming to be at a stand, the House de- 
manded of me what I had more to say myself. I being 
sensible wherein my counsel came short of my intentions, 
besought the House to take into their grave considerations, 
that the most part of the fishermen spoken of had, in obedi- 
ence to his Majesty's royal grant, conformed themselves 
thereunto, and I hoped that they were but particular per- 
sons that opposed themselves against it But admit all of 
them had joined together, yet had that belonged rather to 
VOL. II. 4 



38 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

the Council for those affairs to have complained of them for 
the many injuries and outrages done by them. That the 
Council, of their own charge and cost, had first discovered 
that goodly coast, and found that hopeful means to settle a 
flourishing Plantation for the good of this kingdom in gene- 
ral, as well great lords as knights, esquires, gentlemen, 
merchants, fishermen, tradesmen, husbandmen, laborers, and 
the like, and that both to honor and profit. That the en- 
largement of the King's dominions, with the advancement of 
religion in those desert parts, are matters of highest conse- 
quence, and far exceeding a simple and disorderly course of 
fishing, which would soon be given over, for that so goodly 
a coast could not be long left unpeopled by the French, 
Spanish, or Dutch ; so that if the Plantation be destroyed, 
the fishing is lost, and then the profit and honor of our nation 
must perish (in all opinion) both to present and future ages, 
which these men principally aimed at. That the mischief 
already sustained by those disorderly persons, are inhumane 
and intolerable ; for, first, in their manners and behavior 
they are worse than the very savages, impudently and openly 
lying with their women, teaching their men to drink drunk, 
to swear and blaspheme the name of God, and in their 
drunken humor to fall together by the ears, thereby giving 
them occasion to seek revenge. Besides, they cozen and 
abuse the savages in trading and trafficking, selling them 
salt covered with butter instead of so much butter, and the 
like cozenages and deceits, both to bring the planters and 
all our nation into contempt and disgrace, thereby to give 
the easier passage to those people that dealt more righteous- 
ly with them ; that they sell unto the savages muskets, 
fowling-pieces, powder, shot, swords, arrow-heads, and other 
arms, wherewith the savages slew many of those fishermen 
and are grown so able and so apt, as they become most 
dangerous to the planters. And I concluded, 

That in this particular I had been draw^n, out of my zeal 
to my country's happiness, to engage my estate so deeply 
as I had done ; and having but two sons I adventured the 
life of one of them (who is there at this present) for the 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 36 

better advancement thereof, (with others of his kinsmen of 
his own name, with many other private friends,) which so 
nearly concerned me, that if I did express more passion than 
ordinary in the delivery thereof, I hoped the House would 
be pleased to pardon me ; affirming, that if I should do less, 
I might appear willing to suffer them to perish by my neg- 
ligence, connivance, improvidence or ungratefulness, to the 
dishonor of my nation, and burden of my own conscience. 
But these things being considered, I presume the honorable 
assembly will do what in all respects shall be both just and 
lawful, and that in confidence thereof, I will cease to be 
further troublesome. 



CHAPTER XXL 

What followed upon my Answer to the House's Exceptions. 

BEING persuaded in my own understanding, as well as in 
the judgment of those that accompanied me, I had suffi- 
cienly satisfied the most part of the House, the rather for 
that they forbade the lawyers to speak any more, after I 
began to deliver what I had to say for myself, with this 
hope I departed, attending the success, but understanding 
(from those that were favorers and parties with me) that 
my opposites held their resolutions to make it a public griev- 
ance, and for such to present it to his Majesty. 

Hereupon I thought it became me to use my best means 
his Majesty might have sight of their exceptions and my 
answers, which accordingly was performed. So that at the 
time the House presented the public grievances of the 
kingdom, that of the Patent of New-England was the first. 
Wherein was declared, that having heard me and my 
learned counsel several days, but that I could not defend 
the same ; which the King observing was a little moved, 
finding the matter was made greater than the cause re- 
quired. This their public declaration of the House's dislike 
of the cause shook of all my adventurers for plantation, 
and made many of the patentees to quit their interest, so 



40 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

that in all likelihood I must fall under the weight of so 
heavy a burden. But the justness of my cause being truly 
apprehended by the King, from which I understood he was 
not to be drawn to overthrow the Corporation he so much 
approved of in his own judgment, and I was wished not to 
omit the prosecution thereof, as cause required. But I 
thought better to forbear for the present, in honor and re- 
spect of what had passed in so public a manner between 
the King and his House of Commons ; who, shortly after, 
upon several reasons, rising from particular persons, who 
(as it seemed) were more liberal in their language than 
became them, trenching farther upon the King's preroga- 
tive power, he thought to be tolerated, as doubting of the 
consequence thereof. Whereupon the Parliament was dis- 
missed, divers of those free speakers committed to the 
Tower, others to other prisons ; so that now I was called 
upon to attend those affairs on several accidents that hap- 
pened. As first, for that the French ambassador made 
challenge to those territories granted us by the King our 
sovereign, in the behalf of the King of France, his master, 
as belonging to his subjects, that by his authority were pos- 
sessed thereof, as a part of Nova France. To which I was 
commanded by the King to give answer to the ambassador 
his claim, which was sent me from the Lord Treasurer, 
under the title of Le Memorial de Monsieur Seigneur le 
Conte de Tittieres, Ambassadeur pour le Roy de France. 
Whereunto I made so full a reply (as it seems) there was 
no more heard of that their claim. 

But as Captain Dormer, who (as I said) was coasting 
that country, met with some Hollanders that were settled 
in a place we call Hudson's river, in trade with the natives ; 
who, in the right of our Patent, forbade them the place, as 
being by his Majesty appointed to us. Their answer was, 
they understood no such thing, nor found any of our nation 
there, so that they hoped they had not offended. However, 
this their communication removed them not, but upon our 
complaining of their intrusion to his Majesty, order was 
given to his ambassadors to deal with the States, to know 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 41 

by what warrant any of their subjects took upon them to 
settle within those limits by him granted to his subjects, 
who were royally seized of a part thereof. To which was 
answered, that they knew of no such thing. If there were 
any, it was without their authority, and that they only had 
enacted the Company for the affairs of the West Indies. 
This answer being returned, made us to prosecute our busi- 
ness, and to resolve of the removing of those interlopers, to 
force them to submit to the government of those to whom 
that place belonged. Thus you may see how many bur- 
thens I travailed under of all sides, and yet not come near 
my journey's end. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Of the descent of Mr. Peirce, Mr. Day, others their associates, within our limits, 
being bound for Virginia. 

BEFORE the unhappy controversy happened between those 
of Virginia and myself (as you have heard), they were 
forced through the great charge they had been at, to heark- 
en to any propositions that might give ease and furtherance 
to so hopeful a business. To that purpose, it was referred 
to their considerations how necessary it was that means 
might be used to draw into those enterprises some of those 
families that had retired themselves into Holland for scru- 
ple of conscience, giving them such freedom and liberty as 
might stand with their likings. This advice being heark- 
ened unto, there were that undertook the putting it in 
practice, and accordingly brought it to- effect so far forth, 
as that the three ships (such as their weak fortunes were 
able to provide), whereof two proved unserviceable and so 
were left behind, the third with great difficulty recovered 
the coast of New-England [December, 1620], where they 
landed their people, many of them weak and feeble through 
the length of the navigation, the leakiness of the ship, and 
want of many other necessaries such undertakings required. 
But they were not many da-ys ashore before they had gotten 
4* 



42 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

both health and strength, through the comfort of the air r 
the store of fish and fowl, with plenty of wholesome roots 
and herbs the country afforded ; besides the civil respect 
the natives used towards them, tending much to their hap- 
piness in so great extremity they were in. After they had 
well considered the state of their affairs, and found that the 
authority they had from the Company of Virginia could not 
warrant their abode in that place, which they found so 
prosperous and pleasing to them, they hastened away their 
ship, with order to their Solicitor to deal with me, to be a 
means they might have a grant from the Council of New- 
England's affairs to settle in the place ; which was accord- 
ingly performed to their particular satisfaction and good 
content of them all ; which place was after called New 
Plymouth, where they have continued ever since very peace- 
able, and in plenty of all necessaries that nature needeth, 
if that could satisfy our vain affections. Where I wiU 
leave them for the present.* 



* The patent to John Peirce and others in behalif of the Colony at Plymouth* 
is the one referred to in this chapter. The original instrument was found a I 
Plimton, Mass, in 1741, and deposited in the Land Office at Boston, where it 
was seen by Judge Davis x who has described its leading features in the appendix, 
to his excellent edition of Morton's Memorial* pp. 361-2. It bore the seals and 
signatures of the Puke of Lenox, the Marquis of Hamilton,, the Earl of War- 
wick, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Recently searches have been made for this 
instrument at the Land Office without success, and Dr. Young conjectures that 
it is now lost. Chron. Pilgrims. 235. It was never printed. 

This is without doubt the patent referred to in the certificate or declaration of 
Samuel Welles, of Boston, published in Willis's History of Portland, 1 Maine 
Historical Collections, p. 13. When discovered at Plimton, the original instru- 
ment was placed in the hands of Mr. Welles, who seems to have been one of 
the commissioners to settle the boundary line between Massachusetts and Rhode 
Island at that period. Cotton's MS. Diary, cited by Judge Davis. As it was 
general in its terms, granting land in any part of New-England not already 
granted, this patent easily admitted of being applied to lands in Maine ; but there 
is no reason to suppose that it was used for that purpose by Peirce^much less that 
be ever settled at Pemaquid, as stated in the certificate of Welles; indeed he 
does not appear to have visited New-England, although he once made the attempt, 
but was driven back by bad weather. The use made, or intended to be made of 
this patent, in the last century, was probably fraudulent. 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 43 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

My son Captain Robert Gorges sent by authority of the Council for those Affairs, 
as their Lieutenant General. 

THE several complaints made to the Council of the abuses 
committed by several the fishermen, and other interlopers, 
who without order from them frequented those coasts, tend- 
ing to the scorn of our nation, both to the ordinary mixing 
themselves with their women, and other beastly demeanors, 
tending to drunkenness, to the overthrow of our trade, and 
dishonor of the government. 

For reformation whereof, and to prevent the evils that 
may ensue, they were pleased to resolve of the sending 
some one into those parts as their Lieutenant, to regulate 
the estate of their affairs and those abuses. Hereupon my 
son Robert Gorges, being newly come out of the Venetian 
war, was the man they were pleased to pitch upon, being 
one of the Company, and interested in a proportion of the land 
with the rest of the Patentees in the Bay of the Majechew- 
sett, containing ten miles in breadth and thirty miles into 
the main land ; who, between my Lord Gorges and myself, 
was speedily sent away into the said Bay of Massechewset, 
where he arrived about the beginning of August following, 
anno 1623, that being the place he resolved to make his 
residence, as proper for the public as well as for his pri- 
vate ; where landing his provisions and building his store- 
houses, he sent to them of New Plymouth (who by his 
commission were authorized to be his assistants) to come 
unto him, who willingly obeyed his order, and as carefully 
discharged their duties ; by whose experience he suddenly 
understood what was to be done with the poor means he 
had, believing the supplies he expected would follow ac- 
cording to the undertakings of divers his familiar friends 
who had promised as much. But they, hearing how I sped 



44 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

in the House of Parliament, withdrew themselves; and 
myself and friends were wholly disabled to do any thing to 
purpose. The report of these proceedings with us coming 
to my son's ears, he was advised to return home till better 
occasion should offer itself unto him. 

Here follows my son Captain Gorges' Patent. 



To all to whom these Presents shall come, the Council for the Affairs of New- 
England in America send Greeting : 

WHEREAS it hath pleased the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by his royal 
grant bearing date the third day of November, in the eighteenth year of his Ma- 
jesty's reign over this his Highness ? s realm of England, &c., for divers causes 
therein expressed, absolutely to give, grant, and confirm unto us, the said Council 
and our successors, all the foresaid land of New-England, lying and being from 
forty to forty-eight degrees of northerly latitude, and in length by all that breadth 
aforesaid, from sea to sea throughout the main land, together with all the woods, 
waters, rivers, soils, havens, harbors, islands, and other commodities whatsoever 
thereunto belonging, with all privileges, pre-eminences, profits and liberties by 
sea and land, as by the said grant, amongst other things therein contained, more 
at large appeareth : Now know all men by these presents, that we the Council 
of New-England, for and in respect of the good and special service done by Sir 
Ferdinando Gorges, Knight, to the Plantation, from the first attempt thereof unto 
this present, as also for many other causes us hereunto moving, and likewise for 
and in consideration of the payment of one hundred and sixty pounds of lawful 
English money unto the hands of our Treasurer by Robert Gorges, son of the 
said Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Knight, whereof, and of every part and parcel 
whereof, the said Robert Gorges, his heirs, executors and assigns are forever ac- 
quitted and discharged by these presents, have given, granted and confirmed, and 
by these presents do give, grant and confirm unto the said Robert Gorges, his 
heirs and assigns forever, all that part of the main land in New England afore- 
said, commonly called or known by the name of Messachusiack, situate, lying 
and being upon the northeast side of the Bay called or known by the name of 
Massachuset, or by what other name or names soever it be or shall be called or 
known, together with all the shores and coasts along the sea for ten English miles 
in a straight line towards the northeast, accounting one thousand seven hundred 
sixty yards to the mile, and thirty English miles (after the same rate) unto the 
main land through all the breadth aforesaid, together with all the islets and 
islands lying within three miles of any part of the said lands (except such islands 
as are formerly granted), together also with all the lands, rivers, mines and min- 
erals, woods, quarries, marshes, waters, lakes, fishings, huntings, fovvlings, and 
commodities and hereditaments whatsoever, with all and singular their appurten- 
ances, together with all prerogatives, rights, jurisdictions and royalties, and power 
of judicature in all causes an.d matters whatsoever, criminal, capital and civil 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 45 

arising, or which may hereafter arise within the limits, bounds and precincts 
aforesaid, to be executed according to the Great Charter of England, and such 
laws as shall be hereafter established by public authority of the State assembled 
in Parliament in New-England, to be executed and exercised by the said Robert 
Gorges, his heirs and assigns, or his or their deputies, lieutenants, judges, stew- 
ards or other officers thereunto by him or them assigned, deputed or appointed 
from time to time, with all other privileges, franchises, liberties and immunities, 
with escheats and casualties thereof arising, or which shall or may hereafter 
arise within the said limits and precincts, with all the interest, right, title, claim 
and demand whatsoever, which we the said Council and our successors now of 
right have or ought to have and claim, or may have or acquire hereafter, in or to 
the said portion of lands, or islands, or any the premises, in as free, ample, large 
and beneficial manner, to all intents, constructions and purposes whatsoever, as 
we the said Council by his Majesty's said letters patent may or can grant the 
same, saving and always reserving unto the said Council, and their successors, 
and to the Court of Parliament hereafter to be in New England aforesaid, and 
to either of them, power to receive, hear and determine all and singular appeal 
and appeals of every person and persons whatsoever, dwelling or inhabiting with- 
in the said territories and islands, or either or any of them, to the said Robert 
Gorges granted as aforesaid, of and from all judgments and sentences whatso- 
ever given within the said territories, to have and to hold all and every the 
lands and premises above by these presents granted (except before excepted) 
with their and every of their appurtenances, with all the royalties, jurisdictions, 
mines, minerals, woods, fishing, fowling, hunting, waters, rivers, and all other 
profits, commodities and hereditaments whatsoever, within the precincts afore- 
said, or to the said lands, islands or premises, or any of them in any wise be- 
longing or appertaining, to the said Robert Gorges, his heirs and assigns forever, 
to the only proper use and behoof of the said Robert Gorges, his heirs and as- 
signs for evermore ; to be held of the said Council, and their successors, per 
Gladium Comitatus, that is to say, by finding four able men, conveniently armed 
or arrayed for the wars, to attend upon the Governor for any service within four- 
teen days after warning, and yielding and paying unto the said Council one 
fiftieth part of all the ore of the mines of gold and silver which shall be had, 
possessed and obtained within the precincts aforesaid, for all services and de- 
mands whatsoever, to be delivered into the Tower of London in England, to 
and for the use of his Majesty, his heirs and successors from time to time. And 
last>y know ye, that we the said Council have deputed, authorized and appointed, 
and in our place and stead have put David Thomson, Gent., or in his absence 
any other person that shall be their Governor, or other officer unto the said Coun- 
cil, to be our true and lawful attorney and attorneys, and in our name and stead 
to enter into the said lands, and other the premises with their appurtenances, or 
l nto some part thereof, in the name of the whole, for us and in our names to 
have and take possession and seisin thereof, and after such possession and seisin 
thereof, or of some other part thereof had and taken, then for us and in our 
name to deliver the same unto the said Robert Gorges or his heirs, or to his or 
their certain attorney or attorneys, to be by him or his heirs appointed in that 
behalf, according to the true intent and meaning of these presents, ratifying 



46 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

confirming and allowing all and whatsoever our attorney or attorneys shall do in 
or about the premises, or in part thereof by virtue of these presents. In witness 
whereof, we have affixed our common seal, the thirtieth day of December, in 
the year of the reign of our sovereign lord, James, by the grace of God, of Eng- 
land, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, &c., the twentieth, and 
of Scotland the fifty-sijth.* 

LENOX, HAMILTON, 
ARRUNDELL, SURREY, 
BARN. GOACH, 
ROBERT MANSELL, 
Wi. BOLES. 

* THE following document relates to this patent, and is the same referred to in Mr. Fol- 
som's Discourse, p. 47 as having been recently discovered among the State Records of Mas- 
sachusetts : 

" King James the 1st, on the third of November, in the 18th year of his reign, (vizt.) in 
the year 1620, by Letters Patent, granted unto the Council for the affairs of New England 
and their successors. All the land of New England lying and being from 40 to 48 degrees 
of North Latitude, and in length by that breadth aforesaid from sea to sea thro' the Main 
Land, together with all Islands, woods, mimics, quarries, &c. 

" The said Council, for a consideration, by deed bearing date the 30th December, in the 
20th of King James, (vizt.) 1622, granted unto Robert Gorges, youngest son of Sir Ferdi- 
nando Gorges, Knight, and his heirs, All that part of the Main Land in New England, 
commonly called or known by the name of Massachusetts, or by what other name or 
names whatsoever called, with all coasts and shoars along the sea, for ten English miles 
in a straight line towards the North East, accounting 1760 yards to the . mile, and thirty 
English miles after the same rate into the mayne land thro' all the breadth aforesaid, to- 
gether with all islands, &c, lying within three miles of any part of said land. 

" Robert Gorges dies without issue ; the said lands descend to John Gorges, his eldest 
brother. John Gorges, by deed bearing date 10th January, 1628, 4 Car. I., grants to Sir 
William Brereton, of Handforth, in the County of Chester, Baronet, and his heirs, All the 
Lands in breadth lying from the east side of Charles River to the easterly part of the Cape 
called Nahannte, and all the Lands lying in length twenty miles North East into the Main 
Land from the mouth of the said Charles River ; lying also in length twenty miles into the 
main land North East from the said Cape Nahannte ; also two islands lying next unto the 
shoare between Nahannte and Charles River, the bigger called Brente, and the lesser 
Susanna. 

" Sir William Brereton dyes, leaving Thomas his only son, afterwards Sir Thomas, and 
Susanna his daughter. Sir Thomas dies without issue ; Susanna marries Edmund Len- 
thall, Esq., and dyes, leaving Mary her only daughter and heire. 

" Mary is married to Mr. Levett of the Inner Temple, who claims the said Lands in right 
of Mary his wife, who is heire to Sir William Brereton and Sir Thomas Breretou. 

" Sir William Brereton sent over several families and servants, who possessed and 
improved severall large tracts of said lands, and made severall leases, as appears by the 
said deeds, &c." Copied from, MS. Records of Massachusetts. 

" The statements contained in this document, (which is now printed for the first time,) are 
partially confirmed by the following extracts from the Records of the Massachusetts Com- 
pany, containing the proceedings of the Company at a meeting held in London, March 5th, 
1628; present, the Governor, the deputy Governor, the treasurer and six members: "A 
proposition being made by Sir William Brereton to the Governor, of a patent granted him of 
lands in the Massachusetts Bay by Mr. John Gorges, and that if this Company would make 
him a promise, so as he consent to underwrite with this Company, it might not be prejudi- 
cial to his patent, it was resolved this answer should be given him, namely, that if he 
please to underwrite with us without any condition whatsoever, but come in as all ad 
venturers do, he should be welcome upon the same conditions that we have." Young's 
Chron. Mass. 51, 52' 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 47 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Captain John Mason the means of interesting the Scottish nation into that of 
New Scotland. 

CAPTAIN John Mason was himself a man of action, and 
had been some time Governor of a Plantation in the New- 
found-land^ His time being expired there, he returned into 
England, where he met with Sir William Alexander, who 



Again ; at " A General Court, holden at Mr. Goff*s house, [in London,] on Wednesday, 
the 10th of February, 1629, Present, Mr. John Winthrop, Governor, Mr. John Humfry, Depu- 
ty," and many others, the following notice was taken of the same matter: "Motion was 
made on the behalf of Sir William Brewerton, who by virtue of a late patent pretends right 
and title to some part of the land within the Company's privileges and Plantation in New 
England ; yet nevertheless he is content not to contest with the Company, but desires that 
a proportionable quantity of land might be allotted unto him for the accommodation of his 
people and servants, now to be sent over, which request the Court taking into consideration, 
do not think fit to enter into any particular capitulation with him therein, nor to set out any 
allotment of land for him more than the six hundred acres he is to have by virtue of his ad- 
venture in the joint stock, nor to acknowledge anything due unto him as of right, by virtue of 
his said patent, nor to give any consideration incase he should relinquish his pretended right; 
but they are well content he should join with them in the prosecution of this business, ac- 
cording to their Charter, and do promise in the meantime that such servants as he shall 
send over to inhabit upon the Plantation, shall receive all courteous respect, and be 
accommodated with land, and what else shall be necessary, as other the servants of the 
Company. Which answer was delivered unto those that were sent from him ; and the 
Court desired also that Capt. Waller and Mr. Eaton would signify the Company's affection 
and due respect unto him, he having written to them about this business." Ibid. 1&2, 123. 

Sir William Brereton was subsequently distinguished in the civil wars as a brave and 
successful general officer. It does not appear that he contested the decision of the Company 
in reference to his patent, nor that he acquiesced in it. 

There was another claim under the grant to Robert Gorges, that gave the Mass. Compa- 
ny still more trouble than the title of Sir William Brereton. It was founded upon a lease 
to John Oldham, which is thus described in a letter Of instructions from the Company to 
Eudicott, dated April 17th, 1829: 

"I find Mr. Oldham's grant from Mr. Gorge is to him and John Dorrel, for all the lands 
within Mattachusetts Bay, between Charles river and Abousett [SaugusJ river, containing 
in length by a straight line five miles up the said Charles river into the main land north- 
west from the border of said bay, including all creeks and points by the way, and three 
miles in length from the mouth of the foresaid river of Abousett, up into the main land, 
upon a straight line southwest, including all creeks and points, and all the land in breadth 
and length between the foresaid rivers, with all prerogatives, royal mines excepted. The 
rent reserved is twelve pence on every hundred acres of land that shall be used ; William 
Blaxton, clerk, and William Jeffryes, gentlemen, authorized to put John Oldham in pos- 
session. Having a sight of his grant, this I found. Though I hold it void in law, yet h^s 
claim being to this, you may in your discretion prevent him by causing some to take pos- 
session of the chiefe part thereof." Young's Chron. Mass. 169, 170 1. This part of the 
letter to Endicott, in which the writer uses the singular number, is supposed by Dr. Young 
to have been written by Cradock, then governor of the Company. 



48 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

was Master of Requests to his Majesty for the realm'of Scot- 
land, but since Earl of Stirling, who, hearing of Captain 
Mason's late coming out of the New-found-land, was desi- 
rous to be acquainted with him. To that end he invited 
him to his house, and after he had thoroughly informed him- 
self of the estate of that country, he declared his affection to 
plantation, and wished the Captain to be a means to procure 
him a grant of the Planters thereof for a portion of land with 
them ; who effected what he desired. The Captain, under- 
standing how far forth I had proceeded in the business of 
New-England, advised him to deal with me for a part of 
what we might conveniently spare, without our prejudice, 
within the bounds of our grant. Sir William Alexander, 
intending to make himself sure of his purpose, procured his 
Majesty (for what could they not do in those times in such 
cases ?) to send to me to assign him a part of our territories. 
His Majesty's gracious message as to me was a command 
agreeing with his pleasure to have it so. Whereupon an 
'instrument was presently drawn for the bounding thereof, 
which was to be called New Scotland, which afterwards 
was granted him by the King under the seal of Scotland. 
Thus much I thought fit to insert by the way, that posterity 
might know the ground from whence business of that na- 
ture had their original. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Lieutenant Colonel Norton undertaking to settle a Plantation on the river of 
Agomentico, if I pleased to bear a part with him and his associates. 

THIS gentleman was one I had long known, who had 
raised himself from a soldier to the quality he had, from a 



Oldham soon after settled at Watertown, probably within the boundaries of his grant, 
where he resided until his violent death at the hands of the Indians in 1636. He represen- 
ted that town in the first legislative assembly of Massachusetts. He was also a co-patentee 
with Richard Vines in the tract now constituting the town of Biddeford, of which legal 
possession was taken by them in the summer of 1630. For a further account of him, see 
Hist. Saco and Biddeford, pp. 30. 32. 66. Blackstone and Jeffreys were early inhabitants 
at Mass. Bay, and are supposed to have come over with Rob. Gorges. Young's Chron. 
Mass. 169. 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 49 

corporal to a sergeant, and so upward. He was painful 
and industrious, well understanding what belonged to his 
duties in whatsoever he undertook, and strongly atected 
to the business of plantation. Having acquainted me of 
his designs and of his associates, I gave him my word I 
would be his intercessor to the Lords for obtaining him 
a Patent for any place he desired, not already granted to 
any other. But conceiving he should be so much the better 
fortified, if he could get me to be an undertaker with him 
and his associates, upon his motion I was contented my 
grandson Ferdinando should be nominated together with 
him and the rest ; to whom was passed a Patent of twelve 
thousand acres of land upon the east side of the river Ago- 
mentico, and twelve thousand of acres more of land on the 
west side to my said son Ferdinando. Hereupon he 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 ne- 
phew Captain William Gorges, who had been my lieutenant 
in the fort of 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 gentle- 
man and servant of my own, who was settled there some 
years before, and had been interested in the discovery and 
seizure thereof for me, as formerly hath been related ; by 
whose diligence and care those my affairs had the better 
success, as more at large will appear in its proper place.* 



*Dr. Belknap assigns the date of this settlement at Agamenticus, now York, 
to the year 1623 ; and he is followed in this particular by others. 1 Am. Biog 
378. 6 Mass, Hist. Coll. 3d series, p. 79. Hist. Saco and Bid. 24. But this is 
evidently a mistake ; for Edward Godfrey, the able champion of the rights of the 
Lord Proprietor, states in a petition to the legislature of Massachusetts, that he 
was " the first that ever built or settled" at that place, and that he had then (1654) 
resided there for twenty-four years. 1 Maine Hist. Coll. 18. 295. Moreover, 
there is no reason to suppose that either Col. Norton, or Capt. William Gorges, 

VOL. II. 5 



50 THE BRIEF NARRATION 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

What followed the breaking up of the Parliament in such discontent. 



THE King, not pleased with divers the passages of some 
particular persons, who in their speeches seemed to trench 

came over before 1635. There is a letter in the appendix (No. VII) to Belknap's 
History of New Hampshire, from Sir F. Gorges and John Mason, to their agents 
on the Piscataqua, dated at Portsmouth, Eng. May 5, 1634, in which they are 
desired to consult with " Capt. Norton and Mr. Godfrey ;" but the letter proba- 
bly refers to Capt. VV alter Norton, who at that time was an inhabitant of Aga- 
menticus. He died soon after, for his widow, Mrs. Eleanor Norton, was married 
to William Hooke, Esq. one of the Provincial Council of Maine, in 1640. 

Lieut. Col. Norton mentioned in the text is without doubt the same person 
referred to in the following extract from Belknap's New Hampshire : " After 
the death of Capt. Mason, [Nov. 26th, 1635] his widow and executrix sent over 
Francis Norton as her " general attorney ;" to whom she committed the whole 
management of the estate. But the expense so far exceeded the income, and the 
servants grew so impatient for their arrears, that she was obliged to relinquish 
the care of the plantation, and tell the servants that they must shift for them- 
selves. Upon which they shared the goods and cattle. Norton drove above a 
hundred oxen to Boston, and there sold them for twenty-five pounds sterling per 
head, which it is said was the current price of the best cattle in New England at 
that time. These were of a large breed, imported from Denmark, from whence 
Mason had also procured a number of men skilled in sawing planks and making 
potashes." Vol. 1. p. 37. 2</ e d. 

Josselyn states that, " in 1635, Capt. W. Gorges was sent over Governor of 
the Province of Maine, then called New Somersetshire." He was present at a 
meeting of the Commissioners of the Province, held at Saco, March 25th, 1636. 
Hist. Saco and Sid. 49. It is probable that Col. Norton accompanied him. 
This gentleman seems, however, to have been occupied with the settlement of 
Mason's affairs at Piscataqua ; and after the abandonment of his plantation, as 
described by Dr. Belknap, he removed to Charlestown, Mass., where he contin- 
ued to reside until his death, which occurred on the 27th July, 1667. Frothing, 
ham, Hist. Charlestown, 86. His military character, of which Gorges speaks so 
highly, shone conspicuously in his new residence, where he commanded the 
" train-band" of the town. Johnson styles him " Capt. Lieut. Francis Norton," 
and says that he was " a man of bold and cheerful spirit, being will disciplined. 
and an able man." Wonder Working Providence. Chap. 26. He was several 
years one of the selectmen of the town, and its representative in the colonial 
legislature. Frothingham. 86. 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 51 

farther on his royal prerogative than stood with his safety 
and honor to give way unto, suddenly brake off the Parlia- 
ment. Whereby divers were so fearful what would follow 
so unaccustomed an action, some of the principal of those 
liberal speakers being committed to the Tower, others to 
other prisons which took all hope of reformation of Church 
government from many not affecting Episcopal jurisdiction, 
nor the usual practice of the common prayers of the Church, 
whereof there where several sorts, though not agreeing 
among themselves, yet all of like dislike of those particulars. 
Some of the discreeter sort, to avoid what they found them- 
selves subject unto, made use of their friends to procure 
from the Council for the Affairs of New-England to settle 
a colony within their limits ; to which it pleased the thrice- 
honored Lord of Warwick to write to me, then at Plymouth, 
to condescend that a Patent might be granted to such as 
then sued for it. Whereupon I gave my approbation so far 
forth as it might not be prejudicial to my son Robert Gor- 
ges' interests, whereof he had a Patent under the seal of 
the Council. Hereupon there was a grant passed as was 
thought reasonable ; but the same was after enlarged by his 
Majesty, and confirmed under the great seal of England, 
by the authority whereof the undertakers proceeded so effec- 
tually, that in a very short time numbers of people of all 
sorts flocked thither in heaps, that at last it was specially 
ordered by the King's command, that none should be suf- 
fered to go without license first had and obtained, and they 
to take the oaths of supremacy and allegiance. So that 
what I long before prophesied, when I could hardly get any 
for money to reside there, was now brought to pass in a high 
measure. The reason of that restraint was grounded upon 
the several complaints, that came out of those parts, of the 
divers sects and schisms that were amongst them, all con- 
temning the public government of the ecclesiastical state. 
And it was doubted that they would, in short time, wholly 
shake off the royal jurisdiction of the Sovereign Magistrate. 



THE SECOND BOOK. 



CHAPTER I. 

Shewing the Reasons of my desire and others ray Associates to resign the 

Grand Patent to his Majesty, and the dividing of the Sea coasts 

between the Lords who had continued constant favorers 

and followers thereof. 

AFTER I had passed all those failings in my first attempts 
you have heard of, and had undergone those home storms 
afore spoken of by those of Virginia, I would willingly have 
sat down in despair of what I aimed at, but was stirred up 
and encouraged by the most eminent of our Company, not 
to give over the business his Majesty did so much approve 
of, whose gracious favor I should not want, and whereof I 
had already sufficient proof. Hereupon I began again to 
erect my thoughts how aught might be effected to advance 
the weak foundation already laid, when as it so pleased God 
to have it, in the year 1621, after the Parliament that then 
sat brake off in discontent, I was solicited to consent to the 
passing of a Patent to certain undertakers who intended to 
transport themselves into those parts, with their whole fam- 
ilies, as I showed before. The liberty they obtained thereby 
and the report of their well doing, drew after them multi- 
tudes of discontented persons of several sects and conditions, 
insomuch that they began at last to be a pester to them- 
selves, threatening a civil war before they had established 
a civil form of government between themselves. And 
doubtless had not the patience and wisdom of Mr. Win- 
throp, Mr. Humphreys, Mr. Dudley, and others their assis- 
tants, been the greater, much mischief would suddenly have 
overwhelmed them, more than did befall them. Notwith- 
standing, amongst those great swarms there went many that 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 53 

wanted not love and affection to the honor of the King, 
and happiness of their native country. However they were 
mixed with those that had the state of the established 
Church government in such scorn and contempt, as finding 
themselves in a country of liberty, where tongues might 
speak without control, many, fuller of malice than reason, 
spared not to speak the worst that evil affections could in- 
vent, insomuch that the distance of the place could not im- 
peach the transportation thereof to the ears of those it most 
concerned, and who were bound in honor and justice to 
vindicate the State he was so eminent a servant unto. 

Hereupon the King and his Council began to take into 
their serious considerations the consequences that might 
follow so unbridled spirits, and the Lords interested in the 
government of those affairs finding the King's dislike thereof, 
considered how to give his Majesty and his Council of State 
some satisfaction for the time to come, anno 1622. There- 
upon it was ordered, that none should be suffered to pass 
into New-England, but such as did take the oaths of supre- 
macy and allegiance. This held some time, but was omit- 
ted till the year 1631 ; till which time, as the daily reports 
brought over word of their continued misdemeanors, for that 
at last I myself was called upon (with others) as being the 
supporter and author of all that was distasteful. I confessed 
indeed that I had earnestly sought by all means the planting 
of those parts by those of our own nation, and that for divers 
weighty considerations, approved of by the King and his 
Council; but could not expect that so many evils should 
have happened thereby. This answer served for the pres- 
ent, but could not wipe away the jealousy that was had of 
me, though I labored continually to put off the scandalous 
opinion of such as daily did endeavor to do me evil offices, 
which I found with the latest ; but was thereupon moved to 
desire the rest of the Lords that were the principal actors 
in the business, that we might resign our grand patent to 
the King, and pass particular patents to ourselves of such 
parts of the country along the sea coast as might be suffi- 
cient for our own uses, and such of our private friends as had 
5* 



54 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

affections to works of that nature. To this motion there 
was a general assent by the Lords, and a day appointed 
too, for the conclusion thereof. [April 25, 1635.] 



CHAPTER II. 

The meeting of the Lords for the dividing of the Coast. 

THE time being come their Lordships had appointed, an 
Act was made for the resignation of the Patent, with the 
confirmation of our particulars, where the bounds were thus 
laid out : beginning from the westernmost parts of our bounds 
eastwards, where the Lord of Mougrave* began his limits, 
and ended the same at the river called Hudson's river ; to 
the eastward of the river was placed the Duke of Lenox, 
since Duke of Richmond, to the end of sixty miles eastward ; 
next to him was placed the Earl of Carlisle ; next to him 
the Lord Edward Gorges ; next to him was settled the 
Marquis Hamilton ; next to him Captain John Mason ; and 
lastly myself, whose bounds extended from the midst of 
Merrimeck to the great river of Sagadehocke, being sixty 
miles, and so up into the main land one hundred and twenty 
miles. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Orders that are settled for the government of my said Province. 

BEING now seized of what I had travailed for above forty 
years, together with the expenses of many thousand pounds, 
and the best time of my age laden with troubles and vexa- 
tions from all parts, as you have heard, I will now give you 



Lord Sheffield, created Earl of Mulgrave (anciently written Moulgrave) by 
Charles I., was an original member of the Council of Plymouth. His share in 
the division comprised all the territory, included in the patent of the Council, 
west of Hudson river. 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 55 

an account in what order I have settled my affairs in that 
my Province of Maine, with the true form and manner o f 
the government, according to the authority granted me by 
his Majesty's royal charter. First, I divided the whole into 
eight bailiwicks or counties, and those again into sixteen 
several hundreds, consequently into parishes and tithings, 
as people did increase and the provinces were inhabited. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The manner and form of the Government I have established for the ordering 
of the public affairs within my Province of Maine. 

FIRST, in my absence I assigned one for my Lieutenant or 
deputy, to whom I adjoined a Chancellor for the determin- 
ation of all differences arising between party and party, for 
meum and tuum ; only next to him I ordained a Treasurer for 
receipt of the public revenue ; to them I added a Marshal 
for the managing of the militia, who hath for his lieutenant 
a Judge-Marshal and other officers to the Marshal Court, 
where is to be determined all criminal and capital matters, 
with other misdemeanors or contentions for matter of honor 
and the like. To these I appointed an Admiral, with his 
lieutenant or judge, for the ordering and determining of 
maritime causes, whose court is only capable of what pas- 
seth between party and party, concerning trades and con- 
tracts for maritime causes, either within the province or on 
the seas, or in foreign parts, so far as concerns the inhabi- 
tants, their factors or servants, as is usual here in England. 
Next I ordered a Master of the Ordnance, whose office is to 
take charge of all the public stores belonging to the militia 
both for sea and land ; to this I join a Secretary, for the 
public service of myself and Council. These are the Standing 
Counsellors. To whom is added eight deputies, to be elect- 
ed by the freeholders of the several counties, as counsellors 
for the state of the country, who are authorized by virtue of 
their places to sit in any of the aforesaid courts and to be 
assistants to the Presidents thereof, and to give their opin- 



56 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

ions according^to justice, &c. That there is no matter of 
moment can be determined of, neither by myself, nor by 
my Lieutenant in my absence, but by the advice and assent 
of the whole body of the Council or the greater part of them, 
sufficiently called and summoned to the Assembly. 

That no judge or other minister of state to be allowed of, 
but by the advice and assent of the said Council, or the 
greater part of them, as before. 

That no alienation or sale of land be made to any, but by 
their counsel and assent, be it by way of gift for reward, 
or service, or otherwise whatsoever. 

That no man to whom there hath been any grant passed 
of any freehold, shall alienate the same without the assent 
and license of the said Council, first had and obtained. 

That in case any law be to be enacted, or repealed, 
money to be levied, or forces raised for public defence, 
the summons thereof to the several bailiwicks, or counties, 
is to be issued out in my name, but with the consent of the 
said Council ; by virtue whereof, power is to be given to the 
freeholders of the said counties respectively, to elect and 
choose two of the most worthy within the said county as 
deputies for the whole, to join with the Council for perform- 
ance of the service for which they were called to that 
assembly, all appeals made for any wrong or injustice com- 
mitted by any the several officers of any the standing courts 
of justice, or authority of any other person or persons. 

For the better ease of the inhabitants of the several bai- 
liwicks or counties, there is assigned one lieutenant, and 
eight justices, to administer justice for maintenance of the 
public peace, according to the laws provided ; these officers 
and justices to be chosen and allowed of by myself, or any 
lieutenant in my absence, with the assent of the' said Coun- 
cil, belonging unto me. 

As for the constables of the hundreds, constables of the 
parishes, with the several tithing-men of every parish, to be 
chosen by the lieutenant and justices of the several coun- 
ties, to whom such oaths are to be administered, as by the 
Council, and myself or Lieutenant, shall be thought fit. 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 57 

That every hundred shall have two head constables as- 
signed them, and every parish one constable and four ti- 
thing men, who shall give account to the constable of the 
parish of the demeanor of the householders within his tith- 
ing, and of their several families. The constable of the 
parish shall render the same account, fairly written, to the 
constables of the^hundred, or some of them, who shall pre- 
sent the same to the lieutenant and justices at their next 
sitting, or before if cause require, and if it be matter within 
the power of the lieutenant and justices to determine of, 
then to proceed therein according to their said authority ; 
otherwise to commend it to myself or my Lieutenant and 
Council. 

These few particulars I have thought fit to commend (as 
briefly as I can) unto all whom it may please to take notice 
thereof, heartily desiring they will not be sparing modestly 
to censure what they conceive proper to be amended, in 
that I chose rather to serve such whose wisdom, moderation 
and judgments exceed my own, than passionately or willing- 
ly to persist in my private fancy,, or to be aggrieved at or 
envy their better judgments. 



CHAPTER V. 

My Answer to some Objections. 

BUT hearing that it is objected by many, if there be 
such hopes of honor, profit and content in those parts, how 
comes it to pass that yourself have not tasted thereof in all 
this time, having employed so many of your own servants 
as by this discourse it seems you have done, and yet nothing 
returned. As this objection is just, so I hope a reasonable 
answer will satisfy any reasonable man ; whom I desire in 
the first place to consider, that I began when there was no 
hopes for the present but of loss, in that I was yet to find a 
place, and being found, itself was in a manner dreadful to 
the beholders, for it seemed but as a desert wilderness, 



58 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

replete only with a kind of savage people and overgrown 
trees. So as I found it no mean matter to procure any to 
go thither, much less to reside there ; and those I sent 
knew not how to subsist, but on the provisions I furnished 
them withal. 

Secondly, I dealt not as merchants or tradesmen are wont, 
seeking only to make mine own profit, my ends being to 
make perfect the thorough discovery of the country, (where- 
in I waded so far with the help of those that joined with me) 
as I opened the way for others to make their gain, which 
hath been the means to encourage their followers to prose- 
cute it to their advantage. Lastly, I desire all that have 
estates here in England to remember, if they never come 
near their people to take accounts of their endeavors, what 
they gain by those courses. 

Besides, when there is no settled government or ordinary 
course of justice, which way is left to punish offenders or 
misspenders of their masters' goods ? Do not servants, nay 
sons, the like in these parts ; and are they not many that 
misspend the estates their fathers left them ? Yet I have 
not sped so ill (I thank my God for it), but I have a house 
and home there, and some necessary means of profit by my 
saw-mills and corn-mills, besides some annual receipts suf- 
ficient to lay a foundation for greater matters, now the gov- 
ernment is established. 

Let not therefore my evil fortunes or hindrances be a 
discouragement to any, seeing there are so many precedents 
of the happy success of those that are their own stewards, 
and disposers of their own affairs in those parts ; nay, such 
as I have sent over at my own charge at first, are now able 
to live and maintain themselves with plenty and reputation. 
So, as to doubt of well doing for that another hath not pros- 
pered, or to be abused by those he trusted, is to despair 
without a cause, and to lose himself without trial. Thus 
much I presume will clear the objection made by my exam- 
ple, and give comfort and courage to the industrious to 
follow the precedents of those more able to act their own 
parts than I have been, for causes spoken of. 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 59 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Benefits that Foreign Nations have made by Plantation. 

Now I will only remember some of the benefits that may 
arise by Plantations ; and will begin with those princes, our 
neighbors, who have laid the way before us. But to speak 
of all the goods that may ensue, Plantations is a subject too 
large for my intention at this time, who do strive for brev- 
ity. By some of those plantations made by our neighbors, 
we see what greatness it hath brought them to, that have 
undertaken the same, as namely, the King of Spain and 
Portugal, the one settling himself in the parts of America 
called the West Indies ; the other situate in Brazil, the 
southern part of the same continent, and that part peopled 
in the infancy of that plantation, as well with base and ba- 
nished persons, as other noble and generous spirits ; yet the 
success thereof hath answered their expectation. Besides, 
we have seen what great riches were drawn by the Portu- 
gals, by means of their several plantations in the East 
Indies, out of those vast and mighty princes' territories, that 
filled the whole world with spices and other aromatic drugs, 
and excellent rare curiosities, not vulgarly known to foreign 
and former ages in these northerly parts of the world. 

Those rarities and rich commodities invited some of our 
nation to dive into farther search how we might partake 
thereof, without the favor of foreign princes ; and having, 
after the way was once opened by private adventurers, and 
some relish had of the profits that might arise by those em- 
ployments, the adventurers, merchants, and others, noble 
spirits, combined together to make it a more public business, 
worthy the honor of this nation and reputation of the under- 
takers, who having amassed a stock of many hundred thou- 
sand, entered so far into it, that the trade so began and 
continues to this present day, though not agreeable to the 



60 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

common hopes conceived thereof. But had the ground been 
laid as was advised, it had grown to a far greater certainty 
than now it is like to have. 

But the Hollanders, better experienced in martial affairs, 
were taught to know there is a difference between having 
gotten a trade and keeping it ; that there is no safety in 
depending upon the will of another, when it is possible to 
secure themselves of what they had in possession. This 
made them fortify where they found it convenient, and so 
to settle the form of their government and course of trade 
upon such a foundation as should promise continual growth, 
without diminution upon change of humor of those they 
traded with, if left to their merciless discretion. 

That by the same course they are like in short time to 
oust our nation of that little trade left us, who I could wish 
would yet in season seek how to settle a better foundation 
in such other places as (if I be not deceived) it is possible 
they may, thereby not only make good their present profits, 
but advance it to a far greater, and make their attempts 
more honorable and more safe than now they are. 

But seeing I am not able to persuade men of better judg- 
ment how to manage their practical affairs, it shall content 
me to Set out my opinion of the excellent use that may be 
made of those plantations we have now on foot, especially 
that of New-England. 

CHAPTER VII. 

As for those in the islands of the Virginians, it is appa- 
rent they may be made of excellent use, if handled as they 
ought to be, both for the present and future, whereof I will 
speak no more, because so well known already. That of 
Virginia might very well brag of itself, if the planters did 
but endeavor to settle some plantations further up into the 
main, and to travail in raising such commodities as that 
clime will afford for trade and commerce with their neigh- 
bors and such of our own nation as want what they have. 
For if I be not deceived, that clime will afford both wines 



OF SIR FERD1NANDO GORGES. 61 

of several natures, flax, hemp, pitch and tar, if not sugars 
and cottons ; for it cannot but be as proper for any of those 
commodities as any other country lying in the same clime. 
But these particulars depend upon the wisdom of the gov- 
ernors and industry of the inhabitants, to whom I commend 
the farther consideration and execution thereof as time and 
opportunity will give leave, not doubting but if they follow 
the sun's setting, they will meet with better things than are 
yet spoken of, if they be sought for. 

As for that of New-England, where I am chiefly interest- 
ed, by reason of the time and means I have spent in the 
prosecution of that business, it is easy to be observed 
(partly by what I have said) what commodities may be 
raised out of those climes, and how miraculously it hath 
succeeded ; and we may justly conclude it hath been 
brought to what it is by the special grace of God alone, the 
more to make illustration by the manifestation of his pow- 
erful operation in effecting for us what we could not expect 
from his Divine goodness. 

At our first discovery of those coasts, we found it very 
populous, the inhabitants stout and warlike, the country 
plentiful in grain and other fruits and roots, besides deer of 
all sorts and other animals for food, with plenty of fish and 
fowl for their sustentation ; so that they could not say (ac- 
cording to the manner of their living) they wanted any 
thing nature did require. 

As for their civil government, that part of the country we 
first seated in, seemed to be monarchical, by the name and 
title of a Bashaba. His extent was large, and had under 
him many great subjects ; such as were auxiliary with 
them to the war, some thousand, some fifteen hundred bow- 
men, some more, others less ; these they called sagamores. 
This Bashaba had many enemies, especially those to the 
east and northeast, whom they called Tarentines ; those to 
the west and southwest were called Sockhigones. But the 
Tarentines were counted a more warlike and hardy people, 
and had indeed the best opportunity to make their attempts 
upon them, by reason of the conveniency and opportunity 

VOL. II. 6 



62 THE BRIEF NARRATION 

of the rivers and sea, which afforded a speedy passage into 
the Bashaba's country, which was called Moasham ; and 
that part of the country which lay between the Sockhi- 
gones' country and Moasham was called Apistama. The 
Massachisans and^ Bashabas were sometimes friends and 
sometimes enemies, as it fell out ; but the Bashaba and his 
people seemed to be of some eminence above the rest in all 
that part of the continent ; his own chief abode was not far 
from Pemaquid. But the war growing more and more 
violent between the Bashaba and the Tarentines, who (as 
as it seemed) presumed upon the hopes they had to be fa- 
vored of the French that were seated in Canada, their next 
neighbors, the Tarentines surprised the Bashaba, and slew 
him and all his people near about him, carrying away his 
women and such other matters as they thought of value. 
After his death, the public business running to confusion 
for want of a head, the rest of his great sagamores fell at 
variance among themselves, spoiled and destroyed each 
other's people and provision, and famine took hold of many ; 
which was seconded by a great and general plague, which 
so violently reigned for three years together, that in a man- 
ner the greater part of that land was left desert, without 
any to disturb or oppose our free and peaceable possession 
thereof; from whence we may justly conclude that God 
made the way to effect his work according to the time he 
had assigned for laying the foundation thereof. In all 
which there is to be noted, the next of the Plantations, be- 
fore spoken of, were not performed but by war and slaugh- 
ter, and some of them with murther of so many millions of 
the natives as it is horror to be spoken of, especially being 
done by the hands of Christians, who alone of all people in 
the world profess the gaining of all souls to God only by 
preaching the Gospel of Christ Jesus, our sole Redeemer ; 
and all this is done, as being presented persecuted, not 
persecuting. But let us be silent and confess that that is best 
done that God doth himself; and next, we must know that 
what he suffers to be done is not for us rashly to censure, 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 63 

but to give him the glory for all, whose will we desire may 
be done here on as, &c. 

Yet I trust we may be humbly bold to believe that when 
God manifesteth his assistance unto his people, he gives 
them cause to believe he will not leave them till they leave 
him. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Benefits already received, and what time and industry may produce. 

As for the benefit which may arise by such Plantations, 
especially those our nation is in travail with at present, 
first we find by daily experience what numbers of shipping 
and mariners are employed thereby. Next, how many 
thousands of the subjects are transported into those parts 
that otherwise might have settled themselves under foreign 
states, to the prejudice and hindrance of our own manufac- 
turers and overthrow of that kind of trade ; whereas by 
planting where they do, that is not only prevented, but new 
trades impossible to be raised. Further, it prevents our 
neighbors from occupying those territories that so diligently 
(according to their powers) sought to possess themselves 
thereof, who by that means might easily (as it were) besiege 
us on all sides, that we should neither be southward, nor 
follow our fishing craft in New-found-land, or upon those 
coasts, but by their permission. 

But the same advantage, by means of those Plantations, 
lies now in our power, if the King shall have occasion to 
make use thereof ; besides so large a continent abounding 
with so many excellent lakes, of so mighty extent, from 
whence issue so many rivers, such variable kinds of soil, 
rich in fructification of all manner of seeds or grain, so like- 
ly to abound in minerals of all sorts, and other rich gain 
of commodities not yet to be known, besides furs of several 
kinds, both useful and merchantable, proper for foreign 
markets. 



64 THE BRIEF NARRATION 



CHAPTER IX. 

Showing more particularly the honor, content and profit of those undertakings. 

To descend from those generals to more particulars. 
What can be more pleasing to a generous nature than to be 
exercised in doing public good ? especially when his labor 
and industry tends to the private good and reputation of 
himself and posterity : and what monument so durable, as 
erecting of houses, villages and towns? and what more 
pious than advancing of Christian religion amongst people 
who have not known the excellency thereof? But, seeing 
works of piety and public good are in this age rather com- 
mended by all ^han acted by any, let us come a little nearer 
to that which all hearken unto, and that forsooth is profit. 

Be it so. Art thou a laborer, that desirest to take pains 
for the maintenance of thyself ? the employments in plan- 
tations gives thee not only extraordinary wages, but oppor- 
tunity to build some house or cottage, and a proportion of 
land agreeable to thy fortunes to set thyself when either 
lameness or other infirmities seize on thee. Hast thou a 
wife and a family ? by plantation thou buildest, enclosest, 
and dost labor to live and enjoy the fruits thereof with 
plenty, multiplying thy little means for thy children's good, 
when thou art no more. 

But art thou of a greater fortune and more gloriously 
spirited? I have told thee before what thou mayst be 
assured of, whereby it may appear thou shalt not want 
means nor opportunity to exercise the excellency of thine 
own justice, and ingenuity to govern and act the best things, 
whether it be for thyself or such as live under thee, or have 
their dependency or hopes of happiness upon thy worth and 
virtue as their chief. Neither are these parts of the world 
void of opportunity to make a further discovery into the 
vast territories, that promiseth so much hopes of honor and 



OF SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. 65 

profits (formerly spoken of) to be raised to posterity by the 
means and opportunity of those great and goodly lakes and 
rivers, which invite all that are of brave spirits to seek the 
extent of them, especially since it is already known that 
some of these lakes contain fifty or sixty leagues in length, 
some one hundred, some two hundred, others four or five 
hundred ; the greatest abounding in multitude of islands fit 
for habitation ; the land on both sides, especially to the 
southward, fertile and pleasant, being between the degrees 
of forty-four and forty-five of latitude ; and to the west of 
these lakes that are now known, they pass by a main river 
to another sea or lake, which is conceived to disembogue 
into the South Seas ; where the savages report that they 
have a trade with a nation, that comes once a year unto 
them with great ships, and brings shoes and buskins, kettles 
and hatchets, and the like, which they barter for skins and 
furs of all kinds, the people being clothed with long robes, 
their heads bald or shaven, so as it is conceived they must 
be Catayons or Chinawaies. Whatsoever they be, were 
the strength of my body and means answerable to my heart, 
I would undertake the discovery of the uttermost extent 
thereof; and whosoever shall effect the same, shall both 
eternize his virtues and make happy such as will endeavor 
to partake thereof. 

But 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 be made manifest, and appoints his instruments for the 
accomplishing thereof ; to whose pleasure it becomes every 
one of us to submit ourselves, as to that mighty God and 
great and gracious Lord, to whom all glory doth belong. 



6* 



A 

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF LACONIA, 

A 
PROVINCE IN NEW ENGLAND. 



f RE-PRINTED FROM GORGES' " America Painted to the Life," <f c., published at 
London, 1658.] 



AMONG divers plantations of the English happily founded 
in New England, is a province to the landward named 
Laconia, so called by reason of the great lakes therein, but 
by the ancient inhabitants thereof it is called the country 
of the Iroquois.* 

It lies between the latitude of 44 and 45 degrees, having 
the rivers of Sagadehock and Myrameck on the sea-coast 
of New England southerly from it, into each of which rivers 
there is a short passage frequented by the Savages inhabit- 
ing near the lakes ; also it hath the great lakes which tend 
toward California in the South Sea on the west thereof; on 
the north-east is the great river of Canada, into which the 
said river disgorgeth itself by a fair large river well re- 
plenished with many fruitful islands. The air thereof is 
pure and wholesome, the country pleasant, having some 
high hills full of goodly forests and fair vallies and plains 
fruitful in corn, vines, chestnuts, walnuts, and infinite sorts 
of other fruits ; large rivers well stored with fish, and en- 
vironed with goodly meadows full of timber trees. 

One of the great lakes is called the lake of Iroquois,f 
which together with a river of the same name running into 

Troquois in the original edition, evidently a misprint. 
t Lake Champlain. 



A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF LACONIA. 67 

the river of Canada, is sixty or seventy leagues in length. 
In the lake are four fair islands, which are low and full of 
goodly woods and meadows, having store of game for hunt- 
ing, as stags, fallow-deer, elks, roe-bucks, beavers, and other 
sorts of beasts, which come from the main land to the said 
islands ; the rivers which fall into the lakes have in them 
good store of beavers, of the skins of which beasts, as also 
of the elks, the Salvages make their chiefest traffick. 

The said islands have been inhabited heretofore by the 
savages, but are now abandoned by reason of their late 
wars one with another ; they contain twelve or fifteen 
leagues in length, and are seated commodiously for habita- 
tion in the midst of the lake, which abounds with divers kinds 
of wholesome fish. From this lake run two rivers north- 
ward, which fall into the eastern and southern sea-coast of 
New England. 

Into this lake there went many years since certain French 
of ^Quebec, who sided with the Algouinquins, with the 
help of their canoes, which they carried the space of five 
miles over the impassable falls, to fight a battle in revenge 
of some former injuries done by the Iroquois to the Algouin- 
quins, who had the victory ; for which cause the French 
have been so hated ever since by the nation of the Iroquois, 
that none of them durst ever appear in any part of that 
lake ; but their beavers and other trade, said to be 16,000 
beavers yearly, is partly sold to the Dutch, who trade with 
the west end of said lake overland by horses from their 
plantation on Hudson's river ; and another part is conceived 
to be purchased by the Hiroons [Hurons], who being neuters 
are friends both to the one and the other ; and these Hiroons 
bring down the greatest part of all the river of Canada. 

The way over land to this great lake from the Plantation 
of Pascataway hath been attempted by Captain Walter 
Neale, once Governour, at the charges of my grandfather, 
Capt. Mason, and some merchants of London, and the dis- 
covery wanted one day's journey of finishing, because their 
victuals were spent, which for want of horses they were 
enforced to carry with their armes and their clothes upon 



68 A BRIEF DESCRIPTION 

their backs ; they intended to make a settlement for trade 
by pinnaces upon the said lake, which they reckon to be 
about 90 or 100 miles from the Plantation over land.* 

The people of this country are given to hunting of wild 
beasts, which is their chiefest food. Their arms are bows 
and arrows, their armor is made partly of wood, and partly 
of a kind of twisted stuff like cotton wool. Their meat is 

* Walter Neal arrived at the Piscataqua in the summer of 1630, having 
been sent, says Winthrop, " as Governor there for Sir Ferdinando Gorges and 
others." 1 Hist. N. E. 39. He remained about three years ; having sailed on 
his return to England, August, 1633, in the ship Bonadventure, Capt. Graves. 
Winthrop has the following notice of his departure : " Mr. Graves returned. 
He carried between five and six thousand weight of beaver, and about thirty 
passengers. Capt. Walter Neal, of Pascataquack, and some eight of his com- 
pany went with him. He had been in the bay [Boston harbor] above ten days, 
and came not all that time to see the Governor. Being persuaded by divers of 
his friends, his answer was, that he was not well entertained the first time he 
came hither, and, besides, he had some letters opened in the bay," &c. Vol. 1, 
p. 106. 

Belknap confounds Neal's attempt to discover the Iroquois lake with a visit 
to the White Mountains, performed by Darby Field and others, in 1642, described 
by Winthrop under that year. " Such an impression had the claims of Laconia 
made on the minds of our first settlers, that Neal set out on foot in company 
with Jocelyn and Darby Field, to discover these beautiful lakes, and settle a trade 
with the Indians by pinnaces, imagining the distance to be short of 100 miles. 
In the course of their travels they visited the white Mountains," &c. Hist. N. H.* 
Chap. 1. Henry Josselyn did not come over until 1634, as appears from a docu- 
ment published by Dr. Belknap, in the Appendix to his History N. H., No. 8. 
John Josselyn, the traveller, made his first voyage to New England in 1638. But 
it seems that Capt Mason had employed Henry Josselyn to undertake the explora- 
tion of Laconia ; but whether he performed his engagement does not appear. 
T. Morton says : " About the parts of this Lake [Iroquois] may be made a very 
great commodity by the trade of furs, to enrich those that shall plant there ; a 
more complete discovery of those parts is (to my knowledge) undertaken by 
Henry Joseline, Esq., son of Sir Thomas Joscline, of Kent, Knight, by the ap- 
probation and appointment of that heroick and very good commonwealth's man, 
Capt. John Mason, Esquire," &c. New English Canaan, p. 98, ed. 1637. 
Morton devotes a chapter of his book to a description of the " Great Lake of 
Erocoise in New England," and dwells upon the importance of the trade in 
beaver, by which, he says, the Dutch on Hudson's river have gained .2000 a 
year. He doubts not that Josselyn "will perform as much as is expected, if 
the Dutch, by getting into those parts before him, do not frustrate his so hopeful 
and laudable designs." p. 99. 



OF LACONIA. 69 

flour of Indian corn, of that country's growth sodden to pap, 
which they preserve for times of necessity when they can- 
not hunt. This Province of Laconia, however known by a 
distinct name, is included within the Province of Maine, 
which offers itself next to our consideration. 



OF THE 
f 



PROVINCE OF MAINE 



ALL that part of the continent of New-England which 
was allotted by patent to my grandfather, Sir Ferdinando 
Gorges, and to his heirs, he thought fit to call it by the 
name of the Province of Maine. It takes its beginning at 
the entrance of Pascatoway harbor, and so passeth up the 
same into the river of Newichwanock, and through the 
same unto the farthest head thereof, and from thence north- 
westwards for the space of 120 miles ; and from the 
mouth of Pascatoway Harbor aforesaid, north-eastwards 
along the sea coast to Sagadehock, and up the river thereof 
to Kynebequy river, even as far as the head thereof, and 
into the land north-westwards for the space of 120 miles. 
To these territories are also adjoined the north half of the 
Isles of Sholes, together with the isles of Capaweck and 
Nautican, as also all the islands and islets lying within five 
leagues of the main, all along the sea coast between the 
aforesaid rivers of Pascatoway and Sagadehock. He no 
sooner had this Province settled upon him, but he gave 
public notice that if any would undertake by himself and 
his associates to transport a competent number of inhabi- 
tants to plant in any part of his limits, he would assign 
unto him or them such a proportion of land as should in 
reason satisfy them, reserving only to himself some small 
high rent, as 2s. or 2s. 6d. for 100 acres per annum ; and 



OF THE PROVINCE OF MAINE. 71 

if they went about to build any town or city, he would en- 
dow them with such liberties and immunities as should 
make them capable to govern themselves within their own 
limits according to the liberties granted to any town or 
corporation within this realm of England ; and as for 
others of the meaner sort that went as tenants, that they 
should have such quantities of land assigned them as they 
were able to manage, at the rate of 4d. or Qd. an acre, ac- 
cording to the nature or situation of the place they settle in. 
As for the division of the Province and the form of govern- 
ment, which he intended to establish, he first divided the 
Province into several parts, those he subdivided into distinct 
Regiments, east, west, north and south, those again into 
several Hundreds, Parishes and Tithings ; and these to have 
their several officers to govern according to such laws as 
should be agreed upon by public assent of the freeholders, 
with the approbation of himself or Deputy, and the principal 
officers of the public state. 

[Here follows a description of the intended government, 
as set forth in the fifth chapter of the Brief Narration.] 

The chief town of this Province is called Gorgiana, which 
is governed by a Mayor ; the rest are only inconsiderable 
villages or scattered houses ; but I doubt not, after the gov- 
ernment of New-England comes once to be thoroughly 
settled, and good encouragement given to adventurers and 
planters, but it will prove a very flourishing place, and be 
replenished with many fair towns and cities, it being a 
Province both fruitful and pleasant. 



LEVETT'S VOYAGE, 



ALONG THE COAST OF MAINE, 



A. D. 1623-4. 



VOL. H. 7. 



NOTE. 



THE following is a re-print of an extremely rare book, of which we are not 
aware that more than a single copy of the original edition exists in this country. 
That copy 13- in the Library of the New York Historical Society, to which re- 
course has been had in this publication. As the work relates almost wholly to 
the coast of Maine, at an extremely early period, it possesses peculiar claims on 
the attention of this Society, and cannot fail to interest those who are curious 
about the early history of our State. 



VOYAGE 



INTO 



NE ENGLAND, 

BEGUN IN 1623, AND ENDED IN 1624. 
PERFORMED BY 

CHRISTOPHER LEVETT, 
f 

HIS MAJESTY'S WOODWARD OF SOMERSETSHIRE, AND ONE 
OF THE COUNCIL OF NEW ENGLAND. 



PRINTED AT LONDON, BY WILLIAM JONES, 

And are sold by Edward Brewster, at the sign 

of the Bible, in Paul's Churchyard. 

1628. 



To the Right Honorable, George Duke of Buckingham, his Grace, Thomas Earl 
of Arundell and Surrey, Robert Earl of Warwick, John Earl of Holdernes, 
and the rest of the Council for New England. 

MAY it please your Lordships, that whereas you granted your 
commission unto Captain Robert Gorges, Governor of New Eng- 
land, Captain Francis West, myself, and the Governor of New 
Plymouth, as counsellors with him, for the ordering and governing 
of all the said territories, wherein we have been diligent to the ut- 
termost of our powers, as we shall be ready to render an account 
unto your honors, when you shall be pleased to require us there- 
unto. In the mean time, I thought it my duty to present unto 
your views, such observation as I have taken, both for the country 
and people, commodities and discommodities : a.s also, what places 
are fit to settle plantations in, in which not ; what courses are fit in 
my understanding to be taken, for bringing glory to God honor to 
our king and nation, good unto the commonwealth, and profit to all 
adventurers and planters ; which I humbly beseech your lordships 
to accept of, as the best fruits of a shallow capacity: so shall I 
think my time and charge well employed, which I have spent in 
these affairs. 

I have omitted many things in this my discourse, which I con- 
ceived to be impertinent at this time 'for me to relate, as of the 
time of my being"*at sea, of the strange fish which we there saw, 
some with wings flying above the water, others with manes, ears, 
and heads, and chasing one another with open mouths like stone 
horses in a park, as also of the steering of our course, the observa- 
tion of the sun and stars, by which the elevation of the pole is 
found, the degrees of latitude known, which shows how far a ship 
is out of his due course, either to the north or south ; likewise of 
the making of the land at our arrival upon the coast of New Eng- 
land, how it did arise and appear unto us; how every harbor bears 
one from another upon the point of the compass; and what rocks 
and clangers are in the way ; how many fathom water is found by 
sounding at the entrance of every harbor ; and from how many of 
the several winds all the harbors are land-locked. But by this 
means 1 thought I should not only be tedious, but also in danger of 
losing myself, for want of fit phrases and sound judgment, in the 
arts of the mathematics and navigation, (being but a young scholar 
though an ancient traveller by sea,) and therefore thought better to 
omit those, than anything I have to relate. 

Thus beseeching God to bless your Honors, I rest at your Lord- 
ships' service. CHRISTOPHER LEVETT 
7* 



THE CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Contains my Discovery of divers Rivers and Harbors, with their Names, and 
which are fit for Plantations and which not. 

CHAPTER II. 

Sheweth how the Savages carried themselves unto me continually, and of my 
going to their Kings' houses ; and their coming to mine. 

CHAPTER III. 

Sheweth the nature and disposition of the Savages, and of their several Gods, 
Squanto and Tanto. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Contains a description of the Country, with the Commodities and Discom- 
modities. 

t 

CHAPTER V. 

Certain objections and answers, with sufficient proofs how it may be exceed- 
ing profitable to the commonwealth, and all Planters and Adventurers. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Shewetb how by adventuring of one hundred pounds more or less, a man may 
profit so much every year for twenty years, or more without any more charge 
than at the first. 

CHAPTER VII. 

Showeth how every Parish may be freed of their weekly payments to the 
poor, by the profits which may be fetched thence. With certain Objections 
against the things contained in this and the former Chapter : with answers 
thereunto. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Contains certain directions for all private persons that intend to go into 
New England to plant. 



A VOYAGE INTO NEW ENGLAND. 



CHAPTER I. 

Contains my discovery of divers Rivers and Harbors, with their names, and 
which are fit for plantation, and which not. 

The first place I set my foot upon in New England, was 
the Isle of Shoulds, being islands in the sea, about two 
leagues from the main. 

Upon these islands, I neither could see one good timber 
tree, nor so much good ground as to make a garden. 

The place is found to be a good fishing place for six 
ships, but more cannot well be there, for want of convenient 
stage room, as this year's experience hath proved. 

The harbor is but indifferent good. Upon these islands 
are no savages at all. 

The next place I came unto was Pannaway, where one 
M. Tomson hath made a plantation, there I stayed about 
one month, in which time I sent for my men from the east : 
who came over in divers ships.* 

At this place I met with the Governor, who came thither 
in a bark which he had from one M. Weston about twenty 
days before I arrived in the land, f 

* David Thompson, an agent of Gorges and Mason, under the patent of La- 
conia, established a plantation near the mouth of the Piscataqua, in the summer 
of 1623. At the same time, a settlement was commenced at Cochecho, now 
Dover, by Edward Hilton and his brother William. These were the first at- 
tempts to colonize the territory which afterwards received the name of New 
Hampshire. Prince. N. E. Chron. 133. 

t Weston was a London merchant, extensively engaged in the fisheries. He 
had attempted to plant a colony the year before at Wessagusset, now Weymouth, 
on Massachusetts Bay ; but his design failed. The " Governor," whom Levett 
met at this place, was Robert Gorges, Esq. This account of the organization of 
his government over all New England, has escaped the notice of our historians, 
even that of the indefatigable Bancroft. See Folsom's Discourse, p. 43. 



80 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

The Governor then told me that I was joined with him 
in commission as a counsellor, which being read I found it 
was so. And he then, in the presence of three more of the 
council^ administered unto me an oath. 

After the meeting of my men, I went a coasting in two 
boats with all my company. 

In the time I stayed with M. Tomson, I surveyed as much 
as possible I could, the weather being unseasonable, and 
very much snow. 

In those parts I saw much good timber, but the ground it 
seemed to me not to be good, being very rocky and full of 
trees and brushwood. 

There is great store of fowl of divers sorts, whereof I 
fed very plentifully. 

About two English miles further to the east, I found a 
great river and a good harbor called Pascattaway. But for 
the ground I can say nothing, but by the relation of the 
sagamore or king of that place, who told me there was 
much good ground up in the river about seven or eight 
leagues. 

About two leagues further to the east is another great 
river called Aquamenticus. There I think a good planta- 
tion may be settled, for there is a good harbor for ships, 
good ground, and much already cleared, fit for planting of 
corn and other fruits, having heretofore been planted by the 
savages who are all dead. There is good timber, and likely 
to be good fishing, but as yet there hath been no trial made 
that I can hear of.* 

About six leagues further to the east is a harbor called 
Cape Porpas, the which is indifferent good for six ships, and 
it is generally thought to be an excellent place for fish, 
but as yet there hath been no trial made, but there may be 
a good plantation seated, for there is good timber and good 
ground, but will require some labor and charge, f 

The first settlement at Agamenticus, now York, was made in 1630, ac- 
cording to the statement of Edward Godfrey. See 1 Maine Hist. Coll. 295. 

tThe name of Cape Porpoise is still retained ; it was formerly applied to the 
lown now Kennebunk Port. 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 81 

About four leagues further east, there is another harbor 
called Sawco (between this place and Cape Porpas I lost one 
of my men) ; before we could recover the harbor a great 
fog or mist took us that we could not see a hundred yards 
from us. I perceiving the fog to come upon the sea, called 
for a compass and set the cape land, by which we knew how 
to steer our course, which was no sooner done but we lost 
sight of land, and my other boat, and the wind blew fresh 
against us, so that we were enforced to strike sail, and 
betake us to our oars which we used with all the wit and 
strength we had, but by no means could we recover the 
shore that night, being imbayed and compassed round with 
breaches, which roared in a most fearful manner on every 
side of us : we took counsel in this extremity one of another 
what to do to save our lives ; at length we resolved that to 
put to sea again in the night was no fit course, the storm 
being great, and the wind blowing right off the shore, and 
to run our boat on the shore among the breaches, (which 
roared in a most fearful manner) and cast her away and 
endanger ourselves we were loath to do, seeing no land nor 
knowing where we were. At length I caused our killick , 
(which was all the anchor we had) to be cast forth, and one 
continually to hold his hand upon the rood or cable, by 
which we knew whether our anchor held or no : which 
being done we commended ourselves to God by prayer, 
and put on a resolution to be as comfortable as we could, 
and so fell to our victuals. Thus we spent that night, and 
the next morning ; with much ado we got into Sawco, where 
I found my other boat.* 

* The Indian name of Saco river, as given by Capt. Smith, in the account of 
his voyage in 1614, was Sawocotuck ; hence the name of Sawco or Saco. The 
settlements commenced there about 1630, perhaps two or three years before. 
Two patents were granted by the Council of Plymouth in that year, each con- 
veying a tract four miles wide on the sea, and eight miles into the main land, on 
opposite sides of the river. Legal possession was taken of the tract on the west 
side of the river in the summer of 1630, and of the other the following year, by 
the patentees. The river is named in the patents, Swanckadock. See copies of 
these patents in Hist. Saco and Biddeford. 



82 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

There I stayed five nights, the wind being contrary, and 
the weather very unseasonable, having much rain and snow, 
and continual fogs. 

We built us our wigwam, or house, in one hour's space. 
It had no frame, but was without form or fashion, only a few 
poles set up together, and covered with our boats' sails, 
which kept forth but a little wind, and less rain and snow. 

Our greatest comfort we had, next unto that which 
was spiritual, was this : we had fowl enough for killing, 
wood enough for felling, and good fresh water enough for 
drinking. 

But our beds was the wet ground, and our bedding our 
wet clothes. We had plenty of crane, goose, ducks and 
mallard, with other fowl, both boiled and roasted, but our 
spits and racks were many times in danger of burning be- 
fore the meat was ready (being but wooden ones.) 

After I had stayed there three days, and no likelihood of 
a good wind to carry us further, I took with me six of my 
men, and our arms, and walked along the shore to discover 
as much by land as I could : after I had travelled about two 
English miles I met with a river which stayed me that I 
could go no further by land that day, but returned to our 
place of habitation where we rested that night (having our 
lodging amended) ; for the day being dry I caused all my 
company to accompany me to a marsh ground, where we 
gathered every man his burthen of long dry grass, which 
being spread in our wigwam or house, I praise God I rested 
as contentedly as ever I did in all my life. And then came 
into my mind an old merry saying, which I have heard of a 
beggar boy, who said if ever he should attain to be a king, 
he would have a breast of mutton with a pudding in it, and 
lodge every night up to the ears in dry straw ; and thus I 
made myself and my company as merry as I could, with 
this and some other conceits, making this use of all, that it 
was much better than we deserved at God's hands, if he 
should deal with us according to our sins. 

The next morning I caused four of my men to row my 
lesser boat to this river, who with much ado got in, myself 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 83 

and three more going by land ; but by reason of the extrem- 
ity of the weather we were enforced to stay there that 
night, and were constrained to sleep upon the river bank, 
being the best place we could find, the snow being very 
deep. 

The next morning we were enforced to rise betime, for 
the tide came up so high that it washed away our fire, and 
would have served us so too if we had not kept watch. So 
we went over the river in our boat, where I caused some to 
stay with her, myself being desirous to discover further by 
land, I took with me four men and walked along the shore 
about six English miles further to the east, where I found 
another river, which stayed me. So we returned back to 
Sawco, where the rest of my company and my other boat lay. 
That night I was exceeding sick, by reason of the wet and 
cold and much toiling of my body : but thanks be to God I 
was indifferent well the next morning, and the wind being 
fair we put to sea, and that day came to Quack 

But before I speak of this place I must say something 
of Sawco, and the two rivers which I discovered in that bay, 
which I think never Englishman saw before. 

Sawco is about one league to the north-east of a cape land. 
And about one English 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, there 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 ooze they 
can take no hurt.* 

In this place there is a world of fowl, much good timber, 
and a great quantity of clear ground and good, if it be not a 
little too sandy. There hath been more fish taken within 

* This cove or gut is now called the Pool, on the north side of Fletcher's Neck, 
about nine miles below the village of Saco. It is a favorite place of resort in 



84 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

two leagues of this place this year than in any other in the 
land. 

The river next to Sawco eastwards, which I discovered by 
land, and after brought my boat into, is the strangest river 
that ever my eyes beheld. It flows at the least ten foot water 
upright, and yet the ebb runs so strong that the tide doth 
not stem it. At three quarters flood my men were scarce 
able with four oars to row ahead. And more than that, at 
full sea I dipped my hand in the water, quite without the 
mouth of the river, in the very main ocean, and it was 
as fresh as though it had been taken from the head of a 
spring. 

This river, as I am told by the savages, cometh from a 
great mountain called the Chrystal hill, 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 Mon- 
higgen, but they see this mountain the first land, if the 
weather be clear.* 

The next river eastward which I discovered by land, is 
about six miles from the other. About these two rivers I 
saw much good timber and sandy ground, there is also 
much fowl, fish and other commodities : but these places 
are not fit for plantation for the present, because there is no 
good coming in either for ship or boat, by reason of a sandy 
breach which lieth along the shore, and makes all one 
breach. 

And now in its place I come to Quack, which I have 
named York. At this place there fished divers ships of 
Waymouth this year. 

* The river referred to by the Indians must have been the Saco, which rises in 
the White Mountains, to which the term Chrystal Hill well applies. Those moun- 
tains are now, as in Levett's day, the. first object which greets the mariner as he 
approaches this part of our coast, from which they are between 80 and 100 miles 
distant. There is a small river, called Little River, next east of the Saco, and 
about three miles distant ; Black Point or Dunstan river is three miles from that, 
but they are both short rivers, and penetrate but a few miles from the shore. The 
next river referred to is the Spurwink, which is well described by the sandy 
beach which lies on each side of its mouth. 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 86 

It lieth about two leagues to the east of Cape Elizabeth. 
It is a bay or sound betwixt the main and certain islands 
which lieth in the sea about one English mile and half. 

There are four islands which makes one good harbor ; 
there is very good fishing, much fowl, and the main as good 
ground as any can desire. There I found one river wherein 
the savages say there is much salmon and other good fish. 
In this bay there hath been taken this year four sturgeons, 
by fishermen who drive only for herrings, so that it is likely 
there may be good store taken if there were men fit for that 
purpose. This river I made bold to call by my own name, 
Levett's river, being the first that discovered it. How far 
this river is navigable I cannot tell ; I have been but six 
miles up it, but on both sides is goodly ground,* 

In the same bay I found another river, up which I went 
about three miles, and found a great fall of water, much 
bigger than the fall at London bridge at low water ; further 
a boat cannot go, but above the fall the river runs smooth 
again. 

Just at this fall of water the sagamore or king of that 
place hath a house, where I was one day when there were 
two sagamores more, their wives and children, in all about 

* We have no means of determining the precise spot to which the author re- 
fers, by the name of " Quack," or " York." Neither name has been preserved, 
either by tradition or documents, nor anything which corresponds to them. We 
suppose the " bay or sound betwixt the main and certain islands," to be the main 
channel which leads into Portland harbor, for that has the main on the west, and 
the islands on the east. And the four islands still lie there, under the name of 
Bang's, Peak's, House and Hog, affording shelter now in every storm to many a 
vessel which seeks its secure anchorage. They form indeed " one good harbour." 
The river which he made bold to call by his own name, but alas for fame ! a 
name no longer remembered there, must be Casco or Fore river, on whose 
northern bank lies the city of Portland ; and the other river, which he could as- 
cend only three miles, was the Presumpscot, still rendered inaccessible to naviga- 
tion at the same distance by its rocky barrier. The name Cascoe, which he 
applies to some place between Portland and the mouth of the Kennebeck, proba- 
bly Broad bay in Cumberland and North Yarmouth, was appropriated by the 
settlers, who fixed their residence in the bay eight or ten years after, to the 
region now embraced by Portland and Falmouth : while the name York was 
transferred to Agamenticus. 

VOL. II. 8 



86 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

fifty, and we were but seven. They bid me welcome and 
gave me such victuals as they had, and I gave them tobacco 
and aqua vitae. 

After I had spent a little time with them I departed and 
gave them a small shot, and they gave me another. And 
the great Sagamore of the east country, whom the rest do 
acknowledge to be chief amongst them, he gave unto me a 
beaver's skin, which I thankfully received, and so in great 
love we parted. On both sides this river there is goodly 
ground. 

From this harbor to Sagadahock, which is about eight or 
nine leagues, is all broken islands in the sea, which makes 
many excellent good harbors, where a thousand sail of ships 
may ride in safety ; the sound going up within the islands 
to the cape of Sagadahock. 

In the way betwixt York and Sagadahock lieth Cascoe, 
a good harbor, good fishing, good ground, and much fowl. 
And I am persuaded that from Cape Elizabeth to Sagada- 
hock, which is above thirty leagues to follow the main, is all 
exceeding commodious for plantations ; and that there may 
be twenty good towns well seated, to take the benefit both 
of the sea, and fresh rivers. 

For Sagadahock I need say nothing of it, there hath been 
heretofore enough said by others, and I fear me too much. 
But the place is good ; there fished this year two ships. 

The next place I came to was Capemanwagan,* a place 
where nine ships fished this year. But I like it not for a 
plantation, for I could see little good timber and less good 

* Josselyn writes this name Capeanawhagen ; it is beyond doubt a part of the 
town of Boothbay, situated between the Sheepscot and Damariscotta rivers, a 
few miles east of the Kennebec. Here an early settlement waa made, which was 
long known by the name of Cape Nawagen or Newagen. Sullivan, 390,1. 
Williamson, II. 375. The latter has the following description of " the island of 
Cape Newagen :" " On the southwest side of Boothbay, which bounds on the east 
shore of the Sheepscot, is the island of Cape Newagen, four and a half miles 
long, generally one mile wide, and separated from Boothbay, to which it belongs, 
by a narrow passage for small vessels, called Townsend Gut. Eberecook harbor 
is on the west side, and midway of Cape Newagen island, where was an old 
settlement." Hist. Maine, vol. I. p. 55. < 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 87 

'ground ; there I staid four nights, in which time there came 
many savages with their wives and children, and some of 
good account amongst them, as Menawormet, a sagamore, 
Cogawesco, the sagamore of Casco and Quack, now called 
York, Somerset, a sagamore, one that hath been found very 
faithful to the English, and hath saved the lives of many of 
our nation, some from starving, others from killing.* 

They intended to have been gone presently, but hearing 
of my being there, they desired to see me, which I under- 
stood by one of the masters of the ships, who likewise told 
me that they had some store of beaver coats and skins, and 
was going to Pemaquid to truck with one Mr. Witheridge, 
a master of a ship of Bastable, and desired me to use means 
that they should not carry them out of the harbor. I wished 
them to bring all their truck to one Mr. Coke's stage, and 
I would do the best I could to put it away : some of them 
did accordingly, and I then sent for the sagamores, who 
came, and after some compliments they told me I must be 
their cousin, and that Captain Gorges was so, (which you 
may imagine I was not a little proud of, to be adopted cous- 
in to so many great kings at one instant, but did willingly 
accept of it) and so passing away a little time very pleas- 
antly, they desired to be gone, whereupon I told them that I 
understood they had some coats and beaver skins which I 
desired to truck for : but they were unwilling, and I seemed 
careless of it (as men must do if they require anything of 
them.) But at last Somerset swore that there should be 



* This Sagamore is probably the same one that executed the deed from which 
is derived the " Brown claim" to lands at Pemaquid. The instrument is dated 
July 15th, 1625, and is signed by " Captain John Somerset," and " Unnongoit ;" 
the grantee is described as " John Brown, of New Harbour." Brown is repre- 
sented as residing at that date near Pemaquid Point, at the place called 
New Harbour. This grant embraced a large tract of land, extending twenty- 
five miles from the sea into the interior of the country, and thus conflicted with 
the patent of Aldworth and Elbridge from the Council of Plymouth. Levett 
did not proceed so far as Pemaquid, as he was in pursuit of a suitable place for a 
settlement, and he had been informed that Pemaquid was already granted to others. 
This was in the winter of l623-'4. It is possible that Brown was then living at 
Pemaquid. 



88 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

none carried out of the harbor, but his cousin Levett should 
have all ; and then they began to offer me some by way of 
gift, but I would take none but one pair of sleeves from 
Cogawesco, but told them it was not the fashion of English 
captains always to be taking, but sometimes to take and 
give, and continually to truck was very good. But in fine, 
we had all except one coat and two skins, which they re- 
served to pay an old debt with ; but they staying all that 
night, had them stolen from them. 

In the morning the sagamores came to me with a grievous 
complaint. I used the best language I could to give them 
content, and went with them to some stages which they 
most suspected, and searched both cabins and chests, but 
found none, They seeing my willingness to find the thief 
out, gave me thanks, and wished me to forbear, saying the 
rogues had carried them into the woods where I could not 
find them. 

When they were ready to depart they asked me where I 
meant to settle my plantation. I told them I had seen 
many places to the west, and intended to go farther to the 
east before I could resolve ; they said there was no good 
place, and I had heard that Pemoquid, and Capmanwagan, 
and Monhiggon were granted to others, and the best time 
for fishing was then at hand, which made me the more 
willing to retire, and the rather because Cogawesco, the 
sagamore of Casco and Quack, told me if that I would sit 
down at either of those two places, I should be very wel- 
come, and that he and his wife would go along with me in 
my boat to see them ; which courtesy I had no reason to re- 
fuse, because I had set up my resolution before to settle my 
plantation at Quack, which I named York, and was glad of 
this opportunity, that I had obtained the consent of them, 
who as I conceive hath a natural right of inheritance, as 
they are the sons of Noah, and therefore do think it fit to 
carry things very fairly without compulsion, (if it be possi- 
ble) for avoiding of treachery. 

The next day the wind came fair, and I sailed to Quack 
or York, with the king, queen, and prince, bow and arrows, 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 89 

tlog and kettle in my boat, his noble attendance rowing by 
us in their canoes. 

When we came to York the masters of the ships came to 
bid me welcome, and asked what savages those were. I 
told them, and I thanked them ; they used them kindly, and 
gave them meat, drink, and tobacco. The woman or re- 
puted queen, asked me if those men were my friends. I 
told her they were ; then she drank to them, and told them 
they were welcome to her country, and so should all my 
friends be at any time ; she drank also to her husband, and 
bid him welcome to her country too ; for you must under- 
stand that her father was the sagamore of this place, and 
left it to her at his death, having no more children. 

And thus after many dangers, much labor and great 
charge, I have obtained a place of habitation in New 
England, where I have built a house, and fortified it in a 
reasonable good fashion, strong enough against such ene- 
mies as are those savage people. 

CHAPTER II. 

Sheweth how the Savages carried themselves unto me continually, and of my 
going to their Kings' houses: and their coming to mine. 

WHILST I stayed in this place I had some little truck, but 
not much, by reason of an evil member in the harbor, who 
being covetous of truck used the matter so that he got the 
savages away from me. 

And it is no wonder he should abuse me in this sort, for 
he hath not spared your lordships and all the council for 
New 7 England. 

He said unto the governor that the lords had sent men 
over into that country with commissions, to make a prey of 
others. And yet for my own part I never demanded or 
took from any man in that country, the value of a denier, 
neither had I so much help from any ship or ship's company 
as one man's labor the space of an hour, nor had I any pro- 
vision or victual upon any terms whatsoever, save only one 
8* 



90 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

thousand of bread, and twenty-two bushels of peas, which 
was offered unto me, and not by me requested, for which I 
gave present satisfaction in beaver skins : and also one run- 
let of aqua vitae, which was brought to me sixteen leagues 
unexpected, which good manners bid me buy. Much more 
provision was offered to me by many masters of ships, but I 
had no need thereof, so I gave them thanks for their kind- 
ness, and refused all. 

Nay, it is well known, that I was so far from doing wrong 
to any, that I suffered the land which was granted to me by 
patent, and made choice of before any other man came 
there, to be used, and my timber to be cut down and 
spoiled, without taking or asking any satisfaction for the 
same. And I doubt not but all others to whom you gave 
authority, will sufficiently clear themselves of all such im- 
putations. 

He said also he cared not for any authority in that place, 
and though he was forbid to truck, yet would he have all he 
could get : in despite of who should say to the contrary, 
having a great ship with seventeen pieces of ordnance and 
fifty men. 

And indeed his practice was according to his words, for 
every Sunday, or once in the week, he went himself or sent 
a boat up the river and got all the truck before they could 
come down to the harbor. And so many savages as he 
could get to his stage, he would enforce them to leave their 
goods behind them. One instance amongst many I will 
give you. 

On a certain day there came two savages to his place, 
who were under the command of Somerset or Conway, I 
know not whether, at which time they were both with me 
at my house, but the other two who went to him, knew not 
so much, but afterwards they understanding of it, came 
presently over, but left their coats and beaver skins behind 
them, whereat Somerset and Conway were exceeding angry; 
and were ready to beat the poor fellows, but I would not suffer 
them so to do. They presently went over the harbor them- 
selves in their canoe to fetch their goods, but this man would 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 91 

let them have none, but wished them to truck with him ; they 
told him they would not, but would carry them to Captain 
Levett ; he said Levett was r,o captain, but a jacknape, a 
poor fellow, &c. They told him again that he was a rogue, 
with some other speeches, whereupon he and his company 
fell upon them and beat them both, in so much that they 
came to me in a great rage against him, and said they would 
be revenged on his fishermen at sea, and much ado 1 had to 
dissuade one of them from going into England to tell king 
James of it, as he said ; when they came to me in this rage, 
there was two or three masters of ships by, and heard every 
word. 

But all this did me no hurt, (save the loss of the truck, 
which by divers was thought to be worth above fifty pounds,) 
for the two sagamores whom he enticed from me and 
incensed against me, at length used means to be friends 
with me, sending one who asked me, if I were angry with 
them ; I told them no, I was not angry with them for any 
such matter as lousy coats and skins, but if they were 
matchet, that is, naughty men, and rebellious, then I would be 
mouchick hoggery, that is very angry, and would cram, that 
is kill them all. 

When they came themselves to me to seek peace, they 
brought me a beaver coat, and two otter skins, which 
they would have let me had for nothing, but I would not take 
them so, but gave them more than usually I did by way of 
truck. I then told them likewise that if at any time they did 
truck with me, they should have many good things in lieu 
of their beaver ; and if they did not truck it was no matter, 
I would be good friends with them ; at which they smiled 
and talked one to the other, saying the other was a jack- 
nape, and that I had the right fashion of the aberieney saga- 
mores ; then they began to applaud or rather flatter me, 
saying I was so big a sagamore, yea four fathom, which 
were the best words they could use to express their minds : 
I replied that I was a poor man as he had reported of me. 
They said again it was no matter what I said, or that jack- 
nape (which is the most disgraceful word that may be in 



92 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

their conceit,) for all the sagamores in the country loved 
poor Levett and was muchick sorry that he would be gone, 
and indeed I cannot tell what I should think of them, for 
ever after they would bring me content, as eggs and the 
whole bodies of beaver, which in my conceit eat like lamb, 
and is not inferior to it : yea the very coats of beaver and 
otter skins from off their backs, which though I many times 
refused, yet not always, but I never took any such courtesy 
from them, but I requited them answerably, choosing rather 
to neglect the present profit, than the hopes I have to bring 
them to better things, which I hope will be for a public 
good, and which I am persuaded were a grievous sin, to 
neglect for any sinister end. 

And a little before my departure there came these saga- 
mores to see me : Sadamoyt, the great sagamore of the east 
country, Manawormet, Opparunwit, Skedraguscett, Coga- 
wesco, Somerset, Conway and others. 

They asked me why I would be gone out of their coun- 
try ? I was glad to tell them my wife would not come thither 
except I did fetch her ; they bid a pox on her hounds, (a 
phrase they have learned and do use when they do curse) 
and wished me to beat her. I told them no, for then our 
God would be angry. Then they run out upon her in evil 
terms, and wished me to let her alone and take another ; I 
told them our God would be more angry for that. Again 
they bid me beat her, repeating it often, and very angerly, 
but I answered no, that was not the English fashion, 
and besides she was a good wife and I had children by her, 
and I loved her well, so I satisfied them. Then they told 
me that I and my wife and children, with all my friends, 
should be heartily welcome into that country at any time, 
yea a hundredth thousand times, yea mouchicke, mouchicke, 
which is a word of weight. 

And Somerset told that his son (who was born whilst I 
was in the country, and whom he would needs have to 
name) and mine should be brothers and that there should 
be mouchicke legamatch, (that is friendship) betwixt them, 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 93 

until Tanto carried them to his wigwam, (that is until they 
died. 

Then they must know of me how long I would be want- 
ing. I told them so many months, at which they seemed to 
be well pleased, but wished me to take heed I proved not 
chechaske, in that (that is, a liar.) They asked me what I 
would do with my house ; I told them I would leave ten of 
my men there until I came again, and that they should kill 
all the Tarrantens they should see (being enemies to them) 
and with whom the English have no commerce. At which 
they rejoiced exceedingly, and then agreed amongst them- 
selves that when the time should be expired, which I spoke 
of for my return, every one at the place, where he lived 
would look to the sea, and when they did see a ship they 
would send to all the sagamores in the country, and tell 
them that poor Levett was come again. And thus instead of 
doing me hurt, I think that either he or I have done good 
to all planters, by winning their affections, (which may be 
made use of without trusting of them.) 

But if your Lordships should put up this wrong done unto 
you, and the authority which you gave them, never expect 
to be obeyed in those parts, either by planters or fishermen ; 
for some have not stuck to say, that if such a man, contemn- 
ing authority, and abusing one of the council, and drawing 
his knife upon him at his own house, which he did, should 
go unpunished, then would not they care what they did 
hereafter. 

And truly let me tell your Lordships, that if ever you 
intend to punish any for disobedience, or contempt of author- 
ity, this man is a fit instrument to make a precedent of, for 
he is rich, and this year will gain the best part of five hun- 
dred pounds by that country, and he hath neither wife nor 
child, for whose sakes he should be spared. 

And if he go free, as he hath domineered over us, to 
whom your Lordships gave authority, but no power to put 
it in execution, so will he grow unmannerly too with your 
Lordships, as he hath already begun. 

And it will discourage men hereafter to take any authority 



94 LEVETT'S VOYAGE. 

upon them, or to go about to reform any abuses in those 
parts, and also it will hinder planters from going over, if fish- 
ermen be suffered not only to take away their truck, but 
also to animate the savages against them, for this is the way 
to cause all planters to have their throats cut. 

But I leave these things to your Lordships' consideration, 
who have as well power as authority to punish such rebel- 
lious persons. 

Thus having acquainted you with what I have done, 
seen, and heard, now give me leave to tell you what I 
think of the savages, the inhabitants of that country : as also 
to justify the innocent, I mean the country of New England, 
against the slanderous reports of this man, and some others, 
which I have heard, and likewise to deliver my opinion 
what courses I conceive to be most convenient to be taken, 
for bringing most glory to God, comfort, honor and benefit 
to our king, and our own native nation. 



CHAPTER III. 

Sheweth the nature and disposition of the Savages, and of their 
several Gods, Squanto and Tanto. 

I HAVE had much conference with the savages about our 
only true God, and have done my best to bring them to 
know and acknowledge him ; but I fear me all the labor 
that way will be lost, and no good will be done, except it 
be among the younger sort. 

I find they have two gods : one they love and the other 
they hate : the god they love, they call Squanto, and to him 
they ascribe all their good fortunes. 

The God they hate they call Tanto, and to him they as- 
cribe all their evil fortunes, as thus, when any is killed, hurt 
or sick, or when it is evil weather, then they say, Tanto is 
hoggry, that is angry. When any dies, they say , Tanto 
carries them to his wigwam, that is his house, and they 
never see them more. 

I have asked them where Squanto dwells ; they say they 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 95 

cannot tell ; but up on high, and will point upwards. And 
for Tanto, they say far west, but they know not where. 

I have asked them if at any time they have seen Squanto, 
or Tanto : they say no, there is none sees them but their 
pawwaws, nor they neither, but when they dream. 

Their pawwaws are their physicians and surgeons, and as 
I verily believe they are all witches, for they foretell of ill 
weather, and many strange things ; every sagamore hath 
one of them who belongs to his company, and they are alto- 
gether directed by them. 

On a time I was at a sagamore's house, and saw a mar- 
tin's skin, and asked if he would truck it ; the sagamore 
told me no : the pawwaw used to lay that under his head 
when he dreamed, and if he wanted that, he could do 
nothing : thus we may perceive how the devil deludes those 
poor people, and keeps them in blindness. 

I find them generally to be marvellous quick of apprehen- 
sion, and full of subtlety ; they will quickly find any man's 
disposition, and flatter and humour him strangely, if they 
hope to get anything of him ; and yet they will count him 
a fool if he do not show a dislike of it, and will say one to 
another, that such a man is mechecome. 

They are slow of speech, and if they hear a man speak 
much they will laugh at him, and say he is mechecum, that 
is a fool. 

If men of place be too familiar with them, they will not 
respect them ; therefore it is to be wished that all such per- 
sons should be wise in their carriage. 

The sagamores will scarce speak to an ordinary man, but 
will point to their men, and say sanops must speak to sanops, 
and sagamores to sagamores. 

They are very bloody-minded and full of treachery 
amongst themselves ; one will kill another for their wives, 
and he that hath the most wives is the bravest fellow ; 
therefore I would wish no man to trust them, whatever they 
say or do ; but always to keep a strict hand over them, and 
yet to use them kindly, and deal uprightly with them ; so 



96 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

shall they please God, keep their reputation amongst them, 
and be free from danger. 

Their sagamores are no kings, as I verily believe, for I 
can see no government or law amongst them but club law ; 
and they call all masters of ships sagamores, or any other 
man that they see have a command of men. 

Their wives are their slaves, and do all the work ; the 
men will do nothing but kill beasts, fish, &c. 

On a time reasoning with one of their sagamores about 
their having so many wives, I told him it was no good fash- 
ion ; he then asked me how many wives king James had ; 
I told him he never had but one, and she was dead, at 
which he wondered, and asked me then who then done all 
the king's work. You may imagine he thought their fash- 
ion was universal, and that no king had any to work for 
them but their wives. 

They have no apparel but skins, except they have it from 
the English or French ; in winter they wear the hair 
side inwards, in summer outwards. They have a piece of 
skin about their loins like a girdle, and between their legs 
goes another, made fast to the girdle before and behind, 
which serves to cover their nakedness ; they are all thus 
apparelled, going bare-headed with long hair ; sometimes 
you shall not know the men from the women but by their 
breasts ; the men having no hair on their faces. 

When their children are born they bind them on a piece 
of board, and set it upright, either against a tree or any 
other place. They keep them thus bound until they be 
three months old ; and after, they are continually naked 
until they be about five or six years. 

Ye shall have them many times take their children and 
bury them in the snow all but their faces for a time, to make 
them the better to endure cold ; and when they are above 
two years old, they will take them and cast them into the 
sea, like a little dog or cat, to learn them to swim. 

Their weapons are bows and arrows ; I never saw more 
than two fowling pieces, one pistol, about four half-pikes, 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 97 

and three cutlasses amongst them, so that we need not to 
fear them much, if we avoid their treachery. 

Their houses are built in half an hour's space, being only 
a few poles or boughs stuck in the ground and covered 
with the bark of trees. 

Their language differs as English and Welsh. On a 
time the governor was at my house, and brought with him 
a savage, who lived not above seventy miles from the place 
which I have made choice of, who talking with another 
savage, they were glad to use broken English to express 
their mind each to the other, not being able to understand 
one another in their language. 

And to say something of the country. I will not do 
therein as some have done to my knowledge, speak more 
than is true ; I will not tell you that you may smell the 
corn-fields before you see the land ; neither must men think 
that corn doth grow naturally, (or on trees,) nor will the 
deer come when they are called, or stand still and look on a 
man until he shoot him, not knowing a man from a beast ; 
nor the fish leap into the kettle, nor on the dry land, neither 
are they so plentiful that you may dip them up in baskets, 
nor take cod in nets to make a voyage, which is no truer 
than that the fowls will present themselves to you with spits 
through them. 

But certainly there is fowl, deer, and fish enough for the 
taking, if men be diligent ; there be also vines, plum trees, 
strawberries, gooseberries, and rasps, walnuts, chestnut, 
and small nuts, of each great plenty ; there is also great 
store of parsley, and divers other wholesome herbs, both 
for profit and pleasure, with great store of sassafras, sarsa- 
parilla, and aniseeds. 

And for the ground there is a large and goodly marsh to 
make meadow, higher land for pasture and corn. 

There be these several sorts of earth, which I have seen, 
as clay, sand, gravel, yea, and as black fat earth, as ever I 
saw in England in all my life. 

There are likewise these helps for ground, as seasand, 
oreworth or wrack, marl, blue and white, and some men 

VOL. II. 9 



98 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

say there is lime ; but I must confess I never saw any lime- 
stone : but I have tried the shells of fish, and I find them to 
be good lime. 

Now let any husbandman tell me whether there be any 
fear of having any kind of corn, having these several kinds 
of earth with these helps, the climate being full as good if 
not better than England. 

I dare be bold to say also, there may be ships as con- 
veniently, there as in any place in the world, where I have 
been, and better cheap. As for plank, crooked timber, and 
all other sorts whatsoever can be desired for such purpose, 
the wo; Id cannot afford better. Masts and yards of all 
sizes, there be also trees growing, whereof pitch and tar is 
made. 

And for sails and all sorts of cordish you need not to 
want, if you but sow hemp and flaxseed, and after work it. 
Now there wants nothing but iron, and truly I think I have 
seen iron-stone there, but must acknowledge I have no great 
judgment in minerals, yet I have seen the iron-works in 
England, and this stone is like ours. But howsoever if the 
country will not afford iron, yet it may be easily brought, 
for it is good ballast for ships. 

There is also much excellent timber for joiners and coop- 
ers; howsoever a worthy nobleman hath been abused, who 
sent over some to make pipe-staves ; who either for want 
of skill or industry did no good. Yet I dare say no place 
in England can afford better timber for pipe-staves, than 
four several places which I have seen in that country. 

Thus have I related unto you what I have seen, and do 
know may be had in those parts of New England where I 
have been, yet was I never at the Mesachusett, which is 
counted the paradise of New England, nor at Cape Ann, 
but I fear there hath been too fair a gloss set on Cape Ann. 
I am told there is a good harbor which makes a fair invita- 
tion, but when they are in, their entertainment is not an- 
swerable, for there is little good ground, and the ships 
which fished there this year, their boats went twenty miles 
to take their fish, and yet they were in great fear of making 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 99 

their voyages, as one of the masters confessed unto me 
who was at my house.* 

Neither was I at New Plymouth, but I fear that place is 
not so good as many others, for if it were, in my conceit, 
they would content themselves with it and not seek for any 
other, having ten times so much ground as would serve ten 
times so many people as they have now amongst them. 
But it seems they have no fish to make benefit of, for this 
year they had one ship fish at Pemoquid, and another at 
Cape Ann, where they have begun a new plantation, but 
how long it will continue I know not. 

Neither was I ever farther to the west than the Isle of 
Shoulds. 

Thus have I done with my commendations of the coun- 
try ; I will now speak the worst I know by it. 

About the middle of May you shall have little flies, called 
musketoes, which are like gnats ; they continue, as I am 
told, until the last of July. These are very troublesome 
for the time, for they sting exceedingly both by night and 
day. But I found by experience that boots or thick stock- 
ings would save the legs, gloves the hands, and tiffany or 
some such things which will not much hinder the sight, 
will save the face, and at night any smoke will secure a 
man. 

The reason of the abundance of these creatures, I take 
to be the woods which hinders the air, for I have observed 
always when the wind did blow but a little, we were not 
much troubled with them. 

And I verily think that if there were a good number of 
people planted together, and that the woods were cut down, 
the earth were tilled, and the rubbish which lieth on the 
ground wherein they breed were burnt, and that there were 
many chimneys smoking, such small creatures would do 
but little hurt. 

* Prince says, quoting Smith's History of New England, " in the spring of 
1623, about forty ships go from England to the north-eastern coast of New Eng- 
land to fish, who make a far better voyage than ever." And in 1624, about 
fifty ships. 



100 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

Another evil or inconvenience I see there, the snow in 
winter did lie very long upon the ground. 

But I understand that all the parts of Christendom were 
troubled with a cold winter as well as we. Yet would I 
ask any man what hurt snow doeth ? The husbandman 
will say that the corn is the better for it. And I hope cattle 
may be as well fed in the house there as in England, Scot- 
land, and other countries, and he is but an ill husband that 
cannot find employments for his servants within doors for 
that time. As for wives and children if they be wise they 
will keep themselves close by a good fire, and for men they 
will have no occasion to ride to fairs or markets, sizes or 
sessions, only hawks and hounds will not then be useful. 

Yet let me tell you that it is still almost Christmas before 
there be any winter there, so that the cold time doth not 
continue long. 

And by all reason that country should be hotter than 
England, being many degrees farther from the north pole. 

And thus according to my poor understanding I have 
given you the best information I can of the people and coun- 
try, commodities and discommodities. Now give me leave 
to oppose myself against the man beforementioned, and 
others, who speaks against the country and plantations in 
those parts, and to set down such objections as I have heard 
them make, and my answers, and afterward let wisdom 
judge : for my desire is, that the saddle may be set on the 
right horse, and the ass may be rid, and the knave punished 
either for discouraging or encouraging too much, whatso- 
ever he be. 



CHAPTER V. 

Certain objections and answers, with sufficient proofs how it may be exceeding 
profitable to the Commonwealth, and all planters and adventurers. 

THEY say the country is good for nothing but to starve so 
many people as comes in it. 

It is granted that some have been starved to death, and 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 101 

others have hardly escaped, but where was the fault, in the 
country or in themselves. That the country is as I have 
said, I can bring one hundred men to justify it ; but if men 
be neither industrious nor provident, they may starve in the 
best place of the world. 

About two years since one Mr. Weston sent over about 
fifty persons to plant, with little provision ; when they 
came there, they neither applied themselves to planting 
of corn nor taking of fish, more than for their present 
use, but went about to build castles in the air, and making 
of forts, neglecting the plentiful time of fishing. When win- 
ter came their forts would not keep out hunger, and they 
having no provision beforehand, and wanting both powder 
and shot to kill deer and fowl, many were starved to death, 
and the rest hardly escaped. There are four of his men 
which escaped, now at rny plantation, who have related 
unto me the whole business. 

Again, this last year there went over divers at one time, 
and to one place, with too little provision ; some of them are 
dead, yet I cannot hear of any that were merely starved, 
except one whose name was Chapman, a Londoner, and 
whether he was starved or no is uncertain ; but if he were, 
God's just judgment did appear. 

For this man (as I am told by an honest man who came 
from London with him) brought at the least eighty pounds' 
worth of provision, and no more but himself and two ser- 
vants, which was sufficient for at the least eighteen months, 
if it had been well used. And yet in five months after his 
arrival in New England he died miserably. 

Let me tell you a strange thing of this man ; (I have it 
but by relation from one of his companions) he payed for his 
passage, and his mens', and provision, so that he needed not 
to have spent any thing until his arrival in New England, 
yet would he at Plymouth, (where the ship stayed too long 
for him and others,) spend seven or eight pound a week in 
wine, tobacco, and whores, and for the maintaining of this 
expense he daily fetched his provision from aboard, and sold 
it at a low rate. And when they were at sea, his tobacco 
9* 



102 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

being spent, he gave usually sixpence for a pipe ; he gave 
also a suit of clothes, valued to be worth fifty shillings, for 
so much tobacco as was not worth half a crown. Nay, at 
last, as his comrade told me, he was glad to become servant 
to one of his servants. Then his master told him, that if he 
would work he would allow him one biscuit cake a day, if 
not he should have but half a cake. He made choice of 
half a cake, without work ; and so a base, lazy fellow made 
a lamentable end. Where was the fault now, in the men or 
in the country ? 

Another objection which I have met with is this : That 
there is nothing got or saved by sending men over to plant ; 
neither is it beneficial either to private men, either adven- 
turer or planter, or good for the commonwealth. 

In answer hereunto, first for matter of profit, it is well 
known to all the merchants of the west country, who have 
left almost all other trade but this, and yet is grown rich 
thereby. 

Secondly, for the commonwealth consider these things : 
1. The great complaint that hath for so long time been 
made in England, that our land is overburthened with peo- 
ple, and that there is no employment for our men, so that it 
is likely they must either starve, steal, or prove mutinous, 
and whether plantations be a means to help this inconve- 
nience or no, I desire to know ? 

It hath been likewise said unto me, that it benefits the 
commonwealth nothing at all to send men over with pro- 
vision of clothes, victuals, and continual supplies. 

To that I say, let such men, as you send thither to plant, 
have provision as Chapman had for eighteen months, and if 
after, they cannot live of themselves, and be beneficial either 
to the commonwealth or to themselves, let them die Chap- 
man's death. 

Again plantations may be beneficial to the commonwealth, 
by the enlargement of his Majesty's dominions. 

Again by the increase of shipping, (which is the strength 
of a nation,) and that without wasting of our timber, which 
is a commodity that I fear England will find the want of be- 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 103 

fore many years pass over ; for if timber go to decay as 
now it doth, we shall scarce have any to build, or repair 
ships or houses. Again, tell me whether it would be bene- 
ficial to the commonwealth to have all our idle persons kept 
to work, and our populous nation disburthened, and yet to 
have them ready to serve our king and country upon all 
occasions? 

Lastly, tell me whether it would be beneficial to the 
commonwealth to have all poor people maintained out of 
those arts. And every parish freed from their weekly pay- 
ments to the poor, which if I do not make to appear, then 
let me accounted an unworthy fellow. But first let me set 
down another objection, which seems to be of great force, 
and yet in my conceit is like the rest, shallow, and that 
is this. 

If, say they, there be so many plantations, there will be 
no room in the country for such ships as do come yearly to 
make voyages, and by this means ships shall lie still and 
decay, mariners and fishermen shall want employment, and 
so all will be out of frame if ever we should have wars. 
And therefore, howsoever it may be beneficial to some few 
persons, yet it will be hurtful to the commonwealth. 

I answer, that if these things were thoroughly examined 
by his Majesty, the parliament, or council-table, it would 
plainly appear, that the most of them which keep such ado 
against plantations, are the greatest enemies to the public 
good, and that their show of care for the commonwealth is 
nothing but a color, for the more clearly concealing of their 
unknown profits. It will also appear that plantations are 
for the public good, and by that means there shall be more 
and better cheap ships built and employed, more mariners 
and fishermen kept to work than now there are, and more 
people partakers of the benefit than now there doth. 

Which I prove thus : first, there may be timber had to 
build ships, and ground for corn and keeping of cattle, and 
all for little or nothing. 

Secondly, there may be more men trained up in fishing 



104 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

than now there is, whose trade is decayed in England, and 
they ready to starve for want of employments. 

Thirdly, there may be twice so much fish taken every 
year as now there is. For ships that go to make voyages, 
seldom or never keep their boats at sea above two months 
or ten weeks for making their voyage, and I dare maintain 
that there is fish enough to be taken, seven months in the 
year, if men be there ready to take opportunities. 

Fourthly, the more fish that is taken, the more ships there 
must be for the transportation of it. 

Fifthly, whereas now none doth take the benefit, but a 
few merchants ; not all the merchants in the land, no not 
one of a thousand ; 

By plantations, not only all the merchants in the land, but 
all the people in the land may partake thereof. 

And now to shew you how the profit may arise. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Sheweth how by adventuring of a hundred pounds, more or less, a man 

may profit so much every year, for twenty years or longer, 

without any more charge than at the first. 

I MUST confess I have studied no other art a long time but 
the mysteries of New England's trade, and I hope at last, I 
have attained to the understanding of the secrets of it, which 
I think the fishermen are sorry for ; but it shall be no longer 
concealed, for that I think every good subject is bound to 
prefer the public before his own private good. 

First, therefore, I will shew you the charge which every 
merchant is at yearly in sending their ships to fish there, 
and so near as I can the profit they make of such voyages. 
Then we will see the charge which planters must be at, in 
sending men over to stay there, and the profit they are 
likely to make, and so by comparing the one with the 
other, we shall see which is the better and more profitable 
course. 

A ship of two hundred ton commonly doth carry in those 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 105 

voyages fifty men ; these men are at no charge but twenty 
shillings a man towards their victuals, neither have they any 
wages ; but in lieu thereof, they have one third part of all 
the fish and train. 

Another third part is allowed the owners of the ship for 
their fraught, and the other third part is allowed for the 
victual, salt, nets, hooks, lines and other implements for 
taking and making the fish. 

The charge of victualling (which is usually for nine 
months,) the salt, &c., doth commonly amount to about 
<3ight hundred pounds ; and for that they have (as I said 
one third part of the fish,) which is near sixty-seven ton, 
the ship being laden, which will make thirteen hundred and 
forty quintals, (at the market). Sometimes when they come 
to a good market they sell their fish for forty-four rials a 
quintal, and so to thirty-six rials, which is the least, but say 
they have forty, one time with another, and at that rate 
one-third of the ships' lading doth yield thirteen hundred 
and forty pounds, which they have for disbursing of eight 
hundred pounds nine months. 

Now take notice that they are but eight or ten weeks in 
taking all their fish, and about one month longer in making 
it fit to be shipped. 

Which being considered, then say that such men as are 
sent over to plant, have twelve months provision, which 
will amount to one thousand and sixty-six pounds, thirteen 
shillings four pence ; these men stay in the country, and do 
take the benefit both of the first and last fishing season, and 
all other opportunities, the fishing continuing good at the 
least seven months in the year, though not all at one time ; 
now I hope you will grant that they are as likely to take 
two ships lading as the other one, which if they do, one 
third thereof at the same rate will amount to two thousand 
six hundred and eighty pounds ; the charge you are at being 
deducted, the profit is one thousand and nineteen pounds, 
six shillings, eight pence. Now tell me seriously, which is 
the more profitable course ? 

Again consider, that in all likelihood this fish is to be 



106 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

taken in five months, then have you seven months more to 
employ your men in the country every year, about building 
of ships, cleaving of pipe-staves, or any other thing, and 
will that be worth nothing ? 

Truly this I will say, send men over but with eighteen 
months' provision, and cattle, and corn to plant, and other 
necessaries, and they shall afford you thus much profit 
yearly, without ever putting you to more charge, if God 
bless them with health/and you, from losses, and I never 
heard of any great loss by adventuring thither) and that 
you be fitted with good and understanding men to oversee 
the business, who is able to direct them. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Sheweth how every parish may be freed of their weekly payments to the 
poor, by the profits which may be fetched thence with certain Objections 
against the things contained in this and the former chapter : with answers 
thereunto. 

AND thus have I shewed you what hopes there is of profit 
by plantations, yet have I shewed you no other means to 
raise it, but by fish and timber. I would not have you say 
there is nothing else in the country to make any benefit of; 
for I assure you it is well known to myself, and others who 
have been there, that there are divers other good things 
there to be had ; but I do not love to speak of all at one 
time, but to reserve some to stop the mouths of such prating 
coxcombs as will never be satisfied with any reason, but 
will always cavil, though to little purpose. 

And methinks I hear some such people buzzing in some 
other objections, and bidding me stay, and not fish before 
the net, for there are many lets, as these. There are many 
ships go that make not so good voyages as I speak of : for 
they are so long beaten in their passage, or on the coast, 
that the best of the fishing is past before they be there. 

To that I answer, I speak not what every ship doth, but 
what some do, and all others may do, if they be in the coun- 
try to take all opportunities. 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 107 

2. Object. That it is not possible to make plantations so 
public a business, as that it should redound to the benefit of 
all the king's subjects. And again that there will never be 
so much money raised as to establish such plantations, for 
that most men of this, age respects their own profit one hun- 
dred times more than the public good ; and their hearts are 
so glued to the world, that they shall as soon hang them as 
draw anything from them, though it be never so charitable 
a use. And if it should be by way of commandment, it 
would be a grievance not to be endured. 

But I would ask such men whether they be so void of 
charity, as that they will not do themselves good, because 
some others shall have some by it also ? And whether they 
will be grieved at a man for shewing of them how, by the 
disbursing of twenty shillings, they shall have twenty shil- 
lings a year, for seven, ten or twenty years, and perhaps for 
ever. 

My desire is not that any should be compelled, only this 
I could wish that every parish would adventure so much as 
they pay weekly to the relief of the poor (which is no great 
matter) and so every shire by itself would send over men 
to plant. And if after eighteen months they shall not yearly 
return so much profits continually as will keep their poor 1 
and ease their purses, (provided always, as I said before, 
that they send such men as are fit, and that the justices of 
every shire be careful to appoint such a man to be their 
captain and director as is honest, and of good understanding, 
and that God bless them from losses,) will I be contented to 
suffer death. 

And yet let me tell you, that if it should please God, that 
once in seven years a ship should be cast away (which is 
more than hath been usual, for I dare say, that for every 
ship that is cast away in those voyages, there is one hundred 
which cometh safe) yet it is but that year's profit lost, and 
perhaps not half. 

Another objection may be this, that all men are not fish- 
ermen, and that it is not so easy a thing to take fish, as I 
make it. 



108 LEVETT'S VOYAGE 

To that I answer, that take a survey of all the men that 
goeth in these voyages, and there shall not be found one- 
third of them that are merely fishermen, and no other trades. 

Nay I know many ship-companies that have amongst 
them house carpenters, masons, smiths, tailors, shoemakers, 
and such like, and indeed it is most fit that they should be 
such : and I saw by experience, that divers who were never 
at sea before this year, proved very good fishermen ; but I 
could wish that ever a fifth part of a company be fishermen, 
and the rest will quickly be trained up, and made skilful. 

I would to God that some one shire or more would begin 
this godly and profitable course. For certainly, God hath 
created all for the use of man, and nothing hath he created 
in vain. 

And if we will endure poverty in England wilfully, and 
suffer so good a country as this is to lie waste, I am persua- 
ded we are guilty of a grievous sin against God, and shall 
never be able to answer it. 

I could also wish, that the lords both spiritual and tempo- 
ral, the knights and others to whom God hath given abun- 
dance of these outward things, would (for the honor of God, 
the comfort of the poor of our land) join together, and by a 
voluntary contribution raise a sum of money, and employ it 
this way $ and that the profits might go to the maintain- 
ing of poor children, and training them up in this course, 
by which they may be kept from begging and stealing. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Contains certain directions for all private persons that intend 
to go into New England to plant. 

NEXT unto this I could wish that every private man that 
hath a desire this way, would consider these things which I 
will here set down, before he .go too far, least he deprive 
himself of the profit I have showed may be had, and be one 
of those that repent when it is too late, and so bring misery 
upon himself, and scandalize the country, as others have done. 



TO NEW ENGLAND. 109 

1. That it is a country where none can live except he 
either labor himself, or be able to keep others to labor for 
him. 

2. If a man have a wife and many small children, not to 
come there, except for every three loiterers he have one 
worker ; which if he have, he may make a shift to live and 
not starve. 

8. If a man have but as many good laborers as loiterers, 
he shall live much better there than in any place I know. 

4. If all be laborers and no children, then let him not 
fear but to do more good there in seven years than in Eng- 
land in twenty. 

5. Let no man go without eighteen months' provision, so 
shall he take the benefit of two seasons before his provision 
be spent. 

6. Let as many plant together as may be, for you will find 
that very comfortable, profitable and secure. 



FINIS. 



Vol.. II. 10 



ANNALS 

OF 

BAKERSTOWN, POLAND, AND MINOT, 

BY WILLIAM LADD, ESQ., 

LATE OF MINOT. 



THE whole tract under the present names of Poland and 
Minot, was originally called Bakerstown, from the follow- 
ing circumstance. A tract of land was granted, at a very 
early date, before the lines between New-Hampshire and 
the Province of Maine had been ascertained, probably to 
one Baker, by the state of Massachusetts, but when the 
line was run, the tract then called Bakerstown was found 
to be within the limits of New-Hampshire, and a new 
grant was made by the state of Massachusetts, in lieu of 
the other, comprising the present towns of Poland and 
Minot. 

The grant was for 7j miles square, but the limits of 
Bakerstown were extended to 12 or 14 miles square ; a 
fraud common in those days. 

Nathaniel Bailey was the first settler in Bakerstown. 
Daniel Lane was the second settler. Moses Emery was 
the third settler in Bakerstown, and the first in that part 
now called Minot. 

1768. Bailey settled in Bakerstown. John Newman in 
1769. Mr. Nevins's daughter was the first child born in 
Bakerstown. 

Moses Emery, jr. was the first male child born in Ba- 
kerstown. 



112 ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, 

Moses Emery was the first settler in Minot ; he was born 
in the year 1745, and gave most of these memorandums, 
in the year 1830, being then 86 years old. 

1772. Moses Emery the elder moved from what is now 
called Poland, to what is now called Minot. 

1773. Daniel Lane second settler in Minot. Indians 
then resident in the neighborhood of Bakerstown. Philip, 
Swanton, Lazarus, Sabattus, Cookish, and others. Perepole 
was the last of the Androscoggin tribe. 

Emery kept a ferry at what was afterwards called Em- 
ery's Mills, since Payne's Mills, Dunn's Mills, &c. Many 
moose and beaver were in Bakerstown when he first settled ; 
he used to hunt them on snow-shoes, and he carried usually 
a pocket compass with him. He often bivouacked or 
" camped," as they call it, in the open air in winter, and 
sometimes had the snow three inches deep on him, when 
he awaked in the morning. Once, going out without his 
gun, he came across a she-bear with two cubs, under a 
windfall. The bear made toward him, and he retreated 
backward, being afraid to turn lest the bear should seize 
him behind ; she followed, grinning and growling, with her 
mouth near to his, he still retreating and feeling on the ground 
for a stick or club, with which to defend himself. At length, 
it came into his head to throw her his jacket, for her to 
vent her rage upon, but as soon as he began to take off his 
jacket, the bear was frightened and ran away with her 
cubs. In his moose hunts, his partner had once wounded 
a moose, and his dog had him by the nose, but the moose 
swung the dog to and fro, without being able to shake him 
off, and was making directly at Emery, when he flung the 
dog against a tree which broke the dog's hold, and the 
moose sprung directly at Emery, and probably would have 
killed him, but just at that moment another shot from his 
partner brought the moose to the ground. Emery's gun 
would not go off. Preparing to encamp one night, in a 
snow storm, he saw a moose which he wounded, and his 
dog got him by the nose, but the moose trampled the dog 
who would not let go his hold, to death, and both expired 
together. 



POLAND AND MINOT. 113 

1782. Mr. Chandler Freeman and his brother Samuel 
removed from Duxbury, Mass., and began a settlement at 
the place where he now (1830) lives. 

Among the first settlers were Bray, Willcome, Safford, 
Hawke, Buckman, Dwinal, Shaw, Vareal, &c. 

1784. Chandler Freeman's family removed to Bakers- 
town, together with his father, Jos. Freeman and his wife. 

The number of families having increased to 60 or 70 
Jos. Freeman set up the public worship of God in his son's 
house. Sermons were re'ad, with prayers and singing, con- 
ducted chiefly by Joseph Freeman. The inhabitants of the 
northern parts of what was afterward called Mi not gene- 
rally attended. 

1785. A remarkable freshet. There has not been any 
since so high. The wa"ter in the Little Androscoggin rose 
8 feet, and was 3 feet deep on the island at Emery's mills. 

1786. Samuel Pool removed to Bakerstown. 

The Rev. Mr. Foxcroft of New Gloucester, the Rev. Mr. 
Gilman of North Yarmouth, and the Rev. Mr. Williams of 
Falmouth, occasionally preached in Bakerstown. 

1788. July 3d. Olive, the daughter of Samuel Freeman 
deceased, was baptized by the Rev. John Strickland of 
Turner, having been offered in baptism by her grand parents. 

1791. First revival of religion. The Rev. Wait Corn- 
well, missionary from Connecticut, preached and adminis- 
tered baptism, and promoted the revival. The people did 
something for his support. 

Sept. 8th. The first congregational church was gather- 
ed, consisting of 39 members. Mr. Joseph Freeman was 
chosen moderator. The council met at the house of Mr. 
Jonathan Bradford, and consisted of the following persons ; 

Churches. Pastors. Delegates. 

New Gloucester. Saml. Foxcroft. Peleg Chandler. 

North Yarmouth. No pastor. Dea. John South worth 

Freeport. Alfred Johnson, (no delegate.) 

Missionary. Rev, Wait Cornwell. do. 
10* 



114 ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, 

Nov. 30. The first meeting of the first church in Ba- 
kerstown, was held at the house of Chandler Freeman, and 
the following officers chosen, viz., 

Joseph Freeman, Deacon, 

Moses Bradbury, do. 

Noah Hersey, " leader in the "worship of singing." 

Voted, To read the psalm in the forenoon worship line 
by line, as it was singing, but otherwise in the afternoon. 

A considerable number of those first received into the 
Church, afterwards fell under censure, and many turned 
Baptists. 

This year was remarkable for grasshoppers, and is still 
called the "grasshopper year." They ate the Indian corn 
and potatoes down to the ground, so that in some fields 
not a bushel of potatoes was raised* 

1792. May 12. Deacon Joseph Freeman died, aged 65. 
His son Chandler Freeman was chosen deacon in his place, 
but there remains no record of the date of his election. 

1793. The Rev. Jonathan Scott, who had been ordained 
at Middleburgh, Mass., over a church in Yarmouth, Nova 
Scotia, there being then no congregational ministers in that 
province, came to Bakerstown, as a preacher of the gospel, 
by request of the church, Dec. llth, and returned to Nova 
Scotia; he again visited Bakerstown in Sept. 1794. 

1794. The first congregational meeting house built near 
Reuben Chandler's in June. 

Oct. 12. Mr. Scott promised the people of Bakerstown 
in writing, that he would come and settle among them. 
He was to have three dollars for each sabbath's preaching, 
but nothing for travelling expenses. 

1795. The Rev. Mr. Scott's family removed from Nova 
Scotia to Bakerstown, and arrived May 1st. Same time 
Doctor Jesse Rice arrived from Nova Scotia. Caroline, 
widow of Deacon Joseph Freeman, died about this time. 

This year the first Methodist church was formed ; Joel 
Ketchum was the first Methodist minister. 

1796. By a covenant dated April 18th, 98 persons agree 
to the support of Mr. Scott, and gave him a call to settle 
with them. 



POLAND AND MIN OT. 115 

May 28th. Mr. Scott accepted a call to settle in Poland, 
on a salary of 65 pounds lawful money, and the land allow- 
ed for the first settled minister, which land was never ob- 
tained. In his acceptance, he says, " but know for certainty 
that I never shall nor will enter any law process against you, 
as a society, or any individual of you, on the strength or bond 
of that covenant, and I do hereby forever put it out of the 
power of my heirs, administrators or assigns, to do it while 
I live or after my death." 

July 27th. The Rev. Jonathan Scott was installed over 
the first congregational church in Bakerstown ; Council 

Rev. Sam. Eaton, of Harpswell. 

Rev. Tristram Gilman, of North Yarmouth. 

Rev. Alfred Johnson, of Freeport. 

About this time, James Dunham and Job Cushman, 
members of the first church, turned Baptists, and the latter 
began to preach. 

Bakerstown incorporated by the name of Poland ; Moses 
Emery, sen., agent at the Gen. Court of Massachusetts. 

1800. Canker-rash very rife in Poland. 

1802. Minot set off from Poland by the General Court 
of Massachusetts, and incorporated into a town by itself. 
Feb. 7th. 

April 5th. The first town meeting of the town of Minot, 
was held in the schoolhouse at the foot of the hill, near Mr. 
Shaw's ; warrant issued by Nathaniel Adams of New Glou- 
cester to Nicholas Noyes of Minot. First selectmen, Nich- 
olasNoyes, Wm. Briggs and John Chandler ; first treasurer 
and town clerk, Chandler Freeman ; committee to settle 
accounts with Poland, Doctor Jesse Rice, Ichabod King and 
Samuel Shaw. 

At a town meeting, " Voted, to raise a sum of money for 
the use of the destruction of the crows." " Voted, 12 cents 
and 5 mills on the head." " Voted, that the selectmen shall 
receive the heads and burn them, and give orders on the 
treasury for the bounty." (This bounty was afterwards 
increased to 20 cents, Dec. 12, 1803, but the vote was after- 



116 ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, 

wards rescinded.) " Voted, to buy two palls to cover the 
dead." " Voted, to raise 50 dollars for the use of the town." 

1803, April 14. " Voted, to raise $600 for the use of 
schools." This is the first vote of the kind on the records. 

May. " Voted, to build a pound near Nicholas Noyes's." 
" Voted, that the poor shall be put up at vendue." 
" Voted, not to build a meeting house." 
" Voted, not to send a representative." 

1804, April 6th. Town meeting at the congregational 
society's meeting house. 

" Voted, to build a bridge near Nason's mills with Poland." 

May meeting. " Voted, to number the children on the 
first day of May, and all over four years of age to draw an 
equal proportion of school money." 

Sept. 8th. First meeting of proprietors for building a 
meeting house near the centre of the town of Minot. 

Sept. 27th. Town meeting at the old meeting house, 
opened with prayer by the Rev. Mr. Scott. " Voted, not to 
build a meeting house in the centre of the town, and voted 
not to build two meeting houses. 

1804, Nov. 5th. At town meeting, voted, to accept six 
different places for burial grounds, but there was no vote 
for burying. 

Nov. 27th. At a town meeting, the town consented to 
the incorporation of a congregational society, Ayes 54, 
Nays 29. 

1805, May 6th. It was voted to divide the town into 
two parishes, and to have the town meetings half the time 
at Mr. Scott's meeting house, and half the time at Deacon 
James Perkins'. 

May 29th. The east meeting house was raised ; Mr. 
Scott prayed. 

July 3d. The centre meeting house was raised. As Mr. 
Scott had always opposed the building of this meeting 
house, it was with great reluctance, that after repeated so- 
licitation he consented to make the prayer, the language 
of which, as might have been expected, gave great offence 
to the proprietors of the house. 



POLAND AND MINOT. 117 

July 5th. Mr. Scott requested a dismission from the 
church, and made a more formal request in writing, dated 
July 10th, which was read on the same day at the old west 
meeting house, and also before the " covenanted society," 
assembled at the same place, July 1 9th. The reason for his 
requesting a dismission was the building of the centre meet- 
ing house by a part of his church and society, to which alto- 
gether, especially the location, he urged strong objections. 

Aug. 21st. An ecclesiastical council was convened in 
Minot, consisting of the following ministers, viz. Tristram 
Gilman, Samuel Eaton, Jacob Herrick, Elisha Moseley, 
Amasa Smith, Eliphalet Gillet and their delegates, who 
took into consideration " the difficulties which had existed 
between the Rev. Mr. Jonathan Scott and the Church and So- 
ciety under his pastoral care." Adjourned to the next day. 

Aug. 22d. Convened at the old meeting house, (some- 
times called the proprietors' meeting house, and also, at 
that time, the west meeting house,) Mr. Scott laid before 
the Council a long, written memorial, in which he com- 
plains that a part of his church and society had persisted in 
building the centre meeting house, which he thinks will 
cause great dissensions and divisions, that the house had 
been built contrary to the vote of the town, &c., &c., and 
that he had, in a manner, been compelled to pray at the 
raising of the house, against his will. It was " Voted, unan- 
imously to dissolve the pastoral relation between the Rev. 
Jonathan Scott and the church and people under his care." 

It appears that, nevertheless, Mr. Scott continued to 
preach to that part of the church and congregation engaged 
in building the last meeting house, and acted as moderator 
of the church. 

Sept. 23d. At a town meeting, " Voted, to choose a dis- 
interested committee, out of town, to fix the division line 
[of equal parishes] to consist of three, viz., Judge Carey, of 
Turner, Dominicus Record, of Buckfield and John H. Smith, 
Esqr." Adjourned to Nov. 18. Met according to adjourn- 
ment, and " Voted, not to accept the report of the disinter- 
ested committee." 



118 ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, 

About this time, Nov. 13 and 14, one or more papers 
were signed, to engage Mr. Scott to preach for six months, 
and also for eighteen months, of which papers little or no 
use was ever made. 

1806. It seems that the dissensions in the church and 
society, on account of building the centre meeting house, 
increased, and that a part of the church, about twelve, had 
met for worship in a separate place, which gave great 
offence to their brethren. 

June 17th. 7 males and 7 females, 14 in all, signed a 
request to the church, to be set off from the church and 
erected into a separate church by themselves, on account 
of their living in the west of Minot, and therefore suffering 
great inconvenience in attending worship in the east. 
These persons were among the number of those who had 
been, and then were, engaged in building the centre meet- 
ing house, so that in fact their request was for a separate 
church in the centre. 

June 26th. By a vote of the church, the request of the 
14 members to be set off as a church was granted, in the 
usual form, and communicated to the petitioners in a cer- 
tificate signed by Mr. Scott as moderator, dated July 1st. 

There are copies of two subscription papers for the sup- 
port of Mr. Scott, one dated July 7, with the subscriptions 
of 13 members of the church for the amount of $68, and 
one dated Oct. 20th, of 35 subscribers to the society for the 
amount of $77, in all $145, which appears to be the amount 
of compensation promised to Mr. Scott for his services, but 
he never got half, probably not a quarter of it. 

Aug. 13th. An offer was made to Mr. Scott to settle, on 
condition that each party might withdraw at six months 
notice, which he declined. 

About this time, also, there appears to have been a sub- 
scription paper, for the support of Mr. Scott for 18 months. 

In fact there are a great many copies of subscription 
papers and covenants, dated about this time, most of which, 
if not all of them, came to nothing, and Mr. Scott was de- 
pendent on his Ijttle farm and his daily labor for his support. 



POLAND AND MINOT. 119 

Aug. 15th. The first church by a committee gave a 
verbal call to Mr. Scott to settle with them. 

Oct. 15th. An ecclesiastical council was called by the 
seceders for the purpose of forming a second church. The 
churches represented at this council were as follows ; 

Churches. Ministers. Delegates. 

Durham, Jacob Herrick, James Hubbard. 

New Gloucester, Elisha Mosely, \ Moses Merrill. 

j E. Mason. 

Gray, Daniel Weston, Moses Humphrey. 

It was voted, to receive the persons, 16 in all, and " ac- 
knowledge them as a church, to be known by the name of 
the Second Congregational Church in Minot." Moses 
Bradbury was chosen first deacon and Moderator, Isaac 
Allen second deacon, and Samuel Vareal clerk. A number 
of others were afterward dismissed from the First Church 
and joined the Second Church. 

Sunday, Oct. 26th. Mr. Scott read to the church his 
acceptance of their call, dated on the day before. 

Nov. 12th. An ecclesiastical council convened in Mi- 
not, from the following 

Churches. Ministers. 

Harpswell, Sam. Eaton. f 

Durham, Jacob Herrick. 

New Gloucester, Elisha Mosely. 

Hallowell, Eliphalet Gillet. 

The several subscription papers having been laid before 
the council, they proceeded to install the Rev. Jonathan 
Scott over the First Congregational Church in Minot, wor- 
shipping in the East meeting house. 

1806. Dec. 29. First town-meeting in the centre meet- 
ing house. 

1807. The Rev. Mr. Scott's dwelling house was burnt, 
with his youngest son. Feb. 8th. The parish then gave 
the old meeting house to Mr. Scott for a dwelling house, 
and moved it to the site of the house which was burnt, and 



120 ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, 

where Mr. Scott died. The records of the church except a 
few loose papers were burnt with the house. March 18. 
The First Church met at the East meeting house. Doctor 
Jesse Rice chosen second deacon. Dec. 10. John Staples 
Craft chosen 3d deacon. 

1807. At town meeting, the town voted in favor of the 
incorporation of Chandler Freeman and others, agreeably 
to their petition, to be set off as a parish by themselves, 
with certain provisos. 

June 30. Mr. Scott received a commission from the So- 
ciety for propagating the Gospel among the Indians in N. 
America, to act as a missionary for two months, which 
was laid before the church, and at the request of the 
church was declined. 

Sept. 1st. The first church kept a day of fasting and 
prayer, " that God would appear for our nation, and remove 
the calamities we are smarting under by embargo, and 
prevent the calamity of war with which the nation is threat- 
ened," and other subjects. 

1809. The first town meeting for the choice of a repre- 
sentative to the General Court of Massachusetts. There 
were 34 candidates. Doctor Seth Chandler had 112 votes 
out of 308, but the record does not say who was finally 
elected, and many of the records are without date. There 
seems to have been no political division, but the town was 
considered as almost wholly democratic. 

Sept. Votes for representative, 242 ; Dr. Seth Chandler 
had 142. 

Nov. 7th. The second church voted to give a call to the 
Rev. William Pidgin to be their mini.' ter. 

Dec. 21. A letter missive was sent to the first church to 
request their aid in the council to settle Wm. Pidgin. 

1811. Jan. 1. The first church met to "hear and deter- 
mine on a letter missive from the second church, request- 
ing a delegation to assist at the installation of the Rev. 
Wm. Pidgin." The first church chose a committee to meet 
a committee from the second church, if one should be ap- 
pointed, to try to adjust the difficulties between them. A 



POLAND AND MINOT. 121 

meeting of the committees took place January 9th, but no 
reconciliation was effected at this time. 

Jan. 15. An ecclesiastical council convened for the pur- 
pose of installing the Rev. Wm. Pidgin over the second 
church. Present, 

Pastors. Delegates. 

Elisha Mosely, B. Loring, 

( Wm. Sweetser, and 
Amasa Smith, j Belvjamin Blanchard , 

John Dutton, Joshua Mitchell, 

Noah Cresy, Timothy Stone, 

( John Hayes, 
Francis Brown, < Jacob Mitchell, 

( James Hibbard. 

Chose Mr. Mosely Moderator, and Mr. Brown Scribe, and 
after sundry examinations, adjourned to the next day. 

Jan. 16th. Council met according to adjournment. 
" Doubts arose from peculiar circumstances, whether it is 
expedient now to proceed to the installation." Council dis- 
solved. 

Jan. 23d. The 2d. church again invited the 1st. church to 
reconciliation, which was not effected, 

Feb. 26. A council was convened, consisting of the Rev. 
Messrs. Mosely, Herrick, Weston, Miltimore, Smith, and 
Creasy, with their delegates. 

27th. Rev. Mr. Pidgin installed over the second congre- 
gational church in Minot. 

There appears to have been but little, if any, additions to 
the churches, so that the number of members in both 
churches remained about the same as it was before the 
separation. 

1812. Votes for Representative, 225; Jonathan Nash 
had 115. Political divisions begin between democratic and 
federal parties. Nash, democrat. 

1813. Votes for Representative 235. Jacob Hill, Esq., 
(Fed.) had 138. 

1814. April 4. At town meeting, Jacob Hill, Esq., was 
chosen town agent. " Voted to choose a committee to go to 

VOL. II. 11 



122 ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, 

Dr. Snell, (then living at Winthrop,) for advice for the dis- 
order, (typhus fever,) increasing in the town." 

May 2d. Votes for representative, Jacob Hill, (Fed.) had 
126. Charles Moody, (Dem.) 120. 

Godfrey Grosvenor removed from New Gloucester to 
Minot. 

June. Wm. Ladd removed from Portsmouth, N. H., to 
Minot. 

About this time, many influential men changed their poli- 
tics from democratic to federal. 

July 4. An oration at the centre meeting house by Wm. 
Ladd, and a public dinner in a grove near Marshall Wash- 
burn's. 

1815. Votes for representative, Godfrey Grosvenor, (Fed.) 
123, Charles Moody, (Dem.) 79. 

July 8. Remarkably cold weather for three weeks. 
Aug. 22. A frost in the low ground. 

1816. April 24. Jesse Rice, Esq,, 2d. deacon of the first 
church, died. 

May 6. Deacon John Staples Craft, 3d. deacon of the first 
church, died. 

1816. This year the town sent two Representatives. 
First choice, 

Wm. Ladd, (Fed.) had 120 votes. 
Charles Moody, (Dem.) had 59 votes. 
Second choice, 

Seth Chandler, (Fed.) had 128 votes. 
Charles Moody, (Dem.) had 60 votes. 
May 20. The town voted on the question of the separa- 
tion of Maine from Massachusetts, ayes, 89, noes, 108. 

These two or three years have since been known by the 
name of the " cold seasons." 

August. An attempt at a reconciliation of the churches, 
was made by the second church, which failed. 

Sept. 16. Chose Godfrey Grosvenor and Wm. Ladd to 
attend the convention at Brunswick to form a constitution, 
if there should be five-ninths of the votes of Maine in favor 
of a separation. 



POLAND AND MINOT. 123 

1817. Feb. 14. Remarkably cold night. 
March 18. Remarkably great snow storm. 

Votes for representative, 124. Dr. Keith, (Fed.) had 69, and 
was chosen. The democratic party voted for him, in oppo- 
sition to Win. Ladd, having no candidate of their own party. 

April 22d. The church met, and after a conversation with 
Mr. Pidgin, voted to call a council for advice, leaving the 
nomination of the whole council with him. 

The council met May 19, and resulted in the suspension 
of Mr. Pidgin for six months. 

1818. This year it was voted not to send a representa- 
tive to the General Court. 

July 30th. Samuel Pool was chosen second deacon of the 
first church. 

Oct. 1st. The first frost this season. 

1819. Votes for representative 189 ; Elder George Ricker, 
(Dem.) Baptist minister, had 98 votes. The parish difficul- 
ties prevented a choice by the Federalists. 

July 26. The town voted on the question of a separation 
of Maine from Massachusetts, ayes. 100, noes 95. 

Chose Chandler Freeman, (Fed.) and Asaph Howard 
(Dem,,) delegates to a convention for forming a constitution 
for the State of Maine. No opposition. 

Aug. 4. The second church voted to dismiss Mr. Pidgin 
without a recommendation, 

Aug. 15. Sunday Mr. Pidgin preached his farewell ser- 
mon to his friends. 

1819. Oct. 13th. First frost this year. 

Oct. 15th. The Rev, Jonathan Scott died, aged 75 years 
and 3 d ays, in the 51st year of his ministry. The Rev. Mr. 
Thurston, of Winthrop, preached his funeral sermon. 

Nov. 9. A snow storm. 

Dec. 5. The second church met and sent a communica- 
tion to the first church, on the subject of an union. 

Dec. 6. The town voted to accept the new constitution 
for the State of Maine, ayes 57. noes, 13. 

Dec, 13. At a meeting of the first church, Deacon Chan- 
dler Freeman was chosen moderator, and Amos Hersey 



124 ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, 

scribe ; chose a committee to confer with the second church, 
as to appointing a day of fasting and prayer. 

Dec. 23. The second church chose a committee to meet 
the committee of the first church. 

1820. Jan. 13. The two churches met together at the 
house of Zebulon Davis, and spent the day in religious ex- 
ercises and mutual confession of faults. 

April 3d. Asaph Howard, (Dem.) chosen representative 
to new General Court [the first Legislature], to meet at 
Portland, and to continue for the next year, commencing in 
January. The representatives are hereafter chosen in Sep- 
tember to serve the next year. 

May 26. A remarkable snow storm, apple trees in blos- 
som, sleighs out. 

Aug. 15. The two churches met for religious exercises at 
the house of Zebulon Davis. 

Rev. Mr. Simson preaching about this time. 

Aug. 24. A fast on account of the extraordinary drought. 

Oct. 9. First hard frost this year. 

Nov. 3d. Snow storm. 

1821. Votes for representative, 285 ; Godfrey Grosvenor, 
(Fed.) had 155. 

Sept. The Rev. Mr. Jones having been invited, arrived 
and preached as a candidate. 

Sept. 27. At a regular church meeting, held at the centre 
meeting house, it was resolved unanimously, that it is expe- 
dient that the two congregational churches in this town be 
united in one. 

Chose a committee to meet a committee of the first church, 
to revise the articles of faith and the covenants, and to draft 
new ones. 

Oct. 18th. At a meeting of the two churches, present 
the Rev. Eli.,.Ja Jones, Voted, to accept the articles of 
faith and the covenant submitted to the churches by the 
committee appointed for that purpose, 

Thus the churches were united under the name of the 
" United Congregational Church," after a painful separation 
of fifteen years. 



POLAND AND MINOT. 125 

1822. Jan. 1. The United Congregational Society, con- 
sisting of one hundred members, formed into a full parish, 
according to law, united with the church in giving the Rev. 
Mr. Jones a call to settle in the ministry, with but one dis- 
senting voice, for $300 per year, without a parsonage. This 
was declined by Mr. Jones for want of a parsonage. 

Deacon Bradbury died in his sleigh on returning from 
meeting. 

Willard H. Woodbury, (Dem.) chosen representative by 
one or two majority. 

In the course of the summer an attempt was made to 
build a parsonage, by subscription, which failed. 

Wm. Ladd offered a small parsonage and other privile- 
ges, and on this condition Mr. Jones accepted the call. 

1823. Jan. L.The United Congregational Church and 
Society gave a second call to the Rev. Elijah Jones, having 
abolished the poll parish, and begun on a new plan of sub- 
scription for five years, and chose a committee of arrange- 
ments for the ordination. 

About this time the Rev. Elijah Jones signified his con- 
sent to the call. 

1823. Feb. 12. The Rev. Elijah Jones ordained over the 
United Congregational Church Society, worshipping at the 
centre and the east meeting house in Minot. The ordina- 
tion took place at the east meeting house, and the council 
were entertained at Major Pollard's. 

COUNCIL. 

Churches. Pastors. Delegates. 

New Gloucester, Elisha Mosely, Dr. Isaac Parsons. 
Winthrop, David Thurston, Br. Jonas Stephens. 

Pownal, Perez Chapin, Dr. Simeon Jones. 

Sumner, Samuel Sewall, ' Br. James Hersey 

Otisfield, Josiah G. Merrill, Br. Moses Allen. 

Paris and Norway, Joseph Walker, { 
Turner, Allen Greely, 

11* 



126 ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, 

Together with the Rev. John Smith, Professor in the 
Theological Seminary at Bangor. 

Rev. ELISIIA MOSELEY, Moderator, 
ALLEN GREELY, Scribe, 
PROF. SMITH, Preacher. 

1823. April 10th. A great snow storm. 

May 4th. The " United Church" held its first communion. 
The confession of faith was publicly read, and then all the 
members present rose and renewed covenants. 
Members residing in town, males, 15, females, 22 total 37 
Members residing out of town, males, 6 " 7 " 13 

21 29 50 

May 31. Chandler Freeman drowned while washing 
sheep. 

W. Woodbury, (Dem.) chosen representative by a great 
majority. 

Sept. 22d. Frost. 

Considerable attention to religion ; 23 members received 
into the United Congregational Church before the end of the 
year. 

1824. Willard H. Woodbury, (Dem,) chosen represen- 
tative. 

Nov. 13th. Good sleighing. 

Seventeen members received into the United Congrega- 
ional Church this year. 

Dec, 25th. The first address before the Minot Peace So- 
ciety, at the centre meeting house, by Jacob Hill, Esq., 
printed. 

1825. Statistics of Minot this year. 

School Houses, 20 

Grist Mills, 6 

Fulling Mills, 2 

Bark Mills and Tanneries, 3 

Carding Machines, - 2 

Number of Inhabitants (by census of 1820,) 2,525 

Number of families, ... 402 



POLAND AND MINOT. 127 

Social Libraries, 

Number of acres of land, - 34,760 

Meeting-houses, 

Post Offices, 4 

One Congregational Society, Rev. Elijah Jones. 
One Baptist Society, Elder G. Ricker. 
One Methodist do. Rev. Moses Emery. 
One other Congregationalist, partly in Hebron, destitute. 
One other Baptist, partly in Hebron, Elder G. Tripp. 
One or two Free- Will Baptists. 

One Tract Society, one Missionary Society, congregational. 
One do. Baptist, two associations auxiliary. 

Two Foreign Missions, one Sabbath School Society. 
One lodge of Free Masons, one lawyer, three ministers. 
Four physicians, and four or five men of liberal education. 
Three tavern keepers, about ten shop keepers. 
May 5th. A violent snow storm. 
Votes for Representative, 

Willard H. Woodbury. (Dem.) 94 
Jacob Hill, (Fed.) 93 

Seventeen members received into the United Congrega- 
tional Church this year. 

Dec. 21. Second anniversary of the Minot Peace Society. 
Address at the east meeting house by Simeon Perkins, A. M. 
printed. 

1826. May 15th. Heat at 90 at 5 P. M. 
June 14. The Cumberland Conference of Churches held 
its meeting in the centre meeting house. The sacrament 
of the Lord's Supper was administered ; 64 persons were 
received into the church. About 600 communicants set 
down to the Lord's table ; about 1500 attended the meeting ; 
a collection of $ 118 93-100 was taken up. The day was 
uncommonly fine, and the meeting extremely interesting, 
and a day long to be remembered by many. 

Dec. 25. Address before the Minot Peace Society at the 
centre meeting house, it being tbe 3d anniversary, by E. 
Little. 

Votes for Representative, 297. 
W. H. Woodbury, (Dem.) had 163. 



128 ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, 

102 persons received into the United Congregational 
Church this year. 

1827. June 4th. Mr. Samuel Shaw, one of the first set- 
tlers in the town, died, aged 79. 

June 23d, 1827. Universalist society formed. 
Votes for representative. 

Charles Moody, (Dem.) 99. 

Godfrey Grosvenor, (Fed.) 53. 

Daniel Briggs, (Do.) 11. 

Address before the Minot Peace Society, by Doctor Jesse 
Mighels. 

Six persons received into the U. C. Church this year. 

1828. April 7th. At a meeting of the United C. Church, 
it was voted, that the Rev. E. Jones, Wm. Ladd and 

be a committee to draw up some resolutions on the subject 
of temperance, and lay them before the next church meeting. 

June 2d. Passed 5 resolutions on the subject of tem- 
perance. 

New party divisions have taken place in politics. 

Votes for representatives, 471. 

Benj. Johnson, (Adams' party,) 257. 
Charles Moody, (Jackson party,) 209. 
Scattering, 5. 

Nov. 5th. Address before the Minot Peace Society, by 
Rev. E. Jones. 

Dec. 1st. Josiah Little, Esq., chosen deacon in the place 
of Chandler Freeman, resigned on account of age. 

Dec. 9th. Ground open and ploughing done. 

Six persons received into the United C. Church this year, 

1829. Votes for representative, 
Benjamin Johnson, (Adams,) 235 

, Willard H. Woodbury, (Jackson,) 209 
Scattering, 2 

Whole number of votes, 446 

Two persons received into the church this year. 
Address before the Minot Peace Society, by Wm. Ladd. 



POLAND AND MINOT. 129 

1830. Votes for representative, 
Elder George Ricker, (Adams,) 241 
W. H. Woodbury, (Jackson,) 225 
Scattering, 6 

Whole number, 472 

Four persons received into the church this year. 

Valuation of 1830. 

Taxable Polls, 494 

Inhabitants, 2908 

Paupers supported by the town, 25 

Expense of their support, $530,07 

Dwelling houses, 392 

Barns, 424 

Stores for sale of merchandize, 8 

Tanneries, 3 

Work-shops and out-buildings over $20 value, 169 

School districts and school houses, 4 22 

Grist mills, 6 

Saw mills, 9 

Clapboard machine, 1 

Shingle machines, 5 

Sugar box machine, 1 

Clothing mills, 2 

Acres of tillage land, 1211 

Tons of upland hay cut, 2652 

Acres of pasturage, 4061 

Barrels of cider made, 892 

Horses and colts, 477 

Horned stock of all ages, over 1 year, 2802 

Sheep, native, 1 year old, 2023 

Do. Merino and mixed, 1 year old, 4663 
Meeting houses, 4. Church members, U. C., above 200 

There h& been another Universalist society formed since 

the first. The number of Universalist male members is 

said to be about 80, probably including individuals out of 



130 ANNALS OF BAKERSTOWN, &c. 

town. There is no regular Universalist preaching. There 
are about 85 Members of the Methodist church. 

There are a number of Free- Will baptists. 

No Quakers, or Roman Catholics, no professed infidels. 

The town of Minot has two ponds in it, which nearly 
separate the town into two parts, there being but a narrow 
isthmus between them ; Wilson pond is three miles long 
and about two wide, and Taylor pond two miles long and 
one mile wide. Lewiston falls are partly in the town, which 
is bounded on the east by the Great Androscoggin river, 
and for a great part of the way by the Little Androscoggin. 
On both rivers, but particularly on the last, are many mill 
sites. Salmon were common at Lewiston falls before the 
dam was built below, but there are none now. The town 
is hilly, but not mountainous, the rocks chiefly granite. 
Garnets and chrystallized quartz are common. One speci- 
men of emerald ore has been found, hexagon, 5 inches 
long, 4 wide, semi-transparent. 

Occupation of the inhabitants, chiefly agriculture, next 
lumbering, manufacturing and mechanical trades. Fenc- 
ing, 1st, hedge fence, so called, being trees felled in the 
direction in which the fence is wanted ; 3d, log fence, i& 
which the limbs of the trees are cut off, and the logs laid 
regularly three or four high ; 3d, post and rail fence ; 4th, half 
wall, with two or three rails above ; 5th, stone wall. There 
is but little Virginia fence, or hitch pole, or board and stakes. 
Lumber, 1st, pine boards and plank ; 2d, clapboards and 
shingles, both split and sawed ; 3d, oak and other hard 
wood plank ; 4th, sugar boxes for the Havana market ; 
5th, shocks and staves. 

Manufactures are of chairs and other furniture, leather 
and various works in leather, such as shoes, saddles, har- 
ness, &c., wagons, ploughs, hats, Leghorn straw and chip 
hats and bonnets, blacksmith's work, domestic work in 
wool, flax and cotton. Portland is the nearest market town. 



THE 

NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS 

BY 

CHARLES COFFIN, ESQ. 



To THE SECRETARY OF THE MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY I 

SIR- 
HAVING recently perused a letter from J. Farmer of Am- 
herst, N. H. to the Rev. Dr. Holmes, on the seven Narra- 
gansett townships, published in the 2d. Vol., third series, of 
the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 
I am led to believe, from so good a beginning, that mate- 
rials for a full and correct history of these townships may 
hereafter be obtained. 

Mr. Farmer is clear and satisfactory as to the time and 
manner of these grants, and to whom granted ; but as to 
the location and present names of these townships, he is 
more at a loss, especially as relates to those situated in 
Maine. 

Being a native of one of the two of these townships 
which are situated in Maine, I feel disposed that Mr. Far- 
mer should have the benefit of my local knowledge, as ty 
the situation of these two townships, and thereby be induced 
to revise his communication to Dr. Holmes, and let the 
public have the benefit of it. As Mr. Farmer has omitted 
publishing an account of the memorable event which oc- 
casioned these grants, it is here given in the language of 
Cotton Mather. " The Commissioners of the United Colonies 
having manifest and manifold proofs, that the great nation 
of the Narragansett Indians, with whom the rest were now 



132 NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 

harbored, had not only broken their articles of peace with 
the English in divers instances, but were also plotting to 
begin a war against them in the spring, when they should 
have the leaves of the trees to befriend them, took a gene- 
ral resolution, in the depth of winter, to make a vigorous 
expedition against them. Accordingly an army, at first 
consisting of a thousand, and afterwards of fifteen hundred 
men, under the conduct of the truly honorable Josiah Wins- 
low, Esqr., marched into the Narragansett country, where 
they no sooner arrived on Dec. 12, (1675) but about forty 
Indians fell into their hands ; among whom was a fellow 
named Peter, who having received some disgust from his 
countrymen, proved so faithful and useful a guide unto our 
forces, that they afterwards found that they could not well 
have lived without him. Several mischiefs were done by 
the Indians whilst our army were here waiting for their 
brethren from Connecticut, especially their surprisal of a 
remote garrison belonging to one Bull, where about fourteen 
persons were baited to death by the terrible dogs. 

But the Connecticut forces being also arrived on Dec. 18, 
they presently marched away by break of day the next 
morning, through cold and snow, and very amazing diffi- 
culties, enough to have damped any ordinary fortitude, for 
eighteen miles together. The Indians had a fort raised 
upon an island of about five or six acres, in the midst of a 
horrid swamp, which fort, besides its palisadoes, had a kind 
of wall or hedge, about a rod thick, encompassing it. 

The entrance of this fort was upon a long tree over the 
water, where but one man could pass at a time, and this 
was waylaid after such a manner, that if our men had 
attempted that passage, they must have perished. 

Only by the help of Peter they discovered a vulnerable 
heel, as I may call it, yet left in the fort at one corner, 
where there was a gap supplied only with long trees about 
four or five feet from the ground, over which the men might 
force their way ; though against this they had built a block 
house, from whence a bloody storm of bullets, (and enough 
to make every man like the poor man in the twelve signs 



NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 133 

of the almanack) was to be expected by them that should 
make their approaches there. Our men came up to the 
swamp, from whence the Indians began to fire upon 'em. 
They advanced into that part of the fort which was the 
most accessible : now having of nothing but mors certa, aut 
victoria l&ta, in their eye. 

Brave Captain Mosely and Captain Davenport led the 
van ; Captain Gardner and Captain Johnson were in the 
centre, Major Appleton and Captain Oliver brought up the 
rear of the Massachusetts forces, General Winslow with 
Plymouth forces, under Major Bradford and Captain Goram, 
marched in the centre, and Connecticut forces, under Major 
Treat and Captain Siely, Captain Gallop, Captain Mason, 
Captain Watts, and Captain Marshall, made up the rear of 
the whole body. 

Nothing in the world could be more magnanimous than 
the spirit which now carried on both leaders and soldiers, 
in the enterprise now before them ; they leaped over the trees 
of death, into the spot of ground where death in all its terrors 
was to be encountered ; the fall of the valiant leaders, no 
less than six of them, namely, Davenport, Gardiner, John- 
son, Gallop, Siely and Marshall, did but add fire to the rage 
of the soldiers ; they beat the enemy from one shelter to 
another, till they had utterly driven them out of all their 
sconces ; at last they set fire to the fort, from whence the 
surviving Indians fled into a vast cedar swamp at some 
distance off. 

I wish I could particularly give an immortal memory to 
all the brave men that signalized themselves in this action. 
No less than seven hundred fighting Indians were destroyed, 
as it was afterwards confessed, in this desperate action ; be- 
sides three hundred which afterwards died of their wounds, 
and old men, women and children, sans numbe .* ; but of the 
English about eighty-five were slain, and an hundred and 
fifty wounded. 

Had the assault been deferred one day longer, there fell 
such a storm of snow, that for divers weeks it must have 
been impracticable, and at the end of those weeks, there 

Vox* II. 12 



134 NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 

came so violent and unusual a thaw, that by making 
the way to the fort impassable, it would have rendered it 
still more impracticable. But now was the time for this 
work ; and the work being so far accomplished, our forces 
retreating after daylight was almost spent, found it necessary 
to go back, with many wounded, and more weary men, unto 
their head quarters, near eighteen miles off, in a dismal 
night, through hardships that an whole age would hardly 
parallel ; which if the remaining enemies had known, they 
might have cut off all our enfeebled and bewildered army. 

However such a blow was now given to the enemy, as 
never could be recovered ! and our forces having in some 
following weeks made now and then some happy gleanings 
of their late victory, until the enemy was gone, they knew 
not whither, they returned unto their several homes until 
the next occasion." 

The Narragansett country was situated in what is now 
the southwest part of Rhode Island, and northeast part of 
Connecticut ; Groton and Stonington, in Connecticut, and 
Westerly and Charlestown in Rhode Island, are some of the 
towns in that country. 

Gen. Winslow's head quarters were in the present town 
of Swansey, not far from Taunton, eighteen miles distant 
from the place of action. The number of fighting Indians 
opposed to Winslow, was three thousand five hundred. 
They once drove him from their fort, but by the great exer- 
tions of Winslow, Appleton, Treat and Bradford, it was re- 
gained; when the Indians retreated, but not till their am- 
munition was expended, The troops under Winslow must 
have suffered greatly, not only in killed and wounded, but 
from the severity of the weather, and a march of thirty-six 
miles, and an action of three hours' continuance, all in the 
space of about twenty-four hours, for they left their camp 
on the morning of the 19th of December, 1675, and returned 
to it on the morning of the 20th. 

The following is Mr. Farmer's account of the grant of the 
Narragansett townships to those who were engaged in the 
above action, or their legal representatives. 



NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 135 

" Having lately examined some original records and 
manuscripts, which relate to the Narragansett townships, 
granted by the General Court of Massachusetts in 1728 and 
1733, I conceived that a communication respecting them 
might be proper for your collections. The history of the 
grants of these townships has been illustrated by no histo- 
rians whom I have consulted. The only information I find 
concerning them, is given by Douglass, in his Summary, and 
Hutchinson, in his history of Massachusetts. The former* 
in a note to page 424, vol. I. says, nine townships were vo- 
ted, but only seven granted to the descendants of the Narra- 
gansett or Pequod soldiers, 1637, called Narragansett 
townships."'* 

Hutchinson, (vol. 2, page 299,) in speaking of the grants 
made about that period, 1727, observes, "the government, 
under the old charter and the new, had been very prudent 
in the distribution of the territory. 

" But all on a sudden, plans are laid for grants of vast 
tracts of unimproved land, and the last session of Mr. Dum- 
mer's administration, a vote passed the two houses appoint- 
ing a committee to lay out three lines of towns, &c. Pre- 
tences were encouraged and even sought after, to entitle 
persons to become grantees. The posterity of all the 
officers and soldiers who served in the famous Narragan- 
sett expedition, in 1675, were the first pitched upon, those 
who were in the unfortunate attempt upon Canada, in 
1690, were to come next."f 

It w r ill be my object to give a brief view of the Narragan- 
sett grants, a short account of the several townships, and 



* Dr. Douglass confounds the Narragansett with the Pequod war. The Pequod 
\rar occurred, as he states, in 1637. The Narragansett war did not occur till 1675. 

t" Nine townships were granted to the heirs of the militia or soldiers who 
went against Canada, 1690, and were called Canada townships. A parcel of 
these townships, the furthest up in the country, run west, 5 and a half degrees 
south, across from Merritnac river 35 miles to Connecticut river, as a barrier 
against the Indians ; they are called the double line of towns, whereof Nos. 3, 
8 and 9 are very mountainous, rocky and stony, not capable of settlement ; No. 
4 and 7 are the best lands." Douglass. Ibid. 



136 NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 

the names of the towns to which they were respectively 
assigned. In doing this I shall avail myself of the infor- 
mation contained in the records and manuscripts referred 
to, and such other sources as are within my reach. 

In June, 1728, the General Court of Massachusetts ap- 
pointed a committee* to lay out two tracts of land for 
townships, each of the contents of six miles square, in some 
of the unappropriated lands of the Province. These tracts 
of land were granted to the officers and soldiers, (or their 
legal representatives,) belonging to Massachusetts, who 
were in the service of their country in the Narragansett 
war, as a reward for their services, and in full satisfaction 
of the grant formerly made them by the Court. 

Public notice was to be given in the News Letters, and 
advertisements w r ere to be posted up in every town in the 
Province, notifying the survivors, and legal representatives 
of those who had deceased, to send a list of their names 
and descents to the Court, before the next fall session. 

The Court appointed a committee to examine the claims 
laid before them, of rights in the two tracts of land granted 
to the officers and soldiers who were in the Narragansett 
fight, who reported that the said tracts of land be granted 
to the persons contained in a list, which was probably sub- 
mitted with their report. They also report, that the grant- 
ees meet at Boston, if the small pox be not there, if it be, 
then at Cambridge, on the first Wednesday then succeeding. 
The report was accepted, 19th December, 1729. 

The grantees accordingly met at Cambridge, but the 
Court having revoked their former order, the meeting was 
dissolved without transacting any business of importance. 

A committee, however, was chosen to petition the Gene- 
ral Court for the further grant of land, " so that every 
sixty claimers might have a township of six miles square." 
In June, 1733, in answer to several petitions, an additional 
grant of five townships was voted by the House, and a com- 



*"John Chandler, Edward Shaw, Thomas Tilestone, John Hobson, and 
Samuel Chandler." 



NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 137 

mittee of five persons appointed to survey and locate them 
in some of the unappropriated lands of the Province. The 
conditions of this grant were, that the grantees should as- 
semble within two months, and regulate each propriety or 
township, which was to be holden and enjoyed by one hun- 
dred and twenty grantees, that they should settle sixty 
families, at least, in every township, and a learned, orthodox 
minister within seven years. 

It therefore appears that the whole number of grantees, 
to whom the seven townships were assigned, amounted to 
eight hundred and forty. The grant of the five townships 
did not immediately receive the approbation of the Gover- 
nor. The act passed the House, 30th June, 1732, and did 
not receive the signature of the Governor till the 26th of 
April, the year following. The grantees, it appears, were 
incessant in their applications, and indefatigable in their 
exertions to secure the last mentioned grant. They even 
appointed a person* to use his interest with the Governor, 
to induce him " to sign the grant." 

How far the influence of this person prevailed with the 
Governor, it is difficult to determine. From the papers 
which I have inspected, it seems that considerable difficulty 
arose from the number of descendants, who presented their 
claims for the right of the same ancestor. In order to remedy 
this evil, the court ordered, that where the person who had 
been in the service had deceased, the grant should belong to 
his legal representatives in the following manner: "that 
the eldest male heir, if such there might be, otherwise the 
eldest female, if they pleased, should hold the land by paying 
to the other heirs or descendants such proportionable parts 
of ten pounds, (which was judged to be the value of a right, 
or single share,) as such descendant would be entitled to, 
provided the said lands had descended according to the law 
of the province for the settlement of intestate estates. 

After a number of meetings of the committee of the Nar- 
ragansett grantees, the grantees themselves assembled on 

* Mr. Samuel Welles, of Boston. 
12* 



138 NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 

Boston common and formed seven distinct societies, each 
society consisting of one hundred and twenty grantees, and 
entitled to one township. 

Three persons from each society were chosen a commit- 
tee, who met at Luke Verdey's, in Boston, 17th October, 
1733, and assigned the seven townships as follows: 

NARRAGANSETT No. I. 

The tract of land constituting this township and Narra- 
gansett No. 7, was between and running from Saco 
river to the Presumpscot, beginning at the north-west part 
of Biddeford, that part of Biddeford which is now Saco, and 
running on the head of Saco, Scarborough, and Westbrook 
to the Presumpscot. No. 1, is now Buxton, and No. 7, 
Gorham. 

No. 1, was assigned to Philemon Dane of Ipswich, and 
one hundred and nineteen others, belonging to the towns 
of Ipswich, Rowley, Newbury, Haverhill, Salisbury, Ames- 
bury, Methuen, Hampton, Greenland, and Berwick. The 
committee were Philemon Dane and John Gaines of 
Ipswich, and Col. Joseph Gerrish of Newbury. It was 
reported as surveyed in February 1734, and the report 
accepted. The first meeting of the Proprietors of this 
township was held at Newbury-Falls, when John Hobson, 
Esq., of Rowley, was chosen clerk, who, with the following 
gentlemen, were elected to that office till the Proprietors 
ceased to act as a body, namely, Col. Joseph Coffin, of 
Newbury, Col. Tristram Jordan, of Saco, Deacon Thomas 
Bradbury and the Hon. John Woodman, of Buxton. 

Buxton is situated in the County of York, and bounded 
on the west by Saco river, which divides it from the town 
of Hollis, on the south ; east and north by the towns of 
Saco, Scarborough, Gorham and Standish. A settlement 
in this township was commenced previous to the year 1744, 
by Deacon Amos Chase from Newbury, late of Saco, Joseph 
JSimpson, Nathan Whitney, and Messrs. Gage and Bryant. 

They erected for themselves log houses and a log meeting 



NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 139 

house. How long they continued in the town is uncertain, 
but they all removed from it at the commencement of the 
Cape Breton war in 1744 or 1745. 

In the fall of the year 1750, the first permanent settle- 
ment was commenced, and William Hancock, John Elden, 
Samuel Merrill, Timothy Hazletine, Job Roberts, John 
Wilson, Joseph and Joshua Woodman, with their families, 
moved into the town. 

Mr. Hancock was from Londonderry, Ireland; he first 
went to Portsmouth, N. H., thence to Buxton. He settled on 
the right of the road leading from the Congregational meet- 
ing-house to Salmon-Falls. He was a respectable man, died 
in the meridian of life ; and his descendants are now in the 
town. He took the first newspaper that came into the 
town, which was printed in Portsmouth, N. H. Samuel 
Merrill was from Salisbury, Mass., of respectable family 
connexions, was frequently a selectman of the town and a 
Lieut, at the battle of Bunker's Hill, in the company com- 
manded by Jeremiah Hill, Esq., of Biddeford, the late col- 
lector of the Port of Biddeford and Saco. He settled 
within a quarter of a mile of the Salmon Falls, on the road 
leading to Saco, which was then and long afterwards 
known by the name of the " eight rod road." His descend- 
ants are numerous and respectable in the town. He died 
in 1822, aged 93 years. Timothy Hazelton was from 
Bradford, Mass., and settled within a few rods of the meet- 
ing house. As deacon of the church from its first organi- 
zation in 1763. till his death, he was desirous to have it 
believed, that he had more spiritual discernment than his 
minister ; and in this he resembled many who have held 
this good office. He died at the age of about 70 years. 

John Elden and Job Roberts were both from Saco, and 
settled near and on the same road with Mr. Merrill. They 
both lived to old age. 

John Elden was an active and enterprising man, com- 
manded a company at the siege of Boston with repu- 
tation. His descendants are numerous in the town, 
have been handsomely noticed by their fellow-towns- 



140 NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 

men from its first settlement. Joseph and Joshua Woodman 
were brothers from Newbury, Mass. They settled below 
the Salmon Falls, near to Pleasant Point. They were both 
leading men among the first settlers, and both lived to old 
age. John Wilson continued but a short time in the town, 
and not much is known of him, only that he settled on the 
Beach Plain Road, near where the late Jacob Bradbury, 
Esq., resided, and on the direct road from the meeting house 
to Saco. 

The first settlers established themselves in the lower 
part of the town, not because the soil was more productive, 
but probably Saco was then their only market, and because 
it placed them in the vicinity and under the protection of 
the Fort or block house, situated on the river, in the town 
of Hollis, two miles below Salmon Falls ; for many years 
commanded by Captain Thomas Bradbury. The soil of 
Buxton is equal to that of any town in the county of York, 
and superior to most of them ; and so far as I am acquaint- 
ed, few towns in the state have better soil for tillage, 
mowing and pasturage than this town and the town of 
Gorham in the county of Cumberland, which is No. 7. 
Saco river runs more than ten miles on the west side of 
this town, and affords excellent privileges for factories and 
mill seats, at Union Falls, Salmon Falls, the Bar and Mode- 
ration Falls, on the Saco, and several smaller streams 
running through the town. 

There are sixteen saws in Buxton on the Saco, which 
manufacture 160,000,000 feet of lumber a year; two 
fulling mills, four carding machines and four grist mills. 
The first saw mill erected in the town, which did any busi- 
ness, was on Little river, where Major Samuel Hill now 
has a grist mill, on the post road leading from Gorham to 
Elden's Corner in Buxton, which was as early as the year 
1760. Little river rises in Buxton within two miles of Saco 
river, and runs through the most hilly parts of Buxton and 
Gorham to the Presumpscot. This to a person passing 
through these towns for the first time, would appear like 
water running up hill. This river affords a number of mill 



NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 141 

seats in both these towns. In March 1831, "The Pleasant 
Point Manufacturing Company'' was incorporated, for the 
purpose of manufacturing cotton, wool, iron and steel, in 
the towns of Buxton and Hollis, with the right to hold 
$600,000 for the above purposes. Gentlemen from Boston 
principally hold this privilege and compose this company. 
Some progress has been made in erecting darns, &c. 

Buxton was a Plantation till July 1772, and known by 
the name of Narragansett No. 1., when it was incorporated 
into a town by its present name, from Buxton in England. 
There is only one pond in the town, called Bonny Eagle 
Pond, near Standish line, in the north part of the town ; 
from which issues a stream, running into the Saco, of suffi- 
cient size to carry a grist mill, on which one is erected, 
called the Bog Mill. 

It is a singular fact, that when this town was granted 
and assigned, more than one half of those to whom it was 
assigned, and who were in the Narragansett Fight fifty- 
eight years before, were living. There are at this time 
the descendants of only two of the original grantees residing 
in the town, Appleton from Ipswich, and Hobson from 
Rowley. Both of these names have been and now are 
among the most respectable citizens of the town. Rebecca 
Woodman, daughter of Capt. Joseph Woodman, now the 
widow Atkinson, was the first child born in the town, in 
the year 1751, now alive, aged 80 years. From the year 
1750 to 1763, the settlers were generally supplied with 
preaching at the expense of the Proprietors. The Rev. 
Joshua Tufts continued with them two years as their reli- 
gious teacher. After him a Mr. Thompson, and early in 
the year 1761, the late Rev. Dr. Paul Coffin commenced 
preaching to the settlers, and was ordained March 16th, 
1763. The only clergymen present on this occasion, were 
Messrs Little and Hemmenway of Wells, and Morrill and 
Fairfield of Biddeford. Others were invited but were pre- 
vented from attending by the unusual depth of snow on the 
ground. Those who did attend travelled on snow-shoes. 
Messrs. Little and Hemmenway with their delegates and 



142 NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 

other gentlemen, in attempting to travel in the directest 
course from Kennebunk, through what is now Lyman and 
Hollis, to the Block house at Union Falls, passed so far to 
the left of the direct course, as to prevent their reaching 
Saco river the first day. They remained one night in the 
woods, and suffered considerable inconvenience from the 
want of food, and the inclemency of the weather.* On 
this occasion, Mr. Little, a brother-in-law of the pastor 
elect, preached, Mr. Morrill gave the charge, and Mr. 
afterwards Dr. Hemmenway gave the right hand of fellow- 
ship. Mr. Coffin was supported by the Proprietors of the 
township, till the same was incorporated as a town in 1772. 
He continued the religious teacher of this people from his 
first coming among them more than sixty years. He died 
June 6, 1821, aged 84. He was a sound scholar and learn- 
ed divine, and possessed that simplicity yet dignity of man- 
ners and kindness of heart, which secured to him the love 
and respect of all that knew him. 

The Rev. Levi Loring is his successor in the ministry. 
There are organized Societies of Baptists and Methodists 
in the town. 

The first Schoolmaster employed by the settlers was the 
late Rev. Silas Moody of Kennebunk-Port, who commenced 
his school in the winter 1761-2. Those who received the 
benefit of his instruction, have uniformly borne the highest 
testimony to his ability and fidelity as a teacher ; and con- 
sidered it sufficient praise to bestow on the most eminent 
of his successors, that he was next to Parson Moody. In 
after life, as a clergyman, his purity of life and integrity of 



* This was a remarkable winter for the depth of snow. The Rev. Thomas 
Smith in his Journal observes: "Feb. 28th 1763. There is no path any where 
through the country farther than Siroudwater and up to Windham. Mr. Mars- 
ton was obliged to leave his horse at Hampton and come home -on snow-shoes. 
March 8th. Yesterday and to day we have had the coldest and longest storm 
this winter, there fell 19 inches, about as much as has been consumed. March 
I0f.h. I married Samuel Green and Jane Gustin ; they came on snow-shoes 
across the Cove, from Capt. Ilsley's to my home." 



NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 143 

intention have rarely been surpassed among his brethren 
in the ministry. 

The inhabitants of Buxton, although a frontier town 
during the French or seven years' war from 1754 to 1761, 
were never molested by the Indians. And were only once 
alarmed by the discovery of one or two Indians crossing in 
the path near the garrison, which was annexed to the house 
of Capt. Joseph Woodman. What number of Indians were 
in the neighborhood at this time, or what was their design 
or object, has never been known. This alarm, as was 
natural, brought all the inhabitants to the garrison, who 
were aided and assisted on this occasion by the coolness 
and decision of Lieut. Merrill. 

In the war of the revolution the people were all zealous 
whigs, or high sons of liberty, and supplied the continental 
army with more soldiers than any other town of its popu- 
lation in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, as has 
frequently been stated by a gentleman* who was either in 
the Legislature of Massachusetts or the Congress of the 
Confederation during the war. There were three Captains 
and two subaltern officers on the continental establishment 
from this town, beside a number of Militia officers who 
were occasionally called into service. 

In the year 1824, a small part of the upper section of the 
town, with ten families on the same, were annexed to the 
town of Standish. Except this alteration, the limits of the 
town remain the same as when first granted and assigned. 
Population in 1830, 2,856 k 

The five following townships, principally from Farmer, 
are inserted for the purpose of preserving the connection of 
the acount of all these townships. 

NARRAGANSETT No. II. 

" This township, it is said in the records, was situated at 
Wachuset. It adjoined Rutland, and was located soon after 

*Hori. Nathaniel Gorham, 



144 NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 

the grant of the two townships, in 1728. It was assigned 
to grantees belonging to Charlestown, Cambridge, Water- 
town, Weston, Sudbury, Newton, Medford, Maiden and 
Reading." It is now the town of Westminster, in the county 
of Worcester, Massachusetts. Population in 1830, 1695, 
MS. letter of Postmaster, Wesminster, Dec. 24, 1833. 

NARRAGANSETT No. III. 

" Narragansett No. 3, called also Souhegan West, was sit- 
uated on the north side of Souhegan river. It was assigned to 
inhabitants belonging to Salem, 29 ; Marblehead, 7 ; Lynn, 
27 ; Gloucester, 5 ; Andover, 9; Topsfield, 14 ; Beverly, 14 ; 
Wenham, 4 ; Boxford, 4 ; Bradford, 1 ; Scarborough, 1 ; Read- 
ing, 2 ; York, 1 ; Falmouth,2 ; and Chatham 1. Of the 120 
grantees to whom it was assigned, only nineteen who served 
in the Narragansett war, were living in 1733. The first 
meeting of the grantees after the assignment of the township 
was made, was held at Salem village, 17th July, 1734, when 
a committee was appointed 'to take a particular view 
of the circumstances of the township,' who ' were to have 
power to employ a surveyor, and such pilots as might be 
necessary.' 

" On the 2d of September, the Society met to receive the 
report of their committee, who having been disappointed 
in the choice of a surveyor made no report. They how- 
ever declared verbally that they had been on the land, 
and found it well timbered. The proprietors at the same 
time voted that the township should be subdivided, as 
soon as may be, that the committee for that purpose should 
lay out to each proprietor for the first or home lot, sixty 
acres, and what was wanting in quality, be made up In 
quantity. This probably may serve as a specimen of the 
proceedings of the other Societies." 

This township was incorporated in 1760, by the name of 
Amherst, and is now one of the seats of justice in the county 
of Hillsborough, State of New Hampshire. Population 
in 1830, 1,657. 



NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS, , 145 

NARRAGANSETT No. IV. 

"Narragansett No. 4, at Amokeag, was assigned to 
Northampton. Hadley, Suffield, Enfield, Deerfield, Worces- 
ter, Woodstock, Oxford, Brookfield, Killingly, Lebanon, 
Mansfield, Norwich, Pomfret, Windham, Bristol, Taunton, 
Swansey, Rehoboth, Little Compton, Dighton, Attleborough, 
Norton, Freetown, Barrington, Bridge water, Middleborough* 
Plympton, Kingston, Rochester, Pembroke, Marshfield, Ash- 
ford, Colchester, Haddam, Hebron, Wrentham, Bellingham, 
Horseneck, North Kingston : total, 41 towns. The number 
of the grantees to each of these towns, must, of course, have 
been very small." This township lay partly at a place called 
Quibban, and partly west of, and adjoining Hatfield, Mass. 
I have not been able to learn its precise situation, or its 
present name. 

NARRAGANSETT No. V. 

" This township was known by the name of Souhegan 
East. It was situated on Merrimac and Souhegan rivers, 
and embraced a tract of land now comprehending the 
township of Bedford, and part of Merrimac. The grantees 
to whom it was assigned, belonged to Boston, Roxbury, Dor- 
chester, Milton, Braintree, Weymouth, Hingham, Dedham, 
Stoughton, Brookline, Needham, Hull, Medfield, Scituate, 
Newport, New London, and Providence. The committee 
for the township were Col. Thomas Tileston, Jonathan 
Williams, and Joseph Ruggles. Merrimac, comprehending 
part of this township, was incorporated 2d April, 1746. 
Bedford was incorporated in 1750." 

Both these townships are situated in Hillsborough county, 
New Hampshire. Population of Merrimac in 1830, 1,191. 
Population of Bedford in 1830, 1,554* 

NARRAGANSE.TT No. VI. 

" Number 6, of the Narragansett townships, is said to have 
VOL. 11. 13 



146 NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS, 

been situated west of Pennecook and Sunkook. It Is now 
known by some other name. The towns to which this was 
assigned, were Concord, Groton, Marlborough, Chelmsford, 
Billerica, Lancaster, Lexington, Farmington, Stow, Little- 
ton, Shelburne, Stoneham, Southborough, and Woburn. The 
committee were Samuel Chandler, of Concord, Jacob 
Wright, of Woburn, and Colonel Benjamin Prescott, of 
Groton." Mr. Farmer must be mistaken in supposing this 
township to be situated in the neighborhood, or west of 
Pennecook and Sunkook, which are now the towns of Con- 
cord and Pembroke, on the Merrimac, in the State of New 
Hampshire. Narragansett No. 6, is now the town of Tem- 
pleton, in the county of Worcester, State of Massachusetts. 
Population in 1830, 1,551. 

NARRAGANSETT No. VII. 

This township is mentioned in Douglass' Summary as 
being situated near the river Presumpscot. It is reported 
as surveyed in Feb. 1734, and the report was accept- 
ed. The tract of land which constituted this township and 
Narragansett No. 1, was between and extending fromSaco 
river to the Presumpscot river, beginning at the northwest 
corner of Biddeford, now Saco, and running on the head of 
Saco, Scarborough, and Westbrook, to the Presumpscot. 

It was assigned to Col. Shubael Gorham, and 119 others, 
belonging to Barnstable, Yarmouth, Eastham, Sandwich, 
Plymouth, Tisbury, Abington, Duxbury, and one grantee 
from Scituate. The committee were Col. Shubael Gorham, 
Timothy White, and Robert Sanford. Gorham is situated 
in the county of Cumberland, and bounded on the north by 
Stand ish and Windham, east by Westbrook, south by Scar- 
borough, and west by Buxton. 

This township was incorporated in 1764, by the name of 
Gorham, from the name of one of the principal grantees. 
Previous to its incorporation as a town, it was known by 
the name of Gorhamtown. The township was settled in 
May, 1736, by Captain John Phinney. He settled at Fort 



NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 147 

Hill, one mile west of Gorham corner, the principal village 
in the town, and on the old roa$ from Gorham corner to 
Standish. In 1746, this town was attacked by the Indians, 
when four or five persons were killed, and two or three 
carried prisoners to Canada. In 1755, the Peale's and Bry- 
ant's family were killed. Except these instances, the town 
was never annoyed by the Indians. The general route of 
the Indians in their hostile expeditions against the settlers, 
was to the west or east of Gorham and Buxton. The Ossipee 
tribe, in their incursions, was west of these towns, as far as 
Cape Porpoise or Wells, and the Androscoggin tribe made 
their attacks to the eastward. 

In 1750, a congregational church was gathered in this 
town, and the Rev. Mr. Lombard ordained pastor over the 
same. In 1759, some difficulties arose between Mr. Lom- 
bard and the church and parish, and a Mr. Townsend became 
the minister to the disaffected. Mr. Townsend was intro- 
duced into the ministry by what is usually called lay ordi- 
nation. " Captain Phinney prayed before the charge, Cap- 
tain Morton gave it, and Mr. Townsend performed all the 
other services." 

Mr. Townsend continued but a few years in the ministry, 
being early removed by death. While he continued in the 
ministry he was respected for his piety, zeal and constant 
labors among his people. In 1764, Mr. Lombard was dis- 
missed from the ministry, and the church again united. In 
1767, the Rev. Josiah Thacher was ordained over this 
church and people, and in 1781 was dismissed. In 1783, 
the Rev. Caleb Jewett was ordained, and continued in the 
ministry about twenty years, till his death. Mr. Jewett 
was succeeded by the Rev. Jeremiah Noyes, who died in 
the ministry in three or four years from his ordination, and 
was succeeded by the Rev. Asa Rand, who was in about 
ten years dismissed from the ministry at his own request. 
Mr. Rand had a very respectable standing with his brethren 
in the ministry. He was a full believer in the divinity of 
our Savior, and with many he was considered a believer 
in the divinity of his own opinions. The Rev. Thaddeus 






148 NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 

Pomroy is the present and sole congregational minister in 
this town. Few religious societies in Maine are so numer- 
ous, wealthy and respectable, as the one in this town. Many 
and frequent difficulties arose between the ministers and 
people of this town within the first fifty years after a church 
was organized, as may be supposed from the frequent chan- 
ges of their ministers. 

The minister in Buxton was cotemporary with all the 
clergymen which have been named and settled in Gorham. 
The Presumpscot river divides this town from Windham, 
on which, at or near Horse Beef Falls, in Gorham, is situa- 
ted the Cumberland cotton factory, which carries 1800 spin- 
dles, employs 80 looms, 80 persons, and produces 8000 yards 
of sheeting and shirting a week. Above the cotton factory, 
on the same river, is a gunpowder factory in successful ope- 
ration. And still above this are the Gambo Falls, afford- 
ing good sites for mills and factories. Little River rises in 
Buxton, and runs through this town, on which are erected, 
within its limits, a saw, grist and fulling mills. 

Passing over this town, in any direction, the traveller 
finds no rugged mountains, or extensive barren plains, but 
occasionally ascends swells of land, from which the eye 
meets a winding stream, or a well cultivated farm. This 
town is eight miles from Portland, and lies on the great 
road leading from the upper parts of Vermont and New 
Hampshire to Portland. Capt. John Phinney, the first set- 
tler in the town, removed from Barnstable to that part of 
Falmouth now Portland, in the year 1729, where he contin- 
ued, and in that part of Falmouth called Presumpscot, till 
he removed to this town in 1736. His daughter, Mary Gor- 
ham, was the first child born in the place, August, 1736* 
She married a gentleman by the name of Irish. James 
Phinney, the son of John, was born April 13, 1741, and is 
now alive, and resides on his father's place at Fort Hill. 
The second family that settled in the town was that of John 
Ayers, in 1737. The third was the Mosiers, in 1738. James 
Hosier was born in Falmouth, July 25, 1736, and is now 
living in this town. Hugh McLellan removed to this town 



NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 149 

in 1740, He settled on the Fort Hill road, was an indus- 
trious and worthy man, and has left numerous descendants 
in the town. The late Col. Edmund Phinney, son of Capt. 
John Phinney, was born in Barnstable in 1723. Col. Phin- 
ney was early and actively engaged, during the war of 
1745, against the savages, and in the year 1748, received 
three dangerous wounds from them. Towards the close of 
this war, a fort was built in Pearsontown, now Standish, 
and Mr. Phinney appointed by government to command it. 
At the commencement of the war of independence, he was 
appointed by the Provincial Congress to the command of a 
regiment, in which capacity he repaired to the siege of 
Boston, in July, 1775. After serving eight months, the time 
for which his regiment was raised, he received the same 
appointment from the Continental Congress, and served 
one year in the northern campaign in Vermont and New 
York. 

In his military career, Col. Phinney was always respect- 
ed for his patriotism and fidelity. After the peace of 1783, 
he frequently represented his town in the legislature of 
Massachusetts. He died in 1809, aged 86 years. 

The inhabitants of this town, like their neighbors of Nar- 
ragansett No. 1, were all zealous whigs or high sons of lib- 
erty in the revolutionary struggle, and under their favorite 
leader, Col. Phinney, brought to submission the tories of the 
neighboring towns in their own county, particularly Fal- 
mouth, where they considered it due to the cause they had 
espoused to look into the situation of the adjoining county 
of York. And the perverse character and political here- 
sies of Dr. Abiather Alden being reported to them, they 
armed and embodied themselves, and placing Col. Phinney 
at their head, moved on to Saco, through Buxton, where 
their numbers were doubled by being joined by every able 
bodied Whig, and proceeded to Saco in quest of Alden, 
where he was found at Scamman's tavern, a mile from the 
falls, on the Buxton road. The Doctor was immediately 
mounted on a hogshead, and made to read a confession of 
crimes and offences, which he never could have committed, 
13* 



150 NARRAGANSETT TOWNSHIPS. 

and solemnly declared he would forsake all his political 
errors 

" But being convinced against his will, 
He was of the same opinion slill." 

Dr. Alden was an irascible man and not beloved by his 
neighbors, but never left the country, and never did any 
act injurious to the cause of his country. 

Here Col. Phinney refreshed his forces, and dismissed his 
Buxton allies with particular marks of his approbation for 
their meritorious services, and returned to Gorham by way 
of Scarborough, for the purpose of calling on Richard King, 
Esq., who was suspected of toryism. But Mr. King believ- 
ing himself politically orthodox, and that the Colonel had 
no authority to catechise him on this point, stood upon his 
defence and would not admit of a parley. On which the 
Colonel, a man of discretion as well as valor, withdrew his 
forces, and returned to Gorham, congratulating himself 
that no blood had been shed in this excursion, and his fol- 
lowers congratulating themselves that they had displayed 
to the world their ardor in the good cause. 

Population of Gorham in 1830, 2,988. 

Thus you see by Mr. Farmer's research and the little I 
have been able to add, six of the original Narragansett 
Townships, No. 1., Buxton; No. 2., Westminister; No. 3., 
Amherst ; No. 5., Merrimack and Bedford ; No. 6., Temple- 
ton; and No. 7., Gorham; have been discovered. If by 
publishing the above any other person should be indnced 
to pursue the enquiry, and the situation and present name 
of the remaining township be ascertained, the history of 
the whole might be as interesting as many similar publi- 
cations which are given to the public. 

CHARLES COFFIN. 
PORTLAND, NOVEMBER, 1830. 



AN 



ACCOUNT OF NEW GLOUCESTER, 



BT 

ISAAC PARSONS. 



NEW GLOUCESTER, NOVEMBER GTH, 1824. 
To THE COMMITTEE OF THE MAINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 

HAVING about the tenth of July received yours, dated at 
Brunswick, the thirty-first of May, 1824, giving an account 
of the incorporation and organization of said Society, and 
its objects, and desiring assistance from its friends, I am 
willing (under the infirmities of age) to give such informa- 
tion on the subjects proposed as my knowledge and recollec- 
tion can afford. I have lived in this town sixty-three years ; 
during which time, this and most of the towns in the state 
of Maine have arisen from a howling wilderness inhabited 
by cruel savages, to the state in which they now are. This 
town was granted by the General Court of the then Province 
of Massachusetts Bay, to sixty of the inhabitants of old 
Gloucester, or Cape Ann, on the twenty-seventh of March, 
1736, and confirmed to them the 5th of July, 1737, on 
condition of their settling the same, (a territory equal to 
six miles square, exclusive of water,) reserving one right 
or sixty-third part, for the first settled learned, orthodox 
minister ; one for the ministry, and another for the support 
of schools, obliging them to build a meeting-house for the 
public worship of God; and to settle a learned, orthodox 
minister. It appears by the records of the proprietors of 



152 AN ACCOUNT 

said town, that they were at great expense in clearing a 
road from Cousin's river in North Yarmouth, in building 
bridges, and nineteen houses with hewn timber, and a saw- 
mill, and in getting settlers to go on ; but found it imprac- 
ticable to fulfil the conditions, by reason of the Indian wars. 
The settlers whom they had obtained were called off by 
the authority of the Governor, and thereby they lost the 
houses and mill that were built, as well as the road they 
had made. 

In the year 1754, the Proprietors gave great bounties to 
settlers, and went on with such resolution as to clear a new 
road from where the village in North Yarmouth now stands, 
by the way of Walnut Hill, over the river, and up into the 
most southern corner of New Gloucester, then on a circui- 
tous route on the high land fit for settlements, to a place 
where a point of upland made into the interval on the east 
side of the river, and where there was some rising ground 
on the west side, and thence to the centre of the town. 
There they built a strong fort and garrison, and hired men 
(with such as intended to settle) sufficient to defend it 
against any force that could in any probability be brought 
against it. This they continued to do with the assistance 
of the Province, who put them upon half pay and allow- 
ance ; they being obliged to assist in keeping a strong scout- 
ing party from Saco to fort Weston, now Augusta, on the 
Kerinebeck ; at which two places were strong forts, and 
soldiers, kept by the Province, during the French war, or 
until the year 1760, when Canada was taken by the Eng- 
lish. During this time two men were taken prisoners, 
belonging to the fort, and carried to Canada, and one w r as 
killed and scalped in the lower part of the town : after 
which the Indians withdrew ; and the settlers began to 
move out of the garrison and build log-houses on their lands, 
and clear the same with more expedition. 

Before they had not been able to clear or raise any thing, 
only as the men went altogether armed to their work, 
within reach of the shot of the large swivel guns of the 



OF NEW GLOUCESTER. 153 

Fort ; keeping good sentinels of men and large dogs ; and 
leaving the women to keep the fort. The same difficulties 
attended most of the settlements in what is now the state 
of Maine, until Canada was taken ; a few of the most pop- 
ulous towns near the sea excepted. 

Of the men that kept the fort in said war time, or part 
of the time, the following persons with their families became 
the first settlers, viz. John Stenchfield, David Millet, William 
Stevens, Humphry Woodbury, Samuel Worthly, Benjamin 
Hammon, John Megguire, John Stenchfield, Jr., Horton 
Mitchells, Capt. Nathaniel Eveleth, William McLane and 
William Stenchfield ; all of whom were born in this country, 
except the first, making in the whole twelve families ; and 
eight more had moved into the town before the writer came. 
As to the longevity of people in this town, a great number 
have died between the age of seventy and ninety-five years, 
and there are forty-two now living between the ages of 
seventy and ninety-two. 

There are five stores or trading shops, and five taverns 
in the town ; one Social Library, that has been established 
about thirty years ; and one Masonic fraternity. 

Mr. Moseley the present minister, was ordained Februa- 
ry 10th, 1802. 

Mr. Foxcroft the first minister, died March 9th, 1807, at 
the age of 72 years. 

Eleven of the youths of this town have had a college 
education ; and many an academical. 

Of three attornies at law, two have had a college educa- 
tion ; one of whom is a.justice of the Court of Sessions. 

There are three Physicians, one of whom, Timothy 
Little, is much esteemed as a surgeon and anatomist, in 
this part of the country, and has had many students. One 
cabinet maker. Three painters. Four house carpenters 
or joiners. A number of shoe and boot makers. Two 
saddlers, harness makers or chaise trimmers. Three black- 
smiths, one of whom is a brass founder. Two tailors. 
Two chair makers. 



154 AN ACCOUNT 

There have been one Major General, three Brigadier Gen- 
erals, and three Colonels in this town. 

This town was incorporated March 8th, 1774. 

The present inhabitants, according to the last census, 
amounted to a small number over sixteen hundred souls, 
all of whom (one excepted) were born in the United States, 
chiefly in old Massachusetts. 

The births and deaths in this town have not been given 
to the town clerk, as the law requires, consequently no 
exact account can be derived from him. 

The writer hereof being a native of Old Gloucester, in 
the county of Essex, and the then Province of Massachu- 
setts, was born April 14th old stile, or 25 new, A. D. 1740- 
Having heard much said about the Eastern Country, as it 
was then called ; some saying that it would make a good 
country in time, others that it would not support its 
inhabitants (where they could not have the advantages of 
fishing and lumbering), the writer was determined (by the 
leave of Providence,) to goto New Gloucester and the 
Eastern Country, at the age of twenty one, and examine 
for himself. Accordingly he came in the month of June, 
1761, and having spent much of that summer in exploring 
the country and examining the soil and natural state of the 
country generally, he was of opinion that it might be made 
a good country by industry, and thought he might do as 
much good in his day and generation here as elsewhere ; 
although some of the inhabitants, living on the sea board, 
tried to discourage him by saying that people could not 
subsist so far back in the country where they could not 
have the advantage of fishing and lumbering ; and that he 
did not intend to stay here, but only came to induce others 
to come, who would starve after the assistance of the pro- 
prietors and th Preovince should cease. He soon found that 
the settlers had not discovered the right way of managing 
and improving new lands. He found by strict examination 
that land in a natural state, that had a full growth of hard 
wood upon it, if the trees were all fallen down upon it and 
lay a suitable time, would collect so much nitre, as to be- 



OF NEW GLOUCESTER. 155 

come light and more suitable for the roots of any vegetable 
to penetrate in quest of nourishment, than it could be made 
by all the art of cultivation ; especially when the wood 
was burnt off, and it had the additional benefit of the alka- 
line salts. These advantages he found must be taken as 
soon as may be after the fire has run over the land, or the 
nitre will waste, the land settle, and the best profits be lost. 
He therefore in the year 1762 and 3, was fully convinced 
that if corn were planted on new land, cleared and well 
burnt over, without breaking the surface any more than 
by chopping off the weeds and sprouts, a good and ripe 
crop would be produced, and that the opinion that it would 
not stand without hilling, was entirely erroneous. He 
therefore hired some and persuaded others, to try this me- 
thod, and it was found by experience fully to answer his 
assertions. And a knowledge of this method soon spreading 
through the country, it proved a greater encouragement or 
inducement to the settling of the state of Maine, than any 
one thing, except the withdrawing of the Indians. Before 
this method was introduced, it could not be found that any 
farmer to the eastward of old York, ever raised a bushel of 
corn to sell ; but the people in general were dependent on 
the western and southern parts of the country for their bread. 

It must always be observed that new lands, after a fire 
has run over them, ought to be planted or sown with some 
sort of grain or grass seed as soon as may be, in order that 
the grass may take deep root, before the land settles. 

It may be a satisfaction to some to enter here a certificate 
of the following purport, viz : 

This may certify, that Isaac Parsons, Esq., first intro- 
duced the practice of raising Indian corn in this country on 
new burnt ground without hoeing ; and brought the same 
into practice in the years 1762 and 3. 

N ATH'L EVELETH, < Two that had families of the 
JOHN MEGGUIRE, \ first settlers mentioned. 

JAMES STENCHFIELD,J p e that ved in the Fort, buthad 
t not a family until the writer came. 



156 AN ACCOUNT 

The wild animals found in this town, when first settled, 
as well as in this part of the country generally, were the 
large, elegant moose, (the beef, hides, and tallow of which 
were of great service to the first settlers,) bears, deer, 
wolves, wild-cats, beavers, otters, foxes of various colors, 
large hedge-hogs or porcupines, raccoons, skunks, sables, 
minks, musquash, hares, rabbits, woodchucks, weasles, and 
divers sorts of squirrels and mice. 

The soils in the town are of different kinds ; the land 
generally consisting of large swelling hills and wide val- 
lies. The hills seem to be founded on rock, with a various 
depth of earth upon it. The soil upon them is moist, 
heaves much with the frost, has stones of all sizes inter- 
mixed with it, more than enough to fence it, (of which most 
of the fences on the upland are made.) It produced abund- 
antly when new ; but after the stumps and roots are all 
gone, the stones taken out and put into fence, and the land 
ploughed several years, it falls heavy, and is not so very 
productive. Orchards of apple trees, however, flourish on 
it, and are cultivated to advantage, as well as pears, 
plumbs, and currants ; cherry-trees used to produce luxuri- 
antly until within a few years, since which a black worm 
has infested and destroyed them. 

The soil toward the lower part of the hills is a clayey 
loam, heaves much with the frost, is in great measure free 
from stones, and produces tolerably well if rightly culti- 
vated. 

The largest valley contains a large piece of interval 
land, that runs almost across the town, and has produced 
large crops of hay until of late years. The reason of its 
being less productive, seems to be a large white worm, that 
eats off the roots of the English grass ; not only on the 
interval, but also on the flat parts of the upland. There is 
also a small, red, hard-skinned worm, that is very injurious 
generally, on such lands. 

There is a considerable tract of pine plains in the west- 
erly part of the town, which would be the best land we 
have for raising bread-stuff, if it were conveniently situated^ 



OF NEW GLOUCESTER. 157 

The vallies, low-lands, and plains, are subject to early frosts, 
but the hills are not so. 

The disease most prevalent is the consumption, which 
has carried off many of the young people ; but for this it 
might be called a healthy climate, especially on the high 
lands. The productions of the soil are grass, Indian corn, 
wheat, rye, barley, oats, peas, beans, potatoes, very good 
and profitable, turnips of different sorts, and all sorts of 
garden products that are common in the New England 
States. The foregoing description of products may answer 
for the country generally. 

The principal indigenous or natural trees are the rock or 
sugar maple, white maple, yellow and white birch, beach, 
elm, white and yellow ash, basswood, red or gray oak, suita- 
ble for plank stocks and ship building, spruce, hemlock, hack- 
matack. Of the white pine, which is valuable for masts and 
boards, there was the best growth sixty years ago in the 
upper part of this town, Danville, and Poland, and between 
Royal's river and the Little Androscoggin river, that the 
writer ever saw or heard of in the state of Maine, from 
whence were hauled several ship loads of masts for the 
navy of the king of England, before the Revolutionary 
War. Since that time people have been cutting it into 
board logs, and hauling it into the two rivers, and much of 
it has been worked up into shingles and clapboards ; so that 
it is almost destroyed. 

The most common of the indigenous or natural plants 
found here, were the life-of-man's-root, sarsaparilla, ginseng, 
cohash, blood-root, cancer-root, horse-mint, sinnecal, and 
sprig of Jerusalem, called by some archangel. 

The horned or neat cattle and sheep are most commonly 
and advantageously raised ; from the cows a considerable 
quantity of butter and cheese is made for market. 

There is a sufficient number of carding machines and 
fulling mills for woolen ; but the wool is mostly spun and 
woven in families. 

The most usual and profitable occupation is husbandry. 
As to the morals of the people, (considering the depravity 

VOL. II. 14 



158 AN ACCOUNT 

of human nature,) they may be called good. The proprie- 
tors of the town, when they had but their fort and garrison, 
took care to have the public worship of God maintained in 
it on the Sabbath, which was still practised when the wri- 
ter came here, and was continued when they had no preach- 
er, by the exercises of prayers, reading a sermon, and singing 
psalms or hymns, both in the forenoon and afternoon, until 
the proprietors settled the Rev. Samuel Foxcroft, (son of the 
Rev. Thomas Foxcroft, of Boston, and father of the present 
postmaster and high sheriff,) on January 16th, 1765, (after 
a church was organized,) to be their pastor and teacher ; 
he was a learned, Calvinistic, congregational minister ; they 
paid him his salary for ten years ; his death and age have 
been already mentioned. 

After the town was incorporated, several other sects 
arose, which occasioned great difficulties as to parochial 
affairs. The Calvinist Baptists were incorporated in a sep- 
arate society, with others of that persuasion, in the town of 
Gray. The Congregationalists became organized as the 
first parish, and after Mr. Foxcroft became unable to carry 
on the ministry, hired many candidates ; and finally settled 
the Rev. Mr. Elisha Mosely, from Connecticut ; the time of 
his ordination has been mentioned. And after his ordina- 
tion, said first parish raised a fund, the interest of which 
was sufficient to pay his salary; he still continues their 
minister. 

The said first parish consists of about 72 families and 82 
polls ; the church of about 70 members ; having been re- 
duced within seven years past, by death and removals. 

With the number of persons belonging to the Calvinistic 
Baptists, the societies and churches of the Free-will Bap- 
tists, the Methodists and Universalists, I am not acquainted. 

The Congregational and Calvinist Baptist Societies have 
each a decent meeting house. The other societies usually 
meet in school houses. 

There is a society or family of Shakers, in the north- 
westerly part of the town, consisting of about 80 or 90 souls, 
who also have a meeting house. 



OF NEW GLOUCESTER. 159 

As to learning, the town is divided into ten school dis- 
tricts, nearly all of which have comfortable school houses. 
The town has a school fund, the interest of which is suffi- 
cient to support about half of the schooling. It chooses a 
school committee annually, generally of the most learned 
men, to visit and examine the schools ; to look into the method 
of the instructors, and see what progress is made in learning 
And it may be said that the youths have been better in- 
structed than they have generally been in the towns in the 
vicinity. 

There are about two hundred and forty dwelling houses 
in the town, all of them of wood, except two of brick ; 
about half of them two stories high, and about the same 
number of families. 

As to a more exact topographical description of this town, 
I would mention that the proprietors, in the year 1762, found 
that the township interfered with the Pejepscot claim in its 
first location, on the north-east side, and that New Marble- 
head, now Windham, had crowded New Boston, now Gray, 
two miles upon them on the south-west side, and was likely 
to ruin this town. They therefore petitioned the General 
Court for a committee to be appointed to run out New Mar- 
blehead, New Boston, and this town, and establish their 
bounds, which petition was granted, and the committee came 
and put New Marblehead and New Boston back the two 
miles ; and found that they could not give this town but four 
miles and a half and thirty-three rods front on Yarmouth 
back line ; and that the north-east side line of it must be run 
up a north-west-and-by-north course, instead of a north-west 
course, until it should contain its quantity exclusive of water; 
by which location this town extends further into the country, 
and is much wider at the head. And that the main branch 
of Royal's river has its rise from a pond in the north corner 
of the town of Gray, runs north-easterly about a mile and 
half in this town, on which stream is a saw mill ; falls into 
Sabbath-day pond, which is about a mile and half long, and 
vbout half a mile wide, lying in the westerly part of this 
own, and near the Shaker family ; which pond derived its 



160 AN ACCOUNT 

name, (as the writer hereof understood when he first came 
here,) from a number of hunters, who, before this part of 
the country was settled, used to hunt for beavers on the 
streams of this and Little Androscoggin river, who agreed 
to meet there to keep the Sabbath ; and from said pond 
takes an easterly direction upwards of two miles, to excel- 
lent falls about half a mile long, in a northern direction ; on 
which now stand a saw mill, a double stoned, overshot grist 
mill, with a bolt, carried by the wheels, a carding machine, 
a fulling mill, a bark mill and tannery ; and on which falls 
may be erected several other water machines, and near to 
which is the upper thick settlement of the town, where four 
roads meet, called the upper corner. From said falls, it 
takes a circuitous course, and enters the town of Danville 
in an eastern direction, about two miles north-east from 
said falls, and after continuing its eastern direction about a 
mile, it takes its course about south-south-westerly near a 
mile, and enters this town again, and continuing nearly the 
same course, generally across the town, but in a very ser- 
pentine manner, running through a large body of interval 
land that is overflowed in large freshets, lying in front of 
the thick settlement in the centre of the town where five 
roads meet, and where the two meeting houses stand, called 
the lower corner, with a descent therefrom of about half a 
mile to the interval, affording a beautiful prospect. Then 
entering the town of Gray, and crossing the easterly corner 
thereof, it takes an easterly direction into the town of North 
Yarmouth, and to the falls thereof, which about half a mile 
in length, to the tide water, on which falls are many mills ; 
nearly the whole of said river from Sabbath-day pond is 
very serpentine, but sufficiently large in small freshets to 
bring down board logs from the foot of the falls in New 
Gloucester, to the saw mills on the falls in North Yarmouth, 
of which there has been enough hauled in the several 
places and conveyed down to make many millions of feet 
of boards. The King's masts, before spoken of, were hauled 
by the centre of this town, and put into the river about two 
miles below, and conducted down to the falls in North Yar- 



OF NEW GLOUCESTER. 161 

mouth, and hauled round there about three quarters of a 
mile to the tide waters. 

The people here, after they began to get lumber for a 
market, used to haul it to a landing the proprietors had laid 
out for that purpose at said river, near a mile below the 
meeting house, and put it into the river near the bridge ; 
the boards in rafts, the oar rafters, clapboards and shingles 
in bunches, and let them be carried by the gentle current 
down to the landing in North Yarmouth, just above the 
upper mill dam on the falls ; following them down, and 
taking them out and hauling them about three quarters of 
a mile to the shipping at the head of the tide water ; and 
the inhabitants used to bring up many of their things in 
canoes, floats and batteaux, before they could get the road 
made good. But since the road is made good, they, nor the 
people in Poland, Minot, nor Danville, pretend to make use 
of the river, only to let the mill logs go down ; although 
there has, and still is a vast quantity of lumber hauled by 
the lower corner and over said bridge down to North Yar- 
mouth, (some days upwards of a hundred thousand feet,) yet 
nothing is said by the lumber men about making use of the 
river as a canal ; which may serve to illustrate what may 
hereafter be said respecting canals. 

There is a stream near the centre of the town, on which 
stands an overshot grist mill, there is another stream about 
two miles westerly, called Lovell's Brook, on which the fa- 
mous Captain Lovell with his large scouting company once 
encamped, before he had his great fight with the Indians 
at Pigwacket Pond, as it was then called, on which also 
stands a grist mill. As to roads, bridges, &c., I would in- 
form that the land being moist, so heaves with the frost, 
that the people are obliged to heave up or turnpike almost 
the whole of them, both on the hills and lowlands, and 
notwithstanding they are very bad in the spring of the year 
when the frost is coming out. As to bridges, the town has 
seven across Royal's river, and private persons three, besides 
a great number over small streams. 

The lands in the town are almost wholly laid out by 
14* 



162 AN ACCOUNT 

lines at right angles, as well as the roads ; except the 
great road leading from North Yarmouth to Poland, which 
enters the town near the south corner, and goes out at the 
north corner ; the road that goes from Gray corner to the 
Shaker settlement, in a northerly direction, passing about 
three miles across the westerly corner of this town ; and the 
road leading to Brunswick, which leaves the road leading 
to North Yarmouth, upwards of two miles below the centre 
of this town, and goes in an easterly direction, cutting the 
lots diagonally as well as those from Yarmouth and Gray 
corner. 

The writer found by the smoke that rose up in a straight 
column when Portland was burnt, in the time of the revolu- 
tionary war, that it lies due south from the centre of this 
town. Now a straight course from Portland due north, 
crosses Back-cove, and the great ledge of Walnut hill, 
which makes so far south-west, together with bad land 
for a road ; so that teams or travellers coming from Portland 
here by Gray corner must pass Deering's and Winslow's 
bridges, and have to rise from Winslow's bridge to the 
top .of Blackstrap ledge or hill, and the other hills to 
Gray corner ; and when they get there, will in all proba- 
bility be three miles from a straight line, run from what is 
called Gloucester lower corner or centre of this town, to 
Walnut hill meeting house ; and also going from Gray cor- 
ner to Gloucester, they have Harris's hill to pass, all making 
a very circuitous and hilly route. 

The eastern travel from Portland has a bridge over 
Presumpscot river, at what is called Staples* point, and it 
appears to the writer, ought always to have, (and that it 
ought to have been built with a good, tight, stone wall on 
each side, and filled solid with mud and earth on the flats, 
leaving a sufficient channel way.) There is a county road 
laid out and opened from Mr. Buxton's near Walnut hill 
down to the road that leads to said bridge, which when 
made good, will make easy or comfortable passing into 
Portland. 

There is a road that has been viewed by a viewing com- 



OF NEW GLOUCESTER. 163 

mittee, and laid out by a laying committee, and accepted 
by the Court of Sessions, from the upper corner (as it is 
called) in this town to Nason's mills, and so on to the east 
meeting house in Minot, designed by the well wishers of 
the state as part of the great northern route, to the line of 
lower Canada, or to the Dead river, where a road from 
said line comes, as well as for the great accomodation of 
the inhabitants. There has also been most violent opposi- 
tion to this by the people of Danville, Poland, and Minot, 
they probably fearing the expense, and that it will carry 
the travelling from them ; and to prevent it, have been 
proposing new routes to the great cost of the county ; and 
have (as the writer has heard) prevailed with the Court of 
Sessions to suspend the work. 

The travel by the corners has increased amazingly ; two 
of the traders at the lower corner told the writer this day, 
July 31st, 1824, that in one day the last week about one 
hundred ox teams passed by down the Yarmouth road very 
heavily loaded with lumber, (they usually carry from two 
to five thousand feet to the load,) besides other carriages ; 
near the whole of them came from eight to ten miles back 
in the country. Almost all the travel from the corners into 
Yarmouth or Portland, goes by Walnut hill meeting house, 
since there is a bridge at Staples' point, and a new road up 
to Mr. Buxton's ; but are obliged to pass the old, crooked, 
hilly road above the Walnut hill meeting house; and it 
appears that they must, even to the end of time, unless 
there should arise a race of men possessed of a duly benev- 
olent and neighborly spirit. 

The writer is acquainted with the land where the road 
from the upper corner to Nason's mills, and the east meeting, 
house in Minot, is laid out, and knows it to be a level tract of 
land ; and has some knowledge of the land on said northerly 
route, through the northern part of Turner, a part of Liver- 
more, and Jay, and is of opinion that a straight, level and good 
road might be made there ; which would save a very cir- 
cuitous travel, and some of the worst hills he knows of in 
the county. The committee when they laid out said road 



164 AN ACCOUNT OF NEW GLOUCESTER. 

made a short crook to the eastward, so as to go over the 
bridge now built near Nason's mills, and said it would be 
best to go there until the bridge should be rotten, and then 
have one built on a pair of rips above, and the road might 
be made straight. They also crooked or hauled to the west- 
ward up a hill to go to said meeting house and the neigh- 
borhood there ; which hill is descended again in going up 
into Turner, which might be shunned entirely by making the 
road straight, which probably will be done in process of time, 
it being the only hill he knows off worth mentioning, in 
thirty miles above this town in said direction. 

ISAAC PARSONS. 



HISTORY OF NORTH YARMOUTH, 



EDWARD RUSSELL. 



PRELIMINARY NOTICE. 

THE following interesting account of North Yarmouth, 
was prepared by the late Edward Russell, Esq., and deliv- 
ered by him in the old meeting-house, the first ever erected 
in that place, to a crowded audience, in 1833. It is believ- 
ed that the audience then assembled, consisting of the 
descendants of a race of men remarkable for their integrity 
and stability of character, was the last ever gathered in 
that venerable structure, then more than a hundred years 
old. 

Edward Russell was the fourth son of Dr. Edward 
Russell, a respectable physician in North Yarmouth, who 
was born at West Cambridge, in Massachusetts, graduated 
at Harvard College, in 1759, and died at North Yarmouth 
in 1785. 

His mother was Hannah Clark, daughter of Dr. Parker 
Clark of Andover, Mass., and one of the Phillips family of 
that place. Edward their son, was born at North Yar- 
mouth, August 31st, 1783, graduated at Harvard College in 
1803, and died Nov. 29th, 1835, at the age of 52. 

In 1812, he married Lucy Stevens of Portland, by whom 
he had three children, a son and two daughters, all of whom 
survive him. The eldest daughter, Mary, married Milford 
P. Norton, Esq., formerly of Maine, now a judge of the 
Supreme Court of Texas; the other, Margaret, married 
Charles N. Cogswell, Esq., late of South Berwick, recently 
deceased. 



166 HISTORY OF 

Mr. Russell was an upright, honest man, of clear and 
sound understanding. For twenty years successively from 
1808, he was employed in the affairs of his native town, as 
clerk and selectman, with the entire confidence of the 
people, and left those offices for that of Secretary of State, 
to which he was elected in the years 1829 and 1830. 

He imbibed a taste for antiquarian studies, by frequent 
examination of the early records in his custody, and thus 
became familiar with the history of the early settlement of 
his town ; and was led to explore more intimately the 
sources of its origin and growth ; the result of which we 
have embodied in the following discourse. His death, 
which followed two years after its delivery, prevented a 
more extensive illustration by him of our early annals. 

W. 

ADDRESS. 

A people justly proud of their ancestors, as are the de- 
scendants of the Pilgrim Fathers of New England, can 
recur with peculiar satisfaction to the early history of this 
country. Generations to come will applaud the wisdom, 
integrity and wonderful perseverance of the first planters 
of our shores. It is wise to become acquainted with such 
characters, and by a centennial celebration to shake hands 
with men, not to be sure perfect, but who have probably 
done more for their successors than any other set of men 
who have inhabited the globe. 

The late attention to the collection of historical facts 
and the compilation of town histories, does honor to the 
present generation ; and if this address does l)ut awaken 
curiosity to the collection and preservation of documents for 
the materials for a history of this ancient town, my labor 
of preparing it will be fully rewarded. 

We are now met to celebrate the centennial anniversary 
of the first meeting in this town for the choice of town 
officers, which meeting was held in the same building where 
we are now assembled. But meetings called town meet- 
ings, were holden in this town nearly half a century previous 



NORTH YARMOUTH. 167 

to that of May 14th, 1733. It will therefore be interesting 
to go back to the earliest settlement of our territory, and 
collect as much of the history of the first adventurers, as 
can now be gleaned after so long a period. 

The first inhabitants were the aborigines ; I cannot learn 
that there was any permanent Indian village within the 
limits of this town. The tribe claiming this territory, had 
their head quarters about Merrymeeting bay. The settle- 
ment at Jay point, called Rocameca, may have been subject to 
the same chiefs. The shores of the main and islands furnish 
evidence of their residence in numerous places. There is 
no spot, to my knowledge, which has ever been called the 
Indian planting ground, but there is little doubt, that Lane's 
Island was their burying place ; and if any land was culti- 
vated by them, within this town, that island from the nature 
of the soil would be most likely to invite their attention. 
As the banks of the island cave away, humam bones have 
been exposed to view for many years. A skeleton which 
I examined myself, five years ago, was buried with the head 
to the south and the feet to the north, and not more than 
twelve inches below the surface of the ground. Now it is 
well known, that a custom prevailed with our ancestors, 
invariably, to lay the dead east and west ; from this circum- 
stance, I presume the graves on Lane's island must be those 
of the aborigines. 

The Indian names of places now known are few. North 
Yarmouth, was called Wescustogo ; Freeport, Harrisekct ; 
Harpswell, Meniceneag ; Cousins' Island, Susquesong ; Cou- 
sins' River, Sisquisic. The head of the tide on Royal's 
river, Pumgustuk. The names yet retained are : Gebeag, 
Chebascodegar, Maquoit, and Bungomungomug, now pro- 
nounced Bungonug, a small river emptying into Maquoit 
bay, at the original north-easterly bound of North Yarmouth. 

From our infancy we have been made to shudder at tales 
of horror, connected with Indian fights, scalping knives and 
tomahawks. It is full time to look at the other side of the 
picture. Let us consider a moment the situation of the 
natives at the commencement of the English settlements 



168 HISTORY OF 

in New England. The French had possession of Canada, 
anterior to the settlement of Plymouth, and distributed their 
catholic missionaries among the natives, " whose imagina- 
tions were engaged by the pompous ceremonies and impo- 
sing worship of the Catholic faith." By means of the 
Jesuits, says a late writer, " did the French 'acquire 
possession of that lever, which they could always use, to 
impel the Indians to war, from the time when civilization 
first cursed them with its presence, until it triumphed by 
their extinction." The course adopted by the English was 
the reverse. " The Indians themselves," Gov. Hutchinson 
informs us, " asked, how it happened, if Christianity were 
of such importance, that for six and twenty years together, 
the English had said nothing to them about it." The 
speech of the Norridgewock chief to the governor of Massa- 
chusetts, gives us a good view of the attention paid to 
cultivating the friendship of the Indians, by the English and 
French settlers. " Neither your predecessors," says he, " nor 
their servants, ever spoke to me of prayer or the Great 
Spirit. They have seen my peltries, my skins of the beaver 
and the deer, and of these only have they taken thought. 
These they have sought with eagerness ; I could not furnish 
them enough, and when I brought them many, I was 
their great friend, that was all. On the contrary, my canoe 
being one day lost, I mistook my course and wandered a 
long time by chance, until I stopped at a great village near 
Quebec, where the black coats lived ; scarcely had I arrived, 
when a black coat came to me ; I was loaded with peltries. 
The French black coat did not even deign to look at them. 
He spoke to me at once of the Great Spirit, of Paradise, of 
hell, and of prayer, by which is the only path to heaven ; I 
listened to him with pleasure, and relished so well his con- 
versation, that I stayed a long time in that village to hear 
him." 

The capture by Hunt of twenty Indians, which he sold 
in Malaga for slaves, in 1614 ; the murder in cold blood 
of the brave Myantonomo, a prisoner, by order of the gov- 
ernment of Massachusetts, in 1643, with the various 



NORTH YARMOUTH. 



169 



deceptions practised upon their ignorance down to the 
trick, the honor of which tradition has fastened upon one of 
our own townsmen, who in his purchases of beaver of the 
natives used his wife's foot for a pound weight, and her 
hand for half a pound, unfolds a fearful account with a 
people, whose only law was, " an eye for an eye and a 
tooth for a tooth." There was not wanting in those times 
a Jesuit, one of the black coats before mentioned, to inflame 
their martial fury and incite them to revenge, as in the 
following address by Thuny, to the Penobscots : " My chil- 
dren," said he, " when shall the rapacity of the unsparing 
New Englanders cease to afflict you ? and how long will 
you suffer your lands to be violated by encroaching heretics ? 
By the religion I have taught, by the liberty you love, I ex- 
hort you to resist them. It is time for you to open your 
eyes which have long been shut ; to rise from your mats, 
and look to your arms and make them once more bright. 
This land belonged to your fathers, long before these wicked 
men came over the great waters, and are you ready to leave 
the bones of your ancestors, that the cattle of heretics may 
eat grass on your graves ? The Englishman think and say 
to themselves. ' We have many cannon, we have grown 
strong while the red man has slept, while they are lying 
in their cabins and do not see, we will knock them on the 
head ; we will destroy their women and children, and then 
shall we possess their land, without fear, for there shall be 
none left to revenge them.' My children, God commands 
you to shake the sleep from your eyes. The hatchet must 
be cleaned of its rust, to avenge him of his enemies and to 
secure to you your rights. Night and day, a continual 
prayer shall ascend to him for your success ; an unceasing 
rosary shall be observed until you return covered with 
the glory of triumph." 

The English were not far behind the natives in executing 
vengeance upon their enemies with demonlike fury ; take 
for instance the following account, by the author of New 
England's memorial. An attack was made upon the 
Pequods, the most warlike tribe in New England, in 1637 ; 

VOL. II. 15 



170 HISTORY OF 

" so they went on," says an author, " and so ordered theii* 
march, as the friendly Indians brought them to the fort of 
their enemy, in which most of their chief men were, before 
day ; they approached the same in great silence, and sur- 
rounded it both with English and Indians, that they might 
not break out, and so assaulted them with great courage, 
shooting among them and entered the fort with great speed, 
and those that first entered found sharp resistance from the 
enemy, who both shot and grappled with them ; others ran 
into their houses and brought out fire and set them on fire, 
which soon took in their mats, and their houses standing 
close with the wind, all was soon on a flame, and thereby 
more men were burnt to death than were otherwise slain. 
It burnt their bow strings and made them unserviceable. 
Those that escaped the fire were slain with the sword ; 
some hewed to pieces, some run through with their rapiers, 
so as they were quickly despatched and very few escaped. 
The number they thus destroyed was conceived to be above 
four hundred. At this time, it was a fearful sight to see 
them thus frying in the fire, and the streams of blood 
quenching the same ; and horrible was the stench and 
scent thereof; but the victory seemed a sweet sacrifice, and 
they gave the praise thereof to God, who had wrought so 
wonderfully for them." 

Can we wonder, under such circumstances, that the In- 
dians did not " fight until the soil had drunk all the blood that 
flowed in the veins of every white man who stood upon it." 
But these scenes have now passed away, and the red man 
who proudly traversed the lands we occupy, has nearly 
ceased to exist, and notwithstanding the slaughter and cru- 
elties he practised to avenge his wrongs, he has left record- 
ed by the white man, which deserves to be engraven on his 
tomb, this short sentence, ' no instance of the worst violence to 
woman has ever been told of our aborigines" 

This capacious bay, well stocked with fish and fowl, the 
bountiful supply of timber with which its shores were 
covered and trade with the Indians, invited settlers here 
at an early period. We find that George Felt lived on the 



NORTH YARMOUTH. . 171 

farm now owned by Mr. Seales, in 1643, where he built a 
stone garrison, and there is some reason to believe that 
John Phillips, of whom Felt purchased, was an inhabitant 
before that time, which will carry the first settlement made 
in the town, back to about two hundred years. In 1645 
John Cousins lived on the " neck of land which divides the 
branches of Cousins' river," and owned also the Island, 
which, with the river, still bears his name. In 1646 Wil- 
liam Royall purchased the farm, which with the river yet 
retains his name. 1647, Richard Bray bought of Cousins 
half of the island. 1651, James Lane, of Gloucester, moved 
on to the farm now owned by W. Fogg, in Freeport, and 
gave his name to the island at the mouth of the river. 
1652, John Maine lived on the Foreside ; and a point which 
yet ^retains his name, directs us to the place of his settle- 
ment. 1666, Shepherd claimed the neck of land on the 
north-east side of Hanesicket bay. 1670, John Holman 
lived on Holman's, now called Prince's point. 1674, a saw 
mill was built at the lower falls, by Gendall and Seward, 
called Casco mill. About this time, Gendall lived next to 
Falmouth line ; Thomas Blashfield on the farm of the late 
Richmond Loring ; Benjamin Larrabee on the farm now 
owned by Deacon Halpes ; Amos Stevens who married 
the daughter of Wm. Royall, on Wolf's point ; Thomas 
Reding on the east side of Cousins' river and west of Lane's 
farm ; William Haines on Pine, now called Flying point. 
There were also inhabitants on Tobacco point, further east, 
and on Mare point, and Potts and others on Merryconneag. 
An Old fort is mentioned as situated on Parker's point, but 
I do not know who occupied that ground at this early date. 
These settlers were compelled to abandon their improve- 
ments in the Indian war called Philip's war, which broke 
out in June 1675. The mill was burnt and probably most 
of their houses. This war continued three years. After 
the treaty of Casco, in 1678, the inhabitants returned again 
to their desolate homes. 

Under the administration of President Danforth, the 



172 HISTORY OF 

place previously called Wescustogo, was incorporated into 
a town, as will appear by the following document. 

"At Fort Loyall, in Falmouth, 22nd Sept. 1680. 

For the further Inlargement and Incouragement to the 
settlement of the township, by the Governor and Company 
of the Massachusetts, on the easterly side of Wescustogo 
river, on Casco bay. It is hereby granted unto them, that 
the waste lands lying between the said grant and Falmouth, 
shall be added to the township, and also an island lying be- 
tween the sea and said township, called New Dameras Cove. 

It is also hereby ordered and declared, that the name of 
the said Plantation shall be North Yarmouth. 

THOMAS DANFORTH, President." 

It is not known why this name for the town was adopted. 
I have not been able to trace any of the first settlers to 
Yarmouth, in the county of Plymouth. It is quite probable 
that some of our earliest planters came from the town of 
that name in England, situated at the mouth of the river Tare. 

Our records commence with an order relative to the set- 
tlement of the town, dated July 13, 1681, signed by Bartho- 
lomew Gedney, Joshua Scottow, Silvan us Davis and Walter 
Gendall, a committee, " Impowered to order and regulate 
the settlement of a township, granted by the Governor and 
Company of the colony of Massachusetts, Proprietors of the 
Province of Maine, on the northerly part of Casco bay, 
formerly called Wescustogo and now named North Yar- 
mouth." This committee determined " that the place of 
building and settling the town, should be on the land com- 
monly called Maine s Point, to be ordered so in the laying 
out, as may be compact and most capable of defence. It 
being understood by Maine's point includes that whole 
neck of land where John Maine and John Holman formerly 
dwelt." That ten acres of plain land be laid out in a 
square lot for a meeting house, burial place, minister's 
house lot, market place and school ; around this ten acre 
lot, a street four rods wide, and on this street, house lots of 



NORTH YARMOUTH. 173 

half an acre each, and in some convenient place, a common 
field equal to six acres to each house lot. Any two of the 
committee with the selectmen were authorized to grant 
lands to such as they should entertain as inhabitants. A 
committee was appointed to procure a minister. A grant 
was made to W. Gendall of 200 acres near to Falmouth 
bounds, and George Peirson was appointed recorder to the 
town of North Yarmouth aforesaid." 

This compact little town, on paper, calculated only for 
twenty-four house lots around the public square, shows us 
the caution which our ancestors were obliged to observe in 
the formation of their settlements, on account of the hostility 
of the natives. 

1 We find nothing further of the doings of this committee. 
The scattered location of its members, must have rendered 
it inconvenient to discharge the trust reposed in them. 
Col. Gedney was a land speculator, who lived in Salem, 
was a physcian and judge of the court, called to take an 
immediate part against those charged with witchcraft. 
J. Scottow was a principal man in Scarborough. S. Davis, 
formerly of Kennebec, was then an enterprising inhabitant 
of Falmouth, and Capt. Gendall lived in this town. , In 
1683, the town was represented by Walter Gendall in the 
General Assembly, held at York. In June and July of the 
following year, two other deeds or instruments were execu- 
ted by President Danforth. In the first of these, John 
Royall, John York, John Harris and Walter Gendall were 
named trustees, and the same persons are appointed trus- 
tees by the second, except that Jeremiah Dummer was 
named in room of John Harris. 

At a general town meeting, held at the house of Thomas 
Blashfield, Feb. 24, 1685, the inhabitants determined on the 
form of grants to the settlers, and on the same day, portions of 
land and marsh were granted, by the Trustees, to Royall, 
Blashfield, Coombs, Astofell, William, Samuel, Isaac and 
Benjamin Larrabee, J. Harris, R. Edwards, A. Stevens, 
and J. Provender. 

Here commences an interval in the proprietors' records 
15* 



174 HISTORY OF 

of thirty-seven years ; but by papers on file it appears that 
a town meeting was held at the house of John Royall, June 
7, 1686, "To hear the proclamation sent by the President 
and Council of his Majestie's territories and dominions of 
New England, in America." At the same meeting, other 
grants of land were made. Soon after this, another Indian 
war commenced. Capt. Gendall was killed, as also a Mr. 
Scales and others. All the inhabitants, amounting to 
thirty-six families, were again compelled to abandon their 
improvements and stock to the infuriated natives. Three 
houses and two barns, the property of Gendall, were burnt, 
as also the saw-mill and grist-mill built by him. He was 
the most enterprising and wealthy of all the settlers, and 
his death at that time must have been an irreparable loss. 

We have now followed our early settlers through a space 
of almost half a century, scattered on twelve or fifteen 
miles of the bay shore, without roads, the ocean in front, 
and an unbounded wilderness in their rear, and destitute of 
schools and moral and religious instruction. These are im- 
perfect sketches of this interesting period in the history of 
our town. The records and files in Massachusetts and in 
the county of York, contain ample materials to make us 
better acquainted with the men who toiled so long and with 
so many discouragements to form a settlement for them- 
selves and their posterity, on this territory ; but when an 
antiquary will be found, able to devote time and money to 
examine these records and files, is very uncertain. 

After the destruction of the town in 1688, nineteen years 
of war with the Indians intervened, before any effectual at- 
tempt was made toward a settlement. It is not known 
to me when the inhabitants began to return to the ashes 
of their former habitations, covered no doubt, when they 
did return, by a growth of young wood. The saw-mill 
was rebuilt previous to 1719, by Nathaniel Weare, of 
Hampton. Records of some proceedings of the inhabitants 
were kept by Peter Weare, son of Nathaniel, as he himself 
afterward declared on oath. These records, it is supposed, 



NORTH YARMOUTH. 175 

contained the doings of the persons interested in Gedney's 
claim, and were no doubt intentionally destroyed. 

In May, 1722, the inhabitants and others interested in 
lands here, petitioned the General Court "to appoint a 
committee dwelling in or near to Boston, and at the cost and 
charge of the proprietors, to regulate the settlement and 
manage the prudentials of the said town for the present ; 
and that the town books and papers then in the hands of 
Capt. Samuel Phipps, of Charlestown, be ordered into the 
hands of some person, to be kept in Boston, that so the 
ancient records may be kept safe from falling into the 
hands of the Indians, which was the unhappy case of 
Falmouth." The prayer of this petition was granted, 
and William Tailer, Elisha Cook, William Dudley, John 
Smith, and John Powell were appointed. This was a very 
respectable committee. Tailer lived in Dorchester, and had 
been Lieut. Governor of Massachusetts. William Dudley 
lived in Roxbury, was a member of the council, and son of 
Governor Dudley. E. Cook was a distinguished political 
character. John Smith was a merchant in Boston, and 
brother of Rev. Thomas Smith, the first minister of Fal- 
mouth, and John Powell was also a merchant in Boston ; 
he afterward removed to this town, and died here in 1742. 
This Committee held their first meeting at the house of 
John Powell, in Boston, in April, 1723, and appointed John 
Smith clerk. 

The doings of the Committee were guided by judgment 
and prudence. The ancient settlers and their heirs received 
their first attention, new proprietors were admitted, who 
with the old settlers made up one hundred. Ten acre lots 
were laid out from Gendall's farm, next to Falmouth line, 
almost to the head of the tide on Royall's river. The an- 
cient proprietors were allowed to select lots which included 
their old possessions, and the remainder drew their lots at a 
meeting of the Committee at the house of James Parker, 
in this town, in 1727, Two sites were designated, on one 
of which the meeting-house was to be erected. Both the 
places are on the south side, and near to the creek, now 



176 HISTORY OF 

called Fitter's creek ; one about eighty rods west and the 
other fifty rods east of the present road. . Persons now ac- 
quainted with this ground, will smile at the selection of 
of these spots for the location of a house of public worship. 

Each proprietor, to entitle him to a deed of his home 
lot, and share in the after divisions, was required to erect, 
before the 1st of June, 1729, " and well finish, a convenient 
dwelling house, to clear and fence five acres of their home 
lots, and to repair to, abide and remain at North Yarmouth 
either in person or by some able bodied man, and reside 
there until the expiration of that time." These were hard 
terms for those whose lots were poor land, and a large num- 
ber were of this description. We accordingly find that in 
March, 1730, there were only forty-one houses, and twelve 
frames ; and we cannot suppose that many of these w r ere 
" well finished" All expenses, including building the meet- 
ing-house, the minister's salary and surveying the lands, 
were defrayed by a tax upon the home lots or rights. But 
the people were poor. The minister, surveyors and car- 
penters complained that they were not punctually paid, and 
the collectors complained because the proprietors were un- 
able to pay. The settlers were anxious for land to im- 
prove, in addition to their home lots, but feared to go back 
from the bay shore, as appears by a representation signed 
by thirty-two inhabitants addressed to the General Com- 
mittee, in 1731, relative to the division of the then common 
lands, wherein they say. " Whoever's fate it is to have their 
lots at four and six miles distance, and perhaps poor land, 
near the head of the town, will not go to work on them, except 
they intend to starve" 

The Committee made their report to the General Court, 
February 22, 1 733, giving a detailed account of their pro- 
ceedings ; at the close of which they proposed to be dismis- 
sed, and that the town have the powers and privileges of 
other towns, and that the common and undivided lands be 
hereafter managed, divided, improved and disposed of by 
the proprietors according to their interests. This report 
was accepted and April 6, 1733, the General Court passed 



MORTH YARMOUTH. 177 

an order authorizing Samuel Seabury, Esq., of North Yar- 
mouth, " to call a meeting of the inhabitants as soon as may 
be, to choose Selectmen, Constables and other ordinary town 
officers," and pursuant to his warrant, a meeting was held 
in this meeting house, one hundred years ago, which organ- 
isation of the town has continued without interruption to the 
present time. At the first meeting, Samuel Seabury, Esq., 
was chosen Moderator, Barna! as Seabury, Clerk, Jedediah 
Southworth, Treasurer, Jacob Mitchell, Joseph Chandler 
and Francis Wyman, Selectmen, Jacob Mitchell, Joseph 
Chandler and Cornelius Soule, Assessors, and Edward King 
Constable. 

The character of the population of the town, we have 
cause to believe, was changed very much by the new pro- 
prietors. A number of them were descendants of the first 
settlers of Plymouth, and brought with them the habits of 
the men " who opened a new world to civilization and 
religion." 

Jacob Mitchell was a grandson of Experience Mitchell, 
who came to Plymouth in the third ship, Ann, in 1623, and 
in the division of stock among the planters, in that town, 
in 1627, had allotted to him and twelve others, fthe least 
of the four black heifers that came in the Jacob, and two she 
goats" Gilbert and Barnabas Winslow were descendants 
of a brother of Governor Edward Winslow and Samuel 
Baker, by the maternal line, was connected with the same 
family ; they were from Marshfield. Seabury and South- 
worth were from Duxbury. George Soule of Plymouth, 
was one of the first Pilgrims ; he afterward removed to 
Duxbury ; Cornelius Soule, one of our first Assessors, was 
probably one of his descendants. Benjamin Prince who 
drew home lot, No. 1, on the point which bears his name, 
was also from Duxbury. Mrs. Zeruiah Gray who lived and 
died in this town, at an advanced age, was said to be a 
grand daughter of Capt. Standish, and Miles Standish is 
now the baptismal name of one of her descendants. The 
origin of other proprietors, I think, might be traced to Ply- 
mouth colony ; and it is certain, that several who have 



178 HISTORY OF 

been enterprising men, and often employed in public trusts 
in this town, in later years, were from the same region. 

It is worthy to be recorded here, that a daughter of 
Samuel Baker, who drew a ten acre lot 106 years ago, is 
now living, and at the age of ninety-two retains her facul- 
ties in an unusual degree. She is but little deaf, has never 
used spectacles, and describes with much vivacity the scenes 
of her youth. She is accompanied in her lengthened pil- 
grimage by her husband, also over 90 years old, and 
retaining his senses and memory as well as his wife ; they 
have been married sixty-eight years. The aged couple here 
referred to, are McClough and wife of Cumberland. The 
proprietors proceeded to lay out the after divisions, as they 
are called in the records, which were the 100 acre division 
next Falmouth, the 120 acre division or Gedney's claim, 
the east 100 acre division, the division of the marsh into 4 
acre lots with lots of upland, equivalent to 4 acres of marsh, 
to make one lot to each proprietor. The division called 
squadrons in the Gore, which tract was granted by the 
General Court in 1734. The islands and pews in the meet- 
ing house, constituted two divisions more. The last of these 
divisions was drawn for in 1742. Merriconneag and the 
islands adjacent, Gebeag, Cousins' island, and some tracts 
on the main, within the jurisdictional limits of the town, 
claimed by persons under ancient titles, were not included 
in these divisions. 

As we are indebted to the lawsuit between the proprie- 
tors and the assigns of Thomas Stevens, respecting the title 
to Gedney's claim, so called, for materials for a considerable 
portion of the ancient history of our town, some account of 
this claim may not be unacceptable. 

In 1673, Thomas Stevens of Kennebec, purchased of 
Robin Hood and other sagamores, a tract of land " two 
miles on each side of Pumgustuk or Wescustogo river, from 
the first falls to the head of the river, every branch and 
creek thereunto belonging," for a valuable consideration, 
but the sum is not mentioned, and the deed was never ac- 
knowledged. The 120 acre division and 280 acre squad- 



NORTH YARMOUTH. 179 

rons, amounting to about 7,000 acres, came within this 
claim. Stephens sold this tract to B. Gedney of Salem, 
and Henry Saward of York, Oct. 12th, 1674. In the same 
month, Gedney and Saward agreed to complete a saw mill 
with two saws, and one corn mill, which were then begun." 
Saward mortgaged his moiety to Gedney, which he failed to 
redeem, and Gedney became proprietor of the whole. 
Saward completed the saw mill, but not the corn mill. 
This mill was burnt by the Indians in Phillip's war, and 
was rebuilt by Capt. Gendall, who purchased the Indians' 
claim of Gedney, in 1681, in the same place, as the witnes- 
ses testify, on which stood the one built by Saward. Gen- 
dall also mortgaged the land to "Gedney, to secure the 
payment of the purchase money, 110, which he never 
paid; and in July, 1684, the whole became Gedney's the 
second time, there being then on the premises one saw 
mill, one grist mill, one house, with about four acres cleared 
on the east side of the river, and a hovel, and about the 
same quantity cleared on the west side. These mills, as has 
already been mentioned, were destroyed by the Indians, 
about four years after. Gedney died in 1698, and Nathan- 
iel Ware, of Hampton, who had purchased one third of the 
claim, built the third saw mill. A number of persons soon 
appear as proprietors in this tract ; some of them no doubt 
purchased into it on speculation, for, in 1730, Abial Wally, 
shopkeeper, Francis Willoughby, Gent., Nathaniel Emmes, 
stone cutter, Joseph Robie glasier and John Harrod, baker, 
all of Boston, Deborah Clark, of Salem, widow, Thomas 
Carpenter, James Shewell, Seth Gibson, Merchants, and 
Joseph Thompson, Esq., all of London, recovered judgment 
for partition to be made of and in a certain tract of land, 
lying partly within and partly adjoining to the town of 
North Yarmouth, containing about a hundred thousand 
acres of land with the buildings and appurtenances, bound- 
ed as described in the Indian deed to Stephens. Partition 
was accordingly made, in which one sixth is set off to 
Peter Weare, son of Nathaniel, and one sixth to Joseph 
Fellows, " who did deny to make partition." 



180 HISTORY OF 

In 1730, the proprietors of North Yarmouth, probably 
with a view in part to try the Indian title, granted to Sam- 
uel Seabury and Jacob Mitchell, " so much of the river at 
the lower falls as may be needful for a grist mill" and ten 
acres of land adjoining. Seabury and Mitchell built the 
mill, and it appears that Weare had some share in it, but 
in 1733, Nathaniel Emmes commenced his action against 
the owners, and recovered judgment and costs. Not dis- 
couraged by this failure, the proprietors, in 1741, commenced 
their action against the claimants, for that part of the 
claim lying in the Gore, and the next year another action for 
the 120 acre division, which actions were tried, continued 
and reviewed until 1748, when the proprietors obtained 
judgment with costs. Thus terminated the most important 
euit that the town or inhabitants have ever been engaged 
in, even to the present time. A small part of the expense of 
carrying on the suit was paid by the proprietors of New 
Gloucester. 

The bounds of North Yarmouth, in its greatest extent, 
were from the white rock, adjoining Falmouth, N. W. eight 
miles, thence N. E. about eleven miles, until intersected by 
a link running N. W. from the mouth of Bungonug river, 
and from the white rock and the mouth of the river, to 
extend S. E. to the sea. By these lines, Mare point, Mer- 
riconeag, the great island Chebascodegan. and a large 
number of islands, and Small point at the mouth of Kenne- 
bec river, were included within the limits of North Yar- 
mouth. Mare point was set off to Brunswick in 1739, and 
in 1741, on the petition of Ebenezer Hall and others, inhab- 
itants of Small point, to the General Court, praying to be 
set off from North Yarmouth and annexed to Georgetown, 
the town voted, " that considering the distance of said point 
of land from North Yarmouth meeting house, and the 
difficulty of the passage, the town gives free consent" that 
the prayer of the petition be granted. Merriconeag and 
the islands adjacent were incorporated into a town by the 
name of Harpswell, Jan. 25, 1758, having been a parish 
previous to that time. 



NORTH YARMOUTH. 181 

The progress of the settlement of the town was slow. 
The inhabitants did not engage much in agriculture, but 
were employed in procuring wood and lumber for coasting 
vessels, of which many were owned here. Between 1720 
and 30, John Powell built a saw mill on the brook at Broad 
cove, called Felt's falls, and Gilbert Winslow and others a 
tide saw mill on Atwell's creek, which was at that time 
considered a hopeless speculation, and was called the folly 
mill, by which name the creek is now known, but I have 
been informed by a daughter of one of the owners, that it 
was a profitable concern. In 1 753, another tide saw mill 
was built on a creek between Cousins' river and the farm 
now owned by Mr. Fogg, and the same year the first saw 
mill was built at the upper falls on Royall's river. The 
iron refinery was built a year or two after. In 1763, there 
was no house on the northwest road, in what is now Cum- 
berland, above Mr. James Tuttle's, or the farm now owned 
by Mr. Reed, one hundred and twenty years after the 
settlement of George Felt on the west side of broad cove ; 
and in 1768, ninety-four years after the first saw mill was 
built at the lower falls, there was no house on the road to 
New Gloucester, above where the town pound now stands. 
There were, however, some families in New Gloucester 
prior to that date. 

To contrast this snail-like pace in the march of popula- 
tion and improvement with the rapid progress of later 
years, one astonishing fact should be mentioned in this place. 
In the northern states at the present time, millions of 
capital are invested in cotton manufactories, millions of 
spindles are in operation, and tens of thousands of the people 
derive their support from these establishments, yet the man 
who made and put in motion the first machinery for spin- 
ning cotton in New England, is still living and now present 
in this assembly. 

The tardiness of the settlement of the interior part of the 
town must in a great measure be attributed to the wars 
with the Indians. Our records are remarkably barren of 
facts respecting the incursions of the aborigines. It is from 

VOL. II- 16 



182 HISTORY OF 

other sources, that this part of the history of the town must 
be collected, and I regret that a large portion must depend 
entirely upon tradition. 

In June, 1746, Joseph Sweat, of Falmouth, was killed 
while riding on horseback near Where Capt. Andrew Blan- 
chard how lives, and Mr. Philip Greely was killed the same 
year, near the present residence of Mr. David True, by a 
party of Indians secreted in the gully near the road, waiting 
a favorable opportunity to attack Wear's Garrison. They 
were discovered by Mr. Greely's dog, and the lives of the 
inmates of the garrison were preserved at the expense of 
the life of Mr. Greely. 

In June, 1748, Ebenezer Eaton was killed on the old road 
on the south side of the ledge, and Benjamin Lake was 
taken prisoner. In the spring of 1751, Joseph Chandler, son 
of Edmund Chandler, aged 12, Solomon Mitchell and Dan- 
iel Mitchell, the first aged 12, and the second 7 years, sons 
of Capt. Benjamin Mitchell, were taken by the Indians near 
the present residence of Mr. Oakes. The boys had been to 
Mr. Mitchell's farm where the men were at Work, and were 
sent home early in the afternoon to get the cows, below the 
meeting house, and their capture was not suspected until 
the return of the men to the garrison in the evening. In 
,his affair, as in the last, the capture of the sons probably 
saved the lives of their fathers. The two eldest boys were 
recovered by their friends in two or three years, but the 
voungest remained with the Indians more than ten years, 
and was not restored until the general peace after the con- 
quest of Canada. The last attack by the Indians was upon 
the house of Mr. Maines, at Flying Point, May 4, 1756. 
Mr. Maines was killed, his wife wounded by the shot 
which killed a child in her arms, and a girl by the name of 
Skinner taken prisoner. The peace which followed the 
surrender of Quebec put an end to wars with the Indians 
in New England, and to years and days of peril, when, to 
use the language of the aged Mrs. Clough, " almost every 
house was a garrison, and every man carried a gun to 
meeting." 



NORTH YARMOUTH. 183 

A late author has enumerated six Indian wars between 
1675 and 1760, a period of eighty-five years, in which were 
thirty-five years of war, which shows us what desperate 
efforts were made by the sons of the forest to retain their 
hunting grounds and the graves of their fathers. After 1760 
people began to venture back into the woods, as it was 
then called to move three or four miles from the salt water, 
and the population of the town rapidly increased. 

The rest from Indian wars was soon interrupted by the 
war of the Revolution. Our records are full of the pro- 
ceedings of the town at this momentous crisis. In 1768 the 
town voted to pay a bounty on linen and woolen stuffs of 
domestic manufacture. The inhabitants of this town en- 
gaged with one voice in opposing the earliest acts of 
aggression by Great Britain. The answers to the letters 
from the select men of Boston are full of the energy and 
spirit of the times, and as early as May 1774, speak of " re- 
sisting force by force." The use of tea was prohibited, on 
penalty of being " regarded as too indifferent, if not crimi- 
nal to our real interests and prosperity, and of being 
adjudged disqualified for any favor it might be in the power 
of the town to bestow." It was afterwards voted, that " if 
the skippers of any vessels belonging to this town shall 
hereafter presume to carry or contract to carry fuel or lum- 
ber of any kind, to the troops or forces in the town or harbor 
of Boston, the vessel shall be hauled up and stripped, and 
there lay during the town's pleasure ; and the names of the 
skippers and owners of the vessel shall be published in the 
public newspapers, in order that they may be known and 
avoided as enemies of their country." And at a very full 
meeting on the 20th of May previous to the Declaration of In- 
dependence, " voted unanimously, that should the Honorable 
Congress, for the safety of the United Colonies, declare them in- 
dependent of the kingdom of Great Britain, the inhabitants of 
this town do solemnly engage with their lives and fortunes 
to support Congress in the measure" 

Three years after the close of the war of the Revolution 
the town was invited to send delegates to a convention pro- 



184 [ HISTORY OF 

posed to be holden in Portland, to adopt measures to obtain 
a separation from Massachusetts ; this project the town 
resisted at that time, and ever after. 

I presume no town in New England can boast of a more 
steadfast and consistent career, in both religion and politics, 
than North Yarmouth. The inhabitants have been re- 
markable for continuing their public servants in office, and 
have unquestionably derived great advantage by so doing. 
One who has cause to expect that by doing his duty, he 
shall receive continued patronage, has a responsibility, and 
feels an obligation to serve the public faithfully, which he 
does not who is put into office one year with the expectation 
of being turned out the next. 

During the century since the organization of the town, 
eight persons only have held the office of town clerk, three 
of these served eighty-three years, and the remaining five 
seventeen years. In the same period, seven persons only 
have been elected to the office of Treasurer ; four of whom 
served ninety years, and the remaining three ten years. 
The offices of Selectmen and Representative have been con- 
ferred in a similar manner. 

The ancient building in which we are assembled deserves 
a passing notice, and its history is a history of the small be- 
ginnings, slow progress and scanty means of our ancestors. 
A tax was assessed upon the home lots for raising money 
to build a meeting house, in April 1729. I find nothing 
further on record or on file respecting it that year, except a 
proposal from a carpenter in Medford to do the work. As 
a meeting was held in this house, April 24, 1730, to give 
a call to the Rev. Mr. Cutter, there is no doubt the building 
was raised, and the outside partly finished, in 1729. The 
boards were rafted from the mill at the lower falls, I sup- 
pose, to Larrabee's landing, there being no road in which 
lumber could be hauled from the mill to the meeting house. 
Five years after, a committee was appointed to clapboard 
the house, and finish all except making the pews. In two 
years more a vote passed to plaister the meeting house over 
head, and lay part of the floor. The steeple was raised the 
next year, and the pew ground ordered to be laid out, 



NORTH YARMOUTH. 185 

The steeple was never furnished with a bell, but the in- 
habitants about this time contrived a substitute, for we find 
that in March 1738, the town " voted five pounds be allowed 
Mr. Seth Mitchell, for beating a drum on the hill behind the 
meeting house, every Lord 's day morning and noon, to notify 
the time of public worship for the year ensuing." 

In 1739, ten years after the building was raised, the pews 
were finished, and divided by lot among the proprietors of 
the home lots. In 1762, the town voted to enlarge the house, 
by putting a piece in the middle. The work was immedi- 
ately commenced, and the expense was defrayed by the sale 
of the additional pews. In this state it has remained, with 
occasional repair, until the present time, and is, I have no 
doubt, the strongest meeting house built of wood now stand- 
ing in the State, and I presume the only one that was never 
lighted for an evening lecture. This house was the place 
for holding proprietors' town and parish meetings a great 
number of years. The garret was used for the magazine 
of military stores, the adjacent common was the place for 
military musters ; and within half a century, the green in 
rear of the meeting house has been ornamented with a pair 
of stocks and a whipping post. In 1665 the town, then Wes- 
custogo, was presented and fined forty shillings "for not at- 
tending to the Court's order for not making a pair of stocks, 
cage, and a ducking stool." I presume the whipping post 
and stocks erected one hundred years after, were in com- 
pliance with some statute, to avoid another fine. 

Among the things which recal to our remembrance the 
fashions of former times, the horse block deserves a place in 
our history. For many years a large congregation assem- 
bled for public worship in this house, when there were not 
two carriages in town, in which persons could ride to meet- 
ing ; yet every horse carried as many as at the present 
time, and to accommodate the ladies, a large piece of timber 
was placed at the east end of the meeting house, about 
three and a half feet high, with steps at one end. When 
the congregation were dismissed, this became the centre of 
a most animated scene. The top was immediately occu- 
16* 



186 HISTORY OF 

pied. Men and boys soon mounted, came round in turn 
with the pillion, the horse hardly stopped to receive his bur- 
den, a lady was ready to occupy a seat behind her husband, 
another tossed a child into her lap, and the next moment 
was on the succeeding horse herself. In this style, half the 
assembly were in a few minutes, without confusion or dis- 
order, on their way home, the horses two or three abreast, 
and conversation was carried on by the riders, either grave 
or gay according as impressions had been made upon their 
minds by the sermon of the preacher. 

The first minister employed here of whom we have any 
record, was Samuel Seabury, who preached from 1727 to 
Nov. 1729. He received an invitation to settle here, which 
was not accepted ; he afterward became a settled minister, 
but I do not know in what place. The next and the first 
ordained in this house, was the Rev. Ammi R. Cutter, 
whose life was characterized by great energy, activity and 
usefulness. He was born in Cambridge, in the parish now 
incorporated into a town and called West Cambridge, edu- 
cated at Harvard College in the class of 1725 ; he began to 
preach in North Yarmouth, Nov. 10, 1729, was ordained 
Nov. 18, 1730, and dismissed from the pastoral office, Dec. 
12, 1735, on account "of the unhappy difference which had 
arisen between him and the church." He afterward prac- 
tised as a physcian, and was said to be an excellent 
surgeon. In Dec. 1742, he removed to Saco, commanded 
a fort, and had charge of an Indian trading house. While 
there he made, says Sullivan in his history of Maine, a 
dictionary of the Indian language, to facilitate his inter- 
course with the natives. In 1745, he commanded a company 
under General Pepperel, in the memorable expedition to 
Louisburg, was appointed to remain there as chief surgeon 
of the garrison, through the winter following the surrender 
of that place, and died in March 1746, at the early age of 
between 40 and 45 years. Although dismissed from the 
office of minister, he did not loose the confidence of the 
people. He was much employed in transacting the busi- 
ness of the proprietors, in drawing reports, deeds and even 



NORTH YARMOUTH. 187 

writing letters for individuals. The records and ancient 
papers furnish ample evidence, that nothing important was 
done while he resided here without his aid ; and his elegant 
hand writing will render him an agreeable companion to 
every antiquary who may examine these documents. 

The next clergyman employed was Ephraim Keith, of 
Bridgewater, a descendant of the first minister in that town ; 
he received a call to settle here in 1736, which he declined 
on account of opposition to giving him the invitation, and 
the same year, Nov. 10th, Rev. Nicholas Loring from Hull 
in Massachusetts, was ordained, and continued the pastor 
until his death in July, 1763. We have reason to believe 
that the connexion between Mr. Loring and his people was 
very harmonious, and the affectionate respect for his 
memory which appears in the votes of the town at the time 
of his interment, and the grateful acknowledgment of these 
testimonials of attachment by his widow, were alike honor- 
able to the dead and the living. 

In 1751, Merriconeag became a separate parish, and Rev. 
Elisha Eaton, formerly minister in the third parish in 
Braintree, now Randolph, was installed the pastor in 1754, 
and died in 1764. He was succeeded the same year, by 
his son Samuel Eaton, who died in 1822, aged 86. The 
piety, integrity and fearless independence of this venerable 
man, deserves the pen of Irving to do his character justice. 

Rev. Edward Brooks from Medford, was unanimously 
called to succeed Mr. Loring. He was ordained the 4th 
day of July, 1764, and one hundred and sixteen dollars and 
sixty-six cents were expended for an ordination dinner ; a 
more sumptuous entertainment than has been provided in 
town, on the 4th of July, since the declaration of Indepen- 
dence. But this auspicious morning of Mr. Brooks' ministry 
was soon clouded by disaffection and discontent; and in 
about four years, he was dismissed. The separation proved 
advantageous to both parties. The inhabitants found in 
his successor a man whose feelings and sentiments were 
congenial to their own, and Mr. Brooks, who spent the re- 
mainder of his life in his native town, used to say, " that 



188 HISTORY OF NORTH YARMOUTH. 1 

his enemies in North Yarmouth had done him more service 
than all his friends." 

The last minister settled by the town, was the Rev. 
Tristram Oilman, from Exeter, N. H., who was ordained in 
Nov. 1769, and communicated religious instruction from 
this desk, near forty years.* It is not necessary now to 
dwell upon the character of this excellent man, personally 
known to so many present, and who can say with the poet ; 

" That in his duty prompt at every call, 

He watch'd and wept, he pray'd and felt for all. 

And as a bird each fond endearment tries 

To tempt its new fledged offspring to the skies, 

He tried each art, reproved each dull delay, 

Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way." 

He graduated at Cambridge, in 1757, and died in J809. 



HISTORY OF BATH 



READ BEFORE THE LYCEUM IN 1833.' 



BY GEN. JOSEPH SEWALL. 



THE first European settlement in Maine, was made at 
the mouth of the Kennebec river, in 1607. Capt. George 
Popham, Rawley Gilbert, Edmund Harlow, Edmund Davis, 
and about one hundred adventurers irom England, were 
sent out by the Plymouth Company to their colony of North 
Virginia, as this territory was then called. George Popham 
who was a brother of the then Lord Chief Justice of Great 
Britain, was President of the colony, and Rawley Gilbert, 
Admiral. They had also their Master of Ordnance, Ser- 
geant Major, Marshall, Secretary, Captain of the fort, and 
chief Searcher. The expedition consisted of two ships, and 
they landed on Stage island August llth. 

A few days after their landing, they removed to a point 
on the west bank of the river, and on the south side of 
Atkins' bay, not far from where the United States fort now 
is. Here they remained during the winter, which was 
very inclement and severe. Sickness prevailed among 
them, and before the ensuing spring carried off about one 
half their number,* including their President. They also 
lost by fire their store house, much of their provisions and 
many of their dwellings. The ships having returned to 
England in the fall, were by the orders of the Plymouth 
Company furnished with supplies for the colony, and di- 
rected to proceed with them to Kennebec. The ships 
arrived in the spring. The company was disheartened and 

* This is incorrect : Popham was the only one who died. See PURCHAS. Ed. 



190 HISTORY OF BATH. 

discouraged at the loss of their leader, and finding the 
country presented so few inducements to remain, and dread- 
ing their Indian neighbors, who then were numerous and 
powerful in the country, immediately embarked for England, 
and carried with them the remains of their President. 
Their treatment towards the Indians was not calculated to 
conciliate their savage neighbors, nor to establish that con- 
fidence and friendship, which would have been so necessary 
to protect their feeble colony against Indian attacks, had 
they remained. There was during the existence of the 
Norridgewocks a tradition among that tribe, that these 
Europeans invited a number of their natives, who had come 
to trade with them, to draw a cannon by a rope, and that 
when they were arranged in a line, for this purpose, the 
whites discharged the piece and killed and wounded several 
of them. It is probable the resentment of the neighboring 
Indians, on being informed of such treachery, was aroused, 
and that the fear of retaliation hastened the departure of 
the colony. The settlement was recommenced on the 
Kennebec, about twenty years after the departure of the 
Popham colony, by John Parker, a fisherman, who in 1649, 
purchased of Damarine or Robinhood, what was then called 
Reskeagan island, in Sagadahock, being the largest in the 
present town of Georgetown, and lying on the east side of 
the Kennebec, near its junction with the sea. Since the 
purchase the island has retained the name of its first 
English proprietor, and some parts of it are to this day 
retained by the descendants of John Parker. This John 
Parker was the ancestor of the late learned Chief Justice 
Parker of Massachusetts. The same year, Mr. Parker 
purchased of Robinhood, the land on the west side of the 
Kennebec, between Winnegance and the sea. 

In 1639, Edward Buterman and John Brown commenced 
a settlement at Neguasset or Neguascag, having purchased 
the same that year of Mahotiwormet, commonly called 
Robinhood, for one hogshead of corn and thirty sound 
pumpkins. In 1657, John Cole resided at Neguasset, and 
in 1667, James Smith resided there. 



HISTORY OB 1 OF BATH. 191 

It is not known of what tribe Robinhood was the sachem. 
He resided near Neguasset falls, at a place now called 
4 Gunner's Nose.' He claimed a title to all the lands near 
the mouth oftheKennebec, as well as extensive domain on 
the main, on each side of this river below Abagadasset. It 
is probable he was the chief of all the Indians who resided 
on the territory bordering on the Sagadahock, who from 
some vestiges of their labors that still remain near the cove 
in Georgetown, that now retains the name of Robinhood, 
must have been very numerous and powerful. There are 
on the hill near Mr. Riggs's, at an elevation of sixty feet 
above the sea, two holes excavated into the ledge, both of a 
perfect circular shape, and evidently the work of art. One 
is of about six feet diameter, and eight feet deep ; the other 
about two feet distant, is about half that diameter and 
depth. Neither history or tradition informs us how they 
were made, or for what purpose. By some they are sup- 
posed to have been used in the performance of some of the 
religious ceremonies of the natives. An examination of 
them, and the stones that lay near them, seems to leave but 
little doubt that they were made and used by the natives to 
boil their food in, so limited was their knowledge of the 
arts, and so rude their implements, that they heated water 
for cooking, by throwing hot stones into it. The pebbles 
found in and about these holes are such as would resist 
the action of the heat, and as if by much use are all worn 
very smooth, and the sides of the holes towards the sea being 
a little lower than the others, by their smoothness, show the 
effect of the action of the pebbles as they were rolled in and 
taken from the excavations. 

As early as 1050, Thomas Webber resided at the Upper 
end of Reskeagan, and in 1658, he and Parker sold the upper 
end of the Island to Clarke and Lake. At this time Parker 
lived on Arrowsic Island, near Squirrel Point, in a house 
which he afterwards sold to Clarke and Lake, with one 
hundred acres of land which he owned there. In 1649, John 
Richards resided at the north end of Arrowsic Island, or 
Arrowscag, as it was called by the natives, having pur- 



192 HISTORY OF BATH. 

chased the whole island that year of Robinhood. In 1654 
Richards sold the Island, excepting Parker's 100 acres, to 
Thomas Clarke and Roger Spencer. Mr. Spencer shortly 
after sold his moiety to Thomas Lake, the partner of Mr. 
Clarke. 

As early as 1629, John Parker was en gaged in the fishery 
between Monhegan and Kennebec, coming from Boston to 
this station annually for this purpose. In 1630, he made a 
permanent residence at Reskegan. The Kennebec was re- 
sorted to for trade as early as 1625. That year the Ply- 
mouth Colony sent a vessel loaded with corn and merchan- 
dise up the river under the command of Edward Winslow, 
to traffic with the natives, and carried home a quantity of 
beaver and other furs. Clarke and Lake having purchased 
the Indian title to Arrowscag and other extensive tracts on 
the Sagadahoc. In 1658 laid out a town on the south part 
of that island, in lots of ten acres each, and intersected them 
with streets of ample width, and made other improvements 
necessary for their permanent location here. 

In 1660, there was a fort at Stinson's point, near Potter's 
Mills, which had been erected by one Hammond, an ancient 
trader, to guard against a surprise from the natives with 
whom he traded. Hammond had also a trading house at 
Ticonic falls, where he was so imprudent as to rob the 
natives of their furs. This offence was retaliated by an 
attack on his fort at Arrowsic on the Sabbath, whilst the 
people were at their devotions when Hammond was 
killed, and his house plundered. Clarke and Lake had 
another fort and trading establishment on Arrowsic, about 
two miles below Hammond's, and near where the old 
meeting house in Georgetown now stands. The people at 
this garrison were also attacked immediately after the 
attack upon Hammond's, and overpowered. Capt. Lake 
was shot in attempting to escape, and Samuel Smith and 
Joshua Grant were among the killed, and Francis Card 
taken prisoner. Capt. Sylvanus Davis, who afterwards 
was a member of his Majesty's Council, and who in 1670 






HISTORY OF BATH. i93 

was a representative from Arrovreic, was wounded, but not 
taken prisoner. This was in 1676. 

October27, 1661, Robert Gutch purchased of Robinhood, 
the land now included within the limits of Bath. From the 
first settlement by Parker until this period, the English set- 
tlements had progressed on the Kennebec without much in- 
terruption, there having been peace between the whites and 
Indians to that time. In 1670 there were on Arrowsic and 
Parker's Island thirty families, and on the west side of the 
river below the chops twenty families. In 1661, Ambrose 
Hunnewell from whom the point at the Fort takes its name, 
resided at the lower end of Sagadahock, and Thomas Atkins 
resided on the shore of the bay near the mouth of the river, 
which still preserves the name of its ancient settler. Indeed, 
in 1654, the inhabitants of the territory who took the oath 
of fidelity, would amount to the number of heads of families 
already mentioned. The territory was then considered to 
be within the jurisdiction of the Plymouth colony, and a com- 
mission was granted to Thomas Prince, to establish a 
government here, with full and ample powers to summon 
all the inhabitants to take the oath of fidelity, and make 
the needful laws and regulations for their separate juris- 
diction. 

Among the Plymouth Records, we find a copy of the 
proceedings, had under the warrant to Thomas Prince, to 
establish the government at Kennebec. The record is as 
follows : 

" Government Established at Kennebec. 

"Whereas, it hath pleased the Right Honorable the Council 
of the State of the Commonwealth of England, notwith- 
standing their many great and weighty occasions, to take 
into consideration the condition of the English inhabiting 
upon or near adjoining unto the river, commonly called 
Kennebec, who by reason of remoteness from other juris- 
dictions, and their own paucity and fewness, have not 
hitherto enjoyed the benefit of government, no doubt to the 
great grief of all well affected English. It hath now pleased 
the right honorable council of State, by authority of Parlia- 

VOL. II. 17 



194 HISTORY OF BATH. 

merit, to confer the government of the aforesaid inhabitant^ 
upon the jurisdiction of New Plymouth, the first inhabitants 
and government in those parts, as by these Letters Patent 
doth appear. 

" In pursuance whereof and by virtue of the aforesaid 
authority, granted to William Bradford and his associates, 
the same William Bradford and his associates, at a general 
court held at New Plymouth, gave full power and authority 
to Mr. Thomas Prince, one of the assistants in said govern- 
ment, for the settling a Government upon the said river 
Kennebec, by virtue whereof the said Thomas Prince 
issued out a warrant directed to the Marshal of New 
Plymouth, bearing date the 15th of May, 1654, requiring 
the inhabitants upon the said river to make their personal 
appearance at the house of Thomas Ashley, at Merry- 
meeting, upon the 23d of that present month, at which time 
and place the people generally assembled, and after pub- 
lishing the aforesaid authority, the inhabitants hereunder- 
written have taken the oath of fidelity, viz : Thomas 
Purchase, Messrs. John Stone, Thomas Ashley, John 
Richards, James Smith, William James, Thomas Parker, 
John White, John Browne, William Davis, Thomas Webber, 
Thomas Atkins, James Coale, John Parker, Edmund 
Hughes, Alexander Thwoit. 

" Orders made and agreed upon at the same meeting. 

1. That all capital crimes and trials upon life and death, 
be referred to the General Court at Plymouth. 1. Treason 
against the Commonwealth of England, or tLsir Colonies. 

2. Wilful murder. 3. Solemn conversing or compacting 
with the Devil, by way of conjuration or the like. 
4. Wilful or purposed burning of houses. 5. That adul- 
tery be tried at Plymouth. 6. That theft be punished by 
restitution of three or four fold, according to the discretion 
of the assistants. 7. That if any person or persons drink 
themselves drunk, for the first default, 5s., for the second, 
10s., and the third time be set in the stocks. 8. Wilful 
profaning the Lord's day, to be punished according to the 
discretion of the assistants. 9. Whereas there hath been 



HISTORY OF BATH. 195 

great abuses in trading wine and other strong liquors with 
the Indians, whereby they drink themselves drunk, and in 
their drunkenness, commit much horrid wickedness, as 
murdering their nearest relations, &c., as by sad and woful 
experience is made manifest. It is therefore ordered that 
no person whatsoever from this time, sell any strong liquors 
directly or indirectly to the Indians within this jurisdiction, 
upon forfeiture of the double value of goods so traded for 
their first default, and four fold for their second default in 
that kind, and for the third default, if an inhabitant, to lose 
the privilege of trading with the Indians for the future 
and for any stranger, that shall come to trade or commerce 
with the English, or any other that have not taken the oath 
of fidelity to the Commonwealth of England and this present 
Government, and yet reside within the limits of this juris- 
diction or any part ther