BR NX a : YS Re a \ \\ CQ QXy WS \ te . \\ LENS Ll N AN SS ~ WA al Si. O47]. CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM Cornell University Libra “iT Xi vi a 2 >CAMMAN MUG, S MEDALLION OF THE OLD TIMES IN SACO A BRIEF MONOGRAPH ON LOCAL EVENTS a babe considered the daps of old, the pears of ancient times. Ps. LXXXVII, 5 BY DANIEL E. OWEN SACO, MAINE, 1891 Kc With smoking axle hot with speed, with steeds of fire and steam, Wide-waked Today leaves Yesterday behind him like a dream. Still, from the hurrying train of Life, fly backward far and fast The milestones of the fathers, the land- marks of the past. | te 8- — Whittier. The genuine history of a country can never be well under- stood without a complete and searching analysis of the com- ponent parts of the community, as well as the country. Gen- ealogical inquiries and local topography, so far from being unworthy the attention of the philosophical inquirer, are amongst the best materials he can use; and the fortunes and changes of one family, or the events of one upland township, may explain the darkest and most dubious portions of the annals of a realm.—Palgrave. Biddeford Times Print. PRE ACE. And what is writ, is writ— Would it were worthier. — Byron. Saco, Maine, April 16, 1891. ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS.* PAGE. Medallion of the Scamman Mug, .. i : Frontispiece. Autograph of Richard Vines, : : , ’ 15 Autograph of George Cleeves, . 9 ; - 20 Autograph of Thomas Gorges, é é ; : . 21 Plan of Saco Showing Division of Patent, ete., . ‘i . 80 The Scamman Mug, . : : ‘ , » 42 Autograph of Wm. Pepperrell, { ‘ : . 62 Tickets in Bridge Lottery, . ‘ ‘ F 5 . 66 Autograph of Robert Booth, ‘ : 3 ‘ » 61 Facsimile of Old Plan of Saco, 5 ‘ : : - 66 Autograph of Amos Chase, é B 7 » 70 First entry in Church Records, : i ; - 70 Autograph of ‘fristram Jordan, i 2 x bd Plan of Islands and Mill Privilege, : a : . 78 Silhouette and Autograph of Col. Cutts, . ‘ : . 80 Plan of Pepperrell Lands, . , 3 ‘ : . 98 Autograph of Thos. G. Thornton, i : : . 122 Plan of Saco in 1825, : 4 . ‘ ‘ . 138 Plan of Saco Ferry, 1817, . ‘ . 3 é . 150 *For the use of most of the Mars reproduced in this sketch the writer is indebted to Mr. Winfield S. Dennett. The plan, entitled Saco FERRY, 1817, is furnished by Mr. Enoch C. Jordan. The cuts of the SCAMMAN MUG and the MEDALLION OF THE SCAMMAN MUG are from drawings by Miss Winona Moody. The original of the LOTTERY TICKETS is owned by George A. Emery, Esq. The First ENTRY IN CHURCH RECORDS is a reduced facsimile by photography. The SILHOUETTE OF COL. CUTTS is by the late Car] Ham- ilton. ERRATA. The reader is asked to make the following corrections : Page 1. First line, for southwestern read southeastern. Page 11. First foot-note, omit ‘*Describes state of affairs in 1670.” Page 12. Last line in second paragraph, for were fishers read mere fishers. Page 30. Last line, for 1678 read 1677. Page 38. Last line, for 1698 read 1689. Page 117. Second line, for acre read care. In quotations the original punctuation and spelling are pre- served, a fact which explains many apparent errors. CONTENTS, CHAPTER IL. DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION, Expedition of Martin Pring—Discovery of the Saco—Appearance of the river—Cow Island—Champlain visits Wood Islund—Sir Fer- dinando Gorges—Richard Vines at Winter Harbor—Epidemic among the Indians—Christopher Levett sojourns at the mouth of the: SacG: Rivetisess 3 so eduction x oisic te sung de asew ca de sec eae 1-8, CHAPTER II. SETTLEMENT. Grants of Saco and Biddeford—Terms of the Saco patent—Reserva- tion of the King's tifth—First settlers in Saco—Vocatious of the early inhabitants—The first orchard in Maine—Thomas Lewis— Richard Vines—Richmond’s Island—Trelawney and Goodyear patent—John Wiuter—Black Point—Character of the Indians. .9-17. CHAPTER III. EARLY GOVERNMENT. The combination—First court in Maine and what it did—George Cleeves—Gorges becomes Lord Proprietor of New Somersetshire hy the King’s charter—Thomas Gorges sent over to govern Maine —Courts at Saco—Character of Richard Vines—The ‘Plough Patent’"—Cleeves claims jurisdiction over Lyyonia—Letter of Vines on the situation—War in England and death of Gorges—Massa- chusetts claims Maine—Submission of Saco—Johu Bonython— Further agitations—Massachusetts buys Muine—The town line. 18-31. *Chapter IV, and a portion of Chapter V, bave been kindly contributed by Mr. John S. Locke. vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. THE INDIANS—KING PHILIP'S WAR. Early state of the country—Indian character and habits—Their weapons—The various tribes—Laws respecting guns for the Ind- ians—Squando aroused—Burning of Saco—Ambush at Black Point —Other skirmishes—Close of the war...-...--eseeseeeee eens 32-38. CHAPTER V. FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. Outbreak of King William’s War—Fort Mary—The stone fort—Gar- rison houses—Story of the Scamman mug—End of the war—Queen Anne’s War—Attack upon Winter Harbor and the stone fort— Brown's garrison attacked—Naval engagement with the Indians— French and Indian raids upon Winter Harbor—Peace once more— Subsequent visits of hostile Indians..........2. ceeeeeee eee 39-45. CHAPTER VI. MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS, 1653 1762. Saco becomes a town—Beginning of town records—First saw-mill in Saco—Titles of the settlers—The jail at Casco—Outline of colonial government—Saco represented at the General Court—The Military —Reorganization of the town under the name of Biddeford—Pep- perrell buys Saco lands—William Pepperrell’s life and character— Early methods of travel—The lottery bridge................ 46-56. CHAPTER VII. ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS, 1636—1762—MORALS AND MANNERS. Religious attitude of early settlers—Richard Gibson, the first clergy- mun—Robert Jordan—Thomas Jenner, the first Puritan minister in Maine—Letters of Richard Vines and Thomas Jenner—Robert Booth—Chauncy and Seth Fletcher—William Milburne—Method of paying the pastor—Moral standard of the town—Temperance— Public worship—Matthew Short—Marston Cabot—John Moody— Samuel Willard—First church in Biddeford organized —Moses Morrill—Saco parish set off—The parsonage land—New meeting house on the Saco side. ...- 1... ee eee cece ee eee cee cece eee 57-68. CONTENTS, vii CHAPTER VII. PEPPERRELLBOROUGH, 1762—1790. Incorporation of Pepperrellborough—The first selectmen—John Fairfield chosen town pastor—Feeling of the people against Great Britain—The Biddeford resolutions—Committees of Correspon- dence—The County Congress—James Sullivan sent to the Provincial Congress—Regulations respecting military training—The town records on the Revolution—Skirmish at Cape Porpoise—The Tory Alden vompelled to recant—First election of state officers—Move- ment in Maine for separation from Massachusetts—Great freshet 1785—Colonel Thomas Cutts—Condition of the town—First cen- CHAPTER IX. PEPPERRELLBOROUH, 1790—1800. Ship owners suffer loss from the depredations of France and Eng- luud—Resolutions ou the Jay treaty—Fourth of July celebration in 1797—The political parties—Resignation of John Fairfield—His Ghitacter:: ~ “saduigaa Aoioe vs. -ceiawce eee ia wae satonem esas 82-88. CHAPTER X. TOWN LANDS—AND THE USE MADE OF THEM. Pepperrell’s lands confiscated—Petition of town for a grant of fifty acres—Resolutions of the General Court—David Sewall surveys the Pepperrell lands—Report on the survey—Deed of Sewall to town—The new meeting house—The powder house—Saco Acad- emy—Gun house..... ees eeee reece re cece ete eneeeneeeet en cees 89-99. CHAPTER XI. SACO, 1805—1812. Old name of Saco resumed—First newspaper published in Saco— Extracts from the Freeman’s Friend—Town meeting to discuss the Embargo—Resolutions adopted—Result of the Embargo—Cutts and Calef form the Saco Iron Works Company—Amount of money TN VEStOd cs 6 ces ahead whe bad owe Resa ETO + MeO K RBA eA 100-107. vill CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. THE WAR OF 1812. Attitude of New England—Extracts from letters of Marshal ‘Thorn- ton and Mrs. Cutts—The Cutts property at Biddeford Pool—Letter of Dominicus Cutts to Capt. Thomas Cutts—Visit of the Bulwark to Biddeford Pool—Resolutions on the state of affairs—Peace—The subscription paper and the ‘Peace Ball.’....-..---++- seers 108-114. CHAPTER NIII. THE SEPARATION OF MAINE. Agitation of the subject in 1816—The Brunswick conveation—The moyement for separation quashed—A renewed attempt, 1817-1819 —Petition of Saco inhabitants—The Portland convention—Separ- GON, SMe CHAD eg se se Rpaanece Magee os tsk Ha ewatibed om EE 115-119. CHAPTER XIV. THREE NOTABLE OCCASIONS. Visit of President’ Monroe in 1817—Letter of Marshal Thornton— Address of the inhabitants—Reply by the President—Lafayette’s reception in 1825—Letter of acceptance—Resolutions on the com- ing event—Newspaper account of the affair—The Fourth of July celebration in 1826—The account of the Maine Palladium. .120-138. APPENDICES. CHRONOLOGICAL SUMMARY. INDICES. HISTORY OF SACO. CHAPTER I. DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION, HE history of Saco practically begins with the discovery of the Saco River in 1603. Some few adventurers had cruised along the coast of New England previous to that year, and since it is probable that fishermen visited the inlets of southwestern Maine before those waters were generally known to explorers, it is not unreasonable to suppose that white men set foot upon the shores of Saco Bay prior to the beginning of the xvutth century. There is, however, no satisfactory evi- dence in support of such a conjecture and history must be said to begin with the date above given. On April 10, 1603, a few days after the death of Queen Elizabeth, Martin Pring* set sail from Bristol, England, for the New World, taking with him Robert Salterne, a young man of theological tendenciest, who had been with Bartholomew Gosnold on his famous voyage of the year before. Pring had two vessels, neither of them so large as many modern yachts. The first and larger of the two was named the Speedwell. She was of fifty tons burden and carried a crew of thirty men and boys. The Discoverer registered only twenty-six tons and was manned by a company fourteen in number. The expedition was sent out by merchants and city officers *Sometimes spelled Prinn or Prynn. tHe afterward took orders in the Church of England. 2 HISTORY OF SACO. of Bristol, for purposes of trade with the Indians. Gosnold had returned from Cape Cod with a valuable cargo of sassafras and furs, obtained by barter with the ignorant savages, and the projectors of Pring’s voyage hoped to reap a handsome profit by the same traffic. Some of the more sanguine ones may have believed that America could boast of better things than Indians and furs and had gay dreams perhaps, of Norumbeqa* with its columns of crystal and of silver; but if such extrava- gant notions were entertained, they were concealed, and the little craft were sent out laden with trinkets calculated to strike the fancy of the natives. , The perilous voyage across the Atlantic was made in safety and Pring soon cast anchor in Penobscot Bay. No Indians being found there, the captain sailed to Saco Bay, whence he proceeded five miles up the Saco River. But the primeval forests were silent here, as elsewhere, and though traces of camp-fires were to be seen, not a native showed himself, so Pring sailed down the river over the bar—which was mentioned in the ship’s log—and continued his quest toward the south. At the time of Pring’s visit, the Saco River presented a some- what different aspect from that which it has today. Aside from the great trees which crowned the banks and hung over the water below, the feature of the landscape which would most attract the attention of a modern observer was Cow Island, which, in those days, was covered with a heavy growth. This *David Ingram, a sailor, having been set on shore at Tampico on the Gulf of Mexico in 1658 by Sir John Hawkins, wandered through the country until he came to a city called Norumbega, whence he departed for England. His stories of this city, which he said was three quarters of a mile long, were eagerly listened to by credulous adventurers, many of whom set out to find it. A city exactly corresponding to Ingram’s description was never dis- covered. Still he adhered to what he had said, i. e.—that there was a place in America where monarchs were borne in chairs and where the houses had pillars of crystal and of silver. Finally, the name was given to an Indian village on the Penobscot as the most likely location, and Bangor is said to stand upon the site of the ancient city. Recent ihvestigations by Prof. E. N. Horsford go far to prove that Norumbega was a Norse colony on the Thames near Watertown, Mass. DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 3 now half-submerged area, boasting nothing but alder-bushes and eel grass, is not, in these days, a tract upon which specu- lation would prove profitable; yet it was once of considerable value. Thus a ceed made March 15, 1658-9, reads: “I Jon West of wells in the County of Yorke husbandman, haue in the behalfe of myselfe & heyres, barganed & sould a little Yland tearmed the Cow Yland, being & lijiug in the riuer of Sacoe neare unto a Certen Tract of Land given & granted ynto mee by Mr Richard Vines, as will appeare by a Certen lease for & in considera- tion (with the aforesd Tract) of Tenn pounds, vnto Capt Bryan Pendleton of Portsmouth Iu Pischataqua River.” In view of the small price set on land at the period, this sale is interesting. Still better testimony to the importance of the island may be adduced. In 1678, it was exchanged for no less than two hundred acres of good land on the Saco River, while in 1697, the soldiers of Saco Fort were cutting fire-wood on it! Freshets have stripped the island of its original beauties, where the hand of man has left them undisturbed, until it is overflowed at every tide. Two years after the discovery of the Saco River, De Monts and Champlain arrived at Wood Island, having ‘run along the coast’ from the Kennebec. In his entertaining account of the event Champlain wrote : ‘-T here visited an island beautifully clothed with a fine growth of forest trees, particularly of the oak and walnut, and overspread with vines that in their season produce excellent grapes. * * * * * We named it the island of Bacchus. At high water we weighed anchor and ran up a small river barred at its mouth. There is but half a fathom of water on the bar at low tide aud about nine, some- times twelve feet,* at high tide; within, there is a depth of four, five and six fathoms. As soon as we had cast anchor, a number of Indians appeared on the banks of the river and began to dance. * * * * * * This river is called by the natives tChouacoet.” This description of the mouth of the river is quite accurate. *Average rise of tide is now about nine feet. This would make Cham- plain’s second statement correct. tPronounced Swar-co. See Appendix A. 4 HISTORY OF SACO. As for the grapes, they were still to he found on Wood Island forty years ago. De Monts remained in the vicinity two days, while Cham- plain, who was the official geographer of the expedition, gath- ered material for a map. This map was afterward published and its comparatively rough lines bear a striking resemblance, all things considered, to more modern delineations of Saco Bay.* For ten years, following the visit of De Monts and Cham- plain, no recorded explorer entered the Saco River. During this period, the Plymouth Company had attempted a settlement at the Kennebec, but had failed in making it permanent} and the majority of the members of the corporation had become dis- couraged and withdrawn their aid from the enterprise of colon- ization. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the prime mover in securing the Plymouth charter and throughout his life its most active supporter, was nearly the only one whose ardor was not quenched by disappointment, and it was almost wholly due to his perseverance that the project of New England settlement was not suffered to die out altogether. Sir Ferdinando was thoroughly in earnest, and though it grieved him to witness the defection of his associates, he was determined that the cause, to which he had already devoted much time and money, should still be pursued. Accordingly, he drew even more heavily upon his private fortune, ‘became an owner of a ship himself,’ and ‘ander color of fishing and trade, got a master and company for her.” (xorges’ first object was to prove that the climate of Maine was not too severe for the endurance of civilized men. There was no lack of stories to the contrary and the unfavorable impression which they created in England furnished the chief pretext why men did not care to emigrate to the New World. Gorges was not at all dismayed by the reports he had heard of the terribly inclement winters which buried New England in *Appendix B. tAppendix B. DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION, 5 snow and ice. He ‘thad too much experience in the world to be frighted with such a blast, as knowing many great king- doms and large territories more northerly seated, and by many degrees colder * * * * * yet plentifully inhabited and divers of them stored with no better commodities from trade and commerce than those parts (New England) afforded, if like industry, art and labor be used.”* To prove the soundness of his views on the mooted subject of climate, Gorges, in 1616, despatched his vessel with thirty- two men, ‘hired at extreme rates,’ under command of Captain Richard Vines, witb instructions to pass the winter in some suitable harbor. His orders were obeyed, and in the fall of 1616, Vines went into winter quarters at the mouth of the Saco river. The event is perpetuated in the name Winter Harbor, a title to this day applied to the vicinity of Biddeford Pool. Vines arrived at the time of a great epidemic among the Indians, ‘‘so that the country was in a manner left void of inhabitants.” None of the Englishmen were sick, though they occasionally occupied the wigwams ‘‘with those people that died.” ‘Not one of them,” says Gorges, ‘‘ever felt their heads to ache while they stayed there.” Excursions to the Indian vil- lages were probably not very frequent after October, and the main portion of the cold season was spent on board tne ship which was anchored near the land. Such, at all events, is one tradition. Another version of the event implies that Vines built a cabin on Leighton’s Point; but there is no proof of his having done so. In the spring of 1617, the expedition returned to England bearing a favorable report to Gorges. Vines was not only well satisfied with the climate but was also very much pleased with the character of the country and went so far as to recommend the tract at the mouth of the Saco to Sir Ferdinando as suitable for settlement. In subsequent years, this intelligent navigator 4This quotation. like the others near in paragraphs near it, is from Gorge’s “Briefe Narration.” 6 HISTORY OF SACO. made several voyages to the Maine coast, in the service of Gorges. Winter Harbor was, on these occasions, his principal resort and as will be seen presently, he finally made Saco his permanent abiding place. From the year 1616 on, Saco Bay was frequented by fisher- men and adventurers. One of the latter, Christopher Levett, has lett an interesting account of the Saco River and his expe- rience on and near it. The following is the substance of his story :* *‘Abuut four leagues further east, [from Cape Porpoise], there is another harbor called Saweo (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. * * * * * At length I caused our killock (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. * * * * ‘hus we spent the night; and the next morning with much ado we got into Sawco where I found my other boat. 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, and ducks and *A Voyage into New England. Begun in 1623 and ended in 1624. Per- formed by Christopher Levett, His Majesty’s Woodward of Somersetshire, and one of the Council of New England, 1628. Me. Hist. Soc. Col. DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 7 mallard, with other fowl, both boiled and roasted, but our spits and racks were many times in danger of burning before 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 T could; after I had traveled 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 (hav- ing our lodging amended); for the day being dry I caused all my company to accompany me to 2 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.” Two days later, Captain Levett put to sea. In his parting notice of the Saco he says: “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 inthe main there is a cove or gut which is about a cable’s length in breadth and two cables’ length long, there two good ships may ride, being well moored ahead and stern; and within the cove 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 two leagues of this place this year than in any other in the land. “Phe river next to Saco eastwards, which I discovered by land and afterward brought my boat into,t is the strangest river that ever my eves beheld. It flows at the least ten foot water upright, and yet *Biddeford Pool. tScarboro’ River. 8 HISTORY OF SACO. 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, so 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. * * * "* This naive narration brings the classic pages of Robinson Crusoe forcibly to mind. Its simple sentences form a pleasing introduction to local history and shed many gleams of light upon the manners of the first explorers. That the early navi- gators took to their oars in times of danger is a striking proof of the insignificant size of their ‘good ships.’ That they dared so much and accomplished such important results is surprising and their exploits ought not to be obscured by the grander achievements of later epochs. *The river referred to by the Indians is undoubtedly the Saco. The White Mountains might well gain the name of Crystal Hill. CHAPTER II. SETTLEMENT. ‘HE Plymouth Company, whose charter had been granted in 1606, was reincorporated, in 1620, under the name of the ‘‘Council, established at Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling, ordering, and governing of New England in America.” Sir Ferdinando Gorges continued to be the leading spirit in pushing the scheme of colonization and was as energetic under the new order of things, as he had been under the old. The Council was more successful than the Company had been and Gorges was, at length, permitted to see some of his cherished plans materialize. On February 1, 1630,* the Plymouth Council issued two grants: One conveyed to John Oldham and Richard Vines, a tract of land, lying on the south side of the Saco River, four miles in breadth along the sea-wall and extending back into the country eight miles; the second patent assigned an equal area, on the opposite side of the river, to Thomas Lewis and Richard Bonython.f These grants, the originals of which are in the archives of the Maine Historical Society, were made on condition that the men, in whose favor they were drawn up, should jointly transport fifty persons, to their respective tracts, ‘‘within the seven years next ensuing, to plant and inhabit there, to the advancement of the general Plantation of that country and the strength and *Feb. 12, 1629, old style. The year was formerly madc to begin with March 25, i. e. previous to 1752. ¢Elderly persons whose memory goes back to the time when stories of “old Bonython” were still told at the family fireside, pronounce the name Bonighton. 10 HISTORY OF SACO. safety thereof amongst the natives or any other invaders.” The grant to Lewis and Bonython describes the territory conveyed to them as ‘‘lying and being between the Cape or Bay, com- monly called Cape Elizabeth, and the Cape or Bay, commonly called Cape Porpoise, containing, in breadth, from northeast to southwest along by the sea, four miles in a straight line, accounting seventeen hundred and three score yards, according to the standard of England, to every mile and eight English miles upon the main land on the North side of the river Swanc- kadock,* after the same rate, from the sea through all the breadth aforesaid, together with all the Shores, Creeks, Bays, Harbors and Coasts along the Sea, within the limits and bounds aforesaid, with the woods and islands next adjoining to the said land not being already granted by the said Council unto any other person or persons: together, also, with all the Lands, Rivers, Mines, Minerals, of what kind or nature, Woods, Quar- ries, Marshes, Waters, Lakes, Fishings, Huntings, Hawkings, Fowlings, Commodities, Emoluments and Hereditaments what- sover.” All this was transferred to the patentees on condition of their ‘‘yielding and paying unto our Sovereign Lord, the King, one fifth part of Gold and Silver Ore, and another fifth part to the Council aforesaid and their successors, to be holden of the said Council and their successors by the rent hereafter in these presents reserved, yielding and paying therefor yearly forever unto the said Council, their successors or assigns, for every hundred acres of the said land in use, twelve pence of lawful money of England.” The reservation of the king’s fifth of gold and silver ore sug- gests that his majesty still clang to the hope that the fabulous stories told of America’s wealth were true. The clause by which the throne was to come in for a share of the mines is found in several early deeds. Thus, in 1643, when Alexander Rigby sold Hog Island in Casco Bay, together with a large tract of the main land, he provided that Cleeves and Tucker, the *See Appendix A. SETTLEMENT. 11 buyers, should vield and pay ‘therefore yearly vnto the King’s Majesty his heyres « successors one fift part of all the gould « siluer oare to bee had or found in « vpon the sd Land”; and about the same time Richard Vines conveyed a tract ‘‘reserneing out of this present grant the one fift pte of all the oare.of gold and siluer Due vnto his Matie.” There was a tradition that ‘‘three hills of rocks, were situate np Saco River, about forty miles from the sea, as full of silver as the mountains of Peru: fully persuaded of this, William Phillips, of Saco, purchased these mountains of Captain Sun- day, a Sachem, in the year 1660; but he, or his posterity, were never able to possess the expected wealth from those hills.”* In 1664, Phillips sold one ‘sixteenth part of a Certen Mine, being Accopted a Siluer Mine, lijing and being aboue Sacoe Falls, about fourty Mils more or lesse.” This was a portion of his purchase from Sunday. Colonization began immediately upon the issue of the patents above described. Captain Vines took possession of his planta- tion June 25, 1630, and and the patentees on the Saco side of the river almost precisely a year later—June 28, 1631. Just how many the original settlers were, or how rapidly the colony grew, it is not possible to ascertain with accuracy. The ‘‘booke of rates for the minister,” dated September, 1636, gives the most important testimony on the question and shows that in the year mentioned there were resident in the town: Richard Bony- thon, Richard Vines, Thomas Lewis, Henry Boade, John Wad- low, Thomas Williams, Robert Sankey, Theophilus Davis, George Frost, Clement Greenway, John Parker, John Smith, Samuel Andrews, William Scadlock, Robert Morgan, Henry Warwick, Richard Hitchcock, Thomas Page, Ambrose Berry, Henry Watts, and Richard Foxwell.¢ Of those named only *3ullivan, p. 75. Deseribes-state. of Affairs in 1670. +Other inhabitants were Francis Robinson, Arthur Mackworth, Peyton Cooke, Richard Williams, John West, Thomas Wise, Stephen Batson, John Baylie, Thomas Cole, John Watten, James Cole, John Bonython, Morgan Howell, Arthur Browne, George Jewell and Peter Hogg. 12 HISTORY OF SACO. Foxwell, Watts, and Warwick, aside from the patentees, Lewis and Bonython, are positively known to have lived on the east- ern side of the river. The majority of the colonists took up their abode along the margin of the Pool and on Leighton’s Point. The few that established themselves on the Saco patent probably lived near the mouth of the river or on the sea-wall. A movement inland must have been soon begun, however, for, in 1675, John Bonython occupied a house only a few rods east of the present Unitarian church. With regard to the vocations of the early inhabitants of Saco, it is possible to form a tolerably clear conception, since a con- temporaneous writer, the traveler Jocelyn, informs us that all the people in the province of Maine might ‘be divided into mag- istrates, husbandmen or planters and fishermen.’ ‘Handicrafts- men,’ this author adds, ‘there were. but few, the tumelor or cooper, smiths and carpenters being best weleome.’ Shopkeepers there were none while of those classed as husbandmen, some were ‘‘planters and fishers both, othérs were fishers.”* “ Of these ill-defined classes, that of the husbandmen or plan- ters was most important. Its members were men of hardy mould; vigorous, energetic and well able to turn their hands to anything that gave promise of yielding a respectable liveli- hood. They nominally depended -upon farming for support, but most of them, could man’ a fishing smack, when occa- sion offered, or drive a close bargain for furs with an Indian chief. They usually held farms of one hundred acres, of which they received leases from the planters on nominal rents. The conditions of the instruments by which the planters gained pos- session of their land seem now-a-days quite ridiculous. Thus when ‘‘Rich: Vines of the River of Saco, Gent: for divers good Causes & considerations. him therunto mouing,” did ‘‘giue, grant, infeffe « Confirme * * * ynto Thomas Mills fisher- man & James Gibbines planter” one hundred acres of land ‘“neare winter Harbor in Saco aforsd,” he made the transfer in *Jocelyn’s Voyages. SETTLEMENT. 13 consideration of the fact that he was to receive ‘sone acknowl edgment or rent charge of flue shillings yearly to be pd at the feast of Saynt Michaell, the arke angell, Two dayes worke of one man at Harvest, « one fatt gowse on the 25th day of Decem, yearly.” Old Jocelyn, already quoted, remarks, with regard to the early settlers, that they had a custom of “sitting long at meals, sometimes four times a day.” ‘*They feed generally,” he adds, upon as good flesh, beef, pork, mutton, fowl and fish as any in the world besides.” Captain Vines was apparently no excep- tion to the rule and seems to have been as fond of high living as his neighbors. He was at least intent on securing a good Christmas dinner to be enjoyed by himself ‘this heyres « assignes” forever, since in 1638, four years previous to the date of the deed above given, he had named, as the rent of a farm ‘Containing by estimation one hundred acres,” and its ‘tone mansion or dwelling house,” granted to John West, ‘two. shil- lings of lawful English money in the ffeast of Michalmasse, « alsoe one fatt Capone in the feast of the Natuity of our Sauio™ Christ.” The farms of the husbandmen were, at first, devoted entirely to tillage, but cattle were soon introduced from England and, in 1670, live stock was abundant. So says Jocelyn, who, writing at the period, has the following notice of Saco and its vicinity : “Towns there are not many in this province [Maine] —Wittery situated not far from Pascataway is the most populous. Next to that eastward is seated by a river near the sea Gorgiana,* a major- altie and the metropolitan of the province. Further to the eastward is the town of Wells, Cape Porpus eastward of that, where there is a town of the same name, the houses scatteringly built, all these towns have store of salt and fresh marsh with arable land, and all well stocked with cattle. About eight or nine miles to the Eastward of Cape Porpus is Winter harbor, a noted place for fishers, here they have many stages. Saco adjoins to this, and both make one scatter- *York. 14 HISTORY OF SACO. ing town of large extent, well stored with cattle, arable land and marshes and a saw mill. Six miles to the eastward of Saco and 40 miles from Georgiana is seated the town of black point, consisting of about 50 dwelling houses and a magazine or doganne scatteringly built, they have store of neat and horses, of sheep near upon 700 800, much arable land and marsh, salt and fresh, and a corn mill. To the southward of the point (upon which are stages for fishermen) lie two small islands; beyond the point, North eastward runs the river of Spurwink.”’* Although most of the settlers held land and devoted them- selves, partially at least, to its cultivation, it was not agriculture but fishing, upon which the people mainly depended for com- merce and support. The waters teemed with fish and hundreds of quintals of cod, hake, haddock, and pollock were taken, annually along the coast and dried on rough stages built on the shore. Stage Island, at the mouth of the Saco, derives its title, in common with numerous namesakes from the fact that its treeless surface was utilized by fishermen for the erection of fish flakes. The fish were bartered with the merchants of Massachusetts and Virginia for corn and other stores from England, or exported to foreign countries. The trade thus developed became, in a short time, extensive. ‘‘I have seene,” says Mor- ton, ‘tin one Harboure, next Richmond’s Island, 15 sayle of ships at one time that have taken in them dryed Codds for Spaine and the Straights.”+ The fish brought from $2.00 to $4.00 a quintal, and inasmuch as sufficient supplies to last one man a year cost but $15.00, the first inhabitants of Saco and Biddeford must have enjoyed comfortable circumstances. At this remote date, it is impossible to learn much of the mode or condition of life of any particular settler. Thomas Rogers to whom, in 1657, it was ‘‘granted « confirmed to have a lott of land & meddow fifteen akers about y® pond at y® rocks beyond goose fare next to Richard Coman: y® quantitie of one *John Jocelyn’s Voyages, p. 200. tMorton’s N. E. Canaan, Book ii. tGoogins’ Rocks. SETTLEMENT. 15 hundred and fiftie akers of meddow one ye northeast side of Richard Comans marsh to him « his ares forever—by y® Select- men of Saco,” was a man of horticultural tastes and so improved the tract granted him that it was known as ‘‘Rogers’ Garden.” He planted an orchard, probably the first in Maine. Richard Williams, a ‘clap-board cleaver,’ entered into partnership with Peyton Cooke who advanced the sum of £30, 10s, 6d, sterling and received, thereafter, ‘ttwo full men’s shares” of all such clapboards as were made. When the firm was dissolved, by the death of Williams in 1635, it had on hand clapboards valued at £164, 8s, td, a large stock for those days. Concerning Thomas Lewis but little is known. Richard Bonython appears to have been a sedate and dignified gentle- man, respected by the community, but too retiring and unsym- pathetic to play a leading part in colonial affairs. John Oldham, one of the patentees of Biddeford, never, so far as known, set foot upon his property. John Winthrop tells, in his history,* of one John Oldham who was a trader and who was treacherously killed by the Indians in 1636. The victim was, undoubtedly, the partner of Vines. As for Vines himself, his- tory implies that it is scarcely possible to praise him too much. ok, When Saco was settled he was entrusted by Sir Ferdinando Gorges with the government of the district and the records show that the confidence thus placed in him was never abused. Evidence of his high character will come out more at length in the account of his administration, given in a succeeding chapter. During the period under consideration, the inhabitants of East and West Saco, as the grants were sometimes distin- TTS *Winthrop’s Hist. N. E. I pp. 132 and 226. 16 HISTORY OF SACO, guished, were not without neighbors. There were settlers at Piscataqua—the original territory now embracing the towns of Kittery, Eliot, South Berwick and Berwick—toward the west, and on the east, Richmond’s Island was a great resort for trading. A certain Walter Bagnall was engaged in business there as early as 1631, but he cheated the unwary Indians and was summarily scalped by them in return. ‘This Bagnall,” comments Winthrop,* was sometime servant to one in the bay and these three years had dwelt alone in the said isle and had gotten about £400, most in goods. He was a wicked fellow and much wronged the Indians.” A patent including the present site of Portland and outlying towns, was issued to Robert Trelawney and Moses Goodyear, merchants of Plymouth, England, in 1631. Richmond’s Island fell within the bounds of the grant and John Winter, who assumed possession of the Casco patent as agent for the pro- prietors, in 1632, took up his residence on the island and made it the scene of a brisk commerce which he sustained for fifteen years. Winter is said to have employed sixty men ‘‘upon the design of fishing” alone. He could well afford the large expen- ditures-necessary to sustain his establishment, for the profits realized by the merchants of those times were immense. ‘‘If they do not gain cent. per cent. they cry out they are losers” declares Jocelyn. Winter was as exorbitantas any other. He was complained of, on one occasion, for clearing 200 per cent. on a small sale. There were some settlers on the main land, opposite Rich- mond’s Island, very early, among them being George Cleeves, a mischief-maker of whom more anon. The settlement at Black Point (Prout’s Neck)—an unusually prosperous one—was found- ed by Thomas Cammock, nephew of the Earl of Warwick, who, in 1631, was granted 1500 acres between the Spurwink and Black Point rivers. The fort referred to by Jocelyn stood on the shore opposite Blue Point. Its outline was distinetly visible in 1849. *T p. 63. SETTLEMENT. 17 The Indians troubled the settlers very little at first. The natives were disposed to deal honorably with the new comers and if the colonists had exercised more discretion in many cases than they actually used, the relation would doubtless have remained pleasant many years longer than it did. Champlain, in 1605, noted that the savages of Saco Bay were more domes- tie and civilized than the nomadic tribes of the east, and Wil- liam Wood relates that ‘‘these Indians, in their owne trimme and naturall disposition,” were ‘‘reported to be wise, lofty spirited, constant in friendship to one another, true in their promise and more industrious than many others.”* The worst enemies, in the first days, were not the red men but the lawless whites, some of whom infested the coast as pirates. It was an expedition returning from a hunt after pirates that, in 1632, avenged Bagnall’s death, by hanging, on Richmond’s Island, Black William, an Indian chief whom they found there. On the whole, the first period of Saco’s history was unmarked by serious misfortune, and up to the outbreak of the Indian wars, in 1675, the infant settlement was left to grow and pros- per as it would. *Wm. Wood’s New England's Prospect, (1634). CHAPTER III. EARLY GOVERNMENT, T is a political axiom that no body of men can be prosper- ous without some form of government. The colonists rec- ognized this fact, and soon after their arrival at Saco River they entered into a compact, by which they agreed to obey the laws of England, as administered by officers chosen from their own number. This agreement was termed, in colonial parlance, a “Combination,” and, though unsuited, by the nature of the case, to be a permanent system of rule, it was adapted to the needs of the hour. No remnant of the original document exists and but one record concerning it is to be found. The last is, nevertheless, sufficient to prove the presence of such an instru- ment in the settlement, since the court mentions it by name and orders it to be given up by Thomas Lewis, who acted as its custodian. This action of the court bears date February 9, 1636-7. At that time, events had already transpired in Eng- land which were destined to alter the prevailing government and bring the colony into closer communion with its projector and the king. In 1635, the Plymouth Council, never a vigorous and push- ing institution, stranded, through the disaffection of its mem- bers. The few interested ones met, on February 3d, and divided the Council’s territory in America, that portion of the lands known as Maine falling to its old patron, Gorges, who became, in consequence, Lord Proprietor of the province. Shortly after the division, the corporation surrendered its char- ter into the hands of the king, who forthwith took measures for establishing proper legal authority in New Somersetshire, as EARLY GOVERNMENT. 19 Maine was then designated. In 1636, Captain Willian Gorges was sent over as deputy-governor, with commissions to Bony- thon, Vines, Lewis and others as councillors, and on March 25, 1636, the first legally-constituted court in Maine, of which there is any record, convened at the house of Richard Bonython in Saco. The court of early colonial days was a very different body in make-up, in purpose, and in method, from the modern legal tribunal. The people, having been summoned to the house— commonly a dwelling or an inn—where the session was to be held, by the roll of the drum, inet in the presence of the coun- cillors and were condemned to punishment, admonished, or advised, with despatch and impartial asperity. Misdemeanors were punished whenever and wherever detected. Thus when *'Thomas Cloyse, coming as a testimony into Court, upon occa- sion did own in Court that he played at cards,” he was fined five shillings on the spot. No offence was so insignificant as to be considered beneath the attention of the learned justices. On one occasion, Jere. Gutteridge was presented ‘‘for an Idle person and not providing for his family and giving reproachfull language to Mr. Nathan Fryer when He reproved him for his Idleness.” The courts were legislative as well as judicatory and made the law in addition to enforcing it. It was from this circum- stance that the legislature of Massachusetts was long termed the ‘‘(+eneral Court;” or, more imposingly, *‘The Great and General Court.” The first court at Saco exercised all of the functions to which it was entitled. Four persons were fined five shillings each for intoxication and George Cleeves was ordered to pay five shil- lings for rash speeches. On March 29, in its capacity as a law-making body, the court ordered that ‘‘any man that doth sell strong liquor or wyne, shall suffer his neighbour, labourer or servant to continue drinking in the house, except men invited or laborers upon the working day, tor one hower at diner, or 20 HISTORY OF SACO, stranger or lodger there, the said offence being seene by one justis of the peace within his limits, or constable, or proved by tew witnesses before a justis of the peace, such seller of strong liquor or wyne shall forfet for every such offence tenn shil- lings.” ad Diag Olnr George Cleeves, above mentioned, was a man of rather un- principled character. He went to England in 1636 and, it is probable, gave Gorges no very favorable report of affairs in the province, for when he returned, as he did the following year, he brought a request from Sir Ferdinando to the Massachusetts authorities that they ‘‘govern his province of New Somerset- shire”; but Governor Winthrop and his colleagues were not disposed to interfere and the plottings of Cleeves, for once, availed nothing. In 1639, Gorges’ title as Lord Proprietor of New Somerset- shire was confirmed by the king, who conferred such powers of government upon the ‘‘father of American colonization” as never before were granted by a monarch to a private individual. The name Maine* occurs in the charter given to Gorges at this time. The province is described as extending from the Piscat- aqua to the Kennebec and up those rivers to their furthest heads, or until one hundred and twenty miles are completed, together with all the islands within five leagues of the shore. Gorges was to have unlimited control in the appointment of ofticers and with the assent of a majority of the free holders he was to make laws, raise troops, and build cities ! Invested with this glittering prerogative, Gorges worked out a grand scheme for the colonization and government of the province. York was to be incorporated as a city, under the name of Gorgeana, and entrusted with a charter which called *See Appendix A. EARLY GOVERNMENT. 21 for all the officers of a metropolis, from Lord Mayor down.* Extravagant plans were also laid for the improvement of the territory. On September 2, 1639, soon after obtaining the royal author- ity, Gorges appointed a commission, consisting of Bonython, Vines and others, for the administration of law in Maine. One of the number, Sir Thomas Jocelyn, declined to act, and in March, 1640, a new commission was framed, identical with the first, except that the name of Thomas Gorges was substituted for that of Jocelyn. TF & fos Thomas Gorges, ‘‘a young gentleman of the inns of court, a kinsman of Sir Ferdinand Gorge,”’} arrived at Boston, from England, in the summer of 1640. Meantime, the first commis- sion had held a general court in Saco, on the 25th of June. A second session was held in September, when ‘‘the Worshipful Thomas Gorges” was present. At the June sitting, there were eighteen entries of civil actions and nine complaints. One man was fined five shillings for swearing two oaths; two others had profaned the Sabbath by ‘carrying of bords,” and were fined twenty shillings. At the September term, an order was passed that the general court should convene in Saco every year on the 25thof June. It was also ordered by this court ‘‘that in regard of the great Damage the Inhabitants of this Province do sustain thro’ the loss of their cattle by the devouring Wolves, that from henceforth if any one shall kill any wolf between Pascattaqua and Kenne- bunk, the partie so killing them shall have Twelve pence for The settlement was actually incorporated and remained a city for some years, about two-thirds of the inhabitants holding office. tWinthrop I p.11. Concerning Thomas Gorges he adds: “He was sober and well disposed; he staid a few days in Boston, and was very careful to take advice of our magistrates how to manage his affairs.” 22 HISTORY OF Saco. every wolf so killed from every Family between Kennebunk and Sagadahock, for every wolf so killed within those limits.” The early records of the Province of Maine, which recount the doings of Gorges and nis associates, were made upon un- bound pamphlets, or books, of one or more quires of paper, stitched together, and generally without any covering to secure them from injury. They consist of a mixture of legislative and judicial orders; decisions of a criminal and civil nature; together with inventories of estates, wills, accounts of adminis- trators and similar entries made by the clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, who was usually the recorder of deeds.* The first book contains the names of the commission : Sir Ferdinando Gorge by Commission appoints Sir Tuomas Jossetin, Knight RicHarp Vynes, Steward General Sepr 2d FRANCIS CHAMPERNOON ) 1639 Henry JOSSELIN Esq’rs. + Councellors. RicHarD BoniGHTON j Wittm Hooker . xent. Epwarp ee THomMas GorRGES RicHarp VINES, Steward General March 10 Henry JOSSELIN 1639-40 Francis CHAMPERNOON + Councellors. RicHarp BonITHON WititiamM Hook Epwarp Goprrey, Esq’rs, . THomas GorGEs appointed Secretary. It will be seen from this entry that, next to Thomas Gorges, Richard Vines was the most prominent officeholder in the com- munity. He represented Sir Ferdinando Gorges in a special way, being that gentleman’s agent in transfers of land and responsible to him, in large measure, for the everyday super- vision of the province. Thomas Gorges was the figure-head of the government; to him the people must listen in matters of import: but the real power was Vines who had been intimately tCondensed from Mss. by Hon. David Sewall. Me. Hist. Col. EARLY GOVERNMENT. 2 associated with Sir Ferdinando in the latter's schemes for colou- ization, and who, from an accurate understanding of the pro- prietor’s methods and wishes, bore his authority and sanction in more than usual degree. Vines was an honest man and man- . aged the affairs of his master in a fashion that is open to little criticism. The inhabitants of Saco might well have rested con- tent under his mild oversight, and they probably would have done so for many years, had not the designs of unscrupulous men unseated the established order and involved the district in turmoil. In 1630, the same year in which the grants of Saco and Bid- deford were made, the Plymouth Council issued the so-called ‘Plough Patent.” The boundaries of this patent were, Cape Elizabeth on the east and Cape Porpoise on the west. It thus’ included the districts already granted on Saco River. Such mistakes, arising from imperfect knowledge of the geography of the country, were common in those days, and were a source of no small trouble to the colonies, not only in Maine, but in many other states. as well. The holders of the Plough patent came over from England in the ship Plough, whence the name of the grant; but the place did not please them, so they sailed away and did not molest the settlers at the mouth of the Saco River. The patent was prac- tically forfeited, by not being taken up, and was apparently for- gotten until it became an instrument of mischief in the hands of the adroit George Cleeves. ° Not long after the establishment of the courts under Thomas Gorges, Cleeves went to England a second time and induced Alexander Rigby, ‘‘a lawyer anda Parliament man,” to buy the abandoned Plough patent. The bargain was made April 7, 1643, and in January of the following year Cleeves landed in Boston, armed with a commission from Rigby to administer the affairs of Lygonia, as the region covered by the grant had been named. Cleeves had previously made a slanderous attack upon the character of Captain Vines, but had failed to substantiate 24 HISTORY OF SACO. his aceusations, and he knew that the claim he was about to assert would not be recognized. Accordingly, before proceed- ing to Maine, he called upon the authorities of Massachusetts to assist him in sustaining the majesty of the law. The officers of the Bay Colony discreetly withheld their aid and Cleeves was left to his own devices. The newly-constituted ‘‘Deputy-Presi- dent of Lygonia” was not a man to be daunted by lack of sup- port; so he took his departure for the scene of his assumed jurisdiction, and began a crusade against the officers of Sir Ferdinando Gorges and all others who adhered to the original proprietor’s cause. The brunt of the battle was felt by Captain Vines, who, as the representative and avowed friend of Gorges, incurred the cordial dislike of Cleeves. ‘The contest between the rivals was, at first, an equal one. Cleeves sent out commissions from Casco and summoned a court at that place, in the name of the ‘‘Lord Proprietor and President of the Province of Lygonia.” To offset this move, the councellors of Maine called a court at Saco and uttered a protest against such revolutionary proceedings. The arguments against the new government, there brought for- ward, are well expressed in the following letter, by Vines to John Winthrop, which illustrates also the character of Cleeves : To the right worshipfull his much honored freind John Winthorpe, Esqr. governor of the Massachusetts Colony, these, Boston: RIGHT WORSHIPFULL,—I ain forced to complayne vnto you of di- verse insufferable wrongs don vnto Sir fferdinando Gorges, his Com- missioners and Province, by Mr.Cleiues and hisagent, Mr. ‘Tucker, who report that you protect and countenance there exorbitant practices, which I canot beleave, for I never yet knew you giue the least encour- agement to any sinister practice. Mr. Cleiues having perswaded Mr. Rigby, (a worthy gent. by report) to buy the Plough Patent which I esteeme no better than a broken tytle, by Mr. Rigby his authority, (and as he sayes by your approbacon) he hath nominated Commis- sioners, a Coronell generall, Provost marshall and other officers, extending his government from Sackadehock to Cape Porpus, being about 13 leagues in length, haveing like wise appoynted a Court to be kept in Cascoe bay the 25th of March next, and hath sent his agent Tucker with a paper, perswading all such as he findes any way EARLY GOVERNMENT. 25 inclyning to innovation, to set their hands to it, for the better approving of what they haue begun, and allsoe to intreate your Wor- ship and the rest of your magistrates to defend them from Ffrench Indians, and other enemyes, which wee construe to be Sir Fferd: Gorges Commissioners. Neither hath Cleiues (as he ought) pre- sented any his authority at our last generall Court; but, 2 dayes before our Court tooke a vioage into the bay and all the way as he went from Pascatuquack to Boston, he reported he was goeing for ayde against mee, for that I had threatened him and his authority, to beate him out of this Province. By this false report and many other the like, Iam held an enemy to iustice and piety. * * * * * * * * * TI am troubled at these seditious proceedings; and much more at his most notorius scandalls of Sir fferdinando Gorges, aman for his age and in iutegrity worthy of much honor; him he brands with the foule name of traytor by cureumstance, in reporting that he hath counterfeited the King’s broade Seale (if he haue any patent for the Province of Mayne) ffor, sayes he, I haue serched all the Courtes of Record, and can finde noe such grant. How could he haue giuen that graue Knight,a deeper wound in his reputacion, the which I know is more deare to him than all the wealth in America: he likewise maynetaynes his false report of his death, fflight into Wales, not with standing a letter dated the 25th of 9ber la3t, from a merchant in London, of very good credit, and brought in Mr. Payne his ship, which letter imports Sir fferd: Gorges his good health with the restauracion of his possessions agayne. * * * * * Now for the Patent that Mr. Rigby hath bought, it is not from our King’s majestie, as Cleiues reports, but from the President and Counsell of New England, as myne and others are, wherein Mr. Rigby hath from there Llordships jura regalia, but his majestie takes that away by his royal grant to Sir fferd: Gorges, bearing date thir [teen] th of Aprill, in the fifteenth yeare of his highnes raigne. Now I cou- ceiue Mr. Rigby his agent is but to recover soe much land as the grant specifies, and to relinquish there Jura regalia, as you may perceiue in the last clawse of our grant here with sent you. * * * * Yet I did ever, and doe intend, whensoever Mr. Rigby shall send over people, to lett them settle peaceably, to ayde and assist them to the best of my power, without questioning of meum et tuum; for this I know, if Sir Fferdinando Gorges and Mr. Rigby meete, all matters wil be quietly ended, if there be no incendiaries here. * * * Your faythfull freind and servant, RIcH: VINES. Saco, the 9th of January. 1643. 26 HISTORY OF SACO, Having tried other means to gain his point in vain, Cleeves finally proposed to refer the matter to Massachusetts and sent Tucker to Saco to make known his determination. But the council seized Tucker, as a disturber of the peace, and only released him when he had given bonds for his appearance at a subsequent term of court. Finally, an agreement was arrived at, and Massachusetts consented to arbitrate the dispute; but did nothing. This was in 1646. That same year the English Commission for Foreign Plantations, influenced by Rigby, whose position in Parliament gave him a great advantage, decided in his favor. The adherents to Gorges’ claim might still have made some resistance, had it not been for a series of untoward events which had deprived them of their main support, both at home and abroad. The civil war in England broke out in 1642, and Gorges took up arms in behalf of the king who had done so much for him. He was in Prince Rupert’s army at the siege of Bristol and when that city was retaken by the Parliamentary forces, in 1645, he was plundered and imprisoned. Under these cireum- stances, he was unable to oversee his distant province and his enemies were free to work confusion. Moreover, Captain Vines, embarrassed in pecuniary affairs and disgusted with the state of the province, sold his patent, in 1645, to Dr. Child and resigning his office of Deputy-Governour, to which he had been chosen by the general court, removed to Barbadoes, W. I. Left by themselves to contest the measures of a government which was sustained by the party in power in England, and which had gained comparatively undisputed possession of the field, the remaining friends of Gorges thought discretion the better part of valor and surrendered themselves into the hands of the Lygonian officers. The last court under the old warrant was held at Wells in 1646. The triumph of the Lygonian faction was destined to be short lived. Alexander Rigby died in 1650, and his son took little or EARLY GOVERNMENT. 27 no interest in the patent. Meanwhile, Massachusetts had arrived at the conclusion that Maine belonged to her. During his lifetime, Sir Ferdinando Gorges was a constant occasion of anxiety to the Puritan colonists, because of his claim to certain tracts of land presumably covered by their patent. Gorges died in 1647, and the Massachusetts colony took courage, forth- with, and essayed to establish her northern boundary. The northern limit of the Bay Colony, as stated in its charter, was three miles north of the head of the Merrimac. Commissioners, appointed to look into the question of territory, decided that this point lay three miles north of an outlet of Lake Winnepi- seogee. A line having been run from this spot to the sea was found to strike Clapboard Island, in Caseo Bay. All settle- ments south of this line were, therefore, included within the confines of Massachusetts. Negotiations were speedily opened with the ‘‘gentlemen of the eastward” and a commission was appointed to reveive the submission of the inhabitants. Following is a portion of the report of the commission addressed to the Generai Court of Massachusetts : ‘Ata court held at Wells by the above mentioned commis- sion the Sth of July, 1653. The inhabitants of Saco being by name, particularly called, made their appearance according to their summons and those whose names are here under written acknowledged themselves subject to the government of the Massachusetts, as witness their hands this 5th of July, 1653: Thomas Williams. Thomas Rogers. William Stradlock. Philip Hinektfon. Christopher Hobbs. Peter Hill. Thomas Redding. Robert Booth. Jno. West. Richard Cowman. Thomas Hale. Ralph Tristream. Richard Hitchcock. George Barlow. James Gibbins. Henry Waddock. 28 HISTORY OF SACO. The commissioners judged it meete to grant to them to be freemen and accordingly gave them the freeman’s oath which they took in open court. And whereas the inhabitants of Saco have acknowledged themselves subject to the government of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, as by their subscriptions may appear, we the commissioners of the general court of the Massachusetts for the settling of government amongst them and the rest within the bounds of their charter northerly to the full and just extent of their line, have thought meete, and do act- ually grant. 1. That Saco shall be a township by itself and allways shall be a part of Yorkshire and shall enjoy protection, equal acts of favour and justice with the rest of the people inhabiting on the south side of the river of Piscataqua, or any other within the limits of our jurisdiction, and enjoy the priviledges of a towne as others of the jurisdiction have and do enjoy, with all other liberties and priviledges to other inhabitants in our juris- diction. 2. That every inhabitant shall have and enjoy all their just proprieties, titles and interest, in the houses and lands which they doe possess whether by grant of the town possession or of the former general court. 3. That all the present inhabitants of Saco shall be freemen of the county and having taken the oath of freemen shall have liberty to give their votes for the election of the governor, assistants and other general officers of the country. 4. That the said town shall have three men approved by the county court from year to year, to end small causes as the other townships in the jurisdiction have where no magistrate is according to law; and for the present year Mr. Thomas Wil- liams, Robert Booth, and John West, are appointed and author- ized to end all small causes under forty shillings according to law. * * * # * * * * Tt is further hereby ordered and granted that for this present year Mr. Thomas Williams, Robert Booth, and Jno. West, shall be the selectmen to order EARLY GOVERNMENT. 2% the prudential affairs of the town of Saco for this year, and they took their respective oaths as commissioners or associates used to do, * * * * * * * Ralph Trentrum was appointed constable there and took his oath. William Strad- lock was appointed clerk of the writs there and also grand jury man for this year and took his oath. Richard Hitchcock was appointed and authorized to exercise the soldiery at Saco.” The submission of the inhabitants was not, by any means, unanimous. Many rebelled against what they considered the usurpation of Massachusetts. Among those who opposed the new order of things was John Bonython, son of the patentee. He was especially bitter in his protest and added vituperation to candid argument. His caustic denunciations smote harshly upon the ears of the claimants and, in 1658, he was pronounced ‘va rebel or common enemy,” and a reward of twenty pounds was offered for his capture, dead or alive. This thunderous manifesto seems to have had the desired effect upon the obdu- rate John, for he shortly afterward took the oath of allegiance and resumed the position of a citizen in good standing. Bonython’s resistance seems to have been of a particularly wild and reckless description. He apparently had no just cause of complaint and acted simply from the promptings of an unruly nature. The whole history of the man is not such as impresses us with much respect for his stubbornness. He had always led a lawless life; had been once outlawed already by the government of Maine (1644) and had acquired, by his bravado, the soubriquet of ‘‘Sagamore of Saco.” He died about 1684, and some wag is said to have written on his tomb- stone: “Here lies Bonython, the Sagamore of Saco; He lived a rogue, and died a knave, and went to Robomocko.” As late as 1830, the ruined cellar of the outlaw’s house,* which stood on the eastern side of the river about half a mile *Burned by Indians in 1675. 30 HISTORY OF SACO. below the falls and quarter of a mile back from the water, might still be seen. It is related that shortly before his death, as if to atone for past misdeeds, he gave the town twenty acres of upland for the minister. Though Bonython had little of cool reason on his side there were others who had, and there were some who strenuously objected to the encroachments of Massachusetts, as destined to alter the institutions of the province, and especially to suppress the religious freedom, to which the people of Maine were occus- tomed. But the majority favored the change, and all were eventually pleased with it. Massachusetts modified her laws on voting—which had made church membership one of the qualifications—so that the liberals of the newly acquired territory might have a voice in the government and, for a time, all went well. There is extant a'petition to Oliver Cromwell, dated 1656, and signed by seventy-one persons of Saco, Cape Por- poise, Wells, York and Kittery, asking that they may be con- tinued under the rule of Massachusetts. The relations of the province to Massachusetts continued amicable until the accession of Charles II. Soon after that event, affairs were agitated by a fresh contention. Young Ferdinando Gorges appeared and demanded his rights as heir to the famous Sir Ferdinando. His claim was sustained and the king took the province under his immediate protection. Royal commissioners assumed possession in 1665 and in July 1666, a court, consisting of Henry Jocelyn, Francis Hooke, Edw. Rishworth and Sam’l Wheelwright, was held by their authority in Saco. The revival of the Church of England was encouraged and Maine once more resumed her station as an _ inde- pendent colony. The change was not, however, permanent. A strong party still favored Massachusetts and an attempt was made to return to the former system of government. The king was opposed to any step which should reunite the colonies ; but his wishes were disregarded and, finally, in 1678, as the best BUXTON. Union atts. Old Block House. - Head Line Town and Patenk. HOLLIS. ee _—~ CIBBINS” FOURTH DIV. 0 i — Littte Fa Weare. Scamman. | Pepperrell! wy Z3Y, fx) LWWKUL & HARMONS SECOND DIVZ Weare. \. ee — Scamman>—_ Pepps ell. Q Zi 2 i & "peep Srv0% re Weare. © Scamman. MN Pepperrell. Weare. Zz eare 5 Scamman. EX Nn Pepperrell. og é rave JIWI)—rnan 7 CIBBINS’ SEGOND DIV. \ Old - Stone. (Ff ri Bias Fort. \ id Indian Island. WY. PATI xen een en em OBER TTB aL fea Free Bridge. Z ‘ 0 Old Ferry. .Scamman. \ Q fal Weare. { G Lu oa Cow Island. ee 4 ico : << e 7 Beppers et: AY } oa ee | Ke “oz \E “ BONYTHONS z \ ® ANes00,. ST DIV) AWM : ® Lyf y wn j B e Bs | onytnon & 5 Wl i[|2erzetezx vows Zoesr: Fa 7 CIBBINS” ® a Foot’ = a jaa oOo Ola Wada g FIRST DIV. 4 yo" RG EE PLAN OF SACO, ME. Showing Division of the Patent and Historical Localities. EARLY GOVERNMENT. OL solution of the problem, Gorges sold Maine to Massachusetts for £1250. **Through plots and counter-plots,” Maine at length became an integral part of Massachusetts and the two colonies remained, henceforth, under the same government for nearly a century and a half. During the mutations here related, the boundaries of the towns in Maine belonging to Massachusetts were fixed by act of the General Court. The limits of Saco were presumably identical with the boundaries of the Lewis and Bonython patent ; but the patent line was not run until 1681, and when the Mas- sachusetts officers came to establish the extent of the township, in 1659, finding no trace of previous surveys, they decided upon the northern boundary, either in accordance with tradi- tion, or to suit their own purposes. ‘The result was, that Saco was robbed of about 3000 acres of land, which were transferred to Scarborough. The report of the committee states that, 2ly ‘The deuideing bounds betweene Sacoe, « Scarborrow, shall bee y* River Called commanly the little River, next vnto Searborrow, & from the Mouth of the sd river, shall run upon a due North west Lyne into the Countrey, vnto the extent of eight Miles. A strip of some 200 rods in width, rightfully belonging to Saco, thus fell to Scarboro’. The mistake was rectified by the Legislature of Maine which, in 1840, restored the ‘patent strip,’ so-called, to Saco. The town line, on that side, is not now straight, for reasons that cannot here be discusssed. CHAPTER IV. THE INDIANS—KING PHILIP’S WAR. HEN Englishmen came to the Province of Maine, they found it a primeval forest, whose giant trees, with their strong arms interlocked, stood defiantly before the encroachments of civilization. Along the rivers sported the fur-bearing animals, the mink, the otter and beaver; inland prowled the wolf, the bear and wild-cat; and through the northern forests roamed fleet-footed deer and the giant moose. Shad, alewive and salmon glided through the waters of the rivers, and the lakes and rivulets were alive with pickerel and trout, and the forests were jubilant with birds. Here dwelt a rude race of beings, to whom the embellish- ments of civilization were unknown; they were untamed and untamable, and roamed through these forests as wild and free as the animals they pursued, or the birds which sang over their heads. Their habitations were built of bark or bending boughs, and their garments were the skins of beasts. They had no woven fabrics and knew not the use of metals. Their imple- ments for domestic use and warfare were rudely wrought from wood, or bone, or stone. Axes, arrow-heads and spear points were stone; knives were stone or bone; their fish hooks were bone and their lines of twisted sinews, or raw hide. Their boats, called canoes, were built of ribs of bent ash wood, cov- ered with birch bark, carefully sewed with sinews. Their agricultural arts were of the simplest and rudest kind; for they had no metal implements with which to break or till the soil. Hunting, fishing and war were their chief employments, and THE INDIANS—KING PHILIP'S WAR. 33 they followed the migrations of game and kindled their Wigwam fires where it was most abundant. In winter, many dwelt near the seashore, and feasted upon the shell fish which yielded them abundant sustenance. Vast shell heaps, found at points along the coast, are proofs of this custom. They had no written literature, and their history is gathered from oral tradition and the accounts given by the early explorers upon this coast. The tribes dwelling east of the Merrimac River, were, in their native language, called Abnakis, meaning Easternmen. These were divided into clans or tribes, each dwelling within distinct territorial limits, and each having its own government, consisting of a chief and council. Those dwelling along the Penobscot River were the Penobscots, the descendants of whom now dwell on Old Town Island, in the Penobscot River, about twelve miles above Bangor. Those on the Kennebec River were called the Kenebas; those on the Androscoggin were the Anasaguntacooks; and on the Saco River dwelt the Sokokis, having their principal settlements at Peckwogett, in the great bend of the river, where is now the town of Frye- burg. Factory Island, as it is now called, Bonython’s or Cutts’ Island as it was formerly called, was, by the early English settlers, called Indian Island, from the fact that it was an Indian settlement and rendezvous for the Sokokis. This Island was originally covered with a heavy, hard-wood forest, and with the foaming waters of the cataract on each side, and the placid bay below it, it is not surprising that these nature-loving children of the forest selected this picturesque point for their habitations. Besides these general divisions of the tribes, there were smaller tribes, or families, each living within its own bound- aries. Wars among these tribes generally arose from the en- croachments of one tribe upon the hunting grounds of another. They had no disciplined armies and none of the implements of war known to civilization. They fought with bows of horn- 34 HISTORY OF SACO. beam, or hemlock, and arrows of ash. They had, also, battle axes, or tomahawks, of stone; war clubs and spears. Their warfare was strategic. They stole stealthily upon their ene- mies, often waiting and watching many days in silent ambush for a favorable moment to spring upon their unsuspecting vic- tims. When going to war, they covered themselves with war paint, and rushed into the fray with an appalling war-whoop ; often, they surrounded their enemies, and, by attacking all points at once, caused an overwhelming consternation. For nearly fifty years the settlers lived in peace with the Indian tribes that dwelt on the Saco River. There were occa- sional private feuds, but they were settled without bloodshed. During these years of peace a barter trade was carried on between the Indians and the settlers, to the advantage of both. The Indians gladly exchanged furs for woven fabrics and metal . implements, but the settlers, as far as possible, withheld from them fire arms and a knowledge of their use. Laws were made concerning the sale of muskets to Indians, and even the repair- ing them was a violation of law. A law of 1644 is as follows: “Tf any man shall repaire or amend any guns or armes for the Indians he shall forfaite YN for one.” In 1676, the law for selling guns to Indians was made more stringent: ‘*Whoso- ever shall be found to sell, barter or give, directly or indirectly, any gun or guns, or ammunition of any kind, to any Indian or Indians: and the same legally proved against them: every such pson or psons shall be put to death.” Notwithstanding these precautions by the English, the Indians obtained arms and ammunition and at the commencement of the Indian Wars there were many well skilled in their use. The French, who were the inhabitants of Canada and the Province of Maine east of the Penobscot, were always the friends and allies of the Indians, and from them arms could be readily obtained. The English settlers at the Saco River, though living and trading peaceably with the Indians, by way of precaution erected strong houses, and some were secured by heavy timber THE INDIANS—KING PHILIPS WAR. 30 walls. It was well that this care was used, for, when the Indian war commenced, it burst in sudden fury, and the unguarded settlements suffered severely. A circumstance which occurred on Saco River is said to have especially stirred up the tribes to attack the settlers. In the summer of 1675, an English vessel was anchored in the river. The sailors, seeing an Indian woman with her child crossing in a canoe, barbarously upset it, to see if Indian children could swim by instinet. The child sank, and the terrified mother, diving, brought it to the shore, but it soon died. This woman was the wife, and this child the first-born son, of Squando, a noted chief of the Sakoki tribe. Squando and his counsellors considered this an unpardonable insult, and they determined to be revenged. The western Indians, under Philip of Mount Hope, had conceived the plan of exterminating all white settlers on the coast, and after this insult the eastern Indians decided to join them, and the settlement at Saco Falls was selected as the spot where the first blow was to fall. In September, 1675, John Bonython received a hint from an Indian, whom he had once befriended, that several strange Indians were in the neighborhood, and that there was danger of an attack. He immediately spread the alarm; all left their hab- itations and fled to the garrison of Major Philips, on the west side of the river, near where stood the covered bridge. It was built of strong timbers securely trunnelled together, the lower story a few feet smaller than the upper, so the enemy could not come to the side without being exposed to the muskets of those within. A day or two after they were secure within the gari- son, Captain Bonython’s house, which stood on the Saco side near Gray’s Court, was discovered to be in flames.* The siege had begun. The Indians slew the cattle, fired the houses, and attacked the garrison with the fury of demons. A discharge from the well-aimed muskets of the ensconced settlers repulsed them. Major Philips went to an upper window to watch their *September 18, 1675. 36 THISTORY OF SACO. movements ; a bullet from a lurking savage pierced his shoulder. The Indians, supposing he was killed, again rallied, and were again driven back; for they so exposed themselves to the fire from the garrison that six were killed on the spot, and others severely wounded. Among the latter was their leader, who retreated a short distance and fell. Seeing now that it was apparently impossible to take the garrison by storm, they set fire to the mills, supposing the men would come out to defend their property. But with them ‘‘discretion was the better part of valor,” and they moved not from their stronghold, but made preparations for another siege. The Indians again attacked them, and the firing continued through the night till four o'clock in the morning. The Indians then took a cart used at the mills, loaded it with birch-bark and other combustibles, set it on fire, and attempted to run it against the house, and with long poles to throw fire upon the roof. While running it rap- idly forward one wheel stuck in soft earth, the cart turned and the whole party was exposed to the fatal fire of the settlers. Fif- teen were killed and wounded, and the survivors, sick of the assault and mortified at the repulse, withdrew to their canoes, and went down the river. Twenty-one of their number were killed and wounded, and Major Philips and two others were wounded at the garrison. This siege lasted eighteen hours. It was the first battle with Indians on this river. Major Philips’ garrison alone was left standing. On Sun- day morning, he sent to Winter Harbor and informed the habitants of his distressed situation. ‘His ammunition was nearly exhausted, and the people in great dismay. All would be obliged to leave in a few days unless timely aid prevented ;” but none could be spared to assist him, and on the Tuesday following, all removed to Winter Harbor, leaving the garrison unoccupied, and shortly after it was given to the flames by the infuriated savages. Thus commenced the first Indian war; and thus were entirely destroyed all the first buildings at Saco Falls. THE INDIANS—KING PHILIP’S WAR. 37 There were, at this time, several settlers scattered along the river between the Falls and the Pool, whose houses were all destroyed, and many of the people slain. Two days after the burning of Saco, September 20, 1675, a party of the enemy entered Scarboro’. At Black Point, Andrew Alger, or Auger, lieutenant of a company, his brother Arthur, and two companions, were on an exploring excursion; they were attacked by Indians in ambush; an engagement ensued, and Andrew was mortally wounded, while Arthur was killed on the spot.* From the first attack of the Indians, our settlers were in great consternation; before they could erect garrisons or make themselves secure, many were destroyed. This war, which burst upon them in sudden fury, lasted three years before there was a cessation of hostilities, and the scattered settlers at different points along the coast, from New Hampshire to the Kennebec, suffered severely. At Newichewannock (South Berwick), in October, the heroic Lieutenant Plaisted, whose sad story has been so often related in the histories of Maine, was killed. At Old Orchard, near Goose Fare Brook, Thomas Rogers’ house was destroyed; and nine young men, including a son of Mr. Rogers, were attacked by Indians in ambush and all killed after an heroic defence of several hours.t Their bodies were afterwards found on the beach by the inhabitants, and *The two Algers, or Augers, came from Dunster Parish, in England, in 1650, and purchased of the Indians one thousand acres of land in what is now Searborough. Arthurhad no children; and Jobn, son of Lieutenant Andrew, inherited the whole estate, which he transmitted to five daughters, one of whom, Elizabeth, married John Milliken, of Boston, who, in 1727, purchased the interests of the other heirs, established his claim, and settled with his family on the estate. The numerous families of Millikens in the vicinity descended from this John. Dunstan, a local name for a portion of Scar- borough, is a corruption of Dunster, from which came the Algers who were the first English se’ tlers in that part of the town. +The settlements near New Hampshire were next marked for destruction. On their way thither they slew several at Wells, and carried others into cap- tivity. At Strawberry Bank, now Portsmouth, they burnt several houses, killed six and captured several. Returning east, South Berwick, Salmon Falls, and Cape Porpoise suffered similar calamities. 38 HISTORY OF SACO. buried near where the house stood. It was a reign of terror. The whole country was in arms. Men went to their business bearing the musket; and women worked with the well-charged muskets beside them. In the field, one farmer worked while another guarded the spot. At public worship, the laymen liter- ally watched while the clergy prayed; armed men sat at the end of the seats, for the protection of the women. This first Indian war, which commenced in September, 1675, lasted with unabated fury till the drifting snows of winter covered the scene, and shut the skulking savages in their set- tlements. ' Winter was unfavorable for Indian warfare, and the tribes, having been diverted from their usual pursuits, during the excitement of the autumn, found themselves without sufficient supplies when winter came on. Their plunder was soon exhausted; the snows were too deep for hunting, or war; and .without peace they saw that they must perish or suffer extreme famine. They therefore entered into a treaty, agreeing to cease hostilities and return all captives; and, true to their agree- ments, many who had been suffering in captivity were returned. This treaty, however, did not extinguish the flames of war; they were only smothered during the seven succeeding months, and in the spring were again kindled. Three anxious and exciting years passed, when a treaty was concluded at Casco (now Portland), April 12, 1678. For ten years the angel of peace smiled upon the distressed and discouraged settlement ; their crushed hopes revived, and they gained strength and pros- perity, till the breaking out of King William’s war in 1698. Be | CHAPTER V. FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. N 1689, a contest broke out between England and France which was destined to continue, with intervals of peace, for more than seventy years. Both countries wished to gain possession of India and America, and being unable to adjust their claims amicably, on account of long cherished antipathies, war was the result. The quarrel was communicated to the colonies, and the wars in America between 1689 and 1763 were simply the American side of the European conflict. When news of the declaration of war reached the New World, the French colonists of Canada, with characteristic address, won the Indians to their cause and throughout the hostilities employed them to harass and plunder the English settlements. The first war began in 1689 and lasted nine years. From the name of the reigning English sovereign, it was called Ning William’s Wur. During its continuance, the inhabitants of Saco were defended by several garrison houses and two forts. Of the latter, one, known as Fort Mary, stood on Fort Hill, at the terminus of Parker’s Neck at Winter Harbor. It was commanded by Captain John Hill, son of Roger Hill, who settled on the western bank of the Saco River near its mouth, in 1653.* Some suppose the captain named the fort in honor of Mary, his wife; others claim that it was in honor of Mary, wife of King William. In this fort were several families; among the women was Captain Hill’s mother, who remained with her son. Her hus- *Hill’s Beach takes its name from this early settler. 40 HISTORY OF SACO. band who was in Wells, wrote, in care of Captain John Hill, at Fort Mary, Saco, as follows: WELLS, May 7, 1690. DEAR AND LOVING WIFE: These are to let you know that we are all well here, blessed be God for it; and all our children remem- ber their duty to you. The Indians have killed Goodman Frost and James Littlefield, and carried away Nathaniel Frost, and burnt several houses here at Wells, and I would have our son John Hill hire a boat, if he can, to bring you and some of our things by water, for I fear itis not safe to come by land. Son John, be as careful of your mother as possibly vou can, for it is very dangerous times. The Lord only knows whether we shall ever see one another any more. Praying for your prosperity, Your loving husband until death ROGER HILt. It seems that, as the war went on, the inhabitants became more distressed and there was danger that the Saco settlement would be entirely abandoned. Fort Mary was considered in danger, and this seemed to be the last stronghold for the peo- ple in the vicinity. The following letter gives a graphic idea of the country’s condition : WELLS, August 13, 1696. Son Hii: Iam now at Wells with twenty horse, intending to come over to you, but hearing of several guns about your parts I have sent over three men to know how itis with you. Ihave an order from the Governor to assist you in drawing off; and I have an order from the Lieutenant-Governor to draw off and bring away what can be transported by land, and to hide the rest in the ground with the guns; but our towns are so weak for want of men that if the enemy be about you we fear we are too weak to bring you off. Our people are much troubled that your fort should be demolished. Let me hear from you by bearer. My love to yourself and wife. I pray God to keep you from the rage of the enemy. I remain, your loving father-in-law, CHARLES FROST. *Tis said six Indians were seen here this day. ‘To Captain John Hill, at Saco Fort. Haste, Post Haste.” The above letter, with many others of a similar character, FRENCH AND INDIAN: WARS. Al addressed to ‘Captain John Hill, commanding His Majesty’s Forces at Fort Mary, Saco,” were found, fifty years ago, in the attic of a house in South Berwick, in an old chest that had not been opened for seventy years. These papers established many important historical facts, and corrected many errors which historians had made in regard to the transactions at the place from 1689 to 1700. The second fort, mentioned above, was built in the summer of 1693, by Major Francis Hooke and Captain Hill. It was of stone and stood on high ground, on the western side of the river, a short distance below the falls. It was well-constructed and ‘sproved a matter of good consequence to the province.’”’* Of the various garrisons, one, occupied by John Brown, was at the falls, on the eastern (Saco) side, near where the York Bank now stands. The ground in this locality was once much higher than it is at present, and was formerly called Fort Hill. The Scamman garrison, on the same side of the river, was probably on the river bank about two miles from the sea. Captain Sharpe lived on Rendezvous Point,f near Haley’s Gut. There were several fortified houses in what is now Biddeford in addition to the forts. During King William’s War, the Saco settlement enjoyed comparative immunity from attacks by the Indians. There were occasional murders and depredations, but no great attempt was made to wipe out the settement, as in King Philip’s War. One interesting incident of the period, many times recounted already, demands notice. The story runs, that dur- ing this war a party of Indians who had been making serious depredations in Kittery and Berwick, came upon the inhabitants of Saco. Captain Humphrey Scamman was mowing in a meadow, when this party came upon his house, about which were his wife and five.children. His little son, a lad of ten *Cotton Mather’s Magnalia. See also u letter among the York Institute papers relating to this fort. ; +So named because a favorite gathering place for the Indians. 42 HISTORY OF SACO. years, was bearing to his father a mug of beer, when he saw the Indians coming towards the house. He immediately returned to inform his mother, and placed the mug of beer on the dresser. Mrs. Scamman had no time to make her escape or alarm the neighboring settlers, and became a captive with her whole family. She firmly refused to give information con- cerning the whereabouts of her husband. Threats were of no avail; but having received from the chief a promise that all their lives should be spared, she told where he could be found, and he also was made a captive. The Indians, fearing an atiack from the stone fort on the opposite side of the river, made a hasty flight, taking with them only a few articles of plunder.* Elated with the number of captives they had taken, they hastened to Canada, following an Indian trail through the woods, stopping at Peckwogett (now Fryeburg), formerly the capital of the Sokoki tribe. Here the prisoners were made the objects of savage cruelty. A council was held, and it was decided that the captives should be slain; but the chief was faithful to the promise made to Mrs. Scam- man, and he ordered them to be taken to Canada, where they were disposed of to the French, and scattered through different parts of the province. They passed through various hardships during their captivity. About a year later, a treaty was made, when they were all returned in safety. They found their house in the same condition in which they left it; no one had dis- turbed it, and at the door sat a favorite cat, which had been the only occupant of the premises during their absence. Upon the dresser stood the beer-mug which the boy placed there when he returned to give the alarm. This mug is still in exist- ence in Saco, owned by a descendant of the family.¢ It is *A boy, named Robinson, discovered the Indians about the Scamman house and made his escape on horseback. Arriving at Gray’s Point, he swam the horse to Cow Island where he left him, and swam, himself, to the opposite shore, reaching the fort in safety. He found only a few old men and women within; but the women put on men’s clothes and showed themselves about the fortifications and the Indians did not dare to cross the river. tMr. Joseph Moody. SCAMMAN MUG. FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. 43 brown stoneware, evidently made in Holland, and bears an out- line picture of William, Prince of O range, who married Mary, the daughter of James II., and was called to the English throne in 1689; previous to which he had acquired great popularity in Holland by successfully conducting wars against the Frenen. The mug was evidently made in commemoration of his victories, and is more than two hundred years old. A daughter, who had been in captivity with her parents, was again captured in Scarborough in 1723, and carried to Canada, where she was received into the governor’s family, educated, and married to a gentleman in Quebee. Capt. Scamman dwelt at the ‘‘ordinary” after his return, and entertained travellers till his death, in 1727.* In 1698, the war between England and France, and conse- quently King William’s War in America, came to an end. Peace was made with the Indians and a treaty agreed upon at a place called Mars Point, Casco Bay. The respite thus gained was short. Queen Anne ascended the throne of Eng- land in 1702 and hostilities were immediately renewed. In August, 1703, a body of 500 French and Indians attacked all the settlements from Casco to Wells and succeeded in killing or capturing 130 people. A garrison at Winter Harbor and the ‘Stone Fort’ at Saco Falls were besieged by the enemy. ‘The garrison was forced to capitulate. There is no record that the fort was surrendered; but the loss was heavy, eleven of the English being killed and twenty-four captured. In January, 1704, Brown’s garrison was unsuccessfully attacked. Three years later, an engagement occurred at Winter Harbor between two small vessels, manned by eight men and a boy, and a fleet of fifty canoes, containing 150 Indians. The action lasted three hours, but the settlers escaped with the loss of only one man. *A portion of the Scamman estate was purchased in 1753, by Deacon Amos Chase, who kept the ferry and “ordinary” till 1758, when the first bridge across Saco River, at the Falls, was projected; and as the population in that vicinity had greatly increased, the travel turned in that direction, and the Lower Ferry and th public honse were discontinued. 44 HISTORY OF SACO. The following year (1708), the forces of the stone fort at the falls were transferred to Fort Mary which was, henceforth, the central point of defence.* In August, 1710, fifty French and Indians attacked Winter Harbor, killed a woman and cap- tured two men. A second assault was made the very next year when three of the settlers were killed and six taken prisoner. In July, 1718, having become weary of the war, the Indians made peace, declaring in the treaty then drawn up that they ‘‘hegoed the Queen’s pardon for their former miscarriages.” The treaty of Utrecht tranquillized affairs in Europe, and the colonial prospect became bright once more. ‘‘The dispersed inhabitants began to return to their deserted homes from the more secure settlements to which tney had fled for safety ; the garrisons and forts, in which those who remained had been confined, were now abandoned, and the town, instead of pre- senting to the eye the dreary aspect of tenantless dwellings and uncultivated fields, became, once nore, the abode of a busy and industrious, though not a numerous population.” + The French were not altogether satisfied with the result of the war which had failed to check the growth of English colo- nization. They accordingly stirred up the Indians, in private, against the settlers, and provided them with arms and ammu- nition. The danger from marauding bands of savages, insti- gated in this way, grew so great, that, in 1723, it was found necessary to reinforce the garrisons at Saco. The precaution proved timely, since in May, 1724, a party of Indians were in the vicinity and probably would have attacked the settlement, but for the soldiers stationed there. As it was, they succeeded in killing one man,—a friendly Indian named David Hill. In 1726, peace was once more agreed upon. One of the terms of the treaty was, that trading-houses or truck:houses should be *Folsom says that Fort Mary was built in 1708. This is incorrect, since mention is made of it by name in the provincial records prior to 1700. See Acts and Resolves of the Province of Mass. Bay. The works were demol- ished by order of Gen’l Court passed Nov. 1733. tFolsom. FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. 45 established at convenient places, where the Indians could exchange furs and kindred commodities for the goods of civil- ized countries. Fort Mary was fixed upon as a suitable loca- tion for such a barter post, but the inhabitants objected, and a well fortified building was erected on the western bank of the river, about nine miles above Saco Falls. A sergeant and ten men were stationed there to protect the traftic. The treaty proved the most satisfactory of any that had been made and the settlements prospered under its provisions for nearly twenty years. The war between England and France, which broke out in 1744 and lasted until 1748, interrupted the reign of peace. The Indians were still on the side of the French and gave the settlements some trouble, but no great calamity befell Saco. ‘The last visit of hostile Indians to the town was in 1746. In the subsequent war with France, only the most eastern settlements were aitacked. The people of Saco were, however, alive to the issue, and when Cape Breton Island yielded to English arms, in 1758, there was great rejoic- ing. Some of the most enthusiastic of the towns people illu- minated their houses, after the fashion of modern days. It was the last display of British loyalty which the settlers were allowed to make. When next they asserted themselves it was in the cause of American Independence. CHAPTER VI. MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS 1653-1762. by Massachusetts, marks the beginning of town history proper. Previous to that time, the patents on Saco River had been mere proprietary tracts, whose government had been prescribed by foreign authorities. The absorption of the set- tlement by the Bay Colony brought with it the opportunity for municipal organization. From tenants, the inhabitants found themselves transformed into voters, free to enjoy the benefits of what was, to a certain extent, a republican form of govern- ment and at liberty to control, better than formerly, the current of local affairs, by the election of officers of their own nomina- tion. The laws of Massachusetts, which had insisted that church membership should constitute a qualification for suffrage, were modified so that the Episcopalians and ‘liberals’ of Maine might have a voice in civil and military affairs, and the adopted towns were empowered to send representatives to the General Court of the Province. In brief, the new situation in which the settlements of York County found themselves was made as comfortable as practicable. The town records of Saco begin with the year 1653 and, with some interruptions, continue until 1688 when there is a break of thirty years. From1717 on, the entries are complete. The importance of preserving an accurate and detailed account of local happenings was not appreciated in the early days, and the narrative which the town books afford is fragmentary and unsatisfactory. Even when no pages are missing, connecting links in the record are omitted and these must be supplied by if | JHE year 1653, being the date of the incorporation of Saco MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS. A7 the student of history from other sources. Sometimes such supplementing is impossible. Incomplete as the records are, they reveal the fact that the interests of the town were judiciously managed. The first entry, that for September 27, 1653, reads as follows: “It is granted by ye Townsmen of Saco, that Roger Spencer shall have libertie to set up a saw-mill within their Township, provided that he doth make her redie to doe execution within one year; and allso that he shall have sufticiente accommadation for such a work upon this condition that all the ‘Townsmen shall have bordes 12d in a hundred cheaper than any stranger. Secondly that the Townsmen shall be imployed in the worke before a stranger, provided that they doe their worke so cheap as a stranger; this accomadation we have granted to him and his heaires forever.” This was probably the first saw-mill in town. A similar grant was made, soon after, to John Davies of York, upon very much the same conditions. Several measures taken by the townspeople to secure the healthy growth of the colony are commendable; and one or two of them might well have a reenactment in these mod- ern days. For example, in 1654 it was ordered ‘‘by ye Towne yt if any outner desire to come into the Towne to inhabite— they shall first put in sufisient sum so not to be chargeable to ye Towne.” And furthermore, say the records, ‘It is ordered by the Selectmen that every one that hath land granted to them for a house lott they shall build and dwell upon ye saine within one yeare after it is granted or be liable to a fine at ve (will) of ye Towne: 6 month 20 day 1654.” No man could plead ignorance of the town statutes, since one of them, voted in 1655, provided that every freeman should be present at town meeting, on penalty of fine. In the records, the inhabitants are usually mentioned without titles. The abbreviation ‘Mr.,’ prefixed to a name meant that the owner of it was a man of some consequence. The instance of Josiah Plaistow, who was brought before the court in Boston 48 HISTORY OF SACO, for stealing from the Indians, is famous. It will be remem- bered that the court decreed ‘‘that he should, thereafter, be called by the name of Josias, and not Mr., as formerly he used to be.” Ladies of quality were styled Mistress, while the common planters’ wives were Goodies. This was a custom derived from the old country. An: instance of the distinction is not far to seek. A meeting-house was built at Winter Har- bor sometime between 1660 and 1666. When it was finished, the seats were assigned at town meeting. ‘Mistress Mavericke, Phillips’ and others were to occupy bench number one. ‘Goodies Wadock, Gibbins’ and several more came next in number two; and so on. Other interesting entries occur. One, in particular, relating to a jail built at Casco, illustrates the early method of paying taxes: “March 6: 1667: The Selectmen being mett to make a rate for charges about ye gaole or prison at Casco ye Deputies there do order this Towne to pay £15—16s—lld which sum is concluded on & a rate made by them to be gathered in by ye 25 day of this month wher ye Consta- ble shall paye in wheat at five & six peuce ye bushill—Indian corn at 3s—6d—any other pay at price curant—reye ut ts—ye place of receiving such pay is appoynted to be at ye stage in Ralph Trus- trum house ther—and four pounds for every bushill they shall pay beside to Ralph Trustrum for the fright of it & for any other pay they may agre with goodman ‘Trustrum to cary it. us atests, Rob. Booth, Towne Clarck.” When Maine became a part of Massachusetts, the laws and politics of the last named province were accepted by the adopted people. According to the charter of Massachusetts, the government was in the hands of a Governor, Deputy-Gov- ernor, council of eighteen assistants and house of deputies, all of whom were chosen by the people. The Governor, Deputy- Governor, Major-General of the militia, the Secretary, the County-Treasurer, the Admiral and the two Commissioners of the United Colonies were called ‘‘General Officers” and were elected, annually, on the last Wednesday in May. MUNICIPAL APFAIRS. 49 The Assembly of Assistants and Deputies presided over by the Governor, was termed the ‘*General Court,” and was, to the province, what the legislature is to the present state of Maine. The Deputies, or Representatives to the General Court, were elected by the towns. No town could send more than two and if it contained only twenty freemen, or less, one man was con- sidered a suflicient delegation. No person could be a Deputy who was ‘‘unsound in the main points of the christian religion, as held forth and acknowledged by the generality of the prot- estant orthodox writers.” Saco was first represented at the General Court by Robert Booth, in 1659, and the year following by Richard Hitchcock. The law did not require the Deputy to be a resident of the town that he represented and in 1675 Captain Richard Waldron of Dover was Saco’s choice. The military was an important department of the province economy. All able-bodied freemen and those who had taken the ‘‘oath of residents” belonged to the trainbands. Those in a town constituted a company and if their number was sixty or over they were entitled to a captain and subordinate officers. Previous to 1658, the captain, lieutenant and ensign were chosen in town meeting; afterwards, they were elected by the members of the company. The soldiery of each county formed a regiment, which was commanded by a sergeant-major who mustered his companies once in three years. At the head of all the militia was the Major-General, already mentioned. The militia were required to train by companies six times a year; and at least two-thirds of the men must have muskets and pow- der cases ; the remainder might serve with pikes. A few entries in the town records relate to military affairs. Two of the most interesting are here given entire. The second is especially curious : ‘Aprill 12. 1667: James Gibbins chosen for y¢ Master of ye Magesin 50 HISTORY OF SACO. It is voated yta sum of twelve pounds be colected to by powder & shot & other things for ye mayne band: “August 24: 1671: The Selectmen being mett do act as followeth: Oceasioned by a warrant from ye Maior Generall: they do agre to send to ye Maior Generall for a barill of powder & a hundred wight of stone shott & pistle bulits for ye Towne stock & doe ingage themselves iontly to pay for it this fall in wheat, fish or hyds: & allso do order Maior Bryon Pendleton to send a letter to the Maior Generall to procure it for us with all convenient speed. Brian Pendleton. James Gibbins. Robert Booth. Roger Hill.’ The second period of Indian Wars is not recorded. The time was not suited for the observance of municipal routine, and if any records were kept they were destroyed in one of the many fires set by the savages. The thirty years immediately preceding 1717 are, therefore, a comparative blank in the history of Saco. In 1718, the town of Saco was reorganized under the name of Biddeford. This was in answer to a petition addressed to the General Court by Humphrey Scamman and others, in which the weak condition of the town was set forth, and a request made for a grant of forty pounds for the support of a minister at Winter Harbor. All that is positively known with regard to the action of the Court in the matter, may be found written on a musty leaf of paper, which forms one of the York Institute collection of documents. The writing covers but one half of a single page. It purports to be a ‘‘Copy of the Incorporation of Biddeford” and reads as follows : “A Petition of Humphrey Scamman and Others of Saco. Entered November 4th 1718, Inthe House of Representatives November 12th 1718 Read and Committed. Novr. 14th Read and Resolved that the Sum of Forty Pounds be allowed and paid out of the publick Treasury towards the Support of a Minister at Winter Harbour for this year and that the Petitioners be Invested with the Powers &¢ of a Town according to the Ancient Bounds thereof. In Council Novr. 14th 1718 Read and concurred, with the following amend- MUNICIPAL AFPAIRS. al ments. viz.—Provided that this order shall in no measure Infringe the just titles of Any Person to Lands there, and that Fifty Families at the Least more than now are be admitted as soon as may be and Settle in a Compact and Defensible manner according to the Direction of the Honle. John Wheelwright Esqr. and others the Committee for Regulating the Eastern Settlements and that the Name thereof be Biddeford*—In the House of Representatives Read and Concurred—Consented to Saml, Shute Province of the Massachusetts Bay Nov. 14. 1718.7 It is during these years of reconstruction that the name of Pepperrell first becomes connected with Saco history. In order to understand how Sir William caine to own his estate on the east side of Saco River, it is necessary to revert briefly to the XVIIth century. At the outbreak of the Indian Wars, the mill rights on the eastern bank of Saco River, from Pipe Stave Pointt to the Buxton line, together with a large share of the original patent, were owned by two enterprising men named Blackman and Walker.t During the hostilities the improvements begun hy them were abeidoned and Blackman’s Mill was burned. Blackman’s thir of the property, moreover, passed out of his hands, and, in *716, it was neld by Thomas Goodwill of Bos- ton. In 1716, Samuel Walker sold his two-thirds to William Pepperrell, Jr., and the following year Goodwill disposed of his portion to the same young man. Immediately after these transactions, Pepperrell sold one half of the whole tract—one fourth to Nathaniel Weare, of Hampton, and one-fourth to Humphrey Scamman Jr., of Saco. These men, in part pay- ment for their shares, built a double saw-mill, on the site of the old Blackman mill, and a dwelling-house for the workmen, one half of all of which became Pepperrell’s. A division of the *The first recorded town meeting under the new name was held in March, 1719. The origin of the name is probably to be traced to the fact that many of the Saco colonists emigrated from Biddeford, England. tNow Gray’s Point, formerly Pipe Stave because staves for wine pipes were cut there.(?) tAppendix C, 1. a2 HISTORY OF SACO, mill and of an adjoining lot of land half a mile square, known as the mill privilege, was made in December, 1717. Pepperrell took a breadth of 80 rods comprising the central part of the town east of Main street.* The tract owned in common was no less than four miles and a half long and two miles wide, i. e., to the middle line of the patent. In October (20), 1718, this area was divided:f Pepperrell obtained a strip 44 rods wide measuring up river from Nichols’ brook and two miles deep; the boundaries of his 80 rod strip, assigned to him the year before, were extended to the middle line of the patent; and he also secured large territory on the westerly side of Main street. Ignoring his other acquisitions, which were much more extensive, but not so important in town history, Pepper- rell is seen to have owned a strip of land 80 rods wide and two miles long, the western boundary, at the beginning of the strip, being Main street. Wifpn William Pepperrell Jr., was, as his name implies, the son of William Pepperrell, trader at Kittery Point. At the time of his purchase of the Saco lands, the young merchant was only twenty years of age. He afterward commanded the army which reduced Louisburg in 1745. The credit of this achieve- ment Pepperrell was not slow in taking to himself and for his success he was made a baronet. He is the only baronet of whom York County can boast. In business ventures Pepperrell was a ssuccessful as in war- fare and he died, in 1759, (July 6) the wealthiest man, in all probability, in New England. His estates in Saco alone amounted to 5500 acres. Not having any sons, the baronet *Appendix C,2. tMain street was laid out at same time. tAppendix C3. MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS, on devised his fortune to his grandson, William Pepperrell Spar- hawk, on condition that when the youth became of age he should drop his last name and be known as Willian Pepperrell. Tradition has clothed Sir William Pepperrell in glowing colors which impartial history tends slightly to dispel. Stories are told of how he was occasionally seen in Saco, attired in red broadeloth, trimmed with gold lace, and it is said that he was known to throw a gold coin into the contribution box. ‘The good people who relate the anecdote are inclined, naturally, to picture Sir William as a very warm hearted personage. Others, as well informed, perhaps, as those who praise him, declare that the baronet was never a source of the slightest advautage to Saco and that he regarded the town merely from the money- making standpoint. His recorded acts of generosity are, to be sure, few; but his forgotten deeds of charity may be many and it is but fair to credit him with a decent generosity. It. is most likely that Sir William Pepperrell was an average man in kindness, with an eye to personal advantage, but not unwilling to do his tenants a good turn. Aside from the acquisition of the main part of Saco by Pep- perrell, the most interesting event of the period from 1717 to 1762 is the building of the famous Lottery Bridge. By way of introduction to that event a brief account of early methods and means of travel will not be out of place. “In the earliest times there were no legally established roads. The first settlers located near the sea-shore, and the most conven- ient means of communication between neighborhoods separated by any considerable distance was by water. Next to that, the long beaches furnished the best highways, and for many years the only roads ran along the coast close to the ocean. In 1658, the Massachusetts commissioners, who came into Maine to receive the submission of the inhabitants, complained of the lack of decent roads between the settlements and ordered that ‘the inhabitants of Wells, Saco and Cape Porpoise should make sufticient highways within their towns from house to house a4 HISTORY OF SACO, and clear and fit for foot and cart before the next county court under penalty of £10 tor every defect in this particular: and that they lay out a suflicient highway for horse and foot between towns and towns within that time.” The injunction fell lightly upon the ears of the settlers, who laid out a road as ordered, but soon returned to the pleasanter route along the shore. The new road grew up with bushes and, in 1687, ‘‘the old foot-path on the western side of Saco river” was made the Wing's High- way, and the court ordered that it should ‘be laid out and fenced at the charge of the town.’ The post road from Saco to Kennebunk was not laid out until about 1730. The brooks and rivers along the ancient route were forded, where practicable, the fords being termed ‘‘wading places.” Goose Fare was crossed in this manner, bat the Saco river was too deep for wading and a ferry was established near its mouth very early. The first ferrymen were Thomas Haley and Henry Waddock* who were licensed by town vote in 1654. The record reads : Thomas Haile is allowed to take of every ove yt he setts over ye river (2.d.) Henry Waddock is appointe | to keep an or linariet & [receive of every one he sets over ye river 2d. Haley lived on the western bank of the river and Waddock on the eastern side.. Waddock continued to serve the public in his double capacity, as ferryman and innkeeper, until aboyt 1673—the year of his death. Thomas Haley remained at his post for a number of years after his partner’s demise and was ordered, in 1673, ‘‘for the more secure transportation of trav- ellers, for men and horses, to provide a good sufficient boat fit for carrying persons and their horses, large enough to carry over three horses at one time.” In 1717, a petition was presented to the General Court, by one Captain Bean, ‘‘in behalf of himself, Casco bay and Black- point,” in which it was stated that the water at the mouth of *One of the earliest settlers. In court records his name is spelled Warwick. see p.1l. tPublic house. MUNICIPAL ABPPATRS, dd the river was too rough for comfort and that the ferryman, Benjamin Haley, was negligent. It was, therefore, asked that anew ferry be put in operation ‘higher up, where H. Scamman then dwelt, whose father for many years had kept the ferry till, in the late war, he had been driven away by Indians,’ and that ‘suid Scamman might be appointed by the court to keep the ferry at that place.’ The request was granted. Shortly before 1750, a ferry was established at the falls, the course lying below the present bridges. It was kept on the western side by one Elisha Allen who entertained travellers in his small one-story house. He afterward built on the spot the house now occupied by Madam White. On January 11, 1758,* the General Court passed the follow- ing act: AN ACT FOR RAISING THE SUM OF ONE THOUSAND Two Huy- DRED PouNDs BY LOTTERY, FOR BUILDING AND MAINTAINING A BRIDGE OVER SACO AND PESUMPSCOT RIVERS, IN THE COUNTY OF YORK. Whereas the eastern part of said county of York has been formerly broke up by the enemy, and the getting troops to their relief is extremely difficult, if not impracticable, in some seasons of the year, there being no passing in boats or any other way over the rivers of Saco and Pesumpscot([t], and the building a bridge over said rivers will be of public service,— Be it therefore enacted by the Governour, Council and House of Rep- resentatives, [Sect.1.] That Sir William Pepperrell, Baronet, Daniel Moulton, Edward Milliken, Joseph Sayer and Rushworth Jordan, Esq?s., Messrs Benjamin Chadburn and Stephen Longfellow or any three of them be and hereby are allowed and impowered to set[t] up and carry on a lottery or Jotteries, which shall amount to such a sum as, by deducting ten per cent out of each prize, will raise the sum of one thousand two hundred pounds, to be appl[yJed by them or any three of them, towards building and maintaining a good and suffi- cient. bridge over each of said rivers of Saco and Pesumpscot(t], at or near the lower falls of said rivers, and for defreying the necessary charges of the lottery aforesaid. *Folsom ix wrong in dating the act 1757. o6 HISTORY OF SACO, And the said Sir William Pepperrell, Daniel Moulton, Edward Milliken, Joseph Sayer, Rushworth Jordan, Esqrs., Benjamin Chad- burn and Stephen Longfellow or any three of them may and hereby are impowered to make all necessary rules for the regular proceed- ing therein, and shall be sworn to the faithful[]] discharge of their trust aforesaid, and be answerable to the owners of the ticket[t]s and for any deficiency or misconduct; and that the monies so raised shall be appl[y]Jed for the uses and purposes aforesaid and no other. [Sect. 2.] And if the sum raised shall be more than sufficient, after paying of the charges of the lottery, to build the said bridges, the surplusage shall be lodged in the hands of the treasurer of the county of York. to be drawn out and appl[y]jed towards repairs of the said bridges. An advertisement appeared in the Boston Gazette announcing that the first drawing would occur at York, in May, 1759. The price of the tickets was $2.00 and the highest prize is said to have amounted to $1,000. The scheme was carried out for two or three years one drawing following another, until a suf- ficient sum had been raised. The bridge over the Saco was built about 1760. It was on the eastern side and crossed to Factory (then Indian) Island just above the present bridge and at a considerable angle to it. It was the first bridge over any part of the river. The first bridge on the west side of Indian Island was built by Col. Thomas Cutts, Deacon Amos Chase, and others, in 1767. The complete communication thus established between the two settlements was never after permanently interrupted. x ae County of York-Lottery, N* II. Nov. fae Pcfleflor of this Ticket ( NoJO2 eHie “TL itea to any Prize drawn againft {aid Nek ina 23 2 ie Lortery granted by an A& of the General Court § 2 yee of the Province of the Moffachufetts Bay, January 1758 * wy qi towards building aod Poe a Bridge over Saco and OW ese. Pefump/cot “Ch i out any Deduction. a nee 2 YS E a 5 SE z pe 4 fe County of York-Lottery N° III. Nov. 1760. ; = po Poffeffor of this Ticket ( NoSG? ) is in- Z Po titled co any Prize drawn againft {aid N&mber, in a St LorreRy granted by an Aa of the General Court TS of the Province of the Mafachufetts Bay, January 1758, > a 5 oes fya, towasds building and maintaining a Bridge over Saco and ‘Sle: Pefumpfcot Rivers in {aid Coun sthout any Deduétion. " § fhe = oelae ? CHAPTER VII. ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS 1656—1762—MORALS AND MANNERS. ‘HE settlers of Saco were not, like the Pilgrim Fathers, religious refugees. They were plain, hard-working fisher- men and farmers, bent on earning their bread honestly, and beyond the commonplace of providing for daily subsist- ence, their sympathies had a comparatively narrow range. They had been attracted to the country by the prospect of bettering their fortunes and if they could succeed in attaining this end, the majority were not over particular as to the method of their religious observances or the doctrines of their neigh- bors. They were more or less strongly attached to the Church of England, in which they had been reared, and its ceremonies were probably somewhat more acceptable to them than the severer code of the Puritans; but they were quite the reverse of bigoted in their preferences, and were willing to grant a hearing to any sect, except the Romanists, for whom they entertained the conventional suspicion and dislike. As a consequence of its liberal spirit, Saco was spared the experience of persecutions like those which—however much they are condoned—mar the history of Massachusetts. The inhabitants of the town were more apt to quarrel over boun- daries and the payment of debts, than over their rival theolog- ical opinions, and so long as a man conducted himself in accordance with the usages of moral society, he was compara- tively at liberty to think as he chose. A certain amount of heterodoxy in belief was thus ignored, but the authorities permitted no departure from the strict standard of deportment demanded by the laws of Great Britain. oN HISTORY OF SACO. While he might privately debate his doubts and formulate his peculiar doctrines, no man could violate the Sabbath, use pro- fane language, or absent himself from church, without incurring the censure of his associates and the penalty of the law. One is apt to think of punishments for such misdemeanors as an expression of the theocratic discipline of Massachusetts, but enactments against them were on the statute-books of England and in the early days of Saco, lapses in morals and religion were visited with the same correction that was inflicted in the mother country. The laws may have been strengthened and more ardently enforced by the magistrates of New England, but they were not devised by them. The Saco colony was, thus, in the beginning, strictly English in character, and so it remained until altered in its customs and institutions by the encroachments of Puritan jurisdiction. In accordance with the wishes of Gorges, and the predilections of those settlers who had preferences in the matter, the service of the Church of England was the earliest introduced into Saco. The first clergyman was Richard Gibson whose name occurs in the court records for 1636. Although not assuming the name, Gibson was, in fact, a missionary to the Maine settle- tlements and divided his time and ministrations among them all. He belonged no more to Saco than to Richmond’s Island, and probably preached only occasionally in either place. Whether or not there was a church building in Saco, during Gibson’s residence in the vicinity, is not altogether certain, although the supposition that there was one is rendered likely by the fact, that the Church Point* is mentioned in a docu- ment dated 1642. Gibson, being, as Winthrop quaintly says, “wholly addicted to the hierarchy and discipline of England,” was an object of some jealousy to the powers of the Bay Colony and they embraced the first opportunity that offered to lay violent hands upon him. It appears that Gibson had encroached on the *Identified with Gray’s Point. ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS, ay Puritan territory by exercising his ministerial functions at the Isles of Shoals. Incensed by this action, the officers of Massa- chusetts secured his arrest and he would have been severely punished had he not declared his intention of leaving the coun- try ; a promise which he kept by returning to England in 1642. The Rev. Robert Jordan came to Saco, from the west of England, in 1640. He settled near the Spurwink River and lived on the extensive estate he accumulated until 1675, when he was led to remove by tha outbreak of the Indian Wars. Under the government of Maine by Massachusetts he was imprisoned for baptising infants. In the fragmentary account of the two men Gibson and Jor- dan, is summed up almost the entire history of the Episcopal church in Seco, for a period of an hundred and fifty years. At first, the Church of England was the only sect thought of by the people. Its doctrines were inculeated by duly authorized teachers and enforced by law ;* but Massachusetts was on the alert and the town soon proved an easy conquest for the Puritan missionaries. The inhabitants held their religious tenets only by the imperfect tenure of hereditary and educational associa- tions; their beliefs had never been ingrained )y persistent persecution, as in the case of the Pilgrims, and when the time came for discussion, they could oppose but feeble arguments, to the fiery eloquence of the non-conformist divines. This circumstance is illustrated by the following extract from a letter to Governor Winthrop by Thomas Jenner—a non-conformist who inade his way to Saco about 1640 :— ‘After I had been here for the space of a month or six weeks and perceiving them very superstitious (performing man’s inventions *The religious tenets of the early settlers are amply demonstrated to have been Episcopalian by the action of the court held at Saco, September 17, 1640, which ordered ‘that the Worshipfull Thos. Gorges and Edward Godfrey Councellors of this Province shall order all the Inhabitants from Piscataqua to Kennebunk, which have any children unbaptized, that as soon as a min- ister is settled in any of their plantations, they bring their said children to Baptism, and if any shal] refuse to submit to the said order, that the partie so refusing shall be summoned to answer this their contempt at the next General Court to be holden in this province ” 60 HISTORY OF SACO. rather than the instituted worship of God), now that I might gaine their good esteeme of God’s pure ordinances, and make them see the evil and folly of their superstitions and will-worship, I made choice of Ps. 19 and7 to handle it at large; and in one of the uses of reproof, I bent myself, as strongly as I could, against the religion of the Papists and condemned those practices which I saw people here were superstitiously addicted to, in that use against the Papists ; + # & * * Now * * * it took a generall good impression, except Mr. Vines and one more, who told me I struck at the Church of England, though I mentioned her not. Whereupon he pressed me to dispute with him about one part * * * * whichI was very loth to dispute about; yet I saw that either I must, or else sit down with shame, for he had called together his whole family to hear it. Now it pleased God so to strengthen me * * * * * that he was utterly silent; and since that time hath manifested more respect and love to me and my master than formerly, and doth take notes of the sermons dayly and repeateth them in his family very orderly, as I am informed.” Thomas Jenner was the first clergyman actually settled in Saco and he also bears the distinction, practically undisputed, of having been the first Puritan minister to preach in Maine. His reception in the settlement is evident from a letter to Win- throp by Richard Vines : “To the right Worshipfull his honored freind John Winthrop: Esqr. at Boston, thes in Massachusetts. RIGHT WORSHIPFULL,—I received your letter concerning Mr. Jenner; acknowledging your former courtesies to my selfe, and for your furtherance of a minister for vs, our whole Plantacion ar greatly behoulding vnto you. We haue ioyned both sides of our river together for his mayntenance, and haue willingly contributed for his stipend, 471i per annum: hoping the Lord will blesse and saneitifie his word vnto vs, that we may be both hearers and doers of the word and will of God. I like Mr. Jenner his life and conver. sacion, und alsoe his preaching, if he would lett the Church of Eng- land alone; that doth much trouble me, to heare our mother Church questioned for her impurity vpon every oceasion, as if Men (minis- ters I meaue) had no other marke to aime at * * * * * * # Your assured freind and servant, Rico: VINEs. Saco, 25th of January, 1640.” ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS. 61 Jenner’s opinion of the people and his account of how he was treated is likewise very interesting : “To the Right Worship his very loueing & kind friend Mr. Wintrop at his howsein Boston in N. E. qiue theise I pray. WorTHY Sir :—My due respect being remembered to you, I heart- ily salute you in the Lord; giueing you humble thanks, for your favourable aspect which hath alwaies bin towards me, (though of me most undeserued,) and especially for your late kind letter on my behalfe; for which sake I was kindly imbraced, aboue the expecta- tion of my selfe, & others, and am still (I thank God) loueingly respected amongst them: but not with out some hot discourses, (especially about the ceremonies ;) yet they all haue ended (through mercy) in peace; and for aught I can perceive. doe prize the word, & relish it, dayly better than other and some promise faire; euen in Mr. Vines his family. But generally they were very ignorant, superstitious, & vitious: and scarce any religious. Ffre leaue they giue me to doe what soever I please: imposeing nothing on me, eithre publikly or privately, which my selfe dislike, onely this, Mr. Vines & the Captaine [Richard Bonython] both, haue timely expressed themselues to be utterly against church-way, saying, their Patent doth prohibit the same; yet I, for my part neuer once touched upon it, except when they themselves haue in private discourse put me upon it by questions of their owne, ffor I count it no season asyet to go build, before God sends vs materials to build with all. Thus being in some hast, I end humbly craueing your prayers: Your worships to command THO: JENNER.” Saco, 4th of the last, 1640. Jenner left Saco about 1646 and for some years after his departure the town was without a settled minister. Robert Booth, who occupied at various times most of the offices in the Rb Bost community, seems to have had the faculty of preaching and was employed, in 1658-9, as a makeshitt, by the inhabitants, ‘‘to teach the word on the Lord’s day.” In 1665, there were two candidates for the Saco pastorate, Rev. Seth Fletcher and a Rev. Mr. Chauncy. Chauncy was chosen, by a vote of twenty- 62 HISTORY OF SACO. four to eleven, but his ministrations appear to have become distasteful to the people, since the very next year a matter-of- fact record states, that ‘it was the consent of the major part of the inhabitants that Master Chauncy might be safely sent home as speedily as conveniently might be; and two of the towns men were appointed to take care for his passage at the town’s expense.’ The Rev. Seth Fletcher, who succeeded the luckless Mr. Chauncy, became very popular and was retained for nine years, at a salary of £50 per annum—paid in fish. The usual method of paying the minister is not certainly known, but it was probably by the old English levy of tithes or tenths; or, by a ‘composition,’ in money, made up by the settlers. The Rev. William Milburne, who assumed the pastoral charge of Saco in 1685, received his salarv for 1685-6 ‘-in beef at 1 1-2d. per lb.; pork 2 1-2d.; wheat 4s. 6d. per bushel; peas 4s 6d. ; Indian corn 3s.; butter 5d. per lb.; boards 18s. per M.; red oak staves 16s.” The ministry of Milburne marks the close of the first period of Saco’s ecclesiastical history, no further mention of a clergy- man being found until the reorganization of the town in the early years of the XVITIth century. » The moral standard of the town, during this first epoch, seems to have been higher than that of most neighboring set- tlements. The well-known liberal tendencies of society in Maine led many reckless and dissolute characters to seek refuge within its boundaries and wherever they established themselves was disorder and lawlessness. The population of Saco appears never to have been tainted by this low element, and throughout its early history the inhabitants maintained a laudable respect- ability. ‘The high character of the patentees may have brought about this result, since they would naturally choose for their settlement men of a stamp to correspond with their own; and the fact that Saco was the seat of the court was probably no recommendation for it in the minds of rogues; at all events, society in Saco was characterized by a degree of refinement not ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS. 63 always found elsewhere. It is a matter of regret that no extended account of the period is obtainable. Itis known that no man was allowed to waste his time in idleness; that thrift was the watch-word of the hour; and that the means taken to promote industry and temperance were admirable. The key-note of the prohibition movement, which has made Maine famous, was sounded over two hundred years ago, when, in 1690, the court ordered that from that time, henceforth, there should not be any strong liquor sold to any inhabitant, directly or indirectly, except in case of great neces- sity. Those were the days when church and state were one. The religious meeting and the court were complementary insti- tutions, and when pastoral admonition failed of effect, the law claimed its own. The minister and the justice worked together for the attainment of a common end.* It is interesting to note the method of worship in those early days. The people came together without the sound of bell and sat for two or three hours—sometimes more—in a_ building imperfectly heated, if at all. It has been said that the early settlers never artificially warmed their meeting-houses, on the principle that a proper amount of religious fervor is a sufficient safeguard against inclement weather. But old John Winthrop tells about a minister who nearly blew the roof off his meeting- house, in far from a figurative sense, by drying gun powder over the fire. Under the somnolent influence of long sermons and low tem- perature, some members of the congregation were fairly certain to go to sleep. A tything man was accordingly hired, to see that the people paid due attention to the discourse. This man went armed with a slender pole, on one end of which wasa *For the punishment of offenders the town was provided with stocks as early as 1637. There was not much use for them, if we are to judge from history, since, in 1665, the town was found without any punitive apparatus whatever and was indicted for not maintaining ‘a pair of stocks, cage and couking stool.” The use of the articles enumerated is familiar. Not one ‘ yemains in use in New England today. 64 HISTORY OF SACO. rabbit’s tail, and on the other, a rabbit’s foot. Whenever one of the goodies nodded, her face was gently brushed with the rabbit’s tail; but when a man or boy succumbed, he was restored to consciousness by a smart application of the other end of the rod. The pulpit was high and attained by winding stairs. The boys sat on the pulpit stairs and on the gallery stairs. The seats in the body of the house were assigned according to sex, or rank—sometimes both. Age was also regarded. The sing- ing was not very elaborate; our ancestors were not ritualists. Most congregations could sing five tunes, with greater or less harmony. Sometimes, a church whose membership included accomplished singers extended the number to ten—‘‘York,” “Hackney,” ‘‘Martyrs,” and ‘‘Winsor” were favorites.* Such, in brief, were the religious opinions of the first settlers and the events and customs arising from them. Their investi- gation is especially necessary and important in the study of local occurrences, because much of the early history of the town centers about the church. For the first two centuries of New England, in most communities, the church was the all- important institution. The minister was, to all intents and purposes, a town-officer, since he was supported by the people at large and not by a particular congregation. What the town did, the church did also; and when the church acted, it was as if the inhabitants had met and voted in town meeting. Indeed the annual gatherings of the inhabitants were usually made to serve parish purposes. What is true of the first period of Saco’s history gains an added significance in the discussion of the second, since it was owing to a division of the Biddeford parish that Saco was separated from the settlement on the western bank of the river and became, in time, a township by itself. Before proceed- *It is perhaps unnecessary to add that the settlers did not ride to church in carriages. Even the ‘one horse shay’ was unknown in the early days. The records for 1674 indicate that al that time not more than seven horses were owned in town. ECCLESIASTICAL APFAIRS. 65 ing to an account of that event some minor occurrences deserve recognition. At the reorganization of the town under the name of Bidde- ford, in 1718, the Rev. Matthew Short was preaching at Winter Harbor. He continued as town clergyman and chaplain of Fort Mary until sometime about 1723, when he was succeeded by the Rev. John Eveleth, who divided his time between Arundel (now Kennebunk Port) and Biddeford. In 1727, Eveleth was succeeded by the Rev. Marston Cabot who remained two years. One John Moody was preaching to the town in 1729. He was a young man, not yet fully educated, and declined to settle *‘by reason he was too young and wanted further acquaintance of learning at some college.” In January, 1730, the town voted to call Rev. Samuel Willard and to allow him a salary of £110 and ‘‘the strangers’ contribution.” He was also to have ‘‘a parsonage house, together with the bene- fit and improvement of 100 acres of parsonage land.” The offer was accepted and Mr. Willard was ordained on Wendesday, September 30,1730. Shortly before the event the First Church in Biddeford was gathered, the members being: John Gray, Samuel Jordan, Humphrey Scamman, Ebenezer Hill, John Sharpe, Pendleton Fletcher, Benjamin Haley, Thomas Gilpat- rick, Samuel Hinckley, Benjamin Hilton, John Tarr, Robert Whipple, Mark Shepherd. There is no record of a duly organ- ized Congregational church in town before this date, although one may have existed in Seth Fletcher’s time. The ministry of Samuel Willard was terminated by his death, in October, 1741. His successor was the Rev. Moses Morrill who was ordained September 29, 1742. Morrill was then only twenty years old, having graduated from Harvard in 1737, at the age of fifteen. He came to Biddeford glowing, no doubt, with youthful enthusiasm and anxious to improve his pastoral charge by the exercise of all the means in his power. The church soon showed the intluence of his advanced ideas. The first innovation came in the singing. Up to this time, the 66 HISTORY OF SACO. ‘**Psalms of David” had been the only hymns used by the con- eregation. Watts’ Hymns were now introduced, to be em- ployed, on sundry particular occasions, ‘tat the discretion of the Pastor.” Morrill also attempted something in the way of a revival. Whitefield, the great exhorter, was creating a new epoch in the religions life of many New England towns by his fervent preaching. The Biddeford pastor was heartily in sympathy with the movement, though some ministers then, as now, did not approve it, and in March, 1745, Whitefield came to Bidde- ford and preached several times. The people do not seem to have liked his method, for a diary of the time says that he met with considerable opposition. It was during Parson Morrill’s ministry that the settlers on the eastern side of the river were set off as a distinct parish. The circumstances of the separation are briefly these: Ata town meeting, held in March, 1752, the majority voted to build a new meeting house on the western side of the river. This action was not to the mind of the inhabitants on the east side. They speedily entered their dissent, and in April, following, had the satisfaction of being set off as a parish by themselves.* This action entailed the building of a meeting house on the eastern side, for a parish without a place of worship would be an unheard-of anomaly. Accordingly, the people of the Saco district bestirred themselves and set about obtaining a lot of land upon which to erect their new church. At this juncture, all thoughts turned to Sir William Pepper- rell, whose 5500 acres of Saco land included many a goodly building site. The baronet was consulted; he agreed to sell a suitable lot of two acres area; accepted the purchase money ; *The church on the western side was built in due time by the original parish. It was large enough to seat 800—1000 people: two stories high; with galleries; sounding-board; and in all other details constructed after the stereotyped model of New England ‘meeting-houses.’ It was torn down in 184- and a neat house built of its materials. It is said that the Old South church in Boston contains a chandelier sent from Biddeford in Old England to Biddeford in N. E., which was somehow detained in Boston.—J. W. Thornton. Fivx lon Grner Sid epg Poa eae WA — Mtlands rs 3 *s Owe Ws We 6 Ses 6--- GEA ruse... Waza Castigo b-- ea : My i i f Fore Hoeesns 1 3 z i & tS Gan nL ESe 2 _ tGPbj L 7 ae ~- Moh Undpichs byeas’ 5 PS ae - =o fot Camnrrams hoasabs hop) 5 a 4 bo f-- - ~~ Saran Phos ows be > be DO a Ae y ‘ Web Les Chavess House tH tory * g D.......-- + Ceres. nun G Ob, Gutls, Pods 6 S- é. ps Serge Weiss be | ONG = Bee ~ -L27 QE Ee oe LIE er ~ hur mI Dpttad bene Werf bing te Nha fff ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS, 67 and then, when he wrote the deed, generously gave the parish four acres more. The original document, by which he con- veyed the tract to the Saco parish, may be seen at the York Institute. A copy made from the Pepperrellboro’ records (1. pp 21-2) follows: Deed of Sir William Pepperrell to PepperrellLorough. ‘To all People to whom these Presents shall come. Know ye that I Sir William Pepperrell of Kittery in the County of York Baronet, for & in consideration of the Inhabitants of the east side of Saco river building a Meeting house for the public worship of God and their settling an orthodox minister in the Congregational way and manner as by a law of this Province established, and for a burying place, and for setting up a Schoolhouse, and for no other use or end whatsoever, the said Sir William doth by these presents give, grant, ‘bargain and confirm for the use aforesd. four acres of land as here- after bounded, and two acres more for which I have received in full for from Robert Gray of Biddeford in said County of York, Yeoman, the whole six acres is bounded, vizt. beginning next to said Gray’s land by the present highway aud runs from thence by the said high- way about northwest twelve rods, & from thence northeast eighty rods, and from thence twelve rods to said Gray's land, and by the said Gray's land southwest to the first beginning. And the said Inhabitants at their own cost and charge are forever hereafter to keep up and maintain and support at their own cost & charge a good and lawful fence all round.every part of said Jand and upon this and the aforesaid considerations, the said lands is to have and to hold unto the Inhabitants of the east side of Saco river, within the said town of Biddeford and their heirs.and successors for the afore- said, and for no other use whatsoever from henceforth forward for- ever. The unpaid for four acres, mentioned in this deed, constitute the only land ever given by a Pepperrell to the town of Saco, of which any record has been preserved. The whole strip, including the two acres for which Pepperrell received compen- sation, is designated on early plans as the Parsonage Land. It consists of a strip, twelve rods wide and eighty rods long, on the easterly side of what is now Pepperell Park, extending from that corner of the city property opposite Gray’s Court, to Beach street, and including the site of the old high school. The 68 HISTORY OF SACO. remaining nine acres of the park were not given to Saco by any member of the Pepperrell family, despite deep-rooted popular opinion to the contrary. The new meeting house was erected on the parsonage land between the years 1752 and 1757. The building was not finished in 1754, but was probably completed soon after that date. The house stood very nearly on the site of the old high school house. It was a plain wooden building, with ordinary pitch roof, and without a spire. In 1826, it still remained, in a dilapidated condition, and was a source of superstitious terror to the small boys of the vicinity, who used to creep to its weatherbeaten sides, and gaze in, through the cracks, at the curious pulpit, whose desk, eight or ten feet above the floor, was reached by winding stairs painted white.* One more event in the ecclesiastical history of Saco and Bid- deford claims attention. Hon. Samuel Holden Esq., of London, was a wealthy dissenter, noted in New Engiand for his missionary and charitable labors. This gentleman sent to a Dr. Colman of Boston, thirty-nine sets of Baxter’s Practical Works for distribution among the churches. One set of four massive volumes was sent to Biddeford and, in 1754, the church appointed a committee to look after the gift. This committee, as well as succeeding ones, did its duty, for one of the ponderous tomes now reposes on the shelves of the York Institute. The volume is in tolerably good preservation, con- sidering its age and use, and still shows 998 legible pages printed in double columns. *As the old church fell to pieces it furnished the poor of the vicinity with abundant firewood. CHAPTER VIII. PEPPERRELLBOROUGH 1762—1790. HE division of the Biddeford parish was the first step toward a separate incorporation of the eastern half of the town. It was a sign of the times and it must have been evident to many then, as it is now plain to all, that independ- ence in municipal, as well as in church affairs, would eventually be the demand of the inhabitants on the east side of the river. The change came ten years after the setting off of the east- ern parish. In April, 1762, the town of Biddeford voted that the inhabitants on the east side of the river ‘‘should be a sepa- rate district for the purpose of transacting the necessary public affairs of a community.” A request was forthwith made of the General Court, ‘‘assembled this 26th day of May, 1762,” that ‘they would invest said inhabitants with the powers and privi- leges of a district agreeable to the vote of said town,” the memorialists further announcing their intention ‘‘of inviting an ingenuous « orthodox young gentleman [Rev. John Fairfield] to settle over them in the gospel ministry, who was also well affected among their brethren on the west side of the River in Said town of Biddeford and in high esteem with the Rev. Mr. Morrill their then venerable pastor.” The petition is dated Biddeford, May 20, 1762, and bears the following signatures : Tristram Jordan. Robert Edgecomb. John Googins. Wm. Jameson. Gershom Billings. Richard Berry. James Gray. Jos. Libby. Robert Patterson, Jr. Saml. Seamman. 70 HISTORY OF SACO, Amos Chase. Thomas Cutts. Benj. Jellison. John Mains. James Dalton. Ezra Davis. Robt. Patterson. Ebenr. Ayer. James McLellan. Samuel Dennett. John Patterson. In response to this petition, the General Court passed a bill June 8, 1762, incorporating ‘the lands in the Town of Bidde- ford, lying on the East side of Saco River, in the County of York, together with an Island in the said River, commonly called and known by the name of Indian Island,” as a ‘‘sepa- rate and distinct District by the name of Pepperrellborough.” Rishworth Jordan was ‘‘empowered to issue his warrant to some principal inhabitant of said District, requiring him to notify and warn the inhabitants of said District, qualitied by law to vote in Town affairs, to meet at such time and place as should be therein set forth, to choose all such officers as should be necessary to manage the affairs of said District.” The first town meeting in Pepperrellborough—or Pepperrell- boro’, as it was often spelled—was held in July, 1762, when Tristram Jordan, Amos Chase and Robert Patterson, Jr., were chosen selectmen. Of these men, all are familiar, in name at least, to the present generation. The Patterson family is famous for the longevity of its members. The first Robert Patterson settled on Rendezvous Point in 1729. He died in 1769, aged ninety-seven years. His son, Robert, lived to be eighty-four. Another son died at the age of seventy, but the average was maintained by a daughter who died in 1802 at the ripe old age of ninety-two. Arms haf. Amos Chase attempted to settle in Buxton in 1741, but the war of 1744 caused him to return to his former home at New- bury. He came to Biddeford in 1753 and located on the On Me 13%rof October N70 . — yo Aabhuvh wad cael Yr -b6n frat a Aan SCAM PEPPERRELLBOROUGH, 71 eastern side, at the ferry, having purchased a portion of Captain Scamman’s estate in that vicinity. He kept the ferry several years, but finally removed, in 1763, to his well-known home- stead on the Ferry road about two miles from the sea. ‘The magnificent elms which have grown from the small trees he set out at that time are dear to every citizen. Mr. Chase was one of the first deacons of the Pepperrellboro’ church. He is still further remembered as the first man to drive a chaise from Kennebunk to Saco, Culver far Tristram Jordan, third son of Captain Samuel Jordan, was one of the first merchants on the east side of the river, and one of the ablest and most popular young men in town. He was elected selectman of Biddeford in 1754, when but twenty-three years of age. He was commissioned as a captain in the militia about the same time, and was ‘‘in the first Regiment whereof Sir William Pepperrell was Colonel.” In the hands of these men the civil affairs of Pepperrellboro’ were certain to be discreetly managed. It remained to com- plete the organization hy the formation of the town church to be presided over by the town minister. The Rev. John Fair- field had been preaching in the church on the east side since August, 1761, on a teinporary engagement. In August, 1762, the inhabitants voted to ask him to make a permanent settle- ment. Mr. Rairtield accepted; a church society was organized October 13; and on the 27th of the same month the young pastor was ordained. The relation thus entered upon was destined to continue for many years. The history of Pepperrellboro’, up to the beginning of the Revolution, is uneventful. The inhabitants met in town meet- ing, from year to year, chose selectmen, tything men, and other officers ; voted to raise the necessary money to defray the expenses T2 HISTORY OF SACO. of the district, usually about £140; instituted schools; located roads ; took care that the harbor was not caused to deteriorate through ballast of vessels ‘‘thrown into the same ;” and reim- bursed the Rev. John Fairfield for providing his own firewood. Beyond these domestic concerns and similar ones the records do not go. The people of York County early became fully aroused against the tyranny of Great Britain. News of the throwing overboard of the tea at the Boston wharves soon reached the settlements to the eastward and when, shortly after, a vessel, laden with tea, sailed into the harbor at York, the people hastily called a meeting and discussed what was best to be done. The captain was finally allowed to land his cargo, but, by a strange coincideuce, some Pickwaket Indians came to the town that night and in the morning the tea was gone. The patriotic spirit manifested at York was common to the whole county. On July 30, 1774, the inhabitants of Biddeford adopted the following resolutions drawn up, it is supposed, by James Sullivan :* “Ist. Whereas the Parliament of Great Britain has for the Express purpose of raising a Revenue, and an Unconstitutional Tax, on the English American Colonies, made Several Acts highly Distressing to said Colonies in General and this Province in Particular; by which Acts the Metropolis of- this Province is Blocked up and dis- tressed ; the Civil Governinent of the Province Altered (as far as by said Act it can be) in the most Material and privileged Points thereof; and particularly the Invaluable Right of a ‘Trial by an uncorrupted Jury Intirely Destroyed: 2d. Therefore Resolved, that the Inhabitants of this Town now «Assembled will in a Resolute, Manly and determined manner, pursue all such Legal and Constitutional methods as shall by the other ‘Towns in this Province be thought Conducive to the restoration of our Natural Rights as Men and our Political Rights as Englishmen, and that no Inconvenience however Injurious to the private Interest *James Sullivan, sometime Judge of the Supreme Court and Governor of the Commonwealth, opened a law-office in Biddeford in 1769. He was a man of rare attainments and was much respected by the people of the town. He removed to Groton, Massachusetts, in 1776. PEPPERRELLBOROUGIL,. 73 of any of us, shall be a Sufficient cause to break this Resolution: And whereas the Committee of Correspondence for the ‘town of Bos- ton has Transmitted to us Papers to be Signed by the Inhabitants of this Town, which Papers contain certain Covenunt Oaths and Agree- ments that the Subscribers thereto Shall break off all Commercial Tutercourse with the Island of Great Britain until the Oppressive Acts aforesaid are totally repealed ; and the Inhabitauts of this ‘Town being very Sensible that there is no Method yet Pointed out which tends so much to the advancing the Opulence of this Country and happy Extrication of it from its present difficulties and Distress as the Uuiversal Coming into and the Religious Observation of those Covenant Oaths and Agreement, or Others Somewhat Similar thereto: 3d. It is Therefore Resolved that if the Committee appointed by the late Honourable House of Representatives of this Province to meet the Delegates of the other Colonies in General Congress at Philadelphia or Elsewhere, And the other Members of said Congress, shall Advise to a Universal Withdrawment of our Commerce with the Island of Great Britain until the aforesaid Oppressive Acts of Parliament shall be Repealed, we will strictly Adhere thereto, And as our Dependence under God is chiefly placed in the Steady pursu- ance of such wise Measures as Shall be Recommended by the Con- gress We Therefore Resolve that whatever Measure shall be by said Congress Advised to and Complied with by the Majority of the other ‘Towns in this Province shall be Literally and Strictly adhered to by us And, we further Resolve that ifany Person among us shall Demean himself Contrary to any Plan that shall be Laid for our Deliverance by the Congress and agreed to by this and the Majority of the other Towns in the Province, we will have no Society, ‘Trade or Commerce with such Person, But will Esteem and Treat him as an Enemy to his Country.—” These resolutions, like many others of a similar trend, were the fruit of the great system of correspondence put into opera- tion by Samuel Adams. The plan urged by this statesman and adopted by the colonies, was for the patriotic citizens in each town, or district, to hold meetings and choose Committees of Correspondence whose duty it should be to communicate with representatives deputed in the same way by other towns, TA HISTORY OF SACO. and, thus, by an interchange and comparison of opinion secure what the cause of the colonies most needed—concerted action. The committee at Boston, mentioned above, was very active. It sent out political matter, kept in constant touch with the other committees in the province, and throughout the period when the Revolution was brewing, did much to cement the compara- tively isolated patriots into a well-organized party. Many of the smaller towns were tardy in appreciating the importance of the movement but in the end its pertinency was universally rec- ognized. There was no Committee of Correspondence in Biddeford at the time when the foregoing resolutions were formulated, but one was chosen in December (22) of the same year. Pepper- rellboro’ had such a committee as early as November ninth. It consisted of Tristram Jordan, Amos Chase, Paul Junkins, James Foss, and James Scamman. Thereafter, until the close of the War, the town was never without this invaluable council. But town action was not suflicient—some more general expression of sentiment was deemed necessary and notice was accordingly given of a ‘‘County Congress” to be held at Wells, on November 15th and 16th, 1774. Thomas Cutts, Esqr. and Paul Junkins were chosen delegates from Pepperrellboro’. The convention met as agreed and drew up a set of resolu- tions, which declared the right of the people to tax themselves but recommended peaceful resistance. The most interesting resolve is that referring to William Pepperrell : ‘*Whereas William Pepperrell, Baronet, in his lifetime hon- estly acquired a large estate, and gave the highest evidence, not only of being a sincere friend to the rights of man in general, but having a fraternal love to this country in particu- lar, and whereas his son William, to whom his estate was devised, hath, with purpose to carry into effect acts of the British Parliament made with the design to enslave the free and loyal people of this continent, accepted and now holds a seat at the pretended Board of Councilors in this Province, and PEPPERRELLBOROUGH., To therefore forfeited confidence, it is recommended to the people and his lessees to withdraw all connexion, commerce, and deal- ings with him, and to take no leases of his farms or mills; and if anybody does deal with him, we recommend the people to have no dealings or intercourse with such an one.”* The Pepperrellboro’ members of the ‘County Congress” reported to the inhabitants and a committee, chosen hy the same town-meeting that voted to send the delegates, saw ‘the several Resolves of the Provincial and County Congress, com- plied with in said Pepperrellboro’.”.. The men delegated to this duty were some of the inost respected and influential in the town: ‘TL. Jordan, Esq., Deacon Amos Chase, Robert Patter- son, Deacon 8S. Scamman, Joseph Libby, Humphrey Pike and Dominicus Scamman. ‘The entire incident of the Congress, its apparently harmonious action, and the means taken to carry its resolves into effect, reflect the temper of the hour and bear witness to the bitter feeling among the people against Pepper- rell and his Tory associates. In 1775, Pepperrellboro’ united with Biddeford in defraying the expenses of James Sullivan as delegate to the Provincial Congress. The greatest unanimity seems to have existed between the two towns at this time. Petty jealousies, if any had arisen, were forgotten in the excitement of the hour, and all good citizens devoted their energies to the service of the country. The people of Pepperrellboro’ assembled in town-meeting in March, 1774, feeling that war was upon them, and voted ‘‘to divide the Militia Company * * * into four separate squadrons to exercise half a day, and once in every week, for three months to come, and to begin their Exercises at 2 o’clock in the afternoon and to have a teacher to learn them the military art, and said teacher to be paid out of the District treasury ; one part to be at the Old Orchard, so-called; another to be *William Pepperrell here mentioned was not the son of Sir William, but bis grand-son, William Pepperrell Sparhawk, to whom the baronet had devised his property. 76 HISTORY OF SACO, from Rumery’s to the lower ferry; another from said Rumery’s up to the head of said District* and the other part at Duns- town so-called.” During the ensuing years of the Revolution, occasional entries in the town records shed passing gleams of light on the attitude of the people. In 1779, the inhabitants agreed to rein- force the Continental Army and voted to raise the men by a draft. When any man was drafted and ‘paid his fine’ the money thus obtained was to be employed in hiring men for the service. The selectmen were also empowered to levy taxes, ‘sufficient to pay what should be wanting to pay the full hire of those men who should agree to go into the Continental ser- vice for the town of Pepperrellborough.’ In 1781, it was voted “to raise £350 for the men raised to go to Camden, if they go, otherwise to be paid to the treasurer for the town service.” That same year, Samuel Boothby and James Coffin were appointed ‘‘a committee to hire six or seven men as soldiers for the army on the town’s account, and not to exceed $13 with the continental pay, per month.” Each town in the Province was obliged to provide its propor- tionate part of beef for the army. The methods resorted to in Pepperrellboro’ to raise the necessary amount of provisions frequently find mention in the records. Thus, at a town- meeting held on Thursday, July 12, 1781, it was: ‘*Voted to Raise by a Tax one hundred «& Thirty pounds in hard money or Equivalent in Paper to Purchase the Towns Quota of Beef for ye Continental Army.” The distinction here made between hard money and paper currency well illustrates the depreciation of the Continental bills which at this time had greatly deterio- rated in value. The exact number of men furnished to the Continental Army by Pepperrellboro’ is uncertain; but a large proportion of the inhabitants were at various times, engaged in service. The only officer of high rank, on active duty, of whom the town *District in all cases means in modern parlance—town. PEPPERRELLBOROUGH. 77 can boast was Colonel James Scaminan who lead a regiment to Cambridge early in 1775, and remained about a year. There is no record that his command was involved in any serious battles. In naval affairs the townspeople were comparatively inac- tive. A few privateers were fitted out from the Saco River and some prizes of small value were taken by them, but their cruises were in general unsuccessful. It is interesting to note, however, that the only encounter with the enemy in the vicinity of the Saco River (except the destruction of Falmouth) was a maritime skirmish at Cape Porpoise. On August 8, 1782, about a year before the treaty of peace was ratified, an English brig of eighteen guns sailed into Cape Porpoise harbor, accom- panied by a schooner of ten guns, and captured a schooner and a sloop belonging toa man named Newbury. The schooner was taken away, but the sloop, having run aground, was abandoned and burned. While the English vessel was lying in the harbor, Samuel Wildes, who was partially deranged, put off from shore in a canoe, and paddling within earshot of the enemy called to them and ordered them to give up the schooner. The British officers laughed at this sally and amused themselves, for a time, by making sport of their solitary foe. Finally, they tired of pleasantry and ordered Wildes on board the brig and upon his refusing to comply with the command, opened fire with muskets wounding him in several places. Meantime, the inhabitants of the town had assembled and now, in defiance of showers of grape from the English vessel, a detachment crossed from Trott’s Island to Goat Island, near which the brig was riding at anchor. ‘The English captain despatched a boat-load of armed sailors to dislodge the little company of townsmen who had ensconced themselves behind some rocks; but so deadly a fire issued from the muskets of the Americans that sixteen or seventeen of the men in the boat were killed and only one is said to have lived to clamber up the vessel’s side. 738 HISTORY OF SACU. Two pieces of cannon had been hurried to Trott’s Island and these so annoyed the enemy that the créw of the brig began to warp her out of the harbor. Although once aground the British at length succeeded in putting to sea and were soon out of sight. The engagement was almost a victory for the home guard which lost but one man. Beyond this brisk skirmish at Cape Porpoise, the inhabitants of Pepperrellboro’ and vicinity were exempt from attacks by the English. Neither were they seriously troubled by internal dissensions. So far as known, only three persons in Pepperrell- boro’ and Biddeford sympathized with the Tories. One of these, Capt. Philip Goldthwaite, placed himself under British protection at the outbreak of the War. The others, Dr. Abia- thar Alden and Capt. John Stackpole, were made to recant before a crowd which had gathered in Pepperrellboro’, on a certain day, from all the country round. Alden, who was the chief offender, was compelled to sign a paper which contained a confession of his treason and an abject apology for it, and then was obliged to get down on his knees and ask the pardon of the whole assemblage for offending the people. The pro- ceedings on this occasion were of an orderly character and were approved by the majority. No other important details of the War have come down to us. The last Committee of Correspondence was chosen in 1782 and consisted of Col. James Scamman, Capt. Joseph Bradbury, Lieut. Samuel Chase, Lieut. William Cole, and James Coffin. In 1783 peace was declared and the towns-people turned their attention once more to affairs of commerce and government. The first election of state officers in Massachusetts occurred September 4, 1780. John Hancock was chosen governor, Pepperrellboro’ giving him seven votes against three for James Bowdoin. Hancock’s popularity increased as he continued to hold office. In 1781, the town vote was—for Hancock, twen- ty-seven, for Bowdoin, two; and in 1782-3, the inhabitans were unanimous in his favor. PEPPERRELLBOROUGIL. 7 The people seem, thus, to have been well satisfied with the practical administration of the state government. At the same time the longing for local independence was strong and there was a growing discontent with the rule of the District by Mas- sachusetts. In 1785 the uneasiness had grown so general that a convention met at Falmouth (now Portland) to consider the question of a separation. This conference was held October 5th. Massachusetts expressed herself as strongly opposed to such action but her protest was not heeded, and the convention reassembled January 4, 1786, more in earnest than ever. The times, however, were not ripe for the change and although a report of the doings of the convention was circulated among the towns of the District, the project was temporarily aban- doned. The incident is chiefly interesting because it shows that the seeds of the agitation which culminated in the admis- sion of Maine in 1820 were sown many years before that event.* The year 1785 was marked by a great freshet which carried away both the Lottery bridge, on the east side of the river, and the Cutts bridge on the western branch from Indian Island to the Biddeford bank. Col. Cutts immediately rebuilt his bridge. February 16, 1786, the inhabitants of the town of Pepperrell- boro’ voted ‘to assist in Building a Bridge across the Stream on the east side of Indian Island,” and to raise £100, to be paid in lumber, at the market price, ‘to those persons who would undertake to build said bridge and obligate to build it by a certain time.’ Colonel Cutts took the contract and con- structed a bridge which stood for twenty years. Main street was straightened and the new bridge was erected where the present iron one crosses the river. Colonel Thomas Cutts was, at this time, at the height of his prosperity. This gentleman came to Biddeford about 1758 +In 1791, the question of separation from Massachusetts came up again and on May 10 of that year the inhabitants of Pepperrellboro’ voted against the division 44—6. 80 HISTORY OF SACO, with a capital of $100 loaned him by his father, Richard Cutt* of Cutt’s Island, Kittery. In the summer of 1759, he pur- chased a portion of Indian Island, the whole of which he ultimately owned, and built thereon a small house with con- veniences for a store. Here he carried on business for many years. At the time of his settlement upon it Indian Island was uninhabited, except at the fishing season, when wandering bands of Indians made it their temporary abode. The location selected by Cutts was central. He soon reaped its advantages and became, in a few years, one of the most prominent merchants in Maine. Aside from his local trade, he engaged in shipping. Although his enterprises were, in gen- eral, undertaken with a view to the advancement of personal ends, the commercial activity he created was of great advantage to Pepperrellboro’ and materially increased its prosperity. Looking back upon the scene of industry presented by Cutts and his contemporaries, it is difficult to picture the town in its actual wild state. Pepperrellboro’ had scarcely emerged from the category of frontier towns, as is illustrated by the fact that, in 1786, a bounty was offered on wolves, the price paid being 30s. for a full grown animal and 15s. for whelps. In 1787, the nuisance remained unabated and the reward was increased from 30s. to 40s. for every wolf killed within the town limits. Game was much more plenty then than now. Salmon fre- quented the river in considerable numbers and were taken by wholesale until it was found necessary to protect the fisher- ies by law. It is refreshing to note that the law was enforced. April 4, 1791, the town voted ‘‘that Capt. Wm. Cole and Ensign John Cleaves should receive £17, 15, 4 out of the town Treasurer for their Expence in Carrying on a Law Suit against Phineas McIntyre in behalf of the town Respecting the Salmon fishery.” The first United States census was taken in 1790. York *The name was originally spelled without the final ‘s.’. Thomas Cutts him- self used the old form many years. PEPPERRELLBOROUGH,. sl County, at that time, had 28,821 inhabitants of whom 1,352 resided in Pepperrellboro’. The increase of the town popula- tion from that time on was quite rapid. Thus for 1800 the figures are 1,842; for 1810, 2,492; for 1820, 2,532. Biddeford was considerably smaller. CHAPTER IX. PEPPERRELLBOROUGH 1790—1800. ROM the year 1790 on, the history of Pepperrellboro’ is full of interest. The town was small, but its citizens were enterprising and improvements came thick and fast.* While domestic affairs assumed this cheerful aspect there were troubles enough abroad, for at this period American com- merce suffered from the aggressions of both England and Francet and the ship-owners of Pepperrellboro’ were among those to suffer loss. In 1794, the ship Minerva, Capt. Thomas Cutts, Jr., owned by Col. Thomas Cutts, was taken by a French frigate and detained for a month in the port of Brest. Capt. Cutts entered a protest which was admitted by the American Commission in 1803 and the claim liquidated by the French Council of Liquidation. In 1799, during the hostilities between France and America, the Schooner