p.241 CHAPTER XIV.
MAINE.
ADDED SETTLEMENTS AND GENERAL CONDITIONS.
THOMAS PURCHASE OF PEJEPSCOT.
Mention has already been made of Thomas Purchase of Pejepscot, one of
the commissioners associated with William Gorges in the government of
the Province of New Somersetshire.1 It is supposed that he came to
this country from
Footnotes. 1. Purchase was born in England about the year 1577. Accord-
to the record in the Probate Office at Salem, Mass., Thomas Purchasedied
at Lynn (Massachusetts) May 11, 1677, aged one hundred and one years.
There is no known relationship between him and the well-know author of
"Purchas' Pilgrimes" but John Winter of Richmond'sIsland stated in a
letter dated August 2, 1641, that Purchase was a kinsman (Trelawny
Papers, 288) of Reverend Robert Jordan, who subsequently marriedWinter's
daughter. Purchase was twice married. It is not known that he had any
children by his first wife, Mary Gove. By his second wife, Elizabeth
Williams, he had five children of whom the names of only three have been
preserved: Thomas Purchase, Jane Purchase and Elizabeth Purchase.
in 1675, Purchase added to the Grant made by the Council for NewEngland,
a large tract, which he is said to have purchases from the Indians.About
the year 1659, Nicholas Shapleigh of Kittery, Maine, purchased of like
parties, Harpswell Neck and the island of Sebascodegan. July 4, 1685,
the Grant to Purchase and Way, and the land obtained by Nicholas Shap-
leigh, came into the possession of Richard Wharton, a Boston merchant.
Also, October 10, 1685, Eleazer Way of Hartford, Conn., a son and heir
of George Way, co-partner with Thomas Purchase, sold to Richard Wharton
his inherited rights in the Pejepscot patent. For fuller information see
the biographical sketch of Thomas Purchase, in Wheeler's History of
Bruswick, Topsham and Harpswell - pp. 788 - 797. July 7, 1684, Worumbo
and other Indian sagamores deeded additonal lands on the Androscoggin
river to Richard Wharton. It was Wharton's purpose by these various
purchases to establish for himself a "Manory" in New England. He died,
however, in 1680. Captain Ephraim, as the administrator of Wharton's
estate, sold his lands to the Pejepscot proprietors November 5, 1714 and
the deed was recorded at York, Maine, during that mont. See Farnham papers,
I, 361. The Pejepscot "records" and "papers" are in the archives of the
Maine Historical Society, Portland, Maine.
INSERT - THOMAS PURCHIS - HISTORY OF LYNN, MASS.
p.266
ANNALS OF LYNN.
Thomas Purchase was the 1st settler of Brunswick, Maine.
Source - Annals of Lynn, Mass.
Thomas Purchis, Senior, died May 11, 1678, aged a hundred and
one years, as stated by his widow and son, in a Petition to the
Salem (Mass.) Court. He had not long stayed at Lynn, Mass.,
having been amont the Maine settlers. It seems hardly possible
that he can have been the same individual mentioned by Mr. Lewis
(author of Hist. of Lynn, Mass.), under date of 1640, though he
may have been here (Lynn) for a brief period about that time.
Somewhere between 1625 and 1629, he located in Maine and engaged
in the fur trade. He had lands on the Androscoggin and sold to
Massachusetts, July 22, 1639, a portion of the territory on which
Brunswick now stands, of which place he was the first settler.
In 1635, he was one of Gorges's Council; subsequently he held
the office of sole Assistant to the Colony Commissioners; and
he was a Justice under Archdale, in 1664. In 1675, his house was
attacked by hostile Indians and pillaged.
p.267 - Annals of Lynn, Mass. continued.
He then removed back to Lynn, Mass. After his decease, his
widow married John Blaney.
Insert.
New England Marriages, prior to 1700.
by Clarence Almon Torrey.
p.607.
Purchase, Thomas (1576-1678) he was an uncle of Eleazer Way.
His 1st wife was Mary Gove or Grove who died Jan 7, 1665/6 at
Lynn, Mass.
Purchase, Thomas (1576-1678) and his 2nd wife, Elizabeth
(Andrews) [Pike] (1633-), wife of Richard Pike, she m. (3)
John Blany Sr. 1678, ca 1656.
Purchase, Thomas & Elizabeth Williams (she m. (2) John Blany, Jr.
(?) she m. (3) ?Jonathan Felt, 1695?; Dec 3, 1679 ?1683, Salem.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
p.242 BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
RICHARD VINES.
England about the year 1626, landing at Saco. He was there June
25, 1630, with Isaac Allerton, Captain Thomas Wiggin and others,
when Richard Vines took legal possession of his Grant on the
south side of the Saco River. Doubless after his arrival in the
province, Purchase spent some time in seeking a favorable loca-
tion for settlement. From the eastern part of Casco Bay, there
was an Indian thoroughfare that led to the falls of the Pejep-
scot in what is now the town of Brunswick. Skirting the shores
of Casco Bay and journeying by this well-known route, Purchase
probably reached the falls; or he may have made his way thither
by the Sagadahoc to Merrymeeting Bay, and thence by the waters
of the Pejepscot River. However this may be, by one route or
the other, he discovered a very favorable location for trade
with the Indians as they descended the river in passing from
their villages to the mouth of the Sagadahoc, or to the
pleasant camping grounds on the shores or islands of Casco
Bay.
The precise location selected by Purchase for his settlement
can only be conjectured. Among the Pejepscot papers in the
possession of the Maine Historical Society, are many deposi-
tions in which there are references to Purchase's residence
at Pejepscot; but these depositions were made by persons who
reported from memory what they had heard in their earlier
years, from aged residents at Pejepscot. Some of these old
people testified in these depositions that according to
common report, as received by them, Thomas Purchase lived
at the Ten Mile Falls, (Lisbon Falls), and some said they
had seen a cellar and an old chimney that were pointed out
to them, as the ruins of Purchase's house. Others testi-
fied they had heard from their parents and other old people
that Purchase lived at the head of New Meadows River, at a
place since known as "Stevens' carrying place". Still
others maintained that from information they had received,
Purchase resided at Pejepscot Falls, now Brunswic, Maine.
It is possible that he changed his residence several times
and hence these differing statements. Indeed such seems to
have been the fact. Good authorities, however, are of the
opinion that Purchase made his earliest
p.243 PURCHASE.
residence near the Pejepscot Falls. In favor of this view,
it is said that early after coming to Pejepscot - the terri-
tory in which he made his settlement, Purchase was engaged
in the salmon fishery, which of course was carried on at the
falls, and the inference fairly follows that his residence was
not far away. The opinion is still further strengthened by the
fact that the location was carefully selected by Purchase.
In establishing himself at the falls, he secured the Indian
trade of the Androscoggin, in the same way as the Pilgrims
of Plymouth, in erecting their trading house at Cushenoc,
now Augusta, secured the Indian trade of the Kennebec.
GEORGE WAY AND THOMAS PURCHASE.
THE RIVER BISHOPSCOTTE, OR PEJEPSCOT.
Having made this careful selection of a location for his
settlement, Purchase seems to have allowed some time to pass
before entering upon negotiations for the purpose of obtain-
ing legal possession of the territory. The records of the
Council for New England, for June 16, 1632, make mention of a
Grant by the Council to George Way and Thomas Purchase of
"certain lands in New England called the River Bishopscotte
(Pejepscot) and all that bounds and limits the mainland ad-
joining the river to the extent of two miles, from the said
river northward four miles and from the house there to the
ocean".1
GEORGE WAY OF DORCHESTER.
There is no evidence that George Way, who lived in Dorchester,
England, when the patent was issued, settled at any time on the
territory thus secured. His widow and sons are known to have
resided at a later period at Hartford, Connecticut.2 In all
probability, the grant was obtained by George Way, at the re-
quest of Thomas Purchase, and his half interest in it was
doubtless secured because of his services. The original patent
was never in Purchase's possession, so far as is now known.
It is said to have
Footnotes. 1. Sainsbury's Calendar of State Papers, I, 152.
Mention of the Grant is found in Edward Godfrey's "Cattalogue",
a list of twenty patents for plantations in New England, the
manuscript of which is preserved in the Public Records Office
in London, England. Calendar of State Papers, I, 35. Frequent
references to it are also found in the Pejepscot papers, and in
conveyances recorded at York in the Colonial period. 2. Wheeler,
History of Brunswick, etc., 812.
p.244 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
been entrusted to Francis Ashley,1 and no later reference to its
location has come down to us. Purchase had a copy of the patent,
but that is said to have been destroyed in the burning of the
first house he erected. He then built, it is supposed, "a small
cottage for a shelter", which at length was replaced by a "fair
stone house", in which Purchase had his home during his subse-
quent residence at Pejepscot.2
As has been already suggested, Purchase had excellent opportuni-
ties for traffic with the Indians. Their furs and peltry were ex-
changed for trinkets of various kinds and such articles and imple-
ments of English manurfacure as were coveted by the natives. But
Purchase's business relations were increased by his fishing inter-
ests, which included the taking of salmon and sturgeon, and the
preparation of the same for exportation to London. These various
enterprises required the services of helpers; and in this and
other ways, Purchase soon gathered around him, quite a number of
settlers, who had landed upon the coast of Maine with other
emigrants now making their way hither in increasing numbers. In
a short time, therefore, through his business relations and other-
wise, Purchase became well known in the province and was recog-
nized as one of its prominent men.3
CLEEVE AND TUCKER.
SIR RICHARD EDGECOMB.
July 3, 1637, not long after Cleeve and Tucker received their
Grant of land at Machegonne, Sir Ferdinando Gorges granted to
Sir Richard Edgecomb,4 his friend and neighbor at
ROBERT JORDAN, HENRY JOSSELYN & EDWARD RISHWORTH
SIR RICHARD EDGECOMB.
Footnotes. 1. Maine Historical Society's Collections, Series I,
3, 330. 2. Wheeler, History of Brunswick, etc. 793. 3. William-
son (History of Maine, I, 690) says Purchase "was one of those
flexible patriots who could accomodate his politics to the
changes of the times". Wheeler (History of Brunswick, 796)
calls this "rather a harsh judgment", and adds that while it is
not to be denied that Purchase held office "under different and
opposing governments", yet it is to be remembered that this is
true of Robert Jordan, Henry Josselyn and Edward Rishworth,
against whom no such reflection is brought. 4. Sir Richard
Edgecomb, like Gorges, was one of the Charter members of the
Council for New England. Mount Edgecomb, overlooking the en-
trance to the harbor of Plymouth, England, is the most attract-
tive place in the neighborhood of Plymouth today.
p.245 ADDED SETTLEMENTS.
THE DEATH OF SIR RICHARD EDGECOMB.
SIR WILLIAM PEPPERELL.
at Mount Edgecomb, Plymouth, eight thousand acres of land be-
tween the river Sagadahoc and Casco Bay. Sullivan1 makes mention
of the grant, but it is not included in the Farnham Papers, no
copies, probably, having been found. That such a grant was made,
however, cannot be doubted. Sir Richard Edgecomb died March 28,
1638, and so was unable to carry out any plans he may have form-
ed with reference to this Grant. But in 1718, John Edgecomb,2
who is described by Sullivan, as living in the District of Maine,
and "one of the family of Mount Edgecomb in Great Britain", en-
tered in the book of claims in the Province of Massachusetts Bay,
a claim for the grant in behalf of the heirs of Sir Richard Edge-
comb. The matter received no further attention until 1756, when
Lord Edgecomb of Mount Edgecomb, authorized *Sir William Pepperell
to take charge of the matter for him.
On account of Sir William Peperell's death, which occurred not
long after, little, if anything was done by him but in 1736, Lord
Edgecomb secured the services of Nathaniel Sparhawk, Pepperell's
Nicholas Edgecomb married Wilmot Randall,
in the service of Mrs. Winter
at Richmond's Island, Maine.
Footnotes. 1. History of the District of Maine, 125. 2. Baxter,
(Trelawny Papers, 328) calls John Edgecomb "the supposed grand-
son of Nicholas Edgecomb", who was in Trelawny's emply at Rich-
mond's Island. Concerning the relation of John Edgecomb and other
heirs of Nicholas Edgecomb to the Edgecombs of Mount Edgecomb,
Sullivan makes the statement that "it is said that they were a
branch of Sir Richard's family" (126). On the next page, however,
he adds, "The Edgecombs who have been mentioned were no doubt of
the younger branches of Sir Richard's family and were sent over to
possess the territory, which was then in the possession of Dr.
Smith and others, under a Grant from the Council of Plymouth"
(127). Mr. Baxter, while doubtful of the success of the effort
to connect Nicholas Edgecomb with the Edgecombs of Mount Edge-
comb, says, "though he had not the rank, he was a man for a'
that". Nicholas Edgecomb married Wilmot Randall, who was in the
service of Mrs. Winter at Richmond's Island. In an account render-
ed by John Winter to Robert Trelawny in 1641, occurs the entre:
"Received of Nicholas Edgecomb for yielding up of the maid Wilmot's
time, which he married before her time was out, �5". After his
marriage, Nicholas Edgecomb leased a farm of Captain Bonython, at
Blue Point. In 1660, he removed, with his wife and six children,
to Saco, Maine. The posterity of the Edgecombs "is still there,
now", wrote Sullivan, when he published his History of the District
of Maine. See Mr. Baxter's note on Nicholas Edgecomb, Trelawny
Papers, 327, 328.
p.246 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
SPARHAWK.
son-in-law, who, in reviving the claim of the Edgecomb heirs, was
directed to claim eight thousand acres of land on the Kennebec
river. The original grant seems to have been in Sparhawk's hands.
An additional description of the grant in the book of claims was
more specific than that in the original grant, as the eight thous-
and acres were there recorded as "near the lake of New Somerset,
fifteen miles from Casco Bay"; but Lord Edgecomb's counsel, "en-
deavored to fix it on a grant fifteen miles from the sea on the
west side of the river Kennebec, and adjoining to Merrymeeting Bay,
called the lake at New Somerset".1 As this claim conflicted with
that of other claimants to land on the Kennebec, litigation follow-
in which Lord Edgecomb lost his case.
The Indian trade of the Plymouth colonists on the Kennebec had
been so profitable that at the close of 1633, Bradford recorded
with gratitude the fact that the sale of beaver sent to England by
the Pilgrims during the eyar - "thirty-three hundred and sixty-
six pounds weight and much of it coat beaver, which yielded
twenty shillings per pound, and some of it above" – had enabled
them to pay all their debts in England, and so to relieve them-
selves of a burden that had long weighed heavily upon them.
THE PILGRIM'S TRADING HOUSE ON THE KENNEBEC.
But early in the next year, in returning to his record of affairs
connected with the Pilgrim trading house on the Kennebec, Brad-
ford mentioned2 "one of the saddest things" that had befallen the
Pilgrims since the commencement of their enterprise on that river.
JOHN HOCKING AT PISCATAQUA.
One John Hocking who lived at Piscataqua, an agent for Lords Say
and Brooke and other Englishmen interested in the settlement
The Sagadahock - or, the Saco River.
Footnotes. 1. Sullivan, History of the District of Maine, 126. In
a note (127) Sullivan adds: "There is no doubt that Gorges and
Edgecomb intended the lands contained in the Grant, to be on the
west side of Saco River, which was then called Sagadahock" The
Sagadahoc was the eastern boundary of the Province of Maine, or,
New Somersetshire, and so wll known to Gorges, that to think of
him as confounding two such important rivers within the limits of
his territory as the Sagadahoc and the Saco, is impossible.
2. Bradford, History of the Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts
Historical Society, Ed. 1912, II, 174-189.
p.247 ADDED SETTLEMENTS.
THE PILGRIMS' HOUSE AT CUSHENOC.
JOHN HOWLAND.
there, made his way to the Kennebec, purposing to proceed in his
vessel up the river beyond the Pilgrim's house at Cushenoc, and
so to secure trade with the Indians that otherwise would fall into
the hands of the Plymouth men. John Howland, who was in command
of the trading house, protested against this effort on the part
of Hocking, insisting that it was an infringement of rights se-
cured to the Pilgrims by their patent from the Council for New
England. The appeal was to that clause in the Grant which author-
ized Bradford and his associates "to take, apprehend, seize and
make prize of all such persons, their ships and goods, as shall
attempt to inhabit or trade with the savage people in that
country within the several precincts and limits of his and their
several plantations".1 But Hocking refused to heed the protest
made by Howland. As Bradford records his language, he said he
"would go up and trade there in spite of them", and he would
stay there, "as long as he pleased". In the effort to make good
his words, Hocking sailed past the Pilgrim post and anchored.
HOWLAND DEFENDING THE PILGRIM'S RIGHTS.
Howland then again went to Hocking and having called his attent-
ion to this violation of the Pilgrim rights as received in their
patent, he urged him to take his vessel down the river. But Hock-
ing still refused. Howland "could get nothing of him but ill words".
HOCKING KILLS ONE OF THE PLYMOUTH MEN, MOSES TALBOT.
Accordingly, he proceeded to action. Instructing his men not to
fire their guns upon any provocation, he sent two of them to cut
the cable of Hocking's vessel. This they succeeded in doing, and
as the vessle started down the river, Hocking seized a musket and
killed one of the Plymouth men, Moses Talbot.
HOCKING SHOT IN RETALIATION.
His companion, in the canoe, who loved him well, Bradford says,
could not restrain himself and levelling his musket at Hocking,
he shot him in retaliation.
The vessel continued on its course down the river, and Hocking's
men, on their return to the Piscataqua, carried the tidings of the
affair, thither. The report, in due time, reached Lords Say and
Brook in England. In it, the fact was withheld that Hocking had
killed one of the Plymouth men; and the same version of the affair,
either
Footnote. 1. Farnham Papers, I, 115.
p.248 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
BOSTON AUTHORITIES ARREST JOHN ALDEN.
THE PILGRIMS SEND CAPTAIN MILES STANDISH TO BOSTON.
THE PILGRIM'S PATENT - RIGHTS ON THE KENNEBEC.
from the Piscataqua or from England, was carried to the colonists
of Massachusetts Bay. When, not long after, the Plymouth colonists
sent their vessel to Boston, the authorities there arrested John
Alden, who, though not a participant in the affair, was at the
Kennebec trading house when Hocking was killed. The Pilgrim's re-
garded Alden's arrest as an unfriendly proceeding on the part of
the Massachusetts officials and sent Captain Miles Standish to
Boston, with letters from Bradford and others, to secure Alden's
release. This was effected, but at the same time, Captain Miles
(Myles) Standish was put under bonds to appear at the next court,
June 3, 1634, with a certified copy of the patent, showing the
rights of the Plymouth colonists on the Kennebec.
MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR, JOHN WINTHROP
At this meeting of the Court, the Massachusetts Bay authorities
made it evident that they did not wish to give offence to their
Plymouth neighbors, while equally, they made it evident that they
desired to disavow Howland's action, "which", as John Winthrop re-
corded, "was feared would give occasion to the King to send a
General Governor over".1 In a private letter, Governor Dudley
counselled patience on the part of the Plymouth authorities.
After awhile, John Winthrop suggested a conference in which the
Plymouth colonists, the colonists at Piscataqua, and those of
Massachusetts Bay should be requested "to consult and determine
in this matter, so as the parties might have full power to order
and bind, etc., and that nothing should be done to the infringing
or prejudice of the liberties of any place".2 Such a conference
was held in Boston, but only the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay
colonists were represented.
THE BLAME AND GUILT LAYED ON HOCKING'S HEAD.
The matter, however, was fully discussed with the result that
while "they all wished these things had never been, yet they
could not but lay the blame and guilt on Hocking's own head".
At the same time "grave and godly exhortations" were made to
the Plymouth men, which they "embraced with love and thank-
fullness, promising to endeavor to follow the same"; 3 and with
Footnotes. 1. Winthrop, his Journal, I, 124. 2. Bradford, Massa-
chusetts Historical Society, Ed. 1912, II, 187. 3. Ib. II, 188.
p.249 ADDED SETTLEMENTS.
this, further agitation of the matter ceased. Mr. Winslow was
sent to England not long after, in order to see that no harm
should come to the Colony in consequence of this affair; but he
found that agitation had ceased there also.
Of settlers on the lower Kennebec, at this time, there is little
information; but Sullivan is doubtless quite right in saying that
from the year 1626 to the year 1660, there were inhabitants,
traders and settlers on the river.1 But the number was not large.
As late as 1670, according to Sullivan,2 there were only twenty
families on the west side and thirty on the east side. Few favor-
locations were reached in the lower parts of the river, and on
other accounts settlers were not generally inclined to make their
homes far away from the seacoast.
The broad opening of the Sheepscot, however, proved more in-
viting to settlers than the comparatively narrow entrance to
the Kennebec; and as the arrivals on the coast increased in
number in the third decade of the century, those seeking an
attractive location for settlements could not fail to make
their way up the Sheepscot into Wiscasset Bay, and farther on
to what has come to be known as Sheepscot Farms. Here was the
site of a prosperous community in that early period of our
colonial history. Strangely, however, no record has preserved
to us, even the names of those who first made their homes on
these fertile lands. The only record that reminds us of their
dwelling here is found in the remains of a large number of well-
defined cellars, still plainly visible to those who seek for them.
FORT ANNE AND GARRISON HILL.
CAPTAIN SYLVANUS DAVIS.
Two fortifications, also, known as Fort Anne and Garrison Hill -
the former believed to be the fort of the first occupancy of the
Farms, the latter with stockade lines of great extent - provided
for the protection of the settlers; and though time has obliter-
ated timberwork, and in a measure, earthworks, yet enough is left
to mark the places to
Footnotes. 1. History of the District of Maine, 170. 2. The state-
ment is baed on a report of the English settlements on the coast
east of Kennebec, along the seacoast to Matinicus,"some 70 and some
40 years ago", made by Captain Sylvanus Davis in 1701. Sullivan,
170, 391.
p.250 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
which the settlers could repair in time of need for common de-
fence.1
CAPTAIN SYLVANUS DAVIS.
Proceeding now still farther eastward we have equal difficulty
in attempting to ascertain the number of settlers along the coast,
and in the country back from the coast. The report made by Capt.
Sylvanus Davis in 1701, and on which Sullivan relied in his esti-
mate of the population, includes the settlements on the eastern
side of the Kennebec and eastward as far as the St. George's
river; but from it, no information is received that enables us
to ascertain the number of settlers found in these places in 1630,
and the number found in 1660. The report, therefore, is not a
satisfactory one, as there is no means of obtaining from it the
number of settlers east of the Kennebec on either of these dates.
The whole number of families recorded for this large territory is
one hundred and fifty-five. Reckoning each family as having five
members, we obtain a population of seven hundred and seventy-five.
The estimate is probably somewhaqt large, but it cannot be far out
of the way.2
Very little, however, is learned from such figures. How came these
settlers hither, and in what way did they spend their changed lives
after they had reached their new surroundings?
Happily, with reference to their ocean experiences, the daily re-
record of one voyager to the American coast in that early period
has come to us in the diary of Reverend Richard Mather3, who
Footnotes. 1. For an exceedingly interesting account of the
approaches to the Sheepscot Farms, and a description of the cell-
ar remains still discoverable there, see a paper entitled "The
Sheepscot Farms", read March 14, 1878, before the Maine Historical
Society by Alexander Johnston, and printed in the Society's Coll-
ections, Series I, 9, 129-155. 2. For the report made by Captain
Sylvanus Davis, see Sullivan, History of the District of Maine,
390, 391. 3. Richard Mather was born 1596 in the south of Winwick,
County of Lancaster, England. While at Brasenose College, Oxford,
he received from the people of Toxteth, whose children had been
taught by him, an invitation to come and teach them "in the things
of God". Having been ordained and having spent fifteen years in
the ministry, complaints were made against him for nonconformity.
He was suspended from his office, but soon after was (see footnotes
p.251)
ADDED SETTLEMENTS.
p.251 in 1635, with his family, sailed for Boston, Massachusetts from
Bristol, England, on the ship, James, a vessel of 220 tons. On the
day of their embarkation, May 23, two "searchers" came on board the
ship and "viewed a list of all our names, ministered the oath of
allegiance to all of full age, viewed our certificates from the
ministers in the parishes from which we came, approved well there-
of and gave us tickets, that is, licenses under their hands and
seals - to pass the seas, and cleared theship, and so departed."1
Here too, we have the glimpse of the effect of a recent proclama-
tion of the King, commanding all seaport officers to forbid "the
embarkation of passengers for New England without a license from
commissioners of plantations, and a certificate of having taken the
oaths of supremacy and allegiances, also a certificate from the
parish minister.
THE SHIP, THE ANGEL GABRIEL.
Several days were now passed in waiting for a favorable wind. At
anchor near the James was another vessel, the Angel Gabriel.
INSERT. THE ANGEL GABRIEL OF 1635.
passenger list.
the Angel Gabriel
1635
On the last Wednesday in May, 1635 (May 27th), the ship "AngelGabriel" a strong
ship of 240 tons, and carrying a heavy armament of 16 guns swung at hermoorings
in the King's Road, four or five miles distant from the city. Herdestination was
Pemaquid. On her deck was "a company of many Godly Christians", somefrom other
ships, bound for New England. The wreck of the bark, Angel Gabriel, a major
disaster in the middle of the "Great Migration". It was wrecked in agreat storm,
probably a hurricaine, in August 1635 off Pemaquid Point, Maine.
According to the "Lighthouses in Maine" site one of the passengers was a man who
left his wife behind planning to send for her after he became established. Although
he survived the wreck, his wife was afraid to follow him after what had happened to
the Angel Gabriel. He was unable to face the journey back to England, so they never
saw each other again. A visitor to this site has sent me information that the man
who was seperated from his wife was John Bailey who also left behind his son, Robert,
and two daughters.
What follows is a partial list of some of the ships passengers that compiled from
from the internet and other sources. There is, I understand, a complete list on a
plaque at Pemaquid Maine.
Capt. Andrews and his three Burnham nephews.
Capt. ROBERT ANDREWS, Ship's Master Ipswich, Mass.
JOHN BAILEY , Sr. a weaver from Chippenham, Eng. Newbury
John Bailey, Jr. b. 1613
Johanna Bailey (poss. came on a later ship soon after)
HENRY BECK
Deacon John Burnham
Thomas Burnham
Robert Burnham
RALPH BLAIDSDELL, of Lancashire York, Maine
Mrs. Elizabeth Blaidsdell
Henry Blaidsdell
WILLIAM FURBER
JOHN COGSWELL 43 Westbury Leigh, Wiltshire to Ipswich, Mass.
Mrs. Elizabeth (Thompson) Cogswell abt 41 "
Mary Cogswell abt 18 "
William Cogswell abt 16 "
John Cogswell abt 13 "
Hannah Cogswell abt 11 "
Abigail Cogswell abt 9 "
Edward Cogswell abt 6 "
Sarah Cogswell abt 3 "
Elizabeth Cogswell infant "
SAMUEL HAINES abt 24 Apprentice to J. Cogswell prob. Ipswich
Later Dover Point
WILLIAM HOOK
HENRY SIMPSON
JOHN TUTTLE - Dover Ipswich later Dover NH
End.
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
Sir Ferdinando Gorges.
One day, during this delay, Mr. Mather, with the captain of the ship
James and a few other passengers, went on board the Angel Gabriel. In
his account of this visit, Mr. Mather wrote: "Soon after we were come
aboard there, there came three or four more boats with more passengers
and one wherein came Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who came to see the ship
and the people. When he was come he inquired whether there were any
people there that went to Massachusetts Bay, whereupon Mr. Maud and
Barnabas Fower were sent for to come before him; who, being come, he
asked Mr. Maud
Footnotes continued, previous page.
INCREASE MATHER, PRESIDENT OF HARVARD COLLEGE.
restored. Being silenced a second time, he decided to remove to
New England. After his arrival at Boston, his services were desired
at Plymouth, Dorchester and Roxbury, Massachusetts. In 1636, he was
settled over the newly organized churc of Dorchester, Massachusetts.
As the minister of this church he spent the remainder of his long and
useful life, dying April 22, 1669 in the 73rd year of his age. He was
the father of Increase Mather, President of Harvard College and father
of the celebrated Cotton Mather.
Footnote. 1. Journal of Richard Mather, Dorchester Genealogical and
Historical Society, 1850, 6.
p.252 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
of his country, occupation or calling of life, etc., and professed
his goodwill to the people there in the Bay, and promised that if he
ever came there, he would be a true friend unto them."1 Only a few
days before this visit, the Council for New England had surrrended
it Charter to the King; and, in connection with the surrender, Georges
was expecting an appointment as Governor of New England. Hence the
significance of Gorges' promise, as recorded by Mather, Sir Ferdinando
evidently intending that those who were on the ship and purposed to
make their way to the Bay colony, should repeat his promise on their
arrival.
Mather and his companions spent five Sundays on the ship, James, be-
fore the vessel, and also the Angel Gabriel, put to sea. Moreover, the
passage was long and wearisome, but in it there was much interest. For
a part of the way, the two vessels were in company, and one day, mid-
ocean, the sea permitting, the ship, Angel Gabriel sent a boat to the
James "to see how they did"; and when the boat returned, Mather accom-
panied the Captain of the James to the Angel Gabriel, returning after
"loving and courteous entertainment".
At length, the wearisome voyage was over. Saturday morning, August 8th,
after the seamen had taken "abundance of mackerell" all had "a clear
and comfortable sight of America." The land was "an island call Men-
higgen", and Mather adds the noteworthy statement that Monhegan, at
that time was "without inhabitants", the Aldworth and Elbridge inter-
ests, having been tranferred, probably several years before, to the
mainland at Pemaquid. The coastline was now in view. "A little from
the islands, we saw more northward divers other islands and the main
land of New England, all along northward and eastward, as we sailed."
On the high deck of the vessel, the passengers gathered; and in the
bright sunlight of that fair August day, they had before them, as they
looked landward, the same delightful scenes that possess such fascina-
ting interest at present to many a summer visitor, sailing up or down
the coast of Maine.
Footnote. 1. The Journal of Richard Mather, 7,8.
p.253 ADDED SETTLEMENTS.
August 10th, Ship James came to anchor.
A westerly wind detaining them, so that they "were forced to tack too
and again southward and northward, gaining little", the ship James came
to anchor Monday morning, August 10, at Richmond's Island. "When we came
within sight of the island", wrote Mather, "the planters were there,
being but two families and about forty persons, were sore afraid of us,
doubting least we had been French, come to pillage the island, as
Penobscot1 had been attacked by them about ten days before. When we
were come to anchor, and their fear was past, they came, some of them,
aboard to us, in their shallops, and we went, some of us, ashore into
the island, to look for fresh water and grass for our cattle; and the
planters baid us welcome, and gave some of us courteous entertainment
in their houses."
NARIAS HAWKINS.
The ship, James, remained at anchor at Richmond's island August 10th to
12th. At this time, as already stated, John Winter was on his way to
England, and therefore could not have been one of those who gave gener-
ous welcome to the weary voyagers, as Mather records. However, he had
left Trelawny's affairs in the hands of Narias Hawkins, a near neigh-
bor, who seems to have had fishing interests of his own, and who, with
Winter's wife and daughter well represented Trelawny's absent agent.
It is possible, also, that Edward Trelawny, a brother of Robert Tre-
lawny, Winter's employer, was at Richmond's island at this time; and
as his religious sympathies were with the Puritans,2 he would, if
present,
Footnotes. 1. The reference is to Aulney's seizure of the Pilgrims'
trading house at Penobscot (Castine) in 1635. Mather's Journal, 26,
27. 2. Edward Trelawny, in a letter from Boston, to Robert Trelawny,
about this time, wrote: "Let all idle reports, touching the conversa-
tion of God's people here, be utterly abolished and find no credence
with any who wish well unto Zion; for I assure you, they deserve it
not; if I may speak my conscience that tells me they are a people
truly fearing God, and follow the paths that lead to Jurusalem, for
they manifest the same apparently, in the whole course of their
conversation. For my part, I have just cause ever, to bless the Lord
for so high a favor in bringing me hither, and shall account it the
greatest happiness that ever befell me; and though I must confess, at
your first mentioning of it, it was somewhat averse and distasteful to
my untamed and unbridled nature, yet since the heavenly conversations
and sweet life of the (footnotes continue below)
p.254 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
have taken pleasure doubtless in extending a hearty welcome to one
so well and so favorably known as Richard Mather.
The ship, James, having, August 12, continued her voyage to Massa-
chusetts Bay, encountered heavy winds, August 13 and 14th, and then
anchored at the Isles of Shoals. There the great storm that desolated
the New England coast on the following day, broke upon the vessel at
its island anchorage. Seamen and passengers alike trembled at the
violence of winds and waves. The ship, in imminent peril from the
first, lost her anchors at length, but miraculously, as all thought,
escaped the rocks that showed themselves here and there above the
breaking billows, and reached open sea; whence, after the storm ceased,
the ship, James, made her way in safety into Massachusetts bay, and
finally into Boston harbor. "The Lord granted us as wonderful a deliv-
erance as ever people had", wrote Mather in his Journal
THE SHIP, ANGEL GABRIEL.
ABRAHAM SHURT.
The Angel Gabriel seems to have reached Pemaquid about the time this
destructive storm descended upon the New England coast, and was at
anchor in the harbor. Abraham Shurt and many others were there to
extend to the new colonists, a good English welcome. But although the
vessel was securely anchored in her desired haven, the fury of the
storm wrought her total destruction. When Richard Mather received the
tidings of the loss of the Angel Gabriel, which included one seaman and
three or four passengers, as well as a valuable cargo, he entered the
record in his Journal with a chastened heart and hand. Indeed, the
sudden, unexpected destruction of the strong ship, made a deep and
abiding impression not only upon those who witnessed the scene, but
upon the dwellers in every hamlet whither the story of the lostt of
the Angel Gabriel was carried. More than a century afterward the
Pemaquid proprietors place upon their Seal, the
Footnotes continued from previous page - people here hath so far
wrought upon and vindicated my conscience, that I would not (I
profess seriously from my very soul) be in my former base, abom-
inable, odious condition, no, not for the whole riches of this
world." Trelawny Papers, 72, 73.
p.255 ADDED SETTLEMENTS.
device of a ship, and surrounded it with the lengend, "The Angel
Gabriel. A. E. Pemaquid, 1631".1
There are few sources of information concerning the lives of the
early settlers. So far as is known, no one among them kept a
journal in which were recorded the common experiences of daily
life on the Maine coast at that time. Certainly no such journal
has come down to us. In fact, the Trelawny Papers, in which is
preserved the correspondence of John Winter and others associated
with him at Richmond's Island in the interests of Robert Trelawny,
are almost our only source of information along this line of in-
quiry. These, it is true, give us glimpses of every day matters
at a single locality for the most part; but even such glimpses
may be fairly regarded as representing life at other points from
Agamenticus to Pemaquid.
The choice of a settlement was not an unimportant matter. Previous
to 1630, the country, for the most part was open, and the settler
who ventured to locate on the mainland made his habitation without
much inquiry as to land titles. After that time, arrangements were
made with the various patentees who received grants from the Council
for New England or from Sir Ferdinando Gorges.
Having selected a location, the settler cleared a plot of ground and
erected his dwelling, a rude, log structure in the early period. At
Richmond's island, suitable buildings were provided for living and
trading purposes. Winter's house was forty feet in length, eighteen
feet in breadth and had a fireplace so large, that brewing, baking
and boiling operations were carred on at the same time. In an ad-
joining house was the kitchen; and here, also, were "sieves and mill
and mortar". Corn was first broken in the mortar, then ground in a
hand-mill and afterward, sifted. Over the kitchen were two chambers.
All of the men in Winter's employ - there were forty-seven in 1637
-
slept in one of these chambers, and each man had his close-boarded
cabin or bunk.
Footnote. 1. A stands for Adlworth, E for Elbridge, the two
Pemaquid patentees; 1631 is the date of the patent. Maine Historical
Society's Coll., Series I, 5, 218.
p.256 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
"I have room enough", adds Winter in a letter to Trelawny, "to make
a dozen close-boarded cabins more, if I have need of them, and in the
other chamber I have room enough to put the Ship's sails into and all
of our dry goods".1
In the open space on the mainland, near the house built by Cleeve and
Tucker, and which they cleared for their own uses, Winter had a corn-
field, containing four or five acres, and fenced with poles, six feet
high, driven into the ground and pointed.
THE HARVEST.
Writing to Trelawny in the early part of October, 1634, Winter could
say: "Our harvest of Indian corn is not all in yet, but if fair
weather continues, it will be in about five or six days hence. I
think we shall have about twenty hogsheads of corn good and bad;
the frost has taken some of our corn that was not fully ripe, but
it is not much the worse for it".2 Winter also had swine on the
mainland, "about seventy pigs, young and old", he writes; "and I
hope we shall have more very shortly....they feed themselves when
the acorns do fall".3
The fertility of the soil is often mentioned by the early New England
writers. Winter make reference to it. "There is nothing that we set or
sow but doth prove very well. We have proved divers sorts as barley,
peas, pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, onions, garlic, radishes, turnips,
cabbage, lettuce, parsley, melons, and I think so will other sorts of
herbs if they be set or sown."4
This record occurs in a letter written in the Autumn of 1634. Winter's
diligence in establishing so soon, a well-cultivated garden, was doubt-
less manifested by other early settlers.
FOOD FROM THE SEA.
THE SETTLERS WANTED NOTHING THEY DID NOT HAVE.
From the sea, however, the colonists derived largely their means of
subsistence. Cod, haddock, halibut, bass, abounded and mackeral at
certain seasons of the year. The dwellers on the shores of the upper
waters of the Sheepscot, were especially favored in their food supp-
lies. "They wanted nothing they did not have."
Footnotes. 1. Trelawny Papers, 31, 32. 2. Ib., 53. 3. Ib., 31.
4. Ib., 50.
p. 257 ADDED SETTLEMENTS.
THE JOSSELYN BROTHERS, CAMMOCK AND MICHAEL MITTON.
Plenty surrounded them. All kinds of fish still known in our rivers
and streams, such as salmon, trout, bass, shad, herring, alewives,
smelts, etc., were to be had in their season; also clams and oysters.
The marshes, at certain times in the year, furnished a rendezvous for
wild geese, ducks, teals and other birds. The nearby forests, also,
abounded in game, furnishing extensive hunting grounds for those who
ventured to make their way into such primeval seclusions;1 some of
them "gentle sportsmen" like Cammock, the Josselyn brothers and Mich-
ael Mitton, who married Cleeve's daughter, Elizabeth.
Household articles were doubtless few and of a primitive kind. When
Cammock set up housekeeping, he gave Trelawny a some-what extended
order, thus: "two good kettles of copper, one bigger than the other,
one iron pot, one iron possnett (a small pot), one frying pan of a
good size, one gridiron, a fire pan and tongs, pot-hooks and pot-
hangers; one dozen of howes (hoes), six iron wedges, one hand saw,
three sieves for corn, one finer than the other; and one dozen of
wooden platters and one good dripping pan and a pair of bellows."2
With such an outfit, Cammock certainly had no difficulty in provid-
ing generous entertainment for the good living people whom he made
his guests.
The chief industry among the early settlers was fishing. In fact,
it was the great value of the fisheries that attracted many of
these settlers to the coast of Maine. Winter's reports to Tre-
lawny were not as favorable as those that first awakened attent-
ion in England. The best fishing, he said, was in January and
February, while the reports of explorers and voyagers had refer-
ence for the most part to the abundance of fish off the coast of
Maine in summer time. Writing June 18, 1634, to Trelawny, Winter
said: "If you purpose to follow your fishing here, you must ex-
pect to have your ship her by Christmas. Since March we have had
bad fishing this year." June 11, 1635, Winter writes, "the later
Footnotes. 1. The Sheepscot Farms, by Alexander Johnston. Maine
Historical Society's Coll., Series I, 9, 138. 2. Trelawny Papers,
21. 17
p. 258 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
fishing hath proved but ill with us". A like report followed in
June, 1636: "The fishing this year hath proved very ill". So, too,
June 8, 1637, he wrote, "The fishing since the middle of February
hath proved very ill." But, as Winter, in this last letter, adds,
"there is but little hope of doing good here upon fishing, except
we have good pliable men, and such I lack", he discloses, in part,
at least, the reasons for the want of success, which he so frequen-
tly deplores.1
Probably most of the settlers traded more or less with the Indians, who
soon found that furs could easily be exchanged for hatchets, trinkets
and especially the "strong waters", of which there seems to have been
no lack at any part of the coast. The best places for such traffic were
on the large rivers, those natural highways by which the Indians easily
descended from their villages back in the country, to the trading posts
established on the river banks, or at some convenient location not far
away. Winter, at Richmond's Island, was at a disadvantage in seeking to
secure trade with the Indians. In one of his first letters to Trelawny,
who evidently had suggested efforts in this direction, Winter attempted
to reach the Indians in their villages forty or fifty miles in the
country; but waistcoats, shirts and stockings attracted no trade.
When, however, he bought a few beads and sought trade by them, beaver
was produced and trade effected.2 Winter's reference to an Indian
trade in which "strong waters" entered into the account, recalls the
fact that the importation of intoxicating liquors was a matter of not
unfrequent occurrence at Richmond's Island. "Great store of sack and
strong waters
Footnotes. 1. Trelawney Papers, 26, 55, 83, 107, 108. 2. Ib., 27, 28.
p.259 ADDED SETTLEMENTS.
comes in all the ships that come hither", Winter wrote to Trelawney in
one of his letters; and in the same connection, he mentions the arrival
of a vessel from the Canaries, "laden with wine, strong waters, sugar
and some pitch". "Aquavite" had a prominent place in his invoices and
accounts, and mention is also made of the "butts of sack", "pipes of
Portugal wine", etc. "If you can send some good sack you may; that
will sell", wrote Winter to Trelawny, July 8, 1637. Doubtless a part
of the supply was for use in trafficking with the Indians, but the
accounts show that both fishermen and settlers brought with them to
the new world the drinking customs of the old.1
ABSENCE OF WOMEN.
The absence of women among the early settlers is a noteworthy fact in
this connection. No women came with the Popham colonists. Furthermore,
no mention is made of women in connection with the efforts put forth by
Captain John Smith and others to bring settlers to the Maine coast in
1615 or later. John Brown of New Harbor probably brought his family with
him; and this may be true of William Cox and others in the same vicinity.
John Winter left his wife in England when he came to Richmond's Island
as Trelawny's agent. The first mention of his wife, as present with him,
in his island home, occurs in a letter written July 10, 1637,2 and it is
supposed that Mrs. Winter and the daughter, Sarah accompanied Winter on
his return from England in 1636. Cleeve's wife and daughter, Elizabeth,
were with him when he is first mentioned as a dweller at Spurwink, and
evidently the two came hither with him. But the Trelawny papers give
us few glimpses of women in that earaly period. Winter, writing to
Trelawny July 11, 1633, says: "If any of our company's wives ask for
their husbands, tell them that they are all in good health."3 Some of
the husbands, it may be, were here only temporarily, and intended to
return to England sooner or later. It is probable, however, that others
intended to remain
Footnotes. 1. Trelawny Papers, 174, 183-198. 2. Ib., 115. 3. Ib., 24.
p.260 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
and send for their wives as soon as they found conditions favorable.
When such conditions were discoverable as the settlers became more
numerous and secured for themselves comfortable homes on cleared land,
families that had been separated, were reunited and family life was
re-established. But unfavorable conditions were found at Jamestown,
Virginia, in 1607 and at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620; so also in
the beinnings of the later Puritan movement to Massachusetts Bay,
though doubtless in a less degree than among the earlier colonists.
One can hardly escape the conclusion, therefore, that colonization
upon the Maine coast would have been followed by better and more en-
during results, if from the beginning the scattered settlements in a
larger degree had enjoyed the helpful, encouraging, restraining in-
fluences of women.
The great patent issued by King James I, November 3, 1620, placing
the northern or Plymouth Company on an equal footing with the south-
ern or Jamestown Company, authorized the council for New England "to
make, ordain and establish all manner of orders, laws, directions,
instructions, forms and ceremonies of government and magistracy fit
and necessary for and concerning the government of the said colony
and plantation so always as the same be not contrary to the laws and
statutes of this our realm of England".1 The council, however, made
no efforts to exercise this authority. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, as had
been stated, made some attempts in this direction within his own
territorial limits, but they were ineffectual.
Grant of Pemaquid to Robert Aldworth & Giles Elbridge.
The grant of Pemaquid to Robert Aldworth and Giles Elbridge, in 1631,
gave them liberty "to make orders, laws, ordinances and constitutions
for the rule, government, ordering and directing of all persons to be
transported and settled upon lands hereby granted." 2 There is no
evidence, howevere, that Aldworth and Elbridge, or either of them -
Aldworth died in 1634 - attempted to establish civil government within
their territorial limits.
Abraham Shurt, their agent at Pemaquid, seems for awhile to
Footnotes. 1. Farnham Papers, I, 31. 2. Ib., 170.
p.261 ADDED SETTLEMENTS.
have represented his patrons' interests on this side of the
Atlantic; but there is nothing to indicate that he was in any
way empowered by them to assume any governmental proceedings.
Later, Thomas Elbridge (a son of Giles Elbridge, who died in
1644) came over to Pemaquid to look after his father's inter-
ests; and is said by Shurt, to have "called a court",1 but it
was rather for the purpose of collecting payment for certain
fishing interests than for the trial of civil causes generally.
It was natural, therefore, as the number of settlements increas-
ed on the coast of Maine, that the lack of good government should
be noticed and made a matter of comment and complaint on the part
of those who desired better conditions. "Here lacks good govern-
ment in the land", wrote Winter to Robert Trelawny, June 26, 1635,
and he added, "for a great many deal very ill here for want of
government". A part of his trouble was with the men in his em-
ploy, as Trelawny's agent. "They think to do what they list", he
wrote, "for here is neither law nor government with us about these
parts to right such wrongs, and I am but one man".
Later, urging Trelawny to send over "honester men", Winter added,
"for I have a bad company to deal withal, being here in a lawless
country". He had in mind not only fishermen, however. "Our
husbandmen", he added, "prove also bad".2
Such complaints are frequent in Winter's letters. Moreover, Winter
had his trials in wider circles, complaining loudly of Cleeve, and
living, at times in strained relations with Cammock and Mackworth.
This state of things at Richmond's island and vicinity existed at
other places on the Maine coast. A sore lack of organized govern-
ment was everywhere felt and acknowledged.
Manifestly Gorges and the other members of the Council for New Eng-
land had not sufficiently considered their responsibility in making
suitable provision for the establishment of some kind of civil gov-
ernment over that part of New England which they had
Footnotes. 1. Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 58. 2.
Trelawny Papers, 61, 109, 136.
p.262 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
Here on the Maine coast.
opened to settlement, and into which they had encouraged men
to enter.
ROBERT GORGES GOVERNOR OF NEW ENGLAND.
REVEREND WILLIAM MORRELL, SUPERINTENDENT OF THE CHURCHES OF NEW ENGLAND.
Here, on the Maine coast, there was lack, also, of the re-
straining influences of religion. It is true that Gorges, and
those interested with him in the Popham colony, sent hither
with the colony, Reverend Robert Seymour; but when the
colonists returned to England in the following year, he re-
turned with them. So also, when Robert Gorges was sent over
in 1623 as Governor of New England, Rev. William Morrell,
who had received an appointment as superintendent of the
churches of New England, came with him; but
INSERT.
MORRELL
REV. WILLIAM MORRELL, an Episcopal clergyman, came with
the Gorges Company to Wessagusset Sept. 1623. A William Morell,
probably the above named, matriculated as a sizar at Magdalene
College, University of Cambridge, in 1611, and graduated A.B. in
1614-15. (Catalogue of University of Cambridge.) In his History
of Plymouth Plantation, Governor William Bradford said;
"About ya midle of September 1623, arrived Captaine Robert
Gorges in ye Bay of ye Massachusets, with sundrie passengers and
families, intending their to begine a plantation; and pitched upon
the place Mr. Weston's people had forsaken.
He had a commission from the Council of New-England, to be generall
Governor of the cuntrie, and they appoynted for his counsell and
assistance, Captaine Francis West, the aforesaid admirall, Christopher
Levite, Esquire, and the Governor of Plimouth for the time being, etc.
"The Governor brought over a minister with him, one Mr.
Morell, who, about a year after the Governor returned, tooke
shipping from hence. He had, I know not what power and Authority
of superintendancie over other churches granted him, and sundrie
instructions for that end; but he never shewed it, or made any use
of it; it should seeme he saw it was in vaine; he only speake of it
to some here at Plymouth at his going away, This was in effect the
end of a second plantation in that place." (Bradford's History
of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-47, published by The Massachusetts
Historical Society, 1912, V. 1, 327, 337.)
While living at Wessagusset (Wessaguscusset), Mr. Morrell wrote
Nova Anglia, a poem in Latin hexameters, and translated it into
English heroic verse. His literary productions were printed in
London in 1625, tinder the title: "NEW ENGLAND. or, A BRIEF
NARRATION OF THE AYRE, EARTH, WATER, FISH AND FOWLES OF THAT COUNTRY,
WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE NATURES, ORDERS, HABITS, AND RELIGION OF
THE NATIVES; IN LATIN AND ENGLISH VERSE.
This man who stood by the cradle of New England Puritanism is
not mentioned in Perry's History of the American Episcopal Church
1587-1883. All that appears to be known is that while residing at
Wessagusset he produced the earliest American poem which was
published.
http://www.laurenceholbrook.net/Weymouth1923/weygenm.txt
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
REVEREND RICHARD GIBSON.
THE DAUGHTER OF THOMAS LEWIS OF SACO.
So, also, when Robert Gorges was sent over in 1623 as Governor of
New England, Reverend William Morrell, who had received an appoint-
ment as superintendent of the churches of New England, came with him;
but both returned in the following year, without having assumed offic-
ial functions. A third Episcopal clergyman, the Reverend Richard
Gibson, accompanied Winter, it is thought, when he returned to Rich-
mond's Island in 1636. He soon had trouble with Winter, which is not
surprising; and there were other "troublesome spirits" in the neighbor-
hood, so that after about three years, having married the daughter of
Thomas Lewis of Saco, he removed from the province, and not long after-
ward, he also, returned to England.1 Until after 1640, these were the
only ordained Protestant clergymen connected with Gorges interests.
EDWARD TRELAWNY, BROTHER OF ROBERT TRELAWNY.
RICHMOND'S ISLAND.
REVEREND RICHARD GIBSON.
Edward Trelawny, a brother of Robert Trelawny, was at Richmond's
island in 1635. A letter written by him to his brother not long
after his arrival, mentions an earlier request "for a religious,
able minister". It is "most pitiful to behold what a most heathen
life we live"; and he contrasts conditions at Richmond's Island with
those he was made familiar with during a visit to Boston, making
mention of "those sweet means which draws a bless blessing on all
things, even those holy ordinances and heavenly manna of our souls,
which in other parts of this land flows abundantly even to the great
rejoicing and comforting of the people of God". 2 It may have been
this appeal that led to the appearance of Reverend Richard Gibson at
Richmond's Island, in the following year.
In the absence, therefore, of regular, continuous governmental
Footnotes. 1. Baxter, George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 81, 82. 2. Tre-
lawny Papers, 72, 79.
p.263 restraints of any kind, and also of the helpful influence of reli-
gious institutions, except as mentioned above, conditions in the
Maine settlements were such that the colonists found themselves in
circumstances which must have been, at least to many, distressing
in a very large degree. Nor was this all. These conditions in-
fluenced many who came hither intending to make homes for them-
selves between the Penobscot and the Piscataqua; but who, on
their arrival met with disappointment at what they saw and heard,
and continuing their journey, established themselves in the more
orderly settlements of the Massachusetts Bay. |
