THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 1602-1658. BY HENRY S. BURRAGE, D.D. State Historian. To re-create any period of the past for our own minds, to understand it as it was, unlike what went before it, unlike what came after it - this is the chief aim of history - and for this purpose one must study not only the masses of men, but also individual men, their ideas and beliefs, their enjoyments and their aspirations. James Bryce, University & Hist- orical Addresses, p.362. Printed for the State 1914. By Henry S. Burrage, D.D. Marks Printing House, Portland, Maine. Chapter. Page. I. Early English Voyages to the American Coast 1 II. Gosnold and Pring 17 III. The De Monts Colony 29 IV. Waymouth's Voyage of 1605 37 V. Hanham and Pring 52 VI. The Popham Colony 63 VII. The French Colony at Mount Desert 100 VIII. Voyages by Captain John Smith and Others 118 IX. The Fight for Free Fishing 144 X. Various Schemes and Levett's Explorations 160 XI. Beginnings Here and Reawakenings in England 176 XIII. Some Settlement Clashings 221 XIV. Added Settlements and General Conditions 241 XV. The French at Castine 264 XVII. Some Unrelated Matters 300 XVIII. Agamenticus Becomes Gorgeana 313 XIX. Cleeve Secures an Ally in Colonel Rigby 325 XX. Robert Jordan as Winter's Successor 342 XXI. Massachusetts Claims Maine Territory 356 XXII. The Jurisdiction of Massachusetts Accepted 370 XXIII. Review of the Period 383 PREFACE. In the following pages an attempt is made to record the promin- ent facts with reference to the beginnings of colonial Maine. To the earlier part of these beginnings, neither Sullivan in his Hist- ory of the District of Maine (1795), nor Williamson in his History of the State of Maine (1832), devoted much space. When they wrote, the known and accessible sources of information concern those earl- ier undertakings were exceedingly scanty. Careful research, how- ever, especially in the last century, has brought to light valuable materials for the history of that earlier period, and the discovery of these materials has greatly enlarged our knowledge with references both to facts and persons. Among these new sources of information is a manuscript which was dis- covered in 1876 in the library of Lambeth Palace, London, by the late Reverend Dr. B. F. De Costa of New York. Its great value arises from the fact that it is the original record both of the voyage of the Pop- ham colonists in making their way to our coast, and of the earlier un- dertakings connected with the planting of the colony at the mouth of the Kennebec. The manuscript is entitled, The Relation of a Voyage un- to New England, Began from the Lizard, the first of June, 1607, by Capt. Popham in the ship, the Gift, and Captain Gilbert in the ship, Mary and John: Written by _______ and found amongst the papers of the truly wor- shipful Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Knight, by me, William Griffith. But especially important, in this addition to the sources, was the dis- covery of the manuscript material now known as the Tre- X PREFACE. lawny Papers. These constitute a treasure-house of information with reference to business interests and other matters at Richmond's island and vicinity for quite a number of years beginning with 1631. In the grant of land on Cape Elizabeth obtained in that year by Robert Tre- lawny and Moses Goodyear, merchants of Plymouth, England, Richmond's island was included; and on it, not long after the grant was made, John Winter, as the agent of Trelawny and Goodyear, established a large fish- ing and trading station. Goodyear died March 26, 1637, and Robert Tre- lawny became the sole proprietor of the patent. Fortunately the corre- spondence between Winter and Trelawny was continued about ten years, and their letters, with other valuable papers, accounts, etc., conn- ected with Robert Trelawny's business affairs on this side of the sea were, until about the year 1872, carefully preserved at Ham, Robert Trelawny's residence in the vicinity of Plymouth. JOHN WINGATE THORNTON. The discovery of this manuscript material by the late John Wingate Thornton, Esquire of Boston, Mass., its presentation to the Maine Histori- cal Society and its arrangement and publication by the Honorable James P. Baxter of Portland, Maine, in a volume of more than five hundred pages, with many valuable notes, supply us with much information not only con- cerning life and transactions at Richmond's Island in that early period of our colonial history, but also with reference to other places and events upon the coast of Maine. Mr. Baxter's own painstaking researches in England, with reference to this same period, begun about the same time, were also richly rewarded. The results we have in three works of very great interest and value. The first of these is his George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 1630-1667, with collateral documents, a volume that gives us an admirable portraiture of the founder of Portland, bases upon such manuscript materials and early records as Mr. Baxter was able to obtain at home and abroad. The volume was published (1) An account of the discovery of these papers by Mr. Thornton, and of their subsequent history, will be found in a note on pp. 211 & 212 of this volume XI PREFACE. published in 1885 by the Gorges Society, Portland - a first sheaf of Mr. Baxter's historical gleanings in widely scattered fields. It was followed by his "Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Hist Province of Maine" in three volumes, published in 1890 by the Prince Society, Boston. The 1st volume contains a valuable biography of Gorges, and is in fact, the only extended biography of Sir Ferdinando that has yet appeared, either in this country or in England. The 2nd & 3rd volumes contain Gorges' Brief Narrative, his Brief Answer to Certain False, Slanderous and Idle Object- ions made against Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Knight - the Charter of Georges' Gorges family, etc., the two volumes comprising many hitherto unpublish- ed materials found in the Public Records Office, London, the library of the British Museum, various other public collections like the Bodleian Library, Oxford, also great private collections including that of Sir Robert Cecil, the chief secretary of Queen Elizabeth and of King James I. Still another work by Mr. Baxter relating to colonial beginnings in Maine, and one likewise prepared from original sources, is his "Christopher Lev- ett of York, the Pioneer of Casco Bay. In addition to the interesting biography of Levett, the volume contains Levett's own narrative of "A Voyage into New England begun in 1623 and ended in 1624. This work was published by the Gorges Society, Portland, in 1893. In his research work in England, Mr. Baxter discovered a manuscript volume of three hundred and twenty pages entitled The Jewell of the Arts. It is in the King's Library in London, and on examination was found to be the work of Captain George Waymouth, who commmanded the ship Archangel in her now well-known voyage to the coast of Maine in 1605. Before Mr. Baxter's discovery of this manuscript, it was supp- osed that Captain Waymouth was a competent English shipmaster only. But the Jewell of Artes disclosed the fact that he was also an accomp- lished engineer and draughtsman, and proficient in the art of ship and fortification building. Very generously, Mr. Baxter placed this manu- script in my hands for use in my preparation of Rosier's Relation XII PREFACE. of Waymouth's Voyage to the Coast of Maine in 1605, published by the Gorges Society, Portland, 1887. My estimate of Waymouth was enlarg- ed by this manuscript at that time, and its influence I have felt in my references to him in the present volume. In matters pertaining to the Popham colony, I have derived much assist- ance from the Reverend Henry O. Thayer's excellent work entitled The Sagadahoc Colony, Comprising the Relation of a Voyage into New England, (Lambeth Manuscript), and published by the Gorges Society, Portland, 1892. Mr. Thayer's introduction and notes leave nothing to be desired, while in the appendix, covering one hundred pages, there is a full and satisfactory discussion of many points of interest with reference to the colony. Mr. Thayer's valuable contributions to the Collections of the Maine Historical Society with reference to the same period, have also been found very helpful. Piscataqua and Agamenticus. Edward Godfrey. Colonel Alexander Rigby. Dr. Charles E. Banks, who has made a special study of Edward Godfrey's life and services in connection with the development of colonization efforts, first at Piscataqua and afterward Agamenticus (later Gorgeana and York), has a biographical sketch of Edward Godfrey in the Collect- ions of the Maine Historical Society (First Series, IX, 297-384) to which is added an appendix containing letters and various papers by Godfrey, from which I have derived valuable aid; also from his extend- ed papers on Colonel Alexander Rigby in the second volume of the Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder. Much assistance also I have received from the Farnham Papers, a coll- ection of documents pertaining to Maine history, compiled in two vol- umes by Miss Mary Frances Farnham, and published by the Maine Histori- cal Society. To bring these many documents together in this way, mak- ing them easily accessible, was an achievement worthy of recognition and generous appreciation. In connection with the preparation of Rosier's Relation of Waymouth's Voyage, my interest in the beginnings of colonial Maine was greatly quickened. Study of the original sources of information XIII PREFACE. concerning these beginnings not only revealed but emphasized the im- portance of a restatement of our earlier history in a connected narra- tive, based upon authoritative records and documents of various kinds critically used. In subsequent years, as opportunities for added re- search opened from time to time, my interest was deepened, and espi- ally in 1912, when I had the pleasure of visiting Bristol and Ply- mouth, England, places in which Gorges and Aldworth and Elbridge and Jennings and Trelawny were such prominent figures, and from which, be- cause of these men, proceeded influences so closely connected with the beginnings of our colonial history. In modern forms, throughout these pages, I have made much use of the words of the original writings on which the narrative is so largely made to rest. During the first half of the seventeenth century, not only the great masters of the English language were at their best, but the people of the middle classes, including tradesmen and offic- ials in the humbler places, exhibited a directness and vigor of ex- pression of which we do well not to lose sight. Also in my work I have endeavored to keep in mind contemporaneous events in England during the period under review. Indeed, events then in progress on this side of the sea cannot be rightly under- stood unless one gives attention to movements in England at the same time, which had as their aim better social and political con- ditions than had obtained hitherto in the mother country. In my visit to Bristol, England, the librarian of the Central Muni- cipal Library opened to me freely the large and very valuable coll- ection of books relating to the history and antiquities of the city. This collection, brought together in a most attractive room in Brist- ol's beautiful library building, is under the charge of Miss Ethel E. Sims, who not only gave to me intelligent assistance whil I was in Bristol, England, but also after my departure, continued her efforts in my behalf with such painstaking interest that at length she was able to furnish me with the proof that the Thomas Hanham who accom- panied Pring to the coast of Maine in 1606, was not the Thomas Han- ham who married Penelope, a daughter of Sir John Popham, as some have XIV. PREFACE. supposed, but his son, Thomas Hanham, and therefore a grandson of Sir John. Mr. John Tremayne Lane, treasurer of Bristol, place in my hands the priceless early records of the city; and I was greatly assisted in my examination of them by Dr. Edward G. Cuthbert Atchley. Abraham Jennings, of Monhegan. At Ashton Court, by the courtesy of Lady Smith, Mr. Lewis Upton Way showed me to the Gorges papers still in the possession of the Smyth family, to which Sir Ferdinando was related by marriage. At Plymouth the public library is one of great excellence, and I found it help- ful. The town clerk extended to me, generous courtesies, and Mr. A. C. Simmonds, assistant conveyancing clerk in the town clerk's office, was of great help to me in my examination of the town records, especially with reference to Abraham Jennings, the first owner of Monhegan. In this connection, also, I desire to make mention of my indebtedness to the great library of the British Museum and to the collections of the Public Records Office, London, where my researches were continued and ended. The Maine State Library and the Maine Historical Society. The Boston Anthenaeum, State Library, NEHGS & Boston Library. The writing of these pages was commenced at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in November, 1912. Until June 1913, I was generously supplied with books by the Maine State Library at Augusta, and the library of the Maine Historical Society in Portland. At the same time, the libraries in Cambridge - that of Harvard University and the Cambridge Public Library - opened wide their doors to me, as also did the great librar- ies at Boston, namely, that of the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Boston Anthenaeum, the State Library, the library of the City of Boston and the library of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society. THE JOHN HAY LIBRARY & JOHN CARTER BROWN LIBRARY OF BROWN UNIVERSITY. Valuable assistance also was received from the John Hay Library and the John Carter Brown Library of Brown University, Providence, R.I. In the summer of 1913, in Camden, Maine, where the work of writing was continued, and in the fall and winter of that year at Portland, Maine, where it was completed and the book was printed, the Maine libraries already mentioned, iv. PREFACE. THE PORTLAND, MAINE PUBLIC LIBRARY. still rendered valuable assistance, as also did the Portland Public Library. For that part of the Simancas map of 1610 which includes the coast line of what is now the State of Maine, I am indebted to the Houghton, Mifflin Company, Boston, publishers of Alexander Brown's "Genesis of the United States," in which the whole map is found. The John Carter Brown Library, Brown University, courteously re- sponded to my request for a fac simile of the title page of its valuable copy of Rosier's True Relation of Waymouth's voyage to the coast of Maine in 1605. For the photograph of the Popham monu- ment in the parish church, Wellington, Somerset, I am indebted to the Reverend W. W. Pulman, vicar of the parish. For illustrations connected with recent tercentenary celebrations, that in 1904 of the de Monts colony at St. Croix Island, that in 1905 of Way- mouth's discoveries on the Maine Coast and that in 1907 of the landing of the Popham colonists at the mouth of the Kennebec, I am indebted to the Maine Historical Society; also for the use of its copy of Johnston's map of the Pilgrim Grant on the Kennebec in securing a photographic copy of the same; and also for a like use of original letters and other writings from the Society's invaluable collection known as the Trelawny Papers. The other illustrations are from originals in the author's possession. THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. CHAPTER I. EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES TO THE AMERICAN COAST. Between the close of the fifteenth century and the first part of the seventeenth, events are recorded that were more or less clear- ly connected with the beginnings of colonial Maine. The influenc- es that were operative in these beginnings were largely of English origin. Primarily, the basis of England's claim to territory on the American coast is to be found in John Cabot's discovery of the North American continent in 1497. But other navigators and explorers, sail- ing from English ports, followed Cabot in the sixteenth century, and all are worthy of mention in aiding in opening the way to English col- onization on the Atlantic coast of that continent. The sources of information concerning Cabot's voyage are scanty. From these we learn that Cabot, a native of Genoa1 but for some time a resi- dent of Venice, made his home in Bristol, England, about the year 1490. Then, as now, Bristol was an important English seaport, and among its merchants and fishermen, Cabot found eager listeners to his urgen pleas for English participation in further discoveries upon the American coast; and because of these pleas, and those of other interested parties, King Henry VII, March 5, 1496, granted letters patent to his "well-beloved John Cabot, citizen of Venice - and to Lewis, Sebastian and Sanctus, sons of the said John Cabot.....upon their own proper costs and charges, to seek out, discover and find whatsoever islands, countries, regions or provinces of the heathens or infidels, in whatever part of the world they be, which before this time have been unknown to all Christians." footnotes: 1. The date of Cabot's birth cannot be placed later than 1451. 2. Although the sons of John Cabot are here mentioned, there is no evidence of any value that even one of them accom- panied the first expedition. The career of Sebastian Cabot belongs to a leter period. Harrisse says: "Cabot had a son named Sebastion, born in Venice, who lived in England not less than sixteen years, and then removed to Spain, where in 1518, King Charles V appointed him Pilot-Major. This office he held for 30 years. In 1526, Sebastion Cabot was authorized to take command of a Spanish expedition intend- ed for "Tharsis and Ophir', but which instead went to La Plata and proved disastrous. After his return to Seville, he was invited in 1547, by the counsellors of King Edward VI to England, and again settled in that country. Seven years afterward, he prepared the expeditions of Willoughby and Chancelor and of Stephen Burroughs in search of a north- east passage to Cathay. He finally died in London, after 1557, at a very advanced age, in complete obscurity." John Cabot, the Discoverer of North America and Sebastian, his son. A chapter in the Maritime History of England under the Tudors, 1496-1557. By Henry Harrisse, 1896. 2. THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. CABOT REACHED THE AMERICAN COAST. Busy preparations for the expedition followed and in May, 1497, prob- ably early in the month, a small vessel1 with eighteen seamen,2 Cabot sailed from Bristol, England, animated with high hopes and undaunted courage. Skirting the southern coast of Ireland, he turned the prow of his little bark first northward, then westward; and after sailing seven hundred leagues, he reached the American coast. No words have come down to us, either from Cabot or any of the eighteen seamen, narrating the circumstances under which the voyagers approached the land. We have no mention of any thrilling spectacle as they landed and planted the Royal standard on the North American continent, in token of English possess- ion. It is not likely that there was much delay upon the coast, follow- ing the discovery. The purpose of the expedition had been accomplished, and Cabot naturally would desire to make the story of his achievement known in England at as early a date as was possible. The first report we have with reference to Cabot's return is found in a letter from Lorenzo Pasqualigo to his brothers, Alvise p.3 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. Main Land and Francesco, dated London, England, August 23, 1497. In it he says: "The Venetian, our countryman, who went with a ship from Bristol (Eng- land) to search for new islands, is returned and says that seven hun- dred leagues from here he discovered main land (terra firma), the terri- tory of the Grand Khan. He coasted for three hundred leagues and land- ed; saw no human beings, but he has brought here to the King, certain snares which had been set to catch game, and a needle for making nets; he also found some felled trees, by which he judged there were inhabi- tants, and returned to his ship in alarm. He was three months on the voyage." That Pasqualigo's information was early, the date of his letter shows; and his narrative is confirmed as to its main points by two dispatches sent by Milanese embassadore in London to the Duke of Milan, one dated August 24, 1497, and the other, December 18, 1497. In one of these dispatches - that of December 18th - mention is made of the newly discovered country and its products. "And they say that the land is fertile and the climate temperate and think that the red wood (el brasilio) grows there and the silks." THE FISHERIES ON THE AMERICAN COAST. "THE SEA IF FULL OF FISH" Of course this is the language of glowing enthusiasm, abundant illus- trations of which are to be found in the reports of other discoverers of that time. An allusion to the importance of the fisheries on the American coast in the same report, however, indicates slight emotional restraint. "They affirm that there the sea is full of fish that can be taken not only with nets, but with fishing baskets, a stone being placed in the basket to sink it in the water." They say "that they can bring so many fish that this footnote. "There resided in London at that time a most intelligent Italian, Raimondo di Soncino, envoy of the Duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, one of the those despots of the Renaissance who almost atoned for their treachery and cruelty by their thirst for knowledge and the love of arts. Him Soncino kept informed of all matters going on in London and especially concerning matters of cosmography to which the Duke was much devoted." Dr. S. E. Dawson, "The Discovery of America by John Cabot in 1497, 59,60. p.4 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. THE CODFISH - "Stoch-fissi" kingdom will have no more business with Islanda (Iceland), and that from that country there will be a very great trade in the fish which call stock fish (stoch-fissi)", the codfish of our language. In these and other early reports concerning Cabot's voyage, we have no positive information with reference to the landfall. It is, there- fore, only a matter of conjecture. General agreement, accordingly, even on the part of those who have given to the problem, the most careful attention, is not to be expected. A cautious statement is that of a recent writer, who affirms that it was "somewhere on the eastern sea- coast of British North America, between Halifax and southern Labrador." It should be said, however, that Harrisse, whose monumental work on John Cabot is the chief authority concerning the voyage of 1497, while admitting that in the absence of documentary evidence we must resort to presumption, finds himself warranted in saying that "with great probability" the landfall "was on some point of the northeast coast of Labrador". From his discussion, however, it is evident that Harrisse was wholly unacquainted with the conditions that Cabot would have met on reaching the American coast at that point. On the approach of the four hundredth anniversary of Cabot's voyage, the most careful attent- ion was called to these conditions by a commission of the Royal society of Canada; and at present, after all that has been said, the probabili- ties plainly THE LANDFALL WAS AT SOME PART OF THE ISLAND OF CAPE BRETON. p.5 lead to the conclusion that the landfall was at some part of the island of Cape Breton. CABOT, THE EARLIEST ENGLISH VOYAGER ALONG THE COAST OF MAINE. Cabot's discovery awakened very wide interest in England, especially however, in Bristol, to which port the discover returned, and also in London, whither it is believed Cabot soon proceeded in order to make his report in person to the King. Forthwith, doubtless in various quarters, a second expedition was proposed. The King gave to the en- terprise enthusiastic support. So, too, did the merchant adventurers of Bristol, Plymouth and other seaport towns. Information concern- ing its preparation and departure, however, is scanty. The Spanish envoy in London, writing to his sovereign, July 25, 1498, communic- ates what he had heard concerning the expedition. It consisted, he said, of five ships, "victualled for a year", but was expected to return in September. It left Bristol, England in the early Spring probably, and doubtless followed the same course across the Atlantic as that taken by Cabot in the preceding year. One of the vessels of the fleet, the envoy wrote, "has returned to Ireland in great dis- tress, the ship being much damaged. The Genoese has continued his voyage." Beyond this, we have no contemporaneous information con- cerning the second expedition. It is naturally conjectured, that on reaching the coast, Cabot extended his discoveries southward before returning to England. Indeed, basing his conclusion chiefly on the celebrated planisphere of Juan de la Cosa, 1500, Harrisse is of the opinion that Cabot, in this second voyage, sailed south of the Caro- linas. If, from his first landfall, he made his way thus far down the coast, we may think of him as the earliest English voyager who sailed the coast of Maine. p.6 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. A LAND OF UNTOLD RICHES AND PLENTY. Cabot's discoveries upon his second voyage must have made a far deep- er impression in England than was made by the reports that were scat- tered abroad upon the return of the first expedition. In proceeding down the American coast, the adventurers must have been attracted both by the climate and the more favorable appearance of the country as they advanced. They could not have failed to notice here and there commod- ious harbors, and wide rivers extending up into the main, awakening visions of a land of untold riches and plenty. These stories, exten- sively circulated in various ways, added to Cabot's fame, and his great services as a discoverer, have found increasing recognition in the centuries that have followed.1 footnote 1. A tower on Brandon Hill, Bristol, England, commemorates Cabot's discovery of North America. It is a square buttressed struct- ure of the late Tudor Gothic style, 75 feet high to the upper balcony floor and 105 feet to the apex of the truncated spire, on which is placed a gilded figure representing commerce, mounted on a globe, a symbol of the world. It is built of red sandstone, with dressings of Bath freestone and cost £3,300. In panels on the four sides of the tower are carved the arms of Henry VII, Cabot, the City of Brist- ol, England and the Society of Merchant Venturers. Three bronze tab- lets contain the following inscriptions: The foundation of this tower was laid by The Marquess of Dufferin and Ava on the 24th of June 1897 and the completed tower was opened by the same nobleman on the 6th of September, 1898. THE CABOT TOWER, BRISTOL, ENGLAND. This tablet is placed here by the Bristol Branch of the Peace Society in the earnest hope that peace and friendship may ever continue between the kindred peoples of this country (England) and America. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men." Luke 2. 14. This tower was erected by public subscription in the 61st year of the reign of Queen Victoria. p.7 EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES. But if English fishermen and enterprising merchants were attracted to the American coast by Cabot's discoveries, as some, it is said, were, it was not for long, inasmuch as in a letter written by John Rut, to King Henry VIII, dated St. John's, Newfoundland, August 3, 1527, the writer says he found in that harbor "eleven sails of Normans and one Brittaine, and two Portugal barkes"; but he makes no mention of others, and declares his purpose to extend his voyage along the coast in the hope of meeting the only English vessel known by him to be in American waters. In fact, Robert Hore's expedition in 1536 had no reference to fishing interests on the American coast, or even to colonization. Hore was a London merchant "given to the study of Cosmography", and his chief pur- pose in organizing his expedition, it would seem, was prompted solely by a desire to discover a north-west passage to the East Indies, and so to open a shorter route to those far-away regions than that, by the Cape of Good Hope. With his two ships and a company of one hundred and twenty, Hore, in his voyage to the American coast, evidently followed Cabot's course. From the brief account of the expedition in Hakluyt's Principall Navi- gations, it is not possible to learn how far Hore proceeded in his search after reaching Cape Breton. We only know that the story is one of ill success throughout, and could have had only a depressing effect upon English enterprise with reference to new-world interests. To commemorate the fourth centenary of the discovery of the continent of North America on the 24th of June 1497 by John Cabot who sailed from this port in the Bristol ship "Matthew" with a Bristol Crew under letters patent granted by King Henry VII to that navigator and his sons Lewis, Sebastian and Sanctus. footnotes: Lorenzo Sabine, Report of the Principal Fisheries of the American Seas, 1853, 36. For an account of the voyage of Robert Hore see Early English and French Voyages Chiefly from Hakluyt, v. III, of the Original Narratives of Early American History, H. S. Burrage, 1906, 103-110. 1. "From the time of Henry VIII, the number of English vessels on the cod- banks of Newfoundland steadily increased." Green, A Short History of England, 395. 2. Sabine, 36, 37. 3. Sabine, 37. The narrow extent of the fishing trade of England at this time is indicated by the fact that it was limited to the Flemish towns and to the fishing grounds. p.8 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. France, however, for many years had sent fishing vessels to the banks of Newfoundland. Jacques Cartier, a native of St. Malo, the principal port of Brittany, had been not only active in these fishing enterprises on the American coast, but already had conducted thither two exploring expedi- tions. The hardy fishermen of Bristol and Plymouth could not have been un- mindful of these evidences of French commercial alertness, and, as a re- sult, an increasing number of English fishing vessels made their way to the Newfoundland banks.1 It was not long, also, before the political circles in England, there was a growing appreciation of the value of sea fisheries to the nation. In 1548, the English government took into consideration certain abuses reported from Newfoundland, for which charges were brought against cer- tain admiralty officers; and in remedying these abuses, Parliament en- acted its first legislation with reference to America, relieving the fishermen of the burdens wrongfully imposed upon them, and making fish- ing at Newfoundland entirely free to all English inhabitants. It should be added that at this time, Parliament, in order to give en- couragement to the fisheries, imposed severe penalties upon persons eat- ing flesh on fish days. QUEEN ELIZABETH ASCENDS THE THRONE. Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne of England in 1558. Her reign was characterized by rapidly growning commercial prosperity, in connection with which England entered upon that period of world-wide trade relat- ions that has continued to the present time. The fisheries of the Channel and the German ocean were now supplemented by those on the coast of North America; and before p.9 EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES. the close of Elizabeth's reign "the seamen of Biscay found English rivals in the whale fishery of the Polar seas". In 1563, Brittish Parliament, responding to this awakened spirit of enlargement among English fishermen of the seaport towns, enacted "that as well for the maintenance of shipp- ing, the increase of fishermen and marines, and the repairing of port- towns, as for the sparing of the fresh victuals of the realm, it shall not be lawful for anyone to eat fresh victuals of the realm, it shall not be lawful for any one to eat flesh on Wednesdays and Saturdays, unless under the forfeiture of £3 for each offence, excepting in cases of sickness and those of special licenses to be obtained". The occasion for the enact- ment, as expressly indicated by Parliament, was not a religious one, as the act had its origins in the prevalent desire to develop the fishing in- terests of the nation in all possible ways.2 WILLIAM HAWKINS OF PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND. THE AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE. At the same time there was an enlargement of foreign commerce as well as of the fisheries. William Hawkins of Plymouth, England, the first of his countrymen to sail a ship into southern seas, made what he recorded as a fitting venture by engaging in the African slave-trade; finding a market for his cargoes in the Spanish settlements of the West Indies.3 John Hawkins, his son, inheriting the adventurous spirit of his father, was in the West Indies in 1565, and on his return voyage, sailing up the American coast as far as Newfoundland - catching glimpses of that vast unknown territory in whose opening and exploration England was to have so great a part - he turned the prows of his vessels homeward, bringing with him "great profit to the venturers of the voyage", including "gold, silv- er, pearls and other jewels, a great store".4 Hawkins reached England in September, 1565. Glowing reports of his vent- ure furnished the theme of animated conversation throughout the Kingdom, and he had no difficulty in fitting out a new and larger expedition, which sailed from Plymouth, England footnotes: 1 Green, 395. 2 Sabine, 37. 3 Not the slightest disgrace at that time seems to have attached either to slave-stealing or slave-selling. 4. The narrative of the closing part of this voyage of 1565, taken from Hakluyt, will be found in "Early English and French Voyages, 113-132. p.10 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. October 2, 1567. One of Hawkins' vessels was commanded by Francis Drake, afterwards, Sir Francis Drake. High hopes concerning the expedition were entertained both at Court and in all parts of the realm; but it ended in dire disaster through Spanish treachery in the harbor of San Juan de Ulua, a small island on the Mexican coast opposite Vera Cruz. Of the survivors, some returned to England in the ship, Minion, one of the vessels of the fleet. Some landed and marched westward into Mexico, the larger number suffer- ing punishment and imprisonment in the galleys.1 There made their long, weary way northward to the Great Lakes; and then turning eastward, as one may infer from the narrative printed by Hakluyt, they crossed a part of what is now the State of Maine, and finding a French vessel on the coast they were taken aboard and so made their way back to England.2 MARTIN FROBISHER, YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND At this time, singularly enough because of the reports of Cabot and Haw- kins, Englishmen were giving little if any thought to enterprises having reference to the upbuilding of a new England upon these western shores. But of enterprising navigators there was no lack in the Island Kingdom of England. As early as 1560 or 1561, Martin Frobisher of Yorkshire, England, pondering problems having reference to the new world, was still consider- ing the possibility and even the probability of a shorter passage to the Indies along the northern American coast. Added years passed, however, before he could enlist much interest in his proposed undertaking; and it was not until 1575, that, with the help of the Earl footnotes: 1. Drake was so embittered against the Spaniards on account of the treatment of his countrymen received at San Juan de Ulna, that for several years following his return to England, he ravaged the Spanish main. On one of these voyages Drake crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and had his first view of the Pacific Ocean. For the narrative of a part of Drake's world-encompassing voyage, see Early English and French Voyages, pp. 153-173. 2. A narrative of this "troublesome voyage", written by John Hawkins, can be found in Early English and Frency Voyages, 137-148. John Hawkins was a member of Parliament for Plymouth from 1571 to 1583. He was said to be the man to whom is due all credit of preparing the Royal fleet to meet the Armada" in 1588, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth July 25th of that year. p.11 EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES. THE BEGINNING OF COLONIAL MAINE. of Warwick, he was able to enter upon this quest, having secured for the expedition two tiny barks of twenty or twenty-five tons. Sailing north- ward and westward, Frobisher sighted on July 28, of that year, the coast of Labrador; but finding impossible barriers as he advanced, he at length sailed homeward, reaching London on October 9th. In the following year, how- ever, he was able to return to the American coast with an expedition prom- ising larger success, but which was also doomed to failure - search for gold, which he was now commissioned to undertake, not being better reward- ed than search for a northwest passage. The enthusiastic navigator's dreams, however, were still forceful and May 15, 1578, with fifteen vess- els, he again crossed the Atlantic, this time by way of Greenland, but only to find himself compelled to face added disappointments and the final non-realization of hopes long and fondly cherished.1 Francis Drake knighted by Queen Elizabeth. As little, also, was Francis Drake at this time giving attention to Eng- lish colonization upon the American coast. In 1567, he was in command of the ship "Judith" in Hawkins' "troublesome voyage". Ten years later, having meanwhile devoted himself to the destruction of Spanish interests, he sailed from Plymouth, England, in his celebrated world-encompassing voyage, receiving on his return the congratulations of Queen Elizabeth, and the added honor of knighthood.2 footnotes. 1. Frobisher commanded the ship, "Triumph" at the time of the destruction of the Spanish Armada - and was knighted at sea by the Lord High Admiral. Destruction of the Spanish Armarda. 2. Drake won lasting fame in connection with the destruction of the Spanish Armada. Even when the Armada was in preparation, Drake, who was ever ready to "singe the beard of the Spanish King", entered the harbor at Cadiz with a fleet he had hastily assembled and he destroyed nearly a hundred store-ships and other vessels. In the following year, when the Armada at length sailed from Lisbon, Drake, a Vice Admiral in command of the English privateers, hurried out of the harbor of Plymouth, England, and in company with the Queen's ships, fell upon the Spanish galleons with terrific fury, and "the feathers of the Spaniard were plucked one by one." But a mightier force than Drake struck the final blow as fierce storms broke upon the scattered remnants of the Armada and swept them from the wind-disturbed seas. Drake died December 27, 1595 while waging war upon Spanish interests in the West Indies, and he was buried at sea. p.12 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. Sir Humphrey Gilbert In his thoughts concerning a northwest passage to the Indies, Frobish- er had received much encouragement from Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who, in 1566, wrote his Discourse of Discovery for a New Passage to Cataia, and presented it to Queen Elizabeth. Frobisher's ill-success, however, so far lessened Gilbert's confidence in his own reasonings, that he now turned his new-world thoughts into other channels. But they still had reference to the American continent. He knew no reason why England's interest in that vast territory should be inferior to that of other nations. France already had secured a strong foothold on the banks of the Saint Lawrence, and had even sought to establish colonists in Florida. Between Florida in the south and the settlements in the north that opened a way to the Great Lakes, there was a vast territory as yet unpossessed. To it, Gilbert called attention of the Queen, and asked for the authority and assistance in conducting an expedition thitherward. She responded June 11th, 1578, by bestowing upon him, letters-patent, to discover and possess lands in America, but was "to be no robbery by sea or by land" With a fleet of seven vessels, Gilbert set sail in November, an untimely season of the year. Disaster followed disaster and the expedition failed. ENGLISH COLONIZATION ON AMERICAN SOIL. THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. But Gilbert's letters-patent - the first granted by the Queen for English colonization upon American soil - were still in force, and with undimin- ished ardor the hardy navigator commenced preparations for an added ven- ture. Delays in the organization of the expedition were encountered, and it was not until 1583 that it was fully equipped and ready to sail. The expedition left Plymouth June 11th, with five vessels and two hundred and sixty men. Where the colony should be planted had not been determined. In shaping the course of the voyage, however, Gilbert selected the "trade way unto Newfoundland", and the fleet assembled in the harbor of St. John's, early in August. Having landed and called together "the merchants and masters, both English and also stranger", Sir Humphrey exhibited his royal commiss- ion, and having delivered unto him "a rod and a turf of the same soil" after the English custom, he took formal possession of the p.13 THE EARLY ENGLISH VOYAGES. THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. island in the name of Queen Elizabeth. Disappointments and then dis- couragements rapidly followed. Sickness and death at length diminished the number of the colonists. Discontent was manifested among those who survived. One of the vessels returned to England, and one, "the chief ship, with great provision, gathered together with much travail, care, long time and difficulty" - suffered wreck, probably on some part of the island of Cape Breton and the loss of life - about one hundred souls, striking a death blow to the expedition itself. The homeward voyage that followed was also marked by disaster - Gilbert, himself, perhishing in the founding of his little vessel in a terrific storm. But the expedi- tion was not wholly a failure. It had called the attention of the English people to the vast territory beyond the sea, not only awaiting exploration and colonization, but offering large possiblitlies for enterprise and dar- ing to those who were bold enough to avail themselves of them.1 Among those most deeply interested in English colonization in America, was Sir Walter Raleigh, a half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. He had commanded the ship Falcon in the unsuccessful expedition of 1578, and had assisted Gilbert in his preparation for the larger service to which Sir Humphrey had devoted himself with so much heroic endeavor and self- sacrifice. Ralegh now took up the unfinished task, and obtained from Queen Elizabeth, CHAMPERNOUN. "CHEER UP, LADS!" "We are as near Heaven at sea as on land." footnotes. 1. The mother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert was a Champernoun, and through her, he was related to the Gorges family. His noble spirit found fitting expression in his disastrous homeward voyage, just before his little bark was engulfed. So severe was the storm that he was urged to seek safety on a larger vessel, but he resolutely declined to leave the men with whom he had embarked, and calling through the storm, he en- couraged his distressed companions with the words, "Cheer up, lads!" "We are as near heaven at sea as on land." - Longfellow has recalled this incident in the words: "He sat upon the deck, The Book was in his hand; "Do not fear! Heaven is as near," He said, "by water as by land!" INSERT. Sir Humphrey Gilbert BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW Southward with fleet of ice Sailed the corsair Death; Wild and gast blew the blast, And the east-wind was his breath. His lordly ships of ice Glisten in the sun; On each side, like pennons wide, Flashing crystal streamlets run. His sails of white sea-mist Dripped with silver rain; But where he passed there were cast Leaden shadows o'er the main. Eastward from Campobello Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed; Three days or more seaward he bore, Then, alas! the land-wind failed. Alas! the land-wind failed, And ice-cold grew the night; And nevermore, on sea or shore, Should Sir Humphrey see the light. He sat upon the deck, The Book was in his hand; "Do not fear! Heaven is as near," He said, "by water as by land!" In the first watch of the night, Without a signal's sound, Out of the sea, mysteriously, The fleet of Death rose all around. The moon and the evening star Were hanging in the shrouds; Every mast, as it passed, Seemed to rake the passing clouds. They grappled with their prize, At midnight black and cold! As of a rock was the shock; Heavily the ground-swell rolled. Southward through day and dark, They drift in cold embrace, With mist and rain, o'er the open main; Yet there seems no change of place. Southward, forever southward, They drift through dark and day; And like a dream, in the Gulf-Stream Sinking, vanish all away. For the narrative of Gilbert's voyage, see Early English and French Voyages, pp. 179-222. p.14 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. March 25, 1584, letters patent to "discover, search, find out and view such remote, heathen and treacherous lands, countries and territories, not actually possessed of any Christian Prince, nor inhabited by Christ- ian people", the colonists "to have all the privilege of denizens and persons native of England - in such like ample manner and form, as if they were born and personally resident within our said realm of England, any law, custom or usage to the contrary notwithstanding". APRIL, 1584. WALTER BARLOWE Two vessels, designed for preliminary exploration, were soon in readi- ness and left England April 27, 1584. Avoiding the northern route taken by Gilbert, those in command, Philip Amadas and Walter Barlowe, crossed the Atlantic by way of the Canaries. After reaching the islands of the West Indies, they sailed up the Atlantic coast, and at length entered the inlets that break the long, sandy barriers of North Carolina. Exploration followed. The Indians of the mainland were interviewed. Having taken poss- ession of the country in the name of the Queen, Amadas and Barlowe returned to England and made a favorable report concerning the newly acquired terri- tory. A second expedition, organized Ralegh and placed under the command of Ralegh's cousin, Sir Richard Grenville, sailed from Plymouth, England April 9, 1585. In 1586, a vessel, with supplies for the relief of the fifteen men left by Grenville at Roanoke Island in the preceding year, was fitted out by Ralegh and despatched to the American coast. Sir Richard Grenville, shortly after, with three ships, followed. Though Ralegh's efforts at colonization in connection with these expeditions failed, he was ready to make added endeavors, and in 1587, he fitted out a fourth expedition, including one hundred and fifty colonists under the command of John White, whom he appointed Governor, and to whom he gave a Charter with important privileges, incorporating the colonists under the name of the "Governors and Assistants of the City of Ralegh in Virginia." The colonists were landed at Roanoke Island. By their request, Governor White returned to England in the autumn, for added supplies; but in the following spring, when he hoped to recross the p.15 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. Atlantic, all England was making heroic efforts to meet the Spanish Armada. Ralegh, however, succeeded in fitting out a small fleet with needed supplies for the Roanoke Island colonists. But the vessels he had secured, and made ready for the Atlantic voyage, were impressed by the government. Ralegh, however, did not lose heart, and by the most strenu- ous efforts on his part, two small vessels, under the command of Governor White, were at length, allowed to start for the American coast. Yet so severely were they handled by Spanish cruisers soon after leaving port, that they were compelled to abandon the voyage. In the following year, Ralegh made an added attempt to send relief to the colonists and again failed. In 1590, though a "general stay" of all ships throughout England was ordered by the government, Governor White obtained for himself an opportunity to return to America. On reaching Roanoke Island, however, the traces he found of the colonists he had left there two years before, told only a story of disaster and he was obliged to return to England without any knowledge of their fate. Ralegh, however, still continued to send thither yet other vessels in the endeavor to obtain added information; but it was not until after the settle- ment of Jamestown, that it became known, through the Indians, that most of the Roanoke colonists were massacred by order of Powhatan.1. If English colonial enterprises on the American coast had ended in disap- pointment and disaster, maritime interests meanwhile had prospered. The destruction of the Spanish Armada made the seaport towns of England more and more a nursery of seamen. Bold navigators sought out new lines of trade. But especially the fish- footnote 1. It was at Ralegh's request that Hakluyt wrote his Particular Discourse concerning the great necessity and manifold commodities that like to grow to this Realm of England, by the Western discoveries lately attempted. Several manuscript copies of the "Discourse" were made by Hak- luyt, but it was not printed until 1877, when a manuscript copy, found in England by the late Dr. Leonard Woods, was published by the Maine Histori- cal Society, as Volume II of its Documentary Series. It has since been published in Goldsmid'sHakluyt, II, 169-358. For the narratives of Ral- egh's expeditions to the North Carolina coast, see Early English and French Voyages, 227-323. p.16 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. fisheries flourished. Fishing voyages were made to the coast of Newfound- land, and Sir Walter Ralegh, who had sacrificed so much in the endeavor to plant an English colonly on American soil, having watched the growth of the fishing interests of Bristol, Plymouth and other ports, voiced in Parliament, in 1593, a fact of recognized national importance, when he said that the fisheries of England on the American coast were the "stay and support" of the west counties of the Kingdom. Indeed, when the cent- ury closed, it is estimated that there were about two hundred English fishing vessels around Newfoundland and in neighboring waters, giving employment to ten thousand men and boys.1 But English fishermen did not limit themselves to these waters. Possessing the spirit of daring advent- ure that now characterized maritime interests throughout the nation, they were ever seeking new scenes of busy endeavor and larger rewards of enter- prise. But the reports which English fishermen in American waters brought with them on their return voyages, had reference not only to the employments in which they were engaged, but they also called attention in glowing words to the glimpses they caught of the new world to whose shores thier voyages were made. Hakluyt, in his "Principall Navigations, Voyages and Discoveries of the English Nation, published in 1589, had made the schol- lars and statesmen of England familiar with the work of adventurers and explorers.2 The returning fishermen, on the other hand, told their tales in seaport towns, to the merchants and men in their employ, who were easily inspired by the fair visions of wealth and empire which these re- ports awakened. People in all parts of the country were reached in this way, and when the century closed, England, as never before, was beginn- ing to be stirred with high hopes of extending her growing power into the new and larger fields to which her discoverers and navigators had opened the way. footnotes: 1. Sabine's Report, p.40. 2. Hakluyt's monumental work was printed in London in 1809; also in Edinburgh in 1890, in sixteen volumes "with notes, indices and numerous additons", edited by Edmund Goldsmid; also in 1903-1905, by the MacMillan Company of New York and London, in a handsome edition in twelve volumes, with many illustrations. CHAPTER II. THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. GOSNOLD AND PRING. Thus, when the seventeenth century opened, England had made a beginn- ing in the endeavor to secure a foothold upon the Atlantic coast of North America. Further endeavor in this direction, however, was pre- ceded by an added effort to discover a more direct route to India than that hitherto followed by way the Cape of Good Hope. A northwest pass- age thitherward, as already indicated, had been the dream of English navigators in the preceding century. Such a route, if discoverable, would secure to England most desirable commercial advantages; and though the attempts already made by enterprising explorers had been attended by great hardships and ill success - the icy barriers of the north, closing as with adamant, the waterway - the possibilities of achievement, strangely enough, were still alluring. GEORGE WAYMOUTH OF COCKINGTON, ENGLAND. THE EAST INDIA COMPANY. Among others, George Waymouth of Cockington, a small village, now a part of Torquay, on the southwest coast of England, not far from Ply- mouth, England, had caught the spirit of the new era, and was busy with considerations having reference to such an enterprise. In a com- munication, dated July 24, 1601, addressed to the "Worshipful Fellow- ship of the Merchants of London, trading into the East Indies," now familiarly known as the "East India Company", he presented his views with reference to an added search for such a route to the distant East. QUEEN ELIZABETH. His suggestions met with approval, and Waymouth was placed in command of an expedition for such added exploration. The interest of Queen Elizabeth was enlisted in the undertaking. Bearing a commendatory letter1 footnote 1. This letter, written upon vellum, with an illuminated border upon a red ground, and signed by Queen Elizabeth, was found in London, in the early part of the last century, in tearing away an old in a house in which repairs were in progress. January 28, 1841, Sir Henry Ellis laid the letter before the Society of Antiquaries in London, and the letter, with a facsimile of the the Queen's signature and also of the Seal attached, was printed in the proceedings of the Society's meeting. The original letter, unfortunately, has disappeared, but a re- print from the published copy will be found in Rosier's Relation of Waymouth's Voyage to the Coast of Maine, 1605 - printed by the Gorges Society, 17-20. p.18 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. addressed by her to the "Right High, Mighty and Invincible Emperor of Cathaye," Waymouth, with two vessels, sailed from the Thames River, May 2, 1602. In this quest, however, he was no more successful than his prede- cessors. Barriers of ice, in regions of intolerable cold, still closed the way; and though on his return to England, the Fellowship cleared him of all blame in connection with the expedition, and it was decided that he should be placed in command of a second venture, the proposed voyage was not made, and the Fellowship abandoned all further efforts in that direction. But endeavors with reference to English colonization in the new world were not abandoned. Indeed, already, both in London and in seaport towns like Bristol and Plymouth, England, there were those who were thoughtfully pondering problems connected with American commercial and colonial enterprises. Spanish and French interests had long been perma- nently represented there. English fishermen, though not in large numbers, had verified the reports that reached them concerning the abundance of fish on the American coast; and English merchant adventur- ers were beginning to bestir themselves because of the prospect of the larger fish supplies their vessels could easily obtain in American waters. Also, there were those who still were animated with the high hope that England would avail itself of rights secured by Cabot's discovery, and would seize, before it was too late, the vast empire to which the Ameri- can coast opened the way. This awakening of new interest in American concerns was in evidence even before Waymouth set sail on his ill-fated expedition. Prominent among those who were busying themselves with "A new England, across the sea." Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, England. CAPTAIN BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD & CAPTAIN BARTHOLOMEW GILBERT, SON OF sir Humphrey Gilbert. p.19 such concerns, was Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton.1 At that time, he was in prison for supposed connection with the conspiracy of Essex.2 He seems, however, to have been thinking not so much of affairs in England, as of a new England across the sea. As a result of his efforts largely, an expedition was made ready, having reference to the beginnings of a colonial enterprise on the American coast. Its command was given to Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, who is said to have seen service already with Sir Walter Ralegh, in one or more expeditions to American. With him, was associated Captain Bartholomew Gilbert, a son of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Details with reference to the preparation and plans of the voyage are lacking. The small ship, named "The Concord." Evidently they were not elaborate. A beginning, however, was to be made, and for this purpose, a small vessel, named the Concord, was secured for the purpose, and in it Gosnold sailed from Falmouth, England, on March 25, 1602. Thirty-two persons, eight of them mariners, constituted the whole company. Of this number, twelve purposed to return to England with the vessel, at the close of the intended exploration, and the rest were to remain in the country for "population." The English voyagers of the preceding century made their way to the American coast, either by the islands of Newfoundland, and footnotes: 1. Born October 6, 1573, he took his degree of bachelor of arts at Cambridge, England, in 1589 - he planned George Waymouth's voy- age to the coast of Maine in 1605; in April, 1610, he aided in sending Henry Hudson to the Northwest; in 1614, he subscribed £100 toward send- ing Harley to the New England coast; November 3, 1620, he became a mem- ber of the New England Council. He died November 10, 1624. DEVEREUX. 2. The reference to Robert Devereux, the 2nd Earl of Essex. For many years he was a favorite of Queen Eliza- beth, and he held high appointments, political and mili- tary, but his undertakings were not always successful. As Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in 1599, he was severely criticised, and on his return, he was deprived of his dignities. His attempt to incite an insurrection in Lon- don, in the hope that as a result, the Queen would be com- pelled to take his part in his conflict with his enemies, led to his arrest, imprisonment and trial for high treason. He was condemned but Queen Elizabeth delayed to sign the death warrant, in the hope that he would ask for pardon. He did not, and he was beheaded on February 25, 1601. p.20 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. BRERETON. Forty-three degrees latitude - The southern coast of Maine. Cape Breton, or by those of the West Indies. Gosnold, avoiding Cabot's course, and also that of the Ralegh expeditions to "Vir- ginia", aimed by a more direct route to reach "the north part of Virginia". In the early days of the voyage, the wind was unfavor- able for his purpose, but he succeeded in reaching the American coast on May 14th. Brereton, who was one of the company, and who wrote a narrative of the expedition,1 has little to say con- cerning the landfall, but he states the important fact that it was "in the latitude of forty-three degrees", accordingly at some point on the southern coast of Maine. THE SOUTHERN COAST OF MAINE. "North Land, Maine." "Savage Rock, Maine" Archer, who also accompanied the expedition, and published a rela- tion concerning it,2 describes briefly the scene that met the eyes of Gosnold and his associates as they approached the coast: "The fourteenth (day) about six in the morning, we descried land that lay north (etc) - the northerly part, we called North Land, which to another rock upon the same, lying twelve leagues West, that we called "Savage Rock" (because the savages first showed themselves there)." Or, Cape Porpoise and Cape Neddock. By some, the "North Land" and "Savage Rock" of Archer's narra- tive, have been identified with Cape Porpoise and Cape Neddock. WHAT THEY DISCOVERED BECAME PORTLAND AND KITTERY, MAINE. And this identification, as exceedingly probable, has received very general support. But identification from such meagre details is exceedingly difficult. It is enough, perhaps, to know that the fair prospect which burst upon Gosnold and his fellow voyagers as they caught their first glimpses of the American coast, and were thrilled with excited interest - was some part of Maine territory between what became Portland and Kittery, Maine. CAPE COD. Proceeding southward along the coast, Gosnold passed Cape Cod, taking there, "great store of cod-fish"2, says Archer, "for footnotes: 1. Brereton's narrative is the earliest printed work relating to New England. Two editions of it were published in 1602, the first containing twenty-four pages and the second containing forty-eight pages. The first of these editions will be found in "Early English and French Voyages, 329-340. The other is in the third series of the Massachusetts Historical Society's Collect- ion, VIII, 83-103, and in the Winship's "Sailors Narratives of New England Voyages." 2. Archer's relatiion is reprinted in the Massachusetts Hist- orical Society's Collection, VIII, 72-81. 3. Brereton, in his narrative, says concerning the abundance of fish upon the American coast: "We had pestered our ships so with cod fish that we....(continued bottom of p. 21 below) p.21 GOSNOLD AND PRING. MARTHA'S VINEYARD. which we altered the name and called it "Cape Cod." At length, the voyagers came to an island which Gosnold named "Martha's Vineyard". CUTTYHUNK. Here, turning in toward the mainland, he brought the voyage to an end, at an island which, in honor of the Queen, he named it Elizabeth's Isle. This is the present Cuttyhunk - the earlier name having become the designation of the group of islands to which Cuttyhunk belongs. Here preparations for a permanent colony were made by the erection of a storehouse and a fort. SASSAFRAS. For the homeward voyage of the ship, Concord - such commodit- ies were secured as sassafras1, cedar and furs obtained by traffic with the Indians. But when these new-world products had been secured and were onboard, and the vessel was ready to sail, those of the little company who had agreed to remain in the country as colonists, refused to stay; and the settle- ment which had been so happily founded, and represented on the part of Gosnold and some of his associates so much of heartfelt desire and hope, was reluctantly abandoned. This was the one great disappointment of the voyage. Gosnold reached Exmouth, England on July 23. His failure to plant a colony at Elizabeth's Isle he keenly felt; but the re- ports he brought conerning the country and the great value of its coast fisheries furnished the needed proof that the new world only awaited colonization in order to add to England's commercial footnotes continued - threw numbers of them over-board again; and surely, I am persuaded, that in the months of March, April and May, there is upon this coast, better fishing, and in as great plenty, as is in Newfoundland; for thesculles of mackeral, herring, cod and other fish that we daily saw as we went and came from the shore, were wonderful; and besides, the places where we took these cods (and might in a few days have laden our ship) were in seven fathom of water, and within less than a degr- ee of the shore, where, in Newfoundland, they fish in forty or fifty fathom of water, and far off." SASSAFRAS. footnote1. At that time sassafras was highly valued for its medicinal qualities. "The powder of sassafras, in twelve hours cured one of our company that had taken a great surfeit." Archer's Relation of Gosnold's Voyage - Massachusetts Historical Society Collection, 3rd Series, VII, 77, 78. This new world "commodity" now placed upon the market in such large quantity, greatly lower- ed its price. Hitherto, it had sold in London as high as 20 shill- ings per pound. p.22 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. activity and wealth. The relations of Brereton and Archer, re- cording events connected with the expediton, were published soon after Gosnold's return. These narratives, with their interesting details, were eagerly caught up and widely read. Hakluyt,1 a pre- bendary of St. Augustine's Cathedral Church at Bristol, England, was so strongly impressed in reading these glowing descriptions of new-world experiences, that he called the attention of the prin- cipal merchants of Bristol to the "many profitable and reasonable inducements" which America offered to English trade and colonizat- ion; and so by his own noble spirit, led the way to new and larger endeavors in which Bristol was to have a most honorable part. This was not the first time in which Hakluyt had conferred with Bristol merchants concerning American interests. In 15822, Wals- ingham, Queen Elizabeth's efficient Secretary of State, wrote to Thomas Aldworth,2 then the Mayor of Bristol, England, informing him of Sir footnote.1 Hakluyt was born in 1552 or 1553 and was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his de- gree of A. B., in 1574. His interest in maritime enterprises was manifested early in his career. He published his "Divers Voyages" in 1582. In the following year he was made Chaplain of the English Ambassador at Paris, France. His Discourse on Western Planting, was written in 1584 at the request of Sir Walter Raleigh, but was first printed in 1877 as the 2nd volume of the Maine Historical Society's Documentary History of Maine. His great work, The Principall Navi- gations, Voyages and Discoveries of the English Nation, etc., was published in 1589, and an enlarged edition in three volumes in 1598- 1600. He became the Prebendary of Bristol Cathedral, England, in 1585 and Prebendary of Westminster in 1605. He died at Eaton in Herefordshire, England on November 23, 1616, and was buried in West- minster Abbey on November 26, 1616. footnote2. Thomas Aldworth was Mayor of Bristol, England in 1582, and again in 1592. He was one of the leading merchants of Bristol and he took an active part in whatever concerned the prosperity of the commu- nity and of the nation. He died February 25, 1598 and was buried in St. Mark's, or the Lord Mayor's Chapel, originally the Chapel of Gaunt's Hospital, founded about 1325. The Chapel contains a carved freestone Gothic arched tomb and monument to the memory of Thomas Aldworth and his son John Aldworth, the two being represented in effigy, kneeling, the son behind the father, their hands uplited in the attitude of devotion. Both are in the costume of the period, Thomas Aldworth in an alderman's gown. John Aldworth died December 18th, 1615, aged fifty-one years. That part of the chapel was in process of restoration in 1912, and was visited by the writer. Thomas Aldworth was the father of Robert Aldworth, who, with Giles Elbridge, was an early owner of Monhegan and secured large terri- torial interests on the mainland. p.23 GOSNOLD AND PRING. Humphrey Gilbert's proposed expedition to the American coast, and suggesting Bristol's co-operation in an enterprise that promised so much with reference to national expansion and national glory. He also suggested that Aldworth should consult with Hakluyt, al- ready well-known on account of his deep, enthusiastic interest in western planting, and who was familiar with Gilbert's plans. Ald- worth at once acted upon Walsingham's suggestion. Hakluyt's assistance was secured and with his aid, Aldworth ob- tained the approval of the merchants of Bristol in the proposed undertaking. In his reply to Walsingham, Aldworth wrote: "There was eftsoons set down by men's own hands, then present, one thousand marks and upward, which seem if it should not suff- ice, we doubt not but otherwise to furnish out for this western discovery, a ship of three score and a bark of forty tons to be left in the country." Gilbert's failure at Newfoundland, and later the failure of Sir Walter Ralegh at Roanoke Island, lessened greatly, if they did not for the time entirely destroy, the interest of the merchant venturers of Bristol, in American enterprises. But the return of the ship, Concord, with its cargo of merchantable commodities and the enthusiastic reports made by Gosnold and his companions con- cerning fishery interests in American waters, evidently awakened in these businessmen of Bristol, England, new hopes concerning the advantages for commercial enterprise which the new world offered; and Hakluyt succeeded in his effort to induce his Bristol friends to become "the chief furtherers" in a new expedition in which, because of lessons learned from the failures of the past, it might reasonably be expected that better results would follow. For some reason unknown, the command of the expedition was not given to Gosnold. It is certain, however, that it was not because of any dissatisfaction with him on the part of the chief ROBERT ALDWORTH & GILES ALDWORTH EARLY OWNERS OF MONHEGAN, MAINE. footnote: That part of the Chapel was in the process of restora- tion in 1912, but was visited by the writer. Thomas Aldworth was the father of Robert Aldworth, who, with Giles Elbridge, was an early owner of Monhegan, Maine, and secured large interests on the mainland. p.24 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. CAPTAIN MARTIN PRING. promoters of the venture. Gosnold's subsequent career furnish- es the strongest possible evidence with reference to his fit- ness for important commands. But a competent navigator for the expedition was found in Captain Martin Pring, who was born in 1580, probably near Awliscombe, Deveon, England and who, at the time, accordingly, was only 23 years of age. Concerning Pring's earlier career, we have no information; but the fact that at this early age he was regarded by the merchants of Bristol, Eng- land, as "a man very sufficient for the place" is ample proof that already, he had exhibited qualities as a seaman that attested his fitness for such service. ROBERT SALTERNE. Robert Salterne, who, as pilot, accompanied Gosnold in the successful voyage of 1602, was made Pring's assistant. John Whitson, Mayor of Bristol, England. From Salterne's brief narration of the voyage1 we learn that Hakluyt's "inducements and persuasions" in connection with the new undertaking, were influential with John Whitson, Mayor of Bristol, who, with the assistance of the aldermen and "most of the merchants of the city," raised the one thousand pounds re- quired for the equipment of the expedition. SHIPS: THE SPEEDWELL AND THE DISCOVERER. Two vessels were made ready for Pring's use, the Speedwell of about fifty tons, and the Discoverer of twenty-six tons. forty-three men and boys made up the ship's company. The vessels were loaded with "light merchandise thought fit to trade with the people of the country", and on April 10, 1603, Pring set sail from Milford Haven, England. His course across the Atlantic was prob- ably suggested by Gosnold, and Pring's landfall in latitude 43, according to the narrative which Hakluyt secured from Pring, could not have been far from that of his immediate predessor on the American Footnote.1. This narrative, Captain John Smith, inserted in his True Travels, Adventures and Observations, reprinted in 1819 from the London edition of 1629, I, 108, 109. 2. It is thought that the ship, Speedwell, may have been included in Drake's fleet in 1588, inasmuch as a vessel of the same name, and having the same tonnage, had a part in the fight in the harbor of Cadiz in 1587, and also in the conflict with the Spanish Armada in 1588. Many merchant vessels were in the national service at that time. 3. A haven on the southwestern part of the coast of Wales. p.25 GOSNOLD AND PRING. PENOBSCOT BAY coast. In that narrative mention is made of islands in connect- ion with the landfall, and the relation adds: "One of them we named Fox Island, because we found those kind of beasts there- on." As the islands east of the southern part of Penobscot Bay have long been known as the Fox Islands, it has been inferred that Pring's landfall is to be found at this part of the Maine coast. The latitude of the landfall, however, is not favorable to this inference; but inasmuch as Pring, after proceeding in toward the mainland, ranged to the northward as far as latitude 43-1/2, it is probable that Pring passed up the coast as far as the Fox Islands. Certainly he must have sailed along a large part of the coast of Maine. Not finding sassafras in his northward progress, Pring turned about and shaped his course for Savage Rock "discov- ered the year before by Captain Gosnold", and later, bearing into the great "Gulf" which "Gosnold over-shot the year before", he landed in a certain bay which he named "Whitson Bay"1 in honor of the Mayor of Bristol, England. The Simancas map of 1610,2 which indicates a large part of the North American Atlantic coast line, attaches the designation "Whitson's Bay" to what is now known as Massachusetts Bay, and gives to the northernmost part of Cape Cod the designation "Whitson's Head".3 Not far from his land- Footnotes. 1. Early English and French Voyages, 345. 2. This map, which has a place in Alexander Brown's Genesis of the United States (I, facing 456), is said to have been prepared by a surveyor whom King James I sent to Virginia for this purpose in 1610. It evidently embodies the English maps of White, Gosnold, Pring, Way- mouth and others. Brown thinks it was compiled and drawn either by Robert Tyndall or by Captain Powell. It was dis- covered in the library at Simancas, Spain, by Dr. J. L. M. Curry, while he was Envoy Extraordinary and the Minister plenipotentiary of the United Statesd at the Court of Spain, 1885-1888. The map had disappeared in England, and, as Mr. Brown says, "It is curious that it should be first published in the strange country which it attempted to delineate". The historical value of this map is very great. 3. John Whitson was worthy of this recognition by Pring and his associates. He was not only one of the most pro- inent of the merchants of Bristol, England, but exerted a strong influence in civic relations. He became the Mayor of Bristol, England in 1603 and held that office also in 1615. He was a member of Parliament from Bristol in 1605-1611, 1616 and 1625. He died at Bristol, England and was buried March 9, 1628 in the crypt of St. Nicholas Church. On his monument in this church, is the following inscription: "In Memory of that great benefactor, to this city, John Whitson, merchant, twice Mayor and Alderman, and four times member of Parliament for this city; who died in the 72nd year of his age, A.D., 1629. A worthy pattern to all that come after him." Bancroft, in his History of the United States, following Belknap, identifies Whitson's Bay with the harobr of Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard, having regard to the lati- tude mentioned in the narrative of the voyage. The narrative implies, however, that the Bay is to be found in the southern part of the "great Gulf which Captain Gosnold over-shot the year before". Dr. B. F. DeCosta (Magazine of American History, VIII, 807-819, according- ly identified Whitson's Bay with the harbor of Plymouth, into which the ship, Mayflower brought the Pilgrims in 1620. This identification seems best to meet the requir- ments of the narrative. p.26 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. ing in Whitson's Bay, Pring and his companions in their explora- tion came to "a pleasant hill thereunto adjoining; we called it Mount Aldworth for Master Robert Aldworth's sake, a chief fur- therer of the voyage, as well with his purse as with his travail." This is an early mention of one who, at a later period, became closely connected with the beginnings of Colonial Maine. At his landing in Whitson's Bay, Pring, by the end of July, had secured as much sassafras as would "give some speedy contentment" to the Bristol adventurers; and the Discoverer, laden largely with this commodity, sailed homeward, leaving Pring to follow in the Speedwell, when the other objects of the expedition, such as conditions with reference to trade and colonization, had received that careful consideration which the promotors of the expedition desired. These final preparations for the return voyage of the Speedwell were completed about August 8, or 9th and Pring arrived in England October 2nd (footnote 2) The arrival of the ship, Discoverer had already furnished general information concerning the success of Pring's expediton. p.27 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. GOSNOLD AND PRING. The gardens of the Maine Indians. Concerning the fertility of the country, this was said:1 "Passing up the river we saw certain cottages (wigwams) together, abandoned by the savages, and not far off we beheld their gardens and one among the rest, of an acre of ground, and in the same was some tobacco, pumpkins, cucumbers and such like; and some of the people had maize, or Indian wheat among them. In the fields, wild peas, strawberries very fair and big, gooseberries, rasberries, hurts and other wild fruits. We pared and digged up the earth with shovels and sowed wheat, barley, oats and peas and sundry sorts of garden seed, which for the time of our abode there, being about seven weeks, although they were late sown, came up very well, giving cer- tain testimony of the goodness of the climate and of the soil. And it seemeth that oats, hemp, flax and such like, which require a rich and fat ground, would prosper excellently in these parts. For in divers places here, we found grass above knee deep." Mention also was made of the trees of the country, with many of which Pring and his companions were familiar in their English homes; but there were "divers other sorts of trees" that to them were unknown. References also were made to fur-bearing animals, such as beavers, otters, wolves, bears, foxes, etc., whose skins could be secured by exchange with the Indians, yielding "no small gain" to the trader because of the great profit which the exchange afforded. But this was not all, and the new-world voyagers, having in mind a large Bristol industry, did not fail to call attention to the immense value of the fisheries on the American coast; and they closed their encouraging report with reference to the qualities of the soil and its products with these words: The lands of Maine. Oysters with pearls. "And as the land is full of God's good blessings, so is the sea replenished with great abundance of excellent fish, or cod suffi- cient to laden many ships, which we found upon the coast in the month of June. Seals to make oil withal, mullets, turbots, macker- el, herring, crabs, lobsters (and oh those Maine lobsters!) oysters and muscles with ragged pearls in them." THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. p.28 The report was certainly a most welcome one. It not only confirmed the reports made by Gosnold and his associates the year before, but it presented interesting details with reference to the products of the country, and emphasized most strongly the opportunity that the new world afforded for profitable trade relations with the Indians. Such a report could hardly have failed to make a favorable im- pression upon the enterprising merchant venturers of Bristol, England, as well as upon all others interested in the results of Pring's voyage and exploration. No expedition, however, designed to secure immediate further advancement of English interests in this vicinity, sailed from Bristol, or any other port in England, in the year 1604; and Pring, who doubtless could have been secur- ed for added service in yet other explorations here, was employed that season as Master of the ship Phoenix, in Captain Charles Leigh's ill-fated expedition to Guiana. p.29 - continued CHAPTER III. THE DE MONTS COLONY. But any delay in maintaining England's claim to territory on the Atlantic coast of the North American continent was not without peril to English interests. Already France had seized large possessions on the St. Lawrence, also in regions far within the interior of the continent, south of the Great Lakes; and having purposes whose meaning was obvious, that nation could not be ex- pected to leave out of view the unoccupied territory on the Atlantic seaboard. In fact, with information concerning the voy- ages of Gosnold and Pring, France was not losing any time in asserting such purposes; and the King, as early as November 8, 1603, gave to Sieur de Monts,1 an officer of the royal house- hold, a Charter that conveyed to him trading and seigniorial rights in American territory between the 40th and 56th parallels of latitude, that is, from about St. John's, Newfoundland, to Philadelphia.2 De Monts was not without experience in the affairs of France, on this side of the sea, having accompanied Chauvin to the St. Lawrence settlements not long before. What he then learned con- cerning the climate in that region, as compared with that of his Footnotes.1 Champlain (Champlain's Voyages, Prince Society, 1878, II, 4, 5) says de Monts "desired to attempt what had been given up in despair, and requested a commission for this purpose of his Majesty, being satisfied that the previous (French) enterprises had failed because the undertakers of them had not received assist- ance, who had not succeeded, in one nor even two years' time, in making the acquaintance of the regions and people there, nor in finding harbors adapted for a settlement". 2. This charter, or a contempory copy, is in the Bureau des Marines et Colonies in Paris, and extracts in an English trans- lation, are printed in the Farnham Papers, I, 1-6. The Charter con- ferred upon de Monts a monopoly of the fur trade. p.30 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. native land, doubtless now impressed him with the importance of seeking a location for his colony, farther southward. No distinctive religious purpose in the movement was indicated in the persons brought together who comprised de Monts' party. Happily, at that time in France, catholics and Protestants were at peace,1 and both were represented in the expedition. De Monts was a Protestant, while Samuel de Champlain2 the geographer of footnot 1. The struggle in France, for religious liberty, had continued for many years with varying fortunes, but a length had been brought to a happy issue. In 1598, only six years before de Monts conducted his colony to the American coast, King Henry IV, King of France, recognizing the "frightful troubles, confusion, and disorders" to which, on his accession to the throne, he found his Kingdom a prey, promulgated the famous Edict of Nantes, which gave liberty of conscience to all the inhabitants of that land, granting to them, the right to dwell anywhere in the royal domin- ions and to meet for religious purposes without being subjected to inquiry, vexed, molested or constrained to do anything contrary to the dictates of conscience. What this meant to many of the King's subjects, long harrassed, it is difficult now even to conceive. To thousands, this edict was a call to a new and better life. Somewhat tardily, Parliament in the following year, 1599, formally entered this important document upon its registers, and so confirmed to warring, factional France, Catholic and Protestant alike, the boon of religious liberty. It was not for long, however. For twelve years, or until the close of the reign of Henry IV, the Edict of Nantes was in full operation. Then followed unceasing assaults upon the rights which it guarant- eed; and at length, in 1685, came its revocation - the culmination of a series of events that are written large upon the pages of the History of France. 2. Champlain was a native of Brouage, a small village in the Province of Saintonge, France, and was born about the year 1567. From his early years he gave attention to practical seamanship, had an army experience of several years after 1592, and in 1599, was in command of a French ship of 500 tons in the West Indies. On his return, he prepared a report of his discoveries and observa- tions, which remained in manuscript until printed in an English translation by the Hakluyt Society in 1859. In the preceding year Champlain accompanied Pont Grave' in his expedition to the St. Lawrence, and it was his report concerning the inhabitants and products of the country that directed the attention of the King to the opportunities that the new world afforded for French col- onization and led to the de Monts expedition and Champlain's connection with it. Thenceforward Champlain's life was devoted to French interests in America. It was an eventful life. Fit- tingly it closed at Quebec, where Champlain died in the autumn of 1635. p.31 DE MONTS COLONY. the company, and the most distinguished of de Monts' associates, was a catholic. Of religious discussions among some of the col- onists, however, there was no lack, as the records of the expedi- tion show; but the purposes that led to the enterprise had no religious ends in view. The ends were pre-eminently national, and those most deeply interested in the colony evidently saw no reason why Protestant and Catholic might not work together harmon- iously in the endeavor to establish a French settlement at some point on the Atlantic coast below Cape Breton. Among the colonists there were skilled artisans, selected doubt- less with reference to the requirements of such an undertaking. But their number was not large compared with others who are de- scribed as vagabonds and ex-convicts - men upon whom little dependence could be placed in an enterprise calling for stead- fastness and heroic endurance amid trying circumstances. Two vessels, one of one hundred and twenty tons - and one of one hundred and fifty tons, were secured for the transportation of the colony, and April 7, 1604, de Monts sailed out of the harbor of Havre de Grace, westward bound, followed by the prayers and good wishes of his countrymen.1 The usual route of French vessels in crossing the Atlantic was followed until the American coast was reached early in May. Then, turning southward, and proceeding down the coast, de Monts enter- ed the Bay of Fundy and commenced the work of exploration with reference to a location for a settlement. Skirting the shores of the bay, including those of adjoining waters now known as Annapolis basin, he failed to discover such a spot "He was buried in the memorial chapel which he had erected. This Chapel was subsequently destroyed and the place which it occupied was forgotten; so that today, we know not the spot where he was buried. It is perhaps enough to know that his dust is co- mingled with that of the land he loved, though the name by which he knew it (New France) is no longer on the tongues of living men." The Honorable James P. Baxter, in an address at the 300th anniversary of de Monts settlement on St. Croix Island. See Maine Historical Collection, Series III, 2, 144. 1 Champlain's Voyages, II, 7. p.32 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. PASSAMAQUODDY BAY. as he deemed desirable.1 Sailing still farther southward, he came, near the end of June, into a bay, the present Passamaquoddy Bay. At its northern part, a broad river opened and ascending its in- viting waters, de MOnts and his companions, not far from the mouth of the river, came to an island that offered easy protection for defence against hostile assault. It seemed an attractive spot for the proposed settlement; and such it was - under sunny skies and surrounded with scenes of summer beauty on every hand. Here, accordingly, on June 26, or 27, a choice of a location was made. De Monts gave to the island the designation St. Croix, the name also now borne by the river in which the island of the settlement is located.2 Plans for the erection of dwellings, storehouses and other build- ings were prepared and the colonists entered upon the work of their construction. Leaving this scene of busy activity, September 2nd, Champlain availed himself of an opportunity for added explora- tion and map-making still farther down the coast. His journal gives us interesting glimpses of the land as he proceeded. FIRST MENTION OF MOUNT DESERT, MAINE. PENOBSCOT BAY. He was the first of the early voyagers to make mention of Mount Desert, that most attractive spot on the Maine coast. Proceeding on his way, Champlain at length entered Penobscot Bay and river and extended his exploration of the river (which he mentions footnote.1 Champlain, in his Voyages (Prince Society, II, 22), referring to his Basin, says, "which I have named Port Royal", a name which was soon applied to the settlement made on the north shore of the Basin. A map of the Basin, with Champlain's descript- of it faces p.24 of the Voyages. 2. The name St. Croix, as applied to the river, was suggested by the fact that two streams enter the river a few miles above St. Croix Island, one from the east and one from the west, furnishing in this way the repre- sentation of a cross. 3. "From this island (Mt. Desert) to the mainland on the north, the distance is less than a hundred paces. It is very high and notched in places, so that there is the appearance, to one at sea, as of 7 or 8 mountains ex- tending along near each other. The summit of the most of them is destitute of trees, as there are only rocks on them. The woods consist of pines, fir and birch trees only. I named it Isle des Monte Deserts." Champlain's Voyages, II, 39. p.33 THE DE MONTS COLONY. Indian Chief, "Bessabez" The Quinibequy - or, the Kennebec. under the name "Pentegouet" and also, "Norumbegue" as far as the site of Bangor. While in the river, Champlain had an interview with the "Bessabez," or the chief of the Indians of that region, to whom, in the name of de Monts, he made overtures of friendship. Thence, Champlain made his way to the Kennebec ("Quinibequy"), and attempted the explora- tion of the river. Unfavorable weather, however, prevented the accomp- lishment of his purpose in following its reach northward; and descend- ing to the sea, he burned back up the coast on September 23, and he reached St. Croix island on October 2nd. footnote 1. 39 DEATHS FROM SCURVY. The winter that followed opened early and was one of great severity. The evidence was now borne in upon the colonists that the location had not been wisely chosen. During the winter months, they suffered not only from the cold winds that swept fiercely across the surround- ing ice fields, but also from lack of wood and water. Amid these dis- couraging outward circumstances, scurvy assailed the colonists, and thirty-five of the 79 who comprised the company, died of the dread disease before the season closed.2 Indeed so discouraging was the condition of the colonists before the winter ended, that the abandon- ment of the undertaking seemed inevitable. In the early summer of 1605, however, new hopes were awakened by the change of seasons and especially by the opportune arrival of supplies from France. Exploration farther down the coast it was thought, might secure more desirable conditions, and de Monts and Champlain, with some of their associates, accordingly left St. Croix Island on June 18th, for such added exploration. Passing the entire length of what is now the coast of Maine,3 also Footnotes: 1. Champlain's Voyages, II, 38-48. 2. Champlain says snow began to fall on October 6th, and was from "three to four feet deep up to the end of the month of April." For his account of the sufferings of the colonists that long winter, see Champlain's Voyages, II, pp. 50-53. 3. On reaching the Kennebec the party made an extended ex- ploration of the river, ascending to its head waters, where the Indians "go by this river across the country to Quebec." Proceeding farther along the coast from the mouth of the Kennebec (making mention of Sequin under the name "Tortoise Island"), Champlain and his companions reached "a bay where were a great many islands" (Casco Bay), and from which large mountains were "seen to the west" (the White Mountains). Richmond's Island was named by Champlain, Isle de Bacchus, because of its "beautiful grapes". Champlain's Voyages, II, 55. 1 Champlain's Voyages, 11, 91. Champlain says, "we named the island where they were, La Nef (the ship) for, at a distance, it had the appearance of a ship". The reference was to Monhegan, it is inferred; but if Anasou was rightly understood, he was in error, as he was with reference to the five Indians, who were captutred not at Monhegan, but at St. George's harbor. p.34 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. southward to Cape Cod, and as far along the Massachusetts coast as the entrance to Vineyard Sound, they failed to find the favorable location they sought; and on July 25, the turned their boat northward and set out on their return. ANASOU, CHIEF OF THE KENNEBEC INDIANS. - Men of an English vessel killed five Indians - Reaching the mouth of the Kennebec on July 29, they tarried awhile, possibly making further exploration. But neither there, nor at other places in the vicinity, were they successful in finding such a site for a colonial settlement as seemed to offer conditions deemed by them, important. While they were at the river and in communication with Kennebec Indians, Anasou, an Indian chief, told them of a vess- el ten leagues to the eastward,1 and that those on board had killed five Indians "of this river", meaning the Kennebec River. From the story, in its details, de Monts and his associates rightly inferred that an English vessel was in the neighborhood. No further mention of that vessel occurs in Champlain's narrative; but the presence of an English ship on the coast, and the incident mentioned by the Indian, Anasou in connection with his report concerning it, must have left upon the minds of de Monts and his little company evidence that Eng- land's claim to territory on the coast was receiving added attention. Certainly, there was no further delay at the Kennebec, and the party made its way back to St. Croix Island, which was reached on August 8th. In all probability, the colonists who had wearily watched for de Monts' return, experienced no disappointment on receiving the report the ex- ploring party brought. The horrors of the preceding winter still hung heavily upon them, and something must be p.35 DEMONTS COLONY. done. De Monts' purposes had no suggestion of anything more than a withdrawal to Port Royal.1 The settlement at St Croix island was abandoned, and the proposed change of base was made. Ill fortune, however, still followed the colonists. Soon after their arrival at Port Royal, de Monts, having established there, his de- pleted company, set sail for France, still having the interests of the colony in view. The loss of one so prominent in its affairs must have had a depressing effect upon those left behind. The long, cold, dreary and inactive winter months only deepened the gloom of the situation. Indeed to such an extent did the colonists become dis- heartened amid their lonely surroundings, that home-longings were strengthened day by day; and, when the opportunity, at length offered, the remaining colonists, unwilling to the experience of yet another winter under such hard circumstances, followed de Monts back to France, arriving at St. Malo on October 1, 1607.2 The attempt to plant a French colony on the Atlantic coast of the North American continent had failed. If it had succeeded, France would have secured a favorable outpost for a still farther advance in the effort to have and to hold the vast domain designated by the King in the Charter that de Monts had received. It is difficult to account for de Monts' failure on any other ground than that of weak- ness in most of the colonists. Aside from Champlain, and a few others, it may be, the colonists at Port Royal were not of the stuff as is required in the founders of states, or in the beginnings of any large enterprise. St. Croix island, it is true, was an unfortu- nate location for the colony; but Pilgrims and Puritans, not many years later, made permanent settlements in territory not much farth- er south, and within the limits of de Monts' exploration. The colon- ists were too easily discouraged. Footnotes. 1. Champlain's Voyages, II, 94. Sieur de Poutrincourt, who accompanied the expedition "only for his pleasure," asked de Monts for Port Royal soon after their arrival upon the coast; and he gave it to him in accordance with authority received from the King. (Voyages, II, 37.) 2. Champlain's Voyages, I. 77. p.36 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. They were lacking in high aims and the cheerful endurance of great hardships. Their presence on the coast, however, proved a spur to English endeavor. The prize at stake was large, and if England would seize it, there was need of haste as well as strength of purpose and heroic determination.1 Footnotes. 1. The tercentenary of de Monts' settlement at St. Croix Island was commemorated on that island by the Maine Historical Society, on June 25, 1904; and the proceedings were published by the Society in an attractive illustrated pamphlet of seventy-eight pages. See also, the Maine Historical Society's Collections, Series III, 2, 74-151. De Monts' Colony Memorial on St Croix Island was unveiled June 25, 1904. CHAPTER IV. WAYMOUTH'S VOYAGE OF 1605. ENGLISH INTERESTS. GOSNOLD'S EXPEDITION OF 1602. English interests upon the American coast, however, had not ceased to receive attention in England. The Earl of Southampton, who was one of the promoters of Gosnold's expedition of 1602, was now at liberty, King James I, at the beginning of his reign, having opened the Earl's prison doors and restored to him the titles and estates of which he had been deprived. Shortly after this restoration, the Earl's new patent was issued July 1, 1603 - occurred the return of Pring from his successful voyage hither. The report he brought awakened in the released prisoner an enthusiastic desire for participation in efforts that would enhance the glory of England on this side of the sea. THOMAS ARUNDELL, BARON OF WARDOUR AND SIR FERDINANDO GORGES. In 1604, he was busily engaged in making plans for another expedition to the American coast. With him, in the undertaking, were associated his son-in-law, Thomas Arundell,1 - afterward Baron of Wardour, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges,2 whose name was to become Footnote: 1 Thomas Arundell had served under the Emporor Rudolph II. He took, in action, with his own hand, a standard of the Turks, and December 14, 1595, was created a Count of the Holy Roman Empire for this achievement, but was forbidden by Queen Elizabeth to use the title, saying, "She liked not for her sheep to wear a stranger's mark, nor to dance after a foreigner's whistle." He was elevated to the English Peer- age on May 4, 1605 and he died in 1639 or 1640. 2 A son of Edward Gorges and his wife Cicely Lygon, he was born about 1566. He was knighted by Essex before Rouen in October, 1591. While in the Netherlands in 1596, he received orders to take charge of work on the fortifications at Plymouth, England. About July, 1603, he was deprived of command at Ply- mouth, but it was restored to him in a few months, and he re- tained that command there for many years. His interest in Ameri- can colonization, beginning at this time, was a lifelong inter- est. For an extended account of his life, also for his writ- ings and letters, see Honorable James P. Baxter's "Sir Fernin- ando Gorges and his Province of Maine, Prince Society, 1900, 3 volumes. p.38 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. so prominently identified with the history of early coloniza- tion on the Maine coast. Probably, also, Sir John Popham,1 then Chief Justice of England, had a part in the new under- taking. The command of the expedition was given to Captain George Waymouth, already mentioned in connection with his search for a northwest passage to India in 1602. Since his return, as may be inferred from what is known concerning his attain- ments, he had been engaged in studies extending beyond the science of navigation, including shipbuilding and the science of fortification.2 Aside from these facts, there is no information with refer- ence to the preparations for the voyage. Even the name of the vessel provided for the expedition - the Archangel-3 would not have Footnotes.1 Sir John Popham was born at Wellington, Somerset- shire, England about 1531. He was educated at Baliol College, Oxford, England, became Recorder of Bristol, England; a memb- er of Parliament for Bristol in 1571; Solicitor-General, 1579; Attorney General, 1581; Speaker of the House of Commons, 1581- 1583; and Chief Justice of the Realm, 1592, when he was knight- ed and made a privy Councilor. He presided at the trial of Sir Walter Raleigh in 1603, and at the trial of Guy Fawkes and his companions in 1606. He died June 10, 1607. Reverend H. O. Thayer, in his Sagadahoc Colony, Gorges Society, 1892, 26, discriminately says of him: "Justice Popham was a man of mixed character, not all good, not wholly bad. Integrity without numerous flaws cannot be affirmed. He administered the laws with vigor, often with severity, nor can it be denied that his administration in respect to the crimin- al classes was on the whole salutary." An elaborate tomb in the church at Wellington still marks his burial place. footnote2. In 1885, the Honorable James P. Baxter of Portland, Maine, discovered in the King's library in the British Museum, London, England, a manuscript volume on navigation, shipbuild- ing and fortifications, written by Waymouth and dedicated to the King. In bears no date, but as it makes mention of Way- mouth's voyage in 1602, and is silent with reference to the voyage of 1605, it may be assigned to the year 1603 or 1604. The volume is illustrated by about two hundred pages of color- ed drawings, and was evidently designed to make upon the King a favorable impression of the author. Mr. Baxter possesses a copy of this valuable manuscript, including both text and the illustrations, and with fac-simile binding. Without doubt it is the only copy ever made. footnote3. Rosier does not mention the name of the vessel, nor is it found in the accounts of the voyage, recorded by Gorges, Strachey or Purchas. Prince, Maine Historical Coll- ection, Series I, 6, 294) says Waymouth's ship is "supposed to have been called the "Archangel". So far as the writer is aware *footnotes continue below. p.39 WAYMOUTH'S VOYAGE. THOMAS CAM AND JAMES ROSIER. come down to us had it not been mentioned in the annals of a later chronicler. Of the twenty-eight men associated with Way- mouth in the expedition, the names of only Thomas Cam, the mate of the Archangel, James Rosier,1 who wrote the Relation of the voyage, and John Stoneman, who will be mentioned again later, have come down to us. Most of the adventurers, as Rosier tells us, were "near inhabitants, on the River Thames". They were doubtless such men as any expedition of like charact- er would attract at that time - hardy seamen who were ready for an enterprise that promised novelty and some excitement. Thomas Arundell, Sir John Popham & Sir Ferdinando Gorges. The vessel was made ready for the voyage at Ratcliffe on the river Thames, England, a hamlet of London, the highway conn- ecting the village with the metropolis, being known as Regent Street of London sailors. It is not difficult to picture to ourselves the scene at the departure of the expedition. It was at the opening of the season, Tuesday, March 5, 1605. In all probability among those assembled at the dock were the Earl of Southampton, his son-in-law, Thomas Arundell and possibly Sir John Popham and Sir Ferdinando Gorges. There were many best wishes for the whole company, and many last words. Then, when the lines were cast off, strong English cheers went up from the assembled crowd, and their ship, the Archangel dropped down the river. A fair wind in four hours brought the vessel to Gravesend, thirty miles below London. But head-winds kept the voyagers on the English coast until the close of March. With refer- ence to the experiences of Waymouth and his companions in the channel harbor, Footnotes. The name of the vessel first appears in Dr. John Harris' Collection of Voyages and Travels. The first edition in 1702-5; revised edition, London, England, 1764, II, 223. Dr. Harris (1667-1719) was one of the early members of the Royal Society, and for awhile, acted as its Vice President. 1 Rosier was one of Gosnold's company in the expedition of 1602. Purchas, in his Pilgrimes (IV, 1646-1653) includes three documents relating to Gosnold's voyage. 1. A letter from Captain Gosnold to his father; 2. Gabriel Archer's account of the voyage; 3. A chapter entitled, "Notes taken out of a tractate written by James Rosier to Sir Walter Raleigh". This last is in error. The tractate presented to Raleigh, was written by John Brereton and not by Rosier. p.40 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. bors, Rosier is silent. April 1, the ship Archangel was six leagues southeast of the Lizards, the most southern promon- tory of England. On April 14, Corvo and afterward Flores islands of the Azores group were sighted. As the voyage con- tinued, southerly winds prevailed, and Waymouth, unable to hold the course he had proposed to take, was compelled to head his vessel farther to the northward. Nantucket Island. on May 13th, there were indications of the near approach of land, and on the following day, a sailor at the masthead des- cried a whitish, sandy cliff, west northwest, about six leag- ues distant, supposed from Rosier's statement to be Sankaty Head,1 the eastern extremity of Nantucket Island, which is surrounded by shoals,2 and Waymouth, sailing in toward the sandy cliff, soon found his vessel in peril. The prow of the Archangel was hurriedly turned back, and standing off, all that night and the next day, Waymouth en- deavored to make his way to the southward, in accordance with the course of the voyage as planned;3 but the wind was con- trary and the vessel was driven northward. On May 16, the ship Archangel was still seeking land. It was not until the close of the following day, however, that land was again descried. At the time, the wind was still blowing a gale, the sea Footnotes.1 In 1797, Captain John F. Williams of the U.S. Revenue Service, at the request of Doctor Jeremy Belknap, the historian, made a study of Rosler's Relation. Concern- ing Waymouth's approach to the American coast, he said: "The first land Captain Waymouth saw, a whitish sandy cliff, west-north-west, six leagues, must have been Saukaty Head." American Biography, Hubbard's Rd., 2, 249. The above state- ment is confirmed by all later writers concerning Waymouth's voyage. 2 The eastward shoals make it one of the most dread- ed parts of the coast. "These shifting sandy shores, which ex- tend in a southeasterly direction from the southeastern end of the island, have various depths upon them ranging from six feet to four fathoms, and change their positions more or less after every heavy gale." Coast Survey Pilot from Boston to New York, 82. 3 See Rosier's Relation to Waymouth's Voyage to the Coast of Maine, 1605. This reprint of the Relation (85-162 with notes) is from the copy in the John Carter Brown Library, Brown University. Excellent reprints are included in George Parker Winship's Sailors Narratives, and Early English and French Voyages. p.41 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. WAYMOUTH'S VOYAGE. was running high, and it was not deemed safe to approach the shore. When the morning broke, it was discovered that the land was that of an island "some six miles in compass," according to Rosier's estimate. By noon the Archangel was anchored on the north side of the island and about a league from it. Two hours later, with twelve of his men, Waymouth rowed to the shore of the island for wood and water of which they were in need, and having obtained a supply they returned to the ship. This island, named by Waymouth, St. George's Island, was Monhegan,1 as is conceded by all who have given any careful attention to Rosier's Relation. "While we were on shore," says Rosier, who evidently was one of the landing party, "our men aboard (the Archangel) with a few hooks got about thirty great cods and haddocks, which gave us a taste of the great plenty of fish which we found after- ward wheresoever we went upon the coast". Continuing his narrative, he adds: "From hence we might discern the main- land from the west, southwest to the east, northeast, and a great way (as it then seemed, and as we after found it) up into the main we might discern very high mountains, though the main seemed but lowland;2 which gave us a hope it would please God to direct us to the discovery of some good; al- though we were driven by winds far from that place (both by our direction and desire) we ever intended to shape the course of our voyage." Footnotes: 1 Captain John Smith, who was at Monhegan in the summer of 1614, briefly described the island in these words, "Monahigan is a round high island; and close by it Monanis, betwixt which is a small harbor where we ride", Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 46, 47. On the Simancas map of 1610, the island bears the name given to it by Waymouth. When Captain John Smith wrote his Description of New England, however, he recorded the Indian name, and happily the island has continued to bear the Indian designation to the present time. 2 As Rosier has just referred to the return of the boat to the ship's anchorage, and to the occupation of the sailors while Waymouth and his party were ashore, the writer of the above must have had in mind the view of the coast as seen from the deck of the Archangel, anchored a league north of the island. p.42 THE BEGINNING OF COLONIAL MAINE. "Looking upon a fringe of the new world" To the weary, storm-tossed voyagers, the scene must have been one of peculiar interest. There were other islands toward the land, and not far away, eastward and westward, but further in, the long, wooded coast line was seen; while higher "up into the main" there were mountains darkly, beautifully blue, conspicu- ous features of the coast landscape. Waymouth and his compan- ions were looking upon a fringe of the new world. The White Mountains. The ship, Archangel, remained at her anchorage that night, and on the following day, because the vessel "rode too much open to the sea and winds", Waymouth weighed anchor, and brought his vessel "to the other islands more adjoining to the main, and in the rode directly with the mountains". It has been maintained that the mountains Waymouth saw, and in the direction of which he made his way to "the other islands" where he found a conven- ient harbor, were the White Mountains. Only at rare intervals, however, when the sky is exceptionally clear, can even the towering peak of Mount Washington be seen from the high ground at Monhegan, and then merely as a faint speck on the horizon. Only at rarest intervals can Mount Washington be seen from the shore on the north side of Monhegan; while from either location, "a great way up into the main", appear the Camden and Union mountains clearly outlined against the sky, objects which no mariner approaching the coast at this point could possibly fail to notice.1 Footnotes. 1 John McKeen (Maine Historical Society's Coll., Series I, 5, 313, 314) identified these mountains as the White and Blue mountains. R. K. Sewall (Ancient Dominions, 59) held that the mountains that Waymouth saw were the White Mountains. Dr. Edward Ballard (Popham Memorial Volume, 303) adopted the same view. On the contrary William Willie (Maine Historical Society's Coll., Series I, 8, 346) insisted that the White Mountains lie far to the west, and can only be seen under favorable circumstances; and that the mountains seen by Way- mouth were "the Camden and other heights bordering the Penob- scot Bay". Prince (Maine Historical Society's Coll., Series I, 6, 294) says "the Camden and Union mountains" are the only conspicuous heights along the coast visible from Monhegan. That the mountains here referred to in the Relation were the Camden and Union mountains is the view now generally held. For a full presentation of the facts, see Rosier's Relation of Waymouth's Voyage, Gorges Society, 1887, 96-100. p.43 WAYMOUTH'S VOYAGE. St. George's Harbor. The harbor in which Waymouth anchored the ship, Archangel, and which he called Pentecost harbor1, was an island harbor, and Rosier's narrative furnishes abundant means for its identi- fication with the present St. George's harbor. From Waymouth's anchorage, a league north of Monhegan, it is reached by pro- ceeding "along to the other islands more adjoining to the main", and is "in the rode directly" with the mountains which Waymouth had before him. Moreover, it is a harbor formed by islands, hav- ing four entrances, as the harbor mentioned by Rosier. Indeed, the endeavor to identify the Pentecost harbor of Rosier's Rela- tion with Boothbay harbor, or with any other harbor on the neighboring coast, fails to meet these and other requirements of Rosier's narrative.2 But the paramount purposes of the voyage were not to be ful- filled by merely an approach to the coast. A few days were spent by Waymouth and his companions in obtaining rest from the weariness of the voyage. Then, after setting up a cross upon the shore of one of the islands,3 a token of England's claim to the territory, the work of exploration began. In his shallop, which had been put in order since the Archangel's arrival at Pentecost harbor, and with nearly half of his comp- any, Waymouth proceeded in toward the mainland in order to dis- cover its resources and the possibilities for English coloniza- tion, and soon found himself in a Footnotes. 1 The Archangel sailed on Easter day from its last harbor in England. It entered its first harbor on the American coast on Pentecost day, and accordingly received its name, Pentecost Harbor. 2. The approach of Pentecost Harbor from the anchorage of the ship, Archangel, north of Monhegan is that which one has today in entering St. George's harbor from the sea. The latter is reached (as was Pentecost harbor, by Way- mouth) by sailing in "to the other islands more adjoining to the main's. The islands that make the four entrances to St. George's harbor are Allen's, Burnt, Benner's and Davis. 3. Probably Allen's island. On this island, in connection with the celebration of the tercentenary of Way- mouth's voyage, and not far it is believed from the spot on which Waymouth and his associates erected a cross in 1605, a granite cross, cut at the Booth Brothers & Hurricane Island Granite Company and presented by the Company, was set up in 1905, by Albert J. Rawley, W. E. Sherer, Ernest Rawley, John Matthews, Edward Fuller and Charles Watts. p.44 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. "great river". Up this river he passed some distance, moving probably with the tide, and falling back to the mouth of the river with the tide. In the middle of the next forenoon he returned to Pentecost harbor, where he aroused the enthusiasm of his associates with the announcement of the discovery he had made. The Friendly Indians. A week and more were spent among the islands and along the coast in added explorations. During this time friendly rela- tions were established with the Indians, who, not long after the arrival of the ship, Archangel in Pentecost harbor, came hither from the mainland in their birch-bark canoes attracted by the presence of the strange vessel with its strange visit- ors. On their first approach the Indians were cautious; "but when", says Rosier, "we showed them knives and their use, by cutting of sticks, and other trifles like combs and glasses, they came close aboard our ship as desirous to entertain our friendship". Upon added acquaintance, trade relations follow- ed; and Rosier records interesting incidents connected with the same, as well as much information concerning the manners and the customs of the natives. But suspicions of treachery on the part of the Indians were at length awakened, and these suspicions, as Rosier records, were made the occasion of kid- napping five of the number.1 Of course such an act brought to an end previous friendly relations. Doubtless Waymouth and his companions had little ground for suspicions of treachery on the part of the Indians. Indeed, this may be inferred from the Relation, inasmuch as Rosier says the seizure was "a matter of great importance for the full accomplishment of our voyage". In other words, it was a part of the voyager's plan, based on the thought that from these natives, after they had learned the English language, they could secure desired information con- cerning their people, rulers, mode of government, etc. footnote 1. The Archangel was the vessel the Indian, Anasou reported to de Monta as already mentioned; but his statement that five Indians had been killed was erroneous. Rosier gives the names of the captured Indians as follows: "Gentlemen: Tahanedo, a Sagamore or Commander. Amoret Skicowaros Maneddo Saffacomoit, a servant." p.45 WAYMOUTH'S VOYAGE. Then, on June 11, with a favoring breeze and tide, Waymouth brought the Archangel into the river he had discovered in his shallop. In glowing words, Rosier gives expression to the thoughts and feelings of the whole company as in their pro- gress up the river they viewed from the high deck of the ship (Archangel), the land on either side. They noted its pleasant fertility; looking into its many "gallant coves"1 on the right and on the left, they beheld the numerous excell- ent places for docking and repairing ships; and again and again, the possibilities which the scene everywhere suggested, deeply stirred and thrilled them. Many of the company had been travelers in various countries and on the most famous rivers; yet, says Rosier, "they affirm- ed them not comparable to this they now beheld". Some who had been with Sir Walter Raleigh in his voyage to Guiana in 1595, and had sailed up the "Orenoque", were raised to loftier en- thusiasm, here. Others, who were familiar with the Seine and Loire, "great and goodly rivers", found in this river of the new world, features that were unequalled in these renowned, historic rivers of Europe. "I will not prefer it before our river of Thames", wrote Rosier, "because it is England's richest treasure; but we all did wish those excellent harbors, good deeps in a contin- ual convenient breadth and small tide gates, to be as well there- in for our country's good, as we found them here (beyond our hopes) in certain, for those to whom it shall please God to grant this land for habitation; which if it had, with the other inseparable adherent commodities here to be found, then I would boldly affirm it to be the richest, beautiful, large and secure harboring river that the world affordeth." This is the language of contagious enthusiasm and easy exaggera- tion, yet one passing up the St. George's river at high water on a beautiful day in May or June, must be unresponsive to nature in her loveliest moods if not in sympathy with Waymouth and his associates - their hearts thrilled with an ecstasy of delight as they Footnote 1. These coves are characteristic features of the St. George's River. The U. S. Coast Survey Chart mentions Deep Cove, Gay Cove, Turkey Cove, Maple Juice Cove, Otis Cove, Watt's Cove, Cuttler's Cove, Broad Cove and Hyler's Cove. p.46 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. looked out upon the many objects of pleasing interest which their eyes everywhere beheld. By some, the river which Waymouth discovered and ascended has been identified with the Penobscot River, and by others, with the Kennebec River, and by still others, as the St. George's River. But both the Penobscot and the Kennebec fail to meet requirements for identification which Rosier's Relation very plainly presents. The breadth and depth of the river, the character of the bottom, and especially the "very many gallant coves" on either side, correspond only to marked features of the St. George's river. Moreover, the direction of the river "as it runneth up into the main", is, as Rosier says, "toward the great mountains". All the way up the St. George's river the Union and Camden mountains are in full view. What mountains will one have in front of him as he sails up the Kennebec or the Penobscot? 1 Waymouth seems to have anchored the Archangel near the present ruins of Fort St. George, on the eastern bank of the river. The next day, in his "light-horseman", with seventeen of his men, he proceeded up the riveer to the "Codde", or bay, at the point where the river trends westward, by the site of Thomaston, Maine. Here the explorers landed and ten of the party marched up into the country toward the mountains back in the main, which they Footnote. 1. Captain J. F. Williams of the U. S. Revenue Service, in his examination of the coast of Maine, in 1797, with reference to Waymouth's discoveries in 1605, identified Pentecost harbor with St. George's Island harbor; but the great river of Rosier's Rela- tion, he identified with the Penobscot river. Williamson, in his History of the State of Maine, and others, adopted the same view. So did Bancroft in the first edition of his History of the United States. In preparing his edition of 1883, after re-studying the subject, he abandoned this view, and adopted the view of George Prince, of Bath, Maine, that the river Waymouth discovered and that he ascended, was the St. George's River. The Kennebec theory was advocated by John McKeen, Esq., of Brunswich, Maine, in 1857, in a paper read before the Maine Historical Society, and was followed by R. K. Sewall, Esq., in his Ancient Dominions. For many years, however, there has been no advocacy of the Penobscot or Kennebec theories that requires notice. A full review of the literature of Waymouth's discovery will be found in Rosier's Relation of Waymouth's voyage to the Coast of Maine, 1605, 39-77. Gorges Society, 1887. p.47 WAYMOUTH'S VOYAGE. first descried on approaching the land. These mountains, as Rosier says, seemed at the outset only a league away; but after they had gone some distance, finding the weather "parching hot" and all be- ing "weary of so tedious and laborsome a travel", Waymouth gave the order to face about, and the party returned to the boat and then to the ship. On the following day the work of exploration was continued by an examination of that part of the river not previously visited, a distance estimated by Rosier as twenty miles. The "beauty and goodness" of the land Rosier mentions with much enthusiasm; also the fact that on the return, at that part of the river which trends westward (as is the case of the St. George's river at Thomaston, Maine), a cross was erected,1 an indication of a claim to English discovery and possession like the cross set up at St. George's harbor. On the Simancas map are indicated such marked features of the landfall of our Maine coast as the Union and Camden mountains. A single mountain, west of the Kennebec, may be intended to represent Mount Washington as seen from the waters near Small Point. But of special interest in connection with Waymouth's voyage and discovery, is the fact that on this may of 1610, the St. George's river, under its Indian name, Tahanock, is delineated with its characteristic features; while at the very point where Waymouth erected a cross, according to Rosier, is the mark of a cross. What is this mark but the indi- cation of the cross which Waymouth set up at this place, and which he entered upon his "perfect geographical map" - the map made at this time and mentioned by Rosier in his Relation? Strong testimony in confirmation of this identification is furn- ished in the fact that on this map of 1610, Monhegan is designated, "I St. George." NO SIGN THAT EVER A CHRISTIAN HAD BEEN BEFORE. Footnote.1 Referring to the erection of the cross at this point, Rosier says: "For this (by the way) we diligently observed, that in no place, either aobut the islands, or up in the main, or along the river, we could discern any token or sign, that ever any Christian had been before; of which either by cutting wood, digging for water, or setting up of crosses (a thing never ommitted by any Christian travelers) we should have perceived some mention left." True Relation - Gorges Society, 145. p.48 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. "I, St. George." - This is the name given to Monhegan by Waymouth and his associates. "The first island we fell with", says Rosier, "was named by us St. George's Island", a name which later was transferred to the group of islands nearer to the main- land. From this further exploration of the river, and this erection of a cross in the interest of the country from which they came, Way- mouth and his men returned to their ship, the Archangel. The object of the expedition, in a degree beyond their strongest hopes, had now been accomplished. They had discovered a bold coast, an "excel- lent and secure harbor for as many ships as any nation professing Christ is able to set forth to sea", a river which the "all- creating God" had made a highway over which the great riches of the land might easily and safely be borne, a land whose invaluable riches the Indians could "neither discern, use, nor rightly esteem"; and it was fitting that without further delay the return to England should be made in order speedily to report to "the honorable setters forth" the success of the expedition which had for its ulitmate end "a public good and true zeal of promulgating God's Holy Church by planting Christianity". The ship Archangel, accordingly, now dropped down the river to its mouth, and then to Pentecost harbor, where water was taken on board; and on the 16th of June, the wind being fair, and all preparations having been completed, Waymouth and his companions set sail.1 TO ENGLAND, HOMEWARD BOUND. Over the summer seeas, establishing on their way confidential relations with their Indian captives, the voyagers returned home- ward, anchoring the Archangel at Dartmouth Haven, England, on July 18th. Rosier's Relation of the voyage ends here. We are not told with what welcome Waymouth and his fellow explorers were received, or upon whose ears the story of their adventures first fell. Footnote.1 The Maine Historical Society celebrated the tercenten- ary of Waymouth's voyage by services at Thomaston and St. George's harbor, in July, 1905. For a report of the proceedings see Maine Historical Society's Collection, Series III, 2, 152-204. p.49 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. HEROES, THEY ALL WERE. But it requires no stretch of the imagination to bring before us the scene as on that Thursday afternoon, about four o'clock, the ship, Archangel came to her anchorage, and the members of the expedition were surrounded by eager questioners. Heroes they all were, but of what special, wondering interest were the five Indians whom Waymouth had brought with him as specimens of the inhabitants of the new world ! It was a thrilling narrative that was told first on the deck of the Archangel, and later in the lounging places of the town where the sailors mingled with a crowd ready to catch any word that might fall from their lips. How long the Archangel remained in Dartmough Haven was not re- corded; and it seems probable that Rosier, the historian of the expedition, leaving the vessel at Dartmough Haven, hurried to London, to place before the promoters of the voyage the tidings which they so eagerly awaited. According to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Waymouth brought the Archangel into the harbor of Plymouth, England, where Gorges was in command of the fort. This was after the arrival at Dartmouth Haven, for Rosier tells us that Dartmouth Haven was the first "harbor in England" enter- ed by Waymouth and his fellow voyagers on their return. While the Archangel was in Plymouth harbor, Waymouth delivered into the care of Sir Fernando Gorges, three of the Indians seized at Pentecost harbor.1 Gorges regarded the seizure of these Indians as a matter of prime importance in connection with new- world colonization schemes. In his "Briefe Narration," referr- ing to the Indians who came into his possession at this time, he says, "This accident must be acknowledged the means under God Footnote.1 (Baxter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Prince Society, II, 8) says the names of the three he received were: "Manida, Skett- warroes and Tasquantam. Manida is evidently the Maneddo of Rosier. Tasquantum is the name of an Indian captured by Thomas Hunt, the Master of a vessel in Captain John Smith's voyage of 1614, and Gorges is in error in including his name here. In his Briefe Narration, Gorgers mentions one of these Indians under the name of Dehamda. Evidently he is the same as the one called by Rosier, Tahanedo, also known as Nahanada. The other two Indians seized at Pentecost harbor were assigned, it is supposed, to Sir John Popham. p.50 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. of putting on foot and giving life to all our plantations". With ever deepening interest Gorges listened to the answers these Indians gave to his eager questionings. "The longer I conversed with them," he says, "the better hope they gave me of those parts where they did inhabit, as proper for our uses; especially when I found what goodly rivers, stately islands and safe harbors those parts abounded with, being the special marks I levelled at, as the only want our nation met with in all their navigations along that coast. And having kept them full three years, I made them able to set me down what great rivers ran up into the land, what men of note were seated on them, what power they were of, how allied, what enemies they had and the like." There is no record of Waymouth's return to London and of his in- terview with the promoters of the expedition. Arundell had been elevated to the peerage, and only a month after the return of the Archangel, he was appointed Colonel of an English regiment raised for service in Holland. It is probable, therefore, that he was henceforth engaged in other enterprises than those on this side of the sea. The Earl of Southampton, however, continued his interest in American colonization, but in connection with the London Company of Virginia. In that company's second charter his name stands alone to those of the high officers of state; and he remained at the head of its governing board until the second charter was taken away. So far as English colonization on the Maine coast was concerned, however, the loss of influence of men of such prominence was more than made good by the increased active interest of Sir John Popham. His vigorous personality, and commanding position as chief justice of England, made him force- ful in any undertaking. Information concerning Waymouth's voyage probably came to him from Waymouth himself; also from Rosier's Relation, which was published in London soon after the return of the Archangel. Moreover, two of the Waymouth's Indians came into his possession, and from them he must have received information that could hardly have failed to increase and deepen his interest in the country from which these Indians p.51 WAYMOUTH'S VOYAGE. came. Doubtless Gorges, also, intensified this awakening interest manifested by the chief justice; and the mind of Sir John Popham was soon busy with plans for taking possession of the territory thus open to English occupation and trade relations. This, however, he would have undertaken and carried forward under royal authority. His plans as they ripened involved the formation of colonies by chartered companies under license from the Crown. Plainly in matters pertaining to new-world enterprises the chief justice saw more clearly the demands of the future than did his contemporaries. p.52 WAYMOUTH'S VOYAGE. CHAPTER V. ADDED ENDEAVORS AND EXPLORATIONS. WILLIAM PARKER & THOMAS LOVE. In the added attention given to English colonization as the re- sult of Waymouth's successful expedition, there was a stirring of private interests as well as those of a public nature. Before Popham and the men in agreement with him had received the royal charter for which they asked, and which gave them authority to take possession of the country between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, thus shutthing out private enterprise, certain mer- chants of Plymouth, England, William Parker, Thomas Love, - came and William Morgan, had entered into an agreement with Captain George Waymouth "to carry them with their shipping, and provisions" to Virginia, "there to fish, traffic, and to do what else shall be fitting for a merchant voyage". These Plymouth merchants lost no time in their effort thus to seize the opportunity for securing profitable returns in a business venture. For some reason, however, this agreement was almost immediately annulled, evidently because of another and more liberal arrangement on the part of Waymouth; for October 30, 1605, he entered into a formal agreement with Sir John Zouche of Codnor, in Derbyshire, "for and concerning a voyage intended to be made unto the land commonly called by the name of Virginia upon the continent of America."1 On the part of Sir John, it was agreed that at his own cost he should set forth two ships fitted and furnished with "all necessa- ries of victual, provision, munition and two hundred able and sufficient men; that is to say, of such trades and arts as are fitting for a plantation and colony, before the last day of April, next." Sir John also agreed to pay to Captain Waymouth within twenty- Footnote.1. This agreement will be found in Alexander Brown's Genesis of the United States, I, 33-35. p.53 ADDED ENDEAVORS AND EXPLORATIONS. one days a hundred pounds "lawful English money....in considera- tion of his 'travell' and pains to be taken in and about the said voyage and for his own charge defraying". Sir John furthermore agreed to allow the merchants of Plymouth, England, whose contract with Captain Waymouth had just been annulled, liberty "to make their trade for what commodities soever without any hindrance or disturb- ance on his part, or any of his followers under his command, for the space of one whole year now next coming, and not after". It was also agreed that Sir John Zouche, "being Chief Commander", should give to Waymouth, "the next place of command under himself as well at sea as at land." Manifestly the purpose that lay at the foundation of this agree- ment was the English occupation and possession of that part of the American coast, which Waymouth had visited and explored. How this territory was to be appropriated is indicated in the closing para- graph of the agreement on the part of Sir John, which was as follows: "Item, if it so please God to prosper and bless the said intended voyage and the actions of the same, that thereby the land aforesaid shall be inhabited with our English nation, and according to 'Polli- ticque' estate of Government proportion of land be allotted to such as shall be transported thither to inhabit; that then, after the said Sir John Zouche shall have made his choice and assumed into his poss- ession in manner of inheritance such quantity of land as he, the said Sir John, shall think good; then he, the said Captain George Way- mouth and his assigns, shall and may make his or their own choice of land for his or their possession and plantation; to hold the same in tenure of him, the said Sir John, as 'Lord Paramount'; which said land so by the said Captain Waymouth to be chosen shall descend to his heirs or assigns, or shall be upon reasonable consi- derations to his or their uses employed or disposed." On Waymouth's part the agreement was that with his "best endeavor, council and advice", he should aid Sir John in the fitting out of the expedition; that he should be ready to go with him in the voyage "at such time as is limited or before, unless p.54 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. hindered by sickness or other such visitation"; that on the arrival of the expedition he should assist in the planting of the colony, work of fortification, and whatever else should be thought fitting by Sir John; and finally, that he should not aid, "by per- son or direction to any other in or for the said pretended land or voyage without the consent or allowance of the said Sir John". One of the witnesses to this agreement was James Rosier, who worte the Relation of Waymouth's voyage. Two days after the signing of this agreement, the Guy Fawkes gun- powder plot, which was to have been consummated on the assembling of Parliament, November 5th, was made known to King James. The arrest, trial and execution of those connected with the plot follow- ed, and for the time attracted public attention to such an extent, that the plans and purposes of Sir John Zouche and Captain Waymouth could have received little attention.1 But that which of itself was sufficient to bring to naught the agreement between the two was the Royal Charter2 granted on April 10, 1606, to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, Richard Hakluyt, Thomas Hanham3, Ralegh Gilbert, William Parker, George Popham and others, incorporating two companies for the purpose of promoting English colonization "in that part of America, commonly called, 'Virginia'" This Charter, prepared in its first draft by Sir Johnb Popham as is supposed, was granted on petition; but the petition has not come down to us, and its date and its signers are unknown. As some time would be required for the work of drawing up the Charter, as well as for its consideration by the various officers of the crown to whom it was submitted for examination, the Petition was probably presented to King Footnote. 1. Sir John Zouche, notwithstanding his present failure, did not lose his interest in English enterprises in the new world. In 1631, he received an appointment on "the commission for the better plantation of Virginia", and in 1634 he went to Virginia to visit his son and daughter, who were living there". 2. Genesis of the United States, II, 46-63. 3. The "h" in the name was adopted from the time of Sir John Hanham, oldest son of Thomas & Penelope (Popham) Hanham, and brother of Captain Thomas Hanham. p.55 ADDED ENDEAVORS AND EXPLORATIONS. as early as the last quarter of 1605. The petition for the terri- tory "situate, lying and being all along the seacoast" between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth degrees of north latitude, "and in the mainland between, together with the islands thereunto adja- cent, or within one hundred miles of the coast thereof". The petitioners asked to be divided into two colonies or companies, the one, consisting of certain knights, gentlemen, merchants and other adventurers of London and vicinity, who wished to establish their plantation in some fit place between the thirty-fourth and fortieth degrees of north latitude, was generally known as the London Company; the other, consisting of sundry Knights, gentle- men, merchants and other adventurers of Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth and other places, who wished to establish their plantation in some fit place between the 38th and 45th degrees of north latitude, was generally known as the Plymouth Company. In the Charter, the first colony was granted the territory between the thirty-fourth and forty-first degrees, also fifty miles south of this location, while to the second colony, was granted the terri- tory between the 38th and the 45th degrees, also fifty miles farther north. This overlapping of limits in grants of territory in the new world was not a matter of unfrequent occurrence, as an examination of later Grants shows. In the Charter, however, this wholesome provision was added. "That the plantation and habitation of such of the said colonies, as shall last plant themselves as aforesaid, shall not be made within one hundred like English miles of the other of them, that first began to make their plantation as afore- said." Furthermore, no others of the King's subjects were permitted to "plant or inhabit behind or on the backside of them, without the express license or consent of the Council of the Colony, thereunto in writing first had and obtained." Although Sir John Popham's name does not occur in the Charter, it is well known that he was one of the most active of those engaged in the movement for obtaining it. Evidently he saw very clearly the importance of government control in opening to English p.56 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. colonization the vast territory of the new world, only glimpses of which had been obtained by the expeditions of Ralegh in the south, and those of Gosnold, Pring and Waymouth in the north. Private plantations had not been successful and Sir John Popham, and those who agreed with him, had good reasons for their belief that public plantations had the best prospect of success. The Popham idea pre- vailed, and brought to an end private enterprises on the part of English adventurers like Sir John Zouche, who were ready to seize and to hold as much of American territory as they could secure. cAPT. CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT AND CAPT. BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD. An expedition fitted out under this Charter for the establishment of the "first colony in Virginia", sailed from London in three vessels on December 20, 1606, with Captain Christopher Newport as commander of the voyage, and Captain Bartholomew Gosnold as vice- Admiral. But Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Sir John Popham and those in the territory discovered by Waymouth, evidently deemed it a wiser course to engage in added exploration before colonization. Gorges seems to have been the inspiring spirit in this movement. THE SHIP, RICHARD. Sailed from England, Aug 12, 1606. Henry Challons, Captain & Nicholas Hines, Master & John Stoneman, Pilot. A vessel, the Richard, of Plymouth, England, was secured for the voyage, and under the command of Henry Challons, as Captain, with Nicholas Hine as Master, and John Stoneman as pilot, the ship, Richard sailed from Plymouth harbor, England August 12, 1606.1 The vessel was a small one, registering only 55 tons or thereabouts. In it were twenty-nine Englishmen and two of the five Indians captur- ed Footnote.1 An account of Challons' voyage, first printed in Purchas's Pilgrimes IV, 1832-1837, was reprinted in Brown's Genesis of the United States, I, 127-139. Another account entitled The Relation of Daniel Tucker, Merchant, being employed by divers adventurers of Plymouth to go as factor of a ship bound for Florida, written by himself the 4th day of February, 1606, has a place among the Cecil Papers at Hatfield House. It was enclosed in a letter, sent at the time to Cecil by Gorges, and is included in the documents printed in the third volume of Baxter's "Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Providence of Maine, published by the Prince Society, 1890, III, 129-132. In the above, the writer has followed Stoneman's more ex- tended, and apparently more carefully prepared, narrative, which in a few particulars differs from that by Tucker. p.57 ADDED ENDEAVORS AND EXPLORATIONS. adventured by Waymouth, namely "Maneddo and Assacomoit", or, as recorded by Rosier in his Relation, "Maneddo and Saffacomoit". Why Waymouth was not placed in command of the ship, Richard, does not appear in the accounts of the voyage that have come down to us. That he was ready to undertake such an expedition is made evident by the agreement into which he entered with Sir John Zouche. In all probability, his agreement to serve Sir John, in his endeavor to turn Waymouth's discoveries to personal advantage, brought him into disfavor with those who were interested in the northern colony. Gorges says he gave Challons instruction to take a northerly course as high as the latitude of Cape Breton, until the main land was sighted, and that then he was to sail southward, following the coast until, from the Indians who were with him, he was told that he had reached that part of the American coast "they were assigned unto." Challons, on the contrary, paid no attention to his in- structions and, following the course of earlier voyagers, generally, made the Canary Islands the starting point of his expedition. This course could not have been taken because of contrary winds, inasmuch as Stoneman, in his narrative of the voyage, makes no mention of such winds until after the Canary Islands were reached. But leaving those islands, contrary winds baffled them. For six weeks they were driven in a southerly direction, and the voyagers found themselves at the end of that time at the Island of Saint Lucia, one of the Lesser Antilles, twenty-nine degrees out of their way. After a delay of three days at that port, the ship, Richard, was started northward. But there was further delay at Porto Rico, where "the captain went ashore for the recovery of his health, while the company took in water and such other provisions as they had use of, expending some time there, hunting after such things as best pleased themselves." At length, leaving Porto Rico and proceeding northward one hundred and eighty leagues, Challons en- countered a severe storm which continued ten days. At its close, "in a thick fog of mist and rain", he found himself surrounded by eight Spanish ships, which bore p.58 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. Maine Indian, Assacomoit wounded by the Spanish. down upon the ship (Richard) and compelled her surrender. Among the wounded in Challon's company was Assacomoit,1 one of the two Indians the ship, Richard, was bearing homeward. Challons and his men, including the Indians, were taken to Spain as captives. Some of them, at length were liberated, some escaped from prison, and others sickened and died.2 Gorges says, "The affliction of the captain and his company put the Lord Chief Justice Popham to charge, and myself to trouble in procuring their liberties, which was not suddenly obtained". So ended the Challons' ill-fated exped- ion from which Gorges had expected so much.3 Another vessel, fitted out by Sir John Popham for the purpose of co-operating with the ship, Richard, in the exploration of the coast visited by Waymouth, left England not long after the Challons' departure. Of the vessel, Thomas Hanham4 was the commander, and Footnotes: 1. Gorges, in his Briefe Narration, at the opening of Chapter XII, says he "recovered Assacomoit" from Spanish captivity. 2. Thayer, The Sagadahoc Colony, p.11, says: "Stoneman was questioned closely respecting the Virginia coast and offered large wages to draw maps. His sturdy loyal refusal remanded him to prison, and when, later enlarged on parole he learned he was in danger of the rack to extort the desired information, he made es- cape, and by the way if Lisbon he reached Cornwall, England on November 26, 1607; sixteen months after embarkation at Plymouth." Challons was not released until the following May. 3. Gorges, in a letter to Challons, dated Plymouth, England, March 13, 1607, wrote: "I rest satisfied for your part of the proceedings of the voyage". 4. Little has come down to us concerning this assoc- iate with Pring in the voyage of 1606. As Sir John Popham's old- est daughter, Penelope, married a Thomas Hanham, Thayer (Sagad- ahoc Colony, 145.) inclines to the view that the Chief Justice "selected his trusy son-in-law to be the controlling agent" in the expedition. Alexander Brown thought it probable that the Han- ham of Pring's voyage was a son of the same name (Genesis of the United States, II, 909. It is now known that such was the fact, as the Thomas Hanham who married Penelope Popham, died August 30, 1593, had a son, Thomas Hanham, of Wimborne Minster, who married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Robert Broughton of County Somer- set, England. To him the Dorset History (III, 232) makes refer- ence as follows: "Thomas Hanham, Esquire, the 2nd son of Thomas last mentioned, was one of the members of the Long Parliament that attended (continued, footnotes, p.59) p.59 ADDED ENDEAVORS AND EXPLORATIONS. Martin Pring, who commanded the expedition of 1603, was Master. Gorges makes no mention of Hanham in his reference to the voyage, and it is evident that his position was a nominal one as a repre- sentative of Sir John Popham, the chief promoter of the expedi- tion. Unfortunately we have no record of this voyage. That a Relation was prepared by Hanham is learned from Purchas,1 who mentions such a narrative. Purchas had a copy of it about the year 1624. Possibly it may have come into his possession with the Hakluyt papers, which were placed in his hands after Hakluyt's death. Why he did not publish the record in his Pilgrimes, it is diffi- cult to conjecture on account of the significance of the voyage from its connection with the fitting out of the Popham colony. Purchas might well have ommitted many another narrative in order to give place to this. Although we have no record of the date of Pring's departur for the King at Oxford, and subscribed the letter for peace to the Earl of Essex. In a grant of land in North America, made to him (the reference is to the Charter of April 10, 1606, authorizing two companies for colon- izing North America) with Lord Chief Justice Popham, Sir Thomas Gorges, etc., he is styled Thomas Hanham, Esq., and also Captain Hanham. He was buried in Wimborne Minster, where is his monument." Unfortunately (prob- ably because of a comparatively recent restoration of the edifice), this memorial of Captain Hanham is no longer to be seen. The 1868 edition of the Dorset History, however, contains the inscription of the Memorial as printed in an earlier edition, with the statement that formerly, at the upper end of the south aisle of the Minster, was an altar tomb of gray marble. The inscription follows: GRAY MARBLE TOMB OF THOMAS HANHAM-INSCRIPTION. "Here lyeth the body of Thomas Hanham, late of Dean's Court, England, second son of Thomas Hanham, Sergeant at Law and of Penelope, his wife, the daughter of Sir John Popham, Kt., Lord Chief Justice of England, who departed this life the 1st day of August in the 76th year of his age, Anno D. Ni, 1652". Accordingly, Captain Thomas Hanham was abouot thirty years of age at the time of the voyage of 1606. The second son of Captain Thomas Hanham, and also named Thomas Hanham, died June 17, 1650. A mural monument of white marble, erected by Margaret, "his loving and sad widow", and containing "his portraiture and her own, intending if God so please to be interred by him" (History, III, 218), has come down to us and is now at the west end of the north aisle of the nave of Wimborne Minster. Footnote. 1. Pilgrimes, Ed. of 1624, IV, 1837. p.60 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. BY Henry S. Burrage, DD. the coast of Maine, Gorges says1 that Pring's vessel followed the Richard "within two months". Probably Pring sailed from Bristol, and the voyage, as may be inferred from Challon's instructions, and what Gorges says con- derning it, was a direct one to the American coast. St. George's harbor, the Pentecost harbor of Waymouth's anchorage in 1605, was doubtless the place of rendezvous agreed upon by Challons and Pring. Not to meet Chall- ons there, or in the vicinity, was a matter of surprise and disappoint- ment to those who followed him and expected to find the work of added ex- ploration already well advanced. There may have been some little loss of time in searching for the co-operating vessel, but the favorable season for accomplishing satisfactory work was drawing to a close, and Hanham and Pring soon entered upon the task assigned to them. The coast was carefully examined,2 and the explorations made by Waymouth the year before were con- siderably extended. Especially was attention given to that part of the coast lying west of the territory of Waymouth's discoveries. The Sagadahoc, now called the Kennebec, was found to be a larger and more important river than that which evoked so much admiration from the explor- ers on the ship, the Archangel. It also afforded much larger trade facili- ties with the Indians and on this account offered advantages for a settle- ment that ought not to be overlooked. Accordingly, the location of the river and directions with reference to its entrance were carefully noted. Indeed all facts necessary in planning for the establishment of a colony in the explored territory were sought for and made available for use on the vessel's return to England. Gorges implies that Pring was obliged to cut short his work of explora- tion by the approach of winter, and such seems to have been the fact. The vessel that bore the expedition hither left England about the first of October, and if ten weeks are allowed Tahanedo, one of Waymouth's captured Indians. Footnotes: 1. Letter to Challons, March 13, 1607. 2. In this work Hanham and Pring had the assistance of Dehamda (Rosier's Tahanedo), one of Waymouth's captured In- dians, whom they brought with them and left in the country on their return. p.61 ADDED ENDEAVORS AND EXPLORATIONS. for the voyage and subsequent examination of the coast, Hanham and Pring could not have set out on their return much before the close of the year. Their arrival in England was on an unknown date. It was a winter voyage, and there were doubtless storms and delays. But Port was at length reached - Bristol, England, probably - and Popham and those who were interested in the voyage were at once made acquainted with its encouraging results. Gorges in his reference to it1 makes mention of Pring's "perfect discovery of all those rivers and harbors", which his report describ- ed: and he calls it "the most exact discovery" of the coast that had come into his hands. While he makes no mention of Hanham's connection with the expedition, he pays high tribute to Pring, whose services had proved so acceptable, and had achieved success so greatly desired. "His relation of the same", adds Gorges, "wrought such an impression in the Lord Chief Justice and us all, that were his associates, that notwith- standing our first disaster, we set up our resolutions to follow it with effect."2 Footnotes. 1. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II,11. 2. Pring's later service was largely connected with the East Indies. In 1617, he was General of the East India fleet. In 1622, the Quarter Court of the Virginia Company made Captain Martin Pring a freeman of the company and gave him two shares of land in Virginia. Brown (Genesis of the United States, II, 973) considers it probable that Pring "died on his voyage to Virginia, or very soon after his return to England", probably in 1626, at the age of 46. His monument in St. Stephen's Church, Bristol, England, bears witness to the high esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens. The following is the inscription which is recorded on the Memorial Tablet: To the Pious Memorie of Martin Pringe, Merchant, sometyme Generall to the East Indies, and one of ye Fraternity of the Trinity House. The living worth of this dead man was such That this fayr Touch can give you but a Touch Of his admired gifts; These quartered Arts, Enriched his knowledge and ye spheare imparts; His heart's true embleme where pure thoughts did move, By a most sacred Influence from above. Prudence and Fortitude are top this tombe, Which in brave Pringe took up ye chiefest roome; Hope, Time supporters showe that he did clyme The highest pitch of Hope through not of Tyme. p.62 His painefull, skillfull travayles reacht as farre As from the Artic to the Antartick starre; He made himself a Shipp. Religion His only compass, and the truth alone His guiding cynosure: Faith was his sailes, His anchour - Hope. A hope that never failes, His freighte was Charitie, and his returne A fruitful practice. In this fatal urne His shipp's fayre buick is lodged, but ye rich ladinge Is housed in Heaven. A heaven never fading. Hic terris multum jactatus et undis. Salutis 1626 Obit anno Aetatis 46 CHAPTER VI. THE POPHAM COLONY. The Southern Virginia Company, as stated in the preceding chapter, had already despatched colonists to the new world. There also was a movement for a like undertaking on the part of the Northern, or Plymouth company. Conferences were held by the members of the com- pany with others interested in the expansion of England's territory and trade. With enthusiasm, the work of organizing the proposed colony was commenced. As this work, at least for the most part, was carried forward at Plymouth, Gorges, who was in command of the fort at that place, may be regarded as most conspicuous in this service, as well as in making preparations for the voyage. Difficulties were encountered as the work proceeded. A glimpse of these is afforded in a letter1 which the Mayor of Plymouth addressed May 10, 1606, to Lord Salisbury, King James' Secretary of State, suggesting some modifica- tion of the Charter. Sir John Popham, he wrote, had invited the co- operation of some of the prominent citizens of Plymouth; but some of the provisions of the Charter were objectionable, especially the pro- vision that placed the direction of the affairs of the Colony in the control of a Council, the majority of whose members were "strangers to us and our proceedings". They accordingly asked the prime minist- er's protection and help. This complaint was not sent to Lord Salis- bury without the knowledge of Sir Ferdinando Gorges; for on the same day, Gorges addressed a letter2 to the Prime Minister, explaining further the position taken by the men of Plymouth, who, he wrote, were at first well disposed and ready "to be large adventurers" but had now withdrawn their Footnotes: 1. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 122, 123. 2. Ib., III, 123-126. p.64 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. CAPTAIN LOVE. aid and refused to have anything to do with the work to be under- taken. Evidently, Gorges considered this a very undesirable situ- ation, and he urged a change in the provisions of the Charter to which objection had been made, believing that in this way the interest of "many worthy and brave spirits" could be secured. The complaint of the Mayor of Plymouth and his associates was laid be- fore Lord Salisbury by Captain Love, the bearer of the letter. No word concerning the result has been preserved, so far as is known. Such, however, was the success of the efforts of the Chief Justice in connection with the fitting out of the Popham colony, that harm- ony of action among those interested in the enterprise seems at length to have been reached. SHIPS, "GIFT OF GOD" AND "THE MARY & JOHN" THE SHIPS, "GIFT OF GOD"1 and the "MARY AND JOHN"2 - the tonnage of both unknown - were secured for transporting the colon- ists and their stores to the selected location of the colony. Concerning the number of the colonists, and the manner in which they were obtained, there is little information. Gorges makes mention of "one hundred landsmen". Probably he does not include in this designation "divers gentlemen of note", who are said to have accompanied the expedition. Strachery says that the ship, "Gift of God" and the ship, the "Mary and John" carried "one hundred and twenty for planters". To this number, of course, must be added the the number of the crews of the two vessels in order to make up the full number of persons connect with the enterprise. In providing the funds that were necessary for the purpose of fitting out and establishing the Colony, Sir John Popham doubt- less had a prominent place. He not only made large contributions when calls for money came, but he interested many of his friends and acquaintances in the work to which, with so much enthusiasm, he had put his hands. In one way or another the funds Footnotes. 1. In the Lambeth Palace manuscript the name of this vessel is the "Gift". The fuller title is given by Strachey, who calls the vessel a "fly boat", that is, a light draught vessel. 2. Gorges erroneously says there were "three sail of ships". Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his ship, Province of Maine, III, 13. p.65 THE POPHAM COLONY. were raised and the expedition was made ready. May 31, 1607, was the sailing day. The ships, Gift of God, and the Mary and John, the former commanded by George Popham1 and the latter by Ralegh Gilbert2 - lay in the old harbor of Plymouth, England, now known as Sutton's Pool, the same harbor from which the Mayflower sailed, thirteen years later. Gorges, doubtless, was present at the de- parture of the colonists. Doubtless, too, Sir John Popham was there, having laid aside his official robes and left London in order by his presence to give forceful expression to the hopes he entertained, both for himself and the nation, in establishing an English colony in northern Virgina. All Plymouth, too, was there, prominent merchants, military and other professional men, fisher- men and seamen, all much interested in an enterprise that was de- signed to bring the old and new worlds into close and prosperous relations. As the ships, Gift of God and the Mary and John sailed out of the harbor, the vessels were saluted by the guns of the fort, while from the Hoe the heartfelt benedictions and best wishes of a great company followed the colonists until the vessels had dis- appeared upon the horizon. A brief account of the fortunes of the Popham colony appeared Footnotes.1. George Popham was the 2nd son of Edward Popham, and was a nephew of the Chief Justice. He was born about 1553- 1555, and before his appointment in connection with the Popham colony he held the position of "his Majesty's customer of the Port of Bridgewater". His name appears in the Charter for the North and South Virginia colonies in 1606, and he was the first president of the colony in North Virginia. 2. Ralegh Gilbert, a son of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and the nephew of Sir Walter Ralegh, was also mentioned in the Charter of 1606. While the date of his birth is unknown, it is supposed that when he joined the Popham colony, he was not far from 30 yrs. of age. Evidently he was lacking in the finer personal qualities of life and Gorges' portraiture of him (in a letter to Secretary Cecil, Baxter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges, III, 158) is not a favor- able one. Concerning his administration of the affairs of the Colony after the death of President Popham, we have no informa- tion. As Thayer says, it "may have been vigilant and wholly satis- factory to the patrons", The Sagadahoc Colony, 32. He was made a member of the Council for New England in 1620. p.66 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. Capt. John Smith's "General History of New England" in 1614 in Purchas's Pilgrimes. This was followed in 1622 by a short statement in A Briefe Relation of the Discovery and Plantation of New England by the President and Council. In 1624, Captain John Smith in- cluded in his General History of New England, a brief record of the Popham enterprise. These were the principal sources of information con- cerning the Colony until 1849, when the Hakluyt Society published Will- iam Strachey's "Historie of Travaile into Virginia Brittania" written about 1616. Evidently the narrative was based upon sources not in the possession of the earlier writers, and Strachey's account of the ex- periences of the Popham colonists was the best available until 1875, when a manuscript, once in the possession of Sir Fernando Gorges, and containing a journal, written by one connected with the colony, was discovered in the Library of Lambeth Palace, London.1 It covers a period of about four months, that is, from the departure of the ex- pedition from the Lizard, June 1, 1607, to September 26, 1607. With this last date, the manuscript abruptly closes; but as Strachery, by many evidences which his narrative furnishes, is believed to have used this manuscript in preparing his account of the Popham Colony, his continuation of the story from September 26 is believed, for the same reason, to have been based upon that part of the Lambeth Palace manu- script, which in some way was afterward lost and is still lacking. Although in the title of the manuscript the name of the author is not mentioned, indications in the narrative point almost unmistakably to the conclusion that the writer was James Davies, one of Gilbert's officers on the ship, Mary and John, and otherwise prominently connect- ed with the colony. The narrative of the voyage begins at "the Lizard"2 on the first of June, the day after the vessels sailed out of the harbor of Plymouth, England, fifty miles away. Thence both vessels, instead of taking the direct westerly course to the American coast, as did Gosnold Footnotes.1. This manuscript, known in the Lambeth Palace Library as Ms. No. 806, was discovered in 1876 by the Reverend Dr. B. F. De Costa of New York, and was first printed from the original manuscript in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society for May, 1880. 2. At the southwest extremity of the county of Cornwall, England. p.67 THE POPHAM COLONY. The ship, Mary and John. and Pring, followed Waymouth's course in the ship, Archangel, and sailed southerly to the Azores islands, which were reached in twenty- four days. June 27, at the island of Flores, a landing was made fir wood and water. Continuing the voyage, Popham and Gilbert fell in with two Flemish vessels June 29th, and Captain Gilbert, as a token of friendly feeling, invited the Captain of one of the vessels to come aboard the ship Mary and John. The invitation was accepted, and the Flemish Captain was kindly received and hospitably entertained. On his departure, the guest cordially invited Gilbert and a few others on the Mary and John to accompany him to his ship, apparently moved thereto by the kindly reception he himself had received. To this "earnest en- treaty", Gilbert and those with him yielded, but to their surprise, on reaching the Flemish vessel, they were treated as prisoners, some of the party being placed in the "bibows" (bildoes,) and others being subjected to "wild and shameful abuses". It happened, however, that in the crew of the Flemish vessel were English sailors, who, noticing this affront to their countrymen, found opportunity to make known to Gilbert their determination to stand by him and his companions. When the Flemish Captain discovered this evidence of a threatened uprising on the part of his own men, the situation was not pleasing to him. He accordingly hastened to release the prisoners, and returned them to their own ship to their "no small joy".1 THE SHIP, GIFT OF GOD, AND POPHAM. Meanwhile, Popham, in the ship, Gift of God, either had not seen, or failed to answer the signals of distress made by the Mary and John. His action is n ot explained in the narrative, which seems to imply unworthy conduct on his part in sailing away without an attempt at assistance.2 The two vessels thus fell apart, and did Footnotes.1 The narratives of the voyages of that day furnish abundant illustrations of the fact that such dis- courtesies at sea between representatives of rival nations were by no means uncommon. 2. Thayer (The Sagadahoc Colony, 39, note), says, Captain Popham may be fairly entitled to the benefit of the doubt if he saw or comprehended the signals". It is certain- ly in favor of this view that no added mention of the inci- dent appears in the "Relation." p.68 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. JULY 27TH - THE Nova Scotia Coast. not again come together until their arrival on the American coast. When this affair with the Flemish ship occurred, the ship Mary and John was ten leagues southwest of Flores. Continu- ing the voyage to the American Coast, the vessel reached sound- ings on July 27th, in latitude 43 degrees, 1. and July 30, land was descried, evidently the Nova Scotia coast. THE RIVER, PENOBSCOT, MAINE. Gilbert anchored2 and landed, but his stay was brief, and he proceeded down the coast on his way to the appointed rendezvous. On August 5, land again was sighted. In the narrative there is an outline sketch of the view, that was obtained by the voyagers in thus approaching the coast - a view of the high mountains "in up- on the main-land unto the river of Penobscot." SHIP MARY & JOHN APPROACH COAST OF MAINE. MATINICUS ISLANDS. Such they knew them to be from the maps of Waymouth and Pring, in their possession. Both the sketch and the narrative make it evi- dent that the ship, Mary and John, in now approaching the coast, must have been some distance southeast of the Matinicus Islands. THE CAMDEN MOUNTAINS. The mountains were the Camden mountains, noteworthy features of the coast to any mariner approaching the land at this point. Gilbert and his men now knew that the designated meeting-place of the vessels, in case of separation, was not far away. THE SHIP MARY AND JOHN & MATINIICUS ISLANDS. Proceeding in toward the coast, the ship, Mary & John, her en- tire ship's company alert with interest, came at length to the Matinicus islands easily recognizable from the narrative. A 2nd outline sketch of the mountains towards which the Mary and John was moving is here inserted in the Lambeth manuscript, showing the changed appearance of the mountains, as seen from this near- er point of approach. At these islands the vessel's course was made, "west and west by north" towartds three other islands, eight leagues from the islands before mentioned. Differences of Near a part of Sable Island bank. Footnotes. 1. Here, sounding, they had ground in 18 fath- oms, and fished with such success that they caught about one hundred cod - "very great and large fish, bigger and larger fish than that which comes from the bank of New- foundland. Here we might have laden our ship in lesst time than a month." Evidently they were on a portion of Sable Island bank. 2. The Relation also makes reference to the fish caught there; "We took great store of cod fishes, the biggest and largest that I ever saw or any man in our ship ever saw." p.69 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE 1602-1658 BY HENRY S. BURRAGE. THE SHIP MARY AND JOHN opinion have found expression as to the three islands to which refer- ence is thus made. The record is brief, and it is difficult to ob- tain from it that accurage information which a fuller statement would have supplied. But the general direction seems unmistakable. Follow- ing down the coast from Matinicus Islands, the course of the ship, Mary and John must have been in the direction of the St. George's Islands.1 A careful examination of the narrative in light of such facts as are now obtainable, warrants this statement. It was ten o'clock at night when an approach to these islands was made. "We bore in with one of them", is the record, and the inference is that other islands were near. In fact, in the clear light of the morning that followed, the voyagers on the Mary and John found themselves "environed" with islands, and the narrative adds "near thirty", which is evidently an estimate. The anchorage, therefore, was not at Monhegan, as some have maintained. The "Relation" excludes any such view. No mariner, anchored at Monhegan, would refer to his vessel as "environed" with "neara thirty islands". On the other hand, if the ship, Mary and John, guided by directions derived from the narratives of the voyages of Waymouth and Pring, anchored in what is now known as St. George's harbor, the mention of evnironing islands "near thirty" - is in harmony with easily recognized facts as to dist- ance and direction.2 It should be added, furthermore, that the Relation makes the anchor- age of the Mary and John, not far from the island on which Waymouth erected a cross as a token of English possession. The statement is, "We here found a cross set up, the which we suppose was set up by George Wayman"." Rosier's Narrative of Footnote. 1. No other view can be brought into harmony with the plain statement of the narrative. 2. See Thayer's Sagadahoc Colony, pp. 50-52 note, where the facts are presented with great clearness and force. 3. Their finding the cross, which they supposed was erected by George Waymouth two years before, is very signifi- cant. Captain Gilbert unquestionably had with him a copy of Rosier's Relation, and probably a copy of Waymouth's "geo- graphical map". Hence his readiness in discovering the cross and his (footnotes continued end of p. 70 below). p.70 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. Waymouth's voyage affords no foundation whatever for the supposi- tion that the Cross, which Waymouth erected on an island on the coast of Maine, was erected on Monhegan. His brief visit to that island was from his anchorage north of it on his first approach to the coast, and was for the purpose of obtaining wood and water. On the following day, from that anchorage, he brought the Archangel "along to the other islands more adjoining to the main, and in the road directly with the mountains." he had seen on approaching the coast. The St. George's islands, extending in a line nearly north northeast and south southwest for about five miles, answer fully to this direction, as has already been stated. Gilbert and his men were not long in finding the cross that Waymouth erected on one of these islands, confirming the other facts in their possession, that the designated place of rendezvous had been reached. Gilbert's first anchorage, which was made somewhat hastily under the circumstances, was not found to be satisfactory, and a better one was secured on the following day. While the necessary examin- ation was in progress, and the ship Mary and John was "standing off a little", a sail was descried at sea, but "standing in to- wards this island", namely the island near which the ship Mary and John had been anchored. Gilbert at once sailed out to meet the stranger, and it was soon discovered that the new arrival, as was hoped for, was Gilbert's consort - the ship, The Gift of God. Evid- ently differences as to the cause of the separation were at once forgotten; and in the joy of thier "happy meeting" the two vessels sailed into the appointed haven and "there anchored both together." The language of the book The Relation, is plain and there is no warrant whatever for the view maintained by some writers before the discovery of the Lambeth Palace manuscript, that this anchor- age was at Monhegan. The island near which both vessels anchored was Footnotes.(continued) identification of it as the one set up by Weymouth. He had brought the Mary and John into Pentecoat harbor. Thayer (Sagadahoc Colony, p.55) is evidently correct in his infer- ence that Waymouth's cross was erected on the north end of Allen's island. p.71 THE POPHAM COLONY. no other than the island in the vicinity of which the ship, Mary and John anchored on her arrival on the coast; and this, as has already been shown, was not the island of Monhegan, but the one of the St. George's islands and probably the one on which Waymouth set up a Cross. If Monhegan had been the place of rendezvous, Popham would have sought an anchorage there. On the contrary, he was head- ing for islands farther in toward the main when the ship Gift of God was sighted from the deck of the ship, Mary and John, and thence was led by her into the island harbor, which, evidently, on the part of both captains, was the predetermined location for anchorage on reaching the American coast. Maine Indian named "Skidwarres". or, Skicowaros. One of the five Indians captured by Waymouth was included in the company on board the ship, Mary and John. In the Lambeth Palace manuscript he is mentioned as "Skidwarres". Rosier, in his "Rela- tion", calls him "Skicowaros". Probably he was one of the Indians assigned by Waymouth to Sir John Popham, and doubtless very much was expected from him in matters connected with the settlement of the colony, especially in the relation of the colonists to the Indians. Very naturally Skidwarres, on reaching these familiar scenes, was anxious to be set on shore at once, in order to join his people from whom he had so long been separated. Just as anxious, appar- ently, was Gilbert, to further the wishes of Skidwarrres, and so, with the first opportunity, to place himself in friendly relations with the natives of the country. Accordingly, at midnight, follow- ing the arrival of the ship, Gift of God, Gilbert and some of his men, in one of the ships' boats, rowed westward1 past "Many gallant islands", and landed Skidwarres, by his direction, in a little cove on the mainland, on the east side of the Pemaquid peninsula, and evidently at what is now known as New Harbor. Then, still guided by Skidwarres, they marched across the penin- sula, a distance of "near three miles" to the Indian encampment. SKIDWARRES WAS A PEMAQUID INDIAN. Footnote1. With the two vessels at anchor in St. George's harbor, the direction is clearly indicated. Skidwarres was a Pemaquid Indian. From the very place where he was captured two years before, he was now returned by Captain Gilbert and his men. p.72 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. NAHANADA, CHIEF OF THE INDIANS. The chief of the Indians was none other than Nahanada1, also one of Waymouth's captives, who had been returned by Hanham and Pring the year before; but though the Indians very naturally were in- clined at first to hold themselves somewhat aloof, the assuring words addressed to them by Skidwarres and Nahanada, caused them to lay aside their fears, and assurances of mutual friendship followed. Gilbert and his men remained at the Indian village two hours, and then, accompanied by Skidwarres, they returned to their ships in Pentecost harbor. ST. GEORGE'S ISLAND, WHERE THE CROSS STANDETH. GIVING GOD OUR THANKS FOR OUR SAFE ARRIVAL. The next day was Sunday. Concerning its religious observances by the colonists, the Relation contains this record: "Sunday, being the 9th of August, in the morning the most part of our whole com- pany of both our ships landed on this island, the which we call St. George's Island, where the cross standeth, and there we heard a sermon delivered unto us by our preacher, giving God thanks for our safe arrival into the country and so returned aboard again." THE PLACE OF THE 1ST RECORDED CHRISTIAN WORSHIP IN NEW ENGLAND. The place of this first recorded observance of Christian worship in New England is here clearly indicated. It was on the island near which Waymouth anchored the ship, Archangel after leaving his anchor- age north of Monhegan, and on which Waymouth's cross stood. No appeal can be made to the fact that this island is called in the narrative, "St. George's Island" - the name given by Waymouth to Monhegan. Its mention here - the writer being familiar with Rosier's "Relation" - is evidence only to the well-known fact that thus early, the name St. George has been transferred from Monhegan to the island on which Waymouth's cross was erected and later was made to include the whole group of islands since known as the St. George's Islands. The character of the service is also clearly indicated in the Relation. Though the words "sermon" and "preacher" are very sugg- estive of religious conditions in England at that time, and Footnote1. He was designated by Rosier Tahanedo, and was called by him, "a chief or Commander." Gorges mentions him under the name Dehamda, while in the Lambeth Palace manuscript, he is known as Dehanada. p.73 THE POPHAM COLONY. Popham, Chief Justice of England. may have been due to the writer's habit of expression, it is prob- able that the preacher, Reverend Richard Seymour,1 was a clergy- man of the Church of England. With such promoters as those most interested in the colony - Popham, Chief Justice of England, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, an ardent royalist and churchman, it is not unlikely that English dissent would furnish religious leadership in the undertaking. If there were differences of religious belief among the colonists, these were laid aside; and devout hearts found abundant occasion in the experiences of the voyage for glad expression of thanksgiving and praise. It was certainly a most fitting service in connection with an enterprise that meant so much both for the old world and the new.2 PEMAQUID POINT, MAINE. On the following day, August 10th, both captains, Popham in his shallop with thirty men and Gilbert in his ship's boat with 20 men - taking with them Skidwarres, the Indian, passed round Pema- quid Point, evidently to avoid the march across the peninsula, and visited the Indians at the place where Gilbert had met them two days before. As at the previous interview, the establishment of kindly relations with the Indians was the purpose of the visit; but Footnotes. 1. Concerning Reverend Richard Seymour, there is no information known to the writer, aside from his connection with the Popham Colony. Bishop Burgess (Popham Memorial, Maine Histori- cal Society, 101-4) suggested that he was connected with the Pop- ham, Gorges, Gilbert and Ralegh families, but the suggestion re- mains a suggestion only. A Richard Seymour matriculated at Brason- ose College, Oxford, England in 1588-9, but a biographical sketch of this Oxonian makes it clear that he did not become a clergy- man, and so was not the Richard Seymour of the Popham Colony. 2. In the King's instructions for the government of the colonies, occurred these words - which Popham evidently had not failed to notice: "We do specially ordain, charge and require the said President and Councils, and the Ministers of the said sev- eral colonies respectively, within their several limits and pre- cincts, that they, with all diligence, care and respect, do pro- vide that the true word and service of God and Christian faith be preached, planted and used, not only within every of the said sev- eral colonies and plantations, but also as much as they may amongst savage people which do or shall adjoin them, or border upon them, according to the doctrine, rites and religion now professed and established within our realm of England." Brown, Genesis of the United States, I, 67, 68. p.74 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. apparently the memory of the natives, who were captured by Way- mouth with Skidwarres and Nahanada and had not been returned, lingered in the hearts of the members of the tribe, and there was an evident lack of cordial feeling. The visitors spent the night by themselves on the other side of the Pemaquid River. Better relations were not secured on the following day, and the visitors, leaving Skidwarres, who now expressed a determination to remain with his people, returned to their ships. That night the vessels remained at the place of rendezvous. But the summer was reapidly passing, and the planting of the colony was now a matter of pressing interest and importance. According- ly, on the following morning, Wednesday, August 12, anchors were weighed and both vessels, moving out from their island harbor into the open sea, were headed westward down the coast. Pring's explora- tions of the preceding year had called attention to the river Sagadahoc as a larger and more important river than that which Way- mouth discovered in 1605, and therefore one upon which a more suit- able location for the settlement of a colony could be found. It is a clear inference from the Relation that before the ship, the Gift of God and the ship, the Mary and John left England it had been de- cided that the colonists should proceed to the Sagadahoc, and to establish themselves there. In accordance with this decision, Pop- ham and Gilbert now sailed westward, instead of moving in toward the mainland and the river of Waymouth's exploration. THE ANCIENT SAGADAHOC. In reaching the sea, the Kennebec River, the ancient Sagadahoc does not present an opening that is discoverable from vessels pass- ing along the coast. Popham and Gilbert had been made acquainted with this fact, and careful directions for gaining an entrance to the river had been placed in their hands. Accordingly, when night drew on, in order not to pass too far to the westward and so "over- shoot" the mouth of the river, both vessels struck their sails and thus remained from midnight until morning. With the break of day, they were about half a league south of the p.75 THE POPHAM COLONY. THE ISLAND OF SUTQUIN. Sagadahock River. "island of Sutquin".1 The writer of the "Relation" adds here, two rude but good drawings of Sequin as seen from different points; and in referring to the island he mentions the fact that the island is situated "right before the mouth of the river of Sagadahock". Popham and Gilbert, therefore, had an excellent guide to the mouth of that river. But Gilbert, in the ship, Mary & John, not convinced that the island was "Sutquin", continued to stand to the westward in search of it. On the other hand, Popham, in the ship, Gift of God, sending his shallop landward from the island which he held to be the "Sutquin" of his directions, found the mouth of the Sagadahoc, and at the close of the day, brought his vessel safely into the river and anchored. That night a heavy storm from the south broke upon the ship, the Mary and John, and with difficulty the vessel was rescued from many perils upon a lee shore; but at length, a refuge was found under the shelter of two islands.2 Here Gilbert remained until Saturday, August 15th, when the storm, having spent itself, he headed his vessel again for "Sutquin". On his return, however, by reason of an offshore wind, he was unable to bring the vessel into the river. On the following day, Popham in his shallop came to the assist- ance of his consort, and before noon, the ship, Mary & John, found anchorage in the Sagadahoc, alongside the ship, the Gift of God. The location of the colony was not the matter of first importance with the colonists, and on the following day, August 17, Popham, in his shallop, with thirty others and Gilbert in his ship's boat and eighteen others - fifty in all - proceeded up the river in REV. M. C. O'BRIEN OF BANGOR, MAINE & ABNAKI LANGUAGE. Footnotes. 1. This is the first mention of the island in the early narratives. Captain John Smith (1616) calls it Satguin. According to the late Reverend M. C. O'Brien of Bangor, Maine, a recognized authority in the Abnaki language, this Indian name of the island means "he vomits". Evidently, the Indians had long been familiar with the general conditions of the waters between Sequin and the mainland (of Maine). 2. The vessel, it seems, was not in the vicinity of Cape Small Point. Thayer (The Sagadahoc Colony, 62, note) says: "The outermost point, or true cape must be regarded as one of the islands, though it is now joined to the mainland by a low neck of sand. It is 400 or 600 yards in extent. SEAL ISLAND. Seal Island, 350 yards in length, lies northeast, nearer the land." p.76 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. MERRYMEETING BAY. THE KENNEBEC. MOUTH OF THE RIVER OF SAGADAHOCK. search of the most suitable place for the plantation. "We find this river", says the "Relation," "to be very pleasant with many goodly islands in it and to be both large and deep water having many branches in it; that which we took bendeth itself towards the northeast." From these words it may be inferred that, after reaching Merrymeeting Bay, the explorers passed into the Kennebec; but concerning the distance made in that part of the river, there is no statement, or any words even from which an inference can be drawn. It is evident, however, that in their search, the explorers found no place for a plantation preferable to that which was ob- servable from the vessels in the river. Accordingly, after their return they "all went to the shore and there made choice of a place for our plantation, which is at the very mouth, or entry of the river of Sagadahock on the west side of the river, being almost an island of a good bigness." THE SABINO PENINSULA. ATKINS BAY. The record affords no opportunity for doubt with reference to the place selected. It was at the mouth of the Sagadahoc, and on the west side of the river. The added statement, that the land selected for the plantation formed "almost an island of a good bigness", describes in general terms the Sabino peninsula, "a huge miss- hapen triangle" between Atkins Bay and the sea. Examination of this tract of land establishes its fitness for plantation purposes.1. Just as clearly as the "Relation" establishes the general location of the Popham Colony on the west side of the river, so another dis- covery, since that of the Lambeth Palace manuscript, enables us to fix the precise location of the fortified settlement, which Popham and his associates made at the mouth of the Sagadahoc.2. Footnotes. 1. For very full particulars concerning the location, and especially for mention of erroneous opinions held by early writers, see Thayer, Sagadahoc Colony, pp. 167-187. 2. Among the treasures secured for Brown's "Genesis of the United States, by Dr. Curry in the library at Simancas, Spain, was a copy of "The draught of St. George's Fort, erected by Captain George Popham, Esquire, on the entry of the famous river of Sagadahock in Virginia, taken out by John Hunt the VIII, of October in the year of our Lord 1607". When this plan was pub- lished in the "Genesis" (Houghton, Mifflin Company, Boston, 1890, I, 190) it was discovered that the generally accepted view as to the location of Popham's (see footnotes, p. 77) p.77 THE POPHAM COLONY. The choice of this precise location of the settlement was made on August 19th. "All went to the shore" for this purpose, and after the selection there was a religious service. To the colonists this meant much more than that held a few days before on one of the islands of St. George's harbor. Then, the service was one of thanks- giving for their safe arrival in the new world. Now, they were about to lay the foundation of civil government; and as their own hopes, and the hopes of those most deeply interested in the wel- fare of the colony, extended into an unknown future, their preach- er, in the presence of all the colonists, implored the blessing of God on the great undertaking upon which they now formally entered. "After the sermon", adds the "Relation," "our patent was read with the orders and laws therein precribed". The patent - if patent there was - must have been a copy of that granted to King James I, on April 10, 1606, providing for two colonies in America - designa- ted as the first and second - the former known as the southern colony and the latter as the northern colony.1 The document is a lengthy one and its reading could have added little interest to the occasion, as its provisions were already known. In fact, an examination of the plan, and of the topographi- cal features of the peninsula of Sabino, soon made it evident that the newly discovered plan could only be made to fit the plot of ground situated a few hundred yards west of the present Fort Pop- ham. When laid down upon this plot the plan fitted the location as a glove fits a hand. At the Popham celebration held August 29, 1862, the Maine Historical Society provided a granite memorial of the Popham settlement for insertion in the wall of Fort Popham. As the construction of the fort was abandoned even before the close of the Civil War - so rapid was the advance in the require- ment for offensive and defensive warfare in coast fortification - the proposed memorial block remained uncalled for in the grounds of the fort until the approach of the tercentenary of the Popham Colony in 1907, when the Society obtained permission from the War Department in Washington, to transfer the memorial to the rocky ledge, included is Popham's fort as indicated on the Simaucas plan. The transfer was made and with a slight addition to the inscript- ion, the location of Popham's fortified settlement was appropriately and accurately indicated. Footnote.1. Brown, Genesis of the United State, I. 52-63. NAMES OF POPHAM COLONY SETTLERS. Gentlemen of Quality Captain George Popham, President Captain Raleigh Gilbert, Admiral Captain Edward Harlow, Master/ordnance Captain Robert Davis, Sargent-Major and Capt. of the ship, Mary & John Captain Ellis Best, Marshal. Captain James Davies, Capt. of the Fort. Captain John Elliott, Capt. of ship, Gift of God. Mr. Robert Seaman, Secretary. Mr. Gome Carew, Chief Searcher of mines. OTHER GENTLEMEN John Havercome, Master of ship, Gift of God. Richard Seymour, Chaplain. Edward Popham, nephew of George Popham. Master Turner, Physician John Hunt, Draftsman Christopher Fortescue, Ship Master. Other Persons. Master Patterson, (killed by the Indians?) Master Digby, Shipwright. Approximately one hundred colonists included: Soldiers, as at Jamestown, soldiers probably formed the largest group. Craftsmen - texts and the Hunt map lists shipwrights, carpenters, a smith and a cooper. Farmers - The garden place on the Hunt map suggests atleast some of with farming abilities. Traders - Probably not a separate occupational category but an activity shared by many. p.78 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. patent the source of the "Orders and Laws" now read to the colonists, the writer doubtless had reference to the instructions of the King promulgated November 20, 1606.1 for the government of the colonies. These were prepared "for the good Order and Government of the two several Colonies and Plantations to be made by our loving subjects in the Country commonly called Virginia and America. A copy of these insructions was furnished to the heads of both colonies, southern and northern. The copy received by the Popham colonists has not been pre- served. Happily, however, the copy carried to Virginia by the Jamestown colonists has come down to us in full, with its provisions for orderly government, appointment of officers, administration of justice, trial by jury, punishment of offenders, etc., the founda- tion principles of the civil government which the colonists were to organize. First of all, these instructions established in England a "King's council for Virginia", having full power to give directions for governing the colonists "as near to the common laws of England and the equity thereof as may be". This King's council was author- ized to appoint for each colony a council and the council was made the governing body of the colony. The president of the colony, serv- ing one year, was appointed by the colonial council from its own membership. His successor, in case of death, or absence, received appointment from the Council, and for any just cause, the council could remove the president from office. In cases of criminal offense, the president and council pronounced judgement. Provision was made for reprieve by the president and council, and for pardon, by the King. The president and council also had the power to hear and determine all civil causes. They could also, form time to time "make and ordain such constitutions, ordinances and officers for the better order, government and peace of the people", these always, however, to be "in substance consonent under the laws of England, or the equity thereof." Then follows these words: Footnote. 1. Ib., I, 64-75 THE POPHAM COLONY. p.79 "Furthermore, our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby determine and ordain, that every person and persons being our subjects of every, the said colonies and plantations, shall from time to time will entreat those savages in those parts, and use all good means to draw the savages and heathen people of the said several places, and of the territories and countries adjoining to the true service and knowledge of God, and that all just, kind and charitable courses shall be holden with them as shall conform themselves to any good & sociable traffic and dealing with the subjects of us, our heirs and successors, which shall be planted there, whereby they may be the sooner drawn to the true knowledge of God and the obedience of us, our heirs and successors, under such severe pains and punishments as shall be inflicted by the same several presidents and councils of the said several colonies, or the most part of them within their several limits and precincts, on such as shall offend therein, or do the contrary." IN OTHER WORDS. In other words, both the colonists and the Indians (natives) of the country, in their mutual relations, were to be under a reign of law that would aim to secure the rights and happiness of all. In the King's instructions with reference to the government of the two colonies, Virginia and Maine, the rights of the colonists, so far as personal liberty is concerned, received no recognition. The officers were to be elected by the King's council and not by popular vote. Strachey, indeed, says that after the reading of the laws under which the Popham colonists were now placed, George Popham, gentleman, was nominated President. Sworn Assistants.1 Captain Ralegh Gilbert James Davies Richard Seymour, preacher. Captain Richard Davies Captain Harlow. Captain John Smith, however, puts the case very differently, when, in referring to the Popham Colony in his "General History of New England,2 he says; SIR JOHN POPHAM NORUMBEGA. "That honorable patron of virtue, Sir John Popham, Lord Chief Justice of England, in the year, 1606, procured means and men to possess it (i.e. that part of America formerly called Norumbega, Footnotes. 1. The Sagadahoc Colony, 67, note. 2. Richmond, Virginia, 1819, II, 173-4 p.80 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. CAPTAIN GOME CAREW. and sent Captain George Popham for President, Captain Rawleigh Gilbert for admiral; Edward Harlow, Master of Ordinance; Captain Robert Davis, sergeant major; Captain Ellis Best, as Marshall; Master Leaman, as secretary; Captain James Davis to be Captain of the fort - Master Gome Carew, as Chief Searcher." The natural inference from these words is that the officers of the colony were appointed in England by Sir John Popham. But the name of the Chief Justice is not included in the list of members of the "King's Council of Virginia" which appears in the in- structions for the government of the colonies. In that council, however, the Popham family was represented by Popham's son and and heir, Sir Francis Popham. Captain Smith, making the above Record in 1624, probably was in error in implying that the officers of colony were appointed by Sir John Popham. The latter's enthusiastic exertions in financing the undertaking entitled him to honorable mention in any reference to the northern colony, but unquestionably there is no ground for the inference that the King's instructions were not strictly follow- ed in the appointment of all the officers of the Popham Colony SABINO HEAD. On the following day, Thursday, August 20th, the whole company again landed and work at once was commenced on the Fort that was to inclose the colonist's settlement. It was a large earthwork, occupying the level plot of ground at the northern extremity of Sabino head. President Popham "set the first spit of ground". The rest followed, and "labored hard in the trenches about it". As within the inclosure necessary buildings were to be erected later for the use of the colon- ists, there was need of busy endeavor in order to complete the work before the winter opened. On the next day, the colonists continued their work - some in the trenches and others in the woods, preparing fagots for use in the construction of the fort. Thus early, also, under the direction of the head carpenter, those who were familiar with shipbuilding repaired to the woods and commenced to cut timber for the con- struction of a small vessel, which would be needed by the colonists p.81 THE POPHAM COLONY. on the return of the ship, Mary and John and the ship, Gift of God, to England before the close of the year. THE KENNEBEC PEJEPSCOT - THE ANDROSCOGGIN. SASANOA, INDIAN CHIEF, KENNEBEC INDIANS. On Saturday, August 22, President Popham proceeded in his shallop up the river as far as Merrymeeting Bay. From that large body of water, in his former exploration, he had entered the Kennebec river, and noted its characteristics and opportunities for trade with the Indians. This time he turned westward from this point, and entered the ancient Pejepscot, now the Androscoggin. Probably he proceeded as far as the Falls at Brunswick. There, or at some other part of the river, he held a parley with a body of Indians, who informed him that they had been at war with Sasanoa, the chief of the Kennebec Indians, and had slain his son. He learned that Skidwarres and Nahanada were in this fight. Having completed his exploration, Popham returned with his party to the mouth of the river on the following day. With the new week that opened, the colonists continued the work upon which they had entered with so much energy and enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Captain Gil- bert had in contemplation exploration to the westward after the re- of President Popham. SHIP COVE. But unfavorable weather, however, delayed him until Friday, August 28, when, in his ship's boat with fifteen others, he sailed out of the river and proceeded westward along the coast. Mention of "many gallant islands", evidently the islands of Casco and Gilbert, and his companions had before them, as in the afternoon, with a favor- ing breeze, they sailed past these many wooded islands. That night, the wind having now shifted and being strong against them, they anchored under a sheltering headland called Semeamis. Because of meager details in the 'Relation', the exact location of this head- land cannot now be determined with certainty. Thayer, who has care- fully sought for a location in the light of these scanty materials, expresses the opinion that it is to be found on some part of Cape Elizabeth, not far from Portland Head light, in what is known as Ship Cover.1 Footnote. 1. The Sagadahoc Colony, 69, note. p.82 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. Richmond's Island. The next morning, Captain Gilbert, against a strong head-wind, continued his course along the coast. There was hard rowing in a rough sea, and progress was slow. At length as the day drew to a close, escaping the baffling billows that had assailed them so many hours, they came to anchor under an island "two leagues from the place" where they anchored the night before. The indications are clear that this island was no other than Richmond's Island. Here Gilbert remained until midnight, and then, the wind having subsided, he and his companions left the island "in hope to have gotten the place we desired". But soon after the wind again swept down upon them - a strong wind from the southwest - and they were compelled to return to the anchorage they had just left. Concerning the desired place which Gilbert hoped to reach, there is no informa- tion. Something, evidently, he had learned from Pring, or earlier explorers, led him onward and the head-winds that beset him, and drove him back, brought disappointment. CASCO BAY AGAIN. SAGADAHOC. The next day was Sunday, and the southwest wind being favorable for their return to the Sagadahoc, the baffled voyagers directed their boat thitherward. Again they entered Casco Bay, and again, the writer of the "Relation" extolled its "goodly islands..... so thick and near together that you cannot well discern to number them, yet may go in betwixt them in a good ship, for you shall have never have less water than eight fathoms. These islands are all overgrown with woods very thick as oaks, wal- nut, pine trees & many other things growing as sarsaparilla, hazle nuts and whorts in abundance". The return journey was successfully made, and the mouth of the Sagadahoc was reached at the close of the day. It was a very favorable run from Richmond's Island. Attention was now given not only to work on the fort, but also to the erection of a storehouse within the inclosure. Any relation with their Indian neighbors was a matter of very great interest. On the first day of September, a canoe was discovered approaching the fort, but its occupants, when at the shore, acted warily, not allowing more than a single colonist to come near at a p.83 THE POPHAM COLONY. time. The writer of the "Relation" makes mention of two "great kettles of brass" that he saw in the canoe, an evidence apparently of earlier trading relations with European fishing and trading vessels on the coast. Nahanada and Skidwarres. PEMAQUID A few days later, September 5th, nine Indian canoes entered the river from the eastward. They contained about forty men, women & children, and among them were Nahanada and Skidwarres. All were kindly welcomed and entertained. The larger part of the visitors, after a while, withdrew to the opposite side of the river and made their camp there. But Skidwarres and another Indian remained with the colonists until night. Then, as both wished to join their own people, Captain Gilbert and two other officers conveyed them across the river and stayed that night with the Indians who were to depart in the morning. When, at that time, the Indians set out on their re- turn to Pemaquid, Gilbert obtained from them a promise that on a certain day, agreed upon by both parties, they would accompany him to the place on the Penobscot River where the "bashabe", or the principle Chief of the region resided. This promise evidently gave great satisfaction to the colonists, and strengthened the hope that thus early strong, friendly relat- ions would be opened with one of the most powerful of the neighbor- ing Indian tribes. Accordingly, three days later, Tuesday, Sept. 8th, Gilbert, accompanied by twenty-two others, started eastward, taking with them various kinds of merchandise for traffic with the Indians. But again the wind was contrary and in waiting for more favorable weather conditions, they delayed so long that they were not able to reach Pemaquid at the appointed time. When they finally came to the place, the Indians, whom they were to meet, and who were to conduct them to the "bashabe", had left. They found "no living creature." They all were gone from thence." This is a noteworthy record in the book, "Relation", inasmuch as it furnishes information with reference to conditions existing at Pemaquid at that time. Indians were its only inhabitants, and they had now left. If Gilbert and his men, in their p.84 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. search for the Indians, found at Pemaquid any traces of other in- habitants or of an earlier European civilization 1, they failed to record the fact. Early references to Pemaquid make mention only of Indian occupation. But Gilbert and his companions, disappointed in not finding the Indians, and especially Nahanada and Skidwarres, did not abandon the expedition, but sailing round Pemaquid Point, Gilbert direct- ed his boat to the eastward in the hope of reaching, by water, the seat of the "bashabe" upon the Penobscot river. Three days were spent in this endeavor, but the river did not open to them in that time and their food supply not warranting a farther search, the ex- plorers were at length compelled to turn about and make their way back to their companions at the mouth of the Sagadahoc. Meanwhile the storehouse within the fort had been so far completed that September 7, the removal of supplies from the ship, Mary and John began. But work on the fort was not discontinued. Footnote.1. The "Commissioners in Charge of the remains of the Ancient Fortification at Pemaquid" in their report, dated Dec. 13, 1901, say (p.3): "The remants of a well populated and well-built town, with paved streets, now quite below the surface of the present cultivated soil - the date of which establishment has not yet been discovered - show that this was also in very early times occupied with intention of permanence." The reason for this non-discovery is found in the fact that research is made where nothing is to be found, if by "very early times" is meant some period prior to the Popham Colony. In connection with their report, the commissioners print a "Memorial" submitted by the Honorable R. K. Sewall, who refers to "marked re- mains and relics of Spanish occupation". Members of the Popham Colony visited Pemaquid on four different occasions, but make no mention of indications of earlier "Spanish occupation" or any other occupation than Indians, nor did the Indians call their attention to "marked remains"; neither did such careful explorers as Pring, de Monts, Champlain, Captain John Smith and others make any mention of such remains. In connection with the construction of Fort William Henry (1692) a very substantial struct- ure", i.e., "paved streets", i.e., good roadway approaches to the fort, were doubtless made, or in 1729, when upon the ruins of Fort Henry (destroyed in 1696) Fort Frederic was built. This last strong fortification was demolished in the American Revolution, in order that it might not become a British stronghold. With the utter over- throw of these Pemaquid fortifications, and "paved streets" made in connection with them, naturally disappeared. p.85 THE POPHAM COLONY. THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. The season, however, was advancing so rapidly that it seemed de- sirable to make a more extended exploration of the river before it should be closed in by ice. Accordingly, September 23, Gilbert and nineteen others started "for the head of the river of Sagada- hock". For two days and a part of a third day, the course of the Kennebec was followed as far as the falls at Augusta. With come difficulty these were successfuly passed, and Gilbert and his companiions ascended the river about a league farther. But night coming on they landed and went into camp. The evening had not far advanced when their rest was disturbed by a call in broken English from some Indians on the opposite side of the river. A response was made, but the strangers soon withdrew and the night passed without added interruptiion. The use of broken English by these savages in- dicated an earlier contact with Englishmen in American waters. Poss- ibly this was in the preceding year when Hanham and Pring were on the coast. It is perhaps more probable that the "broken English" of these Indians was the result of trading relations with English fishermen, whose vessels had visited American waters from the opening of the century, or at least shortly after its opening. On the following morning, Saturday, September 26, four Indians appeared and made themselves known as the Indians who had called to them from the opposite side of the river the evening beford. INDIAN, SEBANOA, LORD OF THE RIVER OF SAGADAHOCK. Evidently they had received information of the progress of Gilbert and his men up the river, and wished to learn the significance of presence of the visitors. One of the four announced himself as "Sebanoa, Lord of the river of Sagadahock." This detailed history closes here, in the manuscript "RELATION" With this announcement, the manuscript "Relation" followed in this narrative thus far, abruptly closes at the bottom of a page. There can be little, if any doubt whatever, that originally there were added pages which in some way became detached, and so were finally lost in the vicissitudes through which the manuscript passed before it found a safe resting place in the library of Lambeth Palace, England. The story of the Popham Colony that is found in p.86 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. William Strachey's Historie of Travaile into Virginia, follows so closely the book, "Relation" to this point as to leave little doubt from the character of the rest of the story, that Strachey had all the missing pages of the manuscript before him, while writing his own narrative. As there is reason to believe that the manuscript - doubtless pre- pared for the information of the patrons of the enterprise - was continued only to October 6, 1607, the probable date of the sailing of the Mary and John for England, the loss is not a great one, and happily is in part, at least, supplied by Strachey's narrative, supplemented from other sources than those available now. TREACHEROUS ACTS OF DUPLICITY BY INDIAN, SEBANOA. GILBERT. Strachey's narrative continues the story of Gilbert's interview with Sebanoa, recording acts of duplicity and treachery on the part of the Kennebec Indians as well as the acts of kindness and good will. Gilbert seems to have conducted himself with tact and discretion under circumstances that were full of peril to himself and to his party. It was his declared purpose in the exploration to go "to the head of the river", but the rapids he had now reach- ed made progress difficult. His experiences with the Indians, also, had been by no means what he desired. At all events he now abandon- ed further advance up the river and, having erected a Cross at the highest point he had reached, he set out on his return to the settle- ment. On the way down the river, search was made for the "river of some note called the Sasanoa", by which plainly was meant the tidal river that connects the Kennebec opposite the town of Bath, with the waters of Sheepscot Bay. Concerning this inland passage into the Sagadahoc, information doubtless had been received from Indians they had met in interviews already mentioned; but though Gilbert and his party looked for it carefully, a fog at length settled down upon them and they were obliged to make their way homeward as best they could. They reached the Fort on September 29th. September 30th and October 1st and 2nd, all were busy about the fort. On the ship, Mary and John, as well, now nearly ready to sail on her return voyage to England, there were doubtless many evidences of preparations for the voyage. September 3, Skidwarres, crossing the river in a p.87 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE - THE POPHAM COLONY. INDIANS, NAHANADA, BROTHER OF BASHABLE. canoe, brought a message to President Popham, saying that Nahanada, also Bashabe's brother, and other Indians, were on the opposite side of the river, and would visit the colonists on the following day. INDIANS NAHANADA, HIS WIFE, SKIDWARRES AND INDIAN CHIEF, AMENQUIN. This they did, two canoes conveying the party, which included Nahanada and his wife, Skidwarres, the bashabe's brother, and an Indian Chief called Amenquin. Popham entertained his guests with kindness and generosity during two days, the last day being Sunday, on which "with great reverence and silence" the Indians attended the religious services of the colonists both morning and evening. With the exception of Amenquin, all the Indians departed on Monday, October 6, and on this date, the daily journal in Strachey's narrative ends. This abrupt suspension of the daily record of the Popham colony gives probability to the influence that it was brought to a close because of the sailing of the British ship, Mary and John, about this date; the journal having been kept apparently for the purpose of affording the patrons of the colony, in England, eagerly awaited information at the earliest possi- ble opportunity. As the plan of Fort St. George, already mentioned, bears the inscription "taken out on the 8th of October, 1607", it is possible that in these few words is recorded the exact date on which the ship, Mary and John sailed out of the river, homeward bound.1 The Mary and John arrived in the harbor at Plymouth, England, on the first day of December. No one with a deeper personal interest welcomed the tidings the Mary and John brought from the colonists, than Sir Ferdinando Gorges. THE JOURNAL WAS, "GREAT NEWS". The Journal was placed in his hand, and added information with rever- ence to the colony was communicated by the officers of the vessel. It was "great news", and the commander of the Fort at Plymouth late that very night - evidently having spent the preceding hours in personal interviews with the returning voyages - hastened to make known to Secretary Cecil at Hatfield House the information he had received.2 Footnotes. 1. Thayer, Sagadahoc Colony, 192-196, was a valuable paper on the "Movements of the ships". 2. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 154-157. p.88 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. A FERTILE COUNTRY WITH GALLANT RIVERS. The colonists, he wrote, had successfully established themselves in a fertile country, with gallant rivers, stately harbors and a people (Indians) tractable, if only they were discreetly dealty with. To be sure, the ship, Mary and John, had brought no such cargo as would satisfy the expectation of those who had furnished the funds for fin- ancing the undertaking, and this fact, he said, might be used to the disadvantage of the enterprise, but it should be remembered, he added, that the colonists during the two monts following their arrival at the mouth of the Sagadahoc had been busily engaged in establishing themselves in a secure position there. But this was not the whole story, and Gorges was compelled to add that already among the colon- ists there were discordant elements, occasioned by the "defect and want of understanding of some of those employed, to perform what they were directed unto, from whence there did not only proceed con- fusion, but, through pride and arrogancy, faction and private reso- lution, concerning which, he would inform his Lordship more fully at another time. But though Gorges evidently was considerably discouraged on account of the reported condition of things among the colonists, he had no difficulty in finding excellent reasons why his associates in the enterprise should not steadfastly resolve to follow it up with energy and hopefulness. Such reasons he found in "the boldness of the coast, the easiness of navigation, the fertility of the soil, and the several sorts of commodities that they are assured the country to yield, namely, fish in the season in great plenty, all along the coast mastidge for ships, goodly oak trees and cedars with infinite other sorts of trees, rosin, hemp, grapes very fair and excellently good, whereof they have already made wine, much like the claret that comes out of France; rich furs, if they can keep the Frenchmen from the trade; and as for metals, they can say nothing, but they are confident there is in the country, if they had the means to seek for it, neither could they go so high as the alum mines are which the savages do assured them there is great plenty of". The manufacture of alum from pyritic shale was at that time exciting public interest not only in England but upon the p.89 THE POPHAM COLONY. MAINE'S PYRITIC SHALE - ALUM. SAGADAHOC. -1607- continent; and the fact that thus early the colonists satisfied themselves of the existence of deposits of pyritic shale in the Sagadahoc country was one expecially welcome to Gorges.1 Popham. In a second letter to Cecil, dated December 3, 1607,2 Gorges gives fuller expression to the reports he had received with re- ference to the general confusion already existing among the colo- nists. President Popham, he described as "an honest man, but old and of an unwieldly body, and timorously fearful to offend or contest with others that will or do oppose him; but otherwise a discreet, careful man". Gilbert. Concerning Gilbert, the second in command, Gorges says he is de- scribed by those who returned in the ship, Mary and John, as "de- sirous of supremacy and rule, a loose life, prompt to sensuality, little zeal in religion, humorous, headstrong and of small judge- ment and experience, other ways he is valiant enough". REVEREND ROBERT SEYMOUR. Of the other officials, the preacher, Reverend Robert Seymour, was especially commended "for his pains in his place and his honest endeavors. CAPTAIN ROBERT DAVIES & DR. TURNER. Honorable mention is also made of Captain Robert Davies and Mr. Turner, the Company's physician. But of the colonists in general, little was said. Evidently they were regarded by Gorges as unfit for employment in such an undertaking. "childish factions" had al- ready developed among them. Naturally, Gorges was disturbed on account of this condition of things in the new colony; and he expresses to Cecil the wish that the King, "unto whom by right the conquest of kingdoms doth appert- ain", would take the matter into his own hands, and so not allow the project to fail. Delicacy did not allow Gorges to withhold the suggestion that in case this were done he would be "most happy to receive such employment" from the King as his highness shall deem him fitted, and he had no doubt that, with Footnotes. 1. "Large deposits of pyritic shale, or more popularly alum stone, exist near the Sagadahoc. It occurs at the mouth of Sprague's river, near Small Point, in Georgetown; and an extens- ive belt of it extends through the towns of Lisbon and Litchfield. On Jewell's Island, alum has been successfully manufactured from pyritic shales within a recent period." Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 156, note. 2. Ib., III, 158-160. p.90 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. "very little changes", he would be able "to bring to pass infinite things". In all probability Cecil laid before the King this discouraging report. We have no reason to believe, however, that it gave the easy-going monarch any part of that deep anxiety that disquieted his devoted servant in command of the fort at Plymouth; and Gorge's suggestion concerning the man for the hour evidently received no consideration whatever. But there was occasion for anxiety, as Gorges well knew. If, as he desired, government assistance in supporting the colony could not be obtained, there was no lack of whole-heartedness in his continued endeavors to render all possi- ble aid with reference to English colonization in the new world. Information concerning affairs at the mouth of the Sagadahoc after the departure of the ship, Mary and John, is derived for the most part from Strachey's narrative; but such information is exceed- ingly meagre. The colonists, he says, finished the fort and for- tified it with twelve pieces of ordnance. They also built fifty houses within the inclosure, besides a church and a storehouse. In this mention of the number of houses erected by the colonists there is evidently an error. No such number was required for pre- sent occupancy. Moreover, the plan of the fort found in the library at Simancas, which apparently was drawn with reference to complete- ness of design, shows not a third of the number of buildings mention- ed by Strachey. To have completed, before winter set in, even the number indicated on the plan, would have required a force of work- men far beyond that which was at Popham's command. The most that was attempted, doubtless, was to provide for the colonists as com- fortable quarters as the means at their disposal admitted. Added information with reference to the colonists is furnished in a letter1 written by Gorges on February 7, 1608, to Secretary Cecil, informing him of the arrival of the ship, Gift of God, in the harbor of Plymouth. Probably the date of the letter is the date of the arrival of Footnote. 1. Ib., III, 161-164. p.91 THE POPHAM COLONY. ship, The Gift, as Gorges was not likely to lose any time in con- verying to the government this latest intelligence from the mouth of the Sagadahoc. First of all, he refers to the severity of the cold at Sagadahoc, by which the colonists had been sorely pinched, although it was probably not later than the middle of December when the ship, Gift's return-voyage was commenced and the winter then was only in its early stages. The health of the colonists, however, was good. But the troubles among them which had appeared even before the de- parture of the ship, Mary and John, were still operative, and Gorges was compelled to report "idle proceedings" and the existence of "divi- sions", "factions", each "disgracing the other, even to the savages".1 The picture was a dark one and might have been made even darker. Cer- tainly Gorges could have found in the report, little encouragement, either to himself or Cecil, with reference to the success of an under- taking to which he had given his best endeavors. In fact, his only hopes in connection with English colonixation upon American soil seemed now to hang upon the King, "the chief spring from of our happiness...who at the last must reap the benefit of all our travail, as of right it belongs unto him"; and so he urges upon the secretary careful consideration of the whole matter, adding his own public and private reasons in seeking to extend the glory of England beyond the sea - namely "the certainty of the commodities that may be had from so fertile a soil as that is, when it shall be peopled, as well for building of shipping, having all things rising in the place werewith to do it." This, also, would be for "the increase of the King's navy, the breeding of mariners, the employment of his people, filling the world with expectation and satisfying his subjects Footnote.1. Thayer (The Sagadahoc Colony, 205-211) has a very care- fully prepared paper on the "Character of the Colonists". The review he presents is unfavorable. After quoting various writers he says (212): "In the dim reflected light of these few expressions, we get a blurred but not wholly misleading view of the colonists, as at least in part, a low class of men, of light weight in character by former practices, or by reaction from former pressure of severe ad- ministration of law, inclined to be lawless and emulous of base and wicked deeds." p.92 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. with hopes, who now are sick in despair and in time will grow desperate through necessity." Moreover, to abandon American colonization would afford an opportunity for others to seize the prize, which England might have. "At this instant", adds Gorges, "the French are in hand with the natives to practice upon us, promising them, if they will put us out of the country, and not trade with none of ours, they will come unto them", etc. "The truth is", he adds, "this place is so stored with excellent har- bors and so bold a coast, as it is able to invite any actively minded endeavor the possessing thereof, if it were only to keep it out of the hands of others". These words of Gorges indicate a strong and even statesmanlike group upon problems that had much to do with the future of the Island kingdom; and they admirably illustrate the prevalent thought and purpose of those best in- formed in England, not only then but in the generations that follow- ed, until the inspiring dream of England's hold upon American soil had finally been realized. Of course, in the present state of affairs at the mouth of the Sagadahoc, if anything was to be done by the government, it must be done quickly; and Gorges suggests to Cecil that the King furnish for the undertaking "one of his middle sort of ships, with a small pinn- ace, and withal to give his letters, and commission, to countenance and authorize the worthy enterpriser". This would put new life into the colony, and Gorges, ready to serve his sovereign and the country, declared his willingness to take command for the discovery of the whole American coast "from the first to the second colony". FORTY-FIVE REMAINED AFTER GIFT OF GOD SAILED FOR ENGLAND. In this letter to Cecil, Gorges makes no mention of the fact that a part of the colonists returned to England on the ship, the Gift of God. Purchas, however, in his Pilgrimes, published in 1614, says in his reference to the Popham colony that "forty-five re- mained there, after the departure of the ship Gift of God, and refers to a letter written by President Popham as his authority for the statement. Captain John Smith, in his General History of New England, published then years later (1624) says, "they were glad to send all but forty-five of A photocopy of the letter to King James by Pesident Popham, December 13, 1607. p.93 THE POPHAM COLONY. their company back again". As none of the colonists returned in the ship, Mary and John, so far as is known, the reference must be to the colonists who returned in the ship, the Gift of God. Such a lessening of the number of the colonists before even a single winter had passed was the most discouraging fact which the arrival of the gift revealed to Gorges, and he had heart to make it known to Cecil in this first report of the arrival of the second vessel.1. One added report from the colony is found in a letter to King James written by President Popham, December 13, 1607.2 Gorges makes no reference to it and of its existence there was no knowledge until it was discovered a little more than half a century ago by George Bancroft, the historian, while making some researches in the Records Office in London. The letter was written in Latin that cannot be called classic, and abounds in those flattering, adulatory words and phrases that were so pleasing to the heart of the King. Popham makes no mention of discouraging circumstances. He had no reference even to the winter cold that had chilled so thoroughly the interest of so many of the colonists. It is his "well-considered" opinion "that in these regions the glory of God may easily be evidenced", the empire enlarged, and its welfare speedily augmented. His report concerning the pro- ducts of the country, however, is not so well considered; for he in- forms the King that "there are in these parts shagbarks, nutmegs and cinna, besides pine wood and brazilian cochineal and ambergris, with many other products, and these in the greatest abundance". Allowance must be made for the exaggeration of enthusiasm, but evid- ently the president's nutmegs, cinnamon and Brazilian cochineal were the products of excited imaginations. February 5, 1608, two days before Gorges wrote to Cecil concerning the arrival of the ship, the Gift of God, President Popham died. Gilbert and the remaining colonists doubtless gave him fitting Footnotes.1. There is a very full statement concerning the "Colonists Sent Back" in Thayer's Sagadahoc Colony, 197-199. 2. Thayer, The Sagadahoc Colony, pp. 116-119. The letter and a translation by Leonard Woods, D.D., President of Bowdoin College, were printed in 1857 in the Maine Historical Society's Collections, Series I, 5, 344- 360. p.94 BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. burial within the enclosure of Fort St. George. Georges says, "he had long been an infirm man". High aims and purposes, however, still animated him. He was not one who whould turn back in any worthy enterprise. The opportunity for securing for his King and Country a stronghold upon the American continent, he clearly saw, and he embraced it with whatever of toil and hardship it might bring to him personally. We have no information concerning his last days. No other member of the Colony died from sickness that winter. In fact, the health of the colonists throughout that winter season was exceedingly good. In all probability on account of his extreme age, the leader of the enterprise was ill-prepared to en- dure the exposures to which an unusually severe winter subjected him and his followers.1 Whether, however, the end came suddenly, or after prolonged illness, Popham manfully fulfilled all the duties devolving upon him as the head of the colony, and worthily finished his course. Gorges, writing many years afterward, paid beautiful tribute to Popham's steadfast loyalty to God and native land, in the words: "However heartened by hopes, willing he was to die in acting some- thing that might be serviceable to God and honorable to his country." Meanwhile Gorges, Sir Francis Popham and others, were busily employ- ed in securing supplies and forwarding them to the colonists at the mouth of the Sagadahoc. Writing to Cecil March 20, 1608, Gorges said2 "As concerning our plantation, we have found the means to encourage ourselves anew, and have sent two ships from Topsham for the supplies of those that be there, with victuals and other necessaries, having set down the means how we shall be able, by May next, to send one more of two hundred tons". Footnotes. 1. A bit of information concerning the hard experiences of the Popham colonists that winter is mentioned by Gorges in his "Briefe Narration", in the statement that during the winter the store house and most of their provisions were burned." Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 15. In the "Rela- tion", published in 1622 by the Council for New England, it is stated that "their lodgings" also were burnt. 2. Baxter, Sir Ferdin- ando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 16. 3. Ib., III, 165. p.95 THE POPHAM COLONY. The two vessels thus despatched brought to the colonists the intel- ligence of the death of Sir John Popham in the preceding June. This was a loss as unexpected as it was severe. But the welcome arrival of these two ships with abundant supplies was ample testimony to the fact that the colonists still had in England ardent friends of the enterprise. In the reports that have come down to us concerning the arrival of these two vessels, there is no mention of any increase in the membership of the colony by recruits from England. Gorges refers to supplies only. Of course there was need of these; but it was not by any means the only need of the men, who, notwithstanding past dis- couragements, were loyally sustaining Sagadahoc interests; and it is impossible to think of any such gathering of supplies by Gorges and his associates that was not at the same time accompanied by the most earnest efforts to reinforce the little company of forty-five left with Popham and Gilbert on the departure fo the ship, Gift of God, in the middle of December. Such efforts, however, seem to have been un- successful.1 But the affairs of the colonists brightened with the arrival of the two vessels from England. The winter with its cold and its storms was behind them. Gilbert had succeeded George Popham as President of the colony. The Virginia had been launched and was ready for service. With the promise of a third vessel and added supplies soon to be on their way, the outlook for the future of the colony was certainly a more favorable one. Evidently neither on the part of the supporters in England, nor on the part of the leaders of the enterprise at Fort St. George, was the possible abandonment of the undertaking in any way under consideration. Concerning the condition of affairs under the direction of Gilbert, we have no information whatever. All we know is that his Footnote.1 "No evidence whatever shows subsequent accessions to the depleted company....The several writers make references to a new supply furnished, necessaries to supply them, ships sent back with supplies....but there is joined no word respecting men also, whether laborers, mechanics, planters or persons for special duty." Thayer, Sagadahoc Colony, p.198. p.96 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. 1602-1658. Death of Sir John Gilbert, July 5, 1608. presidency was brought to an unexpected end by the tidings brought to the Sagadahoc by the third vessel despatched thither. When Gorges, March 20, wrote to Secretary Cecil concerning this third vessel, he thought it might be ready to sail in May, but for some reason unknown, there was a delay in the preparation for the voyage, and in all proba- bility the vessel did not leave England until July. This is a well- founded inference from the fact that Sir John Gilbert, the elder brother of President Ralegh Gilbert, died July 5, 1608.1 The third vessel, bringing this intelligence to President Gilbert, could not have left England before that date. THE COMPLETE ABANDONMENT OF ST. GEORGE. Probably there was not much added delay in despatching the vessel, and if this was the fact the arrival of the vessel must be placed about the first of September, or a little later. President Gilbert was his brother's heir, and on account of the large personal inter- ests involved in this fact, it became necessaary for him to make preparations for an early return to England. The situation was a peculiar one. Among the little company remaining there was no one who possessed the requisite qualifications for the successful administration of the affairs of the colony. To continue the enter- prise, therefore, seemed out of the question. Accordingly, the complete abandonment of St. George and all for which it stood, followed, and preparations at once were made for dismantling the fort and removing the ordnance and stores to the vessels anchored near by. How much time was required in accomplish this transfer is not known. In all probability the embarkation of the colonists occurred as early as the close of September. In the records that have come down to us concerning the return of the colonists, there is not a hint that the departure brought any sorrow or even disappointment to those who constituted the great body of Gilbert's Company. Their interest in the undertaking was of the slightest kind. In all probability, the experiences of a single winter at the mouth of the Sagadahoc made welcome to them the opportunity to return thus early to more desirable conditions of life in their native England. Far otherwise was it with Footnote.1. The Sagadahoc Colony, 195. p.97 THE POPHAM COLONY. THREE VESSELS ARRIVE HOME AT PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND. Gorges and other steadfast friends of English colonization in America, when about the close of November, or early in December, the three vessels arrived at Plymouth Harbor, and announced the abandonment of the colony. This was chilling information, and years afterward, Gorges, in re- ferring to its effect upon himself and other patrons of the under- taking, could only say, "all our former hopes were frozen to death."2 The collapse of the colony was complete. Strachey says: "all embarked, and set sail for England."3 Why was not the Popham Colony assigned to a more southerly location on the American coast, one in which the colonists would have avoided that severity of the winter season to which they were unaccustomed in their homes in England? Certainly it was not from any lack of know- ledge concerning the unfavorable conditions in which they found them- selves after the location of the colony. Nor was it because of insufficient information with reference to the characterr of the country farther down the coast. There had been careful exploration of the territory to the southward as far nearly as Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island) Pring, whose explorations largely determined the location of the Popham colony, was familiar with the coast as far as Massachusetts bay. What advantage, then, Footnotes.1. The pinnace was one of the vessels of the fleet that sailed from England to the southern colony in 1609. 2. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his ship, Province of Maine, II, 17. 3. The Sagadahoc Colony, 85, 86. Baxter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 17. In "A Description of New England, obtained in England by Mr. Henry F. Waters, and published in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, January, 1885, we get a glimpse of the remains of Fort St. George at a little later period. The description is supposed to have been written about 1660 by Samuel Maverick, who came to this country in 1624, which is thought to be the approximate date of the visit. He says: "Three leagues dis- tant from Damerell's Cove is Sagadahock at the mouth of the Kennebeck river, on which place the Lord Popham's people settled about fifty years since, but soon after deserted it and returned to England; I found roots and garden herbs and some old walls there, when I first went over, which showed it to be the place where they had been." p.98 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. had the location at the mouth of the Sagadahoc over places in a more congenial climate? Evidently one of the determining factors in its selection was the great value of the fisheries in the immediate vicinity of Fort St. George. The early explorers on the coast, in their printed reports, and much more by word of mouth, had called attention to the rich re- turns that these fisheries promised. English fishermen also were al- ready acquainted to some extent with the fishing privileges in these waters. Those who were especially interested in the establishment of the colony were merchants of Plymouth and Bristol, long connected with fishing interests and attracted hither by the reports of the greater abundance of fish on the American coast. Certainly, these fishing grounds had a value that could not be overestimated. France was endeavoring to seize and hold these grounds, but England claimed them and their possession was deemed worthy of a supreme effort on the part of the English nation. Another determining factor in the location of the Popham colony is to be found in the opportunity that the river Sagadahoc offered for profitable trade with the Indians, especially in valuable furs. There was no such opportunity farther down the coast. From a commercial point of view, therefore, the location of the Popham Colony seems to have been amply justified. Why then, did the colony fail? Primarily, the death of the Pophams, Sir John in England and Captain George, the president of the colony, at Fort St. George, was a heavy stroke, inasmuch as among the other colonists, no one could be found, who was capable of taking Gilbert's place. This statement however, reveals only partially the diffi- culties of the situation. Not only were the Popham colonists generally lacking in those sturdy qualities that such an enterprise demands, but if we may accept the testimony that is furnished by contemporary writers, the company comprised the vagrant and dissolute to such an extent that Gorges is p.99 THE POPHAM COLONY. believed to have stated the fact midly when he wrote, that they were "not such as they ought". Indeed, as later he reflected upon the dis- astrous ending of the undertaking, he felt, and had reason for feel- ing, that if he and others interested in American colonization would achieve success in connection with their desires and endeavors, "there must go other manner of spirits" than were found so largely in the Sagadahoc colony.1 Footnote.1. The tercentenary of the landing of the Popham colony was celebrated by the Maine Historical Society, August 29, 1907. It was one of the fairest and brightest of summer days. The site of Fort St. George was first visited. The literary exercises that followed were held in the Popham Beach village meetinghouse. Addresses were de- livered by Honorable James P. Baxter, President of the Society, and Professor Henry L. Chapman of Bowdoin College. A poem, The Virginia of Sagadahoc, by Mr. Harry L. Koopman, Librarian of Brown University, was read by Reverend Dr. John Carroll Perkins of Portland, Maine. On the rocky eminence overlooking the site of Fort St. George, and a part of the fort enclosure, a memorial had been placed with this inscription: THE FIRST ENGLISH COLONY ON THE SHORES OF NEW ENGLAND WAS FOUNDED HERE AUGUST 29, N.S. 1607 UNDER GEORGE POPHAM The Memorial was unveiled by Mrs. William Addison Houghton, Presi- dent of the Maine Society of Colonial Dames, and Mr. Fritz H. Jor- dan, Governor of the Maine Society of Colonial Wars; and addresses were made by the Reverend Henry S. Burrage, D.D., and Mr. Fritz H. Jordan. Following the unveiling, the U. S. Revenue Cutter, at her anchorage north of the site of Fort St. George, fired a governor's salute in honor of George Popham, the first governor of the Popham Colony - who died at Fort St. George and was buried within the en- closure. p.100 CHAPTER VII. THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. So great, however, was the disappointment in England over the fail- ure of the Popham Colony, that the adventurers in the enterprise made no attempt to renew the undertaking. As Gorges says, the colonists had branded the plantation "as being over cold, and in respect of that, not habitable by our nation." Besides, he says, "they understood it to be a task too great for particular persons to undertake". This also seems to have been the opinion of Gorges, who would have the King manifest an interest in American colonization as a matter of national importance. England, as a growing power, was not playing the influential part in matters across the sea, which in his view, the opportunity demanded. In fact, Gorges, who had had high hopes for the future of his nation in connection with the opening of the new world, was for a time utterly cast down because of this lack of interest in England in extending the national domain. It was a de- pressing thought that he could not find the men who were willing to second him in an attempt to revive the colony. But though cast down, he was not destroyed, "not doubting", he says, "but God would effect that which man despaired of"1. As for the coldness of the climate at Sagadahoc, he said, he had had too much experience in the world to be frightened by such a blast, "as knowing many great kingdoms and large territories more northerly seated and by many degrees colder"; and so, though others abandoned hope, he would not.2. If organized effort had failed, however, there was still an opportunity for individual enterprise; and Gorges makes mention of Sir Francis Popham, Footnotes.1 Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 17. 2. Ib., II, 18. p.101 THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. Sir John's only son and successor, who, "having the ships and provi- sions which remained of the northern company and supplying what was necessary for his purpose, sent divers times to the coast for trade and fishing", but his endeavors likewise proved fruitless; so that, as Gorges says, Sir Francis "was necessitated at last to sit down with the loss he had already undergone". It was Gorges greatest anxiety with reference to English interests in America, however, that while England was neglecting the opportun- ity for planting colonies on the northern American coast, France, disappointed at the failure of de Monts' colony at St. Croix Island, would now make a new and stronger effort to secure a foothold. What Gorges forsaw, and naturally greatly deprecated, soon happened; "the Frenchmen", he says, "immediately took the opportunity to settle themselves within our limits"1. The reference is to such facts as are recorded in the book Relation2 of Father Pierre Biard of the Society of Jesus. Sieur de Monts' entire company, abandoning Port Royal, and returning to France in October, 1607, preceded the return of the Popham Colony to England. Even before de Monts left Port Royal, Jean de Biencourt (de Poutrin- court) requested a gift of that place, which de Monts granted, stipu- lating only "that within the two succeeding years, Sieur de Poutrin- court should go there with several other families to cultivate and in- habit it, which he promised to do".2 The deed of gift was made, and Poutrincourt laid it before Henry IV, requesting him to ratify it. The king acceded, and in the interest of mission work among the Indians, in connection with colonial under- takings, he appealed to the head of the Jesuit order for the appoint- ment of missionary priests to accompany the expedition. Toward the end of 1608, such an appointment was received by Father Biard, then a teacher of theology in Lyons; Footnotes. 1. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I. 207. 2. The Relation, in both French text and English translation, com- prises volumes III and IV of the Jesuit Relations and Allied Docu- ments, edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites, and published by the Burrows Brothers, Cleveland, Ohio, 1897. 3. The Jesuit Relations, III, 161. p.102 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. but on repairing to Bordeaux as directed, he found he had been as much "deceived in regard to the place, as the time".1 About a year later Poutrincourt appeared in Paris, and the King, learning to his surprise that he had not left France, addressed him with such severity of words and manner that Pontrincourt has- tened to make preparations for the voyage. Father Biard again offered the services of himself and others of his Order in conn- ection with the expedition; but evidently adverse to the presence of missionaries in the colony, Poutrincourt advised him to await developments on the American coast, saying "that as soon as he arrived at Port Royal, he would send his son back to France, and that with him all things being better arranged, such persons should come as it might please the King to send".2 Poutrincourt finally sailed toward the end of February, 1610, and arrived at Port Royal about the beginning of June. When, however, the son returned to France, and failed to fulfill the promise of his father concerning the Jesuit missionaries, Madam de Guercheville3 who had become much interested in the religious work among the Indians took the matter in hand with the result that Father Pierre Biard and Father Enemond Masse were able to make arrangements for their de- parture. There were still added delays, it is true; but at length they were received on board a small vessel that sailed from Dieppe, January 26, 1611, and arrived at Port Royal on June 22, following. The little colony was found to be in straits even with the supplies that the newly arrived vessel brought; and Poutrincourt, about the middle of July, sailed for France, leaving his son, Bien- Footnotes. 1. The Jesuit Relations, III, 163. 2. Ib., III, 165. 3. She was a lady of honor to Marie de Medici, the Queen of France, and is characterized by John Fiske in his New France and New England (74,75) as one whom King Henry IV "wooed in vain". She had purchased all the rights and claims of de Monts to lands in Acadia, and she had also obtained from the boy King, Louis XIII, a grant of all the terri- tory between the river St. Lawrence and Florida. Father Biard refers to her as "ardently zealous for the glory of God and the conversion of souls". III, 167. p.103 THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESSERT. court, in command of the colony. With a view to added exploration evidently, Biencourt proceeded down the coast. Father Biard accom- panied him, and the party reached the Kennebec toward the close of October. In his "Relation", Father Biard makes brief mention of such information as was received at this time and place concerning the Popham colonists,1 who, they were told, had been driven away by the Indians. "They made excuses to us for this act", says Father Biard, "and recounted the outrages that they had experienced from these English; and they flattered us, saying that they loved us very much", etc. In relating this story as to the cause of the abandon- ment of Fort St. George, the Indians evidently flattered themselves as well as their French visitors. The story is without support of any kind. Friendly relations the Popham colonists desire and sought in their brief stay. The Indians, doubtless, were glad to witness their departure, and probably be- lieved their own story that the compelling force in the departure of the Popham colonists was to be found in them; but, as is well known, the flag of St. George at the mouth of the Sagadahoc was lowered by remote circumstances, with which the Indians on the Kennebec had no connection whatever. BIENCOURT SETS OUT ON RETURN TO PORT ROYAL. Biencourt remained at the Kennebec with his party until November 4th or 5th, and then set out on the return to Port Royal. At Pentegoet,2 he found an assemblage of eighty canoes and about three hundred Indians. Then, passing up the coast, he visited the site of de Monts' settlement at St. Croix Island. Finally, on an unknown date, the exploring party reached Port Royal, where snow began to fall on November 26th. Father Biard's narrative shows that the relation of the Jesuits to the other members of the colony at Port Royal, during the winter that followed, was by no means an harmonious one. Evidently complaints of hindrances of various kinds, if not of ill treatment and open oppo- sition, were made by the Jesuits to their friends in Footnotes. 1. Father Biard assigns to the Popham Colony the years 1608 and 1609. They should be 1607 and 1608. III, 223. 2. The present Castine. p.104 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. France.1 Meanwhile the missionaries devoted themselves to the study of the language of the Indians, and to such other matters as opportunity offered, displaying considerable adaptability to their surroundings. At length relief from unhappy conditions was at hand. In response to the appeal of the missionaries, Madame de Gerche- ville and her friends in France fitted out a vessel "to take the Jesuits away from Port Royal, and to found a new French settlement in a more suitable place".2 Such is Father Biard's statement concerning this added effort to advance French interests on the American coast. Zeal for religion was a motive of importance in connection with the movement; but it had also another motive, namely, the establishment of "a new French settlement in a more suitable place than Port Royal". That more suitable place was only to be found within the English claim farther down the coast, a movement which Father Biard, who had been as far as the Kennebec, had doubtless urged. The French Captain Saussaye. Father Enemond Masse. At the head of this new expedition in the interest of religion and French colonization, was Captain Saussaye. He was to take with him two Jesuits, Father Quantin and a lay brother, Gilber du Thet, and on his arrival at Port Royal, he was to receive on board his vessel Father Biard and Father Enemond Masse. His entire company, includ- ing sailors, numbered forty-eight persons. Charles Flory, "a dis- creet, hardy and peaceable man", was the vessel's Master, which was not only amply provided with provisions for a year, also with horses and goats for domestic purposes, but the Queen contributed "four of the King's tents, or pavilions, and some munitions of war". Footnotes. 1. "A lay brother named Gilbert du Thet, had brought out supplies, and on his return to France, he acquainted the Marchioness de Guercheville, the patroness of the mission, with the wretched state of the two fathers, and the wrong done to them, and sought to make some arrangement which would leave the missionaries at liberty to prosecute their labors. Failing in this, she resolved to found in some other spot a mission colony." History of the Catholic Missions amont the Indian Tribes of the United States, 1529 - 1854, by John Gilmary Shea, 131. 2. Relations, III, 261. p.105 THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. The expedition sailed from Honfleur, France, March 12, 1613, and in two months, la Saussaye reached Cape la Have on the coast of Acadia, where he landed and erected a cross, upon which he placed the coat-of- arms of Madame de Guercheville, "as a sign of his having taken poss- ession there in her name".1 Thence the vessel proceeded to Port Royal, but the date of the arrival is unknown. The Royal command, in letters to the Queen, "to release the Jesuits", was at once presented, the arrangements for the departure were soon made, and, in a few days, la Saussaye, having taken the missionaries on board, left Port Royal and started down the coast "to go to the river Pentegoet, to the place called Kadesquit,2 the site destined for the new colony", and a most advantageous place, it was believed, for such an enterprise. "But God ordained otherwise", wrote Father Biard. A dense fog en- veloped the vessel on the way, and the wind not permitting the Captain to stand out to sea, all on board were in imminent peril from breakers and rocks throughout two days and nights. Mount Desert, which the savages called Pemetiq. Prayers were offered for divine help. "When evening came on", says Father Biard," we began to see the stars, and by morning the fogs had all disappeared". At once the position of the vessel was made out by those on board who were familiar with the coast. "We recognized that we were opposite Mount Desert (au devant des Monts deserts)3 an island, which the savages called Pemetiq. The pilot turned to the eastern shore of the island, and there located us in a large and beautiful port, where we made our thanksgiving to God, raising a cross and singing to God his praises with the sacri- fice of the holy mass. We called this place and port, Saint Sauveur."4 Footnotes. 1. Relations, III, 263. 2. The Kenduskeag River enters the Penobscot River at Bangor; and Kenduskeag is evidently a corrupt- ion for Kadesquit, the junction of the two rivers being the site of the Indian village, the proposed site of the colonly. 3. Ib., III, 265. 4. John Gilmary Shea, History of the Catholic Missions among the Indian Tribes, writes carelessly concerning locations mentioned in Father Biard's Relation. For example, he tells us that la Saussay "sailed for Mt. Desert, (continued, footnotes, p.106) p.106 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. BAR HARBOR. This port, on the eastern shore of Mount Desert, is easily identi- fied with that of the present Bar Harbor. But Saint Sauveur was not Kadesquit, and a dispute soon arose between the sailors and the lead- ers of the colony, because of a difference in interpreting the con- tract drawn up in France concerning the voyage. The sailors held that the period of three months, for which they were holden after the arrival of the vessel at a port of Acadia, should commence with the arrival at Mount Desert. When it was explained to them that Kade- squit was the designated place, not Saint Sauveur, and that the three months would not be counted until they were there, the pilot, who was in agreement with the sailors, maintained "that a ship had never gone so far as Kadesquit, and that he had no intention of becoming the discoverer of new routes". "Nothing but argument", wrote Father Biard, "a bad augury for the future."1. So it seemed. But more favorable omens were discovered. During this wrangling, a party of Indians signaled to the vessel, and in the conference that followed, the Indians learned that the Port Royal fathers were on the ship. They asked to see Father Biard, whom the had met at Pentegoet. Father Biard came on shore, and when in the conversation that followed he asked the Indians the way to Kadesquit, they replied, "If you wish to stay in these regions, why not remain with us?" affirming that they had as good and beautiful location for the colony as Kadesquit. Father Biard records that he was not moved by these appeals, for "he knew that the savages did not lack that with which almost everyone is abundantly provided, namely, the ability to praise his own wares";2 but when the Indians informed him that their chief, Footnotes, continued. at the mouth of the Kennebec", and he locates the colony on "the east side of the island". He is also exceedingly free in his use of Father Biard's Relation, when he writes, "Their pilot, by some mistake, carried them to the east side of the island" (Mount Desert). The book Relation has no hint even of a mistake on the part of the pilot, but clearly states the circumstances connect- ed with the approach to Mount Desert. 1. Jesuit Relations, III, 267. 2. Ib., III, 269. p.107 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. Asticou, was sick unto death and wished to be baptized, saying that if the chief did not receive baptism before death he would not go to heaven, Father Biard yielded to an argument "so naively deduced", and with two of his associates started in a canoe for Asticou's camp. On their arrival they found the Chief sick, but with a cold only; and having assured themselves of Asticou's favorable condition, and finding they had plenty of leisure for a visit to the promised better location for a settlement, Father Biard and his associates made their way thith- er. The Indians had not overpraised the location. Nothing more desir- able could be expected; and on their return to the ship, Father Biard confirmed the statement of the Indians. The other members of the Colony were asked to examine the location; they did so, and on their return it was an unamimous agreement that the colonists ought not to look for anything better, and all thought of proceeding to Kadesquit was at once abandoned. The following is Father Biard's description of the accepted location of the Jesuit colony: "This place is a beautiful hill, rising gently from the sea, its sides bathed by two springs; the land is cleared for twenty or twenty-five acres, and in some places is covered with grass al- most as high as a man. Its aspect is to the south and east, like that at the mouth of the Pentegoet,1 and looking to where several attractive brooks, abounding in fish, discharge themselves. The soil is dark, rich and fertile. The port and harbor are as fine as can be seen, and are in a position favorable to command the entire coast. The harbor especially is as safe as a pond. For besides being sheltered2 by the great island of Mount Desert, it is still more pro- Footnotes. 1. The reference apparently is to the situation of Castine. 2. Father Biard says: "Car outre qu'il est repart de la grande Isle des Mots deserts il l'est encores de certaines petites Islettes, qui roment les flots & les vents & fortifient son entrle." The trans- lation, as given in connection with the text, is as follows: "For be- sides being strengthened by the great Island of Mount Desert, it is still more protected by certain small island which break the currents and the winds, and fortify the entrance" (Jesuit Relations. III, 270, 271.). The word Strengthened evidently misses the meaning of report. It is the sheltered, protected situation of the location that the (continued, footnotes, p. 108) p.108 BAR HARBOR tected by certain small islands which break the currents and the winds and fortify the entrance. There is not a fleet which it is not capable of sheltering, nor a ship so deep that could not approach within a cable's length of the shore to unload. It is situated in latitude forty-four and one-third degrees, a posi- tion less northerly than that of Bordeaux." This careful description clearly indicates the location. It was on the western side of Somes Sound, about a mile from the open sea, and near where the eastern and western mountains on the ocean front of the island are divided by the waters of the sound. The place is now known as Fernald's Point, and its beautiful slope is as attractive in these days as it was when Father Biard and his associates looked upon its green, grass-grown acres. THE HARBOR. The harbor, too, has all the advantages indicated in the descrip- tion; and the claim in our time has been made, perhaps somewhat boastfully, that it is "the third for majestic amplitude in all the world".1 Moreover, the two springs are as noteworthy today as then. But Father Biard, in his description of the location, had in view something more than a favorable spot for a mission. The real significance of Saint Sauveur he grasped and proclaimed when he made mention of its position as "favorable to command the entire coast". It could be made of national use in ex- tending the boundaries of New France. Moreover, Father Biard's statement converning the latitude of the place establishes the fact that he knew writer plainly has in view. Parkman, (Pioneers of New France, 304) has 'separt for repart' in this passage, and adds that Father Biard "was evidently mistaken in this (that he could go from the eastern part of the island to St. Sauveur and return in an afternoon). St. Sauveur being on the east side of Mount Desert, there is no place separated from it, and answering to his description, which he could have reached within the time mentioned". Parkman was misled by his wrong text. He fails also in the passage to notice that two locations are mentioned in Father Biard's Relation, the St. Sauveur of the landing on the east side of the island and the St. Sauveur of the settlement on Somes Sound. Footnotes. 1. Biard's Relation of 1616 and St. Sauveur, by Rev. R. C. Cummings, Maine Historical Society's Collections, Series II, 5, 99. p.109 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. the locatiion was within the limits of the English claim, which was to the latitude forty-five north. La Saussaye, having brought his vessel to the accepted location, landed the colonists and the work of establishing them there was commenced. But this was all, for also commenced "the quarrels, a second sign and augury of our ill-luck", says Father Biard. The occasion of this new outbreak of dissension was attributed to la Saussaye, who is said to have "amused himself too much in culti- vating the land, while all the chiefs of the enterprise were urg- ing him not to employ the laborers for that purpose, but to get to work without delay upon the houses and fortifications, which he did not wish to do."1 The French commander seems not to have had even a dream of insecurity for himself and his colony, and was in no wise moved by the appeals of Father Biard and his assoc- iates. How long la Saussaye was left to his enjoyment in the culti- vation of the rich, fertile soil of this delightful location is un- known.2 It may have been several weeks and perhaps months. But the day for which la Suassaye had not looked, and for which he was wholly unprepared, at length came. CAPTAIN SAMUEL ARGALL. Captain Samuel Argall3 connected with the Virginia Colony at Footnotes. 1. Jesuit Relations, III, 273. 2. The dates are wholly lacking in Father Biard's Relation. 3. Captain Samuel Argall, though a young man, was an experienced navigator in 1609, when he was select- ed to find a direct passage to Virginia. He accomplished the task assigned to him, and in the following year also he made a voyage to the New England coast (Brown, Genesis of the United States, I, 428- 439), where he engaged in fishing, thus making the beginning of the fishing voyages from Virginia to this vicinity. He returned to England in 1611, and was again in Virginia in 1612, with a commission to re- main in Virginia and to drive out foreign intruders from the country granted to Englishmen by the three patents of King James I. (Genesis of the United States, II, 815.) He returned to England in 1614 and to Virginia in 1615. In 1617, he was made deputy governor and admiral of Virginia. In the distribution of "the land of New England by lots in 1622", Cape Cod fell to him. The date of his death is unknown, but it was probably in 1633. His mother was married (a 2nd marriage) to Lawrence Washington, an an- cestor of George Washington. Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents, II, 309. p.110 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. EXPEL THE FRENCH FROM KING JAMES' PATENT OF 1606. Jamestown, and described as "an ingenious, active, forward young gentleman",1 arrived one day on the coast. He had come hither for the purpose of supplying the Virginia colonists with fish; but having in view the possibility of French encroachments within the limits of England's claims, Sir Thomas Dale, Governor of Virginia, had given Argall orders,2 when starting north, to expel the French from any settlements they might have made within the limits of King James' patent of 1606. Because of the return of the Popham colonists in 1608, Governor Dale evidently deemed it incumbent on him, as England's representative on the American coast, to protect the nation's interests in northern Virginia, as well as in the terri- tory under his immediate command; and he saw to it that Argall's vessel, before proceeding northward, was properly armed and equipped. Accordingly, when Argall, having reached the vicinity of Mount Desert, learned from some Indians that there weere white colonists in the neighborhood - Frenchmen, as he surmised from their use of the word "Normandia" which the Indians had caught up, as well as from certain reported acts of courtesy which Argall and his company "recognized as French ceremonies of civility and politeness", - he at prepared for action; and guided by one of the Indians, who supposed he was doing the French colonists a favor in bringing Footnotes. 1. Howe's Chronicles in Brown's Genesis of the United States, II, 751. 2. The Virginia council, in response to a request from the privy council in England for a statement of the affair, wrote: "It is true Captain Argall did take a French ship within the limits of our colony, who were about to plant contrary to the extent and privilege of his Majesty's letters patent to us granted. That he did it by the command of the Governor of our colony by his commission to him given under the seal of the colony, and by virtue of such authority as is to him derived from his Majesty's great seal of England". Brown, Genesis of the United States, II, 731. As to Governor Dale's authority for his orders to Argall, it should be said that the Virginia charter of 1606 conferred upon the two colonies power to "encounter, expulse, repel, and resist, as well by sea as by land, by all ways and means whatsoever, all and every such person and persons, as without the especial license of the said several colonies and planta- tions, shall attempt to inhabit within the said several precincts and limits of the said several colonies and plantations, or any of them". Genesis of the United States, I, 59. p.111 THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. the ship in, Argall, with all sails set to a propitious breeze, entered Somes Sound with "the banners of England flying and three trumpets and two drums making a horrible din", and opened fire upon everything French in sight. La Saussaye was on shore, and disappeared when the attack upon the settlement was made, showing no signs of fitness for leadership. The captain of the French ship was as unprepared for the attack as were the colonists on the land, his sails even having been arranged as awnings for the deck; and when, as a response to Argall's terrific volley, he cried to his men, "Fire!" the cannoneer was not at his post. Gilbert du Thet, a lay brother, obeyed the command, however, but "unfortunately", says Father Biard, "he did not take aim"; and his associate, who was on shore at the time, naively adds, "if he had, perhaps there might have been something worse than mere noise."1 Moving rapidly, having fired a single volley only, Argall sought to place his vessel alongside of the French ship; but Captain Flory, making no sign of surrender, the English commander renewed the attack at close quarters. His wound was a mortal one and he died the next day. Two young men, who had leaped from a boat in order to swim to the shore, were drowned, possibly having first been wounded. The French now surrendered.2 Argall at once landed and sought for la Saussaye, but he was not to found. The French now surrendered.3 Argall at once landed and sought for la Saussaye, but he was not to be found. Then, the locks of the French commander having been skilfully picked, a search, a search was made for his commission and other papers. Having found the commission, Argall carefully returned the papers, leaving the trunks as if they had not been opened. On the following day, la Saussaye came out of his hiding-place and gave himself up. First of all, Argall asked to see his commission. Not suspecting from the appearance of his trunks that they had been opened, la Saussaye turned to them Footnotes. 1. Jesuit Relations, III, 281. 2. Ib., III, 283. p.112 THE BEGINNING OF COLONIAL MAINE. confidently; but the papers he sought could not be found. Argall at once assumed an appearance of indignation and exclaimed, "You give us to understand that you have a commission from your King, and you cannot produce any evidence of it", adding that he regarded him and his company as "outlaws".1 It was harsh treatment, but not as severe as Father Biard and his associates anticipated. "We expected only death or at least slavery", he wrote, having in mind the hard experiences of others in the inter- national conflicts of that time. Argall took down the cross that had been erected at Saint Sauveur, and removed the French armament and stores to his own ship; but he seems to have acted discreetly, for Father Biard, while designating him as "a very shrewd and cunning captain", added that nevertheless he was "a gentlement of truly noble courage; nor were his men inhuman or cruel to any of us."2 In fact, Father Biard has only words of commendation for the personal bearing of the English commander so far as the French colonists were concern- ed. In various ways, and after many mishaps, two-thirds of the French company captured at Saint Sauveur were enabled to make their way back to France in French vessels farther up the coast.3 Those remaining with Argall, including Father Biard, were distributed among the vessels of Argall's fleet, namely, Argall's own ship, la Saussaye's captured vessel and a bark of twelve tons, also taken from the French. Argall's own ship, la Saussaye's captured vessel and a bark of twelve tons, also taken from the French. Argall, with his party of the French colonists, returned to Virginia, where he received a hearty greeting from the Governor, who, pleased with the results of Argall's work at Saint Sauveur, directed him to return and complete the work of re- moving every landmark of France "along the entire coast as far as Cape Breton". Argall was prompt in his response; and sailing north- ward with his own and the captured vessels, having with him also Father Biard and other French captives, he soon reached Saine Sauveur, where he destroyed the French fortifications Footnotes. 1. Jesuit Relations, IV, 11. 1. Ib., IV, 17. 3. Ib, IV 27. p.113 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT, MAINE. locations and raised another cross, carving upon it the name of King James I, as a sign of English cominion on American soil. Then he made his way to St. Croix Island in the St. Croix river, where he destroyed all traces of "the name and claims of France" left by de Monts' company when they withdrew to Port Royal in 1605. Argall had difficulty in finding St Croix Island, but he was in far greater straits in his search for Port Royal. At length, "by dint of much running about, lying in ambush, inquiring and skillful maneuver- ing", he captured an Indian Chief, "a very experienced man and well- acquainted with the country", who guided the English commander safely to his desired port. No one was found at Port Royal when Argall land- ed, and taking possession of the French stores and other property at the fort without opposition of any kind, he set the buildings on fire and destroyed all "monuments and evidences" of French cominion at that place.1 Having thus accomplished the task assigned to him by the governor of Virginia, Argall, with his three vessels set sail for the return voy- age, on November 9, 1613. His own vessel reached the James River in about three weeks, but la Saussaye's vessel, under the direction of Captain Turnel, Argall's second in command, was driven by a storm far out of her course; and Turnel, losing all hope of being able to reach Virginia, decided to make the Azore Islands and await more favorable conditions. At Fayal, however, where Turnel remained three weeks, all further effort to return to the American Coast was abandoned. The vessel then proceeded on to England, and arrived at Milford Haven in Wales on an unknown date, but probably in February of 1614. After a short delay, Father Biard and the other Frenchmen on board were released and returned to France. The French ambassador at London, England, commenced negotiations for the surrender of la Suassaye's vessel and reparation for the losses sustained by the French at Saint Saint Sauveeur. The vessel was given up, but the claim for reparation was denied, the Privy Council stating in a communication Footnote.1 Jesuit Relations, IV, 35-39. p.114 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE 1602 - 1658. addressed to the ambassador, "As to Madame the Marchioness of Guercheville, she has no reason to complain, nor to hope for any reparation, seeing that her ship entered by force, the territory of said colony to settle there, and to trade without their per- mission, to the prejudice of our treaties and of the good under- standing there is between our Kings".1 The governor of Virginia based his action in this affair on the following facts. In the Charter of 1606, granted by King James to the southern and northern colonies of Virginia, that part of North America between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifty degress of north latitude was plainly recognized as belonging to Great Britain. The Grant was in response to a petition for Royal per- mission "to make habitation, plantation and deduce a colony of sundry of our people into that part of America, commonly called Virginia, and other parts and territories in America, either appertaining unto us, or which are not now actually possessed by any Christian Prince or people, situate, lying and being all along the sea coasts, between four and thirty degrees of north- erly latitude from the equinoctial line, and five and forty de- grees of the same latitude". The King agreed to these "humble and well-intended desires", and granted to the two colonies the territory indicated in the petition.2 It has been claimed by some writers3 that the clause "not now actually possessed by any Christian Prince or people" was vio- lated in Argall's destruction of the Saine Sauveur colony; that the Footnotes. 1. Brown, Genesis of the United States, II, 734. 2. Ib. I, 52, 53. 3. For example: "It (the South Virginia Colony) was able in 1613 to fit out an armed vessel, commanded by Captain Argall, which broke up the French settlements at Port Royal, Mount Desert, etc., and compelled their inhabitants to retire towards Canada; protesting all the while that whatever abstract rights Great Britian might possess, if any there were, the Virginia Charter expressly excepted in its grants regions already occu- pied by any Christian Prince or people, they (the French) being a Christian people." History of Grants under the Great Council for New England, by Samuel F. Haven, in Early History of Massa- chusetts. Lectures before the Lowell Institute in Boston by members of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 142. p.115 THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. the French on the shores of Somes Sound, being a Christian people, were, by the Charter of 1606, expressly declared to be in rightful possession, although they had located within the territorial limits mentioned in the Charter. It should be noticed, however, that the words of the petition, "not now actually possessed by any Christian Prince or people", are not repeated in the King's Grant; moreover, even if they had been represented, no appeal in behalf of the Saine Sauveur colony could be made to this clause inasmuch as it had re- ference to the time when the Charter was granted - "not now actually possessed" and not to a subsequent occupation, as was the case at Saint Sauveur. England's claim to territory in North America, however, was not based primarily on King James' Charter of 1606, but on Cabot's discovery in 1497. This fact was recognized in the Charter which Queen Elizabeth bestowed on Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1578, in accordance with which, in 1583, he took possession of Newfoundland in the name of the Queen. Continuous possession in that locality did not follow, it is true. At that early period matters pertaining to territorial rights on this side of the sea were in an unsettled state. But the English claim within certain definite limits, was renewed in the Charter of 1606, which virtually was a public announcement that the portion of North America between thirty-four and forty-five degrees north lati- tude, under the name Virginia, was territory belonging to the English Crown. Sir Thomas Dale, therefore, was entirely within what he regarded the rights of the mother country when he gave Argall a well-armed vessel and directed him, properly commissioned, to destroy any French settle- ments on the Atlantic coast as far as the forty-fifth degree north lati- tude. Saint Sauveur, St. Croix island and Port Royal were within the limits laid down by the Crown, and though no word of command had come to the Governor from the King, he evidently deemed that he needed no such word of command. To call him a "self-constituted champion of British rights"1 does him injustice. He was the acknowledged repre- Footnote. 1. Parkman, Pioneers of France in the New World, 313. p.116 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. tative of English sovereignty on American soil; and recognizing this fact, having in view the just requirements of his office, he doubt- less considered that he would fail in his allegiance to the crown if he allowed any encroachment upon territory within the limits esta- blished by the Charter of 1606.1 "NEW ENGLAND WAS RESERVED FOR THE ENGLISH." So far as English interests in the new world were concerned, the importance of Argall's mission to our coast in 1613 can hardly be overestimated. As has well been said, "New England was reserved for the English, by Argall's decisive action".2 England's privy council not only refused to disavow that actiion by the punishment of Argall, but continued him in higher and higher commands. Here, at Somes Sound, was the beginning of that long struggle between England and France for dominion on American soil. Grand tactics later were displayed on both sides. The prize to be won was an alluring one. Nothing is clearer than that from this early period the determination was strong, and ever stronger in English minds and hearts, to maintain at any cost, the English claim to American territory. Naturally there was conflict, and that conflict was long continued. In the course of time the right of discovery was exchanged for the right of conquest, until in 1763, by treaty, New France disappeared from the map of North America, and the whole of England's claim to territory on this side of the sea was finally established.3 Footnotes. 1. "In this manner England vindicated her claim to Maine and to Acadia". Bancroft, History of the United States, I, 113. 2. Brown, Genesis of the United States, II, 816. 3. Concerning the legal points involved in such cases, see A Digest of International Law by John Bassett Moore, I, 258, and the following. Chief Justice Marshall, in 1828, Johnson vs McIntosh, said: "On the discovery of this immense continent the nations of Europe were eager to appropriate to themselves so much of it as they could respectively acquire....The potentates of the Old World, found no difficulty in convincing themselves that they made ample compensation to the inhabitants of the New, by bestowing on them civilization and Christianity, in exchange for unlimited in- dependence. But, as they were nearly all in pursuit of the same ob- ject, it was necessary, in order to avoid conflicting settlements and consequent war with each other, to establish a principle which all should acknowledge as the law by which the rights of acquisition, which they all asserted, should p.117 THE FRENCH COLONY AT MOUNT DESERT. be regulated as between themselves. This principle was that dis- covery gave title to the government by whose subjects, or by whose authority it was made, against all other European governments, which title might be consummated by possession. The exclusion of all other Europeans necessarily gave to the nation making the discovery the sole right of acquiring the soil from the natives, and establishing settle- ments upon it". Moore, Digest, etc., I, 258, 259. p.118 CHAPTER VIII. VOYAGES BY CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. Notwithstanding Strachey's explicit statement asserting the complete collapse of the Sagadahoc colony at the mouth of the Kennebec - a statement abundantly confirmed by other contemporary writers - attempts have been made to give apparent support to vague surmisings that some of the colonists remained in the country.1 "However first originated", these statements "have been elaborated and promulgated by various persons, have been supported by sundry considerations with insistence and repetition. They have assumed a place in history and literature, have been frequently set before the public eye in the newspapers and been enforced on occasion in historical or public assemblies. It is believed they are quite widely diffused among reading people, and have been accepted partially, or fully, by many persons interested in the history of the locality, or the state".2 Especially has the effort been made to locate at Pemaquid, Popham colonists, who are said to have remained on the coast after the abandonment of Fort St. George. There is no evidence, Footnotes. 1. The latest, perhaps, is in Herbert Edgar Holmes' Makers of Maine, Lewiston, Maine, 1912, p.149: "When the Popham colonists at the end of the year returned to England, they return- ed in the ship, Mary and John, and the Virginia of Sagadahoc' ! The ship, "Gift of God," with forty-five men, remained behind. What became of these men and their ship is doubtful, but the weight of evidence tends to prove that they went to Pemaquid and Monhegan and became those scattered settlements of Englishmen along the coast of Maine." There is no evidence whatever that these men went to Pemaquid and Monhegan. The persistence of such statements that over- look well-established facts is one of the surprises of well-informed readers concerning our Colonial history. 2. Collection of the Maine Historical Society, Series II, 6, 64. p.119 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. however, upon which such an attempt can be based with any show of reason. Not only is there positive testimony, which the sources of this part of our history abundantly furnish, that all the colonists connected with the Popham plantation at the time of its abandonment returned to England, but there is no evidence that there was any English occupation of Pemaquid following the breaking up of the settlement on the Kennebec. When, for example, it is said that French missionaries report English people at Pemaquid in 1608 and in 1609, a good illustration is furnished of the foundation upon which this claim of English occupation at Pemaquid at this time, is made to rest. The reference plainly is to the statement made by Father Biard, in his Relation, that the Indians told him "they drove away the English who wished to settle among them in 1608 and 1609". But the connection shows that Father Biard, in this statement, had in mind the Popham colony at the mouth of the Kennebec, whither he went with Biancourt in the Autumn of 1611. It is true that he makes a mis- take in the date he gives and should have written 1607 and 1608, the dates of the Sagadahoc settlement; but the error is easily corrected by the reader, as Father Biard has no record of any visit to Pema- quid in his narrative of this trip. In the passage to which reference is made, he is recording what he learned from the Indians during his visit to Kennebec (Kinibequi) with Biancourt, allusion to which is made in the preceding chapter. Other statements, presented as a basis for Pemaquid settlement at this time are equally without foundation. They are figments of the imagination only.1 Certainly if any one had known of English settlers on the Maine coast immediately following the return of the Popham colonists to England, it would have been Sir Ferd- inando Gorges, who was so bitterly disappointed at the outcome of an enterprise into which Footnote.1. For a clear and exhaustive statement concerning "Beginnings at Pemaquid" see a paper with that title, read before the Maine Histori- cal Society, September 7, 1894, by Reverend H. O. Thayer, and printed in the Society's Collections, Series II, 6, 62-85; also The Sagadahoc Colony, Gorges Society, IV, 217-239. p.120 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. he had put so much of heart and hope. His writings, however, lack even a hint of any such information. Already, under the reign of King James I, the condition of affairs in England, was such as to awaken serious consideration among thoughtful men. Two letters of Gorges,1 written to Lord Salisbury in 1611, touch upon this unhappy condition. Matters connected with English commerce especially distressed Gorges, who, at Plymouth, was made familiar with the piratical assaults of English adventurers upon the vessels of London merchants in the English channel, and with the contempt with which these free-booters regarded both the King and the Government. Gorges also was distressed because of the very large number of men in the great cities and towns who were out of employment. Accordingly, with his thoughts still busy with reference to the opportunities for English expansion on this side of the sea, he ventured the suggestion to Cecil that in this unhappy state of affairs in the Kingdom, relief might be sought, as had been done before in the history of nations, by "the planting of colonies in barbarous and uninhabited parts of the world", to the great honor and happiness of all concerned. But his suggestion, if it found support in Cecil, evidently found little support elsewhere, and the country continued to drift on and on into a still deplorable condition. Between 1608 and 1614, no evidence whatever is found in authoritative sources that there were English colonists on the coast of Maine, and they afford only glimpses - provokingly faint glimpses - of English vessels. In the Brief Relation of the Discovery and Plantation of New England, prepared by the "President and Council for the affairs of New England" and published in 1622, after a reference to the break- ing up of the Popham colony in 1608, and the return of "the whole com- pany" to England, and the discouragement that followed so that "there was no more speech of settling any other plantation in those parts for a long time after", it is added: "Only Sir Francis Popham, having the Footnote. 1. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 171-176. p.121 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. CAPTAIN HENRY HARLEY and The Indian, Epenow, of Martha's Vineyard. ships and provisions which remained of the company, and supplying what was necessary for his purpose, sent divers times to the coasts for trade and fishing".1. Gorges makes mention of a voyage made by Capt. Henry Harley to the New England coast about this time; and he adds that Harley was "one of the plantation sent over by the Lord Chief Justice", in other words, a member of the Popham Colony - it is difficult to think of him as Master of a vessel in New England waters and not making his way to the coast of Maine. On his return, Captain Harley called on Sir Ferdinando at Plymouth, bringing with him an Indian whose name was Epenow,2 a native of the Island at Capawick, or, Martha's Vineyard. "At the time, this new savage came to me", writes Gorges, "I had recovered Assacumet, one of the natives I sent with Captain Chalownes (Challons) in his unhappy employment"2 This Indian, Assacumet, will be recognized as one of Footnotes: 1. Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 207. 2. Gorges says he was "a person of goodly nature, strong and well proportioned", and that he was "taken upon the main with some 29 others by a ship of London, that endeavored to sell them as slaves in Spain; but being understood that they were Americans, and found to be unapt for their uses, they would not meddle with them, this being one of them they refused. How Captain Harley came to be possessed of this savage, I know not, but I understood by others how he had been showed in London for a wonder". Gorges, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Prov- ince of Maine, II, 20. Some writers mention Epenow as one of the Indians captured by Hunt; but as Epenow was placed by Gorges on Hobson's vessel, which sailed from England in June, 1614 (Briefe Narrative, II, 22), he could not have been included in Hunt's capt- ives, as Hunt had not, at that time, captured the Indians he took to Spain. TISQUANTUM, A CAPE COD INDIAN. SQUANTO. Tisquantum, a Cape Cod Indian, was probably captured by the same party that captured Epenow. He is mentioned in Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation under the name of Squanto. The Pilgrims came to know him through Samoset, as one who could speak better English than himself. He taught the Pilgrims corn planting and befriended them in many ways. In recording Squanto's death in 1622, Bradford says (History of Ply- mouth's Plantation, 155) that he desired "the governor to pray for him that he might go the the Englishmen's God in Heaven, and bequeathed sundry of his things to sundry of his English friends, as remembrances of his love, of whom they had great loss". Footnote. 2. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 22. p.122 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. those captured by George Waymouth in 1605 and taken to England. He accompanied Challons in the voyage of 1606, and with him and the rest of his company, was captured and taken to Spain. CAPTAIN JOHN BARLEE. CAPTAIN NICHOLSON HOBSON. In August, 1607, Captain John Barlee wrote to Secretary Cecil, in England, enclosing in his letter, a list of Challon's prisoners at Seville, and urged him to use his influence in the recovery of two savages, Manedo (Maneddo) and Sassacomett (Saffacomoit)1. Doubtless there was delay in the matter, and it may have been several years be- fore Saffacomoit arrived at Plymouth. His return, however, whether sooner or later, quickened Gorges' interest in American matters, and in June, 1614,2 he despatched a vessel under Captain Nicholson Hobson to the New England coast - the company including three Indians: "Epenow, Assacomet and Wanape", who were to be used as pilots after the vessel's arrival at its destination. But the voyage, apparently directed primarily to Martha's Vineyard (where, it would seem, the adventurers were to search for a gold mine), was a failure and Gorges, after telling briefly the story, recorded his added disappointment in connection with this new enter- prise in these words: "Thus were my hopes of that particular made void and frustrate, and they returned without doing more, though otherwise ordered how to spend that summer to good purpose".3 HOBSON. Search for the gold mine might prove a failure, but fishing on the coast of Maine had promise of success and in his supplemental orders doubtless Gorges directed Hobson to make his way thither. ASSACOMET. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. Assacomet probably returned to England with Hobson, though he is not again mentioned. At this time a picturesque figure appeaared on the Maine coast in the person of Captain John Smith, who says4 that "in Footnotes. 1. Thayer, Sagadahoc Colony, 164. 2. Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 23. 3. Ib, II, 25. A somewhat different account appears in The Discovery and Plantation of New England, published by the President and Council for New England in 1622. Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I. 209, 210. See also, Captain John Smith's "A Description of New England: Veazie reprint of edition of 1616, Boston, 1865, 67, 68. 4. A Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 19. p.123 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. Captain John Smith and Others. MONAHIGGON ISLAND The first appearance in print of the name New England. And, the first time appears the Indian name of MONHEGAN ISLAND. (which Waymouth renamed "St. George's Island".) month of April, 1614, with two ships from London", he "chanced to arrive in New England, with two ships from London", he "chanced to to arrive in New England, a part of America, at the isle of Monahiggon in 43-1/2 of northerly latitude". In this record is found the first appearance in print of the designation New England. And here, also, appears for the first time, the Indian name of Monhegan Island, which Waymouth named "St. George's Island".1 Captain Smith became interested in new world enterprises after many adventures in European countries.2 This, he records, was two years before the departure of the Jamestown colonists, who left England December 19, 1606, and whom he accompanied. He was a member of the first Virginia council, and was elected president of the colony in 1608. This office he held until he was arrested in September, 1609, and sent to England "to answer to some misdemeanors", probably as the result of factional conditions in the colony, which Smith, doubtless, had a share in creating. He remained in England until 1614; and though he was not again identified with affairs in Virginia, he seems to have so Footnotes. 1. Rosier's Relation of Waymouth's Voyage to the Coast of Maine in 1605, Gorges Society, 1887, 1838. 2. These are recounted by himself in True Travels, Adventures and Observations of Captain John Smith, in Europe, Asia, Africa and America. Replublished in Richmond, Virginia, in 1819, from the London edition of 1629. Smith's trust- worthiness as a historian has been strongly assailed during the past half century by some writers, especially by Alexander Brown in his Genesis of the United States, Boston, 1890, II, 1006-1010. "Smith's position in our early history", he says, "is a remarkable illustration of the maxim, 'I care not who fights the battles, so I write the dis- patches'"; and he adds, "He was certainly incapable of writing correct history when he was personally interested". On the other hand, the article on Captain John Smith in the 1911 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica is exceedingly favorable to him, and defends him against the charge of untrustworthiness. The writer is inclined to think that the truth is not on the one side or the other, but between the two. Smith died in the house of Sir Samuel SALTONSTALL. Insert: Source: Bond's Watertown - p.415 - Sir Richard Saltonstall, the son of Sir Samuel Saltonstall and the grandson of Gilbert Saltonstall, Esq., of Yorkshire, England, was the 1st named associate of the six original Patentees of Massachusetts, and one of the first Assistants. Smith's Description of New England is certainly a work for which we owe to him grateful remembrance. He had his faults, but he had also his excellences. He died in London, in the house of Sir Samuel Saltonstall, June 21, 1631 and was buried in St. Sepulchre's Church, on the south side of the choir, where an elaborate epitaph still re- cords his deeds in eulogistic lines. The original monument, however was destroyed by fire in 1661. p.124 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. far made good his defense against the Virginia charges as to secure general confidence in England, so that some London merchants furnish- ed him with two vessels for a venture to the territory assigned to the North Virginia Colony.1 One object of the voyage, he says, "was there to take whales and make trials of a mine of gold and copper. If these failed, fish and furs", he added, "was then our refuge." Evidently, in his preparation for the undertaking, Captain Smith had interviewed his predecessors in voyages to the New England coast, and doubtless had obtained from them reports of whales in American waters, and suggestions as to the possibility of discovering mines of gold and copper. But he knew that other fisheries than the whale fishery had proved remunerative, as also had fur-trading with the Indians. Accordingly, he felt reason- ably confident that in his prosecution of the enterprise he was warranted in looking for such returns as would satisfy the London adventurers. He acted wisely, therefore, in broadening the scope of his intended operations. The fitness of Monhegan as a favorable location for the prosecution of such an undertaking was doubtless suggested to him Indians, Dohoday and Tantum - Dehamda. Footnote. 1. In his General Historie, II, 206, Smith mentions two Indians in connection with his voyage of 1614, Dohoday, "one of their greatest Lords, who had lived long in England", and another called Tantum, whom he says, "I carried with me from England and set on shore at Cape Cod". The first, doubtless, is to be identified with Tahanedo, mentioned by Rosier in his list of the five Indians captured by Waymouth in 1605 (Rosier's Relation, Gorges Society reprint, 161) and takes to England; also mentioned by Gorges as Dehamda (Sir Fer- dinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 14). He was returned with Pring in 1606, and was visited by the Popham colonists in 1607. Indians, Tantum & Tisquantum. Monhegan. Footnotes, continued. Rosier designates him as Sagamo or Commander", and Smith here calls him "one of their greatest lords". But if we are to identify Tantum with Tisquantum (Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 104) he certainly was not one of the Indians treacherously seized by Hunt after Smith left Monhegan for England, as Smith says he set him "on shore at Cape Cod"; and this he must have done before Hunt's capture of the Indians, if Smith has correctly re- corded his disposal of Tantum, inasmuch as it is hardly supportable that having landed on Cape Cod, the Indian hurried back to Monhegan in time to fall into Hunt's hands, and so was carried by him to Malaga. p.125 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. before he left England; and on his arrival there, if not before, whale fishing was attempted, but without success. "We found this whale fishing a costly conclusion", he said. "We saw many, and spent much time in chasing them, but could not kill any: they being a kind of Inbartes, and not the whale that yeilds fins and oil as we expect- ed". The search for gold and copper also wa snot attended with succ- ess. How the search came to have a place in the proposed objects of the voyage, Captain Smith relates: "For our gold, it was rather the master's (Hunts) device to get a voyage that projected it, than any knowledge he had at all of any such matter". But invaluable time was consumed in these endeavors. There was "long lingering about the whole", says Captain Smith. The best opportunity for obtaining furs from the Indians, and for coast fishing, "were past ere we perceived it", he adds, "we, thinking that their seasons served at all times; but we found it otherwise, for by the midst of June, the fishing failed. Yet in July and August, some was taken, but not sufficient to defray so great a charge as our stay required. Of dry fish, we made about 40,000, or corfish1 about 7,000".2 MONHEGAN HARBOR. Monhegan harbor, in which Captain Smith found anchorage for his vessels, must have represented a busy scene during that summmer of 1614. It was a scened that became a familiar one on the Maine coast. Without doubt others, in previous years, had erected stages there and dried their fish; but now, for the first time, the parties are known and it is not difficult to reproduce in imagination, the fishermen on the harbor beach and the stages on the grassy slopes not far away; while between the beach and the stages, were scattered here and there boats, cordage, canvas and the various articles or any kind or another connected with fishing interests. While the larger number of the men of the two vessels were employed in fishing, Smith himself, with eight or nine others who Footnotes. 1. Corned fish. 2. Smith, Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 19, 20. p.126 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. MONHEGAN. "might best be spared", gave some attention fo fur-trading with the Indians. "We ranged the coast both east and west much further", he says, "but eastwards our commodities were not esteemed, they were so near the French who affords them better; and right against, in the main, was a ship of Sir Francis Popham's, that had there, such aquaint- ance, having many years used only that port, that the most part there was had by him. And forty leagues westward, were two French ships, that had made there great voyage by trade, during the time we tried those conclusions, not knowing the coast nor the savages' habitations." NEW HARBOR, PEMAQUID PENINSULA. WAYMOUTH, 1605, MEETS THE PEMAQUID INDIANS. CAPTAIN GILBERT AND SHIP, THE MARY & JOHN. The Indian, Skidwarres. The Indian, Nahanada. Popham's ship evidently was at what is now known as New Harbor, on the eastern side of Pemaquid peninsula. The words, "right against, in the main", plainly point to the place. Here it was that Waymouth, in 1605, met the Pemaquid Indians, and came to the determination to capture some of them and take them to England.1 It was here that Captain Gilbert, of the ship, Mary and John, landed Skidwarres, when the Popham colonists came to Pentecost Harbor, two years later.2 Nothing could be more natural than that the Master of Sir Francis Popham's vessel should anchor there, or that he should secure "the most part" of the trade with the Pemaquid Indians, because of acquaintance with Nahanada, the Chief of that tribe, who had been in England, and kindly treated. But Captain Smith did not confine his personal attention to the fur trade alone, he was a careful, busy observer and passing along the coast "from point to point, isle to isle, and harbor to harbor", he gathered materials for a map.2. Soundings were made and recorded. Rocks and landmarks were located. The map was not as perfect as he desired. The haste of other affairs prevented further details, but it was all that the circumstances allowed, "being sent", he writes, "more to get present commodities than than knowledge by disoveries for any future good - yet it Footnotes. 1. Rosier's Relation, Gorges Society reprint, 129. 2. Thayer, Sagadahoc Colony, 57, note 78. 3. The map has often been reprinted. Alexander Brown reproduces it in his Genesis of the United States, II, 780. There is also a good reproduction of the map in the Veazie reprint of Smith's Description of New England. p.127 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. will serve to direct any shall go that way to safe horbors and the savages' habitations".1 Captain Smith's 'Description' comprises the New England coast from Penobscot Bay to Cape Cod. It is full of valuable information, giving the results of intelligent observation. The following is his account of his observations of the Maine coast from Penobscot Bay to the Pisca- taqua. DESCRIPTION BY CAPTAIN SMITH. "The most northern part I was at was the Bay of Penobscot, which is east and west, north and south, more than ten leagues; but such were my occasions, I was constrained to be satisfied of them. I found in the bay, that the river ran far up into the land, and was well in- habited with many people;2. but they were from their habitations, either fishing among the isles, or hunting the lakes and woods for deer and beavers. The Bay is full of great islands, of one, two, six, eight or then miles in length, which divides it into many fair and excellent good harbors. On the east of it the *Tarrantines, their mortal enemies, where, inhabit the French2 as they report that live with those people, as one nation or family. Insert: The Tarratines Source: History of Concord, Mass. Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth. Nanapashement was the great king or sachem of these Indians. His principal place of residence was Medford, near Mystic pond. "His house was built on a large scaffold six feet high, and on the top of a hill. Not far off, he build a fort with palisades 30 or 40 feet high having but one entrance, over a bridge. This also served as the place of his burial, he having been killed about the year 1619 by the Tarrantines, a warlike tribe of eastern Indians at another fort which he had built about a mile off." He left a widow, Squaw Sachem and five children. MECADDACUT & THE TARRANTINES. And northwest of Penobscot is Mecaddacut, at the foot of a high mountain, a kind of a fortress against the Tarrantines adjoining to the high mountains of Penobscot, against whose feet doth beat the sea. But over all the land, islands or other impediments, you may well see them sixteen or eighteen leagues from St. Sauveur on Mount Desert. Footnotes: 1. Veazie reprint of Smith's Description of New England, 23. 2. The reference, of course, is to the Penobscot Indians. 3. This report can have no reference to a French settlement at Castine (called by the English, Penobscot, and by the French, Pentegoet) There were no Frenchmen residing there in 1613, for Father Biard, who had opportuni- ties for receiving information from Indian sources, would have known it and have mentioned it. Moreover, Argall had no knowledge of French occupation there, or at any other place on the French coast in that year, except at St. Sauveur on Mount Desert. PENOBSCOT BAY - 1614. In his map-making in Penobscot Bay in 1614, Captain John Smith was at Castine. "The principal habitation northward we were at, was Penobscot", Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 26, - but he makes no men- tion of finding Frenchmen there. The report made to him conerning the French at the eastward doubtless had its foundation in some mention of the French colony at St. Sauveur, which was broken up by Argall in 1613. p.128 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. Segocket - Nasconcus - Pemaquid and Sagadahock and, the Aumuckcawgen, Kinnebec and others. Aucocisco. their situation. Segocket is the next, then Nasconcus, Pemaquid and Sagadahock. Up the river, where was the Western plantation, are the Aumuckcawgen, Kinnebeck and divers others, where there are some corn fields. Along the river, forty or fifty miles, I saw nothing but great high cliffs of barren rocks overgrown with wood; but where the savages dwelt, there the ground is exceedingly fat and fertile. West- ward of this river is the country of Aucocisco in the bottom of a large, deep bay, full of many great isles, which divide into many good harbors. Sowocotuck is the next, in the edge of a large, sandy bay, which hath many rocks and isles, but few good harbors but for barks, I yet know. But all this coast, to Penobscot, and as far as I could see eastward of it, is nothing but such high craggy cliffs, rocks and stony isles, that I wondered such great trees could grow upon so hard foundations. It is a country rather to affright than delight one. And how to describe a more plain spectacle of desolation or more barren, I know not. Yet the sea there is the strangest fish pond I ever saw; and those barren isles so furnished with good woods, springs, fruits, fish and fowl, that it makes me think though, the coast be rocky and thus affrightable, the valleys, plains and interior parts may well, (notwithstanding) be very fertike. NEW ENGLAND IS GREAT ENOUGH... ACCOMINTICUS AND PASSATAQUACK. But there is no kingdom so fertile hath not some part barren; and New England is great enough to make many kingdoms and countries, were it all inhabited. As you pass the coast still westward, Accominticus and Passataquack are two convenient harbors for small barks; and a good country, within their craggy cliffs".1 One has little difficulty in following the writer in this description of so large a part of the Maine coast. The obvious physical features of the country are mentioned in such a way as to be readily recognized. Of course distances are estimates only, and are easily exaggerated in the narrative, as is illustrated not infrequently in the writings of the early voyagers upon the coast. The Androscoggin (Aumuckcawgen) and the Kennebec, are Footnote. 1. Smith, Description of New England, 41-43. p.129 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. Old Orchard Bay (Inian name, Sowocotuck) Casco Bay - (Indian name Anococisco). Passataquack (Piscataqua) cleary noted. So also are Casco Bay (Ancocisco) and Old Orchard bay, under the Indian name Sowocotuck; together with Accominticus (Aga- menticus, or York) and Passataquack (Piscatataqua). It has been doubted1 if Smith's map of New England, accompanying his Description, was drawn from his own surveys as he claims. However this may be, certainly there can be no doubt whatever, that the above description of the Maine coast is Smith's own work. We have the narratives of the earlier explorers upon the coast except that of Pring or Hanham in 1606; but as they were obliged to cut short their work of exploration by reason of the approach of winter, and were on the coast only four weeks, as is conjectured from all the available facts in the absence of dates, it is probable that they could not have made any such ex- tended examination of the coast as that made by Captain Smith, espe- cially as the explorations of Pring and Hanham determined the loca- tion of the Popham Colony at the mouth of the Kennebec - a work that in the short period available for exploration would necessarily be confined to that part of the Maine coast that is in the vicinity of the mouth of the Kennebec, where the settlement was made. In his mention of "The Landmarks" Captain Smith, referring to the Islands, says: "The highest, or Sorico (is) in the bay of Penobscot; but the three isles and a rock of Matinnack are much further in the sea. Metinicus is also three plain isles and a rock, betwixt it and Monahigan; Monahigan is a round high isle; and close by it, Monanis, betwixt which is a small harbor where we ride. In Damerils Isles is such another. Sagadahock is known by the name Satquin, and four or five isles in the mouth. Smith's isles (Isle of Shoales) are a heap together, none near them, against Accominticus."2. Monanis here has its first recorded mention, and in connection there- with, the location of Smith's two vessels during the summer Footnotes. 1. Brown, Genesis of the United States, II, 780. 2. Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 46, 47. p.130 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. FIRST MENTION OF DAMARISCOVE ISLANDS/DAMERIL'S ISLES. HUMPHREY DAMERILL OF BOSTON. of 1614 is definitely fixed. Here, also, we have the earliest mentionn of Damariscove Islands under the designation of Dameril's Isles. Humphrey Damerill of Boston, dying about 1650, claimed to own a part or all of this Island. INSERT - SAVAGE DICTIONARY DAMERILL, HUMPHREY, Boston, a master mariner, apprais. of whose est. to be div. betw. wife and ch. was had 27 Apr. 1654. His wid. Sarah m. 15 Sept. 1654, John Hawkins. JOHN, Boston 1657, s. of the preced. p.130 Continued. Humphrey Damerill or another of that name, fishing on the coast, may have used its harbor and shore privileges several years before 1614. Damaris Cove, as a variation of the name, appears among the various references to the island found in the writings of that century per- taining to matters on the coast of Maine.1. "THEM OF THE PENOBSCOT" AUGOCISCO OR, MOUNT WASHINGTON. In his further description of the country, after referring to the mountains - "them of the Penobscot" (the Union and Camden mountains), the "twinklinng mountain of Augocisco (Mount Washington), and the great mountain of Sasanou" (Agamenticus), all indicated on his map, Captain Smith makes mention of the various kinds of trees, birds, fishes, animals, etc., that had come under his observation in ranging the coast. He also enlarges here and there on "the main staple" fish, and alludes to the seasons favorable to fishing, calls attention to the fertility of the soil 2., and to the great value of its products and refers to many other matters indicating the suitableness of the country for plantation and development. In fact, he was so favorably impressed with what he saw during his summer on the American coast, that he wrote: I WOULD RATHER LIVE HERE THAN ANYWHERE. "Of all the four parts of the world that I have yet seen not inhab- ited, could I have but means to transport a colony, I would rather live here than anywhere."3. Footnotes. 1. In the words, "In Damerills isles is cuch another", the reference is to the unique harbor in the outer island of the group. Thayer, Maine Historical Society's Collections, Series II, 6, 80. 2. "The ground is so fertile, that questionless, it is capable of producing any grain, fruits or seeds you will sow or plant ... But it may be not every kind, to that perfection of delicacy; or some tender plants may miscarry, we have yet tried near the sea-side, than we find in the same height in Europe or Asia. Yet I made a garden upon the top of a rocky isle, four leagues from the main (Monhegan) in May, that grew so well as it served us for salads in June and July." - A Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 34, 35. 3. Ib., 28. p.131 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. "A New England" The summer passed - a summer that awakened in the adventurous spirit of Captain John Smith, bright visions of a New England, and the greater glory of the mother country by reason of Eng- land's expansion on this side of the sea. "Here, nature and liberty, he wrote, "afford us freely which in England we want, or it costeth us dearly"1. His mind aglow with this thought, and evidently with a purpose to impress it upon the hearts of his countrymen, Captain Smith sailed out of Monhegan harbor as summer drew to a close. The date of his sailing, he does not give, but he records the fact that he arrived in England "with- in six months" after his departure from the Downs",2 which was in the month of April. He landed at Plymouth, England, where he informed Gorges concerning his venture, and gave him such an en- thusiastic report concerning the country and its capabilities, that Gorges interest in English colonization on the American coast was at once reawakened.3 Smith's report had the same effect upon other members of the Plymouth company. It was the general feeling of those interested in the territory of the northern colony that Captain John Smith was the man for the task to which the Popham colonists proved unequal; and forth- with, negotiations with him were opened with reference to a new colonial undertaking. "I was so encouraged and assured to have the managing their authority in those parts during my life, and such large promises", wrote Smith, "that I engaged myself to undertake it for them".4 Smith disposed of his cargo of fish readily. The other vessel, of which Thomas Hunt was Master, tarrying awhile longer at Monhegan, at length sailed for Spain, and the cargo was sold at Malaga, Spain. Before Hunt left the coast, however, thinking to make it difficult for Smith to accomplish his purpose to esta- blish a colony there,5 he seized twenty-four Indians whom he had enticed on Footnotes. 1. A Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 56. 2. General Historie, London edition of 1629, Richmond, Virginia, 1819, II, 176. 3. A Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 66. 4. General Historie, II, 177, 178. 5. Ib., II, 176. p.132 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. HUNT'S TREACHERY - HE SOLD MAINE INDIANS AT MALAGA. board his vessel, and on his arrival at Malaga, sold them "for little private gain". He received punishment, in part, however, for as Smith says, "this vile act kept him ever after from any more employment to those parts":1 but the prejudical effects of Hunt's treachery must have lingered long, embittering the Indians against the English and attaching them even more strongly than hitherto, to their French rivals. Having made an agreement with the Plymouth company to take the leadership in planting an English colony on the American coast, Smith proceeded to London to report to the Adventurers at the metropolis, the results of their undertaking under his super- vision. When on his arrival he announced his engagement with the Plymouth company, he found some who promised their assist- and in this new enterprise; but there were others, and in all probability, those who had fitted out the two ships with which he had summered at Monhegan, who evidently thought that they had a prior claim to his services because of existing relations; and they offered him employment in a similar undertaking. This added offer, Smith was obliged to decline, on account of the agreement he had concluded with the Plymouth company. "I find my refusal hath incurred some of their displeasure, whose favor and love I exceedingly desire, if I may honestly enjoy it", he wrote; but, he added, "though they do censure me as opposite to their proceedings, they shall yet still, in all my words and deeds, find it their error, not my fault, that occasions their dislike; for having engaged myself in this business to the west country, I had been dishonest to have broken my promise".2 These words HUNT & HIS SALE OF INDIANS. Footnotes. 1. General Historie, II, 176. The president and council for New England in A Brief Relation of the Discovery and Plantation of New England, state that Hunt sold "as many as he could get money for" and add: "But when it was understood from whence they were brought, the Friars of those parts took the rest from them, and kept them to be instructed in the Christian faith (Catholic); and so dis- appointed this unworthy fellow of the hopes of gain he conceived to make by this new and devilish project." Reprint in Baxter's "Sir Ferdinando Gorges and His Province of Maine", I, 210. 2. Ib., II, 179. p.133 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. CAPTAIN MICHAEL COOPER. FOUR SHIPS. are exceedingly creditable to their author. The London adventurers pressed their case with urgency; and failing to move Smith from his position, they proceeded to fit our four ships which they placed under the direction of Captain Michael Cooper, and they were ready for sea before the Plymouth company "had made any provision at all", as Smith, in his disappointment over condition at Plymouth (England) records. CAPTAIN MICHAEL COOPER'S ADVENTURE. THE HARBOR AT MONHEGAN, MAINE. Concerning Captain Cooper's adventure, only meager details have come down to us. The vessels sailed in January following Smith's return and arrived at Monhegan in March. Here they remained until June, Cooper employing his men in fishing. The four vessels taking the place of Smith's two, in the preceding season, the little harbor at Monhegan must have presented a busy scene day by day, boats moving out of the harbor on their fishing rips to the waters around the island, and later returning heavily laden with their abundant catches to be cured when landed on the sandy beaches of the harbor. One of the vessels, a ship of three hundred tons, was sent in June directly from Monhegan to Spain, loaded with fish, but was captured by Turks on the way. Another vessel, also loaded with fish, was sent to the South Virginia colony and a third vessel returned with fish and oil to England, probably to London. Concerning Captain Cooper's fourth ship, there is no information.1. RICHARD HAWKINS, 1615. In the same year, 1615, Richard Hawkins, who at that time was president of the Plymouth company, made a voyage to the New England coast, leaving England in October. Only a brief record of his undertaking has been preserved. In all proability, he made his way to Monhegan, Maine, and anchored in its picturesque harbor. He seems to have spent some time in fishing there. Thence, making explorations along the coast, he visited the South Virginia colony and returned to England by way of Spain, whither he went to sell his fish.2 Footnotes. 1. Narrative and Critical History of America, III, 181. 2. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 25, 26. p.134 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. was done by any of us that year".1 In 1616, there were signs of activity. In his Description of New England, which was published in London, June 18, 1616, Captain John Smith (in the closing pages, which were probably added to his manuscript in the year of public- cation), says, "From Plymouth this year are gone four of five sail, and from London, as many."2 He is careful to add, however, that they were not voyages with reference to colonization, but "voyages of profit" only. It was during this year, it is thought, that Gorges became owner of a vessel and sent it to the coast of Maine "under color of fish- ing and trade". Among those connected with this voyage was Gorges' trusted friend, Richard Insert. SIR RICHARD VINES. p.10 (Genealogy of Edward Small.) A full google book online. Deputy Governor Thomas Gorges sailed for England in 1644, lEAVING Mr. Richard Vines* (Sir Richard Vines) at the head of the govern- ment, as Deputy Governor of the Province of Maine. Vines was re- elected to the same office, in 1645, and he and the councillors were always Provincial Magistrates. William Waldron was chosen Recorder, and a limited administration was organized. The first session of the Court held under Vines, was at Saco (Maine) in August, 1645, and which five members of the Council were present: "Henry Jocelyn Richard Bonython Nicholas Shapleigh Francis Robinson Roger Garde." At the "Generall Court" held at Saco, Maine, October 21, 1645, only three of the standing Councillors were present. The board to the number of seven was filled by the election of four other Councillors (or Magistrates) each of whom was chosen and "sworne for one whole year:" "Richard Vynes, Deputy Mr. Francis Robinson, Magistrate Governor Mr. Arthur Mackworth, Magistrate Mr. Richard Bonithon, Esq. Mr. Henry Joselin, Esq. Mr. Edward Small, Magistrate. Mr. Abraham Preble, Magistrate. The Grand Jury sworne to enquire for our Soveraigne Lord, the King: George Cleeve, Gentleman. Arthur Mackworth, Gentleman Thomas Page, Gentleman Richard Tucker, Gentleman William Cole, Gentleman Mr. Thomas Williams Mr. George Froste Mr. Richard Foxill Mr. Jonathan West. Mr. Jonathan Smith. Mr. Edward Smale Mr. Thomas Smith Sir Richard Vines has passed the winter of 1616-17 at Winter Harbor now known as Biddeford Pool, at the mouth of the Saco River, with his four fishing ships from London and Plymouth, England, from which circumstance the place is supposed to have derived its name; although Hubbard states that is was so called from one John Winter, whose land "encompassede one side of the necke of land." Vines is also credited with commencing a settlement there, with Oldham and others, about the year 1623. See also, Williamson's History of Maine, p.300. Early Records of Maine, vol. I, p. 107.; Williamson's History of Maine, p.300. Also Early Records of Maine, Vol. I: p. 100. THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. It was during this year, it is thought, that Gorges became owner of a vessel and sent it to the coast of Maine "under the color of fishing and trade" Among those connected with the voyage was Gorges' trusted friend, Richard Vines. In his account of this voyage, Gorges is pro- vokingly brief - but that he received some encouragement from the venture is indicated in the statement that from those connected with it, probably Vines, he came to be truly informed "of so much as gave him" assurance that in time "he should want no undertakers". Vines is said to have landed at the mouth of the Saco River, where he spent the winter in the wigwams of the savages, then so sorely afflict- with the plague (small pox) "that the country was in a manner left voit of in-habitants". Vines and his company happily were unaffected by it,"not one of them ever felt their heads to ache while they stayed there". THE SHIP, NACHEN,commanded by Captain Edward Brawnde. During the following year a voyage was made hither in the Nachen, a vessel of two hundred tons, commanded by Captain Edward Brawnde, whose account of his experience is contained in a letter addressed to: "His worthy good friend, Captain John Smith, EPISCOPALIAN - ANTAGONIZED THE PURITAN RULE. Footnotes. 1. Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Provinde of Maine, II, 26. 2. A Description of New England, Veazie reprint, 77. 3. Vines is supposed to have made earlier voyages to the coast of Maine. Later we find him at the mouth of the Saco river, where he established him- self. Baxter says of him, "Richard Vines was a man of high character, but being an Episcopalian, was antagonistic to the Puritan rule, which was finally extended over the Province of Maine, hence in 1645, he re- moved to Barbadoes, where he was engaged in the practice of medicine until his death in 1651." Sir Ferdinando Gorges and His Province of Maine, I, 132, note; also II, 18, 19. p.135 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. admiral of New England". Brawnde is said to have sailed from Dartmouth, England, March 8, 1616, and to have reached Monhegan on April 20th. In his letter, he makes mention of a difficulty with Sir Richard Hawkins, who detained his boats; but he has only good words concerning the country and the opportunities there afforded for fishing and fur traffic with the Indians, whom he described as "a gentle natured people", well disposed toward the English.1 Meanwhile the lack of energy displayed by the Plymouth company must have had a depressing effect upon Smith. "At last, however", he would write, "it pleased Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Master Dr. Sutliffe,2 Dean of Exeter, to conceive so well of these projects and my former employments, as induced them to make a new advent- ure3 with me in those parts, whither they have so often sent to their loss". A few gentlemen in London, friends of Smith, had a part in the enterprise, but mostly the adventurers were from the west country. A vessel of two hundred tons, and one of fifty, were secured and made ready for the voyage. Smith does not mention the date of his sailing from Plymouth, but he tells us that he had not proceeded one hundred and twenty leagues, when his own vessel not only lost all her masts in a storm but sprang a leak, and under a jury mast he returned to the harbor he had just left. While the smaller vessel, her captain not knowing of Smith's mishaps, was making her way to Monhegan, Smith secured a barque of sixty tons, in which, June 24th, with thirty men, he again set sail. But ill fortune a second time attended the undertaking, for he had not proceeded far when French privateers bore down upon him and al- though the vessel returned to Plymouth, Smith himself was held a captive by the French, partly it would seem by the mutinous conduct of some of his subordinates.4. After Footnotes. 1. Narrative and Critical History of America, III, 181, 182. Brawnde's mention of Sir Richard Hawkins is an indication that the latter passed the winter of 1615-1616 at Monhegan, Maine. 2. Captain John Smith, General Historie, II, 205-206. 3. He says it was in the year 1615. General Historie, II, 218. 4. A fuller account of the affair is given in Smith's General Historie, II, 209. p.136 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. various vicissitudes and brief delays in Rochelle and Bordeaus, he was finally liberated1 and made his way back to Plymouth, England. An investigation of the circumstances attending the voyage was held at Plymouth, England, December 8, 1615. The result proved favorable to Smith, who, to use his own words, "laid by the heels" such "chief- tains of the mutiny" as could be found.2 Unquestionably, Smith's misfortunes in connection with his employ- ment by the Plymouth Company disheartened those who had discovered in him just such a leader as was needed in order successfully to plant a colony upon the American Coast. Though he raised money in London for another venture, there was no enthusiasm at Plymouth, England, for joining in Smith's London friends in the proposed en- terprise. However, he was not to be turned aside by the indiffer- ence of his former Plymouth associates, and he spent the summer of 1616 visiting Bristol, Exeter, Barnstable, Bodwin, Penryn, Fowey, Millbrook, Saltash, Dartmouth, Absom, Totnes and the most of the gentry in Cornwall and Devonshire giving them books and maps. By this help and information he had secured, personally, with re- ference to the fishing interests upon the New England coast, he endeavored to enlist support in further efforts. Such success attended him in this campaign of publicity, that, he says, a promise of twenty ships to go with him to the American coast in the following year - was made to him; and he adds that the west- ern commissioners in behalf of themselves and the rest of the Plymouth company, together with those who should join them, con- tracted with him, "by articles indented under our hands", that in the renewing of the company's letters patent he should be nominat- ed "Admiral of that Country" during his life, while the profits were to be divided between the patentees and Smith and his associates. Smith claimed that the promise was not fulfilled. "I am not the first they have deceived", 2 he wrote. Footnotes. 1. Smith tells us that he wrote his Description of New England while a captive at that time. See Veazie reprint, 72. 2. General Historie, III, 213. 3. Ib., III, 218. p.137 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. Yet notwithstanding these many discouragements, Smith did not cease his activities in new world enterprises; and in 1617, he succeeded in securing three vessels for another attempt at colon- ial undertakings. But the ill fortune that had attended his efforts since his return from Monhegan in 1614, followed him still. When at length his vessels were ready for the voyage, he was de- tained by contrary winds with a hundred other sail in the harbor at Plymouth, England, three months, during which time the adventur- ers of the expedition seem to have lost heart to such an extent that the undertaking was wholly abandoned.1 Gorges makes no men- tion of Smith in any of his writings that have come down to us; and now, upon this added discouragement, he evidently dismissed all hopes concerning the "Admiral's" availability in connection with English colonization upon the coast of Maine.2 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH'S REMARKABLE PERSONALITY. Admirable qualities are easily discoverable in Captain John Smith's somewhat remarkable personality. He was resourceful, energetic, cour- ageous, optimistic. He saw clearly, indeed much more clearly than many of his countrymen, that on this side of the Atlantic, England's oppor- tunity for empire-building was large and inviting. But, on the other hand, he never lost sight of Captain John Smith. His own fortunes were ever held in full view. He found it difficult to abide long in harmoni- ous relations with others unless the chief direction of affairs was given to him. Because of these defects in his temperament and character, not with- standing his great services in connection with early American under- takings, he failed to obtain a place among the successful founders of states. But, Captain John Smith, notwithstanding the many discouragements connected with his attempts to promote English interest on the coast of Maine, kept a watchful eye in this direction; and Captain John Smith's Letter to Lord Bacon, 1618. Footnotes. 1. Purchas, his Pilgrimes, IV, 1839. 2. In the Public Records Office, London, there is a letter of Captain John Smith to Lord Bacon, written in 1618, in which "he offered to adventure with five thousand pounds "to bring wealth, honor and a kingdom' to the King's prosperity'". Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and His Province of Maine, I, 102. p.138 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. in his General Historie1 he makes mention of four good ships pre- pared at Plymouth, England in 1618 for voyages thitherward. Disa- greements, however, attended the fitting out of the expedition, with the result that so much of the season was spent in discuss- ing these differences that only two of the vessels crossed the Atlantic, one of two hundred tons, which made a successful voy- age, returning to Plymouth, England within five months, and the other, of eighty tons, which was equally successful, and disposed of her cargo of fish at Bilboa, Spain. CAPTAIN EDWARD ROCROFT TO MONHEGAN. CAPTAIN THOMAS DERMER. NEWFOUNDLAND. About the same time, evidently, Gorges sent Captain Edward Rocroft to Monhegan with a company he "had of purpose hired for the service", with instructions to await there the arrival of Captain Thomas Dermer, formerly associated with Captain John Smith in one of his unfortunate voyages, but who now was at Newfoundland. THE INDIAN, TISQUANTUM. There he met the Indian Tisquantum, who, having been released from captivity in Spain, had succeeded in proceeding thus far in an en- deavor to return to his old home and his own people. His description of the country further down the coast interested Dermer to such an extent that the latter proceeded to make his way thither. While on the Maine coast, impressed by what he saw and by the knowledge he had gained concerning the great opportunities for English coloniza- tion that country offered, Dermer wrote letters to Gorges, in which he made mention of these impressions and suggested that a commis- sion should be sent to meet him there, promising to come from New- foundland for a conference with such a commissiion if the suggest- ion should be favorably received. It was because of these letters that Gorges sent Rocroft to the coast of Maine in the hope that he would meet Dermer. On Rocroft's arrival or soon after however, he fell in with a French barque of Dieppe, engaged in fishing and in trading within what were regarded as English sovereignty rights. He accordingly seized the vessel, and placing the French captain and his crew on his own vessel, Rocroft transferred his crew, provisions, etc., to the captured barque. The Footnote. 1. Richmond, Virginia, edition 1819, II, 218. p.139 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. French captain, on his arrival at Plymouth, England, laid his case before Gorges, who acted with tact in his disposal of it. Reverring to the French captain as "being of our religion", he wrote, "I was easily persuaded as "being of our religion", he wrote, "I was easily persuaded upon his petition to give content for his loss".1 Rocroft, in possession of the captured barque, concluded to remain on the coast that winter, "being very well fitted both with salt, and other necessaries"; but he soon discovered that some of his men had entered into a conspiracy to take his life, seize the vessel and seek "a new fortune where they could best make it". SAWAGUATOCK - OR, SACO, MAINE. ROSCROFT KILLED. Rocroft, however, proved equal to the emergency and arresting the conspirators "at the very instant that they were prepared to begin the massacre", he put them ashore at a place called "Sawaguatock" or, Saco, Maine; and though the barque was now weakly manned, and "drew too much water, to coast those places that by his instructions he was assigned to discover", without waiting for Dermer, he set sail for Virginia, where in a storm, the vessel was wrecked, and where also, at length, Rocroft, in a quarrel, was killed.2 The conspirators did not remain long at Saco, but made their way to Monhegan, where they spent the long, cold winter "with bad lodging and worse fare". One of their number died on the Island, and the rest returned to England in a vessel sent to make a fishing voyage and "for Rocroft's supply and provision". But meanwhile, Captain John Mason,* then at Newfoundland, had ad- vised Dermer to go to England and consult with Gorges and others before returning to the Maine coast. This he did, taking with him Tisquantum; and because of this change in his plans, he was not "at the usual place of fishing", namely, Monhegan Footnotes. 1. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Privince of Maine, II, 27. 2. A Brief Relation of the Discovery and Plantation of New England by the President and Council for New England, 1622. Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 212-215. 3. After- ward prominently associated with Gorges in colonial enterprises. NEW HAMPSHIRE. When, November 7, 1629, they divided their Province of Maine, Mason received that part of the Grant lying between the Merrimac and the Piscataqua Rivers, which then received the name of New Hampshire. Captain Mason died in London in 1635. p.140 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. gan, when Rocroft arrived. But when, in the spring of 1619, he reached the island in one of the Plymouth company's fishing vessels, he learned from the conspirators, who were still there, that Rocroft had gone to Virginia. Until he heard at length of the misfortunes that befel Rocroft there, he was hopeful of his return. CHESAPEAKE BAY. Then he took the pinnace assigned the year before to Rocroft for Dermer's use, and with Tisquantum as a guide, he explored the coast as far as Cape Cod, returning June 23rd, to Monhegan, where, on a vessel, about to sail for Virginia, he placed a part of his pro- visions and other stores, and then, in the pinnace, he proceeded to follow the coast as far as Chesapeake Bay. The Indian, Epenow. In a letter to Samuel Purchas,1 Dermer gave an interesting account of his adventures by the way. At Cape Cod, he left Tisquantum, who desired now to return to his own people. On the southern part of Cape Cod, he was taken prisoner by the Indians, but fortunately succeeded in making his escape. At Martha's Vineyard, he met Epenow, the Indian who accompanied Hobson to the American coast in 1614. "With him", says Dermer, "I had such conference" that he "gave me very good satisfaction in everything, almost, I could de- mand". Continuing his journey he passed through Long Island sound2 "to the most westerly part, where the coast begins to fall away southerly", and thence, through New York Bay,3 down the coast to Virginia. Here, as was the case, with most of his men, Dermer was "brought even unto death's door" by a burning fever, but he re- covered. In the spring of 1620 he returned to Monhegan, and having spent the summer in exploration on the coast, he again started for Virginia. At Martha's Vineyard, he tarried to visit with Epenow; but this time, Footnotes. 1. Purchas his Pilgrimes, IV, pp. 1178, 1179. 2. "Dis- covering land about thirty leagues in length heretofore, taken for main" - the first record of a passage through the Sound. 3. "In this place I talked with many savages, who told me of two sundry passages to the great sea on the west, offered me pilots, and one of them drew me a plot with chalk upon a chest, whereby I found it a great island, parted the two seas; they report the one scarce for shoals, perilous currents, the other no question to be made of." A POSSIBLE ROUTE TO CHINA. Dermer seems to have had in mind a possible route to China as he records this interview. p.141 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. THE DEATH OF DERMER. with the Indian it was war, not peace; and in the sudden, unex- pected conflict that followed his landing, all of Dermer's men except one, were slain; and Dermer himself was so severely wounded in the desperate encounter, that although he managed to escape and reach Virginia, he died soon after his arrival. His death was a great loss to the northern colony. He possessed the confidence of Gorges and those associated with him in the affairs of the Plymouth company. The president and council for New England in their refer- ence to his services and death, make mention of him as, "giving us good content in all he undertook".1 From what is known of Dermer, Gorges and his associates at Plymouth were fully justified in their expectations concerning him. Such was his ability for the successful administration of important affairs, and such promise did he give of steadfastness of purpose and energy in overcoming difficulties, at the same time possessing considerable experience in matters pertaining to his country's interest upon the American coast, that hopes concerning English colonial opportunities had been happily re-awakened. Fishing Interests at Monhegan. By the tidings of Dermer's death, however, these hopes again re- ceived an unexpected blow. By this time the fishing interests that centered at Monhegan were becoming quite prosperous. All of the prominent voyagers to the coast of Maine, from Gosnold's explora- tion in 1602, had emphasized the very great value of the coast fisheries. The waters around the island kingdom, and even those of the North Sea to which English fishermen were wont to repair, offer- ed no such opportunity for successful fishing as the waters about Monhegan. Plymouth and Bristol were ports from which vessels had long made their way "to exercise the trade of fishing". Indeed it was be- cause of her fisheries that England possessed the hardy Footnote. 1. July 10, 1621, there was reed before the Virginia Company in London a relation of "Mr. Dermer's discoveries from Cape Charles to Cape Cod, up Delaware river and Hudson's River, being but twenty or thirty leagues from our plantation, and with- in our limits, within which rivers were found divers ships of Amsterdam and Horn", etc. Brown, Genesis of the United States, II, 877. p.142 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. QUEEN ELIZABETH OF ENGLAND. MARTIN FROBISHER. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. SIR HUMPHREY GILBERT. SIR WALTER RALEGH. and daring seamen, who won her great victory over Spain in the the defeat of the Armada. Down to the time of Queen Elizabeth, the foreign trade of England is said to have been largely in the hands of German merchants. But the fishing fleets of the Kingdom were so many schools for training experienced seamen. Plymouth was the birth place of great sailors, and furnished men for great enterprises.1 It was a native of Plymouth, Martin Frobisher, who sailed from that Port in 1576 to explore the coast of Labrador. It was from Plymouth, England, that Sir Francis Drake in 1577 sailed on his celebrated voyage around the world. It was from Plymouth, England that Sir Humphrey Gilbert in 1584 made his way to Newfound- land to take possession of the Island and safeguard national inter- ests in the name of Queen Elizabeth. It was from Plymouth, England, also, that Sir Walter Ralegh obtained sailors for the vessels he secured in his efforts to plant an English colony on the American coast. JOHN CABOT. Bristol, England, likewise, early had its large fishing interests and became a port for the supply of hardy fishermen. When King Edward III, invaded France in 1337, Bristol, England contributed twenty-four ships and six hundred and eight men, while larger Lon- don contributed twenty-five ships and six hundred and sixty-two men. It was from Bristol, England that John Cabot sailed on the voyage of discovery that furnished the basis for the English claim to the possession of so large a part of North America. CAPTAIN MARTIN PRING. Bristol, England's Master John Whitson & Master Robert Aldworth. When Captain Martin Pring, a native of Bristol, England, sailed in 1603 for the New England coast, he was sent thither by Master John Whitson, Master Robert Aldworth and other of the chiefest merchants of Bristol, England. Notwithstanding discouragements with reference to colonization, therefore, the merchants of Bristol and Plymouth, England, in 1620, had, at Monhegan, Maine, and HAWKINS. FROBISHER - The North-west passage. DRAKE, COMMANDER OF THE PRIVATEERS. Footnotes. 1. Plymouth Municipal Records, R.N. Worth, F.G.S., p.203. "Small, however, as the English ships were, they were in perfect trim; they sailed two feet for the Spaniards' one; they were manned with 9,000 hardy seamen, and their Admiral was backed by a crowd of captains who had won fame in the Spanish seas. With him was Hawkins, who had been the first to break into the charmed circle of the Indies, Frobisher, the hero of the northwest passage; and above all, Drake, who held command of the privateers." Green, A Short History of the English People, p.419. p.143 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND OTHERS. the waters near it, vessels successfully employed in fishing and in building up profitable trade relations with the Indians on the main- land. But up to this time since the return of Popham colonists in 1608, nothing is heard concerning permanent settlements on the Maine coast.1 Even of winter occupants, we have no information what- ever, except what has come down to us concerning Vines' company at the mouth of the Saco in 1616 and 1617 and the Rocroft cons- pirators at Monhegan in 1618 and 1619. Captain John Smith, who, as already stated, carefully examined the coast in the summer of 1614, says: "When I went first to the north part of Virginia where the western colony had been planted, it had dissolved itself within a year, and there was not one Christian in all the land".2 In his General Historie, although he refers to the various efforts he and others had made in the hope of establishing a colony on the New England coast, the record for the most part is a record of failures. Books, pamphlets, maps, he freely distributed among his countrymen as he went hither and thither, spending nearly a year in these busy endeavors to establish plantations in so goodly a land as he describ- ed; but it was of no avail. One might as well, "try to hew rocks with oyster shells", he said, as to induce merchants and others to furnish funds for colonization undertakings.3 PEMAQUID. Footnotes. 1. "It is well known that this (Pemaquid) was a gathering place for voyagers, fishermen and temporary sojourners from the later part of the sixteenth century." Report of the Commissioners in charge of the Remains of the Ancient Fortifications at Pemaquid, December 13, 1902. There is no foundation whatever for this statement. The earliest mention of Pemaquid by any voyager is in connection with Waymouth's voyage of 1605. As to fishermen and fishing vessels at Pemaquid, neither de Monts nor Waymouth, who were on the coast in the summer of 1605 report any. In the Relation of the colonists, 1607-8, there is no mention of either men or vessels at Pemaquid. They visited the Indians there, but found no "voyagers, fishermen or temporary so- journers". In fact, it was late in the first quarter of the seven- teenth century before any such gathering at Pemaquid could have been reported. 2. True Travels, Adventures and Observations, Arber's reprint, 1884, 89. 3. Richmond, Virginia, Ed. 1819, II, 220. p.144 CHAPTER IX. THE FIGHT FOR FREE FISHING. But while Gorges and those associated with him in the administrat- ion of the affairs of the northern colony had failed in all their efforts to plant permanent settlements on the coast of Maine, the southern colony in Virginia, notwithstanding many difficulties, had succeeded in obtaining there, a firm foothold. But the Virginia colonists lacked the fishing privileges that attracted their own vessels, as well as vessels from England, to the waters in the vicinity of Monhegan; and they desired to extend their boundaries farther north so as to bring the fisheries of the northern colony within their own limits. Accordingly, after the breaking up of the Popham colony, the Council of wrote to the Mayor and Aldermen of Plymouth1 inviting them, inasmuch as on account of "the coldness of the climate and other connatural necessities" their "good be- ginnings" had not "so well succeeded as so worthy intentions and labors did merit", to unite with them in their efforts farther down the coast, where the conditions, as they viewed them, were more favorable. But the members of the Plymouth company, although greatly disappointed and discouraged by the return of the Popham colonists to England, were not ready to abandon their interests. Long continued ill success, however, had had a depressing effect upon all of them, and Captain John Smith, in recording his ex- periences in connection with the Plymouth company, had some reas- on for his assertion that the Charter of the company was virtually dead.2 IT WAS NOT DEAD. Nevertheless, it was not dead; but there was need of the influ- ence of new forces, and a revival of colonial interests in the west- Footnotes. 1. Calendar of the Plymouth Municipal Records, R.N. Worth, F.G.S., 203. 2. General Historie, Richmond, Virginia, Edition II, 177. THE FIGHT FOR FREE FISHING. p.145 ern countries of England, if anything was to be accomplished in connection with the Charter. Some important lessons had been learned from the London or South Virginia company, which twice (in 1609 and 1612) had secured an enlargement of its privileges, and was now enjoying considerable prosperity. Accordingly, an application for a like enlargment was made by the Plymouth company, March 3, 1619. After mention of the "great charge and extreme hazard" that had attended the efforts of the Company in its "continued endeavor to discover a place fit to entertain such a design, as also to find the means to bring to pass so noble a work", the company asked for like privileges as the Virginia company." In response to this request a warrant was obtained for a patent giving to the adventurers of the northern colony "like liberties, privileges, powers, authorities, lands ..... as were heretofore granted to the company of Virginia", with an exception as to freedom of customs.2 THE GREAT PATENT OF NEW ENGLAND. Notwithstanding opposition on the part of the Virginia Company, a patent, known as the "Great Patent of New England", was issued by King James I, November 3, 1620, to the "Council established at Plymouth in the County of Deven, England, for the planting, ruling, ordering and governing of New England in America."3 Gorges, who had been prominent in the affairs of the Plymouth company, as long as it had any affairs, was no less prominent in this new movement, cherishing the hope that he might yet secure the ends at which he had aimed with so much labor and loss. Evidently he had given to many men of influence within his circle of friends sound reasons for securing an enlargment of privileges by a re-incorporation of the Plymouth company; but now, he says, "I was bold to offer the sounder considerations to divers of his Majesty's honorable privy council, who had so good liking there- unto, as they willingly became interested themselves therein Footnotes. 1. Farnham Papers, I, 15-18. 2. Ib., 18, 19. 3. Ib., 20-45. p.146 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. as patentees and counselors for the managing of the business, by whose favors I had the easier passage in the obtaining his majesty's royal charter to be granted us according to his warrant to the then solicitor-general."1 This proposed re-incorporation of the Plymouth company, whose territorial limits were from the thirty-eighth degree north latitude to the forty-fifth, changed those limits so that they included the territory from the fortieth degree to the forty-eighth, and from the Atlantic westward to the Pacific. THIRTEEN PEERS OF THE REALM. Its affairs were entrusted to forty-eight patentees, thirteen of whom were Peers of the Realm, and all men of distinction. They were to have not only the planting, ruling and governing of this vast territory, but they were also "to have and to hold, possess and enjoy" the firm lands, soils, grounds, havens, ports, rivers, waters, fishing, mines and minerals, as well royal mines of gold and silver, or other mine and minerals, precious stones, quarries and all, and singular other commodities, jurisdictions, royalties, privileges, franchises and pre-eminencies, both within the same tract of land upon the main, and also within the said islands and the seas adjoining.2 COUNCIL FOR NEW ENGLAND. RESTRICTIONS. No other of the King's subjects could enter and visit any of the ports of New England in America, or trade or traffic therein, with- out a license from the Council for New England, on penalty of the forfeiture of both ships and goods. THE REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH. To a certain extent monopolies had flourished during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In fact, toward the close of her reign, they flourished to such an extent that, as Macaulay2 says, "There was scarce a family in the realm which did not feel itself aggrieved by the oppression and extortion which this abuse naturally caused. Iron, oil, vinegar, coal, saltpetre, lead, starch, yarn, skins, leather, glass, could be bought only at exhorbitant prices". This condition of affairs aroused strong opposition and in the Parliament of 1601, the first great battle with monopoly was successfully fought Footnotes. 1. Gorges, Briefe Narration. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 30, 31. 2. Farnham Papers, I, 33. 3. History of England, I, 49. p.147 THE FIGHT FOR FREE FISHING. in the House of Commons, the Queen, with admirable tact, placing herself at the head of the party redressing the grievance, and leaving to her successor, says Macaulay, "a memorable example of the way to deal with public movements". KING JAMES. But, King James, a stout asserter of royal perogatives, did not follow Queen Elizabeth's wise, tactful example. Gorges, who was a most devoted Loyalist, had the King's ear, as well as the ears of those nearest to the throne; and in the patent of 1620, a gigantic monopoly was created. In the patent of 1606, the privilege of "fish- ings" was conferred upon the patentees; but this may have meant "fish- ings" in rivers and ponds only and not in the seas adjoining the main. THE PATENT OF 1620. In the patent of 1620, however, the words "seas adjoining"1 are used in connection with the privileges granted, and "sea waters" in conn- ection with "fishings". THE VIRGINIA COMPANY. SIR EDWIN SANDYS. The southern, or, Virginia Company, was the first to protest against such a denial of the rights of free fishing on the seas. Early infor- mation concerning the privileges for which Gorges and his associates asked, seems to have reached the members of the Virginia company; and the treasurer of the company, Sir Edwin Sandys, at a meeting held on March 15th, only a few days after Gorges and his associates made their request for a new Charter, called the attention of the members of the company to the purposes of the northern company; and a committee was appointed to appear before the privy council on the following day, and protest against this attempt to overthrow the right of free fishing on the New England coast.2 THE DUKE OF LENNOX & THE EARLY OF ARUNDELL. At the interview, Gorges was present. As a result of the conference, the matter at issue was referred to two members of the Council, the Duke of Lennox and the Earl of Arundell, both of whom were interested in the re-incorporation of the Plymouth company. In their report they suggested and recommended a modification of the Charter, so that each company should have the right to fish within the limits of the other, with the provision that Footnotes. 1. Farnham Papers, I, 33. 2. Narrative and Critical History of the United States, III, 297. p.148 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. THE GREAT PATENT OF NEW ENGLAND - 1620. such fishing should be "for the sustentation of the people of the colonies there". This was not acceptable to either company, and council, its members confirmed the recommendation of March 16th; and July 23, 1620, the warrant for the preparation of a patent for the northern company was granted by the King and the issue of the great patent of New England followed, November 3, 1620. THE MONOPOLY CREATED. MONHEGAN AND DAMARISCOVE, MAINE. HARBOR OF PLYMOUTH, ENGLAND OR, SUTTON'S POOL But the Sough Virginia company was not the only party affected by the monopoly thus created. Far heavier was the blow that now fell on the merchants of Plymouth, Bristol and other western Ports of England - whose vessels, in increasing numbers, now made their way, annually, to Monhegan and Damariscove (Maine). As from the ancient harbor of Plymouth, England, known as Sutton's Pool1 from whence the Mayflower colony sailed in 1620 2 - fishing vessels at the pres- Footnotes. 1. Plymouth, England, is on the south side of the rive, Plym, and was called by the Saxons, Tameorworth, and afterwards, Sutton or South-Town, and was divided into Sutton Prior and Sutton Ralph. As far back as 1383, it had occasionally received the name name of Plymouth, England, and in a petition to Parliament in 1411, it was called Sutton. In the reign of King Henry II, it was little more than a small fishing village; but in 1253, it had grown into such importance that a market was established there. In 1377, only three towns in England had a larger population, viz., London, York and Bristol, England. Historical, Practical and Theoretical Account of the Breakwater at Plymouth Sound, England, by Sir John Rennie, F. R. S., 5. Footnote 2. There is no spot in Plymouth, England, of so great interest to a native of New England, as the pier whence the ship Mayflower sailed on her memorable voyage. For many years be- for 1620, hardy Plymouth fishermen had passed this entrance to Sutton's Pool, as they left Plymouth, England on their way to Monhegan and the waters of the Maine coast. In the pavement in the middle of this pier is this record: MAYFLOWER COMPACT 1620. INSERT. http://www.themayflowersociety.com/pilgrim.htm Mayflower Compact 1620 Agreement Between the Settlers at New Plymouth : 1620 IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620. Mr. John Carver Mr. William Bradford Mr Edward Winslow Mr. William Brewster Isaac Allerton Myles Standish* John Alden John Turner Francis Eaton James Chilton John Craxton John Billington Moses Fletcher John Goodman Mr. Samuel Fuller Mr. Christopher Martin Mr. William Mullins Mr. William White Mr. Richard Warren John Howland Mr. Steven Hopkins Digery Priest Thomas Williams Gilbert Winslow Edmund Margesson Peter Brown Richard Britteridge George Soule Edward Tilly John Tilly Francis Cooke Thomas Rogers Thomas Tinker John Ridgdale Edward Fuller Richard Clark Richard Gardiner Mr. John Allerton Thomas English Edward Doten Edward Liester http://www.themayflowersociety.com/pilgrim.htm MYLES STANDISH MYLES STANDISH New England Marriages Prior to 1700 by Clarence Almon Torrey. p.700 Alexander Standish (ca 1626-1702) & 1st wife, Sarah (Alden) (1629-1685?) d. many years before 1686?) ca. 1650/2? Duxbury? Alexander Standish (ca 1626-1702) & 2nd wife, Desire (Doty) (Sherman) Holmes (ca 1645-1732) w William, w Israel; 1686?; Marshfield. Ebenezer Standish (1672-1755) & Hannah Sturtevant ca 1679-1759; b. 1698, Plympton. James Standish (-1679) & Sarah ____? who m. (2) Richard Hutchinson ?1670, 1679?; m. (3) Thomas Root, 1682, 1683, ca 1638/1640? Salem/Manchester/Lynn. Josiah Standish (-1690) & 1st wife, Mary Dingley (-1655, 1665) Dec 19, 1654, Marshfield. Josiah Standish (-1690) & 2nd wife, Sarah (Allen)? (1639-); after July 1, 1665, Duxbury/Preston, CT. Myles Standish (1584-1656) & 1st wife Rose ____? (-1621); b. 1620; Plymouth. Myles Standish (1584-1656) & 2nd wife Barbara (Allen)? (-1659+) between July, 1623 & April 3, 1624; Plymouth/Duxbury. Myles Standish (-1663) & Sarah Winslow (1638, 1636-1726) m. (2) Tobias Paine, 1665; m. (3) Richard Middlecot 1673; July 19, 1660, no issue - Boston. Myles Standish & & Mehitable (Cary) Adams (1670-) w. of Eliashib; Dec 5, 1700; Bristol, R.I./Preston, Conn. Thomas Standish1 (1612-1692) & 2nd wife, Susanna Smith (1624-1692); b. 1660; Wethersfield, CT. Thomas Standish (1660-1735) & 1st wife, Mary Church (-1705) m. Mar 20, 1690; 1689/90?; Wethersfield, Conn. Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth The Last Will and Testament of Myles Standish. March 7, 1655 The Last Will and Testament of Captaine Myles Standish, exhibited before the Court held att Plymouth, Mass. the 4th of May, 1657 on the oath of Captain James Cudworth; and ordered to bee recorded as followeth: Given under my hand this March 7th 1655, witnesseth these prsents tha I Myles Standish, Snr. of Duxburrow being in perfect memory yett deseased in my body and knowing the fraile estate of man in his best estate, I doe make this to to be my last will and Testament in manor and forme following: 1. My will is that out of my whole estate my funerall charges be taken out & my body to be buried in decent manor andif I die att Duxburrow my body to bee layed as neare as conveniently may bee to my two daughters Lora Standish &Mary Standish my daughter-in-law. 2. My Will is that out of the remaining parte of my whole estate that all my just and lawful debts which I now owe or att the day of my death owe, bee paied. 3. 4. I have given to my son Josias Standish upon his marriage one young horse, five sheep and two heiffers which I must upon the contract of marriage make forty pounds yett not knowing whether the estate will bear it att prsent, my Will is that the resedue remaie in the whole stocke and that every one of my four sons, viz, Allexander Standish, Myles Standish and Charles Standish may have forty pounds appeec; if not that they have proportionable to ye remaining parte be it more or lesse. 5. My Will is that my oldest son Allexander shall have a double share in land. 6. My will is that soe long as they live single that the whole bee in partnership betwixt them 7. I do ordaine and make my dearly beloved wife Barbara Standis, Alexander Standish, Myles Standish and Josias Standish joynt exequitors of this my last Will and Testament. 8. I doe by this my Will make and appoint m y loveing friends Mr. Timothy Hatherley and Captain James Cudworth supervisors of this my last Will and that they wil bee pleased to do the office of Christian love to bee helpful to my poor wife and children by theire Christian counsell and advise; and if any difference should arise which I hope will not, my Will is that my said supervissors shall determine the same and that they see that my poor wife shall have as comfortable maintainance as my poor state will beare the whole time of her life which if you my loveing friends pleasse to doe though neighter they nor I shall bee abel to recompence. I doe not doubt but the Lord will; by mee Myles Standish. Further My Will is that Marcye Robenson whome I tenderly love for her grandfather's sake shall have three pounds in something to goe forward for her two yeares after my decease which my Will is my overseers shall see performed. Further, my will is that my servant John Irish, Jr., have forty shillings more than his Covenant which will appear upon the towne booke alwaies provided that hee continue till the time he convenanted be expired in the service of my executors or any of them with theire joynt concent. March 7th, 1655 by mee, Myles Standish Transcribed by Janice Farnsworth THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. THE SHIP, MAYFLOWER. 1620. In the wall on the seaward side of the pier, a bronze tablet bears this inscription: "On the 6th of September, 1620, in the mayoralty of Thomas Townes, after being kindly entertained and courteously used by divers friends there dwelling, the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from Plymouth, England in the ship, Mayflower, in the providence of God, to settle in New England and to lay the foundation of the New England States. The ancient cause- way, whence they embarked p.149 THE FIGHT FOR FREE FISHING. THE LITTLE HARBORS AT MONHEGAN AND DAMARISCOVE, MAINE. present time sail out of its narrow entrance on their way to their accustomed fishing grounds, so was it then. So also was it with fish- ing vessels then, as now, at Bristol, England, whence John Cabot sail- ed on his voyage of discovery in 1497. For nearly a score of years, at least, the great value of the fisheries on the coast of Maine had been sufficiently attested to the people of England by both explorers and fishermen, and the little harbor at Monhegan, Maine and that at Damariscove, as well as the waters about these islands, presented busy scenes as vessels from England's ports came hither with each opening spring. Not only, therefore, did this assault upon free fishing call forth the protest of the Virginia colonists, but it aroused a feeling of intense indignation on the part of the mer- chants and fishermen conected with the fishing interests of the western counties of England; and with united voices they insisted, "Fishing is free!" The state of feeling in Plymouth, England, and vicinity, found strong expression in the following letter1 addressed to Cranfield, the Lord Treasurer of England, February 12, 1621: LETTER TO LORD CRANFIELD, LORD TREASURER OF ENGLAND. FEBRUARY 12, 1621. "It pleased your Honor upon the motion of Sir Warwic Hele, to signify your pleasure that our ships bound on their fish- ing voyages for the northern parts of Virginia should not be stayed, or interrupted in their proceedings as was by some, intended, for which your humble favor the inhabitants of this town, and others in these western parts do acknowledge them- selves much bound to your Lordship; yet seeing some threats have been given out by Sir Fernando Gorges, either to disturb the poor men in their present voyages, or to procure their trouble in their return, and being that it is suspected he is now in pursuit of such his intention; we, being assured that no such thing can be Footnotes continued from above. was destroyed not many years afterwards; but the site of their embarkation is marked by the stone bearing the name of the May- flower in the pavement of the adjacent pier. This tablet was erected in the mayoralty of J. T. Bond, 1891, to commemorate their departure and the visit to Plymouth in July of that year of a number of their descendants and representatives." 1. Public Records Office, London, England, I. S. P. Dom. King James, V., 127, 92. p.150 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. effected, but your Honor must have notice thereof, both in re- spect your Lordship is a patentee in that patent for New England, as also in regard of your other honorable places, we humbly be- seech your Lordship that you would be pleased to give order that nothing be done against us in this business until we have been heard both for the interest we have in regard of your former ad- ventures and employments that way, and the general estate of these western parts of the Realm, having little or no other means left to them for employment of their people and shipping. Humbly sub- mitting the consideration hereof to your Honor's grave wisdom, do in all duty, remain, Your Honor's to be commanded, John Bownd, Mayor. Also: ROBERT RAWLIN THOMAS SHERWILL JAMES BAGG NICHOLAS SHERWILL LEONARD POMERY THOMAS TOWNES JOHN SCOBETT. Plymouth, England, this 12th of February, 1621. THE RIGHT OF EVERY ENGLISHMAN TO FREE FISHING UPON THE SEAS. The feeling was intense not only at Plymouth, England but in Bristol, England and other seaport towns. The monopoly thus created meant to each English fishing vessel on the New England coast, a charge of about eighty-three cents a ton, which, con- sidering the probable average size of the fishing vessels of the period, was a demand of more than one hundred dollars for each vessel.1 Moreover, the right to take wood for the erection of stages and other uses, was denied, a matter of importance to all fishing vessels making their way hither. In response to this popu- lar uprising against Gorges and his associates, the British House of Commons, more responsive to popular feeling than ever before, be- came the field on which was to be fought the battle in behalf of the immemorial right of every Englishman to free fishing upon the seas. Footnotes. 1. Sabine, Report of the Principal Fisheries of the American Seas, 43. In 1623, Melshare Bennet of Barnstable, England, paid to the Plymouth Council, £162, 13s, 4d, for a fishing license for his ship, the Eagle, Witheridge, Ship's Master. The vessel was on the coast of Maine in that season. Maine Historical Society's Collection, Series I, 5, 186, note 2. (459 KBS, transcription to date) Janice Farnsworth p.151 THE FIGHT FOR FREE FISHING. PARLIAMENT'S ACT FOR FREER LIBERTY OF FISHING & FISHING VOYAGES. 1621. For the first time in seven years, Parliament met January 16, 1621. The matter of monopoly received early attention, and, April 17th, following, an act was introduced, entitled "An act for the freer liberty of fishing and fishing voyages, to be made and performed on the sea-coasts and places of Newfoundland, Virginia and New England and other coasts and parts of America".1 Discussion followed April 25, 1621, and was opened by Sir Edwin Sandys. Two colonies, the northern and the southern, he said, had been granted land in America. The southern colony, at an expense of one hundred thousand pounds, had established a foot- hold there. THE NORTHERN COLONY, KNOWN AS NEW ENGLAND. The northern colony had not been as successful; but it now de- sired to proceed in its territory known as New England, on whose coast there is fishing twice a year and far better than at New- foundland. As the new patent of this company confers upon the patentees, the sole right to fish there, the attention of the King has been called to the matter and he has stayed the delivery of the patent. By reason of the monopoly thus secured, English fishermen are denied their free fishing rights, a loss to them and to the nation, for the privilege costs the Kingdom nothing, while these fisheries give employment to men and ships and secure a profitable cash trade with Spain, fish being an article of food that can lawfully be carried to Spanish ports. He therefore moved "free liberty for all the King's subjects for fishing there", say- ing it was "pitiful that Englishmen should be denied a liberty en- joyed by the French and the Dutch, who come and will fish there, notwithstanding the Company's monopoly - and he added, "The northern company also prohibiteth timber and wood, which is of no worth there, and they take away the salt the merchants leave." Mr. Glanvyle, continuing the debate, thought there should be some government control of the fishermen, who "spoil havens with casting out ballast", etc. Secretary Calvert said the sub-committee had not heard the other side. The fishermen are hinderers of the plantations. Footnotes. 1. Journal of the House of Commons, I, 591, 592. The discussion is reported in brief as was the custom at that early period. p.152 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. "They burn a great store of wood and choke the havens", as mentioned. While he would not strain the King's prerogative against the good of the Commonwealth, at the same time, he did not think it fit to make laws for those countries that have not as yet been annexed to the crown. Mr. Neale said that at least three hundred vessels had gone to Newfoundland this year out of these parts. Earlier complains had been made to the Lords and the Council. No public good but private gains were sought by the monopolists. From the time of King Edward VI, there had been liberty for all subjects to fish in American waters. In various ways the fishermen had been hindered. London merchants, by restraining trade, and imposing upon trade, undo all trade. Mr. Guy thought the London merchants were to be commended, "howso- ever their greediness in other things" was an occasion for complaint. He claimed that the King, by his Great Seal, had already done as much as could be done by the act now before the House. Provision might be made for the fishermen to secure wood and timber. Mr. Brooks said, "We may make laws here for Virginia; for if the King consents to this Bill, passed here by the Lords, such action will control the patent". It was then voted to commit the Bill to Sir Edwin Sandys for a hearing upon the matter by the Burgesses of London, York and the seaport towns of England - "all that will come to have voice, this day seven-night exchequer changer". So far as is known, this meeting was not reported; but that it was held hardly admits of doubt, so strong was the popular feeling in the communities in- terested in the proposed Bill. May 24, 1621, Mr. Earle reported the Bill for Free Fishing upon the Coast of America, also amendments, which, with the bill, were twice read.1 Mr. Guy claimed that the Bill pretended to make fishing free, but in fact, it took this liberty away from those who had established themselves at Newfoundland. This, Mr. Neale Footnote. 1. Journal of the House of Commons, I, 626. p.153 THE FIGHT FOR FREE FISHING. denied. Secretary Calvert again raised the objection that the Bill was "not proper for this House, because it concerned America". The fishermen must be ruled by laws. He would have the word "unlawful" added to the word "molestation". This was done. After added dis- cussion by Sir Edward Sandys and Sir Edward Gyles, the bill was recommitted. Further action with reference to the Bill was delayed, however, by a message received by the House of Commons from the House of Lords, June 4, 1621, conveying the information that the King, under the Great Seal of England, had sent a commission adjourn- ing Parliament until November 14th. The commission had been read and the House of Lords had adjourned. It was his Majesty's pleas- ure, it was added, that all matters before Parliament should be left in the same state as at present. The announcement evidently greatly embittered the opponents of the King and Sir Robert Philips objected to the reading of the King's missive. Then, according to the Journal of the House of Commons, "Mr. Speaker letteth them know that this House taketh notice of his Majesty's pleasure, by his commission for the adjournment of Parliament, and that the House will adjourn itself accordingly". After proceedings expressive of indignation and even derision,1 the speaker declared the House adjourned until November 14, 1621. Notwithstanding the strong opposition to the patent in that it gave the sole right of fishing on the American coast to the pat- tentees, the privy council, November 18, passed an order deliver- ing the patent to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, with a provision that both the northern and southern companies should have like free- dom for drying nets, taking and curing fish, also wood for nec- essary uses; the patent to be renewed in accordance with these premises, and the southern company to have the privilege of ex- amining the Footnote. 1. "Then Sir Edward Coke, standing up, desired the House to say (after him) and he recited the collect for the King and his children, with some alteration: "Oh Almighty God, which hath promised to be" - Journal of the House of Commons, I. 639. p.154 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. patent before it was engrossed and delivered to the patentees.1 Parliament re-assembled in November according to adjournment, and November 20, it being represented that Gorges had executed a pat- ent, since the recess,2 and had by letters from the Lords of the Council not only stayed,3 the fishing vessels ready to sail, but had "threatened to send out ships to beat them off from their free fishing", Mr. Glanvyle moved to speed the Bill for free fishing on the coast of America. Sir Edward Coke also asked that the patent4 should be laid before the Committee for Grievances.5 JOHN PIERCE. THE MAYFLOWER COLONISTS. CAPTAIN JOHN MASON. NOVA SCOTIA, 1621. June 1, 1621, the Council for New England had issued a patent to John Pierce and his associates - the patent for the Mayflower colonists. Furthermore, the King, influenced by Captain John Mason6 who was now in London, had requested Gorges in "a gracious message" to hae the council for New England convey the northern part of the territory he had granted to the Council for New England to Sir William Alexander, which was done, and it was confirmed to him by a Royal Charter, September 10, 1621, the territory receiving the designation, Nove Scotia.7. Evidently it was supposed, that though the New England patent had Footnotes. 1. Narrative and Critical History of the United States, III, 299. 2. The reference is to the Pilgrim patent which was grant- to John Pierce, June 1, 1621 by the Council for New England, not by Gorges. Doubtless its source was attributed to Gorges because he was so prominent in the Council's affairs, and also because of his promin- ence in securing the patent. In this patent, the Pilgrims received "free liberty to fish in and upon the coast of New England" - a recognition of the Council's monopoly. Strictly stated, the patent was issued three days before the recess occurred. 3. "This was true", said Sir W. Heale; "but my Lord Treasurer hath given order that the ships shall go forth presently without stay". Journal of the House of Commons, I, 641. 4. The reference is to the great patent for New England. 5. The Journal of the House of Commons, I, 646. 6. He had been Governor of a plantation in Newfoundland. His term of office having expired, he returned to England. For an extended account of his various activities, especially later in connection with inter- est of Sir Ferdinando Gorges on this side of the Atlantic, see Captain John Mason, edited by John Ward Dean and published by the Prince Society, Boston, 1887. 7. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 55, 56. Insert - Bond's Watertown, Index - page references for John Mason of Watertown, Mass. pp. 357, Volume I JOHN MASON, WATERTOWN, was son of Capt. Hugh Mason - John Mason m. Elizabeth Hammond. Among other children, first child was John Mason b. 1677 m. Elizabeth Spring and their 1st child was John Mason b. 1701 who m. Lydia Loring. p.155 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. passed the Seals, its delivery to the Council for New England had been stopped pending the consideration of the grievances it had called forth and which had been received by the House of Commons. The Bill for free fishing was again before the House, on December 1, 1621, when Mr. Guy tendered a proviso in "parchment", insisting that the Bill took away "trade of fishing from those who are inhabitants of Newfoundland". Secretary Calvert was of the opinion that without this proviso the Bill would never receive Royal assent. Mr. Sherwell and Mr. Glanvyle were opposed to the proviso and it was rejected. The Bill was then passed. On February 19, 1624, there is no record in the Journal of the House of Commons after December 18, 1621. The reason is not far to seek. On that day, the members of the House, alleging that the King had threatened that body for exercising liberty of speech, entered in the Journal their famous "Protestation" THE ENGLISH BIRTHRIGHT. in which they declared "That the liberties, franchises, privileges and jurisdictions of Parliament are the ancient and undoubted birthright and inheritance of the subjects of England, and that the arduous and urgent affairs concerning the King, the State and defence of the Realm, and of the Church of England and the making and maintenance of Laws and Redress of grievances, which daily happen within this Realm, are proper subjects and matter of Council and debate in Parliament".2 The significance of this declaration, the King clearly saw, and he answered it with a char- acteristic exhibition of passion. Having sent for the Footnotes. 1. The Journal of the House of Commons, I, 668, 669. Gorges (Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 35-43) says he appeared three times before the House of Commons concerning this free- fishing matter (the 2nd and 3rd time with Counsel) and gives quite a vivid account of the proceedings in connection with his appearance. 2. Green, A Shorter History of the English People, 492, 493. p.156 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. THE KING'S EXHIBITION OF TEMPER. Sir Edward Coke & Sir Robert Philips committed to the Tower. journal, he tore out the pages1 on which the "Protestation" was record- ed, saying, "I will govern according to the common weal, but not accord- to the common will". This, however was not the limit of the King's ex- hibition of temper. Having dissolved Parliament he immediately pro- ceeded to inflict punishment upon the most conspicuous leaders of the House of Commons. Sir Edward Coke and Sir Robert Philips were committed to the Tower, while those less conspicuous were made But Gorges and those associated with him in the Council for New England, while recognizing "these troubles" as "unfortunately falling out",2 still relied on the assistance of the King in maintaining their Charter privi- leges, especially as Parliament had been dissolved, and they no longer felt the restraints of popular feeling manifested in the House of Commons. Fishing in the waters of Monhegan & Damariscove, Maine. CAPTAIN FRANCIS WEST. Meanwhile, however, without securing license form the Council, fishermen were taking fish as formerly, in the waters in the vicinity of Monhegan and Damariscove; and the council adopted measures for bringing "these troubles", if possible, to an end. Robert Gorges,2 a younger son of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, was sent to New England as Governor and Lieuten- ant General of the territory conveyed to them by their patent. And hither, also came Captain Francis West, MESSACHUSIACK. MASSACHUSETTS. Footnotes. 1. "The Commons put themselves on their strongest ground when they entered in the Journals of the House, a just and sober protestation of their privilege to speak freely on all subjects. King James put him- self as much as possible in the wrong, when he sent for the book and tore out the page with his own hand". Trevelyan, England Under the Stuarts, 127. 2. He brought with him a patent from the Council for New England, granted November 3, 1622 for "all that part of the mainland in New Eng- land aforesaid, commonly called, or known by the name of Messachusiack, (MASSACHUSETTS).... for ten miles in a straight line towards the north- east....and thirty English miles unto the main land ... to be executed according to the Great Charter of England and such laws as shall here- after be established by public authority of the state assembled in Parlia- ment in New England". Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 51-54. The re- turn of Robert Gorges to England, after a brief stay, led to the abandon- ment of this patent. p.157 THE FIGHT FOR FREE FISHING. REV. WILLIAM MORRELL. who was made Admiral of New England, and the Reverend William Morrell, who was to superintend the establishment of churches in New England in connection with the Church of England. Bradford 1 says West preceded Gorges, arriving at the end of June, 1623, while Governor Gorges reached the coast in the middle of of September.2 West had authority "to re- strain interlopers, and such fishing ships as come to fish and trade without a license from the Council of New England, for which they should pay a round sum of money. But he could do no good of them, for they were too strong for him, and he found the fishermen to be stubborn fellows".3 Unable to accomplish anything, therefore, West4 made his way back to England not long after, as also did Gorges, "having scarcely saluted the country in his government", says Bradford, "not finding the state of things here to answer to his quality and condition".5 King James' fourth Parliament assembled February 19, 1624. March 15th, following, "An act for the freer liberty of fishing", previously intro- duced,6 was committed to a large committee on grievances, of which Sir Edward Coke was chairman. Two days later the committee reported 7 that it had condemned one grievance, namely, that occasioned by Sir Ferdin- ando Gorges' patent.8 Coun- COLONEL FRANCIS WEST. Footnotes. 1. Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, 178. 2. Bradford, Ib., 169. 3. Ib, 169, 170. 4. West accompanied Newport to Virginia in 1608, and was elected a member of the council in the following year. He was Commander at Jamestown many years. Having returned to England, he received the appointment that brought him to New England in 1623. After he returned to England, he again went to Virginia, where he was elected Governor in 1627, and was continued in office until March 5, 1627. He is not mentioned in Virginia records after February, 1633. A Colonel Francis West was lieutenant of the Tower in London in 1645, and he may be the one to whom reference is here made. Brown, Genesis of the United States, II, 1047. 5. Bradford, History, 184. 6. The Bill, passed by the House of Commons, December 1, 1621, was not acted upon by the House of Lords and so failed. 7. Journal of the House of Commons, I, 688. 8. Here, also, the reference is to the great patent for New England. See Journal of the House of Commons, I, 738. p.158 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. sel for Gorges were heard. As to the clause in the patent, dated November 3, 1620, that no subject of England shall visit the coast upon pain of forfeiture of the ship and goods,1 the patentees had yielded; the English fishermen were not to be interrupted, and were to have the privilege of drying their nets, salting their fish, and of whatever was "incident to their fishing", including necessary wood and timber. That the Council for New England had yielded, however, did not satisfy its opponents in the House of Commons. They wished by higher authority to make void the objectionable clauses in the patent. When, therefore, the Bill came up for final action in the House, May 3, 1624, Sir Edward Coke maintained in the debate that the part of the patent forbidding free fishing should be condemned; that it made "a monopoly upon the sea which was wont to be free, that it was a monopoly attempted of the wind and sun by the sole packing and drying of fish". Secretary Calvert said that "free fishing, prayed for by this Bill, overthrows all plantations in those countries". In other words, it was of no advantage for the patentee to hold lands on the New England coast, unless the fishing rights in the adjoining coast waters were his. All opposition, however, proved unavailing. At the close of the debate, the amendments proposed by the opponents of the bill were rejected and the Bill was passed.2 Evidently it was not expected by the members of the House of Commons that the Lords would sustain this action, or take any notice of it; and on May 28, 1624, the House adddressed a letter to the King calling his attention to the grievances they had sustained, and its source in the King's patent of November 3, 1620, whereby all his subjects visiting that part of the coast of New England to which fishing vessels were wont to resort were forbidden to fish without a license from the patentees on penalty of a forfeiture of ship and goods. The trade of fishing, the Commons maintained, was a most beneficial one for the Realm. Shipping Footnotes. 1. Farnham Papers, I, 37. 2. The Journal of the House of Commons, I, 795. p.159 THE FIGHT FOR FREE FISHING. thereby was enlarged; there was an increase in the number of seamen, and the commerce of the Kingdom was more widely extended; further- more, the Council had agreed to relinquish the monopoly which the great patent created, and of which complaint had been made. It was asked, therefore, that the King would be pleased to declare the pat- ent, so far as free fishing was forbidden, also the incidents there- unto, including the confiscation of ships and good, together with the restraints and penalties that followed, "void and against your laws and never hereafter to be put in execution".1 If King James I paid any attention to this address, there is no known record of the fact. The King evidently was not in a mood for any such action on his part. He could not, or would not, read the handwriting on the wall. But Gorges and his associates in the Council for New Eng- land kept their promise to the House of Commons; and the English fisher- men in the vicinity of Monhegan, Maine, were allowed to continue their labors unmolested. The battle in their interest had been won, and not only had the voice of the people been heard in the voice of the House of Commons, but it had been recognized and heeded. Both were voices that were soon to be- come more and more insistent, and with reference to larger popular de- mands. Footnotes. 1. I.S.P. Domestic, King James I, Vol. CLXV, 53, Public Records Office, London. This document has received no attention from English historians. It has this title: "Address of the House of Commons, presenting the grievances of which they request redress, viz.: I. Sir Ferdinando Gorges' patent for sole fishing on the coasts of New England, May28, 1624. Against a patent restraining fishing on the sea coast of New England." On the back of the leaf are the words, "The Petition to the King to moderate Sir Ferdinando Gorge's patent". Plainly it was the denial that fishing is free that made the fishing grievance the most prominent of all grievances to which the House of Commons dir- ected attention. p.160 CHAPTER X. VARIOUS SCHEMES AND LEVETT'S EXPLORATIONS. "A Battle Royal" The Coast of Maine. Naturally during this battle royal for free fishing, the Council for New England, notwithstanding its new Charter privileges, was not mak- ing any progress in establishing settlements upon the Maine coast. In fact, as has already appeared, the affairs of the Council were in a very languishing condition. Its members, or, more accurately, some of its members, including Gorges, were still considering plans for ob- taining funds with which to advance colony planting; but their schemes1 were not received with favor. Indeed, while they were being put forth, "and likely to have taken a good foundation", says the Council, "the news of the Parliament flew to all parts, and then the most factious of every place presently com- bined themselves to follow the business in Parliament, where they pre- sumed to prove the same to be a monopoly and much tending to the pre- judice of the common good".2 The settlement upon the river, Sagadahoc. One of these schemes had reference to a settlement forty miles square, "the most convenient upon the river Sagadahoc", to be called the "State County", the city and county to be equally divided amongst the paten- tees, who shall cast lots for their serveral shares".3 It was eviden- tly a dream of Gorges of which the reader will be reminded at a later period, in Sir Ferdinando's fortunes, when, upon the foundation of Aga- menticus, he sought to rear the elaborate structure of Gorgeana. The "State County" on the Kennebec was a dream and a dream only. Footnotes. 1. Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 222, 223. 2. Ib., I, 224. 3. Records of the Council for New Eng- land in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, April 24, 1867, 84, 85. "As for the name of the city, the Council will be humble petitioners unto the King's Majesty to give the same." p.161 VARIOUS SCHEMES AND LEVETT'S EXPLORATIONS. No evidence that English Settlers had foothold on any part of the coast of Maine in 1622. Indeed, up to this time, 1622, there is no evidence whatever that English settlers had gained a single foothold on any part of what is now the coast of Maine. Extravagant claims have been made, es- pecially in behalf of Pemaquid, but an examination of of these claims reveals their worthlessness. They have been well summar- ized in these words: "It is alleged that Englishmen made seizure of its (Pemaquid) soil, and introduced colonial life a dozen years anterior to the patent of John Pierce - 1621. INSERT. Wikipedia: Kennebec River The Kennebec River - just south of Bath Origin Moosehead Lake Mouth Gulf of Maine, North Atlantic Ocean Basin countries United States Length 149 mi (240 km) The course of the Kennebec River The Kennebec River is a river, 150 mi (240 km) long, in the state of Maine in the northeastern United States. It rises in Moosehead Lake in west central Maine. The East and West Outlets join at Indian Pond and the river then flows southward where it is joined, at the The Forks by the Dead River, also called the West Branch then continues southward past the cities of Madison, Skowhegan, Waterville, and the state capital Augusta. At Richmond, it flows into Merrymeeting Bay, a 16 mi (26 km) long freshwater, tidal bay into which also flow the Androscoggin River and five other smaller rivers. The Kennebec then runs past the shipbuilding center of Bath, thence to the Gulf of Maine in the Atlantic Ocean. Ocean tides affect the river height as far north as Augusta. Tributaries of the Kennebec River include the Carrabassett River, Sandy River, and Sebasticook River. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ By rare power of vision, a ship was seen to enter St. John's Bay; a withered colony was landed, planted and so nursed and guarded as to maintain life. Errant fancy on wings of theory, gathering dismembered facts, has built up a showy fabric, though unsub- stantial."1 In support of this claim of an early settlement at Pemaquid it is said that there were "granaries" there, and accordingly settlers, from whom the Pilgrims received supplies in a time of food dis- tress. The reference is to the conditions at Plymouth in 1622. DAMARISCOVE ISLAND, NEAR MONHEGAN. The Pilgrims were in need, and their pressing necessities were met, but not from "granaries" at Pemaquid. Both Bradford and Winslow tell the story, the latter in greater fulness, as he was the one who secured the supplies that relieved the distress of the Pilgrims. "It was about the end of May, 1622", he writes, "at which time our store of victuals was wholly spent having lived long before with a bare and short allowance". In this exigency it was suggested to the sufferers that help might be received from the fishing vessels at the eastward; and at the request of the Governor, Winslow proceeded thither, finding at Damariscove Island, near Monhegan, "above thirty sail of ships". From the masters of these English fishing vessels, Winslow re- ceived kind entertainment, he says, and generous food supplies. Payment for these, the ship Masters declined, doing "what they could freely, wishing their store had been such as they might in greater measure have expressed their own love, and supplied our necessities; for which they sorrowed, provoking one another to the utmost of their abiliti - Footnote. 1. Thayer, Maine Historical Society's Collection, Series II, 6, 64, 65. p.162 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. ties, which, although it was not much amongst so many a people as were at the plantation, yet through the provident and dis- creet care of the Governor, recovered and preserved strength till our own crop on the ground was ready."1 In this narra- tive of the transaction, by the principal character in it, there is no mention of Pemaquid. SUPPLIES GIVEN TO WINSLOW WERE FROM ENGLISH FISHING VESSELS. In fact, there was at that time no English settlement at Pema- quid, and therefore no "granaries", or anything else indicat- English occupation. The supplies Winslow received came from England, in English fishing vessels, as the narrative cleary shows, and the Masters of those vessels should not be robbed of the beautiful tribute that Winslow gratefully, lovingly pays to them. JOHN WINCOB. When the Pilgrims at Leyden decided to leave the old world for the new, it was their purpose to make their settlement within the limits of the South Virginia company, "at some place about Hudson's River". Accordingly, a patent in their interest, but in the name of John Wincob, was secured from that company, Feb. 2, 1619. On approaching the American coast, the ship, Mayflower, having made her landfall at Cape Cod, stood southward in order to proceed to her destination; but the vessel falling "amongst dangerous shoals and roaring breakers - and the wind shrinking upon them withal, they resolved to bear up again for the Cape", and came to anchor on the following day in the Cape harbor.2 Making their settlement at length at Plymouth, within the limits of the territory of the Council for New England, their patent became void, and on the return of the Mayflower to England, at their request, a new patent in their interest, and with Gorges' assistance, as already stated, was issued June 1, 1621,3 by the Council for New England, to John Pierce of London and his THE OLDEST STATE DOCUMENT IN THE UNITED STATES. Footnotes. 1. Good News from New England, Masssachusetts Historical Society's Collection, VIII, 245, 246. 2. Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, 93. 3. The patent is given in full in the Farnham Papers, I, 45-53. It was written on parchment of consider- able size, but in some way disappeared, and was found in 1741 among some old papers in the Land Office at Boston, Mass. In 1853, it was deposited in Pilgrim Hall in Plymouth. It is believed to be the oldest State document in the United States. p.163 VARIOUS SCHEMES AND LEVETT'S EXPLORATIONS. associates, and the new patent was brought over in the Ship, Fortune which arrived at Plymouth, November 11, 1621. INSERT. Arrived Plymouth, Massachusetts November 9, 1621 Burthen 55 tons Thomas Barton, Master 1 John Adams 2* William Basset 3 Mrs. Elizabeth Basset 4 William Beale 5 Jonathan Brewster 6* Clement Briggs 7* Edward Bumpas 8 John Cannon 9* William Conner 10 Robert Cushman 11 Thomas Cushman - son 12* Steven Deane 13 Philipe de la Noye 14 Thomas Flavell & Son 15* ______ Ford 16* Mrs. Martha Ford 17 Martha Ford - daughter 18 John Ford - son 19 Robert Hickes 20 William Hilton 21 Bennet Morgan 22 Thomas Morton 23* Austen Nicolas 24 William Palmer 25 William Pitt 26* Thomas Prence 27 Moses Simonson 28 Hugh Statie 29 James Steward 30 William Tench 31 John Winslow 32 William Wright Transcriber's Notes: *9th gr. grandfather of transcriber. In the book: Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantation, edited by William T. Davis on page 303 it states: "Thomas Prence came over in the Fortune in 1621, about twenty-one years of age. He married in 1624 Patience, daughter of William Brewster, who died in 1634. In 1635 he married Mary, daughter of William Collier and in 1662 Mercy, widow of Samuel Freeman and daughter of Constant Southworth. (also in my line) He died in 1673." Prence, Thomas - Governor of the jurisdiction of New Plymouth, died 29 Mar 1673 at age 71 "After he had served God in the office of Governor sixteen years, or near thereunto, he finished his course in the 73 year of his life. He was a worthy gentleman, very pious, and very able for his office, and faithful in the discharge thereof, studious of peace, a wellwiller to all that feared God, and a terror to the wicked, his death was much lamented, and his body honorably buried at Plymouth the day and year above mentioned" PCR 8:34 (see also MD 3:203-204) His body was interred in Plymouth. Married 4 x. Emigrated from London early July 1621 - 9 Nov 1621. He resided in Duxburrow (Now Duxbury), MA before 2 Apr 1632. He made a will 13 Mar 1672/73 in Eastham, (now Barstable co.) Plymouth Colony (now MA. Will probated 5 Jun 1673 in Eastham. He married in 1664 to Patience Brewster, daughter of William Brewster, patriarch of Mayflower 1620 voyage. Brewster, Patience - died at age 32 "she died late in 1634 (in a letter to his son John Winthrop Jr. dated 12 Dec 1634, John Winthrop reported that "the pestilent fever hath taken away some. at Plimouth(spl), amoung others Mr. Prence the governor his wife.." (WP 3:177) from Gt. Mig. 3:1522. Her body was interred at Coles Hill, in Plymouth. Passengers: 2 Hotten's lists as Bassite, with wife implied 6 also listed as Brigges 7 also listed as Bompasse 9 also listed as Coner 12 also listed as Dean 13 also listed as De La Nove 15 also listed as Martha, widow with sons William and John and daughter Martha 23 also listed as Austin Nicholas 26 also listed as Prince Correspondence 12-08-01 passenger #7 Bumpas 1 Thomas Bompase +Ann Brodford 2 Edouad "Edward Bumpas" Bompasse b: 1603 in St. Barthalomew Parish, London, England d: February 03, 1692/93 in Marshfield, Plymouth, Massachusetts +Hannah b: 1607 m: 1628 in Marshfield, Plymouth, Massachusetts d: February 12, 1692/93 3 John Bumpas, Sr. b: June 02, 1636 in Marshfield, Plymouth, Massachusetts d: March 07, 1714/15 in Rochester, Bristol, Massachusetts +Sarah Hunter b: Abt. 1649 in Scituate, Plymouth, Massachusetts m: 1670 in Marshfield, Plymouth, Massachusetts d: 1710 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ p.163 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. continued. associates, and the new patent was brought over in the ship Fortune (above) which arrived at Plymouth, November 11, 1621, It made no mention of territorial limits; but gave to each of the colonists and those who should join them, together with their heirs and assignees, one hundred acres of land in any place or places "not already inhabited by any English". So far as is known, this was the first grant of land made by the Council for New England under its Charter of 1620. On April 20, 1622, without the knowledge of the Plymouth colonists, Pierce obtained another patent, superseding that of June 1, 1621. When this action on Pierce's part came to the knowledge of the Pilgrims, they were indignant with Pierce and carr- ied their case to the Council for New England. Claiming that they had been deceived by Mr. Pierce, they asked the Council's assistance in obtaining redress, and May 18, 1623, the patent was yielded to them on the payment of five hundred pounds, the Council passing an order, that the associates "are left free to hold the privileges by the said former Grant of the first of June (1621) as if the latter had never been. And they, the said associates, to receive and enjoy all that they do or may possess by virtue thereof, and the surplus that is to remain over and above, by reason of the later Grant, the said Pierce to enjoy, and to make his best benefit of, as to him shall seem good".1 THE PIERCE SETTLEMENT, ANCIENT PEMAQUID. On the ground of this relation of John Pierce to the Pilgrim Grant, the claim of an early Pierce settlement at Broad Bay, within the limits of ancient Pemaguid has been advance. It has been shown con- clusively, however, that this claim cannot be made to rest upon any such foundation. "No evidence has been found that Pierce ever in- timated an intention to make such a use of the patent of June 1, 1621; and more important still, so far as we know, his son, Richard Pierce, during his life-time here, never put for any claim based upon the provisions of that Charter."2 This Footnotes. 1. Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, Massachusetts Historical Society, Ed. 1913, I, 306. 2. Professor John Johnston's History of Bristol and Bremen, 53. Professor Johnston was a native of Bristol and devoted many years to the preparation of his valuable work. p.164 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. is the statement of a most careful writer of early Maine history, who says the claim is that of the Pierce heirs of a late generation, indeed, as late as 1734, and adds; "probably we shall best regard it as an after-thought, adopted by them to strengthen their supposed claim to a proprietary interest here, by virtue of the irregular transactions of their ancestors."1 The beginnings of the ownership of Monhegan. Sawahquatock. The Island of Sequin. WILLIAM CROSS AND ABRAHAM JENNINGS. At this time, however, we get a glimpse of the beginnings of the ownership of Monhegan. At a meeting of the council for New England held July 24, 1622, the matter of a division of the land held by the Council under the patent of November 3, 1620, was under consideration, and it was ordered that the Earl of Arundell should have, for his "devident" from "the middle of Sagadahoc and to go northeast so much on his side as Mr. Secretary (Calvert) goes on the other side upon the coast (i.e., west of the Kennebec) and to reach _____2 miles backward into the main and three leagues into the sea; and to have further into his devident, the island called Menehigan".3 At this meeting two other divisions were made, one to the Lord Duke of Lenox and one to Secretary Calvert. The division of the former was to extend from "the middle of Sawahquatock", that is, from the middle of the Saco river, half way to the Sagadahoc, and back into the country thirty miles; while Secretary Calvert's division was to comprise the territory between the division assigned to the Duke of Lenox and that assigned to the Earl of Arun- dell; also the Island of Sequin. This is know as the first Division of the great patent for New England. At a meeting of the Council held 12 days earlier (July 12, 1622), William Cross and Abraham Jennings,4 merchants, who Footnotes. 1. History of Bristol and Bremen, 51. 2. The blank was not filled, but the distance was probably thirty miles, as in the "devident" of the Duke of Lenox made on the same date. 3. Farnham Papers, I, 62. 4. Although Abraham Jennings was a prominent merchant of Plymouth, little is known concerning him. So far as the writer is aware, there is no memorial of him in Plymouth, of any kind. The first volume of the records of the Parish of St. Andrew's Church, Plymouth, goes back to 1581. Abraham Jennings. p.165 VARIOUS SCHEMES AND LEVETT'S EXPLORATIONS. apparently were present) were invited "to enter the great pattent", that is, to become members of the Council for New England. Jennings was a prominent merchant of Plymouth, and had large fishing interests on the coast of Maine. Both of the men requested time for the considera- tion of membership. Jennings was born about that time. The record of his baptism is not found in the early years of this record. It may be that he was born before 1581, or that he was not born in Plymouth, Eng- land. In 1605, he paid for his freedom (Black Book, City Clerk's office, Plymouth, England, 307, verso), and on May 22, 1608, he married Judith Cheere, a daughter of Nicholas Cheere of Plymouth, England. The record of her baptism which occurred November 6, 1586, the writer found in the first volume of the Parish Records of St. Andrew's Church, Plymouth, England, under that date. From the City Records of Plymouth, England, little can be gleaned concerning Abraham Jennings. He was alive in 1641, when an assessment for a poll tax was made by Parliament upon the inhabitants of Ventre ward. The assessment of the Mayor, William Byrch, was five pounds, and that of Abraham Jennings, seven pounds. JENNINGS Key (quay) a part of Hawkin's Key. ABRAHAM JENNINGS. Robert Trelawny's assessment was ten pounds. A reference to Jennings' business interests appears in the fact that a question as to the title of "Jennings' Key (quay)" Plymouth, came up in 1675. The quay was then in possession of Jennings and Warren, Jennings being Abraham Jennings' son, william Jennings1 and in the inquiry then made concerning the title, it was stated that this quay, known as Jennings' Key, was part of an ancient quay called Hawkins' Key, which by lease passed to Will- iam Stalling and from Stalling to Abraham Jennings, "by assignment sixty seven years since". As this statement was made in 1675, the quay came into Abraham Jennings' possession in 1608. It is further stated that "about fifty three years since" (and accordingly about 1622). Abraham Jennings purchased, of Hawkins, and those who claimed under him, a lease of the Hawkins' interest in the quay; and that "about thirty six years since", that is, about 1639, he purchased for himself and heirs "the reversion of one sixth of the Key in question, which the said Abraham Jennings by his last Will and Testament, gave to the said William Jennings", his son. The writer, in the summer of 1912, made diligent search for this Will at Plymouth, England and later in London, but without success. "For divers good causes and considera- tions" all claims to the Jennings "Key" were released by Jennings and Warren, to the Mayor and commonalty of Plymouth, and the quitclaim, on parchment, is preserved in the City Clerk's Office at Plymouth, with the fine signature and seal of William Jennings, who still spelled his name "Jennens". In the record of the freedom payment in 1605, the name is spelled "Jennyngs"; but in the record of his marriage in 1608, it is "Jennens". p.166 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. THE SEIZING OF THE ISLAND OF MONHEGAN, MAINE. after such consideration accepted membership, and paid one hundred and ten pounds into the treasury of the Council as the cost of member- ship, for which a receipt was ordered by the Council on November 27, 1622. Three days later, "A Bill of Receipt of 110 pounds" was sealed to Mr. Abraham Jennings, "with covenant for his dividend in the main land of New england".1 At a meeting held nearly two months later, (January 28, 1622, O.S.), the records of the Council show that on that date "the commission for seizing the Island of Monhegan, is this day sealed and signed by the Lord Duke of Lenox" and eight others, in- cluding the Earl of Arundell".2 A second division of the great patent for New England, occurred on June 29, 1623, when the King was prsent and participated in the drawing, which was by lot. "A plot of all the coasts and lands, divided into twenty parts, each part containing two shares", had been prepared "with the names of twenty patentees by whom these lots were to be drawn". THE ISLAND OF MONHEGAN. ABRAHAM JENNINGS. Mr. Abraham Jennings was not present, and his lot, which was the 5th, was drawn for him by Sir Samuel Argall.3 This division, like the 1st, was not consummated. There is no evidence that the Earl of Arundell ever acquired possession of the Island of Monhegan, or that there was any authority for the seizure of the island, in accordance with the action of the Council in England, January 28, 1622; but it was in the possession of Abraham Jennings not long after. It seems probable, therefore that he acquired possession of the island about the time he became a member of the Council, and it may be that he accepted member- ship in this languishing enterprise in order to open the way for its possession. It certainly was of value to him, because of the advant- ages it would secure to those who had the management of his fishing & trading interests on that part of the New England coast. August 10, 1622, without having consummated its action with reference to a division of its territory, the Council for New England Footnotes. 1. Proceedings of American Antiquarian Society, April 24, 1867, 76. 2. Ib., 82. 3. Farnham Papers, I, 75. p.167 VARIOUS SCHEMES AND LEVETT'S EXPLORATIONS. made a second a second grant of land within the limits of its Charter. The grantees were Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason. From the success of the Pilgrim Colony at Plymouth, in whose interest the first grant was secured, Gorges evidently had received new encourage- ment with reference to colonial undertakings in New England. His acquaintance with Mason, also, had brought him into relations with a man of great energy, whose readiness to embark in such undertakings had greatly strengthened his own former hopes and aims. They intend to name it, "The Province of Maine". The first use of the designation in any printed document. By this action of the Council there was granted to Gorges and Mason "all that part of the mainland in New England lying upon the sea coast betwixt the rivers of Merimack and Sagadahock and to the furtherest heads of the said rivers and so forward up into the new land west- ward until three score miles be finished from the first entrance of the aforesaid rivers and half way over, that is to say, to the midst of the said two rivers ... said portions of lands with the appurten- ances the said Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason, with the consent of the President and Council, intend to name, the Province of Maine". This is the first use of the designation, "Province of Maine", in any printed document. The grantees were authorized to "establish such government in the said portions of lands and islands ....as shall be agreeable as near as may be to the laws and customs of the realm of England." 1. Within the limits of this grant to Gorges and Mason, the Council for New England, (of which Gorges himself was still the leading spirit) proceeded May 5, 1623, to grant six thousand acres of land to Christ- opher Levett.2 Beyond a brief memorandum in the Records of the Great Council and in the Calendar of State Papers, no documentary evidence of such a grant has as yet been discovered - PERCIVAL LEVETT Footnotes. 1. Farnham Papers, I, 64-71. The Province of Maine was divided by the November grantees, 7, 1692, Mason receiving the terri- tory between the Merrimac and the Piscataqua. 2. He was born in York, England, April 5, 1586. His father, Percival Levett, was City Chamber- lain of York, England, in 1584 and the Sheriff in 1597-8. p.168 THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE. ered, but contemporary writers supply some added information concern- ingit.1 Levett had caught the spirit of adventure abroad in English hearts and homes in the last years of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and which continued into the reign of King James. Following the seas, as his chosen occupation, he was mentioned in 1623 as one of the Captains of His Majesty's ships. But he had now become interested in new world enterprises. He saw the possibilities which the situation of affairs on this side of the Atlantic afforded, and he resolved to make his way hither with the purpose of planting a colony on New England soil. YORK, MAINE. In some way, he interested the King in his enterprise, and Conway, the Secretary of State, by direction of King James, addressed a letter2 to the Lord President of York, June 26, 1623, calling his attention to the proposed undertaking, as one "honorable to the Nation and to the parti- cular County and City of York", as it was Levett's purpose "to build a city and call it by the name of York". L