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6f i

Pemaquid and Monhegan.

ADDRESS 01-- HON. CHARLES LEVI WOODBURY

OF UOSTON
BEFORE THE HYDE PARK HISTORICAL SOCIETY,

February 26, 1891.

lADiEs AND Gentlemen of this Historical Society: I
remember when I first saw Pemaquid. I was cruising eastward in
the yacht of the Hon. Benjamin Dean of Boston, and, owing to
the fog, we ran in by Pemaquid Point until we reached the outer
harbor Here we caught mackerel and waited for the fog to lift.
On the shore an abandoned porgy factory, perfumed as unlike a
bank of violets as possible, occupied one chop of the harbor; on
the other stood a large, square house, more pretentious than a
farm-house, and in front could be traced some slight ridges and a

few bunches of bushes. , , 1

We sailed the next morning, bound east, and on our starboard
hand as we neared the point, a lofty island some four leagues
away attracted our attention, - it was Monhegan. When we
returned from our explorations of the islands of the Penobscot
and Mount Desert, we sighted the island, the morning sun play-
ing on its top, bathed it in light ; amid a peaceful ocean it rose
like an island of the blessed ; anon the lighthouse and then as
with flowing sail we neared it, houses and then windows could be
made out The wind was fair, but on my suggestion that this
was the hallowed ground, the germ of New England, we hauled
up a little closer to the wind and dashed up to the head of the
harbor, tacked and stood off on our course, westward, ho! We
had seen the cradle of New England.

My theme to-night is specially the history of the Forts of

Pemaquid.

Pemaquid and Moiihegan.

DISCOVERY.

Before entering on this recital of the conflict of races and of
nations, of civilization antl savage life, to control the destinies of
this continent, I should refer briefly to the discovery of this coast.
After Columbus had astonished Europe, and rivalled the Port-
ugese explorations of the East, the Pope divided the new-found
territories, giving the west to the Spaniards and the east to the
Portugese. France and England, being left unsatisfied and dis-
satisfied, wont for their shares in several ways. They captured
the Spanish treasure ships and confiscated their cargo, — that is,
private gentlemen did it in an unofficial way. When they got
captured, the Spaniards hung them promptly at the yard-arm, and
when the Spaniards were taken after a resistance, an old Nor-
wegian or Viking method of sending captives "home by sea" was
resorted to, and they were made to walk the plank !

In the north, the fisheries of Newfoundland and Cape Breton
were pursued by French, Portugese and Spaniards, to whom were
added, in the last third of the sixteenth century, the English, —
all well armed, holding their fares of fish not merely by the hook
but by the sword, as the national law of the fisheries.

The coast between Nova Scotia and the ubiquitous Florida
was little frequented, and very dangerous, except to heavily
armed vessels. The sight of a sail was signal for a fight or a
flight. The few armed traders or piratical explorers who touched
its shores brought to Europe the rumor that somewhere on what
we now know as the coast of Maine there was a great, rich native
city called Norumbega, a myth like the Island of the Seven Cities
that Cabot pursued.

South of 40° north latitude the French had been beaten off
from forming a settlement, and Sir Walter Raleigh had been
defeated by vicissitudes and perils in a like purpose. We
need not consider Cortoreal, Gomez and Verezano, nor Cartier,
Roberval or Gilbert and the like adventurers.

Practically, our knowledge of the coast of New England begins
with 1600, and we may leave the sixteenth century out of consid-
eration, and begin here. In 1600, Sir Walter Raleigh and his
relative, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had stirred up the English, and
the French had equally awoke to the determination to have some
part of the North American coast south of 45", whether the
Spaniards liked it or not. Patents were readily granted by

■ mr*

S«pt II 1830

ces and of
estinies of
this coast,
the Port-
new-found
east to the
and dis-
y captured
— that is,
they got
-d-arm, and
n old Nor-
y sea" was

ape Breton
whom were
English, —
)y the hook

)us Florida
to heavily
fight or a

rho touched

?re on what
rich native

even Cities

beaten off
1 had been
pose. We
lor Cartier,

land begins
; of consid-
gh and his
nglish, and
have some
lether the
;ranted by

4ii

Pemaquid and Monhegan. . 3

princes for territory "in remote heathen and barbarous lands,"
but it was as difficult for the patentee to take possession as it
would have been for the Royal Grantor to show any color of title
in himself. At this date the trade of fishing at Newfoundland
and Cape Breton and adjacent shores had been thoroughly
exploited during the preceding century by French and English
(Parkhurst, in 1578, estimates 530 sail fishing on these coasts);
and it was almost side by side that these two nations now
explored the riches of the New England coast, and grasped for its
exclusive control. •

In 1602, Gosnold made a voyage 6n this coast and touched the
coa3t of Maine at York Nubble. His \liistoriographer writes that
as they neared the shore a Biscayan shallop under sail dashed out
from the other side of the great rock and ran down to them,
having on board some half dozen Indians with about two suits of
European clothes divided between them. They held a very
pleasant interview, the Indians making them quite a chart of the
coast with chalk on a board, and Gosnold, finding himself at Lat.
43°, further north than his object, the Vineyard Sound and
Island, bore away southward, leaving two isles (Boon and Isle of
Shoals) on his port hand. This fixes the location ; it also fixes the
fact that French or Basque traders had been there before him,
and that the natives had learned to handle the sloop. In 1603
Martyn Pryng was on the coast, and in 1604 Weymouth was at
Monhegan, and at Damarel's Cove Islands. In the same year,
De Monts and Champlain were also at these points. The issue
was shaping between the French and the English.

The French king, in 1603, had granted a charter to De Monts
for all the region from latitude 40° to 48° or 49°, which we now
call New York and New England.

The English king (James I.), in 1606, had granted the Virginia
charter, divided into two sections, one, North Virginia, having
nearly the same boundaries as the New France granted by the
French. The Indians were in actual possession ; the Spaniards
claimed the coast. Here were two new titles. Who would get
the actual possession of the land they all wanted }

De Monts and that skilful navigator, Champlain, came over in
1604, skirted the Coast of Nova Scotia, round into Port Royal,
crossed to the other side of the Bay of Fundy and settled at the
mouth of the St. Croix River. In 1605 they explored the coast as

-■^vmtm

Pemaquid ami Monhegan.

far south as the Nantucket Shoals; sighting the island Mon-
hegan, " La Nef," they called it, and entering Boothbay Harbor,
explored the Sheepscot and the Kennebec. Here on their return
they learned of Weymouth's gross outrage. In the following
year, after moving their residence to Port Royal, they again
e.vplored these coasts.

Shall it become New England or New France.? It required an
hundred and fifty years to settle this question.

The English Company, of whom Chief Justice Popham was the
head, and whose members were Wi^t of England people, sent out
two vessels under Raleigh Gilbert and George Popham, with
settlers who made their first landfall at the island of Monhegan,
where they celebrated religious services according to the Church
of England, and then came over to the mouth of the Kennebec,
and settled on an islana which is now Fort Popham. From Mon-
hegan they paid their first visit to Pemaquid.

The Indians of the country were of the Abnaki tribes, whose
tributaries extended westward, and south through Maine, New
Hampshire and part of Massachusetts. Their chief head was the
Bashaba, who lived at Pemaquid, a few miles up the river.

Here let me interject ! Weymouth had kidnapped and
carried off some Indians to England, where Sir Fernando Gorges
got two of them, and, when they knew enough English, drew from
them a knowledge of the country, the tribes and their power, etc.,
which was of great benefit in the future. One of these, Skitwares,
found his way back to the Bashaba ; another had come with the
expedition as interpreter, and their intercourse was easy, and
became very friendly ; another, Saggamore Nahandu, had also
been in England. It was clear the beaver trade was good and
profitable. The Indians east of the Penobscot were called
Tarrantines, were enemies of the Bashaba, and held rather to the
French.

In the autumn of 1608, the settlement at the Kennebec broke
up and the most of the settlers returned to England, but that did
not close business operations. Sir Francis Popham, Gorges and
others continued in the trade, and running the -remarkably fine
fishing, which the waters from Cape Newwagen to Pemaquid and
to Monhegan afforded. Hither also the South Virginia Company
soon sent vessels every year to fish for their own supply. In
1609, Zuringu notes one ship and a tender sailing for North

island Mon-
^»bay Harbor,
1 their return
lie following
, they again

t required an

ham was the
pie, sent out
jpham, with

Monhegan,

the Church

i Kennebec,

From Mon-

ribes, whose
Maine, New
lead was the
/er.

lapped and
mdo Gorges
I, drew from
power, etc.,
, Skitwares,
me with the
i easy, and
u, had also
s good and
vere called
ither to the

ebec broke
)ut that (did
Gorges and
rkably fine
tnaquid and
I Company
supply. In
for North

Pemaqiiiii and Monhegan.

•

Virginia, probably Sir Francis Popham's. The coast and trade
were thoroughly explored on each side. Champlain's journals and
maps were published in France in i6n, Lescarbot's history in
1609, and Martyn Pryng's admirable researches of 1606, and maps,
were fully known to the North Virginia Company adventurers.

In 1610, Captain Argal, from Virginia, fished on the coast, in
latitude 43" 40'. Another ship, his companion, was also on this
coast.

In 161 1, two captains, Harlie and Hobson, .sailed for this coast
from England. In this year the French visited the abandoned
settlement of Popham at Fort St. George twice, under M. do
Biancourt from Port Royal. Father Biard states they found some
English sloops fishing, but did not attack them. The first
collision took place this year, when a French vessel under
Captain Platrier was captured by two English vessels, near
Emmetonic, an island about eight leagues from the Kennebec.
These vessels were probably those of Mr. Williams, Popham's
agent, and may have been those of Captains Hobson and Harlie.

161 2. Williams is stated to have been on the coast this year also.

161 3. The French had made a settlement at Mount Desert.
Captain Argal, who was fishing from Virginia about Monhegan,
heard of it and ran down, captured their vessels and many of the
settlers, including Father Biard, broke up the plantation and took
his prizes to Virginia.'

1614. Argal also attacked the French settlement at Port
Royal. There was a resolute spirit astir under each flag.
Perhaps its sole inducement was glory, but the value of the
fishery and of the fur trade was practically held out to those
who came the best armed and the best manned to partake in its
profits. Neither side was dis\)osed to invite the public into their
confidence ; it was too gooc • 'hing to be thrown open. -

In 1614, John Smith came jut with two vessels for trade, fish
and whaling ; also Captain Hobson was here with an interpreter ;
and in the fall Sir Richard Hawkins and two vessels came out to
try the winter fishing and trade. They all came to Monhegan,
and Captain Smith says that at Pemaquid, opposite him, was a
ship of Sir Francis Popham that had traded there for several
years. Smith states that he learned two French ships were trading
about the Merrimack and that he did not go in sight of them, —
judicious navigator!

6 I'emaqHiJ aiui Monhegan.

Smith had the weakness of literature. He wrote well, and
when he returned he wrote and imblished. Thus, what with him
and Champlain, the tnide secrets and profits of this coast were
opened to the public, and a rew era soon set in.

There was another effective cause also, which was the most
important stimulus to the makin{j of permanent scttlemfnts.

TIIK WINTKR FISIIKRV.

The course of the Enj;lish fishermen had been to leave home
in January and reach Monhegan, or Damrel's Cove, in March, set
up their stages and bej^in fishing. Hy June their fish were caught
and by August or September dried, so that they could sail for
Spain and obtain an early market. They brought out double
crews, forty to si.xty m^*n, thus sp^jeding their fishing. It
transpired that the winter fishing was the best in quantity and
quality. As the adventurers were business people with an eye
to profit, good grounds were opened to them for permanent
establishments about these charmed fishing-grounds, from Cape
Newwagcn and Damrel's Cove Islands to Pemaquid, and off shore
to Monhegan, — where all the English fishing then was carried
on. Sir Richard Hawkins was president of the North Virginia
Council and with his two ships wintered here, but in which harbor
is now unknown, caught cargo for both ships, and sailed the
following spring, — one ship for Spain, the other for Virginia.
It was a success.

It is difficult to say how many vessels were yearly here before
this, but Smith states he had six or seven maps given him before
he sailed, which shows they were more numerous than have been
recorded. The vessels anchored in harbors, built stages, fish-
houses and flakes on shore, and sent out their crews in small
boats daily to fish. Their fares were then brought to the stages,
cleaned, salted and dried there, and shipped when ready for
market. With the winter fishery the stages and small boats
could be occupied all the year round, and the half crew left there
be earning instead of lying idle.

Pemaquid was the best place for the fur trade, because of its
proximity to the Bashaba; also it could in a great degree
command the fur trade of the Kennebec. There is every reason
to suppose that Sir Francis Popham's people built some block-

Pemaqtiili ami Mi)nf}f^an.

to well, and

Kit with liiin

coast were

IS the most
ttlements.

leave home
I March, set
A^ere caught
uhl sail for
out double
Fishin;?. It
lantity and
vith an eye

permanent

from Cape
d off shore
ivas carried
th Virginia
hich harbor

sailed the
r Virginia.

here before
him before
1 have been
tages, fish-
vs in small
the stages,
ready for
mall boats
V left there

:ause of its
3at degree
^ery reason
ime block-

house or trade station there, as hr hail traded there for several
years, but no statement of the fact has come down to us.

In 1615, Smith states that four or five ships from London, —
one sent by Sir I'rancis Gorges from I'lymouth, and two under his
command — sailed for Monhegan. Smith was captured in one of
them by the French. How many came fishing from Virginia
we do not learn. Smith wrote his hook this year, and it was
published in 1616. Ho was reproached bitterly for disclosing the
secrets of the country. This publication gave impetus to the
voluntary Jis/icniieu, not connected with the great companies, to
come here and try their fortunes. In this year the Dutch sloop
Restless, built at New York in 161 1 by Adrian Block, came
as far as the Penobscot on a trading voyage. Her captain,
Hendrickson, made a map of the coast.

The first vessel built in the country was tht; Virginia, built
1607-08, at the Kennebec settlement ; the Restless was the ne.xt.
Of course pinnaces had bacn taken out by fishermen and set up
after arriving here, but these two were actually built here.

sr.TTLEMKNT.

The contingencies of trade and the fishery were now devel-
oping the original purpose of the North Virginia Company. Sir
Francis I'opham's trading headquarters had been all this time at
Pemaquid, as both Smith and Gorges state.

Sir Fernando Gorges now took up the matter of wintering
there. Let me cite his own language, "I bought a ship for
fishing and trade. I sent Vines and others, my own servants,
with their provision, for trade and discovery, appointing them to
leave the ship and ship's company for to follow their business in
the usual place. By these, and by the help of the natives formerly
sent over, I came to be truly informed of so much as gave me the
assurance that in time I should want no undertakers, though, as
yet, I was forced to hire men to stay there the winter quarter at
extreme rates, and not without danger; for that the war had
consumed the Bashaba," (and the plague, etc.), "notwithstanding
Vines and the rest with him that lay in the cabins with the people
that died, some more or less mightily, not one of them ever felt
their heads to ache, and this course I held some years together."

This appears to make it clear that Pemaquid was occupied
for trade purposes from the departure of the Popham Gilbert

I—

i !

!::]

PftnaqiiiJ ditJ Motihei>iitt.

Colony from the Kcnncbfc in 1608, and at an cirly date per-
manently, with a view of estahlishinj; ICn^lish settlements on
the main land of the j;rant. Some wi iters say that it was at Saco
that Vines with his men lay, during; the winter «)f i6r7-i8.
This plague raged about three years, killing nine-tenths of the
Indians living between the Penobscot and Cape Cod.

In 1619, Captain Rowcroft left three men at Saco, who made
their way eastward and crossed to Moiiliegan, where they were
found in the spring. They must have had a boat, and probably
the reason why they crosseil from Pemaquid or Cape Newwagen
was to join winter fishermen remainini; there.

In 1616, Smith states four ships of London and two of Plymouth
and Sir Richard Hawkins were again in these waters. Me does
not give the vessels from South Virginia. Vines also came in
command of a ship.

In 1617, eight tall ships came there from Kngland.

In 161 8. six or seven volunteer ships came from the west of
England, and those of the two companies. Captain Rowcroft also
seized a French barque. Smith also states that in 1614, 1616 and
1617 he was prepared with ten or fifteen men to stay in the
country, but his purposes were defeated. In 1619, he says one
went from the West, those of London not stated.

In 1620, six or seven sail went from the west country, those of
London not stated.

The prospect of establishing settlements was so flattering
that early in this year the company applied, for a new charter,
obtained a warrant therefor, and the charter passed the Great
Seal, November, 1620, creating them the Great Council of
Plymouth, with boundaries from north latitude 40° to 48°, and
powers of government, title to the lands, and also giving them
a monopoly of the trade and the fishery. Before I pass to this
charter I will continue the preceding subject.

In 1619, Gorges sent out Captain Dermer, who was to have
met Captain Rowcroft, but found he was gone. Dermer took his
pinnace and, with an interpreter, coasted as far as Virginia.

In 1620, he visited the harbor where the Pilgrims arrived in
the following December. Captain Pryng had called it, in 1603,
Mount Aldworth, Champlain, in 1605, had named it Bay St.
Louis, but the Pilgrim settlers called it New Plymouth. Dermer
went from here with his interpreter and squaw to a distance into

v4'4

Pemaquhi and Honhegan,

rly (late pcr-
tflcmcnts on
t was at Saco
of 1617-18.
cnths of the
:o(l. ^

o, who made
re they were
;m{i probably
e Newwagen

of I'lymouth
rs. He does
dso came in

the west of
iowcroft also
514, 1616 and

stay in the
he says one

^try, those of

so flatterinj;
new charter,
:d the Great
Council of
' to 48°, and
giving them
pass to this

was to have
mer took his
ginia.

IS arrived in

it, in 1603,

it Bay St.

th. Dermer

listance into

the interior, and rescued from the savages two Frenchmen who
had been shipwrecked in a I'Veiich barcpie some lime before.
"Mourt's Relation" states that the I'ilgrims, when on Cape Cod,
found «me or two plank houses. I'ossibly these were »)f the South
Virginia attempts to establish their cod fishery.

This new monopoly, the Great Council of I'lymouth, caused
a great row. The South Virginia Company fought it in par-
liament, claimed they, too, spent ;^5000 in establishing their
fishery on the east coast, and were now cut off by this grant.
The voluntary fishermen fought it, both in parliament and on the
coast, as a monopoly. Gorges defended the charter bravf.-ly. The
House of Commons was against him, but the king and the House
of Lords were for him, and the charter stood. The Pilgrims
had a charter from Virginia, but their settlement was in the New
England jurisdiction. Gorges obtained a charter for them here
and helped them. But this branch of history is not within the
scope of this discourse.

•The French ambassador also object''^! to the King against this
charter, as an infringement on the territory of the French. The
question whether it should be New Kngland or New France was
pressed with renewed vigor.

Pemaquid became now the forefront of our array. A force
of i5ooto30CX) armed fishermen, hanging on its flanks half the
year, was more than ever impenetrable and imposing. The great
profits of the fis'uing for all the round season drew settlements
at convenient points. The Isles of Shoals, the Piscataqua, Saco,
Casco, Monht'gan and the Damrel's Cove Islands, even also Cape
Ann, felt the balmy influence of profit and protection, and rallied
settlers behind the overshadowing eyes of Pemaqu'd and Mon-
hegan, Plymouth was not a good fishing place, nor was the
Massachusetts, but on the eastern coast the fishermen rallied.

The younger Gorges came out governor for New England in
1623, and visited Pemaquid, but the council at home gave up the
fishing monopoly and the voluntary fishermen thrived. I must
not cumber you with details. The ships came to Monhegan or
the Isles of Shoals and sent up to the bay in their pinnaces the
passengers and freight due there. Those who wished to go to
England generally sailed "down East" and took shipping there.
For trade goods and fishing prior to 1630 Pemaquid was without
an equal on the coast. The petition of the inhabitants there in

^.«»n.<«»iaa»llKfe<«a1'iji<illil'lll MM»*

i» : ■

f :■■

n ■

I i

Pemaquid and Monbegan.

1684, to the Duke of York, concludes: "and that Pemaquid may
still remain metropolis of these parts, because it ever have been
so before Boston was settled." Grants were made at Pemaquid
and Monhegan as early as 1623 surely ; the Earl Arundel had this
section assigned as his dividend in 1622, and Abram Jennings
of Plymouth, who was then a member of the council, we
recognize in 1626 as selling out his great trading establishment
at Monhegan, and a flock of goats, which the Pilgrims and Mr.
Thompson of Piscataqua came down and bought between them,
also some ;^8oo of goods.

We find Pierce with a patent of strange origin at Pemaquid.
also B.own earlier than 1625, the latter rejoicing in a title deed
from Captain John Somerset, the chief of that ilk, him whom the
Pilgrims called " Samoset," who welcomed them in English and
introduced them to one of Gorges' Indians, Tisquantum or
Squanto, who was afterwards their interpreter and diplomat for
years among their neighbor tribes. There is no need to dwell on
the land titles of Aldworth, Elbridge and Shurtz. There waf a
mechanic and farming population here, workers of iron, makers
of clay pipes, tanners, shipwrights, adjunct to the fur traders and
"ye fishermen," but the place being free had no archives. Mr.
Shurtz, the Justice of Peace, appears to have been the total of
government, unless they had also a town meeting. The Pilgrims,
when starved near to death in 1622, saw a shallop come into the
harbor which they feared was a French man of war. She proved
to be from Damrel's Cove Islands. They followed her back in
their own boat and got provisions from the generous fishermen
to supply their needs. They had, states Bradford, the further
benefit of finding their way there for future use. They came
again in 1623, and when their boat was stove and sunk at
Damrel's Cove Islands in 1624, the jolly fishermen joined in
raising and repairing her for them. We infer that these voluntary
fishermen were neither Brownists nor Puritans, as Phineas Pratt
in his narrative states he arrived at these islands in 1622, and
found that " the fishermen had set up a Maypole and were very
merry." The Plymouth people soon set up a trade there and at
the Kennebec, and supported their colony by its profits. They
owed something to the merry fishermen as well as to Sir
Fernando Gorges.

Pemaqtiid and Monhegan.

*etnaquid may
er have been

at Pemaquid
indel had this
ram Jennings

council, we
establishment
•ims and Mr.
jtween them,

at Pemaquid.

a title deed
im whom the

English and
squantum or
diplomat for
d to dwell on
There waf a
iron, makers
r traders and
•chives. Mr.

the total of
rhe Pilgrims,
)me into the

She proved

her back in
us fishermen

the further

They came
md sunk at
n joined in
:se voluntary
hineas Pratt
n 1622, and
d were very
there and at
ofits. They
as to Sir

PEMAQUID AND MONHEGAN.

BY CHARLES LEVI WOODBURY.
[continued.]
WiNTHROP, in 1630, writes in his journal that, on the day
the Arbella got into Nahumkeik Harbor, Mr. Atherton, in
his sloop bound to Pemaquid, dropped in and called on them.
Mr Shurtz of Pemaquid, in the next year, sent to the bay an
Indian woman who had been taken by the Tarantines. at Agawam.
In 1635, Winthrop states only thirty ploughs were running m the
bay In 1640, he writes in his journal that one Graften, in a
sloop, had sailed to Pemaquid and brought back to the bay twenty
cows and oxen with hay and water for them. In 1635, he states
that the ship, the Angel Gabriel, was lost at Pemaquid m a great
storm She was intended for the bay, and her consort, the
James, was nearly lost at the Isles of Shoals. Thus one can see
that, though the bay settlements had much direct trade with
Great Britain, they had not displaced the ancient leadership of
Pemaquid in the fish and fur trades. Its exports and casual
passenger trade long flourished.

France, under the strong hands of Richelieu, had organized
her settlements in North America and, not renouncing her claim
to New England, was active in reducing all she could into actual
possession. Consequently, Pemaquid became a frontier station
of the utmost importance to the future of the English possessions
westward on the coast. Undoubtedly, some stcekades and a few
guns had long been maintained at Pemaquid to oppose the
onslaughts of French, Indians and pirates, but this was individual
work, rather than public preparation.

I may add here that the New Plymouth people made two
efforts to establish trading ports on the Penobscot, and that the
French captured each and broke up their trade, in 163 1 and

^35- .jyj. PORTS OF PEMAQUID.

It is not my purpose to trace the long history of the French
and Indian wars, but reverting to the subject I began with, the
ruins of Pemaquid, I will trace the succession of the forts
and the vicissitudes they endured, briefly, because my limits
are narrow, and because numerous general histories of New
England fill out the surrounding events which I must omit.

! I

»i|!

Pemaquid and Monbegan.

In 1630, we learn that a more pretentious fort was built at
Pemaquid, where the farmers and resident fishermen had largely
increased.

In 1632, one Dixey Bull, a dissatisfied Englishman, turned
pirate, and with fifteen others surprised and plundered the
settlement at Pemaquid and raised great disturbance on the coast.
Bull lost one of his principal men in the attack. Captain Neale
of Piscataqua went with forty men to the relief of Pemaquid.
After this Pemaquid seems to have had better protection, as we
hear no more of such attacks. In 1664, this country east of the
Kennebec came under the patent of the Duke of York, who paid
small attention to it, for in 1675 one hundred discontented
citizens petitioned to Massachusetts for, "wherein some times
past we have had some kind of government settled amongst us,
but for these several years we have not had any at all," etc., and
therefore ask to be taken under the protection of Massachusetts.
Eleven of the signers are of Pemaquid, fifteen are of Damrel's
Cove Islands, sixteen of Cape Newwagen (Bonawagon in the
petition), eighteen are of Monhegan, twenty-one of Kennebec and
fifteen of the Sheepscot. How many were of the opposite
opinion does not appear: probably it was the more numerous
party.

In 1675, the Indian War, known as King Phillip's War, began.

In 1676, the settlers at Pemaquid and on the adjacent islands
were surprised by an organized, extensive Indian attack. Pem-
aquid was deserted, as was the country and coast, by all who
could escape the merciless tomahawk. The survivors, about three
hundred in number, took refuge at Damrel's Cove Islands, where
they held out about a fortnight, when, realizing the impractica-
bility of defence, they sailed in various vessels west to Piscataqua,
or Boston, and all east of the Sagadahoc was desolate.

Major Waldron with a strong force was sent down to redeem
captives and to retaliate. He had a sharp brush with the
Indians at Pemaquid, — a Fort Gardner is spoken of as being
then in their control, probafbly a block-house. They had burnt
Pemaquid directly on its being abandoned. An affidavit in my
possession of one John Cock, born east of the Kennebec and
driven off in 1676 by the Indians, speaks of a Mr. Padishal having
been killed at Pemaquid by the Indians. The Duke of York's
government at New York now awoke from their, apathy and

Pemaquid and Monhegan.

was built at

1 had largely

iman, turned
lundered the

on the coast,
aptain Neale
of Pemaquid.
:ection, as we
ry east of the
3rk, who paid
discontented

some times

amongst us,
,11," etc., and
assachusetts.

of Damrel's
ragon in the
[.ennebec and
the opposite
re numerous

War, began,
acent islands
ttack. Pem-
, by all who
i, about three
slands, where

2 impractica-
Piscataqua,

m to redeem
h with the
of as being
:y had burnt
idavit in my
ennebec and
iishal having
:e of York's
apathy and

prepared a formidable force to retake his possessions, and in
1677 took possession of the country and established a govern-
ment. A new fort, on the site of the old one, was erected, — a
wooden redoubt with two guns aloft, an outwork with two
bastions, each carrying two guns, and one gun at the gate. Fifty
soldiers were stationed as a garrison, and the fort was named

FORT CHARLES.

Under this protection, Pemaquid was made the capital of the
duke's territory; a custom-house, licenses for fishing, and a
Justice of Peace established. The Indians were awed, and a kind
of treaty made with them. The smacks that had been captured
were restored, captives released and a delusive hope of peace

indulged. . ,

1684 found "they of Pemaquid" much delighted witi. the
glories, military and civil, of their capital, as well as their
returning trade, petitioning the duke for more favors, "and that
Pemaquid may still remain the metropolis of these parts because
it ever have been so, before Boston was settled." Alas for this
dream of the revival of the traditional capital, Norumbega,
politics in 1686 enforced the jurisdiction of these parts to be
ceded to the new royal Massachusetts charter, and the love-lorn
Pemaquid was divorced from New York.

1687 brought a solace for their woe. The thirsty Bay Puritans
under the orders of the judge of Pemaquid made a raid on the
French settlement at Bagaduce, on the Penobscot, where the
Baron Castine lived, and carried off to Pemaquid a ship and cargo
of wines, etc., imported by him. This spoliation caused serious
complaints from the French ambassador at London. I will not
say that free rum flowed at Pemaquid. The perfumed and stim-
ulating red wines of Gascony and Burgundy shed their nectar on
the parched gullets of the judge, collectors, tide waiters and
bailiffs, — the official aristocracy, — in biblical phrase, "without
money and without price." Even the soldiers of the garrison, or
at least the officers, got more than a sniff at the aromatic fluid.
On Darwin's doctrine of heredity one might well claim that the
Maine officials thus early were imbued with, and transmitted to
their successors, the habit of seizing other people's wines and
liquors and drinking them without paying for them.

In 1689, Fort Charles was surprised by the Indians, who cut

Pemaqtiiii atnf Motihegnn.

\ lit

•(!

off the most of the garrison as they were engaged in some
ordinary affairs outside the fort, ;.nd with a second body made an
energetic attack on the fort, which was vigorously resisted by the
small remnant within the fort. The next day the attack was con-
tinued, and finally, through Madocawando's efforts. Captain
Weems was induced to surrender on terms for all within the fort
VIZ.: fourteen men and some women and children who had been
fortunate enough to get in there for protection. They were
immediately put on board a sloop and sent to Boston Sixteen
men had been killed in the attacks on the fort ; of those outside
who had been cut off, the French Indians carried off about fifty
captives ; the number of killed is unknown. It took Captain
Weems three years to obtain the pay for his men and himself
and twice he petitioned to London. This was a serious calamity
to the frontier, and the necessity of rebuilding and restoring
Pemaquid was urgent. "

In 1693, Governor Phipps, who was born in that neighborhood
(his father had lived at Pemaqtiid), directed the fort to be rebuilt
m a solid way of stone. It took in the great stone at the south-
west that was outside the old stockade and so unfortunate for
It in the last attack, and was heavily armed and stronfflv
garrisoned. He named it

Iti ! f

FORT WILLIAM HENRY.

The long Indian and French war had devastated the frontier
on either side, but the two rival nations still opposed a threat-
ening front at Pemaquid and at the Penobscot. Predatory and
bloody skirmishing was maintained on both sides against the
settlements of their opponent.

In 1696, Fort William Henry was attacked by two French
frigates and five hundred French and Indians, and on the second
day it surrendered to them on terms. Chubb, the commander,
was held long in jail in Boston on his return, his conduct having
been unsatisfactory. The French destroyed the fort by tippine
over the walls, and retired. *^* ^

In 1697, the Treaty of Ryswick was made, and the possession
of Nova Scotia was restored to France, whose claims to a
predominant title over New England had never been abandoned
Renewed efforts were made on the English side to settle eastern
Maine again. What with the attacks and counter attack*;

1 1

aged in some

Kj<.iy iiiavii- an

csisted by the
ttack was con-
orts, Captain
ithin the fort,
ivho had been
They were
ton. Sixteen
those outside
off about fifty
took Captain
and himself,
ious calamity
md restpring

icighborhood,
to be rebuilt
at the south-
fortunate for
md strongly

the frontier
5ed a threatr
redatory and

against the

two French
1 the second

commander,
iduct having
•t by tipping

e possession
claims to a
i abandoned,
ettle eastern
Iter attacks

Pemaqiiid and Mofihegan.

stimulated by the national antipathy and the determination of the
Indian tribes to limit the white man's occupancy to the mere
fishing stations on the coast, regardless of treaties or prior sales
by them, there was a constant turmoil. Treaties were violated
directly the pressure that induced them was removed. The
hardy New Englanders, grown skilful in Indian fighting, struck
fiercely at the citadels of Indian power — their villages — besides
maintaining defensive attitude around their own hojnesteads.

Let me generalize. In 1700-03, there were attacks on our
towns ; 1704-07, attacks by us on Port Royal. In 1709-10, Port
Royal was recaptured by us. In 171 1, our disastrous attack on
Canada. In 1712 hostilities ceased, and 1713 the Treaty of
Utrecht was made, whereby France ceded "all Nova Scotia or
Acadia comprehended within its antient boundaries ; as also the
city of Port Royal, now called Annapolis Royal," etc. There
was a bright hope for peace, but the indefinite limits of the
cession soon led to further difficulty.

In 1716, an order to re-establish the Fort at Pernaquid was
issued, but not executed.

In 1717, a treaty with the Indians was renewed, and in 1719
the old settlers and land holders at Pemaquid began to return.

In 1722, Lovewell's War broke out ; the great successes at
Norridgewock and at Pigwackat broke the Indian power. Some
fishing vessels after hard fighting were captured and rescued.
The bounty for scalps went up to ;^ioo.

In 1724, the Indians captured two fishing vessels at the Isles
of Shoals and eight at Fox Island thoroughfare, in all twenty-two
sail; killed twenty-two fishermen, and made twenty-eight
prisoners. In 1725 more were surprised and taken.

In 1726, Dummer's Treaty was signed with the Indian tribes.
It was not popular, but Pemaquid, after lying waste for over
twenty years, began to revive.

In 1729, Dunbar, the governor, under a royal order of the
province of Sagadahoc, fixed his headquarters at Pemaquid. He
rebuilt the fallen fort and called it

FORT FREDERIC.

In 1735, the jurisdiction was turned over again to Massachu-
setts, and in 1737 the fort was dismantled. In 1740 At was
repaired, and in 1744 it was strengthened for the French War,

Pemaquid and Monhegan.

'iiiit

in which the colonial forces captured Louisburg. Canada re-
mained still a potential instigator of frontier troubles.

In 1745, there were attacks on Fort Frederic; 1746, two
more; 1747, two more, but 1748 brought the peace of Aix la
Chapelle.

In 1750, another Indian War broke out, and in 1755 the new
French War broke out which, after the most intense struggle
of the two powers, closed by the capture of Quebec in 1759,
and the surrender o( all Canada and the obliteration of the
frontier.

The ancestors of the most of us were in this war of conquest
for the .sake of that peace which the reunion of the whole settled
continent under one flag affords to the industrious and home-
loving citizen, and around the old hearthstones family traditions
are yet proudly handed down of the gallant deeds that made the
forts at Pemaquid a military supernumerary.

In 1758, the troops were withdrawn from Pemaquid ; 1762, the
cannon of P'ort Frederic were taken out and shipped to Boston.
The broken Indian power lost all hope when Canada fell; the
remnant of their tribes were compelled to rely on the colonials for
trade and supplies The swords were beaten into ploughshares.
The old fort leisurely rotted away, standing as a souvenir of the
fierce and dubious struggle during a century and a half in which
Pemaquid had been the hope or the stay of the English race in
New England, the fore front of our battle for supremacy on this
continent.

177s yields us one more glimpse of the old fort. The men
of the duke's country were all patriots; their worthies like the
fighting O'Brians, the Sprouls, and others, live yet in the local
annals of Bristol and the state.

The coast was exposed to the piratical devastations of the
navy of Great Britain ; we could not match it, and it was
apprehended that, could they fortify a good harbor as a base
of operations, the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massa-
chusetts might be lighted with the flames of burning houses and
plundered as it had been in King Phillip's War. The English
have ever shown a constitutional partiality for this kind of
warfare in their contests with the American people. It was felt
that tfie old fort was too big to be defended by Pemaquid, and
too dangerous in an enemy's hands. A town meeting voted

SSSSS

Pemaquid and Monhegan.

Canada re-
s.

; 1746, two
:e of Aix la

1755 the new
nse struggle
bee in 1759,
ition of the

of conquest
vhole settled
s and home-
ly traditions
lat made the

d ; 1762, the
d to Boston,
ida fell; the
colonials for
loughshares.
venir of the
alf in which
flish race in
Tjacy on this

. The men
lies like the
in the local

dons of the

and it was

r as a base

and Massa-

houses and

rhe English

his kind of

It was felt

tmaquid, and

ieting voted

to pull down the fort, and strong hands quickly toppled over its
old walls. The gates and platforms were already rotted, and
in a few weeks the ruins of Fort Frederic were much in the
condition that I beheld them more than a hundred years

afterwards.

In 1 81 2, Captain Sproul's company made their camp at the
old fort, but did not rebuild it. They had several skirmishes
during the war with plundering boat expeditions from British
Men-of-War, which are duly narrated in the excellent History
of Bristol.

Pemaquid has for half a century been frequented by historians,
and antiquaries. Rows of almost obliterated cellars mark where
houses once stood. A paved way has partly been laid bare by the
removal of a foot or more of earth which had accumulated above
it which seems to have 'ed from the shore past the fort. Curious
eyes also think they see evidences of a Spanish occupation
earlier than the French or English era. A collection of relics
is slowly accumulating there. The mossy stones of the old
graveyard join in the chorus that Pemaquid is dead, engulfed
in victory !

The frontier has been moved a hundred miles eastward of the
Penobscot. The beaver and the Indian have been wiped out.
The fishery has changed its character except at Monhegan. The
former elements of its prosperity have ceased to exist.

In Its harbor a stray coaster or a placid yachtsman seeks
perhaps a refuge from fog or storm. And on a sunny day many
a lively sloop or cat-boat from the city-peopled islands around
Boothbay, Mouse or Squirrel, Heron or Capital, Rutherford, Isle
of Spring, or Fisherman, laden with happy, laughing, holiday
residents, steers boldly through the reef-bound "thread of life"
and speeds to these relics of New England's early struggle for
existence. On those who have read its story these scenes make
a deep impression.

Nine or ten miles off Pemaquid Point Monhegan towers like
a cathedral. Westward, about the like distance, lay the Damrel's
Cove Islands and Cape Newwagen. A half dozen miles beyond
is the Sagadahoc of the Popham settlement, almost within signal
distance lie these points of the triangle, within whose theatre
were developed the struggles for the settlement and dominion
of New England I have crudely laid before you. Here from

Pemaquid and Monbegan.

the West of England, Devon and Somerset, gentlemen and
fishermen, drove their keels first to its shores, and strove, gaining
inch by inch, never relenting until the New England homesteads
gathered under their lee to enjoy the blessings of civil and
religious liberty.

AT PEMAQUIl).

The martial din is over. No flag flaunts from its bastions on
the breeze, no wide-mouthed cannon stares over barbette or
through port-hole, no morning gun wakes the sleepy inhabitants
or the cruising sailor from his watch below. The mailed cavalier,
the grim Puritan, the feathered Abnaqui chief, the French
man-at-arms, the rollicking. May-pole planting fishermen of the
West of England, the trading Dutchman, the land pirate and
the sea pirate walk no more by daylight on the shores of
Pemaquid ; but when the spirits of the past come back at
midnight the old Bashaba and these mighty men of past
generations may gather in the mystic vision like the wild
huntsmen of the Hartz Mountains. But other realistic visions
might be also mirrored forth ; the sky be relighted with the blaze
of burning houses, barns and ships ; the air wearied with the war
whoop and the screams of wounded or dying men, the wail of
women and children, the cries of battle and of the despair of
plundered farmers and drowning fishermen. It was in blood,
tears, pain, labor, and unrelenting perseverance that this land
was won by the fishermen and the colonists. As the fruit of
their sacrifices, in peace, plenty and prosperity we look back on
the past. May I not ask of the warm-hearted members of the
Historical Society of Hyde Park a tribute to the memory of those
hardy fishermen and landsmen, who breasted the storm of war by
Pemaquid, until this land became, in fact, New England and not
New France.

■iH,

tlemen and
)vc, gaining
homesteads
I civil and

bastions on
jarbctte or
inhabitants
ed cavalier,
ic French
nen of the
pirate and

shores of
le back at
n of past

the wild
jtic visions
li the blaze
ith the war
he wail of
despair of
; in blood,
: this land
he fruit of
ik back on
)ers of the
ry of those
1 of war by
nd and not

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