l\\ i'^\ -Z^^ ^ \ ^ t> f^^v \^ ^ »" J ^s^ Xl REPRINT CF SZCCND EDITION. f\T)Q\eT)t Qlty of ^or^eapa TOWN OF YORK fhom its earliest •si:ttlemext. ITS BEilCiirS Ml) SuimER RECORTS, VVritt:n, Ccrr.prK ; '.jrnposod i:v c;i:o. a lex. lmei^v. YORK CORXER : CouKAXT Stp:am Jod Pkixt. Entered according' to Act of Congi'css, in the year 1873, l)y GKORGE ALEX KMERY, I:i llie or/ice of the Lilinirian of Congress at Washington. C )pyright assigned to GEOIKJE F. i'LAISTED, Y(>v'; Corner, I^Ie. All llights rcocrvelt LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORJliU SAATA BAKBAIt^ ENQRAVINQS M'Intire Garrison House, . Fror.t-'?pioce. Old Applo Tree, . . . I*ago 79 Junkins Garrison House, . . .181 Le Juif Errant, 245 'Oreo in Time's morr\ing, when Ymir lived, There was no sand, no sea, no salty waves; No earth was found, nor heaven's high firnnament Only a yawning gulf, but grass nowhere. PilK LWOi: Tjil; liistory of most of the towns of Xc-w En- gland possesses principally a local interest, and pi-rii::i)s tliere is notliin;^ snfficiently distinctive in the records cf the locality of which wc have treated in this little volume to make the work of more importance to the general reader. Yet, as York was one of the earliest settled of the seaports north of the Massachusetts Ct/lony, and for a considerahle time had a reputation amonij the hetler known of the towns planted upon the coast, there are events connected witli it that afford material of value in a historical aspect, and which may entitle it n)ore than many t)ther places to he regarded as iilustraling the manners, the custon^.s of living, and the general cha;acterislics of the towns of its class for many years after its original settlement. Preface. While the town liaJ been stationary, if not n-; irly retrograding, for many years up to a recent date, its advantages as a watering-phicc have since then attracted increasing attention, and liavc given a new impulse to its growth, the effect of which is palpably app:;rent. It is now widely known as one of the most eligibly situated and altogether desirable of sea-side resorts. The efforts made to improve the natural attractions of the place, by providing for the comfort anil fur- nishing facilities for the enjoyment of those who vi^it it, have greatly added to its popularity. It has entered ui)()n a new stage in its career, and before this is completed the town is likely to have a national fame. Its position invites tliis, and the intelligent efforts of those who had the sagacity to appreciate its resources as a watering- place have improved and utilized what nature has done in this respect. It is wi:h a view to interest not alone the "u'l loiianls oi li:e vicinity, but the thousands who will be brought to know it through its associations as a place of summer residence, that this brief record of its history has been prepared. TOPICAL INDEX. PACK A^aMiciilicus. Mount 24 Anci'jiit iuul Moilern St-alawags, 225 AppU'-tre'c. old, 89 Bnptist ("Imnhes 211) Boon I-land. J^hipwrt'ck, 1G2 Clmisus of Yoik 233 (\•n8U^ over a Century ago, 174 Coasting. Shipping. 240 Coniincrce of York. Wharves, KjG Congregational Chnreli, 101 County Court.s and OJIicers. Jail, 03 Criminal Court. Devil's Invention, 130 ])o\v, Lorenzo, Thysieians, 123 Dannuer, Krv. Shuhael. Killed, 102 Early Schools IGO Earthcf lakes. Cold Weather, Sntnv Storms, . 80 First Settlements in ]Maino 11 Foundation of the City of Gorgcana, .... 38 Garrison Houses. Scolhind, 87 Gorgeana and Yolk. 21 Haunted House and Ghost, 175 Isles of Shoals, Attempts to Uevululiuujze, . 5G TiPjpir((f Index. liiiliin If.i'hl at C.pj Ncdilock, 128 M'IiUirc't<, tlio 53 JMainc Sold to r\I,issacliusftts, 128 Manuf.icti:i\'s in York 235 IMarshall Ilnuso, 247 iNIetluMlist, ("liurcli, -215 Moo.ly. IJev. FatlKT 102 JNIiirphy tlR' Wife Munlercr, lt)5 MiiMfies at tiie Sho ils 1)7 01(1 Stacy Ilonso, Ilanuon jMassaco, .... DO Ordination Expenses 24-t Priiiiitivo and Inf.int ScliooLs 230 Saint Aspinqiiid ' . , . 132 Schools and Sclioolinastcrs, 210 Sea-side Ke^orts 237 S^-ttlenient of York 30 Sewall's Bridiro, 101) Sewall Mansion 9G Sliower of .Meteors, 232 Sloop-wreck 245 Smith, ('apt John ■ 4G Stevens the Child Murderer, 194 Tempera K'C Customs now Extinct, . . . .127 Witches and Witchcraft, 133 Witiiam, liariholoniow, Betsy, Euth, .... 182 Woni.n Erohib'ied fiom Living at the Shoal ^. 5') York Massacre, 144: York Records, 03 York Veterans, 219 J[irst ^cttltiuenls in ||I:nne. — M>^^:sE^^vay, Sweden. In A. D. 1032, according to an Icelandic chronicle,''-' a Norwegian vessel, ♦The oil] chronicle referred to, and now in ex- istence, says tliat Gudrida, wife of a Scandinavian navigator, «favo birth to ji chikl in America, who bore tlie name of Snorre ; and it is fu ther asserted that Bertel Tliorwalsdcn, tlie great Danish sculp- Fii'tit Settlements in Maine. 13 commanded by Captain Lief, sail' d from Iceland for Greenland. A gale drove the voyagers to the coast of Labrador, in North America. They explored the shores south- ward to the regions of a geni d climate, where they found nobb forests and abun- dance of grapes. This it is s -pposed was in the vic'nily of the coast of Massachusetts ; and accounts exist of these or other voyagers exploring the coast to the eastward many hundreds of miles, and of s ttlements made, for a longer or shorter peii id, in many places near or on the const of Maine. In the absence of actual charts or maps wherewith to fix these localities of l.ititude and longi- tude, they remain subjects of conjecture only, for these explorers loft few dcfin'te traces of their presence here, unless it be tor, \va> a (loscciidiuit of this early white Ameri- can. The records of these voyai^es were coiui»iK'd by Ijishop Thorhiek, of feehmd, who is also a de- scendant of Snorre, 14 York and Gorgeana. conceded that the remains of fortifications and rude semblances of dwellings, concern- ing the orig'n of which annals and traditions arc silent, were the relics of ])eople from this portion of the Eastern Hemisphere. The information which Vasco De la Vega has left on record is important, as it dates prior to that of Christopher Columbus. He tolls us that Sfjnchez, vvho used to trade in a small vessel to the Canary Islands, was driven by a furious storm " over unto those western countries," and at his return he gave to Colon, or Columbus, an account of -what lie had seen ; but he soon after died of a disease he liad contracted on the danger- ous voyage. The two Cabots, Sebastian and John, — father and son, — under the commission of King Henry Vn., in 1497, made more exten- sive discoveries of America than either Co- luml)us or Americus \^es])ucius ; and the yoiniger of them had great honors conferred T'li'Si Scitle:sirnfs hi M I'.iin. \o on him by E:l var.l VI , anil a p:iisio;i which lie cnJDYcd till 111' died of old a^^o. Colum- bus did not discover anv part of the conti- nent till 1-193; and A'cspucivis visited the continent a conuderablo time later. A series of discoura ■iir!; disasters attended the endeavors of the Freneli and opanir^h to col- onize Florida and the rest of the continent, even as far north as \'ir^inia, — so called by reason of the first v;hitc child born to Ana- nias Dare, in 1.335. The courage of :3ir nunip"';rey Gilbert and Captain Le.rtholomcvv- Gosnold, and several other adventurers, served to give impetus to others upon like expeditions. Gosnold, in a small barque, on ^lay 11, 1G02, landed on this coast in latitude f .rtv-threc dcijrrocs, and remarked that he liked the welcome he had from the savages that came aboard, yet he disliked the climate ; so that he thought it necessary to stand more southward into the sea. The next morning he found himself York and Gorgeana, embayed wiihin a mighty head of land, which promontory, in remembrance of the codfish so plentiful there', he called Cape Cod, a name which it will never lose till the shoals of fish ar? to be seen swimming over the tops of the highest hills. In 150G, Sir Francis Drake visited the New Fngland States, vvhilc on his adventur- ous voyage around tlic world. After this and up to the time of the landing of the Pilgrims near IMymouth, Dec. 11 (O. S.), 1G20, vari- ous adventurers from the Ei stern Continent visited tliese New England coasts : some for the purpose of making discoveries, some to trade with the natives, and some with an intent of establishing settlements here, and for other purposes. Among the native savages v.hom the Pilgrims found here, in 1G21. and who had been spared to survive the plague of 1G17-18, were two distinguished natives, Samosct, and Squanto, alias Tis- quantum, who were not only loyal to their K'mp^, Cliicf, or Siigamoro/-' ?'ussasoit, but friendly to the I il.;iiins, who in turn tr'jatcd tliem ki ully. aiul smoked f v.i.li them the pipe of peace, Samoset, as he came from the wilderness to meet them, has been thus described : '' With frame erect, and j^trangely painted o'er, Behcd around his loins, a Sagamore, AVhose bony arms a l;o\v and arrow held, A lieart unsoiled his tawny bo-om swelled * Indian Chiefs were niilitary commanders, or leaders. Sachems were the first civil heads of nations or trilics. Sa^uamores were the second lieads of nations or tribes. t Tobacco, which is in(;ig(. nous to America, was in common use among I lie Indians for smoking when the white n;en first came here. But the practice of chewing it is an invention of the white people. The calumet, or pipe of i)e;'.ce, was made of pipe-clay, and often orn;imented Avith feathers. The sailors in the fleet of Columbus afier their arrival home stated that ti.ey saw ''the Indians roll up long leaves of the tobacco-plant, and suioke like devils " 18 York and Gortjcana. To generous deeds. He broken English spake, And talked anon of men, — of Francis Drake, That gallant white man, years before, who came, And gave New England her historic name." Speculations are rife whether Cabot, Car- tier, De Monts, or Verazzani might not have made his first hind-fall hereabouts, — for on a clear day Agamenticus Mountain is visible, near forty miles at sea, — or dreamed of the discoveries of an even more remote antiquity. Gosnold n;ust have sighted old Agamenticus in 1G02, as he fell in with the New England coast in latitude forty- t'.rec degrees. The caravel of John Smith, with its oddly-shaped prow, and high, oruamehtal stern, no doubt breasted the tide of York harbor, in 1G14. Captain Christopher Lea'-i.t, under the auspices of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, explored a portion of the coast of Maine and New Hampshire in 1G2.3. and v/as importuned by the friendly Indians in the vicinity to settle ill what is noiv Portlaiid, after cxpljring the F.r.s' Srfflcnini^s hi Maine. 19 C();ist:4 of Boorlibay. ()g 'nquit, York. lie \va=! visitjcl by the }.;roat Saf^amorcs of the country, wlio implored him to stay with th m. Despi e the moving arguments and entreaties of the natives to remain, he sailed for England in the fall of the same year, leaving behind ten of his men ; and as he gave over his design of returning for several years, his fortified habitation at that place was no doubt deserted by its garrison. The first English grant on this continent was made by James I., in 1606. The next 3-ear a settlement was made near the mouth of the Kennebec River, under Sir John Popham and Sir John Gilbert. They set- tled on an island at the mouth of the river before mentioned, intending that the colony, should be planted on the mainland, on the west sid J of the river. The settlement was not a success. Whether all the colonists returned to England or not, cannot now be known. In 1016, after the visit of John 20 York and Gorgeana, Sniitli, the gTcat explorer, in 1014, Richard Vines came ovr and settled near the mouth of Saco r.iver : since which time, beyond a doubt, the coast of ]^.Iaiuc has not wanted white settlers. There was a t^irporary sctth mcnt in Pem- aquid, now Bristol, ?J:.ine, as early as 1G25. On the banks of t:ie Pcmaqr;id is an old fort, once called WiUiarn-IIenry, a..d afterwards Frederick-GeorgCv built of stone, in 1G92, and taken by the French in 1G96. '" Here arc found gravestones of a very early date, and streets regularly laid out and paved, in the vicinity of the fort. On the side of the river o';p.)site to the fort tan-pits have been disc -vered, the ])lan^: remaining in a state of preservation. In other places cofRns have been dug up, which bear indubitable evi- dence of remote antiquity." ^orrir:iii;t anb ijoili ^>D Tin: ancient maritime town of York, Maine, on the Atlantic coast, loc.-.tccl in latitude 43° 10' north, longit.idc 7d^ 40' west, is bounded south-east by the Atlantic Ocean, north-east by Vv'ells, north-west by F.'oulh Cerv.i.k. and south-west by Kittery, the s:ttlGment'''' of which, accordiuL^ to Edward Godfvcy, bcgarx soon after the landin'^ of t!ic Pi'i^rims in the ^lay-Flowcr, near riymo-aili, J;rass. (1G20), and v.as then called Aganienticus, or Acco- menticus — signifying, in the Indi n tongue. * TIr' lir.-t scttk'nu'i'.t ii ^Sl.uwj w.js at Kittery, in lOio. Iv ttiTV. S.u-!), \V(.:ls, York, nfv ol'ten sijokcn of. l)y anL-lcat a:i:l iii) L'r:i writers, as the "Anciint Pl.;n;ali!;ns "' A;4;n:u'.i i m setlkMncnt was i::f().p;;:-.;tj.l A. 1). 1 (;:];). a.-.d thjn cont.u.K-vl one li;:n(h-i'.l and iK.y ^i)■l!s. Tiic I-K's of Sl-oals had, \\\c .-;iiiio yvar, hvo l:uaih\il ia!i.il)i;aiits. 22 Ancient City of Gorjeana. •' on the othsr side of the river.'' This was the name of a moinitaiii six hundred and eighty feet high, consisting of three elevations, sit- uated in the north part of the town, about five miles from the sea. It in not broken, rocky, or steep, but is covered with woods and shrubs, interspersed with small patches of pasture, and large crowning rocks which form its summit. It is a noted landmark for mariners, and is the first height seen by them from the sea on the coast northward and east- ward of Po:tsmouth. This mountain is sup- posed to have been the land first discovered by Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold, tlij English navigator, in 1G02, and was also visited by Martin Pring, in ICOo; but it is not until tlic voyage cf the French along the coast, in 1G05, that a distinct ref renco to ib is made in any record. Gosnold is thought to have made a landing at the Nubble, near York '• Long Beacli, and called it Savage Hock."" Tlie village part of \'ork is situated ninety- Modern Toirn of Yorh, 23 nine miles south-west from Augusta, forty- five miles south-west by south from Portland, twenty-two miles south-south-east from Al- fred, and nine miles north by east from Portsmouth, N. II. The population of this town in early times amounted to only a few hundreds. At this time Indian tribes were scattered throughout the neighborhood and all around tlie suburbs, kccp'ng tlie settlers in constant fear and jeopardy of their lives, they being at the mercy of these cruel barbarians, more especially in wiuter, wlio came on snow- shoes, often surprising the unwary and almost defenceless iahabitants in the severest weatlier and on the darkest nights. The principal harbor is formed by ^'ork river, v.ith water suinci-nt for vessel ; of two or three hundred tons burthen. Tiie entrance, however, which is directly in t!ie rear of the Marshall House, is dilucult, being narrow and crooked. 24 AiickHt ('if J of ('!o;'-;rffna. Advent .rcrs and soarc'-icr; af.or fossils have asserted that ehims have bcc:i dug on the borders of this river, north of the site of the Barrell ?,Iill-da n, m^asurin;^ over a foot in diameter. Agame;:ticus, or York river, receives no considerable supply from i^s short fresh watei stream above the head of the tide, and con- qnently is indebted to t^e ocLan for its existence. Its length of (lood-tide is seven miles. ]\Iuch shipping was formerly carried on here. \Varehouses and wharves were numerous ]\Iany vessels, several cf them ships, were built on this river. The other hc^rbor is Cape Nedtlock, about four miles north-east of the former. The latter is navigab'e for about a mile from the sea at full tides only, it having a sand-bar at its mouth suivicient to prevent vessels of any considerable draft from pass- ing at low-tide. Four miles distant easterly from York Modern Town of Yoric, 25 harbor, a part cf whi^h is a most beautiful beach of white sand, is Ca;)c Ncdclo?k Iviver, a stream fiowini,^ from the foot of Mount Agam^nticus. It receives its waters from the sea, has a sand-bar at ils mouth, and is so smidl of itself as to bo fordable at half- tide. It is never navigable more than a mile from the ocean at hisrh- water. Several mills have been erected on this and other small streams emptying into it, but they some years since became extinct. On the south- western part of the river, and at the up;)er end of ^- Long-jSands-Bay,'* is York '• Nub- ble, "* which is nothing more than a small- sized hillock. This Nubbb, upon vvhich many a vessel has become a wreck, is the nehrest land lo Coon Island, which is about seven miles distant. Agamenticus and its iannediate neighbor- hood were forme ly inhabited by a singular people, whose names, Fitzgerald, Ramsdell, etc., wculd imply descent from Scotch 26 Ancient City of Gorrjeana, ancestry. They brought to tli'^ village bark, berries, wood, cc., whicli they exchanged for groceries, sak-Ti^h, corn, and rum ; and on muster or tniinin;!; da.s, some of them rarely g.^t hom:^ wa'.'A ihe next day. Their st, le of language \va:i very j^eerdiar, ap]^ear- ing to be neither .Scjtj'.i n.n- Yankee, but a cross between. After Cape Ncddock began to divert trad 3 from Yorli village, less and less was seen of these people. Thr.t region is becoming depo^)ulated, as the f rest there ha:; diiui^jpeared before the vandal axe. In vicv/ of what this town is at present, and what it oughl: to h.ave been, the follow- ing, from the pen of the Hon. Nathaniel G. iJarshall, m:;y be ap,propriatc and intsr- csting : '' 'ihe whole Province* i.ow called the State of Maine v.us grrnted, prior to 1GP»9, by- King Charles I. to LVrdinando Gorges, who MoiJerii Totrn of York. 27 sent liis iic]'. hew, 'J'homas Gorges, here to select a site for flic ecu/re of Iris opcrcdions. He selected t'.iis place, and was so pleased with the locality as to bestow upon ns the honor of beinp; denizens of the first EiKjlish C it 1/ on the Aiiiericaii Continent.'"' Of this we should be and arc jiroud, although clothed now in a garb of the lowest humility. We were sold out to a rival company, as it were, for ' thirty pieces of silver,' and crucified on the altar of the ambiiion of the ^Massachusetts Bay Company ; and, after enj£)ying our city charter for a brief period, became a town in 1G53. For a while we continued a town of * Great discrepancies exist in both Gazetteers and Histories re.i,^;ir(ling d;itcs. It is claimed for St. Au;^Mistine, FioriJa, to be " tlie oldest city [?] in tlic United States, ])a\ ing been settled by the Spaniards fjrty-threc years earher [15G5] tlian Jamestown, Viryinii, by the English." And for the latter phice : '• This is the oldest English settlement in the United States, having been made in 1G03." 2S Ancient City of Goryeana, miicii note, this [)l;icc being the scat of jus- tice fjr the wh ,lo Province of Maine for a long period. V>\\t we commenced to dwindle by degrees, until now wc arc c )mparatiYely isol ited from the rest of mankind. Our young men who possess a little ambition go from among ns ; and, for want of facilities to visit the place of their birth, stay away. Occasionally, a few, attracted by old associa- tions, stray towards tlieir natal pi. ice, feel a kind of sorrowful interest for it, and arc anx- ious to learn the sttite of affairs existing at the time. To su"h an extent have we fallen in our own and the estimation of other neighboring places, that we hardly have a heart to relate our sorrowful condition. " Ila I the Eastern Railroad from Ports- moutli to Portla^id built about 1841) been constructed upon its original location, instead of making a detour into the interior a dis- tance of eight or nine miles from a straight and feasible line, it would have passed Mode i') I Tor.i of York. 29 tliry»i.i,^h this town near the village, and short>- cned the distance over five miles. At t'lat time the majority of the people of the town had a horror cf railroads, and used every ex- ertion to prevent a location even within their limiis. positively declaring that, if built, it would '■poison the land for a mile on each s'de of it!' and render all the rest of the property in town qnitc valueless ; conse- quently this company were actually com- pelled to obtain a new location and amend- ir.ent of charter. The exultations of the 'leading great men" on that occasion are we'l remembered, v. hen the represent tives returned from the Legislature exclaiming : ' ice have dricen the in into the iroods !' " Because of the si'is of th-^se fathers the town now greatly suffers, for it has advan- tages which facility of access by railroad would dcvelope ; ;;nd there is capital hoarded in savings banks sufficient, had it railroad facilities, to build up enterprises and make it uO Ane'en/ Ci'j of Gorjcana. ono of the most t!irivin_L; places in the State. Tho natural l)Citioi of t'.ic pLico, and especially its vic'nily to tho seashore, and the cxer'iions and extensive outlays of some of its citizens to make it a summer resort and wa!erini]^-placc, arc appreciated by the yearly increasing influx of visitors ; and had there been a railroad in the right place, enterprise would have done the rest, and York would have become what it desires to l)c; and have had a name and standing with its fellow towns." SETTLEMENT OF YOEK. This town was formed from a portion of fh'd t'crritot-y granted by the Plymouth Coun- cil, in 1G22, to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason, who spent upwards of twenty thousand pounds in attempting to effect settlements in Maine. In 1629, they divided their interest; Mason taking Modern Toivn of York, 31 that part of tlic grant west of the Piscataqua river, and Gorges the eastern portion. In IGtiO, the I'lymoiith Council resigned this patent and took a new one, which they divided into twelve portions. The third and fourth portions comprised the territory be- tween the Kennebec and Piscataqua rivers, sixty miles wide, and extending one hundred and twenty miles north from the sea-coast, which was granted to Gorges. Charles I. revoked the charter to the Council, and granted tlie same territory to Gorges, April 3, 1G39. Sir Fcrdinando Gorges, standing high in royal favor, had almost absolute powers granted him in his ch ;rter from the king. Pic W..S ambitious to found a state that would rival Massachusetts : and bein<» pleased with a description of the }\lacc, which he had previously obtained, he selected Agamenticus, as the first settle- ment was here named, for the seat of his government. 32 Ancient City of Gorgeana. The officers whom Gorges appointed by his conimission of INIarch 10, 1639, were William Gorges,'^ T'dwarcl (jiodfrcy, William Hook, of Accomcnticus ; Richard Vines, of Saco ; Henry Jossylyn, of Black Point, now in Scarboro' ; Francis Champernoon, of Pis- cataqua, now Kittery ; Richard Benython,f * The dwelling-liouse in wliich Captain Wdliani Gorges hved was situated on the north-easterly bank of York River, a few ro Is above Rice's Bridge. The cellar cnn still be seen. Not many years since, a spoon of peculiar shape, resembling a small ladle, was ploughed ui) from the bottom of tliis cellar. Its exact duplicate was found at Pomaquid, near the mouth of the Kennebec River, the site of a settlement in IGOS, under the auspices of Sir George Popham, which shows a connection between the tv/o localities. t Richard Benython, Gent, (sometimes spelled Bonython), one of the most efSctient and able magistrates, had a son John, who proved to be a degenerate plant. In 1G05, we find, by the Court Records, that, for some offence, he was fined forty shilUngs. In 1G40, he was fined for Modern Town of YorL\ 33 of Saco, wlio was his nephew. These men were councillors for the die execution of the government, according to an ordinance an- nexed to the authority delegated in the com- mission. He intrusted the immediate man- agement of it to Captain Wi'liam Gorges, a young gentleman of rank and ambition, and to Colonel Francis Norton, who, having by his own merits risen from a common soldier to a lieutenant-coloael, was desirous- to advance his fame and fortune. Tliese two had the charge of the first attempt to settle, and had a grant of twenty-four thousand acres of 1 nd on both sides of the river. By some it is thought to have been of short duration. Ferdinando Gorges was born at Ashton ibuse toward Kiehard Gibson, the minister, and Mary liis wife. Soon after, he Avas fined for dis- orderly conduct in the house of his father. Tn IC-tu, the -'Great and General Court" adjudged "John Benvilion outlawed, and incapable of any of his Majesty's laws, and pro( lainied him a rel)el." 34 Ancient City of Gorgeana, Phillips, in the year 1573, of an ancient but not opulent family. He was devoted to the episcopacy, and wished to promulgate this \vith all those under his government, or within his control. This did not suit the views of a majority of the liberal-minded colonists. Being thus divided in sentiment, they soon became unfriendly to each other ; and the popular principles held by Massa- chiisetts were too inviting to allow them to resist the opportunity to emigrate there. Gorges, who had been an officer in the British navy, and governor of Plymouth in England, was urged by the poverty of his situation, as compared with others of his rank, to undertake some adventure that might increase his rent-roll in order to swell his coffers. His expectations were very great from this American enterprise ; but, as will be seen, his hopes were .not realized. He sowed the \^ind and reaped the whirl- Modevn Toicti of YorJc V wind, and he finally complained of having obtained for his toil only vexation and dis- appointment. When Sir Ferdinando Gorges was sixty years of age, he was given a commission of Governor General over the whole of Xew England. A man of war was in prepara- tion to bring him hither, which was to remain here for the defence of the country. But in launching she keeled over on her side and was broken, the enterprise failed, and Sir Ferdinando never saw ximerica. The death of Capt. John Mason was chronicled soon after. Sir Ferdinando Gorges was a very ambi- tious and a very unfortunate man in his enter- prises. His aim was to accumulate a fortune, achieve a character, and establish himself as a ruler of as large a tract cf territory and over as many pco;de as possible. In order to perpetuate his reputation as lord proprie- 36 Ancient City of Gorgeana* tor, he gave to the ])lantcitions of York the name of Gorcjeana. The earliest grpnt of lands in York is by a deed from Sir Ferdi- nando to his nephew,-"' Thomas Gorges, of five thousand acres of land on the York river (then called Organug), and the lands embraced within the limits then termed Aga- menticus. This deed was granted in the seventeenth year (1641) of the reign of Charles L, and by his sanction ; and seizin and possession was given in 1642. From the year 1642 to 1653, the grant of lands ia York by the agents of Sir Ferdinando were very frequent and numerous. The home government, jealously thinking his progress and power in advance of their ideas, and not calculated to benefit them, * Williamson styles Thomas Gorges both grand- son and nepht'w of Sir Ferdinando, and Sullivan terms him nephew. In Sir Ferdinando's charter, or grant, he calls him his " eoscn." Modem Town of York. undertook to check him by accusmg him of converting to his own uses that which should be made to enhance their interests, if not to swell tlieir o.vn co.Ters. Ilis defence was able, but was not considered satisfactory, \ iz. : that he had never transcended their rights, and no monopoly had been engaged in or enjoyed to the d'jtri:uent of the colony or home government. Sir Ferdinando, through his agents sent to America, being zealous to establish his name and power as loid proprietor, and alsj to further the other objects of his inciting, undertook more than could b ■ accomplished in the ordinary ii ctirnc of any mortal, even under the most favorable auspices. The Isles of Shoals were also included in his dommioiis. - -A*conr:aiiy cf cmigi-ants v.hich were first sent out -by him consisted of artificers and laborers, and as he had learned the wantr> of settlers in a new country, they were provided with implcmc-its, machinery, oxen, ^q., with ^8 Aiicioit Cl-y of Gorfjeand. which to clear away the forests, build shij)s, manufacture hirnbcr, and cultivate the ground. A scttlcniont was accordingly com- menced on the eastern side of the river, near the sea, south of the present mill-site and pond ; and afterwards no other plantation of Gorges' so constantly and so fully received his patronage and favor. FOUNDATION OF THE CITY OF GOEGEAXA. King CiiAr.LES I., in the patent granted to Fcrdinando Gorges, prior to the year 1639, cjidoweJ him with more power than had ever been conceded by a sovereign to a subject. He enjoined in particular the establishment of the Episcopal religion. Sir FerdinLUKlo Gorges, meeting with dis- ap})oinlment and much opposition in the general system of American affairs, deter- mined to plant a small colony at his own expense. He had been previously informed of a short salt-water river, admitting vessels 3Iodeni Town of Tork, SO to a safe harbor and good anchorage, at and above its mouth, called Arjamenticus (York) ; its situation being nearly equidistant from a mountain of that name and the river Piscat- aqua. An extract from Gov. Winthrop's journal contains Ui' following: "In the summer of 1640, Thomas Gorges arrived, accompanied by the Lord Proprietor as his deputy gover- nor of the Province. His instructions were, to consrdt and counsel with the magistrates of Massachusetts as to the general course of administration most exoedient to bepiu'sucd; and such were his own resolutions, that he determined to discharge the duties of his office with fidelity and promptitude."' x\t Agamcnticus he found affairs, both private and public, in lamentable disorder. The lord proprietor's buildings, which had ccst him such larg'3 sums of money, were in a state of great dilapidation ; his own mansion was hardly habitable, and was stripped -of everything, as expressed by one of his suite, 40 Ancient Clfu of Gorfjeauft, flestltutc of furniture, refreshments, rum, candles, or milk ; hi:s personal property was squandered ; nothin^i; of his household stuff rcmaininjT but an old pot, a pair of tongs, and a cou])le of andirons. Gorges, elevated by a partial success, and actuated by those generous designs, deter- mined to erect tlic borough and land adja- cent into a "• city ;" and accordingly executed another and more perfect charter, dated March 1, lG-13, by which he incoi-porated a territory of twenty-one square miles and the inhabitants upon it into a body politic, which he, evidently in compliment to his own name, called " Goegi::ana." The whole lay in the form of a parallelogram, with the York river for its south-westerly boundary, extend- ing up seven miles from its mouth, and three miles upon the sea- shore. Its limits were three miles eacli way, radiating from the "Church Chapel or Oratory" of the plan- Modern Town of York. 41 tation, and situated on the east of York river. The iiihab-tants had the power to elect a mayor and eight aldermen, annually, hold estate to any amount, and do many other things ; and, furthermore, were authorized to hold courts, erect fortifications, and govern themselves as any other body politic. But no particular obedience was paid to Gorges' authority, and the inhabitants governed themselves, as did the patriarchs of old : by associations. In fact, they viewed his as- sumed power as a very weak kind of aris- tocracy, likely to be of short duration. This was che first grant of incorporation for a city in America, viz. : an English city charter, dated in 1640. Thomas Gorges was mayor, with the following list of aldermen : Edward Godfrey, Roger Garde. George Pud- dington, Bartholomew Barnctt, Edward John- Bon, Arthur Trajdon, Henry Simpson, John 42 Ancient City of Cloryeana, Rogers. Mr. Garde was also appointed re- corder. Descendants of some of this board are still residents of the town. " The police consisted of a mayor, twelve ^ aldermen, twenty-four common coimcilmcn, and a recorder, annually elected in March, by • the citizens and freeholders. The mayor and aldermen were ex-officio justices, and had the appointment of four sergeants, whose badge was a ^i^hitf, rod, and whose duty it was to serve all judicial precepts." In IG 14, a woman v.as iricd in the mayor's court for ihc murder of licr !:u,-sb;;nd, and con- demned and excculed. The o^'iccrs of the province, by invitation of the ma) or, assisted at the trii^.l. " The form of public worship was to be rpiscfjpalian. Tliomas Gorj^^cs returned to iLujiand in KM J, and P.ogcr Garde became mayor in his stead. " While Sir Ferdinando's provin(^e was Modern Town of Tork. i'o deeply inv()l\cd in dimciilties, he died in England, in 1 T) 17, a;^ed seventy-four years — about two years before the execution of Charles L, his royal ma .ter, \vho was be- headed January ;]0, 1049. .Seldom is a sub- ject more firmly attached to his monarch! On hearin^i^ of the proprietor's death, and being left to them.^elves, a convention was called by the people of Gorgcana, and after discussing their rights, duties, and difficul- ties, the inhabitants of Gorgeana, Kittery, AY ells, and the Isles of Shoals formed them- selves into a confederacy for mutual protec- tion and the just administration of govern- ment." ^^' * An okl account, co])ie:1 from a MS. letter of Hon. M. Dennett, reads tlius : "Kitteri/ Is tlie first and oldest town in the state — Gorgeana being a city corporate, not a town. Tlie Navy Yard, Badger's, Trefetlien's, Clark's, Cutts's, and Ger- rish's Islands belong to Kittery. The town records begin ]March Id, 1G48. The town was 44 Ancient City of Govfjeana, In the courts held under Gorges, there was no division of ihe judicial, executive, or legis- hitive powers, but the general courts made laws and tried cases, and by their own mem- bers caused their sentences to be executed. Tiie same method prevailed when his govern- ment had lost its power, and the people had entered into associations for civil purposes. Their records were filled with cases which at this day would be considered in the light of literary cn.rioslacs : — Ki.:guL:i- l.r.vs, Avliimsi- caliy iirrang.^d in the boo'-s. For instance : in t'^e same ijaragranli, pcrlr'ps, will be f.nind a law for the enc -urageniont of killing wolves, and ano'lier for the ba)tis:n of children. ( ivll actions an 1 criminal we o alike decided by tlie Generrd Court, and i.ll this in a style and manner th;it could iiavd'y fail to excite divided; Berwick was incorporated June 9, 1713, and Eliot, March 1, 1810. The town produces annually one tliousand barrels of cid'U', but no wheat." 3/o 7^';-iA Toirn of VorJc. 45 ridicule rather than command respect, such was the mode in which they were mixed to- gether. The followin<^ is a specimen of them : " Nov. 22, 1652. — The com.missioners held their court and the inhabitants appeared, and after some tyme spent in debatements, and many quesions answered, and objections re- moved, with full and joint consent, acknowl- edged themselves subject to the government of the Massachusetts in New England ; only Mr. Godfrey did forbeare, until! the voate was past by the rest, and then immediately he did by word and voate express his consent. ^Ir. Nicholas Davis was chosen and sworne constable. ^Mr. Edward Risliworth was chosen recorder, and desired to exercize the place of clarke of the writts. Mr. Henry Norton was chosen marshall there. John Davis was licenced to keep an ordinary and to sell wine and stronge water, and for one yere he is to pay but twenty shillings the butt. Phillip Babb of Hogg Hand was 4G Ancient Cltt/ of Gorgeana. appointed constable for all the Hands of Sboalcs, Starre Hand excepteJ." In 1G52, Massachusetts assumed control of this colony ; the city charter was revoked, the name changed to York, and an incor- poration as a town granted, with limits enlarged, probably, nearly to those now existing. In 1834 a small part of York was added to South Berwick, since Avhich there have been no changes in boundary. CArX. JOHN SMITH. This celebrated man has so much connec- tion with tJiis histv)ry as to deserve some par- ticular notice. He was born in Willoughby, England, A. 1). loTO. In 1.39G, when he Avas seventeen ye rs of ago, lie ir.ade the tour of Europe ; killed three Moslem champions in single combat, was lionored with a tri- umphal procession, and was for some time Modern Town of York. held a prisoner in Turkey. During his sub- sccjuent remarkable adventures in this coun- try, his life was saved by the celebrated Indian princess. Pocahontas. He died in London, A. D. 1631, aged fifty-two years, lie was bold and magnanimous in disposi- tion, and in talents, integrity, and persever- ance, by no means inferior to Sir Ferdinando Gorges himself. Though at the time of our narrative only about thirty-five years of age, he had been a great traveller, was a very conspicuous adventurer in Virginia, and in 1608 was made prisoner by the Colonial Council. So far had his virtues and adven- turous spirit given his name celebrity among his countrymen, especially the English mer- chants trading in America, that, on his leaving America, they readily took him into their own service, for the triple purposes of discovery, settlement, and traffic. With an outfit of two vessels, a ship and bark, carrying forty-five men, he sailed 48 Ancient City of Gorgeana, from London, March 8, 1614, having instrnc- tions from the government to remain in the northern country and found a colonial settle- ment, or at least keep possession. This was characteristic of orders given by King James I. to all expeditions sent out, viz., " to hinder any foreigner from settling there upon any pretence whatever." Smith shaped his course for the Sagadahcck river, and says: " I was to have staid therQ,with only sixteen men." He arrived at Monhegan the last of April, and immediately entered upon the business of his v yage, by taking possession, at the mouth of Sagadahock river, of all the neighboring land and water. He constructed seven b )ats, in some of which himself and eight men explored the coast, east and west, to Penobscot river and Cape Cod, trading with the natives for beaver and other furs, and making observations on the capes, harbors, islands, i-ivers, and shores. His men employed themselves, also, in taking 3Iodern Town of York, 40 whales found in tliese waters, by pursuing which tlicy lost the best port of tlic fishing season ; !ior were they, when caught, of the kind expected, '" which yields furs and oil." Still more futile was the visionary story reported al;out gold and copper mines abounding on this coast, it being ascer- tained, on inquiry, to be a baseless fabric of fiction. Nevertheless, the fruits of this voyage were of great value and variety. The party obtained, in exchange for mere trifles, six- teen thousand beaver, one hundred martin, and as many otter skins ; they also took and cured fort}- thousand dry fish and seven thou- sand cod-fish, corned or in pickle. The net value realized by those interested was about one thousand pounds sterling (85,000). From the same vicinity that year (1614) twenty-five thousand skins were sent to France. Further eastward European com- modities were not so much esteemed bv the Ancient City of Govgeana, natives, because the French traders bartered then' articles on better terms. Captain Smith, on exploring the borders of the coast between Cape Cod and the Penobscot river, says he saw upon the land '' forty several habitations," or " Indian vil- lages," and enumerates twelve different tribes by name, residing east of the Piscataqua. One of the most numerous S-cmed to be the Medoc or Mugg tribe, supposed to be the ancestors of those troublesome savages now located in and around the " Lava Beds" of California. Smith mentions the fact that these Indians did no:; differ in liishion, gov- ernment, or language, on the coasts of Maine, New Hampshire, and as far south as Naumkeag (Salem, JNIassachusetts) ; but from the latter place to Cape Cod, he found ihey differed somewhat in condition, custom, and language. He had onl}- one skirmish with them, and in this some of the Indians were killed. Smith sailed for England July Modern Town of Yorh 6, 1615, while his companion, Capt. Thomas Hunt, purposely tamed behind to monopo- lize the trade and steal savages. When he aflcrwar.is sailed from Plymouth for Spain, he .seized twenty-four Indians, carried them to Malap^a, and sold them to the Spaniards for one hundred dollars apiece. Some of the.5e captives were named Sq^ianto or Tis~ (juautnin, JVanope or M'anaicet, and Samoset, the latter of whom said, in 1G21, after his return, he was a Sagamore ab:ut ]\Ionhegan. At Gibraltar, the convent friars took tliose that were unsold for the purpose of christian- izing them. About the time Captain Smith was sur- veying the New Eiigland coast, a most destructive war "broke out anions the savage tribes, which continued two or three years. Gorges despatched an expedition ir: the sum- mer of this year to Sagadahock, with the artful Indian Epcnoiv, and other natives, for the purpose of learning m re of the reported Ancient Cltij of Gorgeana, gold mines, and of addhig new facts to his stock of knowLdge. Epenow escaped by jnm]nng overboard not far from ]\Iartha"s Mncyard, and with liini vauislicd the Englisliman's glittering visions of gold. Then came fnninc, pestilence, and war, fol- lowing each other in rapid succession, and tTic mortality was the greatest linown there since the settlement of the country. It was a prevailing sin of these early times to treat the aborigines of this country as if they were designed orily to gratify the cupidity and ]}assions of their civdized con- temporaries, alt'jough the British king had given instructions to every expedition sent out by himself, in 1G22, not to improperly interfere vxith the trade or pursuits of the natives, never to sell them firc-ar:ns, nor in any instance to intermeddle with tlie woods or freeholds of the planters wit-iout license from the Plymo :th Council or crown. He altio ihrcatened the wrong doers with confis- Modern Town of TorJc. 53 cation ; but they took little heed of cither IjIs menace or commands. ■ THE m'iXTIRES ECCLESIASTICAL. In Sullivan's History of Maine, is the fol- lowing narration of Judge Sayward : " In the time of the civil war in 1G41, between King Charles I. and the British Parli-amcnt, Oliver Cromwell gained a victory over the Scotch troops which had assembled and fought under the royal standard in the north of England, and sent them to America. Among them were the Donalds or Donnells, the M'lntires,"^* * All the ^rintircs descended from one ISIicum M'lntire, who emiijratcd from Scotland in tlie tune of Oliver Cromwell. Those well known in York were : Alexander MIntire, called by the title oi" '• Squire," wlio died s^or.ie twenty-five years :;go; liufiis. a meml)er of Congress, and j\I:ijor ^Yilllanl, who lived in Scotland Parish, and has been dead al;out fifteen years. He left two sons, only one of w'loiu survives ; he lives in York. Jcrendah MJmire was also a prominent man. 54 A net cat Cltu of Govgcana. the ]\Iax\vells, etc , and these came to Gorg-es's government because he was a royal- ist, and settled in what is now the second parish in York, from which circumstance the phace was named Scotland. Kcv. Joseph Moody, son of the Rev. Father ]Moody, was He was at first a Colonel, then a General, ami finally a Major-general of the State militia. He belonged to anotlser branch of the family of the above-named ; was born in the M'lntire garrison house, and married Miss Elizabeth Lunt, daugh- ter of Samuel Lunt. Esq., deceased. He bought, lived, and died upon the sauie spot where his son Jeremiah now resides. His brother John now lives on the homestead, and is by far the wealihi- cst man in York. Esquire Alexander M'fntire was for many years collector of the customs at the port of York, when that office was an impor- tant one. He built the house now occupied by Jereuiiah Brooks, Esq., somewhere about 1812 or 1813, and fir a while lived in it. At that time it was considered a noble structure, and inferior to none in this town, except Judge David Scwall's. York was, and still is, a jjort of entry for vessels from "tills side of the Cape of Good Hope." Mr. M'Jntire's successor was Thomas Savage, fol- 3Iod€rn Totvn of Yorlc, 65 the first minister. His immediate successor was Rev. Samuel Lang ton, who continued with this society for many years afterwards." During the government of Gorges, we do not find that they ever had a preacher in lowed by Mark Dennett, Joseph P. Junkins, Na- thaniel G. Marshall, Luther Junkins. Jeremiah S- Putnam, Edward S. Bragdon, the pi esent incum- bent. Sanmc-1 Lunt, Esq.. kept for many years the store now occupied by Wilson JL Walker, who is also postmaster. Mr. Lunt was actively engaged in the business of the town, and inter- ested in the coasting and fishing trade. He was a clerk in the store of Ivlward Emerson, father of Charles O. Emerson, at the time of his employer's decease ; subsequently lie married a sister of Isaac Lyman, Esq , a lawyer of note, who was also a brother to Emerson's wife, — both being children of Doctor Job Lyman. Mr. Lunt built the store above named, and traded there until his decease. He was a man of strict honesty. He left one son, Samuel, who married a daughter of Israel O. Smith. Another son, Horace, died in China; a daugliter, n:uued Narcissa, died young. Mrs. M'Intire is the only survivor, — Records of N. G. Marshall. nc Ancient City of Govgeana. York. In 1G60, one Burdct, who had l)coii expelled from Exeter, in New Ilampshnc, for misdemeanors, became a preacher to those who chose to hear him ; but he was punished for lewdness by the civil authority, and soon after ceased to act in the capacity of a public teacher. CLEKICAL IMBr.OGLIO ATTEMPT TO EEYO- LUTIONIZE THE SHOALS. About the year 1642 a personal contro- versy arose between two clergymen, which caused great popular disturbance. The Rev. Mr. Langton, of Dover, New Hampshire, delivered a discourse against hirel-ngs, which was evidently aimed at Rev. Richard Gibson, of Maine, and gave him great umbrage. The latter was an Episcopalian, and highly esteemed as a Gospel minister, especially by the fishermen at the Isles of Shoals, among whom he had been for some time ^lodcvn Town of Yoric preaching. He rctoited upon Langton, and likewise accused Massachusetts of usurpa- tion in her endeavors to rule over the Isles of Shoals. In this state of irritation, the Islanders were provoked to a general revolt against the authority of that State, \\\t\\ the idea of submission to Gorges's government, several of the cluster being his by charter. But he was glad, at last, to e^;cape the indig- nation of that colony by making a humble acknowledgment, and perhaps promising that the Islanders should be urged by him to return to their allegiance. The controversy was completely quieted by his submission. Pending this so-called revolt, an attempt was made by some of the liberal minded to found a government among themselves, as their numbers then amounted to several hundreds. " A constitution was drafted and made by the principal leaders, then styled ' knowing ones,' and after being amended, revised, rewritten, lengthened, and shortened, 58 Ancient City of Gorgeana. was submitted to a committee for their exam- ination and opin'.on, before being put to a direct vote, and it is astonishing with wliat disfavor it was received ! Some said it was too long, others said it was too sliort ; one did n't like it; another liked the old [?] one better ; one attempted to read it upside down, and declared he ' never, in all my born days, ever saw such a rickctty, crabbed hand in all my life;' and a loud speaker showed his utter contempt for it by ' throwing a quid of tobacco in the veri/ face and eyes of it ! In fact^ it went back to the makcro in such a befouled, crnmplxl, dirty, and soiled con- dition, that it was not fit to be seen." Although many attempts were afterwards made to build up a self-governed confed- eracy on this and other bases, they did not succeed, and all of thorn died natural deaths. 3Io(l€rn Town of I'orJ:, 59 WOMEN TROHICITED, AND OliDERS GIYEX TO VAfATE THE SHOALS. A curious memorial presented to the Court in the year 1647, in accorJ.mce with a law enacted sonie years previous, reflects some light upon the ideas and habits of those early times : " The liumblc petition of Richard Cutts and John Cutting, sl^oweth, that, contrary to •■'.n order or act of court, which says, ' No ivoman shall liv-i o:i the Zilcs of SJioaJsy John Reynolds has brought his wife thither with an intention to live here and abide. He hath also brought upon Kog Island a gveat stock of goats and s.vine, which, by destroying much fish, do great damage to your i)ctitioner and others ; and also spoil the spring of water upon that Island, render- ing it unfit for any manner (>f use ; v.hiv-h affor Js the only relief and supply to all the rest of the Islands. Your petitioners there- fore pray that the act of court may be p;it in execution for the removal of all women, also the goats and swine." In accordance with GO Ancient City of Govgeana, this request, the court ordered Reynolds to remove his goats and swine from Ilog Island within twenty days, and also from such other Islands as are inhabited by fishermen. But as to the " removal of his wife," it is " thought fit by the court," that " if no far- ther complaint come against her, she may enjoy the compauj^ of l^^r husband. The reason for this prohibition was that the pub- lic morals were violated by the fact of the women being " owned by the men in as many shares as a boat." During the Revolutionary War, the gov- ernment ordered the Shoalcrs to vacate the Islands.*'*' They found new homes in Kit- tcry, Portsmouth, Rye, and other ^^laces. * This order was fully carried out, not only by the removal of the people with their goods and chattels, but, ever since, \.\\q\y x> enchant for carry- ing their houses with them has prevailed; for, among ether removals, we rend in the Gosport Kecords, "the parsonage house, constructed for the Rev. John Tueke, was taken down by his son- in-law, and carried away to Old York, in 17-SO." Modern Toc'u of York, (il Many removed to York, and occupied what was then known as '• Stage Neck," now owned by the pioprictor of the " Marsliall House." Some tliirty families ox-upied tlie Neck at one time, living in small houses, and cultivating small patches of land, the outlines of which, as also the -fo nidations of the houses, and t'le old cellars, arc now plainly seen. When excavations w^re being made by Mr. Mardiall at the time he built Ids hotel, m;iny articles of pottery and other wares were exhumed ; and in digging for a carriage road, at the depth of two or three feet, a spot of what appeared to be black earth was found, which, on examination, proved to be the con- tents of a pigsty or pen, the manure being perfectly fresh, and the odor as pungent as if deposited there the year before. No graves were ever discovered on the Neck. HI N DERANGES TO PROGRESS. Anything like progTess made, withouf first consulting the jealous Charles 11., through his (12 Ancient City of Gorgeaua, numerous ay;on';s and rulers, Avas looked upon in the light of treason, and not to be tolerated, cv n for a moment, by tliosc wlio held power, or second-hand official authori- zation, from the liomj government. " This abridgment ( f freedom resu.lted as an almost cftectual stumbling'-blocA to advancement, progress, or civilization in an infant colon v. Tlie crov.-n, through its lord proprietors, kept the peo})le in complete submission. TiiosL^ in power rode rough shod over their destinies, and the possession of even their very existence. The restoration of the royal government in Kngland placed the supreme authority in the hands of men f'lr less favor- ably disposed towards New England than the administration un.der the protectorate of Cromw(>ll. Charles II., dissolute and unprin- cipled, disliked extremely the strict religious principles of ir.ost of tlie people here. Fur- ther, it ap;: cared he even resented, as an invasion of his prerogative, the establishment Modern Town of York. 63 of a mint in Boston, where were coined thre3-pences, six-pences, and shillings. He was jeahjus of the spirit of liberty prevalent among the Xew Englandjrs, and wished to see them reduced to a complete depend- ence on the crown. YOTvIv RKCOEDS. The oldest records of York contain little other than the assi niment and settlement of tracts of land to citizens and others wishing to become such. We extract a few that embrace the greatest variety. "1652. — At a town meeting, ordered, that William Hilton have use of ferry ^'' for twenty-one years to carry strangers over for * The ovorland route from the wikls of Maine to Massachusetts was close to the ocean, the belter to avoid tlie Indians, and also to be among the set- tlers, fording creeks emptying into it, and directly across Stage Neck, wliere tlie ^larshall House stands, thence across this ferry througli Kittery. G4 Ancient City of Gorgeana, two pence, and for swimming over horses or other beasts four pence ; or that one swum over by strangers themselves, he or his scr- van's being ready lo attend; and one penny for every town man. If time and tides be favorable, he is to pass persjns over to and from Stage Islan 1 ; if not, to provide a cano3 to lyo rea.ly on his own side to transport people without danger." Mr. Hilton was said to have been a man of mammoth proportions, weighing about two hundred and forty pound.-;, and insensible to fear : and his wife was in all respects quali- fied to be a companion and helpmeet for him, as the foil iwing fact will show. At times friendly Indians were quite numerous in this nc'ighbovhood, and they frequently called in small parties at the houses of the settlers \o stay all night, and o.ten to have a " drunk," as they termed it. Their i)hice of crossing the river was at this ferry, and the canoes of the white men their means when travelling Mnlerit Toirn of York. Go by land. Tlrjir c.ill was the warwhoop, not sounded in hostility. Many times has Mrs. Hilton, on dark and stormy nights, on hear- ing the Indian whoop, gone alone, with her firebrand for a light, and taken the canoe over, and brought the savages to her house. They were usually friendly, and committed no acts of aggression, except in a few instances. They took rather more liberty in calling at houses from which the men were absent, and Dn one occasion they became so annoying, that Mrs. Hilton drove them out of the house, except one squaw who was so intoxi- cated that she appeared unable to move, and was caught by the hair of her head and thrust out. This rough handling roused the squaw somewhat, and so aided her power of locomotion, that she was able to throw her hatchet just as Mrs. Hikon was shutting the door, and cut off the wooden thumb-piece of the latch : but, on recovering her senses in the morning, and recollecting her Improprie- 66 Ancient City of Gorgcffua. ties of the night bef )re, the Indian woman came in, confessed h^'r fault, asked pardon, promised better manners in future, and ever after kept her word. "1701, March 21. — Petitions and offer of Capt. John Pickering, to erect a grist-mill, to grindc the corne of the town, and put up a dam, and take timber from any man's land near by. Will do it if the town will give him the monopoly of it ; but shall have to lay out one hundred and fifty pounds ; for all the toll of grinding the town's corn will not pay a man wages this seven years. Voted, to grant liini the permission to build, take creek, lumber, stream, trees, etc. The mill to be built where Glengom and Gale had theirs." That this grist-mill, at least, was a rough affair, compared with those of the present day, the following anecdote, although a ludi- crous exaggeration, will serve to illustrate : A person having had some grain ground 3fof'(ern ToH'ii of York. G7 tliere, bis wife, as he said, " tried to sift it Avith a ineal sieve, but could not, i" being so coarse. She next tried a ladder for a sieve, with no better succrss ; and it was only by taking out every other round that the thing could be accomplished.*' Still, this mill was of some service to the people, for previous to its erection they were obliged to go to Dover or Kittery, and this journey must be per- formed either on foot or on horseback. It is related of another person, that, having bought a bushel of corn, about ten miles distant, he got it ground, and, taking it upon his back, started for home, but, being overtaken by niglit and darkness when he had reached the suburbs of th ' town, he lay down on the ground till morning, when, again resuming his journey, he at length arrived at home. At a cnurt holdcn in York, December 2, 1665, Joane Forde, wife of Stephen Forde, of the Isles of Shoals, was indicted and con- victed for "• calling the constable a horn- C$ Ancient Cily of Gorgcanct. headed rogue and cowhcad rogue ; " and she was punished for this offence by nine stripes, given her at the post. Soon after, this same Joane Forde was presented for abusing and leviling the neighbors by very evil speeches, and for abusing the constable and others of her neighbors. For this offence, Joane was sentenced to have ten lashes at the post, which was accordingly executed by John Parker, in the presence of tlie court. " 1720, Aug. 31. — Voted, at town meet- ing, to garrison the house buili for the min- ister and occupied by Rev. Samuel Moody, at the town's charge ; and that Joseph Say- ward "^^ and Benjamin Stone be a committee * Elder Jonathan Sayward built and owned the dwelling-house known as the '• Barrell Mansi(;n," whicli is situated on the hill at the lower end of the mill-dam. where formerly Jonathan Sayward Barren's grist-mill stood, and the house is still occupied by the Barrell heirs. Elder Sayward was at one time the most extensive land owner in York. During the Revolutionary War he was • ' r ,'i Toic';i of York. 69 to carry o.it I lie ganis!;ning the above house, V it'll sqii-.rc timber, cf hemlcick, oak, or pine, of ten inches width, as soon as possi- ble : firty-six fe^t one way, and fifty-two the other. And the committee are directed suspected of adliorcnee to King Gcorfje III. : but it was aftcrvv^ards ascertained, on examination, to be otherwise. Jonathan S. Barreirs father was Nathaniel Barrell, an Englisliman, who sympa- thized with the cause of the king. This Nathaniel married a daughter of Elder Sayward. He lived in the westerly part of the town, on the place now occupied by his grandson, Charles C Barrell, Esq. A beautiful portrait of liis wife, painted b}' Copley, now adorns tlie parlor of the Barrell mansion, oc- cupied by bis granddaugbters, the Misses Barrell. He was bale and bearty to a great age, and used to visit in bis " one-horse chaise " Judge Sewall and Mr. Moody (fatlier of the late Deacon Samuel Moody, and grandfather of Capt. Charles Moody, recently deceased), each of the trio then upwards of eighty years of age ; and on one occasion brought with him an old lady, a Mrs. Grover, more than ninety years of age. Her centesimal birthday was ol)se;-ved by a visit from her friend^r 70 Ancient City of Gorgeana, to inform the iuliabitants in getting the tim- ber, and setting up the same ; and each per- son or persons that shall deliver any timber suitable for said work shall be allowed nine shillings per ton ; and laborers to be paid according as they arc workmen ; and the work to be finished at or bcfoic the tenth of September tlic present year. " 1724, March. — A bounty of four pounds was paid for each grown wolf killed. " 172-1-5. — Samuel Johnson put by from voting. Swine allowed to go at Common. " 1725, March 8. — Voted, that Sewell Banks (Joseph) be requested to sit in the fore seat bdow ; and his wife, as becomes a wife, in the woman's fore seat. V^oted, that the wife of Philip Adams, being somewhat thick of hearing, haye liberty to move forward in the meeting-house. " 1727, May 8. — !Men appointed to pre- vent trespassing on Sta^^e Neck. " l7o2, June 30. — Common land divided Modern Town of York. 71 by vote, how many shares of eight each one shouli have. Lhlcr Joseph Sayward was granted laud ia consideration of his eminent usef hiess. "1733, Dec. 5. — Voted, to raise one hundred pounds towards building a Court House." The old dwelling-house which formerly stood on Parish land, at the corner of the road opposite the old cemetery, near the present Congregational Church, and for many years occupied by Josephus Howard, as a dwelling, harness and saddlery shop, was the old town-house. He or some one bought it of the town, where he moved from the house he occupied next to Widow S. Grant's, into this old town-house, which he commenced to remodel, but never finally completed the work, the only alterations made being in the partitions in the lower story. After his death, the building was either torn down or moved away. Mr. Howard once lived in the 72 Ancient City of Gorfjeana, house first built and occupied by Judge Sew- all (before he built his mansion on the hill), between Mrs. Stephen Grant's (formerly the Dr.W. Lyman house) and the Madam Lyman (widow of Rev. Isaac) house, now occupied by Mrs. Wm. Allen. In a building on the house lot was a bakery, and he also owned a bowling-alley. Mr. Howard was for some time a Captain of the " York Artillery," an organization of some importance, at least in the eyes of youngsters, as it had a uniform consisting of blue coats, faced with scarlet, blue pants, and chapeau overtopped by a black and scarlet feather. "1734, Jan. 28. — Dimensions of Court House : thirty-three feet long, twenty-eight feet wide, twenty feet stud, lower story ; eight and one half feet upper story, pitch roof, both rooms plastered."' The old court or town house stood south- east of the site of the present one, and nearer the road. Its front was not next the street, 3lo(Jeyu Town of YorJc. as is inferred from a inemorandiim made by Judge David Sewall, while Register, on t':e inside of the cover of a book of llecords (Vol. XIL, 11- gistry at Alfred) : "Four olni trees sot nut between town-liouse find uieeting-liouse, in York, April 15, 177o." These trees are still standim^ in front of the j^rcsent town-house, but between it and the sfrci-f, whereas Lc/ore they were between the town-house and the church. Whether th'^ front of the old house was toward the street or church, is uncertain. The record does not say they were set out in front of the town-house, but between it and the church. It might have fronted the street, and the trees have been set on the north-west side ti serve as a shale for both the town- house and church. " A gun-h.ouse stood in rear of the town- house."* This was torn down, i-nd a new one built farther back, and directly i:i r: ar of the 7i AnriOit City of Gorgeana, present town-house, on land leased by the Parish to the r'-tatc of Maine, Nov. 6, 1826, It was afterwards sold by the State, and moved just east of the Daniel Sewall house, upon land belonging to the estate of Charles O. Emerscn. This house having become dilapidated and of a size insufficient to accommodate the courts and the business of the town, a new one was erected in 1811, to defray the ex- pense of which five hundred dollars were appropriated by the county, six hundred by the town, and the balance by subscriptions of varioi:s individuals. The town of Kittery subscribed also in its corporate capacity, and many individuals there gave liberally. They were induced to do this from the fact that, in consequence of the decayed and unsuitable condition of the old house, the courts had been removed to Kennebunk, and were lield there for a short time. The new building was fifty by forty feet ; the court-room in the second Modem Town of YorJc. 75 story, and the jury-rooms and hall below, "were clicaply rurnished, and unpainted inside. It was occ-asionaliy used for a school while rebnildin*^ or r^pairinj^ tlie schoolhouse, and occupied by the courts until 1832, -when they v>ere removed to Alfred, and from that time till now it lias been used by the toun as a town-house. Be?oming very much out of repair, the town, at its ann lal meet'ng in 1873. vot:d to raise money to i nprove it, and chose a committee to expend the money voted. It has been raised so as to make the first story two feet higher than before, and this is finished in a neat manner, and fitted for holding town-meetings, Avith office-rooms for the selectmen and other town officers. The upper story is new a beautiful hall, forty by forty feet, in addition to a stage or ros- trum and anto-rooms, wi li a vestibule and easy Eight of stairs, A handsome portico is built on the front next the s.reet. Directly in frint of ihc house ap,' the four majestic 70 Ancient Citi; of Gorgeana, elms, ])lantcd by Judge Diivid Sewall. The building is well painted and blkided, and fin- ished outside in modern architectural style, and is a credit to the tov.-n and all interested in the improvement. The upper story is fur- nished, and admirably cabulated for exhibi- tions, lectures, parties, etc. "1737, March 14. — Swine may go at Kberty, if yoked and ringed, "1737, March 18. — Voted, to build a workhouse for beggars, "1747. — Voted, that the schoolhouse near the meetinghouse bo used as a workhouse. Samuel Sewall, Jr. [Major], warder. " 1754. — Bill in regard to ])rivate use of spirituous liquors, opposed. " 1773, March 9. — Voted, that the select- men prvjcure a cure for Iiutli Trlckey, of hei present illness, at the cheapest rate they can. " 1775, April 2. — ^'oted to have a night- watch, at the mouth of the luirbor ; two on ^ Modern Totfn of York. 77 each side, under command of the colonel of alarm men militia). " 177.3. — Voted, that the selectmen pur- chase corn, and deal it out as they think proper. " 1 775, July 19. . — Daniel Bragdon, David Sewall, Ixhvard limcrson, went to Assembly at Watertown, ?.Iass/' At that time Boston w;is in possession of the British, and the Massachusetts Legisla- ture was held at tluit place. " 187G, March 12. — Voted, to sell one cannon for militia use. "177G, June 5. — Voted, to agree with Congress of the decision to declare them- selves free and independent colonies. " 177G, Aug. 5. — Twelve .dollars bounty offered. [Probably for military recruits.] " 177G, Dec. — Bounty increased to fo :r pounds, ten shillings. Prices paid : for pork, threepence a pound ; oxen, six shillings a yoke ; horses, seven sliillings apiece. 78 Ancle lit City of (ior^rrmd. " 1777, Aug. 18. — Bounty six pounds. " 1777, Nov. — Three hundred and sixty- eight pounds for ammunition, arms, and men raised. " 1778, May. — Sixty pounds bovmty, "1780. — John Hancock had sixty-six votes for governor. '• 1781. — John Hancock had thirty voles. *' 1781, June. — Daniel Emery appointed constable. "1782, April. — John IL-ncock received forty- three votes ; whole number cast, fifty- one votes. "1782, March. — Twenty-four shillings bounty for killing a Molf,. young or old, within limits of town." The bounty for killing a wolf being often as high as ten dollars, it was thought that the same animal sometimes " did duty"' more than once, by which means the town was cheated into paying for him _t\vicc or oftener. 80 Ancient Cltg of GovfjcanH, EARTH QUAKES C:)LD AVKATlIKIl SNOW- STORM S. The first day of the month of June, 10138, is memorable on account of the first great earthquake whi-h ocrnrrod aflcr the settle- ment of the country. The course was from west to east, its duration about four minutes, and the earth was unquiet for twenty days. The noise was like that of a multitude of carriages driven swiftly over pavements. Many chimneys \vere thrown down, the Avaters greatly agitated, and the vessels in the harbors and at the wharves violently shaken. In 1727 occurred the second great earth- quake that New England experienced. It happened in the evening of October 29, at about ton o'clock, The atmosphere was calm, the sky cloudless, and the moon walk- ing in her brightness. The shock extended over a tract of some hundred miles in extent. Modern Town of Torlc. 81 shaking the buiklings, oversetting chimneys, and making in some places clefts and fissures in the earth. No lives were ascertained to have been lost. This event excited serious reflection in many a breast, and was followed, in some of the towns, by an improvement in morals, an increase of piety, and considera- ble accessions to the churches. The third great earthquake experienced in New England occurred a little before day- break on the morning of November 18, 1755, after a clear and serene night. The shock was heavy, and of con>iderable duration. Suddenly arousing the people from the peace- ful slumbers of the ni_ht, it exciied great alarm. It threw down the to])s of one hun- dred chimneys in Boston, and shook the country from Virginia to Nova Scotia, an extent of a thousand miles. Another earthqua!:c happened on th? night* of April 12, 1761, wliich wlts succeeded by still another the following autumn. The 82 Ancient City of Gorgeana, summer of tins and that of the following year Vvcrc each of them remarkable for a great a.:d distressing drought, which ren- dered necessary the inij)orta:ion of large quantities of the nece>^saries of life from abroad. Other casualties are rec rded as occurring at the time of the earth juake, or following it. Tliere were very severe winters, of long duration, and excessively hot summers. Some of tlie snows were so deep that it was not unusual for two-story houses to be two- thirds buried up, and neighbors to visit each ot'ier, on snow-shoes, through the chamber windows jf their houses; in fact, no other communicatioi could be had. This may seem to fiud its paralLl in the great freshets in the Western States, where families have been rescued from a watery grave by being taken from the third story of their dwellings on board a steamboat coming alongside the house ! Moaeni Town of Yovk. 83 An unusual occuvrence marked the spring of 16ou, in a sudden prevalence, when the apple and other trees were in full blossom, of cold so insupportable, that out of the crew of a York fishing vessel, then happening to be at sea, one man died of the cold before the boat could make the land, another was so chilled that he died soon after, and a third lost his feet. This was^n the latter part of May. There have been frequent instances of the occurrence of snow on the ground and blossoms on the trees, but no occasion since of so intense a cold so late in the season. One of the most destructive frosts recorded in the annals of Maine, or even New-England, occurred in ^lay 17, 1794. The season was unusua ly eai'ly, the young apples were formed, and the rye headed, when one fatal night blasted the hoj)es of the husbandman, and de.stroyed almost entirely the fruit and English grain. A famine seemed inevitable, 84 Ancient City of Gorgeana, but an All- wise Providence averted such a calamity, and tlic next year was one of great plenty. Cold Tuesday, as January 31, 1815, was designated, was remarkable for being intensely cold. The year is well remembered as the cold season, and is often termed in familiar conversation the poverty year. The mean temperature^ as observed in many plac?s in Maine remote from e eh other, was forty- three degrees. Sno.v fell in the southern part of the State June 9 ; and August was the only month of the year exempt from frost. Early autumnal fro:-ts almost, destroyed the crop of Indian corn. Ice formed in wells sunk in' elcv;itcd ground at some distance from York river, and was not dissolved till the latter part of July. Farmers came to the conclusion that it was folly to think of raising tlieir brc:id on tlic cold hills of Maine, and that they must hasten to the remcite West, where they f ndly hoped to Mof^er.^i Town of York find an almost pcT])etual siinsliiiie and unfail- ing plenty. Never was the passion for oniigra'don, then familiarly called the " Oltio Fcccr,'^ at a greater height. Eut though the unusual aspeet of the season deprived many tov,ns of a portion of their inhabitants by inducing removals, it had a moral influence highly salutary in reminding man of his dependence on his Creator. In February 20, 1717, occurred the great- est fall of snow recorded in the annals of New England, almost burying under the frozen mass the smair log and other houses of the new plantations. So efFectually were even the most frequently travelled roads blocked up, that the magistrates and minis- ters of Boston, who Irad come out of the town on the first day of the storm to attend the funeral of the Rev. 'My. Brattle, at Cambridge, were unable to return for sivcral days. In sjme portions of the streets of B^tston, and other large towns, the snow wzz ::ix feet in 8fi Ancient City of Oorgeana, dc})tli ; and on the thousand hills of JNIainc, New Hampshire, and other States, it lay in immense bodies. In February, 1803, a snow fell in New England of great depth and density, a large part of it consisting of minute ])articles, re- sembling hail. Had it fallen in a light, fleecy form, as is usual in deep snows, it was thought it3 depth would have exceeded the great snow-storm of 1717. April 13, 1843, was memorable for a heavy fall of snow, requiring roads to be broken out. Sunday, April 26, 1871, was ushered in by more than a foot of snow, and more falling throughout the entire day. Late in the month of March and early in November, 1873, teams of oxen and sleds were brought into requisition to break out roads in York and vicinity. May 1, 1874, witnessed the phenomena in Kictery of farmers ploughing their ground covered with snow. Modern Town of York. 87 GAREISOX-IIOUSES SCOTLANJ). Of the many gaiTison-liouscs once standing in this town, but two now remain : the Junkins and the MIntire. They are located near each other, just above the third, or Swing-bridge, on the north-easterly side, and near the bank of York Ilivcr. The ]MTntire house is in a good state of preservation, and has been occupied as a dwelling for many years, and until quite recently by John MTn- tire, Esq.. the wealthiest man in York. It was built by his ancestors, who wer:) early settlers (1640—5) in this part of the town, and, as the name indicates, were emigrants from Scotland, as were many of their neigh- bors. The Junkins house is sadly dilapi- dated, and fast going to decay ; the ]Nrintire house, if cared for, as at j:rescnt, will remain, for hundreds of years to come, as a monu- ment of the past. These garrison-houses, when built, resem- 88 Aiicienf City of Govgeana, bled in their exterior appearance a modern dwelling. They were massive and strong, and made of hewn timber dove-tailed and trunnellcd togetlier, with the seams caidked, So as to be nearly, if not quite, water- tight. Lorjpholes for musketry were provid:d in the sides ; and from a loft, over which a fl(.>or was laid, there were draws from which watch could be kept on an approaching enemy. The second story of these houses projected out and over the first, all around. In this jutting out openings were made, through which the enemy could be annoyed with mis- siles ; and in case any attempts were made to fire the edifice, water could be poured down to cjucn-jh it. Whenever an alarm was given that the " French or Indians were coming," the women and children would flee to these houses. Their fronts invariably faced the south. These relics indicate a period when travel to the eastward kept to the seaboard, and Old York was a place of r7iuch greater Moihrii Totrtt of York, s'J relative importance than at present. During the savage inroads communication between the settlements was extremely clitlicalt. Low tide aiForded the adventurous messenger a way, by making use of the shores and sea- beaches wherever practicable. Where the journey appeared too hazardous for even the hardy settlers, dogs were despatched with a pouch of letters attached to their collars. OLD AITLE-TREE. The apple-tree flourishes well, and bears bountifully in this town ; so much so, that Cider-Hill has long been a name applied to a section in the northerly portion of the town. Here is still standing an apple-tree Avhich is said to have been brought from England, in a litt'e tub or box, by one of the early settlers, more tlian two liundred and forty years ago. It lias borne fruit up to the present time (187 1^ ; but the trunk is a mere upright hollow log, and only one limb Do Ancient City of Gorgeana, retaining any vital. ty, it is not likely to sur- vive many years longer. Since the forests have disappe;ire 1, agriculture has been the leading pursuit, and corn, hay, i)otatoes, etc., are the principal crops. OLD STAGEY HOUSE HAEMON MASSACRE. The old Stacey house, which formerly stood on the hill, near the south-westerly end of the Parish Creek bridge, on the easterly side of the road, had many legends con- nected with it. It was a quaint old wooden structure,. abounding in projections and sharp angles, with an enormous chimney in its cen- tre, resting on the declivity of a hill, which made it half basement, and was once fitted up and occupied as a store. The interstices between its outer and inner walls were said to have been filled with brick This house stood at the head of the mill-pond, which was navigable for vessels of considerable size, until the dam below was built. As Moffern Town of Tork, 91 early ar> lOoO o IGlO. ihis buikliiif^ was, un- doubtedly, u ed as a jdacc of trade, and was said to bo wliat is no^^ known as a '•'(HiiJt- /ioifj<'\" ^h. Stac-ey was one of Paul Joiios's oificcrs, in his naval career, and died at a very advanced ai;C, a United States pensioner. When the bouse was torn down, in 1870, a skeleton was found under the h^^arth ; and a very ancient sign-board, with the inscription: '"Coffee. Tea. Sugar. Molas'^es. Spices. Rum and G{?i, Wi/ic, Brandy, d-c.," was also found. Perhaps this was the skel- eton of one of the Indians killed in the Har- mon Massacre. A timber was marked " 1634.'' The remains of a wharf still exist on the east side of the mill-pond, nearly oppo- site the site of this old house. Previous to the demolition of this house a portion of it Avas occupied by the resident Methodist min- ist(.r, and the lot is now a part of the parson- age of that society. 92 Ancient City of Gorgeana, The •' Harmon ]\Iassacrc "' happened in this \vi e. Tlic people calld by the name of Harmon lived at tlic lower part of the town, near the ocean. The men were sea- faring persons, and dauniless in disposition. During their absence on a voyage, some one or more Indians insulted the female portion of one of their families. On their return from sea, determined on revenge, the latter invited the Indians to have a yoiuwow, on the point of land at the west end of the Barrell Mill-dam. The Indians accepted the invita- tion, .and kept np the debauch till late at night, when, being very drunk, the Harmons and their friends slaughtered every one of their number. This was on Saturday night. The' next morning tliQ .tidings of the affair spread far and wide, and Father ]\Ioody in his discourse alluded to tliat inhuman butchery in. a terribly scathing manner, and prophesied that the name would be cut off, and the time come when not one mule by 3Io(lern Toivn of York, 93 the name of Harmon "''" could be found. The prophecy has been completely fulfilled — no person by the name of Harmon has lived in York for the last thirty years, at least. This massacre took place not more than sixty rods from the Stacey house. COUNTY COUKTS AND OFFICEKS JAIL. The Isles of Shoals, and all .the territory northward of the Piscataqua River belonging to Massachusetts, were erected into a county by the name of Yorkshire. A County court * This name is identified with Indian skirmishes from tlie earliest settlement of Maine. '• Captain Harmon, of Gorgeana, now York, was, for many years, the terror of the Eastern Indians. In one of his expeditions up the Kennebec River, at the head of a squad of rangers, he discovered a party of twenty savages asleep by a large fire. Cau- tioiisly creeping towards tliem until he was certain of his aim, he ordered his men to single out their objects. The first discharge killed or mortally wotmded the whole number of the unconscious sleepers." 94 Ancient City of Gorge ana, M'as established, lo be holden alternately at Kittery and Agamenticus, at appointed times, twice a year. In 1654, Abraham Preble v.-as County treasurer for Yorksliire. The name of York was probably taken from the county and town of that name in England. The name of Agamenticus, or Gorgeana, was probably dropped, and that of Y'trk substi- tuted, in order to avoid the city charter and Gorges's right. It was tUeseat of govern- ment under Gorges, and the land titles are derived through him, ;..This town ^yas the residence of Edward Johnson, Colonel Jere- miah Moulton, Hon!'I)avid Sewall, and other eminent men of the present and past genera- tions. Probably Girgeana enjoyed its city l^rivilegcs untjil, it ^vas made a town in 1652. The first toAvn commissioners appointed in York wer§-^Abraham Preble, Edward God- frey, Ed'ward Johnson, and Edward Hish- worth.' " Henrv Norton was first ap]iointed • if." marshal or sheriff of the town. Jeremiah 3Ioderii Town of York, 95 Moulton, Sr., was one of the leading men in the town, up to 1744, and lived to a very old age. He is designated on the records b}' the various tides of E^q.^ Hon.^ Mr. His son, Jeremiah, was parish clerk from 1731 to 1743, and a Colonel in the military service at the capture of Louisburg, and marched all the way from York to Quebec, with a com- pany of soldiers. He was the father of Daniel, the cliirographer,* who was both parish and town clerk from 1744 to 1782, eaibracing a period of thirty-eight years. In 1653 the jail was built, and a countj tax was laid to defray the expense of it. Ap addition wa'^ made to it some time after. No record is kno.vn to be in existence to dat^ from, but the whole of the original gambre^ roofed structure still remains. * The nunie of Daniel Mouhon appears on tK » records very frequently, in connection with boih the conveyancing of real estate and town affairs. His chirography tliere is faultless, 90 Ancient City of Gorgeana. THE SEWALL MANSIOX. Honorable David Scwall built and occu- pied for many years, until his decease, at the venerable age of more than ninety years, the elegant mansion, noticeable by all strangers, now standing on the north side of the road going east from the post-office. He was a man of eminent character, and classmate and life-long friend and correspondent of John Adams ; an able lawyer, an ui)right judge, a true philanthropist, and a devout Christian. He was a gentleman of the old scliool, and Avore small-clothes, or breeches, white stock- ings, — except on days of ceremony, when he wore black silk, — knee and shoe buckles of silver, and sometimes a three-cornered cocked hat. His house, the home of hospitality, was presided over by Madam Sewall with a charm- ing grace and dignity, which fitted hor to adorn any station. Judge Sewall first mar- ried Miss Mary Parker, and afterwards Miss Modern Toivn of York, 97 Elizabeth Langdon, who survived him sev- eral years. What Avas mortal of these lies in the north-west corner of the old cemetery. MIRACLES AT THE ISLES OF SlIOALS KEA'OLUTION IX MAINE. The Isles of Shoals, portions of which were attached to both Maine and New Hampshire, were, in 1G60, inhabited by forty families. Being places of note and great resort, the General Court, in May, 16G1, incorporated them into a town by the name of Appledore, and invested it with the powers and privileges of other towns. Rev. John Brock was a minister among these islanders for twelve years subsequent to 1650. He came to New England when a V youth, and graduated at Harvard College in 1646. A couple of authentic anecdotes will show some of his peculiarities. " A fisher- man of generous disposition, whose b-.at had been of great use in hel{)ing the people from 98 Ancient City of Gorgeana, other islands to his church, on the Sabbath, had the misfortane to lose it in a storm. While regretting his loss, the preacher said to him: '■'■Go home contented^ good sir ; IHl mentio7i the matter to the Lord; to-morrow you may expect to find your boat." Consid- ering its particular service to the poor, he made it a subject of earnest prayer ; and, sure enough, the next day it was brought up from the bottom of the sea by the flukes of an anchor, and restored to its owner ! One Arnold's child, six years old, lay extremely sick, if not really dead. Mr. Brock, who was present, thinking he perceived some possible signs of life, arose, and with his usual faith and fervor prayed for its restoration, using these remarkable words towards the close : *' Lord, be pleased to give some token, before we leave prayer, that thou ivilt spare the child^s life. Until it be granted, we cannot leave thee." Immediately the child sneei5ed, and afterwards recovered. Elder Brock died Modern Town of York. 99 at Reading, Massachusetts, in 1688, aged sixty- eight years. The symptoms of political revohition in Maine at this time (1662) appeared e%-ery- ■svhere strong. Although the towns, includ- ing Appledore, might send some ten or eleven deputies to th'e General Court, not one was returned in the spring of this year. " Liberty of speech and of the press," if they had any, was limited by the operation of a gag-law. For examples, a fine was imposed on Robert Ford, for saying, " John Cotton was a liar, and had gone to hell ;" and Robert Booth was indicted by the gi-and jury for saying of the Bay magistrates, " They are a company of hypocritical rogues ; they fear neither God nor the king." In 166-5, at the July term in Wells, the ('ourt ordered " any town to take care that there be in it a pair of stoiks, a cage, and couching [ducking] stool, to be erected be- tween this and the nest court." The last 100 Ancient City of Gorgeana* mentioned was the old instrument for the punishment of common scolds. This stool consisted of a long beam, moving like a well- sweep upon a fulcrum, one end of which could be extended over a pond and let down into it at the will of the operator ; on this a seat was fixed, upon which the culprit was placed, and then immersed in the water. KEPRESENTATIVES SOLDIERS. The following are the names of deputies or representatives to the General Court from York, with their term of service, while the province was under the Colony charter : Edward Rish worth, 1653, thirteen years, and for Wells one year. Peter Wyer, 1665, two years. Samuel Wheelwright, 1677, one year, and for Wells and York one year. The following are some of the first repre- sentatives to the " Great and General Court,'* — probably held at Boston, Massachusetts : Lieutenant Abraham Preble, 1699 and 1709; Modern Toivii of York. lOI Samuel Doniull. ] 700: James Plaisted, 1701; Captain Lewis Bane, 1705 and 1711 ; Lieu- tenant Samuel Came, 1816. In King Philip's war, in lG7o, York fur- nished eighty soldiers. CO^'GIIE'^ATIOXAL CHURCH. The fir-t Congregational Church of York is presumed to have been organized as early as 1662, by Rev. Shubiel Dummer. From fr^fgmentary records it is ascertained that his ministry with the people of York began in 16G2. He preached his own ordination ser- mon, from the passage, " Bdurn^ Lord, and visit this vine." ''^- Mr. Dummer was born at Newbury, Massachusetts, I'cbiuary 17, 1636, and graduated at Harvard Col- lege, in 16.36. He married a Miss Kish- worth, daughter of the celebrated Edward * As iftlie Lord hud departed, and this text was BC invitiition for his return. — Ed, 102 Ancient City of Gorgeana, Hishworth. His ministry continued until January 2, 1692, when he was killed at his own door, while mounting his horse, to make a pastoral visit, by Indians in ambush. He was shot through the back, and fell dead upon his face. His wife was taken captive at the same time, with many other inhabi- tants, and the settlement was nearly de- stroyed. He lived near the sea-side, on a neck of land, near what is called Koaring Rock. For the six following years the remaining settlers had little if any preaching. Mr. Dummer's immediate successor was Rev. Samuel Moody, the "Father Moody" of whom so many eccentricities are related. He was born in Newbury, Massachusetts, Jan. 4, 1675, and graduated at Harvard College in 1697. He came to York, May 16, 1698, and preached as a candidate till his ordination, Dec. 20, 1 700. The people had not recovered from their losses by the Modern Totcn o/ Yor7c, 103 _ French and Indians, in 1692, and were so poor that Mr. Moody applied to the General Court nf Massachusetts for aid, "asking such allowance as to your wisdom and justice shall seem fit." That body allowed him twelve prun'^^'S sterling (sixty dollars). Mr. Moody had declined a settlement upon a stipulated salary, choosing rather to live thi'ough faith, dependent upon his Divine Master and the voluntary contributions of the people. The latter would seem a very pre- carious dependence ; as good authority has asserted his family was oftentimes not many removes from starvation. He continued in the ministry forty-seven years, and died Nov 13, 1747, aged seventy-two years, much lamented and greatly endeared to his charge, and highly respected by his country. He was buried in the old cemetery. By the wording of his epitaph, " lest he should be charged with vain glory," he " commends his own ministry," as a perfect one, not susceptible of condemnation, and makes a 104 Ancient €ity of Oorfjeana, . » , declaration that he had used all sincerity and diligence in jn-caching the gospel. The last line on his grave-store is, " For his further cliaracter, you may read, 2 Corinth, iii. 1-6 " : " ])() wc begin again to coininend ourselves? or need we, as some otiiers, epistles of commenda- tion to you. or letters of cominenilation from you? Ye are our epistles written in our hearts, known and read of all men : Forasmuch as ye are mani- festly declared to be the epistle of Christ minis- tered hy us, written not with ink, but with the Si)irit of the living God ; not in tables of stone, but in lleshy tal)les of the heart. And such trust have we tiirough Christ to God-ward : Not that we are sutficient of ourselves to tliink any thing as of our- selves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath nuide us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." This was an ingeniotis method of getting a long epitaph on an ordinary grave-stone. The application to himself is seen in the verses thit follow, particularly his '' plainness of speech," in the twelfth. In 1 749 Mr. Moody was succeeded by Rev. Isaac Lyman, a g.aduate at Yale Col- lege, in 1747, who died in 1810. Mr. Moody's ministry was marked by the perils and agitations incident to wars with Modern Town of Voik. 105 the French and Indians, but the church pros- pered. He received visits from Whitefield, the great revivalist, upon both occasions (jf his coming to Americi. On his last visit, in Oct., 1744, Father ?^Ioody welcomed him thus: "'Sir, you are first welcome to America ; secondly, to Xew England ; thirdly, to all the faithful ministers of Xew England ; fourthly, to all the good people of New England ; fifthly, to all the good people of York ; and sixthly and lastly, to me, dear sir, less than the least of all." His sympa- thies were quickly touched by the distress of others, and his power to relieve only limited by the scantiness of his purse. Mr. Moody's influence was such, that, " At clmrcli, with meek and unaffected grace, . His looks adorned tlie venerable place ; Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, And fools who came to scoff remained to pray." His character is happily drawn thus : " He loved the world that frowned on him ; the tear That dropped upon his Bible was sincere ; 106 Ancient City of Gorgeana. Assailed by scamlal and the tongue of strife, His only answer was a blameless life." His successors were Rev. Isaac Lyman, Iloswell Messinger, Moses Dow, Eber Car- penter, John Haven, John L. Ashby^ William J. Newman, John Smith, William A. Patten, William AV. Parker, lliifus M. Sawyer, John Parsons, and Benj. W. Pond. David Sewall, the present pastor, commenced his ministry Dec. 7, 1873. Who the first deacons were is not known. John Harmon is spoken of as deacon in 1731, and Joseph Hclt in 1739. The parsonage was burned March 31, 1742, and with it the records, so that only an im- perfect account is preserved prior to that year. Fifteen years before Mr. Moody's death, he had the pleasure of seeing another church and society formed in the north-west section of York, and of assisting at the ordination of his son" Rev. Joseph Moody, Nov. 29, 1732. His son graduated at the age of eighteen, and lived in his native town fourteen years after attaining to majority, where he held the 3Io(Jerii Town of York. 107 offices of town clerk, co-inty register of deeds, and a judge of the Common Pleas Court, before he was ordained. In less tlian two y ars after his ordinr.tion, he fell into a melancholy state of mind, and was known by the sobriquet of "'Handkerchief Moody,"' from his constantly wearing a hand- kerchief over his face after this period. He died March 20, 1753. Nathaniel G. Mar- shall has in his possession a law book, printed in Old English text or black letter, which once belonged to fliis Joseph Moody, He was a profound scholar, and it is supposed that his melancholy arose from the fact that, contrary to his wishes, he was induced by his father to enter the ministry. The title- j)age ends thus : HontJon : i3TtntrtJ for t^c vToinpanic of StationrrS. 1627. Interesting memoranda on the fly leaves are entered in the handwriting of Mr. Moody, 108 Ancietd City of Govfjecina* most of which, however, is illegible. He was for a long time clerk of the town. His suc- cessors were, in 1742, Rev. Samuel Chandler, and in 1754, Rev. Samuel Langton, who died in 1794, This, the second parish in York, was settled in Oliver Cromwell's time, by Scotch people, and has since been called Scotland. Cromwell, the Protector, as he was then called, having obtained a victory over a body of Scottish royalists, thought transportation to be the t)est disposition he CO Id m;ike of the prisoners, and therefore banished them to Am: rica. Their sympathies being with Sir Fordin;indo Gorges, who had taken up arms in the civil wars on the same side, they sL-ttie 1 upon a section of his patent. In order to show that tlie ministers did not '■'• inaacli for Jiirr,'' let r.s mention the salaries of a few of the earlier ones : Lyman, $oOO ; Messinger, $350 ; and Mr. Dow, $450 per year, with the parsonage. Even with this small pittance, Mr. Dow was called upon to 3Iodern Town of Yorh. 109 relinquish one hundred dolkirs of his salary, at three different times, wliich h:- did each time, thou .h his moelc and patient s/irit, at one of the calls, rcbjlljd. Tie toll the com- mittee who called i.pr>n him to make known the request of the Parish, that he would give his answer in writing, which he did, to the parish meeting assembled, in the e words : *' If the par'sh think it just and right thus to take away their ininist r"s support, it is done, and I consent to give them another one hun- dred dollars of my s.dar..'' This wa> at a time when many of the parish " ]^ollod off," as it was termed; that is, formed new and joined other sectarian organ- izations to avoid paying parish taxes, and a gr.at pait of \\\2 records are taken up in recording such examples of leave-taking. It may bo proper here to speak of the parish and its relation to the church. In the e lily settlement of the country, lands were granted and laid out in the different towns 110 Ancient City of Gorge^na, for the support of a minister. These lands were controlled by the town till the incorpo- ration of a parish, when they passed under the control of a body thus organized, called a parish society. The warrant to hold a meet- ing for the purpose of organizing was issued March 5, 1731, by William Pepperell, jus- tice of the peace ; and the parish meeting was held March 27, 1731, at which John Harmon was moderator, and Jeremiah Moul- ton parish clerk. It now assumed the re- sponsibility of providing for the minister's salary, and the care of the parish property. Some of its action in this direction may not be uninteresting. In 1732, this society voted to purchase a slave to be employed for Rev. Samuel Moody, and appointed Samuel Came, Esq., Richard Millbury, and Joseph Holt, agents, to make such purchase. At the same time, it was \ oted to hire a man to live with Mr. Moody Modern Taivti of York. Ill till a slave could be purchased. In 1734, it was again voted to hire a man or buy a slave for that ye;:r, and one hundred and twenty pounds (SGOO), ordered to be raised for that purpose. The parish assessors were in- structed to buy the slave, and deliver him into the hands of Mr. Moody, to he employed in his service during the pleasure of the parish. In 1735, the assessor was ordered to take charge of the negro until the next parish meeting. At that meeting, in March, 173G, he was empowered to dispose of the negro to the best advantage, and, as fiir as the records show, this ended the dealings of the parish in slaves. In April 16, 1742, five hundred pounds, old tenor, was voted to be raised to build a new parsonage-house, on the spot where tliat one stood which was burned March 31, 1742. This house stood until 1859, when it was torn down, and the present one built, which is a substantial two-storied house, with modern conveincnces, and finished through- 112 Ancient City of Gorgeana. out. A good vestry, a few rods from the parsonage-house, was built the year previous. The present meeting-house was founded in 1747, as appears by an inscription on a foundation stone, beneath the south-west corner. The first action in relation to its building was taken in parish meeting, April 19, 1744, and various meetings were held, and votes passed, until March 25, 1747, when it was voted to raise two hundred and fifty pounds, by taxation, in addition to the sub- scriptions made. This vote was vehemently opposed by some of the parishioners, and four of them had their dissent entered on the parish records. It was subsequently re- scinded (April 1, 1747), and " made null and void." The old meeting-house was ordered to be taken down, such of its materials as were suitable to be used in the construction of the new house, and was not wholly finished when Mr. Moody died (Xov. 13, 1747). A parish meeting was in session on the day of his death, to hear the report of the building 3L}(Iei n Town of YorJc. 1 13 committee. The pews were to be appor- tioned upon a valuation of five thousand pounds (old tenor). The Rev. Samuel Moody's funeral expenses, amountinp^ to one hundred and five pounds, eighteen shil- lings, six pence, were paid also ; with forty pounds to Mrs. Moody, to enable her to go into mourninii; ; fifteen pounds to Rev. Joseph Moody, the son ; and ten pounds to Mrs. Tmerson, of ^Maiden, the daughter of M r. Moody. '• in addition, to what they have been allowed, to put themselves in mourning at their discretion." Also the physicians' bills of Drs. John Swett, John V\']iitney, and Dr. Sargent, for medicine and attendance during the last illness of Mr. bloody, amounting to twenty-six pounds, seven shillings, were ordered to be pai.l by tlie parish. ^ladam Moody, the relict of Rev. Samuel ]Moody, had provision made for her support yearly, but, in view of her advanced age, she was 114 Ancient City of Gorgeana, allowed, from 1761-64, five pounds addi- tional each year. In 1769 " singing was permitted to the lower floor, if persons occupying the desig- nated pews fit them up at their own ex- pense." The singer's seats were at first below on one side of the centre or broad aisle, but afterwards they were in the gallery on the south side, fronting the pulpit. The *' deacons' seats" were directly in front of the pulpit, fiicing the congregation. Hymn- books, in those days, were a scarce com- modity, and it was the duty of the deacon to *' line," ^^ or retail out the hymn, as it was * This was congregational singing, for all joined in that part of the worship whether singers or not. There is a story of a deacon (not a good scholar, and probahly hungry) who made a ludicrous mis- take. The concluding line being "The Eastern S:iges sliall eoine in, willi messages of grace;" he read it thus : " TJie Easteni stages shall coi))e in, with sasginrjrrs and greaat " / Modern Town of York. 115 then called ; which was, to read and sing a line alternately. Previous to 1825, no idea of warming the huge structure seems to have entered the minds of any one ; and in cold weather people muffled themselves up as well as they could, taking their foot-stoves to keep themselves comfortable. The main entrance, or porch, was on the side next the street, and facing the cemetery ; there was another door also ■where the present pul})it now stands. The old pulpit was on the north side ; a very large arched window was directly behind the seat of the preacher, which seemed admirably adapted to keep him cool, especially in win- ter, if the upholsterer had not vouchsafed an immensely he ivy green damask curtain, from the centre of which was suspended a huge tassel. The house was remodelled in 1830, the expense paid by subscription, and the interior modernized. It originally had gal- leries on three sides, and on the remain- 1(5 Ancient C'lfy of Gorgeana. ing side a high pulpit, over Avhich hung a sounding-board ; high square pews, in which the occupants sat facing in every direction, on seats all around the pew, except a space left for the door, and on chairs, with which the pows were furnished. During the war the cost of living and prices for all commodities were very much enhanced, and the currency greatly depre- ciated. To meet this change in valuations, the parish made grants from year to year over and above the minister's stated salary, till 1790'. A lightning-rod on the church wa;? first recommended and ordered to be put up in 1792. When or by whom the first bell was procured, the records do not mention. There is a locality in town known as *' Bell 3Iarsli^'' being land formerly granted the parish. It is said that it was sold to raise funds to purchase the first bell. No doubt is entertained of the truth of the tradition. There was a bell on the church prior to Modern Town of YorJc, 117 1747, for, at a meeting holdcn September 20, 1744, it was voted, " to take down the bell, and hang it upon crotches, or anything else erected for that purpose."' This was before the present house was built. March 31, 1749, voted, that " the assessors take care and hang the bell in the steeple of the new meeting- house, at the charge of the parish," — un- doubtedly the bell referred to above. March 25, 1788, a bell was ordered to be procured, not exceeding four hundred pounds. August 27, 1821, voted, "to choose a committee to dispose of the old bell, the proceeds to be applied to the purchase of a new one."' Captain David Wilcox, Jonathan S. Barren, Jr., and Edward A. Emerson were chosen ; also, voted, •' that said committee draw on the treasurer of the parish for the sum of one hundred dollars, and act in conjunction with a comm'Ltee of the sub- scribers, for a new bell, and make the pur- chase of the same as soon as may be, and 118 Ancient City of Oorgeana, place the same securely in the belfry." In 1834, a parish meeting was called " to take into consideration, with the general consent of the subscribers, the expediency of return- ing tho bell," and '' of procuring one of larger size and weight, provided individuals would s -.bscribc money towards procuring a larger one, and all incidental charges towards placing the same securely in the belfry." The present bell is the third or fourth one. In 1798, after being incorporated, Edward Emerson, Colcmcl Esaias Preble, and Daniel Sewall were the first trustees of parish fund. Edward Emerson, Jr., Judge David Sewall,* * The origin of the Sewnlls in York is as fol- lows : Two brothers, Nicholas and Samuel Sewall, came here about the year 1708. from Newbury, Mass. ; tliey both married sisters, daughters of Samuel Storer, wlio came to Wells from Charles- town, Mass. These brothers Sewall were sons of John Sewall, of Newbury. From Samuel descended several eminent men, such as Judge David, Professor Henry, and the great mechanic Modern Town of York. 11? and Samuel Scwall, were chosen trustees of fund in 1803, for five years ensuing. The pari h paid the funeral expenses of Rev. Isaac Lyman, in 1810, and set his grave- stones. The parsonage lands, in the lower parish, originally comprised a strip extending from "Little Pviver" to the Parish Creek, which was about a mile running north and south, and about a quarter of a mile wide. It seems to have been customary to squat on the par- sonage lands, and thus much of it passed into the possession of others, or was leased, after possession had been taken, for a very who constructed Sewall's Briilge, etc., Msijor Samuel. From the above Nicholas sprang Rev. Jotham Sewall, and a long line of ministers of the Congregational order, he being the grandfather of the father of the present Congregational minis- ter, Kev. David Sewall. Tlie original Samuel Sewall resided on the south side of the river; Nicholas, on the spot where the tan-yard formerly was, near the house of Mr. William Lunt. / 120 Ancient City of Gorgeana, I paltry sum. For instance : the house lot originally built by Edward Emerson, Jr., — long occupied by Bulkley Emerson, then by Capt. David Wilcox, and at the present .time by his daughter, the Avidow of Capt. William E. Putnam, — was leased for two dollars and sixty-seven cents per year: the quarter of an acre occupied by Madam (widow of Isaac) Lyman (now by William Allen), after her death, was to be five dollars per year, but free during her life, and so on. The lease to Emerson is for nine hundred and ninety-nine years ; that to Lyman, for five hundred years. Mr. Lyman, however, was no squatter. His lot was leased to him March 27, 1787, he being then resident pastor. This was un- doubtedly done to secure to his widow and nMmerous family a home in case of his death, as the parsonage would be required for his successor. A good forethought ! The east liuL' of the parsonage land was close to tlic end of the Sargent houi^e — next the common — and then ran northerly to Moderm Toivn of TorJc. 121 LiUU' lliver. The lot avIutc the Aiulrew Sar- oTut house stands ^vas -ranted by the tcnvn to Alexander Tullman, a physician, on con- dition that he settled in town and practiced medicine. After passing this lot, it run-^ in a straight line to Little lliver. In th.' rear of the Ikillman lot, it was encroached upon by one Norton Woodbridge, who owned the property which was aftenvards in the pos- session of Judge Sewall ; and although the parish voted repeatedly to prosecute ^^'ood- bridge and recover the land which he had taken from them, yet it was never done. The Foll(j Field — so called, on account of the "folly" of the parish in allowing AVood- bridge to get and keep possession — came out of the parish land, and was owned by Judge Sewall at the time of his death. The Xicholas Sewall lot (now oc-cupied by the heirs of Skipper Lunt) was also granted to Sewall by the town, before the grant to the parish; so lie was no scjuattcr. The Hugh Ilolman lot (wliercthe heirs of J)octor Caleb Ancient City of Gorgeana* Kastman now reside) was sold to him b}' the parish, although he was a squatter at first. The jail lot was leased by the parish to the county for one hundred years, in 1812, or so long as used for a jail. The jail having been abandoned by the county, the land has re- verted to the parish. The county has sold the jail building to the town recently, as also its rights in the town-house, which also stands on land owned by the parish. In regard to licenses : i)ermission of the parish committee, with the consent of Rev. Mr. Lyman, Avas given Kliakim drover, tailor, and Moses Saflbrd, barber, to erect shops upon parish land, for their occupation ; they must be of the same size, and six or eight feet apart. They were small one-storied buildings, and stood at the foot of "Jail Hill," directly opposite the Sargent Mansion. One of them was used for a "recruiting oflice" in the war of 1812. In 1825, a lot behind the ju'csent town-house was leased the State for the erection of a ^un-house. 3Tod€rn Town of York, 123 LOREXZO D )"VV PHYSICIANS. An itinerant preacher by this name, cele- brated for his eccentricity of manners, and who, contrary to the f ishion in those days, wore a very long and full beard, bearing a marked resemblance to the Wandering Jew, prcac;:ed once in the Congregational Church, and it was his invariable prac- tice, as soon as his sermon was finished, to jump out of the " pulpit window," and disappear. He did so in this instance. His n;)toriety or popularity always attracted large audiences, and his reason for making an exit in so summary a manner was to escape the importunities and questionings of a gaping crowd. He Avas born in Coventry, Conn., October IG, 1777. It is said that during the ihirty-eight years of his ministry he travelled in this and foreign countiies two hundred thousand miles. He commenced prea hing when he was nineteen 124 Arte' cut Clttj of Gorj?cnict. yoars (if v^q Tho f')llon'iiujj is from the jour- nal cf a i'li-.n r resid'^n*" cf this; town, writte'i in 18'2 < : •' Wrnt to hear Rev. Lorenzo Dow ] reach : lie (^xhort d fVom thos^ words : To he (•fir,!a' )iiii-'^J ■ f ).'■■ fJ.'i/:! ; Jirl lo he ^pirifiinl r:}i:i(':'l ,'.•; /'".' a-d p'^-icc. lie said much about (.'le rai.id of r.ian. a;.d that his actions wd'c an iudf^-; (A' it His s'^'mon \\as dis- jointed, a.nd drawn from nnmcrous texts, as follows: T.'f / i:d;.fhc Jhr,, aud the D'^uil. To b^'fnn, 1 sha.U speak of the lusts, pass lijThlly over tiie {les!i, and hasten as quickly as ])ossiblc on to the Devil Mroi /.-; JfCrn int') fro'Jhc f;f; iJic spro'L'y, Jl>/ upwcrd! I shall divide my discourse inio and confine it under, tiie folbwin'T heads : Fir. t, man's in- gress inro the world. Second, his jn-ogrcss through the world, 'ihird. his egress out of the world. 'Firs', man eo.iies int) llu- world nidced and bare; Second, Ills projr.-i-ss tlu'ouu'i it is lroiil»K and caro ; I'iiird. lie ;li()l'-< oat of it iio'iody knows wlierc' '' To conclude, or lastly, Modern Town of York, 12o ' If you flo well liere, you will fare well when there ; I can tell you no more, if I preach a whole year.' " He published u book of his travels and mirac- lIous adventures, and since his decease, his widow, PefT:g;y Dow, has made additions to it. Mr. Dow died at Georgetown, D. C, Feb. 2, 1834, aged fifty-seven. He was no relative of Rev. iSfoses Dow, as many have supposed. Next to ministers, physicians occupy a large portion of the regard of communities. Among those mentioned first in town, were Doctors Bennett, John Swett,--" Job Lyman * John and Jo^epll Swett have heen confounded as one and the same person, but were probably brothers. Dr. John floui islied i):ior to 174-1:, and wa^ a man of notu ii p.ari li and town aff'.iirs. He re.sided on Swctt"s Point, ju.-t behind the Marshall House. The old doniieiie in which he lived is still standing. Joseph Swctt llourisliLd about the same lime. lie was one of a committee appointed by the church to obtain materials fu/ the meeting- liuusf buili in 1747. 126 Ancient City of Gorgeana, (brother of Rev. Isaac), Josiah Oilman,* Samuel W. Baker, Caleb Eastman, | Jere- miah S. Putnam, etc. Doctor William God- dard, of Portsmouth, practised as a physician a while in York, about the years 1822-3. Doctor William Lyman, contemporary with Doctor Oilman, lived in the house now owned and occupied by Mrs. Stephen Oraut. His daughter, Narcissa, married Rev. Eber Car- penter, and has lately deceased. The family are buried in a corner of Grant's fie^.d. In tho-ie days doctors did not ride in vehi- cles, as at the present time, but on horse- back, carrying their medicines in saddle-bags. Doctor Lyman kept three, and Doctor Oilman two horses, and thus they trotted through life, for no one ever sa\s^ them go faster than a dog-trot. * Dr. Gilninn died in tlie year 18o9. Tlie name in York is now extinct. t Dr. Eastman's ])raotice in York extended over a period of nearly forty years. He died May 13, 1872, aged seventy-nine. 3Iofl at large, depriving them in a great measure of their rational faculties. Modern Town of Vovk, 141 If Bnrroupjhs had remained at his home in M-iine, he might have fallen a victim to the savages ; but it is thought he never would have been executed for witchcraft, and the reason assigned at the time was : " ]]ecause there never was a prosecution for that crime eastward of the Piscataqua river." DEI:D of YORK. In 1G84, Thomas Danforth, in behalf of the Governor and Council of Massachusetts, deeded to Major John Davis, Edward Rish- worth. Captain Job Alcock, and Lieut. Abra- ham Preble, trustees in behalf of the town, all land in town granted to it by Sir Ferdi- n-mdo Gorges, thus giving the town the right to dispose of the commons or ungranted lands in the manner it saw fit. The consid- eration was, that each family was to pay two or three shillings annually to Massachusetts. 142 Ancient City of Gorgeana, CHARTER OF MAINE. The celebrated charter of William and Mar}^ dated Oct. 7, 1091, was brought from England by Sir William Phips. the first royal governor, and went into operation May 14, 1692. , It embraced the whole of the ter- ritory of the State of Maine, in two great divisions : one, extending from the Piscataqua to the Kennebec rivers, was called the Prov- ince of Maine ; the other, including all between the Kennebec and St. Croix rivers, was usually denominated Sagadahock. York was in the first division. This charter also included the five northerly Isles of Shoals, as embraced in Gorges' s charter, viz. : Apple - dore or Hog, Cedar, Duck, Haley's or Smutty-Nose, and Malaga Islands. LEGISLATURE OF MAINE. The legislative power was vested in two distinct branches, each having a negative Modern Town of Torh, 143 upon the other. The upper house was called the Council or Board of Assistants, consist- ing of twenty-eight members ; the other was the House of Representatives. The councillors from York, "-were Job Alcot or Alcock, and Samuel" Donnell, both of whom were afterwards justic'6s eff the Su- perior or Common Pleas Court. Mr. Alcot was one of the most ancient, substantial, and wealthy inhabitants of the town-, and" had been commander of the militia cdnipany twenty years before; but being somewhat advanced in years, he was nct'^r rechosen to the council. ^Ir. Donncll Svds elected the next year, and once subsequently. He also represented the town two yedrs in the House. In 1692, Jeremiah Moulton and M. Turfrey were tlje members retametl from York. In 1G94, William Screven, and from Yoik and Wells united, Ezckiel Rogers, Jr. In 1698, Abraham i^-eble, from Yoik. Ui Ancient City of Ooroeana, YORK ASSAILED. Early in the morning of February 5, 1692, at a sif^nal of a gun fired, the town was furiously assaulted at different places by a body of two or three hundred Indians, led on and emboldened by several Canadian Frenchmen, all of them having taken up their march on snow-shoes. The surprise of tliC town was altogether unexpected and amazing, and consequently the more fatal. A scene of horrid carnage ensued, and in one half hour more than one hundred and sixty of the inhabitants were expiring victims or trembling suppliants at the feet of their enraged enemies. The rest took refuge in garrisoned fortifications. About half of the inhabitants, it has been supposed, were slain or carried away captive. •'" * This account is abridyred from WilHanison's History of Maine, hut occurred, according to Sul- livan, in his Hivstory of Maine, in "January, 1692, 3Ioflern Town of York. 145 The massacre in York and the burning of the town wore the more deeply and ex- tensively lamented, because of the antiquity and preeminence of the place, and especially of the excellent character of the people. Several of the captives taken at York were afterwards recovered, in the course of the spring, by a vessel sent for the purpose, to Sagadahock. These calamities were so desolating and discouraging, that those remaining had thoughts of abandoning the place altogether ; but a few remained, though suffering under severe privations from the destruction of almost everything that could give them shelter or sustenance. There were four houses which had been garrisoned, and held out for some time. To the missionaries, probably French, belongs the responsibility of awakening the ani- and the town was entirelj' destroyed, fifty killed, and one hundred carried into captivity." 146 Ancient City of Gorgeana, mosity of the Indians, by telling them the English had invaded their rights in occupy- ing theii lands, and. in establishing new set- tlements, mills, and especially forts. What at the same time helped to fan and feed the fire, was a rumor tliat there were apprehen- sions of a war between England and France. In 1700, an alarm was circulated that this and the adjoining towns were to be visited by neighboring hostile Indians, and prepara- tions for defence were speedily made. Town watches were also required, by statute, to be kept, from nine o'clock in the evening till morning. The citizens being once disturbed by this panic, nothing could fully allay their fears. They thought, though without cause, that the frontiers were actually infested by these hostile barbarians. Thirty soldiers Mere posted at York, fifteen at Kittery, fifteen at Wells, and the Legislature allowed to twelve or thirteen men in the county of York one hundred and thirty-seven pounds Modern Town of York, 147 ($685) for their indefatigable services during the kite alarm. The York massacre was memorialized in tlie following lines : '* They marched for two and twenty daies, All througli tlie deepest snow; And on a dreadful winter morn Tliey struck the cruel blow. Hundreds were murthercd in their beddos, Without shame or remorse ; And soon the floors and roads were strewed With many a bleeding corse. The village soon began to blaze, To heighten misery's woe ; But :0, I scarce can bear to tell { The issue of that blow ! They threw the infants on the fire ; The men they did not spare ; But killed all which they could find, Though aged, or though fair." 148 Ancient City of Gorgeana* No disturbance took j)lace for some years, but ill 1703 a party led on by one Sampson, an overgrown savage, slew the family of Arthur Bragdon, consisting of his wife and five children, and carried Mrs. Hannah Par- sons, a widow woman, and her young daugh- ter, into captivity. This daughter is sup- posed to be the girl whom the savages, on their march, in 1706, being short of provis- ions, and unsuccessful in hunting, prepared **• a fire to roast, when a dog, falling in their Avay, supplied the child's place." After- wards another party made their appearance in town, and slew Matthew Austin, near the garrison at Cape Neddick, and not bein^.; able to do any more mischief, visited Ber- wick, and, after torturing, burned Joseph King at the stake. Four men riding in company witli a ^Irs. Littlefield, on the road between York and Wells, were waylaid, August 10, 1703, and all slain except one, who hardly escaped the 3fod€rn Town of York, ' 140 fate of the otliers. Mrs. Littlefield had money to the amount of two hundred dollars about her person, of which she was plundered by the same bloody hands. October 15, 1705, a party of eighteen Indians rushed from the woods and seized four children of Mr. Stover, near the same garrison. One, being too young to travel, they instantly killed, and shortly afterwards tortured another to death, out of retaliatory revenge, according to savage usage, because one of their assailants was shot on his re- treat. Other cruelties were practised, such as biting off the children's fingers, and to prevent their bleeding searing them with red-hot tobacco-pipes. Early in the spring of 1710, they killed Benjamin Preble, of York. The year 1712 was very calamitous all over the State, about twenty-six being killed, wounded, and taken captive in York, Kittery, and Wells. The enemy first ap- 150 - Ancient City of Gorgeana. pcared at York, and in April or May shot Samuel Webber, near Cape Neddick. Every motion and movement of the inhabit:mts seemed to be under the ins;)e:tion of these 1 .rking malignant foes. A negro was taken captive, but he tjoon escaped, probably by the Indians' consent, for they had a mortal aversion to negroes. The government offered bounties for every Indian scalp ; a regular soldier was paid ten pounds ; a volunteer, without pay, twenty pounds, and without being furnished with rations or supplies, fifty pounds. For every Indian scalped, killed, or taken, it is said to have cost the Provinco over one thousand pounds. There was not much injury done during the three years' war. The sea defended it on one side, Kittery on another, Wells on the third, and Berwick by that time had become a considerable pi .ntation, with sev- eral farts and fortified houses, extending Modern Town of York, 151 itself above York towards the wilderness. But a house stood where the parsonage house has since stood, which had a picketed fort and bastions round it, in the year 17-30, and the people used to attend public worship with fire-arms in their hands as late as the year 174C. But a war lasting three years is as much as an Indian can bear, even if success attends it. Unsuccessful as they wete, their spirit drooped, and they made overtures of peace to the whites. The government sent Mr. Lewis Bane, of York, to Sagadahock, with authority to make arrangements for negotiating a treaty. PROSCRIPTION OF NEGROES, SLAVES, AND INDIANS. The want of efficient civil authority within the territory naturally enticed and introduced from other States scallawags, vagabonds, lewd and disorderly persons, and fugitives from justice. Ud Ancient City of Gorgeaud, Colored people increasing in numbers all over the State, in York they had become exceedingly obnoxious and despicable. A duty of four pounds (!$20), therefore, was exacted and required to be paid for every negro imp.rted ; and so dopraved, ignorant, and shif ibss were the slaves, that not one of them, even in this age of freedom and equality, might be manumitted, unless secu- rity was first given for his maintenance. All negroes and mulattoes were expressly ex- cluded frjm watches and military duty, as well in war as in peace ; and whoever pre- sumed to join one of them in marriage with a white person incurred a heavy penalty. Equally great was the general antipathy against Indians. They were cruel, degraded heathens, ignorant, lazy, lousy, and revenge- ful ; the authors of accumulated evils to all places cursed with their presence. By law, it was strictly forbidden to bring into the Province any of these races, either as slaves Modern Town of Yorlc. 15o or servants. Yet the town was completely overrun with I hem. For security. j)artics of niL'n constantly S(:ourc:l the woods in quest of the enemy, bi with no great success. In common with the rest of New Englan 1, ths settlements in Maine were filled with alarm ; even business Avas at a stand ; the people, deserting their own habitations, collected themselves to- gether in the larger houses, which they forti- fied as Avell as they could. They scarcely dared go into the fields, nor ever stepped out of doors but at the peril of life. -The French, by bidding a price for every scalp, continually excited the savage to the work of blood and ruin. They taught him to regard thorn as the only genuine friends of Christianity ; the English as heretics, and trespassers on their soil, whom to kill was not only lawf il, but meritorious. A curious specimen of the kind of Christianity they imparted to the Indians, and the fruits it 154 Ancient City of Gorgeana, yielded, is exemplified in the following inci- dent. " The noted Thevouet, or Kevoiiet, an Indian Sachem, died at Montreal. The French gave him burial in a pompous man- ner ; the Catholic priest who attended him at his death having declared that he died a true Christian ; ' For,' said lie, ' while 1 exj^lained to him the passion of our Saviour, whom the Jews -'* crucified,, he cried out : 0, had I been there ^ I would have avenged his death, and brought away tlieir scalps f " The inordinate thirst of Indians for ardent spirits has been attributed " to their per- petual traverse of the woods, and their con- stant use of fresh water f and unsalted meat. * This is an error, but lias been handed down to us for ages, and incorporated into our education as such, ever since the event occurred. Crucifix- Ibn was practised by the Konians, and not by the iFe^'s, as It mode of punishment. fThis item is copied from Williamson's History of Maine. If it be true, the "foes of temperance Modern Town of Yoric, 155 They will drink strong liquor unmixed, until they can swallow no more. They are then to a frightful d gree violent and destructive. Their firearms and knives must then be taken fro.n ihem to prevent murder." THE MILITIA OF MAINE. In 1693 a statute was passed to revise and regulate the militia of Maine, which directed all th? male inhabitants between the ages of sixteen and sixty years, except those exempted, to be enrolled and to do military duty four days in a year ; and to be well armed and equipped with a firelock and its a])pend;iges, furnished at their own expense. The exempts were many, extending not only to all members of the Legislature, clergymen, deacons, and all judicial and execuiive offi- cers, but to masters of arts, herdsmen, and \\r\(\ its friends alike'' have recommended a wron^ eubstitute, unless this beverage acts b\ conirarics ! lo6 Ancient City of Gorgeana. sea-captains. These musters were to take place triennially. In the recollection of the writer, during the years 1829-33 a "Muster" for inspection and review of the district took place in his native town and lasted one day, in each year, and for confusion, revelry, and tumult, it compared favorably with the accounts for- merly published of fairs once held in Donny- brook in Ireland, or the din and clangor of half a dozen Fourth of July celebrations combined in one. An Old York Muster, as it was then termed, in times past, will never be forgotten by a beholder, much less by a participant. The military display on that occasion was of itself a curious spectable : — fantastic com- panies, in rag-tag-and-bob-tail uniforms (/), — no two alike, — with arquebuses, blun- derbusses, firelocks, guns, muskets, and queen's- arms of every conceivable shape and form, except the right one ; and n(»t one Id a 3To(l€m Toivn of YorJc, 157 hundred would be of the least practical use, except as bludgeons or shillalays in a single- combat or hand-to-hand fight. Bands with untuned and untunable instruments (of tor- ture, not music), emitted most diabolical sounds, reminding you of the unearthly cha- otic jargon of the condemned, emanating from the bottomless abyss — unless yon were an Universalist ! Leaving out debauches, gaming, riots, tumults, and the like, there were exhibitions of buffoonery, wax-work, Jim Crow dancing, destroying each other's booth, tent, or stock in t; ade (no police or keepers of the peace in vogue at that time'^, the sale of confec- tionery and molasses gingerbread, — which cheapens as the day wanes, for the reason that dealers in these commodities had rather sacrifice their wares, and depart empty- handed than otherwise. A not uncommon scene, toward night, would be beaux and belles, with soiled vesture, and a weary gait. 158 Ancient City of Gorgeana. suffering the fatigues from a full season of enjoyment, departing for their homes, laden with the spoils only vouchsafed them once a year, viz. : a dozen or two sheets of molasses gingerbread tied up in a red silk bandanna handkerchief. Among the numerous divertisements of the day we may make mention of a sham fight, then thought to be a necessary adjunct to the completion of a full performance on a training day. The battle was only to be feigned, yet preparations were made by the ambulance corps to take care of the killed and wounded. It was necessary in the first pi ice to select a number of men to play the parts of dying and dead; and, to prevent mistakes and confusion, each one was fur- nished with a ticket setting forth the nature and severity of his injuries. The two lines then approached each other, the mimic com- bat began, and soon the ground was thickly covered with the victims of war's fell rage, 3Iocl€rn Town of York, 15'j The ambulance men a(lvanc?(l, and began to pick up the sufferers. The wounds of each one, as indicated by the ticket attached to the body, were carefully examined^ and the proper remedies were promptly administered. One soldier, however, received instructions which justified him, as he thought, in giving up the ghost. Thoso who were taking care of the wounded were surprised at finding that he gave no sign of life, and immediately called an officer for consultation. The officer asked the man what ailed him, but received no reply. A physician was then called, under whose direction water Avas thrown in the wounded man's face, but without the desired result. Finally, the signal for the close of the exercises sounded, whereupon the dead man jumped up as well as ever. In reply to the questions which were put to him, he said that he had done nothing but what it seemed to him the severity of hia wounds required him to do. 160 Ancient City of Gorgeana. But such exhibitions and di^5play:3 are not now seen or heard of, and scarcely are they remembered except by a few of the present inliabitants of the town. In 1843 the State militia was abolished. EARLY SCHOOLS. The first recorded action taken in regard to schools was in 1761, when Nathaniel Freeman was employed by the selectmen for eight pounds per year, with three pence per week for teaching reading, and four pence per week for writing and ciphering! His year began May 5. The next year (1762) he was engaged for ten pounds, with the same price for other branches as he had the previous year. In the year 1709-10, the selectmen were instructed by vote of the town to hire a schoolmaster for seven years, to teach all in the town to read, write, and cipher. Tlie Modern Town of Vork. 161 next year (1711) Xathanicl Freeman was engaged for the term of seven years. He was to teach from eight o'clock to twelve in the forenoon, and from one o'clock to five in the afternoon, for thirty pounds per year, paid quarterly ; one-tliird in provisions, and the balance in money of New England. In addition, the town was to build him a house twenty-two by eighteen feet, with a hrick chimney ! The school was to be free to all from five years old and upwaids. In 1717 a vote was passed for the employ- in -^nt of a grand schoohnaster for one year, to instruct the children in the learned things, who was to be paid and maintained at the expense of the town. Kindred action was taken from time to time, showing the inhab- itants were not indifferent to the benefits of an education. At the present time the num- ber of school districts in York is fifteen. 162 Ancient City of Gorgeana, BOON ISLAND SHirWRECK. This is an island or ledge of rocks about Rcven miles distant south-cast from Cape Ncddick, which is the nearest land, and is one-fourth of a mile in lenrrth. About one o league distant, east from it, is Boon Island ledge, which is very dangerous. This island, on Avhich is the light-house, is so low and small that often in gales and storms the waters drive the residents from their dwell- ing to the second story of the light-house. On December 11, ITIO, the Xottingham Galley, a vessel of one hundred and twenty tons burden, with ten guns and fourteen men, under John Dean, mnster, bound to Boston from London, was driven by a tre- mendous gale, accompanied with hail, rain, and snow, upon Boon Island. It was in total darkness when their suiTLrings com- menced there, they being cold, fatigued, hungry, and wet, without food, light, or Modern Totvn of York. 163 Bhelter. In so dreadful a night some of them very soon died. The next day, they endeavored, but ineffectually, to make some signal to be noticed from the nearest shc^re ; and after a few days spent here, two of them attempted to get to York on a raft, but they were drowned. The only food these forlorn sufferers couM obtain were shreds of raw hide and a few muscles and rockwecd. In a few days they prayed to Heaven for succor and relief, and treated each other with kind- ness and condolence. But, through extreme famine and distress, they bethought them- selves of the duty of preserving their lives, if possible, by eating some of the flesh of one of their comrades who had perished from starvation, and whose body lay lifeless before them. At first they deliberated and sighed, but at last chose this as a less evil than death; yet having no fire, their only alterna- tive was to swallow it, loathsome as it was, raw. Their dispositions immediately seemed 164 Ancient City of Oorgeana. to undergo a total change ; quarrels and pro- fanity ensued; they condemned themselves together of their Maker, and prayed to him no more. In this unhappy plight were these wretched objects of desjiair, when they were discovered and taken oft\ January 3, 1711, after twenty-three days' sojourn, emaciated to mere skeletons, and unable to walk. Upon this island is a dwelling-house and a light-house. The latter was built of stone, by the United States government, in 1811, and cost two thousand "five hundred and ninety dollars, and the next )'ear the island was ceded to the government. The pay of the keeper, previous to 1832, was four hun- dred and fifty dollars per annum. He has a fine opportunity to obtain abundance of sea- fowl, which furnishes him with food and feathers. It has at present three keepers : the salary of the first is six hundred dollars a year ; the assistants, three hundred dollars each. Modern Town of York, 1G5 The Boon Island light was kept for many years previous to 1841 by Captain Eliphalet Grover, wlio occupied his time in making bass-viols, one of which he presented to the First Congregational Church in York, June 7, 1834. It \\as accepted, with a vote of thanks, and Captain John S. Thompson, — a, successor to Grover, as light-keeper, — who led the choir for many years, extracted its dulcet and harmonious strains for the benefit of that congregation. A child who was born at Boon Island, and had resided there till of suitable age to attend school, appeared very singularly when, for the first time, he visited the mainland. He had never seen cattle, children, houses, land, trees, or, in fact, anything except Boon Island and his parents, and his demeanor and manners were quite amusing till the ways of t< rra firma were learned. Captain Grover was one of York's ancient sea-captains ; and the list also embraced at 16G Ancient City of Gorgeana, that time Captains Josiah Bragdon, Thomas B. Clark, Luther and Timothy Grow, Joseph Kingsbury, Charles Moody, John Perkins, John and Solomon Varrell, and many others ; while in the coasting and fishing business were various Skippers, as the commanders of these minor craft were called, viz., Abra- ham Booker, Donnell, Benj. Fletcher, Leach, Varrell, Voudy, etc., who are, doubtless, remembered by many now living. YOBK COMMERCE WHARVES. In the days of York's commercial pros- perity, there were two wharves at or near the south end of Se wall's Bridge, at which ves- sels of considerable size used to lie, waiting to load or unload the various commodities of trade. Captain Nathaniel Sewall lived about two miles further, towards Kittery, a mile from the travelled road, and several gat:s had to be opened and passed to reach his Motlern Town of YorJx. 107 house, will h is now occupied by Theodore Parsons, Mstj., who married Captain Sewall's daughter. There are still living some who may remember the beautiful old ladies, the sisters, Misses Sally and Lydia Sewall, who vrere members of his family, and whose genial manners and sprightly conversation made them universally beloved. The next wharf below is that of George A. Marshall, originally built by Thomas Don- nell, afterwards owned by a Mr. Stone, then by Joseph Tucker, who was then collector of the customs, under Washington, from 1793, for a number of years, and died in 1804. He was a man of note. His daugh- ter married Hon. William Pitt Preble, who became Judge of the Supreme Court of Maine. His origin is unknown, as the name Tucker is not an early one, or much known in York. He is the only one bearing that name in the records. He naarried a daughter of Mr. Stone, and lived in the same 1(!8 Ancient City of Gorgeana, house with lier father ; was parish and town clerk, and served in several capacities of responsibility. The first mention of him on the parish records is March 17, 179."), \vhen he was placed on a committee to huild singing-seats in the front gallery of the meet- ing-house. In the records it was invariably " Jos. Tucker, Enqr.''' He lived nearly oppo- site the store of George A. Marshall. This house was built by Thomas Donnell, or John Stone. Becoming so dilapidated that it could not be repaired, Mr. Marshall sold it to Mr. Charles Goodwin, after which it was taken down and converted into a sum- mer resort, near the Short Sands Beach, and is well patronized. The wharf and property have passed through several hands ; it is now owned by jNIr. Marshall, and is the best one for business in the town. Preparations are being made to enlarge the wharf, and a new store is to be built on the site of the old house. 3Iod€rn Towti of York. 169 sewall's beidge. The first action ever taken in relation to this bridge was at a parish meetinci:, holden Jan. 20, 1742, where it was "Voted, that this parish is willing there should be a bridge built across York river, at or near where Capt. Samuel Sewall keeps a ferry, and that a Committee be chosen to take subscriptions for the building the same, and the said committee are directed to prepare materials for to build said bridge as soon as may be," " Capt. Nathaniel Donncll, Samuel Sewall, Joseph Holt, Samuel Bragdon, Jr., Samuel Milberry, and Thomas Donnell, were voted the committee to take subscriptions and pre- pare materials," etc. They were a long time in obtaining subscriptions, but suc- ceeded, and the bridge was built, in the inter- est of the old Faris/i, as many of the wor- shippers lived on the south side of the river, were desirous to have part of the tax raised for preaching expended in that locality, 170 Ancient City of Gorgenna, because of the trouble of ferrying to and from the other side. Captain Sewall, Mr. Holt, ind Samuel liragdon, three of the commit- tee, lived on this side of the river, and were very prominent men. Thomas Donnell, of this comm.ittee, lived in a house near where George A. ]\Iarshairs store now is. Xo record exists that this was ever a toll bridge, and the advantages derived are to be cred- ited principally to the old parish. This bridge was built in 17G1, and remained for thirty-three years, till 1794, when it was rebuilt or repaired by Mr. Sewall, and an appropriation of one thousand dollars was made by the Massachusetts Legislature for that purpose. This was said to have been th3 first j>/e/- bridge built in the United States, certainly in the New England States, and owes its con- struction to Major Samuel Sewall, a great architect in his time. At the fresent day each pile is driven singly. The method em- Modern Totvn of York, 171 ployed in constructing this bridge would be considered behind the age, and was as fol- lows : The piles or posts were of different lengths ; the length being determined by probing the bottom of the river or mud with a pointed iron affixed to a L^ng pole, and having ascertained the various depths of the mud in a section, a whole section, containing four piles or posts, was framed, well braced, and the cap sill fastened on, At still tide it was floated to its place, and, by dint of labor, set upright and guyed. Lu^rge and heavy oak logs, the tops or lighter ends of which were secured inland, were then made use of, and the butts raised by tacldes tj a proper hcij^ht ; and by the striking of detents or latches, th'j ropes were released, the logs fell with great force upon the caps, and by their im[^et';S this section was driven to the depth desired. A. diagram of the bed of the river, showing the depth of the water at different places, 172 Ancient City of Gorgeana. drawn and colored by Major Scwall, is in the possession of Captain Joseph Sewall, grand- son of a brother of the original constructor, — who now occupies the homestead of his ancestors on the hill, — and is by no means an inferior production. He has also the original augers, chisels, latches, probes, asid some other implements, used in constructing the first bridge. The building of this bridg3 caused quite a sensation in the architectural world at the time, and Major Sewall was engaged soon after to bijiild a similar one between Boston and Charlestown. From this first bridge the idea of building pier or pile bridges, now practised, came in vogue. This bridge has been repaired from time to time. About the yer:r 1849 it was almost wholly rebuilt. Nearly all the original piles were cut off near low-water mark, and their tops can be seen at low- tide. In 1873, the whole s:rface hbove the piles was rebuilt, and, in order to increase the 3f:>flern Town of York. 173 width of the draw, several of the orijt hou-e, then occu- pied by Mrs. Abigail Emer.son, cried out for help. A boy, who knew " some jutnijiliriHS' threw a stone at and destroyed the fiery demon, much to Uncle l]art"s relief, who went on his way singing, ''• When I can read my title clear,"' vS:c. A youth, a new-comer in t )\vn, wlio loved appL's, — and what boy does not? — once called at his house, hoping to fare as well as others had fared before him. lie imagined, if it was right to say " Unkle Bart," it was equally correct to call his wife "" Aunt Bart." So, when the good old lady came to the door, he began: *' Aunt Bar — '■"' "Go away, you dog, you ! "" said she, '" or 1 '11 ^liart' you !"' and he went away quicker than he came. This was excusable ignorance in the boy ; but when a young lady who was born here, and had always resided in the town, had occasion to introduce to her a newly-arrived clergyman's wife, on their rounds among the 184 Ancient City of Gorffcana, church sisters, and called her " Mrs. Bart," she failed to resent it, and the mistake was not discovered till some time afterwards. The family of Mr. Witham consisted of himself, his wife Betsy, and his sister Ruth. A little sign over the door informed the passer by that CAKES a^ CINDER I could be procured within ; and the scrupu- lous neatness and order of the interior added a zest and relish to the only two articles there . dispensed ; and which, with spinning and knitting, served by the sale of their products to satisfy their moderate wants. Bart also drew a pension for service in the Revolutionary war. Aunt Betty and Ruth were very pious, and always Baptists ; but when the Methodists settled in York, the place of worship of the latter being a little nearer their domicile than their own, they compromised the matter be- tween their duty to walk so far and their Modern Town of York. 185 belief, and chose th's as an alternative in preference to the Congregational — the latter being in its external form many more removes from their faith than the Methodist. Miss Ruth invariably wore a white band- age over the lower part of her face, and a sort of draped curtain depending from the chin, which was a source of great wonder- ment to the children, who would often whis- per to each other : " I spy a great peard under her muffler I " The real reason why Miss Ruth wore this bandage around her face was, that she was fully bearded like a man, and she wore this to conceal the hair. She also had whiskers like a man. The bandage went over the top of her head, came down the sides of her face, and undr her chin, and covered her chin nearly up to her mouth. The hair on tlic upper lip she cut off with the scissors. On the south side of this road, going from the vdlage near the hill, once lived Benjamin McLucas, whose occupation was the making 18G Ancietit Ciftj of Gorgeana. and repairing of cliair-bottoais with twisted flags : a profession which, as Ik' then con- ducted it, now ranks among the lost arta ! The present house, next west of Wilson M. Walker's store, now th'j propert}' of Cap- tain Frank Emerson (son of Charles ().), is the old Sargent house remodelled. It was owned and occupied in the last generation by Mr. Andrew Sargent, who, wi'Ji his wife and daughter Polly (subsequently married to Moses Lyman;, constituted the family. jNIr. Sargent was for many years p;)st-master, and the post-ofhce was in the rear of the house, the entrance being on the north side, and through a long, glo')my passage way, in close proxi'.nity to the stairs leading t) the room in which the '' ghost wjis said to be laid,'' or had r^ sided. Notwithstanding the large number of trees in this town. Mr. Sargent is said to have owned almost the only apple- orchard which bore summer apples. It was in the rear of Mr. Vv'alker's store. 3Iodevn Town of York, 187 DARK DAYS. One of the most memorable dark days of the last century took place May 19, 1780. In this town it commenced to darken at about nine o'clock in the morning, and was past twilight before half past ten o'clock. Throughout the New England States and some adjacent tracts of New York and Canada, such was the obscuration that in many places people could not see to read a line at mid-day without artificial light. For hours it continued to impart to surrounding objects a tinge of yellow, and awakened in many a breast apprehensions of some im- pending calamity. All was wrapped in gloom ; the birds became silent, domestic fowls retired to their perches, and cocks crowed as at break of day. The darkness of the following night w.ts so intense that many who were benighted and but a little way from home, on well-known roads, c )uld 188 Ancient City of Gorgeana, not, without extreme difficulty, retrace their way to their own dwellings. The author, in his boyhood, has often conversed with many of the oldest inhabitants, — among them were Messrs. John Carlisle, William Stacey, Wil- liam Tetherly, — all of whom were Kevolu- tionary pensioners, and they well remem- bered the occurrence, and exemplified the dense blackn'^ss of that night by saying " that an object held up near the fdce could no more be seen tlian a piece ( f the blackest velvet put in close conta t wiih the eyes." No astronomical or meteorological cause has ever been assig-;ed for this singular phe- nomenon. ' Another dark day occurred May lo, 1830, but this was caused by an ecliiise of the f^un, at mid-day. M'Kh^PH Torn of Yovh, 189 Di:y:Ki?Tr;)N of york productioxs. A travcll?r th-.ouo^li the State of Maine, \\\ 1781, after returning to London, published the following sketch of what he learned and saw while in York, and as some of the information contained in it is new. to those now living here, it is highly probable that his ideas extended beyond the limits of the town, or even the State. " The various fruits are in greater perfec- tion than in England. The apple, peach, and pear are more beautiful, large, and lus- cious : one thousand peaches are often pro- duced from one tree, five or six barrels of cidcft- from the fruit of one apple-tree, and two or three barrels of perry from that of a pear-tree. Cider is the common drink at table. The inhabitants have a method of purifying cider by froist, and separating the watery part from the spirit, which, being secured in proper vessels, and colored by 190 Ancient City of Gorgeana, Indian corn, becomes in three months so much like Madeira wine, that Europeans drink it without perceiving the difference. [This was undoubtedly champagne, in its infancy.] ** They also make peachy and perry ; grapi}, cherry, currant, and many other wines, and good beer of bran of wheat, molas- ses, pumpkins, spruce, and malt. The spruce is the leaves and limbs of the fir-tree ; * their malt is made of chets, barley, maize, oats, rye, and wheat. " The pumpkin, or pompion, is one of the greatest blessings, and held very sacred. It is a native of America. From one seed often grow forty pumpkins, each weighing from forty to sixty pounds, and when ripe of the color of a marigold. Each pumpkin con- tains five hundred seeds, which, being boiled to a jelly, is the Indian infallible cure for the * The fir and spruce are here confounded : the first is a genus, the other a species. Mo:h'rit To:rn of York, 101 Btr;u!i:^ury. Cf its meat nre made custards, beer, broad, molas cs, sauc?, vinegar, and on Thanksgiviiii^ d .ys jjies, as a substilute for what the Blue-laws in Conneciicut would brand unchrisuiin, or minced pies. Its shell or skin serves to cut the hair of the head by, which established the term and style called pumphin-sJiell fashion ! and very useful lanterns. " There are no fruits, grains, or trees growing in England but are growing in New England. The English oak has been thought superior to the American, but such is not the case, at least in regard to our white oak, which is close, elastic, tough, and hard as the whalebone dried. The chestnut, and black and red oak, are, indeed, much inferior to the white oak. 'Jhe ash, beech, butternut, chestnut, elm, liazel, maple, sassa- fras, sumach, walnut, ••' are the chief timber * In enumeratiny the trees of Maine, no men- tion is here made of the pine, which always flour- 102 xineient City of Gorgeana, trees, and grow to an amazing bulk. The butternut cU-rives its name from a nut it pro- duces, of the shape and size of a puHet's e^g, and contains a meat much larger than an English walnut, and tastes like fresh butter. It also makes an excellent pickle. The wood of this tree produces fine but tender boards ; its bark is use:l for dyeing black, and curing cutaneous disorders. In February this tree yields a sap, of which molasses, sugar, vine- gar, etc., are made.'" The upland maple ti'ee also affords a sap equally good, and both saps make a pleasant beverage without boil- ing, and the best punch ever drank in the State of Maine. ished to such an extent, tliat the appellation of Pine Tree State has always been appropriate. * Tills traveller and writer was not a very acute observer; else the trees differed in their nature from those of the present day. Ko grapes have ever been gathered from thorns, or figs from tJijstles, Modern Town of York, 193 ** Here are plenty of sheep ; their wool is as fine \\\v\ jL;ood as the English. A common sheep weighs sixty pourids, and sells for a dollar, or four and six pence. The horned cattle are not so large as the English, yet some have been known to weigh, at six years old, one thousand nine linndred pounds each, and fat hogs five or six hundred pounds. " The whapperknocker is somewhat larger than a weazel, and of a beautiful brown red color. He lies in the woods, and subsists on birds and worms ; is so wild that no man can tame him, and as he never leaves his home in the day-time, is only to be taken in traps in the night. The skins of these ani- mals, being very fine, are much sought after for making muffs, which are worth from thirty to forty guineas apiece ; and ladies are very vain in the possession of tin? small ap- purtenance of female habikraent.' 104 Ancient City of Gorgeana, THE SI EVENS CHILD MUKDER. Some time in (lie year 1824, Charles Ste- vens was tiieJ, in this town, for the murder of his son. ^^lurJers in those clays were more lare tlian at the present time. Such an ass.mbl.ipje in York as was present at this trial has scarcely been equalled since, s ) great was the interest felt in this crime of child-murder. The court-house not being sp;icious enough, the trial took ])lace in the Congregational church. So large was the at;endance, it was necessary to shore up the galleries with upright jjists to prevent their brealan J." down ; and the building was filled to sufF c ti n day after day, through- out the trial. The body of the boy was found floating t ither at sea or in Portsmouth harbor, nailed up in a box cpiitc loo small to coniain it: but wa ; forced in by doubling up the le_'s, and tying them witli a cord round Modern Town of York, 195 the neck. It was said the death-blow was struck with a pair of kitchen tongs. After a protracted trial, the evidence was considered insufficient to convict Stevens. After his release he left York for Kittery, and went south, and committed some crime, for which he was sentenced to a States- prison, in which he died before the expira- tion of that period. MURPHY, THE WIFE MUEDEHER. The next murder following that of Stevens, in this neighborhood, did not occur in York, but created quite as much sensation in the town as though it had happened there. It was of a man named Murphy, living at Kennebunkport, who killed his w"fe in a drunken fit, she being beastly drunk at the time, and afterwards burned lier to death on the hearth of his house. (Stoves were hardly in vogue at that time.) He was lOfi Ancient City of Gorgeana, tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hanged on a given day. Before the time had arrived foi- liis execution the then Governor of the State died, and there being no one authorized to sign the deat'.i-warrant, he lay in jail a long time, was finally reprieved, and his sen- tence was commuted to imprisonment for life in the State-prison. But subsequently he fell and broke his neck, which should have been done for him by the hangman. BLACK DINAH PRINCE. On the surface of a rock on the hill over- looking the mill-dam, and at the intersection of three roads, formerly lived an old negress called Uinah, in a one-story hut, who was thought by some, at that time, — as negroes were not so plenty as they now are, — to be a very mysterious personage, although noth- ing ever occurred during her lifetime, either to herself or anybody else, to warrant thia Modern Town of York, 107 belief. Many rumors of mysterious occur- rences were circulated about her, but nothing had happened, to the knowledge of either the oldest or youngest inhabitant, except that, soon after she was first known in York, a young child, supposed to be hers, died, and that she buried it in two bread-trays, in her garden. By some she was held in supersti- tious dread, an.l was called a witch and sor- cerer, who could foretell events. It was said she was in possession of a v: athcr-pan, which, on being hung over her tire, brought frightful hurricanes, storms, tempests, whirl- winds, and sometimes carth(|uakes. In regard to this, we may well say, ''What the mind imagines has often more reality for it than what it believes." She never wished to be introduced to or become acquainted with strangers. Chil- dren, unaccustomed to black people, being scared on seeing her, she would fly into a violent passion ; and although very sensitive in 198 Ancient City of Gorgeana. regard to being called or thought black, she often uttered the expression : " I 'se so brack I shame' go nowhere." Whether from bash- fulness or fear, her custom was to close the door, and peep through the cracks and crevices — and these were not few — in the door and walls, on the approach of passers- by, as though fearing they were coming to see her, instead of looking out of the window — the architect had vouchsafed her two — or the open door. Her hut or shanty consisted merely of a structure composed of boards, black as Time could paint them ; entirely devoid of clap- boards without, or a particle of lath or plas- tering within. This not being at all tenant- able in r.any \veather, her time was then spent in visiting white acquaintances whom she took a fancy to. During the winter months she resided on the south side of [he river, with the family of Mr. Nathaniel Kaynes. It is not known whether Dinah \^as a rela- Modern Town of York. 109 tive of black Phillis, who also lived with a family named Pvaynes. Being of a morose and sullen disposition, easily vexed, very sensitive, and suspicious of strangers, her circle of acquaintances was rather circumscribed. Young people, and particularly children not afraid of her, she Mould entertain and amuse in a pleasing manner. In common with most colored people, she liad the gift of song, which she frequently exercised with great fervor. One of her songs, chanted with especial unction, was — mm^t^^^t^^fMi Tobacco is an Indian weed, grow up at :norn, cut di>wn at fbc. But an elder brother, kuow'ngs'ie adapted the words to suit herself, told her she didn't sing it right; for "tobacco grew, and negroes chewed it, in Guinea but they didn't like to be told of it; for negroes also came from that 200 Ancient City of Ooryeana, place, and were the first to bring it here." He told her the right way to sing it was " Tobacco is a Guinea weed; It was the Devil that sowed the seed." And the reason they were saved the trouble of planting it themselves was, tliat the negroes — whether in Guinea or America — were too lazy to do it for themselves, and his Satanic majesty performed the task for them, thereby saving them both toil and trouble. Dinah's abhorrence of a toad or frog was well known, and amounted almost to a frenzy. When absent from home, school- boys, knowing her weakness in that respect, would contrive in some way to squeeze them, without killing, under her door or through crevices and knot-holes — and these were abundant — into her abode, and on returning her fears knew no bounds. Whib Dinah, in the waning of her days, lived with the Misses Haynes, she seldom Modern Town of YovJc. 201 went abroad, and v,as so rarely seen or heard of by those among whom she used to live in the town, that it was thought she had gone to her 1 )ng home, iVom which no trav- eller ever returns ; but the knowledge that she had not departed this life was ascer- tained by a tax-c. Hector, Avhile performing the fanclions o'( his office, some time between the years 18'3G and 1838. He says, "I called on the blisses Raynes, for their taxes, and ^\■as ushjred into a dark, large, and low kitchen, an I while awaiting their return a long lime from another room, where they had gone to get the money, 1 spoke aloud, that ' 1 wished they would hurry up,' as the ' shades of night Mere falling f . supposing, that the more noise the greater the danger. The pomp, pride, and ceremony of this, military display, and the noise produced on\ that day, affected the nerves of Dinah for at least a month afterwards. According to her expression : " Couldn't sleep in her bed ; Buzzy, buzzy, in her head ! *' At one time she received a pension from the United States government ; but subse- quently had taken refuge in the York alms- house, and died there about the year 1840,. at a very advanced age. Many events that occurred during the Revolution she well • remembered, as if of recent occurrence. BETTY POTTEK ESTHER BOOKER. On the dividing line between York and Kittery, this being marked by ft stone wall £xtendin^ .ooj.t.h-w'e.st and 8Q\4th-eagt, far 206 Ancient City of Govgeana, from any highway, and near a dense forest, lived, prior to the year 1832, two women, one of whom bore a striking resemblance to the description in the Bible of Liicinda, the witch of En-dor, who, at Saul's bidding, raised up Sumuel from liis gl-ave. These old Avomcn, who were called Betty Potter and Easter Booker, inhabited a house of which the air-line dividing these two towns passed directly lengthwise through the centre, con- sequently, when lying in bed their heads were in York and their feet in Kittery. Taxes are reckoned per capita^ and by that rule they were citizens of York ; but as neither one possessed goods or chattels, and their dwelling, too, was scarce worth even a name, they were exempt from excises. They gained a precarious livelihood by cultivating a small patch of land, on which they raised a few vegetables, and the pick- ing and sale of berries, and raising hens. A par/.y of boys once rambling in the Modern Town of York. 207 woods, being overtaken by a shower, sought shelter in this domicile, and, on observing a large hole in the roof, where the rain was pouring in, and the inmates busily engaged in boring auger-holes through the floor, for the purpose of letting the water run into the cellar as fast as it came in through the opening in the roof, the following colloquy ensued : Writer. — Why don't you repair that hole in your roof. Miss Potter ? Mi^s Potter. — Can't do it ; it rains so. W. — Why don't you do it when it don't rain ? Miss P. — There is no need of it then. We thought this the quintessence of indo- lence tinctured with laziness ! During the administration of President Andrew Jackson the " surplus revenue" was divided among the inhabitants of the United States, but Betty and Esther, residing on the dividing line bpt:>yecn Kittery .ani] York, and 208 Ancient City of Gorgeana, not in cither place, and, neither town owning tiiem, they failed to receive their respective shares. Without doubt these two individ- uals were the only exceptions in all Uncle Sam's dominions who were without this lar- gess. Betty died in 1840, at the house of a near neighbor in Kittery, named Thomas Grant, having the reputation of " dealings with familiar spirits," and Mr. Grant, enter- taining a superstitious fear of her even after she was dead, she was buried in a grave ten feet deep. Soon after her companion left her home to live with Mr. Grant, Esther, being tired of living alone, disappeared, and no one living ever knew what became of her ; but ere this she has doubtless joined her once earthly associate "In the realms beyond the stars, Past the gate wliicli Death unbars." Another brace of worthies were ]Molly and Patty ppoliej-j two sisters, who lived not far Modern Town of TorJc, 200 from what is now known as Godfrey's Cove, which is on the Atlantic coast, between York and Kittery. Their habitation was j)artly underground, which they fitted up and made habitable by lining the inside with newspa- pers. Molly was stately and dignified in her manners, and on the occasion of her periodi- cal calls on Madam Judge Sewall, wore her well-preserved satin or silk dress, and a high black-silk bonnet, adorned with all the lace and ribbon she was able to muster. On the entrance of Madam Sewall into the room where Molly was awaiting, she always arose, and with a dignified and graceful curtsy said, " How is his Honor, and how is your Lady- ship, madam?" after which, her request for aid was presented, and, there is reason to believe, never in vain. Aside from such occasional help, it is difiicult to imagine how these sisters sustained themselves. Both of them have long since passed away. [Molly was quite a reader, and conversed intelli- gently and correctly. 210 Ancient City of Gorgeana, SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTEKS. The school-house in which the writer grad- uated stood on the same spot now occupied by one of more modern architecture, situated just behind the Congregational church and Town-house. It was a small, one-storied, wooden structure, without cellar, with little underpinning, and rather old, the chimney in one end nearly overtopping the door. A roaring fire in an immense fireplace, wherein was burned whole cord-wood, was then em- ployed in lieu of stoves or other calorific appliances, which would almost literally roast the smaller children who occupied the front seats, while those in the rear would be freez- ing. What this fireplace lacked in grace of finish was made up in size, it being five or six feet wide, and proportionally deep, while the chimney-flue was so perpendicular and ample that the rain and snow fell down to the bottom without the risk of striking the sides. Two tiers of long benches, and desks 3Iod em Town of York* 211 to match, with side and middle aisles, filled up all the space, except what was occupied by the teacher and his desk, and a strip across the room for classes to recite in. In summer the school was taught by a woman, who was paid by the town two dol- lars a week, boarding herself; in winter it was kept by a man, who was paid six dollars a month and found. Here about sixty pupils, of all sizes, from adults to infants of three or four years of age, were assembled during the latter portion of the year ; the place and manner of treatment being arranged as much as possible on the principle that a school- house is a literary penitentiary, where the more suffering there is, the more improve- ment. In the iron book of life we had read of despots and have seen prisons ; but there ■were few tyrants more inhuman than the birch-and- ferule despot of former years, or prisons more gloomy than the old-fashioned school-house under the tyrant to which it was usually intrusted. "212 An&lmi City Of Giyrgeana. A few particulaf^ may not be unint^est-' ing: The fiid fdr the school consisted of wood, and ^vas brought in winter, load by ilo:id, as it was wanted, and thrown in a heap :near the foot of a big elm ; though it occa- rsionally liappened that we got entirely out, :and the school -was kept without fire, if the :master could endure the cold, or dismissed if tthe weather chanced to be too severe to be ^rnc. The wood was green pine, hickory, 3n*ple, or oak, and Avhen the fire could be iinduced to blaze between the sticks, then •"ensued a most audible frying and hissing, and a plentiful aiaidation of sap at each end. ^Sometimes the AA'hole tiimks of trees were 'Ml at the door, and these must be cut with an axe ^^saws for that purpose were then unknown.) in suitable lengths to accommo- date themselves to the fireplace. This task was performed by the largest boys, each taking his turn at it, and at making the fire, every morning. This latter was a task that called forth patience and endurance — Modern Town of York. 213 causing one to learn the first quality if he had none, and lose it if he had. The modus operandi was in this wise : First, there must be a back-log, four or five feet in length, and at least a foot in diameter ; then a top-stick, about two-thirds as big ; and a fore-stick, of similar dimensions, on the andirons. It re- quired some physique to remove these logs to their depository ; and after the frame of the work was executed, the gathering of chips and the blowing with the mouth, the coaxing and the wooing, that were necessary to make the f.ame catch hold of the wet fuel, de- manded a degree of exertion and forbear- ance well calculated to inure and ripen youth for the stern endurances of manhood. The school commenced at nine o'clock in the morning. It was rare that the effects of the fire were felt as early as this ; nor could it have been of much avail had it done so, for the school-room was almost as open as a sieve, letting in the bitter blast, often accompanied by rain and snow, at every 214 Ancient City of Gorgeana. window and door, and through an almost fabulous number of cracks and crevices in the thin phistering of the walls. Never were seen such a miserable set of blue-nosed, chattering, suffering creatures as were the scholars for the first hour after the opening of school on a cold winter morning. Under these circumstances, what could they do ? Nothing ! and they were expected to do nothing, and accomplished it ! In conse- quence of the unfitness of this school-house for use, the upper hall of the Court-house was occupied for a season. Pending this, a vote of the town or school committee was passed, that a new school-house be built, adding these jirudential provhon : that the new house occupy the site of the old one ; that we still occupy the old one while the new one is being built ; that the materials comprised in the old be used in the con- struction of the new. Consequently, when the new one was completed, it consisted of naught else but the old one bunglingly Modern Town of York, 215 patched up and iiuskilfully repaired. After being repeatedly repaired, it was burned, in the winter of 18.38, and the following year the present one was built on the same spot, and on abont the samep^rme of architecture. The books then in use are now scarcely known. The principal horn-book consisted of " Webster's Primary Spelling-book," the reading matter being ^-Esop's Fables, with illustrations. In Arithmetic, " Colburn's In- teUectual," for the younger, and "Walsh's" for the older scholars. The reading-books were the " Art of Reading,*' and " American Preceptor," which were foUowx^d by " Mur- ray's Reader," and '• Putnam's Analytical Reader." For Grammars : '• The Young Lady's Accidence," soon after succeeded by " Murray's Grammar." METHODIST CHURCH. Previous to 1828, Methodist preachers had filled appointments in York. The celebrated Rev. John Xewland Matlitt was instrumental 216 Ancient City of Gorgeana* in efforts to found a church in this town. In January, 1829, a class was formed, con- sisting of seventy-three members, by the preachers on the circuit. Eevs. J. Spalding, Gcrshom F. Cox, Binnister, Adkins, Fcnno, and Hills, were among the first preachers. Meetings were held sometimes at school- houses, and at others at dwelling-houses in the neighborhood. February 28, 1831, the people were incorporated into a legal society. As they grew in strength, efforts were made towards building a church. A proposition to lease a piece of ground of the Congrega- tional, or First Parish, was made to that f.ociety, but was rejected. The Judicial Court was removed from York in ISoo,--' and the nse of the Court-house reverted to the First Parish. * York was made a shire town in 171(', ahlioiiyh Maine did not become a State till 1S20, but all the County courts, since 1833, have been held in Alfred. Modern Town of TorJc, 217 I _ At a parish meeting, in 1833, the use of the Court-house was gi-anted to the Metho- dists on the Sabbath for four months, pro- vided "• they do not disturb the peace or interrupt any other religious meetings;" the ' temperance society having the privilege of holding meetings there Sabbath evenings whenever they may order or direct. A piece of land was finally purchased, and the church building raised August 30-31, 1833. Octo- ber 15, 1834, it was dedicated by Rev. Ger- shom F. Cox. He preached from the text, Daniel ii. 44 : ^'And in the days of these Icings shall the God of heaven set up a king- dom^ ichich shall never he destroyed ; and the lingdoni shall not he left to other people^ hut it shall hveah in pieces and consume all thr'se h'nigdoms^ and it shall stand forever."' From that time to the preseiit Methodist services have been sustained licre. Rev. Reuel Kimball is the pastor at the present time (1873). They have a neat church 21R Ancient City of Gorgeana. building and a comfortable parsonage. The estimated value of both is four thousand nine hundred dollars. A McthoiUst society was formed at Cape Neddock school-house, May 18, 1822, con- sisting of ]Moscs Brewster, Hannah Clark, George Norton, John Norton, Oliver Preble, George Phillips, Timothy R»msdell, Obadiah Stone, Henry Talpey, Jonathan Talpey, Ivich- ard Talpey, and Samuel Weldi, and a cer- tificate served on the clerk of the First Parish of the above-named fact, in order to exempt from payment of ministerial tax to said par- ish ; but there is no recjrd that this society were ever embodied in a church, or had any existence as a distinct society any great length of time. The-y united with the Bap- tists in building their church in 1823, and in the differences that arose as to the control of it, thej probably went to pieces, and some of their members united with the Baptists. The Methodist Society at Scotland was 3fod€rn Town of York. 219 gathered about the year 1830. In this year the Conferei.ce sent Rev. George Webber to preach there, and meetings were held in the school-house, and some religious interest was aroused. Their meeting-house was built in 1833. Owing to the weakness of the society, preaching has not been continuously sus- tained. Their last minister was Rev. B. F. Pease. During 1872 they were without preaching: present membership, about thirty. A comfortable parsonage belongs to the society. BAPTIST CHURCHES. There is a Calvinist Baptist society at Cape Xbddock. There is also a Freewill Baptist church and society on the rod'd to Scotland, about a mile from the post-office. Not long since its name was changed, and it i§ now called a " Christian Societr." It is an offshoot, 220 Ancient City of Gorgeana, or infringement, or improvement on the old-fashioned Freewill Baptist form of wor- ship. Elders Peter Young and Mark Fer- nald formerly preached here, though they were always identified with the Freewill Baptists. The present pastor is Rev. Charles Goodwin. The original building, which was built sixty or seventy years ago, is still in good order, and the society is well sustained. Elder George Moore Payne and Dr. Benja- min Colby were both connected with the Freew'ill Baptist and Christian Churches. OTHER SECTS AND RELIGIONS. In contradistinction from the principal denominations were a few others ; and some of the names associated with them are still remembered by their survivors. Capt. David Wilcox, who kept the only public house in York village, for many years, opposite the Court-house, Avas a Unitarian in belief; Capt. MofJevn Toirn of York. 221 Thomas Savage and Squire Alexander M'ln- tire, Universalists. Solomon Brooks, Ksq., and other prominent men of the time, also figured conspicuously in lliese movements. The sect called C'ocln*anites, were the fol- lowers of one John Cochran, a crack-brained fellow, of low degree, who taught that mira- cles could be wrought, devils cast out, the sick healed 'by the laying on of hands, the lame caused to walk, tlie blind to see, the deaf to hear, etc. ; and who, after practising all kinds of vicious conduct, was indicted and tried for his crimes, among a portion of his admirers. In York a few meetings were held w ith a view to found a sect, but failed for want of support, as the novelty of the scheme soon ceased to be considered any thing but presumption. The town has gen- erally been quite conservative on religious topics, the " new lights ' in belief having failed to penetrate to any considerable extent into this region. 222 Ancient City of Gorgeana, FIRST IRISH IN YORK. The first time the writer ever saw Irish people was in the summer of 1830. The party consisted of about twenty individuals of both sexes, who came here in a vessel, and one of their number, a man, was sick, and died a few days after they landed. They established their household in an old boat or sail house, which was hastily fitted up for their occupancy, and was situated then close to the south-westerly end of Sewall's bridge, and on the opposite side of the road where David Sewall's sash and blind factory now is. Our people were amazed at their singular appearance, and their costume and language excited great laughter among crowds of men and boys who were continually at their heels, for they invariably sallied forth in squads and parties. They landed at Emerson's v ha:f, and, after moving their luggage away and estab- 3Ioderti Totni of York. iii.'3 lishing quarters for their sick c(5mpanion and themselves, they came back to the wharf — it being hijh tide — and commenced fishing in a very novel manner, without the aid of either bait or hooks. Their method was in this wise : — a common two or three ounce phial, tied to the end of a string, was lowered into and dangled and jerked through the water, to a greater or less depth, and if any one was so lucky as to inveigle or cap- ture a one or two inch minnow into this receptacle and land it on the wharf, the whole party would set up a shout, intermin- gled with their inexplicably confused jargon, that- out-Babcled Babylon. This result, to them, seemed as astonishing and extraordi- nary as though it had been a ten thousand pound whale. Another act of theirs completely amazed those of our Protestant towns-people who witnessed it. The sick man died, and, to carry out the fashion of tlieii' creed, t'ae corpse 224 Ancient Clftj of Oorgenna. • lay in state nearly one whole day and night. In the centre of the room in which he died a catafalque or throne was improvised of old barrels and boxes, with M'hich the apartment abounded, and after being covered with the remnants of sails, upon this the deceased w^as placed, with face and ffeet exposed to the gaze of all who could see him, by the light that entered the open door, as all the win- dows, if there were any, had been darkened, to give full effect to the lighted candles that w^ere burning at the head and feet of the corpse. Clay pipes, pieces of tobacco, and open papers of snuff, were lying on both sides of the body. No drinking, waking, or carousing tock place, nor extreme paroxysms of grief were manifested, as in later years is indulged in on similar occasions by the same class of people. This exhibition continued a nine days' wonder, no one living here ever having before witnessed the like. I '^ Modem Toivn of Yorh, 225 AXCIEXT AND MODERN SCALAWAGS. Isaac Davis, better known as Black Isaac, the fiddLr, was once a slave in Virginia, according to his own account of himself, and escaped from liis master. He came from a place called Eaton"s Xock, on Long Island, New York, and wan lered into Maine, and then b came acquainted with his lovely spouse, Cliloe Ward, and married her. They had fourteen ebony piccaninnies. Isaac and Chloe are both dead, and the fourteen cheru- bim have left this world and become as n\any cherubs in another sphere, or, in other words, are dead also, and the family name and every thing connected with it have become extinct. Ho invariably attended York mili- tary trainings with his fiddle, and although his skill in music was limited to a few tunes, he was in demand all day, at three cents a dance. His favorite theme, which he both sang and played with great vehemence, was, 22G Ancient City of Gorgeana* '•When I a:n dead and gone to roost. '^ lie lived and died in a small house about half a mile west of Cape Neddock village. A mvdatto, named Tamar Ward, and her sister, Chloc Ward, Avere daughters of Caesar ^Vard, who was once a slave, and known as Cix'sar Talpey, he once belonging to a Mr. Talpey. The mother of both Chloe and Tamar was also a slave, and owned by a Wearc family at Cape Xeddock, Tamar, though never married, had a daughter who was called Rosanna Frances Basset Ward. Tamar took great pride in adorning the person of her daughter in habiliments of white, with a gi*eat array of variegated rib- bons, and when she appeared abroad her whole contour bespoke her the observed of all observers. Both Tamar and Chloe died, not long sinc'j, in the York alms-house. Two giim-visaged and dark-complexioned individuals," as dusky-faced as even Vulcan himself, and apparently as inseparable as the Modern Town of yoik. 2'll Siamese twins, but not so sallow and mum- mefied in their faces, were often seen to- gether, especially in summer, shuffling along through the streets of the village part of York, each be.iring a huge pack or bundle on her back, which at the present day might be mistaken for Grecian-bend. In a season of snow, they employed a small hand-sled, on which to transport their goods and lug- gage. Those two celebrities, Hephzibah Cane and Mary or Polly Austin, were said to be of the '^ feminine gender, or persuasion." Hephzibah was born in Kittery, Maine. Her sister Dorcas married a man named Austin, Avho lived in the ^voods near Scit- uate,'-' in Y«rk, and these were the parents of her companion Polly. Hephzibah, and, for aught all that is known, Polly also, were said to have deal- ings -with familiar spirits, and, consequently, ♦ This comprises Schoul District No. 12. 228 Ancient Citu of Gorgeanai were feared and shunned by those who knew no better than to think so ; at any rate, very few people desu-ed their company, whether this were true or otherwise. On this account, many a time the younger portion of the community were superstitiously alarmed on their appearance, although they never were known to molest any one. But no sooner M^ere they supposed to be out of hearing, than the shout went up, " There goes Hip. Cane and Poll Ostin!" Unluckily, once they M'ere within hearing distance of this announcement, and, seeing Hephzibah drop her bundle and run towards us, the children fled for refuge into the schoolhouse. She, to their horror, followed, came to the door, and inquired for the teacher, to whom she related her grievances and solicited re- dress, which she obtained by the teacher reprimanding them in her ]n-csence, after being ordered to their seats, although the limits of their meridian intermission had Modern Town of ^ovk, 229 not fully expired. This admonition they supposed was the finale or denouement of the whole afifair, but they were mistaken. Miss Cane planted her gambadoed and brogucd pedal extremities firmly on the threshold of the inner door, and facing us, both hands grasping the door-case, after asking the teacher if she could give her " a chaw of backey" (tobacco), uttered the fol- lowing : " Scribes, Pharisees, and Hypo- crites, I could keep a better school than this!" and immediately joined her compan- ion who was waiting for her at the door, and both went on their way. Her meaning was, undoubtedly, that she herself in keeping would maintain a better discipline, and dis- pense etiquette among scholars in order to teach them to practise civility even to scala- wags moving in her sphere. Hephzibah and her sister Dorcas always resid^^d together. The former has been dead a long time ; Polly, about six years. 230 Ancient City of Gorgeana, PfltMITIVE AND INFANT SCHOOLS. Somewhere about the years 1827-9, Miss- Mary Jacobs had a school at her house on the hill at the north-easterly end of Sewall's bridge. The school was kept in summer in the kitchen, where, while in the same room learning was being dispensed, her sister was performing the functions of laundress, or, as dinner-time approached, the culinary art was in full blast. In cold weather, her parlor was used, which contained the teacher's bed- ridden mother, who was awaiting the call to a quieter, if not a better place than where she breathed her last. Nothing of an ornamental nature was attempted, the branches were sim- ply arithmetic, reading, spelling, and writing. The tuition fee w'as, when paid in cash, six cents per week ; but coffee, sugar, tea, or any article of food or the necessaries of life, were taken in barter, and were just as accept- able as cash, and on as favorable terms* Mo:1ern Town of YorJz. 231 An Infant School \va^ instituted, as a sort of expcri!ncnt, under the auspices of S ilomon Erooks, Esq., and o'Jiers, previous to the year 1831. Miss Maria Cliampney, of New Ipswich, X. II., was the instructor; Miss E'izibeth C'iark, assistant; the writer was assi tant, and also chorister of the vocal dep;:rtmcnt, of which this was a very promi- nent portion of the school. This mode of instruction was similar to the Kindergarten method, but on a very limited scale, viz. : by the nse of object-teaching aids, with astronomical, arithmetical, gee graphical, geo- metrical, and other apparatus, which brought in use an abacus or numerical frame, a globe, hanging maps, and an orrery (of antique con- struction, hung up by a string), all of which weie new and novel, in this town, as was also the mode of teaching. The following are some of the instructors of the taught schools : Master Ilall taught as long ago as 1811-12; followed by Kufus MTntirc, Miss Lydia Main, a rigid Baptist ; 232 Ancient City of Gorgeana, Wm. Burleigh, of Berwick, Dr. J. S. Putnam, Wm. Harris, of Portsmouth, N. H. ; Mark Dennett, of Kittery ; George W. Came, kept several terms. SHOWER OF METEOES. Near the close of the year 1833, in No- vember, occurred a johenomenon never before witnessed in this quarter. Soon after mid- night on the morning of the thirteenth, the meteors, called falling stars, were observed to be unusually frequent, and after four o'clock the heavens presented one of the most sublime and extraordinary appearances that can be conceived. Imagination can hardly picture anything to exceed, or even equal it. Small bodies of surpassing bril- liancy, apparently as numberless as the stars in the firmament, were seen fiying in all directions through a clear, unclouded sky, leaving long, luminous trains behind. Often, one larger and more brilliant than the rest would sweep across the hec.vens, nearly fron^ Modem Town of lorJc. 233 horizon to horizon, producing a light similar to a flash of li^litning ; at the sanie time mil- lions were diverging from the zeniih, and scintillating through their descent, until lost below the horizon. In whatever direction the eye was turned, the scene could not be compared more aptly to anything than a shower of fire falling to the earth. Thou- sands of individuals, scattered over the vast portion of North America stretching from Nova Scotia to Mexico, witnessed the sub- Jime spectacle. As daylight advanced, the meteors were less frequent and began to disappear ; but some were seen as long as the stars were visible. CENSUS OF YORK. t The census of York, at the present time, according to statistics furnished by Jeremiah S. Putnam, M. D.. is abo;t two thousand eight hundred and lifty-four inhabitants. 234 Ancient Citij of GoVtjeana. Tho sexes are about equally divided — there being only a slight predominance in favor of the female sex. About six hundred and fifty males over twenty-one years of age are enti- tled to vote. There is only on 3 colored per- son — a negress, in her teens The town contains five hundred houses, and two hun- dred and forty farms. York, although lying largely upon the sea- coast, "vvith a good harbor, is more of an agricultural than a commercial place. A few small craft are employed in fishing, and in summer about a dozen small schooners im coasting and freighting brick, hay, wood, &c.. The principal export is hay, of which from: one to two thousand tons are sent away- yearly. Huckleberries, which were always abundant in former times, have become a specialty in thei? season. The area is about fifty square miles, geo- graphically divided into fifteen school dis- tricts, viz.: 1. Centre; 2. lUiynes' Neck; Modern Town of York. 235 3. South Side; 4. Scotland; 5. Biixham ; 6. Beech Ridge; 7. (United with 5); 8. North ViUage ; 9. Ground Boot Hill, West ; 10. Ground Root Hill, East; 11. Cape Ned- dock, East; 12. Scituate ; 13. Cider Hill; 14. Pine Hill; 15. Cape Xeddock. MANUFACTURES. The manufactures in York are very limited, and have never to any great extent occupied the attention of the jiecple. Messrs. J. Chase & Son's woollen mill, at the outlet of Chase's Pond, manufactures a limited amount of flannel and fulled cloth, principally for producers, who furnish their own wool ana yarn. Numerous saw and shingle mills cut considerable quantities of lumber, Messrs. Norton & Leavitt, on York river, between the two bridges, manufacture au excellent quality of brick, which finds a ready sale in Boston and clse\yhere, They 23G Ancient City of Gorgeana, have commenced an extensive business, erected a large steam engine, and built a commodious wharf. The same firm have purchased the Barrcll mill-pond, contain- ing about twenty acres, and interd to rebuild the dam, in order to exclude the salt water, and engage in the production and shipping of ice. Vessels can be laden with great facility at the side of this dam. John E. Staples manufactures all kinds of monumental marble work. His monuments* tablets, and tombstones are not excelled in design and workmanship in all New England. He has also a branch manufactory of like kind in Kennebunk. Mr. Staples is a native of York. David Sewall, at the end of Sewall's ■bridge, manufactures doors, blinds, etc. Henry Moulto.n & Company manufacture ;aJJ Mnds of ja,4tes . steps, .reyolvin» clpthes- Jifoderu Town of VorJc. 237 dryers, ct'., ar I arc doing a very good business. Should th? contemplated railroad be built in the right place, and no etideavor be made to shun that pcrlion of the town from which it would derive the most business, the trade with Boston and Portland now carried on by coasting vessels may be diverted to it- With such facilities of connection, no doubt manufactories would also be established. Adding such advantages to the beauties nature has bestow^ed upon it, York might resume its place among the most thriving towns in Xew England. SEA-SIDE KESOETS. The Goodwin House, Charles Goodwin, proprietor, recently built, and situated on the easterly bluff at the end of the Short Sands Beach, near the Marshall House, will accom- 238 Ancient City of Gorgeana. modate about twenty-five guests, and is well patroni/ed. ( )ceupyin<^' a very elevated position, it affords a fine view of the ocean, and is a desirable summer residence either for health or pleasure. Beyond the Long Sands Beach is a high cape oi' promontory, at the extreme end of which is the York Nubble, before alluded to. Near but beyond this beach, on this cape, is the Bowden House, of moderate dimen- sions, and there are several private summer cottages, pleasantly situated, and affording a fine sea view. Midway of the Long Sands Head is the Sea Cottage, kept by Mr. Charles A. Grant. The beach here is not excelled for riding and driving by any other on the Atlantic coast ; and although the view to the east is partially obstructed by the Nubble, and that to the west by the eastern poinit form- JTodcrn Toirn of York. 2o0 ing York harbor, yet it is a beautiful place, affording a fine view of the ocean and Boon Island. Under the management of Mr. Grant, who is kind, genial, and large-, hearted, the Sea Cottage will long be consid- ered a favorito resort. . ■ Here the Atlantic Ocean may be seen in its grandest phases and in all its fitful moods ; and here the toil-worn invalid inhales fresh vitality and strength, with every breath, from the invigorating sea-breeze, which cools the ardor of the hottest summer sun. There is also the Cape Xeddock House, a place long known, k^pt by M. C. Freeman, which, although not a sea-side resort, de- serves especial mention. Let the traveller on his way from Portsmouth to Portland once stop there, and he will ever after "time it" so as to stop again and again. 240 Ancient City of Gorgeana, VESSELS SHIPPING COASTING. Some seventy-five years ago, the shipping to and from this port was considerable. There were five wharves on the north side of the river, with the necessary store-houses, etc., for forwarding and receiving cargoes, nearly all of which have disappeared, or are in a ruinous condition. Then the mer- chants of York were largely engaged in the West India trade, and many vessels were owned in the town, and lay at the wharves discharging or receiving goods. Edward A. Emerson had a ship-yard on the declivity behind the " Grow" house, near the wharf now owned by George A. Marshall. Once a vessel of larger dimensions than was usually built there was constructed under Shipbuilder Graves, of Kittery, and, on being launched, was christened, by dashing a bottle of wine against its bows, as it slid into the water, and calling it " Agamenticus." Jona- than S. Barrell, Samuel Lunt, the Emersons, Modem Toufn of York. 241 Lymans, and others, were largely interested in shipping. At that time there were five stores in the central part of the town, trans- acting a large business. There were baker's, barber's, carpenter's, harness, painter's, and tailor's shops ;* and masons and ship-carpen- ters, and other citizens, found ready employ- ment. There were two tanneries : one on the Nicholas Sewall place, and another car- ried on by Storer Sewall, noarly opposite the present residence of Dr. J. S. Putnam ; also a brick-yard owned by George S. Junkins, near the York corner. The business of coasting to Boston and Portsmouth was quite extensive. Railroads being unknown and stage-fares expensive, advantage was taken of this mode of convey- ance by almost all travellers, especially ser- vants, going from or returning home on a visit, as this was the only means within the scope of their purse. They were required to provide their own subsistence ; and many a vovaser, i.las ! after lavinu: in his or her stock 242 Jnclent City of Gonjeana, of more, even, than was thought requisite, has fouiiJ the vcss.l, by stress of weather or adverse winds, diverted from her course, and the voyage o •cui)ying more days than it should have occupied hours, in reaching its desti- nation. In such an emergen'cy, access was obtained to the skipper's hirder, to prevent suffering and avert starvation. SLOOP-AVrtECK CAUSE — VERDICT. On the highest })oirit of Stage Neck, which extends into the sea, a temporary light was sometimes lioisted on an upright pole, about fifteen feet higli. One dark night a sloop ran on these rocks, and was wrecked. A sur- vivor, on being questioned about the catas- tropI:e, said, ''The vessel struck, turned over on her side, ;ind the skipper and another barrel of whiskey rolled overboard." '• Verdict. — Wj find that the deceased fell from liiasl-hcad. ;ind was kllk'd ; he rolled overboard, and was drowned; lie floated asliore, and froze to death, and the rats eat \.\\a up alive." 3Io(lern Toivn of York, 243 SITE OF A FORT ROARING ROCK. On the bluft' last spolvcn of arc still to be seen the remains of old forts built during the war of the Revolution and that of 1812, as a protection to the harbor entrance, which it commanded. Thev were armed and manned, at that time, to repel any attempted landing of the British. The outlines and rude sti'uc- Uire of these forts are plainly visible. But- tons, from the coats of soldiers, were recently dug up, while removing the foundations of one of them, and are preserved. !Many strange stories are told of Roaring Rock. One was, that the cavern extended up " under ' Sentry Hill,' and that it had sheltered pirates, etc. : a bold adventurer had explored it as far as he dared to, and till his lii^ht began to burn blue." But this is not to be credited, as the billows are incessantly rolling into it. '' Sentry Hill "' is used as a looh-ont by tlic government coast-survey. These bluffs are tlie headlands of history. 2U Ancient City of Gorgeana. EXPENSE OF AN OEDINATION. We copy the following list of supplies fur- nished at an ordination in 1750, in order to compare them with p. ices of the same com- modities at the present day : 1 barrel (lour, 3 bushels apples, 2 barrels cider, • 2 gallons brandy, 1 bottle vinegar, 54^ lbs. pork, Id. lb. 8 fowls, 6 candles, 1 ounce nutmegs, 29 pounds sugar, 1 teapot, 1 pound tea, 2 4 gallons rum, 2 bushels cranberries, 2 1 pound ginger, 4 ounces pepper, 2 cheeses, Qd. per lb. 6 jgallons raolasses, 2s. St/, gallon. £14 7.S. 6r?. $71.87 2 8 12.00 9 45.00 5 25.00 5 1.25 . 1 11 n 7.94 1 17 9.25 1 .25 8 14 43.50 a, 2 10.00 5 4 26.00 >s,2 10.00 2 .50 6 .12. " 5 tfl ^ H ^ r o: of u -J < < Of-. V iz: o E s 3^ Q Q Mat sJi a II Ho use . ^;^^XK of the principal fetitures of York "^^ Harbor is the Marshall IIoi sr:. Situate.! iipoii t!ie ele/atod g-round of Sta^e Xeck, it is the first object to attract attention in ap[)roaching' the YiHage by hind or sea, and the hist to disappear on leaving. The sit- uation -of the Maksiiajj. liurSE is the subject of constant remark among visitors. Immedi- ately in front of the hotel, upon t)ie outer ed<^e of the isthmus which joins Stage Xeck to the mainland, lie the far famed "Short Sands," a hard smootli l^eacli daily crowded bv bathers. The view from the verandas of the hotel comprises a variety of scener}- unexcelled among tlie many resorts of Xew England. To the northward the eye takes in a pictur- es(pie stretch of rocky coast dotted Avith cot- tages and having a green back ground of forest. To tlie east the blue reaches of the ocean are unobstructed save by Boon Island Avith its light, nine miles ?eaward. Towards the Avest and south the vicAv com- prises a beautiful combination of forest and farming country Avith the lovely York Kivcr lloAvinii- between. Marshall House, Till': MARSHA LI. HOUSE W:is 0])eiied by Hon. Xatliaiiiel (r. Marshall the father of the present proprietor, ]Mr. Edward 8. iMarsliall, in 1871. It has two main t'rontaues of 17<> feet eaeh besides extensive Avings, all snrroniuU'd by A'er- andas 1(5 feet in width. The honse possesses every improvement in- eidcnt to a iirst class liot(d : spacious parlors, a lariic cool dining' room, readin*;- rooms, dance and l)illiard halls : while Uie suites and single rooms are each perfect in themselves. Ti^E CIjIFI^ IKIOXJSE. IJald ih'iul Clirt", noon wliich the house stiinds and from whicli it liikc.-i ics nanie, is (jflO feet in leiij^tli and upward.'^ of lO:) feet in iicrpendienln'- li'''.">.> tei't of \ evanda, with the Grand (Jld Ocean -witli- iu an hundred feet. r.athiiig- and tii.-iiin^ from the rocks aloiii^: tin; shore and l)oats for sailiiifi' or dee)i sea lishkug. Livery sta- ble coiiiiecte r- >t' cc ^j - > n \ n \ s^> \ ►-t " ■ \ tsr 'A g? r*^ 3- f:* r'l O m - . ^ f. CD THE YORK CODRANT. YORK'S only newspaper, was pnl)lis]iril at South Berwick from Nov. 7, 1800 to Se])t 4 ]8i)l, when the plant of the CouiiANr and Life was purchased and located at York Corner, Me., \)y the present i)roprietor. York is fast heconiinii- the Icadinii' watering l)laee. The people are alive to its lieauties as such. IMao'nilicent Hotels, Tiank. Railroad, and Water-works. No Ih'tter I-eac!i on Earth. Tlie Cor KANT is brla-hl. sjcirklin;^' and alive to the Lest interests ol' York. Evervbody should subscribe for the Coi'K- ANT and learn about the York of tcday. Price $\ i')0 per annum, in advance. GEORGE F. PLAISTED, Fcinuhr, KdUor and Proprietor THE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DAT STAMPED BELOW. B 000 019 484 5