The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Maine Town Documents Maine Government Documents 1886 An Historical Sketch of the Town of Deer Isle, Maine George L. Hosmer Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/towndocs Repository Citation Hosmer, George L., "An Historical Sketch of the Town of Deer Isle, Maine" (1886). Maine Town Documents. 186. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/towndocs/186 This History is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maine Town Documents by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MJ:)^'^ r^ * ,^ %. ' . X ?r , "^ o, ^ , k ,0 ,-0 ^ \' )^ s 'p ' von '^v * « I ^ ^> >,'<•, ^ -^-p. '--. X. "o^ .5 -n*-. .^^ •V^c,- '^^• '<>".. v\^^" <> ^.^' .^^ ^^, ^oo^ <^ <=> ^.,^ •S^'^^ A-^' ".: 0-,0 c ^ .0 V /^ »^.^. : AN HISTORICSL SKETCH TOWN OF DEER ISLE, MAINE, WITH NOTICES OF ITS SETTLERS AND EARLY INHABITANTS. BV <-' GEORGE L. HOSMER. BOSTON PRESS OK STANLEY AND USHER, 171 Devonshire Street. 1886. -f^^^ — CONTENTS Page Chapter I 5 Introduction. — Discovery. — Settlements. — Mills. — Mar- riages. Chapter II 25 First Settlers. — The Revolution. — Land-titles. — Incorpora- tion. Chapter III 41 Notices of Settlers and Early Inhabitants. — Physicians. — Men and Vessels Lost at Sea. — A List of Aged Persons. Chapter IV 220 Municipal and Miscellaneous, 1789-1882. — Ecclesiastical. Origin of the Names of the Different Localities in the Town. — Conclusion. AN HISTORICAL SKETCH TOWN OF DEER ISLE CHAPTER I. Introduction. — Discovery. — Settlements. — Mills. — Marriages. For some years past it has been my purpose to write an historical sketch of this town, with notices of its settlers and early inhabitants. When I came here a young man, nearly half a century ago, there were but few of the early settlers remaining, the last of whom, Mr. Joseph Sellers, died in 1844 at the age of ninety-two years. My informa- tion has been derived from those who were contemporary with them, and they in their turn have passed away. Although the means I have had for such a work were scanty, yet it was all. that could be obtained, as I had nothing but verbal information : but I may reasonably judge that it is in the main correct. I have thought it best to preserve it, in order that those who are now living, and those who may come hereafter, may have some knowledge of the hardships endured by their ancestors. The history of the early settlement of any country is a history of toil, privations, and suffering, and of these the persons noticed here have had their full share. It was with them a hard struggle for a subsistence, and had it not been for the sea-fowl, sea and shell fish, it 6 AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE could not have been obtained by them, and had those means been wanting elsewhere, the seacoast could never have been settled where it was in this State. I have hopes that what is here written may prove of inter- est to the descendants of those whose notices are here recorded. It is, or should be, a matter of interest to every one, to have some knowledge of the history of his native place, or of the town in which he resides. In too many cases it is not felt until the sources from which such information might have been obtained no longer exist, and I wish to improve this opportunity for its preservation, for otherwise it will soon have passed from memory and be lost beyond recovery. DISCOVERY. We have no authentic information by whom, and at what time, the islands on which this town is situated, were discovered. It has been stated that, in 1556, Andre The- vit, a Catholic priest, sailed in a French ship along the entire coast ; that he entered Penobscot Bay, where he spent five days and had numerous conferences with the natives. The first Englishman who visited this locality was Martin Pring, who sailed from Bristol in 1603, and visited Penobscot Bay and islands. Seeing some foxes on the shore of one island, he named it Fox Island, and that was the name by which those islands, on which the towns of North Haven and Vinalhaven are situated, were the other as formerly known ; one as the North, and the South, Fox Island. He was well pleased with the scenery of the bay, with the excellence of the fisheries, and with what animals were seen by them. When he returned to England, he carried an Indian canoe with him, but while here saw but few inhabitants. It is prob- ISLE, MAINE. TOWN OF DEER 7 able that he sailed up the bay lying between the towns of Deer Isle and Isle au Haut on the one side, and the towns of North Haven and Vinalhaven on the other, and from its height the Isle au Haut would have been a prominent landmark, as it can be seen about thirty-five miles at sea, and it is the outermost island of any considerable size in this vicinity ; and, if he sailed up the bay, as we have supposed, he must have seen Deer Island. We may regard him as the first Englishman who saw it, if not the first European, for if Thevit had seen the bay and pub- lished his discovery, it seems reasonable to us that he would have been followed by others of his countrymen and possession taken. In 1604 Champlain visited this region and is said to have landed upon its shores, but there is little informa- tion respecting him. In 1605 the bay and islands were visited by James Rozier, and it has been stated that he sailed up the passage between Deer Isle on the one side^ and the towns of Brooklin, Sedgwick, and Brooksville on the other, and it is now known as Eggemoggin Reach ; and that he anchored near the cape lying at the south- western extremity of the town of Brooksville, which bears his name. If this account be correct, he must have passed very near Deer Island, as the passage is in its narrowest part not more than half a mile in width. In the same year Weymouth visited the bay and river in June, but from the account given us, we believe that he sailed up the western side, between the towns of Islesborough and Camden, and he anchored opposite the hills now known as Camden Hills, where a party went on shore and afterward in a pinnace went farther up the bay and visited that part which, according to the description given us, must have been near where the city of Belfast is now situated. 8 ^iV HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE From the account given us, they appeared to have been as well pleased with what they saw, as was Pring two years earlier. The intercourse of Weymouth with the natives was at first friendly, but, unfortunately for his reputation, he kidnapped five of them and carried them to England, three of whom he delivered to Sir Ferdinand Georges, who kept them in his family three years, and in 1639 the Province of Maine was chartered to him. It is not probable that Weymouth visited that part of the bay in which this town is situated, or, if he did, nothing is said about it, and as the accounts given of the discoveries by those early voyagers are very brief, conjec- ture must supply the vacancy ; but we must come to the conclusion that, at least, Pring and Rozier must have seen Deer Island. In 1614 Captain John Smith, of Virginia, visited this region and reported a settlement as having been made, but he must have referred to that made by the French on the island of Mount Desert, as it is said that it was occupied by them as early as 1604. Others came there in 1609, and Madame De Guerchville's colony was there in [613, a year before Smith visited these regions. No English settlement is reported to have been made any- where in this vicinity until 1626, under the direction of the Plymouth Colony, by Isaac Allerton, on the peninsula on which the town of Castine now stands, for the purposes of trade, which was continued till 1635, when it was taken possession of by the French. It was retaken in 1654 and retained till 1670, when it was surrendered to the French, and by them retained most of the time until 1704, when it was captured by Captain Church of the Plymouth Colony ; and no other settlement anywhere in this vicinity was made by the English, which was permanent, until about the year 1760, which was the date of the TOWN OF DEER ISLE, M.lfXE. g settlement of Castine. We have no account who gave this island its name or when it was given, but it has been said that deer were found upon it in abundance, and that circumstance caused the name to be given it — which is very probable, as those animals could easily visit it in the winter by crossing the reach upon the ice ; and that they have been known to cross the passage by swimming. It has been said that upon one occasion one was seen swimming over, by the members of one family, who then resided near the shore in the early years of the settlement here, and on its landing it was killed by them, which was a providential circumstance, as at the time they were suffering from hunger. Several have been killed since I have resided here, and within twenty years past I saw an old one and her young near the highway about half a mile from the Northwest Harbor.