Hartford, Maine History
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University of Southern Maine USM Digital Commons Maine Collection 1985 Hartford, Maine History Wilbur A. Libby Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/me_collection Part of the Genealogy Commons, Other American Studies Commons, Other History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Libby, Wilbur A., "Hartford, Maine History" (1985). Maine Collection. 119. https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/me_collection/119 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by USM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maine Collection by an authorized administrator of USM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. }'age HARTFORD HISTORY i 1 16.07 Settlement failed-conquest -England, J.1,rance&· Indiaris 2 The Pilgrims and what happened to themo 9 Passengers on"Anne" "Little James" & "Fortune". 12 Earliest S.ettlers, . 21 in both Towns 14 Petitions to Mass. :for land grant (15) 15 Samuel Butterfieli's first trip to this area. 27 John Thompsonts life after coming here in 1621 Will.lam Thompson, Isaac Thompson, Oakes. Thompson.• Cyrus Thompson, Asa Thompson not of same family. 29 Original distribution of lands. 32 Schools 56 Cemeteries ·· 79 Church 83 First Town Meeting 84 Veterans Arooatock war to W W 2 , Korea and Vietnam ' 89 T.own Hall and -Herse 91 Early Cabins 92 Sheep and Cattle 94 Early Mills 97 Early Mail. 99 Robinson Libraries 100 Early Roads 102 Ferry Boats 103 Ox Yokes 104 Brick Ya.rd 105 Brick House and remodled Tyler Corner Schoolhouse 106 Laommi Baldwin Apples 107 Carloads of apples shipped from Hartford 108 Old Merrill House, Levey Bryant family 109 Agricultural products, census 1800-1970 Corn Shop 110 Newton, Thurlow and McIntire Houses · . 111 ,w Old and new Town Halls~ Sign over door 112 ·Tannery, Shops, Cold Spring Co. Salt box factory 113 Ancient and Indian names of Towns. 115 Gun, snowshoes & Bear Trap 116 25¢ Hunting license, 1897 Hunting Laws 11 7 Cuttin~ Ice · 118 Reape:r.))r Cradle- old tools-· Ice saw etco 119 Rail Road • 121 Stores 122 Bear Mt. Lookout 124 Capt. James Libby 125 Vital Statistics from Town Reports, Births If II If ii ti 133 Ha.rt.fC't>d 1880 census by Moses Alley Marriages Marriages performed by MOses Alley, Justice of Peace 1 ,History of Butt.erfield , East and West. No. 6 & 7 , Hartford and SU11ner. F7aht p In the year 1526 Charles V appoint~d .the unprincipled Phamphilo de Narvaez, Governor of Florida, and to the appointment was added the usual privilege of conquest.. The Spaniards were not yet satisfied. In the year 1537 a new expedition was planned which surpass.ed all the others in the brilliancy of its beginning and\ ' ' ., the disas;ter.; of its end, The most Cavalier of the Cavaliers was Ferdinand de Soto. Sir Humphrey Gilbert was perhaps the .first to conceive a rational form of settlement in the new cont°inent which the genius of Cabot' had added to the Dominion of England. His idea was to form somewhere on the American shores an agric ultural and commercial State. Gilbert was assisted by his illus trious step brothe~ Walter Raleigh, prepared a fleet of five · .vessels and in June of 1583 sailed for: the We.st. ,D;j.aaeter after disaster is recorded. Sir Walter Raleigh exJlended·· two hundred thousand dollars in his attempt to found an American Colony, and gave up the enterprise. On the tenth of April 1606, James 1 of .England.issued two great patents directed to men of his Kingdom, Nobles, Gentlemen, and~merc~~nts residing at London and called the London Company, while the second instrument was issued to a similar body which had been organized at Plymouth, in South Western ~ngland, and which bore the name of the Plymouth Uompany. The latter Company was assigt3d·the tract extending from the 41 st~ to the 45 th. degree of·latitude, from North 0arolina to Passamaquoddy Bay. ln the mont.h August 1606 and again in 1607 the Plymouth Uompany sent their first .sllips to America. Arriving a.t the mouth of the River Kennebec, the colonists gegan a settlement under favorable circumstances but ended in disaster. The Winter of 1607 & 1608 · was a very seve.re win,ter, some of the. settlers were starved, some frozen, the storehouse burned dawn and wh.en Summer days came, the remnant went bac~ to England. In the Summer of 1614 John Smith who had Previously had many discouraging adventures, was in command of two vessels the crewa of which were well. satisfied with the Summer spent on the Coast of Maine, with a profitable traffic carried on with th.e Indians and the pleasures and prof'its of the teeming '.fisheries. But Smith himself foun~. nobler work. 2 Beginning as far North as practicable, he patiently explored the'.·:: , .1 Country, and drew a map of the whole caastline from Penobscot bay to Cape Cod. In this map which is still exiatant and a marvel of accuracy considering the circumstances under which it was made. Th.e Country was. called New: England, a name which Prince Charles confirmed and which has ever since remained, as the de$ignation of the North Easte.rn States of the Republic. THE PILGRIMS . ' According t.o the John Robinson genealogy the Rev .John Robinson was born in Sturton, England, in 1575, he married Bridget White in 1603 or 16d4. The~e were 6 children, the first born in Norwich England in 1606 and the other 5 in Holland, whence they had removed for religious reasons. The questions of theology which interested the minds of men at that time were concerning election and justification and points in controversy between the Protestant and Roman Churches. But a reaction had set ·in against the extreme Calvinism which had marked the lectures and sermons of many eminent divines in the Univer sity ( Christ's College, Cambrige, England.) A proclomat.ion was issued in July, 1604, requiring all ministers to !onform to the new Book of Canons before the end of the follow ing November. For non-compliance Mr. Robinson was suspended from the exercise of his ministry, by Episcopal authority. Soon after there .•as g~thered together a group of devout folk and fined 20 pounds each. Otherwise persecuted they decided to emigrate to Holland where they had been informed there was treedom of rel.ig ... ion for· all men. To emigrate without a license was prohibited by an ancient statute of Richard the third. They found it was un lawful to leave their native land or to remain in it up.less they conformed to the o~ders of the established C~urch of England. in this dilema they tried it and wer.e arrested, imprisoned and confined some months. In their exile they pined with unrest. The unfamiliar language of the Dutch grated harshly on their ears. They would like to'find, in a land beyond the water some quiet spot where they might be secure from persecution, and found an English speaking State in the wilderness and is perhaps one reason why today's descendents of the origin~l "Builders ~f America" lament the babel of unfamiliar languages that we now have with us. 3 By letting down the bars.of immigration for workers tor our factories, labor backed by its numerical strength may now be making a bid for ~~ctatorship; we may.be glad of its cooper ation to defend America, now their home too, from enemies, but the Pilgrim Fathers ran away from dictatorship and formed their own covenant, the tenor of which could well .serve any Nation. The idea o! forming a colony in America presented itself to the mind of the minister and his followers early in 1617 and was a subject of discussion privately wiyh Mr. William Brewster, the Church Elder, and other prominent members. At this time there was a great call for colonists to settle Virginia. About 1617 John Carve~ and Robert Cushman were dispatched from Holland to England to ask permission for the Church of Leyden to settle in America. The most that King James would do was to make an in formal promise to let the Pilgrims alone in America. Such has always been the contemptible attitude of bigotry toward every l liberal enterprise. The Puritans \9:?re not discouraged, with or without permission, protected or not protected by the terms of a charter which mighi at best be violated, they would seek asylm and rest in the Western Wilderness. Ou.t of their own resources and the help of.a few faithful . friends, they provided the scanty means of departure and set their faces toward the sea. The SPEEDWELL, a small vessell of 60 tons was purchased at-Amsterdam, and the Mayflower, a larger and more substantial ship, was hired for the voyage. The Speedwell was to carry the emigrants from Leyden to Southampton, where they were to be joined·by the Mayflower, with another company from London. Assembling at the harbor of Delft, on the river Meuse, tifteen miles South of Leyden, as many of the Pilgrims as could be accomodated went on board the Speedwell. The whole congregation accDmpanied them to the shQlt"e. Their pastor the Rev. John.. Rob,inson gave them a consoling farewell address and the blessings and prayrts of those who were left behind followed the vessell out of. sight. Both. ships came safely to South hampton and on the fifth day of August,1620, both vessels left the harbor. but afte~ a few days the Captain of the ~peedwell declared his vessell so shattered, so old and leaky that it must be abandoned and put back to harbor.