Twenty Years at Pemaquid

PffnJDWtJWBS ISA. QforncU Uniucrstty Hibrary 3tl|aca, Ntm ôrb BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE 1891 \a^. ^fi^te'i&^/tAvztytfaîiii^M^û/^/i^^Ti^^^ Cornell University Library F 22 C32 Twenty years at Pemaauid: sketches of it 3 1924 028 808 900 olin 1^^ Cornell University Library The original of tiiis book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028808900 TO THE CHILDREN OF MAINE MY NATIVE STATE THE AUTHOR INSCRIBES THIS BOOK : TWENTY YEARS AT PEMAQUID Sketches of Its History and Its Remains ANCIENT AND MODERN BY J. HENRY CARTLAND The restless sea resounds along the shore. The light land breeze flows outward with a sigt), And each to each seems chanting evermore A mournful memory of the days gone by All underneath these tufted mounds of grass Lies many a relic, many a storied stone. And pale {ghosts rise as lingering footsteps pass The mined fort with tangled vines o'ergrown. —Mrs. M. W. Hackelton. PEMAQUID BEACH, MAINE 1014 L. A. Moore Prmter BootkLay Harbor Maine INTRODUCTION. Many an ancient spot, rendered dear by tradition and sacred associations, is disguised by a modern aspect. But though time brushes away the old landmarks and the once familiar scenes disappear, the halo cast by memory remains, and the locality lives in our hearts and thoughts as it was before the change. Rev. Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage. Many people visit Old Pemaquid every year who have once claimed it as their home, but have been obliged to seek employ- ment elsewhere. Few visit this place who do not wish to come again to enjoy its attractive natural scenery and try to fathom the hidden mysteries of its past. After one year of research here I thought it would be an easy task to write a history of Pemaquid. To-day after many years of investigation I have changed my mind. It is not from lack of interesting material, but it has been difficult to select the most interesting facts and put them in the most attractive form. I am especially indebted to Rev. H. O. Thayer of Port- land, Maine, for valuable aid in compiling this work and for translations of important French documents; also to Miss Bell, a lady from Canada, a good French scholar, who made her home here at the Jamestown Hotel, I am indebted for translations of French documents and other useful information. From Prof. John Johnston's History of Bristol and Bremen, which has been very freely quoted in this work, I have obtained more information than from any other single volume. Others, too numerous to mention, have contributed a sketch, a poem, a story, or bits of history,— to all of whom I tender my hearty thanks. 6 TWENTY YEARS AT PEMAQUID At the Boston Public Library are to be found more than thirty books and manuscripts containing history of this locality; many in English, some in French and Spanish, records of those three nations which struggled for possession of this continent for many years after its discovery by Columbus. It is essential to consult all of these to obtain the history of ancient Pemaquid. Owing to its control by different nations at different periods it has had a wonderfully checkered career. Being near the eastern boundary line of New England and the French on the west, and claimed for a long time by both nations, was the cause of much contention, and finally the construction of Fort William Henry at an expense of nearly 20,000 pounds. This was the third fort erected here. Sir William Phips, the builder, was a native of Maine, and the first Governor of Massachusetts before their separation. The remains of this fort, covering nearly one-half acre of land, enclosing it with walls six feet thick on the side towards the sea, (formerly twenty-two feet high) amaze visitors who inquire why such a structure was required here, away down east." Since publishing and disposing of my first edition of the history of this place, entitled Ten Years at Pemaquid," there has been a constantly increasing demand for more information about this locality. The summer travel to Maine has increased wonderfully, the facilities for reaching places of interest greatly improved by the fine steamers of the Eastern Steamship Corporation, which ply along the New England seacoast all the way between the British Provinces and New York. The handsome yachts, naptha boats and automobiles, bring- ing many people here, the attractions of this place have been increased by restoring the old castle at the west corner of the stone fort of William Henry, which surrounded the Fort Rock of Pemaquid, on which is the date of the landing of the first English people here, on August 8th and 10th, 1607. This structure was built by Sir William Phips, to prevent the Indians from using it as they had done to capture Fort Charles TWENTY YEARS AT PEMAQUID 7 in 1689, while under the jurisdiction of New York, when Sir Edmond Andros was governor. This castle, though a small part of the fortification, answers for a monunaent and museum combined, being about one hundred and fifty feet in diameter and thirty-five feet high. In the basement are the remains of the magazine, and many relics gathered about the old fort walls. The room on the second floor is made attractive by show, cases filled with relics, gathered principally about the ruins here, and choice pictures and paintings of the builders of two of the forts, the French commander of the naval fleet, Siur De Iberville, and the ships he used to capture it with, and many others pertaining to the history of this locality. From the flat roof of this castle a grand panoramic view is to be obtained of the harbors, bay and ocean, in one direction, dotted with many islands, and vessels are to be seen most of the time. In the opposite direction the winding river of Pemaquid, the little village and scattered cottages of the summer visitors and permanent residents, much of the land being covered with the evergreen spruce and fir trees; all combining to make the scene attractive and long to be remembered with pleasure. CHAPTER I. Location of Pemaquid ALTHOUGH once the most noted locality by far of all New England, to-day comparatively few people know anything of Pemaquid, its location, its topography or formation, or its history. Pemaquid as known to-day embraces three natural divisions of the southern part of the town of Bristol in Lincoln County, Maine. Bristol is bounded on the west by the Damariscotta River, on the north by the town of that name, and Bremen, once a part of Bristol, on the east and south by Broad Sound, the ocean and John's Bay. John's River on the west and Pemaquid River on the east divide the lower section into three parts, consisting of high ridges of land which lie between them. Bristol derived its name from a noted city of that name in England, whose leading merchants were among the first to manifest a deep interest in American discovery, and subscribed a thousand pounds to fit out an expedition in 1 603 to explore and trade on the New England coast. It was once on the highway of travel, when sailing vessels necessarily visited land often for fresh supplies of fuel and water. Now larger and swifter ships propelled by steam, race across the Atlantic Ocean in less days than it then took weeks, and the passing immi- grant or traveler is rushed on to the more southern and west- ern parts of our country, leaving the varied attractions of our State unseen, and by many unknown. As the great lines of ships pass us on the one side, so the lines of railroads transport their passengers upon the other, > c3 i "o O 3 o X TWENTY YEARS AT PEMAQUID 9 leaving old Pemaquid neglected while its inhabitants seek a livelihood on the very site of its ruins, former paved streets, and fortifications. All along the sea coast which bounds the southern shore of Maine, are many points, or peninsulas vary- ing in length and height, and islands, which are all caused by nature's upheaval of mineral formation, the unbroken parts fonliing its peninsulas, and those rising out of the ocean at their southern extremities, the beautiful islands for which this coast has been noted since its first discovery by the white man. These divisions of land have been compared to the fingers of one's hand, between which, flow bays and rivers of salt and fresh water. Across the head waters of the bays in this section, to save expensive bridging, the railroad extends direct from Bath to Rockland, thus spanning the territory of Pemaquid, east and west, and which — bounded by the Kennebec and Penobscot — was claimed formerly by both the French and the English. On the south it was bounded by the broad ocean, on the north, or land side, indefinitely. Not a pound of railroad iron has ever been laid in Bristol to bring travel to our shores, the whistle of the locomotive or the rattle of the electric car never startled our deer or other wild game, and the telephone had never stretched out its hand to greet us till the year 1898. Teams and stages convey the mail, goods and people by land, as formerly, and sailing vessels and small steamers by water, as in times past.

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