Machias River, Massachusetts []Maine ACTION AT MACHIAS (F IRST BATTLE OF MACHIAS , BATTLE OF THE MARGARETTA , ‘LEXINGTON OF THE SEA ’) MACHIAS RIVER , MACHIAS , MASSACHUSETTS [ MAINE ] -11-12 June 1775- 1. Background Machias The town of Machias, in the District of Maine, was founded about the year 1763. It was settled as a lumbering center, located at the place where the falls of the West Machias River provided a power source for sawmills. There was a hinterland, extending back into the sparsely settled country perhaps twenty miles, with a primitive network of roads, tracks and trials. 1 This area was essentially isolated in terms of overland connections, but there were frequent arrivals and departures of various vessels, to distribute supplies and load lumber. Among the settlers were the family of Morris O’Brien, who had six grown sons. The O’Briens founded a saw mill and engaged in the lumber business. Another early settler was Stephen Jones, who managed a store owned by Ichabod Jones, a merchant residing in Boston. The Joneses brought in supplies and took out lumber. In 1769 a militia company was formed, and in 1770 the Colony of Massachusetts granted a township to the settlers. In 1771 a minister, the Reverend James Lyons, was hired. A church was erected in 1774. 2 Business prospered, and by May of 1775 there were about one hundred houses 3 and nearly a thousand people in and around Machias. 4 1 Sherman, Andrew M., Life of Captain Jeremiah O’Brien Machias, Maine: Commander of the First American Flying Squadron of the War of the Revolution , Morristown, New Jersey: Andrew M. Sherman, 1902, 5-11, and 27. Online . 2 Drisco, George W., Narrative of the Town of Machias: The Old and the New, the Early and the Late , Machias Maine: Press of the Republican, 1904, 21, 24, 28. Hereafter Drisco, Narrative . Online . 3 Force, Series 4, 2:708-709, petition of the inhabitants of Machias to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, dated 25 May 1775. 4 Force, Series 4, 2:1128, petition of John O’Brien to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, dated 28 June 1775. Comment on this or any page at our ©awiatsea.com-posted November 2020 --1-- Machias was not immune to the passions of the period, but generally seems to have supported the activist viewpoint. There seems to have been a local branch of the loose organization known as the “Sons of Liberty.” Other townsfolk seemed to have adopted an attitude of accommodation among these being Ichabod Jones. On 25 May 1775 the inhabitants of Machias petitioned the Massachusetts Provincial Congress concerning the state of their town. It is worth quoting part of the petition: “We dare not say we are the foremost in supporting the glorious cause of American liberty; but this we can truly affirm, that we have done our utmost to encourage and strengthen the hand of all the advocates for America with whom we have been connected; that we have not even purchased any goods of those persons whom we suspected to be inimical to our Country, except when constrained, by necessity; and that none on the Continent can more cheerfully risk all that is dear to them on earth, when called, in support of those precious privileges which God and our venerable ancestors, as a most invaluable legacy, have handed down to us. We must now inform your Honours, that the inhabitants of this place exceed one hundred families, some of which are very numerous, and that Divine Providence has cut off all our usual resources. A very severe drought last fall prevented our laying in sufficient stores; and had no vessels visited us in the winter, we must have suffered. Nor have we this spring been able to procure provisions sufficient for carrying on our business; our labourers are dismissed, some of our mills stand still, almost all vessels have forsaken us, our lumber lies by us in heaps, and, to complete our misfortunes, all our ports are to be shut up on the first of July next. We must add, we have no country behind us to lean upon, nor can we make an escape by flight; the wilderness is impervious, and vessels we have none. To you, therefore, honoured gentlemen, we humbly apply for relief; you are our last, our only resource; and permit us to say again, you are our guardians, and we rejoice and glory in being subject. Pardon our importunity. We cannot take a denial, for, under God, you are all our dependence; and if you neglect us, we are ruined. Save, dear Sirs, one of your most flourishing settlements from famine and all its horrours. We ask not for charity; we ask for a supply to be put into the hands of Messrs. Smith and Stillman, or any other person or persons your wisdom may point out, who shall obligate themselves to pay the whole amount in lumber, the only staple of our country.”5 In other words Machias fully supported the Massachusetts and American movements against the British, but desperately needed relief from the hard times it had fallen on. The date of this appeal clearly suggests that Machias was well aware of the opening of hostilities. Ichabod Jones Ichabod Jones was a merchant, trader, and interested party to the prosperity of Machias. 5 Force, Series 4, 2:708-709 Comment on this or any page at our ©awiatsea.com-posted November 2020 --2-- He was part owner of a saw mill there and a sometime resident of the place. He also was a resident of Boston. Jones’s vessels brought supplies to Machias and exported cargoes of lumber. Ichabod was not a Loyalist but he was put in some peculiar circumstances by the imposition of the Boston Port Bill. In April 1774 Ichabod came to Machias with his wife and daughter. Because of the impending troubles with the Boston Port Bill he remained there until the spring of 1775. Jones had two vessels in the port, the Unity , commanded by himself, and the Polly , commanded by Nathaniel Horton. About May 1775 Jones’s vessels departed Machias with cargoes of lumber, bound for Salem. Jones had ordered Horton to go to Cape Ann or Salem to sell the lumber. If there was no market there he was to proceed to Connecticut. When he arrived at Salem Horton found the country unsettled because of the outbreak of fighting. The inhabitants of Boston were reported to be in distress. Horton’s family was in Boston and he proceeded there despite his orders. At Boston Horton also found Jones, who had gone there for much the same reasons as Horton. 6 Jones wanted to remove his household goods from Boston, as well as the goods and families to two relatives. Yet it was impossible to get permission to leave Boston without approaching the British Army and the British Navy. Jones had no doubt sold his lumber by now, in Boston, to the British. This tended to establish his bona fides when he approached General Gage with a plan: Jones proposed to Gage that, if Gage would allow him to export provisions to Machias, Jones would obtain a cargo of lumber and return to Boston with it. Jones had his two sloops, the 90-ton Polly (Nathaniel Horton) and the 80-ton Unity , which he commanded himself. 7 It seems that Jones contemplated taking three other smaller craft with him. If Jones was in Boston in early May these developments would have been done very quickly. Gage seemed to think the plan was possible and sent Jones to see Admiral Graves. Gage sent Jones to Vice Admiral Samuel Graves, whose permission was necessary before any vessels could sail from Boston. Graves seemed to be in favor of the attempt. He issued Jones a certificate stating that anyone bringing in provisions, lumber, fuel, wheat, oats, or other grains, hay and straw, would not be molested, and would be allowed to depart with their vessel. 8 It is 6 Drisco, Narrative , 28, 29 7 The tonnages are from the libels, filed 29 August 1776. The Polly was the larger sloop it will be noted. The New- England Chronicle []Boston , August 29, 1776. It is possible that the Unity was commanded by Job Harris. See Drisco, Narrative , 71-73, which reprints a letter from Joseph Wheaton to Gideon O’Brien, dated 23 April 1818. 8 NDAR, “Vice Admiral Samuel Graves to General Thomas Gage,” 1:538 Comment on this or any page at our ©awiatsea.com-posted November 2020 --3-- Contemporary chart by Des Barres of the area of Machias Bay. Comment on this or any page at our ©awiatsea.com-posted November 2020 --4-- likely that Jones had already loaded his household furniture and more supplies and provisions that the British knew about. Ichabod Jones was a merchant, trader, and interested party to the prosperity of Machias. He was part owner of a saw mill there and a sometime resident of the place. He also was a resident of Boston. Jones’s vessels brought supplies to Machias and exported cargoes of lumber. Ichabod was not a Loyalist but he was put in some peculiar circumstances by the imposition of the Boston Port Bill. In April 1774 Ichabod came to Machias with his wife and daughter. Because of the impending troubles with the Boston Port Bill he remained there until the spring of 1775. Jones had two vessels in the port, the Unity , commanded by himself, and the Polly , commanded by Nathaniel Horton. About May 1775 Jones’s vessels departed Machias with cargoes of lumber, bound for Salem.