The years 1718 and 1719 at Merrymeeting Bay

In a previous chapter the voyage of the ship Maccallum" was described, and it was made evi dent that her passengers from Londonderry settled on lands at the Eastward. These lands skirted a large body of water, known as Merrymeeting Bay, which is formed by the Androscoggin River enter ing the Kennebec. Southack s map, covering this region, bears the inscription, "An actual survey of the sea coast from New York to the I. Cape Briton . . . by Capt. Cyprian Southack. Printed and sold by Wm. Herbert, London Bridge & Rob4 Sayer . . . Fleet Street. " On the land between Brunswick and Maquoit Bay there is an inscription which states that in the years 1718, 1719 and 1720 five hundred emigrants from Ireland had come to settle ; the inscription reads :

"Kennebeck River very Long strong Tydes with all its branches Trade mostly is as yet Lumber Fish small matter came from the Kingdom of Ireland with in three Year: 1720 five Hundred Inhabitants and made new Settlements for Farm ing and Lumber."

In the English Pilot, Part IV, London, 1737, the map described as "The Harbour of Casco Bay, By Cyprian Southicke," indicates a church and several houses between Maquoit Bay and the Androscoggin River. The words "Irish new settlement " show the character of the inhabitants.

By the depositions of David Dunning, Jane McFadden, and her son Andrew, and John McPhetre, we learn that some of the people who settled here in 1718 "removed from Ireland to Boston, from Boston down to Kennebec River and up Merrymeeting Bay to a place called Cathance."

A summary of these depositions follows :

David Dunning, gentleman, of Brunswick, deposed October 8, 1767, that on or about the year 1718 he came first to Boston, and in the same vessel with Andrew McFadden and his wife (now widow). Soon after they came down together in the same ves sel to the eastern country, and lived in Brunswick ever since 1718.

Jane McFadden of Georgetown, aged about eighty-two, deposed June 19, 1766, that she with her late husband, Andrew McFadden, lived in the town of Garvo [Garvagh], County Derry, on the Bann Water, Ireland, at a place called Summersett. About forty-six years ago they removed from Ire land to Boston, from Boston down to the Kennebec River and up Merrymeeting Bay to a place called Cathance Point.

Andrew McFadden of Georgetown, aged fiftythree, deposed June 22, 1768, that he was a son of the above Andrew and Jane. Daniel McFadden of Georgetown, aged forty-six, made a similar deposi tion. Other testimony shows that Andrew and Jane had a daughter between Andrew and Daniel, born on the Kennebec River. They christened her Summersett.

John McPhetre of Georgetown, aged above sixty, deposed June 22, 1768, that he knew Summersett place on the Bann Water, for he lived within about five miles of it.

Colonel David Dunning was the son of Andrew Dunning, who was born in 1664, and came with his wife, Susan Bond, to the lower Kennebec, known then as Georgetown in Maine. After a year Andrew settled at Maquoit in Brunswick. He was a black smith, and died January 16, 1736, aged 72 years. His children were James, Andrew, Eobert, William and David. He and Andrew McFadden evidently were able, thrifty settlers, not unlike those led by McGregor, and they also were from the Bann Valley.

But these were not the only early settlers on the Kennebec. Captain Eobert Temple came over to Boston with his family and servants in the autumn of 1717 to settle as a gentleman farmer. He visited Connecticut and also the lands of the Pejepscot Company about the Androscoggin Eiver in Maine. He much preferred, however, the lands on the east side of the Kennebec, opposite the mouth of the An droscoggin. Upon his return to Boston he was taken into the enterprise, and agreed to undertake the transportation of settlers from Ireland. Tempie engaged two large ships in 1718, and three more ships were chartered the next year. The Scotch Irish whom he brought over settled on the east bank of the Kennebec, between the present towns of Dres den and Woolwich. The land was called Cork. The names of some of his people were : William Mont gomery, - Caldwell, James Steel, David Steel, - McNut, James Eankin, William and James Burns or Barns. A few of the Temple colonists set tled in Topsham, opposite Brunswick, and several in Cathance, now part of Bowdoinham, on the Kenne bec, south of Dresden. Others, the larger part of the several hundred who came under Temple, went to New Hampshire and Pennsylvania to avoid the wrath of Father Easle and his Indians. Cork was destroyed soon after.

The ships must have brought immigrants rapidly, for Southack s map, published in London in 1720, states that already five hundred had arrived, or about one hundred families. The News-Letter for August 17-24, 1719, prints an item from Piscataqua dated August 21st, to the effect that Philip Bass had arrived .at the Kennebec Eiver from Londonderry with about two hundred passengers. Many of these must have been friends of those who came in the l Maccallum. We unfortunately have no record of the arrival of ships in 1718 and 1719 at the mouth of the Kennebec. But not all the settlers there sailed directly from Ireland; many came through the for ests or by sea from Falmouth, York, and Boston. Perhaps the Spear and Harper families of Bruns wick had associations farther south, since David Spear (from Coleraine) and James Harper, both of the Connecticut Valley, were early settled in and near Windsor.

The Eev. James Woodside had been preaching at Garvagh, in the Bann Valley, since 1700. Wheeler, in his history of Brunswick, 1 calls him a clergyman of the Church of England ; but there is more signifi cance in the fact that we find him mentioned in Killen s Congregations of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, as a Presbyterian minister at Garvagh. Wind and tide drove him into Massachusetts Bay, and he went with his #ock to Casco Bay and on to Brunswick, where they arrived in September, 1718. Possibly his sympathies were with the English rit ual ; this might have made him unwelcome to some of his Brunswick congregation and so given color to the tradition that he was an Episcopalian.

The first reference to religion at Brunswick appears to be a petition to the General Court from three Indians at Fort George, in October, 1717 ; and in response to their desire the Eev. Joseph Baxter was sent north from Medford to preach. In the summer of 1718 Mr. Woodside, with from twentyfive to forty families, reached Casco Bay from the Irish Londonderry, or from "Derry Lough." The company went from Falmouth over land or by water to Merrymeeting Bay, as described in the deposition of Jane McFadden. Woodside appears to have set tled down, temporarily at least, with his family at Falmouth. It is probable that the McGregor colony, with the Eev. Mr. Cornwall, had not yet arrived at Casco Bay, for they are known to have reached there in cold weather. Furthermore, Mr. Cornwall dined in Boston with Judge Sewall as late as October 16, 1718, and as he probably sailed with the rest of his party, the departure was no doubt as late as the end of October.

The settlers at Brunswick, having been without Mr. Baxter s ministrations for six months, voted in town meeting November 3, 1718, to call Mr. Woodside from Falmouth. The vote touches upon several details of interest, and it is given here: "Att a Leagual Town meeting in Brunswick Novmber 3d 1718, It was Voted That whereas the Proprietors of Sd Township in their paternal Care for our Spiritual Good, have by there Joynt Letter Sought to ye Rev erend Mr . James Woodside to be our Minister & in order there to proposed Conditions for his Settle ment on their part, Wee the Inhabitance of Bruns wick will Give Fourty pounds pr annum toward ye support of ye s d Mr. Woodside & a Sum in propor tion there to from this time untill May next (if he Come to us) & God in his providence Should Then part us.

"It was also at this meeting Voted That Mr Bax ters house on ye 6th Lott in Brunswick Be forthwith made habitable for ye s d Mr. Woodside. That ye Charges there of ye Transporting him & his famoly from Falmouth to Brunswick be paid Equally by us ye inhabitance of s d Brunswick & yl Capt Gyles is here by impowered to se ye Buisness effected. - Joseph Heath Town Clk"

In January, 1719, Cotton Mather wrote letters to the Scotch ministers at the Eastward to give them courage. Mr. Woodside certainly needed this en couragement, for matters went ill with him there. In May the town voted to continue Mr. Woodside s services for six months, "provided those of us who are Dissatisfied with his Conversation (as afore Said) Can by Treating with him as becomes Chris tians receive Such Sattisfaction from him as that they will heare him preach for ye Time afore s d ." Mr. Wheeler takes " Conversation " to mean charac ter. Possibly deportment or habits would come a little nearer, although in another place Wheeler says the trouble was that he was not puritanical enough. Mather, in 1716, writing to a friend in Scotland, spoke of the transplanted clergy as too often " of a disdainful carriage/ and of an "expression full of a levity not usual among or ministers." The town voted September 10, 1719, to pay Mr. Woodside to that date and to dismiss him. In 1721 the Eev. Isaac Taylor, an assistant to the Eev. Samuel Haliday at Ardstraw, County Tyrone, came over. He could not have remained long, for in 1729 he was at Ardstraw, and had conformed to the Church of England. In 1722 he lent money to the McFarlands, probably those who were later of Boothbay, to pay their pas sage across the Atlantic.

The Eev. James Woodside returned to Boston, and on January 25, 1720, Mather writes that "poor Mr. Woodside, after many and grievous calamities in this uneasy country, is this week taking ship for London. " He obtained credentials from the Eev. Cotton Mather, and a note of recommendation from the governor. Mather s letter reads :

"Boston, New England"
"Jan 14, 1720"
"Concerning the Eeverend Mr. James Woodside the Bearer hereof, we have been informed That ar riving with other good people to the Eastern parts of New England from the Northern parts of Ireland with ample recommendation [?] from the presbertery of Route1 in the year 1718 he had invitations to settle at several places, but chose a settlement at a New Town called Brunswick: Declaring that he had in his view the instruction of the Eastern Salvages (which he Chould have near unto him) in the primi tive and Reformed Christianity. In the progres sion [of] that Excellent service we have been in formed. "

Woodside s son, Captain William, remained in Brunswick, where he became prominent. Captain "Woodside had the ready wit and resource of his people. He once agreed to outrun a very fleet In dian if the savage would when defeated give him a fur robe. The Indian was delighted with the plan, since Woodside s corpulent figure was, known far and wide to be slow of movement. A great crowd gathered at the appointed time and place, and the trial began. The captain ran so awkwardly and perspired so freely that the entire company, includ ing his rival, broke into continual roars of laughter. The Indian remained near the captain to enjoy the fun, and so far forgot his part in the sport that the captain, with a final burst of speed, came home a winner before anyone recalled the fact that he was a competitor.

In 1723 the Rev. Mr. Woodside sent a very interesting petition to the king in council, which tells of the family misfortunes

"To the Kings most Excellent Majesty in Council The humble Memorial & Petition of James Woodside late Minister of the Gospel, at Brunswick, in New England.

"Sheweth That he with 40 Familys, consisting of above 160 Persons did in the Year 1718 embarque on a ship at Derry Lough in Ireland in Order to erect a Colony at Casco Bay, in Your Majestys Province of Main in New England.

"That being arrived they made a settlement at a Place called by the Indians Pegipscot, but by them Brunswick, within 4 miles from Fort George, where (after he had laid out a considerable sum upon a Garrison House, fortify d with Palisadoes, & two large Bastions, had also made great Improvements, & laid out considerably for the Benefit of that Infant Colony) the Inhabitants were surpriz d by the In dians who in the Month of July 1722 came down in great Numbers to murder Your Majesty s good Sub jects there.

"That upon this Surprize the Inhabitants, naked & destitute of Provisions run for shelter into your Pet.rs House (which is still defended by his sons) where they were kindly receivd, provided for, & protected from the rebel Indians.

"That the Said Indians being happily prevented from murdering Your Majesty's good Subjects (in Revenge to your Petr.) presently kill d all his Cattel, destroying all the Moveables, & Provisions they could come at, & as Your Petr had a very consider able Stock of Cattel he & his Family were great suf ferers thereby, as may appear by a Certificate of the Grovernour of that Province a Copy whereof is here unto annexed.

"Your Petr therefore most humbly begs that in Eegard to his great undertaking, his great Losses & sufferings, the Service done to the Publicke in sav ing the Lives of many of Your Majesty s Subjects, "the unshak[en] Loyalty & undaunted Courage of his Sons, who still defend the Sd Garrison. Your Maj esty in Councel will be pleas d to provide for him, his Wife & Daughter here or grant him the Post of Mr . Cummins, a Searcher of Ships in the Harbour of Boston N England, lately deceas d that so his Family, reduced to very low Circumstances may be resettled, & his losses repaired where they were sustain'd. & Your Petr shall ever pray &c.

"I do hereby certifie that the Rev.d Mr . Woodside went over from Ireland to New England with a con siderable Number of People, that he & they sate

down to plant in a Place they called Brunswick in the Eastern Parts of New England there he built a Garrison House, which was the Means of saving the Lives of many of his People in the late Insurrection of the Indians in July last. That his Generosity is taken Notice of by both Doctors Mathers & that the Indians cutt off all his Cattle, whereby he and his Family are great Sufferers

During these days of Indian warfare, pillage and reprisal, men were impressed for sentinel duty, and distributed in small groups at garrison houses throughout the frontier towns in Maine, which was then under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. One of the unpleasant experiences of young Scotch Irish men was to be met in the street by an officer and his attendants, and forced into military service. Many fell sick under the strain of such a life in the Maine woods, and through rough usage at the hands of officers. This ill-treatment fell heaviest upon the Irish, and particularly at the outset of the Indian troubles. A case is on record of a Scotch Irish im pressed soldier returning weak and crippled to the place of his enlistment with no attempt at conceal ment, and because he could not produce papers to show his discharge, he was whipped at the cart s tail, and kept in jail until the Sheriff was moved through pity to ask for his release. Not until one half the force at the front had disappeared through illness and desertion did the Governor take the matter in hand. A committee then visited the fron tier and brought back an unpleasant account of garrison life in such places as Brunswick.

With the coming of militant Indians the colonists fled, some to the New Hampshire Londonderry or to Worcester, and many to Pennsylvania, leaving few traces of their sojourn in Maine. William Willis, editor of Smith and Deane s Journals, has attempted to gather the names of these early settlers. The Eev. Everett S. Stackpole, a student of the subject, suggests the addition of those whose surnames ap pear between brackets :

[Andrew] McFadden
- Ward
- McGowen
[David] Given
[William?] Vincent
[Andrew] Dunning
[John?] Hamilton
[William] Simpson
- Johnston
[David Alexander and son]
[John?] Malcome
[William Alexander]
- McLellan
[James Wilson]
- Crawford
[James McFarland]
- Graves
[George Cunningham]
[Robert Lithgow]
[David Ross]
[John Welch]
[William Craigie]
[John Young]

The last four men Welch, Ross, Craigie and Young, witnessed a deposition at Brunswick September 4, 1718. If they were Scotch Irish they might have come in July or August, but it seems most natural to place them with John Barbour at York where Scotchmen had lived since Cromwell's wars in 1650. Possibly they did not have any con nection with the Scotch Irish movement.

At the outbreak of Dummer s war many Bruns wick settlers sailed for Boston, and suffered the customary formality of being warned out of town. Lists of these have the virtue of being well within the field of verity. The settlers thus recorded un doubtedly came from the Kennebec country or settle ments adjoining, and nearly all of these were Scotch Irish. The date at the left shows when the record of warning was reported to the selectmen in Boston.

July 25, 1719 :
Mary Banerlen, a widd wth 6 Children who came from Bronswick into this Town on yee 22th of July.

October 24, 1719 :
John Clark wth his wife & five children who came from Merrymeeting bay.

October 24, 1719 :
John Gray wth his wife & five Children
John Newel wth his wife & three Children
Robert Tark wth his wife & three Children who all came into this Town from Berwick in a sloop Thomas Bell mastr
James Dixwell & James Wallis who arrived here from ye Eastward
Susanna Gate who Sayes She came from the Eastwd

July 22, 1720:
Eliza Eylee from Arrowsack.

October 28, 1720:
Jean Hall & child from Piscattiqua.

January 27, 1721/22 :
Humphry Taylor Wife & Six Children from Smal point, warned Aug. 7th.
Jean Sper & three Children from the East ward, warned August 5th.
Mary Shertwell from Arowshick
John Miller from Misconges

July 28, 1722 from the Eastward viz.1
[the following who from their names, notably that of McFarland, evidently came from about Merrymeeting Bay.]
Jean Hunter with Two Children
Katherin Carter with & 3 Children
Jean Wilson with 4 Children
Sundry from the Eastward viz*
Andrew Macfaden wife & 6 Children
Isaac Hunter wife & 2 Children
Alexanr wife and 4 Children
James Johnson wife & 4 Children
John Nelson wife & 2 Children
Mathew Acheson wife & 2 Children
Andrew Eogers
Robert Eowland
Samuel forgeson
William Hambleton

November 6, 1722.
A List of Sundry Persons Brought from Brunswick, Topsham and Towns adjacent at the Eastward parts by Thomas Sanders, and warned to depart the Town of Boston, as the Law directs, August the 12th 1722.

Charles Stuart Susan Lithgoe
Hanna Stuart
Will Lithgoe
Hana Stuart
Jean Lithgoe
Sam11 Stuart
Susan Lithgoe
Henry Stuart
James Ross
Moses Harper
Jenet Ross
Mary Harper
Elizath Ross
Jenat Harper
Mary Ross
Robert Lithgoe
Isb11 Ross
John Ross
Mary Thorn
Thomas Thorn
Hugh Minsy [Menzies?]
Sarah Minsy
John Young
Katherine Young
Margaret Young
Mary Young
Easter Young
Sarah Young
James Harper
James Miller
Margaret Wadburn
Mary Wadburn
George Wadburn
David Evins
Willm Evins
Thomas Rogers
Elizath Rogers
Isabella Rogers
John Hamilton
John Hamilton
James Beverly
Agnus Beverly
James Beverly
Sam11 Beverly
Joseph Beverly
Mary Smith
John Smith
Aubia Smith
Mathew Smith
Robert Wallis
Martha Wallis
John Wallis
Anbah Wallis
Jonas Stanwood1
Sam11 Stanwood1
David Stanwood1
Mr Salter
Mary Salter
Thomas Salter
Mary Salter
Mr Swwanan & Maid
Mr Cary & wife
James Rodgers

April 26, 1723:
Daniel Hunter & His Wife James Savage His Wife & five Children- Irish people from Smal Point. Apr 10th .

October 28, 1723:
Tho. Hogg his wife & Two Children from Arowshick.

June 29, 1724:
Mary Thomas & one Child from St. Georges.

We may summarize the Merrymeeting Bay Scotch Irish settlers of 1718-1722 somewhat in this way, us ing Wheeler s list of early settlers, pages 865-874; the warnings above; and various facts found else where. Some names are no doubt English, but as yet they cannot safely be eliminated.

Merrymeeting Bay Scotch Irish Settlers, 1718-1722.

Matthew Acheson, wife and two children
- Alexander, wife and four children
David Alexander and son
William Alexander
Mary Banerlen, widow, and six children
James and William Barns or Burns
Agnes Beverly
James Beverly
Joseph Beverly
Samuel Beverly
- Calwell
Katherine Carter and three children
Cary and wife
John Clark, wife and five children
John Cochran
Selectman at Brunswick in 1719? "Ireland" in muster roll
William Craigie At Brunswick September 4, 1718
- Crawford
George Cunningham
James Dixwell
Andrew Dunning "Ireland" in muster roll
David Evans
John Evans
William Evans
Samuel Ferguson
Alexander and James Ferguson were at Kittery in 1711
Thomas Fleming
David Given or Giveen
John Graves
John Gray, wife and five children
Jean Hall and child
John Hamilton
Abel and Gabriel Hamilton at Berwick in 1711
Patrick Hamilton
Robert Hamilton
Robert Hamilton, Jr.
William Hamilton
William Handsard
James Harper " Ireland" in muster roll
Jenet Harper
Joseph Harper
Mary Harper
Moses Harper
William Harper
Thomas Hogg, wife and two children ; from Arrowsic, 1723
Adam Hunter
Daniel Hunter and wife "Irish people from Smal point," 1723
Isaac Hunter, wife and two children
James Hunter
Jean Hunter and two children
John Hunter
James Johnson, wife and four children
Jean Lithgow
Robert Lithgow
Susan Lithgow
William Lithgow
Andrew McFadden, wife and six children
James McFarland
McGowen
- McNut
John Malcom
James Miller
John Miller From Miscongus
Dr Hugh Minnery or Minory
Hugh Minsy
Sarah Minsy
Henry Mitchell "Ireland" in muster roll
Hugh Mitchell " Ireland " in muster roll
William Montgomery
John Nelson, wife and two children
John Newel, wife and three children
James Rankin
Elizabeth Riley From Arrowic
Andrew Rogers
Elizabeth Rogers
Isabella Rogers
James Rogers
Thomas Rogers
David Ross
Elizabeth Ross
Isabella Ross
James Ross
Jenet Ross
John Ross
Mary Ross
Robert Rowland
Mr Salter
Mary Salter T
homas Salter
James Savage, wife and five children "Irish people from Smal point, " 1723
Mary Shertwell From Arrowsic
William Simpson
Aubia Smith
James Smith
John Smith
Mary Smith
Matthew Smith
Jean Spear and three children
David and James Steel
James Stinson or Stevenson Ireland in muster roll
John Stinson
Robert Stinson
Charles Stuart
Hannah Stuart
Henry Stuart
Samuel Stuart
William Tailer
Robert Tark, wife and three children
Humphrey Taylor, wife and six children From Small Point
Mary Thomas and one child From Saint Georges, 1724
Peter Thompson
Mary Thorn
Thomas Thorn
James Thornton
Thomas Tregoweth
John Vincent
Anbah Wallis
Daniel Wallis
James Wallis
John Wallis
Martha Wallis
Robert Wallis -Ward
John Welch
James Wilson
Jean Wilson and four children
George Woodburn
Margaret Woodburn
Mary Woodburn
Samuel York
Easter Young
John Young
Katherine Young
Margaret Young
Mary Young
Sarah Young

These are the settlers who fulfilled the Rev. Cotton Mather s dream of a line of emigrant outposts. They suffered grievous hardships, but who shall say that they and theirs did not in the fulness of time reap a just reward of prosperity, influence and honor?

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