Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

Maine.

First Englishman known to have conducted an expedition to the shores of Maine, then “Norumbega,” was John Walker, in the service of Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who reached the Penobscot River......1580

Speedwell and Discoverer, from Bristol, England, commanded by Martin Pring, enter Penobscot Bay and the mouth of a river, probably the Saco......June 7, 1603

Henry IV. of France grants to Pierre de Gast Sieur de Monts all the territory between lat. 40° and 46° N., and appoints him governor of the country, which is called Acadia......Nov. 8, 1603

De Monts, accompanied by M. de Poutrincourt, and Samuel Champlain, visits his patent, and discovers Passamaquoddy Bay and the Schoodic or St. Croix River......May, 1604

Later in the season De Monts erects a fort on St. Croix Island, and spends the winter there......1604

De Monts enters Penobscot Bay, erects a cross at Kennebec, and takes possession in the name of the King. He also visits Casco Bay, Saco River, and Cape Cod......May, 1605

George Weymouth, sent out by the Earl of Southampton, anchors at Monhegan Island, May 17, 1605; St. George's Island, May 19, and Penobscot Bay, June 12. After pleasant intercourse with natives, he seizes and carries away five of them......1605

Colonies of Virginia and Plymouth incorporated with a grant of land between 34° and 45°, including all islands within 100 miles of the coast, the permission given the Plymouth colony to begin a plantation anywhere above lat. 38°......April 10, 1606

Lord John Popham, chief-justice of [369] England, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, fit out two ships and 100 emigrants, under George Popham and Raleigh Gilbert, which land at Stage Island......Aug. 11, 1607

Finding Stage Island too small, they establish a colony and “Popham's Fort” on the west bank of the Sagadahoc River......1607

Discouraged by the death of George Popham, and the burning of their storehouse, they return to England in the spring of......1608

Two French Jesuits, Biard and Masse, with several families, settle on Mount Desert Island......1609

Twenty-five French colonists land on Mount Desert Island and found a settlement called St. Saviour......March, 1613

[They were soon expelled by the English from Virginia under Captain Argal as trespassers on English territory.]

Capt. John Smith arrives at Monhegan from England. Building seven boats, he explores the coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod, and makes a map of it, to which Prince Charles assigned the name of New England......April, 1614

War, famine, and pestilence depopulate the Indian territories in Maine during the years......1615-18

Plymouth Company receives a new patent to lands between 40° and 48°, and in length “by the same breadth throughout the mainland from sea to sea” ......Nov. 3, 1620

Gorges and Capt. John Mason procure of the Plymouth council a patent of all the country between the Merrimac and Sagadahoc, from the Atlantic to the rivers Canada and Iroquois, which they called “The province of Laconia” ......Aug. 10, 1622

Permanent settlement made at Monhegan......1622

Permanent settlement at Saco......1623

Gorges procures a patent from Plymouth council to 24,000 acres on each side of the Agamenticus (York) River, and plants a colony......1624

New Plymouth colony erects a tradinghouse at Penobscot; the first English establishment of the kind in these waters......1626

Abraham Shurte commissioned by Giles Elbridge and Robert Aldsworth to purchase Monhegan Island; buys it for £ 50. It is added to the Pemaquid plantation, over which Shurte acted as agent and chief magistrate for thirty years......1626

Eight patents granted by Plymouth council, covering the seaboard from the Piscataqua to the Penobscot, except the “territory of Sagadahoc” below the Damariscotta. Among these were the “Kennebec,” “Lygonia,” or plough patent, with settlement on Casco Bay, the “Waldo patent,” and “Pemaquid” ......1630-31

A French vessel visits the New Plymouth trading-house at Penobscot, and carries off booty valued at £ 500, and within three years the English abandon it to the French......June, 1632

Crew of sixteen Indian traders, under Dixy Bull, turn pirates, attack the fort at Pemaquid, and menace the coast until the next summer, when they are beaten off......1632

Trading-house established by the English at Machias, which next year was seized by Claude de la Tour, the French commander at Port Royal......1633

Plymouth council surrender their charter, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges appointed governor-general over the whole of New England......April 25, 1635

M. d'aulney de Charnisy, from the Acadian country, takes possession of the trading-house at Biguyduce (Penobscot) for France......1635

Gorges, empowered by the Plymouth council, April 22, 1635, sends over his son William as governor of the territory between Piscataqua and Sagadahoc, called New Somerstshire, who organizes the first government and opens the first court within the present State of Maine......March 28, 1636

Gorges obtains from Charles I. a provincial charter to land between Piscataqua and Sagadahoc and Kennebec rivers, extending 120 miles north and south, which was incorporated and named “The province and county of Maine” ......April 3, 1639

Thomas Purchase, first settler at Pejepscot, on the Androscoggin, assigns to Governor Winthrop, of Massachusetts, “all the tract of Pejepscot, on both sides of the river, 4 miles square towards the sea” ......Aug. 22, 1639

Thomas Gorges appointed deputy-governor of the province of Maine......March 10, 1640 [370]

First general court under the charter opened at Saco......June 25, 1640

Gorges founds in Agamenticus a city of 21 square miles, which he calls Gorgeana......March 1, 1642

Alexander Rigby purchases the abandoned “Plough patent, or Lybonia,” and commissions George Cleaves deputy president, who opens a court at Saco styled “The General Assembly of the province of Lygonia,” which extended from Cape Porpoise to Casco......April, 1643

Richard Vines elected deputy-governor of the province of Maine......1644

Commissioners appointed for the purpose decide that the province of Lygonia does not belong to the province of Maine, as the latter contended, and the Kennebec River is assigned as the boundary between the two provinces......March, 1646

Court of province of Maine convenes at Wells, at mouth of the Kennebec River, and Edward Godfrey elected governor of the province......1646

Massachusetts, in 1651, laying claim by her charter to all lands south of a line drawn eastward from a point 3 miles north of the source of the river Merrimac, found this point by survey to lie in lat. 43° 43′ 12″, with its eastern point on Upper Clapboard Island, in Casco Bay, and confirms it by assumption of jurisdiction......Oct. 23, 1652

Isle of Shoals, and all territory north of Piscataqua belonging to Massachusetts, erected into county of Yorkshire......1652

Kittery, incorporated in 1647, and Agamenticus made into the town of York......1652

General court of elections at Boston admits for the first time two representatives from Maine: John Wincoln, of Kittery, and Edward Rishworth, of York......May, 1653

Wells, Saco, and Cape Porpoise declared towns......1653

English, under Major Sedgwick subdue Penobscot and Port Royal, 1654, and the whole Acadian province is confirmed to the English, who hold it for thirteen years......1655

Towns of Scarborough and Falmouth erected (see 1786)......1658

Quakers hold their first meeting in Maine, at Newichawannock, or Piscataqua......December, 1662

Ferdinando Gorges, grandson of the original proprietor, obtains from the King an order to the governor and council of Massachusetts to restore his province in Maine......Jan. 11, 1664

A part of the grant of the King of England to the Duke of York includes the territory between the St. Croix and Pemaquid and northward, variously called the “Sagadahoc Territory,” “New Castle,” and the “County of Cornwall” ......March 12, 1664

King's commissioners establish a form of provisional government in the province of Maine......June 23, 1665

By the treaty of Breda the English surrender Nova Scotia to France, which also claims the province east of the Penobscot......July 31, 1667

Four commissioners from Massachusetts hold a convention in York, commanding the people of the province of Maine in his Majesty's name to yield again all obedience to the colony, doing this at the request of prominent citizens in the province......July, 1668

New survey of the Massachusetts boundary to the north having been made by George Mountjoy, and the line fixed at lat. 43° 49′ 12″, its eastern terminus on White Head Island in Penobscot Bay, Massachusetts appoints four commissioners, who open a court at Pemaquid and proceed to organize the additional territory......May, 1674

Duke of York takes a new patent from the King, and commissions Sir Edmund Andros governor of both New York and Sagadahoc......June 22, 1674

Indian depredations and massacres in King Philip's War begin, Sept. 12; attack Saco, Sept. 18, and burn Scarborough......Sept. 20, 1675

King by council confirms the decision of a commission which had been appointed and reported that “the right of soil in New Hampshire and Maine probably belonged not to Massachusetts colony, but to the terre-tenants” ......1676

For the second time (the first in 1674) the Dutch capture the French fortification at Penobscot, but are soon driven out by the English......1676

Indians attack Casco, burn Arrowsick and Pemaquid, and attack Jewel's Island......August-September, 1676 [371]

Indians destroy the settlement at Cape Neddock; forty persons slain or captured......Sept. 25, 1676

One hundred and twenty Indians capture the fort and part of its garrison at Black Point......Aug. 14, 1676

Massachusetts employs John Usher, a Boston trader then in England, to negotiate the purchase of the province of Maine, who concluded a bargain, took an assignment, and gave Georges £ 1,250; original indenture bears date......May 6, 1676

Indian hostilities continue throughout 1677; affair at Mare Point, Feb. 18; Pemaquid, Feb. 26. Indians attack Wells several times; again attack Black Point, May 16-18, and ambush a party of ninety men near that point, killing sixty......June 29, 1677

Sir Edmund Andros, fearing French aggression in the Duke's Sagadahoc province, sends a force from New York to Pemaquid to establish a fort and custom-house......June, 1677

Peace made with the Indians upon the Androscoggin and Kennebec, at Casco, by a commission from the government of Massachusetts......April 12, 1678

Thomas Danforth chosen president of Maine by the governor and board of colony assistants of Massachusetts......1680

Baptists make their first appearance in Maine in 1681; William Screven, their leader, organizes a church, but the members are obliged to remove to South Carolina to avoid persecution......1683

Charter of Massachusetts colony adjudged forfeited, and liberties of the colonies seized by the crown; Colonel Kirke appointed governor of Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Hampshire, and Maine; Charles II. dying before Kirke could embark, James II. did not reappoint him......June 18, 1684

Charter being vacated, various purchases were made from the Indians; the most important, known as the “Pejepscot purchase,” was made by Richard Wharton, and covered lands “lying between Cape Small-point and Maquoit, thence northward on the west side of the Androscoggin, 4 miles in width to the ‘Upper falls,’ and 5 miles on the other side of the river down to Merry-meeting bay” ......July 7, 1684

Treaty made by Maine and New Hampshire with four tribes of Indians......Sept. 8, 1685

Joseph Dudley, a native of Massachusetts, graduate of Harvard in 1665, made by James II. president of Maine......May, 1686

Sir Edmund Andros arrives at Boston to supersede Dudley as president of the colonies......Dec. 20, 1686

Andros commissioned captain-general and vice-admiral over the whole of New England, New York, and the Jerseys......March, 1688

Andros seizes upon Penobscot, and sacks house and fort of Baron de St. Castin, aiding to precipitate an Indian war......April, 1688

First outbreak of King William's War at the new settlement of North Yarmouth on Royals River. Indians surprise and break up the settlement, Aug. 13. They attack and burn New Dartmouth (New Castle), and destroy the fort and break up the settlement on the Sheepscot River......Sept. 5-6, 1688

Governor Andros using unwise measures in opposing Indians, arouses the people, who restore Danforth to the office of provincial president, appoint a council for the safety of the people, and resume the government according to charter rights......April 18, 1689

Garrison at Pemaquid attacked by Indians and forced to surrender......Aug. 2, 1689

Maj. Benjamin Church, with 600 men raised by Massachusetts, proceeds to the Kennebec, and, ranging along the coasts, intimidates the Indians; leaving sixty soldiers at Fort Loyal, he returns with the rest to Massachusetts......1689

Newichawannock (now Salmon Falls), attacked by French and Indians under Sieur Artel, and fifty-four settlers captured and the settlement burned......March 18, 1690

Five hundred French and Indians under Castin attack Fort Loyal at Falmouth; the people abandon the village and retire to the garrison, May 16, which capitulates on the 20th, when the French, after burning the town, retire to Quebec with 100 prisoners......May, 1690

Sir William Phipps leaves Boston with five vessels for Nova Scotia. He captures [372] Port Royal, and takes possession of the whole country and coast to Penobscot......May, 1690

Three hundred men under Major Church are again sent from Massachusetts, Sept. 2, to reduce Indians in the province. He attacks them at Pejepscot Fort on the Androscoggin, freeing some English captives; has an engagement with them at Purpooduck Sept. 21, and returns home leaving 100 men as garrison at Wells......September, 1690

Five months truce signed at Sagadahoc by commissioners from Massachusetts and the Indians, who agree to surrender all prisoners and to make a lasting peace at Wells the following May......Nov. 29, 1690

Indians failing to meet President Danforth as agreed at Wells on May 1, he returns to York and sends a reinforcement to Wells. Shortly after their arrival they are attacked by 200 Indians, whom they repulse......June 9, 1691

Charter of William and Mary, or the Provincial charter, passes the seals and receives royal sanction, and the province of Maine is united with the royal province of Massachusetts Bay......Oct. 7, 1691

Two hundred Indians, led by Canadian French, assault York on the Agamenticus River. The inhabitants find shelter in the garrisoned houses and repulse the enemy, who retire after burning the town and killing and capturing about half of the people......Feb. 5, 1692

Eight representatives from Maine appear in the Massachusetts House of Representatives at its first session......June 8, 1692

Five hundred French and Indians under Burneffe attack Wells, defended by a small garrison and two sloops, which had just arrived in the harbor bringing supplies and ammunition; repulsed after a siege of forty-eight hours......June 10, 1692

Fort built at Pemaquid......August, 1692

Indians negotiate a treaty of peace with the English......Aug. 11, 1693

French and Indians under Iberville, Villebon, and Castin, capture the fort at Pamaquid......July 15, 1696

Eastern Sagadahoc claimed by the French as part of Nova Scotia under the treaty of Ryswick......Sept. 11, 1697

Treaty of Aug. 11, 1693, signed and ratified with additional articles at Mare Point (now in Brunswick) between the whites and Indians......Jan. 7, 1699

Indians under French leaders attack Wells, Cape Porpoise, Saco, Scarborough, Casco, Spurwink, and Purpooduck; the last two entirely destroyed. Thus opened the third Indian war, known as Queen Anne's War......Aug. 10, 1703

Enemy destroy Black Point, attack York and Berwick; legislatures of Massachusetts and New Hampshire offer £ 20 for every Indian prisoner under ten years of age, and £ 40 for every one older, or for his scalp......September-October, 1703

Colonel Church leads an expedition against the enemy in the east, visits Penobscot Bay, and proceeds as far as the Bay of Fundy. He returns, having destroyed all the settlements in the vicinity of Port Royal, and taken 106 prisoners and a large amount of plunder with the loss of only six men......1704

Francis Nicholson, late lieutenant-governor of Virginia, arrives at Boston, July 15, with his fleet. He sails Sept. 18, reaches Port Royal Sept. 24, lands his forces, and opens three batteries Oct. 1, and Subercase, the governor, capitulates the next day, and Nicholson names the place Annapolis Royal......Oct. 2, 17 10

By treaty of Utrecht, “all Nova Scotia, Annapolis Royal, and all other things in these parts” belonging to France are ceded to Great Britain......March 30, 1713

Berwick incorporated out of the northern settlements of Kittery......June 9, 1713

Fort George erected on the west side of the Androscoggin, opposite the lower falls......1715

Parker's Island and Arrowsick made a town or municipal corporation by the name of Georgetown......June 13, 1716

Name of Saco changed to Biddeford......Nov. 18, 1718

First violence of the “Three years or Lovewell's War,” the fourth Indian war, was the taking of nine families on Merrymeeting Bay by sixty Indians in canoes, June 13; they attack the fort at St. George's River and burn Brunswick......June-July, 1722

One thousand men raised by the general court to carry on the Indian war......Aug. 8, 1722

Capt. Josiah Winslow and sixteen men, in two boats on the St. George's River, [373] ambushed and surrounded by about 100 Indians in thirty canoes, and all killed......May 1, 1724

Father Sebastian Rasle, a Jesuit long located at the Indian village of Norridgewock on the Kennebec, is suspected by the English settlers of instigating the Indians against them; a party under Colonel Westbrook, sent to seize him in 1721, is unsuccessful, but a second party under Captain Moulton and Harmon, with 100 men each, succeed in putting him and about thirty Indian converts to death......Aug. 12, 1724

Capt. John Lovewell with thirty-three men is surprised by Indians at Pegwacket; a desperate battle ensues; the Indians are repulsed, but with a loss to the English of ten killed, including Captain Lovewell, fourteen wounded, and one missing......May 8, 1725

Treaty known as “Drummer's treaty,” signed by four Indian delegates at Boston......Dec. 15, 1725

David Dunbar, an Irishman, obtains royal sanction to settle and govern the province of Sagadahoc......1729

Owing to the arbitrary acts of Dunbar he is removed from his office, April 4, 1733, by royal instruction, and Massachusetts resumes jurisdiction of Sagadahoc territory......Aug. 25, 1733

Brunswick incorporated......June 24, 1737

King in council fixes the line between Maine and New Hampshire to “pass through the entrance of Piscataqua Harbor and the middle of the river to the farthermost head of Salmon Falls River, thence north 2°; west, true course, 120 miles” ......March 5, 1739

Rev. George Whitefield visits Maine and preaches at York, Wells, and Biddeford......1741

First attack of Indians (the fifth Indian war) upon St. George and Damariscotta (New Castle), July 19; the provincial government declares war against all the Eastern tribes, and offers bounties for Indian captives or scalps......Aug. 23, 1745

Indian skirmishes and depredations throughout the Sagadahoc territory during......1746

By May 1, 1747, the whole frontier from Wells to Topsham is infested with Indians, who make an attack on Pemaquid, May 26, and unsuccessful attacks on forts Frederick and St. George......September, 1747

Indian hostilities in Maine brought to an end by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, signed......Oct. 7, 1748

A treaty based on Drummer's treaty of 1725 made with Indians at Falmouth by commission from Massachusetts......Oct. 16, 1749

Indians attack Fort Richmond, on the Kennebec, but, hearing that the garrison had been reinforced, they retire, but attack Dresden, Swain Island, Wiscasset, Sheepscot, and Georgetown, and withdraw with twenty or thirty captives......Sept. 11-25, 1750

Commissioners meet the Indians at St. George's Fort, Aug. 3, and proclaim a cessation of hostilities......Sept. 3, 1751

New Castle incorporated, the first of the towns in the territory of Sagadahoc......June 19, 1753

Fort Halifax, on the Kennebec River below the Teconnet Falls; Fort Western, at Augusta; and Fort Shirley, or Frankfort, in Dresden, all built during the year ......1754

In consequence of French and Indian depredations, war is declared on all the Indian tribes east of Piscataqua, and bounties offered for prisoners and scalps......June 11, 1755

Acadians or French Neutrals dwelling principally about Annapolis, Grand Pre, and vicinity are forcibly removed by order of lieutenant-governor Lawrence and the provisional council, and dispersed among the American colonies from Maine to Georgia......September, 1755

Skirmishes with the Indians at Brunswick, New Gloucester, Windham, where the Indian chief Poland is killed, and at Georgetown and Fort Halifax......1756

Possession is taken of the Penobscot country, and Fort Pownal built and garrisoned with 100 men under Jedediah Preble......July 28, 1759

Nauseag, a precinct of Georgetown, the birthplace of Sir William Phipps, first royal governor of the Massachusetts provinces, erected into a town by the name of Woolwich......Oct. 20, 1759

Pownalborough, embracing the present towns of Dresden, Wiscasset, Alna, and Swan Island, is incorporated......Feb. 13, 1760

Peace made with the remnant of the [374] Indian tribes in the vicinity of Fort Pownal......April 29, 1760

General court establishes the counties of Cumberland (that part of Maine between the Saco and Androscoggin) and Lincoln (that part east of the Androscoggin)......June 19, 1760

Mount Desert Island granted to Governor Barnard......1762

Town of Bristol, embracing the ancient Pemaquid, incorporated......June 18, 1765

Town of Hallowell, embracing Cushnoc (Augusta) and Winslow, including Waterville, incorporated......April 26, 1771

Pepperellborough, afterwards Saco, incorporated......June 9, 1772

Belfast incorporated; first town on the Penobscot......June 22, 1773

New Gloucester incorporated......March 8, 1774

County convention, thirty-nine delegates from nine towns in Cumberland county, held at Falmouth, at which meeting Sheriff William Tyng declared his avowal to obey the province law and not that of Parliament, and which advises “a firm and persevering opposition to every design, dark or open, framed to abridge our English liberties” ......Sept. 21, 1774

Captain Mowatt and two companions of the British sloop-of-war Canseau are made prisoners by fifty or sixty volunteers under Lieut.-Col. Samuel Thompson, while ashore at Falmouth. The sailing-master of the Canseau excites the people by threatening to burn the town if Mowatt is not restored; being released on parole, Mowatt weighs anchor, sails for Portsmouth......May 9, 1775

An English schooner, the Margranetto, loading at Machias, is seized by a party of volunteers under Benjamin Foster and Jeremiah O'Brien; after capturing this prize O'Brien sails into the Bay of Fundy, and on his return captures a schooner and tender which were in search of the Margranetto......June, 1775

Col. Benedict Arnold, with a force of about 1,100 men, passes up the Kennebec to attack Quebec......September, 1775

Captain Mowatt arrives in Falmouth (now Portland) with four armed vessels, Oct. 17, with orders from Admiral Graves to destroy the town, which he burns......Oct. 18, 1775

Warren incorporated; first town on St. George River......Nov. 7, 1776

Fryeburg, scene of Lovewell's fight in 1725, incorporated......Jan. 11, 1777

Counties of York, Cumberland, and Lincoln, by vote of Congress, erected into the District of Maine ......1778

British General McLane and 900 troops take possession of the Peninsula of Major Biguyduce (now Castine), begin a fort, and station three sloops-of-war under Captain Mowatt......Jan. 12, 1779

Pittston, the fortieth and last town established by the general court under the royal charter, incorporated......Feb. 4, 1779

Expedition of nineteen armed vessels and twenty-four transports, under Gurdon Saltonstall, a Connecticut sea-captain, and 1,500 men from Massachusetts under General Lovell, arrive at Penobscot, July 25, for the purpose of dislodging the British; they remain inactive, however, until the arrival of five British ships from New York, which force the Americans to burn their vessels and disperse......Aug. 13, 1779

Six hundred troops raised to protect the Eastern Department, between Piscataqua and St. Croix, and command given to Gen. Peleg Wadsworth, with headquarters at Thomaston......1780

Bath incorporated, the first town established by the new government......Feb. 17, 1781

General Wadsworth captured at Thomaston and imprisoned at Castine, Feb. 18; escapes......June 18, 1781

Land office is opened at the seat of government, and State lands in the district of Maine are sold to soldiers and emigrants at $1 per acre on the navigable waters; elsewhere given, provided settlers clear sixteen acres in four years......1784

First issue of the Falmouth gazette and weekly Advertiser, the earliest newspaper established in Maine......Jan. 1, 1785

Mount Desert, confiscated from Governor Bernard, is reconfirmed in part to his son John and to French claimants......1785

Convention to consider the separation of the district from Massachusetts meets at Falmouth......Oct. 5, 1785

Convention appointed at the October meeting assembles at Falmouth and draws up a statement of particulars......Jan. 4, 1786

Massachusetts lands, 1,107,396 acres, [375] between Penobscot and St. Croix rivers, disposed of by lottery; a large portion purchased by William Bingham, of Philadelphia......March, 1786

Falmouth divided and the peninsula with several opposite islands incorporated and named Portland......July 4, 1786

Convention of thirty-one delegates meets at Portland and petitions the general court that the counties of York, Cumberland, and Lincoln be erected into a separate State, and suggests that the towns vote on the subject......Sept. 6, 1786

[Convention reassembling, Jan. 3, 1787, finds votes cast on separation 994, 645 being yeas; motion to present the petition to the legislature lost, but was presented the year following.]

General Court sets off from Lincoln county the new counties of Hancock, from Penobscot Bay to the head of Gouldsborough River, and Washington, east of Hancock......June 25, 1789

Bangor incorporated......Feb. 25, 1791

Last meeting of the Salem Presbytery, marking the decline of the Presbyterian Church founded at Londonderry, N. H., in 1719, is held at Gray......Sept. 14, 1791

Charter granted by the General Court for Bowdoin College in Brunswick......June 24, 1794

Augusta (the ancient Cushnoc) incorporated under the name of Harrington, Feb. 20, 1790; changed to Augusta......June 9, 1796

At Providence, the commission appointed to determine and settle, according to the Jay treaty, what river was the St. Croix, made a report that the mouth of the river is in Passamaquoddy Bay, in lat. 45° 5′ 5″ N., and long. 67° 12′ 30″ W. of London, and 3° 54′ 15″ E. of Harvard College, and that the boundary of Maine was up this river and the Cheputnatecook to a marked stake called “the Monument” ......Oct. 25, 1798

Kennebec county erected from north part of Lincoln......Feb. 20, 1799

Northern parts of York and Cumberland counties erected into the county of Oxford......March 4, 1805

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow born in Portland......Feb. 27, 1807

County of Somerset established from the northerly part of Kennebec......March 1, 1809

Three commissioners appointed by governor and council to act on land titles in Lincoln county......Feb. 27, 1811

Boxer, a British brig of eighteen guns and 104 men, Captain Blyth, engages the American brig Enterprise, sixteen guns and 102 men, Captain Burrows, off Port land. In thirty-five minutes the Boxer surrenders and is taken to Portland by her captor (both commanders killed)......Sept. 5, 1813

Extent of “Pejepscot purchase” is declared according to the resolve of the General Court, March 8, 1787, that “Twenty-mile Falls,” 20 miles above Brunswick, are the “uppermost Great Falls” in the Androscoggin River referred to in the deed to Wharton, dated July 7, 1684; matter settled......1814

Fort Sullivan, in Eastport, under command of Maj. Perley Putnam, surrenders to a British force from Halifax......July 11, 1814

Fort at Castine destroyed by its garrison on the approach of a British fleet from Halifax......Sept. 1, 1814

Frankfort delaying surrender, the British threaten vengeance against the place and sail for Castine......Sept. 1-7, 1814

British force under Sherwood and Griffiths land at Buck's Harbor, about 3 miles below Machias, and march against the fort, which the garrison desert and blow up......Sept. 12, 1814

British Maj.-Gen. Gerard Gosselin appointed to govern the province between Brunswick and Penobscot......1814

British sloop from Halifax, with a cargo invoiced at $40,000, on her passage to Castine is captured and carried into Camden......November, 1814

General court appoints a day of thanksgiving on news of peace and of the treaty of Ghent, Dec. 24, 1814......Feb. 22, 1815

British troops evacuate Castine......April 25, 1815

Between 10,000 and 15,000 inhabitants emigrate to Ohio......1815-16

County of Penobscot incorported (the ninth and last prior to the separation)......Sept. 15 1815

Meetings held in all towns and plantations of the district of Maine, and a vote taken on the question of separation from Massachusetts result in 10,393 yeas and 6,501 nays......May 20, 1816 [376]

First separation law takes effect, directing voters to meet in their towns on the first Monday of September to vote on the question, and send delegates to Brunswick the last Monday of September, who, if a majority of at least 5 to 4 favor separation, should form a constitution......June 20, 1816

Convention of 185 delegates convenes at Brunswick; vote shows 11,961 yeas to 10,347 nays; the attempt to seek admission as a State failing, the convention was dissolved......September, 1816

First meeting at St. Andrew's of joint commission, Thomas Barclay for Great Britain, Cornelius Van Ness for the United States, to determine the northeastern and northern boundary of Maine; no result......Sept. 23, 1816

President Monroe visits Maine on his tour of inspection of fortifications, etc.......1817

United States war-ship Alabama, eightyfour guns, 2,633 tons, commenced and left on the stocks at Kittery unfinished......1818

Agricultural Society of District of Maine incorporated......Feb. 16, 1818

Law of the United States, making every State a district in which vessels must enter and clear, proving a stumbling-block in the matter of the separation of Maine, is changed, and the eastern coast divided into two great districts......March 2, 1819

About seventy towns petition the legislature for separation, and bill passed granting it......June 19, 1819

Under separation act, after an election in July, and the proclamation of the governor, Aug. 24, a convention of 269 delegates at Portland elects William King president, and appoints a committee of thirty-three to report a constitution......Oct. 11, 1819

Congress admits Maine into the Union; capital, Portland......March 3, 1820

Within seventeen months Governor King, commissioner under the Spanish treaty, resigns his office to Mr. Williamson, president of the Senate, who six months after, being elected to Congress, surrenders it to Mr. Ames, speaker of the House. The president of the next Senate was Mr. Rose, who acted as governor one day, until Governor Parris was inducted......1820-21

Waterville College (afterwards Colby University) established at Waterville 1820

Maine Historical Society incorporated......Feb. 5, 1822

Last meeting of commissioners to determine the northern and northeastern boundary of Maine held at New York. (They disagree, and subsequently the matter is referred to William, King of the Netherlands)......April 13, 1822

Wild lands in Maine surveyed and divided between Maine and Massachusetts......1826

Boundary north and east of Maine referred to William, King of the Netherlands, for settlement......Jan. 12, 1829

Governor Lincoln dying, Nathan Cutler, president of the Senate, succeeds him......Oct. 8, 1829

Cumberland and Oxford Canal, from Portland to Sebago Pond, completed......1829

William, King of the Netherlands, recommends as the boundary of Maine a line due north from the source of the St. Croix to the river St. John; thence in the middle of that river through the St. Francis to its source, and thence along the highlands southwesterly to “mile tree” and head of the Connecticut River......Jan. 10, 1831

Capital removed from Portland to Augusta; legislature meets......Jan. 4, 1832

Bangor and Orono Railroad, 10 miles in length, completed......1836

Rufus Mclntire, land agent for Maine, and two others, sent to drive trespassers from timber on disputed territory in the north of the State, are taken by an armed force as prisoners to Fredericton, but soon released by the governor of New Brunswick......Feb. 11, 1839

Lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick issues a proclamation regarding as an invasion of her Majesty's territory the attempt of a force of 200 armed men from Maine to drive off persons cutting timber on disputed territory......Feb. 13, 1839

Agreement made between the British government and the United States to prevent immediate hostilities between the troops of Maine and New Brunswick, that armed men should be withdrawn from the territory, and the trespassers be kept off by the combined efforts of both governments......Feb. 27, 1839

Act of Congress passed authorizing the President to resist any attempt of Great [377] Britain to enforce exclusive jurisdiction over the disputed territory in the north of Maine......March 3, 1839

Gen. Winfield Scott, sent to command on the Maine frontier, arranges a truce and joint occupancy of the disputed territory by both governments......March 21, 1839

Treaty concluded at Washington between Lord Ashburton, for Great Britain, and Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, for the United States, fixing the boundary of Maine on the north, freeing navigation of the St. John's River, confirming land in disputed territory to those in possession, and allowing Maine and Massachusetts compensation for territory given up, to be paid by the United States......Aug. 9, 1842

Edward Kavanagh, acting governor in the place of Governor Fairfield, elected United States Senator......March 3, 1843

Act restricting sale of liquors......August, 1846

Nathan Clifford appointed Attorney-General......Dec. 23, 1846

Law enacted establishing a State board of education......1846

Death at Hallowell, of Nathan Read, inventor, the first man to apply for a patent before the patent law was enacted......Jan. 20, 1849

State insane hospital at Augusta burned. Twenty-seven inmates and one assistant perish in the flames......Dec. 4, 1850

“Maine law,” an act “to prohibit drinking-houses and tippling-shops,” passed in May, approved by the governor June 2, and enforced first at Bangor......July 4, 1851

Act abolishing the State board of education, the governor to appoint a school commissioner for each county......1852

Search and seizure act for the confiscation of liquors, passed......1853

James G. Blaine moves from Philadelphia to Augusta, and becomes editor of the Kennebec Journal......1853

Maine purchases for $362,500 the share of Massachusetts in wild lands in the State......1853

Act passed by legislature appointing a superintendent of common schools......April 17, 1854

Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad leased to the Grand Trunk Railway for 999 years......1855

Whole system of legislation on liquor repealed, and license law drafted by Phineas Barnes, of Portland, enacted......1856

Joseph H. Williams, governor, to succeed Hannibal Hamlin, who was elected United States Senator......Feb. 26, 1857

Nathan Clifford, justice of the Supreme Court......Jan. 28, 1858

Maine liquor law in all its parts reenacted......1858

Bill passed granting the proceeds of 1,000,000 acres of land and the claims of Maine on the government of the United States, for the completion of the railroad from Portland to Halifax......1861

Hannibal Hamlin inaugurated Vice-President of the United States......March, 4, 1861

Extra three days session of the legislature, and provision made for ten regiments of volunteers for the Federal army, and a coast-guard if necessary......April 22, 1861

Office of the Democrat, a secession newspaper published in Bangor, entirely destroyed by a mob......Aug. 12, 1861

United States Secretary of State Seward permits passage of British troops across the State from Portland to Canada......1862

Officers and crew of the Confederate privateer Archer enter the harbor of Portland, capture the revenue cutter Caleb Cushing, and put to sea; being pursued, they take to their boats and blow up their prize, and are themselves captured......June 29, 1863

Foreign Emigrant Association of Maine incorporated, to which the State agrees to give $25 for every able-bodied foreign emigrant introduced into Maine by them......1864

William Pitt Fessenden, Secretary of the Treasury......July 1, 1864

A small party of Confederate raiders from St. John's, N. B., led by one Collins, of Mississippi, attempt the robbery of a bank in Calais; but, the authorities being forewarned by the American consul at St. John's, the attempt fails......July 18, 1864

Great fire in Portland, burning over an area 1 1/2 miles long by 1/4 of a mile wide; 1,500 buildings burned; loss between $10,000,000 and $15,000,000.....July 4, 1866 [378]

Legislature passes a stringent prohibitory liquor law, and appoints a State constable to enforce its provisions......1867

State agricultural college established at Orono......1868

Constabulary law of 1867 repealed......1868

James G. Blaine, speaker House of Representatives......1869

State temperance convention assembles at Portland and nominates Hon. N. C. Hitchborn for governor......June 29, 1869

Swedish colony founded in Aroostook county by fifty-one immigrants brought from Gothenburg by the board of commissioners of immigration, which arrive at “New Sweden” ......July 23, 1870

A bill to increase the stringency of the prohibitory liquor laws passes both Houses without opposition......1870

Liquor law amended so as to bring cider and wine made from fruits grown in the State within the prohibition......1872

State convention for the formation of a woman's suffrage association assembles at Augusta......February, 1873

Act passed providing for a State board of immigration, consisting of the governor, secretary of state, and land agent......1873

Woman's suffrage convention at Augusta resolves: “That we pledge ourselves never to cease the agitation we have begun until all unjust discriminations against women are swept away” ......Jan. 28, 1874

Compulsory education act passed by the legislature......1875

Death penalty in Maine abolished by law......1876

Senator Lot M. Morrill, Secretary of United States Treasury......June. 1876

Fifty-two Swedes in “New Sweden” are naturalized......1876

Marble statue of Gen. William King, first governor of Maine, presented to the United States government and placed in Statuary Hall, Washington, January, 1878

State Greenback Convention held at Lewiston, 782 delegates; Joseph W. Smith nominated for governor......June 5, 1878

September election: Selden Connor, Republican, 56,544; Joseph L. Smith, Greenback, 41,371; Alonzo Garcelon, Democrat, 28,218; no choice by people......Sept. 9, 1878

Garcelon chosen governor by legislature......Jan. 3, 1879

Vote for governor: Daniel F. Davis, Republican, 68,766; Garcelon, Democrat, 21,688; Smith, National or Greenback, 47,590......Sept. 8, 1879

Republican press claims the Senate by seven majority, the House by twenty-eight. In November great excitement is produced by the rumor that the governor and council would endeavor to count out the Republican majority and count in a Fusion (Democrat and National) majority. The sub-committee of the council make their report......Dec. 26, 1879

Legislature convenes, and seventy-eight Fusion members and two Republicans qualify. The Senate elects James D. Lamson (Fusion) president......Jan. 7, 1880

Commanders of all military organizations in the State are required to report to Major-General Chamberlain......Jan. 12, 1880

Republicans organize a legislature......Jan. 12, 1880

Governor Garcelon's office being vacant after Jan. 7, President of the Senate Lamson asks if Major-General Chamberlain will recognize him as governor. Chamberlain refers the question to the Supreme Court......Jan. 12, 1880

Supreme Court recognizes the Republican legislature. The Fusionists become demoralized, and Daniel Davis assumes the office of governor......Jan. 16, 1880

Gen. Harris M. Plaisted, Greenback, elected governor......Sept. 13, 1880

Act passed making women eligible to the office of supervisor of schools and superintending school committees......1881

United States Senator James G. Blaine appointed Secretary of State......1881

Act passed restoring the death penalty for murder......1883

Vote on amending the constitution, forever prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors, 70,783 for, 23,811 against......September, 1884

Convention of the People's party. held at Portland, nominate Presidential electors favoring Benjamin F. Butler......October, 1884

Act establishing a State board of health......1885

Acts abolishing capital punishment and establishing Arbor Day......1887

Sebastian S. Marble, president of the [379] Senate, succeeds Governor Bodwell, who dies......Dec. 15, 1887

Act passed forbidding manufacturing “trusts” and heating railroad cars by common stoves......1889

State convention of Union Labor party meets at Waterville, and nominates Isaac R. Clark, of Bangor, for governor......May 20, 1890

Legislature enacts an Australian ballot law......March 24, 1891

First Monday in September (Labor Day) made a legal holiday by legislature at session ending......April 3, 1891

Ex-Vice-President Hannibal Hamlin, born 1809, dies at Bangor......July 4, 1891

James G. Blaine, Secretary of State, resigns......June 4, 1892

James G. Blaine dies at Washington, D. C:, aged sixty-three years......Jan. 27, 1893

Neal Dow, “the father of prohibition,” dies at Portland......Oct. 2, 1897

Steamer Portland lost in a gale, 118 lives lost......Nov. 29, 1898

Nelson Dingley dies at Washington, D. C......Jan. 13, 1899

Twenty persons drowned by an accident at Bar Harbor......Aug. 6, 1899

Arthur Sewall, Democratic candidate for Vice-President in 1896, dies at Bath......Sept. 5, 1900

Maryland