Maine,
This most easterly State in the
Union was admitted in 1820.
Its shores were first visited by Europeans under
Bartholomew Gosnold (1602) and
Martin Pring (1603), though it is possible they were seen by
Cabot (1498) and Verrazano (1524). The
French, under
De Monts, wintered near the site of
Calais, on the
St. Croix (1604-5), and took possession of the Sagadahock, or
Kennebec, River.
Captain Weymouth was there in 1605, and kidnapped some of the natives; and in 1607 the Plymouth Company sent emigrants to settle there, but they did
not remain long.
A French mission established at
Mount Desert was broken up by
Samuel Argall (q. v.) in 1613, and the next year
Captain Smith, landing first at
Monhegan Island, explored the coast of
Maine.
The whole region of
Maine, and far southward, westward and eastward, was included in the charter of the Plymouth Company, and in 1621 the company, having granted the country east of the
St. Croix to
Sir William Alexander (q. v.), established that river as the eastern boundary of
Maine.
Monhegan Island was first settled (1622) and next
Saco (1623); and in 1629 the Plymouth Company, perceiving its own dissolution to be inevitable, parcelled out the territory in small grants.
In the course of three years the whole coast had been thus disposed of as far east as the
Penobscot River.
East of that river was claimed by the
French, and was a subject of dispute for a long time.
When the Plymouth Company dissolved (1635) and divided the
American territory,
Sir Ferdinando Gorges took the whole region between the
Piscataqua and
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the
Kennebee, and received a formal charter for it from Charles I. in 1639, when the region was called the province of
Maine, in compliment to the
Queen, who owned the province of
Maine in
France.
In 1636
Gorges sent over his nephew,
William Gorges, as governor of his domain, and he established his government at
Saco, where, indeed, there had been an
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The old jail at York. |
organized government since 1623, when
Robert Gorges was governor under the Plymouth Company.
In 1639 Sir Ferdinando was appointed governor-general of
New England, and his son
Thomas was sent as lieutenant to administer the laws in 1640.
He established himself at
Agamenticus (now
York), when, in 1642, the city called Gorgeana was incorporated.
There the first representative government in
Maine was established (1640). On the death of Sir Ferdinando (1647) the province of
Maine descended to his heirs.
and was placed under four jurisdictions.
Massachusetts, fearing this sort of dismemberment of the colony might cause the fragments to fall into the hands of the
French, made claim to the territory under its charter.
Many of the people of
Maine preferred to be under the jurisdiction of
Massachusetts, and in 1652 a large number of the freeholders in five towns took the oath of allegiance to the
Bay State.
The latter province then assumed supreme rule in
Maine, and continued it until the restoration of the Stuarts (1660), when Charles II., on the petition of the heirs of
Gorges, sent over a commission to re-establish the authority of the grantees.
Massachusetts. after long resistance, purchased the interests (1677) of the claimants for £12,000 sterling.
In 1674 the
Dutch conquered the territory eastward from the
Penobscot, including that of
Acadia and
Nova Scotia;
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77]
and in 1676
Cornelius Steenwyck was appointed governor of the conquered territory by the Dutch West India Company.
Settlers from
Boston soon afterwards expelled the
Dutch.
Meanwhile the horrors of King Philip's War had extended to that region, and in the space of three months 100 persons were murdered.
Then came disputes arising out of the claims
of the
Duke of
York (to whom Charles II.
had given New Netherland) to the country between the
Kennebec and
St. Croix rivers, which in 1683 had been constituted
Cornwall county, of the province of New York, over which Sir
Edmund Andros (q. v.) was made governor.
Massachusetts, however, continued to hold possession of the whole province of
Maine, excepting at Sagadahock and
Pemaquid.
But when the duke became king (see
James II.) the charter of
Massachusetts was forfeited, and
Andros ruled
Maine with cruelty.
The Revolution of 1688 restored the former political status of
Massachusetts, and thenceforth the history of the province of
Maine is identified with that of
Massachusetts.
It remained a part of that province until March 15, 1820, when it was admitted into the
Union as the twenty-third State.
In 1890 the population was 661,086; in 1900, 694,466.
During the
Revolutionary War Maine was very little disturbed, but during that of 1812 it suffered much.
The
British held possession of a part of the country, but their rule was comparatively mild
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78]
after they gained a foothold.
For more than half a century the governments of the
United States and
Great Britain were involved in a controversy concerning the eastern boundary, which the treaty of 1783 did not accurately define.
The dispute was finally settled by treaty in 1842, each party making concessions.
Maine was twice invaded by Confederates during the
Civil War. On the night of June 29, 1863; the officers and crew of a Confederate privateer entered the harbor of
Portland, captured the revenue-cutter
Caleb Cushing, and fled to sea with her, sharply pursued by two steamers manned by armed volunteers.
Finding they could not escape with the cutter, they blew her up, and, taking to their boats, were soon made prisoners.
At mid-day on July 18, 1864, some Confederates came from
St. John, N. B., and entered
Calais to rob the bank there.
Having been forewarned by the
American consul at
St. John, the authorities were prepared, arrested three of the party, and frightened the remainder away.
During the
Civil War Maine contributed its full share of men and supplies in support of the government.
In 1872 a Swedish colony was planted on the
Aroostook, at a place called New Sweden, where, in one year, about 600 Swedes, aided by the
State, had settled upon 20,000 acres of land.
They have their own municipal organization and schools, in which one of the chief studies is the
English language.
See
United States, Maine, in vol.
IX.
governors. (Prior to 1820
Maine was a part of
Massachusetts.)
