Radio Script #210
Little Talks On Common Things
January 17, 1954
Early this fall we told you that, from time to time this year, we should bring information about parts of Maine not restricted to the Kennebec Valley. So tonight we want to tell you about Sir Ferdlnando Gorges, who has been called the faTher of English colonization in America. The first incorporated city on the vast, uncharted continent of America was named Georgeana after th is man, and that p lace was what is now Me ine ‘s town of York.
Born in Somersetshi re In 1566, the second son of Edward Gorges, he was a captain in Queen Elizabeth’s service at the age of 22, was captured by the Spaniards, released after the fall of the Armada, and when only 26 years old was knighted on the battle field of Rouen by Elizabeth’s favorite, the Earl of Essex. His fortunes rose with those of the Queen’s fa\Orite and he received the highly remunerative post of commissioner of the port of Plyroouthand defender of its harbor.
A Ithough he had no part in Essex’ plot to seize the queen and form a new counci I, his close association with the Earl could not but make trouble for him. After the execution of Essex, he languished in Jai I untf I pardoned by Lord Ceel I in 1601. With the accession of James I he was restored to his old post at Plymouth.
Too many expeditions to the westward lands were being planned from Plymouth to leave Gorges ignorant of or uni nterested in what was going on. When George Weymouth returned from his exp lorati ons at the mouth of the Kennebec in 1603, he brought one of his Indian captives to Gorges’ household. From that day Gorges’ enthusiasm for colonization In America became his life-time obsess Ion. By 1606 he had secured a charter from King J ames for the P iymouth Com-pany, to the area in North Ameri ca north of the 38th para lie I. In 1607, under the sponsorship of <:orges and Sir John Popham, Chief Justice of Eng land, there set forth fran Eng land what became known as the Popham Co I ony • On an is I and near the mouth of the Kennebec they passed,’ In mise ry and despair, the winter of 1607-8, and returned In discouragement to England in the sprl ng.
Mean~hlle the rival London Company had succeeded in establishing its colony at Jamestown. The funds of investors flowed to the successful canpany, and Sir Ferdlnando could only bide his time. In 1614 Captain John Smith landed at Gorges’ port, Plymouth, England, with fish and furs p~cured along the Maine coast, and told fabulous tales of the natural resources and wealth of that region.
Two years later Gorges had raised funds to send an exp loring party to the mouth of the Saco River, to determine whether the climate of that region was, as the Virginians contended, too rigorous for settlement. The exploring party returned to England with a favorable report. The region of Maine could I ndeed support sett lers •
Theni’d n 1620 came an unexpected event. A Ii tt Ie band of re II gl OtIS zea lots sai I I ng under the rl va I London Company,’ I anded by chance, not in Vi rglnla, but on Cape Cod, and there estab I ishedthe first permanent sett lement north of the 38th parallel. The Plymouth Colony deprived Gorges of his long cherished dream.
Meanwhi Ie Gorges had not been Idle. On July 23, 1620 — five months before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock — he obtained from King James a new charter to liThe Council established at Plymouth in the County of D9von for planting, ruling and governing New England In America tl • To them was given in fee simple all the land in America beilfeen the 40th and 45th parallels. That charter was a complete monopoly. It gave Gorges and his associates the right “to estab Iish all manner of orders, laws, dl rections, forms and ceremonies of government necessary for governing the said colony and plantation, not only within the precincts of said colony, but also In going and coming upon the seas to and from the sal d colony.”
Readers of early American history are easi Iy confused by the two Plyrnouths. Because they sal led from Plymouth, England, they called thel r Cape Cod settlement New Plymouth, then simply Plymouth. But those Pilgrims had nothing to do with Gorges and his Plymouth Counci I of Plymouth, Eng I and. So what we had In 1620 was an off-shoot of the London Company with I ts settlement In Jamestown, having a band of religious settlers In New England which by charier the king had granted to thet r rival company headed by Ferdlnando Gorges.
It was under the Gorges charter that New England was first divided, and its settlements defi ned. In 1622 Gorges and John Mason manipul ated matters so that they rece i ved persona I grants of a II the region Iy I ng between the MerrImack and the Kennebec Ri vers. Mason took the terri tory between the Merri mack and the Plscataqua, whi Ie Gorges took that between the Piscataqua and the Kennebec. So In 1622 Ferd I nan do Gorges, who had never set foot In Ame rl ca, owned all the land In what Is now southern, western and central Maine.
Determined to settle his vast territory, Sir Ferdinando sent his namesake grandson, Ferdlnando Gorges, to personally take possession of the territory. With severa I friends and thei r fami lies’, the young man set up a settlement at what is now York. They called the settlement Agamentlcus. In 1639 Charles I granted a new charter, confirming Gorges’ rights in the Provl nceof Mel ne, gl vi ng 5 I r Ferdl nando a lmost the powers of an oriental potentate. He cou Id appol nt a II clergymen in the provi nce, grant pardons to offenders, levy taxes, raise and maintain troops, and execute martial law.
Irrmediately Gorges developed grandiose plans for his colony. As Lord Proprietor he bestowed upon Agamenticus a charier which gave the Inhabitants power to elect a mayor and eight aldermen, who In turn were authorized to make laws, erect fortifications, and hold clvi I and criminal courts. The record tel Is us that it was Gorges himself who, in quest of fame to I ast beyond his death, dec i ded to trans form the Ii tt Ie borough of Agamenti cus , with its two hundred inhabitants, into the city of Georgeana. Gorges defined the city as an area of some 21 square miles on the north side of the Piscataqua. It was to have a mayor, twelve aldermen, 24 common counci lmen, and a recorder, a II to be elected annua I Iy I n March by the freeholders. The new ci ty was to enjoy al I the honors and privileges held by the ancient city of Bristol in England.
Then the bad luck that kept hitting Ferdlnando Gorges struck again. His Georgeana never became a great city like Boston. Eng I and was plunged into CI vi I War, and Gorges’ fortunes p I unmated with those of the roya lists. The Crorrwe II government had no use for a man like Fer~Hnando. The Puritan Colony of Massachusetts Bay had long coveted the lands north of the Merrimack, and as the fortunes of the royal cause wavered, Massachusetts pushed its claims to the settlements lying in the Mason grant between the Merrimack and the Plscataqua. One settlement after another yielded. Dover and Exeter became subject to Massachusetts. But the broad waters of the Piscataqua were for some ti me an effecti ve barrier. But wi th the death of 5 i r Ferdi nando in 1647, even that tarrier could not hold back the Massachusetts designs.
I n the sunvner of 1649 the I nhab itants of We lis, Kittery and York met to discuss their status. They were confused and discouraged because they had recei ved no i nstructi ons since the proprietor’s death and expected to recei ve none so long as ci vi I war conti nued in Eng I and. 50 they rece i ved the commissioners sent by Massachusetts to acquaint the Maine settlements with the Bay Colony’s claims to the area. The Maine folk were not yet wll ling to come under Massachusetts Jurisdiction. Matters dragged along until NoverrDer, 1652, when Massachusetts sent commissioners, accompanied by an arrted force, to Georgeana, compe lied the i nhab itants to take the oath of a Ilegl ance to Massachusetts and thereby give up thei r independence. The city of Georgeana disappeared forever, and in its place came the town of York.
Though dSfeated at the last, though dying without ever having seen his beloved province, Ferdinando Gorges did more than any other man to start settlements In what is now the state of Maine. In spite of many disappointments and complete reversals of fortune, he remained steadfast in his purpose to colonize his province for his country and his king.
A hundred years ago all sorts of little periodicals were published in Maine. Some of them lasted several years, others for only two or three issues.
One of those longer I ived strange pub lications was called the “Portland Pleasure Boat”, issued weekly. Its Issue for October 17, 1860 recently came into my hands. Its editor was one J. Hacker, who in this issue had some advice for the girls. He wrote: “I am frequently receiving letters from females, asking what they can do for a living. can only say to them, ‘Do the best you can. Some of you might find employment in printing offices; some as clerks in dry goods stores, or in post offices. Some can keep accounts, answer and copy letters, and mal I papers. You do not need high wages. After all, girls, do you know how cheap and comfortable you can live if you check your artificial wants, tum your backs on fash ion, that scourge and curse of fema les, and live sens j b Ie, natural I ives? Don’t you know that a large portion of the expenses of nearly every female arises from artificial wants?’
“Yesterday a woman came into a store where I was and bought the following artl c les:
One pound of tea $ ,56
Two pounds of coffee .30
Half pound of allspice .12
Candy for the ch i I dren .05
One bushel of meal .75
“Now here was a bill of $1.78, and only one necessary article, the meal. A II the resT, costi ng $1 .03, were on Iy to grati fy an unnatura I or art I fl ci a I appet I te • ”
What do you listeners of 1954 think of that? Coffee, tea and allspice -not necessiTies, but condenned artificial luxuries. Up In Palmyra Editor Hacker had a correspondent who wanted to get In his oar on this subject of what kind of work women ought to do. In an earlier issue Hacker had wri tten: “I f I were a young woman and wanted to support myself, I would go in for farming or gardening.” The Palmyra correspondent took issue with That. “I contend”,’ he said, “that women’s health will not admit of their working out of doors. Furthermore, they haw plenty to do in the house. ”
To that blast Edi tor Hacker made fi ttlng rep Iy. ‘H ow happens It that women are so unhea Ithy?” he asked. “It must be because they haw been so long confined within doors, over hot stoves, breathing impure air, and lacking the open air exercise which would develop and strengthen them. Female children are not less healthy than males so long as they get a chance in the open air. But as soon as their silly mothers undertake to make young ladies of them, by pinching their waists, fettering their limbs with long, fashionable skirts, and keep them I n the house, they begin to pine and comp lain of I II health.”
Editor Hacker was one of those conscientious peop Ie who coul d not reconci Ie Christianity with the white man’s treatment of Negro and Indian. This was In 1860, when the Abolition Mowment was strong in Maine, and many church peap Ie were becoml ng I ncreas Ing Iy aroused about slavery. The Ci vi I War was on Iy a few months away. Said Hacker:
“I f a mi n I ste r or a ch urch-go i ng person fee I s offended when we denounce the sham ChristianiTY which denies human rights to Negroes and Indians, we cannot prevent it. But note that we have not said a word against Christianity. We are ta Iking abOUT the blasphemy of regarding as Christianity an attitude toward fellow men which Christ would be the first to denounce. The disciples of ChrisT have love, pity and compassion for all men.”
It is interesting, in what we consider this enlightened year of 1954, to look back to 1860 and find that dc.n in Portland there was then a man who dared speak OUT against the sham hypocracy which too many peop Ie mistook for Christianity.
Year: 1954