{"id":9001,"date":"1970-02-08T18:01:23","date_gmt":"1970-02-08T22:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/specialcollections\/?p=9001"},"modified":"1970-02-08T18:01:23","modified_gmt":"1970-02-08T22:01:23","slug":"lt832","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/1970\/02\/08\/lt832\/","title":{"rendered":"Radio Script #832"},"content":{"rendered":"

Little Talks on Common Things
\nFebruary 8, <\/strong>1970<\/h3>\n

Last week when I had talked about Fort Halifax, I told you I would today tell about an older fort down the river. That fort was called Fort Richmond. Today I want to tell you more about that first garrison ever built above Merrymeeting Bay.<\/p>\n

Fort Richmond was built in 1720, more than a quarter of a century before Fort Halifax. It was situated on the west bank of the Kennebec just above Swan Island in what is now the town of Richmond. There 26 miles from the sea, the river divided into two channels, one flowing each side of the island. When it was built, the nearest garrison was 21 miles down the river, near its mouth, at Arrowsic. Another garrison, at about the same distance from Fort Richmond, had been erected by the Pejepscot proprietors at Brunswick.<\/p>\n

In March, 1719, when the government in Boston learned of probable uprising among the Kennebec Indians, the Governor sent 60 men to scout the frontier. Although they could detect no certain signs of Indian attack, the situation had become so precarious by November that John Penhallow and other residents of Arrowsic petitioned the government for protection.<\/p>\n

A council with the Indian chiefs of the whole Kennebec region was held at Arrowsic on November 25, 1720. The Indians demanded the removal of settlers from the shores of Merrymeeting Bay. The Redskins were especially disturbed because a fort had been built above Swan Island, though it had not yet been garrisoned. At the same time Captain Samuel Moody told the governor that he had sent messengers to Norridgewock and had put the garrison at Thawaites Point in good posture for defense.<\/p>\n

Where was Thawaites Point? As early as 1649 Christopher Lawson had purchased a tract ten miles on each side of the Kennebec from the Cobbossee south to a place called Swan Alley. A prior claim to part of the tract was held by Alexander Thawaite, and his part was described as “beginning at northern end of Swan Alley and thence to the northern part of Nehumke, three miles on each side of the river.”<\/p>\n

On various old maps the western channel around Swan Island is marked “Swan Alley”. An old deed identifies Thawaites Point thus: “A stream coming from the west, over against Swan Island, rises about half a mile west of a point formerly called Thawaites Point.” The stream referred to is now known as Mill Brook in the northern part of Richmond Villege. It thus becomes clear that Fort Richmond was built at Thawaites Point.<\/p>\n

In 1720 Col. Hutchinson built a house at the Point and persuaded the government to man that garrison with 40 soldiers. Fort Richmond was thus originally a dwelling house, completed in the autumn of 1720, and was not occupied as a military post until the summer of 1721. The building was erected, not by the government, but primarily by Col. Hutchinson, but the government did provide the soldiers to turn it into a garrison.<\/p>\n

The name Richmond had been applied to the place before the fort was built. The townships of Brunswick and Topsham had been laid out on the Androscoggin, and the town of Cork had been surveyed on the east side of the Kennebec. Above the mouth of the Androscoggin at Merrymeeting Bay, the Pejepscot proprietors planned another town. In 1719 they voted to layout a tract six miles square, bordering on the west side of the Kennebec at the upper end of Swan Alley, and there to reserve four lots, one each for four of their proprietors. Winthrop, Minot, Watts and Hutchinson.<\/p>\n

The name Richmond was given to the proposed township before the fort was planned, but except for the fort itself, the attempted settlement failed, and was not renewed until the Kennebec Purchase proprietors took over in 1754. The whole area was then named Bowdoinham, and not until 1823 was its northern area set apart as the present town of Richmond. In 1722 the governor recommended enlarging Fort Richmond and building another fort farther up the river at Cushnoc, the old name for Augusta. In 1723 Fort Richmond was indeed enlarged and strengthened, but no fort was built at Cushnoc until 31 years later.<\/p>\n

The enlarged Fort Richmond was surrounded by a stockade of 70 feet on each of its four sides, necessitating the cutting and placing of 280 feet of stockade pickets. Inside were four buildings. The place was armed with ten small cannon.<\/p>\n

By 1740 Fort Richmond was in need of extensive repairs. The Massachusetts Governor declared: “The whole works at Fort Richmond and at Fort St. George in Brunswick are in such ruinous condition that there can be no saving of any part of the buildings without weakening any repairs that might be made.” Nevertheless, Capt. Storer of Wells was sent to repair Fort Richmond in October, 1740. Two miles up the river he found suitable timber, and had his men spend the first 25 days in cutting and hewing the lumber. Then the lumber was hauled by oxen to the fort.<\/p>\n

Usually, in such construction, hewed timber was set up on the site and each stick then nailed to the preceding, making a solid bullet-proof wall a foot thick. The gun room on all sides projected three feet out from the house; hence its upper story had an 18 inch overlay all around. This gave the gunners clear range to fire upon an attacking party at close quarters below.<\/p>\n

In the fall of 1741 Fort Richmond acquired another separate building for barracks.<\/p>\n

Only twice in its history was Fort Richmond attacked. The first was within a year of its original garrison, when in September, 1722 the Indians made vicious raids all down the river, killing several white persons at Brunswick and Arrowsic and burning many settler’s cabins. The second attack was in 1750 when two entire families on Swan Island were captured and taken to Canada. For three hours at that time the Indians unsuccessfully assailed the fort.<\/p>\n

Perhaps in previous broadcasts I have not made it clear that in the early 1750’s there was erected a third fort besides Forts Halifax and Western. That fort, put up at Old Pownalborough, now Dresden, was named Fort Shirley in honor of the Massachusetts Governor who ordered the building of all three of these forts. The building of Forts Shirley, Western and Halifax made Fort Richmond unnecessary, and it was dismantled in 1755. It became the residence of the first minister to settle above Merrymeeting Bay, the Episcopalian William MacClenachan, who arrived in 1756. Five years later that minister’s more famous successor, Jacob Bailey, made his home in the fort for several years. When Bailey, a staunch Tory, was forced to flee to Canada during the Revolution, the land on the east side of the river had become the first shire town of Lincoln County and was called Pownalborough.<\/p>\n

Now for another subject. Did you know that General Lafayette once visited Maine? He did indeed come to Portland on June 25, 1825, and I now want to tell you about that gala occasion.<\/p>\n

An association to erect a monument on the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Charleston, Massachusetts had been organized in 1823. When the cornerstone was laid on June 5, 1825 the 50th anniversary of the battle, the featured guest of honor was Lafayette, while Daniel Webster gave the oration. The town of Portland and Bowdoin College had jointly invited Lafayette to come to Maine, and at the cornerstone occasion William Pitt Preble, Stephen Longfellow and Isaac Ilsley had extended that invitation in person.<\/p>\n

Lafayette left Boston on June 23 and stayed overnight at Newburyport, sleeping in the same bed that had been occupied by George Washington in 1789. The second night he spent in Saco, after receiving an official welcome at Kennebunk. On the morning of June 25 the reception committee and the town officials of Portland formed a procession in which marched the Portland Light Infantry, the Portland Rifle Company, the Portland Mechanic Blues, and the Brunswick Light Infantry.<\/p>\n

In general command was Benjamin Illsley, father of Silas Illsley of Colby’s Class of 1834. Also in the procession were the truckmen of the town, mounted and in uniform. As the procession assembled at the brow of the hill on Congress Street, a cloud of dust could be seen rising over the road toward Stroudwater, and by nine o’clock several carriages were seen ascending the hill, as 12 pound guns announced the arrival of the distinguished Frenchman. During the Revolution those guns had been captured by Lafayette himself at Brandywine.<\/p>\n

Lafayette rode in an open barouche drawn by four white horses. In another carriage was his son, George Washington Lafayette. In the only three coaches owned in Portland were the selectmen and the reception committee.<\/p>\n

Stephen Longfellow made the welcoming address, and Lafayette made fitting reply. The procession then proceeded through Congress, State and Danforth Streets to High Street, where a lofty arch of evergreen spanned the street, bearing the words, “Welcome Lafayette”. At the head of Free Street was another arch, on which perched a live eagle. All along the street were school children and their teachers.<\/p>\n

Portland had never been in such holiday attire. From allover the state people came to see the general. Portland was then the capital of Maine, and in what was then the State House Lafayette was received by Gov. Parris. Then the General shook hands with hundreds of people, among them several soldiers of the Revolution.<\/p>\n

Lafayette left Portland at six o’clock the next morning. The rich furnishings supplied by the state for the rooms where Lafayette stayed in Portland were sold at auction, and descendants of some of the purchasers now have prized possession of those articles.<\/p>\n

Now let us close with another tall story from the olden days. After I devoted a broadcast to tall stories about a month ago, Ray Tobey of Fairfield supplied me with another of these old liars’ yarns.<\/p>\n

A man had a muzzle-loading gun with a very long barrel, a made-over old flintlock. One day the hired man borrowed it to shoot a woodchuck. He pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. So he looked into the muzzle and saw the bullet coming. The barrel was so long that he had time to turn the gun around, take aim again, and shoot the woodchuck.<\/p>\n

Year: 1970<\/p>\n

There are no scripts numbered 833 to 839 inclusive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Read the script for “Little Talks” program #832, Broadcast on February 8, 1970<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1205,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9001"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9001\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}