As We Prepare to Celebrate Maine's Bicentennial

    

      In a month's time, we will celebrate Maine's 200th anniversary as the 23rd state in the union.  I wondered how many of those people  interred at the Presumpscot/Grand Trunk Cemetery were alive and witnessed the event in 1820 and what impact it may have had on their lives.

     About three weeks ago, I received a phone call from our friend Herb Adams, Portland historian and  great supporter of the reclamation project of the Grand Trunk Cemetery.  Herb wanted to give me the citations for three articles published in the Portland Evening Express regarding the cemetery.  One dated August 7, 1967 was written by State Historian Earl G. Shuttleworth, Jr. entitled:  Ancient Presumpscot Cemetery Appears On Wat To Obliteration.  The two other articles from July 1982; actually one is a letter from Thomas L. Sawyer, continue in the same vein about the deplorable condition of the East Deering Cemetery and the need to preserve it.  If interested, the articles arre on microfilm at Portland Public Library.

     I was particularily interested that two of the pieces had photographs of some of the gravestones, albeit in poor condition.  I mention this as a reminder that because of neglect and devastating vandalism, so much was lost resulting not only in physical damage to the gravesite, but much more. There was irreperable  loss of historical memory of the people, their family relationships and the place they regarded as home.

     Over the last nine years, through connections made to living relatives and research, some of the stories have been retrieved.  While only forty-seven names remain of the approximately 197 people interred at the ancient cemetery, their memory has been preserved.

This is a picture of what remained of the monument to
Anthony Sawyer, born January 21, 1735, died June 21, 1804
Portland Evening Express, August 7, 1967

Two other stones that had been smashed and moved from the graves
where they had been placed to honor the dead

     In thinking about the approaching bicentennial, I thought about how much history had passed from the time of the re-colonization or resettlement of Falmouth (Portland) to 1820 when Maine would finally separate from Massachusetts and become a sovereign state.  

     The majority of people buried at the ancient cemetery, dating back to the 1740's when Isaac Sawyer, Jr. died in 1749, and who is probably buried here, are the children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren of the men who were first admitted as proprietors between 1728 and 1740 and beyond. 

 The Sawyers all descend from Isaac Sr.who signed the first covenant at the ordination of the Rev. Thomas Smith in 1727 establishing the First Church of Falmouth. They arre the largest family group interred at the Presumpscot/Grand Trunk Cemetery. 

    The Barbours are descended from John Barbour and his brother James who were here in the area as early as 1718.  The Blakes are descendants of Jasper Blake who purchased property from Cornelius Hall in 1736 and who came from Hampdon, New Hampshire.

     Joseph Noyes and Isaac Ilsley bought large parcels of land here, and lived on farms adjacent to each other about the same time.  Each man was influential in his own way,and played active roles in building up the community.Their relatives are also buried here. The Lunts and the Noyes families have many descendants who lived and died in this area.  

     The Graves are descended from John who, along with Joseph and James Merrill are listed among the early communicants of the First Church in the 1730's.  Early baptismal records and marriage listings in the journal of the Rev. Thomas Smith attest to these facts.

      Before continuing, I am going to include several articles and a book for the interest of those of you who want to do your own research into the events that led to Maine's statehood from the Indian Wars to 1820 and shaped the geographic, economic, political, social,religious and cultural landscape.

This book is a powerful, fully researched and readable account that examines
the impact of colonization, and idealogical differences as it effected
Maine's Natives population and Euro-Americans who came to live here.

     My 21st century consciousness was enlightened,  and disturbed.  I hope you will be too.  It is definitely worth reading for anyone interested in Maine history.

Articles for your interest:

bicentennial.mainememory.net/page/4612  Maine's Road to Statehood

https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2018/03/15/tbt-maine-becomes-a-state/

http://www.mainehistory.org  1668 - 1774 Settlement & Strife,  Mainers Go To War, 1775 - 1820 Tension, War & Separation.

https://www.massmoments.org/moment-details/massachusetts-loses-maine.htm/



     The people who lived here in what would become the city of Portland experienced constant disputes with First Nation people over land ownership and use,exacerbated by imperial wars and land speculators.  While the Port, Falmouth Neck grew posperous, the back country grew more slowly and small villages made up of family farms were spread out along Back Cove.

     In 1756, when the Sagamore Chief Polin was killed in a woodland battle in New Marblehead (Windham), the last of the Indians moved out of the area.  I found the monument established by the Friends of the Presumpscot River at the old Conant homestead in late spring.

     In 1730, in an attempt to preserve the river and the fish, Chief Polin went to Boston to protest the dams that were being built by Thomas Westbrook and asked that fish ladders be put in to allow the fish passage up the river.  Westbrook, reluctant to comply with Boston idicts ignored them until settlers began to notice the impact on their ability to catch fish.  Today, the Friends of the Presumpscot River, the "River of Many Falls" as it was named by the Indians, has done and continues to do extrordinary work to preserve the river and its history.

     In 1754, a so called conference was held in Falmouth,Anthony Sawyer, then 19 years old, his brother Zachariah and his uncle Thomas Sawyer were part of militia guard for then Governor William Shirley.. Within, three years of that meeting, the final French and Indian War was waged.  The Sawyers were members of Capt. Isaac Illsley's Back Cove Company.

         After the long struggle with France and its Indian allies ended in 17633, British national debt stood at an all-time high, and its empire now included Canada, parts of the Caribbean, Florida, and a vast territory west of the appalachians....Britain launched a broas program of imperial reorganization expecting the American colonies to contribute to their own defenses.

Between 1765 and 1773 - a time of financial hardship in the colonies - Parliment imposed a series of trade regulations and taxes, and after protesting these new policies, Whig leaders in America adopted a course of action that led to the Declaration of Independence in 1776. 

Maine History Online:  1775-1820  Tension, War & Separation

      While the people who lived on Back Cove, particularily those whose memory we recall,  remained fairly isolated from the Neck until the Back Cove (Tukey's) Bridge was built in 1796, young men served in the militia to help to defend the coastline and older men provided protection by maintaining garrisons for the citizens. Undoubtably, if there was reluctance to change their loyality as Englishmen or to remain neutral, that would change after Falmouth Neck was destroyed in 1775:

Like the Boston Massacre, the Burning of Falmouth rallied Americans to proclaim independence.

Maine History Online: 775-1820 Tension, War & Separation

     Included here is a list of men and women interred at the Presumpscot Cemetery who were born prior to and up to the Revolutionary War:

             INTERRED AT THE PRESUMPSCOT/GRAND TRUNK CEMETERY

      PRE- REVOLUTIONARY WAR BIRTHS:  1742- 1776

Key:  Red indicates person lived to witness Maine becoming 23^rd state in the union.  Blue indicates person died earlier.

·        Susanna Barton Sawyer, born 1766, died February 6, 1805

·        Timothy Galvin, born February 2, 1766/76, died 1836/38

·        Simon Davis, born September 2, 1765, died March 17, 1810

·        Abigail Graves Sawyer, born August 13, 1765, died March 10, 1848

·        Lieut. Crispus Graves, born c. 1742, died March 14, 1818

·        Joanna Ilsley Galvin, born February 14, 1769, died April 4, 1840

·        Joseph Merrill, born c. 1755, died April 8, 1823

·        Brackett Sawyer, born March 19, 1775, died April 21, 1857

·        William Sawyer, born c. 1763, died May 14, 1825

·        Lucy Hodgston Blake, born c. 1769, died May 26, 1807

·        William Blake, born March 1774, died Jun 1853

·        Sarah Eaton Blake, born c. 1776, died June 18, 1843

·        Anthony Sawyer, born January 21, 1735, died June 21, 1804

·        Jane Noyes Lunt, born c. 1754, died September 12, 1834

·        Joseph Lunt, born April 3, 1757, died September 15, 1804

·        Andrew Graves, born c. 1774, died November 28, 1860

·        Susanna Merrill Graves, born c. 1745, died December 4, 1793

·        John Sawyer, born November 18, 1760, died December 6, 1842

·        Tabitha Graves Sawyer, born December 11, 1768, died December 6, 1857

     We remember four Veterans of the War for Independence, althought there may have been others whose names have been lost over time:

     Here is a list of those born after the Revolutionary War, some of whom served during the War of 1812 and others who came to live in the area we call East Deering today.

           Interred at the Presumpscot/grand trunk cemetery

                      POST REVOLUTIONARY WAR BIRTHS: 1777 – 1849

KEY:  Red indicates person witnessed or was born when Maine achieved

            Statehood in 1820.                        

           Blue indicates person died before

           Green indicates person born a citizen of the state of Maine

·        Samuel Blake, born c. 1794, died February 14, 1846

·        Ann Moseley, born c.1799 (England), died February 24, 1850

·        Agnes Wilcox, born c. 1820 (Scotland), died April 21, 1864

·        Warren Small, born April 21, 1804, died March 1, 1824

·        Elizabeth Ann Sawyer Frank, born c. 1818, died March 14, 1890

·        Crispus Graves, born c. 1816, died March 15, 1879

·        Nancy Merrill, born c. 1801, died March 25, 1824

·        Isaiah I. Frank, born December 19, 1809, died May 27, 1894

·        Thomas Sawyer, Jr., born c. 1785, died April 21, 1807

·        Emeline Blake, born c. 1823, died May 15, 1847

·        Harriot Galvin, born 1800, died September 21, 1805

·        Joseph Merrill Sawyer, born August 1795, died June 1, 1875

·        Francis Smith, born c. 1791, died June 4, 1840

·        Frances Jane Barbour, born 1831, died July 4, 1846

·        Benjamin Sawyer, born c. 1805, died August 22, 1878

·        Crispus Sawyer, born March 28, 1804, died August 24, 1873

·        John Barbour, born c. 1802, died August 27, 1873

·        Elizabeth Webb Sawyer, born c. 1792, died September 21, 1864

·        Joseph Merrill Sawyer Jr., born October 10, 1832, died September 27, 1835

·        Frances I Boothby, born c 1815, died September 20, 1893

·        John Gould Blake, born c. 1824, died September 25, 1827

·        Mary Ann Barbour, born c. 1823, died 1855

·        Silas Boothby, born February 14, 1814, died November 22, 1867

·        Jonas Johnson, corn c. 1782, died December 2, 1837

·        Dorcas Whittam Sawyer, born c. 1801, died December 15, 1856

·        James Moseley, born c. 1836 (Rhode Island), died December 9, 1892

·        Eva Ella Boothby, born October 17, 1849, died January 4, 1852

·        Tabitha Cutter Graves, born c. 1782, died September 7, 1849

18 persons witnessed Maine becoming the 23^rd state in the Union, plus 12 from the Pre-Revolution list = 30

7 from Pre- Revolution list died before statehood plus 2 post Revolution = 9

6 persons were born as citizens of the state of Maine

3 persons were born in England, Ireland and Scotland, 1 came from Rhode Island and settled in East Deering, then Westbrook after the Civil War.

     Eight monuments were erected to the memory of those Veterans who served for the defence of Portland during the War of 1812.

     As we celebrate this bicentennial, it is good to reflect a bit on the people whose lives formed the threads woven into the fabric that created our city of Portland and our state of Maine.