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Drawing by Kennebunkport artist and
history lover Frank Handlen
 Kennebunkport history lovers have read the
story of Nicholas Morey's heroic row, with
a broken leg, from Cape Porpus
to Portsmouth, to save his neighbors from a savage attack during King
William's War. Charles Bradbury wrote
that the inhabitants were cornered behind the fort on Stage Island, out
of food and on their last round of ammunition. The Indians had
stationed themselves at the narrow strip of land that, at low water,
connects Stage Island to what we now call
Fort Island and the inhabitants were facing certain capture or death.
Nicholas Morey's reported success, in light of the perils of rowing
alone, in a broken boat, in the dead of night, from Cape Porpoise to
Portsmouth, NH, using oars made with 17th century technology, made this
skeptical history lover want to see a little more proof.
Bradbury appears to have been the first
to claim the fateful attack took place in 1690. The date has been
repeated since by other historians.
Bradbury also wrote that Edmund Andros returned to Boston in 1690.
According to the Hutchinson Papers in Vol 242 of the Massachusetts
Archives,
and many other sources, Gov. Andros was deposed and imprisoned, April
18, 1689, during an uprising in Boston. Regrettably, The Hutchinson Papers are
not yet online. They were published by the Prince
Society but very few were printed and the books are
prohibitively precious. A full set of the Publications of the
Prince Society is for sale at Douglas Harding's in Wells for
$20,000. With all due respect to Charles
Bradbury, without whose research we would not even know that an attack
occurred and who did not enjoy the benefits of global keyword searches,
Google Books,
Internet Archive,
microfilm at the
Massachusetts Archives or a library card at the
Boston Public Library,
I believe the attack took place Monday, April 22,
1689 and the rescue
took place a number of days later.
Bradbury also refers to Lieutenant John
Puddington who commanded the fort at Stage Island and mentions that
soldiers deserted upon Andros' return to Boston. The timing and
the details of the "desertion" are interesting. In a rough draft
of a letter, in his own hand and dated April 12, 1689, just 6 days
before the end of his administration, Gov Edmund Andros wrote that
Puddington was to come to Boston immediately to answer charges that he
had released the soldiers under his command at the fort, against orders.
Soldiers from Saco had deserted against the orders of their commander
Capt. John Floyd. Andros also wrote to Captain Floyd ordering him to go
after his soldiers and bring them back to Saco and then to relieve
Lieutenant Puddington of his post in Kennebunk.
The town of
Kennebunk did not yet exist but the name Kennebunk was used
in government documents to refer to the land on both
sides of the Kennebunk River, including the fort at Stage Island. Puddington's soldiers and Floyd's soldiers were marching without a
commander to Boston to participate in the overthrow of Andros'
administration when Cape Porpoise was attacked. The original letters are on page 368-370 of Vol
242 Massachusetts Archives. You can also read about them in
Edward Randolph: Including His Letters and Official Papers for the New
England, Pg 88. Edward Randolph was one of Andros'
henchmen and was also deposed and imprisoned in April of 1689 so if you
choose to read his words, consider the context.
When the good people of Wells wrote to "ye
superior power now being at Boston" on April 25, 1689, they were at a
loss as to who to address the letter to. The period of time
between the imprisonment of Edmund Andros and the establishment of
To be continued...
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A letter, first discussed in 1903 and first published by
the Colonial Society of Massachusetts in 1904 by Mr. Edmund M.
Wheelwright, was sent from Wells to "ye superior power now being
at Boston" and was dated April 25, 1689. Gov. Andros had
been imprisoned and the inhabitants of Wells did not know who to
address the letter to as the new King of England, William of
Orange, had not yet appointed a new Governor. This letter
seems to describe an incident at Cape Porpus almost exactly as
Bradbury described the attack at Stage Island.
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New Hampshire Provincial Papers Volume
XI pg 645 indicate that Francis Lyford of Exeter, NH requested
reimbursement on February 21, 1710 for, at the
request of Capt. John Perkins of Portsmouth, sailing his sloop,
(could have been Elizabeth) to Saco, to rescue "the distressed
inhabitants when the Indians were burning and destroying all
about them". Lyford claims that the incident occurred about
twenty-one years since. After exhaustive research, I can
find no such incident in the history of Saco.
Cape Porpus was considered part of
Saco in 1689, by a 1688 order of Gov. Andros, much to the
chagrin of Cape Porpus inhabitants.
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From the Andros Tracts
Andros
Charges Against the Government
His report on the condition of the forts
in Maine as of April 1689 |
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Answer to Andros Charges from Inter-charter papers at Mass Historical
Society
They knew of no fort at
Kennebunk (Cape Porpoise) |
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Cape Porpoise Old & New by Henry F. Knight
May 3, 1894 from Collections of the Maine Historical
Society Second Series Vol VI pg 153 Description of Fort begins on
pg 166
Who was Henry F Knight?
Author of the speech given before an
appreciative Cape Porpoise crowd,
Harvard Law student, Henry F. Knight was just 20 years old when on May
3, 1894, he stood before the scholarly audience at the
Maine Historical Society, and described the
artifacts he had collected at the site of the old Stage Island Fort.
His father, Clarence H. Knight (son of Francis from NH) was a publisher
with Mills, Knight, & Co, 115 Congress St Boston, MA. His
mother, Julia
Holden was from a prominent Dorchester family of Albert P Holden
(John). Henry, or Harry in the familiar, married Mabel________ in
1901 and moved to 131 Cedar St in So Braintree, MA. The couple had
three daughters, Eleanor, who became a public school teacher, Margeret
and Julia a.k.a. Louise. Henry's WWI registration indicates that he
practiced law at 50 State Street in Boston. I have not found
marriages of any of the three daughters. My hope is that the
artifacts collected at Stage Island are still in someone's attic or have
been donated to an Historical Society or Museum.
Clarence H. Knight, also present at
Cape Porpoise,
published
Poland Spring Maine Hiram Ricker & Sons
(Mills, Knight & Co. Boston, MA; 1883)
Dorchester Woman's Club Cook-Book.
Published for the Bazaar, Nov. 4th, 5th, 6th, Norfolk Hall, Dorchester.
Boston: Press Mills, Knight & Co., 1897
Bosson, Charles P.
History of the Forty-Second Regiment Infantry, Massachusetts Volunteers,
1862, 1863, 1864. Boston: Mills, Knight & Co., 1886.
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These two articles from The Open Sea Sept 27, 1894, describe an
entertainment including a reading by Henry Knight of Harvard. This
followed the Maine Historical Society reading. Henry is a student at Harvard. Henry says the fort
has been taken down. |
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This 1905 mid-summer Wave article is a sales pitch for the Cape
Porpoise Land Company, a.k.a. The Electric Road Company, a.k.a. Goodall,
who bought Stage Island among other Cape Porpoise properties, hoping to
develop them. It states that the clubhouse was built on the exact
location of the fort. Perhaps Freeman's, gold speculator's cottage,
was an earlier version. |
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This is their new clubhouse in the same issue of The Wave. |
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Also
from the same 1905 issue of The Wave. |
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Islands on William Barry Map
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on
1872 Map |
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1944 map.
Look at the dot on Stage Island (Fort
Island) It shows up again and again on survey maps.
According to the Midsummer
1905
Wave article, the dot indicates the location of the clubhouse and
therefore the fort.
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What Freeman says about the Fort and the dot on the
survey maps. |
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What
Bradbury says about the Fort |
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This page is from Volume III if the Court Records. It confirms that
as of December 1688, Nicholas Morey had indeed broken his leg and was
thereby excused from the proceedings. It also confirms that John Purington was in
"his Majesty immediate Service". Barry said that
John Purington was commander of the Fort at Stage Island as of 1688.
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Maine
Historical Society Documentary Series Vol V pg 91, lists Garrisons,
Soldiers &c, in the Province of Maine as of April the 30th 1690.
It says that all companies from Cape Porpus and Kennebunk had left by
April 30. Do they refer to military men only or had the inhabitants
left by then as well? |
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Settlers who owned land in Cape Porpoise at the time of the attack at
left.
The
following group of men assisted in building a mill in 1687;
John Loring, John Barrett, William Thomas, Richard Blancher, Thomas
Mussey, Wm Barton, Jacob Wormwood, John Miller, Simon Cundy, Emanuuel
Davis, John Sanders, Jr(def), John Batson, John Rennals.
Others
who may have been here in 1690 were Nicholas Moorey, John
Davis, John Rennals, John Purington, Thomas Boardman, Thomas Beers,
Thomas Kimball, Samuel Scadlock
"January 24th, 1688-9. Ten chosen five
selectmen and a constable, at a legal town meeting, legally warned by
Order, for selectmen and other officers. For selectmen, Lieu. John
Purington, John Downing, John Miller, John Davis, Richard Randall. For
constable Immanuel Haynes. For Town clerk, Lieu. John Purinton. For lott
layers, and surveyors, Lieu. Purinton, Richard Randall, John Sanders,
John Miller. William Barton, Jacob Wormwood." pages 48-49 |
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Who was Nicholas Morey?
Nicholas Moorey was born 1663 son of Thomas
and Mary of East Worldham, co Hants. He emigrated in 1675. He had a
Wells grant in Aug 1684. Married Mary Pendleton Cross between Oct 1684
and March 1685. He bought 150 acres at Cape Porpus Feb 1685-6. See
http://www.mykennebunks.com/map%20settlers%201680-1700%20web.JPG .
He had a tavern license there Oct 1686-1687, was a grand juror 1687 and
a selectman 1688. His house, which was being Garrisoned, was burned by
Indians in April 1689. At the time of his heroic departure from Cape Porpus
he was 26 years old. He
moved to Taunton, MA by 1692, Freetown 1716 and Dighton 1722 where
he died 4 Mar 1730-1. Letters from Nicholas Morey to his nephew in
London were printed in the NEHGS register vol 35:235. See letters at
left. Also see Nicholas Morey's family home in England
http://www.fieldclub.hants.org.uk/publications/news44/build44a.html
Legislators of the Massachusetts
General Court, 1691-1780
Freetown HR 1721M;
selectman 1688; M Mary (Pendleton) (Britton) Cross (c1653-1732) in
c1685, no ch; innkeeper, carpenter; will. Three black slaves. Moved from
Wells to Taunton, Freetown, and Dighton by 1722. No committees.
1956 Pendleton g 42-9;
Torrey 518; Bristol Co Prob Abs 1:193, 195, Gen Dic of ME & NH
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Proprietors book on page 23, June 6
1732. According to Adelaide Day's notes it
said that there was a circular enclosure 30 yards diameter with two
watchtowers. The Proprietors gave it to the inhabitants for their use
in 1724. The Island was laid out to Thomas Perkins in 1732 except 1
acre burying ground and 1 acre where fort was built.
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King William's War
June 3, 1886 Andros became Governor
of New England by commission of James II
Sept 19, 1686
James II orders that the jurisdiction of Pemaquid be in the hands of
Andros
Jan 13, 1687
A tax of one penny in the pound assessed "on all the late Colonies
and Provinces toward defraying the public charges of this Government"
March 1688
Andros seizes upon Penobscot and sacks house and fort of Baron de St
Castin angering the French and Indians allied with them through the
marriage of St Castin to two of the daughters of an Indian Sagamore.
Apr 1688
First outbreak of King William's War at North Yarmouth on the Royals
River.
Aug 13, 1688 Indians surprise and break
up settlement at North Yarmouth,
attack and burn New Dartmouth and destroy the fort on the Sheepscot
River.
Sept 1688
Gov Andros using unwise measures in opposing Indians, arouses the
people, who restore Danforth to the office of Provincial President.
Nov 5, 1688
William of Orange landed at Torbay
Nov 1688 Andros set out with soldiers to
secure the coast of Maine and establish forts and garrisons to protect
the inhabitants from Indian attacks. See Mather's
Narratives of the Indian Wars
Autumn 1688 "The
concluding outrage of this year was the captivity of Barrow and
Bussey with their families between Winter Harbor and Kennebunk.
Perhaps Barrow is Barrett. see Plea to
Boston 1
Feb 14, 1689 The crown (of England) was
offered by the Lords and Commons to
William and Mary
March 24, 1689 Andros appoints a
committee to "receive contributions" from the inhabitants of Boston
toward building
"a house or place for the service of the Church of England".
Apr 4, 1689 Word of the flight of James
II and declaration of William and Mary
reached Boston.
Apr 12, 1689
Order of Lt Puddington to repair to Boston for discharging his
soldiers without orders
Apr 18 1689 Sir Edmund Andros deposed and imprisoned in Boston
Apr 18, 1689 Garrison at
Pemaquid attacked by Indians and forced to surrender.
Apr 22, 1689
Cape Porpoise attacked
Apr 25, 1689
Letter sent from Wells pleading for
assistance for the inhabitants of Cape Porpoise who were trapped on
Stage Island
Apr 1689 Francis Lyford of Exeter hired
by Captain John Perkins of Portsmouth to sail to Saco and bring away
"the distressed inhabitants
when the Indians were burning and destroying all about them" Cape
Porpus was considered part of
Saco in 1689, by a 1688
order of Gov. Andros, much to the
chagrin of Cape Porpus inhabitants.
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