Sagadahoc
County was formerly included in Yorkshire, and later, in Lincoln
County; having been set off from the latter and incorpo rated in
1854. The exploring company of DeMonts, led by the intrepid
Champlain made the first known visit of Europeans to Sagadahoc.
Popham’s colony, having erected buildings and constructed a
vessel, after a few months’ sojourn forsook their settlement in
1608; but voyages of the English to the vicinity for fur-trade
and fishing were continued. Capt. John Smith, of Virginia fame,
explored the region in 1614 and on the map of the country which
he displayed to King Charles, that monarch entered the name "Leethe"
as a substitute for "Sagadahoc."
When the Council of Plymouth was dissolved, and the territory
divided, 10,000 acres somewhere on the east side of the
Sagadahoc were added to each of seven of the twelve divisions,
that each of the noble owners might share in the visionary
metropolis of New England. The grant to Sir Ferdinatulo Gorges,
in 1622, had for its eastern boundary, the Sagadahoc. From this
he granted to Sir Richard Edgecomb, a tract on the north side of
the Lake of New Somerset (Merrymeeting Bay) and another on the
coast, probably on New Meadows Harbor. The Pilgrims of New
Plymouth received their patent rights of trade on the Kennebec
in 1623, which was enlarged in 1629 to a right to the soil and
exclusive rights of trade within its limits. The boundaries of
this grant, like those of most of the early ones, were not
accurately defined; and when the patent passed from its Pilgrim
ownership and became the Kennebec Purchase, its wealthy
proprietors extended their claims over the territories of their
neighbors beyond what generally found warrant in law, when the
issues came to be tried in the courts. The indefinite
boundaries, therefore, were the cause of much litigation. Rights
to the soil were sought from the natives also; the first known
being the Nequasset purchase, made in 1639; the islands below
soon after, and within 20 years the whole of Sagadahoc County
was held under titles from its Indian possessors. The grant to
Purchase and Way which, together with the Pejepscot Purchase
included a large part of Bowdoinham, and all of Topsham, Bath,
West Bath,and Phipsburgh, was made in 1630; Purchase himself
having resided near the Pejepscot (Brunswick) Falls since 1627.
In 1654 New Plymouth colony instituted a form of government
covering all the settlements of the Kennebec. This was succeeded
by the more effective jurisdiction of Massachusetts, which
continued, with a partial interruption only for a few years by
the Duke of York’s government, until Maine became an independent
State. In 1672, upon a petition of the settlers for protection,
the territory beyond the Kennebec, which had been erected into
the county of Cornwall by the Kings’ commissioners,—deputies of
the Duke of York, was transmuted into the county of Devonshire;
York being limited to the western side of the Sagadahoc. An
appearance of right to exercise this jurisdiction had been
secured by a new interpretation of the terms fixing the boundary
of her patent by Massachusetts. The motive for this movement was
found in the new claim of the French, under the treaty of Breda,
to the territory as far west as the Kennebec.
The first Indian war in Maine, called King Philip’s war, broke
out in 1675; yet the plundering of Mr. Purchas’ house was the
only hostile act in Sagadahoc County until August, 1676. At this
date occurred the descent of the savages upon the settlements of
Hammond, Clark and Lake, in which 53 persons were made captives
by the Indians. The region was now almost wholly abandoned by
settlers; and though various small and temporary settlements
were attempted, there was no permanent occupation until 1715,
when twenty families located on Arrowsic, and the Pejepscot town
of Augusta was begun under Dr. Noyes in Phipsburg. Yet these
were swept away; and forts and garrison houses were often the
only places of safety for the inhabitants, until the fall of the
French power in the North in 1759 terminated the Indian wars in
Maine. From 1717 to 1720 many Scotch-Irish Presbyterians had
come in; and after Governor Dummer’s treaties of 1725—7 the
immigrants became numerous.
During the Revolution, there was much alarm in the Sagadahoc
region from British cruisers; but no considerable action
occurred. Two British armed vessels which threatened Bath, were
attacked on their way up the river, and turned back. In the war
of 1812, the noted action between the Enterprise and Boxer
occurred off its southeastern shore. In the war of the Rebellion
the county furnished to the Union forces 2,488 men. Robert Gutch
and Ichabod Wiswall were the first religious ministers in the
county, the first coming about 1660.
Steam-power was first used on the Kennebec as early as 1818, for
propelling rude craft; and in 1823 steam communication was
opened. between Bath and Boston. What is now the Bath branch of
the Maine Central Railroad was opened to the city in 1849; and
the Knox and Lincoln Railroad was opened in 1871. The first
newspaper was published in the county in 1820. There are now but
two. Eight national banks and three savings institutions are
located in the county.
Sagadahoc County was set off from Lincoln and incorporated in
1854, Bath being made the shire town. Its valuation in 1870 was
$11,041,340. In 1880 it was $10,297,215. The polls in 1870
numbered 4,669, and in 1880, 5,182. The population in 1870 was
18,803. In 1880 it was 19,276.
Source: Varney, George J., Gazetteer of the
State of Maine. Boston: B. B. Russell, 1886.
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