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Archiver > MAINE > 2007-03 > 1173801319
From: Rosalie <>
Subject: Re: [MAINE] George Cleeves - Portland, Maine
Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2007 10:55:19 -0500 (CDT)
>From:
>Date: 2007/02/11 Sun AM 11:49:15 CST
>To:
>Subject: [MAINE] George Cleeves - Portland, Maine
>A member of my family married into this family.
Thanks Jan
>George Cleeves, Portland, Maine
>In 1642, a persistent English settler named George Cleeves (who originally
>settled in Falmouth (now Portland) in 1632, on the corner of modern day India
>and Fore Streets) sailed to England to appeal to Sir Ferdinando Gorges for
>land. With the support of a prominent English merchant named Edward Rigby, he
>managed to obtain an existing land grant known as the "Plough Patent," which
>covered the territory from the Kennebec River to Cape Porpus (near Kennebunk).
>This tract of land, thereafter, was entitled the "Province of Lygonia." By
>1647, with the official support of the English Parliament, Cleeves had secured
>his authority in the region by appointing some "old foes to high offices,
>holding frequent general assemblies, issuing grants to new settlers and
>reconfirming old deeds." (Churchill). Cleeves's power and the policies he implemented
>brought stability to the region.
>Settlers who lived outside Cleeves's Lygonia had little official support from
> other proprietors in England. In 1649, with the death of the deputy of this
>area of the region, Thomas Gorges (cousin of Ferdinando), the inhabitants of
>Wells, York and Kittery formed an independent "Province of Maine" to try and
>protect their land claims and bring some sense of order to the area. A man by
>the name of Edward Godfrey of York was appointed governor of the new
>province. ??
>Two years later, in 1651, the Province of Maine attempted to obtain official
>recognition from the English Parliament. The Massachusetts Bay Colony coveted
> Maine's valuable land and moved resolutely to prevent official recognition
>of the Province of Maine from taking place.
>By using a somewhat skewed reading of the original Massachusettes Bay
>Colony's charter, the Colony's leaders contrived a claim to the region and thereby
>thwarted Edward Godfrey. They claimed that their northern boundary included
>all of Maine to Casco Bay and, in the end, Parliament agreed. Because Oliver
>Cromwell, a devout Protestant, had become Lord Protector of England in 1649,
>ousting and executing King Charles I, the Massachusetts Bay Colony, with its
>strong Protestant roots, was likely given preferencial treatment. In November
>of 1652, the Bay Colony absorbed Kittery and York. The following summer the
>Colony annexed Wells, Saco and Cape Porpus, bringing them (who's them?) to the
>south and western edge of Lygonia's boundary.
>In the fall of 1653, George Cleevess returned from England and angrily
>reasserted his claim to the Province of Lygonia, and for the next few years was
>able to fend off the Bay Colony's attempts at a takeover. The Massachusetts Bay
>Colony, probably fearing an adverse reaction from Parliament by overstepping
>its bounds, waited until conditions suited the move. By the late 50s,
>Cleeves's influential English backer, Edward Rigby, had died and Parliament was
>embroiled in domestic troubles as well as wars with France and Spain. Parliament
>could not longer concern itself with the sovereignty of a minor American
>colony. In addition, many settlers from the Massachusettes Bay Colony had
>re-settled in Maine shifting demographics in favor of the Colony. As a result, in
>1658, the entire Province of Lygonia was annexed by the Massachusettes Bay
>Colony.
>As it absorbed the territories of Maine and Lygonia, the Massachusettes Bay
>Colony granted its newest citizens generous terms. Land titles were assured to
> be secure, local leaders would remain in charge of administration, and
>"Maine settlers would enjoy the same protection, favor, and justice other
>Massachusetts residents enjoyed." (Churchill) Religious tolerance, on the other hand,
>did take a blow: the Church of England was no longer allowed to exist in
>Maine.
>A relative calm ensued for a few years, but with the restoration of the
>English monarchy and the ascension of King Charles II, Ferdinando Gorges,
>grandson of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, tried to reclaim the region. Gorges made several
>attempts to assert his authority by having individual towns pledge allegiance
>to his new administration. However, by countering with similar campaigns for
>allegiance, weeding out supporters of Gorges within local governments, and
>in one instance, jailing a leader of the new rebellion (Robert Jordan),
>Massachusetts held onto its claim to Maine.
>As the Massachusetts Bay Colony solidified its control of southern and
>western Maine, new settlements sprouted up further north along the coast at
>Pemaquid, Damariscove, Monhegan, Cape Newagen, and along the banks of the
>Androscoggin and Kennebec Rivers. These settlements were controlled by the Duke of
>York, who sent a royal commission to Maine in 1665 to help establish and control
>the area. Officers were appointed, oaths of allegiance were obtained and
>licenses were given for trade. But "despite this initiative," the inhabitants of
>this "eastern" part of Maine petitioned the Massachusetts General Court
>asking that they be brought under Bay government and protection. On July 27, 1674,
>this region, founded as Devonshire County, opened court under Massachusetts
>jurisdiction, bringing all of Maine from Kittery to Pemaquid under the
>authority of Massachusetts. The very next year, in 1675, King Phillips War began,
>ushering in nearly a century of intermittent warfare.
>_http://www.mainepublicradio.org/homestom/p9massbaycolony.html_
>(http://www.mainepublicradio.org/homestom/p9massbaycolony.html)
>
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Rosalie in Bar Harbor, Me.
God Bless America
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