Vital records of Pittston, Maine, to the year 1892.
Pittston (Me.), Maine Historical Society.
Editor, Henry Sewall Webster, A.M.
Committee On Publication, Asbury Coke Stilphen.
Published Under Authority Of The Maine Historical Society. Gardiner, Maine
Errata & Land Records
[Transcribed by Dave Swerdfeger]
ERRATA.
APPENDIX. LAND TITLES IN OLD PITTSTON. By "Old Pittston" is here meant the town as it existed at the time of its incorporation. It comprised the territory now lying in Pittston, Randolph, Gardiner, most of West Gardiner, and part of Farmingdale. Pittston was the fortieth town incorporated by the General Court of Massachusetts in Maine, and the last town which was established under the royal charter. The act of incorporation was passed February 4, 1779. It was entitled "An Act for incorporating the Plantation called Gardinerston, in the County of Lincoln into a town by the name of Pittston, and for annexing certain lands in the said County to the town of Bowdoinham." It defined the limits of the new town as "beginning at the north line of the Town of Pownalborough at Kennebeck River, and to run an East South East Course on the said North line five miles from the said River; from thence to run Northerly about seven miles, more or less, to the south easterly corner of the town of Hallowell, from thence to run West North West on the south line of the said Hallowell, to the said Kennebec River, and across said River, and running a West North West course on the south line of the said Hallowell, five or six miles to Cobbisconte stream on the west side of the said Kennebeck River; from thence to run southerly down the said stream, and as the stream runs to the first Pond, and on said Pond or a stream to the north line of a large lot number ten granted. by the Proprietors of Kennebeck purchase to the late William Bowdoin, Esq., deceased, from thence to run an East South East course on the said north line of the said lot, to the said Kennebeck River, and from thence southerly down the said River to the North line of Pownalborough aforesaid". In 1799 the part of Lincoln County in which Pittston was situated was incorporated as the County of Kennebec, and in 1820 the District of Maine, until then part of Massachusetts, became an independent state. All of the territory of Old Pittston was within what is known as the Kennebec Purchase or Patent. The origin of this patent and the prior grants which led up to it may be gathered from the following deed: Deed from Kennebec Proprietors to Silvester Gardiner. To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting ---- "Whereas his late Majesty King James the first for the advancement of a Colony and Plantation in New England in America, by his highness's Letters Patents under the great Seal of England, bearing date at Westminster the third Day of November in the Eighteenth year of his highness's Reign of England &c, did grant unto the Right Honorable Lodowick late Lord Duke of Lenox, George late Lord Marquiss of Buckingham, James Marquiss of Hamilton, Thomas Earl of Arundle, Robert Earl of Warwick, Sir Ferdinando Gorges Knt. and diverse others whose names are expressed in the said Letters Patents & their successors, that they should be one Body politick & corporate, perpetually consisting of forty persons, and that they should have perpetual succession and one common Seal to serve for the said Body, and that they and their successors should be incorporated called and known by the Name of the Council established at Plimouth in the County of Devon for the planting, ruling, Ordering & governing of New England in America: and further also did grant unto the said President and Council & their Successors forever, under the Reservations in the said letters Patents expressed; all that part and portion of the said Country now called New England, in America, situate lying and being in Bredth from forty Degrees of Northerly Latitude from the Equinoctial Line to forty Eight Degrees of the said Latitude inclusively and of Length of and in all the Breadth aforesaid throughout the main Lands from Sea to Sea, together also, with all the firm Lands, Soils, Grounds, Creeks, Inletts, Havens, Ports, Seas, Rivers, Islands, Waters, Fishings, Mines, Minerals, precious Stones, Quarries, and all and singular the Commodities and Jurisdictions, both within the said Tract of land lying upon the main as also within the said Islands and Seas adjoining: To have, hold possess and enjoy the same unto the said Council and their Successors and Assigns forever; to be holden of his Majesty his heirs and successors, as of his Manor of East Greenwich, in the County of Kent, in free and common Soccage, yielding and paying therefor to the said late King's Majesty, his heirs and Suceessors, the fifth part of the Oar of Gold and Silver, as in and by the said letters Patents, amongst other priviledges and matters therein contained; more fully and at large, it doth and may appear. And whereas the said Council established at Plimouth in the County of Devon by the Charter and Deed of Affeofment, bearing Date the Sixteenth Day of January A. D. one thousand Six hundred and twenty Nine by virtue and authority of his said late Majesty's Letters Patents, and for & in Consideration that William Bradford, and his Associates, had for these Nine years lived in New England aforesaid, and there inhabited and planted a Town called by the name of New Plimouth, at their own proper Costs and Charges; and seeing that by the special providence of God and their Extraordinary Care and Industry, they had increased their plantation to near three hundred People and were able to releive any New Planters or other his Majesty's Subjects upon that Coast; granted & assigned unto the said William Bradford his heirs associates and assigns all that part of New England ----(here follows a description of the tract in and about New Plymouth) And forasmuch as they had no convenient place either of Trading or fishing within their own precincts, whereby after so long travel and great Pains so hopeful a plantation might subsist, as also that they may be encouraged the better to proceed in so pious a Work which might especially tend to the Propogation of Religion and the great increase of Trade to his Majesty's Realms and advancement of the publick plantation. The said Council further granted and assigned unto the said William Bradford his heirs, associates & assigns All that Tract of land, or part of New England in America aforesaid, which lyeth within or between and extendeth itself from the utmost Limits of Cobbiseconte alias Comasseconte, which adjoineth to the River of Kennebeck, alias Kenebekike, towards the Western Ocean and a place called the falls of Neguamkike, in America aforesaid, and the space of fifteen English Miles on each side of the said River, commonly called Kenebeck river, and all the said River called Kenebeck, that lies within the said Limits and Bounds, Eastward, Westward, Northward or Southward last above mentioned, and all Lands, Grounds, Soils, Rivers, Waters, Fishings, situate lying and being, arising, happening or accruing in or within the said Limits and Bounds, or either of them, together with all Rights and Jurisdictions thereof, the Admiralty Jurisdiction excepted, in as free, large, ample and beneficial manner, to all Intents, Constructions and purposes whatsoever, as the said Council, by virtue of his Majesty's Letters Patents might or could grant ----To have and to hold the said Tract and Tracts of land and all & singular the premises above mentioned to be granted with their and every of their Appurtenancies to the said William Bradford, his heirs, associates and assigns forever, yielding and paying unto our said Sovereign Lord the King, his heirs and Successors forever One fifth Part of the Oar of the mines of Gold and Silver, and one other fifth part thereof to the President and Council which may be had, possessed and obtained within the precincts aforesaid, for all Services whatsoever, as in said Charter may more fully appear. And whereas the said William Bradford and his associates afterwards assigned over and surrendered up to the late Colony of New Plimouth, the aforesaid Tract on Kennebeck River, together with other lands, and the same Colony afterwards viz: on the Twenty seventh Day of October A. D. 1661, being seized of the whole Tract aforesaid, on Kennebeck River; and also the lands on both side the said river upward to Wessarunscutt, by their Deed of Bargain & Sale of that Date, for and in Consideration of the sum of four hundred pounds Sterling, sold all the said lands on said River, to Antipas Boyes, Edward Tyng, Thomas Brattle & John Winslow, their and every of their heirs & assigns forever, as the said Deed, registered in the Records of said Colony, may more fully appear. Know Ye, That we the heirs and assigns of the said Antipas Boyes, Edward Tyng, Thomas Brattle and John Winslow, of and in all lands on Kennebeck River aforesaid and legal proprietors thereof, at our meeting held at Boston this eleventh Day of December A. D. 1754 called & regulated according to Law have voted, granted and assigned to Silvester Gardiner of Boston in the County of Suffolk and province of Massachusetts Bay in New England Physician, his heirs and assigns forever, a parcel of land within our Tract aforesaid, situate, lying and being on the West side of Kennebeck River, Butted and Bounded as follows, viz: Beginning twenty Rods North of Cobbisconte River, and runs Westerly two miles, keeping the same Breadth and and then runs Southerly to the said Cobbiseconte River, and then runs on said River till it comes to the first Pond on said River, and then runs on the East Southeasterly side of said Pond, until it meets with the North Line of Lott No. 11, commonly called Thomas Hancock Esq. his Lott: then runs East South East on the North line of said Lott, until it meets Kennebeck River; Then runs Northerly up said Kennebeck River, until it meets the first mentioned Bounds; On Condition the said Silvester settles two families on said Tract, within three years, if not prevented by an Indian War; This lot granted to said Silvester lies in a Triangular Form, and is called Lot AB in the Company's plan, as thereon delineated, and laid down by John North Esq Surveyor. In Witness whereof, The Proprietors afore said have caused their Seal to be hereto affixed. David Jeffries prop. Cler. The Kennebec Company, whose proper corporate name was "The Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase from the late Colony of New Plimouth", was organized in 1753 by the heirs and assigns of the four original purchasers from the Plymouth Colony. A partial survey and allotment of the property had been made in 1751. Among the lots then laid out were eleven on the west side of the Kennebec, each measuring one mile on the river and extending westerly five miles. They began ten miles south of the south line of Pittston and were numbered from south to north. Lot No. 10 was the Bowdoin Lot whose north line was made the south line of the town. No 11 was therefore the only one of these lots which came within the limits of Old Pittston. Lot No. 11 was conveyed by the Kennebec Proprietors to Thomas Hancock, Esq., of Boston, in accordance with a vote passed January 14, 1756, although the deed was not acknowledged until March 13, 1761. It is described as beginning at the E.S.E. end of the northerly line of a highway eight poles wide between Lots 10 and 11, where said line strikes Kennebec River, thence by said highway W.N.W. five miles, thence northerly one mile, thence E.S.E. five miles to said river, thence southerly to the boundary line first mentioned, "and is a tract of land of five Miles in Length and one Mile in Breadth; upon Condition that he the said Thomas Hancock Esquire, build a House, not less than twenty Feet Square, and settles a Family thereon, within one Year if not prevented by a War; Reserving to this Proprietee, all the lands petitioned for by any Person or persons, together with all the Actual and Seperate Improvements made on the Premises, provided said lands petitioned for, and said Improvements be granted by this proprietee, within Three Years flora the Date hereof." May 7, 1763, Thomas Hancock deeded a part of this lot to Jonathan Bowman "beginning upon Kennebeck River at the North line of my Thirty two hundred acre lot called No. 11 and at a Tree Marked (standing on the Bank) 11 opposite to Nehumkeag Island," thence running on said North line W.N.W. one mile, thence S.S.W. one hundred poles, thence E.S.E. to said river, thence up said river northerly to the first mentioned bounds. The remainder passed by will to Ebenezer Hancock, who deeded it, July 16, 1772, to "John Hancock, Merchant, of Boston, Esquire", excepting the two hundred acres belonging to Jonathan Bowman. A part of the land is said still to be held by the Hancock heirs. North of No. 11 was Lot AB, the conveyance of which to Silvester Gardiner has already been given. It was triangular in shape, measuring about five miles on the river, and terminated twenty rods north of the Cobbossecontee River. December 17, 1760, the Kennebec Proprietors granted to Silvester Gardiner "Lott Number Twenty", described as follows: Beginning Twenty Rods to the Northward of the north side of the Mouth of Cobbisecontee Stream, where it emptyis itself into Kennebeck River, from thence to run a W.N.W. Course Five Miles, and from the end or Termination of said five miles, to run a Northerly Course, One Mile, where it meets with the South Line of Lott Number Twenty one, and from thence to run an E.S.E. Course for Five Miles, upon said South Line of said Lott Number Twenty one, where it meets with said Kennebeck River, and from thence to run Southerly upon said Kennebeck River, until it meets with the first mentioned Boundary: with the same conditions, except the building of a house, and the same reservations as were contained in the grant to Thomas Hancock. January 8, 1761, Silvester Gardiner deeded the northerly half of this lot to Thomas Hancock. The conveyance was for a nominal price, ten shillings being the consideration named in the deed, and Dr. Gardiner received other lands in exchange. By the acts of incorporation of Hallowell and Pittston, the center line of Lot No. 20 became the dividing line between the two towns. The original grant of Lot No. 20 described it as beginning "twenty Rods to the Northward of the north side of the Mouth of Cobbisecontee Stream". The Cobbossee has two mouths, and some litigation was necessary before it could be determined which one was meant. It was finally decided that the south channel was the one intended. February 21, 1764, the Proprietors granted to Silvester Gardiner a tract described as follows: "Beginning on the West side of said Kennebec River, Twenty poles to the Northward of Cobbiseconte Stream, where it empties itself into said Kennebeck River, from thence running a West North West Course until it strikes Cobbisconte Stream that Issues out of Cobbiseconte great Pond, from thence to run Southerly down said Stream as the said Stream runs, to Cobbiseconte first Pond, then running along the Northerly End of said Pond to the Stream which issues out of said Pond. Then running Northeasterly, as said Stream runneth to said Kennebeck River, and from thence twenty Poles northward of said Stream up said Kennebeck River, and is bounded Northerly by a Tract of Land formerly granted by said proprietors to said Silvester Gardiner Esq. and Westerly by said Cobbiseconte Stream which Issues out of Cobbiseconte great Pond, and Southerly by Cobbiseconte first pond, & Easterly by the Stream which Issues out of said Cobbiseconte first pond which empties itself into said Kennebeck River, then Northerly Twenty Poles up said Kennebeck River to the first mentioned Bounds, being Lots Twenty three G. & Twenty four G. delineated on a plan draughted by John McKechnie Surveyor Dated November 1762 & signed by David Jeffries proprietors Clerk." This deed recites that it is given in consideration of the grantee's "great Trouble and Expence in bringing forward settlements on said Kennebeck River". This clause has been cited as evidence of Dr. Gardiner's special activity in that direction, but it appears that all of the deeds given to proprietors under the same allotment contain the same expression. Another grant was made to Silvester Gardiner November 8, 1769. It recites his purchase of Lot No. 20, his conveyance of the northerly half of the same to Thomas Hancock, and his offer to purchase the land lying between the rear of the southerly half of said lot and "Cobbiseconte great Pond", and then conveys to him a tract "beginning at the West side of Cobbiseconte Stream on the East End of the North Line of the ten mile Lot number twenty two where it strikes Cobbiseconte River, from thence West North West on said North Line to Cobbiseconte great Pond, then Northerly up the Easterly side of said Pond until it meets a line running West North West from the Center of said Lot Number Twenty, thence to run an East South East Course on said Line to Cobbiseconte River, then down said River to the first mentioned Bounds and all the land lying between said stream and the Rear of the southerly half of said Lot Number twenty. In consideration of the said Silvester Gardiners paying for the Use of said Proprietors the sum of seventy five Pounds lawfull Money." By these several conveyances the Kennebec Company had deeded all of Old Pittston lying west of the Kennebec to two persons. Thomas Hancock had received five square miles, or 3200 acres, in the southerly part of the town, and the remainder had become the property of Silvester Gardiner. This part of Dr. Gardiner's possessions is called in his will his "Cobbiscontee Tract". The land east of the Kennebec was also divided into five mile lots, measuring one mile on the river and extending E.S.E. five miles. They were numbered from north to south, and the line between Hallowell and Pittston was through the center of No. 12. The disposition of such of these lots as fell within the limits of Old Pittston will now be given. Whenever a grantor is not named, it is to be understood that the title was derived from the Kennebec Company. The north half of No. 12 was granted to William Tufts of Kennebeck, Feb. 9, 1763, and William Tufts of Pownalborough, yeoman, conveyed it to William Vassall of Boston, gentleman, Feb. 11, 1764. The south half of No. 12 was granted to Silvester Gardiner March 14, 1764. July 26, 1764, he deeded to James Winslow about ninety acres in the northwest corner, described as being about three quarters of a mile above Cobbisconte Mill, measuring 320 poles on William Vassall's south line and 40 poles wide. The same day he deeded to Joseph Glidden of Gardinerston, shipwright, another lot of the same dimensions south of Winslow's, and to James Flagg of Gardinerston, merchant, a lot of the same length and 50 poles wide next south of Glidden's. The act of incorporation of the town Hallowell, 1771, describes the south line of the part lying east of the Kennebec as "at the north line of James Winslow's land lying within a thirty two hundred acre lot number 12." Lot No. 13 was granted to Silvester Gardiner Dec. 11, 1754, by the same vote by which he received Lot A. B. west of the river. This grant is not on record in this county, and the record here given is from the books of the Kennebec Company. The north half of No. 14 was granted to Silvester Gardiner Oct. 12, 1768, excepting "Fifty Acres being half of the hundred Acres granted to John Shanney as a settler." The Shanney lot will be more particularly described in connection with the south half of this lot. The grants to Silvester just described constitute what in his will he calls the Worromontogus Tract. The south half of No. 14, excepting fifty acres of the Shanney grant, was granted to James Bowdoin July 5, 1770. Bowdoin's deed is not on record in this county, but the date is given in his deed to Reuben Colburn, dated Jan. 1, 1773, which conveys to said Colburn all of said south half, except "fifty Acres of land, being one half of a hundred Acre Lot granted by the Kennebeck Proprietors to John Shanney the twelfth day of October, 1763, said hundred acres fronting on said River and extending in Width twenty poles on each side of the Center of said Lott Number fourteen and running East South East three hundred and twenty poles." There is no record of the Shanney grant, nor of any deed running from him. No. 15 was granted Aug. 12, 1761, to Habijah Weld, Jonathan Fox, Samuel Fowle and Jonathan Reed. By a deed of division, dated Oct. 30, 1762, the grantees divided it into four lots, each eighty rods wide and five miles long. Jonathan Reed of Woolwich received the northerly lot, "except that part of the stream called Eastern River which runs through the same parcel and the mill privileges thereon." The next went to Habijah Weld of Attleboro, County of Bristol, "excepting the Brook running through the same called Negumkee Brook and the mill privileges thereon." The next lot became the property of Samuel Fowle of Woburn, County of Middlesex, and the fourth or south lot of Jonathan Fox, also of Woburn. In the original grant of No. 15 it is also called the Negumkee Lot. Negumkee is a modification of the name Nequamkick which was used in the grant of the Plymouth Council to Gov. Bradford and his associates, and has been further changed to Nahumkeag, by which name the stream and pond are now known. A lot of 100 acres, 50 poles wide and extending E.S.E. 320 poles, from the southwest corner of No. 16, was granted to David Bailey June 8, 1763. The conditions of the grant were that the grantee should build a house not less than twenty feet square and seven feet stud, clear and bring to fit for tillage five acres of land within three years, live and dwell on the premises during said term, or in case of death then his heirs or some person under them, and they or some person under him or them should dwell thereupon seven years after the expiration of said three years; also that he or they should work on the ministerial lot or in building a house for the public worship of God two days in a year for ten years when required and two days in a year on the public roads until said land should be erected into a township. The remainder of No. 16 was granted, April 23, 1783, to "the heirs and assigns of Paschal Nelson, late of London, Esq., deceased, and to the heirs of Robert Temple, senior, Esq., and Mehetabel his wife late of Charlestown in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, deceased, considered as heirs or assigns of Sir Thomas Temple, deceased, in right of whom this grant is made." Robert Temple married Mehitable Nelson, and its was probably by some family arrangement that the grant was made jointly to the Temple and Nelson heirs. The next conveyance of record was dated Dec. 13, 1803, when Thomas Lindall Winthrop of Boston, administrator of the estate of John Nelson, late of the Island of Granada, deeded it to James Lloyd of Boston, and the same day Lloyd reconveyed to Winthrop "an undivided moiety." Both of these deeds contain an exception of the Bailey lot. Thomas L. Winthrop, was Robert and Mebitable Temple's son in law, and was the father of Robert C. Winthrop of Boston. The lot east of the Kennebec, next south of No. 16, was called the Diamond Lot. It was of the same dimensions as the other lots, containing five square miles. Its name was probably derived from its shape. A settler's lot of 100 acres was granted to Nathaniel Bailey of Pownalborough, yeoman, June 8, 1763. It was on the river, extending 50 poles each side of the center line and E.S.E. 320 poles. The conditions of the grant were that he should build a house not less than twenty-five feet square and seven feet stud, clear and bring to fit for tillage five acres of land within three years, live on the premises during said term, and that he or his heirs, or some person under them should dwell there for seven years after the expiration of said three years. The occupant was also to work on the ministerial lot or in building a house for the public worship of God two days in a year for ten years when required, and two days in a year on the public roads until the lands should be incorporated into a township. The remainder of the north half was granted to Robert Temple, Esq., of Charlestown, May 9, 1764. Of the south half, eighty acres were granted to Silvester Gardiner June: 21, 1769. It was south of the Bailey lot, measuring forty poles on the river and extending back one mile. Aug. 28, 1756, Gardiner had deeded the same land to Abner Marson of Pownalborough, labourer, showing that it had been allotted to Gardiner several years before he received his grant. All of the south half not included in previous grants became the property of Silvester Gardiner Aug. 22, 1770. Each of the 80 acre grants referred to above reserves "liberty of passing and repassing in a Creek leading out of Kennebec River across said Lot." Lot No. 17, sometimes referred to as the Vassall Lot, was "Voted, granted and assigned to Florentius Vassall, Esq., of London", Feb. 4, 1756. Nov. 2, 1763, he deeded to Walter Cane of Kennebeck River a lot of 100 acres from the center, similar to the other hundred acre lots which have already been described. This did not prevent him from giving Robert Twycross a deed of the same land in 1768. but the Cane deed was the one under which the land passed to future purchasers. James Flagg as administrator of Cane's estate sold it to Samuel Goodwin, Jr., of Pownalborough, who in turn conveyed part to Samuel Eastman and part to Jonathan Burnell of Sherbum, Nantucket Island. The original grant of the Vassall Lot is not on record in this county. The remaining 3100 acres were sold for taxes in 1784, and were conveyed by tax deed to Joseph North of Hallowell. Dec. 27, 1786, they were redeemed by Richard Vassall of London, Florentius Vassall's son, and North reconveyed to him. The payment was made by Samuel Goodwin, and there is on record a long deposition in which he relates how he tried to get a bill cf items from North, who refused to give it, said that the amount tendered was correct, put the money in his pocket and offered the deed, which Goodwin was obliged to accept. Florentius Vassall died in 1778, and by his will his real estate in America was to go to his son Richard and Richard's daughter Elizabeth, and then to Elizabeth's male heirs. Elizabeth had married Sir Godfrey Webster, and they had two sons, Godfrey, who died in 1836, and Henry, While in Italy, in 1795, she became intimate with Lord Holland, and her husband obtained a divorce from her and a verdict of 6000 pounds against her paramour. After the divorce, Lord Holland married her, and she returned to England to become mistress of Holland House and leader of that illustrious Holland House Circle whose fame endures even to this day. To these family complications has been ascribed in part the neglect of the Kennebec property. Neglected at any rate it was, and like many tracts belonging to absentee owners, it was taken possession of by "squatters." Henry Webster became a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army, and in 1846 an action in his name against Peter Cooper was entered in the U.S. Circuit Court at Portland for the recovery of a part of the Pittston property. A trial resulted in a verdict for the defendant, but the case was carried to the U.S. Supreme Court, which reversed the judgment and sent the case back for further proceedings. In 1854 the defendant was defaulted and judgment was entered for the plaintiff, but there is no record of any attempt on his part to enforce it. Sabine says in his "Loyalists of the American Revolution", that the suit was prosecuted in the interest of some persons in Boston who had purchased the rights of Henry and his mother, and that the litigation was terminated by the defendant paying "a small sum for the land he occupied and each party his own costs." Both of these statements appear probable. We have nearly reached the south line of Pittston. Jan. 7, 1764, the Proprietors conveyed to "Martin Hayley of Kennebeck, Husbandman," a lot of land beginning on the river at the westerly end of a road eight poles wide "which Road is the Northern Boundary of the Town of Pownalborough", running E.S.E. 390 poles, then N.N.E. 45 poles, then W.N.W. to the river, then southerly to the first bounds, containing one hundred acres. The consideration was 40 pounds, and the conveyance was absolute and without conditions. Hanson says that the first English hay cut in Pittston was raised on this land. The tax deeds of the Vassall lot make Martin Haley's land its southern boundary. The part of Pittston which lay east of the Kennebec, as originally laid out, contained six and one half of the mile lots which we have now described, together with the forty five rods which constituted the width of the Haley lot. The southern and eastern boundaries are still a part of the original lines. In 1844 a strip measuring fifty rods on the river and extending easterly one mile was annexed to the town from the town of Hallowell, and in 1855 the farm of John Barker was set off from the town of Chelsea. These annexations account for the irregularity of what was once the north line of Pittston, now the north line of Randolph. At the breaking out of the Revolution, Silvester Gardiner favored the cause of Great Britain. He accordingly left Boston when it was evacuated by the British army, in 1776, and went to Halifax and from there to England, where he remained until the conclusion of hostilities. His property in Massachusetts and Rhode Island was confiscated, and. proceedings for the same end were instituted against his Gardinerstown estates; but they were not properly commenced and had to be begun anew. The treaty of peace put an end to this action before it could be consummated, and so the property was saved. After peace was declared, Dr. Gardiner returned to this country and resumed the practice of his profession in Newport, R.I., where he died August 6, 1786. Hanson's History of Gardiner contains a full but not quite accurate copy of his will. Only such parts will be quoted here as relate to the disposition of his Gardinerstown estates. They are as follows:
"I give and bequeath to my two daughters, Hannah Hallowell and Abagail Whipple, the whole of Worromontogus Tract, containing six thousand acres of land, bounded Westerly on the east side of Kennebec river, by the three grants of the said land from the Kennebec Company to me will more fully appear, to be equally divided between them, the northerly half I devise to Mrs. Hallowell, the southerly half I devise to my daughter Whipple, each of them paying annually forever three pounds sterling out of the rents and profits of the said land, to the Episcopal Minister for the time being of St. Ann's Church in Gardinerstown, who shall be elected and duly inducted in said Church. I give and devise to my daughter Dumaresque my lot of land called the Diamond Lot, containing sixteen hundred acres, as pr grant from the Kennebec Company, as delineated and laid down on the Kennebec Company's plan made by John North, Esquire to hold during her natural life, and then to the male heirs of her body lawfully begotten, and in default of male heirs, to be equally divided among her daughters that may be living at the time of my decease she and her heirs paying annually the sum of forty shillings sterling out of the Rents and profits of the said land, to the ministry of St. Ann's Church in Gardinerstown, who shall be duly elected and inducted to the Church." Robert Hallowell and Oliver Whipple were appointed executors. |