Gazetteer of the State of Maine, 1882 page 607
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Gazetteer of the State of Maine With Numerous Illustrations, by Geo. J. Varney

BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY B. B. RUSSELL, 57 CORNHILL. 1882. Public domain image from

YORK.    £07

noted scout, pursuing the savages with unrelenting hate at every op-
portunity. In August, 1746, a party of thirty-two Indians secreted
themselves near the lower falls for the purpose of surprising Weare’s
garrison, killing Philip Greely, who came in their way. This was the
last attack of savages which occurred within the limits of the town.

(


From this time until the Revolution, the people of Royall’s River    i

had peace; but in that momentous stru-rgle the inhabitants of what is
now Yarmouth were not surpassed in their devotion to the American    
j

cause. On the 20th of May, previous to the Declaration of Indepen-    !

dence, they “ voted unanimously to engage with their lives and for-    j

tunes to support Congress in the measure.”

Many distinguished people have resided in the town. One of the
earliest was the Rev. Ammi R. Cutter, who was settled as pastor in
1730, but subsequently studied medicine. He led a company to the
siege of Louisburg in 1745, remaining there as surgeon of the garrison
after the surrender. The town has two Congregational churches, and
one each belonging to the Baptist, Universalist and Roman Catholic    '

denominations. The North Yarmouth Academy is situated in Yar-
mouth village, and notwithstanding a good town high-school, it still
flourishes. Yarmouth has ten public schoolhouses, and the school
property belonging to the town is valued at $3,500. The valuation of
estates in 1870 was $1,034,336. In 1880 it was $1,022,670. The rate
of taxation in 1880 was 11 per cent. The population in 1870 was
1,8
VI. In the census of 1880, the figures are 2,021.

York, in the county of tho same name, is a sea-coast town, and
the southernmost but one in the State. Within its limits was established
the first English city in America. In 1641 a tract near the mouth of
York River, three miles square, was incorporated by Sir Ferdinando
Gorges, proprietor of the province, as the town of Agamenticus. In
1642, Gorges, desirous of a suitable capital for his Province of Maine,
replaced the town corporation by a chartered city, upon which lie be-
stowed the name of Georgeana. Its limits Avere seven miles inland
from the sea by three in breadth; and the Agamenticus (York) River
formed its south-western boundary. The date of the first settlement
of York is not known. Edward Godfrey, once governor of the pro-
vince, affirmed that he was an inhabitant in 1620 and 1630, and “ the
first that built there.” In 1643 Gorgeana is believed to have had
between 250 and 300 inhabitants. Captain William Gorges, nephew
of the proprietor, had been appointed by him governor of the province,
having come over with his commission in 1635. He appears to have
visited England about the time of the breaking out of the war between
the Puritans and King Charles I., preceding the establishment of the
commonwealth and the protectorate of Cromwell. The death of the
proprietor of the province, Sir Ferdinando, occurring in 1647, and
nothing being heard from Governor William Gorges, the inhabitants of
Kittery. Gorgeana, Wells, and probably the Isle of Shoals, met in con-
vention at Gorgeana, and formed themselves into a confederacy for
mutual protection and just administration of the government, and Ed-
ward Godfrey was chosen governor. In 1652, when Massachusetts ex-
tended her jurisdiction over the province under a new interpretation
of the boundaries of her charter, the name of the city was changed
to York, and that of the province to Yorkshire, to avoid the city charter



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