The Portland daily press., 1883-03-20
Land Titles In Maina

To the Editor of the Press.
Sullivan wrote up the History of the Land
Titles in Maine on thirty-eight pages and in
after years regretted that he published
the work as it comprehended so little that
should have been in such work.
At that period much which has been gath
cred into the various archives in this country
and of Europe was in the hands of private
parties slowed away in inaccessible regions.
In the time of the early grants of the territory
of the present State of Maine, the original
grants were retained in Europe and copies
sent here. In many cases the copies were
lost and we at this day are unable to trace
their boundaries.
Some of these original grants are in ex-
istence in the archives of France, who claimed
the territory west of the st. Cioix river and
east of the Sagadahoc under which Henry
~ of France, on the Sth Nov, 1903, granted
a patent of all the territory in America lying
between the 10th and 46th parallels of north
latitude to Pierre du Guast Sieur de Monts.
He associated company with himself and set
sail for America April 7th, 1904. They en-.
tered Passamaquoddy Bay, which the Indians
called Peskadamiaktanti, which it is said
means "leads up to the open fields or places
The "open places" were probably Schoodic
lakes and the intervale lands around them,
and discovered the st. Croix Island ('Holy
Grossly now called Neutral Island, where at
that time they began settlement. July, 1904,
intending to locate and build large city 1t
was summer, the genial air was fragrant with
the sweet odors of the forest. Game was plen-
ty-moose and deer in large numbers roamed
near in the woods and the rivers abounded
with fish and fowl.
Here was paradise or one of the Isles of
the Blest. Trees were felled, streets and
squares laid out, foundations arranged, houses
erected, cannons mounted and a small house
of worship built with cemetery adjoining.
In the autumn portion of the party returned
to France for supplies and recruits. They
were we'll supplied with clothing and pro-
visions
Winter came, and our citizens need no de-
scription of this season of the year. Day and
night these poor exiles from sunny France
shivered as with ague. In August, 1905, they
all left and the settlement was broken up.
France, for many years, issued grants of land
on this co asst and one of the most interesting
localities of those grants was that of "Mount
Desert by the Governor of Canada to Car
dilac, and confirmed by King Louis XIV. A
record Of the grants are in the French arch
ives. Then came grants made by English
sovereigns also many tracts are held under
Indian Deeds As far as have read no thor
ough transcripts of the records of the archives
of the British State Paper office, of the British
Museum, whose collectors have secured many
of these original granite, nor of the French
archives which are in rather confused condi-
tion, are found.
Consequently we are without information
of much that would be valuable to the histo-
rian.
We hope that some patriotic deliver in old
time records will explore these archives,
which can be done in about year, that we
may have History of the Land Titles of
Maine that will be worthy of being placed on
the shelves of our libraries.
s. p MAyRERPy