The Portland daily press., 1886-05-26
CORHAM.

1t was in the month of May one hundred
and fifty years ago that John Phinney with
his son fourteen years of age padded his
canoe up the Presumpscot from old Fal-
mouth now Portland and disembarked at
what is now the 1ourishing town of GOrham,
but was then an unbroken wilderness, whose
only inhabitants were the Indians and the
wild beasts of the forest. Phinney was the
son of one of the conquerors of the Nara
gansett Indians The contest with the Mar
ragansetts was one of the most memorable
ever fought ON this continent. Six of the
companies that took part in it were raised in
Massachusetts,, five in Connecticut and two
in the Plymouth colony. The last were cem-
manded by Capt Gorham, from whom the
present town takes its name, and Capt. Rice.
The decisive battle was fought on the tenth of
December 1915, and lasted six hours OF
1000 Indians engaged not 200 escaped, and
the loss of the whites was considerable.
Capt Gorham had thirty of his company
killed, and forty-one wounded. In recogni-
ton of the services of the men who took
part in this battle Massachusetts, granted
them and their heirs seven townships, one
of which was located on the Presumpscot
river and designated as Narragansett No. Z.
This was assigned to Capt. John Gorham's
company. Immediate preparations were
made to settle it, but several years elapsed
before the grant was actually entered by the
white man.
1t was two years after Capt. John Phinney
settled on Narragansett No. 7, before anoth-
er white settler came. Meanwhile, daugh-
ter had been born to Capt. Phinney, the first
white child born in Gorham. The second
settler was Daniel Mosier, who removed
from Falmouth in 1873. Next came Hugh
Mcclellan, from the north of Ireland, and
soon after followed William Pote William
Cotton, Ebenezer Hall, Eliphalet Watson,
Clement Harvey, Bartholomew Thorn, John
Irish, John Aver, Jacob Hamblen, Benja-
min Skillings. When Capt. Phinney began
his settlement there were but nine towns in
Maine.
1t was four years after he entered the plan
tation that the proprietors met and voted to
build meeting house 'for the worship of
God," Sc feet long, 20 feet wide, with 20 feet
shed: and fifty shillings on right were ap-
propriated for the same In 1743, a grist and
saw mill was built on Little River. The plan
tation was in fiourishing condition when
in 1745 what is known as the fifth Indian
war broke out. Being frontier town, Nara
gansett No. suffered severely. The settlers
buildings were burned, their cattle killed, and
ceaseless vigilance was the price of the preser-
walton of the settlers lives. Little work could
be done, for the people had to shut them
selves up in the fort large part of the time
to save themselves from the Indians. Starva-
ton stared them in the face, and many OF
the settlers became disheartened and fled to
towns less exposed to attack.
With the return of peace the plantation
began to flourish again and to fill up rapidly
with settlers. In 1854 meeting house was
completed. The population OF the planta-
ton was estimated at $40 souls. In October
of that year the town was Incorporated by
the General Court of Massachusetts, and the
first town meeting was held in February OF
the following year. In the war OF the Rev
olution there was no more patriotic town IN
Maine than Gorham. 1t constantly contrlDu-
ted more than its quota to the Contlnental
armv. besides raising large company which
went with Gen. Peleg Wadsworth on the Pc
nobscot expedition. At one time every third
man of its population was in the army
We all know what is the Gorham OF TO-DAY
-one of the most thrifty and beautiful VII
lagos of Maine; its people enterprislng ana
progressive, worthy descendants OF the
sturdy pioneers who, century and nall
ago, amid hardships and di Engagements