Item 7324
Chapter 3, page 62-66.
A Brunswick resident wrote to the Reverend M. Baxter in 1717, requesting that he become the town's minister.
The letter describes the relationship between the townspeople and the local Indians, the inner-workings of early Brunswick, and the importance of religion to early communities.
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Item 7309
Chapter 3, page 66-67.
Thomas Burnam in 1692 accuses Rachel Claptonof milking his cows and then turning one into a cat.
An addendum states that the cow was later found dead.
Many people believed in the power of witches as this depostion documents.
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Item 7311
Chapter 3, page 63-64.
Ferdinando Gorges, hoping to lure more settlers to his colony, granted land to people who promised to develop it.
In 1634, he allocated land to Thomas Cammock.
Despite grants like this, Maine remained sparsely inhabited during Gorges's lifetime.
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Item 7533
Chapter 3, page 63-64.
This map of Cape Elizabeth and Richmond Island (true copy from a 1631 map) can be used to help show how land was allotted in Maine. Thomas Cammock's land, as is discussed in an 1634 deed (shown above), is at the bottom.
Item 7541
Chapter 3, page 63-64.
This map shows the land chartered from King James I to the Council for New England. It also shows smaller plots allotted from Gorges to different people. This can be used to show how land was divided up and is a good accompaniment to other land deeds found in the Maine Memory Network.
Item 7310
Chapter 3, page 66.
This 1642 Petition to Parliament from George Cleeve (and signed by others) describes what he saw as breaches of authority by Maine Governors Vines and Godfrey, ca. 1642. Cleeve was eventually successful in displacing these governors, and as a result, he became one of the most powerful men in Maine of his time.
With Cleeve having to petition the far off British government, this document shows the difficulty of mediating disagreements in early Maine. It also makes clear that Maine was a frontier. Government and Church authority did not have strong influence in the lives of the earliest settlers simply because Maine was so far from the governing bodies of Massachusetts.
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