Remains of Wiscasset re-settlement may have been found by state

Paula Gibbs
Editor

The state's plans to build a bypass around Wiscasset may well be influenced by evidence of life that existed here nearly 6,000 years ago - or as recently as a few hundred years ago.

An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Route 1 bypass, now under consideration by the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT), must include information on any archeological sites in the path of whatever route is chosen. Of particular importance are any sites that might be eligible to be included on the National Register of Historic Places, established in 1966 with the passage of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Last summer, John Mosher and others from the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, walked around Wiscasset looking for evidence of past settlements from May until the middle of October. Using information gathered previously by other archaeologists and historians, they dug "many, many, many small holes," in Mosher's words, looking for artifacts.

Not only did they find evidence of prehistoric life, Mosher said the big surprise for them was finding what they believe to be the site of the settlement that was founded after earlier settlers were driven off at the beginning of the French and Indian Wars in 1676. Although there have been written records of Robert Hooper and his family moving here in 1729, until Mosher and his colleagues made their discovery last summer, there had been no documented evidence of exactly where that settlement was.

According to information gathered by the Maine State Museum and the Maine Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for a series called "Home: The Story of Maine," a new wave of native Americans came to Maine to settle from the southeast in about 3700 B.C. By 3000 B.C. the population had started to decline. By 2800 B.C. "ceramic people" arrived, and "pottery made its first appearance in the state." Also, the first wigwams and birch bark canoes appeared here. By the year 1400 A.D., it is estimated that about 20,000 Indians were living in Maine, with three major ethnic groups; by 1700 Wabanaki, the People of the Dawn, was the generic term for all Maine Indians.

Between 1616 and 1619, according to the PBS-state museum study, a three-year pandemic, known as "The Great Dying" killed an estimated 90 to 95 percent of Maine's Native Americans from Penobscot Bay south to Cape Cod. Mosher said he and his colleagues found traces of this early life in the form of arrowheads and pieces of pottery in Wiscasset last summer, which had been found here by earlier archaeologists as well.

According to Fannie Chase's book, "Wiscasset In Pownalborough," historians believe that Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer, may have landed in Wiscasset about 1605. It is also believed that the first non-native settler was Christopher Lamson, followed in 1660 by four men, including George and John Davies, who built a settlement near the site of the present Lincoln County Jail and Museum on Federal Street.

Those early Wiscasset settlements were abandoned, however, after a series of wars between the settlers and the natives. Between 1675 and 1678, the First Anglo-Wabanaki War (King Philips War) began as an uprising of Native Americans against the English settlements. The PBS-state museum study says 6,000 English settlers were either killed or driven out of a huge area from Wells to Pemaquid. This war was followed by a series of wars, known as the French and Indian Wars, which did not end until the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1763.

Nevertheless, some settlers did arrive in Wiscasset in the early 1700s, before the wars had officially ended. According to Fannie Chases's book, the first to arrive, in 1729, was Robert Hooper and his family who built a log cabin.

For Mosher, the big surprise of last summer's "digs" in Wiscasset was the discovery of what they believe to be the remains of the re-settlement of Wiscasset, which began in 1729. Two of the artifacts they discovered were pieces of pottery that were recognizable as having been made in Staffordshire, England, as well as some hand-forged nails.

A search through some very early Wiscasset deeds also led them to several areas where they found artifacts. One of the earliest town deeds mentions the location of a "hovel," a temporary shelter built by settlers before they built a house. Mosher said a hovel had no cellar, was built of logs, and usually had rocks on each of the four corners.

Just finding remains doesn't necessarily mean the site will go on the National Historic Register, Mosher explained.

"We tell the state which sites are eligible for the Register," Mosher said. Some sites are judged to be more important than others, based on whether they provide significant information about the history of the area, he said.

One of the things that won't be described in the Environmental Impact Statement is where, exactly, these various sites are located - for the simple reason, Mosher says, that some people may decide to dig them up and remove whatever they find.

Properties listed in the Register can include districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects "that are significant in "American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering and culture," according to the Maine Historic Preservation Commission's website. The Register is administered by the National Park Services, which is part of the U.S. Dept. of the Interior. The Maine Historic Preservation Commission has been designated as the state's historic preservation office, and oversees the administration of the National Register program in Maine.

In addition to Wiscasset's Historic District, there are five other historic districts in Lincoln County which are on the Register: in Alna, the Head Tide Historic District; the Sheepscot Historic District; the Damariscotta Shell Midden Historic District; and the Main Street Historic District in Damariscotta.