John Baker of Moscow in Somerset Co, ME & of Madawaska Vol 2 #1 May 1914 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY 26 Baker of Madawaska The mist about the "clearing" gathered, settled and hung low, The calm of evening came to ease the weariness of day; Far in the east the bright moon shone through tree trunks all arow, The soft air breathed the sweetness the forest holds in May. Baker of Madawaska sat by his cabin door, And many hard and bitter thoughts were passing through his mind; Of his arrest and seizure there, less than a year before, And of his stay, in Fredericton, a prisoner unresigned. "George IV of England," Baker thought, "His realm is fair and wide, But to our Madawaska he's no claim, say what they may; And we, Americans, have a right that shall not be denied To celebrate as we see fit, our Independence Day! "Last year in 'ail at Fredericton, I weary hours spent Because oil July Fourth my friends did meet with me, and sing Around a flag-staff we had raised, (nor do I yet repent!) To show we are Americans, not subjects of the king. "Then I went, James Bacon with me, all the way to Portland town To find the Governor, and ask aid from the State, that we Might bid defiance to the laws and officers of the Crown, And live like peaceful citizens as we had hoped to be. "The miles stretched out before us as we took the trail anew, And our little Madawaska seemed very far away, But the rivers helped us onward with our trusty old canoe, And we fared on foot together, back home, as strong men may. "The Governor has not helped us, though he sided with our cause, And this British interference keeps on and grows apace, They come and seize our lumber, then bid us keep their laws. we'd better have another war, and teach them what's their place. " Baker of Madawaska laid him down upon his bed; Weary with toil he slumbered deep; and at the next day's dawn He started out for Fredericton, by king's officials led, Arrested for "Conspiracy," and to be tried thereon. The trial through, the learned Judge asked him for his defence. John Baker stood before them then and spoke, so men report; "I enter no defence, not I, and call no evidence; I decline the jurisdiction of this, your English court. 27 "On American territory my house and sawmill stand ; Penobscot's courts shall try me if I aught of evil do. from Maine and Massachusetts come the deeds to all my land. I enter no defence: I pledge my faith to Maine anew. They brought the verdict "Guilty, " and again to common Jail John Baker was committed, with a twenty-five pound fine; 'No months he was to stay there, and if lie then should fail To pay that sum unto the king, in jail lie still should pine. The British interference move intolerable grew; At last a brief and bloodless war the boundary fixed for ave. Baker of Madawaska, whene'er we think of you, We applaud your patriotism upon that far-off day. Foxcroft, Maine. MABEL L. TRUE. (John Baker was born in Moscow in Somerset County in the district of Maine, January 17, 1796, and died March 10, 1868. His remains lie buried in the cemetery at Fort Fairfield, over which a monument has been erected bearing his name and the following inscription: "Erected by authority of a resolve of the Legislature of Maine, A. D. 1895, to commemorate the Patriotism of John Baker, a loyal son of Maine in Maintaining the Honor of his Flag during the con- tentions on the disputed territory 1834-42. " His name is indissolubly interwoven with the North Eastern boundary controversy. He had a home on the disputed territory, defied the officers of New Brunswick in many ways and was twice arrested and imprisoned in the Fredericton jail. The last time that he was incarcerated was when he was indicted, tried and sentenced for sedition and conspiracy against the King at the Hilary term of the Supreme Court for the County of York, province of New Brunswick, May 8, 1828. About all that has been published regarding him may be found in the Report of Charles S. Davies to the Governor of Maine January 31, 1839; a paper on John Baker by George S. Rowell, A. M., read before the Maine Historical Society December, 1911, and published in the Historical department of the Eastern Argus; "The North Eastern Boundary Controversy and the Aroostook War," Sprague ( 1910) , and the documentary part of the Piscataquis Historical Society Collections, Vol. 1.) [Ed.] Enjoy David C. 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