Sir Ferdinando Gorges Sprague's Journal of Maine History Vol. VII FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL 1920 No. 4 Page 194-197 Sir Ferdinando Gorges (BY ERNEST A. PRESSEY.) 'The founders of nations and communities are of more than pass- ing interest, and yet how many people could name the founder of the State of Maine? Perhaps multitudes have never heard of him, much less the details of the notable accomplishment of his romantic life. An elaborate celebration of the centennial of the State of Maine is contemplated for this year. Much will be said and done com- memorating the event of a new star admitted among the galaxy in the banner of the Union in 1820, and of the centennial of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine. No doubt men of Maine who have ranked high in the councils of the nation, men of leadership in all branches of human activity will be applauded. Maine can well be proud of her poets, statesmen, diplomats and men of affairs, but the full story of the history of the state will not be told unless something is said of the founder, Sir Ferdinando Gorges. For the many interesting facts in -the life of this remarkable man which should be known to all our citizens, we are indebted to local historians,-the Honorable James P. Baxter, and the Hon- orable Augustus Moulton. The Gorges family was an ancient one, claiming to have come to England with William the Conqueror. It was during the stir- ring days of Queen Elizabeth that our hero was born in London about 1566. Men in those days could do many things, write verses, shine at court, sail ships, fight duels, vanquish enemies, or seek adventure overseas. Records show Gorges as a captain of troops which Queen Elizabeth sent to Holland in 1587 to assist William the Silent against Spain. We would expect to find him sharing in the events of the memorable year 1588, when the so-called "Invincible Armada" was defeated. But Gorges was a prisoner in France at that time. After an exchange of prisoners he was again in the field the next year, and was wounded at the siege of Paris. By these and other records of military service on the con- tinent, we are enabled to note that the founder of Maine was a man filled with the spirit of the days of Good Queen Bess of honored memory. Spain made further plans to invade England after the crushing defeat of the Armada, and it was expected that Plymouth would be the point of attack. Gorges took charge of the erection of the defences there and when in 1596 these were completed he was made commander of the fortifications. In the long war with Spain, Gorges was among the most active in the defence of England. He also accompanied Sir Walter Raleigh in an attack against the enemy and shared in the disastrous outcome. In these eighteen years of warfare with Spain, England developed many daring and adventurous spirits by land and sea. It was not the temper of that age to allow Spain to remain in possession of the new western continent. In 1603 Henry the Fourth of France gave a charter to a colonization company under De Monts, which, by the way, established its first settlement on St. Croix Island in Maine in 1604. By this act France set aside the Spanish claim to the American continent as a papal gift, and Englishmen trained in those stormy days could not be expected to do less. So Captain George Weymouth in 1605 explored the coast of North Virginia, as the northern shore including Maine, was then called, and set up a cross on Monhegan Island in token of sovereignty. He selected the mouth of the Kennebec as a good place to found a permanent colony. His report was so enthusiastically received that in 1606 two companies were formed under one Executive Council to forward the enterprise. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the Commander of Plymouth, together with Sir John Popham, the Chief Justice of England, took a leading part in the company, with a special interest in the North Virginia branch. With great prompt- ness Sir Ferdinando sent the experienced navigator Captain Chal- lons to the coast of Maine. By misfortune he fell in with the Spaniards in the West Indies and was taken prisoner. Sir John Popham, a little later, sent Martin Pring, another noted explorer, with another ship in support of the first, who not finding it returned to Plymouth, with a still more favorable report of the possibility for a settlement at the mouth of the Kennebec. We can see that ]If no misadventure had occurred the laurels for first settlement would have fallen to Maine in 16o6 instead of the distinction fall- ing to South Virginia for the London Company's successful colony at Jamestown in 1607. In any case, Sir Ferdinando Gorges was the promoter by which results were obtained. The story of the arrival of the " Gift of God" and the " 'Mary and John" with one hundred and twenty settlers at Sagadahock off where is now Sequin Light, August 19, 1607, and the settlement of the Popham colony and its subsequent failure from the death of Governor Popham, the severity of the climate, mismanagement, and the hostility of the Indians need not be told here. Let it suffice to say, that the doughty knight, the founder of Maine, so long as he lived gave most unstintedly of wealth, energy, and zeal for the great object of his life, the coloni- zation and the christianization of New England, - a name which John Smith in the later employ of Gorges, applied to the territory. As time advanced the remnant of the abandoned Sagadahock set- tlement who were scattered in that region had their numbers sup- plemented by those seeking the fishing and trading opportunities which the new world offered. Gorges was so earnest in his settle- ment scheme that he employed Captain John Smith who had so much experience at Jamestown, but repeated shipping disasters and the misfortunes of war prevented him from reaching his post in Maine. Gorges sent out Richard Vines in 1614, who spent a winter at the mouth of the Saco River. Although failing in the success that attended the efforts of the South Virginia company, the interest of Gorges in English settle- ment was such that he greatly assisted the Jamestown colony with his ships. He, likewise, won the gratitude of the Pilgrims when they landed on the Massachusetts coast as trespassers, promising them " Such freedom and liberty as might stand to their liking." He secured a grant for their benefit, and also assisted the Puri- tans to secure from the King the charter for the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1629. This reflects great credit upon him when we realize that Gorges was in the midst of the trouble which was brewing at home. The King and the Parliament were at odds. Gorges' star was to rise or set with the fortunes of the King. In 1635 the Plymouth company surrendered its charter and was converted into a crown colony with Sir Ferdinando Gorges as Governor General. It was the intention to revoke the charter of Massachusetts, but the vacillating King had so much to deal with at home that the task of coercion of an overseas colony was impossible. The next year Gorges set up his government and gen- eral court at Saco, and his nephew was appointed governor. A modification was made in the plan in 1639, when King Charles the First gave letters patent to Gorges making him a feudal lord over the Province of Maine after the medieval fashion. This presented the curious spectacle of two types of colonial states growing up side by side, the Puritan state of Massachusetts and the Palatine of Maine. Over the latter Sir Ferdinando Gorges exercised royal authority and the Church of England was supreme. The capital was incorporated in 1641 under the name of Gorgeana, now York Harbor. This was the first incorporated city in America, with mayor, aldermen, and councilmen. It was expected to be the seat of the Bishop of the Church of England. But the (lays of Cromwell and the Long Parliament changed the quality of Gorges' dream. The civil conflict was already begun. Sir Alexander Rigby, a member of the Long Parliament had previ- ously bought an old charter of an earlier date and had no difficulty in dispossessing Gorges from his title to Maine. .The Revolution had now destroyed all that Sir Ferdinando Gorges had planned and labored for, for more than forty years, and 'Massachusetts took military possession. He insisted to the last on his rights and left the Province to his eldest son. He died in 1647, aged eighty-two years. He was vindicated in his claim, however, for after the Restoration Charles the Second expelled the authorities of Massachusetts from Maine. I In 1677 a decision of the Privy Council sustained the original title of Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Massachusetts obtained per- Mission to drive a wise bargain and bought out the heirs of the old feudal lord for the small sum of twelve hundred and fifty pounds. It is interesting to see the different origins of the two states- Maine and Massachusetts: the Founder of Maine, the Tudor courtier and Stuart cavalier, with dauntless courage pursuing his quest to found a state, the stern Puritan, the founder of Massa- chusetts. Both are types of medieval England, and we honor both. But both have long since vanished from the scene. Each making his contribution to the modern Anglo-Saxon state, which the Restoration ushered in with its further specialized form in the great American Commonwealth. But Sir Ferdinando Gorges, the royalist and English Churchman, the Founder of Maine, has the first and most necessary place for which we should revere his memory. 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