Campbell, John, fl. 1747 [John Campbell's declaration regarding the Damariscotta River settlement]
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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.10411 Author/Creator: Campbell, John, fl. 1747 Place Written: Boston, Massachusetts Type: Manuscript document signed Date: 26 February 1747 Pagination: 2 p. ; 37.4 x 23 cm. Order a Copy
Attests that he took up land in an area under the charge of Colonel [David] Dunbar. Dunbar was replaced by Colonel Samuel Waldo, and some families left the area while others remained. The greatest concentration of settlers dwelled in the township of Walpole, Massachusetts, where Campbell asserts "...they built houses and made some considerable Improvements in Farming and Lumbering, which all those who remained there and others that were added to the settlement of the remove aforementioned continued to do till the beginning of the Spanish War..." When war between Britain and France broke out in Europe, settlers anticipated increased vulnerability to Native American attacks, and many moved to more secure settlements, such as Boston. Waldo garrisoned two houses at Damariscotta River, but when settlers heard of Native American attacks in July 1745 at St. George's and [Medomak] River, others left for Boston. In May [1746], "the Indians ambushed five men belonging to me of the the Garrison aforesaid killed one of them and wounded another, and on or about the 22nd July [1746] ambushed nine other persons within about fifteen or twenty rodd of their Garrison and killed and scalped eight of them ... three Men two Women and three Children ... " After this, the remaining settlers evacuated, leaving the Damariscotta River settlement "in generall laid Waste..." Only ten families remain, in two garrisons, and they will soon have to evacuate because they can not "make Improvements or follow any Business." Asserts that before their evacuation, inhabitants built four saw mills and a corn mill. Signed 26 February 1746/7 by Jacob Wendell, Justice of the Peace. Wendell attests to the veracity of Campbell's declaration.
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