Initially I considered writing the story of ‘ The Immigrant ‘ John Libby as fiction. On reflection I have chosen to utilize distant cousin Charles Libby tracts. He gathered as much information as was available at the time from town and county records so that I am able to introduce my original ancestor through Charles’ editorial efforts. The possibility of a work of fiction is nevertheless, not off the table. The pioneer world of these settlers was extreme. Hostile Indians, harsh landscape, long hard winters, religious 'nutters' nearby in Massachusetts who brought the centuries old ideas of Satan worship to the new world and the general feelings of helplessness that awaits the first group of settlers to arrive.
Maine, as we know it today, was settled chiefly through speculative enterprises of English merchants. Annually they sent many vessels to fish her coastline. They established trading houses at convenient points to supply the wants and needs of the fishermen and to obtain furs from the indigenous tribes. One of those stations was located on Richmond's Island, a small island on the coast of Cumberland county, about one mile from the coast of Cape Elizabeth. There had been a man ( Walter Bagnell ) trading with the Indians and through bad dealing had been murdered. In 1631 Robert Trelawny of Plymouth, Devonshire County, England, procured a patent which included this island. A trading post administered by his agent John Winter must have employed John Libby whose descendants are recorded in this tale.
John Libby was born in England in 1602. Elizabeth 1 was the monarch. William Shakespeare died when he was sixteen. There is a note recorded by him in 1677 which reads: ( sic)
‘ the good and pious report that was spread abroad, into our Native-Land of this Country, caused your Petitioner to come to this Land 47 years agoe, where he hath Ever since Continued.’
According to this, the year of his immigration was 1630, but ‘ 47 years ‘ was probably a slight exaggeration. The ‘ good and pious report ‘ was doubtless set afloat by Trelawny in his efforts to obtain men to carry on his fisheries, and there seems little doubt that John Libby was sent over by him. That’s how Charles read it in 1882 anyway.
John Libby was in the employ of Trelawny for four years from the summer of 1635 until 1639.His wages were paid for him in England probably for the support of the wife and child he had left behind. He sent for her in 1640 and took up his permanent abode on the neighboring mainland on the possessions of Thomas Cammock the patentee of Black Point. On the bank of ‘ Libby ‘ river ( now the town of Scarborough Maine ) John Libby built his first home. Over the next few years he developed much of the land while still fishing as his main income. As his land became more productive he doubtless depended less on the sea and applied himself exclusively to the tilling of the soil.
John Libby was for many years one of the town's principal planters, but he took no part in the affairs of the province, and little, so far as is known , in the management of the town. He was, however, a constable in 1664. His name appears in no court records and it seems he took a moral stand far above his class. Many of his fellow fishermen spent their entire wages on spirits and tobacco, but he used neither. He was known to have the occasional glass of wine. He seemed to have practiced that quiet, peaceful mode of life which has always characterized his descendants.
During ‘ Philip's War ‘ many of the exposed settlements of Maine were devastated. John Libby suffered in common with other inhabitants. He lost everything except his plantation. In late summer 1675, hostile Indians began to appear at Black Point, shooting cattle and burning homes. Those, like John Libby, who lived some distance from the garrison were compelled to leave their habitations for the safer abode. Their crops had to be gathered under the protection of soldiers who had been sent from Boston.
In October 1676 the Black Point garrison was deserted and most of the inhabitants fled to Boston. Eight or nine houses belonging to the Libby children were burned. Two of his sons (James and Samuel ) were killed ( and maybe scalped ) in front of their father. It is noted by Charles that the women and children did not return until the end of the war in 1678.
John Libby died in 1682 having acquired a comfortable property. In the years following his death the property at Black Point was still in pretty poor condition. Encouraged by the French, the Indian tribes again tried to upset and oust the settlers. In 1690 the families fled again and didn’t return for a year while the soldiers quelled the attempts of the Indians to drive them out. While all this was going on there were witchcraft trials in Salem which added a saucy ingredient to a most difficult period of the family story. I wonder if the Indians ( especially Phillip )* thought about these strange people who had come to smother them and steal their lands and their way of life. Metacom's War 1675-1678 *Phillip. ( Metacomet)Indian chief. who called himself King. Chief of a Wampanoag. second son of Massacoit, a Wampanoag sachem ( chief ).
Maine, as we know it today, was settled chiefly through speculative enterprises of English merchants. Annually they sent many vessels to fish her coastline. They established trading houses at convenient points to supply the wants and needs of the fishermen and to obtain furs from the indigenous tribes. One of those stations was located on Richmond's Island, a small island on the coast of Cumberland county, about one mile from the coast of Cape Elizabeth. There had been a man ( Walter Bagnell ) trading with the Indians and through bad dealing had been murdered. In 1631 Robert Trelawny of Plymouth, Devonshire County, England, procured a patent which included this island. A trading post administered by his agent John Winter must have employed John Libby whose descendants are recorded in this tale.
John Libby was born in England in 1602. Elizabeth 1 was the monarch. William Shakespeare died when he was sixteen. There is a note recorded by him in 1677 which reads: ( sic)
‘ the good and pious report that was spread abroad, into our Native-Land of this Country, caused your Petitioner to come to this Land 47 years agoe, where he hath Ever since Continued.’
According to this, the year of his immigration was 1630, but ‘ 47 years ‘ was probably a slight exaggeration. The ‘ good and pious report ‘ was doubtless set afloat by Trelawny in his efforts to obtain men to carry on his fisheries, and there seems little doubt that John Libby was sent over by him. That’s how Charles read it in 1882 anyway.
John Libby was in the employ of Trelawny for four years from the summer of 1635 until 1639.His wages were paid for him in England probably for the support of the wife and child he had left behind. He sent for her in 1640 and took up his permanent abode on the neighboring mainland on the possessions of Thomas Cammock the patentee of Black Point. On the bank of ‘ Libby ‘ river ( now the town of Scarborough Maine ) John Libby built his first home. Over the next few years he developed much of the land while still fishing as his main income. As his land became more productive he doubtless depended less on the sea and applied himself exclusively to the tilling of the soil.
John Libby was for many years one of the town's principal planters, but he took no part in the affairs of the province, and little, so far as is known , in the management of the town. He was, however, a constable in 1664. His name appears in no court records and it seems he took a moral stand far above his class. Many of his fellow fishermen spent their entire wages on spirits and tobacco, but he used neither. He was known to have the occasional glass of wine. He seemed to have practiced that quiet, peaceful mode of life which has always characterized his descendants.
During ‘ Philip's War ‘ many of the exposed settlements of Maine were devastated. John Libby suffered in common with other inhabitants. He lost everything except his plantation. In late summer 1675, hostile Indians began to appear at Black Point, shooting cattle and burning homes. Those, like John Libby, who lived some distance from the garrison were compelled to leave their habitations for the safer abode. Their crops had to be gathered under the protection of soldiers who had been sent from Boston.
In October 1676 the Black Point garrison was deserted and most of the inhabitants fled to Boston. Eight or nine houses belonging to the Libby children were burned. Two of his sons (James and Samuel ) were killed ( and maybe scalped ) in front of their father. It is noted by Charles that the women and children did not return until the end of the war in 1678.
John Libby died in 1682 having acquired a comfortable property. In the years following his death the property at Black Point was still in pretty poor condition. Encouraged by the French, the Indian tribes again tried to upset and oust the settlers. In 1690 the families fled again and didn’t return for a year while the soldiers quelled the attempts of the Indians to drive them out. While all this was going on there were witchcraft trials in Salem which added a saucy ingredient to a most difficult period of the family story. I wonder if the Indians ( especially Phillip )* thought about these strange people who had come to smother them and steal their lands and their way of life. Metacom's War 1675-1678 *Phillip. ( Metacomet)Indian chief. who called himself King. Chief of a Wampanoag. second son of Massacoit, a Wampanoag sachem ( chief ).
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