pointed to run and ascertain the eastern boundary of Massachusetts. His action here might have had something to do with that matter. Thomas Gorges was in doubt, at any rate, whether the title of Ferdinando would over-ride that of Stratton. Very probably he provided for some kind of a possession. At this time there was a communication between Agamenticus and Saco, and settlers must have been scattered along the road. In 1640, all the inhabitants from Piscataqua to Kennebunk were required, as soon as they had a minister, to bring their children to be bap tized. From thence it may well be inferred that there were inhabitants at the eastward of Agamenticus; otherwise, the order would naturally have been limited to York. Cleeves also says that he made grants there in 1641; and as his grants, which appear on the record, are subject to the payment of an annual rent, the grantees probably availed themselves of some use of the land, to fulfil the condition. In Gorges' deed to Wheelwright, he describes the tract conveyed as lying at Wells, in the county of Summerset. I am not aware that plantations, previous to in. habitancy, have ever been designated by name, as usual after occupancy has commenced. It would be an interesting inquiry, When was this name first applied to this territory? and for what reason was it so applied? No grant was made to any one of that name until 1657, when Thomas Wells, of Ipswich, became a proprietor. But previous to 1643, it had the name of Preston. Who gave it this designation? and by what authority was the name changed? There was one Edward Preston at Plymouth in 1641. He was "" a lewd fellow of the baser sort;" and could not have had the honor of giving a name to the town. I know of no other person of that name, then in the country. But the fact that the town had these two names before Mr. Wheelwright came here, indicates that there were settlers then occupying the territory.* *I can have no doubt that the name of the town, Wells, was given by Thomas Gorges, in conformity with the usage of the first settlers to apply the familiar names of the old country to their new places of residence here. Wells is an ancient city in Sommersetshire, the native county of Sir F. Gorges, and where his principal estates were situated. In conjunction with Bath, it is a bishop's See, and from that city it is nineteen miles distant. Ashton Phillips, the manor and birth-place of Gorges, five miles from Bristol, Mr. Wheelwright, who was banished from Massachusetts in consequence of exercising the liberty which is the natural inheritance of every child of God, of forming his own opinions, and freely expressing them, was, of course, a man of much weight of character and influence; and his removal to Wells probably did much to expedite a settlement. It is said that a part of his church came with him from Exeter, where they had fixed their habitation, supposing that place to be beyond the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. Among the long list of his friends, I find but two or three who came with Mr. Wheelwright to Wells. The number of his church who came with him must have been small. I do not find any grants to Hutchinson or Needham, who had applied to Gorges for them. At any rate, their names have not come down to us as inhabitants. Still some of Wheelwright's adherents were with him; and we may well infer that they were men of resolution, independent in their opinions, and fully conversant of the natural right of freedom of speech. Wells, then, so far as this accession to its population is regarded as initiating the settlement, had an honorable beginning. At this time, and for several years subsequent, it must have required a good share of fortitude and enterprise, to have attempted a permanent settlement in this vicinity. To whom the territory then belonged of right, or to whom it might be awarded on any final adjudication, neither civilians nor planters could, by the logic of preceding grants or acts of the home government, or by any possession, argument, or assumptions of various alleged. proprietors, possibly determine. Wheelwright, Boad, and Rishworth acceded to the title of Gorges, and were authorized by him to make allotments under it to such persons as they judged suitable to be admitted as inhabitants. Ezekiel Knight and John Baker adopted the Rigby is about twenty miles from Wells. A glance at the names of our towns will readily satisfy us of their derivation; Bath, Bridgewater, Taunton, Wells, in Sommersetshire, Newbury, Boston, Falmouth, Biddeford, Limerick, York, Berwick, etc., in other counties, show their connection with the mother country. Preston, which never prevailed as the designation of the town to any extent, is a city in Lancaster County, England. Perhaps some early settler came from there.-Ed. interest, and were authorized by Cleeves to carry out his wishes, in disposing of the territory. The agents of Gorges were prominent men of the times. Knight, one of Rigby's agents, was also a man of note, and was appointed to various local offices. But Baker was a very different personage, and one who would not be very likely to prepossess inquirers favorably, as to his lord's title. I suppose him to be the same person to whom Winthrop refers, as a member of the church of Boston, grown wealthy from nothing, and becoming disordered, drunken, lying, and reckless, was obliged to flee, and went to Agamenticus; the judgment of the church being," that he had excommunicated himself, and that Christ had ratified it by giving him up to Satan." He claimed afterward to repent of his iniquities, and the church in Boston forgave him, "but he soon after went back into his old habits." He came afterward to Wells, and "by his speeches abusive of the ministry, and upholding private meetings, to the disturbance of public assemblies, rendered himself so obnoxious, that he was required to give bonds for his good behavior, and to abstain from public preaching in this jurisdiction." The agency of such a man would not bring much popularity to the patent. Though Knight was of a different character, and authorized to conduct the religious services of the sanctuary on the Sabbath, his association with Baker would very much lessen his influence in advancing the interests of his employer. How large a portion of the settlers at Wells received, and relied on, grants from either of these alleged proprietors, cannot now be ascertained. The agencies do not seem to have been inclined to interfere with each other in their locations. I find no instance in which a grantee satisfied his grant by laying it on land previously taken up by any one else, under Gorges or Cleeves. But the number of grants by either of them was very small. Wheelwright, Boad, and Rishworth do not seem to have been very anxious to carry forward the supposed rights of Gorges. The former left the town in four or five years. I do not see how this grant of the power of allotment is to be regarded as the charter of the town. Certainly the town never acted under it. Neither can I regard the Rigby patent as the foundation of its subsequent action. No reference is made to either of them, as an authority for proceedings afterward. Some of the settlers had taken grants from each of these claimants. Thus John Sanders, who seems to have been somewhat of a solid man, received grants of adjoining lots from Gorges in 1643, Cleeves in 1651, and the town in 1659. So far as any judgment of the matter is deducible from their action, they regarded a grant from one person as good as from any other; and they went on under a formal title, and their possession afterward was not disturbed, till so long continued as to work out an indefeasible right. But there is manifest error in the statement, that "there is no evidence that the land was ever purchased of the Indians." It is somewhat remarkable, that, with the records near at hand, such an error should have found its way into the foregoing sketch. It does not appear that the town acquired any title directly from the natives. But I understand the remark to affirm that their rights were never released. Even though so many generations have intervened since the territory was entered upon by the white man, it is some satisfaction to the present holders of these lands, to be assured that their title did not begin in wrong; that the original owners had voluntarily parted with it. I cannot ascertain that the town ever had any legal title, although they may have acquired it, in some way, from the deed to Wadleigh. In their memorial to Charles II., they allege that it came to them from the natives. That deed is in the following words: "Whereas Sagamore Thomas Chabinocke, of Nampscoscoke, by virtue of his last will and testament, had given and bequeathed, and for certain good reasons and considerations, him hereunto moving, hath, and by virtue hereof, doth freely and forever bequeath, give, and grant, unto John Wadleigh of Wells, to him, his heirs and successors, and that forever, of his own accord, and with the consent of his mother, Ramanascho, to whom the said Wadleigh has given a consideration, the premises, considered after the manner of a purchase, bargain and sale, the said Sagamore, and his adherents and survivors, have, for themselves and successors, confirmed and made sure unto the said John Wadleigh and his successors, to be inherited presently after the death of the said Sagamore, all that the said Sagamore, with his whole right, title, and interest, called by the name of Nampscoscoke bounding between Nogimcoth and Kennebunk, and up as high as Cape Porpoise Falls, and the same with all the profits, commodities, and appurtenances, against all men to warrant and defend. "Witness our hands and seals this 18th day of October, 1649. PHILEMON POCHMART. The Sagamore's mark with his own hand. (L. S.) Sealed, signed and delivered in presence of us. RAMANASCHO, her mark. W= M STEPHEN BATSON, his mark. ROBERT WADLEIGH. SASAGAHAWAY, his mark. Yo And they all affirm. Ceasar consents to this. William Wardell's testimony that this is the act and deed of Thomas Chabinocke, the Sagamore of Wells. Taken before me the 28th of March, '57. Joseph Bowles, In 1650, Ramanascho, the mother of the Sagamore, Thomas Chabinocke, quit-claims to Wadleigh, to confirm and establish the foregoing, for ten pounds sterling, which she and the Sagamore received in his life-time. March 31, 1650. John Wadleigh took quiet and peaceable posseesion of the premises contained in his Indian right, "laying the whole continent from Cape Porpoise Falls, and so by a straight line to Negunquit, and so down to the sea-side, and |