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The first European believed to have visited the site of Bangor
is Esteban Gomez, the
Portuguese explorer who sailed to the head of the tide, in the early 1500's. Samuel
de Champlain (1567-1635), French explorer, and other explorers also visited
the area in the early 1600's.
In 1605, five Indians are kidnapped from Pemaquid by an English
vessel and kept to serve as guides for English seeking sites for settlement on
the American coast. The kidnapping of indigenous peoples for slavery or
servitude was a common practice of early European explorers of North America.
French establish first European settlement in Maine, St. Sauveur, at Lamoine
Point across from Mount Desert Island. They are driven out by the English, who
establish permanent settlements on Damariscove and Monhegan Islands in 1614.
1616-1619: More than 75 percent of Maine's Indians die from diseases such as
smallpox, cholera, measles and plague brought by Europeans.
Slaves began arriving in Maine with their
white owners in the 1600s. Some slaves helped the British in their fight against the Native
Americans in Maine, while others joined forces against the British. In 1689 a
slave was killed while fighting the Indians.
With the establishment of Fort
Pownal in 1759, by Massachusetts Royal Governor Thomas Pownal, people began
to explore the upper reaches of the Penobscot River with the intention of
settling. The first person to
actually settle near the junction of the Kenduskeag and Penobscot Rivers
was Jacob Buswell (Bussell). He built a cabin near what are now York and Boyd
Streets in 1769 and shortly thereafter his in-laws, the Goodwins, also settled
here.
In 1772-73 there was an influx of
people that included: Thomas Howard, Jacob Dennet, Simon Crosby, Thomas, John
and Hugh Smart, Andrew Webster, Joseph Rose, David Rowell, Solomon and Silas
Harthorn, and Joseph Mansel. Joseph
Mansel built both the first sawmill on the East side of the Penjejawock stream
and the first gristmill.
Also in 1772, occurred the first
birth in what is now Bangor, Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard.
Thomas Goldthwait built the first trading house in the area in that year.
Abigail Ford taught the first school founded in 1773.
The first few years of the
American Revolution were quiet in the Penobscot River Valley, as it was so
isolated and far from the area of action. However,
in 1779, that quiet changed as a British invasion fleet came up the Penobscot
River and approached Bangor. There
was a brief battle near Hampden where the local militia was no match for the
British regulars. The area was then
peacefully handed over to the control of the British forces. Later that year, ships from the American “Penobscot
Expedition” came up the river to do battle with the British.
The American fleet was trapped, and many of the ships were scuttled near
the mouth of the Kenduskeag River. The
Bangor area remained under British control till 1783.
Massachusetts banned slavery in that year as well.
In 1787 the people of Condeskeag, as Bangor was once
known, built their first meetinghouse. Shortly
afterwards the inhabitants of Condeskeag changed the name of their town’s name
to “Sunbury,” at the urging of Parson Noble.
It was with this name that Parson Noble proceeded to Boston, in 1791, to
incorporate the town. Somehow, by
the time the incorporation was complete on February 25, 1791, the name was
officially changed Bangor. It was
said the well-known hymn entitled “Bangor” was a favorite of the Parson
Noble.
Continue to read Bangor History in the
1800s or 1900s.
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