University of Maine at Portland - Reflection / Umpire Yearbook (Portland, ME)

Page 7 text:

.. it September 1, 1689 a party of Indians canoed . r in- the early morning fog and attacked the ' ; the musket fire that rattled in the orchard was attic 0f the Second Indian War t1689-16971 nthan Bracken was wounded, and died shortly there. mdtet't. Jr. was taken prisoner; their farmstead ompous and mtund Major Benjamin Church , aneged to repel the invasion, but the vietory was $153 beequent attacks brought about the complete ' 'of'Falmmzth and the coast. This section was to see . colonization until 1715. mkett, one of the surviving sons of AnthOny returned in that yea: to reclaim the farm which had '- andovergrown after twentysix years of-disuse. 13.0115 tacttlement close-by, and a treaty ending the 1111698, the fields were again sown and a dwelling taf' neat the spot on which later was construcred a farmhouse. -e farm, as the plat became knowm remained property For Wenty-f'tve relatively quiet and prose . While the young seaport approadted its adoles- son,Zachatiah's namesake, was born on the property egg and lived no a venerated eightyvfout, a tare age '5 t . e'eommon dispositiom of the time. In 1740, the 7 Fat and outlying fields were sold to joseph Noyes. caiaia-I'IM, as a representative from the area, and in 17?9 he was a member of a committee formed to author a con- stitution for the Province which determined what form ofgov- emment this province of Massachusetm and Plymouth Bay would assume after the Declaration oflndependence. By the fol- lowing spring, public Opinicn undement a change on the subject and so had Noyes. Noyes retired from his appointment and enjoyed the reputa- tion of being an honored townsman. Upon his death, he bequeatheti the Back Cove farm to his eldest son, josiah. Josiah had married Mary Lunt of Newbury in 1727; their youngest child, Sarah, married Moses Lunt in 1773 and to that family was bequeathed his 500 acres on the Neck, as the large peninsula was then of tradition called. Their son, Amos Lunt, who was without heir, sold the acreage to James Deering, the son of a prosperous and enterprising merchant, in 1802'. The land now entered its most respecmd and colorful period under theatre of this honored and wealthy speculatot. The farm was transformed from a series ofhatd-tilled fields and orchards into a businessmau's expansive country estate. Skilled labor was hired to cultivate and tend the land for the purpose of rededicating to appearance alone the acreage that had long been bloodied farmland. The boundaries of the tenurtured area included most of the land between the present boundaries of Forest and Deering Avenues, containing DeeringOaks Park and an area which extended a considezable diStance to the west.

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6.131- rhegrassy knoll ,Deeting plotted and laid our designs for a l' ambling Mansion of the Federalist era. While directing the - muucuon himself, he moved his Family into the . iewvoluticnary farmhouse at the junuion of Brighton Avenue i-md Falmouth Street The subatantial two story wooden 'SErt-Icrute was conspicuous even though' it was of a 51er common I111 the period; it dominated the area where Luther Bonney Hall Inow stands The main house was broad and consisted of a few - gaegiaus high ceilinged and heavily deCOtated rooms; behlnd 1t 1 . iegXtended a large ell from which a covered walkway led to a wing Which housed the kitchen and servants' quarters Scattered on he thich curved from the dusty street to the very doors of the T311; periinetet of the knoll were sheep barns a carriage house great structure and was generously shaded by vase- like aims and 5W a semi buried ice house for the preservation of that Ewing was delighted with this pleasant green shrubbed esrate WWW? necessity An Immense garreted barn was parallel to ' 't;seIpa1-ated from the Manston by asweeping pebbled carriage- $3134 maples The commodmus home was completed 1'11 1804 pmpetly befitting his own benevolent nature, and here he 131.1115th entertained his numerous social connections ha. 5-- L... THE OORA-CRESSY, Reprinted with permiuionhom Ben's Marine Museum. Situated far enough from the sea, the Mansion avoided dam. age when the British thoroughly shelled and burned Falmouth in the War of 1812. However, the site which had seen enough conflict in its early history played a new role in the violence of this hosrility. Tradition holds that British prisoners were quartered in one section of a rear wing. Some forty privateers were registered out of Portland in those years, claiming and bringing to port fifty prize vessela It is plausable that the Mansion was considered adequate and proper board for captured British officers until an exchange was provided. Deering did not advocate separation from Massachusetts until the act became emminent in 1819. Portland, 215 the most popu- lous and prosperous city in the new state, was to many the logical Selection as state capital; the expansive, dominating hilltop was Strongly favored as a suitable location for the new State Capitol Building once statehood was attained in 1820. After the signing of the state's conStitution in the First Parish Church, the legislature met at Portland from 1820 to 1852. The comedians Deering Mansion now fell into its finest and most celebrated days. James Deming was at the height of pros.