Edward Ballard - The Popham Colony

In the following discussion, the arguments for and against the historical claims of the English Colony that landed at the mouth of the Kennebec River, August 19, (O. S.) 1607, are presented in an able and comprehensive manner. The articles, when they appeared in the columns of a daily newspaper, attracted much attention; and, as they contain matter of permanent historical interest, we have deemed them worthy of preservation in a collected form.

The writers can have no further motive for withholding their names. We therefore state that "P." is Mr. William Frederick Poole, Librarian of the Boston Athenæum; that "Sabino" is Rev. Edward Ballard, D. D., of Brunswick, Me.; and that "Orient" and "Sagadahoc" are the signatures of Mr. Frederic Kidder, of Boston.

Each year, since the first Popham Celebration in 1862, memorial services have been held on the Anniversary of the Landing in 1607. Public addresses have been delivered on these occasions, and these have usually been printed. Mr. John A. Poor, of Portland, Me., delivered the Oration in 1862; Mr. George Folsom, of New York, in 1863; Mr. Edward E. Bourne, of Kennebunk, Maine, in 1864; and Prof. James W. Patterson, of Dartmouth College, in 1865.

This discussion arose from a notice by Mr. Poole, in the Boston Daily Advertiser of April 11, 1866, of Prof. Patterson's Address which appeared about that time in print. In this notice the writer sharply assailed the claims for the Popham Colony, as set forth by the orator, and also by Mr. Kidder in a Letter which the Publishing Committee of the Celebration had printed as an Appendix to the Address. Dr. Ballard replied in the Boston Daily Advertiser of April 21; and Mr. Kidder in the Portland Advertiser of April 26. From this point, the disputants came into close quarters on the general merits of the question.

As earnest historical discussion too often leads to bitterness and estrangement, we are happy to state that such has not been the result in this instance. "P.," whose notice brought on the discussion, received an official invitation to attend the Popham Celebration in August last, which he accepted. One of our firm, who was also present, can state that the hospitality of the Maine gentlemen named in the following extract from the report of the Celebration in the Boston Daily Advertiser, of September 1, is not over-stated: —

"I see to-day, among the guests from Massachusetts, your correspondent "P.," who has written of late some hard things respecting this Popham Colony. He is receiving every personal attention from Rev. Dr. Ballard, ("Sabino,") President Woods, Hon. Chas. J. Gilman and others; and the merry peals of laughter, that burst occasionally from the group, indicate that difference of opinion on historical questions need not disturb the harmony of social intercourse. As I finish this report in Bath, I understand that Dr. Ballard and the other gentlemen named have captured their friendly detractor, and taken him home with them to Brunswick, where he will doubtless receive good treatment."

The Bibliography of the Popham Colony, which is appended, was compiled, at our request, by Mr. Poole; and, so far as the newspaper articles, and the minor pieces connected with the first Celebration, are concerned, it was made chiefly from the collection preserved by Mr. John Wingate Thornton, of Boston, who has kindly placed them in our hands for that purpose. The list was then sent to Dr. Ballard, who has contributed the articles in his possession which were not already included.

We find another contribution to the literature of Popham, in the elegantly printed Address of the Hon. James W. Patterson, delivered at the Peninsula of Sabino, on the 258th Popham Anniversary; which, as all the world knows without our giving the information, was August 29, 1865. Thick, creamy paper, John Wilson and Sons' best typography, and Mr. Wiggin's imprint, were among the least of the motives that induced us to seize upon and devour the contents of this delectable pamphlet.

We confess to a partiality for Popham literature. Its theory is so original, so free from conventional trammels, so utterly at variance with the accepted facts of history, that it is often difficult to persuade one's self that its advocates intend anything more than historical waggery. So we read on, as in other fiction, to be amused.

A false theory zealously defended commonly finds more sympathy than the truth feebly supported. The Pophamites have nailed their flag to the mast, and ask for no favors from any quarter. We admire their pluck, and, for their sakes, regret that they have so few historical verities in their ammunition locker. We have read their "Memorial Volume," from title-page to errata, as well as Mr. Poor's facetious Addenda in "Vindication of Sir Ferdinando Gorges;" not shying either at his Appendix of fifty-two solid nonpareil pages. Every other Address on the subject, and every scrap of newspaper controversy accessible, we have diligently perused; and yet the impression remains on the mind that the facts to sustain this extraordinary theory have not yet been developed. For some reason, (perhaps to surprise us the more when it does come,) the stern logic of truth is withheld; and we are served to empty assertion and vapid declamation in its stead. Every new publication, therefore, of Popham origin, or from the Maine Historical Society, is of interest, as possibly it may contain the suppressed developments. Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay are waiting, gracefully to yield the honors awarded them in history for more than two hundred years to "the Church Colony" of Sagadahoc. Is the pamphlet before us the coming document? Let us see.

Mr. Patterson is well known as a gentleman and a scholar. He has been Professor at Dartmouth College, and now is Representative in Congress from New Hampshire. Of his early local affinities we know nothing; but there was every reason to expect from him a valuable contribution to this historical discussion. His opening sentence is sonorous and impressive. "This [Fort Popham] is hallowed ground." Why "hallowed ground?" we would detain the Professor for a moment, meekly to inquire; but he hurries on to other glittering generalities. Is this spot "hallowed ground," because a colony of convicted felons landed here in August, 1607, more than half of whom deserted the next December, and all abandoned the spot the following Spring, leaving with the neighboring Indians the memory of the most shocking barbarities committed upon them? (See Relations des Jésuites, 1858, tom. i. p. 36; Parkman's Pioneers of France, p. 266.) Was it because these sportive colonists enticed friendly Indians into this same Fort, under the pretense of trade; and, causing them to take the drag-ropes of a loaded cannon, fired off the piece when the Indians were in line, and blew them to atoms? (See Williamson's Hist. of Maine, vol. i. p. 201.) "The lines of an eventful history," Mr. Patterson goes on to say, "stretching through more than two centuries and a half, converge to this beautiful promontory of Sabino." We think not. Heaven spare the land from such a disgrace! Mr. Patterson devotes two pages to general assertions of similar import, and then branches off into another subject having no relation to the historical question. Into this we do not propose to follow him.

A curious feature in this pamphlet is an isolated Letter, 1 1 This Letter is reprinted entire on page 10 . written by a respectable Boston gentleman, found in the Appendix. This alone, of the correspondence received by the Committee on Invitations, we are told, was found worthy of preservation. It was certainly not so much the name of the writer that rescued this letter from the oblivion of the waste-basket, common to its fellows, as the impression on the minds of the managers of the Celebration, that it contained historical information tending to confirm their theory.