Lt. Ebenezer Hall

New York Times article about Matinicus Island which talks about the history of the Hall family on the island: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9A0DEEDD1... show that those taken captive were "Mary Hall and her children--Sarah Green, Peter Hall, Phebe Hall, Tabitha Hall--also Benjamin Mograge: Taken 1757. Mary the mother, sent from Quebec to England and thence to Newport; Others remain in captivity--. (James Phinney Baxter, ed., Documentary History of the State of Maine, vol. 3, Portland, Maine, Fred L. Tower Company, 1916, pp. 95-96)

According to Lincoln Records, on November 4, 1755, about two years before his death, Ebenezer deeded to his son Ebenezer, who was then about twenty years of age, his schooner named the "Chance," twenty-five head of cattle, houses, goods, chattels, etc., situated on the Island of Matinicus. What actually happened is quite clearly revealed in related governmental documents which follow. After the initial verbal protest lodged by the Indians at the truckhouse in October of 1752, a letter was evidently sent to Boston; no copy of the written protest seems to be extant. Other correspondence followed, which are submitted as closely to the original copies as possible and were drawn from the Documentary History of the State of Maine, Volume XXIII, edited by James Phenney Baxter, printed in Portland by Fred L. Tower Company, 1916, Pages 448-452.

An interesting history of Matinicus Island (and some of the surrounding islands) ca be found at http://www.archive.org/details/gemsofocean00fill. Published in 1914, it mentions Ebenezer and some of his descendants.

The following was retrieved from http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=halldb&id... on 8/4/2008

and there is more info here http://www.avcnet.org/ne-do-ba/nhis_hal.html (retrieved 8/4/2008)

Ebenezer was born about 1705, and in about 1708, when he was about three years of age, the family moved to Falmouth, Maine. (James Farley Roe, History of Job Pitcher Hall, p. 4)

From June 1 to November 22, 1725, Ebenezer Hall, Jr., "Sentinall," and his father, Ebenezer Hall, "Sargeant," were on the Muster Roll of the Captain Joshua Moodey Company. (New England Historical & Genealogical Register, vol. 49, p. 189)

On March 15, 1727-28, he was granted a 30 acre lot of land "Beginning on the westerly corner of Ebenezer Halls Senior lot and thence thirty Rod fronting the head of said Ebenezer Halls lot and thence eight scoore Rod nor West into the woods the same weadth or tile the thirty acres he made up." (F. A. Gerrish, copier, Original Records of the Proprietors of Falmouth, Maine, Book I, Portland, Maine, 1861, p. 70)

On February 15, 1730-31, he sold to Thomas Emerson, for 100 pounds, the 30 acre lot which was granted to him on March 15, 1727-28 by the Falmouth Proprietors. (York Deeds. Book XIV, Folio 106)

The date on which Ebenezer married Hannah (Unknown) is not known; however, indications are that the vows were exchanged in one of the early months of 1729, based on the birth in Falmouth on April 15, 1730, of their daughter Mary. (Gerrish, p. 107)

In May, 1930, Ebenezer Hall and Hannah, his wife, were admitted to full communion by the church in Falmouth. (Marquis F. King, Baptisms and Admissions from the Records of First Church in Falmouth, Portland, Maine, Maine Genealogical Society, 1898, p. 7)

On December 25, 1730, Ebenezer's name was on a list of people who were assessed the sum of the 300 pounds used by Falmouth to pay the minister salary and other town debts. His father and his brother Cornelius were also listed. (Town of Falmouth, Town Records, vol. 2)

On August 11, 1732, a daughter Susannah, was born. (Gerrish, p. 108)

On August 31, 1734, Ebenezer's creature mark was entered in the Falmouth Records as "a cropp off of the off ear and a swallows tayle in ye near ear." (Gerrish, p. 125)

In 1737, two Ebenezer Halls moved to Small Point, Maine. Ebenezer Hall, Sr., did not remain there for an extensive time; however, Ebenezer, Jr., remained throughout major parts of the 1740's. (Maine Historical Society, vol. 2, pp. 177-180)

Some evidence is present which indicates that Ebenezer, Sr., was at Small Point prior to 1737. In Small Point "The Cape of Many Islands," by Stanwood C. and Margaret Gilman, the statement is made on Page 3 that "On the map of Phineas Jones, 1731, Hall's house is shown in the Sprague field. J. Bradford Sprague knew the site of the old Grant House and cemetery to the eastward of his home." On Page 5, the statement is made that "The house of Ebenezer Hall is shown on Jones' Map, 1731, in the Sprague field near Wyman's store." Whether or not Ebenezer, Jr., was there at that time is not known. In 1983, a resident stated to Robert Hall that Hall's Beach was located nearly directly in front of the Alliquippa Hotel near the site of "Ancient Augusta." Hall's Beach could well relate to Ebenezer,, Jr., rather than to Ebenezer, Sr.

The resident also stated that his grandfather (?) had told him that at one time the land beyond the hotel and Hall's Beach, or behind it, had been cleared for a distance of about two miles and that at the end of the clearing was a cemetery, with trees growing prolifically within the grounds. Where Ebenezer, Jr., lived at Small Point is not known, but further investigation might reveal that he lived near the beach or north of the beach, rather than at the Sprague field location related to the 1731 map.

A reported 1739 conflict may be related to Ebenezer's place of residence and his later demise. It reads as follows:

Ebenezer Hall while living at Small Point Harbor was watching a flock of ducks at the same time with an Indian at a different place of observation. The Indian fired at them and the smoke revealed his position when Hall fired at and killed him. Other Indians watched Hall for the purpose of killing him, and in fear of their efforts he moved to Matinicus, where their determined pursuit was not long after successful in accomplishing their purpose. (Maine Historical & Genealogical Recorder, vol. IX, p. 137)

If Ebenezer did move because of his fears, he was fearful for quite some time; he didn't move from Small Point for over five years. On March 31, 1741, a petition was submitted to the government by Ebenezer Hall and other Small Point inhabitants praying that Small Point be set off from North Yarmouth because "the Grater part of the Land that we possess is within North Yarmouth Line But at so great a Distance that we can't Receive any benefit at all from said Town, for that the sd Point of Land that we Posess of sd Winthrop & Compys is 46 Miles Distant from North Yarmouth Meeting House by Land & through George Town & Brunswick & there is no other way but through sd Towns, which way is new and very bad, and to go by Sea, the nearest way is 20 miles to ye meeting House and a Cross several very Dangerous Bays, and we can never attend ye Publick Worship of God without great hasard of our Lives by Sea & Land and We do constantly attend ye Publick Worship at George Town Upon Arrowsick Island, when the weather will admit of it, which is but about 5 Miles Distant from the places where we live & adjoyns to George Town where we Desire to do Duty (for the above reasons) We Humbly Pray your Excelency & Honours will pleas to annex the sd Point of Land to George Town as it adjoyns thereto, where we can enjoy the Preaching of the Gospel, & have Releaf in time of Danger which we can not from North Yarmouth & as in Duty bound your Memorilists's

Shall ever Pray

• Ebenezer Hull--Small pint
• Joseph Anderson--Small pint
• David (his mark) Thomas
• John G. Damuel
• Wells C Day
• Thomas Day
• Daniel Green William (W--his mark) Thomas
• John Pearce William Campbell

On March 31, 1741, the House of Representatives approved the request subject to approval by North Yarmouth. (Province Law, Council Records, vol. 17, pp. 544-5) On May 25, 1741, the action was approved by the town of Norh Yarmouth. (Collections of the Maine Historical Society, vo. II, p. 180)

In 1745, Ebenezer was engaged in military matters related to the Seige of Louisburg. In a "List of Louisbourg Soldiers--1745," Ebenezer Hall and Ebenezer Hall, Jr., and 117 others are listed as being present, but he, the honorable Charles Hudson of Lexington, Massachusetts, was unable to classify them as units. (NEH&GR, vol. 25, p. 253) The landing of the troops occurred on May 11, 1745, and Louisburg was occupied on June 28, 1745.

Also, sometime during the year of 1745, his daughter, Hannah, was born, and his wife, Hannah, died the day following her birth, leaving Ebenezer with four children. (Roe, p. 4) He then employed Mrs. Marah (Mary) Greene, the mother of two children, Joseph and Sarah, by her first husband, to care for his children. David Green, her husband, was killed at Louisburg. On May 9, 1746, the intention of marriage of Ebenezer Hall and Marah Green (Mary Bloom Greene) was published at Georgetown. (Vital Records of Georgetown, Maine, vol. II, Maine Historical Society, 1941, p. 53)

On September 8, 1747, as certified in Boston, Ebenezer Hall and Serg't Ebenezer Hall, Jr., were on the list of Captain Charles Morris's Company, Honorable Brig. Gen. Waldo's Reg. of Foot soldiers raised for the "Reduction of Canada and that those markt on Command are on Duty in his Majesty's Garrison of Annapolis Royall having no Advice to the contrary. This muster to Serve from the 25th day of Aug 1747--Oct. 24th both days inclusive containing Sixty Days." (NEH&GR, vol. 27, p. 418)

Charles A. E. Long stated in his text that Ebenezer, Sr., and his son Ebenezer were at the Battle of Minas, Nova Scotia, and on January 31, 1747, in the Regiment of Colonel Arthur Noble--and that Ebenezer, Sr., died at Annapolis, Nova Scotia, in July of 1747. (Charles A. E. Long, Matinicus Isle, Lewiston, Maine, Lewiston Journal Printshop, 1926, p. 169)

About 1749 or 1750, Ebenezer settled on Matinicus Island, Maine, with his second wife, Mary Bloom Green, his son, Ebenezer, by Hannah, some of his children by Mary, and her children, Sarah and David, by David Green. There he engaged in fishing and in raising cattle.

Indians of the Penobscot tribe of the Tarratine Indians had been accustomed to egging, fowling, fishing, and sealing on the island and had clashed with Hall on several occasions. What right Hall had to the island is not known; no record of either a purchase or a grant exists; Hall seems to have assumed the right to govern it as he pleased.

By the summer of 1751, unfriendly relations existed. At that time, Ebenezer and his son shot and killed two Indians who had come to the island, buried their bodies in the garden, burned their canoe, and kept their guns. When Ebenezer burned over adjoining Green Island for better hay for his cattle, the Indians warned him not to do it again because it interferred with their egging and their fowling. Ebenezer paid no attention to the warning. And in October of 1752, at a grand conference at the truckhouse, Colonel Louis, a Penobscot Chief, complained that "one Hall and family, who live at Matinicus interrupt us in our killing seals, and in our fowling; they have no right to be there; the land is ours." (Emma Lewis Coleman, New England Captives Carried to Canada, Portland, Maine, Southward Press, 1925, pp. 278-78) A letter was probably sent to Boston at the time of the protest.

On April 25, 1753, four Penobscot Indians sent a letter to Governor Phips in behalf of their tribe requesting that Hall be removed. (Massachusetts Archives, vol. 32, p. 353) Early in June, Hall being away on a trip to Portland and his son Ebenezer away fishing, the Indians made their appearance on the island, awaited his return, laid siege to his home, and scalped him.

Williamson, in his History of Maine, vol. 2, p. 326, gives the following account which differs slightly from manuscripts in the possession of the Allen family at the time of the publication of Windam in the Past.

"On the first of June, 1757, a party of Indians beset the dwelling house of Ebenezer Hall, on the Island Matinicus, containing his wife and a young family of two sons, three daughters and a son-in-law. He was a man of courage and some distinction, having been a lieutenant at the reduction of Cape Breton. The attacks were renewed several days, and the house resolutely defended by him and his wife, at the imminent hazard of their lives, until the 10th; when he was killed, his house broken up, rifled of its contents, and reduced to ashes. The brave Hall was then scalped, and his wife and children carried into captivity.

At some place up the Penobscot, she underwent the painful trial of being separated from them; thence compelled to take up a tedious journey to Quebec. The fair captive was a woman of piety and charms, which attracted every eye. Captivated by her uncommon abilities and beauty, Capt. Andrew Watkins, in a spirit of honor and generosity, paid her ransom, amounting to 215 livres, and finding a vessel bound to England, procured a passage for her thither. From that country, she re-crossed the Atlantic, returning by the way of New York to Falmouth, after an absence of 13 months--but notwithstanding her inquiries were pursued for her captive children, through a long life, with the energetic perseverance that marked her character, she could never gain the least knowledge of either. A son of 12 years old, by a former husband, Mr. Greene, who was in the house when it was assailed, escaped and hid himself, until the savages were gone; and, after three days, he ventured with an old canoe into the bay, where he was taken on board of a vessel. Subsequent to the war his mother and he dwelt there till her death. (Samuel Thomas Dole, Windham in the Past, Windham, Massachusetts, pp. 286-87) In correction, Mrs. Hall did not live on the island until her death. She later married Chipman Cobb at Falmouth and resided at Gorham, Maine, until her death.

Records show that those taken captive were "Mary Hall and her children--Sarah Green, Peter Hall, Phebe Hall, Tabitha Hall--also Benjamin Mograge: Taken 1757. Mary the mother, sent from Quebec to England and thence to Newport; Others remain in captivity--. (James Phinney Baxter, ed., Documentary History of the State of Maine, vol. 3, Portland, Maine, Fred L. Tower Company, 1916, pp. 95-96)

According to Lincoln Records, on November 4, 1755, about two years before his death, Ebenezer deeded to his son Ebenezer, who was then about twenty years of age, his schooner named the "Chance," twenty-five head of cattle, houses, goods, chattels, etc., situated on the Island of Matinicus.

What actually happened is quite clearly revealed in related governmental documents which follow.

After the initial verbal protest lodged by the Indians at the truckhouse in October of 1752, a letter was evidently sent to Boston; no copy of the written protest seems to be extant. Other correspondence followed, which are submitted as closely to the original copies as possible and were drawn from the Documentary History of the State of Maine, Volume XXIII, edited by James Phenney Baxter, printed in Portland by Fred L. Tower Company, 1916, Pages 448-452.

To the Governour-- April 25th 1753

Brother you did not hearken to us about the English man on the Island he hurts us in our Seiling & fowling its our livelyhood & yours too for what we get we bring to your Truckhouse, we don't hinder him from fishing, if you don't Remove him in two Months we shall be obliged to do it ourselves. We have writ to you before and have had no answer, if you don't answer to this we shan't write again its our Custom if our Letters are not answered not to Write again, but if you please we will bring a living Letter I salute you and all the Council. Present

In behalf of the Penobscot Tribe---

___________________________________Consemea

___________________________________Noodoot

___________________________________Chebinood

___________________________________Nugdumbawit

In Council June 12 1753

The Committee to whom was referred the consideration of the Letters His Honour has received from Capt Wm Lithgow of Richmond Fort and from four of the Penobscot Indians do report

That his Honnour be desired to give orders That the Englishman gott on Montinicus Island be Emediately removed from thence, he having no right to sd Island and that it be commended to the Gentlemen that are Settling up Kennebeck River to give such Satisfaction to the Indians as to make them Easy and allow of their going on with their Settlement up said River All which is humbly submitted.--

_______________________Passed & consented to. June 13

________________________________Boston, June 13, 1753

Sir--

Whereas one Ebenr Hall has settled him self on the Island of Montinicus, at which the Penobscot Indians have taken great umbrage, alledging that by his means they are much disturbed in their Right of Fowling at said Place; and it not appearing that the said Hall has any Property in the said Island, At the Desire of the general Court of this Providence I do hereby direct you to take a sufficient number of men with you & remove the said Hall & the People with him off from the said Island to prevent the Indians from showing their Resentmt agst him as they have threatened to do unless he be speedily removed by this governmt Therefore you must proceed herein without Delay & make Return of your Doings to me. I would have you use no Violence in this Affair unless you find it necessary. You must inform the Indians of the substance of this Letter.

__________________________________Your humble Servt

____________________________________________S. Phips

Capt. Jabez Bradbury.

Whereas upon Complaint made by the Penobscot Indians agst Ebenr Hall for Settling himself & Family on Montinicus Island where he has no Colour of Right and that his settling there was a great Injury to their Fowling at sd Isd and whereas the gt & Genl Court or Assembly of this Province at their session in ____Ordered that the said Ebenr Hall should be removed from sd Island, which was accordingly done; And whereas it appears that the said Hall & his oldest son in Contempt of the Authority of this Governmt is returned back to the said Island, & now dwells there.-- You are therefore hereby required when you arrive at St. Georges River to go over to said Island of Montinicus, & take the said Ebenezer Hall & his said Son into your Custody & bring them safe to Boston that so they may answer before me and his Majesty's Council for their contempt in Disobeying the Order of this Governmt as aforesaid, And likewise that you remove the Family of the said Ebenr Hall from the said Island of Montinicus; For all which this shall be your Warrt

Given under my Hand & Seal at Arms in Boston.

[No address: Date in Index is Sept. 7, 1753]

In House of Repr Sept 7, 1753

Voted that the sum of five hundred pounds be applyed for purchasing Presnts to be made this yoar to the Indian Tribes in the Eastern parts of the Province.-- James Clark says, He was Servant to Ebenezer Hall & lived with him at Montinicus Island, that during the Summer season of 1751, the Indians used frequently to come to Hall's House & lodge there in the night; One day in the same Summer the Examinant heard a great number of Guns fired at one End of the Island, which he supposed to be between the fishermen & Indians then on the Island, for he saw part of the Sail of a Vessel that pass'd close by the Lands; Soon after he saw two Indians come along from the Point, towards Hall's House; He saw the said Hall thereupon take up two guns (and his son one) saying, the Dogs will be pretty hot, and I'll give them a Blast; And the Examinant heard the firing of their Guns & saw the flash, and Hall & his Son then went out of the House & soon afterwards the Examinant saw them drag up the dead Bodies of the two Indians & bury them in his Garden, in a Hole where a Stump of a Tree was dug up, & they covered the Bodies; The said Hall charged the Examinant to keep the matter secret; theretning him, if he did not, The Examinant afterwards saw Hall cut the Indian Canoo in Pieces and burn it saying, Now we have killed the Devils, we will burn their damn'd Canoo, The Indians Cloaths were buried with their Bodies

Their Guns Hall put into his Chest, & afterwards carried them to Small Point About a Week after the Indians were killed, Hall & his son said that they would go to Virginia.

_________________________________James J. Clarks Mark

March 1, 1754

In Council March 1, 1754

This Day Above written James Clark made Solemn Oath before the Governor & Council to the Truth of the foregoing Declaration.

Attest_______________________________J. Willard Secy

Concerning this episode, the following is a paragraph from a letter on Page 235 of the Documented History of Maine, Vol. XII, directed to Dr. Gardiner dated in Frankfort in Kennebeck River on December 26, 1753:

There has been a very Bad affair happen'd here (As I'm informed.). There are Two Indians killed on Montinicus Island by the man that was Order'd off from it a few Days Ago. One Wright came up & informed Capt Lithcow of it & said he knew the Two men that saw it Done--& help'd to bury them there, & Their Guns, but he wouldnt tell their names. The Indians are agnorant of it at present But when they know it, they will revenge themselves, I am afraid, & we may Look out (for we are but Weak). If this be true, I think, such Villains ought to dye without pity. It is said the man that Did it is now at Small Point."

The following is from Ancestors of Ebenezer Hall the August 13th, 1978 Reunion.

_____________________________Falmouth, June 17th 1757.

The 6th Inst. in the night, there came ten or twelve Indians on Matinicus Island on Tuesday morning they attempted to break open Ebenr Hall's house but Hall perceived them and knocked off a board from ye roof to prevent their firing the house. Some of them were endeavoring to do at ye same time and Hall fired thro' a loop hole and said he had killed one but they return'd ye fire, and so continue the engagement till Thursday following about 12 o'clock when as Hall was raising his head over a sort of breast work he had prepared for ye purpose to get a shot at ye enemy, they sent a ball through his head and killed him dead on ye spot. Then his wife call'd out for quarter; whereupon Hall's son in law who gives this acct jumpt out over ye wall of the house and hid in the woods and thereby escapt and ye Indians took said Halls wife, one Banj. Mortgaridge and five children and carried them off; the next day the young lad that gives me this acct says he paddled about two leagues off in the Bay in a Float, and was taken up by a small fishing schooner belonging to Brunswick the next day a Saturday the said schooner with two others went on shore on sd Ialand found said Hall scalpt, and bury'd him. The young lad is about fifteen or sixteen years old and sayd they killed several of his father's cattle, empty'd the feather bed and carry'd off the tick and everything else they could in said Hall's fishing boat. He further says a day or two after his father was bury'd the ship he was on board of went into Madumpcook where the Indians had engag'd one Jacob Elswells House in the night, set fire to it, but a sudden rain put it out and Elwell's wife shot down one Indian with a pistol through a small Port Hole and another was wounded and then the enemy went off and at Broad Bay the Indian kill'd a man and woman one Smith and his wife who ever a _______________ as he heard 'em say at Madumpkook.

Taken from Joseph Green's Own Mouth the young Lad above mentioned.

________________________________________Enock Freeman

To the Honble. his Majesty's Council

May it Please Your Honours

I thought ye Acct. inclos'd of the Destruction of Hall's family at Matinicus Is. would not be disagreeable to your Honours and therefore have inclos'd it as I just now took it from the Mouth of ye young lad that made his escape;

I am Your Honours Most Obedt.

humble Servt.

Enock Freeman

Falmouth, June 17, 1757

In the Massachusetts Archives, Volume 17, Page 657, is the following certification signed by Mary Hall (with her mark) and witnessed by Moses Pearson:

Captured by the Indians on Matinicus Island in the County of York in the month of June 1757 Mary Hall. Sarah Green. Peter Hall. Phebe Hall. Tabitha Hall: and Benj'n Mograge. The above Sarah Peter Phebe and Tabitha are children of the sd Mary / all Remain in Captivity excpt Mary the mother who was sent from Quebeck to England and from thence to New York.

The following, Mary Hall's petition, dated on January 14, 1760, is from the Journal of the House of Representatives, Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 78, Page 236.

To his Excellency Thomas Pownal Esq. Capt. General & Commander in chief in and over the Province of Massachusetts Bay, the Honorable his Majesty's Councill & House of Representatives in General Court assembled.

The Petition of Mary Hall resident at Falmouth in the County of York humbly sheweth-- That in the month of June 1757 the Indians beset the House where her Husband and She lived at a place called Mintinicus in the County of York which he resolutely defended for Several Days but on the Tenth day of said Month her Husband was killed, the House broken up & rifled, your Petitioner and four Children carried away Captives, first to Penobscot where She was Separated from her Children and has not seen nor heard any Thing of them Since; from Penobscot your petitioner was carried to Quebeck where having tarried some time, She interceded with one Capt. Andrew Watkins a New England Gent then a Prisoner there to pay her Ransom, which he did, to the best of remembrance Two Hundred and Fifteen Livres, then She took Passage to England, from thence to New York & thence to this Place having in ye whole been absent about Eighteen Months & having undergone great Hardship during sd Time.

Your Petitioner is now called upon by the Widow of the said Mr. Watkins for her Ransom Money, and having nothing to pay it with, nor any where to put her Head, nor any Thing to Subsist on Humbly beseeches the Compassion of your Excellency & Honours, that said Ransom Money mey be paid by the Province, and your Petitioner also granted such further Relief as to your known Wisdom & Goodness shall seem meet--And as in Duty bound will ever pray.

________________________________________Mary (X) Hall

The General Court neglected Mrs. Hall's appeal and Jane, the widow of Captain Watkins, sent in her Memorial, dated April 24, 1762, as found in Maine Archives, Vol. 80, Page 190: In her petition, she does not say as did Williamson that Mrs Hall was "a woman of piety and charms which attracted every eye," and that Captain Watkins "was captivated by her uncommon abilities and beauty," but only that she was "a poor woman her husband had helped." He, taken at Oswego, was long detained in Canada and was then sent to France where he died of smallpox.

While in Canada he obtained credit from some English gentlemen of fortune, who were fellow-prisoners, and used it, "not only for his own Subsistance; But also to ransome Several of his Poor Country people, who he found in Captivity there.

That among them was a poor woman, one Mary Hall, belonging to the Eastern part of this province for whose ransom he paid 213 Livres 15 sols which is 12, 16, 6 Lawful money . . . for which your petitioner has received nothing, nor is it likely that she ever will. The said Mary Hall having lost her Husband in the present warr & by that means is reduced to the lowest state of Indigence." The Court paid the full amount. Mary Hall's charm evidently remained with her. She married Chipman Cobb on July 1, 1765, moved from Portland to Gorham about 1775, and died there when she was ninety years of age, as stated in the "Bangor Historical Magazine," Volume 7, Page 117. They are buried in the Gorham Village Cemetery.

The following, relative to Ebenezer's burial, is on Page 80 of Matinicus Isle, by Charles A. E. Long, printed in 1936:

When Ebenezer Hall was killed by the Indians in 1757, his stepson, Joseph Green, aided by Cap't Thorndike, buried his remains not far from the site of his cabin. In a deed dated January 29, 1770, Alexander Nickels conveyed to Ebenezer Hall, the southern half of the island and also "the privilege of fencing 8 feet square of land around the grave of said Ebenezer Hall's father." For some time after the re-settlement of the island, this plot was probably fenced and received some attention, but as the years passed, it was gradually neglected, and eventually all trace of it became obliterated. One man stated that when a boy, it was pointed out to him; that it was situated about forty or fifty feet north of the well in the open space in front of the store; that it was marked by some sort of field stone; and that there were one or two others buried alongside. Since then this spot has become a part of the surrounding landscape, and its exact location is not known. Its logical whereabouts should be somewhere in the vicinity above stated, but it is regretted that its definite position should have been lost.

In 1906, a bronze tablet was set near the site of Mr. Hall's death. The tablet bears the following inscription:

___________________EBENEZER HALL

______________THE FIRST WHITE SETTLER

______________ON MATINICUS ISLE, MAINE

_______________KILLED BY THE INDIANS

____________________JUNE 6, 1757

http://www.hallsofbristolcounty.com/?p=302 · Ebenezer W. Hall (1705-1757)

Ebenezer W. Hall was the first child of Ebenezer and Jane, He was born in Taunton and was about three years old when his parents moved to Falmouth, Maine. He was not only a fisherman but was described as a seafaring man.

His first wife was named Hannah. They moved to Small Point, Maine in 1737* Here, in 1745» Hannah died when their fifth child was one day old. This fifth child was a daughter, and he named her Hannah. Being left a widower with a new baby and four other young children, he employed Mary Bloom Green to care for them. She was the widow of David Green who was killed at Louisburg in 1745. She had a son, Joseph, and a daughter, Sarah, by her first husband. The next year Ebenezer took Mary as his second wife. It was about this time, around 1750, that Ebenezer took his family to Matinicus Island to make a settlement on the frontier between the Indians and the whites.

They too were pioneers.

Matinicus Island is approximately twenty miles out in the ocean from the city of Rockland, Maine. The coast of northern New England is rocky and has many islands. In fact the name Maine came from the word Mainland to distinguish that land from the islands.

For centuries, the seven small Matinicus Islands had been the summer resort of the large Indian tribe, the Tarratines (or also called the Penobscots), The principle village of this tribe was at Oldtown, a hundred or more miles to the north up the Penobscot river. In the fall and winter, the Indians would go north and hunt deer, moose, and bear. In the spring they would spear the salmon in the rapids of the rivers emptying into the sea. Then when summer days became hot, they would follow the cool sea breezes and paddle out to the Matinicus isles. Here fish of all kinds was so plentiful that they caught all they pleased, even with their crude tackle hooks of fishbones and lines of deer sinews. They landed great lobsters with their spears, chased the seals for the skins and oil, and feasted on the eggs of millions of sea birds. Then before the autumn gales made the sea too rough, they paddled back up river to their lodges.

Then the white man came and trouble began. The English bartered and bargained for the mainland across from the islands.

In 1694, Sir William Phipps bought from the indian chief, Madookawando, large tracts of land and shore in what is now Knox County, This land deal was not acknowledged by other of the chieftains. But after many pow-wows and a big talk known as the Dummer Treaty, trading posts were established. This was not until after a long period of war between the indians and the white settlers. In 1744» an indian war broke out again, and the settlers in Maine were greatly harassed. This outbreak was crushed by the whites under the force of Samuel Waldo who, by inheritance and purchase, came in possession of a great stretch of the unsettled Maine coast. The indians buried the hatchet for a time, but dug it up again in 1754, Just about the time that Ebenezer Hall and his family sailed down from Boston and landed on Matinicus to stay. This did not please the indians. They did not object to occasional campers, but they considered Hall's possession of the island to be an infringement upon their rights. From their viewpoint, these islands were not part of the land ceded to the whites by bargain or by treaty. They sent a message of protest to the British Governor Phipps demanding that Hall be ordered off the island. Apparently the British did warn Hall of the indian protest, but he remained. From the white’s viewpoint, since the islands were uninhabited, they seemed to belong to nobody in particular, so anyone had the right to homestead there.

So meanwhile, Hall built himself a cabin, fished, and hunted. - In order to plant crops, he set fire to the marshes. This further incensed the indians, as they, claimed that the smoke scared away the seals, which were their particular game.

The indians took to the warpath in the summer of 1757. A large party landed on Matinicus Island and camped. They found only the wife and daughters at home; the men were out to sea on a fishing trip. They waited until the men returned and then attacked the house. The Hall cabin was built like a fort in a commanding position. They had plenty of arms and were able to withstand the onslaught for several days. Ebenezer had been on a fishing trip to Portland, and had returned with his son Peter (ten to fourteen years old) and step-son Joseph (probably about 18 years old). Apparently the eldest son, Ebenezer, (about 23 years old) was on another fishing trip and did not return with them. On his return, he was told by his wife that indians had been prowling around their cabin. That night he told his wile that he would go out and shoot them, hoping that he might kill enough with his two guns to scare the others away. But she in her terror dissuaded him from doing so.

The next day the indians began their siege in earnest. Ten or twelve of them attempted to break open the door. Ebenezer knocked off a board from the roof so that he could prevent them from setting fire to the cabin. He fired at the indians from behind a breast work he made and killed one. For several days the siege continued, each party waiting for a chance to shoot at the enemy. The indians threw fire brands upon the house trying to set it on fire.

Finally on the 10**1 Hall opened the door to make signs that he wanted to negotiate. But he was shot down in his tracts by an indian hidden in ambush and was killed instantly. The indians rushed the door, and the family being so unnerved, made no resistance. But the step-son Joseph escaped by jumping through the back window and hiding in the bushes. But Mary Hall, Sarah (her daughter by her first marriage^ Peter, Tabitha, and Phebe were seized by the indians. They were bound and taken on board the fishing smack which was anchored in the harbor. As they were led off, they passed within a rod of Joseph as he was hiding.

The indians could handle their canoes well, but were unfamiliar with the fishing smack. So they unbound Peter and at the point of their guns, forced him to navigate up the bay to the Penobscot River until they reached the Narrows, below what is now Bangor. From there they were led through the wilderness towards Canada. There is am old indian trail between Oldtown and Medoctoc on the St. John River. After a journey of several days, Mary was separated from her children. She never saw them again nor even ever learned what had happened to them. It is not known what happened to Peter. The daughters were probably kept by the indians as wives. Mary was taken to Quebec.

There she met a New England gentleman, Captain Andrew Watkins, who was a prisoner. She interceded with him, and he paid her ransom.

She later sailed to England, and then from there sailed back to New York, and made her way back to Falmouth by foot. In the archives of Massassachusetts there is a petition which she made on January 14, 1760 to the British General and Governor over the Massachusetts Colony for welfare. Apparently the widow of Captain Watkins had called upon Mary to repay the money given her for her ransom, but she was unable to do so as she was in destitute circumstances. Then in July of 1765 she married Captain Chipman Cobb. They moved to Gorham, Me., where she died at age 89. The remainder of her life was spent in mouring for her lost family. Joseph escaped capture by the indians by hiding in the swamp.

The indians looted and burned the house, but fortunately for Joseph they overlooked the family milk cow. When they left the island, he stayed on the island for a week watching for passing sea vessels. He once paddled out to sea in an endeavor to reach a ship some miles off, but he failed in the attempt. At last he succeeded in attracting the attention of a vessel commanded by a Captain Thorndike. Before they left the island, the captain helped the boy bury his father who had been scalped by the indians. Several years later, after peace had been established, he returned to the islands and settled on one of the smaller ones, known as Green's Island. He married Dorcas Young, sister of the wife of his step-brother, Ebenezer. Some years after he settled there, he saw a party of indians encamped on one of the islands that had a white woman with them. After he left them, it occurred to him that the white woman might have been one of his lost sisters. The more he thought about it, the deeper he became convinced that one of his sisters was nearby. He sought her again among the indians, but never found her.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION:

• 1• Descendants of Job Pitcher Hall. James Varley Roe, and Mary Roe Porter, June 1960, GSL.
• 2* Halls of New England. Rev. David Hall, film 856,103, GSL.
• 3. "Life of Ebenezer Hall," Franklin W. Hall, Houlton, Maine, 1940, Manuscript #1688, GSL.
• 4« Matinicus Isle, its Story and its People. Charles A. E. Lone, film 22115, GSL

Ebenezer Hall (1734-1803)

The eldest son in the family of Ebenezer Hall, he was away fishing when the tragedy occurred. Upon his return he found the cabin burned, the property destroyed, and his family had disappeared without a trace.

He proceeded to Boston with his cargo of fish. On the way he put into Old York for a harbor. There he became acquainted with Susannah Young, whom he married a short time afterwards, about 1758* They lived at Pemaquid, Maine for a few years, and then in 1763, they moved to Matinicus Island with several small children to claim his father's land.

He cleared more land and built a new cabin. They lived there for a couple of years, the only family on the island. During the winter of 1764 they visited in Old York. When it became time to return to the island, Susannah, because of the loneliness, the desolation, and her fear of the indians, refused to go unless accompanied by another family. So her sister, Phoebe, and brother-in-law, Abraham Young, went with them. The two families lived there for twenty years before other settlers came in.

It was recorded that Ebenezer Hall served in the Revolutionary Wan. He was a first lieutenant in the Massachusetts Militia, from York County, Maine. (At this time the area of Maine was still a part of the Massachusetts colony. Maine did not become a separate state until 1020).

He and Susannah had eleven children. One of his sons they named George Washington Hall., He lived the rest of his life on Matinicus.

To each of his children who were willing to remain on the island after their marriage, he donated a small piece of land for a farm. In 1810, all five of his sons and two of his daughters had married and were living on the island. The other daughters were living nearby on the mainland. 

He was the fifth child and first son of Ebenezer and Susannah. He was married three times. It is not know what happened to his first two wives. In 1810, he was living with his third wife, Eleanor Burgess Hall, on Matinicus Island with one daughter and three sons. Soon afterwards, the moved to the vicinity of Belfast, Me., which is across the bay from the islands on the mainland.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION:

• 1• Descendants of Job Pitcher Hall. James Varley Roe, and Mary Roe Porter, June 1960, GSL.
• 2* Halls of New England. Rev. David Hall, film 856,103, GSL.
• 3. "Life of Ebenezer Hall," Franklin W. Hall, Houlton, Maine, 1940, Manuscript #1688, GSL.
• 4« Matinicus Isle, its Story and its People. Charles A. E. Lone, film 22115, GSL