Capt. Arthur Bragdon^{[1, 2, 3, 4]}

1670 - Aft 1746  (> 77 years)

• Name	Arthur Bragdon
  Prefix	Capt.
  Birth	1670	York, York, Massachusetts Bay, British America   [5]
  Gender	Male
  Death	Aft 1746	Scarborough, York, Massachusetts Bay, British America
  Person ID	I2004	Duane's Ancestors
  Last Modified	17 Dec 2008

  
  

  Father	Arthur Bragdon, Jr.,   b. 1645, York, Maine, New England, British America d. 14 Oct 1690, Cape Neddick, York, Massachusetts Bay, British America (Age 45 years)
  Mother	Lydia Twisden,   b. Abt 1640
  Marriage	13 Nov 1667	Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts Bay, British America   [5, 6]
  Family ID	F196	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Mehitable Marston,   b. 1670, Hampton, Norfolk, Massachusetts Bay, British America   [7]
  Marriage	3 Nov 1704	Hampton, New Hampshire, British America   [1, 8]
  Family ID	F2087	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	4 Apr 2020

  
  

  Family 2	Sarah Masterson   d. 13 Oct 1703  [4, 9]
  Marriage	Aft 8 Mar 1690/1  [2, 3, 9]
  Family ID	F2086	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	10 Apr 2020

  
  

• Event Map		Birth - 1670 - York, York, Massachusetts Bay, British America Marriage - 3 Nov 1704 - Hampton, New Hampshire, British America Death - Aft 1746 - Scarborough, York, Massachusetts Bay, British America  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  Notes for Arthur Bragdon , Jr.: Arthur moved to Scarborough, Maine in 1725. "Arthur Bragdon, farmer, son of Arthur Bragdon, lately deceased, sold land near the sawmill to Nathaniel Ramsdell 21 June 1711. *** Arthur was a Deacon of the church. He owned a sawmill at York, Maine, in partnership with Abraham Preble and Peter Nowell, built soon after 14 November 1700, when the partnership was formed. *** Since 1700 Samuel Webber and his sons owned mills on Cape Neddick River, Samuel Bragdon at Bass Cove . . . Deacon Thomas Bragdon at Cape Neddick Pond. At newly-created Scituate Pond, Bragdon and Prebles carried on as partners. *** Around 1750, Cape Neddick had attracted many new settlers. Descendants of Arthur Bragdon and of Abraham Preble moved to Cape Neddick and became fishermen. Deacon Arthur Bragdon had probably been the first to build a dam at Cape Neddick Pond in about 1720; his mill privileges and fulling mill was sold in 1769 to Col. Josiah Chase of Kittery. *** [There are several sources that cite the story of Arthur and Sarah] He married Sarah Masterson, who, by contemporary history, was killed with their five children 13 October 1703 (Penhallow's Indian Wars). By family tradition in Scarborough he left her baking and found her and their four children scalped on his return. But a daughter, Abial, was carried away and was still living in 1711. Sarah had been a captive before. Sarah and Abial were Indian captives from 24 January 1691/1692 to some time after 1699. *** "In 1742, Arthur Bragdon, gentleman, in jail, sued his creditor for beating him so that his life was despaired of living 5 November 1746." *** Arthur Bragdon was one of the very few early townsmen to whose name was appended law papers the title "gentleman." He removed to this town (Scarborough) from York 1725, and spent here the remainder of a long and useful life. Captain Solomon and Gideon Bragdon became inhabitants soon afterward. Captain Arthur Bragdon's house was used to hold services and town meetings in. Selectmen in Scarborough: Captain Arthur Bragdon 1725 Captain Solomon Bragdon 1748 Solomon Bragdon 1759-1839-1841-1848-1849 Arthur joined First Church 26 June 1728 Mehetable joined 25 February 1733 Solomon joined 8 November 1741 *** By the new plan (1721), an allotment was specified for each town. York was allowed to loan small sums up to a total of 360 pounds . . . A board of trustees was created - Jos. Sayward, Arthur Bragdon, Sr., John Harmon, Thomas Haines, Jos. Moulton, Samuel Sewall, Jonathan Bane, and Joseph Bragdon - who were required to give bond for twice the amount of the town's allotment. Strong men among the new leaders as Moulton, Harmon, Lewis Bane, Capt. Arthur Bragdon . . . *** Deed of Sale Received (Peter Nowel) from Arthur Bragdon, Jr.: 160 pounds for 20 acres of land North East Side of York River. *** On 25 January 1692, the Indians made their long-intended descent on York; a party of about 150 of them carried out successfully the raid known as the Massacre. The Indian version of the events that followed is told in an account written by Champigny, the Intendant of Quebec, as it had been reported to him by the Indians. ". . . At about a quarter of a league distant (from Iarc) they saw a young Englishman who was setting traps. They caught him and later two others whom they saw a little further on. These Englishmen had only their knives. They halted to question the three captives. They smashed the heads of two of them and from a desire to get information they bound the third one." The "young Englishman" who was captured while he was setting traps was Arthur Bragdon III, then about twenty-seven-years of age, married to Sarah Masterson, daughter of Nathaniel, and living near his wife's parents in the Cider Hill district. The tradition is that young Bragdon saw a great many snowshoes piled against the boulder which has been known ever since as "Snowshoe Rock." The Indian camp "at the foot of the mountain" (surely it must have been Mt. Agamenticus) was stated to have been "about a quarter of a league distant" from Snowshoe Rock, and that is in accord with family legends. There was quite general destruction in the area between York Corner and the river . . . and others who lived there were killed or captured, but Samuel Bragdon, near the present-day Sewell's Bridge, escaped. *** Between the Scotland Bridge Road and nearby Bass Cove Creek, the Bragdon family has the longest record of continuous settlement. Of the three sons of the pioneer Arthur (1597-1678) two, Arthur (1645-1690) and Thomas (1640-1690), a weaver, settled in Scotland (a nearby town). Deacon Arthur (1666-1743), son of Thomas, built the first dam and the first woolen mil at Chase's Pond. Elihu (1767-1854) in the sixth generation, ship-builder and merchant at Scotland Bridge, prominent in town affairs and a delegate to the convention which drafted the Maine constitutions, was the most famous. His grandson, Joseph P. Bragdon, held the office of selectman continuously for 33 years; Arthur Elihu, brother of Joseph P. Bragdon, still lives [1961] on original Bragdon acres, in the interesting old house which has grown in size over the years. Part of the present Bragdon property was once a large farm owned by William Pepperell, Jr., and occupied by tenants of his daughter Elizabeth Sparhawk. Across the road from the home of Arthur Elihu is the graveyard of the Second Parish. Neighbors of the early Bragdons were James Freethy, and later his son Joseph, part of whose property still in possession of the heirs with the same name until 1892, when the widow of Henry sold it to Joseph P. Bragdon. From the Joseph P. property the road dips sharply into a valley through which flows Bass Cove Creek. Garrison Hill is now a gravel pit; on that hill lived Arthur Bragdon III (1670-1751), the young father of the Snowshoe Rock story of the Massacre.

  
  

• Sources

  1.  [S144] Mass & Maine Families, Vol. 2, 587, 00368.  2.  [S988] Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, 467, 00218.  3.  [S783] History of York, ME, 1:230, 00779.  4.  [S783] History of York, ME, 1:302, 00779.  5.  [S988] Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, 105, 00218.  6.  [S145] Mass & Maine Families, Vol. 3, 511, 00369.  7.  [S988] Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, 460, 00218.  8.  [S988] Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, 461, 00218.  9.  [S783] History of York, ME, 1:295, 00779.