MAINE (ante). The Northmen discovered the coast, as is now generally conceded, as early as 990, visitino- it occasionally until the middle of the 14th c., but founded no settlement upon it. from 1350 to 1498, the time of Cabot's second expedition, there is no evidence that tbe coast was seen by any European. In 1524 it was visited by a French expedition, under Verrazano; in 1525 by the Spaniards, under Gomez, and, in 1527, by the English, under Rut; but none of these made any settlement. In 1556 a Roman Catholic priest, Andre Thevet, entered Penobscot bay, remaining five days, and holding numerous conferences -with the natives, but without any immediate result. The first attempt to settle upon the territory was that of the French, under Du Mont, who in 1604 planted a colony on 'Neutral island in the river St. Croix, which was abandoned the following year. In 1603 capt. Weymouth explored a part of the coast, and was followed in 1607 by the expedition sent out by sir John Popham and sir Ferdinando Gorges, which, under a charter from king James, made a settlement at the mouth of the Kennebec. This colony, however, returned to England in the following year. In 1613 the French Jesuits established a. mission on Mt. Desert island, but were soon driven off by the English. In 1616 Richard Vines, an agent of sir F. Gorges, went with a small company to Saco, to remain during the winter and explore the surrounding region; while a com pany of fishermen, under capt. John Smith, took possession of Monhegan island. ranzed the whole coast to Cape Cod, and prepared a map of the country, to which he gave-the name of New England. In 16211 James I. divided the territory conveyed by the charter of 1606, granting to the Plymouth company tbe portion lying between the 40th and 43th degrees of n. lat., and to the Virginia company the whole region s. of the 48th deaTee. In 1622 Gorges and capt. John Mason obtained from the Plymouth colony a grant of the territory lying between the Merrimac and the Kennebec rivers, and in 1623 planted a colony at the mouth of the Piseataqua, which was the first permanent settlement of the main land in Maine. Gorges and Mason divided these possessions between them, the former taking the portion e. of the Piscataqua., and the latter that w. of the same river. In 1624 Gorges established a colony at 'York, and in 1625 Pemaquid was occupied under grants from the Plymouth company. After 1630 settlements were rnade at Saco, Bidde ford, Cape Elizabeth, Portland, and Scarborough, which flourished until 1675, when they, in common with those between the Kennebec and the Penobscot, were destroyed by the Indians. The whole country e. of the Penobscot wac elnimed by the French, and
little improvement was made there until after the revolutionary war. In 1635 the portion of the Plymouth company's territory lying between the Piscataqua and the: Kennebec was assigned to Gorges, who, after 1639, established a government over it under the name of Maine, which continued till 1677, when the territory was sold to Mas sachusetts for the sum of £1250. King Philip's Indian war began in Maine shortly before this time, and was attended with all the horrors of a conflict with an uncivilized and deeply angered people. During the next eighty-five years the white settlers were in. constant terror of Indian raids. In 1647 Gorges died, and in 1664 the territory between, the Kennebec and the Penobscot was granted by Charles II. to his brother James (then, duke of York, afterward James IL), who established a government at Pemaquid, where. he erected a strong fort. This country, however, was surrendered to Massachusetts in 1686, and her title thereto and to all the territory e. to the St. Croix and Nova Scotia was confirmed by the provincial charter of 1691. Between 1687 and 1689, Andros, the royal governor of the .New England colonies, visited Maine, and practiced great extor tion upon the inhabitants. By the treaty of 1783, at the conclusion of the revolutionary war, 3fassachusetts obtained possession of the territory and exercised jurisdiction over it as " the district of Maine "(often known as " the province of Maine ") until 1820, when it was admitted to the union as an independent state. Its population at that time was 298,269. The growth of the state was steady from that time forward, the census of 1870 showing a population of 626,915, of whom 313,103 were n-iales, and 313,812 were females; number of families, 131,017; of dwellings, 121,953; of persons over 10 years of age who could not read, 13,4-86, and of those who could not write, 19,052. The number of persons engaged in all occupations was 208,225, of whom 82,011 were eng,aged in, agriculture, and in professional and personal services, 36,092, including 890 clergymen, 558 lawyers, 818 physicians and surgeons, and 4,183 teachers.