A high-resolution version of this object is only available for registered users - register here.
High-resolution images are also available to schools and libraries via subscription to American History, 1493-1943. Check to see if your school or library already has a subscription or click here for more information.
- GLC#
- GLC02437.10410-View header record
- Type
- Documents
- Date
- February 26, 1747
- Author/Creator
- Burns, William, fl. 1747
- Title
- [William Burns's declaration regarding the Muscongus settlement]
- Place Written
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Pagination
- 3 p. : Height: 37.4 cm, Width: 22.7 cm
- Primary time period
- Colonization and Settlement, 1585-1763
- Sub-Era
- Native Americans
Burns discusses his settlement on Samuel Waldo's Muscongus Patent (also known as the Waldo or Linconshire Patent, land in present-day Maine). Discusses improvements Burns made to a stone house, and mentions his black cattle. Burns was given command of a company of soldiers by Governor [William] Shirley, after which he and his family moved to a settlement of 40 or 50 "Protestant Familys from Germany" on the Madomock [Medomak] River. Notes that several German settlers, at Colonel Samuel Waldo's urging, joined the expedition against Cape Breton in [1745]. Asserts "That about the Middle of July 1745 The Indians who might easily Perceive the Settlement greatly weakened, began Hostilitys at St Georges, and about the first of Augt following they killed & scalped one of the Germans at Madomack River which and the frequent appearance of numbers of the Indians occasioned all the Inhabitants of that River... to betake themselves to Garrisons..." Subsequently, all neighboring settlements in the area were abandoned due to Native American attacks. Discusses effects of the of the war between Britain and France on colonists, as well as the Siege of Louisbourg, Canada. Signed 26 February 1746/7 by Jacob Wendell, Justice of the Peace. Wendell attests to the veracity of Burns's declaration.
Citation Guidelines for Online Resources
- Copyright Notice
- The copyright law of the United States (title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specific conditions is that the photocopy or reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law.