by Jonathan Tucker

This is the fourth in a series of articles about MacIntyres in general and the life of Micum McIntire in particular. This article (longer than some of the others) covers the period of Micum’s life in York, Maine. It may be subject to revision over time as new information becomes available.

Disclaimer: This article emphasizes what we know about Micum’s life in York, which includes what previous historians focused on and emphasized. Of necessity, this history includes the setting of conflict occurring in the region. It often speaks to Micum’s identity as a former Highland warrior, and the importance in a violent time for men in particular to have the capacity for competent defensive violence. Nineteenth century histories imagined and emphasized Micum’s size and strength and capacity for violence, seeing them as heroic qualities attributed to his Scottish origins (and by extension to themselves as his descendants).

In the 21st century, this repeated emphasis may seem unbalanced to some readers, but it should be remembered that the violence inflicted on (and practiced by) these early settlers was very real. We do the best we can with the information we have, and as responsible historians, we try to avoid applying a template of 21st century values and judgments to the life of a man living between 1651 and 1705.

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The most definitive and comprehensive current source for information on MacIntyres in general is the newly-published book, “Clan MacIntyre: A Journey Into the Past,” Martin L. MacIntyre, Regent Press, Berkeley, CA, 2018, second edition. Copies may be purchased by contacting Martin at martin.macintyre@juno.com. 

The definitive genealogy is “Descendants of Micum McIntire,” Robert Harry McIntire, revised edition, 1983, Bookcrafters, Chelsea, MI. Used copies can still be obtained from time to time through online booksellers. Those interested in new copies should contact Dan Davis, 1 Stanley Avenue, Kingfield, ME, 04947 (snailmail only). There is an earlier version published in 1940—it is less complete but still useful.
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MICUM McINTIRE’S LIFE IN YORK, MAINE

In our last article, we brought Micum McIntire, one of three brothers captured on September 3, 1650 at the Battle of Dunbar, from his home in war-torn Scotland to a new home in the settlement of York, part of the frontier of 17th century Maine (Massachusetts Bay Colony). 

As we have seen, Micum came to York from Newichawannock (South Berwick) in 1668-1670, [first obtaining a land grant south of the York River and then buying 40 acres north of the river]. In 1671, he married Dorothy Pierce, widow of his distant cousin Alexander Machanere and daughter of English settler and fisherman John Pierce. Micum and Dorothy received a gift of land from fellow Dunbar Scot Alexander Maxwell and Alexander’s wife Annes (Agnes) that included an existing house. A new life and family had begun in York. Micum and Dorothy had three sons we can document–John, Daniel, and Micum (Jr.). A fourth son, Alexander, has been speculated, but cannot be verified and was probably confused by 19th century historians by Alexanders that appear in the family as early as Micum’s grandchildren. 

Micum and Dorothy’s new home was part of a landscape filled with violent conflict—late 17th century York was on the front lines of a hotly-contested frontier. As English settlements expanded, tensions between the new settlers and displaced resident Native Americans came to a head. In addition to local conflicts with Native Americans, there were regional conflicts like King Philip’s War (1675-77) and the several French and Indian Wars, which during Micum’s life waxed and waned as part of the colonial struggles between England and France. York was subject to periodic attacks by Native American raiding parties, mostly Algonkian-speaking members of the Abenaki confederation, spurred on by French Jesuit provocateurs trying to drive out the Puritan (Protestant) English settlements.

The Scots captured at the battles of Dunbar and Worcester were known as fighting men and, as Gaelic-speaking Scots, were considered by the English to be a separate, inferior race, and therefore expendable. Scots like Micum and his fellow former prisoners were encouraged to seek land grants on the frontier, where they could serve as a buffer between the hostile French and Indian forces and the mostly English settlements further south. The pattern of settling Scots as a frontier buffer was repeated elsewhere in the New World colonies, including in New Jersey and the Carolinas.

“They Got Up A Spree” – One tale (tall or not) reveals how the echo of Dunbar and the Highland warrior legacy remained a part of Micum’s life.

It was a 3-4 mile walk downriver along the cart trail from Scotland Parish to the First Parish Church in York Village, but Puritan church leaders mandated regular church attendance on Sundays. York may have been on the frontier, but lack of attendance at church was still a crime. The York Scots—including Alexander Mackanere and Dorothy Pierce–more than once paid hefty fines for missing the services.

After the interminable four hour Puritan services ended, the more leisurely afternoon walk or ride along the trail back upriver became an occasion for the kinds of recreation more native to Scotland than staid Puritan New England. Homemade hard cider (a hill along the way is called “Cider Hill”) and other potables were passed around. Gaelic songs and wordplay, filled with jests and playful insults, washed away the pinched and hardbitten sounds of Puritan sermonizing. Playful insults turned to mock challenges and rough-housing. And, sometimes, rough-housing among inebriated former warriors turned into full-blown rows. York historians have said, “the MacIntire is a peaceable fellow, but beware how you start the Scotch blood.”

In the family history of Abraham Preble of York, there is preserved a stanza of rhyme about one such pitched battle:

And there stood Micum McIntire
With his great foot and hand
He kicked and cuffed Sam Treathy so,
He could neither go nor stand.

Despite the 19th century Colonial Revival habit of outright historical invention, Sam Treathy was a real person—a local sailor. The Preble history also refers to the men in Micum’s family as “veritable sons of Anak” (a Biblical giant), meaning that they were big, powerful man. Family legend has it that Micum stood more than six feet tall—a large man for his day. Other sources indicate that many MacIntyres have historically been physically large, perhaps a legacy of their blended Dalriadan (Irish Celtic, Viking, and Pictish) heritage. On a contested frontier, this would have been a useful thing to be. 

King Philip’s War (1675-1677) – “King Philip” was the English name for Metacomet, an Algonkian sachem in southern New England. His attempts to drive out the English settlers pressing in on his ancestral homeland precipitated a region-wide war. York and nearby Wells and Kittery were attacked several times, mostly in hit-and-run skirmishes and raids. On April 7, 1677, John Carmichael, former Worcester prisoner and husband of Dorothy’s sister Ann Pierce, was one of seven York men killed by a raiding party while the men were preparing their fields for planting. Former Dunbar prisoner Andrew Rankin was also killed there. That fall, Micum served as the administrator for John Carmichael’s estate.

King William’s War (1689-97) – This colonial conflict began in 1689 with several concentrated attacks on settlements in Maine by the French and their Indian allies. On March 18, 1689, Salmon Falls (South Berwick), where Micum had lived and worked before coming to York, was overrun and destroyed. [In June 1689, 23 settlers were killed, 29 captives taken, and the mills and 5-6 houses burned at Dover (Cocheco), one of the places Micum worked after his indenture ended.] During the summer of 1690, there were several raids in which York settlers were killed. 

By 1691, only the settlements of Wells, York, Appledore, and Kittery remained under British colonial control. Life on the frontier was precarious and tense.

The Candlemas Massacre – On the evening of January 23, 1692, a raiding party of about 150 New England and Canadian Abenaki (Penobscot) warriors camped at the foot of Mount Agamenticus near the headwaters of the York River, about three miles north of Micum’s home. In the chill dawn of Candlemas, January 24, 1692, the warriors, leaving their snowshoes stacked against a large rock, began a silent approach eastward down frozen stream beds toward York Village center. The raiding party first encountered and captured three young men out checking their trap lines. After questioning them, they killed two and left the third bound to pick up later as a hostage. The Abenaki raiding party burst into the center of the village at about 10 o’clock in the morning, and began to burn and kill their way through York.

Many York settlers, including Micum, his wife Dorothy, and their children, took shelter in the fortified garrison houses in York and tried to fight off any Abenaki who attempted to take the buildings. Accurate figures are hard to obtain, but by the end of the raid about 48 English and Scots settlers had been killed and about 80 taken captive to Canada as hostages to be ransomed. Among the dead were Dorothy’s parents, John and Phoebe Pierce, and many other friends and relatives.

At the end of the raid, of the several fortified garrison houses in York, only three had not been burned or taken. Two were in York Village, and the other was Robert Junkins’ garrison in Scotland District, defended by Micum and his fellow Dunbar Scots—most of whom were by then in their late 50s, 60s, and even early 70s. Micum himself was 66-67 years old.

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At this point, I beg the readers’ indulgence in allowing me a brief and utterly fanciful vision of the Scotland Parish garrison on that day. These older Scottish men had spent decades in a strange land, working under often dangerous frontier conditions, laboring (on-and-off) under the strict and deeply boring rule of a Puritan theocracy. Through their own long labor and great effort, they had built homes and lives and families. Raised as farmers and woodcutters and fishermen, they certainly knew how to work. But as 17th century Scots, they had also been raised as warriors, both to defend clan territories and as potential foreign mercenaries, a common occupation for Highland men since the 1200s. This was not completely unique to them. Many Puritan English settlers had been former soldiers under Cromwell.

On that winter’s day, these well-worn but still vigorous older men, dressed in rough homespun, hurried with their families into Robert Junkins’ garrison, just down the road to the east from Micum’s home. The garrison was set on the hillside north of the road, above the river. The hillside around the garrison had been cleared of trees for many yards. They had a long view in all directions. Twenty years of past raids had prepared everyone for this day–this was not the first time they had all sought this shelter during raids. 

The men hauled the last of their extra provisions inside, set sentries outside, and pulled and bolted most of the shutters to seal up the building. Some of the older children—Micum’s oldest son, John, would have been 15—were handed weapons they had been trained to use from childhood. The women dressed and banked fires in every fireplace, set up a kitchen, water barrels, and stored the provisions. They made sleeping arrangements and prepared medical supplies–all with varying degrees of calm and resignation. Small children and livestock contributed to the background noise in the crowded garrison.

The men loaded and checked their weapons and set them near windows within easy reach. They gathered in one of the downstairs rooms and began to discuss tactics, preparing to defend everything that mattered to them. But as they met one another’s eyes, the tactical conversation began to falter, and, one by one, these older former warriors grew quiet, looking at each other. And then, from one face to another, a fierce grin started and spread. At last, a chance to again be a central part of who they really were. You can almost feel sorry for the Abenaki.

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The deaths of John and Phoebe Pierce during the 1692 Candlemas raid created a need to resolve their estate between the husbands of John’s daughters, Dorothy and Ann. Ann Pierce, widow of Worcester Scot John Carmichael (killed in 1677), had subsequently married John Bracey, a tailor and a “turbulent” fellow who was frequently in trouble with the law. Between 1673 and 1698, he was accused before Puritan authorities of, in order—stealing nails, shooting someone else’s hog, “casting several reflecting speeches on the Reverend Mr. Drummer,” being a “common liar”, and cursing in public. For that last offense, Bracey spent three hours in the stocks in York Village center. In April 1697—five years after the Candlemas Massacre and the deaths of John and Phoebe Pierce–Micum and John Bracey finally reached an agreement to divide the Pierce’s estate evenly.

On July 18, 1694, the settlement at Oyster River [Durham, NH]—Micum’s first ‘home’ in New England—was completely overrun and destroyed [by a combined force of about 250 Abenaki], with 104 settlers killed and 27 taken away as captives to be ransomed. A month later, on August 20, 1694, fellow Scot Daniel Livingston, who had moved to York around 1666 from Braintree, Massachusetts with his wife, widow Joanna Downham Pray and her three youngest children, was killed in Scotland Parish near Micum’s home and the garrison.

Yet in the midst of the constant threat of raids, life in York went on, and Micum and his family continued to prosper in York. He worked as a subsistence farmer, fisherman, and woodcutter, and accumulated still more land. His children grew.

Dorothy preceded Micum in death, probably in early 1700. Her death prompted Micum to write his own will, dated April 17, 1700. He divided his estate among his three sons, and named his “true and trusty friends” Samuel Donnell and James Plaisted as the “overseers” (executors) of his will.

Queen Anne’s War (1702–13) – York suffered another raid in August 1703, sometimes named the Barrett Massacre for the family worst hit. Most of the family of settler Arthur Bragdon were also killed. On April 25, 1704, two men travelling in Wells were killed and another captured. In the spring of 1705, five settlers were killed in Kittery.

Sometime just before October 5, 1705 (when his will was probated), at about the age of 80, Micum McIntire passed on, in his own bed, in his own home, on his own land, with his three sons by his side. John was 23, Daniel was 16, and Micum Jr. was still a child. Micum had lived a life filled with war and loss and upheaval and change. But it had been a fulfilling life. He had made a real home and a family. He had assured his childrens’ future and had shown them how to prosper “Per Ardua”–through difficulty. He had achieved things he could never have dreamed of in Scotland.

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After their father passed, first John McIntire and then Micum Jr., married and had children, who in turn had children, who themselves had children. Micum’s descendants are very numerous. Members of the Micum McIntire Clan Association, formed in 1917, gather in York every year on the first Saturday of August to celebrate their heritage.

The McIntire Garrison – On June 27, 1707, about two years after his father’s passing (and around the time of the birth of his first son, Joseph), John McIntire, Micum’s oldest son, purchased a property adjoining the McIntire home lot from Alexander Maxwell, during Maxwell’s last illness. It included an existing garrison house whose core may have been built as early as 1640-45, before the Scots arrived—there is some dispute as to its age–with the garrison exterior added in the late 1600s in response to the increasing conflicts with the Abenaki and other resident Native American groups.

Referred to as the McIntire Garrison, the building survives as one of the oldest colonial-era buildings in Maine. Located on the south side of Rte. 91 between Scotland Parish in York and South Berwick, the garrison is set near the road and overlooks the salt marshes and upper meanders of the York River. Micum’s earlier home had been next door to the west, but burned in 1922. The garrison is privately owned and cared for by the Davis family. It has remained in McIntire family ownership continuously since 1707. It is surrounded by the 300 acre McIntire Highlands Preserve, donated to the Town of York by Mary McIntire Davis.

Those of Micum’s descendants who want to visit the McIntire Garrison should take old Route 91 west from Rte. 1 out of York toward South Berwick (what Micum referred to in his will as “the way ye goeth to Newichawonick”). If they can, they should visit in the late afternoon, preferably on a sunny day in late summer or early fall. Upon reaching the garrison, pull off the road to park, and walk around the building. Please respect the building and the property.

After you look over the building and property, pause by the front door of the old garrison overlooking the river meadow. Turn and face the river with your back to the front door. Wait there, quietly, for the gloaming of the evening to arrive, for the shifting light to work its necessary magic. The sound of cars passing behind you on Route 91 will fade. Be still, and let the past come to you.

After a time, as the first mists gather over the water meadow, it is no effort at all to see Micum beaching his boat in the tall saltmarsh grass and striding up through the meadow, or walking down out of the trees with an ax in his hand. The landscape has not changed very much in 350 years.

Stand there, watch and listen. You are not alone. The generations stand there, arrayed behind you, just over your shoulder. The call of family is strong. Per Ardua.