| Notes |
- Ebenezer was the first white settler on the island of Matinicus. He served in the French and Indian Wars.
He married first Hannah and had Ebenezer, Mary, Susannah, Jane and Hannah Hall.
He married second Mary Bloom and had Peter, Tabitha and Phebe.
Ebenezer had some disputes with the Indians over farming and fishing. As a result, on the 1st of June, a party of Indians beset the dwelling house of Ebenezer Hall, on the Island of 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 destination, 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 river Penobscot, she underwent the painful trial of being seperated from them; thence compelled to take up the 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 way of New York to Falmouth, after an absence of 13 months. But notwithstanding her inquires were pursued for her captive children, through a long life, with energetic perseverance which marked her character, she never could 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, till 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 returned to the Island, and dwelt there till her death*.
_________________
Life history...this story is an interesting one that could be added to this memorial.
Was about 3 years old when his parents moved to Falmouth, Maine. From colonial days New Englanders have been fishermen and from what we gathered, we find Ebenezer was not only a fisherman but described as a seafaring man.
He married Hannah___ of Falmouth, Maine. She was born about 1710 and died in 1745 at Small Point, Maine. They had moved to Small Point in 1737. Hannah died when her fifth child was one day old. Being left with five children, Ebenezer W. employed a widow with two children to care for his children. Later he took this widow, Mary (Bloom) Green as his second wife. About 1749 or 1750, Ebenezer moved out on Matinicus Island which is approximately twenty miles out in the ocean from Rockland, Maine.
Ebenezer W. might be called the Daniel Boone of the Maine Coast. He invaded the indian paradise and built his cabin, not in the depths of the forest, but the island of the Maine Coast. Here he fished, hunted, traded and fought.
Taken from a statement of Joseph Green: "The 6th of June there came ten or twelve indians on the Island and on Tuesday morning they attempted to break open the house. Ebenezer W. knocked off a board from the roof, to prevent them from setting fire to the house and behind a breast work he made, he was firing at the indians and killed one. On raising his head for another shop, he was shot in the head and killed. Joseph Green jumped out over the wall and hid in the woods. The Indians took Mrs. Hall and five children and carried them off. Some give Ebenezer's death the 6th, some the 10th of June 1757.
2) "New England Captives Carried to Canada; Between 1677 and 1760 During the French and Indian Wars" by Emma Lewis Coleman, originally printed 1925, reprinted 1989 by Heritage Books, Inc. Vol. II, pg. 278-281.
Ebenezer and his family inhabited Matinicus Island (now part of Maine), which belonged by treaty to the Penobscot Indians. He ignoring repeated warnings both by the Penobscots and Massachusetts government to relinquish control. In June 1757, the Indians attacked the home and killed Ebenezer after a ten-day siege. His wife Mary and their four children were carried away from the island.
3):
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 score Rod nor West into the woods the same width 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 said Point of Land that we Possessed of said Winthrop & Companies is 46 Miles Distant from North Yarmouth Meeting House by Land & through
George Town & Brunswick & there is no other way but through said 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 said 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 of 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, North Yarmouth. (Collections of the Maine Historical Society, vol. 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 interfered 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 said 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 oftheir 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 Ebenezer 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 Resentment against him as they have threatened to do unless he be speedily removed by this government 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 Servant
____________________________________________S. Phips
Capt. Jabez Bradbury.
Whereas upon Complaint made by the Penobscot Indians against Ebenezer 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 said Island and whereas the government & General Court or Assembly of this Province at their session in___
Ordered that the said Ebenezer Hall should be removed from said Island, which was accordingly done; And whereas it appears that the said Hall & his oldest son in Contempt of the Authority of this Government 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 Government as aforesaid, And likewise that you remove the Family of the said Ebenezer Hall from the said Island of Montinicus; For all which this shall be your Warrant
Given under my Hand & Seal at Arms in Boston.
[No address: Date in Index is Sept. 7, 1753]
In House of Representatives Sept 7, 1753
Voted that the sum of five hundred pounds be applied for purchasing Presents to be made this year 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 passed 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; threatening 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 Clothes 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 wouldn't tell their names. The Indians are ignorant 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."
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 Ebenezer 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 through 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 said Island found said Hall scalpt, and bury'd him. The young lad is about fifteen or sixteen years old and said 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 engaged 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 killed 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 Honorable. His Majesty's Council
May it Please Your Honors
I thought ye Acct. inclos'd of the Destruction of Hall's family at Matinicus Island.would not be disagreeable to your Honours and therefore have inclos'd it as Ijust 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 Benjaminn Mograge. The above Sarah Peter Phebe and Tabitha are children of the said Mary / all Remain in Captivity except 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 said 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 may 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 war & 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.
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1705 - 1757 (52 years)
