1729,Falmouth, Maine, James McCausland, signed land deed,Joseph Moody

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1729,Falmouth, Maine, James McCausland, signed land deed,Joseph Moody:
$68.50

This is a wonderful, original document dated 1729, Falmouth, Maine, where James McCausland has sold to John Owen, Trader, half of all his lands in Falmouth...signed at bottom by James McCausland, John Gray, John Haskett, Thomas Emerson and recorded at left margin by Joseph Moody. Document is 15x18, folds, minor paper loss on fold lines, toning, else in overall good condition.

In the autumn of 1717 a ship arrived in the harbor at Falmouth in Casco Bay with 20 families of emigrants from Ireland, among whom was James McCausland, They were descendents of a colony which went from Argleshire in Scotland and settled in the north of Ireland about the middle of the 17th century. They were rigid presbyterians and fled from Scotland to avoid the persecution of King Charles I. They suffered severely during the winter their own provisions failed and the inhabitants of Falmouth had neither shelter nor food sufficient for so large an addition to the population. They were however given 100 bushels of Indian meal by the general court to help them through the winter. These people took their vessel up the river and secured it almost opposite Clark\'s Point where they remained on Purpooduck Shore during the winter. In the spring most of them sailed for Newburyport and reached Haverhill April 2nd. They soon established themselves at the place to which they gave the name of Londonderry. James McCauslin and several other families, however, remained in Falmouth.

Joseph Moody had not always worn the black crepe veil knotted above his forehead hanging down below his chin. For fourteen yearsafter his graduation at Harvard, he was quite content with and competent in successive positions as Clerk of the Town of York, Registrar of Deeds for the county, and Judge of the County Court. However, his father thought he ought to preach, andhethought his father knew best. Chiefly through his father\'s influence, a second parish was incorporated in 1730. In 1732, Joseph hesitantly accepted the charge and was ordained its pastor.

For six years he got along tolerably well with the saving of souls, while his wife took charge of temporal things. But when she died, the care of two worlds proved too much for him, and he fell into a state of deep melancholy. In this clouded condition, his once brilliant mind developed a pronounced phobia: no one must see his face. And so he presented himself to his congregation with his features masked in a black silk handkerchief. For weeks, wonder, speculation, and rumor churned with whirlwind intensity through the village.Was he demented?His sermons were too logical for that.Had he been scarred by an accident?If so, no chirurgeon knew of it.Had his eyes been weakened by working far into the night on his sermons?With no other plausible explanation, his parishioners convinced themselves that this was the true one.

While he was as often besought for funerals as he had previously been, the veiled parson\'s services became less in demand for weddings, christenings, and socials. The timid people turned out of their way to avoid him; the bolder were often flippant or impertinent on the road. So Joseph Moody curtailed his daytime walks, limiting his strolls to the protecting anonymity of night. Then, without the fear of embarrassing encounters, he prowled peacefully through the seclusion of thechurchyard or wandered unchallenged along the deserted shore. Little by little he abandoned his public labors, refusing to officiate at public gatherings except in cases of unusual urgency. More and more often he sought the sheltering safety of his own chamber. Only on rare occasions, when bounden duty demanded it, did he leave his sanctuary and partake of a meal with others. He was soon relieved of even this obligation. For nothing cast a quicker and more efficient pall over the gayest of village affairs than the sight of a black-clad figure, crouched alone at a small side table with its face turned to the wall.

John Gray was probably born in Northern Ireland, and as a young boy came to New England with his father, or perhaps both parents. (Without more information, it is impossible to say whether Jannet, his father\'s only known wife, was John\'s mother). In any event, the family was inBerwick, York County, Maine, by the fall of 1720, where, between then and 1730, five younger siblings were baptized.

John Gray is called \" ofofferdeford\" in his 1743 marriage record, but in modern terms that could also mean Saco which was at that time part of offerdeford. However, we know from Folsom\'s history that \"Mr. John Gray possessed a valuable estate in the vicinity of the Falls\" on the western (offerdeford) side of the Saco River; also that he was one of the principle millmen. His house was near the mill brow, and \"he built another for his son in law, Mr.DavidKing, (a brother of the lateRich.King, Esq. of Scarboro\') at the place called \'King\'s Corner,\' a short distance above the upper meetinghouse.\"

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