Remembering the sacrifices of veterans

Memorial Day is almost here, and although The Quoddy Tides does not typically profile military servicemen and women before the Civil War, the 200th anniversary of the return of Moose Island from British control to the United States provides the opportunity to look back at the role Eastport played in the War of 1812 and to remember those who served during the war.
On June 30, 1818, the British flag flying over Fort Sherbooke on Moose Island in Eastport was lowered. At once, the stars and stripes was raised in its place and the fort renamed Fort Sullivan. After all, the U.S. Army had waited for two weeks until a ship finally came to carry the British off.
This was not only an emotional moment for the island's residents, who had endured a four-year occupation, though a kindly one, but a crucial moment in Maine and United States history - the last captured territory on the U.S. mainland to be returned.
Among the British who served in the 102nd Regiment of Foot during the occupation, which had begun four years earlier on July 11, 1814, were two officers, Lt. Walter St. John and Lt. Thomas Raymond, who didn't return home and are buried in Hillside Cemetery in Eastport.
"Tales of British officers who occupied Eastport," recounted by Wayne Wilcox in The Quoddy Tides' December 25, 2009, edition, stated, "Lt. Walter St. John was born about 1786, probably on the Caribbean island of Barbados. The evidence from his military records is minimal, at best, but it does suggest that he may have been from the St. John family of Barbados."
"In spring of 1814 orders were received for the 102nd Regiment to make ready for an attack on the eastern frontier of the United States at Moose Island, Maine. In the afternoon of July 11, 1814, the British fleet with the 102nd Regiment aboard its ships sailed into the harbor of Eastport. Because of the superior British force, the American commander of Fort Sullivan surrendered without firing a shot."
"Lt. St. John, a member of the 102nd Regiment, did not participate in the attack and capture of Eastport because of an illness. He remained at Bermuda when the fleet sailed for Passamaquoddy Bay. He recovered somewhat from his sickness and left Bermuda on June 25 aboard the transport ship Phoenix. The lieutenant arrived in Eastport on July 14, still ill. It was reported that St. John was probably ill the whole time he was stationed at Eastport. In the casualty returns of the 102nd, Lt. St. John is listed as deceased on May 28, 1815, at Moose Island. He has the unfortunate distinction of being the only officer of the 102nd to have died during the four years of military occupation.
"At the time of his death, he was single and left no will. The inventory of his effects consisted of 40 pounds sterling, 4 shillings, 5 pence. Lt. Saint John was given a full military funeral and buried in the English corner of the 'old' town cemetery off Water Street above Little's Cove. A large white marble headstone was placed on his grave inscribed 'Walter St. John Esq., Lieut. 102nd Reg. died 29 May, 1815 in the 29th year of his age.'
"Years later, information was discovered by members of the Eastport Masonic Lodge, Eastern Lodge No. 7, that Lt. St. John was a member of the Masonic order. In the fall of 1854, St. John was removed from the "old" cemetery and transferred to a plot in front of the Masonic tomb in Hillside Cemetery east. He was buried next to another Mason and fellow British officer, Lt. Thomas Raymond of the Royal Navy."
Lt. Thomas Raymond, Royal Navy, master of H.M.S. Menai, Freemason, is also buried in front of the Masonic tomb in Hillside Cemetery. Born in 1782 in Aldborough, Suffolk, he joined the Royal Navy at age 19 in 1801, trained at Portsmouth on the H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Coureaux, Comet and Noble. After nine years of training, he passed the exam for rank of lieutenant in 1810. He was at Saint John and Halifax and visited Eastport a number of times on the Menai. He died on Deer Island.
The occupation of Eastport was family friendly, except for the murder of a young woman by Pvt. John Shea, a soldier in Captain Henry Steele's company. The unfortunate victim, Jane Evans, was a housekeeper of the regiment's commanding officer, Lt. Col. Joseph Gubbins, and she had also been raped. While incarcerated, Shea took his own life. No one wanted to bury him near anyone else, so his remains were deposited at Cony Beach, Shackford Head. The body was apparently not buried very far down, so that Shea's bones were discovered by children many years later.
The grave of American privateer and Dartmoor Massacre survivor Simon Harrington also is located in Hillside Cemetery. Born in 1788, he was from Eastport but sailed out of New York City on the privateer Zebra. On his return trip from France in April of 1813, he was captured by H.M.S. Pyramus. Harrington became a prisoner of war and sent to Dartmoor Prison where, on April 6, 1815, three months after the war ended, seven Americans were killed and 60 wounded. Harrington was released on May 1 after 741 days in captivity but lived to be an old man. He passed away in 1868.
Another War of 1812 veteran on the American side buried at Hillside Cemetery is Dr. Micajah Collins Hawkes. Born in Lynn, Mass., in 1785, he was brought up a Quaker and remained a member of that sect until he was dismissed for marrying "outside of the meeting." After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1808, the oldest in his class, he began studying medicine with Dr. William Ingalls of Boston and was about ready to begin practice when the War of 1812 began. He enlisted as a surgeon's mate on a privateer and was captured but soon released. Directly afterward, he was appointed surgeon to the U.S. sloop of war Hornet, which was captained by James Lawrence, and was present at the defeat of the British brig Peacock off Demera on February 24, 1813. On his way back to New York, he met with an accident which left him slightly lame for life. In 1817 he opened his office in Eastport and became contract surgeon to the garrison and later collector of the port and district of Passamaquoddy. He passed away at age 78 in November of 1863.
Also buried in Hillside Cemetery is Lt. Colonel Oliver Shead, who was commander of a regiment raised in July of 1812 for the purposes of defending life and property of Eastport and Robbinston residents. Born in 1777, Shead became clerk to Nathaniel Goddard, the second person to set up a business in Eastport. He built the first two-story house on Moose Island and became the first postmaster in 1802.
The terms of active duty for those serving in the six companies in Shead's regiment were short, most until September when three full companies of Massachusetts infantry were expected.
When he died on November 18, 1813, on his way to work, Oliver Shead was only 36 years old.
"The treaty to end the British occupation in Eastport was separate from the Bay of Fundy Treaty," points out Ruth McInnis of the 1818 celebratory event. "It was a peaceful surrender, but it took two weeks before someone picked them up and, with the Americans camped up by city hall, it does seem that the British must have been nervous until a ship showed up."
The British attack of 1814 had given an impetus to the push for Maine statehood, since the prevailing feeling of Mainers was that Massachusetts had not fulfilled its obligations of defense and support. The continued occupation of Moose Island, a burr in the side, kept up the momentum.
The Border Historical Society in Eastport is celebrating the anniversary of the surrender with a day of events on June 30, which will include reenactments, concerts and a walking tour.