The Cushing Island Expedition Manual
Volume I · Field Edition
Biographies

People of the Island

A working roster of the individuals whose names appear repeatedly in the island's chain of title, in its wartime record, and in its resort-era literature.

  1. Colonial · 1623[C]

    Captain Christopher Levett

    c. 1586 – 1630
    First recorded English owner; would-be founder of 'York'

    Somersetshire gentleman, Royal Navy officer, and 'one of the Council of New England.' Granted 6,000 acres in Casco Bay, wintered on Cushing in 1623, and left a ten-man garrison behind when he sailed for England.

  2. Colonial · 1630s–1666[C]

    George Cleeves

    c. 1586 – 1666
    Second English owner; founder of Portland

    Acquired the island via Levett's successors after being ousted from Spurwink. The 1636 Gorges grant of the Neck and Hog Island implicitly acknowledged his prior title to Cushing.

  3. Colonial · c. 1637–1660[C]

    Michael Mitton

    d. c. 1660
    Third English owner; Casco Bay's mermaid witness

    Cleeves's son-in-law. 'A jovial soul, fond of his cups, his gun, the soul of festive gatherings' — and the man who told John Josselyn about the 'Triton' he met while fowling around a small island in Casco Bay.

  4. Colonial · 1667–1698[C]

    James Andrews

    1637 – 1704
    Fourth English owner; garrisoned the island through King Philip's War

    Married Sarah Mitton, Michael's daughter. Held the island 1667–1698 and used Levett's old fortified house as a garrison. In this period the island was renamed successively Portland Island, Andrews Island, and finally Fort Island.

  5. Resort · late 19th c.[C]

    Harrison Bird Brown

    1831 – 1915
    Painter of White Head and the Cliff, engraved for Sargent (1886)

    Portland-born marine painter. The frontispiece 'White Head' and the interior plate 'Cliff' in Sargent's 1886 sketch are both engraved from Brown's original paintings.

  6. Resort · 1880s–1910s[C]

    John Calvin Stevens

    1855 – 1940
    Portland architect; designed the island's Shingle-style cottages

    One of New England's leading Shingle-style architects. His firm designed the Thaxter Cottage, the Dakers cottage, the Farm House and Farm Buildings, and additions at the Ottawa — grouped together in Sargent's 1886 plate 'Picturesque Bits at Cushings.'

  7. Resort · 1886[C]

    Wm. M. Sargent, A.M.

    19th c.
    Author of the 1886 Historical Sketch — the manual's primary source

    Portland lawyer and antiquarian. His 1886 'Historical Sketch, Guide Book, and Prospectus of Cushing's Island' is the earliest sustained written history of the island and the primary source underlying most entries in this manual.