FRIENDSHIP

Raid on Meduncook (1758)

During the French and Indian War, the community was raided twice. The first attack was by the Abenaki just after sunrise on May 22, 1758. They killed and scalped Joshua and Hannah Bradford and their infant son, Winslow. An original settler from Kingston, Massachusetts, and a great-grandson of Governor William Bradford, Joshua had remained in his house, believing it close enough to the garrison that his family could flee there when necessary, but, while pounding corn, the Bradfords missed hearing the garrison's alarm gun. Five of their children managed to escape their pursuers into the fort, but two of their sons, Cornelius (21) and Joshua (12), were captured and carried to Canada.

After trying to lay siege to Thomaston, Maine, in September 1758, a party of Native Americans and Acadians under the command of the French officer Charles Deschamps de Boishébert et de Raffetot raided the village. Eight British were captured or killed.

On February 25, 1807, Meduncook Plantation was incorporated as Friendship. By 1859, when the population was 691, the village had two shipbuilders, two gristmills, one shingle mill and three sawmills. By 1880, when the population was 938, other manufactures included sails, carriages, boots and shoes. Boatbuilding remained the dominant industry in town, which became famous for producing the Friendship Sloop, a gaff-rigged sailboat designed for lobstering and fishing. Each summer the town hosts the Friendship Sloop Races.