It’s well known that the 1600s saw the arrival of permanent European settlers in what is now Maine. What is less well known is that some of these settlers were not here voluntarily. Against their will, Scottish prisoners of war were shipped to New England and sold as forced laborers in 1650 and 1651. Carol Gardner, author of The Involuntary American: A Scottish Prisoner’s Journey to the New World, drew on extensive research and many first person accounts to tell how these men would go from servitude to freedom and influence early New England history. Click here for a 67-minute video of her presentation at the Old Bristol Historical Society on December 27, 2024.

She describes how 150 Scottish prisoners from the Battle of Dunbar arrived in Boston in 1650. The next year, 272 prisoners from the Battle of Worcester were also sent to Boston. Throughout the 1600s, Africans were also enslaved, including one purchased as a gift by the congregation of Rev. Cotton Mather.

Life in Saugus was harsh as 62 workers served without wages as forced laborers at the Iron Works in Saugus.

Others were taken to Piscataqua in Maine to work in the lumber mills there. One went to Swansea, MA where he worked as a brickmaker and became the first to die in King Philip’s War in 1675.

Click here for a 2023 presentation on Scottish prisoners by Tad Baker.