Former Portland resident brings pre-Revolutionary War artifacts back to Maine
Bill Thompson still remembers the summer day in 1971 when a routine lobster fishing trip turned into an unexpected underwater mystery. Now 72, Thompson was just 17 then, crewmating alongside friend John Peabody when their gear snagged on something unusual beneath the waves off Cape Elizabeth.
"We went down to explore and see, you know, what the heck is this?" Thompson recalled decades later. What they discovered would become one of Maine's most significant maritime archaeological finds.
The wreck belonged to the Three Friends, a British merchant vessel that met its fate on October 16, 1711. According to historical records, only 14 of the ship's 41 crew members and passengers survived after the vessel was dashed to pieces near Portland Head Light. The disaster occurred roughly 55 years before Cape Elizabeth itself was incorporated in 1765 — long before the American Revolution.
Thompson, along with friends Peter Benoit and Mike Cahill, spent months recovering artifacts from the site. Among their most notable finds were four cannons and numerous cannonballs scattered across the ocean floor. Benoit, who studied history at Bowdoin College before becoming a local historian and author, was the first to properly identify the shipwreck and research its background. His findings culminated in the book "Shipwreck at Portland Point," documenting the tragic tale of the Three Friends.
For over five decades, Thompson kept two of those cannonballs as personal mementos, along with a sounding lead recovered from the wreck. But this week marked a new chapter in preserving Maine's maritime heritage, as Thompson decided to donate these historically significant items.
On Tuesday, Thompson and his wife Debbie traveled from their home in North Chesterfield, Virginia, to deliver the cannonballs and sounding lead to the Cape Elizabeth Historical Preservation Society. The donation holds particular significance because Benoit had previously contributed his own two cannonballs to the same institution. Now, all four cannonballs recovered from the Three Friends wreck will be displayed together.
"The wreck happened about 55 years before the town was incorporated in 1765 and 65 years before the American Revolution," explained Jim Rowe, a Cape Elizabeth resident and former president of the historical society. "Here we are putting this story together. Nobody knew about it for the longest time, and now they do. I found that terribly interesting."
Wednesday brought another meaningful donation as Thompson presented a remarkable family heirloom to the Maine Historical Society in Portland. The statuette depicts William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham and former British Prime Minister who lived from 1708 to 1778. Standing over 250 years old, the piece was carved in the late 1760s and held deep personal significance for Thompson's family.
"I'll miss him," Thompson admitted about parting with the statuette. "But the time's right."
The timing couldn't be more symbolic — Thompson chose to donate the Pitt statuette as part of celebrations leading up to America's 250th anniversary. Pitt was known for his sympathy toward American colonists before the Revolutionary War, making the donation especially poignant given the upcoming milestone.
The statuette came into Thompson's possession after his mother's passing in 1985, having been passed down through generations of his family. Before entrusting it to the Maine Historical Society, Thompson expressed confidence that the institution would provide proper care.
"They'll take good care of it," he said.
Tiffany Link, the society's collections curator, confirmed that the statuette will be housed in climate-controlled storage while remaining accessible to researchers and the public through the organization's online archives.
Thompson's connection to Maine's history extends far beyond this recent donation. Growing up in Portland, he had previously contributed artifacts belonging to his great-great grandfather, Charles Quincy Goodhue (1835-1910), including pencil sketches documenting Portland's landscape before the Great Fire of 1866 devastated much of the city.
Visitors interested in viewing these donated pieces can find the cannonballs on display at the Cape Elizabeth Historical Preservation Society's exhibit "Revolution: Cape Elizabeth's Response" at Cape Elizabeth Town Hall through the end of the year. Meanwhile, those planning Fourth of July celebrations have an opportunity to see one of America's rarest historical documents when the Maine Historical Society hosts a special event featuring their copy of the Dunlap Broadside edition of the Declaration of Independence before it embarks on a statewide tour.
