Page "Aroostook War" Paragraph 9

In preparation for a United States census in 1830, the Maine Legislature sent John Deane and Edward James to northern Maine ( alternatively northwestern New Brunswick ) to document the numbers of inhabitants and to assess the extent of British trespass ( from their point of view ).

During that summer, several residents of the west bank of the Saint John at Madawaska filed requests for incorporation into Maine.

Acting on advice from Penobscot County, Maine, officials, they called a meeting to select representatives preparatory to incorporating Madawaska as a town.

A local resident from the east bank of the Saint John river alerted local representatives of the New Brunswick militia, who during these meetings, entered the hall and threatened to arrest any resident attempting to organize.

The meetings continued, however, while more militiamen arrived, New Brunswick authorities arrested some residents, some residents fled to the woods, and local Americans sent letters to the Maine authorities in Augusta.

They also sent letters to the United States Government in Washington, DC.

United States Secretary of State contacted the British Minister.

The Acadian majority professed ambivalence about joining either the United States or New Brunswick, but identified more with French-speaking Quebec and its territorial claims in Madawaska.