USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Dunstable > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 2
USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Tyngsborough > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 2
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hudson > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 2
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Nashua > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 2
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Litchfield > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 2
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Nashville > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 2
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hollis > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 2
USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Merrimack > History of the old township of Dunstable: including Nashua, Nashville, Hollis, Hudson, Litchfield, and Merrimac, N. H.; Dunstable and Tyngsborough, Mass > Part 2
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(1) This survey was made by order of the General Assembly of Massachusetts to determine the Northerly bound of the Colony, and an inscription was made upon a large stone in Winnipisiogee River, nt a point " three miles North of the head of Merrimac River," to designate the spot. The Colony of Massachusetts then claimed all the land lying . three miles " North and East of the Merrimac from Its mouth to this point, and thence due West to New York. This stone was discovered a few years since, and gave rise to many con- jectures as to its origin. For an account of it, see 4 N. H. Histori- cal Collections, 191
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NASHUA, NASHVILLE, &C.
The same is equally true of the valley of the Nashua, one outlet being at Mine Falls, and another at the high bluff near the Nashua Cor- poration, through which the river has forced a passage, and left large basins exposed for cultivation. In corroboration of this theory we know that logs have often been found here, buried in the earth at a great depth. When the excava- tion for the foundation of the Locks near the Mer- rimac was being made in 1825, at a spot about one hundred feet from the River, and at a depth of many feet below the surface, the workmen found several logs, a quantity of charcoal, as if the remains of a fire, and a toad, which, on being exposed to the sun and air, revived and hopped away. Such discoveries are not of unfrequent occurrence, but as to the time and mode of their deposit we are left only to theory and conjecture.
The valley of the Merrimac was not an object of desire to the English alone. From the earliest periods it seems to have been looked upon by the Indian as almost a Paradise. The Winnipisio- gee, or " the very pleasant place where there is but little land," was deeply beloved. (1.) The Merrimac with its numerous Naamkeeks, or fish- ing stations, and its rich planting fields for maize, was still more dear. So far, indeed, had its fame extended, that in 1604, years before the Landing at Plymouth, a French Jesuit, writing from Can- ada to France, could say : " The Indians tell us of a beautiful River lying far to the South, which they call Merrimac." (2.)
(1.) The Indians are also said to have called it, " The smile of the Great Spirit." The name is Winni-peesi-okhe, and should be pronounced Win-ni-pis-saw'-key, with the accent on the last syllable but one.
(2.) Sieur De Monts. Relations of the Jesuits, 1604. Merrimac means Sturgeon. There is also a Merrimac which flows into the Missouri river.
10
HISTORY OF
The Indians who inhabited the more souther- ly portions of the valley were of a mild disposi- tion, and invited intercourse with the whites. In 1655 the settlements had extended as far North as Chelmsford and Groton. From 1655 to 1665 was a period of unwonted activity and prosperi- ty. There was peace with the Indians, and the tide of population rolled onwards rapidly. The Indians had planting fields all along the valleys of the Merrimac, the Souhegan, and the Nashua, and these were objects of eager desire to the settler. About 1655, grants of land in this vicin- ity were made to those who belonged to the ex - ploring company of Johnson and Willard. In 1656 the lands upon both sides of the Merrimac, extending on the west side from Naticook brook (1) to a line about a mile south of Peni- chuck brook, and including the greater part of Litchfield, were granted to William Brenton, and called " Brenton's Farm." (2.) Nearly all the in- terval lands about Naticook were granted not long after.
In 1659 and 1660 large tracts of land were granted upon the Souhegan river, (3.) at a place called by the Indians Quohquinna-pashessan- anagnog, being the meadows in Amherst which lie at the mouth of the small brook, which, aris- ing in Mont Vernon, and flowing around the plain in Amherst, runs into the Souhegan in the South part of the town. Five hundred acres were grant- ed to Capt. William Davis of Boston and Capt.
(1.) Nalicook is the little brook just above Thornton's Ferry, in Merrimac.
(2.) The Indian name of Litchfield and Merrimac was Naticook. Sometimes the land East of the river was called Nacook .- Belknap, 221. N. H. Gazelleer. Litchfield.
(3) This was anciently written Souhegenack, and means, it is od, etwaked. - 5 N. H. Hist. Coll., 87.
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NASHUA, NASHVILLE, &C.
Isaac Johnson of Roxbury ; (1.) 500 acres to Mrs. Anna Lane ; and 300 acres to John Wilson of Boston. 1000 acres were also granted to the town of Charlestown for a "School Farm," lying upon the Souhegan, in Milford, about four or five miles westerly of the first grants, "at a great hill called Dramcap hill," and 500 acres to Mrs. Anna Cole "adjoining thereto." (2.)
About the same time a grant of 400 acres, ly- ing at the mouth of Salmon Brook, was made to John Whiting. It was bounded on the north "by the upland," and extended up the brook about a mile and a half, embracing the souther- ly part of Nashua Village. Several hundred acres, also, were granted at Penichuck Pond, and so down Penichuck Brook, in Merrimac and Nashville.
About 1662, 500 acres upon the easterly side of the Merrimac, in Litchfield, "at Nacook," were granted to the town of Billerica for a "School Farm," and 300 acres adjoining, to "Phinehas Pratt and others for straights and hardships en- dured by them in planting at Plymouth of which he was one." (3.)
Four hundred acres were granted to Gov. En- dicott, "lying in the westerly part of Pelham," about six miles north of Pawtucket Falls, and one mile west of Beaver Brook, at a great hill called Masha-shattuck:, (4.) " lying between two other great hills, and adjoining southerly on a great Pond called Pimmo-milli-quonnit."
(1.) Capt. Johnson was killed at the great Narraganset Swamp Fight, Dec. 19, 1675.
(2.) These grants were all made by Massachusetts. For an ac- count of them see Assembly Rec rds. 1659, 1660, in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth, at Boston, pages 327, 357; 358, 359, 364. 401.
(3.) Drake's Book of the Indians, page 35. Mass. Assembly Records, 1662, 1665.
(4.) Massa-attuck means Deer-hill. Pimmo-mitti- quonnit sig- nifies a Long Pond.
2
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HISTORY OF
About this period, but at what date is uncer- tain, a grant of a large tract in Hudson and Pel- ham was made to Henry Kimball, and called " Henry Kimball's Farm." Samuel Scarlet had a farm also, on the north side of Merrimac Riv- er, perhaps in Tyngsborough; Lieut. Joseph Wheeler, and his father Capt. Thomas Wheeler, had a farm upon the Merrimac, in Nashua, a lit- tle south of Salmon Brook, and several others whose names are not preserved.
In September, 1673, a grant of 1000 acres, ly- ing in Nashville, was made to the " Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company " of Boston. It was bounded East by the Merrimac, south by the Nashua, West by Spectacle Brook, (1.) and extended about one mile northerly of Nashua River. This embraced the whole of the village of Nashville, and was called the "Artillery Farm." From this circumstance the little Pond in the north part of the village was called " Ar- tillery Pond."
At this period, 14,000 acres, lying along the Merrimac, upon both sides, between Souhegan River and Chelmsford, had been granted to various individuals, but as yet few settlements had been made. It became necessary, therefore, for their mutual benefit, to consolidate all the grants into one plantation, and to secure to the inhabitants all the privileges and immunities of an incorporated Township. Accordingly, in Sep- tember, 1673, the proprietors of the farms alrea- dy laid out, and others who were disposed to set- tle here, presented a Petition to the General As- sembly, of which the following is a copy. (2.)
(1.) The little brook about a mile Westerly of the village, which runs through the farm now owned by Hiram Woods .- Mass. As- sembly Regards, 1613 : page 729.
(2 ) Mass, Assembly Records, 1673. The original Petition is on file, and the ancient spelling has been preserved.
Pond
1
Derry P
LONDON
VERNON
Bubbnosurk
DERRY
Moore's Falls
1. 11
Ling
Fr
AMHERST
MAC
Saficook Br. & P
Thorntim's Ferry
WIL DON
Cromwells Falls or Nosenkessy
1. Nesmi rag H.
Pennichuck
1.11
L. Massupeesir p
Ontanic
S
Mus catunapus und
Pommemithyungast
NASH
"
-
.
State
.
MMas sapavyf Pond C Dunstable
Dracut
Qld_Line
Groton
Westfurd
mokass
Lester
Jo English .Pond @
Goffs Faus ớt BED FOR Cghasser
Landeborough
DEG11
MONT
Babboo suck Pond
DERKY
Sothegon
MERR
de Nesenkeng
R
Pennichuck Ponds &
NASHVILLE,
BROOKLINE
1
WINDHAM
1. Lubbo
CAP OF OLD DUNSTABLE.
13
NASHUA, NASHVILLE, &C.
"To the Honored Governor, Deputy Governor, with the Magistrates and Deputies now assembled in the Gener- al Court at Boston, Sept. 19, 1673.
" The Petition of the Proprietors of the farms that are laid out upon Merrimac River, and places adjacent, with oth- ers who desire to joyn with them in the settlement of a plantation there-
" HUMBLY SHEWETH
" That whereas there is a considerable tract of the Coun- try's land that is invironed with the proprieties of partic- ular persons and towns, viz : by the line of the town of Chelmsford, and by Groton line, and by Mr. Brenton's farm, by Souhegan farms, and beyond Merrimac River by the outermost line of Henry Kimball's farm, and so to Chelmsford line again - All which is in little capacity of doing the country any service except the farms border- ing upon it be adjoined to said land, to make a plantation there ; and there being a considerable number of persons who are of a sober and orderly conversation, who do stand in great need of accommodations, who are willing and rea- dy to make present improvement of the said vacant lands : And the Proprietors of the said farms are therefore wil- ling to join with and give encouragement to those that shall improve the said lands :- the farms of those that are within the tract of land before described, being about 14,- 000 acres at the least :
" Your Petitioners therefore humbly request the favour of the Honorable Court that they will please to grant the said tract of land to your Petitioners, and to such as will join with them in the settlement of the lands before men- tioned, so that those who have improved their farms there, and others who speedily intend to do the same, may be in a way for the support of the public ordinances of God, for without which the greatest part of the year they will be deprived of, the farms lying so far remote from any towns : and farther that the Honorable Court will please grant the like immunities to this plantation, as they in their favours have formerly granted to other new Plantations :- So shall your Petitioners be ever engaged to pray :
"1. Thomas Brattle.
8. Samuel Scarlet.
2. Jonathan Tyng.
9. William Lakin.
3. Joseph Wheeler. 10. Abraham Parker.
4. James Parkerson.
11. James Knapp.
5. Robert Gibbs.
12. Robert Proctor.
6. John Turner.
13. Simon Willard, Jr.
7. Sampson Sheafe.
14. Thomas Edwards.
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HISTORY OF
15. Thomas Wheeler, Sen. 21. John Parker.
16. Peter Bulkely. 22. Josiah Parker.
17. Joseph Parker. 23. Nathaniel Blood.
18. John Morse, Sen.
24. Robert Parris.
19. Samuel Combs. 25. John Jolliffe.
20. James Parker, Jr. 26. Zachariah Long."
'The Petition was granted upon conditions which were then universally inserted in the Charters; that the Grantees should " settle" the Plantation, procure a minister within three years, and reserve a farm for the use of the Colony. By settling the Plantation was understood procuring a competent number of actual settlers, (twenty or more, ) who should build houses capable of de- fence, at least eighteen feet square, and who should live upon and improve their lands; and also, the erection of a Meeting House. The following is a copy of the original Charter, dated October 15, 1673, (corresponding with October 26th, New Style, ) which includes all the above grants. (1.)
"At a General Court held at Boston ye 15th (26th) Octo- ber, 1673.
In answer to the Petition of Thomas Brattle, Jonathan Tyng, James Parker and William Lakin, in behalf' of theor- selves and others joyning in their humble Petition to de- sire the favor of this Court to grant them liberty to settle n plantation with their ffarmes, and a considerable tract of land belonging to ye country being invironed with the pro- prieties of particular persons and towns ; as by ye line of Chelmsford, and by Groton line, and by Mr. Brenton's farm, by Souhegan flarmes, and beyond Merrimac River by ye utmost line of Henry Kimbol's farme, and so to Chelmsford line again, as also such other immunities to the plantation as this Court hath formerly granted to other new plantations :-
The Court judgeth it meet to grant their request provided n farme of five hundred acres of upland and medo be laid
(1.) Mass. Assembly Records, 1673, Page 730. Records of Tasen+, 1673. In order to make the dates which are previous to A. D. 1761, compared with our present reckoning, cleren days should in all cases be added.
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NASHUA, NASHVILLE, &C.
out of this tract for the country's use, and that they shall in settling the plantation endeavor so as to finish it once (1.) within three years, and procure an able and othordox min- ister amongst thein.
That this is a true copy taken and compared with the original records, Lillest
EDWARD RAWSON, Secretary."
In May, 1674, the new Plantation was survey- ed by Jonathan Danforth, and its boundaries are thus described : (2.)
"It lieth upon both sides Merrimac River on the Nasha- way River. It is bounded on the South by Chelmsford, by Groton line, and partly by country land. The Westerly line runs due North until you come to Souhegan River to a hill called dram cup hill to a great pine near to ye said River at the N. W. corner of Charlestown School farm; bounded by Souhegan River on the North; and on the East side Merrimac it begins at a great stone which was supposed to be near the North East corner of Mr. Brenton's land ; and from thence it runs Sou. south east six miles to a pine tree marked : F : standing within sight of Beaver Brook ; thence it runs two degrees West of South four miles and a quarter which reached to the south side of Henry Kimble's farm at Jeremie's Hill; thence from ye South east angell of said farm it runs two degrees and a quarter westward of the south near to the head of the Long Pond which lieth at ye head of Edward Colburn's farm. - And thus it is bounded by ye said Pond and the head of said Colburn's farm ; taking in Captain Scarlett's farm so as to close again ; all which is sufficiently bounded and described.
Dunstable, 3d. mo. (May) 1674." (3.)
(1.) The meaning of this is obscure : perhaps it is that the num - ber of settlers necessary to make or " finish " a settlement shall be procured within three years.
(2.) Town and Proprietary Records, Page 1.
(3.) Before A. D. 1751, the year began March 25th., and the months were often numbered thus: March, or first month ; April, second month ; May, third month, &c. In 1751 they began lo reck- on the year from the first day of January. At that time, in conse- quence of having reckoned only 365 days to a year, eleren days had been gained, which were then struck out of the calendar. Dates prior to 1751 are called Old Style ; subsequent, New Style.
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HISTORY OF
The Township of Dunstable embraced a very large tract, probably more than two hundred square miles, including the Towns of Nashua, Nashville, Hudson, Hollis, Dunstable and Tyngsborough, besides portions of the towns of Amherst, Mil- ford, Merrimac, Litchfield, Londonderry, Pel- ham, Brookline, Pepperell, and Townsend, and formied a part of the County of Middlesex. At this late day it is extremely difficult to define its boundaries accurately, but by a perambulation of lines made in 1231, an approximation may be made. The north eastern corner was a very large and high rock now standing about three miles north easterly of the mouth of Souhegan River in Londonderry. The south cast corner was " at the corner of Methuen and Dracut," "in sight of Beaver Brook." The north west cor- her was at " dram cup hill" on the Souhegan, in the westerly part of Milford, and the westerly line which ran " due South," passed "near the west end of Muscatanapus Pond," in Brook- line (1.) It extended ten or twelve miles west of Mercimac River, and from three to five miles cast of it, and its average length north and south was from twelve to fourteen miles. The present Township of Nashua and Nashville oc- cupies very nearly the centre of the original Township.
In 1674, because there was " very little medo Jeft except what is already granted to the ffarmes." the easterly line of the township was extended to Beaver Brook, by an additional grant from the General Court, and the Town was called DUN- STABLE. It received its name in compliment to Mrs. Mary Tyng, wife of Hon. Edward Tyng,
This Pond is situated near the Meeting House, and is still
cafled
" Tanapus Pond." Mussa-lanopus signifies Bear Pond .- Mall. Recaeds. Towns. 1734. Page 63.
17
NASHUA, NASHVILLE, &C.
one of the Magistrates of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who came from Dunstable, Eng- lafıd.
Among the original Proprietors we find the names of many of the leading men in the Colony, some of whom, with the children and friends of others, removed here and took up their abode at an early period. Of this number we find Gov. Dudley, who married a daughter of Hon. Ed- ward Tyng of this town, Rev. Thomas Weld, who was the first minister, and married another daughter, Thomas Brattle, Peter Bulkely, Heze- kiah Usher, Elisha Hutchinson, Francis Cook, and others who were Assistants and Magistrates. Many of the first settlers belonged to Boston and its vicinity, a circumstance which gave strength and influence to the infant plantation.
At what time and by whom Dunstable was first settled is uncertain, but it must have been considerably carlier than the date of the charter in 1673. In the Charter farms are mentioned as then existing, and some of " the farmers" were among the Petitioners. Of this number were Scarlett, Wheeler, and others. In 1675, orchards are mentioned as then in existence, which must
have been the growth of years. In 1674, "the house of Lt. Wheeler" is designated as a place of holding a meeting of the Proprietors, and we have some reason to suppose that he may have been the carliest settler. (1.) Wheeler and Bren - ton were fur traders among the Indians. In 1657, the trade with the Indians was regulated by the General Court, and the exclusive right of this trade upon Merrimac river was sold to " Maj.
(1.) Lt. Wheeler left town in Philip's War, 1675, and did not re- turn. His father, Capt. Thomas Wheeler, of Groton, the noted In- dian fighter, for a time resided with him .- 2 N. H. Hist. Coll. 5.
18
HISTORY OF
(Simon, ) Willard, Mr. ( William, ) Brenton, En- sign (Thomas, ) Wheeler, and Thomas Hench- man," for £25. The sale bears date July 1, 1657. (1.)
For the purpose of trafficking with the Indians more conveniently, it was customary to establish trading houses beyond the settlements, and at places to which they could easily resort. It is not impossible that Wheeler may have resided here for such a purpose, at an early date after his grant, as Henchman resided a little farther south in Chelmsford. About 1665, John Cromwell, an Indian trader also, resided at Tyngsborough, but soon after removed to Merrimac, where he built a trading house, about two miles above the mouth of Penichuck brook, at the falls which now bear his name. (2.) According to the custom of the time, it is said that he used his foot as a pound weight in the purchase of furs, until the Indians, beginning to suspect him of cheating them, drove him away and burned his house, the cellar of which still is or was recently visible. It is stat- ed by Farmer, (3.) whose authority is unques- tionable, that " the ancient settlement" was with- in the limits of Nashua, and as grants of land here were made in 1659, and farms existed here be- fore 1673, and as Chelmsford was settled in 1655, we may reasonably conclude that some, who stood " in great need of accommodations," found their way to the rich intervals upon our rivers, at a period not much later than the date of the grants.
(1.) Mars. Assembly Records, 1657, page 293. The trade of " Nashuwny river " was sold at the same time for £3.
(2.) The Indian name of Cromwell's Falls was Nesenkeag, and, ns was generally the case, as at Naticook, Amoskeag, &c., the land for some distance around received the same name.
(3.) Belknap, 117, note by Farmer, and his manuscript records. In his " Catechism of the History of New Hampshire," he says :- " This town had been settled several years before the date of the Charter. Page 23.
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NASHUA, NASHVILLE, &C.
It has often been remarked that, in the set- tlement of New England, we may discover the hand of an overruling Providence. The Plague, which swept off the Indian tribes in and around Plymouth and Piscataqua, in 1612 and 1613, prepared the way for the coming of the forefath - ers, and similar providential events occurred as population moved westward. The valleys of the Merrimac and the Nashua were inhabited by numerous small tribes, or branches of tribes of Indians, who lived in villages containing one hun- dred or two hundred souls, and subsisted chiefly by fishing and hunting. The Nashaways had their head quarters at Lancaster; the Nashobas at Littleton ; the Pawtuckets at Pawtucket Falls: the Wamesits at Wamesit Falls, at the mouth of Concord river; the Naticooks in this vicinity ; and the Penacooks around Penacook, now Con- cord, N. H. They were all, however, subject to Passaconoway. The Mohawks, or Maquas, a fierce and savage tribe from New York, were the hereditary enemies of them all. The Indian tribes which dwelt nearest to the English settle- ments, and especially the Pawtuckets and Wam- esits, from their weakness, and their fears both of the Mohawks and the English, craved the friendship and protection of the latter. They served as guides and sentinels for the exposed frontiers, and were often of great service. The Penacooks, however, were a more bold, warlike, and dangerous race, who refused all attempts to christianize them, although their dread of the English was generally sufficient to keep them from open hostility.
In the spring of 1669, a portion of the Pena- cooks, fearing an attack from the Mohawks, mov- ed down the Merrimac to the Pawtucket, and built a fort there for their protection. Their
20
HISTORY OF
neighborhood was a cause of alarm to the set- tlers, some of whom shut themselves up in garri- sons; but in the succeeding autumn they joined in an expedition against the Mohawks, by whom they were overpowered, and almost entirely de- stroyed. (1.) The greater part of the Indians in this vicinity, especially the more turbulent and dangerous to the number of six or seven hundred, united in this expedition, and nearly the whole of them perished, with more than fifty chiefs. The remnant, dispirited and powerless, united with the Wamesits, and became "praying In- dians."
At this time, Passaconaway (2.) was sachem of the Penacooks and held rule over all the Indi- ans from the Piscataqua to the Connecticut, and all down the Merrimac. He resided at Penacook, and the Naticooks, Pawtuckets and Wamesits were subject to his power. He had been a great warrior, and was the greatest and "most noted powow and sorcerer of all the country." (3.) He died before 1670, at the great age of one hundred and twenty. " In 1660, not long before his death, at a great feast and dance, he made his farewell speech to his people. In this he urged them, as a dying man, to take heed how they quarrelled with their English neighbors, for though they might do them some harm, yet it would prove the means of their own destruction. He told them that he had been a bitter enemy to the English, and had tried all the arts of sorcery to prevent their settlement, but could by no means suc- ceed." (4.)
(1. Book of the Indians, 45. Allen's History of Chelmsford, 140 to 161.
(2 ) Gookin's History of the Christian Indians. 2 Am. Antiq. Collections.
(3.) Hubbard's Indian Wars.
(4.) Cookin. Hubbard. 4 .N. H. Hist. Coll. 23.
×
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NASHUA, NASHVILLE, &C.
This declaration made a great impression, for we find that Wannalancet, his second son and successor, after the eldest son with the more rest- less part of the tribe had removed into Maine, was always after a friend to the whites. He re- sided generally at Wamesit falls, and was propri- etor, with his tribe, of all the lands in this vicin- ity. About 1663, the eldest son of Passacona- way was thrown into jail for a debt of £45, due to John Tinker by one of his tribe, and which he had promised verbally should be paid. To re- lieve him from his imprisonment, his brother Wannalancet and others who owned Wicasuck Island, (1.) sold it and paid the debt.
Soon after, the General Court granted him one hundred acres of land "on a great hill about twelve miles west of Chelmsford," and probably in Pepperell, because he had "a great many chil- dren and no planting grounds." In 1665, he pe- titioned the General Court that this island might be restored to him and his brethren, the original owners, and the original petition, signed by him with the others, in a fair, bold hand, is now on file at the Secretary's office. His request was granted, and the Island purchased and restored by the colony. (2.)
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