USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Haverhill > The history of Haverhill, Massachusetts, from its first settlement, in 1640, to the year 1860 > Part 28
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under Captain Lovewell. In this bloody fight, the English, after sustaining themselves against great odds, almost an entire day, were left in possession of the field.
Lovewell's (or Lovell's) company consisted of forty-six men, besides himself, including a chaplain and surgeon. Four of these men were from Haverhill, viz: Abiel Asten, Ebenezer Ayer, Doctor William Ayer, and Zebediah Austin.& Captain Lovewell was from Dunstable, and had already distinguished himself on several occasions.
The Haverhill men probably joined Lovewell at this town, where the expedition was furnished with supplies, by John White, who had charge of the Province stores in Haverhill .; They started about April 16, O. S. On arriving at Ossipee lake, one of their number was taken sick, and they built a small fort, as a place of refuge in case of mishaps, and left the sick man, with the doctor, and eight men to hold the fort. With the rest of his company, Lovewell boldly marched for Pequaquake, to attack the bold Paugus in his own home. On the morning of May 8th, as they came near Saco Pond, they discovered a solitary Indian shooting ducks, and, leaving their packs unguarded, they prepared to attack the enemy whom they supposed must be near by. Not finding the enemy as they had expected, the company were leisurely returning upon their own trail, when they fell into an ambuscade. It seems that Paugus and a party of about forty Indians, returning from a scout down the Saco, came upon the packs of Lovewell's men, and finding them less in number then their own, they resolved to attack them. For this purpose they formed an ambuseade, and when the company reached the little brook on the east side of the above named pond, the Indians rose on all sides, fired, and rushed upon them with yells of defiance. Captain Lovewell fell at the first fire. His company immediately returned the fire, killing nine of the enemy, and then seattered, each getting behind a tree, and firing as he got a good chance. Thus the fight was continued, with fatal effeet on both sides, until toward night, when several of the Indians had succeeded in getting near the pond, and among them Paugus, who took refuge behind a tree within talking distance of John Chamberlain, who knew him personally. Their guns having become too foul to fire, the two agreed to go down to the pond and cleanse them. Each, with an eye upon his antagonist, endeavored to clean and load his gun in the quickest time possible, and then take the life of the other.
o Abiel Asten belonged in that part of Haverhill, now Salem, N. H., where he was living in 1790, aged eighty .- Belknap.
Zebediah Austin belonged in that of Haverhill, now Methuen. He married Sarah Gutterson, April 18, 1729.
t State Archives,
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
Their movements were simultaneous, until they drew their ramrods to send home the leaden messengers of death. In his exteme excitement, Paugus dropped his ramrod, and though he scarce lost a second's time by the mishap, it was enough for his opponent. . Just as Paugus brought his gun to his shoulder, Chamberlain fired, and the noted chief fell dead !
Soon after sunset, the firing ceased. About midnight, the survivers of Lovewell's men assembled, and found only twenty-three of their brave companions alive. Of these, one was just breathing his last; two more were unable to travel; and eleven others wounded. The latter marched off the ground with the nine who were not much wounded, but four of them soon gave out, and were left by their companions, who kept on to the Fort. On reaching the latter, they found it entirely descrted ! It after- ward appeared, that Hassel, one of the men, had fled in the first part of the fight, and given such an exaggerated account of the affair, that the occu- pants of the fort immediately abandoned it, and retreated toward home. After much suffering, the survivors of the bloody fight arrived at Dunstable on the eleventh of May.
Soon after this fight the Penobscot Indians expressed a desire for peace, and a treaty was executed in December, 1725, and confirmed at Falmouth the next July. In 1727, the tribes which had not been represented in this conference, notified the government of their desire to make a public con- firmation of the peace, which was subsequently done at Falmouth, in July, 1727.
The peace which succeeded was of long continuance, and though, during the subsequent difficulties with the French, the frontiers were often harrassed by the Indians, Haverhill was never again molested by them. The settlement of a line of towns to the north, at last completely protected this town, after having been a frontier town for more than three-fourths of a century. During that period more than sixty of its inhabitants were killed by the Indians, and between fifty and sixty captured. Some of the latter were never heard from afterward, though most of them were ransomed, or escaped, and returned home.
That the situation of this town during these troubles was by no means pleasant, is plainly seen in the fact that a scouting company was formed in town the summer following Lovewell's fight, and were in actual service during the months of September and October. The immediate cause which led to the organization of the company, we find given in a letter from Joshua Bailey and Jonathan Woodman, of this town, to the Governor, dated August 30, 1725, in which they state that Indians had been recently seen "lurking in the woods, guns heard, &c." The men were employed as
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
scouts, or "Centinels," and a line of them were kept constantly posted on the frontier of the town, to give the alarm in case of the appearance of the enemy.º
From the original " Muster Roll of Moses Hazzen, Ensign," we copy the names of those under his command, in that service, from September 6th to October 27th, 1725 :- Moses Hazzen, Ensign ; Robert Ford, Wm. Heath Jun., Phineas Foster, John Dow, Timothy Duston, David Emerson, Ebenezer Ayers, Samuel Merril, William Mitchel, Centinels.
With the following incident, illustrative of Indian sagacity, we close this part of the early history of the town : f
" At the mouth of Baker's River, in the town of Plymouth, N. H., the Indians had a settlement, where have been found Indian graves, bones, gun-barrels, stone mortars, pestles, and other articles in use among them. In this place, it is said they were attacked by Capt. Baker, (from whom the river derived its name) and a party from Haverhill, Mass., who defeated them, killed a number, and destroyed a large quantity of fur. There is a story respecting an expedition of Capt. Baker, which, if correct, and we see no reason to doubt its correctness, shows the sagacity of Indians .- A friendly Indian had accompanied Capt. Baker in his expedition, and from the movement of the savages was satisfied that they had sent to Winnepisiogee or Pequawkett ponds for aid. He assured Capt. B. of the fact, and told him what they did must be done immediately ; that they had better make their escape or they would be overpowered by numbers and be destroyed. And on their march down the river Pemigewasset, he urged them not to stop, telling them they would be pursued. But when they reached the brook at Salisbury village, the men were so fatigued that they said they must stop and refresh themselves. The Indian told them to build each one a fire and cut several sticks apiece to broil their meat on, to burn the end of each as though thus used, and stick them into the ground, and then proceed as soon as possible. It was but a very short time after they had set out before the Indians came to the place where they had refreshed, and counting the fires and the number of sticks, said the English were too strong for them, and gave up the pursuit."
In 1723, John Clement asked to be released from paying the rent of the "Parsonage farm" the previous year, on the ground that he was driven off the land by the war .- Town Records.
t We copy from the Collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society-Vol. 1.]
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
CHAPTER XVIL
1720 TO 1728.
AT the annual meeting of the town for 1722, it was, for the first time, proposed that the mending of the highways should be done by a rate, but the proposition was promptly negatived.
This year, and for more than a hundred years after, persons were chosen to see that the " fish courses " were kept clear, so that the fish might not be prevented or hindered from going up the streams in their appropriate season.
At the annual meeting in 1723, the subject of schools again eame up for consideration, and three new school-houses were ordered to be built- one in the north part of the town, between Daniel Ela's and Widow Mary Whittier's, one in the north-westerly part, near the house of Jonathan Duston, and the other in the westerly part, near William Whitticker's. It was also voted to hire a school-master, " to move for the town's benefit to the several parts of the town." Richard Hazzen kept school "three quarters " this year, - one quarter at the house of Widow Mary Whittier. He was paid eleven pounds per quarter.
At the same meeting, the following petition was presented, signed by four of the inhabitants" : - " Whereas your petitioners having their habi- tations so distant from the meeting-house, that, at any time being belated, we cannot get into any seat ; but are obliged to sit squeased on the stairs where we cannot hear the minister and so get little good by his preaching, though we endeavour to ever so much ; and there being a vacant place be- twixt the front pew and the pew on the side gallery over the head of the stairs, we humbly request liberty to erect a seat over the same." The petition was granted.
At the same time several women; petitioned for liberty " to erect a seat or pew over the head of the stairs, not damnifying the stairway," which was also granted.
Abiall Messer was granted the privilege of keeping a ferry near his house for five years. Messer, we believe, lived in that part of the town now Methuen.
James Sanders, Jr., John Eatton, Jr., Nathaniel Peaslee, Jr., Joseph Merrill.
t Sarah Hazzen, Hannah Hazzen, Hannah Clement, Ruth Clement, Rachal Sanders, Abigail Peaslee, Susanna Peaslee.
34
266
HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
In the fall of 1723, the Seleetmen of Haverhill, and the Selectmen of Kingston met, and run the line between the two towns."
The first mention we find of seines, or nets, for fishing in the river, is in the records of this year (1723) when Captain Joshua Bayley, Ebenezer Eastman, and others, petitioned for liberty to fish in the river with a net " from Ebenezer Eatton's down to Hardy's landing." The petition was refused.
We now approach one of the most critical periods in the history of our town ; - that in which the disputes and difficulties between the " proprie- tors" or "commoners," and the rest of the land holders in town reached the culminating point. We have already seen that, for some time, there had been an increasing feeling of dissatisfaction on the part of the latter with the proceedings of the former. The non-proprietors had seen the common and undivided lands of the town gradually growing less and less under the frequent grants of the proprietors, until the most obtuse could not fail to see that ere many years should elapse, none of them would be left, as such.
The largest, and most valuable, of the remaining tracts of undivided land was the portion still left of that laid out in 1665 as a "eow common."¡ This had been much reduced from its original dimensions, but was still a large and valuable tract of land. The proprietors had several times dis- cussed the proposition to lay it out into lots, and dispose of them, but as yet had not fully decided to do so.
The question of the ownership of these lands was yet, in the minds of many, a mooted question, and the dispute in relation to them now be- gan to show visible signs of its unhappy tendency. Five meetings were held in succession, and not a vote was passed. The marginal refer- ence to one of them says, that it was "precious time spent for nought." The two parties were fast approaching open hostility, and unless some com- promise could be made, it was evident that the results must inevitably be disastrous to the town. Under these circumstances, a committee was chosen by the " town " (September 2d, 1723,) to confer with the common- ers, " in order to make some agreement about common lands in Haverhill," and the meeting adjourned to hear the report. The town committee asked for " a proposition, in order to make peace."
" The Charter of Kingston was granted in 1694, and included what now forms the towns of Kingston, East Kingston, Danville, and Sandown and portions of Plaistow and Hampstead.
t According to the vote of March 7, 1665, all the land within the following bounds was forever to be a cow-common :- Within the bounds of Fishing river; and from thence to a brook that goeth to the hither north meadow ; and from thence as the cart path goeth, to the meadow of Bartholomew Heath, which was formerly George Corliss's meadow : and from thence to the East meadow river, and so within the hounds of the east meadow river down to the Great river.
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When the adjourned meeting was opened, it was found that no reply had yet been received from the commoners, and another adjournment was made. At the next meeting, the committee reported that the town's propo- sition had been made to the commoners, at one of their meetings, and was "met with silence, & nothing more." This silence of the commoners was not, however, to be attributed to their sullenness or disinclination to ac- cept the olive branch of peace, as will appear plain from their proceedings immediately afterward.
Early in December, (December 5, 1723,) several of the proprietors petitioned for a meeting of the proprietors, as follows: -
" To Jno White esqr: proprietors clark greeting, whereas There are severall persons in ye Town of Haverhill of long & ancient standing in ye Town, who by reason yt They have little or no Right in ye Comon lands either by Them selves or claiming under Their Ancestors are very uneasy att ye division & disposall of said lands to & among ye proprietors & reall owners of itt, Therefore wee ye subscribers proprietors Taking into Consideration ye damage of Contention, & yt peace may be made, we re- quest yt There may bee a meeting of ye proprietors to bee att ye meeting house in Haverhill on monday ye sixth day of January next ensuing att Ten of ye elock in ye forenoon for Reasons following, first yt if ye pro- prietors see cause They chuse a Comitte to debate ye matter wth such per- sons who have been of long & ancient standing in ye Town Though They have little or noe Right To any Comon lands either by Them selves or An- cestors & To see upon what Conditions such persons will be satisfied & To make report to ye proprietors soe yt They may Give them some lands if They see Cause.
secondly yt They chuse a Comitte To debate wth such persons who lay claim to Rights not yett allowed To see what will satisfie Them & make report Thereof to ye proprietors yt soe They may act upon itt if They see Cause."
The meeting was held accordingly, and Deaeon James Ayer, Nathaniel Peasly, and Richard Hazzen, were chosen a committee to meet the non- proprietors and ascertain what would satisfy them.
The committee met the latter at the tavern of Cornet James Pecker, on the 28th of January, and reported to the proprietors, on the 5th of Feb- ruary, the following, as the result of their " debate ": -
"Jno Sanders did declare & say yt as to ye comons They were in ye hands of ye Law & yt hee was easy wth ye determination of ye Law, for if ye Town lost, his Right with ye comons would bee as good as now.
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HISTORY OF HAVERIIILL.
Joshua Swan would not bee easy unless They would grant him 15 acres between Samll Davis & Job clements.
mathew Harriman junr declared yt hee would bee uneasy unless all ye fences erected on ye cow comon were demolished & itt lay according to ye vote of ye ancient fathers & ye proprietors records Burnt.
William Johnson would not be easy unless They would fling up ye cow comon.
All those above accounted are unreasonable in Their demands & soe (we) acted nothing upon it.
All ye other persons under written To ye number of about 39 persons Though They had noe materiall objection against ye division of ye Comons yett since They had bore charges lost friends by ye Indians: &c did desire some particular pieces of land upon ye proprietors grant of which They would bee easy & for ye future rest contented & proceeded To request as followeth (viz)
Jno Stevens sen: & Jun: proposes To have about six acres neer Aaron Stephens
Isack Bradly Bradly requests six acres neer hony ball mill
Stephen Dow requests five acres beyond nicholas whites
Joseph Guile requests about Two acres by his house part is allready fenced in
Hanicl & Edward Samll & Timothy clark requests six acers where Their mother lives
James Heath about Ten acers neer Jno Harrimans Mill
Josiah Heath Junr four acres neer moses Stephens
Samll Smith Ten acres neer Jno Harrimans mill
Robert ford Requests 10 acres where There is Comon neer hogg hill mill Abraham Bradly about six acres neer yt his brother Isack requested
Ens: Whitiker yt wheras he hath half a right To lay out in ye Cow Comon They would lett him have a whole Right & hee will bee easy
nathll merrill: Jun: for himselfe & brethren requests Ten acres in yt Comon beyond Henery Sanders house
nathll Johnson requests Eight acres next his own land
Tho Eatton requests To have about Ten acres on west meado hill Wil- liam Whittaker Junr 10 acres on ye Right hand of ye way yt leads To Honyball mill mill joyning to ye mill pond
Joseph page requests about Three acres where hee now lives
Benjamin Standlee requests about five acres of yt Comon beyond Hen- ery Sanders
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HISTORY OF HAVERIIILL.
peter Green senr: & Junr: Requests yt They would grant Them all yt Comon which They have withinfenced & yt att ye south of Their land being part of Their Right allready laid out & yt att ye East End of Their land, & lay out Their Comon Right in some other place, They having a Convenient Road To ye Sour meadow
Andrew mitchell: senr requests about six acres in yt Comon beyond Henery Sanders, and yt stripp of Comon betwixt ye highway & ye farm called Hainses farm & a small peice By his barn
Jonathan Eastman requests 20 acres in providence neck
Samll marble senr: Twenty acres in providence neck north of ye Copls pond farm®
Stephen Webster Twenty acres north of Copls pond farm as wee goe to providence neck
Joseph Whittier proposes about Eight aeres on ye north of The way y leads from nicolas whites To Corlys meadow
Abraham page requests about Eight acres next to yt Whittier requested John Webster & nathan webster 40 acres To both in providence neck
Deacon mash requests about Two acres being a small strip lying be- twixt land laid out To him in ye Cow Comon & ye way yt goes to Jeremy pages
Aaron Stephens about four acres Joyning on his own land
Samll Worthen three acres betwixt Jno Harrimans mill & ye wooden bridg
Abiall mercer about 5 acers neer obadiahs meadow
Jno Lad a small peice by his own land about Two acres
Job clements about Ten acres next yt william whittier requests for
christopher Bartlit 12 acres next to yt hee bought of Guile & proposes To have his Two Comon Rights laid out adjoyning To This
matthew Harriman senr about Eight acres beyond nathll Johnsons land Jno Heath about six acres below wainwrights mill on The Easterly side of yc River
Jno Clement six acres neer hony ball mill."
Upon the reading of the report of the committee, the proprietors
" Voted yt ye several parcells of land petitioned for or desired by ye severall persons, according To ye return of ye sd committee Bee hereby granted To them on This Condition yt They rest satisfied & Contented wth ye division of ye Comon land according to ye proprietors order, & yt for ye future They appeare In all Town meetings, unless hindered by extra- ordinary Casualty & doe oppose By voate, & argument, all such persons &
" The Pond here referred to, was probably that now known as "Captain's Pond," in Salem, N .H.
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
voates as any way disturbe or hinder ye proprietors in Their peaceable In- joyments of Their lands divided or undivided & yt They Indeavor To hinder any farther process in law about ye same, & farther peace & unitie againe as far as may be, & yt They Assighn Artickles agreeable To This voate betwixt Themselves & The Comitte which shall be appointed for ye purpose, before ye said land Bee laid out To them, And yt ye particular persons To whome ye land is granted shall pay ye Comitte yt have been allready Impowered about having ye proposalls of severall persons for land To be Given them, & alsoe what farther charge ye Comitte may be att about ye same, for ye laying of itt out & for recording ye same. This was voated & granted By a full voate."
A committee was then chosen to draw up the proposed articles, and, on the persons alluded to signing them, the committee were to lay them out the land requested.
This liberal concession on the part of the proprietors did not, however, secure a complete settlement of the difficulty, though it would seem, from the silence of the records of the following year, that it had done so. But no sooner did the proprietors fully decide to lay out the cow-common into lots and appoint commissioners to lay out highways through it, than the opposition broke out afresh. In the warrant for the annual meeting for 1725, (March 2d) we find the following, which plainly shows the deep- seated hostility to the claims of the proprietors : -
" 2 And to see whether ye Town will chuse a Comitee to Draw Money out of ye Town Treasury to seport one or more of ye Comoners to take a method in law to recover their Rights from ye Incroachments of ye Com- oners, That it may yet ly in Comon as by ye Cow Comon grant made in March 1664-5."
" 3. And to Chuse a Comittee to prefer a petition to ye General Assem- bly to acquaint yt Honorably House with ye Irregular method of our Comoners in their last actions abought ye Cow Comon, and to see what ye towne may think proper on yt acount & to doe it on ye Towns cost."
The two parties were now in open hostility, and on the day of the above meeting, finding themselves in a minority, the "commoners " withdrew and organized a separate meeting, and chose a separate set of town officers. Captain Joshua Bayley was moderator of the non-commoners ; and Captain John White of the commoners. The former body chose Ensign Thomas Whittier, John Sanders, and Anthony Colby, a committee under the second article of the warrant ; and made the same persons, with the selectmen," a committee under the third article.
" Captain Joshua Bayley, James Sanders, and Christopher Bartlett.
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
The next meeting of the non-commoners was held April 8th, the war- rant for which is signed by Benjamin Stevens, "one of his majesties justices of ye county of Essex," in answer to a petition to him " signed by more than fifty hands."
The business to be done, was, " To sce whether the Town will Impower ye Select men of Haverhill, or chuse a Comittee to prosecut on ye towns Cost to final Issue any of ye faction that are Indevoring to disturb & Dis- quiet ye Town Clark in his peacable Improvement of ye town Books."
" and to prosecut any person yt by Color of their Election in yt meeting where Capt White pretended to be moderator yt shall pre- sume to act as such officer."
Upon the first article of the warrant, Captain Joshua Bayley, James Sanders, Thomas Haines, Daniel Bodwell, and Christopher Bartlett, were chosen a Committee to prosecute " any of yt faction," &c.
It was then declared, by a unanimous vote, that the officers chosen at the previous meeting, and who were called by name, should be supported through any difficulty that might arise in executing their respective duties ; that "ye small party where Capt White pretended to be a moderator on March 2, 1724-5, was not according to the town's will, nor according to ye consent & former practice of our Town ;" that "the Town doe Declare against Mr Richard Hazzen Jr his being town Clerk;" and that the select- men should prosecute to final issue any person or persons that by color of his Election in the meeting aforesaid," should presume to act as such officer. The meeting then adjourned for two weeks, at which time " some discourse passed," but no vote was taken. They met twice afterward, but adjourned on both occasions without doing any business ;- the last meeting being held June 21st, and after the following warrant had been issued.º
The non-proprietors having appealed to the General Court, that body passed the following resolve, or order, June 4, 1725 : -
" Whereas at the anniversary of the town-meeting in the town of Hav- erhill, in March last, there happened to be two contending parties who assembled at the meeting-house, and did there and then choose two sets of town-officers, whereby great difficulties arose in the said town, and consid- erable expense occasioned in the law ; and it is feared that no good gov- ernment can be supported unless some speedy care be taken to prevent these disorders. For preventing whereof, and to put an end to said strife, it is ordered by this General Court, that Joshua Swan and Nathaniel Peasley, Constables for the town in 1724, be, and are hereby required to
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