USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Haverhill > The history of Haverhill, Massachusetts, from its first settlement, in 1640, to the year 1860 > Part 29
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o We do not learn that the commoners held any meetings during this time, and presume that they did not.
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
warn the freeholders and other inhabitants to assemble at the meeting- house in Haverhill, on the ninth of June, at ten o'clock, A. M., and then and there to choose all the town-officers which the law requires to be chosen in the month of March annually ; and that Richard Kent, Esq.º be desired to be present at the said meeting; and he is empowered to mod- erate the affairs, and no other person be allowed to vote but such as are lawfully qualified ; and that the proceedings of both parties at the afore- said meeting of March 2d are declared null and void, and the charge to be borne as this Court shall order."
A meeting was accordingly held on the ninth of June, and Richard Kent, Esq., presided. The opening of the meeting was followed by some discus- sion concerning the town's affairs, but no vote was taken. The meeting was adjourned till the afternoon, when the Moderator ordered the votes to be brought in for a town Clerk. But few, however, were east, and no Clerk was declared to be chosen, and the meeting was adjourned by the Moderator to the 23d of June.
The attention of the General Court being again called to the matter, that body, (June 15, 1725,)
" Resolved, That Whereas by special order of this Court, the town of Haverhill was assembled on the 9th inst. for the choice of town officers, and no other than a Town Clerk was then chosen, although he was not declared by the moderator, & said meeting having been adjourned notwith- standing the other town officers were to be chosen the same day :
" Resolved, That John Eaton be and is hereby declared Town Clerk for Haverhill, according to the choice made the ninth of June, as aforesaid, and that the freeholders (&c) assemble at the meeting house in Haverhill June 23, according to the adjournment, and that they then and there choose all other town officers, and that Richard Kent Esqr, hereby declared moderator of the meeting, be directed to administer the oath by law ap- pointed to John Eaton and the other officers to be chosen, any law usage or custom to the contrary notwithstanding."
This prompt and energetic action of the Legislature, supported, as it must have been, by the sober second thought of the contending parties, had the desired effect. The town met according to adjournment, and completed the election of their officers.
From this time forward, we find in the records no allusions whatever to these contentions. The meetings of the " Town," and those of the " Pro- prictors of the common and undivided lands in the Town," were held separately, and the records kept in separate books. The officers were also
· Of Newbury.
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HISTORY OF HAVERIIILL.
chosen separately, though the same persons not unfrequently held office in both organizations at one and the same time. The proprietors continued to hold their meetings ; to give, sell, and exchange the undivided lands; for nearly forty years afterward, - giving and selling to, and exchanging *with, " commoners " and " non-commoners,"- but we find no hint in either record or paper, of cither party, as to the further settlement of the difficulty between them. The most reasonable solution we can give of the problem is this ; - that the right of the proprietors to the lands claimed by them was too manifest, and too well supported by reason and authority, to afford any inducements to the non-proprietors to continue the contest.
Thus was brought to a close the long, and at times, bitter contention, about the common and undivided lands in the town. The right of the " proprietors " was fully acknowledged, and though, after portions of the town had been set off to other towns, and particularly after the line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was run, the right of the pro- prietors to continue to dispose of such lands in those portions of the original township was questioned, yet in all cases where the matter came before the courts, (and they were not a few) the claim of the proprietors was fully sustained. And we find that, as late as 1745 to 1750, such lands were frequently petitioned for, by residents in the several towns, and were disposed of by the " Haverhill Proprietors."
In the spring of 1724, Stephen Barker, and others, of the western part of the town, petitioned the General Court for a new town, to be formed by setting off that portion of Haverhill above Hawke's Meadow Brook. Captain John White was appointed Agent of this town to oppose the petition.
In November of the following year, the inhabitants of that section petitioned the town for a school in their neighborhood, - which was grant- ed." They were also " allowed ten pounds to pay a minister to preach there," if they got one that year. These grants did not, however, induce them to consent to remain as a part of Haverhill, and shortly after (December S, 1725) the General Court gave them an act of incorporation, under the name of Methuen. ¡
O A Mr. Heath was the Schoolmaster.
t The first church in Methuen was formed October 29, 1729, and Rev. Christopher Sargeant was ordained as its pastor, November 5, the same year. The next January, the society petitioned the "proprietors of the common and undivided lands in Haverhill, and that part of Methuen formerly contained within ye ancient bounds of Haverhill," for a parcel of land for a parsonage. The proprietors not only gave them the land, but also donated a piece to their minister.
In May, 1737, the inhabitants of the " second parish in Methnen, being about to build a meeting house," also petitioned the proprietors of Haverhill for land. The proprietors voted to give them fifty aeres, and also voted fifty acres to their "first ordained minister." These lands were all in Methnen.
35
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
In June, 1725, Benjamin Stevens and others, petitioned the General Court for a township of land at "Pennycook," (now Concord, N. H.,) which was granted them, and on the 2d of February, 1726, a Committee of the General Court met at the tavern of Ebenezer Eastman (one of the petitioners) in Haverhill, for the purpose of admitting settlers. After much careful inquiry and examination, the requisite number-one hundred- were admitted. Among them were thirty-six Haverhill men.º
"Obadiah Ayer,
Stephen Emerson,
Jeremiah Pecker,
Samuel Ayer,
Nehemiah Heath, John Sanders,
"John Ayer,
"Moses Hazzen,
John Sanders, Jr.,
"Capt Joshua Bailey,
Richard Hazzen, Jr.,
Jonathan Sanders,
Nathaniel Clement,
Timothy Johnson,
"Nathaniel Sanders,
Benjamin Carleton,
John Merrill,
Nicolas White,
Nehemiah Carleton,
Nathaniel Page,
William White,
Christopher Carleton,
Edward Clark,
Thomas Page, Joseph Page,
John White,
Ephraim Davis,
"Nathaniel Peaslee,
Jacob Shute,
"Joseph Davis,
*Robert Peaslee,
Total, thirty-six.
Samuel Davis,
John Pecker,
William Whittier,
Capt Ebenezer Eastman, James Pecker,
Obadiah Ayer, (born May 9, 1689) was the son of Samuel, (who was killed by the Indians in the attack on Haverhill, August 29, 1708) and a descendant of John Ayer, one of the early settlers of Haverhill. Obadiah was a graduate of Harvard College (1710) ; studied for the min- istry ; a man of talents and influence, but subject occasionally to aberra- tions of mind, at which times he is said to have had lodgings in Boston provided for him by his particular friend. John Hancock. We do not learn that he ever married. He kept the Grammar School in Haverhill six months of the year he was graduated, (for which he received fifteen pounds,) and also the next year, and probably for several years after, as we find his name mentioned again in 1713. It does not appear that he finally settled in Concord.
John Ayer (born April 7, 1705,) was a brother of Obadiah. He mar- ried Mary Johnson, of Haverhill. Their children, born in Haverhill, were - Abigail, who died unmarried ; Timothy, who married Elizabeth White, and lived in Bradford, Vermont; and John, who lived in Bradford, Mass., John was doubtless at Concord in the earliest period of its settle- ment, but did not finally settle there.
° Those designated by a º were proprietors, but did not settle at Concord.
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
Samuel Ayer, son of James, (a brother of Obadiah and John) was born and lived in Haverhill. He married Ann Hazzen. Their children, (all born in Haverhill) were - Mary, born December 23, 1738, married Sam- uel Morrison, of Sanbornton, N. H. ; Anna, born September 22, 1740, married Deacon John Kimball of Concord ; Samuel, born November 29, 1742, married Sarah Chase, of Haverhill ; Elizabeth (1) and Elizabeth (2) died young; Elizabeth (3) born June 22, 1748, married Jacob Ela, of Haverhill ; Hannah, born August 25, 1751, married John Bradley, of Con- cord ; Ruth, born December 4, 1753, married Dr. Peter Green, of Concord ; Lydia, born December, 1755, died. young; Richard, born May 12, 1757, married Susanna Sargeant ; James, born January 1, 1761, married Mary, daughter of Dr. James Brickett, of Haverhill.
(Richard, son of Samuel, appears to have been the first permanent set- tler of the name in Concord. He married Susanna Sargeant, of Methuen, by whom he had eleven children, all born in Concord.)
Captain Joshua Bailey, born October 30, 1685, was probably a descend- ant of John Bailey, - who settled in Newbury. 1650,"- and was for many years one of the principal men of Haverhill. He was moderator, and one of the selectmen, from 1724, to 1734, and subsequently modera- tor for several years. He was probably a physician, as we find a " Dr. Bayley " mentioned in 1718 ; and again in 1722, " Dr. Bailey " went to Boston for soldiers. He married Elizabeth Johnson, about 1715. Chil- dren, - Ann, born March 6, 1715-16, died May 26, 1716; Mary, born June 13, 1717, died November 18, 1718; Sarah, born February 22, 1718-19 ; Elizabeth, born November 3, 1721, died May 5, 1736 ; Mary, born February 23, 1723, died May 11, 1736; Anna, born March 4, 1725, died January, 1750; Abigail, born January 10, 1729-30.
" Joshua Bayley the husband d Feb 7, 1752. Elizabeth Bayley the wife d Oct 21, 1773."
Nathaniel Clement (son of John, and Elizabeth Ayres) was born in Haverhill, June, 1689. He married Sarah Merrill, about 1714. Chil- dren, - Abiah, born May 27, 1715; Elizabeth, born March 6, 1716-17 ; Nathaniel, born October 16, 1719 ; Sarah, born March 2, 1721 ; Jeremiah, born June 15, 1724; Samuel, born April 8, 1726; David, born May 23, 1728 ; John. born July 1, 1730 ; David, born November 8, 1734. Sarah, the wife, died July 10, 1748.
Edward Clark, born March 29, 1694, was a son of Hannicl, and mar- ried Sarah Stevens about 1715. They had seven children.
Of Benjamin, Nehemiah, and Christopher Carleton, we find no record,
· See Coffin, p. 294,
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
Ephraim Davis, born March 20, 1697, was a son of Ephraim, and a descendant of Thomas, of Marlborough, England. There is no record of the family of Ephraim; but he had three sons, Samuel, Benjamin, and Robert, and two daughters whose names are believed to have been Deborah and Judith. Samuel and Benjamin were soldiers in the French war. One of them was drowned, and the other died soon after his return. The elder daughter married Colonel Moses Baker, of Campton, N. H., and the younger a Mr. Morrison, who lived at or near Sanbornton Bridge, N. H.
Joseph, and Samuel Daris, were probably brothers, and sons of Samuel, of Haverhill. They did not settle at Concord.
Captain Ebenezer Eastman, of whom we have already given an account, was a son of Phillip, and grandson of Roger, who settled in Salisbury, 1640. (We think Bouton, who doubtless followed Mirick, is mistaken in giving the date of Eastman's birth as 1689. Our town records say 1681; and as he had a sister (Abigail) born May 28, 1689, we incline to the opinion that Ebenezer was not born in that year.) Six of his sons also settled in Concord. His children were-Ebenezer, born September 5, 1711 ; Phillip, born November 13, 1713, married Abiah Bradley ; Joseph, born June 10, 1715, married Abigail Mellen ; Nathaniel, born March 16, 1717 ; Jeremiah, born August 25, 1719, married Dorothy Carter ; Obadiah, born December 11, 1721; Ruth, born January 17, 1729, married Dr. Ezra Carter, (2d), married Fowler of Boscowen, N. H .; Moses, born February 28, 1732, married Elizabeth Kimball.
Stephen Emerson, son of Stephen and Elizabeth (Duston) was born in Haverhill February 23, 1700-1.
Nehemiah Heath, born May 11, 1680, was a son of John Heath of Haverhill.
Moses, and Richard Hazzen, Jr., were sons of Lieutenant Richard, of Haverhill. They did not settle in Concord. Richard, Jr., married Sarah Clement of this town, October 22, 1719, by whom he had eight children.
Timothy Johnson, was probably from Haverhill, and a son of John Johnson and Elizabeth Maverick (though Farmer reckons him as from Andover, and son of Timothy of that town). He was born June 31, 1672, and was the last of the seven children of his mother. His father married for a second wife widow Sarah Gills, 1674, who died July 1676, (a few days after giving birth to Mary and Rebecca, twins) ; and third, widow Katharine Mavericke, 1680, by whom he had John Maverick, died 1689.
John Merrill, (Deacon) was from the West Parish, and a descendant of Nathaniel. He married Lydia Haynes. His children (the three oldest born in Haverhill) were- Moses, married Dorcas Abbot, settled in
273
HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
Pembroke ; Thomas, married Phebe Abbot, settled in Conway, married (2d,) widow Johnson, married (3d,) widow Ambrose, married (4th,) widow Cummings ; John, married Rebecca Abbot, settled in Pembroke, in conti- mental service 1776; Hannah, died young; Jonathan, born February 10, 1733, married Mary Farnum, settled in Hill; Hannah, born February 10, 1735, married R. Eastman, married (2d,) I. Odell Conway ; Nathaniel, born November 4, 1738, married Ann Walker, settled in Brownfield, Me .; Sarah, born April 24, 1741, married Daniel Chandler; Ann, born December 20, 1743, married Benjamin Farnum of Concord, N. H .; Abigail. born December 9, 1746, married Tappan Evans of Warren, N. H .; Lydia, married Amos Foster of Pembroke, N. H.
Nathaniel Page, born February 15, 1700-1, was a son of John, Jr., and grand-son of Cornelius, the father of Thomas and Joseph.
Thomas and Joseph Page, were sons of Cornelius, of Haverhill. Thomas was born February 24, 1693-4; and Joseph, September 12, 1689.
Nathaniel and Robert Peaslee, were sons of Joseph, son of Joseph, of Haverhill. They did not settle in Concord. Nathaniel was born June 25, 1682, and was, for many years, one of the leading men of the town. He was Representative in 1737, 39 to 42, 1746 to 49, and 1752, 53. In 1739, he was one of the committee of the General Court on the boundary line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. For many years, he served the town as moderator, and as one of the selectmen. Robert was born February 3d, 1677.
John and James Pecker, were sons of James and Ann (Davis). John was born December 15, 1687 ; and James, November 15, 1684. Of Jere- miah, we can find no record.
John Sanders, born June 6, 1672, was a son of James and Sarah (Page). He died September 8, 1737. John, Jr., born August 25, 1696, was a son of the above. He married Lydia Duston, and had fourteen children, seven of whom died young.
Jonathan Sanders, born February 23, 1711-12, was a son of Avery and Abigail (Green) Sanders.
Nathaniel Sanders, son of James and Hannah (Tewksbury), married 1st, Mary Bixby, 2d, Anna Kelley, by each of whom he had one child.
Nicholas, John, and William White, were brothers, and sons of John, and Lydia (Gilman). Nicholas was born December 4, 1698, married Hannah Ayer, of Haverhill, 1722, and died in 1782. They had five children. William was born January 18, 1693-4, and died in 1738. John was born September 8, 1707, and died May 10, 1745.
278
HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
William Whittier, son of John, and Mary (Hoit), was born October 28, 1688, and married Rachell Mitchell. They had three children.
Jacob Shute was the son of a French Protestant, or Huguenot, who fled from Paris, on the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and took refuge in Ireland. Jacob, when about seventeen years of age, disliking the trade to which he was apprenticed, ran away, in company with one Dawen, and took secret passage in the hold of a ship for this country. They remained con- cealed until driven out by hunger. On arriving at Newburyport, and having nothing to pay their passage, they were sold - (their service) -- for a time, to pay it. They were both bought by Captain Ebenezer Eastman, of Haverhill, and served him till twenty-one years of age. Shute settled at Penacook. He married Sarah George, of Haverhill, and had a daughter, Sarah, born here, and John and Elizabeth, born at Penacook. His wife died January, 1745. He married a second wife, (a widow Evans) by whom he had two daughters, both of whom died young. Mr. Shute died February 16, 1794, aged ninety-four.
The first party of the proprietors of the new township, left Haverhill early in the morning of May 12th, and arrived at Penacook about five, P. M., May 13th, and the next day commenced the survey of the town- ship. The following September, a committee of the settlers was chosen " to go out and elear a sufficient cart way to Penny Cook, the nighest and best way they can from Haverhill." According to tradition, Ebenezer Eastman's team -six yoke of oxen, with a cart - was the first that crossed the wilderness from Haverhill to Penacook. It was driven by Jacob Shute, who, in order to get safely down Sugar Ball bank,"felled a pine tree and chained it, top foremost, to his cart to stay the motion of it down the precipice.
Samuel Ayer is supposed to have been the first person who ploughed land at Penacook. The first family that settled in the plantation, was that of Ebenezer Eastman. The mill-crank for the first grist-mill was car- ried upon a horse from this town.º
At a meeting held on the day of the annual March meeting this year, (1726) - but after the latter had closed - Captain Joshua Bayley was chosen a committee in behalf of the town, to join with any persons chosen by neighboring towns, "to use all proper means to get the County of Essex divided." The reason given for this action, was, - that the shire
" For many of the above facts relating to the pioneer settlers of Concord, we are indebted to the excel- lent History of Concord, N. Il., by Rev. Mr. Bouton.
*
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
town was so far distant. We do not learn that anything further was done at this time in regard to the division, either by this or the neighboring towns. 9
One of those small matters frequently met with in the records, and which throw a gleam of light upon the manners and customs of " Auld Lang Syne," is found in the entry that one Mary Pearsons was warned out of town by the constable, upon the order of the selectmen, " she hav- ing nothing to live upon." In those days, towns were very careful that no persons obtained a settlement among them who would ever be likely to become a public charge, and all such persons were promptly notified by the authorities that the town did not consent to their remaining in it. From 1724 to 1770, thirty persons were thus ordered out of town. In later years, it became customary to serve such a notice upon nearly every person who came into the town to reside, and such a practice prevailed within the memory of many persons still living.
At the March meeting for 1726, ten persons living in the east part of the town petitioned for permission to assemble for worship at the Amesbury meeting house .; The request was granted. Four years later, twelve persons; in that vicinity petitioned the town to allow them to pay their "minister's rate" in Amesbury, instead of Haverhill, -which was also agreed to.
The steady increase in the population of the town, brought with it a proportionate increase in the labors and cares of the minister, and also in his expenses ; and this year Rev. Mr. Brown applied to the town for an addition to his salary. In full confidence in each others liberality and sense of justice, they voted him four contributions a year in addition to his present pay ! As often happens to others, as well as ministers, no sooner is one desire satisfied than another takes it place, and we need not there- fore be surprised that this liberal increase of salary should suggest to Rev. Mr. Brown the propriety of having his house improved in a corresponding ratio. Accordingly we find him asking the town to " double floor" one of the rooms, as it was " very cold in the winter," and to " ceil overhead" another, and, with many expressions of confidence and esteem, he leaves
* In 1693, several towns in Essex County petitioned the General Court for a division of the County. The House passed an Act for that purpose, but it failed to meet the approval of the Governor and Council. In 1736 a similar proposition was again made, but without success ; and several times since then the subject has been agitated in the Merrimack towns.
t Abner Chase, Samuel Sargent, John Sanders, Jr., John Snow, John Sanders, James Sanders, Robert Hunkins, William Davis, John Lovell, Green Whittier.
# John Sanders, James Sanders, Robert Hunkins, John Sanders, Jr., Abner Chase, Green Whittier, James Bradbury, John Sweet, Joseph Kelley, Anthony Colby, William Bley, Robert Hastings.
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
entirely to them the consideration of such other improvements as might seem to them necessary. That his confidence was not misplaced, is shown in the fact that the town not only fixed the two rooms requested, but " re-payered the Great Room !"
At a meeting held in May (1726) the town voted to raise one-fifth of their " Bank Money" and pay it into the Province treasury immediately."
The year 1827 occupies a somewhat prominent place in the history of this town and vicinity, on account of " a mighty tempest of wind and rain, " and " a most terrible, sudden, and amazing earthquake" which occurred in the fall of that year.
The first occurred on Saturday and Sunday, September 16 and 17, and destroyed a large amount of property. As a specimen of the damage done, may be cited the fact that " near two hundred load of hay " was swept away from the marshes of Newbury .;
The earthquake, or rather earthquakes, commenced on Sunday evening, the 29th of October. Rev. Mr. Plant, of Newburyport, thus describes it :
" October 29th 1727. Being the Lord's day at forty minutes past ten the same evening, there was a most terrible, sudden and amazing earth- quake, which did damage to the greatest part of the neighborhood, shook and threw down tops of chimneys and in many places the carth opened a foot or more. It continued very terrible by frequently bursting and shocking our houses and lasted all that weck (the first being the loudest shock, and eight more that immediately followed, louder than the rest that followed) sometimes breaking with six times or oftener in a day and as often in the night until Thursday in the said week and then somewhat abated. Upon Friday in the evening and about night, and about break of day and on Saturday there were three very loud claps. We also had it on Saturday, the Sabbath, and on Monday morning about ten, tho' much abated in the noise and terror. Upon the Tuesday following, November seventh, about cleven o'clock a very loud clap upon every day or night more
9 In 1600, the General Court of Massachusetts issned bills of credit, which were the first "paper money" made in the country. A similar emission was made in 1702. In 1721 it issued £50,000, which was divided among the several towns according to population, &c., and was to be returned whenever the General Court should so order. The proportion received by this town, was loaned to various private individuals, they giving their notes for the same, and paying five per cent. annual interest for the use of it. It was this " Bank money" that was thus voted to be called in and paid back to the Province Treasury.
In 1728, another emission of £50,000 was made; and a similar issue has been ordered several times since. The object of these issues, or "loans," was to extricate the Province from debt, by creating a temporary substitute for hard money, and thus allow it time to recover from its pecuniary embarrassment. Paper money was first made by Massachusetts in 1690; by Connecticut, 1709; Pennsylvania, 1723; Maryland, 1740; Rhode Island, 1744; and in 1759 almost every province issued paper currency. It was first issued by Congress in 1775.
t Coffin.
.
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HISTORY OF HAVERHILL.
or less three, four, six times each day or night and upon the twelfth being the Lord's day twice from betwixt three to half past four, in all which space of time some claps were loud, others seemingly at a distance and much abated. Upon Monday two hours before day a loud burst and at half past two in the afternoon another burst was heard somewhat loud. On the nineteenth about ten at night a very loud shock and another about break of day, somewhat here abated, but at Haverhill a very loud burst, making their houses rock, as that over night did with us. It was the Lord's day in the evening. It hath been heard twice since much abated. The very first shock opened a new spring by my father Samuel Bartlet's house in the meadow and threw up in the lower grounds in Newbury several loads of white sand. After that some loud claps, shocking our houses. On December seventeenth, about half an hour after ten being Lord's day at evening a very loud burst, shocking our houses. Another about four the next morning abated.º
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