USA > New Hampshire > Colony, province, state, 1623-1888: history of New Hampshire > Part 1
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M. L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01085 8642
1
Colony
province
State
1623-1888
AMERIC
L SIG. PR
IN .AM
.
TONIA
KI'S
VINCIE . NOST
Co
HISTORY OF
NEW HAMPSHIRE
1623-1888
BY
JOHN N. MCCLINTOCK
BOSTON B. B. RUSSELL, CORNHILL 1889
COPYRIGHT, ISSS, By JOHN N. MCCLINTOCK.
PILOTE AT THE Algonquin Press, Boston.
1159759
To HIS EXCELLENCY CHARLES H. SAWYER, GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, This work is respectfully dedicated by the AUTHOR.
ERRATA.
Page 21. For " Mohegan" read " Monhegan."
" 39. For " Cape Anne " read " Cape Ann."
" 40. For " Rev. William Burdet " read "Rev. George Burdet."
" 58. Title of illustration should read " House of the Seven- teenth Century."
" 69. For " George" read "Governor."
" 71. For "Rev. James Langdon" read " Rev. Samuel Langdon."
" 76. Illustration, " First Fort at the mouth of the Piscata- qua," was omitted.
" 91. Illustration, "The Bell House, New Castle," was omitted.
" 108. Illustration, "Our Alley," was omitted.
PREFACE.
THE Author and Compiler of this work desired to produce a book of reference for the home, for the office, and for the public library, which would be available for the student and of interest to the general reader. For his facts he has drawn liberally upon Rev. Dr. Jeremy Belknap's History of New Hampshire, George Barstow's History, John M. Whiton's His- tory, Prof. E. D. Sanborn's History ; the ten volumes of the Provincial and State Papers, edited by Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Bou- ton ; the six volumes edited by Isaac W. Hammond, A. M .; the eight volumes issued by the New Hampshire Historical Society ; the three volumes, published by Farmer and Moore ; the five volumes of the Adjutant-General's Reports, 1865, 1866, and 1868; Major Otis F. R. Waite's New Hampshire in the Rebellion ; the Life of William Plumer ; the Life of Jeremiah Mason ; the works of John Scribner Jenness; the many town histories, county histories, and registers ; Manuscript Records in the Office of the Secretary of State ; Official Succession, by Hosea B. Carter ; the Author's unpublished History of Pem- broke; and the eleven volumes of the Granite Monthly. From the last he has taken bodily many sentences, paragraphs, and whole articles, which he considered especially worthy of repro. duction, from the pen of ex-Governor Charles H. Bell, LL. D. ; Samuel C. Bartlett, LL. D., President of Dartmouth College ; ex-Chief Justice J. Everett Sargent, LL. D. ; ex-Judge George W. Nesmith, LL. D. ; Hon. Joseph B. Walker ; Hon. Charles Levi Woodbury; Mr. George Wadleigh ; General George Stark ; Rev. Dr. Alonzo H. Quint ; Mr. John Albee ; L. A. Morrison, A. M. ; Mr. Fred Myron Colby ; Mr. C. S. Spaulding ; Rev. Dr. F. D. Ayer; John M. Shirley, Esq. ; Rev. Dr. C. W. Wallace ; Mr. Asa McFarland ; Mr. C. C. Lord ; Dr. William
6
PREFACE.
G. Carter ; Rev. Daniel Rollins ; Mr. W. F. Whitcher ; Mr. L. W. Dodge; and many others,- proper credit to whom is given in footnotes.
By an oversight, several corrections were not made as marked in the proof, and errors have been printed in the whole edition but are noted among the Errata.
Necessarily many facts and events of interest in New Hamp- shire history have been omitted ; many have simply been alluded to which would require many pages for their proper recital. There is enough history connected with every town in the State to require a large volume to contain it. A history of every regimental organization during the Rebellion should be, and is to be, printed. Hon. Charles H. Bell is preparing a History of the Bench and Bar of New Hampshire ; and Dr. Irving A. Watson is to issue an account of the doctors and the medical profession of the State.
This work, such as it is, is submitted to the Public with the hope, on the Author's part, that it will be kindly received, and awaken an interest in historical research and in the preservation of the history of New Hampshire.
J. N. M.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS, 1623-1641.
Page
Introduction - Description - Early Voyagers - Martin Pring - Cap- tain John Smith - Winter Fisheries - Aborigines- Virginia - Coun- cil of Plymouth - Sir Ferdinando Gorges-Captain John Mason - Mariana - Maine-David Thomson - The Hiltons - First Settle- ment - Little Harbor- Dover Neck- Landing- Character - Pro- gress - Thomas Morton - Massachusetts Charter -New Hampshire Grant - Laconia - Hilton's Patent - Isles of Shoals - Piscataqua Grant - Walter Neal- White Mountains - Dixy Bull - Division of Patent - Death of Mason - Thomas Wiggin - Dover - Captain John Underhill - Rev. John Wheelwright - Exeter - Rev. Stephen Batchelor - Hampton -Union with Massachusetts
17
CHAPTER II.
UNION WITH MASSACHUSETTS, 1641-1679.
Laws - Courts - Judges - Masonian Claim - Deputies - Magistrates -Dover -Norfolk County - Town Lines -Roads - Portsmouth - Survey of Northern Boundary - Endicott Rock - Market - Dun- stable -Witchcraft - Quakers-King's Commissioners - Corbet - Masts - Sabbath Laws - Harvard College - Oyster River - Indian War - Effect of Union - Church History : Hampton - Exeter - Dover-Portsmouth - Massachusetts Governors - Magistrates and . Deputies .
CHAPTER III.
KHI G PHILIP'S WAR, 1675-1678.
Long Peace - Character of Indians-Edward Randolph - French - Dutch-New York - Mohawks - Causes of War - Indian Vices - Sachem Philip-Mount Hope - Rum - Indian Shortcomings - Lic- ensing the Sale of Arms - Loss to the Colonies - Loss to the Indians -Philip's Straits - Terms of Peace - French Estimate of Indian
49
8
CONTENTS.
Page
Character - Kindness to Quakers - Injustice to Indians - Indian Youth anxious for War- Squando - Insult to Squaw - Attitude of Penacooks and Cochecos- Praying Indians-Their Loss - Murder of their Old People-Indian Depredations in New Hampshire - Peace- Death of Philip - Simon, Andrew, and Peter-War in Maine -Treachery at Major Waldron's Garrison - Expedition to Ossipee -- Mohawks warring on Friendly Indians -Defeat at Black Point - Major Andros and Peace -Independence of the Colonists - St. Castine . 77
CHAPTER IV.
ROYAL PROVINCE, 1680-1692.
Condition of affairs - John Cutt-Council - Assembly - Laws - Capital Offences-Penal Offences - Grants Confirmed - Randolph - Barefoote - Mason - Richard Waldron - Tax-Payers in New Hampshire - Cranfield - Edward Gove's Rebellion - Lawsuits - Appeal to King- Riots -Joshua Moodey - Dudley - Andros - Re- volution - Union with Massachusetts - King William's War . 92
CHAPTER V.
KING WILLIAM'S AND QUEEN ANNE'S WARS, 1689-1713.
Causes - St. Castine - Grievances - Richard Waldron's Death - Dover - Oyster River - Salmon Falls - Newington - Lamprey River - Wheelwright's Pond - Sandy Beach - Portsmouth - Ran- gers - Durham Massacre- Widow Cutt - Breakfast Hill - Return of Captives -Treatment of Captives - Queen Anne's War-Peace at Pemaquid - Eastern Settlements ravaged - Hampton - Kingston - Removal of Indians to Canada - Dunstable -Death of Colonel Winthrop Hilton -Peace -Condition of Parties . 109
CHAPTER VI.
ROYAL PROVINCE, 1692-1715.
Samuel Allen - John Usher - New Council - Small Pox - Post Office - New Castle incorporated - Kingston incorporated - William Part- ridge - Piscataqua Rebellion -Earl of Bellomont-Governor Allen -John Usher - Mutilation of Records - New Trial of Claim - Appeal to King-Joseph Dudley-Decision of English Courts - Nashua-Offers of Compromise-Death of Allen -Renewal of Suit-New Trial-Death of Thomas Allen - Hampton Falls - Newington ·
121
9
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII.
ROYAL PROVINCE, 1715-1722.
Page
Introduction - George Vaughan -Samuel Shute-John Wentwortlı - Commerce - Two-Mile Slip -Scotch-Irish - Londonderry -Early Settlers - Chester . · 136
CHAPTER VIII.
ROYAL PROVINCE, 1722-1740.
Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth - Governor Samuel Shute - Fourth Indian, or Lovewell's War - Indian Grievances - Depreda- tions in New Hampshire - Attack on Nashua -John Lovewell's Three Expeditions - Suncook - Peace - Penacook - Rye - Rumford - Timothy Walker -First Church of Concord - Hollis - Bow - Sun- cook Settled - Other Settlements - Newmarket - William Burnet - Jonathan Belcher - Death of Wentworth - Character - David Dun- bar - Durham - Amherst - Boscawen - Charlestown - Riot at Exe- ter - Commerce- Episcopal Chapel- Throat Distemper -Suncook - Boundary Line adjusted - Massachusetts Documents - Windham - Retirement of Belcher . 151
CHAPTER IX.
ROYAL PROVINCE, 1741-1760.
Governor Benning Wentworth - Wentworth Hall- Martha Hilton - A Cold Winter- Epping- Windham -Brentwood - French and Indian War - Louisburg- SirWilliam Pepperrell - Pepperrell House - William Vaughan - Number Four - Incorporation of various Towns-Rumford (Concord) - Wrestling Matches - Old Style and New Style - The Bow Case -Coos County - The "Seven Years' War" - Rogers' Rangers - Rev. John Houston -An Audacious Re- connaissance-A Fierce Fight in the Woods -John Stark - Con- quest of Canada - Saint Francis Indians - Quebec and Montreal - Pontiac and Major Rogers - Rogers House .
. 189
CHAPTER X.
ROYAL PROVINCE, 1760-1775.
Hampshire Grants - Taxation by Parliament - Stamp Act -Its Re- peal- Resignation of Governor Benning Wentworth - Governor John Wentworth - His Popularity - Early Settlers - Their Customs - Gilmanton - Marlboro - Canaan - Enfield - Lyme - Orford - Bath - Lebanon - Hanover - Goffstown - Newport - Plainfield -
IO
CONTENTS.
Page
Danville - Peterborough - Bow Controversy - Suncook - Candia - Wilton - New Ipswich - Lisbon - Gilsum - Lancaster - Clare- mont - Wentworth - Salisbury -Milan - Berlin - Hillsborough - Fitzwilliam -Annals of Portsmouth - Paul Revere - Capture of Fort William and Mary - Holderness and the Livermores - White- field - White Mountain Notch -Colonial Laws . · 251
CHAPTER XI.
THE REVOLUTION, 1775-1783.
Lexington -Portsmouth Fortified -Bunker Hill - General Stark - General Reed -Nottingham - Meshech Weare - House of Repre- sentatives - Gov. John Wentworth - Gen. John Sullivan - Siege of Boston - Exeter in 1776-Committee of Safety - Bennington - Stillwater - Saratoga - First Schoolmasters - Keene Raid - Free- will Baptists - Samuel Livermore and Family - Slavery - North- field - Shakers - Canterbury - General Stark .
. 314
CHAPTER XII.
STATE UNDER FIRST CONSTITUTION, 1784-1792.
Constitution of 1784-First Legislature-First President-Council - Senate - House of Representatives - Lawlessness - Trouble at Keene - Mock Convention at Concord - John Langdon - John Sullivan - Mob at Exeter - Federal Constitution - Littleton - United States Constitutional Convention - Election under Constitu- tion - Members of the Continental Congress - Officials at Ports- mouth - Josiah Bartlett - Town of Bartlett - Orange - Revision of Statutes - Constitutional Convention - Ancient Singing
401
CHAPTER XIII.
STATE GOVERNMENT, 1792-1812.
John Taylor Gilman - Walpole - Mr. West - Milford - Turnpikes - Portsmouth - Methodists - Centre Harbor - Tithing Men - Death of Washington - Second New Hampshire Turnpike - Banks - Laws -Judge Smith - Middlesex Canal - Judge Pickering - Fed- eral Judges - Fourth New Hampshire Turnpike - Republicans - Post-Offices - Daniel Webster - Burnham - Navigation on the Merrimack - Embargo - Patriots - Governor Jeremiah Smith - Crow Bill - William Plumer . · 444
II
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
WAR OF IS12 - IS12-1815.
Page
Causes of the War - Right of Search - Orders in Council - Declara- tion of War - Governor William Plumer - State Militia - Daniel Webster - Governor John Taylor Gilman - Federalists restored to Power - Change of the Judiciary - Jeremiah Mason - Defence of Portsmouth - False Alarms - Hartford Convention - Peace . . 487
CHAPTER XV. STRUGGLE FOR TOLERATION, 1815-1819.
The Federalists disband as a Party - Dartmouth College - September Storm - Middlesex Canal - Dartmouth University - State House - Chief Justice Richardson - Daniel Webster - Baptist Denomina- tion - President Monroe's Visit - Governor Samuel Bell - Bristol - The Town House - The Toleration Act - Colonial Laws for the Support of the Ministry and Public Schools . 507
CHAPTER XVI. ERA OF GOOD WILL, 1819-1828.
Power-Loom at Amoskeag - Shelburne - New Hampton Hurricane - Levi Woodbury - David L. Morril - Great Freshet - Militia - General Lafayette's Visit - The Farmer - Governor Benjamin Pierce and Family - John Bell - Franklin . . 530
CHAPTER XVII. TURNPIKES. CANALS, RAILROADS, 1828-1840.
Journey from New Hampshire to Philadelphia - War against Turn- pikes - Matthew Harvey - Concord - Canal and River Navigation - Samuel Dinsmoor - Visit of Andrew Jackson - Murder in Pem- broke - New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane - William Badger - Nathaniel P. Rogers - Parker Pillsbury -Railroads - Isaac Hill - Surplus Revenue - Judge Boswell Stevens -End of Turnpikes - John Page - Edmund Burke - James Wilson - Eastern Railroad 556
CHAPTER XVIII. ANTI-SLAVERY AGITATION, 1841-1860.
Stephen S. Foster - Harry Hubbard - Pittsburg - Indian Stream War - John H. Steele - John P. Hale - Anthony Colby - Man- chester - Jared W. Williams - Samuel Dinsmoor, Jr. - Dr. Noah Martin -Franklin Pierce - Kansas - Countess Rumford - Nathan- iel B. Baker - Ralph Metcalf - Daniel Clark - William W. Haile - Ichabod Goodwin - Reminiscences .
582
12
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIX.
WAR OF THE REBELLION, 1861-1865.
Page
Election of Abraham Lincoln - Seceding States - Firing on Sumter - First Regiment - Mason W. Tappan - Old Militia - Governor's Horse Guards - Thomas L. Tullock - Second Regiment - Gilman Marston - J. N. Patterson - Nathaniel S. Berry - Third Regiment - Enoch Q. Fellows -John H. Jackson - John Bedel - Fourth Regiment - Thomas J. Whipple - Louis Bell - Fifth Regiment - Edward E. Cross - Charles E. Hapgood - Edward E. Sturtevant - Sixth Regiment - Simon G. Griffin - Henry H. Pearson - Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Regiments - Colonel Henry O. Kent - Joseph A. Gilmore - Eighteenth Regiment - Cavalry, Artillery, and Sharpshooters - Summary of Number of Volunteers - E. H. Durell - George Hamilton Perkins . 611
CHAPTER XX.
IRISH IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Early Irish Settlers - Soldiers in Indian Wars - At Louisburg - Con- quest of Canada - Revolution - Emigration of 1840-60 - Ship Fever - Terrors of the Plague - Hawthorne's Description - Mob in Manchester - Rebellion - Growth of Catholic . Church - Bishop Bradley
631
CHAPTER XXI.
SINCE THE REBELLION, IS65-1888.
Frederick Smyth - Sylvester Marsh - Provincial Papers - Rev. Dr. Bouton - Walter Harriman - Public Instruction - Academies and High Schools - John B. Clark - J. C. Moore - People - News- papers - Onslow Stearns - James A. Weston - Bishop Baker - E. A. Straw - Asa Fowler - J. E. Sargent - Charles H. Burns - P. C. Cheney - Phillips Exeter Academy -Constitutional Convention - B. F. Prescott - J. F. Briggs - White Mountains - Natt Head - Charles H. Bell - Frank Jones - Ossian Ray - S. W. Hale - C. H. Bartlett - J. H. Gallinger -Moody Currier - C. H. Sawyer - Jonathan Sawyer - Joseph Wentworth - Jonathan Kittredge -W. E. Chandler - Harry Bingham - Railroads - J. W. White -Dr. Edward Spalding - Summer Resorts - Manufacturing - George H.
Emery . . 646
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Seal of Province
Title Page
Seal of State
Old Langdon Farmstead .
16
White Mountain Range, from Milan
19
Great Bay .
32
Scene in White Hills
35
Summit of the Ravine, White Mountains
36
Farmhouse of Seventeenth Century
58
Governor John Winthrop
75
The First Fort at the Mouth of the Piscataqua .
76
An Indian visiting the Settlers .
78
Garrison House, built about 1645
85
Treaty of Peace between the Indians and the Settlers .
86
Death of King Philip
87
The Conflict
90
The Bell House, Newcastle
91
Our Alley
IOS
Garrison House in King William's War
112
Hannah Dustin at the Massacre .
116
The Well
120
Rev. John Emerson
122
Portion of Old Province House
123
Old Church, New Castle .
124
Autograph and Seal of Theodore Atkinson
126
Seal of Richard Jose
126
Map of New Castle
127
Cape Road, New Castle
I35
New Castle Fishermen
150
First Congregational Church at Concord
166
Plan of Eastern Part of Suncook, or Lovewell's Township
170
Rural Scene
172
Piscataqua Gundalow
188
Old Wentworth House, Rye
190
Mantel, Old Wentworth House
193
Frontier Block House, 1746
206
White Mountain Scene
226
Scene in Coos County
227
New Hampshire Farm Scene
276
14
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Page
Lancaster
277
Warren
.
278
Plymouth
279
View from Bridge in Berlin
288
Governor John Wentworth's House, Portsmouth
294
Paul Revere's First Ride
296
Notch of White Mountains
313
Battle of Lexington
315
Post Rider of the Revolution
361
Jaffrey Cottage, New Castle
362
Governor John Taylor Gilman's House, Exeter
369
Town House, Exeter
374
Residence of Mr. Joseph B. Walker, Concord
397
Littleton
414
View of Portsmouth Harbor
427
Giant Stairs, Bartlett
434
Old Blodgett Mansion, Amoskeag Canal, Manchester
476
With Wind and Current .
477
Boat entering Locks
477
Mending Lobster Nets
486
Fort McClary
492
On the Beach
492
Walbach Tower
495
Gateway of Fort Constitution
503
Shot of Lumber coming out of a Lock
509
State House, Concord
513
Squam Lake and Mount Chocorua
529
New Hampton Institute
537
Residence of Prof. A. B. Meservey
537
Mount Carter, from Gorham
555
.
567
Railroad Cut
.
581 610
Mount Washington Railroad
650
Phillips Exeter Academy
665
Echo Lake, Franconia Notch
669
Castellated Ridge of Mount Jefferson
670
Governor Charles H. Bell
675
Hooksett
688
Concord Depot
690
Laconia
694
George H. Emery .
696
Pembroke Academy
.
. 697
493
Daniel Webster
497
Pushing against the Current
509
Tow-path of the Canal
478
Whaleback Light
New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane
View near Meredith Village
LIST OF STEEL ENGRAVINGS.
Governor Charles HI. Sawyer Chief Justice Jeremiah Smith Hon. John P. Hale
Page Frontispiece.
481
Hon. Abraham P. Olzendam
597
General Gilman Marston .
611
Hon. Thomas L. Tullock
614
Colonel Henry O. Kent
628
Judge Edward H. Durell .
630
Right Rev. Dennis M. Bradley, Bishop of Manchester
631
Governor Frederick Smyth Colonel John B. Clarke
646
Hon. Joseph C. Moore
655
Governor Onslow Stearns
656
Governor James A. Weston
657
Chief Justice J. Everett Sargent
660
Hon. Charles H. Burns
661
Governor Person C. Cheney
662
Hon. Daniel M. Christie
667
Hon. James F. Briggs
668
Hon. Aretas Blood
674
Hon. Frank Jones
676
Hon. Virgil C. Gilman
677
Hon. Ossian Ray .
.
678 678
Governor Samuel W. Hale
.
Hon. Charles H. Bartlett
679
Hon. Jacob H. Gallinger .
6So
Governor Moody Currier
6S
Mr. Jonathan Sawyer
682
Colonel Joseph Wentworth Hon. William E. Chandler
686
Hon. Harry Bingham
6Sy
Mr. Jeremiah W. White
692
Hon. Edward Spalding
693
.
.
.
654
. 594
.
685
· Old Langdon Farmstead.
HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
CHAPTER I.
DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS, 1623-1641.
INTRODUCTION - DESCRIPTION -EARLY VOYAGERS - MARTIN PRING -CAP- TAIN JOHN SMITHI - WINTER FISHERIES - ABORIGINES - VIRGINIA- COUNCIL OF PLYMOUTH - SIR FERDINANDO GORGES - CAPTAIN JOHN MASON -MARIANA -MAINE-DAVID THOMSON-THE HILTONS-FIRST . SETTLEMENT - LITTLE HARBOR -DOVER NECK-LANDING -CHARACTER - PROGRESS - THOMAS MORTON - MASSACHUSETTS CHARTER - NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANT - LACONIA - HILTON'S PATENT - ISLES OF SIIOALS - PISCATAQUA GRANT - WALTER NEAL - WHITE MOUNTAINS - DIXY BULL - DIVISION OF PATENT - DEATH OF MASON -THOMAS WIGGIN - DOVER - CAPTAIN JOHN UNDERHILL - REV. JOHN WHEELWRIGHT - EXETER -REV. STEPHEN BATCHELOR -HAMPTON -UNION WITH MASSA- CHUSETTS.
T THE history of New Hampshire involves an account of the first settlements at the mouth of the Piscataqua and on the shores of Great Bay, their growth into towns and their union under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Colony ; the forma- tion of the Royal Province of New Hampshire; the woful conflict with the Indians and with the French ; the inroad into the province of the Scotch-Irish and the spread of Massachusetts settlers up the valleys of the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers ; the contest of the inhabitants with the Masonian proprietors ; the part taken by the people of the province in achieving national independence ; the formation of an independent State govern- ment ; the compact settlement of the State and the growth of
18
HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
[1523
manufactures, railroads, and cities ; the share taken in the Great Rebellion ; the changes in the laws, habits and customs of the people ; together with some account of those men who, in the different generations, have guided and directed the destinies of the people in church, state and municipal affairs. It is the story of the evolution of a settlement of poor, unedu- cated, bigoted and brave people, fresh from the tyranny of the laws of the old world, and imbued with the prejudices of their time, into a sovereign state, a liberal and enlightened common- wealth, one of the partners in the great Republic, the United States of America.
New Hampshire, one of the New England States and one of the original thirteen colonies which formed the American Union, lies between 70° 37' and 72° 37' west longitude, and between 42° 40' and 45° 18' 33" north latitude, and has an area of 9,336 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the Province of Quebec, the line following Hall's stream to its source and the watershed between the valley of the St. Law- rence and the Atlantic coast ; it is bounded on the east by the state of Maine and the ocean, the Salmon Falls and Piscataqua rivers forming a part of the boundary ; it is bounded on the south by the State of Massachusetts, the line running north of, parallel with, and generally three miles from, the Merrimack river, from its mouth to where the course of the river is south, thence due west by compass to the Connecticut river; and it is bounded on the west by the State of Vermont, the west bank of the Connecticut river being the boundary line. The general shape of the State is that of a triangle, with a base of one hundred miles and a length of one hundred and eighty-five miles. It is drained on the west by the Connecticut river, on the east by the Androscoggin, the Saco and the Piscataqua rivers, while the central and southern part of the State is drained by the Merrimack river and its tributaries. Between the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers there is a high ridge, frequently rising to lofty elevations, extending from the Massa- chusetts line to the Franconia and White Mountain ranges, the loftiest summits on the Atlantic seaboard. The northern
WHITE MOUNTAIN RANGE FROM MILAN.
20
HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
[1542
section of the State is very mountainous. In the central part there are many large ponds and lakes, the grandest of which is Lake Winnipiseogee, with an area of seventy square miles, elevated five hundred feet above the ocean. The height of Mount Washington is 5,293 feet, and the mountainous tract of which it is the highest elevation occupies a territory of fourteen hundred square miles, sometimes called the Switzerland of America. The average elevation of the State above the sea is estimated to be twelve hundred feet.1
Soon after the discovery of land beyond the Western Ocean by Christopher Columbus, in 1492, adventurous sailors from Spain, Portugal, France, Holland and England hastened to imitate the great discoverer and crossed the Atlantic in search of fame and fortune. As early as 1523, Verazzano, an Italian captain in. the employ of the French government, sailed from Europe and struck America south of Cape Hatteras ; thence he followed the shore northward. From his accurate descrip- tion of the prominent landmarks, he probably landed, the fol- lowing summer, at or near the mouth of the Piscataqua river, and traded with the natives. He stated that the Portuguese had been before him in these parts. It was admitted by contem- porary writers that for half a century, from as early as 1504, the Basques were whaling and fishing on the American coast. The patent authorizing a settlement in Newfoundland, in 1610, says that the coast had been used for more than fifty years for the fishery by the English. In 1527, John Rut, sent by Henry VIII to explore, reported that he saw in the harbor of St. Johns "eleven sail of Normands, one Breton and two Portu- guese barks, all a fishing." A French fisherman rescued his
party from starvation. Jacques Cartier, in 1534 and 1535, explored the gulf and river of St. Lawrence, and reported that he met many ships of France and Brittany. Robeval, in 1542, found " seventeen ships of fishers " at St. Johns.
The official explorers found on their voyages fleets of fisher- men already practical pilots of the coasts and harbors.2
Martin Pring, with two small ships, sailed into the Piscataqua
1 Prof. C. H. Hitchcock.
2 Charles Levi Woodbury.
21
DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENTS.
1614]
in June, 1603. The French discoverer, De Champlain, visited the river in July, 1605, and claimed the discovery of the Isles of Shoals.1
Of the voyagers who visited the northern coast of America, for the sake of its furs and fish, one of the most remarkable was Captain John Smith, who ranged the shore from Penobscot to Cape Cod, in 1614, and, in his route, discovered the river Piscataqua, which he found to be a safe harbor with a rocky shore.2 He states that, prior to this voyage, he had procured seven or eight charts from the fishermen and traders, who had been in the habit of frequenting the coast of New England, and that he did not enter the Merrimack river because two French ships were lying there. The French had traded with the natives in the vicinity for several years.3
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