USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > Historical discourse commemorative of the centennial anniversary of the Congregational Church, Plymouth, N.H. : preached Dec. 24th and 31st, 1865 > Part 1
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M. LI
Gc 974.202 P74h 1851960
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00056 1040
EN
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historicaldiscou1865haze
HISTORICAL DISCOURSE"
COMMEMORATIVE OF THE
CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, PLYMOUTH, N. H.
PREACHED DEC. 24TH AND 31ST, 1865, BY HENRY A. HAZEN, PASTOR.
WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES RELATING TO THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE TOWN. -
BOSTON : CONGREGATIONAL PUBLISHING SOCIETY, CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE. 1875.
1851960
INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
IN 1865, the writer, then pastor of the Congregational Church in Plymouth, N. H., prepared and preached, on the last two Sabbaths of the year, an historical discourse, commemorating the centennial of its organization. It has since lain quietly in his desk. But friends, whosc opinion he could not undervalue, have urged that it should be published ; and, as centennial contributions are now in order, it is here recast and offered to them, in the hope that it may not be without some interest and future value. In revising, I have not sought to preserve any minute consistency between the dates, 1865 and 1875. And I have omitted the introductory and concluding reflections, to make room for more valuable notes of the early history of the town. These I have felt at liberty to expand rather freely, and some corrections of current errors will be found. The history of the town ought to be carefully written, and I shall be glad if its future compiler finds some assistance here.
My special thanks are due to Rev. GEORGE PUNCHARD for the use of manuscript sermons, and other materials, from which I have freely drawn; also, for many suggestions, and for proof-reading. The Index does not include all proper names, but is believed to be sufficiently full for easy reference to every important topic.
H A. H.
BILLERICA, MASS., May, 1875.
DISCOURSE.
WE must go back one hundred and fifty-three years, for the first recorded appearance of Englishmen in the vicinity of Plymouth. The Indian roamed here, and hunted on his excursions ; although no tribes were located nearer than New York and Canada. But in the summer they encamped, and planted corn on the rich meadows of the Coos, and possibly here on the Pemigewasset; and they caught the trout, and chased the deer, amid the wildest recesses of the White Mountains.
The story of the earliest coming of white men to this part of New Hampshire, has special and romantic interest to Plymouth, for it is connected with a bloody encounter in this very village,-its one and sufficient taste of war,-and has left its permanent memorial in the name of Baker's River.
In the spring of 1712, Captain Thomas Baker (Note A) left Northampton, Massachusetts, with a scouting party of thirty-four men, passed up the Connecticut River, to Haverhill, and there turning east, ascended the Oliverian, and came down the Asquamchaukee, as the Indians called the stream which here enters the Pemigewasset. Guided by a friendly Indian, he discovered and completely surprised the savages, at the mouth of the river, on its north bank. The sachem's name was Walternummus and the story runs, that he and Baker levelled their guns at each other at the same instant. The Indian's bullet grazed Baker's left eyebrow, doing him no harm ; but Baker's ball entering the breast, the sachem leaped in the air, and fell dead. Many of the savages were killed, and the survivors fled, giving Baker's party opportunity to rifle their tents, and carry away as many beaver-skins as they could. But the Indians rallied, pursued, and, coming up with Baker's party in Bridgewater, just south of Walter Webster's tavern, another smart skirmish followed. The Indians were repulsed, however, and Baker escaped with his rich booty, and, on May 12, applied to the Massachusetts legislature
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for the bounty promised for Indian scalps; receiving pay for a larger number than they could recover, as the enemy admitted a larger loss.
The next forty years saw many Indian parties passing up and down this valley on the war-path, and some unfortunate prisoners returning with them to the St. Francis, from Rochester, Exeter or Hopkinton. These were the years of Lovewell's expeditions and dis- aster, and of the capture of Louisburg,-a brave exploit, in which New Hampshire men bore an honorable part. The attractions of the fertile Coos meadows were discovered by hunting parties and Indian prisoners, and their importance, as a strategical point against French and Indian invasions, could not be overlooked. A project was formed to establish a strong and semi-military colony, with a grant of four townships, in the Connecticut Valley, at Haverhill and Newbury, and in 1751 and 1752, became a leading feature in the policy of the government (Note B). The secretary of the Province, Atkinson, in a letter written 1752, November 19, says, " We are now upon a Project (which I believe will take effect), of settling a Tract of the finest Land on the Continent, call'd by ye Indians, Co-os, which Lyes upon Connecticut River, about 90 miles northerly from the Province Line. We have already enlisted about four hun- dred Proper men. They are to cut a road to that Place, build two Garrisons, with sufficient accommodations for the 400 or 500 men," etc., " & all their land under tillage be in sight of and defended by the Garrisons ; tis a great undertaking, and a good one ; for I really believe if we do not settle it the French will; for tis the main passage made use of by the Indians from Canada to this country."
An exploring party had visited Coos the previous spring, and about the time this letter was written, a committee were appointed by the Governor and Assembly, with power to lay out and cut a road. They reported in April, 1753, that they " have been upon the spot, and have searched out a convenient way where a road might be cut & Bridged, without any uncommon charge or Difficulty, commencing at the Crotch of Merrimack river, where the rivers of Pemidgwasset & Winnipiseocce meet, & Ending about Ten miles below the head of the sª Tract of land, called Co: os." This party had the services, as guide, of a young man who had been taken prisoner while hunting in Rumney, the spring before, and learned the route from his Indian captors. He was from Derryfield, now Manchester, and his name was John Stark, the future hero of
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HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
Bunker Hill and Bennington. The road, however, was not opened ; but in 1754, Captain Peter Powers, of Hollis, set out, June 15, from Rumford, with another party, for more extended investigation. Hle went as far as Lancaster, and his journal is preserved (Note C).
Governor Wentworth, in his message (1753) repeated and enforced the arguments for this settlement. He says : "Your resolve in this momentous Concern, you may be assured, will not only recommend you to his Majestie's especial favor, but must finally be your great security, as it will cut off all communication the Indians can have between our frontiers and the French Fort at Crown Point, make their incursions from St. Francis more difficult, and, in case of another war, be of great advantage to an army invading Canada."
But the French and their Indian allies were as fully alive to the value of the Coos. Captain Stevens, of "No 4," Charlestown,; reported a visit from the Indians in 1753. "They manifested great uneasiness at our Peoples going to take a view of Cowass Meadows last spring"; and, on leaving, told him, with great deliberation, " for the English to settle Cowass was what they could not agree to, and they must think the English had a mind for war if they should go there." These threats of their foes, and the expense and diffi- culty of the enterprise, delayed it until the French and Indian war, which soon came. And the Coos was not settled till Wolfe had stormed the Heights of Quebec, Montreal had capitulated, and the French were finally driven from Canada, more than 200 years after Cartier's first attempt to plant a French colony and mission there.
A picture must have suitable background to bring out the proper effect of its colors and shades, and the scenes thus briefly suggested are the background on which we must project the Plymouth settle- ment, if we would understand the motives that inspired it, or the training of the early settlers for their work. Doubtless they had been awaiting their opportunity for ten years, and passed through the anxieties and the hardships of the French war with this among the plans which cheered them. And in that war, several of the Plymouth men bore active part. David Hobart, Josiah Brown, Joseph Blanchard, Samuel Cummings, David and Abel Webster, John Willoughby, and perhaps others, were in the service, and took part in the battles around Ticonderoga, and in Canada.
Peace brought the opportunity, which was promptly improved, to push the new settlements. The first, in Grafton County, was made
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in 1761. A grant of Haverhill and Newbury was made to Captain John Hazen (Note D), of Haverhill, and Jacob Bailey, of Newbury, Massachusetts ; and, in the summer of that year, two men in Hazen's employ, came on and established themselves on the Little Ox Bow, in North Haverhill, Hazen and Bailey, with their families, following in 1762. Lebanon was next occupied in 1763, Lyme in 1764, and Campton (Note E), Hanover, Orford and Rumney in 1765.
In November, 1762, a party of eight explorers came up from Hollis, to cut a path and select a place for a settlement. Their names were Elnathan Blood, Josiah Brown, Jotham Cummings, Colonel David Hobart, Zechariah Parker, David Webster, John Willoughby and his son, afterwards "Elder" Willoughby (Note F).
The valuable intervales on the rivers attracted them to this place. Returning to Hollis, they procured the charter of Plymouth, 1763, July 15, and pushed with energy their plans. Eight men were employed here through the season of 1763 (Note G), and others the last part of the year, in preparing for families ; and some of these men spent the winter in the town. In the spring of 1764, the first families arrived (Note H). There is some conflict of testimony as to the time and order of their coming ; but Abel Webster, John Willoughby, Jr., Silas Brown and others, were certainly here in June ; James Hobart and Zechariah Parker, probably ; and perhaps David Webster and Josiah Brown. Before the year ended, Jotham Cummings, James Blodgett, Samuel Dearborn, Ephraim Weston and Stephen Webster, with their families, had arrived,-all from Hollis, except Weston, Dearborn and Stephen Webster, who were from Chester. In the spring of 1765, so many were ready to go, that in April, the proprietors voted to hold their next meeting in Plymouth ; and, May 19, they did meet at David Webster's. In 1767, when a census was taken, there were 227 inhabitants in this town. In Haverhill there were 172 ; Lebanon, 162 ; Hanover, 92 ; and Orford, 75. No other towns in Grafton County are enumerated, and Plymouth shows a more rapid growth than any other of these towns. In 1774, the population was 345.
Plymouth was chiefly a Hollis colony. Of the fifty-five names in the charter, besides those of Governor Wentworth and seven others, members of the council, or otherwise public men, two-thirds are Hollis men, counting as such half a dozen from the adjacent towns. And of the eighty-three names which stand on a school-tax bill, in 1775, more than twenty are cer-
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HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
tainly from Hollis, and probably thirty (Note I). It was good blood, too, that Hollis had to give, and did give, to the new settlement. The high character which she has always maintained, and the large number of useful and eminent men whom she has fur- nished the world, indicate the quality of the original stock from which so many of the Plymouth settlers came, and of which, we may add, they did not prove themselves unworthy. They developed enterprise, sagacity, character, which we, who come after them, may well honor, while we commemorate. When they planted this town, they had no neighbors nearer than Haverhill above, and Bakerstown, now Franklin, below. There was no road for twenty- five miles, and when Colonel Webster drove the first ox-team to Plymouth, he must needs come along the intervales, and in the bed of the river. His wife accompanied him on horseback, with her infant son David in her arms. In after years, she could never describe, without tears, the incident of her arrival, in early evening, at Lieutenant Brown's camp, on the Lower Intervale, and the joy she felt when she saw the torch-light there.
Some extracts, from a manuscript statement of Jotham Cum- mings, Jr., son of the early settler, will help us to appreciate what it cost the fathers to make homes here for themselves. He says :
"My mother rode through from Hollis on horseback, bronght a child on her lap, and baggage, which contained all her furniture to keep house with. Their sufferings for a few of the first years were most distressing .. They had to go to the meadows and pull wild onions, and fry them in the fat of bear- meat, to subsist upon, without a morsel of bread. My father, with others, went to Coneord on snow-shoes, with hand-sleds, and hauled up three bushels of corn-meal each ; and for a member of years,-as late as the Revolutionary War,-I well remember how good a piece of bread tasted, after being without it for three weeks .* Most of the efficient men were gone to meet the invading army of Burgoyne, and left their wives and children to be a prey to wild beasts and tories. In the night the woods would ring with the howling and fighting of wolves and other furious animals ; and, what was worse, alarms would frequently come down, that the British and Indians were coming upon us from Canada. I remember well, that on one Sabbath they had got down as far as Haverhill, and were hourly expected here. Every man who had a gun carried it to the meeting- house, where were assembled the women and children, to seek protection from the sanctuary. Though not five years old, I walked beside my mother, with an infant in her arms, three miles, to attend meeting ; most of the way,
* And even in later years, the first settlers would be· obliged to economize, by mixing the meal with mashed potatoes, in making bread.
2
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woods. Heads of families, whether professors or non-professors, habitually taught their children the Assembly's Catechism on the Sabbath; and our venerable Pastor collected the children once or twice a year, at the meeting- house, to recite the catechism, and receive religious instruction."
These closing sentences remind us of facts which must not be for- gotten in the most summary account of the planting of Plymouth. The early life of the settlement fell upon those days of trial and of glory, when the nation was schooling itself in the ideas of freedom, girding on its armor, and fighting bravely and successfully the battle of independence. While the Plymouth men were subduing the forests, and making for themselves comfortable homes here, they were discussing also British aggressions upon their Colonial rights. The Stamp Act ; the Writs of Assistance; the tax on tea; the clos- ing of the port of Boston,-were gradually preparing the people for the hour of trial ; and when it came, they were not behind their neighbors in prompt and courageous service. At least three men from Plymouth were in the heat of the battle of Bunker Hill. Nahum Powers was a private in Colonel Prescott's regiment, which built the redoubt and fought from it ; and Josiah Brown and Samuel Dearborn were lieutenants in the regiment which, under Stark, threw up the rail-fence breastwork, and repulsed the British veterans so successfully.
In October, 1775, the selectmen of Plymouth reported " eight men gone in the army." Of these, the first place, no doubt, belongs to , David Hobart. Twenty years before, he had been a sergeant in Captain Powers's company, Colonel Joseph Blanchard's regiment, fighting for Crown Point and Ticonderoga ; and throughout that war, he proved himself so competent an officer, that when the Revolution- ary War broke out, he was appointed colonel of the 12th regiment. In this capacity he did good service, and, at the battle of Benning- ton, distinguished himself, leading the attack on the right wing of the British, which was the decisive stroke of the battle (Note J).
David Webster was the worthy companion of Hobart. He had also served in the Seven Years' War, being in Captain Hazen's company in 1757 and in 1760, in the famous Ranger's corps of Rogers and Stark. The cannon of Bunker Hill, heard in Plymouth (Note K), summoned him to the field. He was appointed ensign in Hobart's regiment, and rose through all the grades, to its command. In this capacity, he served in Poor's New Hampshire brigade, at Saratoga, and shared in the memorable victory over Burgoyne
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HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
(Note L). His brother, Amos Webster, commanded a company in Morgan's famous light artillery, whose services were particularly effective in this campaign, and fell in the battle of Stillwater. Jotham Cummings was an officer in 1775, in a company of rangers, for the defence of the frontiers on Connecticut River ; and John Willoughby, besides other services, was one of the volunteers, and placed in command of a Coos company, when the approach of Bur- goyne summoned Stark and the whole State to their brave and suc- cessful attack upon him. And there were, of course, many others from Plymouth, who, in humble stations, shared the perils and glory of the Revolution. Their names deserve to be reverently sought out, and carefully remembered.
But Plymouth was not wholly patriotic. 1775, February 17, the town voted " That the Honorable John Fenton, Esquire, represent this Town in General Assembly." Previous to this time, Plymouth, like all the recently chartered towns, had not been admitted to representation in the General Assembly, that body claiming the right, and contesting it warmly and successfully with the Governor, to determine when towns should receive this privilege. Probably, authority had been received from Governor Wentworth for this Plymouth election ; but when Fenton presented himself, with repre- sentatives from Lyme and Orford, they were promptly refused admittance. Possibly, politic motives of favor at court, where he was evidently a favorite, may have influenced the selection of Fen- ton. But some distrust was felt, and they proceeded to instruct him.
"Sir: We, the freeholders of the town of Plymouth, being highly in- pressed with the most favorable sentiments of you, from the many eminent services conferred on this County, and the town of Plymouth in particular, since your first acquaintance with us, should think it needless, at any other time than this, to give you instructions respecting your conduct as our Representative in General Assembly. But when we reflect on the moment- ous affairs now pending between Great Britain and her Colonies, and the imminent danger that threatens them (for we look upon the interest to be mutual), we trust that you will not construe our instructing you to arise from any distrust or want of confidence, but from anxious wish and hearty desire to see the strictest harmony once more established between our parent state and her Colonies, according to their Charter and other rights, as they have been practised from the first accession of the angust House of Hanover, to the time of the Stamp Act. We, therefore, think it our duty to instruct you as our Representative.
" First. That you will do everything in your power to preserve the laws
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of the land inviolate, and, by every legal means, prevent a diminution of them in every respect whatever; for, should the people either throw them aside, or in any manner disregard them, we apprehend that anarchy and. confusion must quickly ensue.
" Secondly. We recommend to you in the strongest. terms, to discounte- nance every act of oppression, either as to the persons or properties of individ- uals, as we look upon such proceedings to be highly prejudicial to the common cause, and directly tending to fill the minds of the people withi jealousies and distrusts, the bad effects of which must appear obvious to every man of common understanding.
" Thirdly. We desire that you will not, on any account, give up, or in any manner suffer a diminution of the rights and privileges we now enjoy, as we live under good and wholesome laws; and,
Fourthly. That you will do the utmost in your power to keep harmony in the House, that the publick affairs of the Province may be discussed with coolness and impartiality ; much depending on such conduct at this time of our difficulties ; also, that you will endeavor to have the House open, that those out of doors may be acquainted with the debates of their Members, the practice of secrecy heretofore used, tending much to the disquiet of numbers of their constituents."
Fenton needed their watching; and we may surmise that his influence toned down these resolutions, and explains their cautious generalizations and the lack of the fervent patriotic tone with which so many towns spoke when Lexington and Bunker Hill were at hand. This man was the clerk of the court of Grafton County, which was established in 1773, and was doubtless a friend of Governor Wentworth, who appointed him. He did not return to Plymouth. He sent, from Portsmouth, April 25, a warning to the people of Grafton County, to stay at home and attend to their farming : saying, " I am informed, that if the People of the Back settlements take up arms, a number of the Indians & Canadians will fall upon them." The Provincial Congress asked his authority. He was forced to admit that he had none ; and he made himself so obnoxious to the patriots, that he was seized at the house of Governor Went- . worth, dispossessed of the records of the court, voted " not a friend to this country," and imprisoned at Exeter and at Hartford, where General Putnam's influence procured his release, on condition of his leaving the country .*
We return to the history of the church. The charter does not contain the provision, so often inserted, requiring the proprietors to
* See N. H. Prov. Records, vol. 7, page 445, and passim.
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HISTORICAL DISCOURSE.
settle a minister ; but it was not needed, to stimulate those Hollis men. Intending to make homes for themselves in the wilderness, these sons of Puritans and Pilgrims must needs take their church with them. 1764, April 16, they met in Hollis, and organized this church,-before a single family had come to Plymouth (Note M). The church is thus as old as the town, and older, by six months, than any other in Grafton County. I know of but one other instance of promptness like this among our New Hampshire towns, in laying the spiritual foundations. The church in Hampton, the first in the State, was formed in Massachusetts, and emigrated, with its pastor, Rev. Stephen Bacheler. And so substantially our fathers came to Plymouth.
The same day the proprietors voted " to hire Mr. Nathan Ward. to preach four days in the township aforesaid, and that Ensign [David] Hobart wait upon Mr. Ward for that purpose." The warrant under which this action was taken, contained the clause, " To see what method the Proprietors will take about settling a minister at Plymouth"; and thus the naine so honored in the history of the town, is associated with it from the beginning. Mr. Ward came on in May, and a faded memorandum, in the handwriting of Deacon Willoughby, tells us, that on the 19th. "Mr. W. preached, in the forenoon, from the 1st chap. of Isaiah, and the 19 verse ; and, in the aternoon, from Luke, the 15th chapter and the 24th verse." This first sermon in Plymouth was preached at the house of Colonel' David Webster. This was as early as the arrival of the first woman in town, and probably a little earlier.
July 9th, " the proprietors voted (1) to allow Abel Webster 20 pounds, old tenor, for boarding Mr. Ward twelve days, & (2) to give Mr. Ward a call to settle in the work of the Gospel ministry in Plymouth." September 3, "Voted to hire 2 days, Preaching at Plymouth, this fall." It is not strange that Mr. Ward's decision was not immediate. Plymouth was in the wilderness and its pros- pects by no means assured. Tradition says, that he passed the winter in the settlement ; but the proprietors found that farther action was necessary to secure his services ; and, on the 12th of February, 1765, a meeting was held, " to see what encouragement they will give Mr. Nathan Ward to settle," etc. ; and it was voted, "to give Mr. Ward 150 ounces of silver, or the value of it in N. H. money ; as, also, 30 cords of wood, annually, until the town shall increase to the number of 100 families, & then to add 5
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ounces every year to his salary, till it amounts to 200 ounces, & so to remain during the time that he is able to carry on the work of the ministry." 2. Voted to give Mr. Ward $120 for his encouragement, etc., " besides the rights given him by the charter."
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