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M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01095 8780
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Lowell.
Sanborn,
J. P. JEWETT, M. P.
HISTORY
OF
-
BARNSTEAD, New Hampshire
FROM ITS
FIRST SETTLEMENT
IN
1727 TO 1872.
BY JEREMIAH P. JEWETT, M. D. 1
Since his Decease Revised, Enlarged and Published by ROBERT B. CAVERLY, OF THE MIDDLESEX BAR.
LOWELL, MASS. : MARDEN & ROWELL, PRINTERS. 1872.
BARNSTEAD
AND THE
ANNALS OF ITS INHABITANTS.
"It is wise for us to recur to the history of our ancestors. Those, who do not look upon themselves as a link connecting the past with the future, do not perform their duty to the world." DANIEL WEBSTER.
PREFACE.
-
I undertook the revision and publication of this History under many discouragements. Dr. Jewett had in his leisure collected most of its materials, and had hastily arranged them ; but early in 1870 disease came upon him, of which he soon afterwards died, leaving the manuscript in a mixed condition ; yet he had anxiously desired me to obtain the means, revise and publish it.
The town of Barnstead, being involved in a war-debt, refused to aid its publication, and thereby the whole burden of the outlay, as well as the work itself, was thrown upon its editor, living at a distance and encumbered with other cares.
Yet many thanks are due to a citizen of the town, Dr. John Wheeler, who, in sight of the embarrassment, generously vol- unteered, and has given me much service and good advice in obtaining the means of covering its cash expenses, and in col- lecting and furnishing a large amount of materials which have been used in the work.
Thanks, also, to Mary -, by whose kind hand the brief record of a hundred grave-yards has been copied, com- municated, and included in these pages. Grateful acknowledg- ments are also due to many others who have favored us, and whose names will be found in the appendix.
As to my own labor, for which no pay is had, performed mostly late at night, outside the business of a busy profession, " I give and bequeath " it to the generations as yet unborn.
Many things here recorded shall be novel to them; shall be sought for, and shall be carried down to the coming ages as mementos of the past, and as gathered from the graves as well as from the fire-sides of the fathers, at the dawn, and in the midst of a new world.
R. B. C.
Centralville, Lowell, Mass., August, 1872.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
THE NEW WORLD, 9
New England, its First Adventurers,
10
King Massasoit and Samoset,
11
Tisquantum, alias Squanto,
12
New Hampshire and its Land Titles, Indian Tribes,
19
PASSACONAWAY AND ELIOT,
23
Wonalancet .- Major Waldron,
25
War of 1722, -
27
Indian Pastimes,
30 32
Indian Traces and Remains,
34
The Massachusetts Colony, -
36 37
COURT TRIALS AND DECISIONS,
Curious Court Records,
38 41
Custom of wearing long hair (barbarism),
41
Quakers and their Persecutions,
42
Witch-craft, - 43
45
BARNSTEAD, ITS FIRST GRANTEES, . 49-72 50
Settlements, First,
Meeting-House, First Built and its Dedication,
51
Meeting-House, Second Built,
52
Eli Bunker, his Donation, - 53 54
DEDICATION OF SECOND MEETING-HOUSE,
54
The North, the Freewill Baptist, and the Centre Meeting-Houses,
Elder David Knowlton, First Minister,
Rev. Enos George, Second Minister, -
61
FASHIONS IN ATTENDING CHURCH,
64 67
Freewill Baptist Denomination, its Origin, Benjamin Randall,
67
Joseph Boody, sen.,
68 69
EARLY LAND SALES, -
71
Names of First Proprietors,
73
First Settlers,
74
First Families,
- 74-99
56 57 58
Clergymen generally, -
An Incident, -
Meeting-House, Third Built,
The Wars,
Money Coined in Massachusetts, first,
Origin and Habits of the Red-man,
13
CONTENTS.
vii
DIMENSIONS OF THE TOWN, ITS CHARTER, &C., -
100
Streams,
101
Fishing and Hunting, and First Records, 102
Province Road,
103
Soldiers in the Old French War,
116
THE REVOLUTION,
104-107
Soldiers of the Revolution,
116-120
Records,
108-116
Mason Title,
108
First Town Meeting,
109
Town Roads,
112
113
Old French War, Soldiers of,
116
REVOLUTIONARY SOLDIERS,
117
Ponds and Rivers,
121
Localities, the Parade, &c.,
122
Chocorua,
123
Roads and Records,
- 127
SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL-HOUSES,
129-135
Marriages,
136
The First Grist Mill,
137 138
First Stage Coach,
139
Social Library,
140
War of 1812 and its Soldiers, Mexican War,
144
LAWYERS AND THE LAW, -
144
College and other Graduates,
157-163
Physicians of Adjoining Towns,
159
Merchants, -
MANUFACTURING, HAND LABOR, &C.,
Bricks, -
169
Shoes, -
171
Town Pound,
172
Town Hall,
172
Sheep Marking,
173
Selectmen,
174
Town Clerks,
177
Post Offices and Post Masters, Justices of the Peace,
179
HARVESTS AND HUSKINGS,
179
Native Fruits,
182
Apple Trees,
183
.
First Mail,
141
Physicians of Barnstead,
165
167
169
First Saw Mill,
170
REPRESENTATIVES TO THE LEGISLATURE,
178
151
Town Records, miscellaneous,
viii
CONTENTS.
Pears, Peaches, Cherries, &c ..
184
The Potato,
185
Geology,
186
Earthquakes,
CLIMATE, EXTREMES OF HEAT AND COLD,
189
Sanitary Influences, -
192
September Gale of 1815,
194
Longevity,
195
Casualties,
196
Bones, an Incident,
199
Birds, their Coming and Habits,
201
Military, -
204
An Old Fashioned Training,
206
Old Style and New, 209
209
Modern Synchronology,
213
Population and Location, -
218
The Great Rebellion, Soldiers, &c.,
219
March of Improvement, 223
Burial of the Dead,
228
APPENDIX.
Biography of J. P. Jewett, 231
Necrology, 233
Charter of Barnstead, - 242
An old Contract of a First Proprietor,
248
Test List, from the Revolution, ' 251
Catalogue of Patrons to this work, -
253
A Month Among the Tombs (an Epic),
257
ILLUSTRATIONS.
I. Portrait of Dr. J. P. Jewett,
Frontispiece.
II. Samoset's Welcome to the English,
10
III. Death of King Philip, 24
IV. A Conflict with the Indians, 44
V. Portrait of Rev. Enos George,
60
VI. Portrait of E. S. Nutter, Esq., VII. Indians Crossing the Suncook, VIII. A Wheel of the Olden Time,
92
120
IX. An Old Homestead,
180
XI. Portrait of the Editor, .
168
X. The War Horse, .
218
PROMINENT EVENTS (Chronology),
198
COMETS, THEIR APPEARANCES, &C.,
183
-
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
NEW ENGLAND.
Our New World, when first found by the white man, was full of wonders. Scarcely less wonderful were the varied events that followed its discovery. Events that wrought out to us the coming of the Pilgrims, the settling of New England by a generous manhood - perpetuating progress in agriculture, civilization, and the arts, and affording to history its noblest, proudest chapter. The landscape here, as our fathers first found it, was but little else than a vast solitude, an unbroken forest, extending from the sea to an unknown north and west.
This domain, vast as it was, served as a boundless haunt for ferocious beasts of prey, and for scattered, wan- dering tribes of savages. An eternal stillness pervaded the land ; broken only occasionally by the howlings of the storm, and by the boisterous roar of the ocean wave. Oh, how different was it then from now !
The bleak hoarse winds ceased not at misery's moan, To the shivering heart no pitying hand was raised; Cheerless and cold an angry winter howled; Imbittered was the night, and lonely was the day.
Such was the New World when Columbus, in 1492, on the 11th of October, at midnight, discovered it.
2
.
10
1492
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
After this, and up to the time of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, December 11, (O. S.), 1620, vari- ous adventurers from the Old World visited the coasts of New England ; some for the purpose of making discover- ies ; some to make trades with the natives ; and some with an intent of establishing settlements here, and for other purposes.
The first of these voyagers was Sir Francis Drake, who, in 1586, visited these shores while on his adventurous voyage around the world.
The privations which attended the first settlers in New England were great indeed; yet there seems to have been a providential design in their creation, and in the preparation of their adventurous minds for such a pur- pose.
To fulfil such a destiny it was theirs to advance civiliza- tion, to fell the forests, to make the rough places smooth, and to fill the land with fair fields and green pastures. By their faithfulness, force and endurance, towns, cities and States, as if by magic, came into life, exerting an influence to the utmost bounds of the American Continent, and beyond the seas.
In our day it is entertaining and useful to contemplate the result of a beginning so benign and successful,- fraught as it proved to be with so much of hardships, en- durance, and self-sacrifice. They have gone to their ac- count-yet their history is written on the countenances of an enlightened, progressive people - of all men it may be read on the bright folds of our national flag whenever and wherever the sun's rays fall upon it, as it bears on high to the nations of the world the emblems of unity, inde- pendence, prosperity and beauty.
SAMOSET.
11
NEW ENGLAND.
1620
The early pioneers, after landing at Plymouth, estab- lished a code of moral laws, which, coupled with the religion they taught, proved salutary, and which, though two centuries have come and gone, still exist, taking deep root ; and which are destined forever to live, directing and inspiring the coming generations of men.
Their absence from a native home, and former friends. their privations in the severe winters, their sufferings for the want of shelter, food and clothing; these, and their many other trials, served but to increase their trust in that God who had sustained them, and whom they devoutly worshipped. To make this land a fit place for the enjoy- ment of their puritanical faith was the general design of their ambition ; and to this end they lived and labored.
The first voyagers to New England had discovered many things new, curious and strange. Among the native savages which the Pilgrims found here in 1621, who had been spared to survive the plague of 1617-18, were two distinguished natives, Samoset, and Tisquantum alias Squanto. They were loyal to their King, Massasoit, and yet were entirely friendly to the Pilgrims, who in turn treated them kindly. SAMOSET, as he came from the wilderness to meet them, has been described thus :
"From thence SAMOSET comes with heart and hand To welcome Englishmen, and grant them land ;- His visage dark, with long and raven hair, No treacherous marks his beardless features bear, With frame erect, and strangely painted o'er, Belted around his loins, a Sagamore, Whose bony arm a bow and arrow held, A heart unsoiled his tawny bosom swelled To generous deeds. He broken English spake, And talked anon of men, - of Francis Drake, That gallant white man, years before, who came, And gave New England her historic name;
12
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
1622 -
Of Captain Smith who since surveyed the coast, And other voyagers, now a scattered host ; Of former days some history tried to give, And ' lay of land ' where rambling red men live." [From R. B. Caverly's " Merrimac," page 24.]
Some of the Indians (so-called) which the voyagers first found here, were from time to time taken and con- veyed by their captors to various parts of the Eastern World, and were oftentimes exhibited there as objects of wonder and curiosity. Among the many who were thus taken away, was Tisquantum, (previously named), whose brief history may be of interest in this place.
He was conveyed to England by the adventurers Way- mouth and Hunt. But after a considerable time had elapsed, he obtained a passage back to this country and prior to 1617-18 had become chief of the Patuxet tribe. And, as it happened, war with the Tarratines and the plague of those years had destroyed that entire tribe, with the exception of this same Tisquantum, its chief, leaving him here alone in the wilderness, daily witnessing but little else than the unburied bones of his race. When the Pil- grims came he joined their church, became their inter- preter, and, during the remainder of his life (two years) made himself useful to them. He died in December, 1622. This event has been poetized thus :
" Squanto meanwhile who'd served a peaceful end, And in the Pilgrim's God had found a friend, Bereaved and worn by care of bygone years In mazy pathways through a vale of tears, Falls sick; and as by fever low depressed, And life in doubt, to Pilgrims thus addressed His sovereign will: 'This hunting-ground is mine; The lakes, the vales, those mountain-heights sublime, The green-grown banks where Merrimac bright glows, And all the hills far as man's vision goes,
13
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
1625
These spacious wilds my kindred, now no more, In full dominion held and hunted o'er; Then dying, all their titles thus descend To me, TISQUANTUM, now so near, this end Of life. To thee, my Pilgrim friends, I give This broad domain; here may the white man live; My bow and arrow, too, - I give thee all. Hence let me go, obedient to the call Of Angel Death. Adieu l'
Thus gracious dies
The last red man beneath Patuxet skies, And thus the English sole possession share By will from SQUANTO, all these regions fair, Forever thence to lay the forest low,
To fence fair fields, and drive the crooked plow, To waste the wigwams which for ages spread The wild, and build broad mansions in their stead,
School-houses neat, each in its needful place, And sacred temples to their God of grace." [Caverly's " Merrimac," page 26.]
The destruction of the Patuxet tribe was regarded by the Pilgrims as a special interposition of Providence in opening a space for their colony in New England.
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
In 1620 Captain John Mason obtained from the Ply- mouth colony a grant of land extending from the river Naumkeag around Cape Ann to the river " Merrimake," and up these rivers to the farthest head thereof ; - then to cross over from the head of the one to the head of the other. The territory thus included was called " Mari- anna."
1629
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
14
The next year (1621) a grant was made of other ter- ritory jointly to Gorges and Mason, of all the lands between the rivers "Merrimake " and " Sagerdahock," (now known as the Kennebec), extending back to the great lake and river of Canada - and this tract was called Laconia.
Under this grant Gorges and Mason, in conjunction with others, styled themselves The Company of Laco- nia, and commenced the settlement of a colony at Piscataqua. At Little Harbor they established salt works.
In 1629 Captain Mason procured a new patent under the seal of " Plymouth," for the land from the middle of Piscataqua river, and up the same "to the farthest head thereof ;" and from thence northwestward "until sixty miles from the mouth of the harbour were finished." Also "through Merrimack river to the farthest head thereof, and so forward up in to the land westward until sixty miles is finished ; and from thence to cover over land to the end of the sixty miles accounted from Piscataqua river, to- gether with all the islands within five leagues of the coast." This tract of land was called NEW HAMPSHIRE. It took its name from Hampshire, a county in England.
This territory appears to have included the whole of what was called "the Wheelwright purchase," and this patent was obtained, as may well be supposed, for the purpose of fortifying Mason's first title to the same tract of country, which had been obtained by him and Gorges seven years previously.
Also, in the year 1629, some of the few planters on the Massachusetts Bay, being desirous of making a settle- ment in the neighborhood of Piscataqua, and following the
4
15
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
1630
example of those of Plymouth who had purchased their lands of the Indians, and recognizing the validity of Indian titles, notified a general meeting of the tribes at Swampscott Falls, at which they obtained a deed of Passa- conaway, Sagamore of Penacook, Runawick of Pentucket, · Wahangowit, of Swampscott, and Rolls of Newchannock, wherein they express their desire to have the English come and settle among them as in Massachusetts ; and whereby they hoped to be strengthened against their enemies, the Tarratines. Accordingly with the universal consent of their subjects, for what they deemed a valuable considera- tion in coats, shirts and kettles, they sell to John Wheel- wright of Massachusetts, minister, Augustus Storer, Th. Wright, William Wentworth and Thomas Leavitt, " All that part of land bounded by the river Piscataqua and the river Merrimacke, and up said river to the Falls of Pa- tueket : to begin at Newichewannok Falls in Piscataqua river, and down said river to the sea, and along said shore to the Merrimack, and from the Northeast line of the Mer- rimack at the Falls twenty English miles unto the woods, and from thence upon a straight line northeast till it meets with the main river from the falls to Newichewan- nok falls aforesaid."
The northwest line here described ends within the township of Amherst, and the northeast line crosses the river Merrimac at Amoskeag Falls, and passes through Chester, Nottingham, Barrington, Rochester, intersecting Newichewannok River ten miles above Salmon Falls.
The conditions of this grant were, that Wheelwright should have ten years to begin a plantation at Swamp- scott Falls ; that other inhabitants should have the same privilege with him ; that no plantation should exceed ten
16
1631
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
miles square ; that no lands should be granted but in townships ; that these should be subject to the Massachu- setts Colony, until they acquired a settled government among themselves ; that for each township there should · be paid one coat of frocking cloth as an annual acknowl- edgement to Passaconaway or his successor; and two bushels of corn to Wheelwright and his heirs ; the Indians reserving the right and liberty of fishing, fowling, hunt- ing, and planting within said limits.
By deeds like these the English inhabitants within this territory obtained titles from the native proprietors of the soil.
Previous to the conveyance above named, Captain John Mason had a deed which he and his heirs held for many years, annoying the inhabitants, retarding their prog- ress, and ending in disputations, and which was settled at last by legislation.
LACONIA had been explored by adventurers, and de- scribed as containing divers lakes, and extending back to the great lake and rivers in the country of the Iroquois. The lake was said to be fair and large, containing many beautiful islands ; the air pure and salubrious ; the coun- try pleasant, having some high hills, with lofty forests, fair valleys and fertile plains, abounding with vines, and with chestnuts, walnuts and many other sorts of fruit. The rivers were represented to be well supplied with fish and as environed with spacious meadows thick-set with timber-trees .-
In the great lake, as they said, there were four islands covered with pleasant woods and meadows, having in them stags, fallow elk, roebuck and other game. These islands were described to be commodiously situated for
17
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
1632
habitation and traffic in the surroundings of a fine lake, affording the most delicate fish for the household.
In 1631 Neal, the agent of Mason, with several others, set out on foot to visit the beautiful lake and settle a trade with the Indians. "They calculated the distance to be less than a hundred miles.
In the course of their travels they visited the White Mountains, describing them to be " a ridge extending a hundred leagues, on which snow lyeth all the year." On one of these mountains they report as having found a plain of a day's journey, whereupon nothing grows but moss ; and at the end of this plain a rude heap of many stones, one on the top of another, a mile high ; on which one might ascend from stone to stone like a flight of wind- ing stairs, at the top of which there was another level of about an acre, with a pond of clear water. This summit they described to be far up above the clouds. That from here they beheld a vapour like a vast pillar drawn up by the sun-beams out of the vast lake into the air, where it was formed into a cloud.
The country beyond these mountains northward was described to be full of rocky elevations as thick as mole- hills in a meadow, and clothed with infinite thick woods. They expressed the hope of finding precious stones on these mountains ; and something like crystals being picked up, these elevations took the name " Chrystal Hills."
From here these adventurers continued their search for the lake until finding their provisions nearly spent, and, the forests of Laconia yielding no supply, they were obliged to return; and at a time when they supposed themselves within a day's journey of the lake itself.
3
18
1641
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
By the death of Mason in 1635 many a visionary scheme, for speculation, aggrandizement, and power, waned away and failed. Governor Winthrop in his jour- nal of 1636, says : " The last winter Captain Mason died. He was the chief mover in all attempts against us. But the Lord in mercy taking him away, all the business fell asleep."
It would seem that the Colony of Massachusetts never had much respect for Mason, nor for his religion, nor for his method of doing business.
After the death of Mason, New Hampshire was, by his will, lotted out to his heirs in portions to suit its pro- visions. There were however several churches and schools which were remembered in his legacies.
Both Mason and Gorges did much in the settlement of this part of the country, but lost a considerable portion of their estates in the undertaking. Piscataqua and many other towns, having at this time no regular government, thought best to join with Massachusetts for aid and pro- tection. And in 1641 the Court on the part of Massachu- setts consented that these towns should be admitted and allowed to enjoy the same privileges with the rest of the Colony, for whom the Court was empowered to act. Under this arrangement these towns were allowed to send two Deputies to the General Court. The freemen had a right to vote in town affairs, although not church members. By such annexation Essex County was made to extend over all the English neighborhoods of New Hampshire.
From this time a new impetus was given to settlements, especially in the lower towns. Mason was dead. His titles to this large tract of territory were not acknowledged by Massachusetts. His heirs soon laid claim to it, and
19
INDIAN TRIBES.
1642
deeded away numerous townships. Still their titles were doubted, and after a lapse of more than half a century a - renewal of questions of law relating to the old Mason titles created much anxiety among the settlers. Suits were brought - settlers were ejected - and for more than a hundred years this old title was at issue, creating much expense and trouble among the settlers. Legislative ac- tion however settled it finally, and restored to the parties peace and quietude.
THE INDIANS.
In the early part of the 17th century the country along the coasts of New England was divided and claimed by different tribes of Indians, all speaking nearly the same language.
Captain John Smith, a voyager in 1614, gives a minute account of them. Most of these tribes occupied the same positions for nearly a century after the country was being settled by the English. The Penobscots were represented to have been the most powerful nation in New England. They were under the control of a Bashaba, or chief, who held all the tribes in the district of Maine subjected to him as allies.
He was at war with the Tarratines, a warlike nation, who from the north often invaded him, sometimes secretly, and who at length slew him and murdered his family. The particulars of this war are not fully known. But as tra-
20
HISTORY OF BARNSTEAD.
1643
dition has it, the sachem above referred to, " had his prin- cipal seat upon a small hill, or rising upland, in the midst of a body of salt marsh in the township of Dorchester, near to a place called Squantum."
After the death of their chief by the Tarratines a division arose between them in the choice of their next Bashaba, of which the Tarratines took advantage, and soon over-powering them, waged a war of extermination all along the coast of Massachusetts.
Hand in hand, as it were, with the perpetrators of these deeds of bloodshed, the pestilence of 1617-18, or the plague as it was called, came upon them, so that in 1620 the tribes upon the sea-coast from the St. Croix to Cape Cod had become greatly reduced in numbers, and in some regions almost entirely extinct. And thus the hills and vales, and banks of the New England rivers were made white with their bones. Such was the situation when the Pilgrims came.
" They meet ' old SQUANTO' wandering here alone, Who, sore depressed - bereaved of friends and home - Recounts events which true tradition brought, Of Indian life, what sad experience taught, How far and near the dead unburied lay, His own Patuxet tribes all swept away; Yet nations seaward deep in woods afar, Spared from the scourge of pestilence and war, Still thrive. There Massasoit, whose power maintains The peace of tribes, in full dominion reigns."
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