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Library of
RSITY OF NEW 1866
HAMPSHIP
SHI . 1923.
TATE
HAN
Agriculture
Technology
Liberal Arts
The University of New Hampshire
HISTORY
OF
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY,
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
COMPILED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF D. HAMILTON HURD. 1.
ILLUSTRATED.
PHILADELPHIA: J. W. LEWIS & CO. 1885.
COPYRIGHT, 1885, BY J. W. LEWIS & Co.
Y
H95gh,
PUBLISHERS' PREFACE.
NEARLY three years ago the attention of the publishers, who have long made a specialty of this class of work, was called to the fact that a history of Hillsborough County was needed. After mature deliberation the work was planned and its compilation commenced. The best literary talent in this section of the State for this especial work was engaged, whose names appear at the head of their respective articles, besides many other local writers on special topics. These gentlemen approached the work in a spirit of impartiality and thoroughness, and we believe it has been their honest endeavor to trace the history of the development of the territory embodied hercin from that period when it was in the undis- puted possession of the red man to the present, and to place before the reader an authentic narrative of its rise and progress. The work has been compiled from authenticated and original sources, and no effort spared to produce a history which should prove in every respect worthy of the county represented.
PHILADELPHIA, AUGUST, 1885.
THE PUBLISHERS.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
PAGE
PAGE
Adams, Phinehas.
123
Fitch, Charles D
348
Atherton, Charles G
12
Forsaith, Samuel C.
8.1
Atherton, Charles H
10
Foster, Herman
26
Atherton, Joshua ...
9
French, John C
133
Averill, Clinton S
579
Fuller, John G. 425
389
Ayer, Samuel II
13
Gilbert, John
431
Balch, Charles E
133
Gilman, Horace W 209
Balch, Mark
300
Gilman, Virgil C
210
Baldwin, Samuel.
288
Goodale, John II
379
Bartlett, Charles H
32
Goodale, Levi
429
Bell, Samuel D
17
Goodale, T. N.
129
Berry, Augustus
647
Goodell, David II
260
Blood, Aretas.
75
Goodale Family
128
Bradford, Ephraim P
606
Godfrey, Reuben
Bradley, Denis M
104
Goffe, John
47
Briggs, James F
29
Gove, Charles F
12
Brooks, Isaac.
249
Graves, Josiah G
199
Buck, William D
126
Gray, H. N
726
Burnham, Abel C
426
Greeley, Horace
250a
Burnham, Henry E
32
Gregg, James.
389
Burns, Charles H.
39
Griffin, George.
196
Campbell, Charles H
250
Grimes, Francis
422
Campbell, Daniel
250
Grimes, James F
423
Campbell, Daniel, Jr.
25]
Hall, James H
216
Chamberlain, James L
526
Hall, James Harvey
296
Champney, Ebenezer
9
Hamblet, Eli
484
Cheney, Person C
83
Heald, David
580
Christie, Morris
262
Hildreth, Jotham.
512
Claggett, Clifton
10
Holman, Charles
201
Claggett, Wiseman
8
Hosley, John
135
Clapp, Allen N.
132
Howard Family, The
213
Clark, Daniel.
17
Hutchinson, John W.
581
Clark, Lewis W
26
Jones Family, The.
427
Clarke, John B
55
Kimball, Gilman.
263
Clarke, Joseph B.
33
Kingsbury, George
300
Clarke, William C.
20
Lincoln, Leavitt.
630
Clough, Lucien B
32
Livermore, Solomon K .. ,
573
Cragin, Daniel
725
Lund, Charles.
216
Crombie, Ninian C
609
Maynard, John H
135
Crosby, Josiah
125
Merrill, James B 483
60
Cumner, Nathaniel W
129
Moore, Norman J. M
202
Currier, Moody
66
Morrison, George W
13
Cutler, John H
665
Murray, Orlando D
203
Dana, Samuel
10
Newell, Joseph
722
Davis, Joseph
364
Parsons, William M.
137
Dearborn, Cornelius Van M
207
Partridge, S. II.
347
Dearborn, Samuel G.
201
Parker, John M
326
Dodge, l'erley
35
Parker, William T
549
Dunlap, Archibald H.
211
Pattee, L. N
330
Eaton, Harrison 547
Pevey, Peter
349
Edwards, Supply W
676
Pevey, Zebediah.
344
Farley, Benjamin M
39
Pierce, Franklin
10
Fellows, Joseph W.
39
Potter, Chandler E
136
Ferguson, Jolın.
128 Preston, John
628
vii
Cross, David
31
Moore, Joseph C
214
Ayer, Benjamin F
31
Fulton, James
viii
BIOGRAPHIES.
PAGE
Ramsey, John ..
347
Straw, Ezekiel A
80
Sawyer, Aaron F
30
Sulloway, Cyrus A
32
Sawyer, Aaron W
36
Swallow, Stillman
217
Sawyer, Moses.
694
Tarbell, Joel H
511
Secomb, John,
250a
Tuttle, Jacob.
261
Shirley Family, The
327
Upton, Samuel.
34
Simons, Hiran
69I
Wallace, Alonzo S
294
Simons, Lewis.
692
Wason, Elbridge
605
Smith, George L
608
Webster, Kimball
482
Smith, Isaac W
27
Wells, Charles
127
Smith, John B
429
Weston, James A
121
Smith, Luke
607
White, Jeremiah W
205
Smyth, Frederick
67
Whitford, Elliott.
215
Spalding, Isaac
199
Whiting, David.
723
Stanley, Clinton W
22
Wilkins, Alexander M
550
Stark, John
46
Woodbury, John,
648
Stevens, Aaron F
37
Worcester, Joseph E
455
Stevens, William.
743
Worcester, Samuel T.
39
327
Stinson, Charles.
PAGE
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
PAGE
Adams, Phinehas.
124
lIolman, Charles.
201
Averill, Clinton S
578
IIosley, John.
136
Balch, Charles E
134
IToward, Ezra P
212
Balch, Mark
300
Hutchinson, John W.
582
Baldwin, Samuel.
288
Jones, Parker.
427
Berry, Augustus.
647
Kimball, Gilman
263
Blood, Aretas
75
Kingsbury, George
301
Bradley, Denis M.
104
Lincoln, Leavitt,
630
Bradford, Ephraim P
60G
Livermore, Solomon K
574
Brooks, Isaac
249
Lund, Charles.
216 1
Buck, William D
166
Map of Hillsborough County
Burnham, Abel C
422
Maynard, John H
135
Burns, Charles H.
40
Merrill, James B.
483
Campbell, Charles H
250
Moore, Joseph C
60
Campbell, Daniel, Jr
250a
Moore, Norman J. M.
202
Chamberlain, James L
526
Murray, Orlando D
203
Cheney, Person C.
83
Newell, Joseph
722
Christie, Morris
262
Parker, John M.
326
Clapp, Allen N
132
Parker, William T. 549
137
Clarke, John B
55
Partridge, S. H
347
Clark, Lewis W
27
Pattee, L. N
330
Clough, Lucien B.
32
Pevey, Peter.
349
Crosby, Josiah
125
Pevey, Zebediah
344
Cross, David
31
Pierce, Franklin.
10
Cromble, Ninian C
609
Potter, Chandler E
136
Cumner, Nathaniel W.
129
Preston, John
628
Currier, Moody
6G
Ramsey, John,
346
Cutler, John H
666
Sawyer, Aaron W
36
Davis, Joseph
364
Sawyer, Moses
694
Dearborn, Cornelius Van M
206
Shirley, E. C
328
Dearborn, Samuel G.
200
Simons, Hiram
691
Dodge, Perley
35
Simons, Lewis
692
Doe, Geo. I. Res of
704
Smith, George L
608
Dunlap, Archibald II
211
Smith, Isaac W
28
Edwards, Supply W
676
Smith, John B
430
Ferguson, John.
128
Smith, Luke,
608 68
Fitch, Charles D
348
Smyth, Frederick
198
Foster, Herman.
26
Stanley, Clinton W
22
French, John C.
133
Stark, John.
46
Fuller, John G.
4:24
Stevens, Aaron F
38
Fulton, James
390
Stevens, William
743 327
Gilbert, John.
431
Stinson, Charles.
80
Gilman, Horace W
208
Straw, Ezekiel A
33
Gilman, Virgil C ..
210
Godfrey, Reuben
214
Swallow, Stillman
217
Goodale, Levi.
428
Tarbell, Joel H.
511
Goodale, Thomas N
429
Tuttle, Jacob
261
Goodell, David HI
260
Upton, Samuel.
34
Graves, Josialı G
199
Wallace, Alonzo S
249
Gray, H. N
726
Wason, Elbridge
605
Gregg, James
389
Webster, Kimball
482
Griffin, George
496
Wells, Charles
127
Grimes, Francis
422
Weston, James A
121
Grimes, James F
423
WInte, Jeremiah W
204
Hall, James Harvey
296
Whitford, Elliott
215
Hamblet, Eli
484
Whiting, David
724
Heald, David
580
Wilkins, Alexander M.
550
Hildreth, Jotham
512 Woodbury, John
648
ix
Clark, Daniel.
18
Parsons, William M
Forsaith, Samuel C
84
Spalding, Isaac.
Sulloway, Cyrus A
M
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HISTORY
OF
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION OF COURTS.
BY GEORGE A. RAMSDELL.
FOR many years previous to 1740 the boundary lines of the province of New Hampshire were in dispute.
Massachusetts claimed that the division boundary between that State and New Hampshire was defined by a line drawn from a point on the Atlantic coast three miles north of the mouth of the Merrimack River, and running on the northerly and easterly side of the river, and at a distance of three miles from it, to a point three miles beyond the parallel of the junction of the Winnipiseogee and the Pemigewasset; thence due west to the Connecticut. This covered all the territory included in the present limits of the county of Hillsborough, excepting the town of Pelham and such portion of the town of Hudson as lies more than three miles from the Merrimack River. It also in- cluded the whole of Cheshire County and the larger part of the present limits of Merrimack and Sullivan Counties.
New Hampshire claimed for her southern boundary a line produced due west from the same point on the ocean. By this claim the towns of Pelham, Hudson, Litchfield, Nashua, Merrimack, Hollis, Amherst and other towns lying within some fourteen miles of latitude were conceded to be in Massachusetts. The ancient town of Dunstable, containing more than two hundred square miles, and including all of the towns above named and portions of other towns within the present limits of New Hampshire, made a part of the county of Middlesex, in Massachusetts, and had not before 1740 been regarded by any party as in part the territory of the province of New Hampshire.
Previous to 1740 a board of commissioners, acting under the royal authority, had established the eastern
boundary, but failing to agree upon the southern line the King himself terminated the controversy in favor of New Hampshire, fixing the present boundary and granting the State a much larger territory than had been claimed. The decision, though somewhat arbi- trary and not in accordance with the prayer of either party, was founded upon sound suggestions. By the letter of the grant to Massachusetts it would seem that her claim was good, but it was urged by the King's Council that when the Massachusetts grant was made the country was unexplored, and the course of the Merrimack was supposed to be substantially at right angles with the ocean its entire length, and that it would be just and equitable between the parties to follow the river so far as its general course was from the west to the east and no farther.
This act of the King annexing so much territory, before that time under the government of Massachu- setts, to the province of New Hampshire was not satisfactory to the people of Massachusetts, or to the inhabitants of the lands so virtually annexed. It was very naturally urged by the people, who were thus made to attorn to New Hampshire, that it was unfair to sever them from a more powerful province against their remonstrance and annex them to a weaker at a time when it seemed there would be no end of Indian wars and depredations. An attempt was made to have the matter reheard, which failed, as well as a proposi- tion to re-annex the entire province to Massachusetts.
Upon the settlement of a question which had troubled the province for half a century, the towns which had had a corporate existence under Massa- chusetts were rechartered by the province of New Hampshire, and new towns were formed from those portions of existing towns cut off from Massachusetts.
The political history of New Hampshire to the middle of the eighteenth century is simply the history of the southeastern portion of the State, Portsmouth, Exeter and Dover being the towns of consequence at
1
2
HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
that time. Previous to the year 1770 the entire State, for all financial and judicial purposes, was a single count. All business of a public nature was transacted at one of the three towns named, and most of it at Portsmouth. All the royal executive officers resided there. Portsmouth then had a population of more than four thousand, and was practically the capital of the province.
As the province increased in population the people demanded other and smaller political divisions, in which ordinary business could be transacted.
In 1767, John Wentworth, the second of that name, was appointed Governor of New Hampshire, and one of the measures brought forward at the opening of his administration comprehended the division of the province into counties, and the erection of a judicial system to meet the wants of the entire State. It was opposed by the residents of what is now Rockingham County, on the ground that it would increase the ex- penses of the province without corresponding advan- tages. The Governor favored the measure as one likely to develop the province, an end to which he devoted his entire energies; penetrating the wilderness so far as to lay out an estate and erect an elegant mansion at Wolfborough, upon the Winnipiseogee.
The matter was debated in several sessions of the Assembly before all points of difference could be rec- onciled. The number of counties, and lines of divi- sion were not easily agreed upon. It was finally settled that the province should be divided into five counties, with an ample judiciary system. The act was finally passed, suspending its operation until such time as the King's pleasure should be known. The act took effect in the spring of 1771.
Governor Wentworth named the counties (after his friends in England) Rockingham, Strafford, Hills- borough, Cheshire and Grafton. It may be remarked that by the efforts of parties opposed to any division. the counties of Strafford and Grafton, by an amend- ment to the act, remained connected to the county of Rockingham until 1773. Sullivan has since been taken off Cheshire, Coos from Grafton, Merrimack from Rockingham and Hillsborough, Carroll and Belknap from Strafford.
Hillsborough County upon its organization in- chided all the territory of the present county, except- ing the town of Pelham, which for a time formed part of Rockingham County. It also included all of the present county of Merrimack west of the Merrimack River, excepting the town of Bow, the city of Concord and portions of other towns whose lines have been changed within a few years. The territory thus set off for the county of Hillsborough was not all incor- porated into towns. Some of it was not even settled, and some lands then settled remained unincorporated for several years. The population of the county at the time of its organization was not far from fifteen thousand. There were eighteen incorporated towns within the present limits of the county, ranking as
follows in point of population and valuation : Am- herst, Hollis, New Ipswich, Dunstable, Merrimack, Nottingham West (now Hudson), Peterborough, Litchfield, Bedford, Goffstown, Derryfield (now Man- chester), Wilton, New Boston, Mason, Weare, Lynde- borough, Temple and Hillsborough. More than half the population of the county at this time resided in the six towns Amherst, Hollis, New Ipswich, Dun- stable, Merrimack and Nottingham West.
New Hampshire was settled by immigration coming in through four different channels, the Portsmouth and Piscataqua colonies, the Londonderry colony, the settlers coming into the State by way of Dunstable, and the line of immigration coming up the valley of the Connecticut River. The county of Hillsborough was peopled from the second and third of these sources, and very largely from the Londonderry settlement.
No sooner was the demand for the division of the State into counties in a fair way to be answered affir- matively than the question of the selection of the shire- town began to be agitated. Three towns were named in this connection,-Ainherst, Hollis and Merrimack. The attention of the Governor of the province was called to this matter as early as October, 1767, by the Rev. Daniel Wilkins, the first minister of the town of Amherst, in the following letter :
" Hon. and Dear Sir :
" After due salutations I beg leave to inform your Honr that the pro- posal of the general Court, that Merrimack be the shire-town of the county on the west side of Merrimack river, has caused a general un- easiness throughout the county, and many thinking men in Merrimack itself (as I have been credibly informed) are well satisfied that if the pro- posal be established, it will be greatly to the town damage in general, as they are small in numbers, consisting of seventy odd families, no more, and those much scattered, and many of that number are new places and no ways accommodated to entertain a Court, especially with hay and pas- turage ; neither do they ever expect to be accommodated within the pre- mises, as a great part of their land is poor and clothed with shrub. The uneasiness of the people arises from the said proposal not being for Am- herst rather than Merrimack, not only as Amherst has been talked as for a shire-town ever from its infancy, thereby fixing the mind of the people upon it, being from its situation nearer to the Ileart of the county, so that many towns can come from home in the morning and return home in the evening. They could not possibly do the like if the Court be at Merrimack, and thereby save a great deal of charge to poor people.
" And now, honored sir, I beg leave to give a description of Amherst in a few words : 'It is situated about eight miles from Mr. Lutwickes' Ferry, on Merrimack river, the contents of which is about six miles square, containing about one hundred and sixty families and accommo- dated, according to men of the best judgment, to settle one hundred fami- lies more than is already settled, and near a hundred of them are good country farms, well accommodated with fields and pastures, and chiefly all good Husbands.'
" The middle of the town is pleasantly situated, a good coach road from the eastern and southern parts of the province, and all roads center there. The people in general, knowing the situation and accommodations of Amherst to entertain the Court, suppose that the General Court's proposal for Merrimack springs from a misrepresentation. The occa- sion of these lines to your Hon' was the cries of the people, and I beg leave to subscribe your humble servant.
" DANIEL WILKINS. "Amherst, Oct. ye 1, 1767.
" To the Hon. George Jeffrey, Esq., in Portsmouth."
The arguments of this divine, reinforced by other expressions of the voice of the people of the county, prevailed, and Amherst was made the shire-town. It
3
EARLY HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION OF COURTS.
was a just decision, it being the most populous town, and located near what was then the centre of popula- tion and near the present geographical centre of the county. Amherst then had as large a population as to-day, but it must be remembered that its territorial limits have been contracted, the towns of Milford and Mount Vernon having been taken from it. For a long time it was a place of business and social consequence ; many people of culture and distinction have there re- sided. A lack of water-power and railroad facilities have cost the town the prominence it once had, and it has receded from the first to the ninth place in rank among the towns of the county in the matter of popu- lation and valuation. It was sole shire-town for the present county limits until 1846, when a term of court was established at Manchester, and another term at Nashua in 1857. In 1865 a jail was legally established at Manchester, and the old stone building at Amherst was discontinued. In 1866 the records, for so long a time at Amherst, by vote of the county, were removed to Nashua, where they are now kept in substantial buildings and vaults. In 1879 the only term of court then held at Amherst was abolished, and the town, after an honorable record of one hundred and eight years, ceased, in the language of Parson Wilkins, to entertain the courts.
It is not generally known that a town of consider- able ` importance, called Monson, had a chartered existence in this county previous to the year 1770, It lay upon the south of the Souhegan River and measured upon the river about six miles, extending from a little above Jones' Corner, in Milford, to a point a little below Danforth's Corner, in Amherst. The breadth of the town from the river south was some- thing more than four miles. The inhabitants of this town made several attempts to be annexed to Am- herst. The principal reason given in their petition to the Assembly was the lack of any central place in the town suitable for a meeting-house. Amherst at first opposed the annexation, but afterwards voted to take a part of the town if Monson would be at the expense of the annexation. Accordingly, an act was passed annexing to Amherst that part of Monson in- cluded in these limits: "From Souhegan River, southerly by the town of Merrimack, two miles ; from thenee west to the west line of Monson ; from thence northerly to the river, and from this point down the river to the first place mentioned." The remainder of the town was annexed to Hollis. Thus was dismembered a town of the best natural facilities for no better reason than that the geographical centre was not smooth and level enough for a meeting- house common. Amherst held these rich Monson intervales until 1794, when, on the incorporation of Milford, she surrendered them, with other choice lands upon the north side of the river, giving up in 1794 more than she had received in 1770.
The act of the Assembly by which the counties were organized was entitled "An Act for dividing the
Province into Counties and for the more easy admin- istration of Justice."
It provided for the erection of three courts of justice and for necessary county buildings.
The courts were named,-First, the Superior Court of Judicature, which was to be the supreme tribunal of the province; this court existed until 1813, when the Federalists, having the political power in the State, abolished it for the purpose of getting rid of politically obnoxious judges and erected the Superior Judicial Court, which, in turn, was overturned in 1816 by the Democratic Republicans, and the Superior Court of Judicature re-erected. The last-named court con- tinued to be the court of last resort until the year 1855, when the American or Know-Nothing party, com- ing into power, abolished it and re-established the Supreme Judicial Court, which, in turn, in 1874, was abolished and the Superior Court of Judicature estab- lished. This court existed until 1876, when it was succeeded by the Supreme Court, now in existence.
In 1813 it was elaimed that the Legislature could not, by changing the name and, in some minor partic- ulars, the functions of a court, get rid of its judges in a summary manner; that the only way was by address for cause shown or by impeachment. But however much politicians and jurists may differ as to the soundness of the policy of such radical legislation, it seems now to be well settled that this method of procedure has been and is constitutional, else the first court erected under any fundamental law could never be changed, though time and experience should show it to have grave defects.
The chief justices of the Supreme Court of the State, under its various names, have been as follows : Before the Revolution, Theodore Atkinson and Mesheck Weare; since the Revolution, Mesheck Weare, Samuel Livermore, Josiah Bartlett, John Pickering, John Dudley, Simeon Oleott, Jeremiah Smith, Arthur Livermore, William M. Richardson, Joel Parker, John J. Gilchrist, Andrew S. Woods, Ira Perley, Samuel D. Bell, Henry A. Bellows, Jonathan E. Sar- gent, Edmund L. Cushing and Charles Doe. But two of these distinguished men were born in Hillsborough County,-Jeremiah Smith, at Peterborough, and Samuel D. Bell, at Francestown.
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