USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Dunbarton > History of the town of Dunbarton, Merrimack County, New-Hampshire, from the grant by Mason's assigns, in 1751, to the year 1860 > Part 1
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Gc 974.202 D91s 1136464
MJ L
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01096 2196
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofd00star_0
١
HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF DUNBARTON.
MERRIMACK COUNTY,
NEW - HAMPSHIRE,
FROM THE
GRANT BY MASON'S ASSIGNS, IN 1751.
TO
THE YEAR 1860. *
·
BY CALEB STARK.
1
CONCORD : PUBLISHED BY G. PARKER LYON. 1860.
Entered according to an act of Congress, in the year 1860, BY CALEB STARK, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of New-Hampshire.
M'FARLAND & JENKS, PRINTERS. .
. ERRATA .- Page 27, for Robert Mack read Robert Stark. Page 79, for individual read undivided. Page 183, for B. W. Wentworth read B. Wentworth.
TO OUR READERS.
1136464
A principal object in collecting the materials arranged in this publication was to obtain information relative to our native town, by an inspection of its public records.
The interest created by their perusal determined us to em- body their contents, with an intention of publishing the result of our researches, should that design be countenanced by a subscription sufficiently large to justify the experiment.
At the adjourned annual meeting of the present year, the question of publication was decided by a vote, granting one copy to each tax-payer in town .*
Every inhabitant will, in consequence, be enabled to peruse a summary account of the settlement and progress of their now flourishing location, amidst whose formerly dense forests their adventurous ancestors established their abodes, without the trouble of tracing particulars through the records one hundred and nine years.
To the inhabitants of Dunbarton, for whose consideration it is particularly intended, this Production is respectfully in- scribed by their often
Obliged friend and
Most obedient servant,
THE AUTHOR.
* VOTE OF THE TOWN. Voted, That the selectmen appropriate a suffi- cient sum of money to procure for each tax-payer in town a copy of the History of Dunbarton, now being written by Caleb Stark.
A true copy-Attest : CHARLES KIMBALL, Town-Clerk.
The foregoing is a copy of a vote passed March 17th, 1860, at a meet- ing of the inhabitants of Dunbarton.
.
·
٦
INDEX TO CONTENTS.
Historical sketch,
9
Proprietors' records,. 40
Charter and proceedings under it, 99
Miscellaneous matters - warning out,. 138
Dr. Dugall's petition,.
139
Tithing-men, ...
139
Militia trainings,
140
Raisings and trials of strength and skill, 141
Bounds of the Common,. 143
Dr. Jackson's Survey,
143
Lease of town lands,
144
Grave-yard wall,
145
Grave-yard,.
147
Physicians,.
150
Magistrates,
150
Religious associations,. 150
Revolutionary soldiers,
151
Ecclesiastical statistics, 152
Post-offices,
154
Traders, ..
155
New meeting-house,. 156
Protest of Major John Stinson to the meeting of 1801,
161
Accidental deaths, ... 162
Disappearance of McCarthy,.
163
Journal of E. L. Harris, ..
165
INDIVIDUAL NOTICES.
Archibald Stark and sons,.
174
Major Robert Rogers, 178
Captain Caleb Page, 181
Captain William Stinson 194
Archibald Stinson,
196
John Stinson, Jr., .
198
viii
INDEX TO CONTENTS.
Jeremiah Stinson,
200
William Stinson, .. 201
James Stinson, .. 201
Colonel John Stinson, 201
Jonathan Burbank, 201
Stephen Burbank, ..
202
Samuel Stinson,.
202
John Stinson,.
202
Rev. Walter Harris,
203
Mills family,.
210
William Beard,
212
John Bunten,
213
John Fulton, ...
213
Joseph Putney and James Rogers,
213
Thomas Caldwell,
249
Israel Clifford,
249
Phinehas Bailey,.
249
William Tenney,
250
Nathan Gutterson,.
250
James Hogg, .
250
Samuel Gutterson,
251
Shubael Tenney,
251
Nathaniel T. Safford,
251
Jonas Hastings,
251
Robert Alexander,
.252
Jonathan Waite,
253
Paul Healey,.
251
Richard Cilley,
251
William Brown, 252
Benjamin Twiss,.
253
Benjamin Marshall
253
John Dodge, 253
James Morse,. 253
Benjamin Perley, Jr., 254
Captain Joseph Leach, 254 Eliphalet R. Sargent, 254
Joshua F. Hoyt, .. 254
Thomas Tewksbury, 255
John Gould,. 255
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
THE incidents attending the settlement and onward pro- gress of an inland agricultural town, cannot be expected to interest others than its residents, or the descendants of its early proprietors, the "forefathers of the hamlet," whose honored graves are located amidst the scenes of their former toil.
Their indomitable resolution and life-enduring labors. cleared away the wild forests, and destroyed or expelled their wilder occupants, the wily human savage, as also the ferocious animals that prowled at will amid their solitudes. They prepared the pleasant fields and pastures now adorn- ing our hill-sides and valleys, for the peaceable enjoyment of their posterity.
The fortunate possessors of this fair domain, whose ac- quisition was attended by neither toil or danger, cannot too highly appreciate the noble sacrifices and cheerfully encountered perils of the stalwart pioneers who transmit- ted to them so goodly an heritage. They were truly, in the words of the Scottish bard,
"Types of a race that shall the invader scorn, As rocks resist the billows round their shore ;
Types of a race that shall to time unborn,
Their country leave unconquered, as of yore."
This location is noticed in Haywood's New-England Gazetteer as follows :
" DUNBARTON, MERRIMACK Co. This town lies nine miles south-west from Concord, and seven miles south-east from
2
10
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
Hopkinton. Population in 1830, 1067. The situation of the town is somewhat elevated, though there are but few hills, nor any mountains. The air is clear, the water is good, and the health of its inhabitants seldom interrupt- ed by sickness. The soil is good ; peculiarly suited for corn, wheat, and orcharding. Almost every lot in town is capable of making a good farm. The farmers here have good buildings, and are excellent husbandmen. The ad- vantages in point of water privileges are not great. The inhabitants are principally descendants of the Scotch-Irish, so called, from the north of Ireland. Their descendants still retain many traits of character peculiar to that people.
"Dunbarton was granted, in 1751, to Archibald Stark. Its present name (formerly Starkstown) is derived from Dunbarton, in Scotland, whence Stark emigrated. The first settlement was made about 1749. William Stinson, born in Ireland, came to Londonderry with his father. He was much respected, and was a useful man. James Rogers was from Ireland, and father to Major Robert Rogers. He was shot in the woods, being mistaken for a bear."
We will add to the above, that the scenery of this place is diversified with many considerable elevations, fertile valleys, and meadows, watered by numerous small streams. A portion of its territory affords excellent pastures. The extensive landscape prospects from the high lands in dif- ferent parts of the town are very interesting, particularly those presented to view from the hill upon which the meeting-house and central village are located. From that height the White Mountains, one hundred miles distant, are at times distinctly visible.
Mill sites are furnished by several ponds, and small streams issuing from or flowing into them. The principal ponds are Gorham's, Kimball's, and Long Pond. These, with a smaller one called Purgatory Pond, are situated in the southern and south-eastern quarters of the town. Stark's mill pond lies about mid way of its western border line, from which it is distant the length of two lots. This
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HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
township is considered one of the most healthy in the county. Many of its inhabitants have lived to advanced ages. The widow of Capt. Joseph Leach was the oldest person who ever died in this place. She attained the age of one hundred and two years. She died June 20, 1849.
The inhabitants of Dunbarton are principally farmers, good livers, and generally in comfortable, independent circumstances. Population in 1850, 915. Valuation in 1854, $387,984. In another portion of this volume may be found Dr. Jackson's report of a vein of arsenic, discov- ered in the eastern section of this town, on the estate of Stephen Wheeler.
The first settlement is supposed to have been made by James Rogers and Joseph Putney. The precise time is not known, although probably several years prior to 1746. They established their families on the border of a large meadow called the " Great Meadow," erected log-houses, and planted apple trees, which had so far advanced to- wards maturity as to produce fruit, when a body of Indi- ans appeared in the vicinity of Rumford (Concord).
Two friends from that place traced their way in the night, by spotted trees, through the forest, to the " Great Meadow," to notify them of the impending danger. Upon the receipt of this intelligence they at once abandoned their homes, and, by a speedy retreat to Rumford during the same night, insured their personal safety. Returning in the course of the next day, to drive their cattle to the Rumford garrison, they found them all slaughtered, and lying scattered around in every direction. Their houses had been plundered and burned, and their apple trees, with one exception,* cut down.
In 1749, Messrs. Putney and Rogers made a permanent settlement, having resided at Rumford during the three previous years. The year 1746 was memorable in conse- quence of the massacre on the Hopkinton road, which occurred on the morning of August 11, 1746, near the
* The stump of this tree is still visible on the land of Mr. James Bailey (lot No. 8, sixth range). The tree produced good fruit.
12
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
place where the Bradley monument now commemorates the tragic event.
Putney and Rogers had procured no title to the land, but their possession was confirmed by the proprietors, who in 1751 obtained a grant of the township .*
The extensive range of meadow lands, already cleared by the industry of the beaver, and the abundant natural crops of tall blue joint grass, there produced, influenced these pioneers in selecting their location, to which James Rogers gave the name of Mountalona, from a place where he had once dwelt in Ireland. He was the father of Ma- jor Robert Rogers, the celebrated leader of the ranger corps in the "Seven Years' War."
Mr. Hadley, to whose address, delivered before the Dun- barton Lyceum, in 1845, we are indebted for much infor- mation in regard to the subject upon which we now write, describes the accidental and untimely death of James Rogers as follows :
" Ebenezer Ayer, of Haverhill, Mass., a celebrated and successful hunter, came into these parts to pursue his avo- cation in quest of bears, deer, and other game. He had a rude camp on Walnut Hill, in Bow, near Dunbarton line. He had been hunting all day, and came to his camp in the evening; and, it not being late, was still looking out for the approach of a bear. Mr. Rogers was an intimate friend of Ayer, and was coming to pay him a visit. He drew near the camp; he was dressed entirely in black, t and the dusk of the evening deceived the eye of the eager hunter. He took the fatal aim, and shot the man. But he soon discovered his sad mistake, and with a sorrowing
* Upon a map of the town, copied in 1803 from the map drawn at Portsmouth in 1749, lot No. 8, in the fifth range, is marked, “J. T. Ma- son, & Putney & Rogers' eldest son," and lot No. 8, in the sixth range, is marked, "J. Rogers and Putney's eldest son : apple tree."
+ He wore a bear skin dress.
13
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
heart stood over the bleeding form of his friend. Rogers * did not long survive; he died before he reached home. Ayer could never after relate the sad event without shed- ding tears."
In 1751, the twenty-fourth year of George the Second's reign, during the provincial administration of Benning Wentworth, a settlement was regularly commenced by a grant of the township from the assigns of John Tufton Mason, to Archibald Stark, Caleb Page, Hugh Ramsay and others, which comprised a territory five miles square, including a portion of the present town of Hooksett.
At their first meeting, in Londonderry, April 8, 1751, the proprietors voted, that of the thirty individuals who should first locate themselves under their grant, each per- son should have three acres of land cleared on or before the last day of October succeeding; to have the same fenced in, and a dwelling-house, not less than sixteen feet square, erected, in which also their families were to be settled before the last day of May, 1752.}
In accordance with this vote, Thomas Mills, William Stinson and John Hogg located themselves in the western portion of the town. Their dwellings were situated sev- eral miles apart, and thus remained for some time without any intervening inhabitants. Although such positions are matters of common occurrence at the present day, and
* The name of James Rogers appears in the History of Londonderry ; also in a petition from the people of Suncook, May 26, 1747, to Governor Wentworth, praying for assistance against the Indians. [History of Manchester, p. 229, 230.] His sons Robert, Richard and James, were of- ficers in the "Seven Years' War." Richard was a captain of Rangers, and died of the small-pox at Fort William Henry, in the spring of 1757. James was a captain in the same service. In the proprietors' records of Dunbarton he is mentioned as Capt. James Rogers. Several other par- tieulars relating to the first settlement of this town, as also a different statement of the circumstances of James Rogers' death, may be found in the notice of Joseph Putney, in another portion of this work. Rogers was dressed in bear skin clothing.
At a proprietors' meeting, held at Londonderry, April 7, 1752, Caleb Page, Jr., William Stinson, and John McCurdy, were chosen highway surveyors for Starkstown, being the first ever cliosen for this town.
14
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
will continue to be for years to come, in the far extending wilderness of the West, they are no longer familiar to dwellers within the borders of New-England. Their well provided and opulent descendants can but faintly picture to themselves in imagination the stern realities met, en- dured, and overcome by the hardy foresters who located the now "pleasant places" in which they dwell in peace, security and happiness.
The situation of these pioneers could not be otherwise than drear and lonely, in a wilderness abounding with wild and ferocious animals; bears, catamounts, wolves, and wild-cats, whose dismal howls disturbed their nightly repose, and compelled them to maintain a vigilant watch over their flocks and herds. If during the night they looked abroad from their timber cabins, through the dark- ness and gloom around them, no friendly lights gleamed from the windows of distant dwelling-houses, to cheer their solitude, and assure them that they were not entirely alone in their forest wilderness.
Accustomed, however, from youth to hardship and labo- rious exertion, they were neither deterred by fear or diffi- culties in accomplishing their enterprise. In Mr. Hadley's address, to which reference has been already made, is a statement that Sarah, daughter of Thomas Mills, was the first child born in the settlement. The only light we can furnish upon this subject is derived from the town clerk's records, which are as follows :
" Births of the children of Thomas Mills. Sarah, b. February 11, 1755 ; John, b. January 7, 1756; Agnes, b. January 27, 1758; Thomas, b. January 7, 1761; Caleb, b. . June 8, 1765 ; Elizabeth, b. September 25, 1767 ; Peter, b. September 25, 1769 ; James, b. August 24, 1771 ; Samuel, b. December 5, 1773. Thomas Mills, senior, died January 21, 1790, aged 70 years."
" Jeremiah Page, Esq., was married February ye 20, 1752, to Sarah Merrill, and had the following children : First, Caleb, b. April ye 19, 1753 ; second, Sarah, b. De-
V
15
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
cember . ye 24, 1754; third, Achsah, b. September 25, 1759 ; fourth, Elizabeth, b. August ye 2, 1762 ; fifth, Jer- emiah, b. July ye 29, 1765 ; sixth, John, b. September 7, 1767 ; seventh, Ruth, b. August 15, 1770."
Jeremiah Page, senior, Esq., died Nov. 29, 1807, aged 77 years. Upon a map of the town, drawn in 1803, is a statement that Caleb Page, the first son, and Sarah, the first daughter, of Jeremiah Page, were born at Dracut, Mass. We are, however, inclined to believe that the first child born upon the territory was one of the family of James Rogers or Joseph Putney, who settled upon it sev- eral years prior to 1746, to the eldest sons of whom lots of land were granted by the proprietors, in 1752.
Many of the original settlers of Starkstown were from Derryfield and Londonderry. Others came directly from Ireland and Scotland. Several families from the vicinity of Ipswich, Mass., took up lands near each other, in the southern border of the town, while individuals from Ha- verhill, Hampstead, and other towns in Massachusetts, lo- cated themselves in different parts of it. In 1770, nine- teen years subsequent to the grant, the township contained 497 inhabitants. The so called Scotch-Irish emigrants, who gave the first efficient impulse to the settlement, are not to be considered as blended with the natives of Ire- land.
The ancestors of those adventurers who settled London- derry, N. H., abandoned Scotland for Ireland in 1619. There they remained for a century as a people distinct from and unmingled with those of the country to which they had emigrated. Religious persecution compelled them to depart from the land of their birth, and seek re- fuge and freedom in Ireland. Their expectations were, however, in every respect woefully disappointed.
There they could occupy lands only by lease, and, being strict Presbyterians, were compelled to contribute their proportion towards the support of the established church. Dissatisfied with their imposed burthens in the shape of rents and tithes, and possessing the indomitable spirit of
16
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
their native Scotland, they determined to seek, in a wil- derness beyond the Atlantic, an asylum for religious free- dom, as also an exemption from Church and State extor- tions.
" When mitred zeal in wild unholy days, Bared his red arm, and bade the fagot blaze, Our patriot sires the pilgrim sail unfurled, And Freedom pointed to a rival world ; Where prowled the wolf, and where the hunter roved, Faith raised her altars to the God she loved."
In 1719, a company of sixteen families of these people from Ireland settled the town of Londonderry, which soon afterward became a general rendezvous for others of their "kith and kin." In his centennial discourse upon the history of Londonderry, Mr. PARKER remarks of them : "" Though of Scotch origin, they are not inferior to the English. They are more frank and rough in their man- ners." Their peculiarities of expression were strongly distinguishable in the conversation of the early inhabit- ants of Dunbarton, within the remembrance of the writer. They are, however, no longer observable in their descend- ants.
Notices of highways laid out are found prior to 1760. Probably before that date the first highway was opened through the western part of the town, which became a . principal road, and was travelled by trains of teams from towns above, on their route to Boston.
In 1760, lot No. twelve, in the fourth range, containing one hundred acres, was granted by the proprietors to Capt. John Stark, as an encouragement to build a saw-mill, with a condition that the same should be put in operation within one year. The condition was fulfilled. A corn-mill was afterward erected; both mills rebuilt in 1810, and also in 1834. They will be renewed during the present year (1860), one hundred years from the date of the grant before mentioned .*
In 1771, the fourth lot in the sixth range was voted to be sold for fifty dollars to any person who would obligate
* The mills still belong to the descendants of Gen. Stark.
17
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
'himself to build a corn-mill on the lot for the use of the town.
" Voted, Said lot No. four, in the sixth range of lots in said town, to Benjamin Hadley, for fifty dollars, to be paid before the last Tuesday in June next, on his giving obli- gations to build a corn-mill and keep in repair said mill, for the use of the town."-Proprietors' Record, March 12, 1771.
The mill is supposed to have been built by Mr. Hadley, and probably passed from him to Ebenezer Woodbury ; for in 1789 it was called " Woodbury's Mill." From him it came into the possession of David Kimball, whose son, Ebenezer P. Kimball, is its present owner. It is now the only grain mill in town.
A saw-mill, erected by Capt. William Stinson, near Gorham Pond, is now owned by his grandsons, Charles and William C. Stinson. Another mill, near Long Pond, is noted on the county map as the property of the latter.
On the old map of the town, drawn in 1803, upon lot No. four, in the sixth range, another saw-mill appears to have been located previous to that time. By whom built, . we know not, but it is now owned by John Page.
The meetings for transacting the proprietors' affairs, and those of the town, were generally, for nearly eighteen years, held at the house of Captain William Stark, until the first meeting-house was erected. . The first public meeting in Dunbarton was held October 17, 1752, upon land settled by Daniel and John McCurdy.
Archibald Stark being the first named grantee, and one of the principal proprietors, the grant was, in compliment to him, called Starkstown, by which name it was known for fourteen years. On the 10th of August, 1765, in the fifth year of the reign of George III., it was made "a body politic and corporate, to have continuance until His Majesty's pleasure should be signified to the contrary, by the name of Dunbarton, with the powers and authorities, privileges, immunities, and franchises," belonging to other towns in the province. Its new name was adopted as a
18
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
memorial of fond recollection retained for the town and castle of Dumbarton, in Scotland, from the vicinity of which Archibald Stark and the ancestors of many of the inhabitants emigrated. Governor Wentworth, in the name of the king, signed the charter, in which Caleb Page was authorized "to call the first meeting any time within forty days after the date" of it. Thenceforth all meetings for the election of town officers were to be holden annually on the second Tuesday of March .*
The first regular town meeting held in Dunbarton after its incorporation assembled at the house of William Stark, September 3, 1765, where were chosen its first ; town officers. No accounts show that this town was ever represented in the provincial legislature during the rule of the royal governors. In 1775 Caleb Page was chosen a delegate to the Provincial Congress.
In its representation this town was for several years classed with Bow, and Jeremiah Paget most frequently · represented both towns in the legislature. In 1793 David Story was the first representative elected by the town in a separate capacity. .
During the "Seven Years' War," Robert Rogers, his brothers, Richard and James, William and Archibald Stark, Jun'r, Caleb Page, Jun'r, Nathaniel Martin, Adam Dickey, John McCurdy and others, highly distinguished themselves by their bravery in the royal service. They served in the corps of rangers which essentially contrib- uted to the success of the British arms, and spread con- sternation among their French and Indian enemies.
The Revolution, which commenced ten years after the
* In 1791, agreeably to a vote of the town, Jeremiah Page, Esq., ob- tained from the General Court an act by which the town of Dunbarton was authorized to hold the annual town meeting on the first Tuesday .of March.
+ The first record upon this subject was made in 1777. The inhabitants of both towns met for the purpose of choosing a representative at the house of Mr. Henry Putney. Jeremiah Page, John Hogg, David Story of Dunbarton, and John Bryant of Bow, each, at times, represented both towns.
19
. HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
incorporation of the town, found several of these old soldiers and other new ones ready to take the field for their country at the first alarm. Several of them served throughout the war, and performed well their parts on the " left wing" at Bunker's Hill, at Trenton, Princeton, and Bennington, as well as on other fields of fame, during that perilous, long, doubtful and glorious contest. Their do- mestic affairs were deemed by them as but of secondary consequence to those which concerned the great struggle to secure the success of which they had freely volunteered.
The public meetings in these exciting times were prin- cipally occupied in devising means to provide full quotas for the Continental army ; and appropriations which might, under different circumstances, have been devoted to schools and preaching, were mostly applied in payment of wages and bounties to soldiers. So many of the inhab- itants were occasionally absent on public service as at times scarcely to leave of true men at home a number sufficient to keep in subjection the tories, of which this town contained its full proportion .*
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