USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hollis > History of the town of Hollis, New Hampshire, from its first settlement to the year 1879 > Part 1
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
Gc 974.202 H72WO 1729^
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01096 3780
50
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyoftownofh00worc 0
W 319 W18 rod's.
AMHERST.
5 87. 6 807 rods.
MERRIMACK.
we Blake's Mill.
MILFORD. 675
PENNICHUCK
POND.
N 19 1º£ 262 Tode
Hayden's
Mills.
Farley's
Mills
233 reds N 78'E KO vet'S
Duncklesis-" Mills.
DUNCKLEE'S
POND.
$100€
PARKER
PONO.
ROCKY
POND.
LONG
POND.
Worcester Bros Mills.
PAND
FLINT'S
POND.
.
HOLLIS
CENTRE.
PROCTOR
RIVER.
so rods
Frenchy's Mills.
FEcer
NASHUA
NISSITE
ASSIST .
Smith's Vills. RWER.
.
5 195 W 364 You's
PEPPERELL.
S 78º E 1565 rors
19 rod
NASIIUA.
HILL.
FUNTS HILL .. FLINIS 6.8001
BROOKLINE.
PINE HILL.
$ 13. W 317 rods
Spod cast 3 ST. N
BIRCH HILL.
Willdy's Mills.
MAD OF HOLLIS,.N.H BY E.J.COLBURN, HOLLIS,N.H.
il
HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF HOLLIS.
2
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
From its First Settlement to the Year 1879.
WITH MANY BIOGRAPHICAL, SKETCHES OF ITS EARLY SETTLERS THEIR DESCENDANTS, AND OTHER RESIDENTS.
ILLUSTRATED WITH MAPS AND ENGRAVINGS,
BY SAMUEL T: WORCESTER.
-
IN MEMORIAM MAJORUM.
"Only the actions of the just Smell sweet and blossom in the dust."
BOSTON: . A. WILLIAMS & CO .. :OX STREET.
1079.
-
.
4
1729619
TO
THE INHABITANTS OF HOLLIS, AND THE DESCENDANTS OF ITS EARLY SETTLERS WHEREVER SCATTERED,
AND TO ALL WHO HAVE RESIDED IN THE TOWN, THIS HISTORY IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY THEIR FRIEND,
THE AUTHOR.
----
---
LIST AND PLACE OF ENGRAVINGS.
PAGE.
1. Map of Hollis, (facing title page) .
2. Map of Old Dunstable, Holles, Merrimack and Monson 59
3. First and Second Meeting House . 64
4. Portrait of Dea. Daniel Emerson 209
. 5. Portraits of Hon. Ralph E. Tenney and Wife . 214
G. The Tenney Homestead 215
7. Portraits of Jesse Worcester and Wife.
216
8. The Worcester Homestead
217
9. The Soldiers' Monument 229
10. Portrait of Lieut. John H. Worcester 231
11. Portrait of Lieut. Charles H. Farley
933
12. Portrait of Rev. Eli Smith 238.
13. Portrait of Rev. Pliny B. Day, D. D. 240
14. The Third Hollis Meeting-House as Remodelled in 1849 . 245
15. The High School House . 281
16. Portrait of Miss Mary S. Farley 282
17. Portrait of Hon. Benjamin M. Farley 202
18. Portrait of Samuel T. Worcester 296
19. Portrait of Joseph E. Worcester, I.L. D. 20S
20. Portrait of Rev. Ralph Emerson, D. D. 300
21. Portrait of Rev. Samuel Worcester, D. D. 302
22. Portrait of Rev. Caleb J. Tenney, D. D. 304
23. Portrait of Rev. Noah Worcester, D. D. 314
24. Portrait of Hon. Henry G. Little 331
25. Portrait of Luther Prescott Hubbard 332
-
4
TO THE READER.
As this book will be found to contain very many short biograph- ical personal sketches, it is hoped that it will not be looked upon as a matter of unpardonable egotism should it be introduced to the charitable reader with the like brief sketch of itself. Though a native of Hollis, the home of an honored ancestry for a hundred years and more, and my own, in childhood and youth, it has not been so for the last fifty years and more. It was my fortune to begin and spend a busy professional life of between thirty and forty years in a distant western State.
I am not aware that while living in Hollis I gained more knowl- edge of its early history and people than would ordinarily fall to the lot of other young persons in the like circumstances, and the many years of my absence from New England tended rather to lessen than add to the little I had before acquired.
But some years after my return to New Hampshire, having occasion when on a visit to Hollis to examine one or more volumes of its early town records, I chanced to find in the same depository with them many miscellaneous papers and documents, some scattered and loose, and the rest in ill-assorted packages-all relating to the early history of the town prior to or during the war of the Revolu- tion. A cursory examination of these ancient documents, in con- nection with the older worn and mutilated volumes of the town records. interested me. Having at the time some leisure at com- mand. I said to the Town Clerk who had these papers in charge, that if he would entrust them for a time to me, I would put them in a better condition for permanent preservation. With this under- standing they were confided to me. Having procured for my pur- pose a large blank book, intended as a sort of supplement to the town records, I had it labelled " Hollis Historical Documents."
FEB 21 '33 ECO
--------
6
TO THE READER.
Into this book I caused to be inserted and bound all those ancient documents pertaining to the early history of the town. I also caused to be copied into the same volume a large number of original docu- ments and records relating to its early history found in the offices of the Secretary of State and Adjutant General, both in Boston and Concord. There were also copied into the same book from the town records and methodically arranged, such other matters as were thought pertinent to its civil, ecclesiastical and educational history.
In the meantime, as I had leisure, I had written a number of articles relating to the carly settlement and Revolutionary history of the town, some of which had been published in the New Eng- land Historical and Genealogical Register, and several, in other periodicals. All this however had been done without any purpose on my part of preparing for the press a connected history of the town, but yet with the hope that the materials so gathered might be preserved and some time used in the compilation of such history, by some one more competent to the task and less a novice in this kind of literary labor.
These fugitive historical scraps, as they had been published from time to time, had been read by some of the people of the town, and may have led to the insertion of an article in the warrant for the annual March meeting in 1878, "To see if the town would authorize the Selectmen to contract with some person to prepare and publish the early history of the town at its expense." By invi- tation I attended that meeting, and by request stated what had been done with the historical documents which had been entrusted to me. I also expressed my concurrence in the sentiment, strongly expressed by others, that a history of the town ought to be written, and also stated that though I had no purpose or wish myself to undertake the task, yet if some other person, satisfactory to the town, would under- take it, I would cheerfully and gratuitously place in his hands such materials for it as I had gathered, and also give such further aid, if desired, as convenient to me. After some further discussion of the question by others, the meeting unanimously " voted to refer the article relating to the publishing the early history of Hollis to the Selectmen, and that they be authorized to borrow money for the completion of the object, if in their judgment they should think it advisable, and that they be authorized to employ a committee to act with them."
1
7
TO THE READER.
The Selectmen chosen at that meeting were Messrs. Timothy E. Flagg, John A. Coburn and Charles W. Hardy, who shortly after- wards appointed as a committee to act with them, Messrs. John N. Worcester, Joseph E. Smith, John Farley and Charles S. Spalding. In the meanwhile, no one else having been found to prepare a his- tory of the town as contemplated by the vote of the meeting, the wish was strongly expressed by the Selectmen and committee, that I would consent to undertake it. After one or more interviews with them. but without any specific proposals upon the subject on their part, or promises on my own, I set myself about gathering additional materials for the work, and putting in the shape and order in which they now appear, such as I had before collected.
It is needless for me here to speak of all the motives that led me to waive my objections to undertaking the task and going on with the compilation of this history, as I have now done. But among those motives, I may be permitted to say, was a sincere filial regard, not to say veneration, for the memory and character of the early settlers of the town as shown by the records of their doings. among whom, and its inhabitants afterwards, were three generations of both my paternal and maternal ancestors. I also participated in the sen- timent felt and expressed by many others that it was but doing tardy justice to their memories, that their history should now be written, accompanied by the fear, also often expressed by those interested. that otherwise it might not be soon, if ever, done.
In my view it would also be needless. as well as tedious. here to enumerate the many books and public documents which have been consulted in the collecting of the facts presented in this history. The references to them. at least for the most part. will sufficiently appear to the patient reader in their proper connection. Suffice it to say that it has been my aim to gather these facts from all such pertinent original documents as were at my command, and from all other sources that seemed to me authentic and trustworthy. whether books, letters of correspondents or well-established tradition.
It has been said by a late author, " that one must write a book to know how courteous the world can be." It has been my fortune in the compilation of this history very fully and most cordially to appreciate that sentiment. and I take unfeigned pleasure in expres- sing my grateful acknowledgements to the very many correspon. dents who have aided me, and also to the librarians of the libraries I have had occasion to visit. and to the custodians of the public
S
TO THE READER.
1 records at Boston and Concord for their uniform courtesy and kindly sympathy with my work. My thanks are also due to the Select- men of Hollis, and to the Publication Committee, for the active in- terest they have manifested in the undertaking, and likewise to the people of the town for their unanimity and good wishes in respect to it. I further take leave to express my obligations to my brother John N. Worcester, for the many matters furnished by him pertain- ing to the local history of the town, and also in respect to the per- sonal history of many of its citizens, in regard to whom my own information and memory were at fault. The readers of this his- tory, as well as myself personally, are also indebted to the town for the engravings it has furnished, and to the individuals who have gratuitiously provided the portraits with which the book is embellished.
For the last four years, the gathering of the materials for this work, and its compilation, have busily, and for the most part pleas- antly, employed very many of my leisure hours. Conscious as any . one need be of its incompleteness and shortcomings. yet hoping to some extent it may meet the reasonable expectations of the present inhabitants of Hollis, and the widely scattered descendants of the early settlers of the town, the work is respectfully dedicated to them in the hope that the lessons of virtue, piety and patriotism taught in the lives, doings and example of their worthy ancestors will not soon fade from the memory of their posterity.
NASHUA, N. H., April, 1879. S. T. W.
-
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
OLD DUNSTABLE.
1673 to 1739. Charters of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Companies ; Grants of New Hampshire to Capt. John Mason; Charter of Old Dun- stable; Grantees and Proprietors; Origin of the Name; Compact of the Grantees and Settlers; House Lots laid out; King Philip's War; First Meeting House and Minister; First Birth, Marriage and Death; King William's War; Queen Anne's War; Capt. Lovewell's Fight; The Return of Peace and its Effects; Population; First Dismemberments of Old Dunstable . 17 -- 30.
CHAPTER II.
WEST DUNSTABLE.
1730 to 1739. Names of the First Settlers of West Dunstable, and where they Settled; Towns from which they came; First Petition for a Town Charter; Names of the Petitioners; Second Petition for a Town Charter : Names of the Signers; Remonstrance against the Second Petition; West Dunstable Chartered as a Parish 31-39.
CHAPTER III.
THE PARISH OF WEST DUNSTABLE.
1739 to 1746. Its Area and Boundaries; The Tax of Non-residents; The First Parish Meeting and First Parish Officers; The First Meeting- House and its Location ; The First Parish Tax; The Non-Resident Tax and Disposal of It; The District of Dunstable; Settlement of the new Province Line; Effects of the Decision: Preaching, and the Manner of Providing It; The Call to Rev. Mr. Emerson, the First Minister: The Settlement of Mr. Emerson, his Salary and how paid: Old Tenor Currency 40-56.
IO
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
HOLLIS.
1746 to 1750. The Charter of Hollis; Charter of the new Towns of Dun- stable, Merrimack and Monson; Original Boundaries of those Towns; Name of Hollis and its Origin ; The First Town Meeting and First Town Officers; The Second Meeting-House; Petition for a Land Tax; Stocks and Whipping Post; Pews and Pew Ground and to whom sold; Care of the Meeting-House; Singing 57-73.
CHAPTER V.
BORDER TROUBLES WITH DUNSTABLE.
1746 to 1778. The One Pine Hill Controversy ; First Petition for the Annex- ation of One Pine Hill to Hollis; Second Petition for the Annexation of One Pine Hill; Contest in the General Court; One Pine Hill Finally An- nexed to Hollis; Second Border Controversy with Dunstable: The Nashua River Bridge, and Dispute in respect to the Building and Sup- port of it; Compromise and Final Settlement 74-84.
CHAPTER VI.
HISTORY OF MONSON.
1746 to 1770. First Town Election in Monson, and First Town Officers; Town Officers from 1746 to 1770; Petition to the General Court for Scouts and Guards; Petition to be Relieved from Taxation : Unsuccess- ful Efforts to Maintain a School, to Support Preaching, Build a Meeting- House or Find a Meeting-House place ; Repeal of the Charter and Division of the Town ; The Mile Slip, Charters of Raby, Wilton, Mason, Duxbury and Milford 85-95
CHAPTER VII.
MILITARY HISTORY.
1746 to 1763. The Provincial Militia Law: First Militia Company in Hollis and its Officers; French and Indian War of 1744; Petitions for Garrisons and Scouts: The French and Indian War of 1754; Hollis Officers and Soldiers in the War of 1754 94-101-
----
3
IT
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VIII.
COLONIAL SCHOOL LAW AND SCHOOLS.
1746 to 1775. Schools in Hollis before the Revolution; School Taxes; School Squadrons or Districts; The First School-Houses; The Hollis Grammar School; Teachers of the Grammar School; Names of Hollis Graduates of College, and of Ministers and Physicians not Graduates born before 1775; Letter of Gov. John Wentworth to Rev. Mr. Emerson 102-108.
CHAPTER IX.
EARLY COLONIAL LAWS.
1746 to 1775. Town officers and their duties; Moderators of the Town Meetings; Selectmen; Constables; Field-Drivers; Tithing-Men; Hos- Reeves; Deer-Reeves; Wolves and Rattlesnakes; Voters and their Qual- ifications; Houses of Correction; The Stocks and Whipping-Post; Profane Cursing and Swearing; Defamation; Insolence to Women; Petit Larceny; The Poor and their Support; Warning out of Town; Slavery in New Hampshire before the Revolution; Mode of Selling 109-117 Neg ro Slaves .
CHAPTER X.
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE GENERAL COURT.
1741 to 1775. Members of the New Hampshire General Court from Hollis and Dunstable before 1775. Justices of the Peace; Division of New Hampshire into Counties ; Organization of Hillsborough County; County Officers from Hollis; The Pine Tree Law, its Unpopularity, and Trouble in Enforcing It; Riot at Weare and Trial of the Rioters; Gov. John Wentworth; His Personal Popularity : Address to, from the people of Hollis; The First Trial for Murder in Hillsborough County; Plea of the Benefit of Clergy ; Population of Hollis and other old Dunstable Towns in 1775; The Charter and Settlement of Plymouth by Emigrants from Hollis 118-127.
CHAPTER. XI.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
1730 to 1754. Brief Biographical Sketches of a portion of the Early Settlers of Hollis from the year 1780 to the French and Indian War of 1764: Full Lists of the names of the Tax Payers on the Hollis Tax Lists, Jan. 1, 1775, with the Last Tax Assessed by the Authority of the King 128-128.
12
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION.
1774 and 1775. Hollis Town Meetings; Patriotic Resolutions; Hollis Militia Companies ; The Aların List; Capt. Wright's Company; Capt. Worces- ter's Company ; First, Second and Third County Congresses at Amherst : Delegates to: Hollis Company of Minute Men to Lexington and Cam- bridge, April 19, 1775; Officers and Roll of this Company; Wages Paid by the Town 139-148.
CHAPTER XIII.
WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
:
1775. Hollis Company at the Battle of Bunker Hill; Company Roll, Descrip- tive List; Hollis Men in Other Companies; Commission of Capt. Dow; The Battle of Bunker Hill; The March from Cambridge under Col. Pres- cott; Other Hollis and New Hampshire Soliers in Col. Prescott's Regi- ment ; Names of the Hollis Men Killed and Wounded at Bunker Hill ; Loss of Equipments of the Hollis Men in the Battle; The New Hamp- shire Reinforcements in December, 1773; Desertion of the Connecticut Troops; Letter of Gen. Sullivan to the New Hampshire Committee of Safety ; Capt. Worcester's Company to Cambridge in December: Num- ber of Hollis Soldiers the First Year of the War, and their Wages: Amount Paid by the Town; The Military Coat Voted as a Bounty: Story of a Patriotic Hollis Woman 149-162.
CHAPTER XIV.
WAR OF THE REVOLUTION CONTINUED.
1776. Names of the Hollis Soldiers the Second Year of the War: Volun- teers in the Continental Army : In Col. Wingate's Regiment to Ticonder- oga; In Col. Long's Regiment: In Co !. Baldwin's Regiment to White Plains; In Col. Gilman's Regiment ; Names in the Return of Capt. Goss ; The Hollis Tories . 163-168.
CHAPTER AV. .
THE THIRD YEAR OF THE WAR.
1777. Committee of Safety for 1777: The Town's Quota for the Continental Army; Names of the Thirty Continental Soldiers for 1777: Patriotic Pledges of Forty-eight Hollis Minute Men; The Ticonderoga Alarm: Company of Capt. Emerson : Its Marches to Walpole and Cavendish, Vt. : Company of Capt. Goss; Hollis Soldiers at the Battle of Bennington; Wages of the Men, and Amount Paid by the Town in 1777; Depreciation of the Continental Paper Money, and Law to Fix Prices . 169-177.
-....... .
13
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE FOURTH AND FIFTH YEARS OF THE WAR.
1778 and 1779. Doings of the Town Meetings and History of the War con- tinned; Committees of Safety in 1778 and 1779; Continental Soldiers for 1778 and 1779, Names of the men engaged, and Wages and Bounties paid them; Volunteers to Rhode Island in 1778; Capt. Emerson's Mounted Company; Wages; Soldiers' Families; Leonard Whiting's War Tax; Volunteers for Rhode Island and Portsmouth in 1779; Capt. Emerson's Commission ; Convention to fix Prices; Continued Deprecia- tion of Paper Money ; Small Pox in Hollis . 178-187.
CHAPTER XVII.
THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH YEARS OF THE WAR.
1780 and 1781. Votes and Resolutions of the Town Meetings; Hollis Con- tinental Quotas in 1780 and 1781; their Wages and how paid; Militia for West Point and the Northern Frontier in 1780; Names of the men and their Wages; Beef for the Army in 1780 and 1781, and how obtained ; The town divided into Classes; Reduction of the New Hampshire Troops and of the Hollis Quota; Rum for the Army in 1781; New Call for Soldiers 188-193.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE LAST YEARS OF THE WAR. . 1782 and 1783. New Plan of Government; The New Hampshire Rangers in 1782; Last Soldier of the Hollis Quota; Number and Names of the Hollis Soldiers; Sentiments of the People in respect to the Return of the Tories; The last War Tax; Hollis Revolutionary Records and Docu- ments; Lists of the Committees of Safety; Names of Commissioned Officers, and of Hollis Soldiers lost in the War 194-202.
CHAPTER XIX.
LIST OF THE HOLLIS SOLDIERS.
Alphabetical List of the names of the Hollis Soldiers in the War of the Revolution, showing in what Years they enlisted, and when, and how long they were in the Service 203 -- 206.
-
.
$
14
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XX.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
Brief Biographical Sketches of a Portion of the Hollis Revolutionary Officers and Soldiers 207-217.
CHAPTER XXI.
WAR OF ISIS, AND WAR OF THE REBELLION.
1812 to 1815. Hollis Soldiers in the War of 1812, in the Regular Army and also for the Defence of Portsmouth.
1861 to 1865. Soldiers Furnished from the Town in the Several Years of the War for the Suppression of the Rebellion; Regiments in which they En- listed, with the Date of Enlistment and Thue of Service and Discharge : Casualties; Soldiers' Aid Society; Soldiers' Monument; Capt. Nathan M. Ames; Lt. John H. Worcester; Lt. Charles H. Farley . 218-234.
CHAPTER XXII.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
1748 to 1879. The Congregational Church and Society; First Members of the Church ; Members of the Church before the Revolution; Ministers of the Society: Rev. Mr. Emerson : Rev. Mr. Smith ; Rev. Mr. Perry ; Rev. Mr. Aiken: Rev. Mr. Gordon ; Rev. Dr. Day : Rev. Mr. Kelsey : Rev. Mr. Scott ; Deacons of the Church, with the Date of their Appointment and Decease; Young Men's Christian Association of One Hundred Years Ago: Articles of Association : Membership: The Third Hollis Meeting- House; How and When Built, and Description of It ; Hollis Philan_ thropic Society; Hollis Benevolent Association : Ladies' Reading and Charitable Society : Hollis Baptist Society ; Its Ministers, Deacons and Meeting-House 235-253.
CHAPTER XXIII.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
1739 to 1878. Parish Officers of West Dunstable, 1739 to 1746: Officers of the District of Dunstable 1742 to 1745: Full Lists of Town Officers in 1746 and 1748: Moderators of the Annual Town Meetings: Town Clerks. Treasurers and Selectmen from 1746 to Ists 254-258.
15
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIV.
POLITICAL HISTORY.
1789 to 1879. Delegates and Representatives to the General Court, Couven- tions, etc., from 1739 to 1879; Votes for State President from 1784 to 1792; Votes for Governor from 1792 to 1878 259-263.
.
CHAPTER XXV.
STATISTICAL HISTORY.
Area; Soil; Productions; Rivers, Ponds and Brooks; Forest Trees, Lumber and Coopering; Population; Births and Deaths; Post Office and Post . Masters; Tavern Keepers from 1792 to 1821; Justices of the Peace; Burial Grounds; Public Roads ; Hollis Insurance Company. 264-272.
CHAPTER XAVI. EDUCATIONAL HISTORY.
1775 to 1879. The Public Schools: School Laws and School Taxes; School Districts; "Hollis Sixty Years Ago:" State's Literary Fund: School Committees ; School Statistics in 1873; The High School : Miss Mary S. Farley ; The Social Library ; Hollis Lyceum and Public Lectures: Grad- uates of College from 1754 to 1878 273-285.
CHAPTER XXVII.
BIOGRAPHY.
Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard and Yale Colleges from 1754 to 1870 286-301.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
BIOGRAPHY.
Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Dartmouth. Middlebury, Brown, Amherst, Union, Maryville and Greenville Colleges from 1795 to 1877 302-313.
16
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIX.
BIOGRAPHY.
Biographical Sketches of Ministers, Physicians and Lawyers not Graduates of College 314-323.
CHAPTER XXX.
' BIOGRAPHY.
Physicians who have Settled in and Practised their Profession in Hollis, and Miscellaneous Biographical Sketches, viz., of Nathan Thayer, James Blood, James Parker, Jun., Heury G. Little, Luther P. Hubbard, Joseph. Wheat, Dr. John Jones and Stephen Y. French . 024 -- 340 ..
CHAPTER XXXI.
LONGEVITY.
Names of Such Persons as have Deceased since the War of the Revolution at the Age of Eighty Years or More, whose Ages with the Date of their Decease have been ascertained 341-342.
CHAPTER XXXII.
MARRIAGES.
1743 to 1877. Marriages to be found Recorded in the Records of the District of Dunstable-In the First Three Volumes of the Original Hollis Records, and also in the other Hollis Records of Marriages from 1743 to 1877 343-361. .
CHAPTER XXXIII.
FAMILY REGISTERS.
1709 to 1800. Family Registers of Births in Hollis from 1739 to 1800, copied mainly from the First Three Volumes of the Hollis Records, also pre- senting. when ascertained. the Date of the Marriage of the Parents. the time of the Death of the Father, and the Full Maiden or Family Name of the Mother 362.
.
-----
HISTORY OF HOLLIS.
CHAPTER I.
CHARTERS OF THE PLYMOUTH AND MASSACHUSETTS COMPANIES. GRANTS OF NEW HAMPSHIRE TO CAPT. JOHN MASON .- CHAR- TER OF DUNSTABLE, AND HISTORY OF THAT TOWN FROM 1673 TO 1739.
When North America was first discovered by European navigators, the fact of discovery, coupled with some act of possession, was re- garded by the common consent of European governments as giving a sufficient legal title to the sovereign or government in whose ser- vice the navigator was employed to all lands so discovered. By vir- tue of such discovery, prior to the settlement of any part of New England, the largest part of the continent of North America had become, as was claimed, the property of the sovereigns of Great Britain, and rightfully subject to their disposal, with little or no re- gard to the possession and interests of the native inhabitants.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.