USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Sutton > The history of Sutton, New Hampshire : consisting of the historical collections of Erastus Wadleigh, Esq., and A. H. Worthen, part 1 > Part 1
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The University of New Hampshire
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Erastes Wad leigh
THE
HISTORY OF SUTTON,
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
CONSISTING OF THE
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
OF ERASTUS WADLEIGH, ESQ., AND A. H. WORTHEN.
COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY
MRS. AUGUSTA HARVEY WORTHEN.
PART I.
Concord, H. h. PRINTED BY THE REPUBLICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION.
1890.
1
F 44
NH 97422 597W V.I
PREFACE.
The History of Sutton here offered to the public is the result of many years' labor and careful research on the part of the two persons whose names appear as authors. The work was entered upon nearly a quarter of a century ago. and though many interruptions have occurred in that time, it has never been abandoned. The authors collected what- ever of value was obtainable, and saved it in expectation that the time would come when a History of Sutton would be called for, and with the understanding between them that if not called for during the life-time of both, the sur- vivor would finish the whole and see it published. United with this understanding, the conviction existed in the minds of both that myself, being the junior of the two, would be the one on whom the lot would fall, which con- viction events have shown to be correct. The interest with which Mr. Wadleigh pursued the work is yet remembered, and is more fully described in the personal sketch of him found in the Wadleigh Genealogy of this book, in which is also inserted his preface to the portion of this work which is exclusively his own, being that under the head of " Early Settlers." Immediately after his death his collections were placed in my hands by his family, to revise and combine with my own, but no immediate attempt was made to pub- lish the book till, early in the year 1887. Miss Lydia F. Wadleigh took the first step looking towards publication by offering to assist in paying the costs. Thereupon I took courage to petition the town to make some appropriation
iv
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
that would further aid the work, which, at town-meeting in March, 1888, was made, $300 being the amount. Other wealthy persons, natives, though no longer residents of Sutton, being appealed to, promised pecuniary help, viz., Benjamin F. Pillsbury, of Granite Falls, Minn .; Thomas F. Andrews, Hon. George A. Pillsbury, and his brother, ex- Gov. John S. Pillsbury, and Charles A. Pillsbury, all of Minneapolis, Minn; Gen. John Eaton, now of Marietta, O., and his brother, Hon. Lucian B. Eaton, of Memphis, Tenn. Thus encouraged, I have worked busily ever since the reso- lution to publish was made.
The work of transcribing the old matter and combining it with the new, to bring all down to present date, has been long and wearisome, and nearly two years of continuous labor have been given to arranging and copying the geneal- ogies. In the collection of the family records, I have been materially assisted by two persons whose names are by their own request withheld. Almost every individual to whom I have applied, personally or by letter, for informa- tion, has supplied all within reach and knowledge, readily and kindly. It has been my aim that no family should be overlooked, and in this way the book has grown to propor- tions too large for convenience. But however earnest the desire, or honest the endeavor, to do justice to all, some errors may have crept in, or some names deserving fullest mention may have been left out. If so, no person will re- gret it more than myself.
Such as it is, however, I send the book forth, invoking for it simply "the considerate judgment " of its readers.
AUGUSTA H. WORTHEN.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Proprietors' Records, 1-4
Extracts from same, . 5-29
Copy of order for taking Census of 1775, 30
Municipal history, 31,32
Early settlers, 33-85
Charter,
86-90
Original grantees,
91-93
Area of the town,
94
Incorporation,
95-98
Division of state of New Hampshire into counties, 99
Land-owners in 1792, . 100-103
Representation of the Classed Towns, . 104-113
Samuel Peaslee law-suit, . . 114, 115
Sutton in 1810-'20-'21-'22-'23, . . 116-119
Mechanics, Manufacturers, and Professional Men at that period,-containing
Highway Surveyors in 1820, . 121
Town-meetings and town officers, . .122-143
Appropriations from 1869 to 1889, 143
Tax-payers, . 144-161
Constables and Collectors, . 162-164
Justices of the Peace, . 165-167
Some of the earliest physicians, . 168-172
Aged persons, , 171, 172
Casualties and sudden deaths. . 173-177
Statistics concerning population in the state of N. H., . 178, 179
Population and Valuation of Sutton at different periods, . 179-181
Tax rates for the town of Sutton in 1788, . 181-183
Miscellaneous Historical Items,-containing
Post routes, . 184, 185
Post-offices and some post-masters, , 186, 187
Early newspapers, . 187-189
Guide-boards, 189
Old currency, . 190
Penny Acre Tax, 190
Turnpikes, 190
Ancient stages,
191
1*
vi
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Stage-coach of 1832, . 192, 193
Rates of postage, 193
First check-list, . 193
First Free-soil voters in Sutton, 194
Physicians' and tailors' fees, 194
The Penacooks, .
. 195, 196
Organizations,-containing
Social Library, . . 197-202
King Solomon's Lodge, . 202, 203
South Sutton Central Library, . 203, 204
North Sutton Dramatic Association, . 205-207
Washingtonian Total Abstinence Society, . 207,211
Sutton Grange No. 91, Patrons of Husbandry, . 212, 213
Remarkable Natural Events,-containing
Dark Day of 1780, . 214, 215
Dark Day of 1881, . 215, 217
Shower of stars,
217
Cold Friday, .
218
Severe snow-storm of October, 1804,
218
Great gale of September 25, 1815, .
. 218, 219
Great tornado of September 9, 1821,
. 219-221
Great frost of June 17, 1794,
221 Poverty year, 1816, .
Mackerel year, 1817,
Aurora Borealis, 1721, .
222
Great freshet of 1824, 222
Great August freshet of 1826, . 223, 224
Government of New Hampshire,-containing
Colonial, Provincial, Union with Massachusetts, Gov. Wentworth, 225 Exeter Convention of 1776, and Convention of 1781, 226
Proclamation for continuing forms of government, . 227, 228 Constitution adopted in 1783, 229
Revision of Constitution in 1792, 229
Governor Josiah Bartlett in 1792, 229
Convention of 1850, 230
Constitution of 1877,
230-232
Committee of Safety, 232, 233
Adoption of Federal Constitution, 234
End of the Old and beginning of the New Government, 235
Miscellaneous matters,-containing
First in their special business or calling, 236-239
Honorable women, . 239
Owners of lots. 240
Building the pound, 241
CONTENTS.
vii
Cheney and the bear, . 242
Inventory of estate of Ebenezer Kesar, 243
New London petition for a Coroner, 244 Ownership of farms, . 245-247
Value of lots, 247
Obligation to settle, 248, 249
Bond for deed,
249
Copies of receipts of an early date,
. 250, 251
Money scarce,
251, 252
Resolutions and Votes passed in Town-Meeting,-containing Drift road,
253
Supplies for muster-day, 1815,
254
Hogreeves, .
254
Burying-grounds,
255
Incorporations, .
255
Capital punishment,
255
Sexton at Mill Village,
255, 256
Printing of public expenditures,
256
Militia bill,
256
Wilmot Proviso,
256
Prohibition of liquor-selling, .
256
Cattle and sheep in burying-grounds, .
256
Liquor-selling again,
257
Literary fund,
257
Town purchase a hearse,
257
Dodge's Map of N. H. for schools,
257
Tramps,
257
B. F. Pillsbury,
257
Supervisors of check-list,
258
Taxation of dogs,
258
Bounties,
258, 259
Public Library,
259
Poor-house,
. 261-265
Surplus Revenue,
265, 266
Maintaining the town poor, . 267,268
Burying-grounds, 269-274
Apprentices and " Bound ont,' 275-284
Mills, . 285-290
Tanneries, . 290
Potash making, 291
Warning out of town, . . 292-294
Debts and debtors, . 295-302
Early roads, .
. 303-305
Early perambulations, .
. 305, 306
viii
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Railroad communication with Boston, . 306, 307
North Village and Kezarville, . . 308-314
Building the Meeting-Houses,-containing
What the Perrystown Grantees failed to do, 315
What the Masonian Proprietors did, . . 315, 316
Ancient log meeting-house at Mill Village, . 316
Votes indicating some attempt to get the town to build a meeting-
house, , 316-317
Cent tax,
317
Petitions for tax to raise money to build a meeting-house, . . 317-320
Remonstrance to the petitions, . . 320-322
Depositions of Benjamin Wadleigh, Ephraim Gile, Samuel Bean, 323 Penny Acre Tax, 324
Issue of federal money,
324 325
Who built the meeting-houses, .
Purchase of material for the same,
325
Building committees for both houses,
326
Method of paying amount subscribed,
326
327
Sale of pews, .
328
Deed of pews,
329
Lock and pair of pulpit hinges, . 333
Burning of the South meeting-house,
Framers of the meeting-houses, 333
Galleries, . 333-335
Pulpit, . 336
Internal finish of the meeting-houses, . 336-338
Belfry and bell, . . 338, 339
Travelling on the Sabbath and tythingmen, . 339, 340
Singing in meeting,
. 341-343
Religious meetings in private houses, . 343, 344
Ministerial Fund, 344, 345
Amount drawn by different denominations, 345
Ordination Charge of Elder Nathan Champlin, 346 Religious Societies,-containing
Universalists, their early history, 347
Toleration Act, 3-47
" Universal Friendly Society " in Sutton, . 348, 349
Celebrated preachers, . 350
350
Organization of the Universalist church,
Members, . 352, 353
Ministers, .
354
Universalist society, . 354-356
Rev. Robert Stinson,
. 357-358
Subscription list,
. 331, 332
ix
CONTENTS.
Rev. Joseph Sargent, . 359
Calvinist Baptist Church,-containing
History, by Elder Charles Newhall and Samuel Dresser,
.
. 359-361
Church of 1782, . 362
Reorganization of the church in 1803,
363
Rev. Nathan Champlin, 364
Itinerant preachers,
365
Ministers, . 366, 367
Deacons,
. 367, 368
Clerks, .
368
Missionary work,
369
Church members, . 369-377 Early Baptist churches and Warren Baptist Association, . 378-381
Elder Samuel Ambrose, . 381-384
Rev. William Taylor, . 384-389
Rev. Nathan Ames, . 389-390
Dr. Crosmon, .
391
Rev. Pelatiah Chapin, .
. 391-393
Rev. Reuel Lothrop, 393
Rev. Edward Mitchell,
. 393, 394
Rev. Henry Archibald,
394
Rev. Charles Newhall,
394
Rev. Valentine Bunker, Rev. William Libbey, . 396
. 397-398
Letter of Dismission,
398
Missionary Circle,
399
Freewill Baptists, their origin,
399
Elder Elijah Watson,
400
Rev. Nathaniel King,
. 400, 401
Elder Robert Dickey, Elder Benaiah Bean,
401
Rev. John Colby, 401
Elder John Gillingham, . 401, 402
Lack of scholarly training among preachers, . 402, 403
Fugitive Slave Law, . 403, 404
Extracts from Weare Q. M. Records, . 405-407
Extracts from Sutton Church Records, . 407, 408
Pastors since 1842, . . 408, 409
Deacons and clerks, . 409, 410
Names of church members, . 410, 419
Church Covenant, 419
Recent delegates to Q. M., . 420, 421
Elder David Moody, . 421-424
Rev. Henry Kimball, . 425-427
. 394, 395
First Baptist Society,
X
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Rev. Isaac Peaslee, . 427
Rev. Arthur C. Peaslee. 428
Second Advent Church and Society, 429-431
Spiritualists, . . 431, 432
Osgoodites, . 433, 434
Settling a Minister,-containing
Votes concerning Rev. Samuel Ambrose, 135
Compromise between the town and Mr. Ambrose, 436
Missionary labors of Mr. Ambrose, 438
Dismission of Mr. Ambrose, 438
Sale of the Minister lot,
439
Support of preaching,
. 439-440
Use of word " Gift." 441
Act passed during reign of Queen Anne, 441
Citizens taxed for support of preaching, . 442
N. II. Bill of Rights, 442
Toleration Act, . 443
Recognition of different Sects by the Legislature, 443
Rate List (for Mr. Ambrose), 445
Standard of Weights and Measures, 445
Survey of the Town, 446
School and Minister Funds, and Literary Fund, 446-447 Old Fashions,-containing
Pins, buttons, woodchuck skins, 448
Intrusive Swine,-Bears, . 449
Benjamin Wadleigh's adventures, . 449-450
Apple-trees, . 450-451
Courtship, . . 451-452
Making Salts and Potash,
452
Old potash building,
453
William Burns, 453
Flax, 454
Carding machines, steel pens, watches, 455
Cooking-stoves; Burning-fluid ; Kerosene, 456
Bread ; Log-houses ; Substitutes for glass windows, 457
Frame houses ; Furniture ; Wooden plates ; Brooms, 458
Losses by fire,
458
The Caravan, 459-461
Revolutionary Soldiers of Sutton,-containing
. 462-467 -
First N. H. Revolutionary Regiment, sketch of
Benjamin Critchett, . 467-472
Francis Como, . 472, 473
Silas Russell,
. 473, 474
Ananiah Bohonnan, 474
xi
CONTENTS.
Pay of officers and men, 474-476
Names of Revolutionary soldiers, 476, 477
Names of soldiers of 1812, 477
Items concerning both wars, 477,478
Soldiers of French War, 478
The Militia,-containing New Militia Law of 1776, 479
The 21st Regiment, 480
Petition for division of the regiment, . . 481-483 " Military Establishment " in 1800, 1802, 1805, 1806, . . 484, 485
May training, .
486
Petition of inhabitants of New London in favor of Thomas Wadleigh, 486, 487
His letter, .
488
" Treating " the Company, 489
Officers in various years, .
490-492
Militia officers who took the oath before Jonathan Harvey, . 492, 493
Commission of John Harvey, . 493, 494
Officers of the 30th Regiment, ,494-499
Muster day in 1822, . 500-505
War of the Rebellion,-containing
Names of soldiers, . . 506-509
Payment of the war debt, . . 509-511
Individual record of Sutton men, . 511-517
Robert Campbell Post, . 517-521 Schools .- containing
Academies and early legislation regarding schools, . 522, 523
Polite behavior, 524
School-books. 525-527
Amesbury school-master, .
528
School privileges for girls,
. 529, 530
Establishment of schools, .
531
Early school-houses,
531
Later school-books, . 532, 533
Master Hogg and other teachers, . 533, 537
Singing-schools; Capt. Matthew Buell, 538
539
Saving a child from death by freezing, 540
Sunday-schools and dancing-schools, 541
Sup. school-committees,
Inspectors of schools, . 542
Increase in number of scholars and school-districts, . . 542, 543
Division of the town into school-districts, . 543, 547
Names of many teachers, . . 548, 551
Backward glances, . . 551-555
xii
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Natural Features of Sutton,-containing
Surface ; streams ; ponds ; hills ; table of altitudes ; Kearsarge
mountain, . 557-563
Geology of Sutton, . 563, 564
Mineral spring, 564
Trees, . . . 565-569
Wild animals; birds,
. 569, 570
Historical Sketches by Erastus Wadleigh, prepared several years before his death,-containing
King's hill in 1824, . . 571-582
Kearsarge gore and Cass hill, . 583-585
Kezar lake,
586-590
Sunapee lake, . . 591-595
Historical sketch (New London and Low Plains), . 596-598
Town officers elected March, 1890, . 598
Genealogies, .
599
INDEX OF ENGRAVINGS. PART I.
Erastus Wadleigh, frontispiece.
Matthew Harvey, Sr., and Hannah (S.) Harvey, profiles, 40
Hon. Jonathan Harvey, . 42 .
Hon. Matthew Harvey, . 44
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
PROPRIETORS' RECORDS.
The title to every foot of land in Sutton reaches back to the deed or grant given in 1749 to Obadiah Perry and fifty-nine others by the Masonian pro- prietors of the New Hampshire lands. Who were these Masonian proprietors, and how were they entitled to the lands? They were an association of twelve gentlemen of Portsmouth and vicinity, who bought out the right of Capt. John Mason, they receiving their deed from John Tufton Mason, the heir and descendant of Capt. John Mason. Who was Capt. John Mason? He was a merchant of London, and afterwards naval commander, and secretary to the Council of Plymouth, from which council he obtained in 1621 his first grant to that part of New Hampshire lying between Salem river and the Merrimack. The next year Mason and Gorges unitedly obtained a grant of all the land from the Merrimack to the Kennebec river,-and in 1629 Mason became sole owner of that part of their grant which lay between the Merrimack and the Piscataqua, and westward to the St. Lawrence and the lakes. This tract was hence termed Laconia.
2
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Later, in 1677, the government of Massachusetts purchased from the heirs of Gorges the Province of Maine. Why they did not at the same time purchase from the heir of Mason the Province of New Hampshire is not known. Mason made no money out of his lands, but, on the contrary, ex- pended a fortune in the effort to colonize and im- prove the same.
But what was this Council of Plymouth, and whence came their right to dispose of the New Hampshire lands? April 20, 1606, James I, king of England, granted a liberal patent to an associa; tion which took the name of the "Plymouth Com- pany." Little was done towards colonizing by this company, and it was in 1620 superseded by the "Council of Plymouth," an association composed of forty of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the realm of England. This body corporate was, according to its charter, established " for the plant- ing, ruling, ordering, and governing of New Eng- land in America."
Their grant included more than a million square miles lying between the fortieth and the forty- eighth degree of north latitude, and westward to the "South sea," i. e., the Pacific ocean. It was con- veyed to them as absolute owners of the soil. It embraced the finest portion of the continent, and within its limits are now some of the most flourish- ing of the United States.
But now comes the last and most important of this series of questions concerning title, being the one on which all the others have their foundation, viz., How did the king of England obtain the right
3
PROPRIETORS' RECORDS.
to sell or give away any part of the lands of North America? Through its discovery by her navigators, John Cabot and his son Sebastian Cabot, in 1497, and later explorations, and efforts to colonize, Eng- land claimed the right to the whole of the continent of North America, and by her constitution the title was vested in the king, with power to sell or convey the lands as he pleased. It will be ob- served that in these conveyances no regard what- ever was had to the natural rights of the Indians, the aboriginal inhabitants and possessors of the lands, though in a few cases the settlers in some of the earliest townships went through the form of a treaty and purchase of their land from the natives. Such was the case with old Haverhill, in Massa- chusetts, to which town so many of the Sutton fam- ilies trace their ancestry.
The names of those gentlemen who purchased the right of Mason to the New Hampshire lands were Theodore Atkinson, Mark Hunking Went- worth, Richard Wibird, John Wentworth, George Jaffrey, Samuel Moore, Nathaniel Messerve, Thom- as Packer, Thomas Wallingford, Jotham Odiorne, Joshua Pierce, and John Moffat.
The transfer of Mason's claim was made in 1747, the whole being sold in fifteen shares, of which shares Theodore Atkinson took three fifteenths, Mark Hunking Wentworth took two fifteenths, and the other proprietors took one share each.
Immediately on receiving their deed of the New Hampshire lands, the Masonian proprietors com- menced granting townships to petitioners on terms conceded by all concerned to be rather liberal
4
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
towards the grantees. The petition to the Maso- nians for the grant of a township was usually com- menced with a list of the names of the sixty men who were " of one mind, and desire their names may be entered upon this paper in order that they may have a tract of land granted to them and their heirs forever." Then follows the petition to the " gen- tlemen whose right it is to grant:" "We being the loyal and dutiful subjects of His Majesty King George, pray you to grant or give to us a part of the land which is to be laid out into townships in our frontier above."
EXTRACTS FROM THE PROPRIETARY RECORDS.
THE GRANT OF 1749-NOVEMBER 30.
The grant of the tract of land under the name of Perrystown was given by the Masonian proprie- tors at the above date at Portsmouth. The tract was granted equally to the sixty grantees named, as also
one share to the first settled minister, one share for the support of the gospel, and one share for support of schools,-
making in all sixty-three shares. It was described as being on
the west side of Kyarsargy Hill, 7} miles long, and 5 miles wide, and to contain 36 square miles. It was to be run out within eight months, so as to contain 72 one-hundred-acre lots, and 64 one-hun- dred-and-sixty-acre lots. The last named to be called the 2nd Divi- sion Lots.
The grantors reserved for themselves
a strip of land one mile wide and 74 miles long, the whole length of the town, on the east side of the same, to be divided into 18 lots.
These lots are commonly spoken of as the Lord Proprietors' Lots. In choosing this section for their own reserve they certainly showed good policy,
6
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
these lands being so situated as to get the wash from Kearsarge mountain and hill, and their rich- ness is not yet exhausted, as is the case with some of the hill-side farms in Sutton. The land that was left after the 1st division (the one-hundred-acre lots) and the 2d division (the one-hundred-sixty- acre lots) were made, was to be equally divided . among the shares of the previous divisions. The grant required that
Within two years from the date thereof, the grantees shall have a saw-mill built. In three years each owner shall have three acres cleared for tillage. In four years each owner shall have a house 16 feet square, or equivalent thereto. In five years there shall be thirty families. In six years shall be a meeting-house built, and preaching, and fifty families on said tract of land. In seven years the owners to settle a minister of the gospel.
The charter contained the usual reservation of all white pine trees for the king's navy. The enforcement of the last named provision, in towns settled at an earlier date than Sutton, proved so exasperating to the people that some writers on the Revolutionary period estimate the influence of this in arousing the spirit of resistance which led to the Revolution as fully equal to the influence of the offensive tea, molasses, and stamp acts. All white pine trees from fifteen to thirty-six inches in diam- eter were reserved for the royal navy. The office of surveyor of the "king's woods " was holden by Governor Wentworth, who had his deputies in all places where the pine grew in plenty. These depu- ties were the cause of much vexation and trouble. The owner of a piece of land, before he commenced cutting, was under the necessity of employing a.
7
EXTRACTS FROM RECORDS.
deputy surveyor to mark the trees upon his land reserved for the use of the king; and if he neglect- ed to have his land thus surveyed from inability to pay for surveying, or from any other cause, and proceeded to cut his timber, the same was forfeited to the king.
In this way whole mill-yards of lumber, got out by the settlers for building their houses and barns, the work, perhaps, of an entire winter, were often forfeited. As soon as the deputy had placed the king's mark upon a tree or log, it was the property of the king, and no one dared to touch it.
But it is not probable that any of the noble old pines of Sutton ever suffered the indignity of being branded by the deputy with the hateful Broad Ar- row which marked the king's ownership. Not only the remoteness of the situation of this tract of land, and the lack of convenient roads leading thither, and the distance from any stream suitable for raft- ing such timber, were its safeguards, but the date at which settlers had need to cut down the trees for use was too near the Revolutionary period, 1775, when by the flight of the governor the royal authority was at an end.
The first grant or charter of Perrystown was obtained Nov. 30, 1749. This grant was renewed Feb. 24, 1751. The time for fulfilling the condi- tions of the charter having expired and very little having been done in the premises, it became neces- sary to procure a new one, which, after no small amount of trouble and the payment of $300, was done August 18, 1773. It is not probable that the original charter cost the Perrystown proprietors
8
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
any thing more than the expense of making the survey, the Masonians trusting to get their pay through the increased value of the lands they re- served for themselves. Townships were frequently granted to petitioners who had done service in the wars with the French and Indians.
Obadiah Perry, for whom our township was first called, and whose name is first on the list of grantees, was of Haverhill. We find in the history of that town that during the war of 1744-1748, nine men were called for from Haverhill, and his name heads the list as corporal.
As we find him termed "Capt." Obadiah Perry, it is probable he was promoted to that rank during actual service. But on the renewal of hostilities he was killed by Indians, and his name ceases on our records.
To illustrate the difficulties of the proprietors and early settlers, it will be well to introduce some ex- tracts from "The Proprietors' Book of Records," a manuscript volume of many pages of thick, coarse, foolscap paper, yellow, stained, and worn by time and much use. It is very difficult to read, the ink being much faded, the manuscript cramped and small, the paper being without rules, and much of the orthography and syntax faulty.
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