USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Hampstead > A memorial of the town of Hampstead, New Hampshire : historic and genealogic sketches. Proceedings of the centennial celebration, July 4th, 1849. Proceedings of the 150th anniversary of the town's incorporation, July 4th, 1899, Volume I > Part 10
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 (link on the Part 1 page).
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
*Wirt's life of Patrick Henry.
119
HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
customed, and felt a nobler pride in being dressed in the simple productions of their own looms than they had ever expe- rienced from glittering in the brightest ornaments of the east."
If our fathers and mothers did not occupy so prominent a place in the great drama of the Revolution, as others who lived nearer the scenes of active operation, it was not because they lacked brave and patriotic spirits. They contributed their full quota of the honest yeomanry that composed our bravest troops. They freely gave of their fortunes to promote the sacred cause ; they protected from hunger and danger the wives and little ones of those who had gone manfully forth to fight. In that day America knew no distinction of rank or person. It was a common cause for the common good. The humblest soldier in that war, if animated by the same patriotic feelings, deserves and receives the same grateful remembrance from posterity. What though his name be lost ! What though every trace of his life's history be destroyed ! He performed well his part in life, and the influence of his acts will descend through all time, and incite other men in other ages to the same noble struggles to become free, even as now the cowering millions of Europe are striving to break the tyranny of power ; even as the noble Hungarians are contending for life and lib- erty against the allied despotic powers of Austria and Russia.
It is proper to notice, though from necessity briefly, the prin- cipal men of our town.
Richard Hazzen came from Haverhill, Mass., and was among the first settlers. He was graduated at Harvard College in 1717 ; in 1741 he was one of the principal surveyors in running the line between this State and Massachusetts. He died sud- denly in October, 1754. He was a useful and trustworthy citizen, and was esteemed by his fellow townsmen. He was so well known and prominent, that he is mentioned on the rec- ords simply as Mr. Hazzen, his christian name being omitted.
Daniel Little Esq. also came from Haverhill. By the au- thority given him in the town charter, he called the first town meeting for the purpose of organizing. He was often chosen
120
MEMORIAL OF THE TOWN OF
Selectman, and placed upon important committees, and was a valuable and influential citizen. He died in 1777, at the good old age of eighty-six, lamented by all his fellow townsmen. His descendants compose a numerous and valuable part of our population. His son Samuel was a justice of the Peace, often one of the Selectmen, and frequently filled other important of- fices in town. Another son, Rev. Daniel Little, was the first minister of Kennebunk, Maine ; and preached in this town, be- fore the settlement of Mr. True. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and had the honorary degree of A. M. conferred upon him at Harvard College.
Gen. Jacob Bailey resided in this town several years. He came from Newbury, Mass., and was a very enterprising man. After living here several years he went as leading man and settled in Newbury, Vt., which town he named after his na- tive place. He was distinguished as an officer in the Revo- lutionary War.
Capt. John Hazzen, who was born in Haverhill, Mass., and nephew to Richard Hazzen, was also a man of enterprise. After living in this town several years, he removed to settle in Haverhill of this state, which place he named after the place of his nativity.
Hon. Charles Johnson was another very worthy man, who went from this place with Capt. Hazzen, as one of the first and most valuable men in that company.
Hon. John Calef, born in Newbury, Mass., came to this town from Kingston, N. H. He was a descendant of the celebrated Robert Calef, a merchant of Boston, who so stren- uously withstood the measures of the government in putting supposed witches to death in Salem, Mass. He was a dea- con in the Church at Hampstead thirty-five years,-a Justice of the Peace twenty-nine years, and of the Quorum through- out the state thirteen years ;- Judge of the Court of Com- mon Pleas twenty-five years, and Clerk of the House of Rep- resentatives twenty-five years. He annually represented this and two neighboring towns in the General Assembly, during
121
HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
the war of the Revolution, at a time when he was under thirty years of age. He was also a member of the Commit- tee of Safety, with discretionary power to transact all State affairs during the recess of the assembly. At the age of eighteen he was an under officer on the shores of Lake Cham- plain, in the war against the French and Indians. He was also an officer in the Revolutionary army. He was secretary of the convention for forming the State Constitution, and of the convention for ratifying the Federal Constitution. He was chosen State Treasurer but did not accept the office. In his memoir it is said, " that no man ever more sacredly re- garded the will of the people." He died in 1808, in the sixty- eighth year of his age. On the meeting of the legislature the next month, it was voted in testimony of respect for his memory, that the members of the house would wear black crape, on the left arm during the session. "To the close of his life, he sustained a fair, unblemished character, which envy or malice would scarce dare impeach."*
There is not time to notice, at large, other prominent men. A mere mention of their names must suffice. Among those whom we hold in grateful remembrance, are Dea. Peter East- man, for twenty years town clerk ; Dea. Benjamin Kimball ; Capt. William Marshall, the first representative from this town under the new constitution ; Dea. Timothy Goodwin ; Lieut. Peter Morse ; Dea. Samuel Currier; Daniel Little Esq., re- cently deceased ; Dea. Moses Little ; Dea. Job Kent ; John True Esq .; Col. Jonathan Little ; Reuben Harriman ; Col. Benjamin Emerson ; Dea. John Emerson ; Bartholemnew Heath ; Jonathan Eastman ; Jesse Gordon Esq. ; and Isaac Noyes Esq., deceased the present year. There are names of many others, in the history of the town, whom we would like to notice and who have equal claims upon our remembrance. But time forbids us to delay. Nor is it necessary to recite
*The preceding account of the prominent citizens is condensed from Mr. Kelly's "Sketch of Hampstead " and from the History of Judge Calef. Information from other sources has been added.
122
MEMORIAL OF THE TOWN OF
their histories. We hold their acts in grateful remembrance. The influence of their well spent lives is felt by us today. Their love of order and religion, their veneration for things sacred, their public spirit, worthy of imitation in these days, their generosity toward objects of charity, and their friendly relations in neighborhoods, and among each other,-all their noble traits of character command our highest veneration.
To the memory of the venerable man, who recently left this world, as we trust for a better one, it is fitting that we pay more than a passing tribute.
Rev. John Kelly was born in Amesbury, Mass., February 22nd, 1763 ; he was graduated at Dartmouth College in 1791 and ordained at Hampstead, December 6, 1792. There was no dissenting voice against his settlement, although for ten years previous, there had been no settled minister here, and many ineffectual attempts had been made to procure one. The sal- ary voted to him was sixty pounds a year, and the use of the parsonage, "also ten cords of wood a year for ten years, and if he shall not find that sufficient, liberty to cut more from the parsonage." When ten years should expire, they were to give him fifteen cords a year. They also voted to give him "two cows and six sheep when called for."
To the call and offer of the town, he returned with his usual frankness, an affirmative answer; an answer, too, which breathes the spirit of evangelical piety.
It is worthy of mention, that Mr. Kelly outlived every indi- vidual who was a member of his church at the time he became connected with it. Of all the men who helped settle him, only two survive .* It was his lot to see the rest depart, one after another, to the spirit land, to find himself left almost alone to mourn their departure, and to witness the extinguishment of the "objects of their ardent hopes and high endeavor."
The result of his labors is known to us all. Scandal never moved its tongue to defame his character or oppugn his mo-
*Capt. Jonathan G. Little and Mr. Hezekiah Ayer.
123
HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
tives. In private life he was distinguished for mildness and dignity ; in the discharge of his public duties, for meekness, for practical knowledge in life, and in the scriptures, for sound judgment and correct taste. Although all here present may not have agreed with him in religious belief, yet all will unite in according to him the best intentions in all his ac- tions.
First convinced of the correctness of his opinions, he en- deavored mildly but firmly to convince others. At the bed- side of the sick, and in the house of mourning he was a fre- quent visitor. Conscious of the duties and responsibilities of his profession, it was his highest endeavor to live a fit exam- ple of a Godly and Christian minister.
To the dying he strove to point out the way to eternal life ; to the afflicted, the consolation of religion ; and to all, the importance of obedience and implicit faith in the wisdom of our Creator.
To him death was a welcome messenger. He was pre- pared to go " through the valley and shadow of death without fear." In ripe old age, after almost half a century spent in the work of the ministry, he went down to the grave beloved and lamented by all who survived him.
We have thus, fellow citizens, run rapidly over our history down to the commencement of the present century. The events that have since transpired are of a most recent occur- rence, that they need not now be reviewed.
It is little more than a century since the first white man pressed his feet upon our soil ; and yet how little do we know of the eventful lives of our fathers! The place of their abode contains hardly a relic of their habitations. In the im- provements of the age, and in the progress of the acts, we have lost sight of their customs, and discarded the things so familiar to them. The ruins yet to be seen, disclose to our minds scenes of deep and thrilling interest. In the infancy of this settlement, what interesting topics of conversation served to beguile the weary hours of evening; what joys and
124
MEMORIAL OF THE TOWN OF
sorrows occurred to break the monotony of their lives; with what anguish the whole household watched for the return of the absent father or son ; what fear of the prowling wolf or lurking savage, filled their minds, weary with watching, we have not time to inquire. When, in the long and dark night of the Revolution, so many of their young men had gone forth to battle, with what painful suspense did the family wait for news from the absent ones. And when the painful intelligence came that the eldest and favorite son of their be- loved pastor had fallen in battle, with what rapidity did the intelligence pass from house to house ; what increased anxiety did parents feel lest the next messenger should announce that a beloved friend had fallen in battle. What sleepless nights did they pass in tearful thought of the absent ones, the be- wildered imagination picturing a fond husband or son suffer- ing the privations of a life in camp, perchance lying wounded upon the field of battle, with no friend to bathe his burning temples, or to bring a cup of water to cool his parching thirst. Or again in frightful dreams beholding his corse stretched lifeless upon the battle plains, the cold moonbeams shining into his features, fixed in death.
For a brief hour we have attempted to live in the past only. We have followed our ancestors from the earliest period of their history, to the latest acts of their lives. We have suf- fered with them in their troubles and rejoiced with them in their joys. We have seen them a hardy, enterprising, and patient race, struggling against want and privations and ca- lamities of war, and all the evils incident to a new settlement ; and we have seen them too, though lacking the luxuries of wealth, and the refinements of polished society, exerting their influence, and laboring in the cause of religion and of educa- tion, and those benevolent institutions so common to New England, that they have made it renowned the world over, for virtue and enterprise. We have not found them without their faults. But " their faults were usually virtues carried too far," " faults partly belonging to the time but more the effect
125
HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
of strong feelings without the advantages of early discipline. At the same time we have seen in them the rudiments of real refinement, warm, kind, and gentle feelings, and specimens of politeness worthy of the patriarchal age."
But they are gone forever from their places. Their ashes are embodied in yonder burial place. They are gone, and with them all they loved or feared, the objects so dear to them in life, and the temptations they labored so hard to remove. But they yet speak to us. Their example lives, and today brightens the sun of our existence with its living influence.
There comes up the thought full of meaning, what will be the condition of our beloved town a century to come? At the next Centennial Celebration who will be the actors? Time alone can disclose the fortune that awaits those who shall come after us. But we know who will not be actors then. We shall " be gathered to our fathers." The sun will shine as brightly then upon these beautiful places; these waters will sparkle before his presence, reflecting a thousand flashing rays; these trees will afford the same delightful shade ; and the earth yield its annual return to the toiling husbandman. But another generation will occupy our places. The names of many of us will be no longer known. But the influence of our lives will be felt though we be forgotten in our graves.
Nor can we tell what mighty changes will then have been effected. Within the last year and a half, revolution after revolution in the old world has taken place in such rapid succession that the mind awakens to the startling reality, scarcely able to comprehend the sudden menacing. The king of the French, acknowledged the wealthiest man in the world, the wisest sovereign that ever sat upon the throne of France, and thought to be securely seated upon that throne, the " Citizen King of 1830," is deposed, and in the meanest garb of disguise flees before an outraged populace to the British Isles for refuge. France, the scene of so much bloodshed and of so many revolutions, raises the standard of liberty,
126
MEMORIAL OF THE TOWN OF
and other nations catching the sound of the shouts of free- dom, in a day, compel the monarchs of Europe to loosen the reins of power; and thrones that have stood firmly for ages, they make to tremble upon their foundations. Austria, the land of tyranny and oppression, compels her Emperor to ab- dicate. Prince Metternich, so long the crafty and subtle Prime Minister to a powerful monarch, whose iron will and selfish heart had so long directed the affairs of a nation, whose every thought and art had been directed to the establishment of despotism and the spread of Popery, suddenly finds him- self unable to stem the current of popular indignation, and is compelled to retire from the high post he had so basely pros- tituted, to muse in solitude upon his past life, and commune with his own corrupt heart. The Pope, whose election was hailed by the whole civilized world as a harbinger of a better administration of the affairs of Rome, is hardly seated upon his throne before he "flees in disguise from his pontifical halls, and St. Peter's and the Vatican resound with the tri- umphal shout of an awakened nation."
The seed of liberty, sown by our fathers in the days of the Revolution, is springing up in every part of Europe, and promises to convert those despotic powers and monarchies into new and powerful republics; the voice of the people, so long stifled behind the throne, is beginning to reach the ears of the kings and emperors, and will, ere long, assert their rights in the majesty of their strength. Hungary is struggling against the most unholy alliance ever entered into to suppress the efforts of a people to become free. She has nobly flung to the breeze the banner of liberty, and is bravely contending against the most powerful odds. We wait with the most in- tense anxiety for the next news that shall tell us of the fate of a people who are imitating our example, and hold in such veneration the memory of our Washington.
On the Western continent the Saxons conquer and dis- member Mexico. California outshines the wealth of India ; the disloyal Canadians insult the representative of majesty,
127
HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
and the United States are extending their borders over the whole continent.
In the physical world within a score of years, by the appli- cation of steam to machinery, we are carried across the waters with a speed and safety until recently deemed unattainable. The most distant parts of our country are connected by iron rails reaching out and extending in every direction. The hourly rate of speed has gone up from five miles to thirty, and even in some cases fifty ; and the most sanguine are not deemed visionary when they predict that it will be increased to one hundred. The electric wire, with the wings of the lightning, conveys every moment, from shore to shore, a new subject for thought or action.
Within the last few years it has been our fortune to wit- ness these magic changes. Each new year will bring to us some new improvement in the world of inventions, and a cen- tury hence the historian of that time will record the discov- ery of wonders far surpassing any conception which we are able to form.
The interest with which the annual return of this day is awaited induces me to ask your indulgence a few moments longer.
This day the joyful shout, America is free, spreads from state to state, from town to town, and from house to house till the whole land rings with the glad voice, and echo upon echo comes back from every mountain and hillside, America is free ! On our mountains and on our plains, on our noble rivers, and on our great waters, a thousand voices unite in the shouts of liberty, and a thousand echoes send back the soft notes of the songs of Freedom. The deep, shady glens and beautiful groves resound to the merry voices of thoughtless, innocent children. The busy streets are filled with throngs of free men, self-divested of the cares and occupations of life. " Eloquence, with burning lips and glowing tongue," portrays those magnificent triumphs which history has already written for posterity.
128
MEMORIAL OF THE TOWN OF
Its early dawning is awaited with scarce restrained impa- tience to be ushered in with firing of cannons, ringing of bells, and every demonstration of joy. It is celebrated by every class of Americans, by every society and organization, by civic processions, by floral gatherings, by orations, by military re- views, each and all with the joy and enthusiasm which Americans only can feel. The going down of the sun is the signal of gathering of thousands to close the festivities of the day with every exhibition of art which the pyrotechnist can display. Amid the blazing of rockets and the glittering of fireworks, rivalling the stars in splendor and beauty, end the varied scenes of this anniversary.
We seem to linger around the scenes of that dark hour in our nation's history, when every hope of the future was in- volved in doubt and disappointment. The spirit of the past carries us back a period of seventy-three years. We look up- on the devoted, self-denying men, who composed the memor- able Congress of 1776. We consider the thoughts which heaved their breasts ; mark the alternations of hope and fear, of confidence and doubt, which reveal the agonies within. We note the solemn stillness that rests upon them,-the deep and absorbing interest growing more intense. The Declara- tion of Independence is read. Incensed at the wrongs in- flicted upon America, they speak of the shedding of their brothers blood at Lexington, and Concord, and Bunker Hill, in the language of outraged manhood, and vow to avenge the death of their martyred countrymen. " Eloquence is poured forth from inexhaustable fountains. It assumes every varie- ty of hue, and form, and motion which can delight or per- suade, instruct or astonish. Now it is the limpid rivulet, sparkling down the mountain's side, and winding its silver course, between margins of moss ;- anon it is the angry ocean, chafed by the tempest, hanging its billows, with deafening clamors, among the crackling shrouds, or hurling them in sub- lime defiance at the storm that frowns above."
It is finished ; they declare our country free, and in support
JAMES HENRY EMERSON.
HORATIO D. EMERSON.
-
DANIEL H. EMERSON
X
ALBERT H. EMERSON.
WM. A. EMERSON AND SONS SHOE FACTORY.
WILLIAM A. EMERSON.
MRS. ABBIE DOW EMERSON.
DANIEL EMERSON.
FRANK W. EMERSON.
-
---
ARTHUR W. EMERSON.
MYRON D. EMERSON.
RICHARD K. BRICKETT.
CHARLES HENRY EMERSON.
ALFRED P. EMERSON.
DR. GEORGE SMART EMERSON.
RESIDENCE OF ALFRED P. EMERSON.
129
HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
of that Declaration, " pledge their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor." Lives and fortunes were sacrificed in its defence, but our country's honor was sustained.
Now war is raging throughout our native land. Hostile armies of one and the same name, blood and language, are ar- rayed for battle. Years of darkness and doubt succeed, lighted only by some struggling rays of hope, and the fires of war. But darkness and doubt pass at length away, and day dawns upon the long, dark night of the Revolution.
More than half a century has rolled away, since the glory of that bright morning broke upon us, and another scene is disclosed. Where swept the tide of war, now all is calm and fresh and still. The roll of musketry and the clash of arms are hushed, and the pillow of repose is pressed in quiet. "The busy town and the rural cottage, the lowing herd, the cheerful hearth, the village school, the rising spire, the solemn bell, the voice of prayer, and the hymn of praise, brighten and adorn American life and privileges."
You have had imperfectly sketched to you, fellow citizens, the most important scenes in the history of our native town ; and the character of this day requires that some allusion should be made to our Country's proud career.
We have performed a grateful duty to the memory of our ancestors. They sought this land when it was a wilder- ness. The name of Puritan, which was fastened on them as a term of reproach, they meekly accepted, and so adorned with the even tenor of their lives, and with the rectitude and consistency of their characters, that it has become more hon- orable than that of king or ruler. The American traces his descent from the emigrants in the Mayflower, with greater satisfaction than if he could, with indisputable certainty, trace his ancestral stream back to the present nobleman of the most chivalrous age of England.
American and New England privileges, have they left us. They struggled long and hard to establish these free institu- tions of ours. And when they bequeathed them to us,
130
MEMORIAL OF THE TOWN OF
they also enjoined it upon us, to preserve and maintain them untarnished, and hand them down to those who shall come after us, increased instruments of good.
Let us so discharge our duties to our Country, to each other, to ourselves and to our God, that when in one hundred years from this day, the people of Hampstead shall again assemble to commemorate the Centennial Anniversary of their incor- poration, and the memory of their fathers, we may have the same grateful remembrance in their hearts, that our ancestors this day occupy in ours.
But if through human error or party strife, we suffer these golden privileges to become lost, this sacred legacy to become corrupted in our hands, in the bitter moments of reflection and regret, there will come to our minds the consoling truth that,
" The spirit cannot always sleep in dust, Whose essence is ethereal; they may try To darken and degrade it; it may rust Dimly awhile, but cannot wholly die; And when it wakens, it will send its fire Intenser forth, and higher."
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
150TH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
TOWN OF HAMPSTEAD,
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
July Fourth, Eighteen Hundred
and Ninety-Nine.
PROGRAM OF THE DAY.
Morning.
THE PROCESSION.
The Procession will form at the High School grounds at 9.30. Chief Marshal, WILLIAM A. EMERSON. Aids: ROBERT HART, HENRY W. TABOR. ARTHUR M. EMERSON, WILLIAM J. KEEZER.
AT BRICKETT'S GROVE.
Music .
.
Band
Words of Welcome Charles W. Garland, President of the Day. Rev. T. C. Pratt, Candia
Scripture
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.