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 8
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HAMPSTEAD, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
low in imagination the hunter in the excitement of the chase, or in his perilous adventures in extermination of the wild beasts of the forest ; we hear the happy voice of the farmer toiling in his field, the quick blows of the woodman's axe, the loud crash of the falling tree, or the clear notes of the merry, laughing voices of children ringing through the woods, echoing across the calm surface of this beautiful pond, and dying away in the thick shades of the trees that covered its opposite shores.
These scenes, we would gladly believe, constituted the rou- tine of their lives. But the reality differs widely from this ideal picture of rural quietness. Toil, severe and remitting, left them but little leisure to enjoy the more quiet of modern life. It was their lot to endure the hardships of pioneers in the wilderness. How they fared, what difficulties they en- countered, what efforts they made for the promotion of the moral and benevolent institutions, which are so peculiar to New England, history tells us not. The names of the great only are enrolled upon the book of fame. The historian records the name of the victorious warrior, the illustrious statesman, the eloquent orator, and the accomplished scholar. But the man whose lot it is to live and die upon the spot of his birth, who lives in ignorance of the ways of the world, honestly performs his part in the drama of life, and, " bears love to God and good will to man,"-dies lamented in the circle of immediate friends in which he moved ; but when they in turn quit all here below, his memory dies too.
With the ruins of the first settlement of this town, fast crumbling to decay, will perish every memento of our earliest history. How forcibly are we reminded of the perishableness of early things ! A century and a quarter ago, this town was a wilderness, uninhabited by the white man, and only the occasional resort of the Indian. Today it is the abode of civilization, of happiness, of peace, and plenty. But its first settlers-where are they ? They sleep in the dust; their very names, with hardly an exception, are lost, and no record re-
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mains of their eventful lives. With a sense of loneliness we ask " what is the history of man ?" and henceforth there comes the response, " born-living-dead."
" The battle of life is brief- The alarm-the struggle-the relief- Then sleep we side by side."
There is nothing upon the records of the town or elsewhere, that I have been able to discover, which reveals to us the his- tory of our earliest ancestors. But from the fact that in twenty years from the time of its first settlement, it had be- come of sufficient importance to be honored with an act of incorporation, we may infer that, at least, an ordinary degree of success attended the settlement .* No untoward event probably interrupted its growth, so that in 1748 the people petitioned the Royal Governor for a town charter, which was granted on the 19th of January, 1749. This instrument ap- pears to have been regarded by our ancestors with a good deal of veneration. It was copied into the first book of Records, and to those at all curious in relics of antiquity, is a matter of interest.
From the "Historical Sketch " by Mr. Kelly we find that Hampstead is made up of two segments, one from the town of Haverhill, and the other from the town of Amesbury ; both being cut off from those towns by running the State line in 1741, and were thereby included within the Province of New Hampshire. It was called originally, " Timberlane " on ac- count of its being an elevated, hard tract of land, and from the abundance of timber of the most valuable kinds, which rendered it a place of considerable resort. It was named
*It was a far more difficult thing to plant a small colony at that time and cause it to flourish, than it is at the present day, to build up a large city, or cause thriving villages to spring up, by enchantment almost, ont of the midst of a thriving and industrious people. The largest city in this State, eleven years ago contained less than a thousand inhabitants ; in the compact part of it, where is now found a thriving population of 14000 souls, there thien stood but three houses and dwelt about a score of people. At the present day this increase is not uncommon. A century ago it required time to lay the foundation of a permanent settlement.
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Hampstead, after a pleasant village of that name, in the Coun- ty of Middlesex, in England, five miles north of London. The town was so named by Governor Wentworth. The Is- land in this town was reserved by him for his farm. This Island must formerly have been a place of considerable note. All accounts agree in saying the Governor reserved it for his own use. No such reservation appears in the Charter. It would be, perhaps, more proper to say that he owned the Is- land in his own right, in the same way that any private indi- vidual owned his own farm. The buildings erected upon the Island must, in their day, have been considered of a superior kind. One of the houses was evidently intended for the oc- casional residence of the Governor, and the other, according to the English custom, was of a poorer kind, and devoted to the use of his domestics.
Notwithstanding the buildings have been suffered to go to decay there are yet enough traces of improvements remaining, to render the spot one of the most beautiful places in the State. It was formerly called " Governor's Island." As it is wanting a name at this time a return to the old name would be very appropriate.
In granting the Charter, the King reserved to himself, his " heirs and successors forever, all the white pine trees, grow- ing and being or that shall grow and be, on the said tract of land, fit for the use of his Royal Navy." Such a reservation was usual at that time ; but it has availed the poor king and his successors but little. Since we threw off the yoke of British allegiance, his successors have been forced to look elsewhere for the materials for the "Royal Navy," and England, twice humbled in her haughty pride, has found a powerful rival on the shores of America.
In accordance with the provisions of the Charter, the first public meeting was warned to assemble for the purpose of organizing under it, by Daniel Little, Esq. The warrant is one of which we may as townsmen, well be proud. It is so indicative of the character of our New England ancestors, that I cannot forbear copying it.
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" These are to warn ye free holders and other inhabitants of ye town of Hampstead, qualified to vote in ye choice of Town Officers, to meet at ye New Meeting House in Hamp- stead, on ye first Wednesday of February next at 10 of ye clock in ye forenoon for ye following particulars, viz :
1st. To choose town officers as ye law directs.
2d. To see what ye said Town will do in order to make ye Meeting House more comfortable for ye public worship of God, and also to choose a Committee to take care of ye same.
3dly. To consider and act what shall be thought best about ye place for six pews in ye new tier in ye front of said Meeting House.
4thly. To choose a Committee to provide a Minister to preach among us in order for settling amongst us, or what ye town may think most proper.
Dated at HAMPSTEAD, Jan'y 24, 1749.
DANIEL LITTLE, Justice of the Peace,"
The people were notified to assemble in the New Meeting House. This is the same building which is now used for a town house, and occasionally for religious services. It can- not be determined, certainly, when it was built. From the best information, we are lead to believe that it was raised about the year 1745. It was probably built at the town's expense, as they seem by the records to have exercised ex- clusive control over it, in selling pews, making repairs, and taking care of it.
The building that first served them for a place of worship must have been small, and of the kind universally erected by the Puritans, when they first settled New England. It was located upon the spot where "Spiggot Hall " (recently so named) is now situated. Nothing remains to tell us when it was erected nor how long it was used. It was probably built of hewn logs, in the simplest manner, without porch or orna- ment, and without any pretentions to beauty or finish, after
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the mode of architecture then prevailing in New England. Rough boards or logs constituted the pews, and the pulpit was scarcely anything better. A gallery for the choir was unheard of, or at least unthought of, being considered a dan- gerous innovation upon the Puritan simplicity. As was their custom in those times, the hymn was " deaconed out," a line at a time, (for hymn books were a luxury which they could ill afford ) and all the congregation, who chose, joined in the singing ; a mode of praising God, often more in accordance with the real feelings of the heart, than the elegant, finished, but too frequently unmeaning way, in which the select choirs of the present day perform this delightful duty.
The first meeting house must have been extremely uncom- fortable in the winter season; its walls being unplastered, and fires were out of the question, stoves being a thing un- heard of, in such a place. The building too, was erected when the population was small in numbers, and would not accommo- date the increasing wants of the people. From these con- siderations, they determined to erect a new and more com- modious place of worship. The new house which they constructed, reflects great credit upon them, for what must then have been considered an elegant and beautiful structure. It was built of durable materials, and for over a century it has withstood the ravages of time. Inconvenience of arrange- ment in the simplicity of its model, and in the beauty of its proportions, it stands a monument of Puritan skill and energy, and of Puritan faith.
The house was not put in its present shape till near the close of the eighteenth century, when the porch and steeple were added, and the house thoroughly repaired. Even the windows were not all glazed nor the doors all hung till some years after the frame was covered; and it was many years before the walls were plastered. The limited means of our fathers would not permit them to finish it as fast as they de- sired, or as convenience demanded.
The erection of this house was considered by them indis-
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pensible. It was no mercenary motive that led our fathers to leave "Old England's " shores, encounter the perils of the deep, and endure the privations of a life in the wilderness. It must have been a strong and abiding love for religion, and a perfect faith in God, that induced our Puritan mothers to sever the ties of kindred and nation, to leave parents and friends all behind, and find in the wilds and severe climate of New England, a place to worship God in security, " accord- ing to the dictates of their own consciences ; " to find a refuge from persecution, and an asylum for the despised Pilgrim. It was a strong and abiding love of God that induced our fath- ers and mothers to leave the luxuries and pleasures of home -that word, the mention of which calls up in our memories a thousand pleasing associations,-and to settle in lands which would be continually harassed by Indian warfare, and at- tended with such "sure destruction of property, and life, and hope." "There was no face which did not gather paleness, and no heart which did not bleed at every pore. Everything in life was held and enjoyed in perfect uncertainty. The fond mother with her infant in her arms held him in perpetual fear. She felt that inward terror, that beating and throbbing of nature within the heart, which she only can know, who is nursing her infant for slaughter." Hearts that could put their trust in the Lord and brave dangers like these, more terrible, more uncertain, and attended with unheard of bar- barity, must have been imbued with a perfect love of God. It no longer, then, excites our wonder that every infant set- tlement had its sanctuary, that New England has become re- nowned for its"religion, its learning and its enterprise. Its ten thousand church spires, reaching upwards towards Heaven, point with unerring accuracy, to the cause of its superiority in morality and prosperity.
Happily our own town never was the scene of Indian mas- sacre and cruelty. But the vicinity to other places which, in an unsuspecting moment became scenes of bloodshed, must have kept them in perpetual suspense. "Husbands and
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wives, parents and children, nightly retired to bed in safety, sunk together into silence, doubting ever to rise again."
The same people came to settle this town and possessed the same undying love of God, and the same unyielding spirit to persecution. The strong love for the sanctuary, and sanc- tuary privileges, which they implanted in our breasts, is the richest legacy they could have bequeathed us. It outshines in splendor and in richness, " the wealth of Ormus and of Ind." It is no mean heritage to be the descendants of such a peo- ple. Well may we quote with pride the first warrant for the meeting of the freeholders, when every line but one was penned to take measures for the enjoyment of increased privi- lege in the worship of God and to provide a permanent preach- er of his word.
The erection of their new Meeting House was an important one in their history. It is unfortunate that there is no record of it extant. Allow me to quote the language used upon an occasion similar to this.
" It was apparent that it was in their hearts to build a house unto the Lord. At length the work went on. The forest, dense and heavy, that then entirely surrounded the destined location, resounded with the woodman's axe. The oaks hard by,-ven- erable with the growth of centuries,-were felled, and fitted for their places; at length, the day, so long an object of pious desire, on the part of some, and of wakeful interest among all, had arrived. At an early hour in the morning, from the remotest borders of the town, the men are gathering. All are prompt, and ready to act their several parts in the scene, than which none, perhaps, more joyous than ever before oc- curred in the history of the town. None of the actors survive to recount what transpired on that memorable day. We know however, that the raising of a Meeting House was an event of no ordinary interest. But in those days of progress and rap- id execution, when villages rise up like mushrooms, and Meet- ing Houses, comfortably provided with all fixtures, can be fur- nished at short notice, we can but imperfectly imagine the ex-
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citement that thrilled the infant settlement, on the occasion in question.
" The morning of the day, we may well suppose, found their domestic matters done up in season ; and we seem to see them setting off,-the active and the able bodied, with their im- plements in hand,-the housewives neatly attired in their checkered aprons, on foot or on pillion,-the beardless vaunt- ing young men, and coy maidens, in Sunday dress,-all wend- ing their way to the central point of interest, where doubtless, in due time were assembled nearly all of the three hundred population in town.
" What deeds of strength and agility, in handling beams and rafters,-what skill in tilting and catching pins,-what hair- breadth escapes,-what presumptuous adventures, in walk- ing the giddy ridgepoles,-what notes of alarm from prudent mothers and careful housewives,-it is not for us to report. Nor would it be of interest, at this late period, to speak of the closing scenes of the day. It is enough to remark, that, as after the consecration of the Temple, Solomon held a feast, and all Israel with him, and on the eighth day sent the peo- ple away, they came to their tents joyfully and glad of heart ; so, no doubt, abundant provision had been made for all those creature comforts once,-but not now,-deemed indispensa- ble at a raising.
" The massive frame went up, without any accident to mar the happiness of the occasion; and there it has stood more than a century, defying the fierce blasts of winter, and the progress of decay,-and seems even now capable, with proper care, of lasting a century more. Though it has been taken from sacred and appropriated to secular uses,-there it stands solitary and alone, and seems without and within, like one forsaken ; yet who can pass by it without emotion ? It is of New England architecture. It is a Puritan structure. Centuries to come will approve and applaud the New England Ministers who preached with a subduing power from high pulpits."
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The first town meeting was held on the seventh day of Feb- ruary, 1749 .* Daniel Little was chosen Moderator, and had the honor of holding the first elective office in town. Peter Eastman was elected Town Clerk, to which office he was an- nually elected with but two exceptions till 1776. Nathaniel Heath was chosen Constable, but not wishing to serve, hired Ebenezer Gile to take his place, and the town accepted the substitute. A board of five Selectmen was chosen, either be- cause it was the custom to choose that number, or because they thought five would be more prompt to serve the town well than three. The board consisted of John Johnson, Lieut. Peter Morse, George Little, Jacob Bailey, and Stephen John- son. The other offices were all filled no doubt by good men. Joseph Stevens and John Beard were elected Hogreeves. If the custom then prevailed as at the present time, of choosing the newly married to that office, we are led to infer that Joseph Stevens and John Beard had recently worshipped at the altar of Hymen. It is certainly a custom of long standing. The office was not then, as now, a nominal one ; its duties were often onerous. Perhaps the custom owes its origin to a playful de- sire upon the part of the community at large, to render this naturally embarassing period of the newly wedded couple's life, more embarassing, by drawing to the happy groom, the atten- tion of the whole town. There may be something peculiar in matrimony itself that renders him a suitable person to have charge of the swine running at large, and make him emphati- cally " master of the ring." Or, by ringing the nose of the un- fortunate pig, he may see a foreboding of what is to be his own fate, unless he shall float down the stream of wedded life, more safely than sometimes happens. The question will probably never be settled on strictly political principles.
Some action was taken at this meeting for securing a set- tled Minister. But from a defect in the records it does not appear what action was had. From a fact that a minister was
* This was old style. According to our chronology, it would be eleven days later. This remark will also apply to the date of our town charter.
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settled three years afterwards, in 1752, it is probable that this meeting prepared the way for future success, though its action, at that time, did not result in anything definite.
At the annual meeting in 1750, among other things, it was voted "to hire a school master for six months in ye summer season, to teach ye children to read and write." We may point to this vote with great pleasure. That a town that had been settled but twenty-one years, and had probably, less than three hundred inhabitants, should be at an expense of sus- taining a school half the year, was an act which forms one of the brightest spots in our history. The next distinguishing feature, in the policy adopted by our fathers, to the noble ex- ample they set in the worship of God, is our system of com- mon schools.
The men who settled New England, entertained correct ideas of true glory. They had been schooled in adversity and had learned to estimate truly human greatness and human power. They knew that " knowledge is power." In the ig- norance and superstition that shrouded the Old World in error, shut out the glad light of liberty, and fastened upon Europe the badge of the most despotic governments, they saw the destiny that awaited them in their new homes, unless they should lay deep the foundations of knowledge. They knew that freedom, without knowledge was but another name for slavery. The arrogant assumptions of the papal authority, the bitter, unrelenting cruelty of the Dark Ages, their own persecutions by their own firesides, served to make them strive more seriously, to establish what they conceived to be the truth. Our fathers saw the degradation of the masses of the Old World, and resolved that no such heritage should be the lot of their children. At the same time that they erected their own dwellings they also erected the schoolhouse.
When they established the common school system, they performed an act whose influence will reach down through all time.
Had it not been for the intelligence of the men of 1776,
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America had never been free. Had it not been for the com- mon schools, our enterprise would not whiten every sea with the sails of our ships ; our commerce would not extend to the most distant ports ; our fabrics would not compete so success- fully with those of more favored climes ; our glorious Union itself would not have stood so long, unskaken by the dangers which threaten it without and within.
Cæsar, the hero of three hundred battles, the subjugator of eight hundred cities, the conqueror of three millions of people, one million of whom he slew in battle, has, indeed, rendered his name immortal. But long after the influence of his deeds shall have ceased to be felt, when his name shall be remembered only to be associated with scenes of cruelty, shall the humble, unpretending acts of the Pilgrims move the mighty masses that shall come after them.
The greatest foe to tyranny is knowledge. Millions, yet unborn, will unite to bless the men " who broke the magic spell of ignorance and error."
We do not feel the full weight of the debt of gratitude, which we owe to the memory of our fathers. Not till we contrast our fortune with that of the millions of Europe, who are new struggling to burst the bonds that have so long held them in ignorance, and in humiliating dependence upon the nobility, can we feel the superiority of our condition.
How different is the condition of common schools at the present day from what it was one hundred years ago! Then the town voted to hire a teacher for six months, to teach only reading and writing. So limited a course of education at this day, would hardly be thought to be a very good accom- plishment. But their effort for the education of the rising generation will seem a noble one when we consider that then almost the whole world was buried in ignorance; that only here and there did the bright rays of knowledge illume the face of the earth ; that then the people considered the pos- session of knowledge beyond their reach, and forbore to strive after it ; that one century ago, the world was groping in the
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dark,-all knowledge of the truth effectually shut from the minds of the people, except when imparted through the medium of men whose interest it was to keep the masses in ignorance. Even in 1750, our town would compare favora- bly with the condition of many parts of our country at the present time.
In our southern and western states, there is many an indi- vidual who can neither read nor write. But an hundred years ago it was not a common thing to find a New Englander who could not do both.
There are many yet living, who can count their whole term of " schooling" by weeks ; who travelled miles to school, and thought themselves fortunate to enjoy such privileges. The school houses of that time were wanting in almost every con- venience, and possessed none of the luxuries of modern times. Though often hardly worthy the name of a schoolhouse, often containing only a single room, cold and uncomfortable, amid the miniature snow banks which crept stealthily in between the crevices of the hewn logs, and through the cheerless days of winter, were educated as brave men and noble hearts as ever lived.
The Testament was then the only reading and spelling book known ; and a copy-book consisted of a few leaves of the roughest paper. To this limited list of studies, arithmetic was soon added. At first no text book was used. Such ex- amples as would come up in the ordinary course of a man's business, were given out by the teacher, and the four funda- mental rules taught orally. In time Pike's arithmetic made its appearance, grew into general favor, and for a long time remained in exclusive use. But that, like everything else, must give place to improvement. Then followed Welch's, Adam's, Old and New, Colburn's, and lastly, to the honor of our town, the analytical, thorough and concise treatise by one of Hampstead's most distinguished sons.
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