USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Wilton > An address delivered at the centennial celebration in Wilton, N.H., Sept. 25, 1839 > Part 3
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gence shall collect, and restore, and rebuild all again. Amongst an ignorant people, all the arts and employ- ments of life languish. To such a people all soils are barren and all skies unpropitious. Nature may do every- thing, but ignorance cannot use her gifts. But where there is intelligence, every thing may be made to contri- bute to the general prosperity. The rapids of the river, shall move the myriad wheels of industry, and the very granite of the hills, shall be as mines of gold. There is not a mountain so bleak, nor a valley so lonely, where intelligent, enterprise shall not find abundance. Every harbor shall be white with sails, and the rock-bound coast be lined with shining towns. It is because intel- ligence has guided labor in New-England, that pros- perity has filled her borders.
Nor is the influence of this early and careful educa- tion of the young seen at home alone. Wherever you go, along the mighty rivers and broad savannahs of the West and South, you see New-England names. And wherever her sons are planted, there are prosperous and thriving communities.
But especially have we reason to be grateful to our fathers for the habitual reverence which they instilled into the minds of their descendants, by their own exam- ple and by the institutions which they established for religion. The early settlers of this town brought with them much of that fervent and stern religious feeling, which characterized the pilgrim fathers. One of the first things which they did, was to erect a place for pub- lic worship. They had public worship almost from the outset, and a minister was settled when the town contain- ed but about forty families. " And here," says Mr. Fiske, in his half century sermon ; " it is worhy of remark that
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notwithstanding the number of inhabitants was so small and their circumstances far from being affluent, the ex- pense which arose from this quarter, was so far from impoverishing the town, that the interest of the town was doubled in a few years. It was the means of a more rapid settlement of the place." This remark is very just and important. He who removes with a family to a new region, among the first questions, asks, what is the condition of the schools, and what are the religious privileges. Close the churches of a town, and you will diminish the value of every farm ; - for the best pur- chasers are likely to seek a better place for the home of their families.
It was not, however, such considerations as these that caused the early settlers to make such efforts to support the institutions of religion ; - but rather their strong sense of duty, their deep religious feeling, and the conviction of the infinite importance of religion to the human soul. Nor was their religion confined to the Church. It controlled all the employments of life ; and most of all shone with steady light in their homes. There were few families where the voice of morning and evening prayer was not heard; and the religious education of the young was esteemed the first and most important duty.
It is to this almost universal religious education of the young, - may it never be neglected ! - to which, more than to any other single thing, the welfare of New-England may be traced. The ultimate prosperity of individuals and communities rests on character. This is the basis of rock, which, though waves beat and storms blow and rains fall, is unmoved ; - and the char- acter of a people depends on early education.
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It is to be feared that it is hardly enough considered, how the welfare of a community depends on the vir- tues cherished in the homes of that community. These retired, unostentatious virtues - the religious faith and principle fostered in the church and the home, - are the strong foundations on which the state reposes. They form the solid masonry below, on which pillar and dome are built above. Remove these private, unobserved vir- tues, and the fabric of the mightiest kingdom, will be shattered from the corner to the keystone. The strength of states, depends not on overflowing treasuries, nor on navies that sweep the seas, nor on fortresses that frown over the entrances of their harbors, but on the virtues planted in the hearts of the young, and nurtured in the bosoms of the old. Point out a people, where the parents live and children grow up in the fear and the love of God, and that people is a mighty people. The nations of the earth may come up against it, but they will be scattered before its invincible strength, as waves are scattered that dash on a coast of rock. Every house in such a nation is a fortress, and every heart, a living bulwark. Men grow strong, standing by the hearthstones con- secrated by their father's virtues, and their mother's prayers. The defenders of freedom, driven from every other refuge, have taken their last stand, to dic by the altars where their fathers have worshipped. The
prayer of the feeble mother, with which she baptizes her child's soul, as it lies in the cradle - if she be but faithful to her prayer in the education of her child - may in time become mightier than the sword of kings. The first great lesson of history, which he who has not learned has read history in vain, is, how paltry, tempo- rary, evanescent, is that national prosperity, which is not
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based on the virtues of the people ; and how insecure and transient those virtues are, unless sustained by the life-giving power of religion.
But I dwell too long on these topics. In concluding, however, the history of our native town, we can hardly fail of calling to mind the many changes which it has witnessed. The past century has been a most eventful one. It might seem indeed that if there were peace anywhere, it might be amidst the quiet of these scenes. But no place can be dismembered from the rest of the world ; and this place has sympathized with and felt the influence of all the changes, that have gone on around it. Within the last hundred years, four wars have sent their drums and trumpets to disturb the echoes of these hills. Within that time the Indians, who then hunted and fished along all our streams, have disappeared. Again and again, the government has changed. The first portion of Wilton was granted by Massachusetts. The remainder was granted by the Masonian Propri- etors, who held under the Council of New-England, who themselves held under James the First of England. Then came the Colonial government; which in turn was swept away before the storm of the Revolution. A century ago, the authority of the monarch of France was recognised throughout almost the whole length of the continent. His forts extended from the Gulf of St. Lawrence, upward along the lakes, and beside the great rivers of the west, and down to the mouth of the Mis- sissippi. There were in the Mississippi Valley alone, in garrisons and forts, nearly two thousand French soldiers. And this power continued, till, like the key-stone struck from an arch, it was broken up by Wolf on the heights of Abraham. The Spanish dominion has shrunk and
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withered away. And the flag of England, instead of overshadowing the coast, floats only on the uncertain winds of the North. In the meantime, in the midst of these external changes, this great inland empire has grown up, silently, swiftly, while men slept, amid the shadows of the wilderness ; like the coral walls of the Indian seas, expanding, rising to the ocean's surface, the basis of a continent. And these events have been the subjects of conversation at the fireside, and have filled with fear, anxiety, or rejoicing, the hearts of the generations among whom they took place.
. But there have been changes more felt than these. The first settlers have of course all gone, and of the generation that succeeded them, scarce any remain. And this great work of change, this coming and de- parture, has gone and still goes on around us. In every house has been transacted its history of sorrow and joy. Thanksgivings have gone up from the lips of pa- rents that a living child was born. Here have the glowing features and opening minds of childhood been watched. Here have affections, stronger than the grave, bound together the hearts of the young. Here the sick- lamp has burnt, and watchers through the long night have tenderly smoothed the pillow and moistened the parched lips. Here prayers have ascended from beside the domestic altar, and parents invoked the blessing of God on those who still remained beneath their roof, and on their children who wandered far away. And death hath been here, and with every instance of mortality has been the sundering of human ties, the shedding of tears, and the bitter grief of stricken hearts. And here I may be permitted to refer to one, who was the personal friend of nearly all present, and was to me from
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early childhood scarcely less than a parent. He was expected to have addressed you on this occasion, to which he looked forward with the greatest interest. He was snatched away by a sudden and fearful death ; but his unpretending virtues, his life of active usefulness, his peaceful spirit, and his example of fervent and con- sistent picty, will long be held in memory. They were not consumed in the flames that consumed the body, but live and will live as silent monitors to all who sur- vive him. And not he alone has gone. There are few who hear me who have not themselves sate by the dying beds of those dear to them, and closed their eyes, and followed them with the sad procession of mourners, to their last resting-place. What a history of change and sorrow may be read by him who passes through the grave-yard, knowing who sleep beneath the narrow mounds beside him. There lie the fathers ; - there lie kindred and neighbors and friends. If this were all, how desolate the scene! But thanks unto God, it is not all. As the Christian stands by these silent graves, a still, small voice, the voice of the revelation of the Son of God, speaks to his soul the divine assurance - these dead shall live. The stone shall be rolled from the sepulchre, the earth give up its trust, and the buried generations be clothed with life immortal.
Through these changes we too must pass. The fathers are gone and we have entered into their labors. The blessings that we have inherited we but hold in trust, to transmit, after we have enjoyed them, to our descendants. May this generation have no reason to blush for its unworthiness. If the instructions of those who have gone before be followed, here will intelligence and virtue abound, and the fear of God and the love of
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man be seen. Here shall multitudes be prepared to go forth to fill places of usefulness in the world. And when in God's good time, those now on the scene shall be called hence, we may hope that it shall be to join the great assemblage of the good and holy, in a higher world.
NOTE .- I would express my thanks to the Committee of Arrangements, for the aid which I have received from them. Whatever value and interest this pain- phlet may have, is owing among others, especially to Jonathan Livermore Esq., and Mr. Abiel Abbot. With great expense of time and labor, and with great care to be accurate in the account of facts, they have collected and put into iny hands the materials that I have used. They have left to me scarcely more than the pleasant and easy office of arranging them. Without the assistance of Mr. Liver- more, whose surprisingly minute and accurate information as to the history of the town, embraces probably every event of any interest, this Address could not have been written.
APPENDIX.
As this may be the only account of Wilton published before the next Centennial Celebration, it has been deemed proper to introduce into it whatever might be of any interest, not only to the present inhabitants of the town, but also to their descendants. To our children, those engaged in this celebration may say, - we have thought that no inci- dents which could illustrate the history and progress of the town and the fortunes of its people would be uninteresting. While we grate- fully commemorate the virtues of the fathers who have gone before us, it gives us additional pleasure that in doing this, we may also hand down the record of their struggles and virtues to those who shall come after us. It is pleasant for us to believe that they will value the good institutions of the town the more, when they see with what care and at the cost of what sacrifices they were established. We have dwelt on many minute circumstances; because they are already rapidly fading from the memory, and would soon be lost, unless gathered up and recorded.
ORIGINAL PURCHASERS.
We publish a schedule of the lots drawn by the original pur- chasers of Wilton. We have thought it might be a matter of gen- eral interest and perhaps advantage, inasmuch as the present owners of the soil, hold their titles from the original purchasers. This sche- dule was prepared with much labor and care by the late Samuel Abbot, Esq.
The first settlement, in 1739, has already been spoken of. The number of inhabitants, however, increased but slowly till 1749, when
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a Company purchased (with the exception of a few farms previo taken up) the township of Wilton, of the heirs of John Tufton Mas Very few of these purchasers ever resided in Wilton, but of th the original settlers, after 1749, purchased their land. As will seen in the schedule, the heirs of Mason, - the grantors of the to1 ship - formed a part of this Company. It may be added that a sh consisted of 240 acres, containing three lots of 80 acres each.
Extract from the Deed making the Grant of the Township of Wilton by . Masonian Proprietors.
Pursuant to the Power and Authority grant Province of and vested in me by the Proprietors of Lands pt New Hampshire. chased of John Tufton Mason Esq, in the Prc ince of New Hampshire by their vote Passed their meeting held at Portsmouth in said Province the 16th day June 1749 I do by these presents on the terms and conditions her after expressed give and grant unto Thomas Read, Esq. Robe Fletcher Junr Joseph Blanchard Junr, Oliver Coleburn, Oliver Fa well, Jno. Usher, Thomas Spaulding, John Lovewell Junr, Pete Powers, Humphrey Hobbs, John Combs, Jos. Blodget, Samuel Fowl Josiah Swan, Ezra Carpenter, Jona. Cummings, Thomas Parke Junr, John Varnum, William Foster, the Rev. Mr. Thomas Parker Josiah Butterfield, Anthony Emory, Benj. Parker Junr, Nehemia Abbot, Samuel Grcele, Benjn. Farwell, Oliver Whiting, Jos. Richard son, Benjn. Farley, Jno. Kendall, Abraham Kendall, David Adams Joseph French, Eleazer Blanchard, Zacheus Lovewell, Samuel Far ley, William Cummings, Jona. Powers, Samuel Cummings, Archelau: Dale, Jacob Putnam, Nathl. Putnam, Jolin Dale, Stephen Herryman John Shead and Ephraim Putnam, all the right title and property of the Grantors aforesaid of in and to all that part of a township o1 tract of land in the Province of New Hampshire aforesaid containing five miles square Lying on the branches of Souhegan river between Peterborough and Munson bounded as follows, Beginning at the South- west corner of the premises at a white pine tree, which is the North- west corner of the Township No 1 and runs from thence five miles to a white ash marked, from thence east five miles to a stake and stones from thence South five miles to a Chestnut tree marked, from thence
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west five miles to the white pine tree first mentioned which s'd Town- ship is Lay'd out, drawn for and the lotts ascertained to each grantee respectively also two lotts for encouragement for building Mills and three shares for public uses viz. one for the first settled minister, one for the Ministry and one for the school.
In witness whereof I the Subscriber Joseph Blanchard of Dunstable have hereunto set my hand and seal this first day of October 1749.
JOSEPH BLANCHARD.
The schedule of the lots drawn is certified thus :
"'The afore-written lists were drawn and finished at Dunstable, the 16th day of October 1749.
Copy examined for
JOS. BLANCHARD, Prs. Clerk."
SCHEDULE OF LOTS DRAWN.
Township No. 2.
Draught
Range.
No
11 20 LEINO.
4
Nehemiah Abbot
43
9
9
S
9
4 AOCHIR.
9
Minister
6112
7 17 10 20
4
Oliver Whiting
47 6
4
7
7
3
Oliver Farwell
7|11 5
7
1
6)
Joseph Richardson
17
5 16
5
John Usher
81 6
5
6
6
1
1
Benjamin Farley
50 19
8 13
Thomas Spalding
9:18
1
10 00
10
1
5-2
5
9
G
5
Peter Powers
14
4
1.
6
3
10
2
l'eter Powers
55
4
16 4.15
3
John Combs
16
4
3
8
5
6
3
7
Joseph French
57 4
7
5
7 610
Samuel Fowle
19:13
3
13
10:10
-
10
Robert Fletcher, Jr.
6118
19
19
Ezra Carpenter
22.12
6
17
3
15
1
Zachous Lovewell
62:20 10 10
9:11
6)
4
1
1
5
Jonathan Powers
65
3
"
4
1
Ministry
28 17
2
8
8
1
Nathaniel Putnam
7º1 16
3
Thomas Read, Esq.
30 11
1
19
4
19
3 Mill Lots
67 13
4|14 4
William Foster
32 7
10
20
8
10
7 John Dale
68 16
9121
5/19
5
Josiah Butterfield
35 17
7 11
17
G
Stephen Herryman
3
S
Archelaus Dale
Benj. Parker, Jr.
40 11
8 10
S
13
10
John Shead
49 14
6
15
6
Peter Powers
41 13 8
14
8/20
6
Ephraim Putnam
73
15
5
School lots
42,12
9
10/
9
10
1
Draught.
No.
| No.
Robert Fletcher, Jr.
1
4
9
4
6 1 10 16
5
Benjamin Farwell
46 16 9
9 6:19
Oliver Colburn
3 10
Eus IR.
Samuel Greele
45
Joseph Blanchard, Jr.
2
10| 8
6
Joseph Blodget 1 John Kendall 5
51
16
13
John Lovewell, Jr.
12|13
7
10
9
2
David Adams
56 17
1
1
9:
6 1
Jonathan Cuinings
231
3
Q
3
3
10
3
7 0-119 O
1
Samuel Cumings
GG G
5
1
Mr. Thomas Parker
34 18
17
19 7
18
3 Jacob Puinam
69 15
4
15
4
Anthony Emory
36:15
4
11
7
6)
William Comings
64 4)
John Varnum
25
3
4
1
7
7
10
Eleazer Blanchard
60!11
Josiah Swan
20113
G
3 Samuel Farley
63,20
7|11 9
Thomas Parker, Jr.
1 Abraham Kendall
53 9
5
16
Joseph Blodgett
17
5
5
Pet. Powers & A. Dale 27
7
S
1
14
5 8 14
Humphrey Hobbs
2
9 8 css | No.
Note. - Third column of figures, 6th line from bottom, 17th range, is a mistake for 7th.
6
/10/17
6
5: 7
24
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The foregoing lots were drawn by the Grantees ; those that fol- low were drawn by the Grantors, the respective lots of each entered against his name.
4 5 11 551CA | Draught.
No.
R.
Thomas Parker, Esq.
9
M. H. Wentworth, Esq.
7
5
12
4
3 12
Joseph Blanchard, Esq.
13
5
10
3
4.1 8
Thomas Wallingford, Esq.
1.5
5
3
-
6
1
7
William Parker, Esq.
21 12
5
19 10:18 10
John Wentworth, Jr.
26
3
5
2
G
31
6
09
5
8
6
7
3
1
*Daniel Pierse and Mary Moore 37
38
4
9
4 10:
5
10
Richard Wibird, Esq.
39 12
8
15 8,16
Theodore Atkinson, Esq.
14 14
9
14 10,20
5
John Tufton Mason, Esq.
51 1-1
7 15 711
3
Mark II. Wentworth, Esq.
58 15
9 15 10 20
3
S. Solly and C. March, Esq.
59
6
9| 8, 919 6
"George Jaffrey, Esq.
33 18 8:17 8| 9 7
The Charter incorporating the town of Wilton is under the hand of B. Wentworth, Governor of N. II., and dated the 2d day of Jan- uary, A. D. 1765.
REVOLUTIONARY TIMES.
The town papers relating to the affairs of Wilton during the war of the Revolution, have unfortunately in great part been lost by ne- glect or desroyed. The papers that remain have been carefully exam- ined, and the more interesting facts contained in them incorporated with such other information as we have been able to procure.
Our notices of what was done, and especially as regards the ex- penditures occasioned by the war, are very imperfect, but they will serve to show the spirit that animated the town.
Nearly every able-bodied man belonging to Wilton, was out in the war, and every man in the town either did service personally, or hired another to fill his place for a longer or shorter period. Wilton was represented in the battle of Bunker Hill, and a large number of the
7
6
Joshua Pierce, Esq.
18
4
5
John Moffatt, Esq.
Nathaniel Meserve and others
31 18
9
17
00.6
7
19 00
9
3
9
3 10
Matthew Livermore, Esq.
8 DIE coco | No.
10
1 | No. ASIR.
9 10
Jotham Odiorne, Esq.
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able-bodied men were in the army at Cambridge. It is known that at least eight, and probably more, were in the battle of Bennington, one of whom, Ebenezer Perry, was killed. Eleven of those that were lost, died in the campaign of 1776 in the North-western Army. Two died in New York about the time of the battle of White Plains, and two at Valley Forge. Others were wounded, but it is not known that more than one was killed in battle.
We are indebted to Col. Jonathan Burton for accounts (found among the papers of his father, who was one of the selectmen of Wil- ton during four years of the war) of the money paid on several occa- sions to soldiers from this town. The first is a receipt. It is as fol- lows : -
WILTON, MARCH 19, 1777.
" We, the subscribers, do each one for himself acknowledge that we have received of Capt. William Barron, by the hand of Jonathan Bur- ton, the whole of arrears of all kinds for our services as soldiers in the continental army in the year 1776, in Col. Wyman's Regiment. We say received by us."*
The next account, is one " of money paid to soldiers in the conti- nental army by the town of Wilton in the year 1777." This money was paid for prior services, and was paid early in the year 1777. The whole amount paid to fourteen persons at this time was £396 10s. Three others received at a later date, a proportionate compensation.
We have next " the account of the bounties given by the town of Wilton, to the first three-years' men who engaged in the Continental army for said tour." 'The number of men was fourteen, and the sum they received as bounty from the town, was &273 5s.
The second three-years' men left for the ariny in March, 1781. In order to encourage men to volunteer, the town gave a bounty to every one who enlisted. This bounty was more than equivalent to what a laboring man would have received, had he remained at home to work on a farm. On account of the great depreciation of the cur- rency, it was deemed more just to the soldiers and for the town, to pay this bounty in something not subject to such dimunition in value as
* This receipt is signed by the following persons: - Ephraim Baker, Abijah Perry, Jacob Putnam, Administrator, Richard Whitney, William Parkhurst, Ar- chelaus Keney, Asa Peirce, Phineas Farington, Isaac Peabody, Abraham Burton, Archelaus Putnam, Phebe Parker for her husband who died, Theodore Stevens, Henry Stevens.
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the continental money. This bounty was entirely independent of th regular pay which they received. It was agreed that each man shoul receive 20 head of cattle to be as many months old as they should serve months in the army. A bond given to one of them will be seer in the note .* All of the last three-years' men returned, and as it was more agreeable to them, the town entered into an arrangement with: them by which the cattle were to be estimated at $S per head; thus making for the three years $160 to each man, in addition to the conti- nental pay. The town likewise made up to them their personal ex- . penses for clothing. The suin paid instead of the cattle was $1280.
In 1777 Ichabod Perry enlisted for during the war.
The first three-years' inen, who enlisted in 1777, were Humphrey Cram, David Hazleton, William Burton, Asa Lewis, Uriah Ballard,
* Know all men by these presents, that we, Philip Putnam, Nathan Ballard, Jonathan Burton, and Abner Stiles, gentlemen ; Jonathan Martin, William Abbot, and Richard Whitney, selectmen for the town of Wilton, being jointly chosen a committee, by said town, for procuring and hiring Continental soldiers for said town, for the term of three years, do hereby stand firmly bound and obliged to Asa Reddington, of Wilton, aforesaid, his Heirs, Executors, and Aministrators, and Assignees, forever, in the sum of Four Hundred Spanish milled dollars, equal to one hundred and twenty Pounds of Lawful Silver money, to be paid to the said Asa Reddington, his heirs, &c., within three years from the date hereof.
The condition of this present obligation is such, that if the above-named Philip Putnam, Nathan Ballard, Jonathan Burton, Abner Stiles, Jonathan Martin, William Abbot, and Richard Whitney, being a committee, chosen by the town abovesaid, in their capacity or cither of them, shall procure and deliver unto the abovesaid Asa Reddington, twenty neat cattle of a middling size as an encouragement to the said Reddington serving as a Continental soldier for the term of three years, if not sooner discharged, and the said Reddington is to receive the cattle at as many months old as he doth months service in the army.
And furthermore, the Committee engages, that if the said Reddington doth not receive his clothing of the Regimental Paymaster, according to the order of this State, by the said Reddington bringing a certificate from the Paymaster to us, we will make good the said clothing; and at the delivery of the cattle, if the said Reddington is dissatisfied as to the value of them, we oblige ourselves in our capacity to leave the same to any disinterested person.
And if this obligation is fulfilled in manner and form, above-mentioned unto the said Reddington, then this present obligation to be void and of none effect; other- wise to remain in full force and virtue. Signed, sealed and delivered,
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