USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hillsborough > Annals of the town of Hillsborough, Hillsborough county, N.H. From its first settlement to the year 1841 > Part 2
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For more than fifteen years from the dispersion of the first settlers in 1746, the town was destitute of inhabitants. The conquest of Canada, and the termination of the second French war in 1760, having removed the danger of savage incursions, the second settle- ment of the town was commenced under more favorable circumstan- ces than the first. During the interval which elapsed between these two periods, Col. Hill had become sole proprietor of the town. He derived his title from a grant of Massachusetts while she had authori- ty over this section of New-Hampshire, confirmed by a quitclaim from the Masonian proprietors. In 1763, he' emplo:
Daniel Campbell, Esq. of Amherst to survey the town i
he did, with an accuracy, unusual at that period. Th
tlement was commenced about the year 1762 by Daniel McMurphy, who came from Cheshire, now Chester in this State, and fixed his residence on Bible Hill. The traces of his cellar are yet visible in the orchard of Deacon F. W. Symonds. On one occasion .he was absent at Cheshire more than two weeks, leaving his wife entirely alone with no human habitation nearer than New Boston. How · desolate must have been her situation, in this dreary solitude ! She afterwards related that on one occasion so overpowered was she by a sense of her loneliness, and so desirous to hear the sound of a human voice answering to her own, that at midnight, when no sound was audible, save the distant howl of the famished wolf, and the .dis- al moan of the waving pine-she went forth from her hint and cried aloud at the height of her voice, that she might hear the responsive echo resounding through the dim aisles of the forest. Mr. MeMur- phy a few years subsequent removed to the town of Hill in Grafton County. Within one or two years from the date of MeMurphy's es-
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OF HILLSBOROUGH.
tablishment in Hillsborough, he was followed by other settlers. The individuals whose names follow, were heads of families in 1767, five years after McMurphy located himself here :- John McColley, Capt. Samuel Bradford, senior, Lieut. Samuel Bradford, Jonathan Durant, Joshua Easty, Timothy Wilkins, John Gibson, Samuel Gibson, William Williams, Benjamin Lovejoy, William Pope, Jonathan Sar- gent, Moses Steel, Isaac Baldwin, William Taggart, Isaac Andrews. Of these, McColley and the two Gibsons were from Litchfield, sons of the first settlers of the town. Capt. S. Bradford, sen., was from Middleton, Ms. where he had kept a public house, He set- tled on Bible hill, was the first tavern-keeper-was captain of the first company of militia formed in the town, and built the first saw and grist mill in the town. He died in August 1776, universally re- spected. Lieut. Samuel Bradford, '(no connexion of the last nam- ed) was from Amherst in this state, married Anna daughter of John Washer of Amherst, who died in 1833 at an advanced age. Lieut. Bradford died in Antrim Feb. 5th, 1813, aged 74, Jonathan Durant was from Billerica Mass. Joshua Easty from Middleton, Mass .- Timothy Wilkins was from Carlisle, Mass. settled on the farm now occupied by Mr. Ebenezer Jones. He returned to Carlisle and died there. William Williams was from Sudbury, Mass. and died here. Benjamin Lovejoy was from Amherst, removed from Hillsborough to Westminster, Vt. William Pope and Isaac Baldwin were from Sudbury, Mass. Jonathan Sargent was from Bradford, Mass. Isaac Andrews from Carlisle, Mass. and Moses Steel from London- derry. William Taggart was from Derryfield, now Manchester.
When the second settlement was commenced, a young growth of wood had sprung up over the clearings of the former settlers-one house only (the parsonage) remained, every other dwelling liad been burned by the Indians. The best authenticated account of the de- struction of the meeting-house, is that a man by the name of Keyes, from Weare, who happened this way, having secured the glass, which he buried, set the house on fire, for the mere gratification of seeing it burn.
Ample proof is furnished, that this town was much visited by the
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ANNALS OF THE TOWN
Indians ; doubtless of the Penacook tribe by the various relics such as spoons or ladles, probably used in cating-pestles with which they pulverised their corn ; tomahawks, hooks, &c. all wrought of stone, which have been frequently upturned by the plough of the husband- 'man, from the light soil on banks of the streams.
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In 1772 the town was incorporated. There being at that time twenty-two freeholders in the place. Isaac Andrews, Esq. was the agent of the inhabitants in procuring the act. He employed the Rev. James Scales, the first minister in Hopkinton, to draft a peti- tion to the Governor and Council for a charter of incorporation. The Charter bears date Nov. 14, '1772, and was issued in the name of " George the Third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. by and with the advice of our trusty and well-beloved John Wentworth, Esquire, Governor and commander in chief, of our province of New-Hampshire." The boundaries of the town given in this instrument are as follows, viz. Beginning at the southeast corner at a beach tree marked 7, from thence south, 84 degrees and 30 minutes west, about society lands so called, to a beech tree marked 7,and :
84 degrees and 30 minutes east, about 6 miles to a beech wee itdin- ed 7, from thence, about 6 miles by the town of Henniker to the bounds first mentioned. All the white pine trees there, being and growing in the town were reserved in the charter for the use of the Royal Navy. This reservation was not very favorably regarded by the people. In the preceding month of April of that year, " Mr. Sheriff Whiting, the first high Sheriff of the County of Hillsborough, had proceeded to the neighboring town of Weare, to arrest one « Mudgett, who had been charged with the heinous crime of trespass- ing on the king's timber,-or of cutting some goodly tree. on his own land, which might have made a very pretty mast for his Majesty's Navy. Mudgett, being arrested late in the afternoon, requested the sherif to wait until the next morning, when he would proc.
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factory bail. Early the next morning, a mob coller.
tered a portion of the Law Lynch, by beating the
they had trimmed his steed's mane, tail, and cars-
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OF HILLSBOROUGH.
in his saddle in a position, the reverse of that usual for Equestrians )- escorted him out of town."
Col. Hill, paid Gov. Wentworth what would in our present New- England currency, amount to more than fifty dollars, as a fee, for , signing the charter, upon condition that the town should take the name of Hillborough in honor of himself. It accordingly received this name in the charter. It soon however acquired the name of Hillsborough, by conventional usage, and the s, has, ever since been inserted. Perhaps, from the circumstance, that the county was call- ed Hillsborough, which name is supposed to be derived from Wills Ilills, the Earl of Hillsborough, who was one of the privy council of George the Third, and whose residence was at Hillsborough in the county of Down in Ireland. The town had originally borne the name of Number Seven, of the frontier towns. The first meeting under the charter was holden Nov. 24th, 1772, at the Inn of Capt. Samuel Bradford, senior, on Bible hill. Capt. Isaac Baldwin, who had been authorised to call the first meeting of the inhabitants, pre- . sided as moderator. Ist. It was voted to accept of the charter. - Isaac Andrews was elected town clerk, and Isaac Andrews, John McColley, Daniel McNeil, Isaac Baldwin, and William Pope, were chosen selectmen.
During the fifteen years that elapsed after the second settlement was begun, before the erection of a house of worship, the inhabitants were accustomed to assemble for religious services in a barn during the warm season, and in the winter they met in, a dwelling-house. Col. Hill gave ten acres of land near the centre of the town for the site of a meeting-house, burial ground, and common. He also re- served between two and three hundred acres of land, as a gift to the first settled minister in the town. His impaired fortunes prevented further benefactions.
In the autumn of 1772, a proposal was made by the church and town unitedly, to the Rev. Jonathan Barnes to settle with them in the gospel ministry, to which he acceded and was ordained Nov. 25th, of that year in 'the barn of Lieut. Samuel Bradford, on Bible hill ; the same that was burnt by lightning in July 1831. The ladies
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ANNALS OF THE TOWN
were accommodated with seats in the centre. This beautiful emi- nence received the appellation of Bible hill, from the circumstance that for a considerable period the only large Bibles in the town were owned by Deacons Isaac Andrews, and Joseph Symonds who resid- ed upon this hill.
The vote for building the second Meeting-house in Hillsborough, was passed May 4th, 1773. The town voted to build a Meeting- house on the land which Col. Hill gave for the purpose of the fol- lowing dimensions : 35 feet in length, 30 wide, and one story high. It was not completed until 1779, so as to be used for meet- ings. Public worship was probably held in it while in an unfinished state, as we are told that the Rev. Mr. Barnes went home with his boots filled with water, which had fallen upon him while preaching in it during a violent shower. This edifice was occupied as a church until the present town-house was finished, in 1792. It stood a little north of that building, in the centre of the church yard. The Rev. Mr. Barnes was buried on the precise spot where the pulpit had stood. It was removed in 1794, to a site a few rod- vestry, where it was fitted up for a school-house.
Esq., now of Charlestown, Mass., kept a select schor eral years, which was in high repute.
In 1789, it was voted in town meeting to build a new house of worship 62 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 2 stories high, with three porches, and a committee of three were appointed to superintend its erection. It was raised in September, 1789, but not completed for two or three years. Deacon Ephraim Barker of Amherst, who died in the year 1800, was the master workman. The raising of a Meet- *ing-house, was in those days an event of no ordinary interest. It was considered the work of two days. A great note of preparation was sounded ; and people came from distant towns to witness the spectacle ; a committee were appointed raisers, and ample provision made to entertain strangers. This spacious temple was the . Meeting-house erected in town. It is now used as ~
At this period before people had become so del.
. as now, there was no fire in the church in winter.
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OF HILLSBOROUGH.
duced about the year 1820. For many years the meetings in the winter were held in the Rev. Mr. Barnes's kitchen, a much more comfortable place we may very readily suppose, than a large, cold cheerless house.
. In 1775, hostilities between this country and Great-Britain were commenced. At this period the settlement contained but 40 families. Their number was considerably augmented, by emigration, before the close of the war. The spirit of resistance to the oppressive measures of the British government, extended even to this remote settlement among the hills. The inhabitants of this town entered with patriotic ardor into the excitement of the contest. They con- tributed their full quota of men, and means to prosecute the war. March 30th, 1775, it was voted, in town meeting, to procure a town stock of ammunition in anticipation of the approaching conflict. June 14th, 1775, in compliance with a recommendation of Congress, a committee of inspection, or safety was chosen, consisting of three persons, viz : Capt. Samuel Bradford, sen., Timothy Wilkins, and Samuel Bradford, jun. In August of the same year, the Rev. Mr. Barnes in consideration of the extraordinary difficulties under which they then labored, relinquished a portion of his salary for that year, to the town, as a free gift: March 31st, 1777, it was voted to carry on their proportion of the war by turns, which vote was annuled, August 5th, 1779. Sept. 22, 1780, it was voted to assess nine thousand seven hundred and two pounds, on the inhabitants of the town, to purchase beef for the American army. It seems unneces- sary, to record further the proceedings of the town in relation to the various events of the war. A majority of the able bodied men in the town served in the army personally, many others by substitute. A list of those who engaged in the service from Hillsborough is here presented. Isaac Baldwin, Ammi Andrews, Isaac Andrews, jun'r. Moses Steel, William Pope, Thomas Murdough, Samuel Murdough, Solomon Andrews, John McNeil, Silas Cooledge, Samuel Bradford, junr., Jolın McColley, Samuel Symonds, William Booth, Asa Wil- kins, Nathan Taylor, William Taggart, James Taggart, Archibald Taggart, Joseph Taggart, Jolm Taggart, Robert Taggart, Nathaniel
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. ANNALS OF THE TOWN
Johnson, Jacob Flint, James Gibson, William Jones, jun., Baxter How. This list is by no means complete. Twenty-seven only are here enumerated ; probably more than thirty from the town were personally engaged in the service during the war. This will give us a very favorable idea of the patriotism of our citizens, if we bear in mind that the number of rateable polls did not at any time during the war, exceed forty-three. The brave Capt. Isaac Baldwin of the list, given above, was born in Sudbury, Mass., in 1736. He married Eunice Jennison of Natick, Mass., and removed to Hillsborough in 1766-being the fifth family that came into the town, after the sec- ond settlement. Capt. B. had been a fellow-soldier with the immor- tal Stark, in the renowned company of rangers, commanded by Maj. Robert Rogers, during the old French and Indian war. It is stated in Everett's life of Stark, that Baldwin had fought in twenty battles, in former wars. While framing a barn in Decring, the tid- ings of the battle of Lexington, were communicated to him. He hastened to his home and collected a band of volunteers who imme- diately set out for the scene of action. On reaching
informed that a British fleet had commenced an at
-- mouth. On hearing this, they turned their course, _ -- - 1
ed to Thornton's Ferry, in Merrimack, where they learned that the rumor was false. On being assured of this, they again pursued their course in the direction of Boston. They stopped over the sabbath, in Billerica, Mass. where they attended church in a body, and lis- tened to a patriotic discourse from the Rev. Dr. Henry Cummings, then minister of that town. Soon after their arrival at head quarters of the American army, a large company was enrolled under the com- mand of Captain Baldwin, John Hale of Hopkinton was Lieutenant, and Stephen Hoit, (father to General Hoit of Sandwich, Ensign.) This company, which belonged to Col. Stark's regiment, was con- posed principally of volunteers from the towns of Hopkinton, Hills- borough, and Henniker. They quartered at Medford. June 17th, 1775, the day of the battle of Bunker-hill. They were detached with several other companies, from Medford to the battle ground, on Bunker-hill. About 12 o'clock at noon, the valiant Maj. Andrew
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OF HILLSBOROUGH.
McClary from Epsom had command of this detachment. Captain Baldwin was mortally wounded about 1 o'clock, P. M., by a musket ball which lodged in his breast. He was immediately borne from the hill by two privates of his company, Lt. John M'Neil, and James Gibson, and died about sunset. After his death, the fatal ball was extracted by Lieut. Ammi Andrews, who sent it to his widow-a sad memento of that dire event, which made her a widow, and her chil- dren fatherless. His remains were interred in the burial ground, in Medford, Mass. He left a wife and four children, and a fifth was . born several weeks after his decease. The intelligence of Captain Baldwin's death filled the peaceful community where he resided with grief, and mourning. Deeply did they sympathize with his heart- stricken widow. He was emphatically the pride of his townsmen. His kind heart, cheerful disposition, and amiable manners, had great- ly endeared him to his fellow-citizens. Truly may it be said of him, None knew him but to love him, " none named him but to praise."
Lieut. Ammi Andrews, was another revolutionary worthy of our town. He was born in Ipswich, Mass. but came to Hillsborough when a young man and settled on the land, now occupied by the Up- per village. At one period of his life he was the proprietor of the whole site of that village, and of the circumjacent land to a consider- able extent Lieut. Andrews served through the whole of the revo- lutioary war, with the rank of a lieutenant. He shared with Col. Arnold, the dangers and privations, of the memorable expedition to Quebec, 1775, where he was taken prisoner, by the British, but soon afterwards exchanged. He was wounded in several engagements and exhibited signal valor, and untiring vigilance in fighting the battles of his country. Many daring exploits, which he achieved in perilous
situations, during that contest are related of him. One incident of this description is narrated as follows. While the American army lay encainped in winter quarters, in the latter part of the winter of 1775,-76, three miles from the city of Quebec, Col. Arnold wish- ed to ascertain the strength and position of the British garrison, tin.it he might be able to judge of the expediency of again attempting the reduction of the city. The only possible method of gaining this in-
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ANNALS OF THE TOWN
telligence, was by the capture of a British sentinel. He intimated his desire to his soldiers, and Lieut. Andrews volunteered his servi- ces for the undertaking. It was suggested by one that he ought to be provided with the best gun in the army. " Is it a living, or a dead man, that you wish ?" inquired the lieutenant. " If you request one alive, I do not wish to be encumbered with a gun," Scaling the walls of the city in the darkness of the night, he awaited a favorable mo- ment to seize the sentry, who was pacing his lonely round, armed with a musket. Lieut. A. sprang upon him and grappled him by the throat assuring him that his life depended upon his silence. Descend- ing the precipice very cautiously, he escorted his prisoner three miles through the snow, to the American camp. Lieut. Andrews died, March 30, 1833, at the age of 97.
Capt. Samuel Bradford, Jr., son of Capt. Samuel Bradford, sen'r was a native of Middleton, Mass., but removed when quite young to Hillsborough, with his parents. At the commencement of the revo- lutionary war, at the age of seventeen, he enlisted in Capt. Baldwin's company as an orderly sergeant. After the battle of Bunker hill ho received an ensign's commission,-performed adjut
more than two years in Stark's regiment, and before t war, was appointed a lieutenant. He served through most of that struggle, and was in many of its severest engagements. The urbani- ty of his manners, the probity of his character, and those patriotic services in the war that secured our liberties, won for him the esteem and respect, of the the circle of acquaintance in which he moved. He died in Acworth, July 23, 1833, aged 80 years.
Lieut. John McNeil, was a native of Derryfield, now Manchester, where he was born in 1756. He was the son of Daniel McNeil, who removed from Manchester to Hillsborough, in 1771, and settled on the farm now occupied by Dea. Tristram Sawyer. He was acciden- tally drowned in 1790. Lieut. McNeil was a private in Capt. Bald- win's company in the battle of Bunker hill, and assisted in convey- ing that lamented officer from the field, after he was mortally wound- cd. He served several years in the war, and was in the battle of Bennington. Lieut. McNeil lived to an advanced age, engaged in
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the peaceful avocations of husbandry, sustaining the relations of a father, and a citizen, with the respect of society, and the deep regard of children, who will ever cherish his remembrance, with filial grati- tude. He died, Sept. 29, 1836, aged 79 years. He married Lucy, eldest daughter of Isaac Andrews, Esq., who yet survives him. Their children were Mary, who married James Wilson, Esq., born July 6, 1779. Gen. Solomon McNeil, born Jan. 15, 1752. Gen. John McNeil, born March 25, 1784. Lucy, born in April 1786, and died in infancy.
Two of the soldiers from Hillsborough, Lt. Ammi Andrews, and James Taggart, accompanied Gen. Arnold, (then Colonel) in his dreary march to Quebec. In 1781, when a requisition was made, by General Washington for more troops, the town, in order to en- courage men to volunteer, gave a bounty to a number who enlisted. This bounty was more than equivalent to what a laboring man would have received, if he had remained at home to work on a farm. On "account of the great depreciation of the currency, it was deemed more just to the soldiers, and for the town, to pay this bounty in - something not subject to such diminution in value as the continental money. This bounty was entirely independent of the regular pay they received. It was agreed that each soldier should receive twen- ty head of cattle, to be as many months old, as he should serve months in the army, the payment to be made at the termination of his period of service. A bond was given by the town, for the payment of this bounty. The paper currency, known as continental money, continu- ed to depreciate till near the close of the war, when it had fallen so low that a hundred dollars in paper, were worth but one in silver, so much had it depreciated, that Mr. Daniel Killom paid $10,000, for a farm worth, perhaps $100, in specie. He sold another farm, and re- ceived his pay in rye, at $75,00 a bushel. The price of a meal of pork and potatoes was $50,00, and the salary of the Rev. Mr. Barnes, - was one year, only sufficient to purchase him a pig, although the town indemnified him, to the full amount of his salary. As loans and sup- plies from Europe, introduced a metalic currency, the paper ceased
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. ANNALS OF THE TOWN
to circulate ; but not till it had involved in absolute ruin, many indi- viduals.
Col. John Hill, the original proprietor and early patron of the town, . died in 1776, at his residence in Boston. At one period of his life he was a man of considerable affluence, but subsequently embarked in an enterprise, which promised to be of considerable advantage to the city of his abode. It did not, however, realize the expectations . of its prosecutors, and consequently, involved him in a pecuniary em- barrassment. He was a man of considerable prominence in Boston, of dignified deportment and urbane manners: He frequently visited Hillsborough, and was received by the inhabitants with the most re- spectful deference. For many years his stated price for land was fif- ty cents an acre. Several extensive lots, in the north east part of the town, were mortgaged by him, to secure individuals who had loaned him money, which he was never able to pay and, consequently, the land went into the possession of his creditors. In this manner, Gov. James Bowdoin, of Massachusetts, acquired one thousand acres, in the northeast section of the town ; and a MI tract of eight hundred. The first settlemen
- the town, was commenced by John Hartwell
and Thaddeus Munroe, from Carlisle, who came here in 1780, ac- companied by their families.
The first bridge over the Contoocook river built in Hillsborough, was erected of wood in 1779, on the site of the present stone bridge, and was reconstructed in 1796. Daniel McNeil was employed by the town, as architect to rebuild the same in 1809. The town deeming it advisable to have a bridge of more substantial material ; constructed in 1824 a bridge of split stone, excepting forty feet in the middle which was built of wood. Mr. Squires F. Clement, supervised this work. In 1839, this bridge was elevated five feet, with a new stone railing, and the present elegant granite arch substituted in lieu of +5~ wood work of the former bridge. Messrs. Reed and Thompsc Keene were the contractors. January 21, 17SS, Lieut. Rober Wilkins was chosen as delegate from Hillsborough in cunjunction, with Henniker, to attend the convention, which sat at Exeter, in Feb-
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OF HILLSBOROUGH. ·
ruary of that year, for the purpose of deciding, so far as it respected New-Hampshire, the momentous question of adopting, or rejecting . the Federal Constitution. Lieut. Wilkins resided at the Bridge vil- lage several years. He was a native of Amlierst and removed fron this town to Concord, and thence to Boston, about one year prior to his death, which occurred in August 1832, at the age of seventy- seven years. Lieut. W. was characterized by an inexhaustible fund of humour, and great powers of anecdote, which rendered liim an agreeable companion in the social circle. He entered the service of his country at the commencement of the Revolutionary war, and serv- . ed until its close, with a high reputation as a heroic officer. He was wounded in the battle of Bunker hill. Through the year 1780, he officiated as quarter-master, in the detachment commanded by Gen. Lafayette, and during this time, became intimately acquainted with that illustrious officer, and was presented by him with the entire suit of an officer for his daring exploit, in taking some cattle from the British at their fort at Poules Hook, opposite New York city. Lt. W. was a great favorite with the officers of his regiment, who famnil- iarly styled him " Bob Wilkes." When Gen. Lafayette visited Con- cord in 1825, Lieut. Wilkins was formally introduced to him as one of his former companions in arms. The lapse of nearly half a century had wrought such changes on his person, that the General did not at first recognise him. An allusion by the lieutenant, to some incident which occurred during their intercourse in the army, at once revived his recollection, and he fell upon his neck and tenderly embraced him exclaiming, " Oh, Bob Wilkes, Bob Wilkes." Both were visibly af- fected, and Lafayette wept audibly. The interview was witnessed with intense interest by the bystanders.
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