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 3
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In October 1785, Joseph Symonds was chosen by the town to pre- sent their petitions to the General Assembly of the State ; and I have been informed that he served as delegate to that body, from Hillsborough two or more years, although there is no mention made of it in the town records. In 1791, Benjamin Pierce was elected to represent the town in the convention holden for the revision of the constitution of New Hampshire.
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ANNALS OF THE TOWN
It may be proper to glance for a moment, at the habits, manners, and customs of the earlier inhabitants of Hillsborough. The majority of them were of the Puritan stock ; and they inherited much of the self denying spirit which distinguished that noble race of men. An- other considerable portion of the early settlers, were of the London- derry stock, which emigrated from the north of Ireland, their ances- tors being originally from Scotland. In the seventeenth century con- siderable numbers of the Scotch were induced, by large grants of land, from James the First, to settle in the north of Ireland, where their posterity remained, distinct from the inhabitants of that country. They were Scotch Presbyterians, and with the hope of enjoying their religious liberty, they came to America about the year 171S. They subsequently settled in Londonderry, whence some of the first inhabitants of Hillsborough emigrated. The MeNeil's, the McClin- tock's, the McClary's, the McColley's, the McClure's, the Cunning- ham's, the Mc Alisters's, the Taggart's, the Steele's, the Wilson's, the Gibson's, the Houston's, and several other families were of this origin. They were an active, cool headed, warm hearted. mirth lov- ing people. Descended as most of them wer
and Scoth covenanters, they had been trained
perseverance, and self denial, which peculiarly ntica inem ior pion- eers in the wilderness. When we take into view the difficulties they encountered, we almost wonder at the courage and hardihood dis- played in surmounting them. Their lands were encumbered with thick forests. They had no roads save paths marked by spotted trees. They endured hardships almost inconceivable in transporting their necessaries over these rough ways. We are told that it required three men to steady the vehicle which conveyed the furniture of the Rev. Mr. Barnes, from Amherst to this town. They had no bridges, but were obliged to ford the streams which were often swollen, so as to be impassable. They possessed but few implements of husbandry. Their dwellings were at first rude huts, built of logs and furnis none of the luxuries, and comparatively few, of the convenience
" Through years of toil, through years of waut, They bravely struggled on ; And lo ! the forest ichs away, The sturdy pines are gone."
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Their manner of living was extremely simple. When they had milk, a considerable part of their food was bread and milk. In the winter when they had no milk, they made great account of bean porridge, samp broth, pork, and beans, &c. Tea, coffee, sugar and . molasses, were dainties which they seldom afforded ; and equally re- moved from the extravagance of modern times, was their style of dress. In those days, a man deemed a suit manufactured by his wife or daughter, sufficiently good for him to wear on most occasions, and our grandmothers made their afternoon visits in a short loose gown, with a checked apron, and neck kerchief, which their own hands had . . spun. For a number of years after the settlement of the town, no carriages were used, and all journies were performed on horse back. The good man and his wife were accustomed to ride to church upon the same horse ; she sitting on a pillion behind him, and not unfre- quently carrying a child in her arms; while another, was mounted on the pommel of the saddle before its father. No person thoughit of purchasing, or exchanging a horse without making the inquiry, " can she carry double ?" as some, otherwise valuable animals were in the habit of elevating their heels, to testify their displeasure at being thus double jaded. In winter when the snow was deep, a pair of oxen were attached to a sled, and the whole family rode to meeting upon an oxsled. Sometimes too, an entire household, seated upon an ox- sled, would set out in the morning to spend the day with a friend six or seven miles distant. What would our railroad travellers in these days say to such a mode of conveyance ? But alas ! the day of in- vention had not then arrived. Steam had not then as now, been made to expedite every kind of business, even to that of ridding the doc- tor of his patients. In former days, greater quantities of snow fell in winter than now, and snow shoes were much in vogue. About forty years since sleighs took the place of sleds. At first double sleighs were used of sufficient size to accommodate six or eight per- sons. Single cutters were soon after introduced. Waarom. substituted for riding on horse back, about the year 1812. The first chaise owned in town, belonged to Mr. John Shed, and the second, to Dea. Joseph Symonds. These were introduced about the year
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1805. Inured to constant labor and exposure the first settlers here were a hardy race. They were not ashamed to bear the reputation of working men. On the contrary, indolence was a lasting dis- grace. The females assisted in what they termed the lighter out- door work, such as raking hay, pulling flax, &c. It is authentically stated that the wife of Thomas Murdough, the first settler on the farm now owned by the town, as the poor farm, was accustomed to travel twice daily, nearly three miles through the woods to Maj. Andrews's to inilk her cows, when the weather would permit. What language would this hardy grandmother and her cotemporaries, employ in ad- dressing a rebuke to some young ladies of this degenerate age, who not only deem it quite ungenteel to milk at all, but who flee from the presence of the harmless cows as from beasts of prey.
The marriage ceremony was most commonly performed at the house of the clergyman, after which the newly married couple mount- ed upon one horse and rode lovingly to their habitation. Not unfre- quently as they passed along they were saluted from the various dwellings on the way by the firing of muskets. This onetom howv .. ever, pertained only to the Scotch Irish portion of the F were met by a party of their friends, who accompanied
home, where the evening was passed in every species of jonty anu mirth. Among the amusements common at that period, may be mentioned, quilting parties. The young women assembled in the afternoon and plied their needles industriously till evening, when the young men came in, and country dances filled up the remainder of the evening. In Autumn, husking frolics, terminated by a dance, furnished fine amusement. Somewhat later the apple bee became common. Dancing parties have always been customary, but are much less 30 now than formerly. Balls, and sleigh rides, have ever been favorite 'pastimes.
Notwithstanding the sagacity, and good sense possessed by the earlier inhabitants, most of them religiously believed in the existence of witches, and the appearance of ghosts. Many too, doubted not that the evil one sometimes assumed a bodily form, and honored those whose conduct met his approbation, with a personal interview.
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Mrs. Robinson, whose husband kept a tavern at the top of a high hill in Deering, was among the noted witches of this vicinity. As our townsmen were ascending this hill with loaded teams, their cattle would suddenly halt ; nor could they be induced to move until the teamster had gone to the tavern for a glass of toddy, when they would go briskly forward. It was really supposed that Mrs. Robin- son compelled the beasts to stop until she had sold their driver a lit- tle of " something to drink," when the spell was removed. It is ap- prehended that this is not the only tavern, where witches have re- sided. Another reputed witch, was a Mrs. Gilchrist of Irish extrac- tion, who dwelt alone in a small house in the southwest part of the town. She was in aspect, such a person as would be generally sc- lected for a witch ;- being a small, lean, sallow, shrivelled, old wo- man, universally known as " Aunt Jenny.". If any of her neighbors
. had difficulty in bringing their butter it was ascribed to the evil in: fluence of " Aunt Jenny," whereupon they would heat a horseslice red hot, and cast it into the churn. The moment this was done an- other person, who stood ready at the door, would run with all possi- ble speed and peep in at her window to see if she was not burned by the horse shoe. One of her neighbors to whom she was no friend, was suddenly prostrated to the floor unable to move. One person who was present remarked, that she did not believe that any power on earth could raise him from the floor. After summoning a council of their relatives, it was concluded to send for the minister to come and pray with liim. At the mention of prayer the charm was dissolved, and he arose from the floor. On another occasion, one of Aunt Jenny's neighbors was passing her cottage, with an ox- cart, containing three barrels of cider, when on a sudden, the pin which fastened the cart to the yoke, although the head of it was much larger than the hole in which it was inserted, dropped through and disengaged the oxen from the cart ; nor could he by any means get started again, until he had presented Aunt Jenny, with one of his barrels of cider. Another instance of Aunt Jenny's evil agency, is gravely related as follows : some young ladies, who lived on the op- posite side of the way from the old woman, and who had in some
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way offended her, intended to ride out one summer's afternoon, and for this purpose had the horse put into the barn. Aunt Jenny said to them in her Irish brogue, " May be ye'll nac gie there ;" and sure enough, they did not ; for on going to the barn to tackle the horse, which was usually steady, and unaccustomed to such pranks, escap- ed at a small stable window, and after performing various anticks, capered off at a furious pace, for more than three miles, and it em- ployed several men a number of hours in securing it. An individu- al in her vicinity becoming enraged at an old sheep in his flock, · which exhibited symptoms analogous to hydrophobia, struck it a vio- lent blow which fractured one of its legs. Immediately Aunt Jen- ny fell to the floor of her cottage, and after lingering a few weeks in great agony, expired. One of the neighbors who was employed to watch at her bed-side during the night, was strictly charged by a good woman of the neighborhood, believing that Aunt Jenny's end drew nigh, not to leave her, as she had heard that witches never suf- fered any one to witness their death, and was anxious to test the truth of this current belief. Once in the night he left her bedside for a moment to get a paper from a table which stood ne attention was withdrawn but a few seconds, but when he rected his glance to her, she was dead. These are a few of the many samples given us of the wonderful power of witches. Horse- shoes, witch-hazel rods, and silver, were considered effectual prc- ventives of their evil influence. I would by no means convey the impression that the people of Hillsborough were particularly super- stitious. It is apprehended that the annalist of nearly every town in New-England, of the same population, might relate quite as many, if not more instances of the gross delusion of witcli-craft which prevailed so extensively a century since, and which appears to have been so deeply imbedded in the popular mind. The increasing in- fluence of popular education, is rapidly doing away these errors, * and superstitions
The situation of the town with respect to education, is very differ-
* To any who may beheve that witchcraft is not a superstitions fallacy, the perusal of a book entitled, " Lectures on the Salem " Witchcraft," by the Rev. Charles We Upham of that city, is respectfully commended.
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ent from its state fifty and sixty years ago. The first school kept in Hillsborough, was taught by George Bemaine, about the year 1770, in a log school-house which stood a few rods west of Mr. Daniel Templeton's, on the north side of the road leading from the Lower . village to the Bridge. Bemaines was a native of England ; but came to this country in early life with his parents, who belonged to the British army. He deserted the army before he arrived at inan- hood, canie to Hillsborough and taught school in this town, and the vicinity a number of years prior to the revolutionary war. He en- tered the American army at the commencement of our struggle for independence, and was killed in the battle at White Plains, New- York, in September 1776. He was a school-mate of the famous Dilworth, the author of the spelling-book, received an excellent edu- cation, and is said to have excelled particularly in penmanship. The first female who taught school in the town, was a Mrs. Muzzey, a widow lady from Sudbury, Mass., who instructed here several years. In the infancy of the town many young men were accustomed to resort in the winter season to the Rev. Mr. Barnes for instruction in the rudiments of an English education. The first record respect- ing the town schools bears date, 1780. It was voted in that year to raise one hundred pounds for the support of schools. In 1792, a vote was passed to raise twenty-five pounds for common schools, exclu- sive of what the rate required. Dilworth's spelling book was then the fountain of learning. The Psalter and a simple treatise on arith- metic were used in some of the schools. Choosing sides and spel- ling once a week was the food, dinner, and dessert of ambition, and the school masters ferule the principal stimulant. Saturday noons, the little square blue primmer, containing the catechism and command- ments, Watt's cradle hymns, furnished scholars with their quantum of religious instruction, and with these facilities and materials, the young mind was to be advanced and furnished for the business of the world. Time has wrought a gradual improvement in the charac- ter of our common schools. Yet it must be acknowledged that our system of popular education is far from being as perfect as it ought to be in a Republic, where the permanency of our civil institutions
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depends mainly upon the diffusion of intelligence among the mass of the people. The present number of school districts in the town is seventeen, at which between five and six hundred children and youth, are annually instructed. The amount expended in the town · for a few years past, in the support of its common schools, has been about one thousand dollars yearly.
Hillsborough Academy, was incorporated by the Legislature in June 1821, and the same year a building of brick was erected for its accommodation at the Lower village. This institution has not been in constant operation since its foundation, but has been opened occasion- ally for a part of the year, with considerable success. The names of those who have been its instructers, from time to time, are as fol- lows. Dr. Simeon Ingersoll Bard, of Francestown ; Rev. William Clark, now of Cincinnati, Ohio, who graduated at Dartmouth Col- lege, in 1821, and at Andover Theological Seminary, in 1827 ; Rev. Samuel Wallace Clark, brother of the preceding, of Greenland, N. H., who graduated at Dartmouth College in 1823, and at Andover in 1827 ; Rev. Josiah Peabody, who graduated at Dartmouth Colleon in 1825 ; Robert Reed Heath, who graduated at Dartmou in 1825 ; Solomon Heath, brother to Robert, who graduated at Dart- mouth College, in 1826; Benjamin F. Wallace, Esq., Rev. Ephraim Taylor, Albert Baker, Esq., and Francis Brown Mussey, of Amherst. High schools have frequently been taught for a sca- son at the Bridge and Centre villages. Besides the money raised for town schools, public and private, large sums have been expend- ed by young men and women at schools, academies, and colleges, abroad, where they have gone to seek further advantages of educa- tion. Subjoined are brief notices of the natives of the town, who have received a liberal education. Abraham Andrews, son of Solo- mon and Sarah Andrews, was born Dec. 14th, 1786, prepared for college under the direction of his uncle the Rev. Ephraim P. Brad- ford, graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1811, and has,
years, been an eminent instructer in Charlestown, and Boston, Mass. He now resides in Charlestown.
Col. Benjamin Kendrick Pierce, eldest son of the late Governor 1
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Benjamin Pierce, was born August 29th, 1790, received his educa- tion preparatory for college at Phillips Academy, Exeter, entered Dartmouth College in 1807, and continued a member of that insti- tution three years, when he commenced the study of law in the of- fice of David Starratt, Esq. He pursued his legal studies until the commencement of the late war with Great Britain, when he entered the army with the rank of Lieutenant in the third Regiment of Ar- tillery, intending to resume his legal pursuits when the war should close. Circumstances however, caused him to remain in the ser- vice in which he has been advanced by regular gradations from the rank of Lieutenant to that of Colonel by brevet, which post he now holds in the 1st Regiment of Artillery. Col. P. was especially dis- tinguished as an able, and efficient officer, in the late Florida War. He has been thrice married and is now a widower.
Rev. Francis Danforth, son of Jonathan Danforth, was born Feb. 28th, 1793, fitted for college at Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., graduated at Dartmouth College in 1819, studied Theology at the Theological Seminary at Andover, Mass., where he graduated in 1822, was ordained pastor of the first Congregational Church in Greenfield, N. H., July 11, 1823, dismissed in 1831 ; installed at Winchester, N. H., August 18th, 1831, dismissed in 1839 ; installed at Hadley, Mass., Dec. 11th, 1839, where he now resides.
Rev. Aaron Foster, son of Aaron Foster, was born March 19th, 1794, prepared for college at Union Academy, Plainfield, graduat- ed at Dartmouth College in 1822, and at the Andover Theological Seminary in 1S25. He was employed for several years as a domes- tic Missionary, and is now settled in the ministry at Fort Covington, N. Y. Rev. Jeremiah Stow, eldest son of Deacon Joel Stow, was born February 15, 1795, pursued his studies preparatory for admis- sion to college, at the Union Academy Plainfield, graduated at Dart- mouth College, in 1822, at Andover Theological Seminary, in 1825, In July. 1826. married Miss Austress, daughter of the late David Stewart, Esq., of Amherst, was employed as a home missionary sev- eral years, and was afterwards settled in the ministry at Livonia, N. -. Y., where he died of consumption, Nov. 15, 1832, aged 37 years
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and 9 months. Amasa Symonds, son of Eliphalet Symonds, was born Sept. 9, 1799, prepared for college at North Andover, and at Phillips Academy South Andover, Mass., entered Dartmouth Col- lege in 1821, and died at his father's in Hillsborough, Nov. 8th '1822, while a member of the Sophomore class in that institution .- Lieut. Amos B. Foster, son of Aaron Foster, was born July 15th, 1804, was educated as a cadet at the Military Academy, West- Point, where he graduated in 1827, visited his friends for the last time and was ordered to St. Louis, Mo. From thence, he procced . ed to Fort Dearborn, at Chicago Ill., and in the spring of 1831, was removed to Fort Howard, Green Bay, where he was murdered Feb. 7th, 1832, at the age of twenty-seven years and six months. The circumstances of his death were briefly these : Lieut. Foster, had reprimanded a private of his company by the name of Boyle, for dis- orderly conduct, who made use of such insolent, and unbecoming language in reply, that the lieutenant was induced to take him by the shoulder and shake him, at the same time ordering a corporal to take him to the guard-house. Boyle immediately went out saying, " Oh yes, Lieutenant, I'll go to the guard house." He
the parade ground to the guard house, seized a musket, ¿
ed to Lieutenant F's quarters, eluding the vigilance of the corporal, he ran up to the Lieutenant's chamber in the second story, and shot him through the heart. The ball passed through the right arm, above the elbow, through the body, and the left elbow which was horribly shattered. After receiving the wound, he walked into his bed room which adjoined the chamber, with the hand of his unbroken arm on the wound of his left side, turned quickly to go out and fell as he passed through the door, and instantly expired. Licut. Foster was an active, vigilant and useful officer, mild and amiable in his de- portment and disposition, beloved by his relatives and friends and estecmed by all who knew him. Hon. Franklin Pierce, the fourth son of the late Gov. Benjamin Pierce, was born Nov. 23d, --
graduated at Bowdoin college, in 1824, commenced the study ( under the direction of the late Jolin Burnam, Esq. in his native vil- lage, and pursued his course subsequently, at the Law-school, at
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Northampton, Mass., at that time under the direction of the late la- mented Judge How, and in the offices of the Hon. Levi Woodbury, at Portsmouth, and the Hon. Edmund Parker, at Amherst, was ad- mitted to the bar at Amherst, in September 1827. In October of the same year, he opened an office in Hillsborough, and continued here until 1838, when he removed to Concord, where he now re- sides. In 1831, he was appointed by the late Gov. Dinsmoor, one of his aids with the rank of Colonel. He represented Hillsborough in the State Legislature, four years successively, from 1828. In 1831 and 1832, he was speaker of the House of Representatives. In 1833, he was chosen a member of Congress, and continued to represent this State in the popular branchi of the National Legislature, until the 4th of March, 1837, when he took his seat in the U. S. Senate, having been elected to that station, which he still occupies in the preceding December. Col. Pierce was married in 1834, to Miss Jane M., youngest daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Jesse Apple- ton, President of Bowdoin College.
Rev. Henry Jones, son of Benjamin Jones, was born September 29th, 1804, pursued his studies preparatory for College at the Union Academy Plainfield, graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1835, was married in April 1836, to Miss Betsey, daughter of Mr. Eliphalet Symonds of this town, and is now Preceptor of an Academy at Chat- tanooga, in Tennessee. Rev. Willard Jones, a brother of Henry, was born July 17th 1809, prepared for college at Union Academy, Plainfield, graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1835, acquired his Theological education at the Lane Seminary, Cincinnati Ohio, and at the Andover Theological Seminary, was ordained as a missionary, at North Weymouth, Mass., July 4th 1839, and on the same day was married to Miss Meriam Pratt of that town. He is now stationed at Ooroomiah in Persia. Edward Robbins Johnson, the youngest son of the late Nathaniel Johnson, Esq. was born July 28th, 1810, prepared for college at Phillips academy Andover and at Pos- cawen Academy, entered Dartmouth College, in 1830, remained in college but two years-studied law and commenced practice which he afterwards abandoned, and now enjoys a high reputation as an instructor of music. He at present resides in Hartford, Coun.
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John Appleton Burnham, Esq. son of the late Jolin Burnam, Esq. was born June 16th 1813, fitted for college at Pembroke Academy, graduated at Amherst college in 1833, and is now agent of the Stark Manufacturing company, at Manchester in this state. Joel Buchanan Stow, son of Dea. Joel Stow, was born June 30th, 1813, graduated at the Teachers Seminary, Andover, Mass. was for some time a teacher in the Teachers Seminary, at Plymouth, N. H., and is now engaged as an instructer, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Rev. Levi Smith, son of Da- vid Smith, was born May 9th, 1812, pursued his academical and Theological studies at New Hampton, in this state, where he gradu- ated in 1840, and is now preaching at Danville, Vt. Clark Cooledge, - son of Lemuel Cooledge, was born in June 1811, prepared for col- lege at Wilbraham, Mass. Academy, and died in July 1840, while a member of the Wesleyan University at Middleton, Conn.
Several other individuals belonging to the town, are now in a course of academical and professional study. Four natives of Hillsborough have been physicians, viz : Dr. Thomas Preston, Dr. Silas McClary, son of Jolin McClary, was born July the 29th, 1792, acquired his medical education at New Haven, Conn. practiced sor Lower Canada, and afterwards removed to Ohio where
he now resides ; Dr. Jolin Harbert Foster, second son of Aaron Foster, was born March Stli, 1796, studied his profession principally with Dr. Reuben D. Mussey, at Hanover, graduated at the medical school connected with Dartmouth College, in 1821, commenced prac- tice at New London, in this state, after residing there several years, removed to Pittsburg, Pa., thence to Mobile, Alabama, and in 1832 to Michigan, where he now resides ; Dr. Samuel Sargent, son of Jonathan Sargent, was born March 13th, 1790, and now practices medicine in Chichester, N. H.
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