USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > Rochester > Annual report of the city of Rochester, New Hampshire : for the year ending 1922 > Part 3
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Who fought against their brothers Not because they wanted to fight But that all men should be equal,
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A "Cause" they knew was right. .Some shed their blood, some gave their life And gloried in the giving. As we honor now our hero dead, Let us not forget the living.
Our civil life was just as great In a less historic way. Our little village prospered, Grew larger day by day. In time the village outgrew itself, A township took its place, And in all the upward trend of life Our town it kept apace.
We had stalwarts in industry, Our commercial men were strong ; Through all the trials and panics We kept moving right along, Kept moving onward-upward, With only the best in view, The best for the whole community, The best for me and you.
In all these things we shared, We gladly did our part. Our history is filled with deeds To stir the patriotic heart. And in reading through its pages, This fact shines bright and clear : We can trace our present greatness To the hardy pioneer.
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While here we stand today, Hearts filled with civic pride, For the "Glories" of past and present Which cannot be denied ; Then let us live and act, So long as life shall last, That the future may be for others As good as the Present and Past.
ANNIVERSARY ORATION
Oration Delivered by Hon. Frederic E. Small at the Opening of the Anniversary Celebration Tuesday Af- ternoon-Some of the Indian Names Which Still Sur- vive-First Charter Provided for the Building of a Church and One Lot Was Reserved for a Grammar School.
Following is the oration delivered by Hon. Frederic E. Small at the exercises on Haven's hill Tuesday after- noon, in connection with the 200th anniversary celebration :
It is eminently fitting that this celebration, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Rochester, should begin in the locality where the settlement of the town began. We may congratu- late ourselves on being participants in the first celebration of this important event.
It is not my intention to trespass on the premises of the historian of this occasion, but, with your permis- sion, I will just lift the veil of the early history of the
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town, that you may go along with me and view some of the landmarks in this immediate vicinity, and see, in your imagination, some of the characters and incidents of those early days.
Inhabitants of Dover, Portsmouth, Newington and Oyster River (now Durham) were the petitioners for the new township. The charter of the plantation was a royal grant from King George I, and the town was named for the Earl of Rochester, brother-in-law to King James II, and one of the most distinguished British statesmen of his time. The charter was executed by Col. Samuel Shute, his Majesty's Gover- nor of Massachusetts and the then Province of New Hampshire, May 10, 1722, the towns of Nottingham and Barrington being incorporated on the same day, and was the last' act of government performed by Governor Shute.
"The lands had been surveyed to fix the limit of the proposed township," and the charter provided that it should not exceed the quantity of ten miles square. It was further provided, that the proprietors of every share should build a dwelling-house and settle a family therein within three years and break up three acres of ground and plant or sow the same within four years ; that a Meeting House should be built for the public worship of God within the said term of four years.
Indians had traversed this territory, hunting the forest and fishing the streams, before the white man came, and, as an evidence of their footprints, they had given the name of Newichwannoc (Ne-ge-won-nuck) to the Salmon Falls river, which forms the easterly boundary of Rochester, meaning "The place of many falls," and what is now abbreviated to Gonic, they
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gave the name of Squamanagonic, meaning, "The water of the clay place hill," and to the river flowing through the town they gave the name Cocheco, mean- ing "great falls" or, "rapid foaming water."
The territory acquired by the charter comprised one hundred and twenty-five whole shares, of five hundred acres each, amounting in all to sixty-two thousand, five hundred acres, including the present towns of Farm- ington and Milton.
There were two hundred and fifty-three proprietors, the major part of whom were the petitioners for the charter, whose names were attached thereto and set against the names was the apportionment of a whole share, half a share, quarter of a share or third of a share as the case might be.
The first meeting of the proprietors was held in July following the date of incorporation, at the meeting- house in Cocheco (now the central part of Dover). At this meeting a committee was appointed to survey the land and "pitch upon" the most commodious part of the town to be laid out in lots.
Indian troubles intervened, the survey was not made, and nearly five years elapsed before another meeting of the proprietors was held in April, 1727, at which meeting the first selectmen in the history of the town were chosen, and they were instructed to request the committee, appointed at the first meeting, to survey and lay out the lands.
It was five months before this committee reported, and their plan was rejected. Captain Robert Evans was then appointed surveyor and given specific in- structions to lay out one hundred and twenty-five lots of sixty acres each from the Salmon Falls river to the
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Barrington line, and from the Dover line to what is now Common street, originally laid out as a part of the Four Rod road, leading from the Salmon Falls river to Barrington.
The drawing of the lots took place December 13, 1727, beginning at the meeting-house in Cocheco and ending the next day at Oyster River. The lots were drawn by the minister, Rev. James Pike, a disinter- ested party, as he was not a proprietor, and the result was generally satisfactory. The first division of land then was divided into comparatively small lots, for the reason, undoubtedly, that the settlers might be nearer together, the better to defend themselves from the Indians.
It is generally conceded that the first permanent settlement was made in December, 1728, by Captain Timothy Roberts of Dover, who was not a proprietor, but purchased a quarter of a share of Samuel Twom- bly, also of Dover, for which he paid ten pounds. The location was below Gonic, nearly opposite the farm now owned by Mr. George McDuffee.
The second division of land was made in 1730 of 240 acres to each whole share. In this division was an extensive tract of level land thickly covered with Nor- way pines, which was given the name of "Norway Plain." Two hundred and fifty (250) acres or more of this plain was left common, which was bounded on the east by the Cocheco river and on the south by Common street.
The third division occurred in 1753-4, and the fourth and last division of land was made in 1762, at which time the "Mille Common" or Norway Plain was divided into three lots.
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In 1731 the first meeting-house was built on this site, where we now stand, which is designated by a marker placed here by the Daughters of the Ameri- can Revolution. This first church was, in reality, as well as in name, a meeting-house or Community House, where all public meetings, religious or otherwise, were held.
By an act of the legislature passed April 1, 1737, the management of town affairs was taken out of the hands of the proprietors and conferred upon the resi- dents, and at a meeting legally called and held on April 26, 1737, town officers were elected and the town duly organized with the Rev. Amos Main who had preached in Rochester about a year on probation, as the newly chosen Town Clerk. At a subsequent meeting held on May 9, called expressly for the purpose, it was voted "that Mr. Amos Main be the settled minister of this town."
At this time there were sixty families settled here, most of whom came from Dover, but only about one- fifth of whom were proprietors.
The seat of government and the center of population radiated from around this spot. Looking toward the southeast we may behold Mt. Agamenticus in the state of Maine; looking toward the southwest from some part of this hill we may behold the Pawtuckaway Mountains in the town of Nottingham ; looking toward the east we may behold the triple peaks of Bauneg Beg, also in the Pine Tree State, and, looking toward the north, under a clear sky, we may behold the scenic pride of New Hampshire, clothed, during the major portion of the year, with the whiteness peculiar to winter, now bearing the immortal name of Washing-
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ton. Rising in its grandeur above its neighbors of the Presidential range, it forms a picture which no artist can faithfully reproduce and is the admiration of each succeeding generation.
What a charming spot, then, is here for the birth of a municipality. But the environment and conditions were not the same two centuries ago. Those early settlers were confronted as were the knights of old with rough habit, coarse diet and severe duty. Bears and wolves roamed here in the wilderness and here the Indian lurked. They made a clearing in the forest, erected their log cabin homes, and broke the virgin soil to cultivate their principal article of food, Indian corn. Judged by our present standards, their lives were heroic, but not romantic or to be desired, in the eking out of a bare existence.
Parson Main, as the first settled minister, received a salary of one hundred and fifty dollars per year, and the town agreed to build for him a two-story house wherever he might elect and whenever he should call upon the town for it. Tradition informs us that the site of the first parsonage, which was owned by the minister, was over yonder in the field now owned by Mr. W. H. Champlin, the cellar and well having been filled up recently. The charter provided a full share of land for the First Gospel Minister and so Parson Main became the owner of five hundred (500) acres, exclu- sive of the parsonage lot, and the town also voted to give him the use of some of the common lands for seven years.
The Rev. Amos Main was a graduate of Harvard college and during his twenty-three years of service in the ministry in Rochester, from 1737 to 1760, he was
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not only the spiritual adviser, but the medical adviser, legal adviser, leader and friend of all the people. He practiced medicine in the surrounding towns and fre- quently on the same day attended the sick in one place and wrote a will in another, making a record of the same in his notebook. He was buried here in the fam- ily lot which is now a part of this old cemetery which stood in the shadow of the church. His descendants have erected a marble monument to his memory, and history records no disagreement or dissatisfaction between the pastor and the people. Whether his med- ical knowledge to any degree was transmitted to his descendant, Dr. Stephen Young, now a resident of Rochester, I am unable to say.
The charter of Rochester provided for the building of a church within a specified time, but there was no provision for a school except the reservation of one whole share for a grammar school. Those early settlers were zealous of the church, and whether they had the fear of God in their hearts or the love of God in their hearts, I will not undertake to say, but I am led to believe that they considered the church a necessity and the school a luxury, for nothing was done regard- ing a school 'till 1750, when they voted to have one and the next year they voted not to have one.
The first school was for a term of sixteen weeks and the teacher received a salary of less than ten dollars in silver for the whole term. He boarded around and the town paid thirty cents per week for his board.
I am led to believe that the prevailing opinion re- garding the church and the school is reversed since 1750 and that in the popular mind the school is now a necessity and the church a luxury. In my judgment,
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it is the duty of all good citizens to rally to the support of the church, for the church and the school are the surest foundation of a refined and civilized people.
About 1744 five block houses or forts were built as public garrisons for defense against the Indians. Three were located along this highway, one on the road by the Newichwannoc river and one at Squamanagonic, besides others built at private expense which were given the names of the owners. The first story of one of these garrison houses forms a part of the dwelling of what is known as the Edward L. Tebbetts farm, just below here, on the Gonic Hill road.
In 1760, after the death of Parson Main, the building of the first parsonage to be owned by the town was begun, which is now standing on the summit of the hill and owned by Mr. John F. Quinlan.
The first tavern in Rochester was the Wolfe Tavern, the site of which is a little more than half way between the parsonage house and the Dame farm, and is desig- nated by a temporary marker placed there by order of the committee in charge of this celebration. It was kept by Stephen Wentworth, a brother of Governor Wentworth, who owned a farm in Wolfeboro and who frequently stopped at the tavern on his way to and from Portsmouth, the seat of government, and these visits of the governor increased the popularity of the tavern and made it famous.
The fourth settled minister of the town was the Rev. Joseph Haven, who was a graduate of Harvard college, and ordained at Rochester in 1776, whose ministry extended over a period of forty-nine years, the most important epoch in the town's history. "The revolu- tion, the adoption of the Constitution, and the
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inauguration of both State and National Governments, the transition from a Monarchy to a Republic, the war of 1812, the separation of the church from civil authorities all occurred during his ministry." He was not only well educated but he was a man of tact and brains. He was a leader in all the activities of the town and left an indelible stamp of his character upon the community. He died in 1825 and was buried in this old cemetery, where a plain white stone marks his grave. Monuments of stone or marble, the handiwork of man, moulder and decay, but this monument, Haven's Hill, the handiwork of God, declared as the spontan- eous tribute of a grateful people to a great soul and a mighty laborer, will ever remain a monument to his memory. Tradition has written his name here and history records it.
Rochester at one time was the largest town in New Hampshire, except Portsmouth, and was an important factor in the successful prosecution of the revolution- ary war. Soldiers were recruited at the Wolfe Tavern and twenty-nine men from Rochester made the supreme sacrifice. Pre-eminent among the leaders of revolutionary times in Rochester was Lieutenant-Col- onel John McDuffee, who earned his military rank and honors in the French and Indian wars and in the service of the Continental Army, while in civil life he held many important positions of trust. His mansion is still standing on the Dover road, near Gonic, in a good state of preservation and is now owned by a de- scendant of the same family, of whom there are several now living in Rochester. His remains lie buried in this old cemetery.
Yonder precinct of the dead is consecrated ground,
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sacred to the memory of those early settlers who lie buried there.
"Each in his narrow cell forever laid
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."
Permit me to speak of some of the benefactions which have come to Rochester : the descendants of Par- son Main and others who made it possible to erect a statue of the First Gospel Minister on Central Square, were public benefactors.
Hon. Charles B. Gafney, who made it possible to con- vert his fine residence into a charitable institution, a Home for the Aged, was a public benefactor.
Dominicus Hanson, who made it possible to convert a splendid forest into a munificent park as a play- ground and place of recreation for the use and benefit of Rochester forever, was a public benefactor.
Franklin McDuffee, the author of the history of Rochester, was a public benefactor who performed a labor of love and left a priceless heritage to the people of this community.
A movement has been set on foot, advocating the inauguration of public improvements along this high- way from Willow brook to the Somersworth line, to make of it a boulevard which would give notice to the public as nothing else could of its availability as a residential section and revive in the popular mind of the present generation in Rochester, a due apprecia- tion of the splendid panorama spread out from Haven's Hill.
All honor to that hardy yeomanry who made possible this festive occasion. 1
All honor to those early settlers who laid the founda- tion of our fair city in the heart of a wilderness.
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We celebrate today in honor of the Rochester of the past and let us here resolve to dedicate our lives, in part, at least, to the honor and glory of the Rochester of the future. Let us lay aside selfishness and greed and adopt the Golden Rule, then will our fair city become a busier, bigger and better place in which to live.
"Count that day lost whose low descending sun,
Views from thy hand no worthy action done."
FIVE PRINCIPAL EPOCHS IN THE HISTORY OF ROCHESTER DESCRIBED
Following is the historical address of Willis McDuffee, delivered in the City Opera House Tuesday evening :
Ladies and Gentlemen, Fellow Citizens of Rochester:
One of our leading magazines recently published a story, in which the hero lamented that, try as he would, he could never get away from the fact that, in his com- munity, he was always looked upon as the son of his father.
Tonight I think I understand the feelings of that young man as never before and my heart goes out to him in sympathy. For because I am the son of the historian of Rochester, it comes about that I have been selected to deliver the historical address on this mem- orable occasion.
I feel, too, that in any comparisons which may be made, I am not really being given a square deal, since Rochester's historian was allowed two good-sized vol-
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umes for his story, of a little over 150 years, while on the present occasion it is up to me to condense the history of two full centuries, with all that they contain of intense human interest, into a narrative of half an hour's length. This is certainly no light task. In fact, it is, of course, an impossible under- taking, except as it is made a most cursory review, with an effort to bring before our minds a few fleeting pictures of the former days, a few of the epochs in the history of Rochester. The chief of such epochs are five in number and I shall briefly refer to them each in order.
There are seventeen Rochesters in the United States. They range in population from 157, the figures for Rochester, Ohio, to 295,750 for Rochester, New York. By the census of 1910, Rochester, New Hampshire, was the second largest of all the Rochesters, but today it is third. Rochester, Minnesota, because of the great surgeons, the Mayo brothers, and the wonderful establishment they have built up for the treatment of the ills of humanity, grew in population between 1910 and 1920, from 7,844 to 13,732, leaving our own city more than 4,000 behind.
Rochester, New Hampshire, however, is beyond question the oldest of all the seventeen and by priority right is entitled to the use of the name. It has, also, a history, which for interest and romance none of the others can surpass, to say the least.
The town was incorporated in May, 1722, at the same time as Barrington, Chester and Nottingham. But nine places in New Hampshire were incorporated before Rochester. Next year the State of New Hamp- shire is to celebrate the 300th anniversary of its
-
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settlement and it will be a memorable occasion. It is interesting, however, to note that in the century of its existence up to the time of Rochester's incorporation, the Province of New Hampshire had not progressed far. Ten years after Rochester's incorporation the whole number of ratable inhabitants of New Hamp- shire was but 2,946. There were in the whole Province 1,316 two-story dwelling houses, 606 one-story dwell- ings and 16,434 acres of improved land, less than one-third the present area of Rochester. So that, while Rochester is 100 years younger than the state, the real life of the state hardly began before that of our town. Things moved slowly in that first century.
The signing of the charters of the four towns named was the last act of government performed by Colonel Samuel Shute, His Majesty's governor of the colonies of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Our town took its name from the Earl of Rochester, who was a British statesman at that time much in the public eye and very popular because of his religious stand, especially among those who came to these shores to obtain religious freedom. The governor and his council signed the Rochester charter, together with those of Barrington and Nottingham, on the 10th day of May, that of Chester having been signed on the 8th.
On the back of the original charter were long lists of names of proprietors, 53 being assigned whole shares, eight having half shares, 141 one-third shares, and 24 quarter-share lots. One of the full shares was reserved for a parsonage, one for use of a grammar school and one for the first ordained Gospel minister.
The first condition of the charter required that with- in three years the proprietors of every share should
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build a house and settle a family therein, and within four years plant or sow three acres of ground. Indian hostilities broke out, however, which made the settle- ment of the town impractical, and the time was ex- tended because of that to four years after the close of the warfare.
The honor of being the first settler of the town has usually been accorded to Captain Timothy Roberts of Dover. He was not a proprietor but bought a quarter of a share of Samuel Twombly of Dover, in November, 1728, for which he paid ten pounds. The deed convey- ing this land is the first recorded conveyance of land in Rochester. He moved his family into town December 26, 1728, settling on the farm just below Gonic, after- wards for many years in the McDuffee family. The mill privilege at Squamanagonic was leased to him for ten years by the proprietors in 1732, at a yearly rental of a little over seven pounds.
It has also been claimed that Eleazer Ham moved into town a month or two before Captain Roberts but, after stopping one night, returned to Dover from fear of the Indians. He came back to Rochester, according to this story, the same day with Captain Roberts. He settled nearly opposite the Roberts place. The cellar of his house was still visible, when the history of Rochester was written, being near where George Varney then lived.
Many names that have been most common in Roch- ester all down through the years frequently recur in the list of proprietors. Among these are Bickford, Edgerly, Evans, Foss, Ham, Hanson, Hayes, Horn, Hurd, Roberts, Tebbetts, Varney, Wentworth and Whitehouse. The proprietors themselves, however,
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formed no large part of the original settlers of the town. Some of these settlers were Scotch-Irish immigrants but the town was settled principally by people from Dover, where most of the proprietors lived.
At the end of ten years there were 60 families in town. There would have been 125, had all complied with the charter conditions. But great leniency was shown and there is no record of any proprietor ever having been deprived of his right for any cause.
Up to 1737 the proprietors had almost absolute powers over the settlement, but on April 1, 1737, the legislature took the management of the affairs of the town out of the hands of the proprietors and conferred it upon the residents. It gave these latter the power to impose taxes upon non-residents, to choose necessary town officers and to transact all necessary business. From that time, of course, the political importance of these proprietors rapidly declined.
This year of 1737 marked the real beginning of the town in many respects. Not only did the residents that year obtain local self government, but it was on May 9th of that year that Amos Main was called to become the first settled minister of the town.
In those early days church and state were so closely allied that the establishment of a church was the actual beginning of any community. The proprietors of Rochester had voted in April, 1730, to build a meeting- house, which should be "forty feet long, thirty-five feet wide, and eighteen feet stud." A tax of three pounds was laid upon each share to pay for its erection. The meeting-house was built the following year on the top of Haven's Hill near the fork of the roads, as marked
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