USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Portsmouth > Early Portsmouth history > Part 16
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and largely, if not wholly, at his temporary expense. It is said that the debt was paid back the next year.6 In 1768 Ruth Blay, of tragic story and famed in verse, is said to have been executed.3
Portsmouth, from 1770 to 1780, was more than ever a civic and social center of importance. Once the American colonies operated as an independent nation, the importance of Portsmouth became still more pro- nounced. The town was in touch with the world at large, and had the cosmopolitan air of an important seaport. In 1770 "The New Hampshire Gazette" published news even from Constantinople, Rome and Venice, and was full of London news as well.2 Exports from Portsmouth in 1791 were pine boards, masts, boats, cart wheels, fish, whale oil, Indian corn, bricks, candles, New England rum, staves, śpars, shingles, oak timber, sheep and cattle.10 Probably the period 1770-1780 saw about the same exports. The names of John P. Lord, Samuel Chauncy and Colonel Ladd were prominent at this period. In 1773 Rockingham County had 7,170 voters.8 In 1775 Rockingham County had a total population of 37,850.9 In 1790 a census showed that Portsmouth had a population of 4,720.3 These figures give an approximate picture of the size of the community during the Revolutionary period.
The architecture of this period was interesting. The Tobias Lear house deserves mention, built before 1760.6 Tobias Lear was Washington's private secre- tary for sixteen years. President Washington visited this house.6 The Salter house was built in 1770.6 The Eben Wentworth house, now the Mark H. Went- worth Home for Chronic Invalids, was erected about 1769 for Governor John Wentworth.6 The Mark H. Wentworth house, now the home of Miss Susan J.
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Wentworth, was built in 1784.6 The Samuel Went- worth house, it is to be noted, was built much earlier, about 1670. The date of the interesting Wentworth- Gardiner house is not known, but it is pre-revolu- tionary.6 The Spence house is also another old house of about this date.6 The Bailey-Aldrich house deserves mention; 6 also, especially, the Joseph Haven house, on Pleasant Street, still standing, built in 1780; also the Colonial dining room in the Rockingham Hotel. This was part of the residence of the Hon. Woodbury Lang- don, and was built before 1781.6 The house, with the exception of this room, was destroyed by fire. The Whipple house, on State Street, was built before 1782.6 The date of the Austin-Lyman house was 1782, now the home of Miss Theodora Lyman. This house was an especially happy product of its day. In 1784 the beautiful Langdon house on Pleasant Street was erected,6 this being still one of the most conspicuously beautiful of New England houses. The first part of the Revolutionary War apparently saw no new houses of importance built, as was natural; but as the end of the war drew in sight, building commenced again, and the building of the Langdon house, built the year after the close of the Revolutionary War, showed that the war had not shut off the development of Portsmouth, expressed architecturally.
Religiously, Dr. Stiles was minister at Portsmouth, 1777-1778, after which pastorate he became President of Yale.1 The Rev. Joseph Buckminster succeeded him, being ordained January 27, 1779.1 The pastorate of Dr. Haven at the South Church has already been referred to.
The files of "The New Hampshire Gazette" give something of the atmosphere of the times, though the
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press seems to have been censored carefully as to the expression of pre-revolutionary thought, and as of this time it does not give much local news. On February 11, 1774, Governor John Wentworth published a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House, in regard to the reports which he alleged had been sent to England as to his, Governor Wentworth's, mal-administration.2 The issue of February 18, 1774, referred to tea as the principal topic of conversation.2 An issue in January, 1775, reflected the loyalty of the people, publishing a reference to the King as "our gracious sovereign." 2 The issue of September 5, 1775, bore a published appeal from the colonies beginning, "We, your Maj- esty's faithful subjects of the Colonies of New Hamp- shire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." 2 Of lighter local color was the advertise- ment of John Stavers, January 15, 1773, referring to his stage run from Portsmouth to Boston, price per passenger one dollar and a half.2 On February 26, 1773, it was stated: "The mercury in Farenheit's thermometer stood at fifty-two degrees below freezing last Sunday."2 In 1779 there was a night watch in the town. In 1788 "a night walking watch" was voted from November 1 to April 30:7 "Voted, that the selectmen have dis- cretionary power to order the Night Watch to walk silently or to give the Hour of the Night." 7 In 1806 the night watch was still in force.7
The Governor, from 1770 to 1773, had a vigorous and intelligent citizenry about him. In Portsmouth he succeeded for a considerable time in maintaining his popularity, but, says Mr. Stackpole, "John Wentworth wanted to please the people of New Hampshire and George III at the same time." 8 There were more than whisperings against him, but in spite of these
Doorway and Landing, Rundlet-May House
Published through the courtesy of Mr. H. P. Montgomery
Published through the courtesy of Miss Katharine Thaxter
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attacks a petition was sent to England for his con- tinuance as Governor.9
The patriotic spirit of the people of Portsmouth, that had been so apparent at the time of the Stamp Act, had in no way abated as the Revolution drew near. The Sons of Liberty were in active existence and they, like practically all other citizens, though loyal to the King, were more than ever determined to stand by what they were convinced were their rights. One of the principal of these rights which they demanded was that they should not be taxed without representation. On December 16, 1773,3 the date of the Boston Tea Party,8 "a public meeting was held in Portsmouth, and resolutions were framed and sent to every consid- erable town in the Province, declaring the action of the British Parliament to be unjust" and arbitrary.8 Two lots of tea were brought to Portsmouth at this time, one of twenty-seven chests and one of thirty chests; but a town meeting was called and it was arranged to have the merchant importing the tea reship it to Halifax.3,8,9 "So much tea and so many Tories went to that place that it may have given rise to the exclamation, still sometimes heard, 'Go to Halifax.'"' 8
Portsmouth chose a Committee of Safety of forty- five, with the Governor's uncle, Hunking Wentworth, seventy-eight years old, an ardent patriot, as its chair- man. 8,9 This committee of Portsmouth opposed Gov- ernor Wentworth's sending carpenters to Boston to help build barracks for General Gage's soldiers there.8 In spite of protest the Governor sent these carpenters, and became accordingly unpopular.8,9 In 1774 Ports- mouth instructed its representatives to join with repre- sentatives of the other colonies in opposing taxation of
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the American colonies without their consent. The inhabitants of Portsmouth entered into an agreement not to import, sell, purchase or consume East India tea until the duties were taken off. On October 10, 1774, the town voted £200 to be given for the relief of the industrious poor in Boston and Charlestown, which were blockaded by act of British Parliament. 3
On December 13, 1774, Paul Revere rode express to Portsmouth from Boston with the news that troops were to be sent to reinforce Fort William and Mary at the harbor's mouth, and that no more gunpowder was to be exported from England to America. He rode from the Boston Committee of Safety to the Ports- mouth committee. The next day, at Newcastle, oc- curred "the first important aggressive, armed action of the Revolutionary patriots." On December 14 the Sons of Liberty of Portsmouth with the patriots of Newcastle, in all, about four hundred, under the direction of Maj. John Sullivan and Capt. John Lang- don, went by order to Fort William and Mary and surrounded it, together with the garrison in the fort, which consisted of Capt. John Cochrane and his five soldiers. Captain Cochrane conducted himself well, made as much pretence of defence as seemed per- missible, and, without shooting anybody, ultimately surrendered. The patriotic force took one hundred barrels of gunpowder, fifteen light cannon and all the small arms, carrying a considerable portion of the powder to Durham for safe-keeping.3,8 It was kept under the pulpit of the old meeting-house at Durham. 13 Mr. Stackpole says, "Had some blood been shed when the powder was taken from Ft. William and Mary, the date of the beginning of the Revolutionary War would have been fixed in history as December 14, 1774, but
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Capt. John Cochrane aimed his guns so as to harm nobody." 8,9
The attack on the fort was a staggering blow to the authority of the Governor. In "The New Hampshire Gazette" of January 6, 1775, Governor John Went- worth published a vigorous proclamation, dated De- cember 26, 1774, in regard to the disloyalty to the government shown in the attack.2 The attack had occurred, however, and doubtless no patriot concerned in it wished it undone. On April 19, 1775, came the fight at Lexington. New Hampshire men at once "took arms and flew to the assistance of their breth- ren." 9 The town was promptly formed into companies, and plans were made for the defence of Portsmouth.
At Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, Maj. Andrew McCleary fell. For him Fort McCleary, at Kittery, was named, the old name of Fort William, or Fort Pep- perell, being superseded after the Revolution.6 This fort was originally a garrison house, the central unit rebuilt in its old style from time to time. "The elder Pepperell" was chosen captain, and for him it was called Fort Pepperell.6
The people, at the outbreak of the Revolution, wished Governor John Wentworth well treated, and the Governor himself still hoped for peace.8 A little later an officer, Captain Fenton, sought refuge from the anger of the people in Governor John Wentworth's house. The people planted a cannon in front of their once popular Governor's house, aimed it at the front door, and said they would fire it if the Governor did not give up the man they wanted. Fenton surren- dered.3 The Governor said that this was an insult to him, and he sought refuge shortly after in Fort William and Mary, which was still in the hands of the British
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authorities.3 Governor Wentworth stayed in the fort two months, and then sailed, August 22, 1775, on a frigate which was in the harbor, for Boston.8 In Sep- tember he came back as far as the Isles of Shoals, from which point he dissolved the Assembly.8 After this, John Wentworth apparently went to Halifax.8 "Dur- ing the latter part of 1775 New Hampshire was virtually without a government." 8 The province, in September, 1776, voted to become the State of New Hampshire.8
Portsmouth was at some distance from the seat of military operations in the Revolution, yet the town took a vigorous part in the war. Capt. Thomas Pick- ering was "one of the most renowned of our Revolu- tionary heroes. He, with a few like himself, surprised and captured Fort William and Mary at Newcastle December 15, [14,] 1774." "In 1775 the Scarborough, man of war, was in our harbor, causing much annoy- ance to the inhabitants. Thomas Pickering and Samuel Hutchings went down to Union Wharf, the wharf next to Liberty Bridge, and fired upon a provision barge be- longing to the ship. The men, in alarm, ran the boat ashore by the mill bridge and abandoned it. Pickering fastened horses to it and dragged it through the streets to the Pound where it was locked up." 6,12 Mr. Brewster in "Rambles about Portsmouth," First Series, gives a somewhat different version of this incident. "In Octo- ber of the same year Pickering and his men boarded and took the British ship 'Prince George,' which came into the lower harbor in a storm. Nearly two thou- sand barrels of flour were on board, which were sent to Washington's army in Cambridge, three hundred barrels being reserved, with Washington's consent, for the use of Portsmouth, as for weeks there had not been a bar- rel of flour in the Province."6,12 "Captain Pickering afterwards had command of the 'Hampden,' a vessel
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of twenty guns, and was killed in an engagement in 1779."6,13 On May 21, 1776, the "Raleigh," a thirty- two gun frigate, was launched at Portsmouth,3 and in 1777 the "Ranger," eighteen guns, slipped down the ways into the Piscataqua.3 Privateers from Ports- mouth were active at sea. A letter dated November 30, 1775, tells of the taking of a two-hundred ton brig by one of these Portsmouth privateers, and the cap- ture of thirty tons of powder and two thousand stands of arms, "another argument for devote thanks to Gd.," as the letter says in closing. "The New Hampshire Gazette" published, April 21, 1775, the account of the battle at Concord and Lexington under the heading, "Bloody News." 2 When, in 1775, the British gov- ernment in New Hampshire was dissolved, the people, in a provincial convention, made Matthew Thornton President.9 Portsmouth sent a delegation of five in May, 1775, to the general meeting at Exeter, from which delegates were sent to the larger convention of all the colonies.3 In 1776 the Continental Congress ordered the building or purchase of three ships of seventy-four guns. In accordance with this order the keel of the "America" was soon laid down at Badger's Island in the Piscataqua opposite Portsmouth. The master-builder was Mr. Hackett.13 It took several years to build her, and she was not launched till No- vember 5, 1782.3 The "America" was "the heaviest ship that ever had been laid down on the continent for which she was named," 13 and she was "the first ship of her class ever built by the confederated colonies after their rupture with the mother country." 13 She was one hundred and eighty-two feet six inches long on the upper gun deck, and fifty feet six inches wide.13 Ulti- mately the "America" was given to France to replace a ship of the line which France had lost in Boston
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Harbor, through running aground.13 Adams says she was given to France because the Continental Congress found it difficult "to procure materials for fitting her for sea." 3 Badger's Island, where the "America" was built, was formerly called Langdon's Island.6 It was here that "Master William Badger built a hundred ships, reserving the one hundredth to bear his own name." 13
Portsmouth had the honor of building and sending to sea one of the most famous ships of the Revolution. This was the "Ranger." When she was launched, in 1777, she was officered and manned chiefly from the Piscataqua region, and her home station seems to have remained Portsmouth; for later, in 1779, "The New Hampshire Gazette" carried an advertisement for men to go on her on a cruise. 2
The first commander of the "Ranger" was Capt. John Paul Jones. Capt. John Paul Jones was born John Paul. His parents were Scottish peasants, and he came into the world in a fishing village on the Sol- way Firth. When twelve years old he went to sea as an apprentice. At nineteen he was first mate and part owner, and for the next two years he engaged in the African slave trade. At twenty-one John Paul was master of an East Indiaman. When twenty-seven, the young man fell heir to William Jones, a Scottish- American planter of Virginia, and because of this fact he took the name of Jones.4 "With instant adaptation to environment, which was his most dazzling charac- teristic, John Paul turned himself into an ardent Ameri- can in less than two years." 4 In the early days of the Revolution Jones advocated privateering against Eng- land, and on June 14, 1777, he was appointed by Con- gress to command the "Ranger" at Portsmouth. She carried fourteen nine-pounders and four six-pounders. 4
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John Paul Jones was one of the most romantic per- sonalities of the Revolution and of Portsmouth history. Women adored him for the beauty of his features and the elegance of his address.4 As a sailor and sea fighter he was in the first rank.4 "Had he remained a subject of Great Britain and passed from the merchant to the naval service, there is no height to which he might not have risen - perhaps to the summit of a memorial column in Trafalgar Square itself." 4 "The girls at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where the Ranger was built, made the ground of the flag for him from pieces of their best silk gowns." 4 This flag was that adopted by Congress for the thirteen original states, "on the same day and in the same hour in which Capt. John Paul Jones was appointed to com- mand the Ranger." 4 "It was not the first edition of the stars and stripes to be flown upon an American war ship, for Jones was not ready with the Ranger to sail for Europe until the 31st of October; but it was the first flag of stars and stripes to be saluted in Europe by the guns of an old naval power, and it was the first stars and stripes to which the union flag of Great Brit- ain was struck in battle." 4 "The thirteen stars in Jones' flag were cut from the bridal dress of Helen Seavey, in which she had been married, in May 1777, to a naval officer." 5 "Of the quilting party who made that flag, we can find but five names - Mary Lang- don, Caroline Chandler, Helen Seavey, Augusta Peirce and Dorothy Hall." 5 After Burgoyne's surrender, France allied herself to the United States. Jones, who had taken thirty-two days in the "Ranger" from Portsmouth to Nantes in France, 4 on February 14, 1778, flew his silken stars and stripes in Brest Roads, and received the salute of the French grand fleet.
The "Ranger," John Paul Jones commanding, fired a salute of thirteen guns to the French fleet in Quiberon Bay on February 14, 1778, and received in return a salute of nine guns from Admiral La Motte Picquet, "the same salute authorized by the French court to be given an admiral of Holland or of any other republic." Thus was American independence first acknowledged in Europe, and by a foreign power. This information comes from the office of the Secretary of War at Washington.
The "Ranger" was built at Badger's Island. This illustration is reproduced from one of the marine paintings by Edward Moran in the National Museum at Washington. This particular reproduction is from a picture in the possession of the State Street Trust Company, Boston, and is published through the courtesy of the State Street Trust Company and Mr. Allan Forbes, its President.
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Jones' private estate in England had been burned and ravaged by British raiders. Thirsting for revenge, and changing the armament of the "Ranger" to four- teen long nine-pounders and four six-pounders, Jones gave the "Ranger," though nominally a sloop, the armament of a light frigate. Capt. John Paul Jones in the "Ranger" promptly captured the "Drake" and also a merchantman. "In less than a month he filled England with dismay." 4
Jones' successes led him to ask for more equipment, which he requested from the American Commission in France, this including Dr. Franklin and John Adams. These men had not the money to help him. Friction resulted, and the Commission ordered Jones to give up the "Ranger," which he did, but not the silken flag made by the girls of Portsmouth. 4
Anne, Duchess of Châtres, came to the relief of Jones, shipless and eager for further battle. She helped him politically, and through her Jones secured an old ship from the French government. He rechristened her "Bon Homme Richard," for Benjamin Franklin, and he went to sea in her, flying "his own stars and stripes cut from the silk gowns of the girls of New Hampshire." 4 In the "Bon Homme Richard" Jones fought and conquered the British ship "Serapis." His ship was old. It looked, in the thick of battle, as if the "Serapis" had won. The silken stars and stripes were momentarily shot away, but replaced. The captain of the "Serapis" asked if the enemy had struck. "Struck!". roared Jones, "We have just begun to fight." 4 A little later the ships came together, and under Jones' orders the "Bon Homme Richard" was held touching the "Serapis." When he saw the right time had come, Jones ordered his crew to board the
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enemy. A little later and the "Serapis" was taken, but the "Bon Homme Richard" went down after the battle, and the stars and stripes, which Jones had described as born with him from the same womb of destiny, were permitted by him to go down with her. 4 "You did exactly right," said Miss Mary Langdon, who had contributed her skirt to the making of the flag. "That flag is just where all of us wish it to be, flying at the bottom of the sea over the only ship that ever sank in victory."4
"Captain," they cry, "the fight is done, . They bid you send your sword." And he answered, "Grapple her stern and bow, They have asked for steel, They shall have it now, Out cutlasses and board!"
- RUDYARD KIPLING.
John Paul Jones later returned to Portsmouth to take command of the ship "America," to which he was ordered before she was completed. It was at this time that Captain Jones is believed to have boarded in the Purcell-Lord house in Portsmouth, and to have writ- ten his name on a pane of glass there. As stated, the "America" was later given to France, and Captain Jones was relieved of his duty with her before she was actually finished.
John Langdon of Portsmouth was one of the most conspicuous of the Revolutionary patriots of the town. In 1777 he offered $3,000 and his plate toward the fund raised to help defeat Burgoyne.8 Another con- spicuous Revolutionary patriot in Portsmouth was William Whipple. He was made a general in the Revolution. He also three times attended the Con-
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tinental Congress as a delegate. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. At the time of his death in 1785 he was a judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature. The Whipple School is named for him, through the request of Storer Post, G. A. R.
Portsmouth was fortified during the Revolution as well as it could be. Fortifications were erected during the war at the Narrows on Peirce's and Seavey's islands.6 There was good reason for this defence, for ships were being built in the upper harbor, and Portsmouth was an important center of war activity, even though considerably removed from the scene of most of the military operations. In 1782 the French fleet visited Portsmouth Harbor.3 That same year Lafayette visited Portsmouth.
The ladies of the town also aided during the war, as they had in the case of John Paul Jones' flag. During the Revolution, in 1775, when British ships were off the harbor, it is said that the commander planned to sack Portsmouth, and that he was prevented only by the beautiful Mary Sparhawk of Kittery, who capti- vated him, and who, exerting her great charm, pre- vailed on him to go to Falmouth, now Portland, instead.12 It is said that he burned more than four hundred houses in Portland.12 Baron Steuben was in Portsmouth in 1777.11 It was to Miss Peggy Sheafe of Boston, probably of the family of Jacob Sheafe of Portsmouth, that Baron Steuben said, when introduced to her, "I have been cautioned from my youth against. mischief [Miss Sheafe], but I had no idea her charms were so irresistible." 11
Showing the situation at the peak of the war, the town records read, as of July 27, 1779, that only three hundred and fifty-three men were on the list of the
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train band and alarm list; all the rest of the men belonging to the town were in the navy, army or captivity, except a few persons on privateers. The life of Portsmouth rolled on during the war in spite of many absentees. There was considerable suffering, but imports came in, and trade by no means lagged; though, apparently, there was no general prosperity, figured in cash. The amount of cash in the town was insufficient to pay the taxes.7 Appeal was made to reduce taxes in proportion to loss of trade.7 Beautiful houses went up in the late Revolutionary period, yet in its issue of December 9, 1785, "The New Hamp- shire Gazette" asked for payment of back accounts by subscribers and advertisers, saying that produce of any kind would be accepted in payment, if promptly presented. 21
During the Revolution there was price fixing of merchandise by retailers and wholesalers in Ports- mouth, and also of labor.7 Early in the war all the inhabitants of the Isles of Shoals were ordered to va- cate, and as a result Portsmouth was burdened with the poorer class of them, and was at the expense of supporting them.7
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