USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Exeter > Exeter in 1776. Sketches of an old New Hampshire town as it was a hundred years ago > Part 3
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But some of the tories who came under the cognizance of the Committee of Safety, were not to be handled with too much tenderness. They were sullen and vindictive, and ready to do anything to obstruct the progress of popular govern- ment. One of the men concerned with Fowle the printer, in emitting counterfeit paper money, was of this description. He had occupied a position of some distinction in the prov- ince. It was a bitter humiliation for him to lie in the jail with common malefactors, but he was too proud and obstinate to recant the opinions he had often expressed ; and so he chafed in confinement, until by the aid of friends without, he was enabled to make his escape. This was the well known Col. Stephen Holland, of Londonderry. His influence on those about him must have been rated high, since it was deemed necessary to imprison his negro man, Cato, as well as his master. After the colonel's flight, the Committee ap- pear to have issued hand-bills for his apprehension, and em- ployed Benjamin Boardman to go express to Boston, "to carry advertisements after the Col. Holland." They turned out to be " after " him, indeed ; for he was so far in advance of them that he reached the enemy's lines in safety. He was banished by a formal act of the General Court, and his proper- ty confiscated.
Mr. Joseph Gilman was himself Chairman of the Com-
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mittee of Safety, at one period, and held various public trusts, during and after the war. His wife was a woman of thorough education and many accomplishments. His house appears to have been repeatedly visited by strangers of distinction, dur- ing the Revolution. Some of the high bred French officers who drew their swords in behalf of America, are said to have expressed their admiration for the culture and esprit of Mrs. Gilman, as beyond anything they had witnessed elsewhere in the country. Samuel Adams passed a night at Mr. Gilman's house in the latter part of 1776, just before the victories at Princeton and Trenton had relieved the feeling of despond- ency caused by the prior disasters to our arms; and all Mrs. Gilman's powers of pleasing were said to have been exerted to cheer the drooping spirits of the patriot, without effect. A military success was then the only cure for the gloom of the stern king-hater.
The dwelling place of Maj. Jonathan Cass, one of the veterans of the Revolution, was where the house of Mrs. J. L. Robinson now is. At the outbreak of the war he was twenty-two years of age, and according to description, was an erect, handsome man, with keen black eyes. He enlisted in the army as a private soldier, and served until peace was established, having taken part in most of the principal battles. As early as 1777 his merits procured him promotion to an ensigncy, and at the close of the war he was a captain. He then resumed his residence in Exeter for a few years, and his distinguished son, Lewis Cass, was born here in 1782. About 1790 the father re-entered the army, in command of a company raised for the defence of the Western frontier, and subse- quently received the commission of major. He was so much pleased with the appearance of the Western country, that he established his home in Ohio, where he died in 1830.
Lewis Cass remained in Exeter till he finished his studies at the Academy, and received a diploma, signed by the Principal and President of the board of Trustees, certifying
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his proficiency and good conduct; a copy of which, in his own youthful handwriting, is still preserved. His career, after he quiited the home of his youth, is matter of familiar history.
Col. Samuel Folsom, a brother of Gen. Nathaniel Fol- som, was a well known and respected citizen, in 1776. His house was at the easterly corner of Court square and Water street, and is now occupied by Mr. George W. Dearborn. It . is believed to have been built a year or two before the date . mentioned, probably to replace a former edifice removed or destroyed. Col. Folsom kept a public house, as his widow continued to do many years after his death. He was lieuten- ant colonel of the Exeter corps of Independet Cadets, com- manded by Col. John Phillips. He was intrusted with much important business, during the Revolution, requiring sound and tried capacity, and devotion to his country's interests.
After John Langdon, in the midst of the apprehensions excited by the triumphant incursion of Burgoyne, inspirited the people of New Hampshire, by the offer of his private property, to organize an expedition under Gen. Stark, with the purpose of turning back the invader, Col. Folsom was delegated by President Weare, Chairman of the Committee of Safety, to visit Gen. Stark, to convey him money for contingent expenses, to learn how his expedition was progressing, what articles it stood in need of, and to "advise with all persons in the service of this state on such things as he thought need- ful to forward the business they are engaged in." His confi- dential and discretionary mission appears to have been exe- cuted to the satisfaction of all parties ; and we know how thoroughly Stark was enabled to perform the part required of him, when he met the enemy at Bennington.
A couple of years afterwards Col. Folsom was selected by the General Court to discharge the agreeable duty of pre- senting in behalf of the state, to Col. Joseph Cilley, a pair of pistols which had been the property of Col. Stephen Hol- land, the tory absentee; and the receipt of Col. Cilley re-
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mains to testify that the commission was duly accomplished.
It was at the house of Co !. Folsom that President George Washington stopped and partook of a collation, when he visit- ed Exeter in his tour through the Eastern states, in the autumn of 1789. There is probably no person now living, . who saw the Father of his Country here, although one or " two who well remembered the occasion, have but recently de- ceased.
If time would permit, information could be obtained, no doubt, which would enable us to fix the residences, and give some account of the services, of many others of our former townsmen, who responded to the call of the country in the struggle for independence. But the brief space allowed for the completion of these sketches forbids extended inquiry and research ; and we must be content with recording such frag- ments of personal history of that character, as are to be col- lected at short notice.
Peter Coffin, the predecessor of William Elliot in his store, near the western extremity of the great bridge, was a major, in Col. David Gilman's regiment. His family name was once familiar here, and his ancestors are said to have lived in what is now the yard of the Academy. An orchard which belonged to them, then bore its fruit on the ground now covered by the Academy.
The old Exeter family of Robinson was well represented in the Continental service, two of its members holding commis- sions therein ; the one, Caleb Robinson, as captain, and the other, Noah, as ensign.
Noah Emery, a name handed down for generations, here, was a paymaster in Col. Isaac Wyman's regiment, and com- missary .. In the latter capacity he had the charge of a large amount of stores, which tradition says were housed in a build- ing in Spring street, familiarly termed " the state's barn." It is of Paymaster Emery that a story is told, that being ordered to carry some dispatches by night on horseback in a strange
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part of the country, he crossed a bridge on his way, which he did not discover till the next day, had been previously strip- ped of its planking. His horse had cautiously felt his way over it, upon the timbers, while the rider was all unconscious of the fearful risk he was running. The statement would hardly be credited, if there were not authentic accounts of other .. similar occurrences. The duties performed by Mr. Emery under the direction of the state authorities must have kept him very busy. He was employed frequently in the purchase, forwarding and distribution among the troops, of the various needed supplies, and was relied on to transact much incidental business. Indeed, toward the close of the war, he and John Taylor Gilman, afterwards governor of the state, appear to have attended to most of the wants of the New Hampshire troops. Perhaps Col. Eliphalet Giddings, the collector of the "beef tax," should be included with them.
Dr. Samuel Tenney was a surgeon in one of the Rhode Island regiments. He had previously settled in this town, and returned and married a wife here at the expiration of his service. He was a person of uncommon literary and scien- tific attainments, and contributed articles to the publications of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a topo- graphical account of Exeter to the Collections of the Massa- chusetts Historical Society. He felt a warm interest in politi- cal matters, also, and was for seven years a Representative in Congress. He likewise held the office of Judge of Pro- bate; and was highly respected.
Another citizen of Exeter who served in the medical de- partment of the army was Dr. William Parker, junior. He was a grandson of Judge William Parker of Portsmouth, whose father married, it is said, a daughter of the English patrician house of Derby. Dr. Parker died in Exeter of yel- low fever, which he contracted from a patient.
James McClure was the adjutant of a New Hampshire regiment in the Continental service. He is believed to have
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lived in the house on the south side of Water street now belonging to Mr. Franklin Lane.
Benjamin Boardman performed a tour of duty in the Revolution as the commanding officer of a company. He was a noted man in the town, and many years afterwards kept a public house on the east side of the river.
Ebenezer Light was a lieutenant for two years, or more, in the New Hampshire line. His name was once a common one in Exeter ; and Light's tavern on Tower hill was a well known place of entertainment. But no branch of the family now remains here, so far as we can ascertain.
Samuel Brooks of Exeter appears to have been quarter- master in Col. David Gilman's regiment. Whether this was the excellent deacon, who lived in a house removed to make way for the present Methodist church, we are not certain. But if he undertook the duties, it is safe to say that he made a good quartermaster, for he was a faithful and thorough man. There is no doubt that he was employed by the Com- mittee of Safety to pay the New Hampshire troops who were in Arnold's ill fated expedition against Quebec. It may interest the reader to learn that the amount paid them, in- cluding expenses, was three hundred forty-eight pounds, seven shillings.
Ebenezer Clifford, who was quartermaster sergeant in Col. Poor's regiment in 1775, was probably the person who removed hither from Kensington about 1790, and lived in the Brigadier Gilman house until his death. He was an ingeni- ous mechanic, and constructed a diving bell, with the aid of which he is said to have recovered a quantity of silver money from the wreck of a Spanish or other foreign vessel, at the Isles of Shoals. The coin had suffered, during its long submer- sion, a wondrous sea change, and was found to be covered with some kind of marine incrustation. A portion of it was placed for safe keeping in the old Exeter Bank, and when the vault of that institution was entered and robbed of its valu- 5
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able contents, about the year 1828, some of Mr. Clifford's silver pieces were among the spoils. The story goes, that the peculiar appearance of the money afforded the clew by which the guilty persons were detected.
It would not be just, in any recital of the services of our townsmen in the Revolution, to omit to mention the Inde- pendent company that volunteered under the command of Capt. John Langdon in 1777, and marched to Saratoga to aid in the capture of Burgoyne. The lieutenant of the company was Col. Nicholas Gilman, and the private soldiers were composed of the solid men of Exeter, Portsmouth and New- market. Most of them were of mature age, and many had held military commissions. No roster of the company is now accessible, but it is known that among the Exeter quota were such men as Capt. Samuel Gilman, Col. Eliphalet Giddings, Col. Nathaniel Giddings and Ephraim Robinson, Esq. That citizens of such age and standing were ready to leave their families and business to shoulder the musket in defence of their country, is proof positive of the pressing nature of the emergency, and of the absolute necessity then felt that the pro- gress of the hostile army should be checked, and a sub- stantial triumph gained to the cause of America. And the momentous consequences which ensued from the capitulation of Burgoyne, proved that this feeling was founded in reason and a just appreciation of the situation.
There were of course not a few other persons in Exeter whose services were called into requisition in some way, by the state authorities.
John Rice, Esq., (we append the title, because it was not common, though much valued, in those days,) whose house was where the parsonage of the first parish now is, furnished board and a place of meeting for the Committee of Safety in the earlier part of the war.
John Ward Gilman, who lived in the old house on the north side of Water street near string bridge, now owned by
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Mr. Alva Wood, manufactured for the newly formed state a seal, the impression of which, no doubt, is found upon the commissions of the period. The device was certainly more ap- propriate than the ship on the stocks, which for some un- known reason was subsequently adopted, and is retained on the present seal. It consisted of the fasces, the emblem of authority ; on one side of which was a pine tree and on the other a fish, in allusion to two of the chief sources of the early prosperity of the colony. An appropriate inscription sur- rounded the whole.
Thomas Odiorne was a representative in the Legislature during a portion of 1776, and was afterwards a member of the Committee of Safety. He furnished a considerable amount of clothing for the soldiers, and was entrusted with the purchase of equipments for the field,-among other things, "Colours for Colo. Cilley's Regiment."
Theodore Carlton, who appears to have opened a tav- ern during the war, had some of Col. Poor's soldiers quarter- ed there for a time. Men enlisted for the army, in a time of actual hostilities, are proverbially not the quietest of lodgers, and it is not strange that Mr. Carlton found that his premises sustained some damage. A committee reported thereon, that there were "42 squares of glass broke, 2 stairs broke, 6 doors gone, several others broke, and plaistering broke down in several rooms."
Capt. Eliphalet Ladd, the father of William Ladd, the "apostle of peace," had occasional business with the Com- mittee and the Legislature. He was a man of untiring energy, and did not suffer the war to check his enterprise. He was engaged in trade on a considerable scale, and built ships and planned voyages, in spite of the enemy's cruisers. He met with heavy losses, but on the whole was thought to have increased his property during the Revolution.
Constable Joseph Lamson's official aid was occasionally called into requisition by the Committee of Safety, when sit-
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ting in a judicial capacity. He summoned the witnesses, and perhaps waited on the prisoners to and from the jail. For the town he acted as a general disbursing agent and fac- totum. Among his multifarious charges in 1776, was one " for warning four families out of town." This was not, as might be imagined, an act of inhospitality, or a reflection on the morals of the families alluded to. It simply implied that they had little visible means of support, and were considered liable to become paupers. A town was then responsible for the support of all its inhabitants falling into pauperism, who had resided therein for a certain period, without being form- ally notified to depart. It was the practice, therefore, of the prudent town authorities to serve the "warning" process upon every family that seemed in danger of coming to want. The proceeding was probably thought to be rather a harsh reminder of impending poverty, and another generation wiped it from the statute book.
Many as were the embarrassing questions with which the Committee of Safety were called on to wrestle, it is doubt- ful if they were ever more nonplussed than when a party of Indians were consigned to their hospitality. To what tribe these sons of the forest belonged we have no record. The few facts known indicate, that being friendly to the American cause they visited the headquarters of the army out of curi- osity and for the purpose of expressing their good wishes. The commanding general, probably at a loss to know what to do with them, relieved himself of the dilemma by forwarding them to the New Hampshire capital. They arrived in Exe- ter in the early part of 1776, but did not make a long stay. The Committee of Safety no doubt regarded them as an ele- phantine prize. Our streets were for a few days enlivened by the spectacle, familiar enough a century before, of the red men in their barbaric costume ; then the distinguished visitors. sickened by overmuch good cheer perhaps, came into the doctor's hands; and at length were forwarded at the public
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charge to Suncook, ignominiously, in a storm. About a dozen pounds paid the expenses of the visitation.
We cannot better close these too meagre and desultory notices of our town and its people at the heroic period when our independence was achieved, than by an outline of the most impressive occurrence that Exeter witnessed during the eventful year of 1776.
When the dispute with Britain was begun, it was with no general expectation that it would result in a severance be- tween the colonies and the mother country. The provincials professed perfect loyalty, and assumed self government only during "the present unhappy and unnatural contest with Great Britain." But as the struggle went on, the popular ideas became modified, and the public came at length to com- prehend that it was idle to expect to reunite ties which the sword had sundered.
A few sagacious minds had foreseen this from the out- set. It is due to the able leaders of the popular movement in New Hampshire that it should be generally known that they contemplated the assumption of independence, and sug- gested it in an eloquent official letter from their Convention of Delegates, to the Continental Congress, as early as the twenty- third of May, 1775. This is the first allusion to the sub- ject in any known communication from an organized body, in the country.
As the sentiment of the whole people became gradually ripe for the final step of separation from Britain, movements were made in the colonial Legislatures, looking to that result. In New Hampshire a committee of both Houses reported on the fifteenth of June, 1776, instructions to " our Delegates in the Continental Congress to join with the other colonies in declaring the Thirteen United Colonies a FREE AND INDE- PENDENT STATE ; solemnly pledging our faith and honor,
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that we will on our parts support the measure with our Lives and Fortunes."
From this time forward there was impatience in the breast of every true friend of liberty, to blot out the very memory of subjection, to make way for the new and glorious career that was opening for the infant nation. The action of Congress was waited for, anxiously, longingly, eagerly.
At length the wished for moment arrived. An express dashed into the village of Exeter, bearing a letter, addressed to the Convention of New Hampshire, and authenticated by the manly signature of John Hancock. The Legislature had adjourned, but the President was here, perhaps waiting for the important missive. It was determined that the contents of the letter, containing the glad tidings of the Declaration of Independence, should be forthwith publicly read.
The honor of pronouncing for the first time in New Hampshire, the impressive periods of that unequalled produc- tion, was appropriately devolved upon John Taylor Gilman. No firing of cannon or ringing of bells was needed to give eclat to the occasion; the general joy was too sincere and heartfelt to find expression in noisy demonstrations. Meshech Weare, the President of the state, Mathew Thornton, who was himself soon to set his hand to the instrument, Gen. Folsom and Col. Pierse Long and Ebenezer Thompson, all members of the Committee of Safety, and tried and true patriots, were present. The news had spread with the speed of lightning through the town. The farmer dropped his scythe in the swath, the mechanic left his saw in the kerf and even the good wife forsook her spinning wheel, while all gathered to hear the words which they felt were to give them freedom and a country. But perhaps there was no one of the audience whose heart was thrilled more deeply by the immortal De- claration, than Col. Nicholas Gilman, the father of him who read it. He had put his whole life and energy into the cause of his country ; he foresaw that nothing but formal separa-
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tion from the parent state would prevent his dearest hopes from going down in darkness ; he welcomed the words which rent the brightest jewel from Britain's crown, with joy and thankfulness unutterable. The reader, from filial as well as patriotic sensibility, shared his emotion, and there were pauses, when the rush of feeling o'ermastered speech.
Exeter has witnessed many returns of the anniversary of our National Birthday, and has listened to the utterances of lips touched with the living coal of eloquence ; but the First Reading of the Declaration of Independence, on the eighteenth of July, 1776, enchained the attention with a significance and power which have never since been paralleled.
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