USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Haverhill > Haverhill's historic highlights > Part 5
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His wife had died before he left Boston, and it is probable that the safety of his two motherless children was his principal incentive for leaving. He is supposed to have walked from Boston to Haverhill, New Hampshire, through the forest, a distance of well over 150 miles by whatever route he came. This was in the spring of 1774 when his daughter was seven years old and his son only five. He led Elizabeth by the hand and carried Paschal. It is likely he
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came to Haverhill because his old army captain, Ephraim Wesson, had al- ready settled there.
The date of his arrival is unknown but his name appears as a witness to a contract executed at Newbury, Vermont, September 27, 1774, and the paper is still preserved in the Tenney Memorial Library at Newbury. Also he had a claim for shoemaking against the estate of John Hazen who died September 23, 1774. So far as is known Ebenezer Mackintosh lived a very modest, humble life in Haverhill. He continued his trade as shoemaker. He owned no land. He was elected sealer of leather in 1782-1783, and 1784. He held no other office. His daughter, Elizabeth, when she grew up was in the family of General Moses Dow. His son, Paschal, removed to Ohio in 1786.
On November 11, 1784, Ebenezer Mackintosh married Elizabeth Chase, a widow, and to this union three sons were born. All three of them moved in later years to settle near their half-brother in Ohio.
The hardy qualities and self-reliance of Ebenezer Mackintosh can be no better shown than by the fact that in 1802, at 65 years of age, he visited his son Paschal in Ohio, and walked the entire way. On this trip he took his young son, David, eight years old, who stayed for a time in Ohio. This trip was about 1300 miles.
His daughter Elizabeth married Jabez Bigelow of Newbury, Vermont, in 1786. They moved to Ryegate, Vermont and had eleven children. (See Rye- gate History.) Her father lived for a few years of his later life with her.
His last years were spent in the Haverhill Poor House. The town sold his services in 1810 to the manager of the poor farm and there he remained until his death in 1816. Many years later a tablet was erected to him by the D.A.R. with money left in the will of an Ohio relative. It bears this inscrip- tion !
Hurlbutt House (near Slim's oil station) Where died Captain Philip McIntosh (wrong name due to 1816 terms of will)
A leader of Boston Tea Party 1773
Ebenezer Mackintosh is buried in Horse Meadow Cemetery in a well marked grave. He was 79 years old and had lived in New Hampshire since 1774, except for a brief time in Ohio and Ryegate-only a few years at the most. During the nearly 40 years in Haverhill his early life and thrilling ad-
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ventures in Boston were apparently little known. His activity and life here is not what we would expect of a Boston South End leader. However, the fact that Ebenezer Mackintosh spent more than half his life in Haverhill con- nects this town very directly with the Stamp Act riots and the Boston Tea Party .*
COLONEL CHARLES JOHNSTON
Probably no man had a greater influence extending over a longer period of time in the affairs and welfare of the town of Haverhill, and certainly of that of Haverhill Corner, than did Colonel Charles Johnston.
At 32 years of age, he came to settle at Haverhill Corner in 1769 with his wife and three children and was its leading citizen for 44 years until his death in 1813. Five children were born to the Johnstons after they came to Haverhill. His first child was born in Hampstead in 1764 and was named Michael after the brother of Charles Johnston, who came to Haverhill in 1761 with John Pattie and was drowned going down the Connecticut River the next spring.
As evidence of Charles Johnston's remarkable foresight and business acumen, he purchased a large tract of land, soon after he came to Haverhill, which later became the village of Haverhill.
As evidence of his prominence in local affairs he was elected selectman in 1770, the first year after he settled in the town, and was re-elected twenty- one times to that office by the voters of the town. He served as moderator with rare ability for twenty-four years. He served two terms as town clerk, and was elected town treasurer and county treasurer for many years. He was elected for two terms as member of the Governor's Council. He was the first Judge of Probate from the town of Haverhill in Grafton County and served for twenty-six years from 1781 to 1807 when he reached the seventy-year re- tirement age. He served as chairman of nearly all important town committees during the forty-four years he lived in Haverhill.
That he was a generous public spirited citizen is shown by his many gifts to the town and the Corner. Among them was land for the beautiful park at the Corner, known today as the Commons, land for the Haverhill Court House and land for the Haverhill Academy. He also gave land for the Court House and Jail which he was able to have moved from North Haverhill where they were first located. Most of this was cleared by his own efforts.
*In 1961 (188 years after the Boston Tea Party 1773) two historical groups in the United States sent a check of $4,964.55 to a British firm to pay for this tea.
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His military reward was not only distinguished but conspicuous for bravery. He served with Colonel Goff in the Old French war, as quarter- master and as lieutenant colonel. In 1755 he and his brother, Robert, served for a time together in a company under Jacob Bayley as lieutenant. Their brother Michael served as a private under Captain John Hazen. This may explain the later activity of Charles and Michael in the town of Haverhill and of their brother, Robert, in the town of Newbury. He was with General John Stark at the battle of Bennington where he took a Hessian officer and his men prisoners. He took a famous sword from the officer and presented it later to his son, Michael Johnston, a captain in the State Militia, on condition that it descend to the oldest male heir.
He later organized and commanded two companies of rangers in Haver- hill to provide safety in the Coos region. In 1775 Haverhill voted to procure powder, flint and lead. It was felt Coos Country was in danger of invasion from Canada. Captain John Hazen wrote the provincial congress, "As to our position of defense, we are in difficult circumstances, we are in need of arms and ammunition-we are in imminent danger-and in no capacity for de- fense."
In July, 1776 committees of safety from all towns in the Connecticut Val- ley met at Hanover where General Jacob Bayley of Newbury, Colonel Charles Johnston of Haverhill and Colonel Peter Olcott of Norwich were chosen on a committee to protect the frontier.
In 1792 he was a leader in erecting a building on his field next to the present Pierson Hall for an academy. In 1794 the legislature granted a charter for Haverhill Academy and Charles Johnston was one of the four original trustees. He was one of the incorporators of "Coos Turnpike," in- corporated by legislature in 1805 and constructed during the two following years.
Among his many civic activities at the Corner, he was the prime maker of "The Social Library," incorporated in 1801, which was doubtless the earliest free library for general use of the public in the town of Haverhill. He served on the committee to secure a preacher and a building for the southern part of Haverhill-Ladd Street Church, in use in 1790. This was the First Congrega- tional Church for the Corner and Charles Johnston was its first deacon, elected April 12, 1792. He was a pew owner at Ladd Street Church. It was moved to Haverhill Corner in 1827, fourteen years after the death of Charles Johnston.
Grant Powers says that Charles Johnston was the only Justice of Peace in Haverhill before 1773 and renewed every five years, the last in 1810. He was frequently called a peacemaker. Being a man of exceptional strength,
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he was known to have stopped many fights and settled many arguments out of court by interviewing the parties and persuading them to compromise their differences.
Powers related an anecdote which portrays Colonel Johnston as a most considerate man. It appears that he sold a cow on credit to a poor man. It died later and the man reported the great disaster to Colonel Johnston who had two cows left. After expressing his deep sympathy to the poor man, he excused himself to go and talk with Mrs. Johnston and she said, "You are not going to let one of our cows go, are you?" He listened to her patiently and then said, "Do you not think we can do better with one cow than this poor man can do with his young children without any?" Whereupon he gave one of his two cows to the man who probably never was able to repay him for either one.
Colonel Johnston was an outstanding man in the very early history of Haverhill. He was brave, generous, devout and popular. One evidence of his greatness is still available in the probate office at Woodsville where many papers in his outstanding handwriting as Judge of Probate in 1781 to 1807 may be seen.
His death was lamented in the entire Coos area. His funeral on an in- tensely cold day was very well attended, including many military officers from towns on both sides of the river in their uniforms who marched in the funeral procession. The funeral sermon was preached by Rev. David Suther- land from the text, "Mark the perfect man and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace."
COLONEL JOHN HURD
John Hurd holds an important place in the history of Haverhill and of Grafton County. He was born in Boston, December 9, 1727. He was the sec- ond of 10 children of Jacob Hurd, a goldsmith by trade and a man of some means and influence. John Hurd graduated from Harvard in 1747 and later received an A.M. degree from Dartmouth in 1773.
After graduating from Harvard he remained in Boston for some years, where he acted as administrator of his father's estate. Later he went to Ports- mouth, soon after John Wentworth became governor of the state. Apparently he became very friendly with Governor Wentworth as he was given land in several towns in the Northern part of the state.
Just when John Hurd came to Haverhill is not known. In March, 1769,
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he was described in a deed of land in Haverhill as of the town of Haverhill. Rev. Grant Powers tells the cow story about him (see article on Horse Mea- dow) as an event which took place before 1769. In 1770 the proprietors of Barnet, Vt. engaged John Hurd of Haverhill to build a saw mill and a grist mill for them. This he did and received 100 acres of land including most of what is now Barnet village (Wells History of Newbury, Page 66). Apparent- ly he kept in close touch with the seat of government as he was named re- ceiver-general in 1772 and must have spent much of his time in Portsmouth during this period.
He practiced law in Boston before removing to Portsmouth where he served for some time as secretary to Governor Wentworth. He was a very able man and became one of the most influential of the early settlers in Haverhill. He lived at Horse Meadow.
Soon after Grafton county was incorporated in 1771, a great rivalry de- veloped in various towns in the county to designate one of the towns as county seat for the new county. Several towns sought to become the shire town where the new court would be located. A Haverhill town meeting held May 12, 1772 voted that John Hurd be its agent to procure the establishment of a court here. It also was voted with only one dissenting vote that he be given 1,000 acres of the undivided land in Haverhill if he succeeded in obtaining one-half the inferior courts for Grafton County and one superior court for the county to be held in Haverhill. The official vote granting John Hurd this land is re- corded on Page 1, Book 1 of Grafton County Registry of Deeds (by Hurd as first Register of Deeds) :
At a legal meeting of the Proprietors of Haverhill May 12th, 1772-4th Voted, That John Hurd, Esqr. be Agent for the propriety of Haverhill to petition the General Assembly of this province that part or all the courts for the County of Grafton be held in Haverhill-5th Voted to give John Hurd, Esq. One Thousand Acres of Land in the Undivided Land in the Township of Haverhill, and that he shall Have Liberty to pitch it in a Square Form in any part of the undivided Land in said Township upon condition that he should succeed, and obtain the half the inferior courts for the County of Grafton and One Superior Court for said County to be held in Haverhill.
A true copy taken by Andrew L. Crocker, Prop. CLK
Grafton, 24th February, 1773
Rec'd on Record and Exam: attest J. Lewis, Rec.
N. B. Said Hurd accepted the Trust of Agency for the Town of Haverhill, petitioned the General Assembly, and obtained to have, half the inferior courts for the County of Grafton, and one superior court for said county, held in Haverhill agreeable to the above votes. J. Hurd
John Hurd was apparently in Portsmouth at the time of the meeting since Asa Porter, Esq., was instructed to send a copy of the vote to Ports- mouth by the earliest method. Porter probably carried the vote to Portsmouth personally. At the next town meeting, March 25, 1773, Haverhill voted to pick a site of the court house and jail and to prepare to erect suitable build-
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ings. Col. Hurd was successful in his mission, the court was established and Haverhill was made a shire town in 1773.
Apparently the town was ungrateful for the fine success which John Hurd had in Portsmouth as its proprietors refused in 1774 to give him the 1,000 acres. Some felt John Hurd had been well repaid by his appointment as first recorder of deeds in 1773 and later to the office of county treasurer. Then on May 18, 1773 he was named first chief justice of the inferior court for Grafton county. Also, he was soon after commissioned colonel of a regiment of militia for the northern towns. As the war crisis developed in the colony, Governor Wentworth chose the side of the King rather than that of the people. Col. Hurd was no doubt closer to Governor Wentworth than any other man in Grafton county, yet he chose the cause of the colony and not of the King. This decision showed courage and character.
He became a member of the Fourth Provincial Congress which met at Exeter, May 5, 1775-though when and by whom elected does not appear- and was designated to receive certain sums of money from Attorney General Samuel Linermon, money which had been received from foreign vessels enter- ing the port of Piscataqua, and which had been appropriated for the purchase of powder for the colony.
He was elected from the towns of Haverhill, Bath, Lyman, Gunthwaite, Landaff, and Morristown to the Fifth Provincial Congress which met at Exe- ter, December 21, 1775, in which he took a prominent part. He was one of the committee of 13 appointed December 26 "to draw up a plan of government during the contest with Great Britain," and to this committee belongs the lasting honor of having framed the first form of civil compact, or constitution, for the government of New Hampshire. Two days later he was appointed first of a committee of six to draft a form of oath or obligation to be taken by members of the new government. He also served on other important commit- tees.
The first article of the temporary constitution adopted by the Congress- and which went into effect January 5, 1776-provided that after the Congress had resolved itself into a house of representatives, that said house proceed to choose twelve persons, "to be a distinct and separate branch of the legislature, by the name of a council, for the colony, to continue as such until the third Wednesday in December next, any seven of whom to be a quorum to do busi- ness."
Colonel Hurd was chosen, for Grafton county, one of the twelve council- ors, also recorder of deeds and conveyances, county treasurer and first justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Grafton county. He was appointed June
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11, 1776, on the part of the council first on the committee to draft the declar- ation of the General Assembly for the independence of the united colonies.
He was given almost the entire control of the military operations in Coos. He was to "fix off" all the companies from Coos, except two from the vicinity of Charlestown, with 10 days' provisions, "a quart of rum for each man" and six dozen axes, being sent from Exeter for this purpose. He was to receive of the quartermaster 300 pounds of powder, 750 pounds of bullets and 1,200 flints for the use of troops. There was paid him for the troops destined for Canada the sum of £350, and he was made one of a committee to receive $10,- 000 from the Continental Congress.
Haverhill was made the place of rendezvous for the troops intended for a Canadian expedition, and Colonel Hurd with Colonel Morey was to enlist the companies, muster and pay the soldiers, deliver commissions to persons chosen officers by the soldiers, and give orders to the several companies of rangers, raised to protect the western frontiers, as to scouting routes to be taken by them.
Obviously the responsibilities placed on Colonel Hurd by the new govern- ment were heavy and burdensome, all the more so because of the existence of a serious disaffection on the part of a large majority of the people of Coos with the Exeter government, and of efforts which were being made to establish a separate and distinct state consisting of the towns in the Connecticut valley on both sides of the river. Haverhill, while loyal to the patriot cause, was in sympathy with this movement, and it is not difficult to see that Colonel Hurd, who was an intense partisan of the Exeter government, fell into disfavor in the town for the interests of which he had labored so ardently. The causes of this will be treated more fully in another chapter.
He returned to his old home in Boston in the latter part of 1778 or early 1779, but he left his impress on the town in which he had held such a promi- nent position, greater than any other man held in Haverhill in the critical years of 1775, 1776 and 1777 in at least nominal allegiance to the Exeter gov- ernment. His place in the history of Haverhill and of Grafton county is an honorable as well as important one. He filled important positions of trust with signal ability and discharged with fidelity the obligations imposed on him by his King, his state and his townsmen. His removal from state, county and town was more their loss than his own; and insofar as his removal was en- forced, he was the victim of his loyal devotion to the state of New Hampshire, and to the conscientious performance of duty as he saw it.
Subsequent events fully justified his course and proved his foresight, for within five years after his removal from Haverhill, both the leaders of public opinion and the people themselves were brought either willingly or unwillingly
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to an acceptance of a situation which he, from the outset, regarded as right and politic, foresaw to be inevitable, and for advocating which he was driven from town and county by force of superior numbers and the persecution of those who should have gratefully recognized his eminently patriotic services.
His last days in Boston were spent as a broker and an insurance agent. Little is known of his personal characteristics except that he was a man of real ability and great force of character, full of energy and of real influence in the early history of this entire region. He was a man of culture and was noted for his beautiful handwriting, specimens of which can be seen in Volume One in the Grafton County Registry of Deeds.
His activity in the provincial congress and also in the famous Dresden convention held in Hanover in 1776 are treated more fully in another article.
Records show his wife, Elizabeth, died in Boston, November 14, 1779, and was buried in the old Granary burying ground. Also, his son, John Hurd, Jr., an officer in the continental army, was buried there August 20, 1784. Colo- nel Hurd died in Boston in 1809 at the age of 82 and is probably buried beside his wife though no monument marks his grave.
THREE "POWERS" (Captain Peter, Rev. Peter, & Rev. Grant)
The emigrant ancestor of this influential family was Walter Powers, born in Devonshire, England in 1640. He came to Massachusetts, married and settled in Littleton, Massachusetts where his nine children (seven sons and two daughters) were born.
Daniel P. (son of Walter) was born in 1669. He probably spent his life- time in Littleton, Massachusetts where his 10 children (seven sons and three daughters) were born. The first born was Peter in 1707 at Littleton, Massa- chusetts.
Peter Powers married Anna Keyes and they became the first family to settle Hollis, New Hampshire where their 13 children were born. Peter was named captain of the Militia and in June, 1754 was ordered by Governor Wentworth to lead an expedition to the Coos Country. Rev. Grant Powers gives a good description of this in his "History of the Coos Country." It start- ed from Concord (Rumford), came up to Plymouth, followed Baker's River to Wentworth, then crossed over to the Connecticut River, where they camped on a meadow in Piermont, then moved north through Haverhill and continued on to Northumberland. From Concord to Piermont he followed trail marks made by John Stark and others who had made that trip only two months be-
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fore. Governor Wentworth, in messages of May 4, 1754 and December 5, 1754, referred to expeditions sent north to determine if the French were build- ing a fort there.
It appears that Captain Peter Powers and his command was the first sizable group of English speaking people ever to visit the present town of Haverhill. Captain Benjamin Wright came as far as Wells River in 1708, 1709, and 1725 but he is believed to have traveled on the west side of the Connecticut river. Nothing further occurred so far as settlement of Haverhill is concerned until Hazen, Bayley and others came here in 1760, after the sur- render of Montreal.
The oldest child of Captain Peter Powers born in Hollis, November 28, 1728, was named Peter after his father. He graduated from Harvard in 1754. the same year his father explored the Coos Country. In his Harvard class were John Hancock and John Adams, and in the class below was Governor Wentworth. He was ordained to the Holy Ministry in December, 1756 and preached at Lisbon, Connecticut from 1756 to 1764. He came to Newbury in May, 1764 (Wells pg. 172) and preached in homes on both sides of the river.
After his return to Hollis, New Hampshire he received a call to become pastor of "The Church of Christ at Haverhill and Newbury" on January 27, 1765. He accepted on February 10, and was installed on February 27 at a service in Hollis. He moved his family and goods to Newbury in April 1765 and began his very effective ministry in the two towns which continued until 1781 when he moved to Haverhill where he stayed until 1783. He later went to Deer Isle, Maine where he died in 1800. He had 13 children. The first was named Peter who died in the Continental Army in 1776. His 12th child, born in Newbury in August, 1777, was also named Peter.
Rev. Peter Powers was an able and faithful preacher. He was widely known and respected by the people. He was a tireless worker in every town in the Connecticut River valley from Hanover to Lancaster on both sides of the river, as he was called to make long trips through the wilderness to per- form marriages, to bury the dead, and to comfort the sick and sad at heart. His sermons were earnest and devout, and his views very fixed and definite. In fact so many objected to his very liberal views that he moved across the river to Haverhill where he was less criticized. Clearly he was one of the outstanding men in the area during the formative years.
Epitaph on grave stone at Deer Isle, Maine:
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Rev. Peter Powers Born at Dunstable, N. H .* Nov. 28, 1728 Died May 13, 1800, after a successful ministry of about fifty-fivet years. The Joys of faith triumphant rise, and wing the goal above the skies
The 10th child of Captain Powers was Sampson Powers, the youngest brother of Rev. Peter Powers. Grant Powers was the son of Sampson, grand- son of Captain Peter Powers, and nephew of Rev. Peter Powers.
Grant Powers was born at Hollis, N. H. in 1784 and died at Goshen. Connecticut April 10, 1841. He prepared for college at Phillips Andover Academy, graduated from Dartmouth in 1810-studied for ministry with Rev. Asa Burton, D.D. at Thetford, Vt., was licensed to preach in 1812, and supplied at Cayuga, N. Y. for two years. He was ordained pastor at Haver- hill, January 4, 1815 and remained there until April 1829, when he accepted a call to the Congregational Church in Goshen, Connecticut where he re- mained until his death.
Rev. Grant Powers married Elizabeth Howard of Thetford, Vermont in September, 1817. They had eight children. The first five were born in Haver- hill. His ministry was marked with many theological controversies, some of which were unfortunate. He caused several prominent persons to be excom- municated including lawyer George Woodward, after he became a Methodist. George Woodward practiced law in Hanover and was treasurer of Dartmouth College, 1803-1805. He came to Haverhill and became cashier of Coos Bank. He built the house south of the Commons later owned and occupied by Fred W. Page.
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