USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Haverhill > Haverhill's historic highlights > Part 7
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It is of special interest to note that Colonel John Hurd was appointed in 1773 as first recorder of deeds for Grafton County. The first instrument to be recorded in Volume 1, Page 1 of the Grafton County Registry of Deeds is a record of the early meeting of the proprietors of the town of Haverhill which voted to give John Hurd, Esquire, 1,000 acres of the undivided land in the town of Haverhill, should he succeed in obtaining Haverhill a shire town and county seat for Grafton County. This he accomplished but the proprietors later refused to make good under the vote above mentioned. (For further de- tails see article "John Hurd.")
A complete list of all judges of probate, 1773 to date, follows:
JUDGES OF PROBATE
1773-1779 John Fenton-first Judge of Probate.
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1779-1781
Isreal Morey-Proved Wheelock Will-#1 in Book of Wills.
1781-1807 Charles Johnston (Haverhill)-retired at age limit (26 years). Beautiful penman.
Jesse Johnson-6/13/7 to 6/18/11.
1807-1811
1811-1822
Edward Evans.
1822-1824
Arthur Livermore.
1824-1831
Phineas Walker.
1831-1832
Samuel Cartland-president of Senate 1831-Appointed judge of probate 1831-Resigned 1832 to run for Congress. Was de- feated-Heartbroken, moved to Maine-Died 1840-Age 43.
1832-1841
Edward Webber of Rumney.
1841-1849
Walter Blair.
1849-1856
Eleazer Martin.
1856-1861
Nathaniel S. Berry-Was elected governor and had to resign as judge of probate.
1861-1871
Nathaniel W. Westgate-Haverhill-Reached the age limit. (10 years).
1871-1874
David R. Lang.
1874-1876
Samuel K. Mason.
1876-1890
Frederick Chase.
1890-1913
Tyler Westgate-Haverhill-Reached the age limit (23 years). Salary $700.00 in 1893-2/20/90 to 12/2/13.
1913-1934
Harry Bingham-Littleton-Reached the age limit (21 years). Salary $1800.00 in 1933.
1934-1958
Henry A. Dodge-Littleton-Reached the age limit (24 years). Robert Jones-Lebanon-2/3/58-Salary $3500.00.
A complete list of all Registers of Probate, 1773 to date, follows:
REGISTERS OF PROBATE
1773-1774
Jonathan M. Sewall-Whitcher (pg. 274) says that Jonathan M. Sewall of Portsmouth was appointed register of probate for Grafton County in early 1774, but was succeeded the same year by Moses Dow. Apparently he also served in 1773 as he and Judge Fenton signed the recording of Eleazer Wheelock's will which was the first to be recorded in Book 1, Page 1 of the Pro- bate Records for Grafton County.
1774-1807
Moses Dow-Perhaps the first lawyer to settle in this town- Held office for 33 years-President of Senate 1791-1792.
1807-1839 Moses Dow, Jr .- Studied law with his father-Admitted to Bar 1800-Succeeded his father as register of probate in 1807-Held office for 32 years. Second Postmaster at Haverhill, 1803-1830.
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1958-
1839-1842 David H. Collins-Made first index.
1842-1852 Samuel Swasey-Speaker of the House, 1842-1843.
1852-1856 Nathan B. Felton-Lawyer.
1856-1861
Nathaniel W. Westgate (R)-Practiced law in Enfield-Elected register of probate in 1856 and moved to Haverhill. Elected judge of probate in 1861.
1861-1871 Luther C. Morse-Succeeded Nathaniel Westgate, with whom he studied law, as register of probate July, 1861. Served until April, 1871.
1871-1874 Tyler Westgate (R)-Son of Nathaniel W. Westgate.
1874-1876 Samuel T. Page (D).
1876-1881 Tyler Westgate (R).
1881-1885
Samuel T. Page (D).
1885-1889
William F. Westgate (R)-Son of Nathaniel W. Westgate.
1889-1890
Tyler Westgate (R)-Appointed judge of probate 1890.
1890-1891
William Westgate (R)-Salary $800.00 (1890).
1891-1893
Stephen H. Cummings (D).
1893-1936
Russell T. Bartlett (R)-Died April 1936-Held office 43 years-Longest term on record.
1936-1937
C. E. Dixon (R)-Appointed Commissioner July, 1936.
1942-1943
L. Castello (R)-July 1942-April 1, 1943, Commissioner.
1943-
Anna D. Proctor (R)-Worked in office 19 years before elected register of probate-Last to take office April 1-County officers now take office on January 1. Present salary, $3,100.00.
A complete list of all registers of deeds, 1773 to date, follows:
REGISTERS OF DEEDS
1773-1779 John Hurd to Sam Emerson, Bk 3, Pg 342-3/18/79.
1779-1786 Sam Emerson to Beza Woodward, Bk 9, Pg 459-6/7/86. See also Bk 8, Pg 378-6/8/86 (Admr & Qtcl).
1786-1788 Beza Woodward to G. W. Livermore, Bk 12, Pg 44-6/5/88.
1788-1790 G. W. Livermore to Beza Woodward, Bk 13, Pg 317-9/10/90.
1790-1792 Beza Woodward to John Rogers, Bk 16, Pg 291-9/8/92.
1792-1794 John Rogers to Sam Brooks, Bk 19, Pg 269-10/1/94.
1794-1796 Sam Brooks to John Rogers, Bk 22, Pg 466-6/17/96.
1796-1798 John Rogers to Sam Brooks, Bk 25, Pg 405-7/8/98.
1798-1800 Sam Brooks to John Rogers, Bk 31, Pg 47-9/5/00.
1800-1802 John Rogers to Sam Brooks, Bk 35, Pg 41-9/20/02.
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1937-1942
C. E. Dixon (R).
April 1
Sam Brooks to Ephraim Kingsbury, Bk 56, Pg 301-9/3/12. Ephraim Kingsbury to John Page, Bk 104, Pg 411-10/10/27. John Page to Nathaniel Rix, Bk 135, Pg 118-5/9/35.
Nathaniel Rix to John McClary, Bk 149, Pg 200-5/8/38. John McClary to Benj. A. Dow, Jr., Bk 172, Pg 239-5/10/43. Benj. A. Dow, Jr., to John McClary, Bk 188, Pg 298-10/1/46. John McClary to Benj. A. Dow, Jr., Bk 192, Pg 327-5/14/47. Luke Aiken to Silvester Reding, Bk 211, Pg 415-4/12/51. Silvester Reding to Augustus Whitney, Bk 235, Pg 128- 4/12/55.
1855-1860 1860-1863 1863-1864
Augustus Whitney to H. B. Savage, Bk 260, Pg 327-June 1860. H. B. Savage to Q. M. Webb, Bk 274, Pg 217.
Q. M. Webb to S. W. Wright, Bk 281, Pg 25-1864.
S. W. Wright to Chas. B. Griswold, Bk 297, Pg 473-1867 (?). Chas. B. Griswold to Cummings, Bk 319, Pg 45.
S. H. Cummings to Cheney, Bk 332, Pg 500. Nathan W. Cheney to Day, Bk 346.
C. H. Day to Clark, Bk 367, Pg 363.
Henry N. Clark to Cobb, Bk 380, Pg 427.
W. A. Cobb to Richardson, Bk 400-7/1/89.
Myron A. Richardson to Smith, Bk 418-4/1/94.
W. F. Smith to Kendall, Bk 422, 4/1/95. Geo. Kendall to Lang, Bk 460.
David R. Lang.
Charles A. Farr to W. J. R., Bk 492, 3/31/09.
Wm. J. Randolph, 4/1/09.
Fred Shores, 4/1/37.
Charles A. Wood, 1/1/59.
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1802-1812 1812-1827 1827-1835 1835-1838 1838-1841 1841-1846 1846-1847 1847-1851 1851-1855
1864-1867 1867-1871 1871-1873 1873-1877 1877-1881 1881-1885 1885-1889 1889-1894 1894-1895 1895-1903 1903-1905 1905-1909 1909-1937
1937-1959 1959- -
EARLY CONNECTICUT RIVER NAVIGATION
When the big new dam was recently completed across the Connecticut River from Wilder, Vermont to the town of Lebanon, New Hampshire, it made a thirty-five mile lake reaching upstream to the lower part of the town of Haverhill. It seems appropriate today to review briefly the tremendous use made of the Connecticut River during the early days of the settlement of this region, and the very important part it played in the development of the towns of Haverhill, N. H. and Newbury, Ryegate, and Barnet, Vt.
It is almost impossible to think realistically of this great river in its natural state as it was nearly two and one-half centuries ago (1704) when Rev. John Williams was captured at Deerfield, Mass. and brought up the Connecticut River by his Indian captors; or in 1709 when Thomas Baker was brought up through here to Canada as a captive, and a year later again came up the river to what later became Haverhill with a company of thirty- four men looking for some of the unfriendly Indians; or in 1725 when Captain Benjamin Wright brought his scouting party of sixty men up the river to the mouth of the Wells River where he hid the canoes and some provisions and marched overland to Lake Champlain by way of the Wells River and the Onion (now Winooski) River. (See Journal of Captain Wright in History of Ryegate by Miller and Wells, pg. 3.)
There were no dams, either for power development or for flood control, in those days. There were no canals around rapids and waterfalls. There were many more trees along the bank and only a rare cleared spot in view. Few human beings except Indians were in the valley north of the Massachusetts boundary. These Indians were not hostile but seemed to be subjects for in- filtration by those from the north, who made many raids in the valley going as far south as Deerfield, Mass., and usually took some captives up through this valley and on into the area that is now Canada.
Also it is believed Indians often came here from the north and from Lake Champlain to fish for salmon in the Connecticut River. These fish are known to have run in the spring from Long Island Sound to the mouth of the Wells River where many were caught annually. It is probable that salmon would still be using this river for spawning had proper fish ways been built so they could get around the big dams as they were built on the river.
It is reported in the History of Haverhill by Bittinger that Connecticut means the Long-Deer-Place, or river, and the Indian spelling or pronunciation of the word was "Quinne-Attuck-Auke." From this Indian expression we get
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the word, Connecticut. It is believed that the word "long" in the Indian name refers to the extended territory in which the deer were found. Indians came from distant points to hunt in the Connecticut Valley, and particularly in the Cohos country where deer was taken for the food furnished, bears for their skins and food, and moose for food. It is known that as late as 1769 moose yarded on the meadows now known as the Ox-bow, both in the towns of Haverhill and Newbury.
The early settlers poled crude boats and rafts up the river for settlement in all the river towns including Haverhill. In 1802 a raft brought the Ladd Street Bell all the way from Hartford, Conn. to the mouth of the Oliverian in Haverhill (see story on this subject). Men were making a business of trans- porting men and material up and down the river as early as 1785.
Before the railroad came to Wells River in 1848, boats of various descrip- tion had been used on the Connecticut River to convey early settlers and merchandise to this region. The federal census of 1840 shows 27 men from this area employed on the river. Between 1809 and 1816 the records of a storage warehouse at Wells River show a great variety of goods received there. One-third of storage charges were for liquors. Freight down the river was chiefly lumber and hides.
In 1829 the following canals existed to aid transportation on the Con- necticut River around falls and rapids: South Hadley in 1795 had a canal two and one-half miles long with eight locks; Turner's Falls, three miles long, ten locks; Enfield, six miles; Bellows Falls, a short one with eight locks. There was also a short one at White River Junction. It took twenty-five days to go from Wells River to Hartford and return, a trip easily made today by auto in a half a day.
Merchants at Haverhill Corner did not favor the development of naviga- tion on the river as it competed with the Coos Turnpike, largely built with Haverhill money in 1806. This road started with Court Street in Haverhill and passed between the Tarleton Lakes in Piermont to Warren.
Because river transportation was very slow, many efforts were made to build and operate steamboats on the river. In 1826 The Barnet was built in New York for this service. It never got above Bellows Falls. The same year the Connecticut River Navigation Company was organized with Moses Pay- son of Bath as president. In 1830 a small steamboat called the John Ledyard came up the river from Hartford to Wells River through the various locks. It was grounded just above the mouth of the Ammonoosuc. It went down the river and never returned.
The next year, 1831, the Connecticut River Valley Steamboat Company
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was organized to build several boats and put them in operation on the river. Five such boats were actually put on the river that year. One of them, the Adam Duncan was built at the mouth of the Wells River at a cost of $4700.00. It was sixty feet long, twelve feet wide and drew only twenty-two inches of water. Its cabin was ten feet by twenty-four feet. Its captain was Horace Duncan. After a successful trial trip, it went from Wells River to Hanover on an excursion on July 4, 1831. A pipe burst allowing steam and hot water to escape. None of the passengers was injured seriously except a Dr. Dean of Bath who jumped into the river and was drowned. This was the first and last trip of the Adam Duncan.
This steamboat company failed in 1832. However, there were still many who felt that transportation on the river would sometime prosper, based on a report made to the company earlier stating that river boats had an average speed of about four miles per hour and the assumption that railroads, if and when they were built, would "probably never go more than six to eight miles per hour on the average." This never was carried out and before 1848, when the railroad actually came up the valley to Wells River, all shipping by the waterway had come to an end here.
Other uses of this river have been for floating log drives down the valley. Many people today can remember seeing the river filled with logs, and river- men following along to clean up those logs lodged along the bank. Also they can recall the camps these log drivers used to have where real old bean-hole baked beans were offered to visitors as a most tasty delicacy.
The recent tendency has been away from all such uses for navigation and transportation, and toward a complete harnessing of the water for development of electric power, which appears to be far more important than any of the earlier uses. This new use not only benefits the Connecticut valley, but is carried by transmission lines to benefit business as far away as Boston.
Today with our heavy oil-burning super diesels hauling one hundred car trains at sixty miles per hour, with our airplane transports, our automobiles, and the big motor trucks going over our modern highways, it is impossible to understand the point of view of those hardy pioneers of over one hundred fifty years ago who were thrilled with the crude boats going up and down the river, and the cumbersome ferries which carried passengers and freight across the river before the earliest bridges were built.
What more convincing proof and example is there of the progress which has been made not only in the Connecticut valley but throughout the length and breadth of our entire country during the past two centuries.
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HAVERHILL DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Nothing demonstrates the outstanding patriotism of the early settlers more completely than the record of Haverhill's citizens in the war for inde- pendence. With a total population in October, 1775, of only 365 heads, of which 97 males were under 16 and 169 were females, this town had 119 men in the service of its country and many had two or three terms of service.
This is a record of which this town can be justly proud and it is perhaps the best record of any New Hampshire town in proportion to total population. Of course during the war years, some new males came to Haverhill and some of those under 16 in October, 1775, came to be 16 or 17 years old. Also it is not unlikely that some rugged boys under 16 got into the service.
The fear of attack from the north by the British made the holding of this region very important. Early settlers of the Coos region, certainly those who settled in Haverhill, were outstanding, courageous and intelligent. They re- sented the fact that the towns of the northern area were not represented in the provincial government at Exeter. They were never represented in the royal government of New Hampshire, although chartered by it. Some towns to the south, including Plymouth, Orford and Lyme, elected a representative but the legislature refused to seat them because they came from newly settled towns not yet recognized by the legislature. So it appears these northern new towns took little notice of the laws which were passed by the Exeter government and requests for aid were not heeded. It can also be said that requests of Haver- hill for help in defending against any attack from the north were not granted.
Because of the coolness between Exeter and northern country towns, com- mittees from eight towns met at Haverhill May 2, 1775 and signed a pledge and declaration extremely critical of the British.
The Haverhill signers were Charles Johnston, Timothy Barron, Simeon Goodwin and James Bayley. Other action taken by the group was to organize a regiment from these towns and to pick a group to scout in Canada and else- where. Regimental officers were appointed. Colonel Timothy Bedel, Lt. Colonel Charles Johnston, 1st Major Jonathan Childs, 2nd Major James Bayley and others. Company officers were to be appointed by the towns.
A report of the action taken, with added statements about the imminent danger to the Coos region of an invasion from the north, was sent to the 4th Provincial Congress at Exeter. It must have come as a surprise to Coos folks that the congress voted June 3, 1775, to authorize a company of 60 men to be raised in that area and further that two companies be stationed on this fron-
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tier. Timothy Bedel was appointed by the Commission of Safety to command these troups. On July 7 he received a commission as captain from the prov- ince, although a month earlier the local towns had made him a colonel. He previously had served with Bayley, Hazen and Kent as 2nd lieutenant at the siege of Montreal in the fall of 1760 and returned with them through this area, at which time he was but 20 years old.
After mustering his company at Haverhill, and a short period for train- ing, Bedel was made a full colonel and ordered to join the army of General Schuyler.
This army invaded St. Johns, Canada, which fell in November (1775). But Haverhill had furnished men for defense, and the government had used them for aggression. Neither the Exeter government nor the Continental gov- ernment gave them supplies or paid the men. This added to the feeling against the Exeter government.
During the war a committee of safety was maintained in all the towns, made up of the outstanding citizens. They enlisted troops and sent out sup- plies. They made what defense was possible against invasion from the north. In Haverhill four stockades were erected in 1776. Two were on the Plain (now North Haverhill), one on Ladd Street, and the other at the Corner around Colonel Johnston's homestead.
There was a shortage of arms and ammunition. Exeter supplied little. The town paid for powder, lead, firearms and expenses of scouting parties. They furnished supplies for families of men in military service. Several indi- viduals spent their own money for gunpowder and supplies for which the town reimbursed them in later years by town meeting action.
The real trouble between Haverhill and the new Provincial government began in the summer of 1776. Colonel John Hurd was admitted to the fifth provincial congress at Exeter as representative of Haverhill. It met December 21, 1775 and Hurd returned to his home in July, 1776. (See another chapter about John Hurd and his active life in Haverhill.)
Hurd attained prominence in the legislative session at Exeter. He was to have a practical control of military operations in Coos. Haverhill was to be the rendezvous for soldiers for service in Canada, for defense of local areas and for scouting. At this time General Burgoyne was forcing the American Army to retreat from Canada. Coos was in great fear. A serious movement was on in most of the towns to the north, and to some extent in Haverhill it- self, to move to their old homes and possible safety in the southern part of New Hampshire.
Thus when Hurd arrived home he found the government, of which he was now an influential member, in real disfavor. There was great unrest in all
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towns on each side of the Connecticut River, because of the controversy be- tween New Hampshire and New York as to which had jurisdiction over the Connecticut River towns. Lack of representation by most Grafton County towns in the government at Exeter was another cause of dissention.
The state of affairs in Haverhill disturbed Hurd greatly. He was loyal to the Exeter government and tried very hard to check the fast growing dissatis- faction.
Hurd soon became convinced that his neighbor, Colonel Asa Porter, was plotting to help General Burgoyne take over Coos area. Porter was very out- spoken against the Exeter government for neglecting Coos. Hurd felt it was his patriotic duty to have Porter arrested and taken to Exeter for trial. He was placed under bonds and not allowed to return to Haverhill until Novem- ber, 1777.
Revolt against State Government continued to mount. Because of his loyalty and devotion to Exeter, the influence of Hurd waned quite noticeably. He was not elected in 1777, and Haverhill sent no representative to Exeter for seven years. In fact his life in Haverhill became increasingly unpleasant. Soon after his neighbor, Asa Porter, returned in November, 1777, Hurd left town to join his wife already in Boston.
Haverhill became convinced that the river towns should separate from New Hampshire authority. Some sixteen towns east of the Connecticut river actually joined up with Vermont. In 1778 Vermont refused to establish counties east of the river which led to an end of this union with Vermont.
Next came an effort on the part of these river towns to persuade the New Hampshire authorities to claim jurisdiction in Vermont, west of the river. Strange as it may appear, the New Hampshire authority began to gain in favor with many in Haverhill. Among them was Colonel Charles Johnston who was elected to the Exeter government as council member for all Grafton County towns who were loyal to New Hampshire authority.
Many of Haverhill's leading citizens stubbornly resisted accepting any orders or recognizing authority from Exeter. Many towns on both sides of the river were so dissatisfied with Vermont and its treatment of them that they met at Windsor, Vermont in October, 1778 and called a convention for Cornish, New Hampshire in December, 1778. Their purpose was to secure a union of towns on both sides of the Connecticut river under a single jurisdic- tion. Three proposals were discussed: a union with New Hampshire or with New York, or if these failed a union in a new state of valley towns. In March, 1779 the convention voted for union with New Hampshire and asked the New Hampshire legislature to approve. This was referred to the Continental Con- gress and nothing came of it.
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A year later at a convention in Charlestown, New Hampshire, forty-six towns voted to confer with the Vermont legislature and in February, 1781, and in April, thirty-five towns east of the Connecticut river were seated in the Ver- mont legislature. This was the second Vermont union. Colonel Timothy Bedel and Captain Joshua Howard were elected to represent Haverhill. Later eleven towns from New York were seated in the Vermont Legislature. Next, Ver- mont applied to Congress for admission to the federation, but Congress made a condition of admission for Vermont that all claim to towns in New York and New Hampshire must be dropped. In February, 1782 this union was dis- solved. In December, 1783 Haverhill sent its first representative to the New Hampshire house, but Newbury did not send a representative to the Vermont legislature until 1786.
Despite this internal strife over jurisdiction, Haverhill had a proud re- cord in military service. John Hurd, Timothy Bedel and Charles Johnston served as colonels. Seven others served as captains and one hundred and nine others were in service. Fifteen Haverhill men were with Colonel Bedel at the Fall of St. Johns, and twenty-five men went with Bedel to Canada with the Continental Army. Haverhill men were with Colonel John Stark at Bunker Hill and the siege of Boston, and they were in other expeditions too numerous to mention here.
Thus it appears clear that the men of Haverhill performed outstanding patriotic service during very trying times at home and at distant points. Being the foremost Coos town and one of the farthest north, it was a strategic point, especially as an outpost to be defended from any attack from the north. It had an important duty to perform and it performed it well!
THE COOS TURNPIKE
Before 1752 a rather definite trail from the Coos Country to the Plym- outh region is known to have existed, which was used by the Indians as they went on raiding parties in central New Hampshire, south of this Coos country, now Haverhill.
In the spring of 1752 John Stark and others came north from Rumford, now Concord, to the Baker's River Country, now Rumney, on a hunting ex- pedition. Stark and one other were captured by the Indians near Rumney and taken to Canada. They came down the Oliverian to the Ox-bow Mead- ows, and up the Connecticut River. When they escaped, they returned over the same route all the way back to "Rumford." A year later Stark acted as guide for a party sent to explore the Coos region by Governor Wentworth.
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Apparently this was the first step toward developing the old Indian trail into a passage way for early settlers who were soon to be toiling through the woods and over Warren Summit to Haverhill and other nearby towns. It remained a bridle path until 1772 when an ox team made its way over this route from Haverhill to Plymouth and return. This was a big event in the early history of this town. For twenty years white settlers of this region used the path only for pack horses and cattle traveling in single file. A few log huts were constructed along the way where weary travelers found shelter from the elements and safety from the beasts of the wilderness.
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