USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Peterborough > Historical sketches of Peterborough, New Hampshire : portraying events and data contributing to the history of the town > Part 7
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It was at this place that the proprietors
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The "Old Street Road" in Peterborough, N. H.
held the only meeting they ever had in town, September 14 and 15, 1753. At that time they probably met most of the settlers, listened to their complaints, heard their wishes, gave many deeds, effected many exchanges of lots for the dissatisfied owners, and discussed with the people their plans for the develop- ment of the town. I am indebted to Wm. A. Scott, Esq., of Fargo, North Dakota, for many details concerning Alexander Scott. He was one of four brothers, the other three being William, John and Archibald. The latter never came to town, but one or more of his children did. The family emigrated originally from Scotland to Ireland sometime after 1672. Alexander was probably born in Swatragh, Ireland, and came to this country about 1736. He was one of the first to attempt the settlement of the town, lived in Lex- ington and Townsend where he married. His wife, it is supposed, was Margaret Robbe. He permanently settled here in 1749 or in 1750, and was probably an Episcopalian in faith, as his family left in Ireland are to this day. His name does not appear in connection with the Church affairs of the town except once. In 1768 the town voted to pay him $1 a year for sweeping the church, and 50c a year for previous services, a compensation which could not have attracted him to the liberality of the Presbyterian faith, if otherwise inclined. About 1758 he re- moved from town, was back again in 1761, possibly went to Dublin or No. 4, for a short time, and again returned to Peterborough, where he lived from 1761 to 1769, and a little later removed to Stoddard, where he died June 20, 1787. He was a soldier in the French and Indian War and was a member of Robert Rogers illstarred expedition in March, 1757, but not actually in the battle, and served a short time in the Militia during the Revolution. His occupation seemed to be more that of a business man than farmer, and he surely led a stirring, event- ful life, in a critical period of American history.
Scott sold the tavern lot to Robert Wil- son by deed dated December 23, 1758. This was not Robert Wilson's first ap- pearance in town, for May 24, 1757, only five months after he was discharged from Col. Gridley's Massachusetts Regiment, he purchased of Ebenezer Convers lots 97 and 34 in Peterborough, situate in the second tier of lots east of the Street Road opposite the old cemetery, or nearly so, so that he evidently came to town in 1757, and remained until his enlistment in the British army about the first of 1759. He was in service under Wolf at the siege and battle of Quebec, and prob- ably returned to Peterborough after his discharge and resumed the business of tavern keeper.
It was at his tavern that the men gathered on the morning of the news of the Lexington alarm. The story of the incidents have been preserved. On the night preceding the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, James, the eldest son of Robert Wilson, then about nine years old, was asleep in his bed in the attic. He was awakened by the clatter of a horse's hoofs coming down the hill from the south at a rapid gait. The horseman stopped at the door and gave the alarm. Capt. Wilson got up, called his hired man and sent him out to notify the people of the news. By ten o'clock the next morn- ing every able-bodied man was at the door armed with every kind of a weapon from a musket to a flail, and by noon Capt. Wilson had organized a company and started for Cambridge. They marched south over the Street Road as far as Groton, when most of them re- turned.
The house was the scene of many pranks and practical jokes, and Dr. Mori- son has told one occurring here which illustrates how far such things were some- times carried. When James Wilson was in Havard College he was suspended for some boyish prank and sent home by President Willard. Jeremiah Smith hap- pened to be at the tavern when the son
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Peterborough Historical Society Collections.
arrived, and explained to the astonished father that it was probably on account of his son's superior proficiency in his studies and as a mark of especial favor that he had been excused. Just then a letter arrived from President Willard which set forth the real cause with ap- propriate remarks. Mr. Wilson's glasses not being at hand, Smith promptly offered to read it to him, which he glibly did, reading as if it were a letter from his brother-in-law, telling of the crops and the family news. "But what is that name at the bottoni," asked Mr. Wilson. "It does not look like Hodge, it looks like Willard." "Oh !" said Smith, "he merely says, 'I send this by one Joe Wil- lard.' "
Robert Wilson was a distinguished character in town for many years. Be- sides serving in the French and Indian War he took prominent part in the War of the Revolution, held the rank of Major at the Battle of Bennington, and for his courage and efficiency received especial marks of confidence and esteem from General Stark. He was about six feet in height, very strong, industrious and pru- dent. He bought a great deal of land in town, and for those days he accumulated comparatively a large fortune. His edu- cation was limited, though he lield some important town offices, being Selectman in 1765 and 1771, and Treasurer in 1785, 1786, 1787 and 1788. It has been said of him that he thought "the all important thing was for a man to work hard, make a living and lay up something." He died in 1790, aged 57 years. From the historic interest of this old site, the spot deserves a tablet as the place of the first tavern, and I cominend the suggestion to this society.
When Robert Wilson died, his real estate, at least a part of it, was divided between his sons James and William. To the latter was assigned that portion on the east side of the Street Road north of the Felt estate, also the tavern site, and James took most of the land on tlie west side north of the road leading from the
N. H. Morison place east to the corner. William Wilson built the main part of the house at the corner in 1797. The ells were added later. He opened the tavern there, which was the leading hotel of the place down to 1833, when Whitcomb French began a public house in the vii- lage. It was used as hotel for some time after, for the wife of William Wil- son, "Aunt Dotia," as she was called, was an excellent cook, and a most popular landlady, not only with the travelling public but the townspeople. There was a large hall for dancing in the second story, and here the young people of 75 or more years ago held their balls and dancing parties. The finish of this hall was unpainted, and up to a few years ago at least, the visitor could read the names, cut by jack-knives, of the young people whom some of us knew in our early years as elderly men and women, white headed, pious and dignified, apparently totally ignorant of ball room gaieties. It was in this hall that the Peterborough Lyceum and Dramatic Club was organized in 1827, and here they held many of their meet- ings and exhibitions for several years. It was the scene, too, of many social gatherings other than those named, until the superior attractions of Loring Hall at Carter Corner and French's Hotel in the Village shared its popularity. Eventually the two latter drove it out of business. The road leading west from this corner was laid out by a Court's Committee in 1809. Of the one leading east the date of its layout is not clear.
The last place of which to speak is the James Wilson place, at the Hunt Corner. The large house on the west side of the road was originally built on the east side near the large elm trees, and was moved to its present location in 1799 and en- larged. The law office of Gen'1 Wilson did not follow the dwelling across the street. Among the men who studied here were General James Miller, John Wilson, afterward a member of Congress from Maine, Stephen P. Steele and Charles J. Stuart. Mr. Wilson continued practice un-
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The "Old Street Road" in Peterborough, N. H.
til 1815, when he removed to Keene. He was an able man, a very successful lawyer, and did a large business. From 1809 to 18II he was a member of Congress. From 1797 to 1814, when James Walker opened an office at the Carter Corner, probably all the law business of the town was done here. Stephen P. Steele may have opened an office two or three years before Mr. Walker, but I am not certain.
The road leading from this place to Carter Corner was laid out Nov. 18, 1760. It connected the road laid out December 17 of the same year, beginning at Spauld- ing Corner, thence near the South Factory, where it branched, one division running by the N. H. Morison place to the grist mill, with the Street Road.
It has been repeatedly stated that the first store in town was on the Street Road, opened about 1770. But who kept it and where, unless by Robert Wilson at his tavern-who can tell? A small store was at one time in the John Smith house, but this was after 1790. Hunts Corner and Wilson Corner, as we now know them, had no existence in 1770, i. e., there were no buildings there. Dr. Morison and N. H. Morison, two of our best authorities or local history, assert that it was on the Street Road, but do not mention the proprietor. On the other hand, Wm. A. Scott, Esq., of Fargo, thinks it was opened by Wm. Scott, a nephew of Alex- ander Scott, on the northeast corner of the roads near Mr. Scripture's house, in
1765. There was a store at that place some years later, and some of us can re- member the building. Which is right, I do not presume to decide, though the weight of local authority seems to be for the Street Road.
In writing out these fragmentary inci- dents connected with the old Street road, I have come to realize how little we really know of its early history, and of many of the leading men who lived on its borders. No adequate sketch of some of its promi- nent men like Thomas Cunningham, John Smith and Robert Wilson has ever been written. They were patriotic, able citi- zens, who did much to shape the early history of the town, and had attractive and interesting personalities. There is much more that could be told of them and the way whereon they lived. And yet this was only one of the early roads; these men were only three out of the many strong, influential characters of the first 75 years of the town's history. Who- ever shall gather up and tell the story of their lives will do the town a most valu- able service. In what better work could this society engage than to encourage and assist in its being done ?
Among the authorities consulted in the prepara- tion of this paper are : The Proprietors' Records ; The Records of Province Deeds ; Hillsborough County Registry of Deeds ; Ist Volume of Peter- borough Town Records ; Dr. Smith's History of Peterborough, and old Files of the Peterborough TRANSCRIPT.
[ From page 32 to here was published in the Peterboro TRANSCRIPT, Oct. 10 and 17, 1904.]
WHAT WAS THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME OF OUR TOWN?
BY JAMES F. BRENNAN.
I have read the sketch of the romantic life of the Earl of Peterborough, given in the TRANSCRIPT of May 17, 1906, which is of especial interest to our people from the fact of it having been stated that our town was named in honor of this English " nobleman," who died Oct. 25, 1745.
It is a somewhat singular fact that but little positive historical data exists as to the derivation of the name of our town ; the brief mention given in the town his- tory is based on tradition merely, made the more uncertain by two very different statements ; the one (page 51), that it was said to have been named after Charles Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough, and the other (page 261), that it was said to have taken its name from Peter Prescott of Concord, Mass. Which of these state- ments is correct ? This is an interesting inquiry and must be worked out in the light of relative facts and circumstances, rather than positive record.
All references to the origin of the name of our town, found in our own state papers and those of Massachusetts, are in every instance merely the briefest notes of the editors, copying one or both of the above statements and referring for their au- thority to our town history published thirty years ago, hence an examination of those papers aid us in no way, simply bringing us back to these two conflicting statements.
I am satisfied, after a careful investiga- tion of available historical data, that our town was named after Peter Prescott, who was one of the proprietors and actively engaged in 1738 in directing the survey and laying out the town lots, under the grant of the Massachusetts legislature and encouraging settlers to locate here ; he was the most prominent member of the committee having charge of the pru-
dential affairs of the town,1 being the proprietors' clerk from July 25, 1738, to Dec. 21, 1744. While thus engaged, the township was known as "Peter Prescott's Burrow;" certain it is that the first record of a name given to it is to be found in the Massachusetts Archives when, in 1739, the township was called "Peters Burrer," this being contemporaneous with this man's practical management and control as agent of the proprietors.
There is a city by the name of Peter- borough in England, but none of the set- tlers came from there nor indeed from any part of England ; these Irish settlers were in fact intensely anti-English long
(1) Of the sixty original grantees only four (Peter Prescott, Jeremiah Gridley, John Hill and john Fowle) were practically concerned in the settlement of the new township. Peter Prescott was the only one to live here for any length of time ; he became the owner of a large number of lots ; he was elected to the important office of proprietors' clerk, their only active officer ; dur- ing his term of office he managed all the pruden- tial and other affairs of the township ; under his administration the first and second surveys of the township were effected and the first division of lots made ; during his term of office the main highways were laid out, including the principal one from New Ipswich ; during his term also the petition for incorporation of the town was filed ; he held this office from the time the township was first surveyed until the location of such per- manent settlers as William McNee, John Tag- gart, William Ritchie, Capt. Thomas Morrison and others; it was during this period that the first germ of life was infused into the new settle- ment, from which it permanently set out on its path as an incorporated town ; a period of incep- tion and permanent establishment, when some guiding hand was absolutely essential; in the recorded proceedings of those days Peter Pres- cott appears in nearly all the transactions, indi- cating the important part he took while here in the establishment of the town.
John Hill, another one of our proprietors, be- came interested also as one of the proprietors of the township named in his honor and since known as Hillsborough, he, like Peter Prescott of Peterborough, became the proprietors' clerk and hence active manager of the affairs of Hills- borough ; each had their respective town named after them, while holding a similar office, in precisely the same way; ours might perhaps have been called Prescottborough, were it not for the fact that there were two proprietors of the name of Prescott, Peter the active promoter and Jonathan empowered simply to call the first meeting in 1738 to elect a proprietors' clerk and transact other business.
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Peterborough Historical Society Collections.
before that sentiment found violent ex- pression in the War of the Revolution, in which they participated with such zeal and self-sacrifice; (as recorded in our town history) it was the attempts to es- tablish the Church of England and to de- stroy the prevailing religious systems, so dear to the people, together with the oppressive land laws, that created in these Irish Presbyterians a hatred for the form of government under which they lived ; they were-as stated on page 34-made by that church, the objects "of persecu- tions as mean, cruel, and savage as any which have disgraced the annals of re- ligious bigotry and crime. 'Many were treacherously and ruthlessly butchered, and the ministers prohibited, under severe penalties, from preaching, baptizing, or ministering in any way for their flocks.'"' And it is further stated (page 35) that the "government of that day, never wise in their commercial relations or their gov- ernmental affairs, began to recognize them only in the shape of taxes and em- barrassing regulations upon their industry and trade. In addition to these restric- tions, the landlords-for the people, then as now, did not own land, they only rent- ed it-whose long leases had now ex- pired, occasioned much distress by an ex- travagant advance upon the rents, which brought the people to a degrading subjec- tion to England, and many of them were reduced to comparative poverty." They would no longer submit to these wrongs and (page 36) "animated by the same spirit that moved the American mind in the days of the Revolution, resolved to submit to these oppressive measures no longer ; and, sought a freer field for the exercise of their industry, and for the enjoyment of their religion."
These Irish Presbyterians were no wor- shipers at the shrine of optimacy, with its coterie of landlords, earls, and other, so-called, noblemen ; it was in fact to be forever rid of this entire system that they faced the dangers and hardships of the voyage to and settlement of this new country ; their immigration was a bitter
protest against the English ruling classes and the reign of autocracy under which that system thrived. Was there anything in the sentiments of these settlers to lead a person to believe they would select an English earl as their hero ??
Again, it is impossible to believe that a christian people, as were these settlers- even if they wished to honor some noble-
(2) A few towns in this vicinity which were incorporated during the English regime-as an inducement to receiving their charter-submitted to the naming of the town after resident Eng- lish loyalists ; thus Frances Deering, the beauti- ful wife of Gov. John Wentworth, the last royal governor of New Hampshire, paid all the ex- penses and used her potent influence in obtain- ing the charter of both Francestown and Deer- ing in 1774, on condition that the towns be named from her maiden name (Vol. 24 State Papers, pages 67, 679) ; Temple was named in honor of Sir John Temple, (Vol. 25 State Papers, page 571) who, although born in Boston, became lieuten- ant governor, (afterwards baronet) hence sec- ond personage in the province in 1768 when the town was chartered through his aid and influence; Jaffrey was named after George Jaffrey, (Vol. 25, State Papers, Page 158), one of the Masonian proprietors, who, in 1773, when the town was incorporated, was a member of the governor's council and used his influence to obtain the charter. A few towns subinitted to a change from the names first adopted by them, in order to insure the obtaining of their charters ; thus when John Taggart and others from Peterbo- rough in 1769 settled in what is now Stoddard, they named it Limerick and it was thus known (Vol. 9, State Papers, Page 829) up to the time of incorporation in 1774, when its present name was adopted in honor of Col. Sampson Stoddard of Chelmsford, one of the original grantees; the name of the township of Boyle was changed (Vol. 25, State Papers, Page 21, 25) to Gilsumn when incorporated in 1763, taking the first sylla- bles of the two grantees' names, Gilbert and Sumner ; other similar changes were made under English regime and through English influences. When however these Irish settlers theinselves selected names for their towns-as was the case in Peterborough-no English influence obtained, for it must be remembered that the present English and Scotch sentiments, we now hear so much about, did not possess that sturdy, loyal Irish people ; the modernly invented name of "Scotch-Irish", for instance-so far as we have any history, tradition or information-was un- known, unspoken and unrecorded by any of them at any time, the originators and promoters of this strange and peculiar "Scotch-Irishism" be- ing strictly products of our own time and of our own country ; there was, for example, 110 such names as London, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Edinburg, Glasgow, Aberdeen, given to towns where these settlers located, but the selection of names was from their own people, or from their own Ireland which they loved so well, where they and their ancestors for three and four gen- erations were born, where their kinsman and their descendants remaining are found today re- senting this modern "Scotch Irish" appellation, as these settlers would undoubtedly do them- selves if living ; it was in Ireland their sympa- thies centered and found expression in their se- lection of distinctively Irish names for the towns they settled, such as Dublin, Belfast, Colerain, Boyle, Limerick, Derry, Kilkenny, Antrim and many other purely Irish names.
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What Was the Origin of the Name of Our Town ?
man-could have selected, as a person in whose honor to name their town, a pro- fessed atheist like the Earl of Peter- borough, of whom it was said in the sketch of his life given on page one of the TRANSCRIPT of May 17, 1906: "He was vain, passionate, and inconstant ; a mocker of christianity, and had, accord- ing to his own voluntary confession, com- mitted three capital crimes before he was the age of twenty." Bishop Gil- bert Burnet of the Church of Eng- land, the eminent divine and historian, describes him as, "a man with little true judgment and no virtue." Indeed the history of the Earl-as recorded in all the books I have read-was such as would shock the sensibilities of the good people who were the establishers of this town ; his character was at such variance with their sentiments that the possibility of their naming the town in his honor, it would seem to me must be precluded.
It cannot be said that these intelligent settlers might have been ignorant, as were many of the subsequent generations, of the Earl's character ; he was in tottering old age and his notorious reputation- now happily almost obliterated-had long been the theme of song and story in the books and newspapers of the day before these settlers left Ireland, a part of the world which had been the center of the theatre of his profligacy and crime.
Ordinarily the question of the origin of the town's name would be of no great moment, and would not warrant the at- tention here given it, but when, as in this instance, an erroneous claim would do the christian founders of the town violent injustice, the matter becomes highly important and the error should be corrected.
Ours is the only town or other muni- cipality of our name in the United States. In the town of Smithfield, Madison county, New York, there is a village and post office called Peterborough. In an- swer to an inquiry, the town clerk of Smithfield, who resides in the village of Peterborough, writes : "This village took
its name from Peter Smith, who settled here about 1800; he was a great land owner, having at one time about 60,000 acres in this vicinity-the village (Peter- borough) took its name from his given name and the township (Smithfield) from his surname-he was the father of Gerrit Smith, the great abolitionist, who did so much to free the salves." The township of Smithfield has a population of 875, the village of Peterborough about 300.
There is a small city, Peterborough, in Ontario, Canada, the county seat of Peterborough county, 76 miles northeast of Toronto ; this and our own town be- ing the only municipalities of the name in North America. In answer to an in- quiry, the historian of this prosperous young Canadian city, writes : "The name of our town, Peterborough-which was proclaimed a city July 1, 1905-is derived from the christian name of Peter Robin- son, who, in the twenties, brought a large immigration, some 2,000 to it. This is the origin of the name. We have a popu- lation of 14,500."
Thus it will be seen that the other places in America, taking the name of Peterborough, derived it not from the disreputable Earl of Peterborough, but from the given name of some proprietor or benefactor of the place. There can be but little doubt that our town derived its name in precisely the same way from Peter Prescott, who was such an impor- tant factor in the early history of the town at the time it received its name more than six years prior to the Earl's death and while yet an unincorporated township.
The town history states (page 51) : "It is significant that in a certain deed to Lieut. John Gregg, of the farm C, by John Hill, Dec. 6, 1743, it is described as in 'East Monadnick.' It may be that this was at first the designation of the town, which it so well represents in loca- tion, till near 1750. Previous to this the proprietors had called it the 'township.' It is first recognized in their records by the name of Peterborough, at their meet-
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