USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > Historical sketches of the discovery, settlement, and progress of events in the Coos country and vicinity, principally included between the years 1754 and 1785 > Part 12
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laconic sentence -- " The Philistines be upon thee, Sampson !" He gave it to Carleton, and instructed him to go on to the meadow, pass directly by Bailey without stopping or speaking, but drop the paper in his view, and return home by a circuitous rout. Car- leton performed the duty assigned him well. Gen. Bailey, when he came to the paper, carelessly took the paper and read it, and as soon as he could, with- out exciting suspicion in the minds of lookers on, proposed to turn out the team, and said to his sons, " Boys, take care of yourselves !" and went himself down to the bank of the river, and the sons went up to the house, to carry the tidings to the guard that was stationed there. The guard consisted of Capt. Frye Bailey, commandant, Ezra Gates, Jacob Bailey, Jun., Joshua Bailey, Sergeant Samuel Torrey, a hired man of Gen. Bailey, three boys-John Bailey, Isaac Bailey, and Thomas Metcalf-and a hired maid, Sarah Fowler.
Although the guard was apprised of the general's apprehensions, yet it would seem they thought his fears were groundless, for they were taken by surprise at early twilight, while they were taking their eve- ning grog ; or, we might more significantly say, per- haps, that they were taking in a freight of prowess to be tested at a late hour of the night. The enemy
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were not discovered until they were within a few rods of the front door. Sergeant Torrey met them at the door, and levelled his piece at them ; but Prichard knocked aside the gun, made Torrey his prisoner, and the enemy rushed in. The guard dispersed in all directions. Ezra Gates was wounded in the arm by a ball, as he ran from the south front door, and a gun was discharged at John Bailey, as he was jump- ing the fence to run for the Ox Bow, and two balls lodged in the fence close to him. Thomas Metcalf reached the meadow, where he tarried all night. Gates was brought in and laid on the bed, where he lay bleeding and groaning, whilst the enemy were searching the house for prisoners and papers.
But there was one belonging to the house, who dis- played great presence of mind and intrepidity. It was woman ! woman, who in ten thousand instances, has risen superior to danger, and performed astonish- ing deeds of heroism, when man, her lord by consti- tution, has forfeited his claim to superiority by timid- ity and flight ! Sarah Fowler, the servant-maid spoken of, remained upon the ground with a babe of Mrs. Bailey in her arms, undismayed at the sight of loaded muskets and bristling bayonets, and repeated- ly extinguished a candle, which had been lighted for the purpose of searching the house. Not succeeding
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with a candle, one of the party took a firebrand, and attempted to renew the search ; this the dauntless maid struck from his hand, and strewed the coals around the room. This was too much for British blood ; and one of the soldiers swore, by a tremen- dous oath, that if she annoyed them any more, he would blow out her brains, showing at the same time how he would do it. She then desisted, as she had good reason to believe he would execute his threat.
Mrs. Bailey had, at the moment of the onset, es- caped through an eastern window, and lay concealed in currant bushes in the garden. The enemy, having destroyed one gun, and taken what papers they could find, commenced their retreat, greatly disappointed in respect to the main object of their pursuit, for the general was resting securely on Haverhill side. They took with them prisoners, Gates and Pike, the hired man of Gen. Bailey, and proceeded south. An alarm was given, but not in time to arrest the enemy. About a half a mile south, they met James Bailey, son of Gen. Bailey, whom they took prisoner, and kept until the close of the war. They took also Pelatiah Bliss, who lived near where Harry C. Bailey now lives. Bliss whined and cried, and made so much ado about his wife and babes, and exhibited so many symptoms of a weak mind, that, after con-
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sultation, they permitted him to escape. They called at one other house, Andrew Carter's, drank all the pans of milk the old lady had, and then prosecuted their march into Canada, to report the failure of their expedition. " But," says Col. Elkins, of Peacham, in his letter of December 7, 1832, "this failure of the British, in the main object of their ex- pedition, brought fresh trouble upon Col. Thomas Johnson. The tories in the vicinity, who had laid the plan for taking Gen. Bailey, learning that he was not at home that night, and knowing that he was not in the habit of being absent from his family over night, unless on business out of town, said at once, Johnson was a traitor to their cause, for he must have given Bailey information of his danger. This rumor went with the party back to Canada, and produced strong sensations of jealousy and resent- ment there. Johnson was now the man to be ob- tained, and his buildings were to be destroyed by fire the next spring, if not before. But the disposition to peace in the mother country, and the actual treaty before the year came about, saved Johnson from the calamities threatened upon him.
From this time the people of Coos moved on in the even tenor of their way to ease and independence in their circumstances. But even at the late period of
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which we have been speaking, a one-horse pleasure carriage had never been seen at Coos. The first that . was ever seen in Newbury, was brought into the place by a Rev. Mr. Goddard, who was preaching as a can- didate to the people there, after the dismission of the Rev. Mr. Powers. He rode up to Gen. Bailey's, as he came into town, in a chaise or sulkey. There was living at the general's a young miss, who happened to be in at a neighboring house to visit an aunt, at the time Mr. Goddard passed. So strange a vehicle greatly excited her curiosity, and she called out to her aunt, "O, come here, aunt ! come here, and see a man riding in a cart with two tongues !" On horseback in summer, and in sleighs in winter, were the only methods of riding at that day.
I have previously said that Haverhill and Newbury were never one ecclesiastical society after the dismis- sion of the Rev. Mr. Powers. The Rev. Jacob Wood was the successor of Mr. Powers in Newbury. He was ordained on the second Wednesday in January, 1788 ; departed this life, February 10, 1790, aged 33. Rev. Nathaniel Lambert was ordained, November 17, 1790 ; dismissed April 4, 1809. Rev. Luther Jewett was ordained, February 28, 1821 ; ceased to officiate, February 3, 1825 ; dismissed, February 19, 1828.
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Rev. Clark Perry was ordained, June 4, 1828 ; dis- missed, June 15, 1835. Rev. George Campbell was installed, January 27, 1836, and remains their pastor. Let us hope for a long, successful, and happy union.
From the time Mr. Powers closed his labors at Haverhill, the people enjoyed but little preaching until the year 1790. There was no organized church in Haverhill, as they had belonged to Newbury church, and there were but two males, members of Newbury church, who belonged on Haverhill side, viz., Col. Charles Johnston and the Hon. James Woodward. The prospects of Haverhill were at that time very gloomy in respect to religion, and for nine months preceding the spring of 1790, there had not been a sermon preached in the place. But in the spring of that year, a melancholy death of a woman occurred in the house now occupied by Capt. Uriah Ward, which seemed to impress all minds with so- lemnity. She had lived far from righteousness, and died in great agony of soul in view of her endless ruin. And now the precious grain, sown by the Rev. Mr. Powers, which had lain buried long, being watered by the dews and rains of divine grace, and warmed by the vivifying rays of the Sun of righteous- ness, began to germinate and to appear, to the great joy of those few who had waited and prayed for con-
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solation in Israel. The holy and blessed spirit seemed to come down upon them as a rushing, mighty wind ; and it was but a short time before there was but one house, from the Dow farm to Piermont line, in which there was no special awakening with the occupants. That house was at the Ayers' place. In all other habitations there were wailings for sin. People pressed together for prayer and instruction, and clergymen, hearing of the wonders of God at Haver- hill, came to obtain and to impart a blessing. The Rev. Dr. Burton, of Thetford, and Rev. Dr. Bur- roughs, of Hanover, were peculiarly helpful, and their labors are remembered with gratitude to this day by those who obtained the pearl of great price, and still survive. During that season, more than seventy persons became hopeful subjects of renewing grace. And although that church and people have witnessed repeated revivals of religion with them since that period, yet the elders among the people have never witnessed, as they think, the power of di-
vine grace in equal degree. I have myself, while re- joicing with the newly converted in that place, and feeling that we witnessed great things, been reminded of the different feelings that were experienced by the Jews at Jerusalem, at the laying of the foundation of the second temple, on their return from captivity,
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when I heard the old saints speak of what they had witnessed. It will be recollected that the younger Jews, who had never seen the first temple, rejoiced greatly in the prospect of having a temple for wor- ship. The older Jews rejoiced also ; but when they contrasted their then present circumstances with what they had been in the glory of the first temple, for a time grief preponderated in their breasts, and there was a mixed shout of joy and grief. So it has repeatedly been at Haverhill. The converts of 1790 have ever been disposed to meditate on the power of divine grace of that year ; and although they could rejoice in the day of small things, yet they have longed to see one more day of the right hand of the Most High.
On the 13th of October, 1790, the church was first organized. Rev. Dr. Burton, Rev. Dr. Burroughs, and .Rev. Mr. Ward, of Plymouth, officiated. Twen- ty-two members constituted the church at its organ- ization. Rev. Ethan Smith was their first pastor. He was ordained, January 25, 1792, and continued their pastor a little more than seven years ; dismissed June 23, 1799. The Rev. John Smith succeeded Mr. Ethan Smith, and was ordained, December 23, 1802, and continned their pastor a little more than four years ; dismissed, January 14, 1807. From this time
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to January 4, 1815, the church and ecclesiastical so- ciety had no pastor, nor had they uninterrupted preaching, but had many candidates and occasional preaching. And here we have a melancholy exhibi- tion of the mutable state of every church on earth. The church that was so flourishing in 1792, was re- duced in July, 1814, at the time when I commenced my labors among them, to twelve members in the south parish-three males, and nine females,-and a covering of sackcloth was spread upon the tent of Zion. But eight persons within the limits of the parish had made a public profession of religion for the last twenty-two years. Two were received under the Rev. Ethan Smith, from 1792 to 1799 ; two un- der the Rev. John Smith, from 1802 to 1807; and four under the Rev. David Sutherland, of Bath, their moderator, from 1807 to 1814. In the same time there were one hundred and eight baptisms, four of whom were adults.
In the autumn early of 1814, the people began again to flow together to hear the word of life, and a still, small voice was heard by many, saying, This is the way-walk ye in it. Many obeyed that voice. It was impressively true, that the Lord did not ad- vance, in this instance, in a "great and strong wind," nor in the "earthquake," nor in the "fire ; " but his
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coming was as the ushering in of day. The first ev- idence of the King's presence was seen in the pro- found stillness which reigned in the worshipping as- sembly, and the fixed attention of the hearer. Christians began to feel that they were newly anointed from on high, and they prayed with tenderness and fervor, and sinners would drop a tear, when pointed- ly addressed upon the concerns of their souls. Soon we were told that this one, and that one, were deeply anxious for their spiritual interest. And these in- stances were multiplied until very many were pricked in heart, and would inquire to know what they must do to be saved. In a short time, some began to re- joice in hope ; and this solemn and joyful state of things continued through the remaining part of 1814, and more or less through 1815. On the 4th of Jan- uary, 1815, I received ordination, and before the close of that year, I think, more than sixty were added to the church ; some became pillars, and remain so to the present day, although some have fallen asleep.
In 1822, we were blessed with another revival, but not so extensive as the former. Some were called and added to the church in 1826 ; and at the close of my ministry in this place,-which occurred, April 28, 1829, nearly fifteen years after I came among them, -there had been added to the church one hundred
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and nineteen members. There had been one hun- dred and ninety-one baptisms, thirty-five of whom were adults.
The Rev. Henry Wood was installed their pastor, December 14, 1831, and was dismissed, March 3, 1835. The Rev. Joseph Gibbs was ordained their pastor, June 16, 1835, and departed this life, April 11, 1837. Rev. Archibald Fleming was installed, June 27, 1838, and still remains their pastor.
With my best wishes and my prayers for their mu- tual prosperity and final salvation, I close these Sketches.
Your much obliged and ever grateful friend,
GRANT POWERS.
APPENDIX.
The two following anecdotes were originally written for newspaper publication ; but the publishers of the Historical Collections of New Hampshire, learning through the late Jesse Worcester, Esq., of Hollis, the historical accuracy of the two pieces, in point of fact, adopted them both, as I have under- stood, into their Collections. But as comparatively few will ever read them in those Collections, and as the writer of the present Sketches was the author of those two communications, he feels that he has an undoubted right to append them to this work ; and when we consider the peculiar agency and interest the two individuals, who are the hero and heroine in the anec- dotes, had in the discovery and the settlement of the Coos, we cannot but feel that our readers will be gratified in the perusal of those adventures. The writer often heard the aged widow of Capt. Powers relate the facts as here stated ; the language is, of course, his own.
,
THE BOAR AND THE BEAR.
The town of Hollis, in the county of Hillsborough, N. H., is one of the oldest towns in the county, and was first settled by Capt. Peter Powers, and Anna, his wife, from Hampshire, Dun- stable, 1831. Those early settlers were accustomed to the rear- ing of many swine, by permitting them to run at large in the woods, and to subsist upon roots, acorns, and nuts, which were produced in great abundance in the place. In the fall of the year, or at the time of the first deep snow, the older members of the herd, that were originally tame, would lead their numer- ous progeny into winter quarters, at a shed erected for that purpose some distance from the house, where the owner dis- posed of them as he pleased, although many of them were as
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untame and as ferocious as the beasts of the mountains. At that time, bears were plenty, and very hostile to swine. It be- came necessary, therefore, to provide for the defence of the herd by permitting one of the males to live several years be- yond the period of life ordinarily assigned to that species by man ; at which time he became literally the master of the flock. His tusks protruded on either side, in nearly semi-circles, to the distance of six or seven inches. He seemed conscious of his su- periority and responsibility. He was fierce in the extreme, and courted danger ; and when the heard was assailed, he instantly presented himself to the foe, with eyes darting fire, with tusks heated to blueness, and foaming at the mouth in a terrific man- ner. He roamed the forest, unconscious of danger ; he led the herd ; and but few of the untamed tribes had the temerity to dispute his title to supremacy.
It happened, however, on a certain day in autumn, when Anna stood in the door of her cabin, listening to the oft-repeat- ed sound of the descending axe, or the crash of falling trees, while her husband was at his daily task, that she heard from a great distance the faint, yet distinct, cry of one of their herd. She thought it was the cry of expiring nature. She remained in this state of suspense but a short time, before the heard came rushing from the forest in the greatest apparent trepidation. The oldest dams of the herd, much exhausted, and without their common leader and protector, seemed inclined to take refuge in the apartment which had been their retreat in former winters ; but the younger branches of the family would not fol- low them. The dams, seeing this, dashed on through the cleared space, and disappeared in the forest on the north side. The cries of the wounded were still heard, but grew fainter and fainter, until wholly lost in death. But the anxious Anna had not removed from her position, before the old boar came rush- ing through the bushes in eager pursuit of his charge, which had eloped and left him in the rear by many a rood. He was fresh from the field of combat. He was bathed in blood, foam- ing at the mouth, gnashing his tusks, and exhibited a terrific aspect. Regardless of home, he approached a field of corn which grew near the cabin, and leaped the fence, not touching the topmost knot, although it was proof against horses which strayed through the woods from neighboring towns in Massa-
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chusetts. He passed directly through the field without touching a kernel of corn, and leaping the fence on the opposite side, dis- appeared in the woods. Not long after, the wished-for husband, whose presence the gathering shades of evening, the deep soli- tude of the place, and the stirring events of the afternoon, had rendered peculiarly inviting to the young partner of his toils and hopes, returned with his axe upon his shoulder, enlivening the forest with his evening whistle, and driving his old bell- cow before him, which summoned Anna with her milk-pail to her evening task.
Scarcely had he secured the topmost rail to his yard enclosure, when Anna from the window of her cabin saw her husband held in anxious suspense. For some moments he paused and listened ; but turned and called, " Anna, Anna, bring me my gun and ammunition in a minute, for the Old Master himself is worsted." They were at his hand in a trice. "Look to your- self," said the husband, *and bounded into the forest. Pursuing with great speed the course whence the sound proceeded, which alone broke the silence of the evening, our adventurer soon found himself at a distance of about a mile and a half from his cabin, surrounded with black alders, so thickly set as to be al- most impenetrable to man and beast. Before him lay Long Pond, so called, about one mile in length, and from a quarter to a half a mile, perhaps, in width. He was near mid-way of the pond, and the sound from the laboring boar and his antagonist (a mixed, frightful yell) proceeded directly from the opposite shore. Nothing now remained but for him to plunge into the pond, and make the opposite shore by beating the waves, or to divide him a passage amidst the alders around one of the ex- tremities of the pond, which could not be done short of travel- ling the distance of another mile. But no time was to be lost. The cries of the boar bespoke the greatest need, and the latter course was adopted ; and in a space of time, and with the cour- age and energy which are scarcely conceived by the present generation, he arrived at the scene of action. Whose heart does not now misgive him, while nearing the battle ground, alone, in darkness, and all uncertain as to the nature of the foe ? But young Powers advanced with undaunted firmness. He was
* Indians were then numerous in the town.
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under the necessity of approaching near to the belligerents be- fore he could make any discovery, by reason of the darkness of the night, rendered more dark by the towering trees, which mingled their branches at some sixty or seventy feet from the ground, and a dense underwood, which stood like a hedge con- tinually before him. But as soon as he entered the area which had been beaten down during the action, he discovered the boar seated upon the ground, and still defending himself against the furious assaults of the hugest bear his eyes ever beheld ! She was like his old bell-cow for magnitude ! He drew his gun to an aim, when he perceived, obscurely, that the bear was on a line with him and his hog, and he could not discharge his piece without putting the life of the latter in jeopardy ; and, as he was moving in a circular direction, to procure a safe discharge, he was discovered by the bear, and she bounded into the bushes. Powers now came up to the boar, and witnessed such tokens of gladness as surprised him. It was, however, too solemn an hour with the swine to lavish upon his deliverer unmeaning ceremonies. As soon as he found himself released from his too powerful antagonist, he prostrated himself upon the ground, and lay some time, panting and groaning in a manner truly af- fecting to his owner. Powers now discharged his gun, with a view to terrify the beasts of prey, and keep them off during the night. He struck and kindled a fire, and upon a slight ex- amination, he found that his hog was lacerated in his rear in a shocking manner. He was utterly disabled from rising except upon his fore feet. But to show the indomitable nature of the animal, I will relate that the boar, after some little time, re- covered in a degree from his extreme exhaustion, and gaining the same position he had when his owner found him, began to beat a challenge for a renewal of the combat. Again his eyes flashed with rage, he stamped with his fore feet, he chafed, gnashed with his tusks, and foaming at the mouth, he looked around with the greatest apparent firmness for his antagonist. Our adventurer now drew together fallen wood sufficient to support a fire through the night, burnt powder around his swine, and returned to his cabin, where he was never more joy- fully received by the young wife, who, during all this while, had remained listening at the window in painful solicitude.
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The next day, some help was obtained, as one family* had, prior to this, moved in and settled in the south-west part of the town, and the battle ground was revisited. The boar had not moved out of his place, but was still weltering in his blood. With much labor he was conveyed home in a cart, and, as he never could become the defence of the herd again, he was yarded, fattened, and killed, and helped by his death to pro- mote that existence to the family which he could no longer do by his life.
With a view to account for the melancholy fate of the boar, Powers and his associates went in search of the swine that was destroyed in the afternoon of the preceding day. They found one of their largest hogs slain by a bear, and, near to, a large bear was as evidently slain by the boar. From this they in- ferred that the first hog was mortally wounded by a bear in the absence of the boar ; but the cries of the wounded soon brought the Master, when a battle ensued, in which the bear was slain, not, however, without loss of blood with the boar ; that during this first action, the rest of the herd fled, and that the boar was in pursuit of them when he passed the cabin through the field ; that after running some miles, at the point of exhaustion, he fell in with a still more powerful antagonist, when his fight was comparatively feeble, and he fell overpow- ered, but not subdued, as it has fallen out with many a Greek and Roman hero.
AN ADVENTUROUS VISIT.
When Capt. Peter Powers and Anna, his wife, first pitched their tent in Hollis, 1731, which was a little north-west of the present meeting-house, the traces of which are still visible, their nearest neighbor lived in the south-eastern part of Dun- stable, N. H., a distance, probably, at this time, of ten miles, and could not be made at that period at a less travelling dis- tance than twelve miles, as they had no road but a single track, and spotted trees for their guide.
*Eleazer Flagg.
.
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This journey could not be made in the summer season with- out fording the Nashua, which was done a little southeast of a small island, visible at your left, as you now pass the bridge, going from Hollis, N. H., to Dunstable, Mass .; and here the river was fordable only when the streams were low. Of course, these lonely adventurers made their visits but seldom, and never with a view to be absent from their habitation during the night, as they were then the parents of two children, whom they were necessitated to leave at home, in a cabin surrounded by Indians. Indeed, never did both parents leave their children and perform this route in company.
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