USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Bedford > History of Bedford, New-Hampshire, being statistics, compiled on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of the town; May 19th, 1850 > Part 9
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Dr. Peter P. Woodbury, (brother of Judge Levi) presided at the celebration, and a most interesting Historical Discourse, illustrative of the origin and settlement of the town, and of the North of Ireland Scotch-Irish race, and their extensive migration to this country during the former half of the last century, was read by Isaac O. Barnes, late Marshal of Massachusetts, a native of this town. Many of the facts therein embodied are fading from the memories of even the descendants of that hardy, God-fearing, man-defying race, and will be read with vivid interest by thousands.
The first clergyman of the town, Rev. John Houston, was the only man in it who took the side of Great Britain in the commencement of the Revolutionary struggle. Though previously beloved and esteemed, and a most worthy and devoted Christian, he was dismissed, and treated as a public enemy. A large portion of the able-bodied citizens were in the first American Army that beleaguered Boston and fought at Bunker Hill ; nearly or quite half of all who could handle a musket were with Stark at Bennington and with Gates at Saratoga. Col. (afterwards Gen. ) Stark lived and died on his farm just North of the Bedford line. Matthew Thornton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, lived and died just South of Bedford.
Robert Walker, son of the first settler of the town, was present at the celebration, aged 87. The second wife of the missionary, Newell, and several others who have been eminent in Religious efforts have been born here. Some six or eight Presbyterian Clergymen, natives of Bedford, were present and took part in the exercises of Wednesday. And when the whole congregation rose to join in singing the seventy-eighth Psalm, according to an ancient version and to a venerable tune, the resemblance to a gathering of Scottish covenanters of the olden time, as described by Scott, among others, was very vivid and striking."
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HISTORICAL NOTICES OF BEDFORD.
TOPOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF THE TOWN.
BEDFORD, lying in the east part of Hillsborough County, N. H., is situated on the west bank of the Merrimack river, latitude 42° 50'. It is bounded, north, by Goffstown; east, by the Merrimack river, which separates it from Manchester and the north part of Litchfield ; south, by the town of Merrimack, and west, by Amherst and New Boston : containing an area of 20.660 acres, and represented on the map nearly in the shape of a square. It is 8 miles from Amherst, 21 from Concord, and 50 from Boston ; the north-west corner of the town lies near the base of the Uncanoonucks mountains ; the Merrimack and the Piscataquog are the only rivers in the town, the latter passes through its north-east corner, where there is a pleasant and flourishing village, which will be noticed under Piscata- quog village ; in the west part of the town the land is uneven and abounds in stone, but the qualities of the soil are warm and moist ; the east part, bordering on the Merrimack river, is a pine plain with some very productive intervales ; the southern part of Bedford is noted for its abundant supply of clay - suitable for brick-yards. In some years from 20 to 30 brick- yards have been in operation at a single season, millions of brick have here been made in a single year; Lowell and Lawrence, Mass., and Nashua and Nashville, N. H., have been supplied with brick from these yards. Clay, also, has been found of superior quality and worked into brick near the centre of the town, on the farm of Gordon and Woodbury.
In mineralogy the town abounds in a great variety of speci- mens ; iron ore is found at different places, in several varieties ; sulphurate of iron embedded in common granite, and red oxide of iron combined with alumen, are common. Black lead, pyrites, copper, schorl, hornblende, epidote, talc, mica, black, yellow and green ; gneiss, crystalized quartz, are found here ; carbonate of lime (marble) is found in a chasm at the west part of the town, on the David Stevens' farm : One hun- dred and five years ago, Colonel Goffe built a forge, with a trip hammer, at the mouth of Crosby's brook, and wrought 13
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the ore into iron in considerable quantities. Within a few years iron ore, to some extent, has been transported to Bil- lerica and Lowell, and other forges out of town.
A fine quarry of granite near the centre of the town, on the farm of the late William Riddle, Esq., has been worked to good profit ; from this place the Boston and Lowell Rail Road Company obtained much of their stone for headers and sleepers on that road, and here the Concord and Nashua Rail Road Company obtained the stone to build the rail road bridge over Goffe's Falls, and from hence, also, quantities of granite have been carried to Manchester and Nashua for building purposes.
In forest trees, Bedford is not deficient ; the principal are white, red, and black oak, walnut, chestnut, maple, birch, pinę, and hemlock. In the season of autumn, the woods present a singularly diversified and beautiful aspect, the blended trees and rich colors of the foliage delight the eye of the spectator, and seem to give an air of cheerfulness to the decline of the year. The mountain laurel or spoon-hunt abounds here in June and July, giving to the town the appearance of one continued flower garden ; the botanical name of the bush is Kalmia Latifolia; the leaf is narrow and leather like, and the shrub bears some remote affinity to the magnolia, being, like that, an evergreen, it is also called calico bush. Of the white oak, great quantities of timber and plank have been obtained for ship-yards, and conveyed to Medford and Charlestown, Mass., by means of the river and Middlesex canal ; Newburyport has, also, had great supplies of oak and pine from this town, transported from one place to the other by the river Merrimack. But the chestnut, of late, has exceeded all the other trees in demand for the market, vast supplies having been transported for sleepers for the various rail roads in the adjacent country.
With regard to staple commodities, to which attention has been paid in Bedford, the hop formerly employed a great many farmers, some years there was a produce in this article of 100.000 lbs. It is doubtful whether the farming interest, as a whole, was much benefitted by the cultivation of this plant, it led to a neglect of bread stuffs, and -though the price was sometimes very high, hops being sold some years for 75 cents per lb., -yet the average price was not over 10 cents per lb. : the hop-root was first brought to Bedford by William Campbell. The same root will yield well,
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several years, without being removed; in this respect, it resembles the culture of the sweet potatoe.
The local situation of Bedford, so near important manufactur- ing towns, has of late awakened in the minds of the citizens great attention to improvement in the various branches of agriculture, and the raising of produce for the market ; the city of Manchester, four miles from the centre of Bedford, and its own village, Piscataquog, also, Nashua and Nashville, a few miles to the south, give the inhabitants of Bedford a market for all the produce of their farms, far superior to anything they ever had before, and superior to the advantages enjoyed by most towns in the State. An Agricultural Society, consist- ing of citizens in Bedford, was formed in 1845, which has exerted, and still continues to exert, a good influence on the agricultural condition of the town ; they meet once a quarter and discuss agricultural subjects, and sometimes have an address from one of their own number or some gentleman out of town.
While the native forests are fast falling before the wood- man's axe, attention ought to be more directed to the culti- vation of shade and ornamental trees. Some young men have already engaged in this laudable work ; on the common, near the town-house, William R. Woodbury, son of Doctor Woodbury, set out two or three elm trees in 1843, and in 1847, Mr. Charles Kendall set out maple trees on the common, also, those that surround the Presbyterian meeting-house. For every tree judiciously set out, there is a new claim on the gratitude of posterity.
There are some objects of curiosity worthy of note. On the west line of Bedford, near Chestnut hills, is a vast fissure, or opening in a mighty mass of rock, apparently made by some convulsion of nature ; over the precipice thus formed is a fall of water some 200 feet into the gulf below. Here are found several excavations in the solid rock, sufficiently large to contain several persons, one of them bearing some resemblance to a pulpit, has given name to the place ; at the bottom there is always a small pool of water, where, in the hottest day, the warmth of the sun scarcely penetrates. As one stands on the verge of this tremendous precipice, emotions of sublimity will be awakened ; and any lover of nature, who should have leisure on a pleasant day, would find himself well paid by a visit to this wild and romantic spot. Sebbin's pond, in the south-east part of the
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town, is somewhat of a natural curiosity ; strictly speaking, there are three ponds or divisions of water which appear to be united by their waters beneath an extensive bog which floats on the surface, and rises and falls with the water ; the ponds, taken together, are about eighty rods in diameter, and abound with different kinds of fresh water fish.
ORIGIN OF THE TOWNSHIP.
In giving some account of the Origin of the township, it will be necessary to call the attention of the reader to the first general Indian war, which occurred in 1675; it was a war with the Narraganset Indians, and was known as “King Philip's War," and was attended with great distress and cruelties, many towns in Massachusetts suffered exceedingly, but the enemy was at last scattered and King Philip slain. Hutchinson, in his History of Massachusetts, thus relates the slaughter : - " Philip fled from one swamp to another, divers times very narrowly escaping, losing one chief coun- sellor after another ; his uncle and sister, and at last his wife and son were taken prisoners. Being reduced to this miserable condition, he was killed August 12th, 1676, as he was flying from a pursuing party, out of a swamp near his residence, at Hope, now Bristol, Rhode Island ; one of his own men, whom he had offended and who had deserted to the English, shot him through the heart; instead of the scalp, he cut off his right hand which had a remarkable scar, well known to the English, and which was exhibited as a curiosity. Many of the Indian chiefs were executed at Boston and Plymouth, the people were greatly exasperated ; every person in the two colonies having lost a relative or near friend, but," adds the historian, "this does not excuse the cruelty." The cause of this exterminating war, was, in fact, the encroachments of the English upon the Indians. With the shrewdness and sagacity of an Indian, Philip no doubt saw, that, in this way, his people must melt away before the white man. As a matter of curiosity, it may not be out of place to give an authentic letter from King Philip, to Prince, of Plymouth, with the original spelling and expression, exactly as given by Gookin in his account of the Indians :-
" King Philip desire to let you understand that he could not come to the court, for Tom his interpreter has a pain in his
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back, that he could not travel so far, and Philip's sister is very sick. Philip would entreat the favor of any of the magistrates, if any English or Engians speak about any land, he pray you to give them no answer at all. This last summer, he maid the promies with you, that he would not sell no land in 7 years time, for that he would have no English trouble him before that time - he has no forget that you promis him. He will come a sune as posible he can, to speak with you, and so I rest your very loving friend,
PHILIP, dwelling at Mt. Hope neck.
To the much honored Governor, Mr. Thomas Prince, dwelling at Plymouth."
This letter from Philip to Prince was written before the war, probably about 1660, or '70.
In 1732, the General Court of Massachusetts, in consider- ation of the important services of the officers and soldiers in that war, granted to them or their legal representatives, seven townships of land, as a reward. These were numbered, and it is curious to notice that No. 1, was in Maine, now called Buxton ; No. 2, in Massachusetts, now called Westminster ; No. 3, was Amherst, or Souhegan-West; No. 4,* adjoined Hatfield, Massachusetts; No. 5, was Bedford, or Souhegan- East; No. 6, was Templeton, Massachusetts ; No. 7, was Gorham, Maine.
Since the Indian war, a considerable time had elapsed, - more than fifty years, - and many of the officers and soldiers who served in that expedition, were dead. Of 120 persons, to whom these townships were granted, only 20 veterans
* No. 4, was originally at the Falls of Amoskeag, on the Merrimack, and embraced the present town of Goffstown. In 1736, the proprietors of this township requested of the General Court, liberty to take up their lands elsewhere, and in 1737, the Court granted them, instead of the land at Amoskeag, a tract at Quabbin, now Greenwich, in the county of Hampden, Massachusetts, and another tract west of Hatfield in the same county, both to contain six miles square, or 23,040 acres. In July, 1739, the General Court accepted of the report of a committee, granting to the proprietors of township No. 4, 15,779 acres at Quabbin, and 7261 acres, West of Hatfield, making 23,040 acres. In 1739, the proprietors complained of ponds, swamps, &c., in these tracts, and the General Court added 3500 acres to the grant West of Hatfield. The lands West of Hatfield were included within the township of Chesterfield, and after that was divided, part of them were in Chesterfield, and part in Goshen, though most of them are in Greenwich. - [ Note by the Editors, for which they are indebted to Charles Coffin, Esq.]
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were living in 1733. All the grantees or their representatives assembled on Boston Common, June 6, 1733; at which time they divided themselves into seven distinct societies, of 120 persons each, and entitled to one of these townships. From each society, three persons were chosen as a committee, who on 17th October, 1733, assigned the several townships among their respective societies. Of the individuals to whom this township was assigned, 57 belonged to Boston, 15 to Roxbury, 7 to Dorchester, 2 to Milton, 5 to Braintree, 4 to Weymouth, 13 to Hingham, 4 to Dedham, 2 to Hull, 1 to Medfield, 5 to Scituate, and 1 to Newport, Rhode Island. Of the original proprietors, upon the book of records, which is preserved with the Town books, very few became settlers, the greater part disposing of their claims to those who became occupants of the soil.
INDIANS ON MERRIMACK RIVER.
In the history of the towns bordering on the Merrimack, a notice of the aboriginal inhabitants forms an important part. That part of this town that lays along the Merrimack, was a favorite haunt of the red man, who was once the sole tenant of this western wilderness. The Indian once roamed these woods ; the land we cultivate, the forest, the rivers, the mountains around us, once swarmed with a distinct race of the human family. It would be interesting if we could get more information relating to the aboriginal inhabitants of this part of the country, and much is it to be regretted that there has been no historical account of the various tribes that once frequented the banks of the Merrimack.
The Penacook Indians inhabited what is now Concord, and the country for many miles above and below on Merrimack River; and the Indians, the traces of whose settlement are still visible in this town, on the banks of the river, no doubt belonged to this tribe, who with other smaller tribes, or bands, acknowledged subjection to Passaconnaway, the great Sachem of Penacook. They ranged the banks of the Merrimack, in quest of fish and game, which then greatly abounded. The head of an arrow, or fragment of a human skeleton, is still occasionally thrown up in the sand, or uncovered by the plough ; the last traces of a race that hunted and fished on these waters.
On the bank of the Merrimack River, opposite Goffe's Falls,
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is a spot of ground about ten rods long, and four rods wide, which is supposed to have been an Indian burial-place. It was an open space, and entirely cleared, when the first settlers first explored the country. The surface of the bank is about forty feet above the river. Human bones, at various times, have been washed from the bank. In the summer of 1821, Dr. P. P. Woodbury and Dr. Freeman Riddle obtained a part of three skeletons from this place. Some of the bark in which they were deposited, remained. One of them appeared to have been put in the ground in a sitting posture. All their heads lay towards the South. One was supposed to be a female. The hair was entire, and was done up in a bunch on the back part of the head, in a manner not unlike that practised at the present day. The skeletons were sent to Paris, by Dr. Woodbury, for anatomical investigation.
Goff's Falls, and Amoskeag, or Namaske in the Indian dialect, were among the principal residences of the great Sachem, Passaconnaway. Here, no doubt, he held his councils ; here he swayed the sceptre of his power. His dominions appear to have been very extensive; reaching on both sides of the Merrimack up to its sources, and eastward to the Piscataqua River.
Unlike Philip, Passaconnaway was friendly to the English. His friendship, however, might have been from motives of policy. He saw the English must ultimately prevail, and therefore, to use the language of Gookin, -" this old Sachem thought it his best prudence for himself and posterity, to make a firm peace with the English in his time, and submitted to them his land and people, as the records of Massachusetts, in New England, declare, which peace and good correspondency he had and maintained all his life, and gave express command to his son, that he should inviolably keep and maintain amity and friendship with the English, and never engage with any of the Indians in a war against them."
By his persuasion, it is possible that the great " Apostle of the Indians," Eliot, may have been induced to visit these places in the fishing season, when the Indians assembled in great numbers at the different falls in the river, to meet the incoming tide of fish, as they came up every year. In a letter to a friend in England, dated October 29, 1649, he writes, - " I had, and still have a great desire to go to a great fishing-place, Namaske, upon the Merrimac River." Rev.
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Mr. Allen, who has given this letter more at large, in his Merrimack Centennial, expresses his opinion that Namaske may be Amoskeag ; and for this there is some confirmation in the fact, that, one hundred years ago, Amoskeag was spelt Namaskeag, as appears from Hon. Matthew Patten's journal, where the place is often mentioned. It might possibly have been Goffe's Falls, near to the great burying- place, but it is not material. It is an interesting thought, and not improbable, that the voice of the great " Apostle of the Indians," was once heard amid these then uncultivated forests, proclaiming to the Aborigines the way of salvation.
Wannalancet, son and successor to Passaconnaway, was a convert to Christianity, and also a steadfast friend to the English. Of this chief, Gookin relates the following anecdote, perfectly in keeping with the Indian character. Once, on his return from a destructive war, he called on Rev. Mr. Fiske, at Chelmsford. Among other inquiries, the chief wished to know of Mr. Fiske, whether Chelmsford had suffered much during the war. Being informed that it had not, and that God should be thanked for it, he replied, " And . me next."
Scenes and incidents no doubt occurred, in ancient times, amid these localities, the actors in which belonged to another race, - scenes and incidents which no tablet has ever recorded, and which no tradition has transmitted. The following authentic account may be a specimen of many that have passed into oblivion.
At a very early period, James and Robert Walker, brothers, were engaged in manufacturing turpentine from pitch-pine trees, on the East side of the Merrimack River, opposite the farm of Mr. Josiah Walker. It was their summer business ; they cleared a field, planted corn, and erected a camp near their field, in which to sleep and do their domestic work. One Saturday, two tribes or bands of Indians, came to their camp, and some of them wished to leave their guns in the camp over night, in order to keep them dry, which request was granted. They afterwards went down to the river, near the mouth of "Spring Brook," and encamped. Early the next morning, one of the Indians was heard coming in great haste, and wanted his " Baskeag," (gun,) which they let him have. He was hardly gone, when another came on a similar errand ; they asked him what he wanted to do with his gun, which he seemed so anxious to get. He replied "The other
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Indian - he go shoot me ; me kill him !" and as they had delivered one of them his gun, they thought they would accommodate the other likewise. The two brothers Walker dressed themselves, and went down where they could overlook the encampment, unperceived by the Indians ; expecting to be spectators of an Indian battle. The first object that met their view was two Indians in a sitting posture, with their guns pointing at each other, at the dis- tance of two or three rods. They remained in this position some time, apparently with the intention of trying each others courage. At length one dropped his gun, sprang to his feet, and extended his hand towards the other, who immedi- ately performed a similar movement, and the expected battle was avoided. The tribes during this time were placed in the order of battle, with knives, tomahawks, and bows and arrows, placed on logs and other convenient places, ready for imme- diate use in case of necessity. It were well if modern duels ended as amicably.
There were three or four garrisons, or block-houses in the town, to which the inhabitants might resort in case of danger, during the Indian hostilities excited by the French. One of these was at Mr. Robert Walker's, in the North part of the town, on the place of the late Mr. Jesse Walker. Another was on the place lately owned by Theodore Goffe, Esq. ; also, one on the Patten place, and still another, it is supposed, on the place of Mr. Josiah Walker. It was a time of danger, and the inhabitants were constantly on their guard, but the town was never attacked by hostile Indians. When at work, it is said they would keep one man posted as a sentinel, and if practicable, they would work but one day in the same field. Although the town escaped, yet individuals belonging to it were sometimes exposed. In one instance a man was killed. In 1745 James McQuade and John Burns went to Penacook, (Concord,) to purchase corn for their families, and had proceeded on their return home as far as Suncook, (Pembroke,) when they were fired upon by a party of Indians who lay in ambush awaiting their return. McQuade was shot dead, but Burns made his escape by running in a zigzag direction, which baffled the fire of the pursuers, and he arrived in safety to his family. It is related, in addition, that McQuade's mother, soon after, let one of the neighbors have some beans which were brought along in a bag, and a ragged bullet was found among them.
14
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HISTORICAL NOTICES OF BEDFORD.
There is a traditionary story of Mr. Robert Walker, that relates, he started one Sunday morning in good season, to go to Londonderry to meeting, and to see his intended, who resided there. As he left his garrison, on horseback, he discovered a trail of Indians in the dew, from behind the barn through the hemp-yard to the road. He kept a sharp look-out, and on coming near the river, he heard a cracking in the wood; he kept the same pace till a turn in the road near by, when he put spurs to his horse, and heard no more of them. He supposed they were watching his movements, in order to waylay him. He came home another route through Litchfield. But we have been led forward by our notice of the Indians, a little too far in point of time.
SETTLEMENT OF THE TOWN.
Before entering particularly upon this period, which has already been anticipated, some things having been mentioned that occurred prior to the settlement, it will not be out of place to give a copy of one or two documents found in the archives of the town.
The first is a petition to the General Court of Massa- chusetts, for a grant to the Soldiers in the Narragansett War, and grant of the petition.
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