USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Charlestown > History of Charlestown, New-Hampshire, the old No. 4 > Part 3
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7th.
Voted-That the sum of 12 £ be allowed the Committee to be
* John Avery, afterwards Deputy Secretary of Mass.
+ Charles Holden, from Groton, Mass .; (son of Stephen and Hannah Sawtell Holden,) b. Oct. 22, 1721.
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
laid out to such workmen, as they shall agree with to fit up the house, that was Lieut. Witherby's so that it may be suitable to meet in, in such manner as the Committee shall think convenient.
8th. Voted-That the sum of £ 300, old Tenor, be assessed on the proprietors of the Township, for the charge that has arisen in building a Fort, and for paying the charge that shall arise in completing the Fort, so far that it may be convenient and defensible, and if all the £ 300 be not needful to be expended for finishing the Fort the over- plus to be laid out for other nescessary uses for the good of the pro- prietors.
9th. Voted-That Capt. John Spafford, Lieut. Phineas Stevens, and John Hastings, be assessors to proportion the aforesaid sum of £ 300 on the proprietors of the Township.
10th. Voted-That Samuel Farnsworth be a Collector to collect the aforesaid sum of £ 300 and deliver into the hands of the proprietor's treasurer.
11th. Voted -That John Hastings be allowed 12 pounds for the ben- efit of his house, and the damage of his land and the use of one of the rooms in the house now building on the east of the Fort so long as it holds peace .- He not to take his house from the Fort.
12th. Voted-That Capt. John Spafford, Lieut. Stevens, and John Hastings be appointed a Committee to keep the Fort in repair, and take care that no person come to dwell in any of the houses within the Fort, but such as they the said Committee shall approve.
13th. Voted-That Ensign Obedialı Sartwell, Moses Willard and Lieut. Stevens be a Committee to pass accompts and order money out of the treasury to such persons to whom it may become due.
Immediately subjoined to these votes there is found in the Propri- etors' Records the following ; but at what meeting passed is not apparent.
" An acc't of what is allowed for houses and materials for the Fort. Voted-Capt. Spafford for his house and timber, £ 23-0-0.
Voted-To Lieut. Stevens for his house, £ 35.0-0.
Voted-To Isaac Parker for stone, 46s .; Mantletrees, 6s .; Clay, 8s .: =£3-0-0.
Voted-To Moses Willard for his house, £ 8-0-0; Stone, £ 1-6-0= £9-6-0.
Voted-To Lieut. Witherby for his house, £ 35-0-0.
Such were the proceedings of the inhabitants of No. 4, in relation to the erection and completion of their Fort-that little fortress which
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
was destined to be known subsequently all over the land, and the de- fence of which, wherever its tale should be told, would excite univer- sal admiration.
The fort is said to have been built under the direction of Col. John Stoddard, of Northampton, Mass., who was for many years the prin- cipal military engineer on the Connecticut River Frontier, and had twenty years before superintended the building of the Blockhouse at Fort Dummer. That Col. Stoddard was consulted, and his counsel obtained is probable, though the fact does not appear in the Proprie- tors' Records. The fort was constructed in the manner of other forti- fications of the time, which were only intended to afford a defense against musketry. It covered, says Rev. Dr. Crosby, in his Annals of Charlestown, about three-quarters of an acre, which dimensions in the absence of any more definite measurement, we are under the neccessity of receiving. This would make it about the size of Fort Dummer, which was 180 feet on a side ; it being built in the form of a square. The walls were made of large squared timbers laid horizontally one above the other, and locked together at the angles in the manner of a log cabin. Within the enclosure were buildings called province hous- es. These, before being enclosed in the fort, had been the houses of Capt. John Spafford, Capt. Phineas Stevens, Lieut. Moses Willard, Lieut. Ephraim Wetherbe and John Hastings. In the enclosure was also a house which was newly built and which was situated in the north-west corner. The fort was stockaded on the north side by tim- bers about a foot in diameter, placed in the ground endwise, which were not far from twelve feet high. Fort Dummer was stockaded on every side. This, it appears, was done because, in the opinion of Lieut. Gov. Dummer, from whom it was named, it would add to its capacity for defense. But in this he did not agree with Col. Stoddard,* who in writing to him on the subject said "I forgot to take notice of your thought of setting stockadoes round the fort to keep the enemy at a
* Col. John Stoddard, b. Feb. 17, 1682, graduated at Harvard in 1701, and be- came a lawyer in Northampton, Col. of a regiment and Superintendent of Defence, Judge of Probate, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, one of the Gover- nor's Council, &c. He was a man of very superior intellect, high character and large wealth. He died, while attending General Court at Boston, June, 19th, 1748. His death was a serious loss to the western frontiers of Massachusetts to which his knowledge and skill in military matters had been of great service. His inven- tory was nearly $ 180,000, viz. real estate £ 18,238 ; personal estate, £ 17,194. His gold watch, the first one had at Northampton, was appraised at £ 150.
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
distance. I don't well apprehend the benefit of it, for we intend the fort shall be so built that the soldiers shall be as safe if the enemy were in the parade" ( that is in the open space within the enclosure of the walls ) " as if they were without the fort " The province houses were placed directly against the walls of the fort, and so prepared on every side that they could be put in an immediate state of defence should the enemy by any means gain admittance to the enclosure, so that they would still have a hard battle to fight before the place could be taken.
Such was the preparation for their defence which the inhabitants of No. 4 took the precaution to have in readiness against the time of war which they correctly anticipated would very soon come. Fort Dum- mer had been projected by Massachusetts, and the expense of its erec- tion paid by the State. But the settlers of No. 4, were under the ne- cessity of making provision for themselves, as New-Hampshire, within whose boundaries they had fallen, had no interest in defending a fron- tier so far from her other settlements, and Massachusetts felt under no obligation to give them protection, as they were not within her juris- diction ; and had it not been that the circumstances became such that it was greatly for the interests of Massachusetts to afford them aid, in consequence of the protection which the fort afforded to the settlements below, they would have been neglected and have probably been driv- en away. It was thus fortunate that Massachusetts could not afford to neglect them though they had been cut off from her territory.
When the boundary line was run, in 1741, between the provinces of Massachusetts and New-Hampshire, Fort Dummer was supposed to be included in the latter Province. On this account an appeal was made by the government of Massachusetts to that State to assume its support. The subject was brought before the New-Hampshire Assembly on the 3d of May, 1745, when a majority of the lower House declined making a grant for that purpose and adduced in support of this decision the following reasons :
" That the fort was fifty miles distant from any town which had been settled by the government or people of New-Hampshire ; that the people had no right to the lands which by the dividing line had fallen within New-Hampshire, notwithstanding the plausible arguments which had been used to induce them to bear the expense of the line, viz. that the land would be given them, or else would be sold to pay that expense; that the charge of maintaining this fort at so great a distance, and to which there was no communication by roads, would
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
1
exceed what had been the whole expense of government before the line was established ; that the great load of debt contracted on that account and the yearly support of government, with the unavoidable expenses of the war, were as much as the people could bear ; that if they should take upon them to maintain this Fort, there was another, much better and more convenient Fort at a place called Number Four, besides sev- eral other settlements which they should also be obliged to defend ; and finally, that there was no danger that these forts would want support since it was the interest of Massachusetts, by whom they were erect- ed, to maintain them as a cover to their frontier."
This has been quoted to show the position and feeling of New-Hamp- shire towards her newly acquired territory. It was certainly a cold greeting which the settlements on the Connecticut received when they were told that they had no right to their lands, and that they were of no consequence, either to the government or people of New-Hampshire, and that it was for the interest of Massachusetts to take care of them, and she might do it.
To the honor of Governor Wentworth it must be said, that he had no sympathy with this method of proceeding. When the above reasons were therefore given, the Governor dissolved the Assembly and called anoth- er, to whom he recommended the same measure in the most pressing terms ; telling them "That it was of the last consequence to the present and future prosperity of the government ; that their refusal would less- en them in the esteem of the King and his Ministers, and strip the children yet unborn of their natural rights ; and deprive their breth- ren, who were then hazarding their lives before the walls of Louisburg, of their just expectations, which were to sit down on that valuable part of the Province." But his eloquence had no effect. They thought it unjust to burthen their constituents with an expense which could yield them no profit and afford them no protection.
BELKNAP, 286.
The inhabitants of No. 4 were thus forewarned that whatever might be their danger, they could expect no protection from the government of New-Hampshire, and that should they require aid in defending themselves they could look for it no where else but to Mas- sachusetts.
Events demonstrated that the inhabitants of No. 4 had not taken measures for their defence any too soon. For the fort was scarcely put in order before war, as had been anticipated, was declared by Great Britain against France and Spain. This declaration was made on the
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29th of March, 1744, though it was not proclaimed in Boston until the June following.
But though war had been declared, no depredations, during the year, were committed on the frontiers, which were allowed to remain unmo- lested. The time was therefore spent in making preparations for fu- ture emergencies, by constructing forts and other defences against the storm which was not long to be deferred. Probably the French in Canada were employed in a similar manner, and in collecting and arm- ing the Indians for the terrible part they were to act in the next and following years.
We shall better comprehend many things relating to this war, by un- derstanding the line of frontier which was open to attack, and which consequently required to be defended. It must be remembered, then, that the northern boundary of the settlements of New England and New York,; at that time, was limited by a line commencing at St. George River, in Maine, and running south-westerly parallel with the sea coast, embracing two or three ranges of towns until it intersected the Merrimac at Dunstable ; thence up that river to the mouth of the Contoocook, and ascending that river to its source, and continuing across the high lands to the head of the river Ashuelot; thence down that stream to Hinsdale and on a westerly course, crossing the Connect- icut River at Fort Dummer. Leaving the Connecticut at that point the boundary extended in a south-west direction, crossing Bernardston and Coleraine to North River, in the latter town ; thence down that river to its junction with Deerfield River, and up this river through the valley of Charlemont to Hoosac Mountain ; thence over the moun- tain nearly " in the old turnpike road" to Hoosac River, in Adams ; thence following that stream to its junction with the Hudson. This was the New England frontier to be defended, in addition to which, were such settlements as were on the Connecticut River above the Ashuelot.
On this frontier nearly all the important places had erected tempo- rary fortifications, which were tenable only against Indian attacks with musketry, but which, as they were not liable generally to any different assaults, in the absence of stronger defences, answered very important purposes for their protection. They became places of refuge into which, in times of Indian incursions, the inhabitants could flee and ordinarily be safe, till their savage enemies had passed on to make depredations on some other settlement, or were on their march back again to Canada.
On this frontier, west of the Connecticut, the government of Mass-
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
achusetts, in the certainty that there was to be war, authorized the building of a cordon of forts, to extend from Fort Dummer to her western boundary ; and thence down that boundary to the north line of the State of Connecticut. Under this authorization the old defenc- es at Northfield and Greenfield were repaired ; some mounts were erect- ed and several houses were stockaded in Bernardston and Coleraine; a strong fort was built in the present town of Heath at the expense of the government and called Fort Shirley, and another in Rome and named Fort Pelham; and a stronger fortress still in the present town of Adams, called Fort Massachusetts. The following towns on the western frontier also had small defences, viz. Williamstown, Pittsfield, Stockbridge and Sheffield. At Blanford, farther in the State, a small work was also erected, not only for the protection of the settlers, but as a station on the then principal route to Kinderhook and Albany in the State of New York. In addition to these defences there were Josiah Sartwell's Fort or Blockhouse, built in 1738, in what was a part of Hinsdale but is now Vernon, Vt., and Bridgman's Fort, which was built the same year, and was deemed much stronger. Another fort was east of the Connecticut River and nearly opposite Sartwell's Fort in Hinsdale, N. H., and was built in 1743, by Rev. Ebenezer Hinsdell, who was one of the proprietors of No. 4. Upper and Lower Ashuelot were also fortified by small block-houses. Such was the frontier to be defended in this war, and such the fortifications on which the settlers were to depend for protection.
A knowledge of the several routes by which the enemy were accus- tomed to approach the frontier from Canada will also afford us aid in understanding the situation of things. The routes were as follows :- One was by the river St. Francis through Lake Memphremagog, thence over portages to the river Passumsic, which was followed to its junc- tion with the Connecticut at Barnet ; from which point they pursued their course down the latter river to the settlements. This route was the most northerly. Another, frequently traversed, was through Lake Champlain, by the present town of Whitehall, in New York, thence up what is now Pawlet River to its source, from which they would strike across the mountains to West River, by passing down which the Connecticut would be reached. Another convenient route to West River was by Otter Creek. Another route which was often followed in seeking the Connecticut was by Onion, Lamoille and White Rivers. But the most common route from Canada, and that which was most fre- quently followed by the Indians, was up the Otter Creek and over the
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
mountains to Black River, the course of which was followed down to its junction with the Connecticut. When the Connecticut was reached, the enemy, according to the plans which they had in view, either de- scended it to Massachusetts, or struck off to the frontiers of New-Hamp- shire.
At the time of the declaration of war, many Indians were residing about the frontiers, on the Connecticut and at the fishing stations on that river. By a friendly intercourse they had become known to the English settlers, and a kind of attachment had been created, which in case of war, it was hoped would operate as a check. both upon their cruelty and ferocity. But those who had cherished such expectations soon had the opportunity of rectifying their mistake, by discovering that their feelings of amity were only apparent, while they continued to cherish without abatement all their former hostility. Their incli- nations for plunder and carnage remained as ardent as ever, and an opportunity for gratifying them being presented, they suddenly left their stations and repaired to Canada to add their numbers to the hos- tile tribes who were resident in that quarter ; and such was their zeal for beginning hostilities and their thirst for revenge, that, when they commenced their march from their stations on first hearing of the war, they actually fired as they were departing, upon the houses of the frontier settlers. And this was but a prelude to the scene that was to open ; for, perfectly acquainted with the topography of the country on the frontiers of the provinces, they were employed during the war not only on predatory incursions of their own, but also as guides to other more distant Indians, and the result was an amount of in- jury which it had scarcely been deemed in their power to inflict.
As in 1744, so in 1745, No. 4 was left entirely unmolested ; and so far as the history of the place is concerned, it would be unnecessary to speak of the transactions of the latter year, were it not for the re- sults which were produced by them on the subsequent conduct of the war. But these were so great that they cannot well be passed by without at least a brief mention.
In the opening of the war, France took the initiative. Her first step, and before it was even known in Boston or any where in the provinces, that war had been declared, was to seize on the Island of Canseau in the north eastern part of Nova Scotia, and carry the small garrison and inhabitants as prisoners of war to Louisburg, a very strong fortress on the Island of Cape Breton. All the houses were burned and the place was thoroughly destroyed. It was chiefly val-
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
uable on account of its fisheries which were carried on principally by the people of New England. Other places were also assaulted by the French, but their attacks were unsuccessful.
The prisoners taken at Canseau were soon sent to Boston where Governor Shirley gained such information from them respecting Louisburg, as to lead him to form the project of taking it. This for- tress had been erected at an expense of five and a half millions of dol- lars and was by far the strongest in America with the exception of Quebec. Its reduction however was undertaken by four thousand troops from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New-Hampshire, under command of Sir William Pepperell; no information in respect to the expedition having been communicated to the mother country. The troops sailed from Boston the last week in March 1745; and a re- quest having been made to Commodore Warren to assist the expedi- tion, he accordingly arrived from the West Indies where he had been stationed, with a sixty gun ship and two or three frigates before Louis- burg. In the last of April the troops to the number of three thousand eight hundred landed at Chapeaurouge Bay, and on the second of May burned the warehouses containing the naval stores of the enemy. This alarmed the French, who spiked their guns, flung their powder into a well and abandoning their defences fled to the city. At this the troops composed of the hardy yeomanry of New England began the toils and hardships of the siege in earnest. For fourteen nights in succession they submitted to be yoked together like oxen, and dragged cannon and mortars through a morass two miles in extent, the ground being such that cattle could not be used. The work was done in the night, as by day the enemy's artillery commanded the ground. But they considered themselves paid for all their hardships by the glorious victory which soon crowned their endeavors. The garrison capitula- ted on the 17th of June, but the French flag was kept flying till it decoyed into the harbor, ships of the enemy, to the value of 600,000 pounds sterling.
By the capture of Louisburg, the government of France was both chagrined and terribly excited, and immediately commenced to put forth all its energies for retrieving its affairs, and bringing disasters of every kind on the British American Provinces. And to help them in their work the Indians were specially instigated, and the effects of this new energy were soon felt by the inhabitants of the frontiers of New- Hampshire and Massachusetts. Up to April, 1746, No. 4 had been unînolested ; but on the 19th of that month it was visited by a party
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
of about forty French and Indians, under the command of Ensign De Neverville, who took Capt. John Spafford, Lieut. Isaac Parker and Stephen Farnsworth, prisoners, and burnt the saw mill and grist mill which the Proprietors had encouraged Capt. Spafford to erect, and which had been in operation only about two years. The following extract of a letter from Upper Ashuelot (now Keene,) dated April 23d, 1746, re- lates to this affair .* "We hear from No. 4, a new township to the westward, that three men, with a team of four oxen, having been at a saw mill, to fetch boards, were surprised by a party of Indians, and the men, being missing, are supposed to be either killed or made pris- oners ; the oxen being found, dead, with their tongues cut out." They had been to the mill and were returning with their load, when an ambus- cade was formed for them into which they fell and were taken captive. They were conducted to Canada, and, after a considerable time, were permitted to return to Boston, under a flag of truce.t
The long suspense in which the settlements were kept, in regard to the fate of those who disappeared from among them, was one of the most trying things of this war. Weeks usually passed, and often months, before any information concerning them was received. And to many a husband and wife and son and daughter, the period that intervened was a season of anguish scarcely to be borne. And we never can have any proper realization of the trials of the early settlers of No. 4, while this item of their sufferings is left out. (See sketches of these men.)
The savages, having thus prosperously commenced their incur- sions, continued, during the remainder of the spring and summer, to make frequent inroads upon the frontiers; and calamities followed many of the settlements thick and fast. The Indians were constantly on the alert, to do all the mischief in their power, and no sooner had they done all the evil they could in one settlement, than they were off, in some unexpected direction, to fall upon another. On the 2d of May, in less than two weeks from the time of the first inroad into No. 4, having attacked, in the meanwhile, the fort of Upper Ashuelot, and visited the neighborhood of Northfield and prowled around New Hop- kinton, they again appeared in the place, and Seth Putnam, the first victim of Indian vengeance, was killed.
* The very day this letter was dated (see Annals of Keene, page 19,) a party of Indians attacked Keene.
¡ Capt. John Spafford returned Aug. 16, 1747. He petitioned the government of Massachusetts for aid .- His house burned, his lands damaged for want of mow- ing, his family numerous. (Sheldon's letter.)
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HISTORY OF CHARLESTOWN.
The following are the circumstances under which this happened .- As the women, towards evening, were going out to do their accustomed milking, they were attended by Major Josiah Willard, the son of the commander of Fort Dummer, and several soldiers as a guard. On ap- proaching the booth or barn, where the cows were stalled, they were immediately fired upon, by a party of eight Indians, who were lying in concealment and awaiting their arrival. One shot took fatal effect on Mr. Putnam, but none of the others were injured. But as they saw Mr. Putnam fall, and, according to their custom, sprang forward for the purpose of scalping him, the Major and his men fired upon them in turn, mortally wounding two of their number; when, dragging their dying companions after them, they made a precipitate retreat. (See descendants of Seth Putnam.)
This event overspread the settlement with gloom, and excited in the minds of the inhabitants, as it well might do, the most anxious fore- bodings in relation to what was to come-and led them to realize, what was the fact, that there was to be, thenceforth, no safety, not even in the presence of an armed guard.
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