USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Charlestown > History of Charlestown, New-Hampshire, the old No. 4 > Part 57
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your Excellency's most humble and most obedient servant W. SHIRLEY.
His Excellency, Benning Wentworth, Esq."
" Vote of the General Assembly, of Massachusetts.
Inasmuch as sundry persons belonging to this Province, some of whom were soldiers, and taken from the fort on Kennebeck river, are now in captivity at Canada-and as this court have been informed, that there are also divers persons in captivity, belonging to the gov- ernment of New-Hampshire, therefore voted, that his Excellency, the captain General, be desired as soon as may be, to write to the Gov- ernor of New-Hampshire, informing him that this court propose to em-
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ploy Capt. Phineas Stevens, of No. 4, to go to Canada to redeem the captives belonging to this government; provided the government of New-Hampshire, will also employ him and pay a proportionable part of the expense of his journey, according to the number he shall recover from their captivity for the respective governments."
The above letter and vote were submitted by Governor Wentworth to the Assembly of New-Hampshire, but owing to previous action on the subject, on the part of New-Hampshire, the proposition of Massa- chusetts, was not adopted.
Captain Stevens was continued in his position as commander of the fort at No. 4, till the close of the Cape Breton war, and on the com- mencement of the French war was again immediately placed in the same command. His commission is dated April 26th, 1754. He re- mained in Charlestown and retained this command till sometime in the year 1755, when he removed his family to Deerfield, Massachusetts, to go on military service in Nova Scotia to which I shall hereafter refer.
The military services of Captain Stevens have thus far been chiefly referred to ; but a brief consideration will now be given of his services rendered and the honors paid him as a citizen of Charlestown. It has been seen that, in the years 1735 and 1736 while the appeals which had been made both by Massachusetts and New-Hampshire to his maj- esty the king of Great Britain to decide the boundary line between the two Provinces were still depending, the General Assembly of The Massachusetts Bay made grants of above thirty townships lying be- tween the rivers Merrimac and Connecticut, which townships by the royal decision in 1738 fell within the Province of New-Hampshire. These grants thus having emanated from an authority which had no juris- diction over the soil, afforded the grantees no valid title to their lands. The Attorney and Solicitor General was therefore called upon to make a report in relation to what would be right and proper to be done in the premises; in which it was substantially recommended that those who had made improvements on their lands should apply to the gov- ernment of New-Hampshire for new charters confirming them in the rights and privileges which had been guaranteed to them by their char- ters from Massachusetts. This important business, we find by the fol- lowing from the 26th page of VIth volume of Provincial Papers, was committed by the Proprietors of No. 4 to Captain Phineas Stevens.
At a Council and General Assembly, July 2nd, 1753, among sundry other petitions was presented the following :
" The petition of Phineas Stevens, Esq., in behalf of himself and the
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claimers and settlers of a tract of land on Connecticut river known by the name of Number Four, setting forth that the said tract of land was heretofore granted to them by the Massachusetts Government, in pur- suance of which they had divided the same and made great improve- ments thereon, and praying they might have a grant of the premises in such a manner as to confirm them in their several divisions &c., which was read at the council Board, and the question being put whether they would advise his Excellency to make out a charter agreeable thereto, it passed in the affirmative unanimously .*
The newly incorporated township was named Charlestown, and its first town meeting was appointed by the charter to be on the 2nd Tuesday in August, of which Mr. Stevens was appointed moderator by the governor.
At this meeting Captain Stevens was elected first selectman and town treasurer, and John Hastings was chosen town clerk. The next year also he was elected to all the offices he had held the year before This was his last year in Charlestown, as the next year he was en- gaged in military service, in Nova Scotia. When about to leave for the expedition to Nova Scotia, Capt. Stevens removed his family to
* The following relating to the townships No. 1, 2 and 3 may not be without in- terest.
" At a Council holden at Portsmouth according to his excellency's summons, Feb'y the 10th, 1752, the Secretary, by his Excellency's order, laid before the Board three petitions from sundry persons praying for three separate townships of his Majesty's lands lying on the east side of Connecticut river, beginning at the north side of tract of land called Winchester, and extending up the river to the north- ward so as to join to No. 4, so called, and east to the land called the Ashuelotts as far as they (the Ashuelotts) go to the northward, (viz.) That the first or most Southerly township, called No. (1) in the plan exhibited, may be allotted to the pe- tition signed Elias Alexander John Brooks and others; that the township adjoin- - ing northerly on No. (1) and marked No. (2) in the said plan he granted on the petition of Elias Hubbard, Thomas Chamberlain and others ; and that the town- ship marked No. (3) on said plan and adjoining No. (4) may be granted to the pe- tition signed Benjamin Bellows, Ebenezer Harris and others, all which petitions and plans being perused by the council, the Secretary, by his Excellency's order, . put it to the council whether they would consent to the granting the said respec- tive tracts of land to the petitioners with such others as should be thought proper to be entered as associates, to which the council did advise and consent."
In accordance with the above we find that Chesterfield the original No. (1) and Westmoreland, the original No. (2), were incorporated Feb. 11tlı, 1752, the next day after the consideration of the petitions, and that Walpole which was No. (3) received its charter on the 16th of the same month.
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Deerfield, Massachusetts, where they resided till the time of his death when they again removed to Charlestown.
Captain Stevens and his company sailed from Boston for Nova Scotia on the 20th of May, and reached their destination in the Bay of Fundy, on the 1st of June. Their first work was to aid in the reduc- tion of the French Fort, Beau Sejour, which surrendered on the 4th day after its investment. Its name was then changed to Fort Cumber- land. The following extract of a letter from Lient. Elias Alexander, of Northfield, in connection with this fort, may be of interest. It is dated Aug. 15th, 1755. He says " We still remain in camp, and it is most likely we shall tarry here all winter. The French that are in this place, are obliged to take up arms for us, or go off, which they re- fuse to do, and they will be sent to France immediately. All their effects are forfeited to King George. They have a great number of cattle and horses which will be for our use. We have about 400 con- fined in the fort, and parties of our men are out daily bringing in the rest. All the French that are in Meaness (Minas) and any where else in the country must bear the sanie fate." (His. of Northfield by Shel- don and Temple.)
The following letter written by Samuel Stevens to his father, shows that at the time of its date, he was still at Fort Cumberland.
Deerfield, Nov. 10th, 1755,
Honored Father.
After my duty to you and love to my brother with you (this broth- er was probably Simon Stevens) I would inform you that Enos is re- turned-came to Deerfield last Thursday, and was joyfully received. We have the pleasure of telling you we are all well at present, except my mother, who is abed with a daughter, named Dorothy, both like to do well. This is joyful news to tell you of, and we all desire to be joyful with you. I have nothing remarkable to inform you of our army yet-gone to Crown Point. I believe will go no further than Lake St. Sacrament, now called Lake George, for they have built a strong fort there and another at Lydius' Trading House, called fort Lyman. I suppose their business this winter will be to keep those forts-and I hear Governor Shirley is at Albany, returning home- wards. The Indians have done no mischief on our frontier since July.
As to our affairs at home, they are somewhat difficult. * I have received but very little moncy this summer, not more than we
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necessarily used in our own family. Capt. Spafford has made up no Muster roll yet, but I believe he will be down in a few days.
I do not think but it will be a benefit to send the amount on your book against several men in your company that you may stop the mon- ey in your own hands as viz.
Titus Belding, Dr. Old Tenor, to Articles, £5, 13, 6. Thomas Steb- bins, £ 14, 6, 0. Rufus Brown, £3, 6, 0. Gad Elmer, £11, 15, 8. Joseph Brooks, £ 19, 13, 0. Beriah Grandy, £ 20,8,1. This is a true account due on your book.
This I conclude with my mother's presenting her love to you and her son with you, and I with the rest of my brothers and sisters, present the same.
With the blessing of God I hope the time will come when we shall all happily meet again.
No more at present, but I still remain your most dutiful son.
SAM'L STEVENS.
Capt. Stevens.
The following is the direction on the letter.
To Capt. Phineas Stevens at Fort Cumberland in Sheguecto in Nova Scotia.
To carrier Mr. David Jefferson, Boston, received and forwarded by your humble servant,
Oliver Noyes.
In the following year while still engaged in the public service at Chenecto, he was seized with a fever of which he died, April 6th, in the 51st year of his age.
The character of Captain Stevens is thus summed up by another. "He was athletic, hardy and resolute; ever ready to cultivate his acres or arm in their defense as well as for the protection of his country- men. He was truly a martial husbandman,
" Who in the reapers' merry row, Or warrior rank could stand."
A man of self-acquired education possessing deep penetration and in- telligence, he was admirably fitted for the important public services in the performance of which he was entrusted by the government." To which may be added that the frontier on the Cennecticut had no more able defender and Charlestown no more trustworthy man.
Children and descendants, of Capt. Phineas and Elizabeth Stevens.
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HON. SAMUEL STEVENS.
I. Samuel Stevens, b. July 4th, 1735, at Rutland, Mass., m. Talitha Bingham, of Lempster, Dec. 31st, 1777. He settled in Charlestown, and became one of its most distinguished citizens. He was in the ar- my in the old French War, and was a Lieutenant as early as 1758. He was recommended in 1759, by Major Robert Rogers, in a letter to Col. Townsend, Deputy Adjutant General, to Lord Amherst, as a suit- able person to take charge of the Fort at No. 4.
" General Stanwix informs me that a subaltern and twenty Rangers are to be stationed at Number Four. I would recommend Lieutenant Stevens, who is well acquainted with the country in that quarter.
ROBERT ROGERS."
In a reply to this letter, dated Feb. 5th, 1759, Colonel Townsend says, " Lieutenant Stevens has been notified of the General's intention of leaving him at Number Four."
In November of the same year, he was ordered to the Coos Inter- vales with provisions, to meet Major Rogers, in his return from his expedition against the St. Francis Indians. He obeyed the order, and repaired to the place appointed, but remained only two days, when he returned to Charlestown taking with him all the provisions. In conse- quence of this too hasty return, Major Rogers and his men suffered ter- ribly for want of food, and some of them died from actual starvation. Lieutenant Stevens was censured, both by Major Rogers and Lord Amherst for not having tarried longer, but he averred that he acted in the matter according to the best of his judgment, and deeply lamented the consequences that resulted from his course. In 1760, he was em- ployed by a land company, to explore the country from White River to the heads of the Onion and Lamoille rivers, to find out the best lands for settlement. He subsequently surveyed many townships for the proprietors and was much employed in the business of conveyancing.
The following offices to which he was elected, will show the estima- tion in which he was held by the public. He was elected twelve times one of the selectmen ; the first time, in the year 1762, the last in 1793. He was Town treasurer for the year 1765-representative for the years 1793-94-96-97-98 and 99. Councillor for the years, 1784-85-86-87- 88-89-Register of Probate, from 1794 till the time of his death. He also held the office of Colonel in the Militia. He died November 23d, 1823, in the 89th year of his age. Mrs. Stevens d. Jan. 22nd, 1803, aged 47 years.
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Children of Hon. Samuel and Talitha (Bingham) Stevens. 1. Solon Stevens, b. Oct. 3d, 1778, graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1798. Studied law with Hon. John C. Chamberlain, and died August 29th, 1809. Solon Stevens practised law at Exeter, N. H., removed to Bos- ton, in 1808.
HON. ENOS STEVENS.
2. Enos Stevens b. May 14th, 1780; m. Nov. 2nd, 1811, Martha Hunt, (dau. of Roswell and Mary Willard Hunt of Charlestown), b. May 4th, 1792. Ch. (1) Samuel Hunt, b. Ang. 17th, 1812 ; m. July, 1836, Lucetta Putnam of Unity, N. H. (dau. of Benjamin and Sarah (Willard) Putnam.) He became a farmer at Rochester, Ill., where he died May 15th, 1839. He left one child, Samnel Phineas Stevens, b. in 1838, who m. Olive Slater, and settled in Missouri. (2) Mary Ellen, b. in Charlestown, May 31st, 1814; m. April 27th, 1835, John Swain, M. D., b. at Newburyport, Mass. He settled at Ballardsvale, Ky. (3) Harriet, b. at C. April 17th, 1817 ; d. July 17th, 1826. (4) Martha Ann, b. at C. March 15th, 1821 ; m. Feb. 21st, 1839, George Hubbard, Esq., son of Samuel Hubbard, of C. b. April 4th, 1812. one child (see Hubbard.) (5) Sarah Elizabeth, b. March 21st, 1826; m. at Ballardsvale, Ky., April 2nd, 1846, Robert Greene Blakemore, of Ky., b. Jan. 25th, 1815. He was a planter and died in Oldham, Co., Ky., July 24th, 1853-Mrs. Blakemore (1874) resides in Charles- town. (6) George Enos Stevens, b. Sept. 10th, 1830; d. March 2nd, 1832. (7) Harriet Prudence Stevens, b. Feb. 29th, 1832, resides (1875) at Charlestown.
Enos Stevens, whose family is given above, was an honored citizen of Charlestown-He was thirteen times elected moderator of the town; the 1st time in 1820, the last in 1841. He was four years town clerk. Twenty years one of the selectmen, and six years represented the town in the Legislature. In addition to these honors, he was Councillor for the years 1838 and 1839, and the candidate of the whig party for Governor, for the years 1840-41-42. The first two years in which he was a candidate for this office, he received a handsome ma- jority of the votes of his townsmen. But in 1842, when Hon. Henry Hubbard, was the opposing Democratic candidate, the citizens of Charlestown bestowed upon both equal honor, there being no plurality nor majority.
The following which is taken from a contemporary Journal, will show in what estimation Mr. Stevens was held by his party.
ENOS STEVENS.
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" This gentleman, Hon. Enos Stevens, now stands before the people of New-Hampshire, as the candidate of the whig party for the office of Governor. We have said enough of him, when we have said, that he is an able, and honest man. These terms include everything req- uisite for any office. Mr. Stevens is not unknown to the people of his State, as an able and sound legislator. He has been much in pub- lic life, as such, and has ever been found a friend of the people. He is a farmer by profession, and a very excellent farmer, too, we believe, but he has ever been distinguished as a man of sound judgment, and extensive knowledge of state and national politics-a man, whom all who know him, honor and respect, whatever may be his political opinions. We commend him to the support of our fellow citizens, as one who will command the respect of all for the government over which he may be called to preside." Nashua Telegraph.
Mr. Stevens after a long and useful life, died Sept. 10th, 1864, in the 85th year of his age. Mrs. Martha (Hunt) Stevens d. March 21st, 1870.
3. Polly (dau. of Samuel and Polly (Bingham) Stevens) b. Feb. 6th, 1782; m. Dec. 1808, James Hervey Bingham, and settled in Al- . . stead, N. H. She died Sept. 1818. 4. Samuel Bingham, b. Nov. 30th, 1783 ; m. in 1810, Miss Joanna Folsom, of Exeter, b. June 25th, 1787. Mr. Stevens died in August, 1824. Mrs. Joanna Stevens died in 1873. Their home was in Exeter, N. H. Ch. (1) Samuel Folsom, son of Samuel B. and Joanna Stevens, b. Sept. 1811; d. on the Island of St. Thomas, in 1854-a wife and four children survive. (2) Elizabeth Emery, b. in Exeter, Feb. 3d, 1816; m. Jan. 15th, 1839, Prof. Wil- liam Augustus Norton (son of Heman and Julia (Strong) Norton) b. Oct. 25th, 1810. Mr. Norton graduated at West Point, in 1831, and has since 1852 been Professor of Civil Engineering, at Yale College. 5. Elizabeth, b. Apr. 16th, 1788 ; d. July 18th. 1789. 6. Talitha, b. Feb. 22nd, 1792; d. June 17th, 1873. The writer of this can testify that one who lived a. truer Christian life he has not found. 7. Pru- dence Stevens, b. June 16th, 1794; m. Dec. 7th, 1817, Hiram Bing- ham, of Claremont. Mrs. Bingham, d. in Charlestown, Sept. 6th, 1872. II. Willard (son of Capt. Phineas and Elizabeth Stevens, and twin brother of Hon. Samuel Stevens) b. at Rutland, Mass., July 4th, 1735 ; m. Olive Willard, Aug. 11th, 1773. He became.one of the principal proprietors of Barnet, Vt., to which place he removed with his family in June 1776 ; but, soon after the commencement of the Revolutionary
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war, returned again to Charlestown. He died June 1st, 1789, aged 54. Children of Willard and Olive Stevens. 1. Dorothy, b. May 22nd, 1774; 2. --; b. Sept. 5th, 1775; 3. Clory Allen, b. Sept. 22nd, 1776; 4. Olive, b. July 2nd, 1781; d. Jan. 10th, 1786. III. Simon, son of Capt. Phineas and Elizabeth Stevens, was b. at Rutland, Mass., Sept. 3d, 1737.
Simon Stevens was a man of great energy of character, and inheri- ted much of the military spirit of his father. He was commissioned on the 14th of January, 1758, when not quite twenty-one years of age, by General Loudoun, Lieutenant of a company commanded by Capt. John Stark, afterwards the distinguished General of that name, and par- cipated with his brave captain, in the attacks on the French lines, at Ticonderoga, on the 6th, 7th and 8th of July of that year. July 9th, 1760, he received a commission, as captain of a company of Rangers. This was given, at Three Rivers, and was signed by Lord Amherst. As the Ranger service was very important in the army, there can be no better evidence, that he had previously acquitted himself with honor.
In 1763-64 and 68, Capt. Stevens was chosen moderator of the town, and also in May, of the latter year, to represent the town in the General Assembly, at Portsmouth. He was the first representative ever chosen from Charlestown, and represented the town for three years. When Governor Benning Wentworth, of New-Hampshire, granted to certain petitioners, the charter of the town of Barnet, Ver- mont, Capt. Simon Stevens was appointed to notify the first town meet- ing, for the choice of town officers, and to act as its moderator. The meeting was held the first Tuesday in October, 1764. All subsequent " meetings for the same purpose, by the charter, were to be held in March. Capt. Stevens was one of the largest proprietors of the town- ship.
About 1774, Capt. Simon Stevens, ceased to be an inhabitant of Charlestown. He was subsequently engaged in the war of the Revo- lution, but not, it is believed, in connection with any New-Hampshire Regiment. Capt. Simon Stevens, of Springfield, Vt., and Capt. Si- mon Stevens of Charlestown, were different persons, but are frequently spoken of as the same.
IV. Enos Stevens (son of Capt. Phineas and Elizabeth Stevens) b. Oct. 2nd, 1739, in Rutland, Mass .; m. March 4th, 1791, Sophia Grout (dau. of Elijah and Mary (Willard) Grout) b. in Lunenburg, Mass., Feb. 6th, 1765.
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On the cessation of hostilities between France and Great Britain, in 1749, the government of Massachusetts withdrew the troops from No. 4. But, on the 17th of June, the day they left the fort, the Indians appeared and shot Ensign Obadiah Sartwell, who was harrowing in the garden, and took young Stevens, who was riding the horse, a prisoner. Stevens was carried to Montreal, but was immediately sent back, so that he arrived at home about the middle of the September following. He was kindly treated, but retained to the close of his life a vivid recollec- tion of the circumstances of his capture and captivity.
The following is from Henry Stevens, late of Barnet, Vt .:
" Enos Stevens, (my father) was a lieutenant A. D. 1756. I had his journal of an expedition up West River, and so on to Fort Massachu- setts. His diary was burnt in the Vermont State House. It seems from this that the above commission was conferred upon him when only about sixteen years of age.
He was elected one of the Selectmen of Charlestown for the years 1773-75-76."
" In the war of the Revolution he took the side of the British. His father and brothers had been honored by commissions from the Gover- nors of New-Hampshire and Massachusetts Bay, while they were Brit- ish provinces, and like many others, no doubt, he thought that the pow- erful crown of Great Britain would soon crush the infant American Re- public. In his journal he writes :
" Charlestown, N. H., May 2nd, 1777. Set out for New-York ; left my all, for the sake of my king and my country."
In New York he joined a volunteer company appointed to keep guard on the coast, but it does not appear that he was ever engaged in battle. He, with six others, Sept, 30th, 1782, received a commission from his ex- cellency the Commander in Chief of the British forces, to go to Nova- Scotia to take charge of the provisions, arms and ammunition sent by the Commandar-in-Chief for the use of refugees, going with them to settle in that country, and divide the same among them.
He bought land and settled in Digby, Nova Scotia, where he resided till 1875. After the war he applied to the British government for in- demnity for " loyalty, losses and services," but it is not probable that he was indemnified, for his property was not confiscated. In his journal he writes, " Feb. 25th, 1785, Came to Charlestown ; found all my friends well ; seven years and ten months since I left this town." He went from Charlestown to Barnet, Vt., and was present at a meeting of the proprietors, Aug. 23d, 1785, and drew his shares in the town as one
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of the proprietors when the first division took place. Soon after, he sold his possessions in Nova Scotia and went to Barnet to reside, where, hav- ing purchased the lands owned by his brother, and obtained vendue ti- tles to others, he became proprietor of the principal part of the township with which his interests and history became identified.
Mr. Stevens had ten children, all born in Barnet, Vt., among whom was Henry Stevens, the distinguished antiquarian. For a further ac- count of the family see page 378 memoir of Phineas Stevens, by Caleb Stark, contained in the volume of the Life of General John Stark. Mrs. Stevens died in 1815. (See romantic marriage of two Charlestown girls, in Historical Miscellany).
V. Mary, (dau. of Capt. Phineas and Elizabeth Stevens) b. March 28th, 1742, at Rutland, Mass .; m. Elijah King. He was jail-keeper in Charlestown in 1773 (see Jail.)
Soon after the commencement of the Revolutionary War they remov- ed from Charlestown to Barnet, Vt. Mr. King and others were employ- ed by Governor Wentworth in 1762 or 1763 to survey the charter lim- its of the towns immediately above Wells River; VI. Phineas, (son of Capt. Phineas and Elizabeth Stevens) was b. in Rutland, Mass. July 31st, 1744. He studied medicine and settled in Barnet, Vt. He was the first physician who settled in the town. (See Physicians.) VII. Catherine, (dau. of Capt. Phineas and Elizabeth Stevens) b. Nov. 20th 1747, at Rutland, Mass .: m. for her first husband, David Stone and liv- ed in Windsor, Vt. Her second husband was Capt. Jonathan Willard, an officer in the war of the Revolution. Capt. Willard d. in C. Aug. 29th, 1832, aged 88; Mrs. Willard May 26th, 1824; VIII. Prudence, (dau. of Capt. Phineas and Elizabeth Stevens) b. Nov. 6th, 1750, in the house of Capt. Stevens in the fort at No. 4; m. Hon. John Hubbard, of Charlestown, (see Hubbard); IX. Solomon, (son of Capt. Phineas and Elizabeth Stevens) b. at Charlestown Sept. 9th, 1753 ; settled in Bar- net, Vt. He was a land surveyor and surveyed that town in 1774. He was at College at Cambridge when the Revolutionary war began, but left soon after, without completing the College course ; X. Dorothy, (dau. of Capt. Phineas and Elizabeth Stevens) b. Oct. 31st, 1755, at Deerfield, Mass .; d. at Charlestown, N. H., Sept. 10th, 1758.
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