History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 68

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200

USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 68
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 68

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

time of Ordination to forbid it, in which time I ex- pect that you will Lay out the right of Land through this town of Walpole which by Charter is given to the first settled minister in the Place. And in Testimony of this solemn engagement I here unto set my hand."

" Jonathan Leavitt."

The terms of Mr. Leavitt's settlement and salary were very liberal for those days, when there were so few to pay, there being but twelve or fifteen families in town at that time all told, and the purchasing power of money being three-fold of what it now is.

Mr. Leavitt was ordained on the 10th day of the following June, and Sergeant Israel Cal- kins was paid two dollars for his services in procuring a minister to ordain Mr. Leavitt. Nothing more is heard of the parson till April, 1764, when the settlers called a town-meeting for the purpose of hearing the minds of the inhabitants on some difficulties that had arisen between the parson and his parishioners.

The parishioners soon came to the conclusion that the services of their settled minister were no longer agreeable to their standard of moral- ity ; but how to get rid of him was an enigma, for ministers were then settled by written con- tract, which was binding, certainly, on the part of the town. The ministers generally held the towns responsible to the contract. The town close a committee to wait on Mr. Leavitt and confer with him. In the mean time it was proposed to have a council ; but before the time the council was to meet, which was on the 20th day of May following, the above-named committee and the parson had arranged matters to the satisfaction of both parties. Mr. Leavitt released the town from all obligations to him in any way on the 27th day of May, 1764. The parson seems to have been in bad odor with his people, which caused the inhabitants to act very unanimously and with promptness, and Mr. Leavitt to submit to their decision with as quiet grace as possible.

The full charges brought against Mr. Leavitt for his summary dismissal do not appear ; but

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one was, the parson was caught one day in lead- Cambridge, Mass., and a graduate of Harvard, ing home a runaway slave of his, a woman, by whose name was Thomas Fessenden, presented a rope around her neck, which was attached to himself as a candidate for the vacancy. His the pommel of his saddle. Colonel Bellows, preaching suited the people and they forthwith hearing of the outrage, declared, "That such gave him a call. cruelty should not be tolerated ;" that he " set- The following is a copy of the call to Thomas Fessenden : tled Parson Leavitt and would unsettle him." What became of the parson is not known. "PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. "Walpole, Sep. 26, 1766. The town, after Leavitt's dismissal, hired one Jonathan Moore, who preached for the people some time.

It is seen, from the above, that the long- smothered " Anti-Slavery" sentiment of the North thus early cropped out. The minister's slave and two others owned by a pions family were the only ones known to have been held in bondage in town.

The paramount interest of the settlers was centred on building and furnishing meeting- houses, for more than a generation, as the town records abundantly show. Scarcely six months passed in this long time without town-meetings being called " to see what the town would do " in relation to meeting-houses. However, at length a vote was carried to build a meeting- house, which was located on land now occupied by John W. Hayward-just in front of his wood-shed.

This house was, in size, fifty-six feet in length by forty-two in breadth, and each set- tler, rich or poor, was assessed twelve shillings, or to work four days in putting up the frame. It is seen by this that the poor man's spiritual needs were as great as those of the rich then. It was provided that, if the means for raising the frame were inadequate, "Colonel Bellows was to make up the rest." This house was never completed, though meetings were held there for a long time, till the population of the town outgrew its size, when the people were again agitated about building and locating a new house.

The people of the town were now restive without a settled minister among them, when one day a man twenty-eight years old, from

"At a Legal Meeting of the Inhabitants of said Walpole, held at the Meeting house in said Town, Firstly Chose Benjamin Bellows, Esq., Moderator. Secondly, Voted to give Mr. Thomas Fessenden a call to settle in the work of the ministry in said Walpole. Thirdly, Voted to give as an Encourage- ment to the said Mr. Thomas Fessenden one hundred and fifty pounds Lawful money Dollars, at Six Shil- lings Each, as a settlement, and said Bellows is to pay one-third of said settlement, and it is Purposed that the settlement be in two payments, half said sum in six months from his Ordination and the other half one year from his Ordination. Fourthly, Voted to give Mr. Fessenden, as a yearly Salary, for the first year Fifty pounds like money, and for the second year fifty-three pounds, and so rise three pounds a year for five years, then stand at Sixty Five pounds a year till there be one hundred settlers in said Wal- pole, or familys, to make up the hundred Inhabitants Properly called familys, then to rise to Eighty pounds Like money as above paid, and there to Continue at that sum yearly so long as the said Thomas Fessenden shall be our minister, and the People have Liberty to pay said Salary, if they see Cause, in good winter wheat that is Marchantable at four Shillings Per Bushel, Good Rye at three Shillings per Bushel and Good Indian corn at two Shillings p'r Bushel ; Good Beef at two p'r pence pound, or Good Pork at three pence p'r pound, the Pork being hoggs that weigh Eight schore and upwards, all which is to be De- livered at the house of Mr. Fessenden at the above prices."

November 1, 1766, Mr. Fessenden presented to the town his letter of acceptance. It is quite lengthy, and would not be of much in- terest to the general reader, only in the indis- rriminate and profuse use of capitals. It is more scholarly in its grammatical construction than Mr. Leavitt's. He calls the offer " Gen- erous," and clearly sees the hand of Providence

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in the unanimity of the people; but he seri- ously objects to the manner of payment of his salary ; he wants one-half of it paid in money. He says " that more meat and grain than is needful for me to spend will, in order to pro- vide for my household, Oblige me to turn Marchant, so Divert me from my Studies and Proper Calling, and in the same Proportion Deprive you of my labor." He further states, in substance, that if his salary be paid one-half in money he will accept the call. Mr. Fessen- den was not unreasonable to require one-half in money, and the inhabitants saw the point was well made, and had the good sense to ar- range matters more satisfactorily to Mr. Fes- senden. He was ordained minister of the town January 7, 1767 ; but the records are silent in relation to the proceedings on that occasion.

An account of the manners and customs of the people during Mr. Leavitt's pastorate was given by a Mrs. Watson, of Pennsylvania, who was a daughter of one John Fanning, who settled in Walpole at that time, on the place now owned by S. Johnson Tiffany. Mrs. Wat- son, when her father came here, was eight or ten years old; but when she returned, after many years of absence, to visit her early home, she was an old woman, but retained her facul- ties in a remarkable degree. The story runs thus :

"We started from Stonington, Conn., to go to Otter Creek, Vt., in a sloop of our own and came as far as Hartford, where we purchased a pair of horses and wagon to convey us up on the east side of the river. The country as far as Chicopee was very fine. Hat- field was then but a small town, but the fields of grain were immense, without fences. At Sunderland the road was mountainous, and we had to purchase oxen to haul our goods. We then passed through a little village called Keene, and owing to the difficul- ties of traveling we stopped at No. 3, Walpole. My father built us a house of square timber and covered the roof with bark ; but the gable ends were left open for a time, so we could plainly hear, when sitting around our fire-side in the evening, the barking of foxes, the howling of wolves and the cries of the panther, which resembled a woman's in distress and (seemed) intended to decoy people into the woods,

where those animals proved troublesome when not prevented by fire-arms.

"The flesh of the deer and bear afforded the settlers a delicious repast. The approach of the lat- ter was very unceremonious and sometimes rude to strangers. Wild turkeys were trapped and shot, and quails and pigeons caught in nets in great numbers. The brooks were filled with trout and the river abounded in salmon and shad ; one of the latter was taken near the Falls with a rattlesnake's head in its mouth. An intercourse with wild animals was car- ried to an unusual extent in the numbers tamed. A brood of young raccoons were taught to suck a cat and play about the house like kittens, only more mischievous.

The inhabitants then lived in the wilderness, as shown by her story of Mrs. Prichard, " who," she said, " was lost in the woods and subsisted, like wild beasts, on berries and the bark of trees twenty-one days." She started during a thunder-storm from a place called Jennison Hill, with a child two years old, to visit a neighbor's house. Leaving the path to avoid a large snake, she lost her way and was not seen again for just three weeks, when some men discovered her at the mouth of Cold River.

"She fled at the sight of men, like a deer, but was overtaken and brought back to a house. Her clothes were completely torn off. After recovering her senses in a degree, she stated that her child died the third day, and she buried it under a log. She said she heard the Indians' guns, and saw them several times in pur- suit of her (probably her friends, who spent several days looking for her), but she secreted herself so as to keep out of their way. That woman was living not a great many years since, in Westminster, Vt., in a state of mental aberration. In tearing down the chimney where she lived, her coveted old pipe was found in a sly nook.

" At this time there were about twelve or fifteen log houses in town. The meeting-house was unfinished ; there was not a carriage in town, the traveling being performed on foot or horseback; sometimes three or four children were carried in this way at a time, be- side a wife, on a pillion, and the upsetting of such a load was of frequent occurrence. Colonel Bellows was the most considerable man in town ; Peter, the colonel's oldest son, was then settled in Charlestown, where the people used often go to attend meeting.

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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

" Mr. Leavitt, the minister in town, wore a large wig, full powdered, and when he entered the meeting- house the whole congregation rose to do obeisance to the man in black, who, in his turn, always responded with a formal bow. Powder was not worn on the hair by those who were contented with the use of the eelskin, which was considered as adding dignity to the wearer, in proportion to the size and length of the queue.

"Officers of the militia wore cocked hats. Of the ladies, Mrs. Leavitt took the lead in dress ; at church she wore a full suit of lutestring, without any bonnet, holding a fan to shade the sun from her face, as was the fashion 'down country.'

" Next to her were the daughters of Colonel Bel- lows, and their two half-sisters, Jennisons. They wore plain Quaker bonnets of black silk; white or colored ones were not seen. To improve their figures, the ladies quilted their petticoats with wool, to make their hips show off to advantage, which contrasted with the smallness of their waists, painfully compressed with long stays. Home-made durants, camblets and serges, full of gay flowers of artificial needlework were fashionable articles. Stockings, of their own knitting, and high-heeled shoes, with buckles, were indispensable.

" It was thought an improvement to beauty and elegance to expose the petticoat before throug a screen of lawn apron, the gown being left to swing open. The hair was all combed back, leaving no curls nor ringlets about the face. Instead of following the modern fashion of covering the baek part of the head, their bonnets were so much pitched forward that the cap and back part of the head were exposed.

" A large portion of pin-money was derived from the sale of golden-thread, ginseng and snake-root, which was procured by their own hands. Dr. Chase was the only physician." 1

Soon after the town had settled Parson Fessenden in the ministry and on the farm (now called the Farr place), and also had built them- selves a house of worship (only in name), the settlers turned their attention towards the edu- cation of their children, something they so much needed themselves, for it is doubtful whether one in five of the population could read and write. Accordingly, in 1768, the town voted

to have three schools, and for their support they voted fifteen pounds for winter schools, and the next year voted "to raise twenty-four pounds for schooling, and to form three districts." It appears that the population was now increasing, for the selectmen took a census of the town and found in 1767, 308 inhabitants, divided thus,- 24 married men, from sixteen to sixty ; 52 un- married men, from sixteen to sixty ; 104 boys, under sixteen ; 1 man over sixty ; 72 unmarried females ; 52 married females and 3 widows. It is seen, if the number of girls was equal to the number of boys, it was high time to make provision for schooling.

Colonel Bellows intended to have the village in Walpole, near the fort ; but for some unac- countable reason the population "drifted " down the river, where the present village now is,-perhaps the reason was to be nearer the meet- ing-house, which then stood on "Unele Si's" Hill. Be that as it may, the first school-house built was located where Josiah G. Bellows' house now stands, and is now the residence of Moses Q. Watkins, on Washington Square. This was No. 1. It is very easy to account for District No. 2 being located near the month of Cold River; it was the fertile intervale in that vieinity that made that region populous ; but why a population, so early, should have settled in the " Valley," sufficiently large as to require a school-house there, is not so plain ; unless the nearness of the locality to Colonel Bellows' mill was an inducement; for in early days the land was covered with a dense growth of hemlock timber ; the soil was wet, sterile and covered with angular boulders ; and, moreover, the " Valley " was the special home of the gray wolf, whose howls at night were the terror of mankind and domestic animals. The organization of school districts in town sufficiently indicates where the population was most dense, in the early settle- ment of the town, except District No. 14, which was taken from Nos. 1 and 2.

The town has always exercised a watchful care over the educational interest of the rising

1 The above narrative, in substance, was given by Mrs. Watson to Dr. Ebenezer Morse, of this town, about the year 1826.

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generation within its borders. It began by raising fifteen pounds for schooling purposes, and has added to that sum from time to time till now (1885), when our school expenditure reaches more than five thousand dollars.

The town about 1770 was comparatively quiet ; the Indians were no longer troublesome, the minister was preaching peace, the schools were well agoing, and no town-meetings were called but the annual one, where not much was done but the choosing of town officers. At those meetings were chosen two kinds of officers who do not appear on the town records now,-one was the tithingman, the other the deer reeve, of whom several were chosen of each kind.

The tithingman was a kind of Sunday police. His duties were to see that order was maintained around the church on the Lord's day, and to prevent unnecessary traveling on Sunday. People were not allowed to labor in their fields on that day ; if they did, they were subjected to a large fine.

The flesh of the deer was not only considered a delicacy, but was indispensable to the poor, as it afforded them a large share of their meat diet; hence officers were chosen, called "deer reeves," to protect the does and fawns at certain seasons of the year from wanton, indiscriminate slaughter.

FROM 1770 TO 1780.

This decade was marked by much feverish anxiety, deprivation and human suffering; the settlers had to live as they could. The ominous events which terminated in the Revolutionary War began to cast their dark shadows before; but when the news came to Walpole of the battle at Lexington the quiet of the town was struck to its very foundation.

Benjamin Bellows, Jr., better known as gen- eral, was then thirty-five years old, and was then, and during his whole life, the aeknowl- edged leader in town, both from natural and acquired abilities.

The next morning after hearing the news from Lexington, General Bellows, his brother

John and Thomas Sparhawk mounted their horses, and started for the scene of blood. On arriving at Keene they inquired for one Cap- tain Wyman, and were told that he had started for Coneord that morning at sunrise, with about thirty men. On hearing this answer they ex- claimed, "Keene has shown a noble spirit !" and hastened onwards, soon followed by thirty- five men from Walpole. Those men were out about eleven days on that expedition.

Walpole was not behind other towns in the State in furnishing men and means for the ser- viee and use of the Continental army ; nor were the families of soldiers neglected at home ; for the town records bear evidence that money was raised from time to time for the benefit of such families, and committees were appointed to see that they were made comfortable.

The pay of the soldier was ten pounds for one year's service, or wheat at five shillings per bushel. In 1779 the town raised one thousand pounds to procure five soldiers for the army, but at this time it took twenty-four pounds of currency to purchase one in gold, and two years later it took twelve hundred pounds in the same currency to equal one in gold or silver.

The exact number of men that went into the Continental service in this town cannot be as- certained from any available source ; but it is said that most of the able-bodied men served a longer or shorter period.

General Benjamin Bellows, though he rose from the lowest office in the militia of the State to be a brigadier-general, was not long in the field. He was mostly engaged in raising troops for the United States service, and was one of the principal men in the State sought for when any aid to the national government was wanting. Twice he marched his own regiment to Tieon- deroga,-first in 1776, for a service of twenty- five days, and again, June 28, 1777, to reinforce the garrison there besieged by the enemy, when, according to the pay-roll, the time of service was only twelve days. Finally, he carried his regiment, September 21, 1777, to reinforce the

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HISTORY OF CHESHIRE COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Northern Continental army at Saratoga, un- der the command of General Gates, at the time when General Burgoyne surrendered. In the general's account with the government is found a charge for a horse killed in the service, but it does not state whether killed under him or not.

It is said that " most of the men in town went to Saratoga," and very likely they went with the general. Tradition says that quite a number of men who went with General Bellows to Sara- toga, went as scouts, and among them were two men whose names were Crane and Hall, the latter was nicknamed " Munn," but his proper name was Jonathan. They had on their way there a severe fight with a band of Indians. ('rane had a hard tussle with an Indian single- handed, who was armed with a cutlass, and got his hand so severely eut that he was unable to use it ever afterwards. The victory was com- plete, for the scouts captured one hundred and fifty of the enemy. Old Munn was present when Burgoyne delivered up his sword, and exclaimed, " We've got you for breakfast, and we'll have Cornwallis for dinner !"

Thomas Bellows (the 'Squire), in speaking of the men who went to Saratoga from Walpole, and whose memory was remarkable, used to say that he could remember the names of twelve, when he would commence and name them till he reached the last one, when he would hesi- tate and, becoming impatient, would ejaculate, " No matter, he was a black man, any way !"

A squad of the Walpole soldiers captured a boat belonging to the enemy, that contained barrels, which they supposed were filled with rum, but what was their chagrin when, boring into them with their bayonets, they were found to contain only pork.

August 16, 1777, was fought the battle of Bennington, and during the day the booming of the cannon was distinctly heard on the Wal- pole hills and also on the lowlands. The people were busily engaged in their harvest, but they dropped the siekle and seythe and left the

wheat in the ground and the grass in the swath, put up a scanty supply of viands in their knap- sacks, took their guns and ammunition and started on foot for Bennington, where they found Molly Stark not a widow.

Many trophies were brought home by the soldiers, which are sacredly kept as heirlooms by their descendants. The military suit of General Bellows is extant and intact. The writer of this sketch wore it several years ago on a certain festive occasion, and it fitted like a glove.

Not many soldiers rose to distinction from Walpole, nor is it known that many were killed or wounded, but a descendant of John Merriam informed the writer that John Merriam, Jr., received seven bullets in the back part of his nether garments without a scratch; but what is more wonderful, he survived ! The same in- formant also stated that a tradition held in his family was, " at the time of the battle of Ben- nington three thousand troops from the eastern part of the State passed his great-grandfather's house on their way thither and drank at his well and filled their canteens with water, and then passed on to the top of the hill west, where one Josiah Goldsmith dined a portion of them on a very large fat ox."

At a town-meeting, held December 9, 1776, Colonel Christopher Webber was chosen to rep- resent the town at Exeter, this State, and at the same meeting a committee was chosen to draft instructions for him, which he did not need.

These instructions were submitted to the voters in town in due time for approval, and adopted, with the proviso that they should be submitted to a sub-committee, "that they be made grammar." Whether the copy found in the town records is in the amended form or not, it is a literary curiosity, as it not only shows the educational status of the men of those days, but also their religious faith. In those instrue- tions Mr. Webber was particularly enjoined to nse his influence with the Governor to have him appoint a " fast-day." Perhaps Colonel Web-

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ber did not fully understand the bearing of those " spirited instructions," as a certain writer called them ; but whether so or not, Mr. Web- ber paid no attention to them. He believed more in the efficacy of " canister and grape," than he did in prayer, in staying the progress of the enemy. When the colonel returned home he was confronted with threats of being brought to the bar of the town for his delin- quency; but his popularity did not wane, for the next spring he was triumphantly returned.

COLONEL BENJAMIN BELLOWS died July 10, 1777, and his civic mantle fell on his son Ben- jamin, by whom it was never tarnished. The general was then the acknowledged leader in town, and he retained his hold on the people as long as he lived.

The colonel left to his nine children, by his will, a very large landed estate in Walpole and other towns in the vicinity. It appears by his will that he had given to his children a princely estate before he made it, the number of acres of land it is impossible to state, but by his will be bequeathed to each of his children the number of acres which follows, viz .: To Peter he gave seven hundred acres in Rockingham and six hundred acres in Walpole, in the north part ; to Benjamin, four hundred acres in the south part of the town ; to John, eight hundred acres in two lots ; to Joseph, seven hundred in Rindge, Mason and Fitzwilliam, besides unenumerated lands in Lunenburg, Mass .; to Abigail, one hundred and thirty acres, with buildings ; to Molly, five hundred acres in Westminster, Vt ; to Josiah, five hundred acres in Walpole and thirty-three in Westminster, Vt. It is sup- posed he made suitable provisions for Thomas and Theodore before he died, for their names do not appear in his will. He also gave seventy acres, in Keene, to Mary Willard; fifty acres in town to John Jennison and one hundred acres for a grammar school, but no one knows where it was located. The will was published in the time of the Revolutionary War, and prob- ably its conditions were such as could not be

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 68

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1200

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1200