History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 99

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 99
USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire > Part 99

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).

When reaching the base of a hill between Drews- ville and Marlow they both alighted to walk up the hill and so ease their horse; while one walked much faster than the horse, the other fell some distance behind. The foremost arrived at the top of the hill, and after waiting some minutes the brother emerged in sight through the darkness, but the horse was not there.

They retraced their steps, but horse, buggy and money had disappeared. They perceived a light

HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

from a neighboring farm-house, but no tracks could be discovered whereby they could trace the truant animal. Daylight coming on, they were obliged to give up their search and seek their own safety. It seems that the horse, after toiling some time in ascending the hill, discovered a narrow path leading from the main road at right angles, and, having no one to guide him, followed his in- clination and took the side track rather than pur- sue his course up the hill. A man in Marlow who had been out to watch with a sick neighbor, and was riding home with his brother at about four o'clock in the morning, was surprised to see a horse and buggy without any driver coming up behind them. He said to his brother, " Some one has lost his horse and wagon ; let us hitch them in sight, as the owner will be along soon." But as they led the horse along they saw in the bottom of the wagon some loose pieces of gold, and upon ex- amination they found all the money which had been taken from the bank, with a number of bags of tools and false keys, which immediately led them to suspect a robbery. The alarm was given, and at Paper-Mill village they found runners who had come from Charlestown, to whom they com- municated the news of what they had discovered, and, moreover, that the money was safe at the house of their informant, at Marlow. This infor- mation was soon communicated to Mr. Olcott and Governor Hubbard, who, as soon as possible, took measures to identify the money and restore it once more to the vault of the bank.

The burglars paid all the expenses of the bank and were put under two thousand five hundred dollars bonds, which were forfeited. Abijah Larned was afterwards arre-ted and tried for rob- bing the bank at Cooperstown, N. Y., and was sent to State's Prison, where he died before the ex- piration of the sentence.

THE TOWN HALL was erected in 1872 at an expense of about twenty thousand dollars. It is forty-two feet by ninety, two stories high, and is a neat and commodious structure.

TOWN CLERKS .- The following is a list of town clerks from 1753 to 1885:

John Hastings, 1753 to 1762.

William Haywood, 1762 to 1803, except 1788. Elijah Grout, 1788. F. A. Sumner, 1803 to 1819, and 1823.

George Oleott, 1819 to 1823 and 1824.

Henry HI. Sylvester, 1825.

William Gordon, 1826, '27, '33, '34, '35, '36, '37, '38. Henry Hubbard, 1828.

Enos Stevens, 1829, '30, '31, '32.

Simeon O. Cooley, 1839, '40, '42, '43, '44, '45, '46, '47. '48. George Hubbard, 1841.

S. L. Fletcher, 1849.

S. L. Wilder, Jr., 1850, '51, '52, '53, '55, '56, '57. Charles Messenger, 1854.

Charles C. Kimball, 1858, '59, '67, '68, '69, '70, 71,

'72, '73, '74, '75, '76, '77, '78, '79, '80, '81.

F. W. Putnam, 1860, '61, '62, '63, '64, '65, '66. Sumner C. Foster, 1882, '83, '84.

Herbert W. Bond, 1885.

REPRESENTATIVES .- The following is a list of representatives from 1768 to 1885 :

1768. Simon Stevens. 1769. Simon Stevens. 1770. Simon Stevens. 1771. Simeon Olcott.

1772. Simeon Olcott. 1778. Simeon Olcott. 1774. Samuel Hunt. 1775. William Heywood.

1776. Elijah Grout.

1777. David Taylor.

1778. Samuel Hunt.

1779. William Haywood. 1780. Benjamin West. 1781. Elijah Grout.

1782. John Hubbard. 1784. Elijah Grout. 1785. Elijah Grout.

1786. John Hubbard. 1787. John Hubbard. 1788. William Page. 1789 William Page.

1790. William Page. 1791. William Page. 1792. Benjamin Moore.

1793. Samuel Stevens. 1794. Sammel Stevens.

1795. Elijah Gront. 1796. Samuel Stevens.

1797. Samuel Stevens. 1798. Samuel Stevens. 1799. Samuel Stevens. 1800. Eph. Carpenter. 1801. Eph. Carpenter. 1802. Samuel Hunt. 1803. Oliver Hastings.

1804. Oliver Hall.

1805. Oliver Hall. 1806. Oliver Hastings. 1807. Benjamin Labarce.

1809. Benjamin Labaree. 1810. Horace Hall.

1811. Horace Hall. 1812. Henry Hubbard.

1813. Henry Hubbard. 1814. Henry Hubbard. 1815. Henry Hubbard. 1816. Enos Stevens.

1817. Enos Stevens. 1818. J. C. Chamberlain.

1819. Henry Hubbard.

1820. Henry Hubbard.

1821. Enos Stevens.

CHARLESTOWN.

1822. Enos Stevens. 1823. Henry Hubbard. 1824. Henry Hubbard. 1825. Henry Hubbard. 1826. Henry Hubbard. 1827. Henry Hubbard. 1828. Vryling Lovell. 1829. Enos Stevens. 1830. Enos Stevens.

1831. Joseph Heaton.

1832. Jonathan L. Mack. 1833. Jonathan L. Mack.

1834. William Gordon.

1835. Isaac Silsby.

1836. John J. Gilchrist. 1837. John J. Gilchrist. 1838. Putnam Barron. 1839. Seth Meacham. 1840. Seth Meacham. 1841. Ashbel Hamlin. 1842. Ashbel Hamlin.

1843. Benjamin Challis. 1844. Benjamin Challis. 1846. William McCrea. 1847. William McCrea. 1848. William A. Rand. 1849. William A. Rand. 1850. Edm. L. Cushing. Richard Holden. 1851. Richard Holden. Brooks Kimball. 1852. Edm. L. Cushing. 1853. Edm. L. Cushing. 1854. John M. Glidden. 1855.John M. Glidden. S. L. Wilder, Jr. 1856. S. L. Wilder, Jr. 1857. S. L. Wilder, Jr. Brooks Kimball. 1858. Brooks Kimball. Gyles Merrill. 1859. William McCrea.

Samuel Walker. 1860. John J. Hanson. Chas. C. Kimball. 1861. Harvey Abbott. Chas. C. Kimball. 1862. Harvey Abbott. Benj. Whipple. 1863. Benj. Whipple. John M. Glidden. 1864. John M. Glidden. Horace Hubbard. 1865. Horace Hubbard. Charles H. West. 1866. William Dana. Charles Gay.

1867. William Dana. Charles Gay. 1868. William Dana. Nath. W. Howard.

1869. Nath. W. Howard. F. W. Putnam.

1870. George Olcott. Abel Hunt.

1871. George W. Hoyt. Herbert B. Viall. 1873. Ira M. Perry. Matt. W. Green. 1874. No Rep. elected. 1875. Chas. C. Kimball. Nath. W. Howard. 1876. Chas. C. Kimball. Nath. W. Howard.

1877. Lorin H. Royce. Brooks Kimball.

1878. Lorin H. Royce. Brooks Kimball. 1879. Samuel Walker. 1880. Robert R. Allen. 1881. Robert R. Allen. 1882. George H. Messer. 1883. George HI. Messer.

1884. R. W. Robinson. 1885. R. W. Robinson.

HISTORY OF CLAREMONT.

BY OTIS F. R. WAITE.

CHAPTER I.

THE town of Claremont is bounded on the north by Cornish, east by Croydon and Newport, south by Unity and Charlestown and west by Weathers- field, Vt. The principal village is situated about three and a half miles due east from Connecticut River, occupies a large and varied area, and through it runs Sugar River. It is not pretended that the following is a complete history of this town. The space allowed in this work, though liberal in com- parison with that given to some other towns, does not admit of a full history. Many topics are not touched upon at all, while others are pretty fully treated. The facts have been gathered from rec- ords, public documents, traditions and every avail- able reliable source, all of which has been freely used-many times without credit being given. With old records incomplete and imperfect, and many traditions lost or buried with the remains of the earlier inhabitants, this sketch is perhaps as accurate as any that could be made at this time.

in the courts of New York, were invariably decided against the defendants. Long and bitter contro- versies arose, and the sturdy settlers, determined not to yield, resorted to arms in defense of their estates. Acts of violence were frequent, and the officers of New York often found the physical power was on the side of the settlers. There were among the inhabitants many daring, intrepid men, ready to encounter danger, if necessary, and by no means scrupulous of the observance of " points of law," as settled by the courts of New York.

The early settlers of New Hampshire, especially the western portion of the province, as well as those of Vermont, were not, like the Plymouth colonists, actuated solely in their enterprises by religious motives. Their association consisted pri- marily more in the regulations of mercantile con- panies than in civil legislation ; though, from the necessity of the case, the latter became their con- dition in the process of time. . Speculation and the acquisition of wealth formed the basis of their move- ments; and it is thought that, judged in accord- ance with the principles of sound morality and law, their acts would in some instances have been considered oppressive and unjust. The institutions of religion were not disregarded. In many cases, among the first of their legislative corporate acts was the providing for a minister "to come and settle among" them. Particularly was this the case with the first settlers of Claremont.

The territory on the westerly side of Connecticut River, which had been granted by Governor Went- worth, having been declared to be beyond the jurisdiction of the province of New Hampshire, the government of New York resorted to many methods to dispossess all those who had derived their titles from Governor Wentworth. Officers were sent among them, commanding them to de- liver up their premises ; landlords claimed rent, Soon after the Declaration of American Inde- and attempted to collect it; actions were com- | pendence the inhabitants of the territory in ques- menced against the occupants, which, being brought tion assembled to take into consideration their

CLAREMONT.

peculiar condition, and to provide means of safety. The situation of the country created, as they be- lieved, a radical change in their political connec- tions. By the dissolution of the bonds which had subjected America to the rule of Great Britain, they imagined that all acts sanctioned by the authority of the mother-country were abrogated, and no longer binding; and hence, concerning themselves free from the government of New York, to which they had never willingly submitted, and being, as they declared, " reduced to a state of na- ture," they insisted that they had a right to form such ass ciation as was agreeable to themselves. Accordingly, they made the declaration that " they would at all times consider themselves as a free and independent State, capable of regulating their own internal police ; that they had the sole, ex- clusive right of governing themselves in such man- ner as they should choose, not repugnant to the resolves of Congress; and that they were ready to contribute their proportion to the common de- fense." Guided by these principles, they adopted a plan of government, established a code of laws and petitioned Congress to receive them into the Union.

The inhabitants of the eastern valley of the Connecticut River, both on account of location and sympathy, were strongly inclined to unite with those on the western side in the formation of a new State. They claimed that the original grant to Captain John Mason was limited by the line drawn at a distance of sixty miles from the sea ; that all the lands westward of that line were royal grants, which, being under the jurisdiction of New Hampshire merely by the force of the royal commission, were vacated by the assumed independence of the American colonies, and therefore, that all the inhabitants of this territory had " reverted to a state of nature." By this it was understood that each town retained its corporate unity, but was wholly disconnected from any superior jurisdiction. They made a dis- tinction between commissions derived from the King, revocable at his pleasure, and incorpora- tions granted on certain conditions, which con-

ditions having been performed, the powers and privileges incident to or resulting from the corporate bodies were perpetual.

They asserted that when the power of the King had been rejected and no longer recognized, the only legal authority remaining was vested in their town incorporations, and that the majority of each town had a right to control the minority. These views, however, did not meet with universal approval. Sixteen of the towns along the eastern bank of the Connecticut were in favor of the union with those on the western, and, having presented a petition to the new State, which had assumed the name of Vermont requested that they might be received into union with it, and alleged that "they were not connected with any State with respect to their internal police." After much strife these sixteen towns were received, the Assembly of Vermont having passed a resolution that other towns on the eastern side of Connecti- cut River might be admitted on procuring a vote of a majority of the inhabitants, as in the election of a representative.

In 1778 great effort was made to secure the favor of Claremont and other towns below in behalf of this movement, but without success. The towns thus admitted gave notice to the govern- ment of New Hampshire, and expressed their desire for an amicable adjustment of a jurisdic- tional line and a friendly interchange. Bitter animosities and confusion were the offspring of this act. The President of New Hampshire, as the Executive was then styled, resorted to per- suasion and threats in order to reclaim the seceders. Vermont was slow to give up an acquisition so valuable, and at last both parties appealed to Congress for aid. After long delay, Congress declared it an " indispensable prelimi- nary " to the admission of Vermont as a member of the United States, that she should "explicitly relinquish all demands of lands and jurisdiction on the east side of Connecticut River and on the west side of a line drawn twenty miles eastward of Hudson's River to Lake Champlain."

This resolution being laid before the Assembly

HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

of Vermont, in session at Charlestown, they voted to " remain firm in the principles on which they had first assumed government, and to hold the articles of union inviolate; that they would not submit the question of their independence to the arbitrament of any power whatever; but they were willing at present to refer the question of their jurisdictional boundary to commissioners mutually chosen ; and when they should be ad- mitted into the American Union, they would submit any such disputes to Congress."

This state of things produced, as it naturally would, deep resentment between the people of New Hampshire and Vermont, which, on slight occasion, would break forth in acts of hostility. An example is furnished in an affray which had its beginning at Chesterfield in 1781. A constable, under authority of Vermont, had a writ against a man favorable to the interests of New Hampshire, and went in pursuit of him. He found him in a dwelling-house, surrounded by his friends, and attempted to arrest him. The owner of the house interfered and ordered the officer to depart. The constable produced a book, which he said contained the laws of Vermont, and began to read. The householder commanded him to desist. Threatening words followed, and, finally, the officer was compelled to retire. Under a writ issued by a Vermont justice, the householder and another of the company were arrested and com- mitted to prison at Charlestown. The prisoners sent a petition to the Assembly of New Hamp- shire for relief. The Assembly authorized the Committee of Safety to direct the sheriff of Cheshire County to relieve the prisoners ; and, further, empowered the committee to cause to be committed to prison, in any of the counties, all persons acting under the pretended authority of the State of Vermont, to be tried by the courts of those counties where they might be confined ; and for this purpose sheriff's were directed to raise the posse comitatus.

The sheriff of Cheshire County, in the attempt to release the two prisoners, was himself arrested and imprisoned by the Vermont sheriff.

impris ned sheriff now appealed to a brigadier- general of New Hampshire to raise the militia for his liberation. The Vermonters were aroused, and the Governor immediately issued orders to his militia to repel the "invaders." A committee from Vermont was sent to Exeter "to agree on measures to prevent hostilities." One of the com- mittee was the Vermont sheriff, who was immedi- ately arrested, thrown into prison at Exeter and held as a hostage for the release of the sheriff' of Cheshire.

There were many instances of collisions and open violence, in attempts of officers from each of the two States to collect the taxes and enforce other restrictions upon the people. Such was the menacing aspect of affairs at this juncture that Congress, from motives of general policy, deter- mined to settle the difficulties, if possible. General Washington wrote the Governor of Vermont, ad- vising the relinquishment of the late extension of boundary, as an indispensable pre-requisite to the admission of Vermont into the Union, and inti- mating that, upon non-compliance, coercion on the part of Congress, however disagreeable, would be necessary. The effect of this letter was salutary. The Assembly of Vermont, in the absence of the members from the east side of Connecticut River, passed a vote approving the " preliminary," and resolved that " the western bank of Connecticut River, on the one part, and a line drawn from the northwest corner of Massachusetts northward to Lake Champlain, on the other part, be the eastern and western boundaries of the State of Vermont ; and that they relinquish all elaim of jurisdiction without these limits."

The members of the Assembly from the east side of the river, finding themselves thus virtually cut off from the legislative body, took their leave with chagrin and feelings of resentment. Though excluded from their recent connection, the excluded towns did not at once peaceably place themselves under their former jurisdiction, but for some time continued to keep alive the difficulties and ani- mosities which had so long existed. During these The strifes the courts of New Hampshire had held

CLAREMONT.

their regular sessions, with but little opposition, though the officers of Vermont claimed and exe- cuted jurisdiction in the same territory ; but when the latter were deprived of authority by the act of the Assembly of Vermont, a spirit of resistance against the former became apparent.

In September, 1782, during the sitting of the Inferior Court at Keene, several persons attempted to stop its proceedings, and succeeded in effecting an adjournment. Three of the leaders were arrested and bound over to the Superior Court. Meanwhile, efforts were being made to resist and overpower the Superior Court. Reports were circulated that two hundred men had combined and armed themselves for that purpose. On the morning of the opening of the court several of the leaders went to the chambers of the court and presented a petition, praying "that the court might be adjourned, and that no judicial proceed- ings might be had while the troubles in which the county had been involved still subsisted." They were told that the judges could come to no de- cision upon the subject but in open court. The court was opened in due time, the petition was publicly read and its consideration postponed to the next day. The court then proceeded to its business. The grand jury were impaneled, and, with open doors, the attorney-general laid before them the case of the rioters at the Inferior Court. A bill was found against them; they were arraigned, pleaded guilty and threw themselves upon the mercy of the court. The court remitted their punishment on condition of future peaceable behavior.

This method of firmness and lenity at once dis- armed the disturbers, and they quietly dispersed. From this time the spirit of insubordination gradually died away, and the people quietly returned to their allegiance to New Hampshire.

New Hampshire was first settled in 1628, by Edward and William Hilton, brothers, from London, and David Thompson, from Scotland. For eighteen years after the first settlement the people in the several plantations were governed by agents appointed by the proprietors, or by

magistrates chosen by themselves. In 1641 they were united with Massachusetts, and so continued until 1680, when New Hampshire became a royal province, and continued a provincial government until the Revolution, with the exception of the interim from 1688 to 1692, when the people, in consequence of the disorders and confusion which attended the short but oppressive administration of Sir Edmund Andros, again placed themselves under the protection of Massachusetts. Massa- chusetts was made a province in 1692, and the same person was Governor of both provinces from 1699 to 1741, when a separate Governor was ap- pointed for New Hampshire; and this was the beginning of Governor Benning Wentworth's administration He was a son of Lieutenant Governor Wentworth, " was a merchant of good reputation in Portsmouth, and well beloved by his people." He had represented his town in the Assembly several years, and had been a member of the Council.

During the commotions excited by the Stamp Act he was careful not to make himself con- spicuous in the ranks of either party. At that time he had been in the executive chair twenty- five years, and expected that his successor would soon be appointed. The long term of his adminis- tration gives reason to believe that his acts, as a whole, were not oppressive or dissatisfactory to the people. He had become quite wealthy, though it was not charged that he filled his coffers by extortions from the people. His grants of land, profuse and unauthorized, perhaps, in some instances, proved to be of great advantage to New Hampshire in filling up her waste places with industrious and enterprising men, and in laying the foundation for that prosperity which, ever since his day, has marked the progress of the State. Under his administration the town of Claremont was incorporated.

It is stated in the New Hampshire Gazetteer, published at Concord, by Jacob B. Moore, in 1823, that Claremont was granted, October 28, 1764, to Josiah Willard, Samuel Ashley and sixty-eight others, and received its name from the

HISTORY OF SULLIVAN COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

country-seat of Lord Clive, an English general. The following is a verbatim copy of the charter from the proprietors' book of records :

" PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.

" George the Third, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.

"To all persons to whom these Presents shall come greeting, know ye that we of our Especial Grace certain knowledge and mere Motion for the Due Encouragement of Settling a New Plantation within our s'd Province, by and with the Advice of our Trusty and well Beloved Benning Wentworth, Esqr., our Governor and Commander-in-chief of s'd Prov- ince of New Hampshire, in New England, and of our Council of the s'd Province, have, upon the Con- ditions and Reservations hereinafter made, given and Granted, and, by these presents, for us, our heirs and Successors, Do give and grant in Equal Shares unto our loving subjects, Inhabitants of s'd Province of New Hampshire and our other Government, and to their Heirs and Assigees forever whose names are entered in this Grant, to be divided to and amongst them into 75 Equal Shares, all the Tract or Parcel of Land Situate, Lying and Being within our s'd Prov- ince of New Hampshire, containing, by admeasure- ment, 24,000 acres, which Tract is to Contain about Six Miles square and no More, out of which an allowance is to Be made for highways and unim- proved Lands, by Rocks, Ponds, Mountains and Rivers, 1040 acres, free, according to a Plan and Survey thereof made by our Said Governor's order and returned into ye Secretary's office, and hereunto Annexed, Butted and Bounded as Follows (viz.) : Beginning at a marked Tree Standing on the Easterly Bank of Connecticut River, which is in the Northwesterly Corner bounds of Charlestown; from thence running South 78° Easterly about 6 miles, and one-half mile to the Southwesterly angle of New- port ; from thence Turning off and running North 8° Easterly about 5 miles, and seven-eighths of a mile by Newport, aforesaid, to the Southwesterly angle of Cornish ; thence turning off again and running North 77° Westerly about 6 miles, by Cornish, aforesaid, to Connecticut River, aforesaid ; thence Down the said River, as that runs, to the Bound Begun at, together with the Islands lying in the Said River opposite to the Premises, and that the same be and hereby is Incorporated into the Township by ye name of

CLAREMONT, and the Inhabitants that Do or shall henceforth Inhabit the said Township are hereby Declared to be Enfranchised with and Entitled To, all and Every, the Privileges and Immunities that other Towns within our Province by Law Exercise and Enjoy, and Further, that the s'd Town, as soon as there shall Be fifty Families Resident and Settled thereon, shall have the Liberty of holding two Fairs, one of which shall be on the - - and the other

in the -- -, annually, which Fairs are not to be continued longer than the --. Following the said, and that, as soon as the said Town shall consist of Fifty Families, a market May be opened and kept one or more Days in Each Week, as may be thought most advantageous to the Inhabitants; also, that the First meeting for the choice of Town Officers, agree- able to the Law of our said Province, shall be held on ye Second Tuesday of March Next, which s'd Meeting shall be Notified by Samuel Ashley, who is hereby appointed the Moderator of s'd first Meeting, which he is to Notify and Govern agreeably to Law and Customs of our s'd Province, and that the annual Meeting forever hereafter for the Choice of such officers for the said Town shall be on the Second Tuesday of March, annually, To HAVE AND TO HOLD the s'd Tract of land as above Expressed, together with all the Privileges and Appurtenances to them, and their Representative Heirs and Assigees forever, upon the following conditions (viz.) :

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History of Cheshire and Sullivan counties, New Hampshire, Part 99

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