History of Coos County, New Hampshire, Part 11

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Syracuse [N.Y.] : W. A. Fergusson
Number of Pages: 1194

USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > History of Coos County, New Hampshire > Part 11

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).

" EDW'DS BUCKNAM, " EMMONS STOCKWELL, ---

" FRANCIS WILLSON, " JOSAPHI PEVERLY,

"JER'M EAMES,

"ELIJAH HINMAN,

"JAMES BROWN.

Select Men for Northumberland, Lancaster, and Stratford.

Petition for a new county, 1791.

"To the Honorable the General Court of the State of New Hampshire-The petition of the In- habitants of Lancaster in the Coanty of Grafton

" Humbly Sheweth

" That your Petitioners live at the distance of near sixty miles from the nearest shire Town in this County

"That a very considerable part of the Inhabitants of this part of the County live above us and are under similar disadvantages with us,

"That the Roads to Haverhill our nearest shire Town are exceedingly bad and at some seasons of the year impassable, Wherefore we your petitioners pray that we may be seperated from the said County of Grafton and made a new County by a line drawn from Connecticut River between the Towns of Concord alias Gunthwait and Littleton and on Eastward taking in the Towns of Con- way Eaton &e to the Province line so eall'd and we as in duty bound shall ever pray-

" Lancaster Nov'r 22nd 1791.

REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD AND EARLY ROADS.

" Edw'ds Bucknam, William Brnce, Stephen Willson, Jeremiah Willcox, Emmons Stockwell, Robert Gotam, Francis Willson, Joseph Bruce, Jonas Wilder, junur, Asaph Darby, Jonas Baker, Jonathan Cram, Edward Spaulding, Will'm Moore, Joseph Brackett, Ephraim Wilder, John Weeks, Jon'a Hartwell, Nathan Lovewell, Joseph Wilder, Samuel Johnson, Dennis Stanley, Isaac Darby, Phinehas Bruce, Elisha Wilder, John Rosbrook, Ezra Reves, Benj'a Twombly, Walter Philbrook, Moses Page, John Mackintire, Abijah Darby, Bradfor Sanderson, Zadock Samson, Jonathan Ros, Daniel How, David Stockwell, Daniel Chany, John Wilder. Jonas Wilder, Manas- seb Wilder, Charles Rosbrook, David Page, James Twombly, Coffin Moore, Phinehas Hodgdon, William Johnson,"

President Dwight came to Lancaster on horseback in 1797. He says the roads were good from Haverhill to Concord (Lisbon). "Here he first found ' causeys' or 'corduroy ' roads (not in good repair)." He came up the Ammonoosuc until he reached what is now Littleton village, when they commenced ascending the mountains of that town toward Dalton. "The mire was often so stiff and so deep that our horses scarcely strug- gled through it. The roots, also, the stumps, rocks, stones, and ' causeys ' multiplied upon us in almost every part of our progress." The road con- tinued "on the same mountainous ground, and embarrassed with the same disagreeable circumstances " until within six miles of Lancaster. Of the Dalton mountains he says that "the height and rudeness of these moun- tains must prove a serious obstruction to all traveling for pleasure from the country below to the country above." Going from Lancaster through Jefferson, via "Rosebrook's" and the "Notch." he makes no complaint of bad roads, except that the first two miles of the " Notch " is so steep as to make riding on horseback seriously inconvenient, but says from Bart- lett to Conway they passed " through a good road."

This alone is sufficient to show that the communication between "Upper Coos " and the Saco valley and points below was much easier than with Haverhill, and shows why the people were so anxious to be united with Conway in a new county.

In his account of his visit to Canada line in 1803, Dr. Dwight says the roads in Stratford exhibit strong indications of a lax and inefficient spirit in some of the inhabitants. Through Wales Gore, between Strat- ford and Cockburn (Columbia), the road was very imperfectly made. In Cockburn "for so new a settlement well wrought, dry and hard." Through Cockburn and Colebrook and Stewart the road is very good. The most important legislation for Coös county in its early existence was the incor- poration of the Tenth New Hampshire Turnpike from the west line of Bartlett through the Notch of the White Hills. This was done December 28, 1803. The distance was twenty miles, and the expense of building it $40,000. This furnished an avenue to the seaports, and became one of the best paying roads in all northern New Hampshire. Until the advent of railroads, this was the great outlet of Coos county, and the thoroughfare over which its merchandise came from Portland. In win-

HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

ter, often. lines of teams from Coös, over half a mile in length, might be seen going down with tough Canadian horses harnessed to "pungs " or sleighs, loaded with pot or pearl ash, butter, cheese, pork, lard, and peltry, returning with well assorted loads of merchandise, or filling the caravan- saries of Crawford, Rosebrook, and others with a wild hilarity. Before this time most of the incorporated towns were well provided with roads; but wagons, carriages, and "one-horse chaises " could not roll along their level surfaces with as much enjoyment to the occupant as can be taken to-day, until about 1820.

The Jefferson Turnpike, fourteen miles in length, from Lancaster through Jefferson, Bretton Woods to the Tenth Turnpike, was incorpo- rated December 11, 1804, and cost $18, 400, and was of much value to the "North Country."

As early as 1803 a road had been laid out from Colebrook to Hallowell, Me., ninety miles, via Dixville Notch, Errol, etc., but for years nothing came of it. The following by J. W. Weeks, concerning the roads of Lan- caster is of value :-

" What seemed to impress the first settlers most was the matter of roads. Hardly a meeting of the proprietors took place without some action upon this matter. First to look out and mark roads. March 12, 1767, a committee was appointed, consisting of David Page, Timothy Nash, Edwards Bucknam, and two others, to look out and mark the road to 'Piewackett (Conway), to the Androscoggin, and to the nearest settlement on the Connecticut River.' Whether the roads followed for many years after were marked by this committee is unknown. But roads were marked out and the routes followed, sometimes near where the present highways run, but in many places very different. The remains of rude bridges, corduroys and their like, mark the course of some of them to day. The route down the river from the head of the island or .Stockwell's Bridge,' has evidently never been changed, but the road to Picwackett, through Dartmouth (Jeffer- son), has been changed more than once. The first road followed close upon the bank of Israel's river to Jefferson Mills, thence to . Whipple's Meadow,' (Jefferson Meadows); the next followed the high ground, considerably west of the present road, to Jefferson Mills. These roads can still be traced. The route to Ameroscoggin passed over the hills east of the river and connected with the present road near Geo. W, Webster's, and passing through Jefferson, ran some twenty-five rods east of Samuel Mardin's and William J. Chamberlain, passing near the Waumbek and high up the hill beyond. The first road to Northumberland, after leaving North street, passed near the top of the high bank, by the house of E. D. Stockwell, and striking the bank of the river near Capt. A. M. Beattie's, thence following the river bank to near the Northumberland line.

" These roads or highways were rude affairs, often very crooked, and passing over high hills for the sake of dry ground, very little attempt being made for drainage. The small streams and swampy places were passed by ' corduroys,' that is by laying two parallel timbers lengthwise of the road, six or seven feet apart, and covering them with cross-timbers or poles laid crosswise, cut eight feet long. These roads sufficed for the time, as there was little transportation over them ex- cept on horseback, and by sleds in winter. They were usually, however, wide enough and firm enough for ox carts, and for the lumbering two-horse wagons. The use of the plow and scraper was probably as great an event as was that of the road machine, later.

" The road down the river seems to have called forth the greatest solicitude. In all the peti- tions for a new county from 1790 to 1805, it was set forth that the roads were nearly impassable, as a principal cause why this northern section be set off. The road to Conway was evidently made passable quite early. Col. Whipple was said to have come to Jefferson in 1764, and he, without doubt, came through the Notch. Nash and Sawyer's Location was granted in 1773,

SURVEY OF MAINE BOUNDARY, &C.

for building a road through that traet, and in 1786, in petitioning the Legislature for assistance, it was set forth that the road was out of repair from recent freshets, indicating there was a road previously. At that time a committee was appointed to sell State lands and build and repair roads. Large tracts of land were sold at extremely low prices, from time to time, and if the road was built it did not stay built. After more than ten years a sort of settlement with the committee was effected by the Legislature. The gentlemen got their discharge and most of the land, but the public no road, or a very poor one. The age of turnpikes had now arrived, and in 1803 the tenth New Hampshire turnpike was chartered, twenty miles through the Notch, and built at great expense. The following year the Jefferson turnpike was chartered. some fourteen miles, to the Rosebrook place. This road was well laid out and splendidly built. Up Israel's river it was straight as a line, was well drained, and worked twenty-two feet wide, in such a manner as to seem to defy the effects of time. From the time of building these roads Coös peo- ple had as good highways to Conway as could be maintained through the Notch, till the time of the great freshet, in 1826.

" Prior to the four wheeled carriage, which was about 1822, the ordinary road was not much better than a bridle-path, although passable for the chaise, ox cart and team wagon."

CHAPTER XII.

SURVEY AND MARKING OF NEW HAMPSHIRE AND MAINE BOUNDARY.

Boundary Surveys-Smuggling, Etc., 1812-1815-Boundary Commissions-" Indian Stream Territory "-Indian Stream War-Musters and Militia.

T HE report of the commissioners appointed by King George, in Coun- cil of February 22, 1735, and confirmed by his order of August 5, 1740, established " that the dividing line between the two provinces (N. H. & Mass.) shall pass up through the mouth of Piscataqua Harbor, and up the middle of the river Newichwannock, (part of which is now called Salmon Falls, ) and through the middle of the same, to the farthest head thereof, and that said dividing line shall part the Isles of . Sholes ' and run through the middle of the Harbor, between the Islands to the Sea, on the southerly side. &c.," and, in 1740, a survey was made in accordance thereto. Again, in 1789, the line was run and marked by spotting trees, in the then wilderness. from the head of Salmon Falls river to the High- lands of Canada. The course of the line thus run was, north 6 degrees east, and is the same line familiarly known to the residents thereon as the "Province Line."

In 1820, Maine, until then a portion of Massachusetts, became a state. and the boundary line between Maine and New Hampshire had become so obliterated and uncertain in its location, that in 1827 the two states appointed a commission to " ascertain, survey and mark, the line between

HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

the States of New Hampshire and Maine, and to erect suitable monuments to designate it as the true boundary line of said States." Hon. Ichabod Bartlett, of Portsmouth, and Hon. John W. Weeks, of Lancaster, were appointed commissioners for New Hampshire, and Hon. William King, and Hon. Rufus McIntire, commissioners for Maine. Work was commenced October 1, 1827. at the head of Salmon Falls river, and the line run that fall forty-seven miles, to the Androscoggin river. The next year the line was completed to the Canada Highlands. Three stone monuments were erected north of the Androscoggin river, and the rest of the way the line was shown by marked or spotted trees. The spots on the trees became effaced and destroyed by fires, by wind, and natural growth, and the clear- ings of the settlers. For years surveyors could not follow it save by com- pass, as for miles there were no marks in many places. Disputes arose in consequence, and owners of wild and timber land were in doubt as to their boundaries. To rectify this, New Hampshire and Maine, in 1858, created another commission "to ascertain, survey, and mark the dividing line between said States, from Fryeburg to the Canada line." Henry O. Kent, of Lancaster, was appointed commissioner for this state, and John M. Wil- son by Maine. The boundary to be established nearly all lay in an unbroken wilderness, and extended about eighty miles in length. During the con- tinuance of the work the weather was unfavorable in the extreme. In a space of thirty-eight days, including the stormy weather, in a country where supplies could not be had, with a small force, the line was run by the commissioners personally, a series of monuments erected, and a per- manent line between the two commonwealths established, at an expense which must be considered economical when the magnitude and importance of the work is considered. The survey was commenced in September, 1858. James S. Brackett and John G. Lewis, of Lancaster, were assist- ants, and Adjutant-General Joseph C. Abbott, of Manchester, was a vol- unteer member of the company.

The line was marked by the erection of stone monuments at all road crossings and noticeable points where none before existed, and by retouch- ing the old monuments. Many large and prominent trees were blazed and marked on either side "N. H." "M .. " and the names of various members of the party were added, together with the date, "1858."

Aside from the monuments described above, the whole course of the line was marked by spotting the old marked trees, and all others on the route, and by marking the spots with a double cross, thus X. and the under brush was cleared away so as to enable one to follow the line by a continual observance of the spots.

It is believed that the line above described is now sufficiently marked and designated to afford a distinguishable and permanent dividing line,

SURVEY OF MAINE BOUNDARY, &C.

which will subserve all the purposes of the two states equally as a more expensive system.

The treaty of 1733 defined the northwest boundary of New Hampshire as " the most northwestern head of the Connecticut river." The country was wild and unsurveyed. The British considered that their title under this treaty extended down to the forty-fifth parallel of latitude, and the real head of the Connecticut, while New Hampshire did not concern itself with the subject. In 1789, however. Col Jeremiah Eames was on a com- mission appointed by the legislature to survey and establish the boundaries between Maine, New Hampshire, and Lower Canada, and his journal shows that they made the head of Hall's stream, the northwest bound of this state, and established it by suitable monuments. Hall's stream is the north- western branch of the Connecticut, and this survey brought all the land between Hall's stream and Connecticut river, including the fertile valley of Indian stream, within this state. The advantages of this region becom- ing known, in 1789 two settlers made their homes on Indian stream. Others followed, led hither by the richness of the soil; others, to seek in this remote district an asylum from pressing creditors or punishment for crime.

Smuggling, etc .- In 1812 this territory was the paradise of smugglers, who could readily bring from the closely-lying Canadian settlements the most valuable articles into the "States," without the slightest fear of hin- drance from the far-off, older New Hampshire settlements.

The history of smuggling as carried on between this country and Canada from the enactment of the embargo at the close of 1507, and especially from the enactment of the more stringent non-intercourse law of 1810. to the declaration of war in 1812, and even, to a greater or less extent, to the proclamation of peace in 1815, is a portion of our annals almost wholly unwritten. The upper towns of New Hampshire and Vermont. from the close contiguity to Montreal and Quebec, the only importing cities of Canada, afforded the most tempting facilities and the best chances for success, while the high price of beef and cattle in the Provinces was a great allurement to the Coos farmer whose fat herds were almost valueless in the home market. The Federalists or opponents of the Administration were in a large majority in this section, and they could see no harm in selling cattle at a good profit on Canadian soil, while not all friends of the Government could resist the inducements offered. A man, also, could readily bring hundreds of dollars of silks and satins in his pack, and an Indian sledge in winter would carry ten times as many of the same valuable commodities through the woods. No one would be the wiser except the accomplice, who lived this side of the line, and knew how to secrete and take to market the rich goods. This

HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

illegal trade attained such proportions that the United States stationed a detachment of militia at Stewartstown to suppress it in 1812.

Canaan and West Stewartstown were often centers of wild excitement, and, along the line, almost an incessant campaign and warfare existed, for years, between the custom-house officers and their assistants, with their reserve force of U. S. soldiers, and the smugglers and their friends, both parties being armed "to the teeth." In these skirmishes many were at different times killed outright; many more were missing, even on the side of the officials, for whom dark fates were naturally conjectured; while others, on both sides, were crippled or otherwise seriously wounded. As nearly seventy-five years have passed since these occurrences, it is impos- sible to accurately detail them or the motives of the actors. We find no source of information but tradition, and that is so affected by ties of con- sanguinity, personal feeling and partisan animosity as to render it an unsafe guide. Reference must be made, however, to some matters, which, even to this day, are kept fresh in the mind of the public. In September, 1813, Samuel Beach, of Canaan, Vt., owning and operating a saw-mill in Canada, obtained a permit to take over oxen. The officers were informed that more cattle were taken over than were brought back, and that they were sold to the British. One day, Oliver Ingham, United States custom officer, instructed Lieutenant John Dennett in charge of the militia guard- ing the line not to allow Beach to take over any more cattle. Beach soon attempted to cross the line with a yoke of oxen, and Dennett forbade his doing so. He endeavored to go on, however, and finally was shot dead. Dennett was arrested by the civil authorities for murder and confined in jail at Guildhall. He escaped the next spring, and the friends of Beach made search for him, and in August following surprised him while cutting wood for his camp. He was shot in the back and disabled, then brought out of the woods, placed in a two-horse wagon and driven rapidly over the rough roads to Guildhall, where he soon died. Many believe that he was most inhumanly treated by his captors, and maliciously abused while on the road to Guildhall.

The Federal Government now sent Capt. Hodson with a company of regular soldiers to relieve the militia. Capt. Hodson soon stopped the smuggling and the treasonable acts and utterances. He arrested Saunders W. Cooper, one of the militia, who was a nephew of Beach, and sent him to Windsor, Vt., to be tried for treason. He was accused of being a smug- gler, and of having joined the militia that he might give assistance to those desiring to aid the enemy. He was not tried, however, on account of his youth and the close of the war, and, after his death, years later, his widow obtained a pension for his services as a soldier. The smugglers and their friends hated Hodson, and once, while he was at Lancaster, they endeavored to get hold of him by arresting him for some alleged breach of

SURVEY OF MAINE BOUNDARY, &C.

the civil law. He was aware of their object, however, and had a suffi- cient number of soldiers with him to frustrate their designs. He was an . able officer, and, later, a prominent citizen of Maine.

Indian Stream Territory and War .- In 1819 the British and Ameri- can commissioners attempted to jointly establish the boundary line between Canada and this state, but they could not agree. The American commis- sioners held to Eames' survey and Hall's stream as the bound made by the treaty, while the British commissioners contended for lines according to their construction. From the survey in 1789, the settlers here had known nothing else than that they were in New Hampshire territory, and, so far as they were amenable to any law, acknowledged that of this state. In consequence of this disagreement, the Canadian local authorities claimed all the land west of Indian stream, one-half of "Indian Stream Territory." The Provincial government of Canada at one time located a township on this territory and called it "Drayton;" built a road from Hall's Stream to Indian Stream, and assumed occupancy. The lawless element before mentioned was still in large force, and, as it was more con- venient for their personal safety to be out of the jurisdiction of American law, many advocated the Canadian claim. Up to this time New Hamp- shire officers had served the processes of New Hampshire courts, and the majority of the settlers were faithful to this state.

In 1824 Indian Stream Territory was inhabited by about fifty-eight set- tlers, who, with their families, made a population of 285 persons, having about $47 acres under improvement. These settlers claimed, under certain Indian deeds, the principal of which was that of Philip, an old chief of the St. Francis tribe, dated 1796. The general government as early as that time prohibited purchases of land from the Indians; but it was claimed that the grantors living without the jurisdiction of the United States, made this case an exception to the rule. By the convention of 1827, the ques- tion of the whole northeastern boundary was referred to the King of the Netherlands, whose award in respect to this part of the line threw this whole tract upon the Canada side. But, as " the head of the Connecticut," which he adopted, did not approach the highlands, the people of New Hampshire were dissatisfied, and, as the award was rejected by the United States, the whole question was left open to further difficulty.

In 1820 the state, owing to the settlers here resisting process issuing in Coös county, of which the tract was regarded as forming a part, had asserted a title and a jurisdiction, by a resolution directing the attorney- general to proceed against intruders; and again, in 1824, by an express declaratory act, in which also it released title to every actual settler of two hundred acres, reserving, of course, all other portions to itself.

The settlement, in 1830, numbered ninety voters, and there was a large enough number of disaffected men to lead them to talk of resistance to 7

HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

the long acknowledged authority. The two great powers had agreed, that, until the boundary question should be settled, neither should extend their jurisdiction over the disputed lands. The Canadian officers continued their attempts at control, and even compelled some of the people to do military duty in 1831. Those loyal to this state were alarmed, and applied to their friends below for help, which was not readily forthcoming, and an inde- pendent government was mooted. At this juncture, two Federal customs officers threw a firebrand into this combustible mass by exacting duties from all the Indian Stream people who brought produce into New Hamp- shire or Vermont, thus declaring them beyond the United States. These illegal and ill advised measures excited the people intensely, and gave the discontented a good chance to work in the interests of Canada. A majority of the inhabitants concluded, however, to form an independent govern- ment to be in force until the boundary was decided. July 9, 1832, the · voters of the disputed tract met, by notification, formed the government of " The United Inhabitants of Indian Stream Territory," adopted a con- stitution, which created an assembly and a council. The new government- determined to resist the service of processes from New Hampshire courts. Hon. John H. White, sheriff of Coos county, hearing of this, detailed the state of affairs as he heard them to the secretary of state at Concord, and asked instructions. The governor and council called for the opinion of the attorney-general, and a copy of this, asserting jurisdiction over, and right to, the territory, with a letter from the governor, saying the laws should be executed in Indian Stream, was sent to Sheriff White, who thus informed the residents and officials of Indian Stream. This was in Decem- ber, 1834, and had its effect with the people until Alexander Rea. a justice of Hereford, L. C., who lived near the disputed ground, and who had been active in fomenting strife, advised resistance; under his influence, and with the expected aid of the province, the people voted to resist the laws of this state, and abide by their constitution and laws. March 12, 1835, Deputy Sheriff William M. Smith, from Colebrook, attempted to arrest C. J. Haines and Reuben Sawyer, and was violently beaten and driven from the Territory by several men. March 13, Milton Harvey and an assistant were assaulted while trying to attach some property, and also driven from the Territory. Wild reports came down to Lancaster of this resistence; it was asserted that the Territory was organizing a military force, had made an alliance with Indians for war, and were building a block-house for an intrenchment, under the name of "jail."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Coos County, New Hampshire, Part 11

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Syracuse [N.Y.] : W. A. Fergusson Number of Pages: 1194

Author: Merrill, Georgia Drew
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Syracuse [N.Y.] : W. A. Fergusson
Number of Pages: 1194