History of Coos County, New Hampshire, Part 9

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

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" Sunday, June 30th .- This morning exceeding rainy weather, and it rained all the night past, and continued raining until twelve of the clock this day; and after that, it was fair weather, and we marched up Connecticut River; and our course we made good this day was about five miles, east by north, and there came to a large stream, which came from the southeast. Thisriver is about three rods wide, and we called it Stark's River, by reason of Ensign John Stark's being found (captured) by the Indians at the mouth of this river. [This is John's river.] It comes into the Connecticut at the foot of the upper interval, and thence we travelled up the interval about seven miles, and came to a large river which came from the southeast; and it is about five rods wide. Here we concluded to go no further with the full scout, by reason of our provisions being almost all spent; and almost all our men had worn out their shoes. This river we called Powers' River, it being the camping place at the end of our journey; and there we camped by the river. [The river they named Powers' river is Israel's river.]

"Tuesday, July 2d .- This morning fair weather, and we thought proper to mend our shoes, and to return homeward; and accordingly we went about the same; and whilst the men were this way engaged, the captain, with two of his men, marched up the river to see what further discov- eries they could make, and they travelled about five miles, and there they discovered where the Indians had a large camping place, and had been making canoes, and had not been gone above one or two days at most; and so they returned to the rest of the men again about twelve of the clock; and then we returned. and marched down the river to Stark's River, and there camped. This afternoon it rained hard, but we were forced to travel for want of provisions. This interval is exceedingly large, and the farther up the larger. The general course of this river is from north- east by east as far as the interval extends. [The captain and his two men penetrated, probably, as far as Hay Camp meadow, in the north part of Lancaster, and travelled nearly 140 miles beyond the habitations of civilized men. At Hay Camp meadow, or below, they first fell upon the trail of Indians, where they had, probably, been preparing canoes to descend upon the frontier settle- ments.]

" Wednesday, July 3d .- This morning cloudy weather, and thundered; and after the sun an hour high, it rained hard, and continued about an hour, and then we swung packs, and steered our course west-southwest, aiming for Amonoosuck River, and this day we marched about four- teen miles, and camped.

" Thursday, July 4th .- We marched on our course west-southwest, and this day we marched about twenty miles, and camped.

" Friday, July 5th -We marched about three miles to our packs, at. Amonoosuck, the same course we had steered heretofore; and we afterwards went over Connecticut River, and looked up Well's River, and camped a little below Well's River this night.

"Saturday, July 6th .- Marched down the great river to Great Coos, and then crossed the

EARLY HISTORY.

river below the great turn of clear interval, and there left the great river, and steered south by east about three miles, and there camped. Here was the best of upland, and some quantity of large white pines."

The journal is fragmentary and meagre, and the comments made by Rev. Mr. Powers have not given us any additional light, but have rather added obscurity to the original narrative. He says that the object of the expedition was discovery; but if Captain Powers' company was the one referred to by Governor Wentworth in a message of May 4, 1754, and in one of December 5, 1754, they certainly went to see if the French were building a fort in the Upper Coös. As this was the only expedition fitted out during the year that went in this direction, it is quite certain that this is the one to which the message referred. But it is something to be able to say that Capt. Peter Powers, with his command, was the first body of English speaking people who camped on the broad intervals of Coos county. It would seem as if they were not of such stuff as pioneers were made of, for their conclusion to return seems to have been reached about the time they saw signs that indicated a probable proximity of Indians.

Fort Wentworth .- In 1755 so little was known of the geography of the country, that the "Coös Meadows," on the Connecticut, above Lancaster, were supposed to be on the direct route from "Salisbury Fort " to Crown Point, and Colonel Blanchard was to march his regiment through the "Coös Meadows " to Crown Point. Supposing that there was to be opportunity for a passage of the troops, some, if not most of the way, by water, by the Merrimack, Connecticut, and other rivers, the regiment in rendezvous were kept busily at work building batteaux for transportation of the troops and stores, whilst Capt. Robert Rogers was sent forward to " Coös Meadows " with his company to build a fort for the occupation of the regi- ment, and for resort in case of disaster. Capt. Rogers executed his com- mission, and built, or partially built, a fort on the Connecticut about three or four miles above the mouth of the Upper Ammonoosuc river. This was called " Fort Wentworth."* After Rogers' return, and the regiment had spent some six weeks in building batteaux that could not be used for want of water, Gov. Wentworth discovered his error, and ordered the regiment to proceed across the Province to "Number Four." and then to Crown Point by way of Albany .- Adjutant General's Report. 1866.

Settlement .- After fifteen years of war and bloodshed, by the conquest of Canada peace came to the New Hampshire frontier. The people began, once more, to be inspired with hope of better days.

Besides those who are known to have been on the Upper Coos Meadows, undoubtedly many trappers of whom there is no record had visited them

*Remains of this fort were to be seen but a few years ago. It was built at the narrowest place of the Connecticut valley in that section, opposite a very high bluff on the Vermont side.

HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

and given glowing accounts to the lower country. At least in the years succeeding the French war, the colonists had opportunities for exploration they never had before. From Holland's map of this state published in London in 1784, it would seem as if an accurate survey of the Connecticut and Androscoggin rivers had been made for that work, or previously. The country back of the rivers is not so well defined.

In the autumn of 1763, Emmons Stockwell, a young man only twenty- two years old, of great muscular power and physical endurance, who had survived the sufferings to which he had been exposed as one of Rogers' Ran- gers, and David Page, Jr., aged eighteen, made the first actual settlement of whites in Coos county, at Lancaster. It required an amount of nerve which our modern youth may well admire, to plant themselves here at the beginning of a rigorous northern winter, without prospect of food save what their rifles provided, and separated by fifty long miles from the nearest house of a white man. They received additions the next year, and, in 1767, Thomas Burnside and Daniel Spaulding came with their families and set- tled in Northumberland. Not only in these two towns but in many other localities did the people of the old towns of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and lower New Hampshire, make an effort to settle, or at least secure grants, many of which lapsed. In quick succession Gov. Wentworth made more than eighty grants in Vermont and New Hampshire along the Connecticut. The Androscoggin and Saco valleys received the same atten- tion, for these were the days in which townships were made.

Townships Granted .- Shelburne was chartered in 1768, and re-char- tered in 1771. In 1770 Cockburne (Columbia) wasgranted; in 1771 Maynes- borough (Berlin), Paulsborough (Milan); in 1772 Bretton Woods (Carroll), Durand (Randolph), and Dartmouth (Jefferson), the last re-granted to M. H. Wentworth and others, it having been granted to John Goffe in 1765; in 1773 Dummer, Cambridge, Success, a tract to S. Wales & Co., one to Nash and Sawyer, and Baker's Location; in 1774 Whitefield, Millsfield, Errol and Kilkenny. Besides these, Colebrook, Stuart (Stewartstown), Woodbury, re-granted as New Stratford (Stratford), Piercy (Stark), Apthorp (including Dalton), Martin's Patent, Green's Location, and Shel- burne Addition (Gorham).

Early Population .- In 1770 there were a few people in Lancaster, some in Northumberland. Capt. Whipple came to Jefferson in 1772 through the " Notch." This was the condition of affairs at the beginning of the Revolution in 1775. In Lancaster they had built a mill that was worked by horse-power, and Capt. David Page had built a saw-mill on Indian brook, but this had been burnt, and the number of inhabitants was sixty- one; while in Northumberland there were fifty-seven; in Stratford there were forty-one; Cockburne (Columbia) had fourteen, and Colebrook con- tained only four. In the last town Capt. Eleazer Rosebrook was one of

EARLY SETTLERS.

the pioneers. The total population in 1775 of the territory afterwards Coos county, was 227. In fifteen years it had quadrupled, being 882 in 1790. The ratio of increase was not quite so great for the next decade: this century beginning with 2, 658 inhabitants in the bounds of the county.

CHAPTER X.

EARLY SETTLERS.

Character of Early Settlers of New Hampshire - Characteristics of Pioneers of Coos - Hard- ships Endured - Religion and Education - Traditional Stories - Improvement in Condition - Primitive Houses Furniture, Etc. - Manners, Customs, Labor, Dress, Fare, Etc. - Description of Early Homes, Kitchens, Utensils, Stoves, Etc.

6 HARACTER of Early Settlers of New Hampshire .- The people of Coös county, as well as the lower counties of the state, have a personal interest in the characters and aspirations of the early set- tlers of New Hampshire. It is of interest to them and their descendants whether the early proprietors and settlers were actuated merely by a sordid love of gain, or whether, back of the business enterprise they manifested, there was not a design to plant on these lands the Christian religion, and to uphold the Christian faith. Were we to believe all that was said by the men of the Massachusetts Colony, we would pronounce them Godless, law- less persons " whose chief end was to catch fish " Rev. James De Nor- mandie, in his excellent "History of Portsmouth," in speaking of the long and bitter controversy on this subject, says: "All of the proprietors inter- ested in the settlement were of the Established Church. and it was only natural that all of the settlers who came out with them should be zealous in that faith. Gorges and Mason, Godfrie and Neal, Gibbons and Chad- bourne and Williams, and all the names appearing on the Colonial records, were, doubtless, of this faith. Among the earliest inventories of the Col- ony's goods we find mention of service books, of a flagon, and of eloths for the communion-table, which show that provisions for worship were not neglected, and of what form the worship was." Gorges, in defending his company from various charges before the English House of Commons. asserts that "I have spent £20,000 of my estate and thirty years, the whole flower of my life, in new discoveries and settlements upon a remote Conti- nent, in the enlargement of my country's commerce and dominions, and in carrying civilization and Christianity into regions of savages." In

HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

Mason's will were instructions to convey 1,000 acres of his New Hamp- shire estate "for and towards the maintenance of an honest, godly, and religious preacher of God's word, in some church or chapel, or other public place appointed for divine worship and service within the county of New Hampshire:" together with provisions for the support of a " free grammar school for the education of youth." No better proofs could be given that the aims of those energetic men from whom many of the citizens of Coos county claim descent were fully as high, moral and religious, as such enterprises have ever been.

Characteristics of these Pioneers .- Two classes of persons, with very distinctly marked characteristics, penetrated these northern wilds. The leaders were men of intelligence. energy, shrewdness and property. They had two objects in view: to furnish permanent homes for them- selves and their posterity, and to acquire wealth by the rise of their lands. They were men of strong religious principle, and early made provision for the preaching of the gospel. They brought cows, swine and sheep, and were soon able to supply their tables with meat; they also had in a short time comfortable houses and furniture. The second class were people so poor as to need help to reach the settlements. They came on foot, bearing all their worldly goods upon their shoulders, and, without the aid of the more prosperous, many of these latter would have per- ished.

The first settlers of Coos, in common with the pioneers of adjoining counties, endured many privations, hardships, and discouragements not known at the present day. and it is well that the present and coming gen- erations should read of these experiences.

Living at a distance of more than a hundred miles from the coast, all heavy articles, such as salt, iron, lead. and, in fact, everything indispensa- ble to civilized life that could not be procured from the soil, or found in the woods or streams, was obliged to be transported upon the backs of men or horses, not even having the convenience of roads, and their only guides through the forests were marked trees. They had to ford the streams that ran across their route, which often were swollen so as to be impassable except by swimming. The nearest mills, either for the inanu- facture of lumber or of grinding their corn and wheat into meal or flour, was Charlestown, N. H., a distance of 110 miles, and the surrounding country a wilderness, and in addition to all these privations, they were surrounded by the hostile Indians, who might at any time pounce upon them with the tomahawk and scalping-knife; thus their lives were passed mostly in hard labor and danger. Their sleep was unsound. as they were fearing an attack from their enemies; and, all in all, their situation was not an enviable one. However, these early settlers seem to have been

EARLY SETTLERS.

endowed with strong and vigorous constitutions and to have cultivated a spirit of endurance so necessary to their condition in life.

It is difficult for us to conceive the hardships of the pioneers who, a hundred and more years ago, invaded "the forest primeval." and deter- mined to wring a livelihood from lands upon which. at morning or even- ing, the shadow of Mt. Washington lay. The perils of isolation, the ravages of wild beasts, the wild wrath of the rapid mountain torrents. the obstacles to communication which the vast wilderness interposed-every form of discomfort and danger was apparently indicated by these grand mountains as impervious barriers to intrusion and occupation. But the adventurous spirit of man implanted by the Supreme Being for his own wise purposes-carries him into the tangled forest, into new climates and to foreign shores, and the great work of civilization goes on from year to year, from decade to decade, from century to century. This spirit of-what shall we call it? adventure? enterprise? induced whole families during the last century, when there was land enough within the bounds of civil- ization unoccupied and unclaimed, to move into an unbroken wilderness. The horses, even, of some of the settlers would not remain, and struck due south in the direction from which they had been taken, and perished in the forests before spring. Many pioneers would start for their new homes in the winter, as if to get the hardest experience of their new life at first. One couple went eighty miles on snow shoes, the husband carrying their furniture on his back, and they nearly starved in their new place of abode. Page's colony found the snow two feet deep in April, 1764. Joseph Pink- ham and his family removed to Jackson in 1790, when the snow was five feet deep on a level. Their hand-sled, on which their provisions. clothing and furniture were packed, was drawn by a pig in harness. Another couple went a great distance in the same inclement season. the wife riding on a feeble horse, with a feather bed under her, and a child in her arms. while the husband dragged the rest of their household goods over the snow. Pluck, perseverance and persistency were the cardinal virtues of the early settlers. Many lived for years without any neighbors for miles. The pioneer would go miles to a mill, and carry a bushel of corn on his shoul- der and take it back in meal. Ethan Crawford's grandfather once went eighty miles through the woods to a lower settlement for a bushel of salt, the scarcity of which had produced sickness and suffering, and returned with it on his back. Not from the lack of salt only did these brave peo- ple suffer; few of them owned cows, and could not even have " milk por- ridge." or "pudding and milk." Meal and water, and dried fish without salt was often their diet for days, when game was shy, or storms pre- vented hunting. Sometimes, when threatened with famine, they would send deputations thirty, fifty, and even sixty miles to purchase grain. And we have read that in times of great scarcity, the hardy men wore a wide

HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

strap of skin, which as they grew more emaciated was drawn tighter, to alleviate if possible the horrible gnawings of hunger, in order that they might hold out till relief came. Besides occasional famines, these families suffered from freshets. Their rude bridges were torn up, barns and even their houses swept off, and often when by their industry or good fortune they had accumulated provision for the future, the bears would come down upon them and steal their pigs, or anything else they could take.

As soon as possible after these people had made for themselves rude habitations in which to abide, they would organize a church and establish a school, comprising the families in a radius of six to ten or twelve miles. The ministers would work at clearing land and hewing trees during the week, writing their sermons by the blaze of pine knots, or preach extem- pore (which was more often the case). The school-house was merely a rude structure of rough logs, lighted by an occasional pane of glass placed singly in the wall, and many had but a hole for the light. protected by a piece of cloth or oiled paper, from the cold and rain. But the same desire for learning was kindled and fed within these cabins as in richly endowed and pretentious schools and institutions. The mind-the will-the hope- and the passion for learning-is stimulated to stronger efforts-when it has but few props and helps to climb the hill of knowledge. and many a man has taken his place in the hall of Congress in the Nation's capital. who was taught his " A, B, C's" in just such a school-house.

In the "locations," or "grants." there were but few settlers, and often there would be but one family. There is a story that a man once made his appearance in the state legislature, and took a seat. He was asked for his credentials as the choice of the people. " Whom could they put up against me?" he said; "I am the only man in my town." His claim to a seat was allowed.

There must have been a few more inhabitants in the settlement in upper Coos, which was said to be legally warned to have training. After the officers were chosen, there was but one soldier, and he said, " Gentle- men. I hope you will not be too severe in drilling me. as I may be needed another time. I can form a solid column, but it will rack me shockingly to display."

After the first twenty five years of settlement the settlers were for the most part independent, self-reliant, healthy farmers, who lived upon the produce of their own soil raised by the work of their own hands; warmed by fuel from their own woods, and clothed from the flax from their fields or wool from their flock. They had but little money, and but little was needed, for their trade was carried on chiefly by barter. The mechanics were not established in one place -- but went from settlement to settlement where they were needed, receiving for their labor the products of the farm or loom. Prof. Sanborn says: " The primitive log-house, dark, dirty and

EARLY SETTLERS.

dismal, rarely outlived its first occupant. The first framed houses were usually small, low and cold. The half-house, about twenty feet square, satis- fied the unambitious. The double-house, forty by twenty feet in dimensions, indicated progress and wealth. It was designed for shelter, not for com- fort or elegance. The windows were small, without blinds or shutters. The fire-place was sufficiently spacious to receive logs of three or four feet in diameter, with an oven in the back and a flue nearly large enough to allow the ascent of a balloon. One could sit in the chimney- corner and see the stars. All the cooking was done by this fire. Around it, also. gathered the family at evening, often numbering six to twelve children. The furniture was simple and useful, all made of the wood of the native forest trees. Pine, birch, cherry, walnut, and the curled maple were most frequently chosen by the 'cabinet-maker.' Vessels of iron. copper and tin were used in cooking. The dressers, extending from floor to ceiling in the kitchen, contained the mugs, basins and plates of pewter which shone upon the farmer's board at the time of meals. The post of the housewife was no sinecure. She had charge of the dairy and kitchen, besides spin- ning and weaving, sewing and knitting, washing and mending for the 'men folks.' The best room, often called . the square room.' contained a bed, a bureau or desk, or a chest of drawers, a clock, and possibly a brass fire-set. Its walls were entirely destitute of ornament. It was an age of simple manners and industrious habits. Contentment, enjoyment and longevity were prominent characteristics of that age. Prior to 1826, there were nearly four hundred persons who died in New Hampshire between the ages of ninety and a hundred and five years. Fevers and epidemics sometimes swept away the people; but consumption and neuralgia were then almost unknown. Their simple diet and active habits were conducive to health.

" 'The meeting house' was a framed building. Its site was a high hill; its shape a rectangle flanked with heavy porticos, with seven win- dows upon each side. Every family was represented here on the Sabbath. The clergymen were settled by major vote of the town, and tax-payers were assessed for his salary according to their ability. The people went to church on foot or on horseback, the wife riding behind the husband on a 'pillion.' Chaises, wagons and sleighs were unknown. Sometimes whole families were taken to ' meeting ' on an ox-sled.

" Traveling was difficult and laborious. Neither men nor women were ever idle. Books were few, newspapers were seldom seen at the country fire-side. News from England did not reach the inland towns till five or six months after the occurrence of the events reported. Intelligence from New York reached New Hampshire in a week. In 1815 travel was mostly on horseback, the mail being so carried in many places. Inns or taverns were found in every four to eight miles. Feed for travelers' teams 6

HISTORY OF COOS COUNTY.

was, half-baiting of hay, four cents; whole-baiting, eight cents; two quarts of oats, six cents. The bar room fire-place was furnished with a ' logger- head,' hot, at all times, for making ' flip.' The flip was made of beer made from pumpkin dried on the crane in the kitchen fire-place, and a few dried apple skins and a little bran. Half-mug of flip, or half-gill 'sling,' six cents. On the table was to be found a 'shortcake,' and the ever-present decanter or bottle of rum.

" Women's labor was fifty cents per week. They spun and wove most of the cloth that was worn. Flannel that was dressed at the mill, for women's wear, was fifty cents a yard; men's wear, one dollar. Farmers hired their help for nine or ten dollars a month-some clothing, and the rest cash. Carpenters' wages, one dollar a day: journeymen carpenters. fifteen dollars a month; and apprentices, to serve six or seven years, had ten dollars the first year, twenty the second, thirty the third, and so on, and to clothe themselves. Breakfast generally consisted of potatoes roasted in the ashes, a · bannock ' made of meal and water and baked on a maple chip set before fire. Pork was plenty. If 'hash' was served, all ate from the same platter, without plates or table-cloth. Apprentices and farm boys had for supper a bowl of scalded milk and a brown crust, or bean porridge, or · pop- robbin.' They had no tumblers, nor were they asked if they would have tea or coffee; it was 'Please pass the mug.'"

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History of Coos County, New Hampshire, Part 9

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