History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 89

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168

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Esq. ; No. 9, to the right of Jotham Odiorne, Esq., deceased ; No. 10, by Joshua Pierce; No. 11, by John Thomlinson and John Tufton Mason; No. 12, by Thomas Packer, Esq .; No. 13, by John Ringe, Esq. ; No. 14, by Theodore Atkinson, Esq. ; No. 15, by Richard Wibird, Esq. Nos. 1 to 7 were on the west side of Contoocook River, while the remaining eight shares-that is, from 8 to 15-were on the east side of the river. The river or intervale shares were num- bered with the same numbers as the large shares, from 1 to 15, and drawn with the same number, so that each shareholder held a large lot and a river lot numbered with the same number. From this date the land comprising those shares became the private property of the individuals to whom they were drawn. Big lots Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15, together with the portions of the intervale lots lying east of the river opposite to the former, became the territory of Deering in 1774. The westerly portions of 8 and 9, together with additions from Lyndeborough and Peterborough, became Greenfield in 1791. Easterly portions of 8, 9 and 10 became Francestown in 1772; 1, 2 and 3 became Hancock in 1779; 4, 5, 6 and 7 be- came Antrim in 1777. A small territory still re- mained around the great falls, bearing the name of Society Land until 1842, when it was incorporated into a town under the name of Bennington, receiving additions of territory from Deering, Francestown and Hancock. These six towns, it will be seen, bear a closer

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

relation to one another than any other towns in the State, with the exception, perhaps, of those that grew out of the ancient towns of Chester and Londonderry.

First Settlement of Great Lots Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 .- For more than ten years subsequent to the survey of Society Land this portion of the same remained an unbroken wilderness, undisturbed save by the hunter and explorer. Great Britain, with her New England colonies, were gathering their strength for the final struggle which terminated in the capture of Quebec, in 1759, forever ending the Indian depre- dation- which had devastated and retarded the border settlements. In 1761 those families who had com- menced a settlement in Hillsborough in 1744, and Hed on the approach of Indian hostilities, began to return and rebuild their ruined habitations. Weare, granted by the proprietors in 1749 to Ichabod Robie and others, was being settled, and in 1765, John Tufton Mason sold to Samuel Robie, John Webster, Robert Graham, Matthew Forsaith, John Shackford, William White, Robert Mills, all of Chester, and Robert Moore, of Londonderry, all his right and title to one undivided half of big lot No. 11, in Society Land, being two thousand acres, more or less, for the con- sideration of one hundred pounds. The same year, John Thomlinson, a merchant of London, gave Theo- dore Atkinson and Mark H. Wentworth, of Ports- mouth, power of attorney to set off or divide his share of the same lot from that of Mason.

The parties in Chester, together with Robert Moore, of Londonderry, quit-claimed the northerly half of the said lot to John Thomlinson, through his attorneys, the said Atkinson and Wentworth; while the latter, for the said Thomlinson, quit-claimed the southerly . half or moiety to the said Robie and others. The lot was surveyed by Daniel Nichols, afterwards a settler and citizen of Antrim. The northerly half, as well as the southerly, was divided into twenty lots, No. 1 joining the intervale lot on the west, and the numbers increasing in their order to 20, which joined on Weare. The year 1765 is memorable in the history of the town as marking the date of the first settle- ment made by Alexander Robinson, on the farm now owned by William T. Smith, about two miles south of Hillsborough bridge. At this period bears and wolves were minerous, and the hill beneath which Mr. Robinson selected a building spot for his home, and where he lived for many years, was the favorite haunt of the latter animal, and still bears the name of Wolf Hill. Tradition relates that a bear came down out of the forest one day and began a raid on Mr. Robinson's hogs. His wife, hearing the outery, ( Mr. Robinson being away from home), seized an axe and made such a vigorous onslaught on bruin as to cause him to beat a hasty retreat, leaving his prize to The weaker but law ful owner.

William Forsaith came from Chester soon after Mr. Robinson commenced his settlement. He was the son of Matthew Forsaith, one of the purchasers of

Mason's half of big lot No. 11. Mr. Forsaith settled the David Carter place, west of the David Wilson farm. There is good authority for the assertion that there were only three settlers within the limits of the town in 1767. Alexander Robinson and Wil- liam Forsaith were two of that number.

Robert Mills, the son of Robert Mills, of Chester, who was also one of the grantees of the Mason moiety in No. 11, assisted the surveyor in subdividing the same into settlers' lots, marking the trees designated for the corners, and for many years afterwards was considered as authority in settling any dispute or doubt that arose in relation to them. He settled on the Gawn Mills place, so-called, now owned by Wil- liam Colburn. William Aiken and Thomas, his brother, from Londonderry, settled on farms or lots adjoining the former, recognized as the Levi White place, and the latter as the Luther Aiken place. These lots are all in great lot No. 11, the three latter in the southern or Mason division.

Samuel Patten, in 1767, commenced elearing up a lot in great lot No. 14, Atkinson's right or share, and, having erected his humble dwelling, came up from Marblehead. in 1768, with his wife and son, six years old, and made a permanent settlement, which lasted without change during his life, he dying in 1819. His son, whose name was Jonathan, grew up and served a term of enlistment in the Continental army during the Revolution. He died in 1832. His widow survived him nearly thirty years, drawing a pension from the government. John Shearer settled a lot adjoining Samnel Patten's lot on the east, while Alex- ander Hogg settled a lot just south of Patten's lot, in the south range of Atkinson's right. William MeKeen settled on lot No. 10 in Atkinson's right, and in 1771, Elias Hassell received of Anthony Wibird and John Penhallow, heirs of Richard Wibird, who drew big lot No. 15, a settler's deed of one hundred acres of land in said lot 15, for the con- sideration of five shillings and settling the lot. This lot was No. 3 in the subdivision, and is identified as the farm where Alvah Gould now lives. At length, in 1774, so many settlers had come as to justify them in petitioning the General Court for an act of in- corporation, and James Betton, Esq., was chosen as their agent to present their petition. Their application was successful, and, in honor of Governor John Went- worth's wife, whose maiden-name was Frances Deering, the new town received the name of Deering. The act of incorporation is given below with some slight changes in orthography.

" Province George the third, by the Grace of God,

[L.S. ] of of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, &c. " To all People to whom these presents shall come greeting : New Hampshire.

' I'hereas our loyal Inhabitants of a Tract of Land within our Prov- ince of New Hampshire aforesaid, commonly called and known by the name of Society Land, containing by estimation about six miles square, have humbly pettioned and Requested us that they may be erected and incorporated into a Township, and enfranchised with the same powers and priviledges which other Towns within our said Province by law Have

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DEERING.

and Enjoy, and it appearing to us to be condusive to the general Good of our said Province, as well as of the said Inhabitants in particular, by mentaining good order and encouraging the Culture of the Land that the same should be done.

"Know ye that we, of our special grace, certain knowledge and for the encouragement and promotion of the good purposes and ends aforesaid, by and with the advice of our trusty and well beloved John Wentworth, Esqr., our Governor and Commander-in-chief of our said Province, and of our Council of the same, have erected and ordained, and by these pre- sents, for us and our Heirs and Successors, do will and order that the Inhabitants of said Tract of Land and others who shall improve and in- habit thereon hereinafter, the same being butted and bounded as fol- lows, viz .: Beginning at the Northwest Corner of Francestown, from thence East to the easterly side line of the Society Land so called ; from thence North to the Corner of the said Society Land ; from thence by the said Society Land westerly to Contoocook River bounding partly on the Towns of Ilenniker and Hillsborough ; from thence, as said Contoo- cook River runs, so far as that an East line shall strike the said North- west Corner of Francestown ; from thence by said East line to the Bounds first mentioned, be and they are hereby declared to be a Town corporate by the name of Deering, to have continuance forever with all the Powers and authorities, privileges, immunities, and Franchises which any other Towns in our said Province by law hold and enjoy to the said Inhabitants or those who shall hereafter inhabit there and their Succes- sors forever, always reserving to us, our Heirs and Successors, all the white pine Trees that are or shall be found, being and growing within and upon the said Tract of Land fit for the use of our Royal Navy, Reserving also unto us, our Heirs and Successors, the Power of dividing said Town when it shall appear necessary and convenient for the inhab- itants thereof, Provided, nevertheless, and it is hereby declared that this Charter and Grant is not intended, and shall not in any manner be con- strued, to affect the private property of the soil within the limits afore- said.

" And as the several Towns within our said Province are by the laws thereof enabled and authorized to assemble and by the majority of the Votes present to choose all Officers and transact such affairs as in the said laws are declared, We do by these presents nominate and appoint Wil- liam Clark, Esqr., to call the first meeting of the Inhabitants to be held within the said Town at any time within Ninety days of the date hereof, giving legal notice of the time and design of such meeting after which the annual meeting for said Town shall be held for the choice of said officers and the Purposes aforesaid on the First Tuesday in the month of March annually.

" In Testimony whereof we have caused the seal of our said I'rovince to be hereunto affixed. Witness our afforesaid Governor and Commander- in-Cheif the seventeenth day of January, in the fourteenth year of our reign, Annoque Domini, 1774.

"J. WENTWORTH.

"By his Excellency's command with advice of Council. " THEONORE ATKINSON.

" Recorded in the Book of Charters No. 4, Folios 183, 184 and 1855."

Complying with the above conditions of the charter, the first town-meeting was called by the said William Clark, and held at the house of Alexander Robinson, inn-holder. (A list of town officers is given in another column, to which the reader is referred. It extends from the first town-meeting in 1774 to 1885.) It was voted at this town-meeting that "the Selectmen be a committee to settle with Esquire Betton for obtaining the charter of said town." It is also worthy of note that from this town-meeting up to 1819, which marks the date of the Toleration Act by the Legislature, money was raised at every town-meeting for preaching. (A short church history will be found in another column.) The laying out of highways through the new settlements within the limits of the town re- ceived the first attention of the selectmen. As a specimen of the description and form of recording the laying out of those primitive roads, the following transcript is copied from the town records, and is the earliest on record :

"Deering, April 5, 1774. A Transcript of a Ilighway laid out three Rods wide. Beginning at Weare line, west of Enoch Brown's House ; thence Running west Bearing south until it comes to Jolin Shearer's land ; thence west as near as the ground will allow of a Road past the south of said Shearer's House ; thence west until it comes to Samuel Pat- ten's East line ; and so still west, or as near that point as good ground will allow, until it comes to said Patten's Emprovements, a few rods south of his honse, and so on still west, or as Near that point as good ground will allow, until it comes over a brook which Einties out of a meadow at an old Beaver Dam about forty rods west of Samuel Patten's west line.

" ELIAS IFASSELL, " NENIAN AIKEN, Selectmen.

" A true Record, attested,

".JOHN SHEARER,

"NENIAN AIKEN, Town Clerk."

A road, the record of the laying of which bears the same date as that of the above, was laid by William McKeen's to Hillsborough ferry, located nearly op- posite the residence of the late Reuben Loveren, Hillsborough Bridge. At length a bridge was con- structed across the river above the ferry, where the stone bridge now stands, and September 6, 1779, the town voted " That there be a Road opened to meet ye Road leading from ye Bridge in Hillsborongh in Ex- change for ye one leading to ye Ferry during the Continuance of said Bridge." This structure was called by the people who used it " the Bridge," and was as much used or utilized by the inhabitants of Deer- ing as by those of Hillsborough. The name bridge soon became associated with the place or locality, which was, therefore, known as "Hillsborough Bridge." This growing manufacturing village, which properly begins at Hillsborough line, on the south, about one-third of a mile from the stone bridge, is the principal market for produce and lumber of a large portion of Deering at the present time. The war-cloud of the Revolution was gathering over the New England colonies, culminating in the battle of Lexington, on April 19, 1775. Deering, it will be seen in another place, was represented there by one of her settlers, and, when called upon the next year to join the Association Test, which was virtually an act of Independence several months earlier than the act or Declaration assumed by Congress, responded with the following signers :

Benjamin Little, Ephraim Abbott, Benjamin Bradford, John Waleys, William MeKeen, Elias Hassell, Francis Grimes, Samuel Patten, John Shearer, Abram Gove, Bray Wilkins, Timothy Wyman, Jonathan Wy- man, Timothy Wyman, Jr., James Grimes, Sammel Chandler, Nenian Aiken, John Bailes, Joseph Wakefield, William Robertson, Ebenezer Blood, Alexander Hogg, William Aiken, William Forsyth, Thomas Aiken, David Wilson, John Lyon, Joseph Crillis, Robert Mills, Ephraim Clark, Alexander Robinson, Joseph Robinson, William Bradford.

Thirty-three, comprising the names of all the citizens of the town at that time not lunatics or paupers, with the exception of the names of two, who were reported as refusing to sign, viz. : John Bartlett, Jonathan Straw. It is not to be inferred that these two men were Tories because they did not sign with the rest of their townsmen. They might have held conscientious sernples against bearing arms or withheld their names from motives of policy or timidity, although friendly to the American cause. The next year, 1777, on the

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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

new- of the advance of Burgoyne, Nenian Aiken, with eighteen men from Deering, marched to the relief or defense of Ticonderoga ; but, hearing that the fort had been evacuated, he returned with his men, being absent and in the service three days. In this cam- paign against Burgoyne, Benjamin Bradford, of Deering, served under General Stark at the battle of Bennington as second lieutenant. The next year, 177%, we find Nenian Aiken serving as lieutenant under General Sullivan in the defense of the New England coast against the British fleet. The records of the town throughout the war show that the in- habitants contributed their full share towards keeping the Continental army supplied with men either from their own borders or by hiring substitutes from other places-paying their war taxes in specie or supplying beef and grain. The depreciation in the paper cur- reney may be seen in a vote of the town at the annual meeting in 1781, at the house of Alexander Robinson, when it was "voted that five thousand pounds be raised to marke and repair highways"-in New Hamp- shire currency, 816,666.663. a pound being $3.33}. It was also voted, at the same time, to allow twenty pounds per day for men and oxen. The next year the price per day for men and oxen for work on high- ways was fixed at four shillings per day for men and oxen, which indicates the return of confidence by the people in the financial condition of the country, or under the pressure of the law which was enacted at this time to regulate the currency. So great was the distre-> for money to pay war taxes that an effort was made to tax corn raised on burnt ground; but the town, at their annual meeting, failed to sanction the scheme, and it was abandoned. We are not able at this time of writing to give a complete list of the names of those who served in the Continental army ; some of them will be found in the general genealogical list, -while many were hired-not citizens of Deering, by the agents of the town to fill their quota, as in the late Civil War.

Captain Nenian Aiken, one of the most prominent citizens of the town from its earlier settlements, re- moved West about the year 1790, selling his homestead to Abraham Gove.

A return of the ratable polls to the General Court of New Hampshire, for the year 1783, by the select- men, Evan Dow and Abram Gove, numbers them at eighty six. The return is indorsed as follows :

" DEERING, Deceme ye 16, 1783.

ASH Not having time to go before A Justice Operare, as the is not me with'n Fight Mills, we must pray to be Excused, as this Return we are V Je to make Oath too."

In 17-5 a dispute between the town of Weare and the " Proprietors," in relation to the westerly line of mid town, was settled by the court in favor of Weare. The territory in dispute was about two hundred and fifty rods wide on the south end, and three hundred at the north, extending the whole width of Deering, adjoining Weare. By the decision of the court in

this lawsuit Deering lost from her territory about two thousand eight hundred acres, as will be seen by the following petition and certificate :-

" To the Honble Senate And House of Representatives in and for the State of New Hampshire, Your Petitioners humbly Sheweth.

" Whereas, the Proprietors of the town of Deering, in the County of Hillsborough, have given up To the Town of Weare a Certain Tract of Non-Improved Land, and said Proprietors of Deering have Denied pay- ing taxes on said Land for the year 1786, And said Land Being Inven- toried and Returned To the Honble General Court as Belonging to the Town of Deering, as it may Appear hereafter, Therefore, we humbly pray your Honours would be pleased to Abate the taxes for the years 1786, 1787, on said Land, or any part thereof, as your Petitioners are in Duty Ever Bound to Pray.

" EVAN DOW, -

Selectmen

" ALEXANDER WILSON,

" THOMAS MERRILL,

Deering.

" Decring, June 4th, 1787."

In 1797 a library association was incorporated by an act of the General Court, on the petition of Robert Alcock, Thomas Merrill, Thomas Aiken, Wm. Aiken, Wm. Forsaith, James Shearer and their associates. For many years the members kept up their organiza- tion; but it long ago became extinct, although some of the books are still extant,-useful only to the antiquary and book-collector.

No school-houses were erected until 1806, or about the time the present school-district system was adopted. Previous to this period the schools were carried on, like the religious meetings prior to 1790, in private dwellings and barns. Money was voted sparingly from 1782 every subsequent year for schools; but with the proviso that, if not used, it should be turned into the town treasury. In the year 1790 the town voted " No more draw-baeks on school money." To the influence of the ministers associated with the church formed in 1789 must be credited this change of feeling in the people in regard to education. The town never receded from the vote of 1790, but have kept increasing their appropriations for the support of schools to the present time.

The prescribed limits of this paper have already been exceeded. The indulgence of the publishers only permits us to add the following memoranda of the weather, etc. : The history may properly be said to close with the year 1800. The year 1800 was noted as a period of heat and drought. Much sickness prevailed. October 7, 1804, snow fell to the depth of a foot. Potatoes, apples, together with some patches of corn, were covered by the snow. Many parties pieked their best, or winter fruit on the Sabbath, in order to save enough for winter supply. January 19, 1810, is noted as the cold Friday. No snow was on the ground; but the intense cold and high wind rendered it a day long to be remembered. The mother of the writer has often related that she started for school on the morning of that day, residing at that time in Weare, but was soon forced to seek the friendly shelter of a neighboring habitation to pre- vent herself from perishing in the cold, her kind neigh- bor accompanying her back to the home of her parents. No snow fell, it is said, until the last of February.

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DEERING.

The winter of 1811-12 is on record as very severe. During the winter the spotted fever appeared, but was said not to be so prevalent in Deering as in An- trim,-the Contoocook River seeming to form a barrier in checking the ravages of the disease.

September 15,, 1815, is the date of the great gale which swept over a portion of New England. Many of the old-growth forests, on the hills and other localities, exposed to the wind and rain, which were from the southwest, were prostrated, compelling or ac- celerating the clearing up of many hill-tops and slopes, which would otherwise have remained in forest-growth. The year 1816 was long remembered as the cold season. Hardly sound corn enough was raised to supply the wants of the farmers, for seed to plant the ensuing year. The spots on the sun, it is related, could be seen by the naked eye. The year 1826 is known as the grasshopper year. A long protracted drought favored their growth and increase, so as to cause the destruction of the grass and grain crops, leaving very little for the farmer to harvest.

August 28th a heavy rain occurred which washed the grasshoppers into the small streams in such quantities that bushels of them could be gathered on the banks of the same after the subsidence of the flood. 1852, 1853 and 1854 were very dry years, the latter noted for bush and forest-fires. A great freshet in the spring of 1852 caused great damage to the mills, highways and bridges.

The murder of Keeland Chase, in 1860, caused a degree of excitement hitherto unknown to the inhabit- ants of Deering. He was found in his barn with his skull fractured. An inquest was held over his body, but no verdiet was ever rendered nor any one arrested for the crime.

July 25, 1881, thunder-storms passed over the north- erly portion of Hillsborough County, causing the de- struction of many buildings by lightning. During the night following the barn of Carleton Clement, Esq., was struck by lightning and consumed, his house and other buildings being only saved by the exertions of the neighbors, who came to the rescue by dipping up buckets of water in the door-yard adjoining the blazing barn, supplied by the torrents of rain which fell at the same time. The lights of other fires in adjoining towns, which were visible during the lulls of the storm, together with the circumstances above de- scribed, rendered it a night never to be forgotten.

The murder or assassination of Edmund Wood, on the 18th of August, 1883, within a mile of his home, while returning from Hillsborough Bridge, caused much feeling and excitement, which extended to the adjoining towns. Suspicion at once fastened on Nathan Brown, the neighbor of the murdered man, as the perpetrator of the foul deed, and he was ar- rested and tried at Manchester before a jury selected for this special case. The jury failed to agree, seven, it is said, voting for acquittal and five for conviction. The able counsel for the prisoner, Hon. Charles Burns,

very pointedly remarked in his plea before the jury, "The prisoner was soon to appear before a higher tri- bunal from which there is no appeal." This remark has been verified. Nathan Brown expired June 9, 1885, from a stroke of paralysis, making no confession or implicating himself in any way with connection in the crime.

In conclusion we may say Deering has been and always will remain an agricultural town ; but it can be said to her credit that she has paid liabilities, in- cluding those of the late civil war, to the amount of more than thirty thousand dollars, raised by taxation, and is now substantially out of debt.

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History of Hillsborough County, New Hampshire, Part 89

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1168

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia : J.W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1168