USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hudson > History of Hudson, N.H., formerly a part of Dunstable, Mass., 1673-1733, Nottingham, Mass., 1733-1741, District of Nottingham, 1741-1746, Nottingham West, N.H., 1746-1830, Hudson, N.H., 1830-1912 > Part 2
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The easterly part of the town is hilly, and the greater portion is rocky and hard to cultivate. Still the soil is
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NATURAL FEATURES
good, if meagre, and in many of the valleys, and on the hillsides are numerous excellent farms, which are well adapted to raising grass, apples, other fruits, and for graz- ing purposes. The sandy soils and rocky hills, many of which are entirely unfit for cultivation, are prolific in the growth of wood and valuable timber, which, being conven- ient to a good market, have long been, and will probably continue to be for many years in the future, sources of profit and income to the farmers of Hudson.
By far the most profitable of all the species of timber grown in town is the white pine. This thrives best on sandy soil, but excellent pine forests are to be found grow- ing upon the rocky hillsides. The early settlers found ex- tensive tracts of white and yellow pine, which had no doubt occupied those places more than a thousand years. But these have all vanished, so that to-day only an oc- casional giant stump remains to remind us of their de- parted greatness. The stony hillsides and broken valleys are better adapted to species of hard woods, and here abound several varieties of the oak, white and silver leaf maple, white and gray birch, poplar, elm, ash and chestnut. Spruce and hackmatack grow in the swamps.
When the first settlers arrived they found an almost unbroken wilderness of pine and hard woods. Consequent- ly portions of this had to be cleared before they could pro- duce any crops from the land. Fortunately there were natural meadows and strips of land along the river bank that afforded a rank grass upon which they fed their cattle during the long winters. These meadows were originated by the work of the busy beaver, in a large measure, through building their dams across the smaller streams, so as to flow the adjacent land for a considerable distance. Event- ually these small ponds became filled with debris, over which grew the coarse grass, that proved of such benefit to the pioneers. Yet, from the best evidence we have been able to obtain, we have no doubt that those natural grasses grown upon those boggy meadows, in primeval days, were
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
far superior in quality as well as quantity to the grasses produced upon the same unimproved meadows in later years, after having been cropped for generations with noth- ing returned to aid in sustaining or renewing the fertility of those cold, acid soils. In the territory comprising Old Dunstable and Londonderry these wildwood meadows were numerous.
As it is to-day, from forty to fifty per cent of the area of the town is covered with forest growth, more or less valuable, much of it young, and very little that has been growing more than fifty years.
The story of the clearing and removing of the primeval forests in a large degree has an almost pathetic interest, and seems like a shameful waste of good material. But beyond building his humble cabin and cattle-shed, all of which really required but little timber, the pioneer had no use for the dense primitive growth covering the land. What he needed most were plots of land to cultivate his scanty crops, grazing spots for his stock, and an opening in the great damp forest to let the sunlight in upon his home. Thus he went about his task with little care for the value or utility of the timber he sought to destroy. Giant trees that to-day would be sources of much value were felled, cut into convenient lengths, pulled together and burned as so much refuse. Other tracts were submit- ted to a slower, if not more cruel fate, by being girdled and left to death and decay. Where the land did not promise good returns, or the location for other reasons was not de- sirable, portions of the beautiful, majestic forests were suf- fered to remain, so the last of these did not disappear until about the beginning of the 19th century.
The hewers of those homes out of the primitive wil- derness were a sturdy, fearless yeomanry, and with those who followed a little later, have left enduring monuments in many forms, that meet our gaze at almost every turn. Their rugged dwellings are all gone, and while some of them have been replaced by more modern houses, we see
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NATURAL FEATURES
here and there, in all parts of the town, some of them un- reached by a public road, others overgrown by an encroach- ing forest, depressions in the ground that denote the an- cient cellars marking the sites of the happy and thrifty homes of these early pioneers. Large families of frequent- ly twelve or fourteen children were born and raised, many of them going out into the world to become influential cit- izens far from the scenes of their childhood.
When we visit the ancient burial grounds-of which we have five in town-we behold the humble mounds where repose the earthly remains of those same pioneers and their families. Standing at the heads of a comparatively few of these now leveled mounds are old, antique gravestones, with their quaint, almost hideous, carvings, upon which we may, by reading the moss-covered inscriptions, learn whose ashes lie beneath.
Another landmark is to be seen in the hundreds of miles of those massive, enduring stone walls which we find inclosing fields and pastures, running up and down hill, through forests that have sprung into existence where once were cultivated lands, or winding through the valleys wherever rocks were abundant. These fences became re- ceivers of waste material as well as means of keeping with- in bounds the cattle and horses of the farmers. Some of these walls have partially fallen down, some have been re- moved by the modern farmer, but many still remain in- tact, four feet or more in height, bulwarks that have with- stood stubbornly and successfully the wars of the elements, in several instances for more than one hundred and fifty years.
The moose, deer, wolf, beaver, mink, muskrat, marten, squirrel, rabbit, wild turkey, partridge, quail, wood-cock, bear, wild duck, pigeon, and other wild creatures were found more or less plentifully in the forests, while salmon, shad, alewives, lamprey eels and other migratory fishes as- cended the Merrimack in almost countless numbers.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
The wildwood game afforded considerable sustenance for the early inhabitants, and very soon after the appear- ance of the first settlers, we find them making provisions for the protection of the same, especially for the deer. At a town meeting held December 25, 1739, Edward Spaulding and Jonathan Perham were chosen "to care for the preser- vation of the deer." At the annual meeting the following year, March 4, 1740, Joseph Hamblet, Jr., and William Cummings were chosen " preservers of Deer."
March 9, 1747, Edward Spaulding and Benjamin Frost were chosen " to take care that the Deer are not destroyed out of season, as the law directs."
"Deer Keepers," as they were called, were elected at the annual town meetings, with more or less regularity, until 1784, after which time we find no record of their election.
March 2, 1752, at the annual meeting, " Voted to give £6 old tenor for every wolf that shall be caught and killed in this town the ensuing year."
December 25, 1752, " Allowed Dea. William Cummings for killing wolves in 1751. 12-0-0."
At the annual town meeting March 9, 1772, "Chose Deacon Ebenezer Cummings to take care that the fish are not obstructed in their passage up Wattannock Brook, so called, this present year."
March 4, 1774, "Chose Dea. Ebenezer Cummings & Jonathan Emerson to take care that the fish are not ob- structed in their passage up Wattannock Brook, so called, into the Pond."
March 16, 1778, "Chose Dea. Ebenezer Cummings, Page Smth, Wm. Gibson and David Tarbell to take care that the fish are not obstructed in going up Wattannock Brook."
At a meeting November 2, 1778, the following account among others was allowed: "To Abraham Page for get- ting a Bill drawn at Court in relation to fish in Watana- nick Brook 1-10-0."
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NATURAL FEATURES
The fish that passed from the Merrimack up Watan- anick Brook, as it was then called, to the pond by the same name, now known as Otternick, were alewives, which, in the spring of the year, migrated in great numbers. The writer has heard it said by old people, long since deceased, that the alewives passed up the brook in such quantities that the water was almost black with them, and that they could have been very easily taken from the brook in al- most any quantities desired. Barrels of them were salted and used for food by nearly every family in town.
The distance of the meanderings of this brook, from the River Merrimack to Otternick Pond is a little over one and one-fourth miles.
The obstructions to the passage of the fish up the stream feared by the people were probably dams being built across the brook for the purpose of holding back the water to furnish power for mills.
The last moose known to have been in this town was killed by Asa Davis, Esq., at Moose Swamp, situated at the easterly end of Hill's meadow, sometime about the begin- ning of the 19th century, though the exact date is not known. One of the horns of this animal has been care- fully preserved by the descendants of Mr. Davis, and may still be seen at the old Davis homestead, now owned and occupied by his great grandson, Augustus R. Morrison.
Barrett's Hill, situated in the easterly part of the town, south of Little Massabesic or Robinson's Pond, is the most conspicuous elevation. Its height is substantially five hun- dred feet above sea level, and a little more than four hun- dred feet above the Merrimack River at Taylor's Falls bridge. The elevation of the east summit of Bush Hill, not very far west of the line between Pelham and Hudson, is also very near five hundred feet.
Three ponds are within the limits of the town. Little Massabesic, or Robinson's Pond, lies in the north-east part, and, until the annexation of a portion of Londonderry in 1778, was wholly within that township. This sheet of
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
water has an area of about one hundred and twenty acres, and its outlet flows into Beaver Brook one and one-fourth miles to the east. Otternick, more commonly called "Tar- nick," lies about one mile east of the Merrimack, contains thirty-eight acres, and empties into the river by Otternick Brook about eighty rods below Taylor's Falls bridge, and one-half mile below the junction of Nashua River with the main stream.
Several mills have been erected on this brook at vari- ous times, and in several places along its course from the pond to the Merrimack.
The first saw mill in town is said to have been located at or near the outlet of Otternick Pond at an early date in its settlement, but who built this mill or at what date can- not be easily determined.
No machinery of any kind is at present operated by the waters of this brook.
The present name of Otternick, which applies to the pond and brook, was derived from the Indian name various- ly spelled in the early records as Watananoc, Wattannick, Watananock, Watananuck, Watannack, Watananick, etc.
Another small pond containing but a few acres, situ- ated in the south section of the town, is now called Mus- quash Pond. A considerable stream flows from this pond and empties into the Merrimack a short distance below the state line, in Tyngsboro, Mass. This stream has furnished power for a grist and saw mill from the days of the early settlement to recent times. These have all gone to decay, and the brook now flows unobstructed from source to out- let. The early records give the name of this stream as Nacook, which is undoubtedly of Indian origin and was probably applied to the pond also.
The water power in this town is very limited, and no extensive manufacturing interests have ever been located within its bounds. Thus the inhabitants of Hudson have always been, and still are engaged in the pursuit of agricul- ture. While perhaps it could not be classed among the
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From Photo by C. E. PAINE
ROBINSON'S POND, BARRETT'S HILL
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NATURAL FEATURES
best in the county of Hillsborough, it certainly is as good or better than the average.
The city of Nashua furnishes a very convenient mar- ket for much of the products of the town, including milk and cream, which are produced in large quantities, while Lowell, Mass., with a population of nearly one hundred thousand, is only five miles distant from its southern boun- dary.
CHAPTER II
ABORIGINAL HISTORY
Not long previous to the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock and the little band of fishermen at the mouth of the Pascataqua River, the most powerful Indian confederacy in New England north of the Pequots in the southern part, were the tribes or families occupying the val- ley of the Merrimack and the adjacent territory. Like the Iroquois of the West, these red men were devoted quite largely to agriculture. They cultivated, in their primitive manner, the fertile intervales along their favorite river, caught the fish that abounded in its waters, hunted the game of this rich region, and were examples of content- ment.
The principal tribes of this association of warriors banded together in order to protect themselves from the in- cursions of the warlike Tarratines on the east and the fierce Mohawks on the west, each of which seemed to have cov- eted their abundant domain and contended with them for its possession from time. immemorial, were the Agawams, the Wamesits, or Pawtuckets, Nashuays, Souhegans, Nat- ticooks, Pennacooks and Winnepesaukees. These different bodies occupied all of the country from around the mouth of the Merrimack back to its source in the mountains. The tribes living in this vicinity were the Nashuays, located along the river that bears their name, the Souhegans to their north, and the Natticooks living on the intervales of Litchfield and Merrimack. The dominant tribe was the Pennacook, which had furnished the ruling sachem for sev- eral generations. There were other tribes pledging alle- giance to the Pennacook, if not for actual friendship, in or- der to obtain the protection of this stronger party, which
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ABORIGINAL HISTORY
for many generations seems to have been controlled by wise and fearless chieftains.
These Indians inhabiting the interior were known to those living along the sea coast as Nipmucks, or fresh wa- ter Indians. The English, however, applied the general term of Pennacooks to them, and made their treaties with Passaconnaway, who was the head of this confederacy.
While this confederation, under the sagacious council of the astute Passaconnaway, was disposed to treat more fairly with the English than some of the other bodies of Amerinds located in New England, the Pennacooks were very much broken in spirit and reduced in numbers at the time of the appearance of the whites upon the scene. A few years before a terrible disease, the nature of which has never been clearly indicated, broke out among the tribes of Northern New England and greatly decimated their num- bers. Speaking of this depopulation, Capt. John Smith, who visited the coast in 1614 and later, wrote : "They had three plagues in three years successively near two hundred miles along the sea coast, that in some places there scarce re- mained five of a hundred. It is most certain there was an exceeding great plague among them; for where I have seen two or three hundred, within three years after remained scarce thirty." So, subdued in spirit as well as lessened in numbers, the English had far less to contend with than they might otherwise have been com- pelled to meet.
Owing to this calamity and the encroachments of the English, as early as 1685, the Pennacook was the only sur- viving tribe of this powerful confederation. The entire story is one of pathetic and mournful interest. The char- acters of Passaconnaway and his successors, Wonnalancet and Kancamagus, and the abuse they suffered at the hands of their conquerers, is told at considerable length in Potter's History of Manchester, of which the following is an extract :
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
"The sagamores of the most note among the Penna- cooks were Passaconnaway, Wonnalancet, his son, and Kan- camagus, usually called John Hogkins, his grandson. These chiefs were successively at the head of the Pennacooks, and each in his way, was a man of mark in his time.
" Passaconnaway's name indicated his warlike charac- ter, and meant 'The child of the bear.' This name he doubtless received at mature age, according to the custom of the Indians, from his supposed resemblance in courage and bravery to that ferocious animal. We first hear of him in 1627 or 1628, and it is possible that he was met by Christopher Levett in the neighborhood of the Pascataqua in 1623."
Referring to the accounts of him by the early writers, Mr. Potter continues : "From which marvelous story we are to infer that Passaconnaway was a clever juggler as well as brave warrior. In fact he held his people in awe of him, the Indians supposing him to have supernatural powers ; to have control over their destinies ; that he could make a dry leaf turn green; water burn and then turn to ice; and could take the rattlesnake in his hand with impunity. With such reputed powers, his acknowledged ability as a warrior and wisdom as a sagamore, Passaconnaway became the ac- knowledged head of the most powerful confederacy east of the Mohawks, and as such received the title of Bashaba, a title of much the same import as that of Emperor. * *
"In the planting season Passaconnaway had a residence at Pennacook Island in the Merrimack, and another upon the island in the Merrimack a mile north of the mouth of the Souhegan ; while his principal residence was at Namas- keag. Here, without a doubt, he sat in royal state, held his council fires, determined upon his warpaths, gave his royal feasts, and performed those feats that held his wondering followers as with the spell of enchantment.
"Passaconnaway early saw the superiority of the Eng- lish, and with his usual sagacity he realized the entire hope- lessness of the attempts of his people to subdue them. His
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ABORIGINAL HISTORY
policy was to make terms of peace with them, and it was in pursuance of this policy that he disposed of his lands to Wheelwright, reserving alone his right of fishing and hunting.
"In 1642, upon suspicion that a conspiracy was form- ing among the Indians to crush the English, men were sent out to arrest some of the Indian chiefs. Forty were sent to secure Passaconnaway, but aided by a storm he escaped. Wonnalancet, his son, was not as fortunate. He was taken by a party, while his squaw escaped into the woods." Not only was Wonnalancet seized and borne away as a captive, but he suffered indignities at the hands of his captors that must have aroused the proud spirit of this prince. At any rate the whites sought immediately to make some amends, and invited Passaconnaway to come and talk with them. Had the aged sagamon been in his younger years his re- ply might have been more warlike. As it was he showed something of the fire of other days, when he sent this short but decisive answer :
"Tell the English when they restore my son and his squaw, then will I talk with them, and not before."
Wonnalancet was set free soon after, but the wound rankled in the old sagamon's breast, for in 1647, when Fa- ther Eliot sought to address him among a vast number of the Indians who had collected at Pawtucket, he withdrew with two of his sons, saying "He was afraid the whites would kill them!" But the following year he seems to have relented, for we find him with a great concourse of his peo- ple listening to the words of the good man, and he became a convert to the Christian religion. During the next twelve years little is heard of Passaconnaway. He doubtless went back and forth between his favorite fishing places, Paw- tucket and Amoskeag, until in 1660 he made his last ap- pearance upon the stage of action. The word had gone forth that he was to deliver upon this occasion his farewell address, and confer his mantle upon his son Wonnalancet.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
This was not an unusual proceeding, but owing to the pres- tige of the aged chieftain it was looked upon with uncom- mon importance. And, as he stood there before his fol- lowers on that fair spring day, he presented the most pic- turesque figure that ever addressed an audience in New England. At first his voice was low and trembled with the emotion that filled his being, but slowly it grew plainer and louder, while he briefly related some of the leading events in his long life, and pictured the former glory of his people, until at last he came to utter these stirring and im- mortal words :
" Hearken ! to the words of your father. I am an old oak, that has withstood the storms of more than a hundred winters. Leaves and branches have been stripped from me by the winds and frosts ; my eyes are dim ; my limbs totter ; I must soon fall ! When young and sturdy I de- lighted in war. The whoop of the Pennacooks was heard upon the Mohawk, and none louder than Passaconnaway's. The scalps upon the pole at my wigwam told the story of Mohawk suffering.
"Hearken ! the English came. They found us few and weak. In vain, did I try my arm against them ; in vain, my sorcery. I, who can make the dry leaf live again; who dares the rattlesnake and defies the thunder ; who has com- muned with the Great Spirit, can read the sign in the fall- ing leaf.
"Hearken, my children, to what I say. I listen; the Great Spirit bids me say this to you : ' Peace, peace is the only hope for your race. I have given fire and thunder to the pale-faces; I have made them plenty, as the leaves of the forest ; and still they come. Your meadows they turn with the plow; they build their villages upon your fishing places !'
"The Great Spirit says these words, and they must be true. We are few and helpless before them ! We must bend before the storm ! The wind blows hard ! The old oak trembles ! Its branches are gone ! Its sap is frozen ! It
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ABORIGINAL HISTORY
bends; it falls! Peace, peace with the white men, is the command of the Great Spirit, and the wish-the last wish -of Passaconnaway."
Two years later following this memorable farewell ad- dress, on the 9th of May, 1662, the venerable chieftain pre- sented the following petition to Governor John Endicott and the General Court of Massachusetts :
To the honored John Endicot Esqr. together with the rest of the hon- ored General Court now Assembled in Boston the petition of Papisseconnewa in behalf of himself as also many other Indians who now for a longe time o'r selves o'r progenitors seated upon a tract of land called Naticot.
Wheras this land is now in the possession of Mr. William Brenton of Rode Island marchant; and is confirmed to the said Mr. Brenton to him his heirs and assigns according to the Laws of this Jurisdiction, by reason of which tracte of land being taken up as aforesaid, and thereby your Pore petitionr with many oth (ers) in an onsetled condition and must be forced in a short time to remove to some other place.
The Humble request of yr petitionr is that this honored Court wolde pleas to grante vnto vs a parcell of land for or comfortable cituation ; to be stated for or Injoyment; as also for the comfort of oths after vs; as also that this honored Court wold pleas to take in to yr serious consid- eration the condition and also the requeste of yr pore Suplicant and to apoynte two or three persons as a Committee to arrange with some one or two Indians to vew and determine of some place and to lay out the same, not further to trouble this Honored Assembly, humbly craving an expected answer this present session I shall remain yr humble Servante
Wherein yu Shall Commande,
PAPISSECONEWA.
Boston: 8: 3 mo 1662.
Passaconnaway's petition was not made in vain. The court seems to have taken into consideration the valuable services the aged chieftain had done for the colonists, and performed only an act of justice when it returned the fol- lowing reply :
In answer to the petition of Papisseconneway, this Court judgeth it meete to grant to the saide Papisseconneway and his men or associates about Naticot, above Mr. Brenton's lands, where it is free, a mile and a half on either side of Merrimack river in breadth, three miles on either side in length, provided he nor they do not alienate any part of this grant without leave and license from this Court, first obtained.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
The court appointed John Parker and Jonathan Dan- forth, surveyors, to lay out the tract of land to Passaconna- way and his associates, a territory that only a few years since had been theirs by a title as good possibly as that of the English. In a few days less than a year these survey- ors made the following report :
According to order of Honord General Court, there is laid out unto the Indians Papisseconneway and his associates the inhabitants of Nati- cott, three miles square, or so much (eather) as containes it in the figure of a romboides upon Merrimack River; beginning at the head of Mr. Brenton's Lands at Naticott, on the east side of the River, and then it joineth to his line, which line runs halfe a point North West of the east, it lyeth one mile and halfe wide on side of ye river and somewhat better, and runnes three miles up the River, the Northern line on the east side of the river is bounded by a brook (called by the Indians) Suskayquetuck, right against the falls in the river called Pokechuous, the end line on both sides of the River are parallells; the side line on the east side of the River runes halfe a point eastward of the No: No: east and the side line on the west side of the river runes Northeast and by North all of which is sufficiently bounded and marked with I, also ther is two small islands in the River, part of which the lower end line crosses. One of them Papis- seconneway had lived upon and planted a long time, a small patch of in- tervale Land on the West side of the River anent and a little below ye islands by estimation about forty acres, which joyenth their land to Sou- hegan River, which the Indians have planted (much of it) a long time, and considering there is very little good land in that which is now laid out un- to them, the Indians do earnestly request this Honord Court to grant these two small Islands and ye patch of intervale as it is bounded by the Hills.
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