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 6
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"According to Hassel's account the entire command of Lovewell had been cut off and the Indians in overwhelm- ing numbers were in full pursuit. The fort was a mere temporary affair, with no provisions, forty miles from any white inhabitant, no prospect of relief in case of attack or siege, and the little garrison, including Hassel, Kidder the sick man, and the physician, amounted to but eleven per- sons all told. Under such circumstances retreat was the only alternative. At first some little blame was attached to Hassel, but people soon began to think that he should be excused, and only two years after, when the grant of Suncook was made to those who were in this expedition under Lovewell, Hassel was one of the grantees, without any exceptions being taken on account of his conduct in, or subsequent to the battle.
" The men who were left in the fort with Kidder were Nathaniel Woods of Dunstable, Sergeant; Dr. William Ayer of Haverhill; John Goffe of Londonderry, brother- in-law of Kidder ; John Gilson of Groton ; Isaac Whitney and Zachariah Whitney of Concord; Zebediah Austin of Haverhill ; and Edward Spooney and Ebenezer Halburt of Dunstable. The party probably arrived at Dunstable on the 11th, of May, 1725.
" Upon hearing of this disastrous news, Governor Dummer forthwith dispatched a company under Col. El- eazer Tyng, of Dunstable, to search for the enemy and to find and bury the slain. Colonel Tyng marched with his company on the 17th of May, and encamped at Namos- keag, now Manchester, the first night. The next day being rainy they continued at their encampment."
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
Colonel Tyng having taken all the effective men from Dunstable, leaving the settlers in an exposed situation, wrote to Governor Dummer the following letter, informing him of their condition, and asking protection for them :
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR HONOR :
This day I marched from Amoskeag, having 55 of my own men, and 32 of Capt. Whites (?)
The men are well and proceed with a great deal of life and courage.
Yesterday I was forced to lie still by reason of the rain. I would humbly offer something to your Honor in the hehalf of our people who are left very destitute and naked, that you would be pleased to consider their circumstances and order what you shall think proper for their de- fense till we return.
I am your Honors Most Ob't Servant,
ELEAZER TYNG.
Amoskeag, May 19, 1725.
Governor Dummer seems to have anticipated Colonel Tyng's request, as he had already issued the following order :
To COL. FLAGG.
SIR, These are to empower and direct you forthwith to detatch or impress out of the Reg't whereof you are Lieut. Coll., a sergeant and twelve effective able bodied men, well armed for his Majesties services, for the security and Reinforcement of Dunstable, until the return of Col. Tyng and his company.
They must be posted at the Garrisons of Joseph Bloghead, Nath'l Hill, John Taylour, and John Lovewell, and three Centinels in each Gar- rison, and the sergeant in that of the four that is nearest to the centre. The sergeant must be very careful to keep the men well upon their duty, so as to be a good Guard and protection to the People, and you must give him directions in writing accordingly. Let this matter be effected with all possible dispatch.
WILLIAM DUMMER.
Boston, May 19, 1725.
* *
" Col. Tyng and his party went to the place of action where they found and buried the following men, viz. : Capt. John Lovewell, Ensign Jonathan Woods, Ensign John
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LOVEWELL'S MEN
Harwood and Robert Usher of Dunstable; Jacob Fullam of Weston ; Jacob Farrar and Josiah Davis of Concord ; Thomas Woods, David Woods and John Jefts of Groton ; Ichabod Johnson of Woburn; Jonathan Kittredge of Bil- lerica.
" Col. Tyng found where the Indians had buried three of their own men, which were dug up, and one of them was known to be the bold Paugus, who had been a great scourge to Dunstable."
Paugus was a frequent visitor at Hill's garrison before Lovewell's War, and was always treated kindly by Mrs. Ann Hills, who often fed him when hungry. These kind acts seemed to have been reciprocated by him, and he is said to have always treated her with respect-sometimes furnishing her with a delicious piece of bear meat, or doing some other kindly act.
These traditions came down through the writer's grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Cummings, whose mother, Sarah (Hills) (Severance) Hale, daughter of Nathaniel and Ann (Worm) Hills was born in the Hills garrison October 2, 1731, only six years after the memorable campaign of Cap- tain Lovewell and his men.
CHAPTER VI
FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON
The first and only grant of land within the present precinct of this town, made prior to the incorporation of Dunstable, which included Hudson, as far as I have been able to learn, was five hundred acres laid out to Joseph Hills, of Malden, Mass., and surveyed by Jonathan Dan- forth in 1661.
This survey was not satisfactory to the court by reason of its being "in three places and so much length on the river."
This grant was made, as stated by Mr. Hills in his re- quest for a second survey, " on a double consideration, for £33 6s 8d laid down in England, and for services to the country." A second survey was ordered by the General Court of Massachusetts, and the following return made :
According to the order of the General Court the 11th day of the 4th month, 1662, There is added to the farm of Mr. Joseph Hills, of Malden, One Hundred Acres of land joining to the former Parcel, Backward from the River; thence the Butting and Bounding of the farm are as follows :
Laid out to Mr. Joseph Hills, of Malden, 500 acres of Land in the Wilderness, On the Easterly side of the Merrimack River.
One Parcel of the same containing 450 Acres, Joineth to said River ; Beginning at Wattiannack Right Over Against the Island which Lyeth at the mouth of Nashuay River, Running up Merrimack 450 poles by the River ; thence running half a point Northard of the East 148 Poles, cut- ting Across a small Brook which Bounds it on the North, near Merri- mack ; thence Running South and by East 406 Poles unto a Pine Tree marked H; from thence the closing line to the Merrimack is 106 Poles, all of which is sufficiently Bounded by Marked Trees, the form of which Does Better appear by a Plot Taken of the same.
Also one other Parcel of the same, about 50 Acres of Meadow, Lyeth South East of the former Parcel, about 2 Miles Distant from it, Lying under the North East end of a great hill called Discovery hill. Also Bounded by other great hills on the North West and North East; a Brook running through the Same.
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FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON
Also there is Another Meadow added unto this Parcel. This was Laid out By
JONATHAN DANFORTH,
Surveyor.
The first tract of this land as described, containing four hundred and fifty acres, commenced at the river about twenty-five or thirty rods south of the house of Kimball Webster, and about sixty rods above Taylor's Falls bridge, and extended to the river to the small brook that crosses the road a little south of the house of Pearl T. Thomas, and included the most fertile intervale lands in town.
The second tract of fifty acres was a part of the large meadow still known as "Hills' Meadow." The fifty acres of the meadow set off to Mr. Hills was the north and west part of the same. The great hill called "Discovery Hill" is now designated " Burns' Hill." The last tract, which was not described by Mr. Danforth, was on the brook that enters Otternick Pond at the east end, formerly called Hale's Brook, but the exact boundary is unknown.
This Joseph Hills was born in the parish of Great Burstead, Billericay, Essex, England, where he was bap- tised in March, 1602. Not later than March, 1632, the family moved to Maldon, also of Essex. In 1638 he came to this country in the ship "Susan and Ellen," which ar- rived in Boston July 17th of that year. He first located in Charlestown. He soon became active in public affairs ; was selectman of the town in 1644, and in 1646 represent- ed it in the General Court. Re-elected in 1647, he was chosen Speaker of its House of Deputies.
That part of Charlestown north of the Mystic River, where he resided, was later set off as a separate township and was doubtless named by him Malden, for his last dwel- ling place in Old England.
He was a lawyer, a leader of the militia, and held many important offices while a resident of Malden. Later he removed to Newbury.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
In 1645, Joseph Hills was the first person named on a committee "to set out lots to the settlers of Nashaway plantacôn."
In 1650 he was second of a committee, of which the governor was chairman, appointed to draw up instruments for Massachusetts delegates to a gathering where "the commissioners of all the colonies shall meete." He was a member of numerous other committees of equal or greater importance.
His greatest public service was that of a leading mem- ber of the committee which in 1648 reported to the General Court the first codification of the laws of the colony. Mr. D. P. Cory, one of his descendants, in a history of Malden published in 1899, says : "He was the actual compiler of the laws, that he prepared the copy for the press and sup- ervised their printing." The colony recognized the great value of his services by money payments, and also by the grant of lands already described, and the remission of his taxes in his old age.
Rose Clark, the first wife of Joseph Hills, died at Mal- den, March 24, 1650, and he married June 24, 1651, Hannah (Smith), widow of Edward Mellows, of Charlestown, who died about 1655. In January, 1656, he married Helen, or Elline, or Eleanor, daughter of Hugh Atkinson, of Kendall, Westmoreland, England, who died between the dates of January 8, 1661, and November 10, 1662. Following the example of Governor Bellingham, who married himself in 1641, Joseph Hills, a magistrate "for the trial of small causes," performed the ceremony that made Miss Atkin- son his wife, in January, 1656, but he did not escape cen- sure, as witness the following :
The records of the court for Middlesex County show that, April 1, 1656, "Mr. Joseph Hills of Mauldon being presented by the Grand Jury for marrying of himself, con- trary to the law of this Collony page 38 in ye old Booke. Hee freely acknowledged his offense therein, and his mis- understanding the ground whereon he went which he now
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FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON
confesseth to be unwarrantable, And was admonished by the Court."
March 8, 1665, he married at Newbury, Ann, the widow of Henry Lunt, of that town, and until his death made her dwelling his home. He was totally blind the last four years of his life, which ended February 5, 1688.
The children of Joseph and Rose (Clark) Hills : Mary, baptised G. Burstead, Eng., November 13, 1625; died at Malden, Mass., November 25, 1674. Elizabeth, baptised G. Burstead, October 21, 1627 ; died at Malden. Joseph, baptised G. Burstead, August 2, 1629; died at Malden, April 19, 1674. James, baptised G. Burstead, March 6, 1631 ; probably died young. John, baptised Malden, March 21, 1632; died at Malden, June 28, 1652. Rebecca, bap- tised at Malden, April 20, 1634 ; died at Malden, June 6, 1674. Steven, baptised at Malden, May 1, 1636 ; died at Malden before 1638. Sarah, baptised at Malden, August 14, 1637 ; died at Malden, August 14, 1637. Gershom, born at Charlestown, Mass., July 27, 1639 ; died at Malden, between 1710 and 1721. Mehitable, born at Malden, Jan- uary 1, 1641 ; died at Malden, July, 1653.
The children of Joseph and Hannah (Smith-Mellows) Hills : Samuel, born at Malden, July, 1652 ; died at New- bury, Mass., August 18, 1732. Nathaniel, born at Malden, December 19, 1653; died in Malden in 1664. Hannah, born at Malden; date of death unknown.
The children of Helen (Atkinson) Hills: Deborah, born at Malden, March -, 1657; died at Malden, October -- , 1662. Abagail, born at Malden, October 6, 1658; died at Malden, October 9, 1662.
Samuel Hills, son of Joseph and his second wife, Han- nah Smith, born in Malden, in July, 1652, was sergeant in the Indian war with King Philip, and was at the Battle of Bloody Brook, September 18, and of Narragansett, Decem- ber 19, 1675. He married at Newbury, May 20, 1679, Abi- gail Wheeler, daughter of David and Sarah (Wise) Wheeler of Newbury.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
The children of Samuel and Abigail (Wheeler) Hills: Samuel, born in Newbury, February 16, 1680; died in Rehoboth, Mass., July 27, 1732. Joseph, born in Newbury, July 21, 1681; died in Newbury, November 6, 1745. Na- thaniel, born in Newbury, February 9, 1683; died at Not- tingham West (Hudson), N. H., April 12, 1748. Benja- min, born in Newbury, October 16, 1684; died, Chester, N. H., November 3, 1762. Abigail, born in Newbury, Sep- tember 2, 1686; died in Newbury, August 11, 1688. Hen- ry, born in Newbury, April 23, 1688; died in Nottingham West, N. H., August 20, 1757. William, born in Newbury, October 8, 1689; died in Newbury before January 20, 1724. Josiah, born in Newbury, July 27, 1691; died in Newbury, April 26, 1724. John, born in Newbury, September 20, 1693; died after 1734. Abigail, born in Newbury, June 27,1695. James and Hannah, twins, born in Newbury, February 25, 1697; died in Nottingham West after 1769. Daniel, born in Newbury, December 8, 1700; died in colo- nial service October 28, 1756. Smith, born at Newbury, April 10, 1706; died in Leominster, Mass., August 23, 1786.
By the lengthy and explicit will of Joseph Hills, dated September 14, 1687, less than five months previous to his death, he disposed of his "Farm" in Dunstable in the fol- lowing manner:
To his daughter Hannah, the wife of Abiel Long, he gave ninety acres of upland at the south end and ten acres of meadow.
To his son-in-law, John Waite, who married his eldest daughter Mary, who died November 25, 1674, he gave forty- five acres of upland, next to that he gave his daughter Hannah, and five acres of meadow, with the little island at the mouth of Nashua River, and his six-acre piece of meadow southeast of Otternick Pond.
To his grandchildren, Hannah and Elizabeth Blanch- ard, children of his daughter, Elizabeth (Hills) Blanchard, he gave forty-five acres of upland and five acres of meadow ground next to that he gave John Waite.
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FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON
To his son Gershom he gave a like quantity of upland and meadow, joining the land of said Blanchards.
To Hannah Vinton and Samuel Green, children of his daughter Rebecca, who married Capt. Thomas Green, he gave forty-five acres of upland and five acres of meadow apiece next to that he gave his son Gershom.
To his granddaughter Elizabeth, daughter of Gershom, he gave forty-six acres of upland and five acres of meadow next to that he gave his grandchildren Vinton and Green.
All of the remainder of his "Farm" in Dunstable, both upland and meadow, he gave to his son Samuel. This tract of land lying on the river according to the measure- ment of the noted surveyor, Jonathan Danforth, contained four hundred and fifty acres.
The number of acres of this land devised, according to his will, to his children and grandchildren by Joseph Hills, with the exception of that portion given his son Samuel, contained three hundred and sixty-one acres. Provided the measurements were made correctly, the amount devised to Samuel at the north end of the "farm" was eighty-nine acres, besides ten acres of meadow. The land was proba- bly not divided by actual survey to correspond with the provisions of the will until many years later.
Three of the sons of Samuel Hills, according to tradi- tion, were the first settlers in what is now the town of Hudson: Their names were Nathaniel, Henry and James.
Samuel Hills, by his will, which was dated August 5, 1732, only thirteen days previous to his decease, gave his property to his wife and seven of his sons who survived him.
In that instrument his sons, Henry and James, are not mentioned, which omission is explained by two deeds dated August 22, 1721.
In one of these where Henry is the grantee his father recites: "The natural love and affection which I have and do bear unto my well beloved son Henry Hills * * *
* and in full of his portion of my estate," as the considera-
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
tion for the conveyance to him of "one-half part of all * lands and meadow in the town of Dunstable, in the county of Middlesex on the easterly side of the Merrimack River which land and meadow was granted to my honored father, Mr. Joseph Hills, late of Newbury, deceased, and conveyed to me by the late will and testament of the said Joseph Hills."
For the same consideration he gave to his "well-beloved son James Hills" the other half of the same lands. This James Hills, the younger of the three brothers, on the 11th of January, 1723, a few days subsequent to his marriage, reciting in his deed that he was a resident of the new set- tlement, sold the land he had received from his father Sam- uel, then in Dunstable, describing it as containing sixty acres, to Samuel Whiting, of Dunstable, one of Captain Lovewell's famous war-party, and who was probably killed at Pequaket, May 9, 1725, a little over two years after this purchase.
The tract of land sold to Samuel Whiting was the southerly part of the Samuel Hills land, and was later the northerly portion of the Pierce farm.
The Hills brothers, Nathaniel, Henry and James, erect- ed a garrison and settled on the land willed to their father Samuel, and conveyed by deeds to the two last named, Henry and James. The exact date of the building of this garrison is not known. Mr. Fox, in his History of the Old Township of Dunstable, page 216, says: "Hudson was not settled until after 1710, although several tracts of land within its bounds were granted before 1660."
If these brothers did not commence the settlement here until after the land was conveyed to the two younger ones by their father Samuel, August 22, 1721, certainly tradition is in error, and they could not be credited with being the first settlers in what is now Hudson.
Nathaniel Hills, the eldest of the three brothers, born in Newbury, Mass., February 9, 1683, married (published) in Newbury, October 24, 1709, Ann Worm. Their chil-
-
From a Painting by FRANK HOLLAND
OLD GARRISON HOUSE, BUILT ABOUT 1720
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FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON
dren were: Enoch, born March 16, 1711. Anna, born May 5, 1712. Mary, born September 23, 1713. Martha, born January 6, 1715. Nathaniel, born April 28, 1716. Thaddeus, born September 20, 1718; died in Newbury, October 12, 1718. Abner, born -; died young. Abra- ham, born -; died young. Samuel, born September 2, 1725. Oliver, born November 18, 1727. Sarah, born October 7, 1731.
All but the last three of these children were born in Newbury, Mass., and these in Dunstable, N. H.
Nathaniel Hills, Sr., died in Nottingham West, now Hudson, April 12, 1748. His wife Ann died at the same place in 1786, said to have been aged 102 years.
Henry Hills, the second of the three brothers in point of age, born in Newbury, Mass., April 23, 1688, married, Haver- hill, Essex Co., Mass., September 3, 1715, Hannah, daughter of Henry and Berthia (Emery) Bodwell, born in Methuen, Mass., September -, 1696. He married 2d, Abigail -; 3d, in Newbury, November 11, 1736, Dorcas Thurston.
The children of Henry and Hannah (Bodwell) Hills: Ezekiel, born in Newbury, Mass., April 11, 1718. Henry, born in Newbury, October 22, 1719.
The children of Henry and Abigail Hills were: Eliza- beth, born in Dunstable, now Hudson, N. H., April 17, 1726.(?) (Dunstable Records.) Ebenezer, born in Dunsta- ble, February 20, 1727; Jonathan, born in Dunstable, Feb- ruary 15, 1729.
Child of Henry and Dorcas (Thurston) Hills: Benja- min, born in Litchfield, N. H., in that part now Hudson, December 10, 1740. There may have been other children of this couple.
Henry Hills died August 20, 1757, aged 69 years.
James Hills, the youngest of these three brothers, and the twin of Hannah, was born in Newbury, Mass., Febru- ary 25, 1697. He came here and lived in the garrison be- fore his marriage to Abigail, daughter of Daniel and Es- ther Merrill, December 26, 1723, and then returned to Newbury.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
Children of James and Abigail (Merrill) Hills: Abi- gail, born September 5, 1725 ; died October 5, 1725. Jere- miah, born March 1, 1727. James, born August 10, 1728; died September 1, 1729. William, born May 23, 1730; died September 25, 1734. Hannah, born September 25, 1731 ; all of Newbury. Sarah, born July 2, 1735; married Joseph Winn, Jr .; died August 24, 1753. Edna, born August 3, 1736; died September 1, 1753. Elijah, born March 15, 1738.
James Hills returned from Newbury as early as 1737, and settled on a farm of about one hundred acres, which he bought of his brother Nathaniel, and which was a part of the nine hundred acres Nathaniel had bought of Jonathan Tyng. This tract of land was located between the north end of Joseph Hills' "farm" and the "Brenton Farm," which bounded it on the north, and extended east from the river more than two miles. This included all that was later known as "Hills Row." The probable reason why Samuel Hills gave all of his land in Dunstable to his two sons, Henry and James, and no part to Nathaniel, was that the latter had already bought the Tyng land.
The Hills garrison stood about twenty-five rods east of the Litchfield road, on the farm now owned by J. H. LeGallee. A granite boulder, with the following inscrip- tion, marks the location :
SITE OF THE HILLS GARRISON.
The first settlement of Hudson, about 1710.
Erected by KIMBALL WEBSTER, 1901.
NATHANIEL HILLS died April 12, 1748, aged 65. HENRY HILLS died August 20, 1757, aged 69.
It is possible and perhaps probable that Hills garrison was erected and the settlement commenced several years previous to the removal of the families of Nathaniel and Henry Hills, permanently, from Newbury.
Captain John Lovewell, with his company of forty- six brave soldiers spent the first night after starting upon their march to Pequawket at Hills garrison, where they were fed by Mrs. Ann Hills with rations she had prepared
-
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FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON
for them-cooked in a large iron kettle. She was a very brave woman, and once saved the garrison from capture by a party of Indians by strategem.
Three other garrisons were built in what was later the town of Nottingham, two of which, the Joseph Blodgett, and the John Taylor garrisons, were all built in what is now Hudson, and the Fletcher garrison was a short dis- tance south of the state line, in what is now Tyngsborough, Mass. These garrisons were all built as a protection against the Indians, either before, or during the time of Lovewell's war, and it is the more probable that they were all built previous to that time. The Joseph Blodgett garri- son was located about two and one-half miles below the mouth of the Nashua River, nearly half way between the present river road and the Merrimack, on the farm now owned by Philip J. Connell, which is a part of the original Joseph Blodgett farm.
Joseph Blodgett was one of the first settlers on the east side of the river, in what was then Dunstable.
A granite boulder with a bronze tablet marks the site of the garrison. The inscription on the tablet is as follows :
SITE OF BLODGETT GARRISON-
JOSEPH AND DOROTHY BLODGETT.
Their eldest son, Joseph, born here February 9, 1718, being the first white child born in this town.
KIMBALL WEBSTER, 1904.
Thomas Blodgett, born 1605, the emigrant ancestor of the Blodgett Family of New England, sailed from London in the "Increase," April 18, 1635. The family consisted of "Thomas Blodgett, glover, aged 30; his wife, Susan, aged 37; a son, Daniel, aged 4; and a son, Samuel, aged 1 1-2 years." He settled in Cambridge, Mass., and was one of the original members of Rev. Thomas Shepard's company which founded the first church in Cambridge. He was made a freeman in 1636, and received a grant of land. He died in 1642, aged about 37. His will is dated August 10,
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
1641, and was probated 1643. His widow, Susan, married second time, February 15, 1643-4, James Thompson of Woburn.
Samuel Blodgett, son of Thomas and Susan, born in England, settled in Woburn.
Daniel Blodgett, son of Thomas, born in England, mar- ried September 15, 1653, Mary Butterfield, daughter of Benjamin and Ann Butterfield of Woburn, and Chelmsford, Mass. He removed from Cambridge to Chelmsford, and there his children were born. His wife, the mother of seven children, died September 5, 1666; he married, second, March 10, 1669, Sarah Underwood, who was the mother of two sons. He died January 28, 1672.
Thomas Blodgett, son of Daniel 2, born in Chelmsford, June 25, 1654, lived in Chelmsford. He married June 29, 1682, Mary Parkhurst, daughter of Joseph Parkhurst; she died September 9, 1694. He married, second, July 8, 1696, Mary Druse of Groton, Mass.
Joseph Blodgett, son of Thomas 3, and Mary (Park- hurst) Blodgett, born in Chelmsford, October 10, 1689; married Dorothy Perham, daughther of Joseph Perham, born July 9, 1696. This is the same Joseph Blodgett that built the garrison, sometime previous to the beginning of Lovewell's war, and where his eldest son was born, prob- ably February 9, 1718, athough the records place it one year later. This was the first white child born in this town.
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