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 7
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The old Dunstable records give the births of children of Joseph and Dorothy Blodgett as follows: Joseph Blodgett, born February 9, 1719; Ebenezer, born January 3, 1720; Jeremiah, born July 20, 1721; Dorothy, born Febuary 18, 1723-4; Rebecca, born February 3, 1728; Jonathan, born December 5, 1730.
We also find recorded on the Nottingham records an- other birth, James, born February 17, 1734. They prob- ably had another daughter, Abigail, who married in this town May 27, 1744, Samuel Greeley, son of Samuel and
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FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON
Rachel Greeley, born May 11, 1721. They resided in this town until about 1767 when they removed to Wilton. After his death his widow, Abigail, returned here, where she died March 18, 1818, in the 95th year of her age. (Inscrip- tion, Blodgett Cemetery.)
The date of the birth of Joseph Blodgett, given as February 9, 1719, on the Dunstable records, is believed to be an error of one year. The inscription on his head stone in the Blodgett Cemetery gives the date of his death on August 16, 1801, in the 84th year of his age, which would place his birth as in the year 1718.
Again, the record places the birth of his brother, Eb- enezer, January 3, 1720, which would leave less than eleven months between the two births, which might be possible but not very probable.
The date upon the tablet at the site of the Blodgett garrison, for the birth of Joseph, is February 9, 1718, which is believed to be correct.
In my experience with the ancient town records I have observed very many similar errors of one or more years in the dates of births and deaths, in cases where the age is given at date of death .*
Dorothy Blodgett, born February 18, 1723-4; married first-Thompson, second Onesipherous Marsh of this town. They resided here until about 1755, when they removed to Hollis, and later to Plymouth, N. H. Rebecca Blodgett, born February 3, 1728, married Samuel Merrill, Jr., son of Samuel and Susanna Merrill of this town. He died Sep- tember 16, 1758, and is said to have been killed in the French and Indian war.
The Joseph Blodgett farm, upon which the garrison was built, extended from the Merrimack River to Hills meadow, a distance of more than one and a half miles, and contained about 200 acres, including the farm now owned by Hannah E. Connell, the summer home of Herman A.
* Kimball Webster.
Y
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
Morse, a part of the farm of the heirs of Luther Pollard, and lands of Austin J. and Vinnie Blodgett and Susan C. Greeley, and possibly others.
The descendants of Joseph and Dorothy Blodgett be- came very numerous, among which have been, and at pres- ent (1912) are, many distinguished men of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and other states.
He died December 3, 1761. His wife, Dorothy, died March 6, 1778. They were buried in the Blodgett ceme- tery, where the inscriptions upon their head stones may be easily read.
Tradition says that he was a small, wiry man, and that he moved up the river to his farm in a canoe.
The John Taylor garrison was located upon that part of the Joseph Hills farm, containing forty-five acres, that was willed to Gershom Hills by his father, Joseph, which farm is now owned and occupied by Charles W. Spalding, and was situated about equal distance between the Derry road and the Litchfield road as they at present exist.
The exact location where it stood is still known, and has been pointed out to the writer. Some pieces of timber that entered into the construction of this garrison are still preserved by Mr. Spalding.
Very little is know of this John Taylor. He was as- sessed here from the date of the incorporation of Notting- ham in 1733 to 1741, inclusive. He probably removed from this town about 1742, or possibly he may have died about that time, as we find no further reference in relation to him upon the records. The Dunstable records give births of children of John and Sarah Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, born December 10, 1710, and that a son was born to them January 16, 1726; the first of which probably took place while he resided on the west side of the Merrimack, before he built the garrison.
The falls in the Merrimack, about one mile below his farm, now covered by flowage from the dam at Lowell, called Taylor's Falls, probably derived the name from this John Taylor.
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FIRST SETTLERS OF HUDSON
The Fletcher garrison, also in Nottingham, was situ- ated a little south of the line as established in 1741, be- tween the provinces of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It was located near the River road, a short distance south of the state line, now Tyngsborough, Mass., and was occu- pied by Capt. Robert Fletcher.
Thus it will be seen that the Hills garrison was situ- ated very near the north line of Nottingham as it was in- corporated in 1733. John Taylor's garrison was situated about one-half a mile south of the Hills garrison, and the Joseph Blodgett garrison was located about three miles southerly from the Taylor garrison, and the Fletcher gar- rison was situated nearly three miles southerly from the Blodgett garrison, no one of which was more than one-half a mile from the Merrimack.
Probably during Lovewell's war there may have been a few other families residing on the east side of the river, who depended upon the garrison houses for protection in case of trouble with the Indians.
CHAPTER VII
GRANTS AND COUNTER GRANTS
The early histories of all the towns in lower New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts are largely taken up with the settlements of boundary disputes, arising mainly in the beginning from a misconception regarding the true course of the Merrimack River, which was supposed to be from the west, no one dreaming of the abrupt bend made by the river three miles below the present line between the states. The records of the Massachusetts Bay Com- pany, after describing the country to the south of the Merrimack, says :
And also all singular the lands and preditaments whatsoever which lie, & be within the space of three English miles to the Northward of said river Called " Monomack," alias "Merrymack," or to the northward of any and every part thereof.
Owing to this misconception dual grants were made by the rival provinces which made much trouble and cre- ated in some instances bitter feelings on the part of the colonists, many of whom were in no way responsible or to blame for the situation. Though escaping, in a measure, the rancor arising among the inhabitants of the grants up the river, the settlement of Hudson, or Nottingham, as it was first known, was influenced by this state of affairs.
The first grant affecting the condition of Hudson, how- ever, was free from this influence. This was the grant of the old township of Dunstable by the General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony, October 16, 1673, which em- braced a very large tract of land, and included within its bounds the following towns and parts of towns: Hudson, Nashua, Hollis, portions of Amherst, Milford, Merrimack, Litchfield, Londonderry, Pelham and Brookline, in New
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GRANTS AND COUNTER GRANTS
Hampshire; Dunstable, Tyngsborough, and portions of Pepperell and Townsend, in Massachusetts.
The first inroad made upon this extensive territory was attempted when Governor Shute of New Hampshire granted to the Scotch-Irish colony the township of Lon- donderry, and which included a part of the present town of Hudson, and which was made to John Moore and one hun- dred and seventeen others upon June 21, 1722.
These colonists were of a distinct type from any who had previously settled in New England. They were of Scottish descent, with a character founded during the stormy period of the early struggles of Scotland against the royal and ecclesiastical tyranny of England. Finally their situation becoming more and more unsatisfactory and hopeless, a considerable number of them emigrated to the northern counties of Ireland, which had been almost de- populated through the devastations of war. This was in 1612, and these refugees soon learned that the same op- pression was to wreak its work upon them here. Thus, after a bitter conflict lasting over a hundred years in that country, their descendants began to look towards New England as their haven of refuge. One of their number, the Rev. William Boyd, came as an advance agent, and his account was so flattering that about seventy-five, under the leadership of Rev. James McGregor, landed in Boston, August 14, 1718.
Flattering prospects were held out to induce them to settle on the Maine coast, and hither about twenty of them removed soon after their arrival. The balance remained in Boston during the fall and winter. In the meantime they had been seen by Capt. John Goffe and John Moore, who encouraged them to settle in what was known as "The Nutfield Country," from the great abundance of chestnuts, walnuts and butternuts growing there. These two men had begun negotiations for land there, and the first of April sixteen families went to Haverhill, Mass., reaching that town the second day of the month. From thence
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
some of the men, under the guidance of Captain Goffe, pushed forward into the new country. They were so well pleased with the prospect, that they immediately began the construction of rude dwellings for themselves, and on April 11 they had removed their families hither, to begin housekeeping at once.
The names of the male members of this hardy little band of pioneers were Rev. James McGregor, Alexander McGregor, Alexander Nichols, James Nichols, James Blair, Alexander Walker, Robert Boyes, Samuel Graves, Joseph Simonds, David Cargill, David Cargill, Jr., Archibald Clen- denin, James Nesmith, James Clark, Elias Keyes, John Bar- nett, James McKeen, James Gregg, James Morrison, John Morrison, Allen Anderson, Thomas Steele and Robert Weare. The seven last named had been among those who went to Casco the fall before, but had not been satisfied with the prospect there .* To this list of twenty-three should be added the name of John Goffe, who, though of English descent, linked his fortune with the others. I only wish I had the names of the brave and equally energetic women who accompanied their husbands into this wilderness.
The following September a petition was sent to the Court of New Hampshire for the "power of government and town privileges." Anxious to secure a valid title to their possessions, in October, 1719, Mr. James McGregor and Samuel Graves were chosen to obtain a sale of the land from Col. John Wheelwright of Wells, Maine, a grand- son of Rev. John Wheelwright, who claimed to have pur- chased of the Indians a tract of land extending from the Pascataqua River to the Merrimack, and from the Massa- chusetts line thirty miles northward. This was the famous Wheelwright deed, which has caused so much discussion in regard to its being genuine or not, and upon which his-
* From the fact that these people had come here from Ireland, where they and their an- cestors had lived for over a century, they were largely known as " Irish " among the early English settlers. Later they were termed "Scotch-Irish," which name has clung to them, though opinions differ as to whether it is correct or not. - G. W. B.
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GRANTS AND COUNTER GRANTS
torians are not yet agreed. It was purported to have been signed by Passaconnaway, Sagamon of the Pennacooks; Runnawit, Chief of the Pawtuckets; Wahhangnowit, Chief of the Swampscots; and Rowls, Chief of the Newichewan- nocks, and dated May 17, 1629.
The deed from John Wheelwright to the Londonderry colonists was dated October 20, 1719, and specified "Unto James McGregor, Samuel Graves, David Cargill, James McKeen, James Gregg, and one hundred more mentioned in a list, by virtue of a deed or grant made to my grand- father, a minister of the gospel, a tract of land not to ex- ceed tenn miles square, and bounded as follows," etc.
There was some delay in getting the charter, but this was granted June 21, 1722, in the name of George the First, and signed by Samuel Shute, Governor of New Hampshire. It covered a tract of land about ten miles square, incorporated under the name of Londonderry, so called from the city in Ireland from whence many of them had come.
The first comers to Londonderry settled along West- Running Brook, now Beaver Brook, and the energy with which they went to work is shown by the fact that within a year a two-story dwelling house was built for the minister; inside of two years a meeting house and four school houses were erected. In that space of time, too, they had con- structed mills, and begun the manufacture of linen, an im- portant product in that day. So they became the pioneer
manufacturers in this country. In fact, before this time they had begun the manufacture of linen cloth in Boston, arousing the people to the importance of that industry, and inaugurating what was known as "the spinning craze," car- ried to such an extent that work was carried on at Boston Common, and the whirl of the wheel was heard from sunrise to sunset, while the folk went about proudly clad in gar- ments of their weaving.
Mr. Parker, in his History of Londonderry, speaking of this industry, says: "To the hand-card, foot-wheel and
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
the loom, the common implements of manufacture in al- most every family, was the town principally indebted for its early prosperity and wealth. Of such superior quality was the linen, the thread and the fabrics manufactured in Londonderry, that they commanded not only a more ready sale, but a higher price than those produced elsewhere."
They raised their own flax, and also introduced the potato, which had been unknown in this country before. The complete lack of knowledge concerning this item of food is shown by the anecdote current at that time, and told at the expense of some of the good settlers in An- dover, Mass. A few potatoes left with a family for seed were planted according to directions, and like Mr. Finney's turnip, "they grew and they grew," but the raisers were at a loss what to do with them. Finally, as the little apples that succeeded the blossoms grew into sizable shape these were plucked and boiled, but the most ravenous could not eat them. Then some were baked, and still they proved anything but palatable. They were stewed and cooked in all the various ways the ingenious housewife could think of, and still they failed to be relished. So the little patch was left to the mercies of the weeds, and, while the potato might do well for a Scotch-Irishman, it was unsuitable to the English taste. The following spring the plow turned out some bouncing specimens which had escaped the win- ter frosts, and with a suspicion that the previous trial had been misplaced, these were cooked and eaten with great manifestations of delight.
The south-western boundary of Londonderry, as de- scribed in its charter, reached an angle about northeast from Taylor's Falls bridge, and within two miles of the Merrimack River. From thence the western boundary line ran due north by the needle eleven and one-half miles. This plan included ten thousand acres of the township of Old Dunstable, which had been incorporated forty-nine years before by the Massachusetts Bay colony. Four thou- sand six hundred acres of this territory are within the pres-
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GRANTS AND COUNTER GRANTS
ent limits of Hudson, so the inhabitants of our town had a personal interest in this grant to the Scotch-Irish.
This tract became known as the "Londonderry Claim," and a bitter controversy arose between the English settlers and the Scotch-Irish, the former holding their title from the Massachusetts courts and the latter from New Hamp- shire. This civil war continued with increasing bitterness until the boundary line was fixed between the provinces in May, 1741, when it was conceded that the charter of Lon- donderry held the debatable territory. Before this an im- portant step had been taken relative to the jurisdiction over that territory now comprising the town of Hudson.
In 1731 the inhabitants of Dunstable residing in that part of the township lying east of the Merrimack, peti- tioned the town of Dunstable to be set off as a separate township; and by a vote passed at the annual meeting of that town, March 2, 1732, the petition was granted, to take effect "when the General Court shall judge them capable."
Consent was obtained from the Assembly of Massa- chusetts, and the new township was incorporated by the General Court of Massachusetts under the name of Not- tingham, January 4, 1733, as follows:
Charter of Nottingham, January 4, 1732-3.
Whereas the inhabitants of the town of Dunstable, on the easterly side of the river Merrimack, labor under great difficulties on their atten- dance on public worship of God, and therefore have addressed this court that they may be set off a separate and distinct township, that they may be vested with all powers and privileges of a town.
Be it therefore enacted by his Excellency, the Governor, Council and Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same :
That all the lands on the easterly side of the river Merrimack, be- longing to the town of Dunstable, be and hereby are set off and consti- tuted a separate township by the name of Nottingham, and that the in- habitants of the said lands be, and hereby are, accordingly endowed and vested with all the powers, privileges, immunities and advantages which other towns of this Province by law have and enjoy.
And the inhabitants of the said town of Nottingham are hereby en- joined and required, within the space of three years from the publication
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
of this Act, to procure and settle a learned Orthodox minister of good conversation, and make provision for his comfortable and honorable sup- port.
Passed January 4; Published January 6, 1732-3.
By the terms of this charter the township of Notting- ham included "all the lands on the easterly side of the river Merrimack belonging to the town of Dunstable," and extended from the Dracut line on the south, up the Merri- mack, about seventeen miles, to near Reed's Ferry, and included the greater part of Litchfield, about one-third of Pelham, nearly all that part of Tyngsborough, Mass., on the east side of the Merrimack, and all the present town of Hudson, excepting the "Londonderry claim," the owner- ship of which was in dispute between the towns of Dun- stable and Londonderry.
An order from the General Court of Massachusetts, dated April 4, 1733-three months subsequent to the date of the charter-directed to "Mr. Robert Fletcher, one of the principal inhabitants of Nottingham," authorizing him "to assemble and convene the inhabitants of said Town to choose Town officers to stand until the annual meeting in March next."
A warrant was accordingly issued by Mr. Fletcher as follows:
The general court's order directed to me Being date April ye 4, to notify and warn a Town meeting in obedience to said order. I have noti- fied ye free Holders and other Inhabitants of ye town of Nottingham To meet at ye Hous of Insign John Snow, in Nottingham one Tuesday ye first day of May 1733, at ten of ye clock in ye forenoon to choose Town officers as ye Law directs.
ROBERT FLETCHER.
The inhabitants of Nottingham met and made "choys of Cpt. Robert Fletcher Moderator for this insting In ye year 1733 May ye first day, ye free Holders and other in- habitants at a general Town meeting at Insign John Snows "Henry Baldwin Town Clerk. Henry Baldwin first Selectman, Capt. Robert Fletcher ye Second Selectman, John Taylor ye Third Selectman, Joseph Snow ye Fourth
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GRANTS AND COUNTER GRANTS
Selectman, John Butler ye Fifth Selectman. Joseph Ham- det Constable. Insign John Snow Town Treasurer. Na- thaniel Hills Tythingman.
James Perham,
Joseph Winn, Surveyors. Eleazer Cummings.
Thomas Colburn, Samuel Butler. Fence Viewers.
Edward Spalding,
Field Drivers.
Phineas Spalding,
John Hamlet. Hog Reves. Henry Baldwin, Town Clerk."
The first tax-list for 1733 was made up of the following names :
Captain Robert Fletcher, Ezekiel Fletcher,
Daniel Fletcher, Joseph Perham,
Jeremiah Colburn, Jonathan Perham,
Zaccheus Spalding,
Deacon Joseph Perham,
James Perham,
Captain Joseph Butterfield,
Hugh Richardson,
Samuel Gould,
Ensign John Snow,
Phineas Spalding,
Zaccheus Lovewell,
Thomas Pollard,
Eleazer Cummings,
William Cummings,
Eleazer Cummings, Jr.,
Ebenezer Spalding,
Nathaniel Hills,
Ephraim Cummings,
Joseph Blodgett,
Nathan Cross,
John Taylor,
Jabez Davis,
Henry Hills,
Edward Spalding,
Benjamin Adams,
Aquilla Underwood,
Samuel Moores,
Thomas Wartels,
Capt. Robert Richardson, Ebenezer Wright, Edward Lingfield,
John Butler,
John - John Butler, Jr.,
Samuel Butler,
Joseph Hamblet, Jr, Henry Baldwin,
Josiah Winn,
Thomas Colburn,
Joseph Snow,
Jonathan Perham.
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HISTORY OF HUDSON
Thomas Cummings,
Joseph Wright,
James Walker,
Joseph Hamblet,
Jonas Proctor,
John Hamblet,
Joseph Winn,
Benjamin Hassel,
William Harwood,
Samuel Murdough,
Robert Walker.
This tax-list contains fifty-five names, of which the first twelve, and also Phineas Spalding and Samuel Mur- dough, were all residents of that part of the town which by the settlement of the Province line in 1741 fell into Massa- chusetts, and later became a part of the town of Tyngs- borough. The eight next following the names of Henry Hills and Edward Spalding were residents in what is now Litchfield. Nine inhabited the east part of the town that was taken into Pelham as incorporated July 6, 1746. These tax-payers were:
John Butler, John Butler, Jr.,
Samuel Butler, Joseph Hamblet, Jr.,
Josiah Winn, Joseph Hamblet,
John Hamblet, Henry Baldwin,
Joseph Wright.
Six of those assessed in 1733 were either transients or non-residents, as they were not assessed here after that year. These names were:
Thomas Cummings, Robert Walker,
James Proctor, Benjamin Hassel,
Joseph Walker, William Harwood.
Thus it appears that the total number of tax-payers in 1733, residents in that part of Nottingham that is now within the present limits of Hudson, was but eighteen.
The names of those men were:
Ensign John Snow, Zaccheus Lovewell,
Thomas Pollard, Ebenezer Cummings,
William Cummings, Eleazer Cummings, Jr.,
Ebenezer Spalding, Nathaniel Hills,
GRANTS AND COUNTER GRANTS 97
Ephraim Cummings,
Joseph Snow,
Joseph Winn, Joseph Blodgett,
Thomas Colburn,
Nathan Cross,
John Taylor,
Jabez Davis,
Henry Hills, Edward Spalding.
The most thickly settled part of the town included what was formerly the Joseph Hills grant already men- tioned, upon which ten of the eighteen families above enu- merated were residents.
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CHAPTER VIII
PIONEER FAMILIES
A brief sketch of these eighteen men, the pioneer set- tlers of Hudson, the ancestors of many of its present resi- dents, showing so far as is known the places where they settled, may not be uninteresting in this connection.
First, the settlers of "Hills Farm," beginning with Eleazer Cummings.
Isaac Cummings, the emigrant, was a resident of Watertown before 1636, where he was the owner of land. Later he became a permanent resident of Topsfield, where he was deacon of the church for many years. He died in May, 1667, aged 66 years. His children were: John2, born 1630; Isaac2, born 1633; Elizabeth2, born -; married John Jewett of Rowley, April 2, 1661; Ann2, born -; married John Pease of Salem, October 8, 1669; John Cum- mings2, (Isaac1), born 1630; married Sarah, daughter of Thomas and Alice (French) Howlet, of Ipswich, Mass. He received by his father's will the homestead, con- sisting of 40 acres, with houses, barns, orchards and fences, and in 1680 sold the same to Edward Kneeland. About 1658 he removed to Boxford, Mass.
Both he and his wife were members of the church in Topsfield, December 7, 1685, when, they were dismissed "to the church to be shortly gathered at Dunstable." ' (Topsfield Church Records.)
He removed with his family to Dunstable about 1680. He died December 1, 1700. Sarah, his wife, died Decem- ber 7, 1700.
Children :- John3, born -, 1657, in Boxford; Thom- as8, born October 6, 1658; Nathaniel8, born September 10, 1659; Sarah3, born January 27, 1661; married Lieut. Sam- uel French, December 28, 1682; Abraham3, born -;
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PIONEER FAMILIES
*Isaacs, born -; died November 2, 1688; * Ebenezer8, born -; died November 2, 1688; tWilliam3, born August 5, 1671; died March 30, 1672; +Eleazer3, born August 5, 1671; Benjamin8, born February 23, 1673; Samuel8, born December 28, 1677.
John Cummings3, (John2, Isaac1,) born in Boxford, 1657; married September 13, 1680; Elisabeth Kinsley, born in Braintree, November 22, 1657. She was called "Goody" Cummings. They settled on the Nathan Cutler place, on the Lowell road, about one mile north of the south line of Nashua, where "Goody" Cummings was killed by the Indians, July 3, 1706. He was also wounded, hav- ing an arm broken, but escaped to a swamp about one-half a mile south, where he remained in hiding until the next morning when he escaped to "Farwell's Block-house."
Children : John4, born July 7, 1682; Samuel4, born October 6, 1684; Elizabeth4, born January 5, 1687; married Joseph French, son of Samuel and Sarah (Cummings) French, born March 10, 1687; Hannah4, born May 20, 1690 in Groton; Ebenezer4, born in Woburn, September 17, 1695; died September 5, 1724, killed by the Indians with seven others; Anna4, born September 14, 1798; Lydia4, born March 24, 1701; died April, 1701; William4, born April 24, 1702; settled in Hudson.
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