USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > Lancaster > History of Lancaster, New Hampshire > Part 10
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Although the whole of the year of 1776, the most eventful year of all the seven long years of the war for New England, had passed without any attacks upon the Upper Coös, or even any serious alarm, yet the people were uneasy and tormented with the fear of what did come later-the invasion of the country by the Indians and French half-breeds, whom they regarded with more dread than an army of regular soldiers. These savages knew and respected no honorable methods of warfare. They knew only how to plunder the homes of the absent settlers and carry into captivity their wives and children. As things turned out it was well that these frontiers- men were alert and careful to guard their homes against these savages. Although the British may not have at any time seriously considered an attack upon this section, they did later incite the Indians and half-breeds to plunder the frontier settlements and carry off captives, as we shall see later.
The year 1777 was not so eventful as the preceeding one for Lancaster. The scouting party seems to have kept itself in the field or in readiness to respond to any alarm or even suspicion of an invasion of this section; but no fighting took place during the year.
80
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
As the expenses of the war began to fall heavily upon the treasury and exhaust it during the first year of the war, a new apportionment of state taxes was made. Male and female slaves between the ages of sixteen and forty-five were taxed, but Lancaster never knew a slave of any kind in service to any of its citizens. Among other things that were regarded as liable to contribute to the treasury, the means of prosecuting the war, was "So much orchard as will in a common season produce ten barrels of cyder one acre." Less than ten barrels-per-acre orchards were exempt. We do not know how such items affected Lancaster, but they helped to swell the sum total of state taxes. If Lancaster had neither slaves nor "cyder" in ten barrel lots, and other sections had both in goodly quantities, as they no doubt did, it rather increased the burdens of Lancaster as her proportion of taxes were four pounds, eleven shillings and two-a-half pence on each thousand pounds. The valuation of the town, it seems, was not considered, and no such valuation was ever taken as a basis of this tax bill so far as we can learn.
There was a feeling that the tax bill of that year was dispropor- tionate to the ability of the people to pay it, and a mild protest was made in the following communication to the general court:
" To the Honorable the General Court held at Exeter for the state of New Hampshire-We the subscribers being chosen Selectmen for the town of Lan- caster, Beg Liberty to inform your Honors that about the 25th of January Last we received a tax bill from the Treasury of this state of one hundred Eighty two pounds Eight shillings and four pence which we apprehend to be considerable . more than our proportion of the forty thousand therein mentioned Which we must suppose must be through a misrepresentation in our last Proportion and our num- ber being lesened By the War render us the less Capable of Paying so large a sum. Also would inform the Honorable Court that at the last Proportion we were not informed how much Each Pole Each acre of improved Land Stock &c was this set at. Wherefore we pray our grievances may be taken into your wise consideration and some suitable measure Pointed out for our conduct which will Excite us to a speedy compliance to the above mentioned order-and as in duty bound shall Pray.
" Lancaster Feby 7th 1778."
That this tax had some effect in determining Lancaster to look for relief from a burdensome relation to the state of New Hamp- shire by casting her lot with either Vermont or the proposed new state of New Connecticut, then talked of so much, there can be little or no doubt.
The controversy over the boundary between New Hampshire and Vermont was at its height during the years 1778, and 1779, and as we have seen, elsewhere, Lancaster no doubt favored the for- mation of a new state, and there were not lacking those among her citizens who would have gladly cast in their lot with Vermont. At
-
8I
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
all events the relations between Lancaster and the state seem not to have been of the most cordial and confiding character during the year 1778; but as we have seen, in dealing with the Vermont Controversy, Lancaster abandoned that movement when it assumed a phase of insubordination to the union of the states, and undertook to defy the continental congress under a threat of allying itself with the British. Lancaster wanted the independence of the states, and was always loyal to the general government, imperfect as it might have seemed to the people at their distance from its scenes of activity during the long years of the war. Lancaster and other towns north of it did not consider themselves generously dealt with by the state government, convening always in some of the older tide-water towns, and no doubt greatly under the influence of those older and richer communities. These frontier towns felt that the state should do more to assist them and to make their burdens lighter. This last tax was a very heavy burden to fall upon so small a number of taxpayers as Lancaster must have then had. Her number of ratable polls in 1783 was only ten, as certified to by Edwards Bucknam under oath before Jeremiah Eames, J. P., December 2, 1783. While we have seen that the population of Lancaster was sixty-one in 1775, it had even decreased by the withdrawal of a number of the men to enter the service of the army. The few men able to pay any sum of taxes would have been practi- cally bankrupted by the above-mentioned sum. Lancaster, be it remembered, was not accumulating wealth then as she might have done had there been passable roads to the markets. She was practically without markets, and could do little more than barely make a living for the people so far removed from the sources supplying luxuries in those days. What little produce there was to sell would not more than pay its transportation over the bad roads of that time, so the people were without encouragement to do more than make a living and improve their lands and houses in the hope that with the return of peace better roads could be had. Under such circumstances we cannot wonder that loyal men should beg for some measures of relief from an excessive tax bill, amounting to something like a hundred dollars per capita for the taxpayers.
The year of 1778 wore away without serious trouble from the enemy. There were some rumors of the approach of Indians, but careful scouts failed to find them; and a feeling of greater safety would be received on the return of the scouts.
The British authorities had offered, and did pay, bounties for either captives or their scalps taken along the border during the latter years of the war. Eleven dollars were paid for scalps, and fifty-five dollars for prisoners taken by the Indians. This fact being known to the people of this section accounts for their great fear of
7
82
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
the Indians and the French half-breeds. The people took every precaution to keep on friendly terms with the Indians in order to insure their own safety.
During the spring of 1779, however, the Indians from the mission camps in Canada had grown restless, and longing for the excitement and plunder offered by their methods of warfare, began to grow bolder in their designs. They began to make raids upon the thinly- settled frontier and kill or carry off some of the whites.
With Vermont threatening to unite with the British, and no hope of the formation of a new state in the Connecticut River valley, these northern towns again turned to Exeter as the only source from which to hope for assistance. Lancaster, Northumberland, and Stratford united in sending a petition to the council and house of representatives as follows :
" The Memorial of Sundry of the Inhabitants of the Towns of Lancaster North- umberland & Stratford humbly Sheweth, that on Thursday the 24th. Inst. June A party of Indians aboute fifteen in Number Commanded by A French man, came into Stratford took two Prisners Plundered two Families of everything Valuable which they had, we humbly pray that your Honors would take the matter into your Sereous Considerations and provide such Assistance for our future Security, from those Barbarous Savages, as your Wisdom shall Direct and your Memorial- ists as in duty Bound shall Ever Pray .--
Lancaster 27th June 1779.
Joseph Peverly Thomas Peverly Daniel Spaldin Nathan Caswell Dill Sawyer Enoch Hall
Ward Bailey Caleb marshall
Emmons Stockwell moses Page Jonas Wilder Edwards Bucknam."
[13 Hammond's Town Papers, 474-475.]
The two men referred to in this petition as being taken and carried off by the Indians were Joseph Barlow and Hezekiah Fuller. What disposition their captors made of them we do not know. Their names figure in business transactions at a subsequent date, from which we may infer that they either escaped or were ransomed from the Indians. It was a matter of frequent occurrence for towns to pay the ransom of such captives.
Elijah Blogget of Stratford ransomed Gilbert Borged and Josiah Blogget the 19th of July, 1781. These men may have been simi- larly ransomed, but of which fact we happen to have no account. Besides these four persons we have no actual knowledge of captures. Peter Poor of Shelburne was shot by Indians in August, 1781, and several persons were captured and others killed just over the line in Maine. These invasions of the towns then acting together for common safety was enough to arouse the people. Whether their petition of June 27 received no immediate attention, or there existed
83
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
sufficient reasons to expect a repetition of the invasion, we do not know, but the people were aroused, and called a meeting of the inhabitants of Lancaster, Northumberland, and Stratford to convene at Northumberland to take action for some immediate measure of relief. At this meeting, which has been dignified by the name of convention, the people took the matter into their own hands and organized for their defence. This record of the meeting, so char- acteristic of the men of this section, is found in " Hammond's Revo- lutionary Rolls." We give it in full just as it was penned by Edwards Bucknam :
"At a meeting of the Inhabitants of Lancaster Northumberland & Stratford to hear the Report of Joseph Peverly Esqr and also to agree upon Sum Proper Place for the Scouting Party to Be Stationed, Viz-first-
" Chose maj'r Jonas Wilder moderator-
" 2d. Choose Cap't Edw'ds Bucknam Clark
" 3d Voted that the Place for the Scouting Party to Be stationed, at Mr James Browns in Stratford
" 4 Voted that Every man in Each town Viz. Lancaster Northumberland and Stratford to work one Day at the fort In Stratford Immediately-
" 5 Chose Nathan Caswell Captain over these three towns for the Present " 6 Chose Nathan Barlow Lieut
" 7 Chose Dennis Stanley Ensine
" 8 Chose maj'r Jonas Wilder the man to go Down to Exeter
" 9 Chose Joseph Peverly Esq'r Capt Edw's Bucknam and M'r John Hold- brook a Committee to Give Directions to maj'r Jonas Wilder and draw a Purticion to the general court to send by maj'r Wilder
" IO Voted that m'r John Gamsby m'r James Blake and Mr John Holdbrook a Committee Plan out the fort at Stratford."
" Northumberland July 10th 1779."
These were the last active measures the people of this section were called upon to take, but the vigilance of the scouts was not dispensed with for two more years. The Indians and half-breeds did not venture another attack in the upper river valley. The fright they had given the settlers did not subside very soon.
During the nearly five years that the war had continued, these In- dian raids were all that this section saw of hostilities. New England had been abandoned by the enemy, who was moving southward to his fate. During the year 1780, and following to the end of the war, there were no activities on the part of Lancaster of importance, ex- cept the constant watchfulness of her scouts. Stratford petitioned for a guard in 1780, but the scare that led them to that action did not extend to Lancaster. The people were able to go about their business with a feeling bordering on safety, though at no time did the feeling of security lead them to neglect their preparations for defence. Every man kept his trusty old gun ready for action on a moment's notice.
When the war was finally over and the scouts were called in, an
84
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
account of Lancaster's expenditures during the war was made and certified to by Emmons Stockwell and Jonas Wilder, the selectmen at the time. This bill, amounting to nearly two hundred pounds, was presented to the general court for settlement as a debt incurred on behalf of the state. Col. Joseph Whipple, representative then, presented the bill for settlement. These military accounts were not kept in any regular form, as there was not the organization of the forces that one meets with in other sections of the country. The people of the Upper Coös, while they were assisted to some extent, were left largely to take care of themselves. They were busy with their home cares, and when called into military service they had lit- tle time, or may have even lacked in experience necessary to organ- ize themselves as military bodies generally were in those times. As scouts, their parties were small and under the directions of some woodsman who was more familiar with the methods of the hunter or Indian fighter than he was with military tactics. They did their work of patrolling the country fully as well, and perhaps it may be better than a regularly organized body of soldiers would have done it. And when it came to presenting their claims for a service ren- dered the state, they were more in the form of mere memoranda. We present some of them below, written on mere scraps of paper, that have been preserved among the private papers of Gen. Edwards Bucknam. As many of them have never been put on record in a manner to preserve them for future generations, we insert them here lest some day they should get lost. They throw light upon the questions that concern us in the history of the stirring events of that time, and are worthy a place in the town's record of daring and sac- rifice for freedom.
Statement of service and provisions furnished by the town during the war :
The amount of the Scouting by the inhabitants of the Town
" 1775 May to M of Lancaster in the Upper Coos in the War with Great Briton Oct 1782. & the sum of Provisions Expended for Scouts,
To 457 Days Scouting £ `sh. d. To Provisions expended for Scouts at Sundry times 31 : 16 : 3.
May 10 1791 The above amnt taken from minutes kept by us of the Scouts that went out of the town Lancaster in the time of the War Attest Select men
Edards Bucknam
E. Stockwell Lancaster for 1791."
The following summary of scouting and expenses bears no date, but is of value as showing who were the scouts:
85
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
" The following Role is a true and exact account of what Scouting the inhabi- tants of the Town of Lancaster have done at their own expense for the security and safety of the frontier Towns on & near The Connecticutt in Upper Coos.
" Names.
Time when entered service.
No. days served.
When discharged or returned from scouting.
Moses Page
June 15, 1775
II days
June 26, 1775.
John Indian
Do 15 Do
II
Do Do Do.
James Rosebrook
Do 15 Do
II Do
Do Do Do.
David Page
July 2, 1775
IO
July 12, 1775.
David Page
August 10, 1776
IO
Aug. 26th. 1776.
Do Do
August 20, 1781
12
Sept. 2, 1781.
Emmons Stockwell
May 26, 1775
12
June Ist. 1775 .
Do
Do
Sept. 10, Do
8
Sept. 18th. Do.
Do
Do
June 4, 1776.
I5
June 19, 1876."
ALARMS DURING THE WAR.
The following account I find in Bucknam's papers, signed by him- self and Jonas Wilder, under date of June 22, 1786:
"An account of the alarms in the Upper Coos during the war : In July, 1776, I alarm ; Sept., 1777, I alarm; 1778, do; in July 1779, I alrm. Indians took prisoners at Stratford ; in June, 1780, I alarm; August, 1780, do; Oct., 1780, I do; Thos. Worcester taken; in July, 1781, I alarm; some wounded men came in and said Pritchett was near; Sept., 1781, I alarm. Pritchett went to Wip- ple's ; in May, 1782, I alarm, Abel Learned taken ; June, do, I alarm ; in Oct., I alarm. Nix taken."
The following account or memorandum was found among Gen. Bucknam's private papers, and is inserted here as showing some of his activities during the war. I thought best not to alter it in any particular. It was simply the memorandum of his services upon which he may have based his claims in a bill for services and provi- sions furnished the scouts at various times :
" State of New Hampshire to Edwards Bucknam, Dr. (in silver).
1775 To 17 Days scouting in the Upper Cohas at 4 sh. 3: 8: 0.
May S 1776
May S To 9 days scouting at 4 sh. Pd. John Indian I: 16: 0
Sept 1777. To 10 days Scouting
2 : 0: 0
Sept 1778. To six Days 5 Do Scouting
2 : 4: 0
1781 To I Day forting 0 : 4: 0
To Provisions Delivered to
June Capt. Caswell & Party o: 14. 3.
IO: 6: 3.
86
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
To 6 Days Paid Saml. Page at 4sh.
To 3 Do more
I: 4: 0. 0:12: 0
Errors Excepted,
Edw.ds Bucknam."
Another memorandum :
" Sept 4 1780
" Capt. Gasslin and Party that had come from Canada to Provisions & Rum
to ten meels Vittels 1 6 Pr meel
to five Gills Rum
to two Do Do more . Recd. Payment
silver money £0:15: 5:0
2:0
Lieut Gassclin, Capt."
Among Gen. Bucknam's papers I find this interesting receipt, and insert it here as showing how business was transacted in these parts during the war. It is in French, but we offer a translation for the English reader.
"Je sousigne' avoir recus du Capt Boknem 90 de Pork et one pinte de seil de le 21 Avril 1779
de plus recus deux fusil
Come jai recus deux fusils de Capt boknem
J'ai donne le present four remetre au general Balay a Coos da Gassclin Capt."
Translation :
The undersigned received of Capt Bokem 90 pork and one pint of salt April . 21, 1779, and also two guns.
The receipt for the two guns must be given to Gen. Balay of Coos. Gossclin, Capt.
The following account I find among Gen. Bucknam's papers. He was one of the administrators of the estate of David Page, Sr., who died in 1785, and this came into his hands as many other papers of " Gov. Page " did. We insert it as a curious relic of the customs of the time, and as throwing additional light upon our subject :
"1779
Coll. John Goffe Dr. to David Page.
March 6 To fifteen Pounds six ounces Pork
0 : 15:4.
To six Pounds Beef
0:03:0.
To 4 meeals of meet 0:02:0.
To 4 meeals Spon vittels
0:01 :4.
To 4 meeals Spon vittels
0 :01 :4.
To 4 meeals meet . :02 :8.
0:02 :0.
To 4 meeals meet . To 4 meeals meet vittels
0:02 :8.
LI : II :0.
" Delivered to John Moor & the Rest of the
Dartmouth company on Coll Goffe Order."
£12: 2: 3.
87
THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
To these interesting accounts I add the following, taken from Re- volutionary Rolls of New Hampshire, as probably the last of the records of the war in which Lancaster was concerned financially.
" State of New Hampshire-Grafton ss .-
" Rations due to twelve men while in service in the state of New Hampshire & raised for a Scouting Party on the frontiers in the upper Co'os in the year 1782 and inlisted the 13th Day of April 1782, and discharged last day of Nov. follow- ing-and each man found hisself said Term.
" Names inlisted.
When enlisted.
When discharged.
Months in service.
Days.
Rations due.
James Blake Sergt.
Ap: 13, 1782.
Nov. 30 day.
7
17 days.
£ 12
Archippus Blodgett
13
30
66
7
17
6. 12
Joshua Lamkins
13
30
7
I7
.'12
James Brown
I3
30
7
I7
66
''12
Dennis Stanley
13
3C
7
17
“'12
Moses Page
I3
30
30
7
17
'' 12
Caleb Marshall
13
30
6
7
17
4. 12
James Burnside
I3
30
7
17
'' 12
Nathan Caswell
13
30
7
17
James Curtis
I3
66
30
7
I7
'' 12 "
66
7
17
“' 12
James Wilder
13
30
7
I7
Elijah Blodgett
I3
After the war was over and the soldiers had been discharged and returned to their homes, or sought new places of residence, many of their claims for services and rations remained unpaid for a number of years, as the treasury of the state was emptied long before its debts to its citizen soldiers were settled. To wait for a term of years until the treasury was full enough to allow the settlement of these claims entailed hardships on many of the men. Their pay was very meagre, and as the years of unsettled conditions had gone from one to seven, these men were growing older by so much, and their chances for promoting their interests had gone by. Many of them were not able to prosecute their own claims as they lived at too great a distance from the seat of government. It was at this time that General Bucknam and other public-spirited men came to the relief of these old soldiers and paid their claims and took their accounts for collection, accompanied, in many instances, by a power of attorney. I have before me several dozen of these assignments of claims made to Gen. Edwards Bucknam and others.
Whenever the considerations are mentioned they are always in full of the claims transferred, from which we infer that the service they thus rendered their fellow soldiers was as noble as the spirit of patriotism was strong when they marched together in these wild
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88
HISTORY OF LANCASTER.
regions. Of the number who sold these claims there were some who in after years became quite noted citizens in Lancaster. A number of the men, who had served under Gen. Moses Hazen through a portion of the time, came to Lancaster, drawn here, per- haps, by the fact that the old general himself had purchased a large tract of land here, and intended to make Lancaster his home.
CHAPTER IX.
FROM THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR TO THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
. AN ERA OF PROSPERITY-RAPID IMMIGRATION AND INCREASE OF POPULATION -PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS-ESTABLISHMENT OF CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS- THE COMING OF NEW INDUSTRIES.
It must have filled the hearts of the people with joy to learn that the war was over and peace declared, and that they could now turn their attention to the development of their neglected industries of peace.
At least there was hope that their crippled fortunes might be, in a good measure, retrieved, as their lands were productive, and the clearings were growing larger in spite of all the interruptions the war might have brought them. To the remaining citizens large families were growing up, among whom were some strong and sturdy sons who could be a help to their fathers in clearing lands and tilling them, building roads, and hunting and fishing to furnish their tables with meats, and furs to clothe the families. The out- look was not bright, but there were some encouraging features in it; and the brave men and women bent their energies to make the most of their situation, as we shall see. The eight years of unsettled conditions had consumed much of their substance and time, but their hearts were as strong as ever. Their hope had not left them for, as some of them had said in the beginning of that time of trouble, they had come here to make homes, to live and die here. They had braved great dangers in order to stand by the homes they had builded, and now there was again some hope that they could go on and achieve the plans they had laid on coming into this region so favorable to the enterprises of pioneers.
In the early years of the war some families had left, and never returned again. A number of the young men had enlisted in the Continental Army, and were either lost in the battles of the war, or else having followed its fortunes so far into other sections of the country that few, if indeed any, of them returned to this first land of their choice and hopes. Landowners who might have had seri-
89
AN ERA OF PROSPERITY.
ous intentions of locating here never came. Some, discouraged at the prospects of safety on their lands, had sold them, so that by the close of the war there were new landowners holding titles to large tracts of the most valuable lands in the town with no interest in the town beyond the hope of some day selling their lands at a large profit on their investments.
Fortunately some of the land sold by the non-resident owners fell into the hands of men who were induced to locate upon their new purchases, and in a short time proved themselves to be a valuable addition to the citizenship of the town.
Lancaster soon felt the returning tide of prosperity that always follows the desolation and waste of war. The people who had suf- fered hardships and wants now, through industry and economy, began to enjoy some of the fruits of their many years of toil. New families came, and larger social relations and intercourse followed, and new and unheard-of enterprises sprang up among the people.
About the year 1785 the tide of emigration began to move from the older towns in the southern part of this state, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. This tide of earnest home-seekers moved northward along the Connecticut river valley until the advance of it reached the Upper Coos country; and from that class all these northern towns can count scores of the most important families that have helped to make them what they are to-day. Of that class Lancas- ter received many men of the most sterling worth and integrity.
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