USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Manchester > History of Manchester, formerly Derryfield, in New-Hampshire : including that of ancient Amoskeag, or the middle Merrimack Valley, together with the address, poem, and other proceedings of the centennial celebration of the incorporation of Derryfield at Manchester, October 22, 1851 > Part 23
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After the close of Lovewell's War, the people had rest for a season. The attack upon the Pequauquaukes completely hum- bled the haughty spirit of the Indians, not only of that tribe, but of all those in the north of New Hampshire and Maine. They had been taught that they were not safe in their homes, that the adventurous whites would seek them there, and be avenged of them. In consequence of this state of feeling, the Indians retired from Pequauquauke to the head-waters of the Connecticut,-and afterwards to St. Francis.
The colonists, thus relieved of their fears of Indian depreda-
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
tion, forthwith began to extend their settlements in every di- rection and the province of New Hampshire began to assume new importance in population and enterprise. In the last few years prior to 1730, her population exclusive of the Irish at Londonderry, had increased by one third, and including them, amounted to some over ten thousand.
In the night of October, 29 and 30, 1727, occurred what has been designated as "the great earthquake." It was more vio- lent in the valley of the Merrimack, than in any other part of New England. Its startling effects in this and other towns up- on the Merrimack, have been handed down as among the choicest specimens of fireside tradition. The shocks were very violent, jarring houses to their foundations, throwing down chimneys, and " scattering the pewter dishes from the dressers." The consternation attending such a scene may be imagined, but not described. Men and women aroused from their slumbers, ran about their houses in the wildest alarm and the immediate end of the world was anticipated. Nor was alarm confined to man alone. "The brute creatures ran roaming about the fields, as in the greatest distress." *
This year is remarkable, also, for the enactment or forming of what may be called the first constitution of New Hamp- shire. His Excellency, Samuel Shute, Governor of Massachu- setts and New Hampshire, had been absent in England for some years, so that affairs in Massachusetts had been managed by Lt. Governor Wm. Dummer, and in New Hampshire by Lt. Governor John Wentworth. Governor Wentworth had man- aged the affairs of the Province much to the satisfaction of the people. There was one source of dissatisfaction. The As- sembly called by Gov. Shute in 1722, had been continued in existence during his absence, Gov. Wentworth believing that he had no right to dissolve them and call a new one. The people were greatly dissatisfied and demanded a triennial Assem- bly. Gov. Wentworth was disposed to favor their demands when opportunity should offer.
Accordingly in 1727, upon the death of George I, the As- sembly ceased to exist with him. A new Assembly was forth- with called, and one of its first acts was, to limit its own exis- tence to three years. They provided also that writs of elections were to issue at least fifteen days prior to the election ; a rep- resentative was to have a freehold of three hundred pounds in value ; an elector was to have a freehold of fifty pounds, with- in the town for which there was an election; but habitancy
*N. H. His. Coll. Vol. IV. page 94.
B. W. Thayer & CoS Lith Boston.
LIEUT. GOVERNOR JOHN WENTWORTH.
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PROVINCIAL REFORM.
was not required on the part of the elected, and the selectmen, with the moderator, were constituted the judges of the qualifi- cations of electors, from whose decision an appeal was allow- ed to the House of Representatives.
This act was approved by the Lieutenant Governor, and re- ceiving the royal approbation, became the law of the Province.
This may be called the first constitution of New Hampshire established by the people. But this was defective, though a move towards a popular government. Its defects were the cause of long and acrimonious controversy betwixt the Lieut. Governor and the people.
It did not determine who should issue the writs for the elec- tion, or name the places to which the writs were to be sent, or how many inhabitants should entitle a place to a representative. The Assembly having accomplished so much, set about other reforms. One was the remodelling of the Courts. An appeal was allowed in the civil suits, from the inferior to the Superior Court ; if the amount in controversy exceeded one hundred pounds, an appeal was allowed to the Governor and Council ; if above three hundred pounds, an appeal was allowed to the King in Council. The objection to the Superior Court, then and for a long time after, was the fact, that the Judges were gener- ally of the Council, and had the decision of cases on appeal, which had been appealed in consequence of their supposed er- roneous decision in the inferior Courts. In after time great in- justice was practiced by this Court, the large landed proprietors being of the Council, and cases of their own, directly or indi- rectly, coming by an appeal from the inferior Courts, were not unfrequently decided according to the interests of the members of the Court, rather than according to justice. It was a great nuisance and the people called for its abatement.
But the Council opposed the proposition of the house to re- peal the laws establishing this Court, and this opposition soon produced an open rupture. The Lieut. Governor, perhaps think- ing he had already approved of reforms sufficient for one As- sembly, or perhaps opposing the proposed reform, dissolved the Assembly agreeable to power conferred upon him by their late act.
This proceedure produced an excitement among the people, and upon the calling of a new Assembly, the towns, with a few exceptions, re-elected the old members, and of course adhered to their old measures. They chose for their Speaker, Mr. Na- thaniel Weare, who being obnoxious to the Governor, was neg- atived by him. The House adjourned from day to day, until the
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
ninth day of the session, when they chose Mr. Andrew Wiggin, who was approved by the Lieutenant Governor. But ill feeling was rife, and but little business was done during the session. However, they united in appointing a committee to wait upon Mr. Burnet, the new Governor, who was expected at Boston. The committee which, in company with Lieut. Governor Wentworth, met Governor Burnet at Boston on the 22nd of July, 1728, and complimented him upon his appointment and arrival. This was the only time Governor Burnet came into New England, for getting into a quarrel with the General Court of Massachusetts about his salary, he died after a few months, it is said, of cha- grin and disappointment at the opposition he had to encounter on the part of Massachusetts.
Upon his death, Jonathan Belcher and Mr. Shute were appli- cants for the vacant office. Lieut. Governor Wentworth wrote friendly letters to both of them,-and Belcher having the most Court favor was appointed Governor.
He was a native of Boston, wealthy and overbearing in his deportment. On his first visit to this province, he put up with Wentworth, but hearing of the fact that Wentworth had writ- ten a courteous letter to his competitor, Shute, he took the mat- ter in high dudgeon, and when next in the Province, refused to call upon the Lieut. Governor, and not content with this neg- lect, he limited his fees to fifty pounds, and displaced many of his friends in office. This was very impolitic in Belcher, for the Lieutenant Governor was very popular in spite of his late difficulties with the Assembly, and Belcher's opposition to Went- worth and his friends, only added to his popularity. . And the diplacing Atkinson, the son-in-law of Wentworth, one of the most popular and talented men in the Province, raised an oppo- sition that soon told to the disadvantage of Governor Belcher.
It is possible, that this conduct on the part of Governor Belch- er, had its effect upon the Lieut. Governor's health ; be this as it may, Wentworth fell into a lethargy and died on the 12th day of December, 1730, in the 59th year of his age.
The death of Lieut. Governor Wentworth, tended rather to increase the opposition to Belcher, and Mr. David Dunbar suc- ceeding to the office of Lieut. Governor, united with the oppo- sition, and thus it became so formidable as to be a source of disquiet to the Governor and his friends. Soon after the arri- val of Dunbar in Portsmouth, a formal complaint was made against Belcher, accusing him of being arbitrary and oppressive in his government, and duly forwarded to the King, with a prayer for his removal. There was some ground for the com-
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SCOTCH IRISH EMIGRATION.
plaint, and the result of the whole matter was, that after a con- tinued strife of ten years, in which many other matters were mixed up with the original quarrel, the friends of Lieut. Gov- ernor Wentworth had the satisfaction of seeing Governor Belch- er removed from office, New Hampshire erected into a distinct Province, and Benning Wentworth appointed as its Governor.
The emigration from Ireland at this period was so rapid, that the number of Irish in this neighborhood amounted to a thou- sand, as appears by answers from New Hampshire to the Board of Trade, of date Jan. 22, 1730, in which it is said, " the in- habitants have increased almost four thousand within this few years last past, a thousand of which (at least) are people from Ireland, lately come into and settled within the province."* These emigrants soon moved upon the land adjacent to Lon- donderry. In fact, the fear of the Indians had not prevented their extending themselves up the Merrimack as far as Penna- cook, and as early as 1724 they had built a fort there, probably with the idea of a permanent settlement upon the rich inter- vales at that place. This fort is mentioned in the Journal of Col. Tyng, of a scout to the Winnepesaukee made in the spring of 1725, with a company under his command, in pursuit of the Indians. Col. Tyng quartered there the 5th and 6th of April of that year, the snow being so thick upon the bushes that they could not travel without injuring their provisions. He called it the " Irish Fort."t. But their intention of set- tling at Pennacook was doubtless frustrated by the grant of these lands by Massachusetts to a large body of actual settlers from Essex county, who took possession of their lands in the spring of 1726, and had made such regulations among them- selves as to prevent the settlement of an Irishman within the limits of Pennacook.}
There were others of these Irish emigrants who had become dissatisfied with their locations in Londonderry, or thought they could better their condition by removal. Of this number were many of the original settlers of the territory now known as Man- chester, and prominent among them John McNeil and Archibald Stark. McNeil moved upon the gore then known as Harry- town, and located himself upon the lot now known as the Kid- der Farm, and is said to have been the first white settler at the Falls or upon that part of Harrytown within the thickly settled parts of the city of Manchester.
*N. H. His. Coll. Vol. I, page 229.
+Tyng's Journal, Mass. Archives.
¿Annals, Concord, page 7.
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
McNeil's house stood near McNeil street, and about mid way betwixt Elm and Canal streets. The cellar of his house, and the bounds of his garden patch are now plainly visible. McNeil commenced this settlement probably in 1733. He doubtless moved upon this spot on account of its proximity to the Namaos- keag falls, where was most excellent fishing, and it is quite probable, that his removal and settlement was under the patron- age of the people of Londonderry, who claimed the gore upon which he settled by virtue of their deed from Wheelwright and for years after continued to assert their claim as against all intruders. The fishing at Amoskeag was of the greatest im- portance to the people. Tradition has it that the Rev. Mr. McGregore was the first person of the Londonderry settlement to visit the Falls, led thither by curiosity, and prompted by in- formation obtained at Andover as to their grandeur, and the abundance of fish to be found near them at certain seasons of the year. From this fact originated the custom of presenting Mr. McGregore and his successors, the first fruits of the fishing season. The first fish caught by any man of Londonderry, salmon, shad, alewife or eel, was reserved as a gift to " the min- ister."
As early as 1729 a road was laid out and built from Nin- ian Cochran's house (in Londonderry) "then keeping by or near the old path to Ammosceeg Falls."* And another road was laid out at the same time intersecting the " Ammosceeg road," for the accommodation of other sections of the town. This undertaking of building a road some ten miles through the wilderness, in the infancy of that colony, shows of how great importance the " fishing at Ammosceeg " was considered by the people of Londonderry ; and it was natural that they should be strenuous in maintaining their claim to the lands adjacent. Accordingly we find their claim to the lands and the subject of the fisheries connected with them, matters acted upon in their town meetings at an early date. As early as 1729, peo- ple had moved upon these lands probably for the purpose of holding them for Massachusetts, she claiming to a line three miles east of the Merrimack by her charter. This was a se- rious matter for the people of Londonderry, and in the warrant for a town meeting bearing date January 8th, 1730-1 there was the following article.
" 11thly. To see whether they will allow a Lawyer to be consulted about those persons that are settling at Ammosceeg," And at the meeting this article was thus disposed of.
*Londonderry Records, Vol. II.
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SETTLEMENT AT NAMAOSKEAG.
" 11thly. Voted that they are willing to leave the consulting of a lawyer about the settlement that is carried on at Ammos- ceeg to the selectmen and the committee that is appointed for the defence of the propriety."*
It is not known what action was taken by the selectmen and committee upon the matter ; but it is to be inferred as the rec- ords are silent upon the subject, that no legal action was taken at that time. The people from Massachusetts continued to oc- cupy the lands in this neighborhood at intervals, and it is prob- able that some of them had a continuous occupation from this time under the authority of their government. Under such circumstances it is probable that after " consulting a lawyer," the people of Londonderry concluded to take quiet possession of the land and wait the result of the hearing about to be had in England as to the claims of Massachusetts. That the peo- ple of Londonderry continued in control of the business here is shown by the records of the following year,-wherein is found the warrant,-one article of which reads thus :-
" 4thly. To see whether they will be at the expense of two canoos to be kept at Ammosceeg for the safety of the people at the fishing."
On the day of the meeting, April 22, 1731, the following ac- tion was had on the 4th article.
" 4thly. That in order to the safety of our town's people at the fishing at Ammosceeg the selectmen is impowered to allow and pay out of the public charge or rates of the town three pounds in Bills of credit to such person or persons as shall be obliged to make two good sufficient canoos, the selectmen oblig- ing the aforesaid undertakers to serve the Inhabitants of the town the whole time fishing, before any out town's people and shall not exceed one shill pr hundred for all the fish that they shall ferry over from the Islands and the owner of the fish and his attendants is to be ferried backwards and forwards at free cost."+
It is probable that some one was found to accept so favor- able a proposition, and it may be that John McNeil was employed for that purpose. But whether settling at the Falls of his own accord, or sent there to hold possession of the land, or continued there as ferryman, John McNeil was the man suited to such border service, and Christian, his wife, was a fit companion for such a borderer.
.Londonderry Records, Vol. II.
+Londonderry Records, Vol. II.
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
After the settlement of McNeil at Namaoskeag, many others followed from Londonderry, and from Litchfield, Dunstable, and other towns down the river. It is impossible at this day to tell the precise time or the order of settlement of the different families.
The Massachusetts people seem to have settled near the Merrimack and mainly upon or near the Cohas Brook. But several of them settled near the Namaoskeag Falls.
Thus Mr. Benjamin Hadley lived upon the farm since known as the " Barrett farm," lying below Central street, and upon which the depots of the Concord Rail Road are located. Benjamin Stevens settled upon the farm belonging to the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company, near which the Gas Works are located. It is probable, that these may have been the men to whom the people of Londonderry referred in their vote of Jan- uary 8, 1730-1, as " those persons that are settling at Amosceeg."
Nathaniel Martin, owned the farm occupied by Peter Mitch- ell ; Ephraim Hildreth lived upon the farm now owned by Jo- nas Harvey and sons; Charles Emerson lived where James Emerson now lives, the farm still being in the name; Wil- liam Perham lived where John Young now lives; and Ed- ward Lingfield, Benjamin Kidder, Benjamin Blodgett and John Goffe, Jr. lived upon the Cohas Brook near its mouth. Goffe lived near where Nathaniel Moore now lives, on the north bank of the Cohas, nearly opposite Goffe's Falls, which re- ceive their name from him. 'I'hese people, doubtless, moved here under the auspices of Massachusetts prior to 1735. It is certain that Hildreth, Perham and Blodgett were here in that year, and that Goffe, Lingfield and Kidder were here prior to 1725, as in April of that year these men were in Lovewell's Expedition and were placed down as from Nutfield, subsequent- ly Londonderry. Both Lingfield and Kidder married daugh- ters of John Goffe, Senior, and it is highly probable that they settled upon the Cohas Brook, soon after their father-in-law came to Londonderry with the Scotch Irish settlers. John Goffe, Junior settled at the "Cohas," before or about the same time with his brothers-in-law, Lingfield and Kidder ; probably in 1722, at which time he was married, and also was named in the Charter as one of the grantees of Londonderry.
Thus John Goffe, Junior, Edward Lingfield and Benjamin Kidder were the first known inhabitants within the present limits of Manchester. The Goffes, with Kidder and Ling- field their connections, settled at the Cohas Brook by virtue of grants in the charter of Londonderry, but being Massachusetts
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SETTLEMENT AT NAMAOSKEAG.
men, and it turning out that much of their land was without the chartered limits of Londonderry, it is more than probable, that in act and thought, they assimilated with their neighbors from Massachusetts who emigrated hither soon after Lovewell's war.
The emigrants from Londonderry, settled in various parts of the town wherever were found eligible locations. Thus John Rid- ell settled upon what is called the Ray farm ; Alexander McMur- phy, Jr., lived next above McNeil's, opposite the Amoskeag Falls bridge, his farm being betwixt McNeill and Ridell's; Archi- bald Stark settled upon what is now known as the Stark place, and owned by the Campbells; John Hall settled at " the Cen- tre," upon land now owned by George Porter, Esq .; Thomas Hall, his brother, lived upon the Merrimack, next below McNeil's, upon land since known as the "Philip Stevens Farm," being that part of the city embraced mainly betwixt Bridge and Merrimack streets, where he had a ferry ; the Mcclintocks, occupied the farm now owned by the heirs of the late Gen. James McQueston ; Alexander McMurphy lived upon the farm at the outlet of the Massabesic, now occupied by the Websters ; David Dickey lived where David Dickey, 2d, now lives ; Will- iam Gamble owned the farm now owned by Samuel Gam- ble and Isaac C. Flanders, Esq. ; Robert Anderson lived where the late Daniel Hall lived; Barber Leslie lived on the farm now owned by James McQueston ; and William Nutt lived on the River road, on the farm, a part of which is now owned J. G. Eveleth.
Of these people, thus settled upon territory now within the limits of Manchester, most were active enterprizing men, and some were possessed of marked ability, and became identified with most of the public enterprises of their time, in this sec- tion of the Merrimack valley. Some of them deserve more than a passing notice.
JOHN GOFFE, ESQUIRE.
John Goffe, senior, came to Londonderry from Boston, with the first Scotch Irish emigrants to that town. He was born in Boston in 1679. John Goffe, his father, was a member of Dr. Increase Mather's Church as early as 1676, and is said to have come to this country in 1662 or 63. It has been often suggested that he was related to Gen. William Goffe, the regi- cide. Major Gen. William Goffe was a man of note in Crom- well's time. A writer in the Fasti Oxonienses, thus speaks of him :-
" He was the son of Stephen Goffe, Rector of Stanmore in
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THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
Sussex, and younger brother to John Goffe, mentioned among the writers, An. 1661, and to Stephen Goffe, mentioned in the Fasti, An. 1636. While William was a youth, and adverse to all kinds of learning, he was bound an apprentice to one Vaughan, a salter in London, brother to Col. Joseph Vaughan, a Parliamentarian, and a zealous Presbyterian ; whose time be- ing near, or newly out, he betook himself to be a soldier for the righteous cause, instead of setting up his trade, went out as a Quarter-Master of Foot, and continued in the wars till he forgot what he had fought for. At length, through several military grades, he became a Colonel, a frequent prayer maker, preacher, and presser for righteousness and freedom, which in outward show, was expressed very zealously, and therefore in high esteem in the Parliament army. In 1648, he was one of the Judges of King Charles I., sate in judgment when he was brought before the High Court of Justice, stood up as consent- ing when sentence passed upon him for his decollation, and af- terwards set his hand and seal to the warrant for his execu- tion. Afterwards, having, like his General (Cromwell) an evil tincture of that spirit that loved and sought after the favor and praise of man, more than that of God, as by woeful experience in both of them it did afterwards appear, he could not further believe, or persevere upon that account, by degrees fell off from the anti-monarchical principles of the chief part of the army, and was the man, with Colonel William White, who brought Musqueteers, and turned out the Anabaptistical members that were left behind of the Little, or Barebones Parliament, out of the house, An. 1654. Complying thus kindly with the design and interest of the said General, he was by him, when made Protector, constituted Major-General of Hampshire, Sus- sex and Berks, a place of great profit, and afterwards was of one, if not of two Parliaments ; did advance his interest great- ly, and was in so great esteem and favor in Oliver's Court, that he was judged the only fit man to have Major-General John Lambert's place and command, as Major-General of the army of foot ; and by some to have the Protectorship settled on him, in future time. He being thus made so considerable a person, was taken out of the House to be a Lord, and to have a nega- tive voice in the other House, and the rather for this reason, that he never in all his life (as he says) fought against any such thing as a single person, or a negative voice, but to pull down Charles and set up Oliver, &c. in which he obtained his end. In 1660, a little before the restoration of King Charles II. he betook himself to his heels to save his neck, without any re-
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JOHN GOFFE.
gard had to his Majesty's proclamation, wandering about, fear- ing every one that he met should slay him ; and was living at Lausanna in 1664, with Edmond Ludlow, Edward Whalley, and other regicides, when John L'Isle, another of that num- ber, was there, by certain generous royalists dispatched. He afterwards lived several years in vagabondship, but when he died, or where his carcass was lodged, is as yet unknown to me."
This account, though redolent of enmity, is correct in its main facts. Yet it is a mistake that he or Whalley was in Lausan- na in 1664, or at any time after 1660, as in that year they came to New-England. Hutchinson, who had access to Goffe's papers, says :-
"In the ship, Capt. Pierce, which arrived at Boston from London, the 27th of July, 1660, there came passengers, Colo- nel Whalley and Colonel Goffe, two of the late King's Judges. Colonel Goffe brought testimonials from Mr. John Row and Mr. Seth Wood, two ministers of a church in Westminster. Colonel Whalley had been a member of Mr. Thomas Good- win's church. Goffe kept a journal or diary, from the day he left Westminster, May 4, until the year 1667; which together with several other papers belonging to him, I have in my pos- session, almost the whole in characters, or short hand, not difficult to decypher. The story of these persons has never yet been published to the world. It has never been known in New-England. Their papers, after their death, were collected, and have remained near an hundred years in a library in Bos- ton. It must give some entertainment to the curious. They left London before the King was proclaimed. It does not ap- pear that they were among the most obnoxious of the Judges : but as it was expected vengeance would be taken of some of them, and a great many had fled, they did not think it safe to remain. They did not attempt to conceal their persons or characters when they arrived at Boston, but immediately went to the Governor, Mr. Endicot, who received them very courte- ously. They were invited by the principal persons of the town ; and among others, they take notice of Colonel Crown's coming to see them. He was a noted Royalist. Although they did not disguise themselves, yet they chose to reside at Cambridge, a village about four miles distant from the town, where they went the first day they arrived. They went pub- lickly to meetings on the Lord's day, and to occasional lectures, fasts, and thanksgivings, and were admitted to the sacrament, and attended private meetings for devotion, visited many of the
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