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 7
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5
66
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
from the heart, say of old Derryfield, " with all thy faults I love thee still.
A fact which speaks well for the taste and intelligence of our fathers, is, that in 1796, a social library society was organized, and in 1799, was by special act of the Legislature, incorporated. It contained more than one hundred volumes, comprising many of the best works then extant. I will detain you no longer, but close by giving you-Old Derryfield-Her talented son has this afternoon spoken of her as she was-as she is, she speaks for herself.
MR. JOSEPH KIDDER, formerly editor of the Manchester Mes- senger, having been called on by the audience, came forward, and said:
After having listened to so much, I cannot at this late hour do justice to myself or the occasion, save by a few hasty remarks. I cannot but say, that I am sorry at the direction, remarks have taken at this meeting. An occasion like this, a centennial celebration, is a place where facts should be related, which will be handed down to the future. Where are the old settlers and residents of this place? They should be here to give in their testimony. I think the character of the original inhabitants of this place, has been misrepresented. I remember as vividly as any one, the scenes which have been portrayed here; but these bad men, who fished about the river, were not Derryfield men; they came from Goffstown and Bedford, and other points on the river, and Old Derryfield had to bear all the blame.
Ever since my remembrance there have been schools estab- lished here, and there was too, at the school house just above here, a Sabbath school where people assembled to learn from the word of God; there was also formed at that place, a society of the benevolent ladies of the town, who did what they could for the relief of the poor. It was by such instrumentalities as these, that the people became interested in religious subjects .- Agriculture was limited, yet there were good farms, and good soil. It is true there have been great improvements. Look at our High Schools, and Grammar Schools; where were they twenty-five years ago?
It has been remarked here to-day, that until recently, no son of Old Derryfield has ever been a member of any college. This reminds me of the old saying, which I hope will not be taken as an offence by any here to night, that wherever there were any fools in the family, they were always sent to college. I suppose this to be the reason, why no more children were ever educated from Old Derryfield.
67
OF THE CITY OF MANCHESTER.
This being the last speech of the evening, the people then and there assembled, men, women, and children, young men, and maidens retired to their homes, soon perhaps to forget in the life, and activity of the youthful, and vigorous city, the inter- view of a day, with the veterans of a century-a few years lon- ger, and only the keen eyed antiquary, can discover in the fair face, and flowing locks of New Hampshire's first born city, the grey haired, and wrinkled brow of Old Derryfield.
THE HISTORY
OF
MANCHESTER, N. H.
-
CHAPTER I.
Discovery of America .- The Northmen .- Columbus .- The Cabots .- Cortereal. -French Expeditions .- Aubert .- Verazzano .- Cartier .- Roberval .- English Voyagers .- Sir Francis Drake .-- Sir Martin Frobisher .- Gosnold discovers Cape Cod .- Pring discovers the Piscataqua .- Pontgrave .- Champlain .- De Monts .- Champlain discovers the Isles of Shoals, Odiorne's Point, and the Merrimack River .- Weymouth .- The London Company .- Plymouth Com- pany .- Pring and Chalong .- Popham and Gilbert .- The Bashaba of Penob- scot .- Harley and Hobson .- Hudson-discovers river of that name, in em- ployment of the Dutch .- New Netherlands .- Dutch discover the Connecticut River .- Duke of York .- Nichols .- New Netherlands surrendered to the English .-- Smith .- Hunt .- Death of the Bashaba .-- Disease .- Gorges .-- Vines passes the winter in the Saco .- The Pilgrims.
The discovery of America is claimed for the "Northmen," by an Icelandic historian, and it would seem that this claim is put forth upon a foundation somewhat more substantial than national pride. It is related that in 1001 certain Icelandic voyagers made land far to the South of Cape Farewell, and making known their discov- eries upon their return, a colony was sent from Iceland to oc- cupy the newly discovered territory. The country was called Vinland ; it was often visited ; several colonies established ; the coast extensively explored during more than a century-and in 1121, it is said, a Bishop was sent to the country, to see to the spiritual welfare of the colonists. From this date, scarcely any mention is made of this colony, and the country to which the name of Vinland was given by the "Northmen " was long in doubt ; but it is now generally conceded that the Vinland of the Icelanders, embraced the fertile portion of New England, lying between Cape Cod, and the Hudson .*
But to Christopher Columbus, a Genoese, is universally awarded the glory of discovering the New World, and it will be long ere he
* For an account of the voyages of the "Northmen," see work of C. Chris tian Rafn, entitled Antiquitates Americana ; also, Humbolt's Cosmos.
2
THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
be deprived of this honor, the only patrimony realized by him, from a life of perilous adventure. In 1492, Columbus under the long withheld patronage of Ferdinand and Isabella, discovered the Island of St. Salvador, with other islands contiguous to the American Continent, to which he gave the name of West In- dies ; and returning to Spain, his discoveries soon awakened the spirit of adventure throughout Europe.
In 1496, Henry VII, was induced to favor a voyage of West- ern discovery, and John Cabot, a Venetian Merchant, resident at Bristol, was duly empowered, with his three sons, by letters pa- tent, to make discoveries in the northern or western seas, for their own profit, and the aggrandizement of the English nation.
Under this commission, John Cabot and his son Sebastian, at their own charge, sailed for the Western ocean. On June 24, 1497, they discovered the American Continent, making land on the wild and inhospitable shores of Labrador. This was ante- rior, by over fourteen months, to the time when Columbus first got sight of the main land of the American continent, and more than two years prior to the vaunted discoveries of Americus Vespuccius ; yet the latter has given a name to the New World, and most unjustly robbed his more worthy predecessors of a merited honor.
In 1500, Gaspar Cortereal, under the auspices of the King of Portugal, made a voyage of discovery to the New World. He ranged the coast of North America, through the distance of six or seven hundred miles, and carefully examined the natural fea- tures of the country. This expedition is remarkable only for the treachery of Cortereal towards the simple natives. Upon his return to Portugal, he seized upon more than fifty of the Indians, and sold them into slavery.
The French were more tardy in their discoveries than the English. They made voyages to Newfoundland, as early, however, as the year 1504, and in a few years, the fisheries on the Labrador coast were prosecuted by the fishermen of Brittany and Normandy, with success.
In 1508, Thomas Aubert sailed for Newfoundland-dis- covered the St. Lawrence, sailed up the same for some distance, and upon his return to France, treacherously carried away from their homes several of the Indians.
In 1523, John Verazzano, a Florentine, under the patronage of Francis I. of France, sailed for the American continent on a voyage of discovery. He sailed along the coast of North Amer- ica, from Florida to Labrador, named the country New France, and thus laid a foundation for the claim of France to the terri-
3
EARLY VOYAGES TO AMERICA.
tory by right of discovery, though England had a prior right through the Cabots, by more than a quarter of a century.
In 1534, an expedition for discoveries in America, was set on foot, under the patronage of the French king. Jacques Cartier, an experienced seaman, was placed at the head of the expedi- tion. He sailed in April of this year, with two small vessels of sixty tons each, and one hundred and twenty men in all. In August he discovered the river St. Lawrence, and sailed up the river for many leagues. The soil having been taken possession of by appropriate ceremonies, in the name of the king of France, Cartier returned home with the most glowing descriptions of the country he had discovered. The glory of his discovery was tarnished by his treacherous seizure of two of the natives at Gaspe Bay, and their transportation to France. Cartier vis- ited America a second time with three well appointed ships, fur- nished by the French Government. He sailed up the St. Law- rence, till he thought the navigation unsafe, then moored his ships safely, and took to his boats. In these, he prosecuted his dis- coveries as far up the river as Montreal, which name he gave to a neighboring hill. Here at an Indian town, the chief settle- ment of the tribe, he was received with the greatest hospitality, and he obtained from them some knowledge of the country now included in Vermont and New York. Returning to his ships, he passed the winter upon the banks of the. St. Lawrence, and having taken possession of the country in the name of his king, he reached France on the 8th of July 1536. He again was treacherous to the friendly natives-seized upon their chief, and four others, and carried them to France. Donnacona the Chief, died in France.
In 1540 an expedition was started in France, at the head of which was Jean Francis de la Roque, lord of Roberval, and of which Cartier was second in command, and chief pilot. Roberval and Cartier disagreeing, the expedition was unfortu- nate. They did not sail together. In 1541, Cartier sailed for the St. Lawrence, where he arrived and built a fort near the site of Quebec .* Here he passed the winter, and in June following, "he and his ships stole away and returned to France just as Roberval arrived with a considerable reinforcement." Deprived of the services of Cartier, Roberval accomplished nothing, and after tarrying a year in his vice royalty of Norimbega, he aban- doned the enterprise, and returned to France. But the discov- eries of Cartier were too important to be abandoned altogether.
* An Indian word meaning a narrow place or strait.
4
THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
Various attempts were made to follow them up with permanent settlements. But the civil wars in France stayed foreign and domestic enterprise. The gaining of a Kingdom, was of more importance than the planting of a colony. America attracted very little of the attention of the French, until about the close of the 16th century, when the success of private individuals in trading upon the American coast, once more attracted the attention of the Government to the subject of colonizing America.
Meantime, the circumnavigation of the globe, by Sir Francis Drake, the voyages of Sir Martin Frobisher, and the writings of Sir Richard Hackluyt, had awakened a spirit of enquiry and enterprise in England, as to the New World, and Captain Bar- tholomew Gosnold, in 1602, started an enterprise for planting a colony in New England.
The voyage to America had usually been made by way of the Canaries, but Gosnold conceived the idea of making the continent of America by a more direct course.
On the 26th of March, of this year, he embarked at Falmouth, in a small vessel, called the Concord, with thirty-two men, and in seven weeks, made land on the coast of New England, sup- posed to have been in New Hampshire. He sailed down the coast, and landed in Massachusetts, upon Cape Cod, which he first discovered, and which he named, doubtless, from the abun- dance of fish found in its waters.
Having doubled this cape, he landed upon an island which he named from the queen, Elizabeth. Here the adventurers tarried six weeks, passing their time in exploring the neighbor- ing shore, trafficing with the natives, and in making preparations for a permanent abode. They built a store-house, and a fort ; but after more mature reflection, ill supplied with provisions, and with scanty means of defence against the natives, they aban- doned the idea of a permanent residence, and sailed for England with their vessel laden with sassafras root, which was then much esteemed as a medicine. Gosnold had accomplished his object ; marked out a straight, and much nearer course to Amer- ica ; explored a hitherto unknown region at a season of the year when a virgin soil was laden with a luxuriant growth of vegetation ; been successful in his traffic with the natives ; and now, elated with success, he and his companions spread the most glowing descriptions of the country they had visited. The spirit of adventure had been dormant for nearly a century. It was now awakened with increased energies.
On the 10th of April, of 1603, an expedition set sail for America, under the command of Martin Pring, and was success
5
DISCOVERY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
ful. It reached the coast of Maine, and Capt. Pring examined the coast, and some of the eastern rivers and harbors-the Pen- obscot, the Kennebec, the Saco, the Kennebunk, the York, and the Piscataqua .* He examined the Piscataqua for three or four leagues, and thus made the first known discovery of the terri- tory of New Hampshire. The expedition was one undertaken by private enterprise, in part, and part by the corporation of Bristol, and was prosecuted in two small vessels, the Speedwell, a vessel of fifty tons, and the Discoverer, a bark of twenty-six tons, the former having thirty men on board, and the latter but sixteen. Pring had the advantage of the knowledge of a former adventurer, as a man who had made the voyage, the year previ- ous with Gosnold, was his pilot. This advanatge was great. The expedition made the coast of Maine early in June, and made their first harbor among the islands of the Penobscot Bay. They soon coasted southward, and discovered the Saco and the Piscataqua ; so that the discovery of New Hampshire may be definitely set down as in June 1603, twenty years prior to its permanent settlement upon the banks of the Piscataqua. Capt. Pring coasted still farther southward, and filling his vessels with sassafras, on the sonthern coast of Massachusetts, he returned to England, after an absence of six months.
In 1603, Pontgrave, a merchant of St. Malo, and Samuel de Champlain, a native of Saintonge, were commissioned by the king of France to prosecute discoveries in the the New World. The expedition under their united command, went up the St. Lawrence, explored the country visited by Cartier, selected Quebec as the site of a fort, and obtained more accurate knowl- edge of the manners and customs of the natives, and of the geog- raphy of the country.
In November of this year, Pierre du Guast, Sieur de Monts, a Calvinist, and an able man, obtained an exclusive patent of the country of New France, from the fortieth to the forty-sixth de- gree of latitude, under the name of Acadia.t Champlain re-
* Penobscot, means the Rock Place, being derived from Penops (a roek,) and Auke (a place.) Kennebec, means a snake.
Saco, is a contraction of Sawacotauke, which means, literally, the Burnt Pine Place, derived from Sawa, (burnt.) Coo, (a pine,) and Auke, (a place,) the t being thrown in for the sake of euphony.
Kennebunk, is doubtless a corruption for Kennebeauke, the snake place.
Piscataqua, written anciently Pascataquack, means literally the Great Deer Place, being derived from Pos, (great,) Attuck, (deer,) and Auke, (a place.)
t This word, written Acadia, Cadia, and Cadie, is generally supposed to be derived from the French or Latin ;- but it is an Indian word corrupted by the French. The original word is Aquoddiauke, from Aquoddie, (a pollock,) and
6
THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
turned in season, to engage in an expedition with De Monts, to settle Acadia.
This expedition started from Havre, March 7, 1604, and was prosecuted in four vessels. Arrived upon the American coast, one vessel went up the St. Lawrence, while the others con- tinued south, and made the coast of Acadia. Settlements were made by De Monts, at Port Royal, and upon the island of St. Croix, in the river of that name. Champlain, with others of the expedition, explored the coast of New England as far south as Cape Cod, with the view of making farther settlements upon the coast ; but the numbers of the Indians disheartened them, and they returned to St. Croix. This exploration of the coast took place in the summer of 1605.
Champlain made the Piscataqua Bay, July 15, 1605, and dis- covered the Isles of Shoals. The next day, near a point of land, which he called "Cape of the Islands," and which is now doubtless known as " Odiorne's Point" in Rye, Champlain dis- covered a canoe, and near it five or six savages, who approached his barque, "dancing merrily on the shore." He landed and made the savages, each a present of a knife, and some biscuit, which they received with the same demonstrations of joy. Thus, Champlain, if not the first discoverer of the territory of New Hampshire, was doubtless the first to tread her soil, as it is not known that Capt. Pring, or his followers, left their vessel, when they discovered the Piscataqua, in 1603.
After Champlain had distributed his presents to these Indians, he says, "This done, I made them understand, in the best way that I could, that they should show me the direction of the coast. After they had marked with a coal the Bay and Cape of the Islands where we now were ; they figured with the same * crayon, another Bay, that they represented as very large.
And then they figured, within this Bay, a river that we were to pass, which extends very far and is barred. * *
The next day, the 17th of the same month, we raised an- chor to go towards a Cape that we had seen the preced- ing day, which lay towards the south-south east, (Cape Ann.) This day we could make only five leagues, and passed some islands covered with wood (Plum Island. ) I recognized
Auke, (a place,) and meaning a place for pollock. This word was very naturally corrupted by the French into Acadia, Cadia, and Cadie. The original word is still preserved in the neighborhood, in Passamaquoddy, the name of a Bay at the entrance of the St. Croix, in the mouth of the Bay of Fundy, which is de- rived from Pos, (great,) Aguam, (water,) Aquoddie, ( pollock,) and meaning great water for pollock.
7
DISCOVERY OF THE MERRIMACK.
in this Bay all that the savages had told me at the Cape of the Isles. Besides, there is in this Bay, a very wide river, which we have named the Riviere du Gas which in my judgment rises in the direction of the Iriquois, a nation which is at open war with the mountaineers, who are upon the great river St. Lawrence."*
Thus Champlain was the discoverer of our noble river, which he called "Riviere du Gas," but which very appropriately, retains the Indian name of Merrimack,t first heard and written by De Monts, upon the banks of the St. Lawrence, in 1604, the year preceding its actual discovery, by the Sieur de Champlain.
De Monts, leaving his settlement at Port Royal, returned to France in 1605, to find his affairs ruined, the king having re- voked the powers conferred upon him. He however succeeded in sending out supplies to his little colony, which arrived in season to prevent its complete ruin ; and thus sustained, it con- tinued to thrive until 1614, when it was broken up by Sir Sam- uel Argall, at the head of a force from the colony of Virginia.
Soon after the return of Gosnold to England, another expe- dition was started, under the patronage of the Earl of South Hampton, and Lord Arundel. Capt. George Weymouth was given the charge of it, who, in an attempt to discover a North West passage to India, had entered the Penobscot river. Capt. Weymouth left England in March 1605, and in about six weeks, made Cape Cod. Coasting North, he again entered Penobscot river, and made a harbor. Here he decoyed five of the natives on board and carried them by force to England. Their names were Manida, Sketwannoes, Tisquantum, Assecumet and De- hamda. This was the first outrage upon the innocent natives by the English on the shores of New England, of which we have any account in history. Three of these Indians, Manida, Sketwannoes, and Tisquantum, were placed in the family of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, at his earnest request.
The spirit of enterprise in relation to discoveries, and colonies in America, was now fully awakened. The accounts of these natives, of the country adjacent to the Penobscot, and Kenne- bec, losing nothing by the immagination of Gorges, and
* Charlevoix ps. 72-77.
t This river was called Merrimack, by the northern Indians. Merrimack, means, doubtless, a place of strong current, from Merruh, (strong,) and Auke, (a place,) the m being thrown in for the sake of the sound.
But by the Massachusetts Indians, this river was called Monomack, from Mona, (an island,) and Auke, (a place,) meaning the Island Place, from the number of beautiful islands in this river.
1
8
THE HISTORY OF MANCHESTER.
through his extensive influence, and intercourse, widely dissem- inated, continued to excite this spirit.
April 10, 1606, a company of noblemen, gentlemen, and mer- chants, obtained a patent from King James, to colonize North America, betwixt the parallels of thirty-four, and forty-five de- grees of North latitude, embracing the coast from Cape Fear to Halifax, with the small exception of Acadia, at that time occu- pied by the French.
This tract, comprising eleven degrees of latitude, was divided into two districts, called North, and South Virginia, each one.to be colonized by a distinct company. The first, composed of noblemen, gentlemen, and merchants, in and about London, was called "The London Compny," and had the control of South Virginia, extending from the thirty-fourth to the forty-first de- gree of latitude. The second, composed of noblemen, gentle- men, and merchants, residing at Plymouth, and other towns in the West of England, was called the "Plymouth Company," and had the control of North Virginia, extending from the thirty-eigth, to the forty-fifth degree of latitude. Thus three degrees of latitude were common to both companies. To prevent collis- ion, it was stipulated, that the colony last located, should not approach within one hundred miles of that already established.
Meantime, the Plymouth company, at the head of whch was Sir John Popham, Lord Chief Justice of King's Bench, in 1606, sent two vessels to North Virginia, which comprised the whole of the territory now called New England, to make farther dis- coveries. These vessels were commanded by Capt. Martin Pring, and Henry Chalong.
Two of the Indians, Manida and Assecumet, forced ; from home by Weymouth, were on board of Chalong's vessel, to en- sure a more cordial reception to the exploring party.
The vessel commanded by Chalong, was taken by the Span- iards, and carried into Spain.
Capt. Pring made the coast of Maine without misfortune, surveyed its coasts, harbors, and rivers, and returned to England with a most flattering report.
The London Company started an expedition on the 19th day of December, 1606, for the permanent settlement of a colony in Virginia. This expedition consisted of three small vessels, the largest of not over one hundred tons burthen, and having in all one hundred and five men, destined to remain in the colony.
On the 31st day of May, 1607, two small ships sailed from Plymouth, under the auspices of the Plymouth Company, hav-
9
ATTEMPTED SETTLEMENT IN MAINE.
ing one hundred adventurers on board, for the purpose of estab- lishing a colony in North Virginia. This expedition was under the command of Capt. George Popham, a brother of Chief Jus- tice Popham, and of Raleigh Gilbert.
After making the island of Monheagan, they landed at the mouth of the Kennebec, on Parker's island, where they built a fort, and called it St. George. Two of the Indians, Sketwannoes and Dehamda, seized and carried away by Weymouth, accom- panied this expedition, and secured for the colonists, a welcome from various tribes. The Indians of the Kennebec, as well as all others of this region, westward to the Saco river, were subject to the power of a Sagamon, at the head of the Penobscot tribe, located on the river Penobscot-who from his position, ruling many tribes, was styled a Bashaba. The Bashaba of Penobscot sent his son to welcome the strangers, and to open a trade in furs with the English colony. Their intercourse with the natives, was thus established upon a most friendly footing, and might have been retained, had they treated the Indians properly. In December following, the ships sailed for England, leaving but forty-five persons, to sustain the infant colony. These were soon disheartened by misfortunes. Their store- house was burned. Their President, the life of the expedition, died. The winter was cold and rigorous. News came in the spring, of the death of the patron of the enterprise, Chief Justice Popham. Gilbert, who had succeeded to the Presidency, made vacant by the death of Popham, determined to return to Eng- land, by the next vessel, on account of the death of his brother, Sir John Gilbert ; and added to all of these misfortunes, they had doubtless increased the animosity of the neighboring In- dians, by improper and most unjust conduct. Their affairs be- ing thus situated, they broke up the colony, and sailed for Eng- land, by the first vessel that touched at the Kennebec. Thus was the second colony, attempted in New England, dispersed within the first year of its existence.
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