History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 175

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1520

USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 175
USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 175

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his full share of the expenses of the church and so- ciety and then making up all deficiencies in the finances at the close of each year.

During most of his life he was much interested in agriculture, owning and tilling several large farms. It has been aptly said : "He is a public benefactor who makes two blades of grass to grow where but one grew before ; " so will the main street of Centre Harbor village, bordered on either side by its fine elms and maples, render praise to Mr. Coe, who planted them.

In 1860 Mr. Coe visited the South on business, spending several weeks in and around Natchez, Miss., and was much pleased with the hospitality of the Southern people. Returning home, he was taken ill and died, April 2, 1861.

The children of John and Lavinia S. Coe were, Curtis S., Annie L. (Mrs. Charles P. Towle), John L., Ellen L. (Mrs. Dr. S. J. Quinby), Rufus L., and Daniel W.

RANDALL S. KENESON.

Randall Seavey Keneson, son of John and Polly (Jackson) Keneson, was born in that part of Eaton now Madison, N. H., December 14, 1811. John Keneson was a man of great versatility of talent, of much mechanical ability, and, with his trade of watch and clock making, carried on a boot and shoe manu- factory in Eaton, his native place. He married, February 8, 1804, Polly, daughter of Phillip and Mary (Place) Jackson. They had nine children,-two sons and seven daughters. Mr. Keneson was a Whig in his political views, and, although the town was largely Democratic, he often received more than the vote of his party when nominated for office. He was a man worthy of the confidence and esteem which he re- ceived in a large degree from his fellow-townsmen. He was town clerk for twenty-five years, and also held a commission as justice of the peace for a long period, and served in various minor offices. He was a Free- Will Baptist in religion, and an active and uniform member of that church. He was of medium size, social, made many friends, and always took an intel- ligent interest in the welfare and growth of his native town. He was born May 18, 1784, and died March 24, 1838.

Randall, from his earliest childhood, had a great aptitude for mechanics, "had rather frame a slate at home than use it at school," and, not altogether willingly, received the instruction which was given him for several years at the public schools, and learned the jeweler's trade and custom boot and shoe making, remaining with his father until he was twenty years of age. His mechanical skill soon made him more than ordinarily proficient in these avocations, so he went to Haverhill and worked at custom shoe- making with good success for one season. His health failing, he was obliged to give up labor for a year. After the recovery of his health he went to Dedham, Mass., where he was employed in a broadcloth-factory

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HISTORY OF BELKNAP COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

for four years. He was diligent and industrious, de- voted the time not required in his duties at the fac- tory in repairing clocks, watches, etc., and in this way, as his habits were good and his manner of living prudent and economical, he was enabled to save enough money for a capital for future business opera- tions. He then returned to Eaton, and went to work on his father's farm, and also, in connection with his agricultural labors, fitted up a small shop and estab- lished himself as a jeweler.

Mr. Keneson married, first, January 9, 1838, Al- mira, daughter of Moses Morse, of Centre Harbor. She died August 9, 1842. They had two children,- Elvira (Mrs. George B. Blake) and Newell, who died when an infant. He married, second, Miranda S., daughter of Isaiah and Deborah (Mason) Forest, of Eaton where she was born, April 8, 1816. They had one child, Adelaide H. (Mrs. Lewis R. Veasey).

Mr. Keneson continued in business in Eaton until August, 1852, when he removed to Centre Harbor, and has since been a resident of that town. Here he devoted himself exclusively to his jewelry trade, and carried it on until 1880, when he retired from com- mercial transactions, having, by his frugality and

honest endeavors, acquired a competency. His me- chanical ingenuity has always been of good service to him; for instance, when needing any work done, he could do it himself and in the best manner. His uni- form kindness and pleasant manners have won for him many friends. His faithfulness in the perform- ance of his work has secured for him the respect and esteem of all. Democratic in politics, he represent- ed Centre Harbor in the legislative term of 1878-79, and has also served in town offices. A plain and unassuming man, he has not sought official position, and such offices as have been conferred upon him have been given without his solicitation, he having never asked a man for his vote.

Mr. Keneson is a member of the Congregational Church, and is always in accord with everything tending to improve and elevate the community in which he resides, while his conservative nature pre- vents him from going precipitately into the advocacy or support of any measures which are not grounded in reason and practicality. Kind in his domestic rela- tions, a valued friend and a prized and estimable citizen, he worthily stands high in the esteem of his townsmen.

HISTORY OF GILFORD.1

BY REV. J. P. WATSON.

CHAPTER I.

THE historical matter connected with, and the occurrences that have taken place in, the territory included at different periods within the limits of the town of Gilford largely mingle with those of other towns associated and near, and of other civil organi- zations remote and seemingly dissociated.

The continuous and complete course of the annals of the town will cover some of the early records of Gilmanton, from which it was detached, and preface largely the history of the recent town of Laconia, increased by detached portions herefrom, and also supplement that of Meredith, which has contributed to the domain of both. The boundary line of Gil- ford has been so frequently changed for enlargement and diminution that it shares with other towns much of their enterprise and honor and history. Its loca- tion on or near an important river and other waters gives it special importance, not only as the centre of various industrial enterprises and professional prac- tice, but as related to older divisions, involving ques- tions of rightful possession and jurisdiction.

By the charter from King James, in 1606, Virginia extended from the thirty-fourth to the forty-fourth parallel of north latitude, and hence included the . greater part of New Hampshire territory, and com- prehended that part in which Gilford is situated. By a subdivision of this grant into North and South Vir- ginia, the former was limited by the fortieth and forty-eighth degrees of north latitude, and hence included all of New Hampshire territory, and Gilford was in North Virginia. This division of the territory granted by the royal patent, which at first was assigned to certain dignitaries of Bristol, Exeter and Plymouth, England, was subsequently committed to forty men of distinction and means, who constituted the Council of Plymouth, whose official business was the "Plant- ing, Ruling and Governing of New England in Amer- ica." This council was constituted November 3, 1620, and they made grants of minor sections to other particular parties and organizations in subsequent years.

1 This article is an abridgment of a more extended work, " A Histori- cal Sketch of the Town of Gilford, N. H.," in preparation, and soon to be published by the; writer.

Though the Duke of Lenox was the first-named of the Council, and though there were also several others higher in the list, yet Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Governor of Plymouth, in Devonshire County, England, after 1604, appears to have been the most active and the leading man of the Council, and was elected their first president. Also Captain John Mason, of London, and, after the peace of 1604, Governor of Newfound- land, as well as of Portsmouth, Hampshire County, England, was elected to fill a vacancy in the mem- bership, and made secretary of the Council.

He made the first purchase from the Council March 9, 1621. It was a tract of land thence known as Mariana, and impossible of boundary. It was to ex- tend from the Naumkeag to the Merrimack River, and from their mouths to their head-waters, and to be inclosed by a straight line from the source of the one to that of the other river, which line would cut the whole grant asunder, and at the same time both include and exclude certain territories or portions. August 10, 1622, Mason and Gorges jointly made a purchase of land, supposed to be directly and contig- uously on the north of Mariana, or Mason's first purchase, and extending from the Merrimack to the Sagadehock, and back to the "Great Lakes and the River of Canada " (i. e., Winnipesaukee, Champlain and the St. Lawrence).

This was termed Laconia; and this was the first conveyance of the territory of Gilford. The Company of Laconia, consisting of Mason, Gorges and others, was formed, and endeavored to effect settlements on the tract purchased, which they did at Dover in 1623. That part of Laconia bordering on Lake Winnipesau- kee was not reached aud settled at this time, though considered as the most desirable and valuable on account of its supposed mineral deposits. Seven years later, John Wheelwright and others took a deed from four Indian sagamores of land bounded by the " Merrimack and Piscataqua, extending back to the falls of Nuichawannock, in the Piscataqua, and to the Pawtucket falls, in the Merrimack, and thence 20 miles N. W. into the woods; and thence N. E. to the first-mentioned point, Nuichawannock Falls." This deed evidently did not comprehend Gilford ter- ritory ; but on November 7, the same year, 1629, Mason took a new grant of territory, less in extent,

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HISTORY OF BELKNAP COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

but more definitely bounded,-viz. : "From the mouth of the Piscataqua to 60 miles in the course of the river ; and from the mouth of the Merrimack to its farthest head-waters; and so forward up into the land westward until 60 miles were finished, and thence to cross overland to the end of the 60 miles accounted from the Piscataqua River, including the Islands within 15 leagues of the shore." This evi- dently included the territory of Gilford; though it was not certain whether the line connecting the points designated on the rivers should be a straight line or a curve line, maintaining at all parts a dis- tance of sixty miles from the sea. The lands included between the arc and chord thus drawn were in dis- pute, and were in part in Gilford, and claimed in Mason's right. The line subsequently was determined as a straight line, running from the point on the pres- ent State boundary sixty miles from the mouth of the Piscataqua (which was several miles north of its source, and in the town of Eaton), crossing the lake and Long Island, passing over Mount Major, of the Gunstock range, and terminating in the town of Rindge, on the Massachusetts boundary. Hence, the eastern part of Gilford was afterwards assigned to Mason's heirs, and called Masonian shares, when the remainder was bought of said heirs.

In 1632, the lake and its shores were visited by ex- plorers from Portsmouth, but no settlements were made or marks left. Mason died in 1638, and willed his claims and property to various heirs. The dis- puted jurisdiction of Massachusetts over land in- cluded in the after-grant to the proprietors of Gil- manton, being found in part in Gilford, was appar- ently decided in 1652, when commissioners appointed by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Com- pany were sent to establish the bounds agreeable to their construction of their charter. They claimed that the charter carried a strip of land on the left bank (north and east side) of the river, three miles in width, and extending to its source, at which point a line laid off due east and due west should mark the northern limit of their chartered lands. The exten- sion of this line eastward, as well as westward, was the claim of the Massachusetts Bay Company, but was rejected by the claimants to the territory on the north side of the river, and was finally decided in their favor. But, agreeably to that interpretation of their charter, the said court appointed, on the 27th of May, 1652, a commission to settle the north line of their domain, and Captains Simon Willard and Edward Johnson were put in charge of this business. They procured the services, as surveyors, of Jona- than Ince, a student at Cambridge, and John Sher- man, sergeant of Watertown, and these, following the guide of certain Indians, employed to direct the route, ascended the river to Aquadocton, the outlet of the lake, which was declared to be the head of the river (now the Weirs), and there they took astronomical observations, and determined the latitude thereof to

43º 40' 12". This point was indicated by inscrip- tions on a large boulder in the middle of the outlet. This inscription, made by drills, consisting of the date, the initials of Governor Endicott, and those of the surveying party, etc., may be seen at the pres- ent time, though the action of the elements for two hundred and thirty-three years has rendered them somewhat illegible. This bound was unknown, or unidentified, for many years and till 1846. From this point three more miles were to be included, north of the river, so three minutes more were to be allowed, making the utmost limit to be at 43º 43' 12"' north latitude, and said to be "out into the Lake." As the course from the mouth of the river was westerly, and the charter said three miles north of theriver,-i. e., on its left bank,-and the course at the last was nearly due north, it was, and is, a question where the limit should fall. If it be determined by a perpendicular line three miles in length, maintained throughout the entire course, then it would be three miles nearly due east of the Weirs, and off Smith's Intervale, or a little east of Governor's Island. If due north is taken, which seems to be implied by the addition of three min- utes for the three miles, then the boundary line will pass through a point either three miles due north of this inscribed stone,-i.e., near or on Meredith Neck,-or three miles north of the point three miles east of the stone,-i.e., in the broad expanse northeast of Governor's Island and towards Bear Island.

These observations were made August 1, 1652, and report was made to General Court, October 19th. Jonas Clarke and Samuel Andrews, shipmasters, were sent to mark the same latitude on the Atlantic shore, and determined it to fall on the northern part of Upper Clapboard Island, in Casco Bay, near Portland. An east and west line drawn through these two points of the parallel 43º 43' 12" was to constitute the border line of the province of Massachusetts Bay ; but this demarkation did not abide time and contendings, as it was based on a forced construction of the patent letter. Gilford territory, which was cut by it from near the Province road and Cotton's Hill and over Liberty Hill and down Gunstock Valley to the Intervale, was not permanently dismembered, and assigned to the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Company. At Aquadocton there was originally about three feet fall, which has been overcome by flowage in consequence of the dam at Lake village, formerly Folsom's Mill. While these lands, bordering on the upper Merri- mack and on the South Lake shore, from Aquadocton southward and eastward, had evidently qualities valuable, and calculated to induce occupation and cultivation, and Aquadocton itself was one of the best fishing-grounds, yet, in opposition to all prospects, but for sufficient causes, this part of the common do- main remained unused and undeveloped for more than a full century after 1652. These places were known, to be sure, but scarcely more than as a thorough- fare of the aboriginal wanderings, and assemblings,

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and migrations, and as feeding-places. The settlers of Piscataqua made early reconnoissance of these regions, and as early as 1632 visited, in their course, the lake and the White Mountains, and penetrated even to Champlain. They evidently marked the place a desired resting-place and there built a block- house as early as 1722, "at the Lake," as it is sup- posed, farther east than the bounds of Gilford, prob- ably in some part of Alton, or at Merry Meeting Bay, of after fame.

From the four quarters of the land there seemed to meet here, as in a centre, the great trails or pathways of the Indians, living in all directions. And Aqua- docton was, even before, a place of no mean repute, or an unheard-of retreat of the savage wilds.

From the south came up the Penacooks, the Nash- uas and various remoter tribes from Naumkeag and remoter parts of the Massachusetts Bay territory. From the west and northwest the Iriquois and St. Francis and others, through the valley of the Con- necticut, Baker's River and the Pemigewasset. From the north, over the lake, and from the valley of the Ossipee, the Saco and Androscoggin, come the Pekwau- ketts, the Ossipees and others. From the east came up the Cochecos and various tribes of Maine. Here was their general rendezvous, and here councils of war were held, tribal feasts enjoyed, questions settled and disputed, and here issues, now unknown, were made and destinies determined. The summits of the Gunstock range were the outlooks over all this region, and from them to the Ossipee, Chocorua, and the greater, more distant northern peaks and lesser southern hills, were heralded the decisions of the con- tending and the counciling savages. The Indian wars that marked that century had much of their scenes laid in this locality. The exceeding great haz- ard in effecting progressive occupation and settlement kept the few actual settlers closely compacted in five or seven towns that constituted the province of New Hampshire, viz .: Dover, Portsmouth, Exeter, New Castle, Hampton, Oyster Bay and Great Island.

country and distracted and paralyzed the energies of the feeble band that had set down on the coast and the Piscataqua, but had their eye and hope on Aqua- docton. Queen Anne's dozen years' reign and the succession of George I. brought not much better times; so that when Samuel Shute assumed the Governorship of the two provinces jointly, in 1716, there was scarcely any sign of Aquadocton's being redeemed from its wilderness state, or the condition of the older settlements being much improved. Indians period- ically assembled on the shores of the lake, and men from Massachusetts visited the Weirs for a winter's stock of fish, but the glebe was yet unbroken, and the forests pathless, save by the trail of the red man.

By the appointment of John Wentworth as Lieu- tenant-Governor of New Hampshire, to act under and with, and, in certain contingencies, instead of, Gov- ernor Shute, of Massachusetts Bay province, on June 15, 1716, the interests of New Hampshire, and espe- cially of the undeveloped places about the lake were revived, more carefully looked after and attended to. The decadence of the spirit of expansion and enter- prise that followed the putting of New Hampshire un- der Massachusetts' protection and control, in 1689, and during the troublous times of William and Mary's reign, seemed to have reached its lowest point about the time of the accession of Queen Anne, in 1702, or of her death and the commencement of the reign of George I., in 1714. Those who had suffered loss and endured hardships in the earlier wars, from the time of King Philip's, in 1674, and especially in that of King William, in 1688-90, now begin to claim some indemnification or reward. This is sought in grants of unoccupied lands. The paralyzing effect of the massacre at Dover, and the ruin of Salmon Falls, and the absence of that master-spirit of Major Waldron, now dead, determined that the tide of progress would not set up the Cocheco Valley to the shores of the lake and Aquadocton, though this would have been the most natural course of expansion. Nor did the contingencies of the disputed limitations and juris- diction of the Massachusetts Bay Company favor the extension of settlements up the Merrimack, the second most natural path of progress in occupation and im- provement. Hence, the third and most unlikely move- ment was made from Exeter into the wilderness by the route of no river valley, but along the highlands. Hence, in 1727, these claimants, numbering nearly two hundred, a charter is granted to them of all the land left, from the corner of Chichester, northwest of Barnstead, and northeast of the north line of Canter- bury (then including Loudon and Northfield), and extending to the lake and river, and abutting on both Barnstead and the unincorporated land eastward, after- wards known as the New Durham Gore, since Alton.

The changefulness of the mother-country at this time also had its effects, both directly and indirectly, on the expansion of the colony. The uncertainty of the sovereign personnel, and the spirit of the admin- istration at home, and the changing figures of ap- pointed magistrates and Governors here, made every- thing unsubstantial and problematie, and destroyed the vital germ of enterprise. The commonwealth lasted scarcely a decade from the execution of Charles I., and Charles II. for a quarter of a century from 1660, held the throne, but, in regard to these colonies, only to appoint six or seven successive Governors in the provinces of New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The short reign of James used three more Governors, closing with the tyrannical and hated Edward Andros. The occupation of this land was now considered feasible, since the Province Council and Assembly had caused a fort or block-house to be built and garrisoned William III., in a reign of a little more than one dec- ade, constituted and removed five more; and the distressful King William's War vexed the whole | on the shore of the lake. This was ordered in 1722,

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HISTORY OF BELKNAP COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

and was to be fifty feet square, constructed with tim- bers eight inches square, having two wings, or flank- ers, and capable of giving accommodation to a garrison of one hundred and fifty. men, and was to be provi- sioned duly. It was to be located near the bank of the lake, where there is an opening into the lake, and on the southeast side; which language, in its first statement, would seem to indicate Aquadocton, but, in its other words, appears to refer to Alton Bay, and probably the eastern side. The purpose of building and arming this block-house was declared to be to "annoy and check the Indians of this region," and so secure quiet to the settlers. Hence the grantees and actual settlers of Gilmanton had thus a defense in their rear, as far as it concerned some of the most un- friendly tribes in this region ; and, therefore, the fear of molestation was measurably removed. The pro- prietors were not all from Exeter, but some of Ports- mouth; many of the settlers first sat down tem- porarily in the southern part of the grant, and after- wards re-located in the northern section, or Gilford. The territory was divided into two hundred and fifteen shares, and severally apportioned to one hundred and ninety-two shareholders, besides the Masonian heirs; and the public and governmental reservations were five shares.

The proprietors were not, to a great extent, actual settlers, yet their names very largely correspond to those known in the history of the plantation. Ninety different names appear in the original list of proprie- tors, among which that of Gilman leads with twenty- four, viz .: Andrew, Caleb, Daniel, Edward (1st and Jr.), Jeremiah, John (Sr., Jr., 3d and Captain), Jona- than, Joseph, Nathaniel (Sr. and Jr.), Nehemiah, Nicholas (Sr., Jr. and 3d), Peter, Robert, Samuel (1st and 3d), Thomas and Trueworthy. Hence the name Gilmanton was most natural. The charter bears date of May 20, 1727, and in the thirteenth year of the sovereign, George I., and had three conditions, viz .: 1st, the settlement ofseventy families within three years each in a separate house, and each having cleared three acres fit for tillage, and having paid all assess- ments. 2d, a meeting-house shall be built within four years. 3d, three shares shall be appropriated for public use, viz .: One for the ministerial support, one for minister's residence and one for support of schools ; providing, however, that no Indian war prevent the settlement, and in such event, granting three years from the close of such war.

The consideration of this deed or title was the quit-rent of one pound of flax annually forever, if demanded, and due the second Tuesday of March. Also all pine-trees, twenty-four inches in diameter, were reserved, under the act of Parliament, for the construction of ships in the royal navy, which trees had been marked and registered by a surveyor, ap- pointed first in the time of William, and agreeably to the provincial statute of 1708, by the approval of Queen Anne.

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History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 175

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co. Number of Pages: 1520

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton), ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Philadelphia [Pa.] J. W. Lewis & co.
Number of Pages: 1520