History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 65

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 65
USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 65

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The regiment was not much exposed the next day, which was Saturday, and at night started for Chan- cellorsville, which it reached Sunday morning, and Major Deering was detailed brigade officer of the day, and had charge of the picket line, and turned it over to General Fararro, who had charge of the Third Di- vision of the Ninth Corps, which were colored troops. The regiment was severely dealt with at Spottsylvania, where it was exposed to the rebel fire all day without any protection, and fifty out of three hundred were either killed or wounded; and in the second attack on the enemy's left flank, sixteen more were killed and wounded.

The regiment was under severe fire at the Tolopot- omy, where Major Deering only escaped death by the narrowest chance. In the evening he went to the front to push out the picket line, which was sta- tioned too near the main line, and as he wasreturning, while but a few rods in front of his breast-works, firing

commenced upon the left and soon came down the line, one regiment after another joining in the rapid firing, which soon reached his own regiment; supposing that an attack had been made upon the line, they too opened fire, and in a moment the air was full of whistling bullets ; some of the picket line were killed, but, as fortune would have it, he escaped unharmed.

At another time two men were shot down, one on each side of him, as he led his men into the fight. He was hit once on his spur and once on the scabbard of his sword, but finally came out of every fight without a scar. He was in all of the fights, from the Wilder- ness to Petersburg, in which his corps, the Ninth, was engaged ; and so much had his regiment be- come reduced by killed, wounded and sick, that when it mustered, on the 1st of July, 1864, in front of Peters- burg, there were but fifty men for duty. The col- onel, Mark F. Wentworth and the lieutenant-colonel J. M. Brown, joined the regiment at the North Anna, . but soon after it arrived at Petersburg, one was wounded and the other was sick, so the command again devolved upon Major Deering. But constant working and fighting, the climate and the unwhole- some water, by the middle of July, brought on the di- arrhœa, and after remaining a while at the front hospi- tal, he was sent to the officers' hospital at Philadelphia. By the last of August becoming able to do light duty, he was detailed on court-martial duty, where he served for six months, trying during that time one hundred and ten cases ; and, what was unprecedented in any other court in the army, every finding and sentence in each case was approved by the com- manding general of the department. The court was then dissolved, and Major Deering received notice that some two months before his regiment had been consolidated with the Thirty-first Maine Regiment, and all of the field and a part of the line officers had been mustered out of service, and this order made him a private citizen again, and he returned home. Since his return he has spent his time in the ministry, on his farm and in the lecture field.

He was employed during the Presidential campaign of 1884 by the Prohibition party in Jefferson County, New York, where the vote of the party was increased from thirty-six to six hundred and thirty-six, and the vote was carried in the State up to twenty-five thou- sand, which determined the result of the contest.

HISTORY OF BOW.

BY HARRISON COLBY.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORY satisfies the desire which naturally arises in every intelligent mind to know the transactions of the country or town in which he lives. Facts interest our curiosity and engage our attention. The early history of Bow is an anomaly in the history of New Hampshire towns; it is a triune township,-Bow, Pennacook and Suncook, three in one. Prior to the settlement of New England by the English, Passa- conaway, the powerful chief of the Pennacooks, held absolute sway over the country bordering on the Merrimack, from Lake Winnipiseogee to Pawtucket Falls. In 1631 they were estimated at about five hundred men, having been greatly reduced by sick- ness about twenty years before. The Mohawks were hostile to them, and tradition says they had a terrible fight near Sugar Ball, on the east side of the river, northeast of the main village of Concord. Passa- conaway was regarded with the highest veneration by his tribe as chief, priest and physician. He died about 1665, supposed to have been nearly one hun- dred years old. He left four sons and two daughters. Wonalancet, his second son, succeeded him as sachem of the Pennacooks. In 1670 he moved to Pawtucket, near the south line of the State, and built a fort there. He embraced the Christian faith under the influence of Elliot, the Indian missionary, in 1674. During King Philip's War, in 1675, he withdrew to the woods in the northern part of New Hampshire to avoid being involved in any way in the war, and it being good hunting-ground for moose, deer and bear, he remained there all winter-at this time there was not over one hundred of the Pennacook and Naum- keag Indians, whereof he was chief.

Wonalancet returned from his retreat in 1676, bringing from captivity a Widow Kimball and her five children, whom he was the means of saving alive after they had been condemned to death and fires made ready to burn them. We last hear of him in 1697, placed under the care of Jonathan Tyng, of Dunstable, and the General Court allowed twenty pounds for keeping him. The time and place of his death is unknown. The last sagamore of the Penna- cooks was Kancamagus, or John Hawkins, as the

English called him, a grandson of Passaconaway. He, with the Pennacooks, went to the eastward in 1685. The last we hear of him is in a fort on the Androscoggin, which was destroyed by Major Benja- min Church, September 12, 1790, and a sister of Kancamagus was slain. On the 29th of November, 1690, a treaty of peace was made by the government of Massachusetts and the eastern sagamores, among whom was John Hawkins, and this is the last we know of him. The Pennacooks existed as a distinct tribe for many years, and, finally, it is supposed those hostile to the English mixed with the Penobscots in Maine, and others with the St. Francis in Canada, and some remained here until 1725 and after, and were useful citizens. Wattanumon was the name of the Indian chief that cultivated the field near Horse- shoe Pond when the Pennacook settlers arrived there. It is quite probable that portions of the alluvial lands on the banks of the Merrimack have been cleared of the growth by fires, for the cultivation of Indian corn and grass for grazing of deer and moose, for a long period of time.

By virtue of her original charter, obtained in 1628, Massachusetts claimed all lands lying between three miles northward of Merrimack River to the source, and three miles to the southward of Charles River, and in length of the described breadth from the At- lantic Ocean to the South Sea. Men were sent to discover its source in 1638, who found it to extend north of forty-three and a half degrees. In 1652 the General Court of Massachusetts ordered a survey to ascertain their northern boundary and appointed commissioners for that purpose, who, with Indian guides and a nineteen days' voyage in a boat, found the head source of the Merrimack to be in latitude forty-three degrees and forty minutes at a place now called the Weirs ; the whole expense of the expedition amounted to eighty-four pounds. The General Court of New Hampshire claimed that the said territory was within their patent and jurisdiction, founded on a grant from the Council of Plymouth to John Mason, dated November 7, 1629, which conveyed the land "from the middle part of Merrimack River to the Piscataqua, along the sea-coast, and up said rivers to the farthest head thereof; and to extend sixty

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HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

miles up into the land westward from the sea coast, together with all islands within five leagues' distance of the premises."

In 1641, there being but few settlements in New Hampshire, for their better defense and security against the Indians, agreed to place themselves under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, which continued until 1680. Edward Hilton, of Exeter, a friend of Governor Winthrop, favored the usurpation and was made a magistrate. Hence, being under one govern- ment, in 1659 inhabitants of Dover and Newbury petitioned the General Court at Boston for a town- ship at a place called Pennacook, which was granted on certain conditions. In 1663 inhabitants of Chelms- ford and Salem were granted a plantation six miles square on condition of getting twenty families on it in three years. The conditions not being fulfilled, the foregoing grants were forfeited.

In June, 1714, the people of Salem again peti- tioned that the grant to them at Pennacook in Octo- ber, 1663, he confirmed to them. In 1679, Charles the Second commissioned John Cutt, of Portsmouth, to be the first president of the Council, saying,-

"Whereas, our Colony of the Massachusetts have taken upon them- selves to organise a government and jurisdiction over the inhabitants of the towns and lands in the Province of New Hampshire, not having any legal right or authority to do so, now be it known that We, by and with the advice of our Privy Council, have thought fit to appoint a President and Council to take care of the said Tract of land called The Province of New Hampshire and the inhabitants thereof, and to order, rule and govern the same, and do hereby appoint Our trusty and well beloved subject, John Cutt, Esq., of Portsmouth, to be first President of said Council, to continue in office for one year, or untill We or our successors appoint some other person to succeed him."

A question may arise in the minds of some whether, if Massachusetts had no legal right over the lands in 1679, had they in 1663, or subsequently ?

tion, and make them a grant of it accordingly; and suggesting that applications had been made to the Government of New Hampshire for a grant of the said Land, which undoubtedly belonged to Massa- chusetts; yet it is probable that a parcel of Irish people from Nutfield, who have built a fort there, will obtain a grant from New Hampshire for it, un- less speedy care he taken by your Honble. Court to prevent it. If New Hampshire should make them a grant, which we conceive would be without right, yet it would be attended with much difficulty to pretend to root them out if they should get a foot hold there. We therefore pray that a grant of the land may be made to us on such conditions as to the wisdom of this Court shall seem best." The petition was favor- ably received and was successful. The court decided it would be for the interest of the province that lands seven miles square be set apart for a township, “ be- ginning where the Contoocook empties into Merrimac river, and to extend east seventeen degrees, north three miles, and west seventeen degrees, south four miles, to be the northerly bounds of the said township; and from the extreme parts of that line to be set off southerly at right angles until seven miles shall be accomplished from the said north bounds."

A committee was appointed to see that the rules and conditions of the grant be punctually observed by those admitted settlers,-

"The tract to be divided into one hundred and three equal shares ; that one hundred persons or families be admitted, such as the commit- lee supposed to be able to pursue and bring to pass the settlement of their lande within three years, five pounds to be paid by each settler to the committee for the use of the province at the time of drawing his lot ; to build a comfortable dwelling for his family, and to break up and fence in six acres within three years.

" As soon as one hundred accepted persons are obtained, the committee are to notify a meeting to make such rules as they may think best to carry forward the settlement, the whole Charge of the Committee to be paid by the settlers, and the committee to execute deeds in behalf of the Court to all admitted settlers for the aforesaid tract, for the sole use of them, their heirs and assigns forever, saving of former grants. " Read and concurred January 17, 1725."

In May, 1721, over one hundred of the inhabitants of the county of Essex, claiming to be straitened for accommodations for themselves and their pos- terity, petitioned the honorable Council and House of Representatives of the Massachusetts Bay for a A meeting was held February 7th, at which the settlers unanimously agreed to fulfill the conditions and orders of the court respecting the settlement; and having a strong prejudice against the Irish peo- ple, they agreed that no alienation of any lot should be made without the consent of the community. Sur- veyors, with chainmen, were appointed to proceed to Pennacook to lay out the land in to lots. grant for a township extending southerly seven miles from the mouth of the Contoocook and three miles east of Merrimack River. June 9, 1724, a committee was ordered to view the land, which had been previ- ously surveyed. June 17, 1725, a petition, signed by Benjamin Stephens and others, a committee appointed by and in behalf of the petitioners formerly for a tract of land at a place called Pennacook, was pre- May 12, 1726, they started from Haverhill, sur- veyors and chainmen, with a number of the admitted settlers, attending them, to proceed to lay out their town. They arrived there on the 13th, about five o'clock, and encamped on Sugar Ball Hill, east of the river. They organized their number the next morning into two divisions, one to survey the west side of the river, the other the east side. About twelve o'clock on the 14th, a committee, consisting of Messrs. Nathaniel Weare, Richard Waldron, Jr., and Theodore Atkinson, appointed by the Lieutenant- sented to the "Honble. Wm. Dummee, Esq., Lieut. Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over His Majesties province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, to the Honble. His Majesties Council and House of Representatives in Gen. Court convened at Boston, Humbly Showing That they had at two several times petitioned for the aforesaid grant of said tract of land at Pennacook, and are informed it did not meet with a concurrence, wishing to renew our petition, hoping you will please to take the premises again into your wise and serious considera- | Governor and Council of New Hampshire, came to

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their camp, attended by about half a score of Irish- men, who kept some distance from the camp. The New Hampshire government, being then a weak community, were very attentive to the Scotch-Irish people of Londonderry, and did much to please and encourage them, for which they were very grateful. The aforesaid committee informed them that the goverment of New Hampshire, being informed of their business here, had sent them with a request not to proceed to appropriate their lands, for they lay in the province of New Hampshire, and Massachusetts' making a grant might be attended with very ill con- sequences to the settlers, and ordered them in an amicable way to withdraw themselves forthwith from the said land and their pretentions to it by virtue of the vote of the General Assembly of Massachu- setts, and assured them that their proceedings were highly displeasing to the government of New Hamp- shire, and that they might depend upon it, when the boundary between the two provinces should be de- termined, the poor, misled people who might be in- duced to settle there under the color of a Massachu- setts grant would be dispossessed of the said lands or suffer some other inconveniences equally grievous ; and that the message on which they were sent, and the fair forewarning they had given them, would take away all occasion of complaint when they should be compelled to leave the said lands, and lose the benefit of their improvement. The Massachu- setts people were pleased to reply,-that as they were sent by the government of New Hampshire, so were they sent by the government of Massachusetts, and that when they returned home they should lay be- fore their General Assembly the order of Council of which they had delivered them, who would, without doubt, pass thereon as they, the General Assembly, should think proper.

Lieutenant-Governor Wentworth, in his speech to the General Assembly, held at Portsmouth, April 11, 1726, says,-" The Massachusetts are daily encroach- ing on us. A late instance we have in voting & township should be erected and settled at Pennycook, which will certainly be in the very bowels of this province, and which will take in the most valnable part of our lands." Pursuant to which, the afore- said committee was appointed to immediately report to Pennacook, and forewarn them from laying out or taking possession of or settling at that place. They still persisted in making the survey of their grant.

It was ascertained, on making the survey, that a five hundred acre grant to Governor Endicott, east of the river, at Sewell's Falls, afterwards known as the Sewell farm, came within their township. The committee appointed to look after the settlement petitioned the Great and General Court of Massa- chusetts that a like number of acres of the unappro- priated lands joining the township might be granted to the settlers as an equivalent therefor.

August 6, 1728, the General Court of Massachu-

setts, " Resolved, That in consideration of the 500 acres of land formerly granted to Governor Endicott, which falls within their boundaries, the settlers are allowed to extend the south bounds of that township one hundred rods the full breadth of their town, as an equivalent for the aforesaid five hundred acres," which was read and concurred in Council. The de- termination of the Massachusetts government to establish their claim to all that part of New Hamp- shire west of a line three miles east of Merrimack River is apparent in the above proceedings; they had located a township on territory that had been coveted by people of old Essex for three-score years.

A cart-path had been cut through the forest, a sur- vey of lots had been made sufficient to accommodate the admitted settlers, and preparations were being made to inhabit the township within the next two years.

May 20, 1727, the New Hampshire government, in order to maintain their claims to the territory on both sides of the Merrimack River, granted to Jona- than Wiggin and many others, including the mem- bers of the Council and the Governor's friends, the town of Bow, to be nine miles square, covering over three-quarters of Pennacook and the territory imme- diately south to below the mouth of the Suncook River.

August 6, 1728, in answer to a petition of volun- teers, under the command of Captain John Lovewell, the Massachusetts government granted a township on both sides of the Merrimack, "to begin where Penacook new grant ends, which is 100 rods to the southward of their first Grant, and thence to extend the lines of the East and West bounds on right an- gles untill six miles square of lands shall be com- pleted," which extended nearly one and a half miles below the junction of the Suncook River with the Merrimack, taking in the Gault and Head farms, east of the river, in what is now Hooksett.

Tradition says the first permanent settlers in the Suncook parish, in Bow, were Francis Doyne and wife, who built a log hut north of the road lead- ing from Pembrook Street to Garvin's Falls, in 1728. James Moore made a purchase there in 1729, and it is supposed Samuel Gault and others, whose descend- ants afterwards settled west of the Merrimack, were there about that time. The first meeting of the Suncook proprietors was held at Chelmsford De- cember 10, 1729. It was voted that a committee of five, with an able surveyor, should view the lands of the township, and lay out sixty lots of not less than forty acres each, and an additional lot for the first set- tled minister. These lots were east of the river, ex- tending from Garvin's Falls to the southern limits of their township. April 10, 1733, " Voted to build a log meeting-house, twenty-four by thirty, as soon as may be." The house was built and answered the purpose for several years.

In the fall of 1734 money was raised in Rumford

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HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

for building a bridge across Snncook River, "one-third part of the expense to be at the cost of the town," and appointed a committee to take care that the bridgeover the Suncook be well done. The next spring the Suncook proprietors voted thirty pounds for the same purpose.

The first meeting of the proprietors at Suncook was held at the meeting-house September 17, 1735.

A bridge was built across the Suncook in 1737, near where the Concord railroad bridge now is, and a road laid near the river to the great bend, where a ferry was established in 1738.

A minister was to be settled. The Presbyterian element predominated; but the organization being in the hands of the Orthodox party, Rev. Aaron Whittemore was given a call, which was strongly protested by the Presbyterians of the town, some fifteen in number. The Orthodox Church was in the minority at the time.

In 1739 the proprietors' clerk not having taken the oath of office before a qualified officer, a committee was chosen to lay the case before the General Court of Massachusetts, and ask that their acts be legalized. The favor was granted. On March 5, 1740, the pres- ent southern bonndary of New Hampshire was estab- lished, and Suncook and Pennacook was found to be outside of the province that had granted their charter.

As before stated, Bow was granted by Lientenant- Governer John Wentworth, with advice of Council, May 20, 1727, in the following words, viz. :

"George, by the Grace of God of Great Britaine, France and Ireland, Defendar of the faith, &c.

"To all Paopla to whom these Presents shell coma Greeting : Know ye that wa, of our special Knowledge and maar motion, for the Due Encouragement of Settling a new Plantation, By & with the advice & Consent of our Councill, have given & granted, and by these Presents, as far as in ua lyea, do give and Grant in Equal Sharas unto Sundry of our beloved Subjects, whose names are Entered in a Schedule hereunto annexed, that Inhabit or shall Inhabit withio s'd Grant within our Province of New Hampshire, all that Tract of land within the follow- ing Bounds, viz. : Baginning on the South East side of the town of Chichester & running nina miles by Chicheater and Canterbury, and carrying that Breadth of nina miles from each of the aforesaid Towns Southwest untill tha full Complyment of Eighty-one square miles are fully made up, & that the same ba & Town Corporate by the nama of Bow to the Persona aforea'd, and their associates forever. To have & to hold the said Land to the a'd Grantees end to such associates as thay shall admit for aver upon the Conditiona following:

"1. That tha Proprietors build, or cause to ba built, savanty-five Dwelling-IIouses on S'd Land, & settla a family in each House, & clear thras acras of Land fitt for mowing or plowing within Three years, and that Each Proprietor pay hia Proportion of the Town Charge when & so often as occasion shall require.

"2. That a meeting-House bea built for the Public Worship of God within the Term of four years.

"3. Thet upon Dafault of any Particular Proprietor in Complying with the Conditions of the Charter upon his part, auch Delinquent Propriator ahall forfeit his share to tha other Proprietora, which shall ba Diaposed of according to Major vota of tha e'd proprietors at a Legal Town maating.

" 4. That a Propristor'a shara ba recarved for a Parsonage, another for the first settled minister of the Goapal which shall be ordained in S'd Town ; Provided, nevarthaless, that the Peace with tha Indiana continua During the space of three years; but if it should ao happen that a war with the Indians shall commence before the Expiration of tha S'd Three years, then the term of Three years shall be allowed the Proprie- tors sftar the Expiration of the war for the Performance of the aforesaid

Conditions. Rendering & Paying, therefore, to ua, our heira & succes- sora, or such officer or officers as ahall be appointed to receive the same, the annual quit rent or acknowldgement of one ear of Indian Corn in the a'd Town on the first Friday in December, yearly, forever {if De- manded), reserving also unto na, our heirs and successors, all the Mast Traes growing on a'd Laud, according to acta of Parliament in that case mada & Provided, & for the bettar order, rule & Government of tha s'd Town, Wa do, by thesa Precepts, for ourselves, our heira & successora,. Grant unto the s'd men & Inhabitants, or those thet shall Inhabit the a'd Town, That yearly, & every year, upon the first Thursday in April, for ever, shall meet to elect & choose, by the major part of the Proprie- tors than Present, Constables, Selectmen and other Town Officers ac- cording to the Lawe and usagas of our S'd Province, & we do appoint Andrew Wiggin, Esq., Georga Veasy and William Moor to be Selectmen our s'd Town until the first Thursday in April, which will ba in tha year of our Lord 1728, with full Power & authority, as other Town select- men have, to call a Town Meeting or meetings as there may be occa- sion, and to continua untill other Selectmen shall ba chosen in their atead in such manner as in these Presents expressed. In Testimony whereof, we have caused the seal of our a'd Province to ba here- unto affixed. Witness, John Wentworth, Esqr., our Lieutenant-Gover- nor and Commander-in-Chief in and over our s'd Province, et our Town of Portmouth, in our s'd Province, tha Twentyeth Day of May, in the thirteenth year of our Reigo, Anno Domine, 1727.

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History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 65

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