History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 97

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 97
USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire > Part 97

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

" Males under 16 years of Age 332

Males from 16 years of Age to 50 not in the Army . . 160

Males abovo 50 years of Age . 30

Persons gone in the army . 12 All femalee . . 519

Negroes and slaves for Life! 2

1085

" Guns that are wanting are fifty-six.

" Powder, six pounds in town.

"The above account taken by us, the subscribers, is true, errors ex- cepted.

"JONATHAN STRAW, Selectmen

" ISAAC CHANDLER, for Hopkinton."

On the 4th of March, 1776, Major Chandler, Joshua Bailey and Moses Hill were made a local Committee of Safety. On the 14th of the same month, the Colonial Congress passed a resolution, recommending that all assemblies, conventions, councils or Committees of Safety immediately cause all persons "notoriously disaffected to the cause of America " to be disarmed. In view of compliance, Mesech Weare, chairman of

the New Hampshire Committee of Safety, issued a circular, requesting the signatures of all males over twenty-one years of age, "Lunaticks, Idiots and Negroes excepted," to the "Declaration on this Paper," and also desiring the names of "all who shall refuse to sign the same." This circular was dated April 12, 1776, and was presented to the select- men of towns. The selectmen of Hopkinton returned one hundred and sixty-one names subscribed to the declaration, and the names of fourteen who " refused to sign."

On the 14th of January, 1777, the town voted to procure shovels, spades, one hundred pounds of gun- powder and lead and flints. Au existing law required each town to maintain a regular supply of one barrel of gunpowder, two hundred pounds of lead and three hundred flints. On the 31st of March an appropria- tion sufficient to raise twenty-six men for the army was voted. On the 14th of April it was voted that service already done should be considered equal to . service to come; on the 9th of June, that militia should have the same pay as soldiers ; on the 15th of January, 1778, that the selectmen be agents to pro- vide for the families of non-commissioned officers and soldiers; on the 1st of March, 1779, that the sol- diers " should be made good as to the depreciation of money ;" on the 20th of November, 1780, that sol- diers' rates should be payable in corn as well as in money ; on the 5th of February, 1781, that Major Chandler and the commissioned officers have author- ity to employ soldiers and hire money for the purpose. The following votes, passed on the 15th of May, 1777, shed some light upon the price paid for Revolutionary soldiers from this town :

"Voted, to accept tho raits that is already made for the warfare.

"Voted, to allow to those Persons which hired men for three year be- fore thear was any Committee Chose in Town for to hire men for three year Equal month with those which the Committee hired at Ninety Dolars the threo year."

At home and in the field, Hopkinton did her part well during the trying Revolutionary times. A num- ber of the soldiers from this town lost their lives in the service. Hopkinton men were in nearly, or quite, every important campaign of that war. Their names are now only imperfectly remembered. In attempting to recover the names of the Revolutionary soldiers of Hopkinton, we have been greatly assisted by Hon. George W. Nesmith, of Franklin, to whom we are indebted for many of the particulars given below.

The following were at Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, in Captain Gorden Hutchins' company : Nathaniel Clement, Abraham Kimball, Williamn Darling, Thomas Mathews, Jonathan Judkins. John Gordon, Elisha Corliss, Nath. Perkins and Micha Flanders are of doubtful residence, though some of them were proba- bly from Weare. Most of the Hopkinton men at Bunker Hill were enrolled in the company of Cap- tain Isaac Baldwin, of Hillsborough, who was killed upon the field, and whose command devolved upon

1 There were never but two slaves in Hopkinton. One of these was owned by Joseph Barnard ; the other belonged to Thomas Webher. They were both males. Seeko Barnard, as he was called, on the event of his enfranchisement, went to the vicinity af Amesbury, Mass., mar- ried and apparently became settled. Cæsar Webber, as he was known, remained in Hopkinton till his death. He was a member of the Congre- gational Church.

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HOPKINTON.

Lieutenant John Hale, of this town, who served with the following others : Second Lieutenant Stephen Hoyt, Sergeant Moses Kimball, Corporals Moses Bailey, Moses Connor, Reuben Kimball and Moses Darling ; Moses Trussell, John Putney, Samuel Hil- dreth, Peter Howe, Timothy Clements, Daniel Cressy, Joseph Putney, Clifford Chase, Richard Straw, Thomas Eastman, Thomas Hills, Benjamin Stanley, John Stanley, Enoch Eastman. Trussell lost an arm on this field, as well as his coat and knapsack. Hildreth, Hills, Chase and Thomas Eastman lost a coat each. Lieutenant Hoyt and John Putney each lost a coat and a knapsack. Caleb Smart was also at Bunker Hill, in Stark's regiment, and was wounded.

The following privates were enlisted August 2, 1775, and served nnder Captain John Parker, of Litch- field, in the northern campaign : Samuel Smith, John T. Connor, Ebenezer Collins, James Judkins, David Clough, Jedediah Jewett, Daniel Murray, Joseph Stanley.

In Colonel Benedict Arnold's regiment, that cut through the wilderness of Maine to Quebec, in 1775, in Captain Henry Dearborn's company, were Lieu- tenant Nathaniel Hutchins and a private named Carr.

In the latter part of 1775, thirty-one companies of soldiers were sent from New Hampshire to reinforce General Sullivan at Charlestown. The officers of the Twentieth Company were Timothy Clements, Hop- kinton, captain; Joseph Chandler, first lieutenant ; Amos Gould, second lieutenant.

The following enlisted in Colonel Pierce Long's regiment on the 8th of August, 1776, and served four months, or one hundred and twenty-one days: Cap- tain Timothy Clements, Sergeant Moses Darling, Dan- iel Blaisdell, Isaac Clements. Lientenant Nathaniel Hutchins also belonged to this regiment, being pro- moted to captain, and on the expiration of the term of enlistment, in the spring of 1777, recruited a com- pany and joined Colonel Joseph Cilley's regiment in April. Captain Hutchins retired from service in Jan- uary, 1781.

1777, at Saratoga). Most of these men were enlisted in April, some for less than three years.

The following men were with Captain Joshna Bai- ley, of this town, at Bennington, being enlisted on the 20th of July, 1777, and discharged at Stillwater on the 20th of the next September : Quartermaster Joseph Stanley, Second Lieutenant Timothy Farnum, Second Sergeant Joshua Gile, Fourth Sergeant Peter Howe, First Corporal John Burbank, Fourth Corporal Eben- ezer Eaton, Christopher Gould, Richard Smith, Sam- uel Howe, David Howe, Jonathan Straw, Jr., Stephen Harrimau, Jr., Jonathan Hunt, Josiah Corbet, Moses Emerson, Moses Jones, Daniel French, Abraham Kimball (severely wounded), Caleb Burbank, Eben- ezer Rider.

The following men were enrolled in Captain John Hale's company, Colonel Henry Gerrish's regiment, called out to reinforce General Gates, enlisted in Angust, 1777; they performed twenty-eight days' ser- vice : Captain John Hale, Sergeant Daniel Flanders, Corporal Jacob Straw, Jonathan Chase, Stephen Hoit, Philip Greeley, Jacoh Hoit, Nathan Sargent, Richard Carr Rogers, Joseph Chadwick, Moses Hills, Thomas Hills, Samuel Farrington, David Fellows, Joseph Corbett, Enoch Long, David Kimball, Moses Bur- bank.

The following men enlisted in a company comman- ded by Captain Joshna Bailey, and served twenty-five days in August and September, 1778, in Rhode Is- land: Lieutenant Thomas Rowell, Sergeant Moses Darling, Sergeant Abner Chase, Corporal Reuben Kimball, Corporal Levi Hildreth, Oliver Dow, Moses Hills, Joseph Hastings, Jacob Choat, Jona- than Straw, Ezekiel Straw, Samnel Hoit, Timothy Darling, David Kimball, Samuel Chase, Richard Smith, William Putney, Timothy Farnum, David Howe, William Barnard, Joshua Morse, John Cleni- ent, William Ayres, Moses Clark, Joseph Currier, Moses Clement, Jacob Tncker, Ezekiel Goodwin, Ira Waldron. These men were in the regiment of Col- onel Moses Kelley, of Goffstown. Corporal John S. Farnham enlisted into the army on the 5th of May, 1779; John Eaton and Timothy Farnham, on the 5th of April, 1781 ; they were all discharged in Decem- ber, 1781. Benjamin Creasy enlisted on the 6th of April, 1781, and was discharged on the 17th of March, 1782; he was claimed by Henniker. The following men were new levies from and for Hopkinton, en- listed before or during 1781, and distributed among different Continental regiments : Sergeant Isaac Clem- ent (died December, 1780), Richard Smith, Ebenezer Dustin, David Howe, Daniel Eaton, Alvaro Currier, Moses Chase, Jonathan Howe, Daniel Stickney, Moses Flanders, Benjamin Quimby, Samuel Howe, Ephraim Hildreth.

The following soldiers were enlisted into the Con- tinental service . by the authority of Colonel Stickney, generally for a service of three years. The enlist- ments began early in 1777. In Scammel's regiment, in Captain Daniel Livermore's company, were Sergeant Samuel Smith, Joseph Bickford (died June 20, 1778), B. Sargent, Samuel Judkins; in Cilley's regiment, in Captain James Gregg's company, Ebenezer Blaisdell, Jr. (died August 15, 1777); in Captain Hutchins' company, Sergeant Eben Collins (wounded October 7, at Stillwater, and died October 26, 1777), Sergeant John Chadwick, Moses Colby, Daniel Creasy, John Eastman (killed July 8, 1777, at Hubbardton), James Edgerly, William Hodgkins, Jonathan Judkins, Samuel Stocker, The following are additional names of Hopkinton men engaged in the Revolutionary War: Abram Currier, Samuel French, Michael Stocker, John Rob- Enoch Hoyt, David Smith (died August 4, 1778), Caleb Smart, Elijah Smart, Jonathan Sawyer, Benja- min Williams, Joseph Eastman (died October 30, | inson, Moses Flanders, Benjamin Flanders, Daniel

398

HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Kimball, Stephen Putney, Jeremiah Tyler, William Stocker, Isaac Walker. Captain Jonathan Straw was at Cambridge in 1775, and drew a pay-roll of £60 178. 9d.

During the Revolutionary period the people of Hopkinton were zealous of the public honor and im- patient of the conduct of the Tories. The following act, passed in 1776, illustrates the prevailing state of mind :

" Voted, that our Representative Should Use his Enfluence that the two Greens Should Be Put Down from thare office and that if any Per- son Should go to Peter Green to git a Rit he Should Be Looked upon an inemy to h's Country."

In common with the rest of the people of the Amer- ican colonies, the residents of Hopkinton suffered in consequence of the depreciation of the colonial currency. In 1775, the Continental notes were nearly at par with gold, but very soon fell to a most insignifi- cant value. The effect of the collapse is amply attested in the records of this town. At a town-meeting in 1781, it was voted that the price of a day's work by a man on the highway should be thirty dollars; the price of the same, by a yoke of oxen, also thirty dol- lars ; the price of a plow and cart one day, ten dol- lars each. The salary of the Rev. Elijah Fletcher, minister of the town, was voted to be four thousand dollars for the year, but the reverend gentleman pre- ferred to accept seventy-five dollars in gold. The suc- cess of the American cause and the establishment of the public credit restored and promoted prosperity.

The Project of Constitutional Government-The War of the Revolution was succeeded by a conflict of ideas. It is not difficult to ascribe a cause for this conflict. The colonies had thrown off the yoke of Great Britain. Every form of action seems to exhibit a tendency to reaction. Nor is the whole truth ex- pressed when we say that the dominant sentiment of the colonists favored a republic. In casting off their allegiance to the mother-country, the colonists exper- ienced a reaction against monarchical government that threatened an abnegation of a necessary constitu- tional political compact. Hence it became hard for the masses to agree upon any effective form of govern- ment. Hopkinton bore its part in this exigency. It is probable that the local governmental reactive ten- dency was gradual in its manifestation. The colonial Articles of Confederation, implying a weaker compact between colonial sections, seems to have excited no special opposition in this town, since they were ac- cepted at once and for all on the 13th of January, 1778; but, on the 14th of January, 1788, Lieutenant Morse was chosen a delegate to the convention 'de- signed to consider the eligibility of the Constitution of the United States, and was supplied with instruc- tions to " Regect " the same, though on the 14th of the following June the town formally conceded his right to act as he thought best for the public good. Very much hesitancy was shown towards the idea of accepting a State Constitution. On the 25th of May,

1778, Captain Harriman was chosen a delegate to the approaching Constitutional Convention ; but, on the 22d of July, 1779, the town " Tryed a vote for receiv- ing the Plan of Government-none for, but one hun- dred and six against it." On the 30th of May, 1781, Joshua Bailey was chosen a delegate to the Constitu- tional Convention of that year. A numberof attempts were made to decide the attitude of this town towards the work of the convention before a final result was reached. On the 3d of June, 1782, it was voted to pass over the article taking cognizance of the matter. On the 11th of November, the work of the convention was rejected. This action was reversed on the 23d of the next December. On the 3d of March, 1783, Joshua Bailey, Deacon Kimball, Captain Moore, Mr. Aaron Greeley and Mr. Nathan Sargent were chosen a com- mittee to examine the plan of government and report to the town, which accepted the plan on the 8th of the following September. Esquire Greeley, on the 8th of August, 1791, was chosen a delegate to the Constitu- tional Convention of that year, but the work of the Assembly was rejected in toto on the 7th of August, 1792. It is a singular fact that both on the 7th of May and on the 21st of the same month, 1792, the town appears to have considered proposed amend- ments to the Constitution, but there is no record of the result.

The Constitutional Convention of 1781, which was in existence two years, proposed to strengthen the arm of State government by creating the office of President. It was not until an amendment to the original plan made the chief executive elective by the people that the work of the convention was accepted by the State. In 1783, under the new condition of affairs, Mesech Weare, of Hampton Falls, was elected President of the State of New Hampshire. The vote of Hopkin- tou that year was fifty-six for Josiah Bartlett, of Kingston, two for Timothy Walker, of Concord, but none for Weare. The great struggle with the problem of local constitutional government was apparently over. The records of the town give few hints of the actual objections to the various phases of constitutional plans during the period from 1778 to 1792. Our conclusions upon this point are general. They are already ex- pressed.

Controversy over the Meeting-House .- The local events recounted in the last division of this sketch cover a period in which an excited controversy over the meeting-house occurred. The meeting-house was a town institution ; consequently, the entire population was interested in its location, erection and manage- ment. As we have seen, the meeting-house was erected in 1766, or about twenty years after the grant of the township by the Legislature of Massachusetts. In the first instance, it was intended to locate the meeting-house as near the geographical centre of the town as was practicable. "Meeting-house lot" was laid out on Putney's Hill. The "minister's lot" was also located there. The minister's house was

399

HOPKINTON.

there erected. However, in the year 1766 the tide of circumstances and events had apparently located the business centre of the town at the site of the present village of Hopkinton, where the meeting-house, as we have seen, was erected.

A public act often incurs controversy, and a public controversy is a hard thing to quell. The meeting- house, being erected, became a constant source of dis- pute. The subject of a new location was at length mooted. On the 2d of Febuary, 1789, a select com- mittee of the town reported upon the subject in con- troversy. The committee were Nathan Sargent, Samuel Farrington, John Jewett, John Moore, Isaac Chandler, James Buswell, Benjamin B. Darling, Enoch Eastman and Joshua Morse. The following is their report :

" After we have considered the matter respecting the meeting-house we have examined the rates, and we find the east end of the town pays about eight pounds in fifty in the minister tax more than the west end, and is cight parts in number more. Also, the travel is thirty-six miles farther to the common lot on the hill, so called, than where it now stands, according to our computation. As those two places are the only ones picked upon hy the committee, therefore we think the meeting- house ought not to be moved."

Three days after the presentation of this report a young man set fire to the meeting-house and it was burned to the ground. The meeting-house destroyed, the old controversy revived afresh. In three days more the town held a meeting at the public-house of Mr. Babson, which meeting, it is presumed to accom- modate the attendance, was adjourned to the " barn- yard." By this time at least four sites were proposed for locations for the meeting-house. The town voted to refer the matter to the " chairmen of the select- men " of the towns of Gilmanton, Linesborough and Washington. These gentlemen,-being Peter Clark, Ezekiel Hoit and Jeremiah Bacon,1-on the 20th of February, reported that they had examined four spots, -" the Common near Mr. Burbank's, the Hill, the Spot by the School-House and the old Meeting-House Spot," -- and decided that they were "unanimous of the opinion that near the Spot wheare the old Meet- ing-Hous Stood will be the most Convenient Place for you to build a Meeting-House upon."

The meeting-house controversy practically ended here. The new building was promptly erected upon the old site. The edifice was sixty-two feet long and forty six feet wide. A tower twelve feet square stood at each end. There were seven entrances to it,-two in each tower and three in front. Inside were a high pulpit, a sounding-board, a gallery on three sides and pews built square. A few front pews, designed for the use of church dignitaries, were of better finish than the others. About 1811, a belfry and bell were added. In 1829, the structure was remodeled into the present church, and a clock was put in the steeple.

During the time in which there was no meeting- house, on account of the fire of 1789, the church wor- shiped in the barn of Benjamin Wiggin, on the premises now between the Episcopal Church and the old post- office building, and in front of which are the two largest elmis in Hopkinton village. In front of these premises, in the open air, on the 25th of February, 1789, the Rev. Jacob Cram, the third minister in the town, was ordained.

The meeting-house was used by the town for its public meetings till the 4th of March, 1799, when a meeting was adjourned from the meeting-house to the " upper Part of the Town-house in Said Town, to meet at that Plaec again in one hour." The "town-house" in this instance is identical with the old Hillsborough County court-house.

CHAPTER III.

HOPKINTON-(Continued).

The Beginning of a New Century .-- The Uni- ted States census of the year 1800 found the population of Hopkinton to be two thousand and fifteen, thus demonstrating a decided advancement in publie prosperity since the complete legal establish- ment of the township. A number of circumstances combined to produce this prosperity. Hopkinton occupied a position upon a great line of travel. It was one of the most important stations between Bos- ton, in Massachusetts, and Montreal, in Canada. It was also an important place of trade. Besides being a local commercial centre, it was an important point of trade and market exchange to the more northern townships that were less advanced in local privileges. Itwas, further, an important judicial location. Upon the incorporation of Hillsborough County, Hopkinton became one of its shire-towns. A court-house was built here, occupying the site of the present town- house. Hopkinton had also become a political centre. When the State of New Hampshire had no fixed capital town the Legislature met here four times,-in 1798, 1801, 1806 and 1807. In anticipation of State legislative needs, an addition was made to the court- house. At the beginning of the present century Hop- kinton had become a point of attraction for persons of all professions and callings, as it were, and a fair number of them had here found a residence. The local business enterprise had also become fairly dis- tributed over the town. The present village of Con- toocook, once known as Hill's Bridge, was in a pro- gressive stage of growth. Contoocook largely resulted from the water-power there afforded by the river of the same name. About 1787, Eliphalet Poor built the first mill at this place. In time, Poor was succeeded by numerous others. Population, trade1 and other

1 Peter Clarke was from Lyndeborough, Ezekiel Hvit from Gilmanton, and Jeremiah Bacon from Washington. There seems to be a doubt that in each particular instance the members of the committee were chair- men of their respective Boards of Selectmeo, though they may have been.

1 Ebenezer Wyman, now of Henniker, traded longer in Cootoocook than has any other person, beginning in 1831 and continuing almost with- ont interruption for over forty yours.

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HISTORY OF MERRIMACK COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

forms of enterprise followed as a matter of conse- quence. Previous to 1791, Abraham Rowell had a mill on the Contoocook River, at the place once known as Rowell's Bridge, but now more commonly called West Hopkinton, where there is a hamlet result- ing from the continued utilization of the water- power at this point. Lastly, there were various mills, taverns, shops, stores, etc., of greater or less import- ance, in various sections of the township. Upon the whole, Hopkinton, at the beginning of the present century, was advancing to a degree of prosperity of which we shall say more after noticing an occurrence of particular importance.

The War of 1812 .- The War of 1812 aroused the patriotism of the people of Hopkinton to deeds of sacrifice and valor that made the public record credit- able. The war had hardly begun when public steps were taken for a vigorous proseention of local warlike preparation. On the 6th of July, 1812, the town voted to allow a compensation of seven dollars a month to all soldiers detached from their regiments as a relay corps, by order of the government. It will be re- membered that at this time all able-bodied males of military age were enrolled and regularly marshaled and trained as militiamen of the State. Ten dollars of each man's wages was to be paid in advance by the town to each detached soldier, who was to receive two dollars upon "signing his name." On the 5th of October, 1814, twelve dollars a month was voted to all soldiers put under special governmental requisition, with two dollars upon entering actual service. The last clause of this provision, however, was afterwards rescinded.

Numerous Hopkinton soldiers were engaged in the service during this war. The First Regiment of New Hampshire Infantry, commanded by Colonel Aquilla Davis, of Warner, went into camp at Concord early in February, 1813, and early in the spring marched to Burlington, Vt., in anticipation of service on the northern frontier. On its way to Burlington this regiment marched through Hopkinton. In this regi- ment were Hopkinton soldiers, as follows :

Thomas Bailey, drum-major. In Captain Joseph Smith's company were Jeremiah Silver (musician), Charles Colby, Zadoc Dow, Stephen G. Eaton, Moses C. Eaton, David Hardy, James Hastings, Richard Hunt, Isaiah Hoyt, Ezra Jewell, John Morrill, Samuel G. Titcomb, all enlisting on the Ist of Febru- ary, 1813. In Captain Elisha Smith's company were Moses (?) Eastman, Amri Foster, James Hastings, Samuel Straw. Eastman died in the service. These men were probably also enlisted on the Ist of the same month of February, and, like the others, for a service of one year. We remark, in this connection, that the above names of Hopkinton soldiers of Captain Elisha Smith's company do not appear in the roll of the company published in the report of the Adjutant- General of New Hampshire. The names were given | us by an aged resident of this town, Mr. John M. |

Bailey, who remembers the fact of their enlistment and the location of their command.

The First Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers was soon disbanded, On the 29th of January, 1813, Congress repealed the Volunteer Act, and the soldiers enlisting under it were re-enlisted into the regular United States army, or reformed into new regiments, to serve till the time of their enlistment expired. The soldiers of the First New Hampshire Regiment who were not re-enlisted into the United States army were consolidated in Colonel Denny MeCobb's regiment from Maine. The following Hopkinton men were in this regiment :

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History of Merrimack and Belknap counties, New Hampshire, Part 97

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