USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > New Boston > History of New Boston, New Hampshire > Part 4
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The course taken by the Masonian proprietors allayed all serious disquietude, and was at once liberal and enlightened. They proceeded immediately to release their claims to all towns previously granted by Massachusetts, east of the Merrimack, and a few years later quitclaimed all similar grants west of that river.
The union of New Hampshire with Massachusetts, having been dissolved five years before (1741), their title to the unap- propriated lands was acknowledged, and of these lands grants were made upon just and reasonable terms. Thus was rapidly and fortunately settled the long and vexed controversy, and the title of the grantees to their grants, and the settlers to their homes, became finally and satisfactorily quieted.
In May, 1751, the New Boston proprietors appointed a com- mittee, consisting of John Hill, Robert Boyce, and James Hal- sey, to confer with the Masonion proprietors in reference to their " claims if any they made to the township." In August of the same year, Col. Joseph Blanchard was appointed a com- mittee with power on the part of claimants. The two commit- tees met at Dunstable, at the residence of Col. Blanchard, and such proceedings were had and concluded, that afterward, and in December following (1751), the Masonian proprietors con- veyed to the proprietors of New Boston the original township, and in addition thereto, by the same conveyance, made a further grant of six square miles, being an oblong tract four miles long
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by one mile and a half wide, extending from north to south along the west bounds of the original township, and down to the Salem- Canada or Lyndeborough line. In the subsequent proceedings of the proprietors, this new grant was referred to as the "new addition," or " new additional land," and became known in the local history of the times as the " New Boston addition." From this addition, and a part of Society land, Francestown was erected and incorporated in 1772, thus reducing New Boston to its original boundaries.
It was made one of the conditions of the original grant, that the town should be laid out "into sixty-three equal shares, one of which to be for the first settled minister, one for the minis- try, and one for the schools." This would give to each share or lot about four hundred acres. Though, for greater con- venience, the Massachusetts grant was divided into lots of 150 acres cach, and the new addition into lots of 100 acres, the 'condition imposed and accepted was faithfully fulfilled, and the required quantity of land set apart and sacredly devoted to each of the objects specified.
In this connection let it be remembered, once for all, that whenever and wherever the pioneers of New England went to open up the forests and cast in their lot, they carried with them, as the grand agencies in the work of settlement and civilization, the Christian church and the common school. These instru- mentalities lose none of their importance by change of condition or lapse of time. They are continuing and unalterable necessi- ties. And here and now, as the last sands of a century fall and disappear, and speaking for the first and doubtless for the last time to the people among whom we were reared and for whom affectionate memories have been retained, we pause to declare, as the result of our deepest convictions, that neither yourselves nor those who shall come after you have any sure promise for the life that now is, or the life which is to come, except as you and they shall value and cherish these twin institutions of grace and knowledge left by our fathers in solemn charge.
THE SETTLEMENT.
In meagre and imperfect notices of New Boston which we find in various gazetteers to which access has been had, and
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which are little more than mere copies of each other, and traceable doubtless to the same original source of information, it is said that the first settlement was begun about the year 1733. The statement rests upon no sufficient authority. It is possible that some adventurer in quest of game, or for purposes . of exploration, may have found his way here, and erected within the limits of the township a temporary cabin, as early as the year indicated, but it is believed that no permanent settlement was begun until several years later. In 1741, New Hampshire was separated finally from Massachusetts, and became an inde- pendent province. Benning Wentworth was appointed gov- ernor, which office he continued to hold until 1767, when he was succeeded by his nephew John Wentworth. Upon the organization of the new government in 1741, the New Boston proprietors appointed a committee " to wait upon the govern- ment and acquaint them that we are the proprietors of the land by virtue of a grant from Massachusetts, that we are going on to settle the same, and have expended already, by way of pro- moting settlements and improvements, over two thousand pounds." From this general statement it would appear that at this date some " small beginnings" had been made, but these are believed to have been very inconsiderable.
The enterprise was one of hardships and difficulty. The forest growths were dense and heavy, the surface broken and hilly, the soil rocky and stern. Surveys and allotments .had to be made, roads opened, bridges thrown across the streams, and provisions and materials brought long distances by tedious stages over rough and unworked ways; and notwithstanding the proprietors, besides direct donations of land and grants of special privileges, had expended, from time to time, very con- siderable sums of money in aid of general improvements, and with a view of securing an early settlement, for several years, the progress made seems to have been slow and doubtful. It was not until as late as 1750 that such substantial beginnings had been made as insured the complete success of the enter- prise. At this period the tide of Scotch-Irish mind and muscle from Londonderry began to set in, and from thence the growth of New Boston went steadily and rapidly forward, until the town reached its maturity in 1820. The first census of the
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settlement was taken under the authority of the proprietors in 1756, and is the earliest reliable record to be found. Septem- ber 24, 1754, the proprietors met at the "Royal Exchange tavern in King street " (now State), Boston, " kept by Capt. Robert Stone," and appointed Col. John Hill and, Robert Jen- ' kins a committee, with directions "to view the settlements at New Boston township, and make report of the same to the proprietors."
In the summer of 1756, the committee visited the " settle- ments," and on the 11th of November of the same year, sub- mitted their report to the proprietors at a meeting called " to receive the report of the committee who have been up to view the settlements in said town, and to dispose of such forfeited rights as the proprietors shall think proper." By this report it appears there were at the time of its date (Sept. 25, 1756), within the limits of the township, 59 persons, namely, 26 men, 11 women, 9 boys, and 13 girls. There were 215 acres of land cleared, 32 houses completed, 6 frames not enclosed, 2 camp houses and one barn, one saw-mill, and " one grain-mill and dam complete." Two men had " gone to the war," one man was sick, one male child and two female children had been born in the town. The following, as well as we have been able to ascertain, are the names of the 26 men, and which are be- lieved to be nearly or quite accurate. Thomas Smith, John Smith, Samuel Smith, James Ferson, John Blair, William Blair, Thomas Cochran, James Cochran, Abraham Cochran, Robert Cochran, Samuel Cochran, William McNeil, John Burns, Andrew Walker, Robert Walker, Isaac Walker, James Hunter, John McAlister, George Christie, Thomas Wilson, James Wil- son, James Caldwell, William Gray, Allen Moore, William Moore, and Robert Boyce. The Clarks, the MeLaughlins, the Mc Millens, the Livingstons, the McCollums, the Greggs, the Kelsos, the Campbells, and the Dodges came soon after.
Eleven years later (1767), by order of Governor Wentworth, the selectmen of the various towns within his jurisdiction were required to make and return, during the year, a census of their respective towns. The census made in pursuance of this author- ity was the first general and complete one taken of the province, and contains many curious and valuable statistics. The returns
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for New Boston showed the following particulars : unmarried men, between the ages of 16 and 60, 25 ; married men, be- tween the same ages, 41; boys, 16 and under, 92; men, 60 and above, 6; females, unmarried, 80 -married, 47 ; male slaves, 1; female slaves, 2; widows, 3: total population, 296. Who 44 of these adult males were, may be seen by reference to the list of names appended to the call, presented to the Rev. Solomon Moor, August 25 of the same year. It is an inter- esting fact, that of the 41 male heads of families in town, ncarly all must have united in the call.
At this period (1767), there were thirty-one towns in the province represented in the house of representatives, which con- sisted of thirty-one members, and held its sessions at Ports- mouth, the seat of the royal government.
A third census was taken at the beginning of the Revolution in 1775. It was made after the retirement of the royal govern- ment, and under the direction of the provisional convention assembled at Exeter in the spring of that year. This census was also general, extending throughout the province, and was intended, in addition to securing a correct enumeration of the inhabitants, to obtain more accurate information with reference to the temper and defensive resources of the towns. The result for this town was thus given : males under 16, 164; males from 16 to 50, not in the army, 98; males over 50, 27 ; per- sons in the army, 20; females of all ages, 256; negroes and slaves for life, 4 : total population, 569. It is gratifying to find that New Boston was not behind her sister towns in effective aid to the patriot cause, having furnished, during the first weeks of the war, more than one-sixth of her male population, between the ages of 16 and 50, as recruits to the army.
In 1790, the number of inhabitants in the town had increas- ed to 1,202; in 1800 to 1,491; in 1810 it was 1,619, and in 1820 it reached 1,686. At this period the town attained its greatest population, if not to its highest condition of prosperity. There were within its limits 16 school districts, 14 school- houses, 1 tavern, 3 stores, 25 saw-mills, 6 grain-mills, 2 cloth- ing-mills, 2 carding-mills, 1 bark-mill, and 2 tanneries. In the number of saw-mills, New Boston, at that time, exceeded any other town in the State. The river valley and the neighborhood
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of the lesser streams abounded with pines of clear and lofty growth, and the lumbering business early became an important interest, and was largely and profitably prosecuted for many years.
THE INCORPORATION.
The town was incorporated by the government of New Hampshire.February 18, 1763. By the charter, which bears the sign manual and additions of " Benning Wentworth, Esq., Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Province of New Hampshire," and "Attested," "Theodore Atkinson, Jun., Sec.," " John Goffe, Esq.," was appointed and directed to call the first town meeting. The meeting was required to be held within twenty days after the date of the charter; the time, place, and objects of the meeting to be specified in the notice. The charter contained the further provision that from and after the first election, " the annual meeting of said town for choice of officers and the management of its affairs, should be held within said town on the first Monday of March in each year." From that day to this, " March meeting " has remained one of the " institutions " of New Boston. In pursuance of the author- ity delegated, Col. Goffe proceeded at once to execute the duty assigned. The call specified as objects of the meeting: 1st. " To choose all their town officers for the year ensuing as the law directs. 2d. To see what money the town will raise to defray the charge of the town and pay for preaching to the inhabitants for the year ensuing." The meeting was held, in pursuance of the notice, March 10 (1763), at the house of Deacon Thomas (1 Cochran, about a mile easterly of the present business centre of the town. Deacon Cochran was the great-grandfather of your worthy townsman, William C. Cochran, was one of the first set- tlers, and took a leading and useful part in the early affairs of the town and of the church. The ample homestead, which he founded and left, has continued in the possession of his de- scendants to the present time.
The record of this first town meeting is as follows : -
" Moderator, Thomas Cochran.
" Voted, Alexander McCollum, Town Clerk.
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" Voted, There shall be five selectmen : Thomas Cochran, James McFerson, Nathaniel Cochran, John Mc Allister, John Carson, Selectmen.
" Voted, Thomas Wilson, Constable.
" Voted, Matthew Caldwell, John Smith, James Wilson, George Christy, Thomas Brown, Surveyors of Highways.
" Voted, Abraham Cochran, Samuel Nickles, Tithing Men.
" Voted, William Gray, John Burns, Hog Reeves.
" Voted, John Carson, James Hunter, Deer Keepers.
" Voted, Jolın Cochran, Invoice Man, or Commissioner of Assessments.
" Voted, That a pound shall be built by the corn mill, and that Deacon Thomas Cochran shall be Pound Master.
" Voted, Matthew Caldwell, James Wilson, Accountants to examine accounts of Selectmen.
" Voted, To raise 100 pounds to defray charges for present year and for preaching."
It will be seen that several of the offices filled at this election had become, in the new condition of the people, entirely use- less. The fact that these time-honored places of dignity were not suffered to remain vacant furnishes an amusing as well as forcible illustration of the power of ancient forms and old insti- tutions to which the minds of men have long been accustomed. The next year the number of selectmen was reduced to three, which has since remained unchanged. The two succeeding " March meetings " - those of 1764 and 1765 - were held at the house of John Mclaughlin. That of 1766 was held in the " meeting-house." This occurred on the 3d of March, and was the first annual town meeting convened in that building, and indicates about the time of its completion. From this time for- ward, for a period of nearly three quarters of a century, the an- nual and business meetings of the town continued to be held within its walls, and until the venerable old edifice, hallowed by so many interesting and sacred associations, yielded at last to the innovations of time, and disappeared from its place. Those who are curious to learn what became of the quaint old pile, and to know the ample timbers and honest materials of which it was composed, will find the objects of their inquiries artfully disguised under the outward seeming of a modern town- house.
In this connection it may not be uninteresting to know some- thing of " John Goffe, Esq.," the person who as already stated
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appeared here in February, 1763, to aid in organizing the town. His life was an eventful one, and viewed at this distance pos- sesses much of romantic interest. He commenced life as a . hunter, and located in Derryfield, at or near the junction of the Cohos brook with the Merrimack river. Later in life he remov- ed to Bedford, in whose soil his ashes now rest in honor. In favor with the Wentworths, he was early advanced to places of public trust. Of deep religious convictions, he was accustomed, for want of a licensed ministry, to lead assemblies of the people in public worship. In 1746, he was sent in command of a com- pany of militia to the frontier, against the Indians. As lieutenant colonel commanding a detachment of the New Hampshire regi- ment, he was at Ticonderoga. At the opening of the campaign of 1757, and in August of the same year, he was present at the surrender of Fort William Henry to the French. Promoted to the rank of colonel, at the head of eight hundred men, he join- ed the campaign which resulted in the conquest of Canada, in 1760. In 1767, he represented Amherst and Bedford in gen- cral court. In 1768, was made colonel of the old ninth regiment of New Hampshire militia. He was the first judge of probate of the county of Hillsborough, which office he held from 1771 to 1776. Brave, genial, and capable, he was largely trusted and universally beloved. At the breaking out of the Revolution, he had become too infirm to take the field, but casting his martial mantle on his son, who wore it not unworthily, he gave his heart and his pen to the cause of his country. Long and hon- orably associated with the more prominent and stirring events in the early history of the towns bordering on our own, the addition of a passing word to the record of his fame was not decmed unbecoming the occasion.
During the revolutionary period, if we may judge from the character of her representative men, New Boston was neither indifferent nor unfaithful to the cause of independence. In the first provincial congress, as it was called, which met at Exeter, in May, 1775, and over which Matthew Thornton presided, the town was represented by Thomas Wilson. The second con- gress, which met in December of the same year, resolved itself into two bodies, a council and house of representatives, the first council being chosen by and from the representative body, and
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afterwards both branches were elected by the people. The government thus instituted continued during the war, and until superseded by the permanent government of New Hampshire, in 1784. The house consisted of eighty-nine members, of which the county of Hillsborough was entitled to seventeen. To this branch of the legislature, New Boston and Francestowil united in sending one representative. In 1776, Capt. Benjamin Dodge, of New Boston, was chosen. In 1777 and 1778, Archi- bald McMillen, of New Boston. For the two following sessions. William Starrett, of Francestown. In 1780, James Caldwell, of New Boston. In a delegated convention which assembled at Concord, in September, 1779, to consider the state of the cur- rency, then an absorbing question, William Livingston sat as representative for the town. It is a matter for congratulation that, on this occasion of historic interest and review, New Boston may recall with just pride, and after the lapse of more than four-fifths of a century, the character of the men whom she honored and trusted in those years of public anxiety and peril.
CHURCHES AND CHURCH EDIFICES.
The Presbyterian church and society was the first and for a long period the only religious organization in town. This organ- ization is known to have been as early as 1768, and there can be little doubt it was formed some years earlier. The first settled minister was the Rev. Solomon Moor. Mr. Moor was born in Newtown, Limavady, Ireland, in 1736 ; graduated at the Univer- sity of Glasgow, 1758 ; was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Londonderry, Ireland, July 26, 1762 ; ordained a “ min- ister at large " in 1766, and soon after sailed for America, and arrived at Halifax in October of the same year. Making but a brief stay at the latter place, he proceeded to Boston, where he delivered his first sermon in America, from the pulpit of the Rev. Mr. Moorhead. The following Sabbath he preached for the Rev. Mr. McGregore, at Londonderry West Parish, and in February, 1767, came to New Boston with letters of commen- dation from the Rev. William Davidson, pastor of the first church in Londonderry. Cordially and gratefully welcomed by the people, he at once commenced among them the work of
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the ministry, and on the 25th of August following, received a unanimous call to become their pastor. Continuing his labors, he held the call under advisement nearly a year, and until July 1, 1768, when he gave in his acceptance, and the relation of pastor and people was solemnized by his public installation on the 6th of September following.
The relation thus formed continued unbroken until his death, which occurred May 28, 1803, at the age of sixty-seven. His ministry proved a useful and acceptable one, and embraced a period of thirty-six years. In 1770, Mr. Moor was married to Ann Davidson, daughter of Rev. William Davidson, before mentioned. This estimable lady, whose memory is associated with whatever is grateful in social and Christian charities, found favor in the eyes of the people with whom she had come to cast in her responsible lot, and retained it to the close of life. She survived her husband many years, and widely and respectfully known to old and young as " Madam Moor," lingered among us until within the present generation, receiving from all who approached her the affectionate homage due to her station and virtues. As, at the end of a long summer day, the sun retires slowly and calmly to rest through the mild glories of evening, so, full of years of right living, closes the life of the aged good.
At the time of Mr. Moor's settlement, he boarded in the fam- ily of Mr. Robert White, who lived on the crown of the hill a few rods northeasterly of where Abraham Wason now resides. In this connection the town records have this entry : -
" August 15, 1768, PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
" At a legal meeting of the inhabitants of New Boston :
" Voted, Thomas Cochran, Moderator.
"Voted, Robert White provide entertainment for ministers at the instalment of the Rev. Mr. Moor, and bring in his charge to the town."
The carlier records of the corporate meetings of the town, both annual and special, abound in entries of kindred charac- ter, touching the affairs of the church, showing that for many years the business of the town and temporalities of the church were equally regarded as matters of the same general and com- mon concern. That there was anything improper in the union,
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seems not to have been suggested. Those interested in the town were not less interested in the church. The supporters of the one included the supporters of the other, - woven to- gether in harmony, and apparently without seam, by those of one faith and mind, the two grew and expanded as associated interests, without rent or discord. In all this there was no offence to conscience, nor disregard of the voluntary principle, so long as there were none to be aggrieved, and all continued of the same mind. In the process of time, as other religious el- ements were introduced, and a sister church of different denom_ inational faithi came to be organized, the practice alluded to yielded to the changed relations of the people. In connection with the pulpit of the Presbyterian society, it remains only to be added, that in May, 1805, Mr. Bradford, whose life has al- ready passed into history, commenced his public labors as a candidate, and on the 26th of February, 1806, was ordained and installed as the successor of Mr. Moor.
The Baptist church and society was organized in November, 1799, and in 1804 took the name of "The Calvinistic Baptist Church in New Boston." Its first house of worship was erected in 1805, in the westerly part of the town, a distance of about three miles from the lower village, where its present church edifice is located. The first settled minister was the Rev. Isaiah Stone. He commenced his labors with the church in 1801, and on the 8th of January, 1806, was installed as its pastor. His installation, as will be seen, was the same year, and a few weeks earlier, than that of Mr. Bradford. He continued his pastoral relations until 1824, and was succeeded by your distinguished townsman, the Rev. John Atwood, afterwards and for many. years honorably occupied with the duties of public life in the department of politics.
It would seem to have been the intention of the proprietors of New Boston at an early period to build up a centre of trade and population on " the plains " in the northcasterly quarter of the township. The reasons which induced this contemplated enterprise are now only conjectural. Whatever they may have been, the plan of erecting a meeting-house and group of dwell- ings in that neighborhood was actually undertaken and partially executed as early as 1740. We find the subject of completing
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the meeting-house specified as one of the objects of a meeting of the proprietors, called for the 15th of May, 1751, and after an interval of more than ten years. The uncompleted struc- ture, however, was never finished, or used as a place of wor- ship. It was soon found that a location so remote from the geographical centre of the town was unfavorable to the settle- ment of the whole grant, and the enterprise was abandoned. Of this attempted settlement little more is known. Whether the buildings, some sixty in number, were left to decay upon the spot where they were hastily thrown together, or were con- sumed by fire, or partially removed for use elsewhere, or what were the motives which originally prompted the undertaking, other than to save a possible forfeiture, by forcing a technical compliance with the three years' limitation of the grant, are questions to which no satisfactory answers can be made, and in reference to which no certain trace or reliable tradition remains.
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