USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, Volume I > Part 30
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
Chapter XVIII TOWNS GRANTED BY GOVERNOR BENNING WENTWORTH
Chapter XVIII TOWNS GRANTED BY GOVERNOR BENNING WENTWORTH.
Grant of Towns West of the Connecticut-Conditions of the Grants-Reser- vations to the Governor and His Friends-His Care for the Episcopal Church-Towns along the Southern Boundary-Hinsdale-Chesterfield- Walpole-Charlestown-Winchester-Richmond-Swanzey-Keene.
T HE shrewdness of the Masonian proprietors in disposing quickly of their lands on terms advantageous to them- selves was even excelled by Governor Wentworth, who had more land at his disposal. By the king's settlement of the boundary line, in 1741, as extending westward till it met the king's other governments, New Hampshire was led to claim as far as Massachusetts extended, or to within twenty miles of the Hudson river. Thus all of what is now the State of Vermont was thought to be included in the province of New Hampshire. To be sure New York claimed as far east as the Connecticut, and the claim was, in 1764, decided in its favor, but before that date Governor Wentworth had made grants of one hundreed and twenty-nine townships, west of the Connecticut, besides six large grants to individuals. The townships were about six miles square, and the wording of the grants was almost identi- cal. The conditions were, that every grantee, his heirs or assigns, should cultivate five acres within the term of five years for every fifty acres of his share and should continue to im- prove and settle the same on pain of forfeiture; that all pines fit for masts for the royal navy should be reserved for that use; that a tract near the center of the town should be laid out in town lots and that every grantee should have an acre thereof; that there should be an annual quit rent of an ear of Indian corn if demanded; that every proprietor, settler or inhabitant, should pay to the governor, his heirs and successors, yearly and forever, after the expiration of ten years, one shilling for every hundred acres owned and so proportionally. The gov- ernor did not forget to reserve five hundred acres in each grant
365
366
NEW HAMPSHIRE
for himself, except in a few cases, where he took eight hun- dred acres. He also reserved one share "for the incorporated society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, one share for a Glebe for the Church of England as by law established, one share for the first Settled Minister of the Gospel and one share for the benefit of a school in said town." In every grant appear, among the shareholders, the names of several members of the Wentworth and related families, or of some of the council and governor's friends in Portsmouth, though the names of members of the House of Representatives are in general conspicuous for their absence, the governor not being on good terms with them. Theodore Atkinson, the sec- retary who wrote all these grants, includes himself among the grantees in scores of instances. It is not to be supposed that all these grants were made without fees, presents, or tips, to the governor, secretary and influential members of the council. That was the general custom in England, in order to secure favors from the court, a species of "honest graft," as it has been called. Thus, it may be supposed, the governor found means to build on another room to his rambling house at Little Harbor from time to time.
The rent of one shilling for every hundred acres does not sound large, but since every township contained, on the average, twenty-five thousand acres, when twenty thousand acres were improved, the annual rent would be, for the one hundred and twenty-nine townships, something over five thousand dollars, a comfortable support for the governor, his heirs and successors.
Notice, too, the care of the governor for the Episcopal Church, or Established Church of England. At that time Queen's Chapel in Portsmouth, to which the governor and Theodore Atkinson belonged, was the only church of that order in New Hampshire. Later, in 1773, there were but three other places in the province where an Episcopal missionary could find that a few people met on Sundays to read prayers from the Prayer Book and printed sermons. These towns were Alstead, Claremont and Haverhill. There was also one such place west of the Connecticut river, Springfield. The nearest of any of these settlements to an Episcopal clergyman was one hundred and thirty miles. Surely Governor Wentworth had denomina-
367
A HISTORY
tional faith to thus provide for the future of prospective churches.
It cannot be easily overlooked that in the course of grant- ing of townships on both sides of the Connecticut river the governor must have appropriated to himself from seventy-five thousand to 100,000 acres of land, whose increasing value depended wholly upon the hardships and labors of others. Some of these lands he sold. Some were claimed by John Wentworth, his successor in office.
The granting and incorporation of towns in New Hamp- shire, by the governor with advice of council, went on with rapid pace. The people everywhere were as eager to get land as the governor was to get fees and more land. On the southern boundary the portions taken off from old towns of Massachu- setts soon became separate towns of New Hampshire. South Hampton was incorporated May 25, 1742, from parts of Hamp- ton and Kingston. Newton was incorporated December 6, 1749, as Newtown, and its name was changed to Newton, July 10, 1846. Plaistow, a part of Haverhill, was incorporated February, 1749, and a portion of it was set off and incorporated as Atkinson, September 3, 1767, named for Theodore Atkinson, a large land- owner therein. Hampstead, made up of parts of Haverhill and Amesbury, and known at first as Timberlane, was incorporated January 19, 1749. A very large oak in the center of the village was a boundary mark between old Haverhill and Londonderry. Salem, made up of parts of Haverhill, Methuen and Dracut, was incorporated May II, 1750, and its charter was confirmed by the Masonian proprietors March 8, 1759. Pelham was com- posed of parts of old Dunstable and Dracut and was incorpora- ted July 5, 1746, named in honor of Thomas Pelham Holles, Duke of Newcastle. Its charter was confirmed by the Masonian proprietors April 27, 1774.
In the valley of the Connecticut river the places that had suffered so much during the first French and Indian war be- came towns under the government of New Hampshire soon after peace was declared. Hinsdale, originally a part of North- field, Massachusetts, and sometimes called Fort Dummer, was incorporated September 3, 1753, and took its name from Col. Ebenezer Hinsdale, who had built and successfuly defended a garrison house therein, sometimes called a fort.
368
NEW HAMPSHIRE
The next town north, on the river, was Chesterfield, known previously as Number I. It was granted to twelve persons by the name of Willard and fifty-two others and incorporated February II, 1752.
Westmoreland, or Number 2, sometimes known as Great Meadows, was incorporated February II, 1752. The first settlers came in about the year 1741. Though driven off by Indians they returned. Its fertile lands, easily cultivated, were the lode- stone of attraction.
Walpole, or Number 3, often known as Great Falls, was granted by Massachusetts, in 1735-6, to John Flint and others. It was granted by New Hampshire February 13, 1752, to Colonel Benjamin Bellows and others. It was incorporated as Walpole at the same time, though it was sometimes called Bellows Town. The charter was renewed March 12, 1761. A part of this town, together with a part of Charlestown, was set off and incorporated as Langdon, January II, 1787. The first settler of Walpole was John Kilburn, who figured bravely in the conflicts with the Indians.
Charlestown, or the Number 4 of the Massachusetts grants of 1735, was incorporated as Charlestown July 2, 1753. It was settled by families from Groton, Hastings and Lunenburg, Massachusetts, and we have seen how the fort here was nobly defended by Captain Phinehas Stevens and a small company of men. Being the frontier township on the Connecticut river it stood the brunt of Indian attacks.
Winchester was granted by Massachusetts to Josiah Wil- liard and others and was called Earlington, or Arlington. It was incorporated as Winchester July 2, 1753.
Richmond was granted by Massachusetts, June 20, 1735, to Captain Joseph Sylvester's men and called Sylvester-Canada. It was granted by New Hampshire, February 24, 1752, to Joseph Blanchard and others, and was then incorporated as Richmond. The charter was renewed June 11, 1760. It was settled by people from Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Swanzey was granted by Massachusetts, April 20, 1733, to Nathaniel Hammond and others, and was called Lower Ashuelot, from the name of the river. It was incorporated as Swanzey, July 2, 1753, and named from Swanzey, Massachusetts.
369
A HISTORY
The first settlement was wiped out in the first French and Indian war, but it was quickly resettled after peace was declared. The Rev. Timothy Harrington was the minister here from 1741 to 1747.
Keene was granted by Massachusetts as Upper Ashuelot. The first settlement was commenced, about 1736, by Jeremiah Hall, Nathan Blake, Elisha Root, Josiah Fisher and others. It was incorporated as Keene, April II, 1753, and named in honor of Sir Benjamin Keene. It has become one of the great manu- facturing centers of the State.
A few other towns were granted before 1755, but since no settlement was made, mention of them is deferred to a later period. Madbury was set off from Dover and incorpoated in 1755, and Sandown, taken from Kingston, was incorporated April 6, 1756.
The outbreak of the French and Indian war, in 1755, caused a pause in the settlement and development of new towns, but after the reduction of Canada and its submission to the sway of England the frontier was pushed north with great vigor.
Appendix A THE GREAT HOUSE
Appendix A THE GREAT HOUSE.
N the first volume of the Provincial Papers of New Hamp- I
shire, pp. 45-48, may be seen depositions by Francis Small, Nathaniel Boulter, John Redman and George Walton. All are of like import, but that of George Walton is most explicit, and a statement in it has been so misinterpreted as to locate a great house at Odiorne's Point, where David Thomson built his house. The deposition is here given in full :
George Walton, of Great Island, in the Province of New Hampshire, yeoman, aged seventy years, or thereabouts, testifieth, that he hath been an inhabitant in the said province about fifty years; that most part of the lands he now possesses were granted by Capt. Henry Jocelyne, Steward to Capt. Mason, the proprietor; that this deponent doth very well know that Capt. Mason had many servants, and a great stock of cattle upon his lands; that the said servants, and others, after the decease of the said Capt. Mason, did imbezill and ruin the estate. And particularly Capt. Francis Norton, agent or steward to Capt. Mason, or his heirs, about forty years since, did drive from Capt. Mason's Plantation, at Piscattaway, called the great house, about one hundred head of great cattle, which were then usually valued at twenty-five pounds the head; and as this deponent was credibly informed, the aforesaid cattle were sold in and about Boston by the said Norton, who also settled himself thereabouts, and deserted Capt. Mason's Plantation ; that thereupon the rest of the stock, goods and implements belonging to Capt. Mason's Plantation were made away with by the said servants and others. And this deponent doth very well remember the fort built by Capt. Mason upon the Great Island (in the same place where the fort now stands), and that it was strong and substantially made, and furnished with great guns, of which some were brass, and were afterwards taken away by Major Waldern and his brother William Waldern and others, but by what authority this deponent never heard. And some of the guns this deponent did see put into a ship belonging to one Lane. And this deponent knows, that to the great house at Piscataway aforesaid, there were adjoin- ing about one thousand acres of improved lands, marsh, meadow and planting grounds, which were divided and parcelled by the servants of Capt. Mason and others, the select, or prudential men (of the town of Portsmouth), as they were so called, who still enjoy the same, or their heirs and assigns, whereof William Vaughan and his brother-in-law have a large share given them by their father-in-law, Richard Cutt. And the said great house, by the means aforesaid, came to decay and fell down, the ruins
373
374
APPENDIX
being yet to be seen, out of which several good farms are now made. And this deponent doth very well remember that the said Capt. Mason had made a great plantation at a place called Newichawannock, about sixteen miles from that of Piscattaway, which by the means aforesaid was ruined, and shared among several of the said Capt. Mason's servants and others. And this deponent doth further say, that to his particular knowledge, the servants sent over by Capt. Mason, of which some are living, and those descended from them, have been and are the most violent opposers of the new proprietor, Robert Mason, Esq. And this deponent further saith, that those lands in Portsmouth called, both now and formerly, Strawberry Bank, were the planting grounds and pasture belonging to the great house at Straw- berry Bank, wherein Thomas Wannerton did inhabit, that was sometime agent for Capt. Mason, and after the death of Wannerton, who was slain about fifty years since, the said house and lands were possessed by Sampson Cane, but by what right this deponent doth not know.
GEORGE WALTON.
Taken before me, the 18th December, 1685, WALTER BAREFOOT, Dep. Governor.
The statement above made that before 1685 the great house was in ruins has led into error, since it is positively known that the great house at Strawberry Bank was tenanted after that date. The explanation is given below.
In the scramble for Capt. John Mason's property his agent, Thomas Wannerton, held possession of the great house with adjacent lands, but probably not all the lands that originally were connected therewith, about a thousand acres as George Walton testified, or the greater part of the land on which the city of Portsmouth now stands. The house and his share of land he sold to Robert Saltonstall and David Yale, April 26th, 1644, just before his fatal trip to the Penobscot. Robert Salton- stall sold the same to David Selleck, soapboiler and merchant of Boston, August 3, 1646. David Selleck and Richard Leader, in 1654 contracted to bring two hundred and fifty Irish maids, between the ages of fourteen and forty-five and three hundred Irishmen, between the ages of twelve and fifty, to be gathered within ten miles of Cork, to New England, as we are told in Prendergast's Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland. Selleck lived in Boston a dozen years or so and died in Virginia in October, 1654. He sold the above named house and lands at Strawberry Bank to Sampson Lane, master of the ship Neptune of Dart- mouth. All these sales are recorded in the first volume of Suffolk Deeds.
375
APPENDIX
Ambrose Lane, merchant of Strawberry Bank, or Piscat- taway, sold to Richard Leader, April 3, 1652, for one hundred and eighty pounds, all that house and farm at Strawberry Bank which he bought of David Selleck, "which was formerly Thomas Wannertons, together with all the Buildings, Edeffices, out houses, Barns, gardens, orchards, yards, ffences; also six Acres of broken up Ground, and Ten Acres of Marsh near adjoining and thereunto appertaining, with Two hundred acres of upland near adjoining unto Capt. ffrancis Champernowne." This last piece of land may have been in Greenland. Richard Leader sold the house and land to John and Richard Cutts, October I, 1655.1
On the division of their estates in 1662 the great house and adjoining lands fell to John Cutt, who in his will, May 8, 1680, gave to his son, Samuel Cutt, "my house commonly called the Great house with the orchard and field adjoining."
Samuel Cutt died October 15, 1698, and his widow, Eleanor, married Thomas Phipps, who sold, May 8, 1700, to William Partridge Jr., land "part whereof is part of that ground on which the Great House stands, that is, the southerly end of the great house & the stack of chimneys." It was bounded "with sd Phipps own land being that whereon the other end of the great house did formerly stand, together with the end of the house now standing on sd land with the chimneys aforesaid & the Cellar on which it standeth."2
So George Walton was correct in saying that in 1685 the Great House was in ruins, although one end of it continued in use for many years. William Partridge and wife Hannah sold this, August 11, 1711, to John Knight, "part of that ground on which a hous called the grate house stood." John Knight be- queathed the land to his son, Temple Knight, on whose death his brother, John Knight gained possession of it, and he be- queathed it to his son, George Knight, who sold it to James Hickey, about 1770.
The great house is mentioned in deeds in years1 1692-5. Samuel Cutt leased it to John Partridge, March 20, 1693, for
1 N. H. Prov. Deeds, VI., 63, 64.
2 N. H. Prov. Deeds, VI., 417.
3 N. H. Prov. Deeds, IX., 609, 176, 531. See several depositions con- cerning it in N. H. Court Papers, vol. for 1693-4, pp. 410-19.
376
APPENDIX
four years, at twelve pounds annually. It was used as an inn. Thomson's house at Odiorne's Point was never called a Great House, nor was it located where it could be used con- veniently as an inn in the early years of the settlement. There is some evidence that the inn kept by Henry Sherburne at Sanders Point, in 1647, was called a Great House, and that a ferry connected it with Strawberry Bank.
Appendix B
-
Appendix B
In the first volume of New Hampshire Provincial Papers, pp. 136, 137, may be seen depositions taken from records of old Norfolk County Court. They are as follows :
I, John Wheelwright, pastor of the church of Salisbury, doe testify that when I, with others, came to set down at Exeter, we purchased of the Indians, to whom (so far as we could learn) the right did belong, a certain tract of land about thirty miles square to run from Merrimack river east- ward, and so up into the country, of which lands we had a graunt in writing signed by them.
April 15, 1668.
JOHN WHEELWRIGHT.
Mr. Edward Colcord testifieth to all above written and farther saith that one northerly bound mentioned in our agreement with Wehannownowit, the chief Sagamore, was the westerly part of Oyster River, called by the Indians, Shankhassick, which is about four miles northerly beyond Lam- periele River.
We, the aforesaid witnesses, doe further testify that they of the town of Exeter did dispose of and possesse divers parcels of land about Lampreel River by virtue of sd Indian right before such time as it was actually taken in by the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts without interruption of Dover or any other.
Mr. Samuel Dudley doth testify that he did see the agreement in writing between the town of Exeter and the Sagamores for that land which is above mentioned and the said Sagamores hands to the same. Sworn before the Court the 14th 2d mo. 1668.
THOMAS BRADBURY rec.
These depositions seem to refer plainly to the deeds of 1638. Recently I have seen depositions found in a folder of Court Files at Concord, N. H., No. 17795, in connection with a case that was tried in the year 1711, Capt. Joseph Smith of Hampton vs. Robert Wadleigh of Exeter. They are as follows:
The Deposition of Henry Roby & Thp: King & Mr Stanian Testifieth that there was a Combinacon on Record in Exiter bareing date 1639: and a great many hands to the sayd Combinacon wch did ingage them selves to own the King & his lawes & to submit to the same.
Sworn before the Court held at Hampton the 13th of the 8th mo 1663.
THOMAS BRADBURY, Rec.
379
380
APPENDIX
The deposition of John Wheelwright. This deponent testifieth That himself wth some others who were to set down at Exiter did imploy Edward Colcord to purchase for them as he remembers a certayn tract of land from Oyster River to Merrimack of the Indians for which they gave him ten or twelve pounds in money & had a grant thereof signed by some Sagamors with their marks upon it of wch Runnawitt was one. Sworn before the Court at Hampton the 13th of the 8th mo 1663.
THO: BRADBURY rec.
The deposition of Edward Colcord who sworn saith That the said Edward being imployed by Mr John Wheelwright & Company: Likewise by the perswasion of Capt. Wiggin to buy a certayn tract of land from Oyster River towards Merrimack, the wch parcell of land the said Edward did buy for them & had a firme deed for it under Sagamore Runawits hand & others wth him & that this people seated upon this land the general Court have owned to be a towne, as likewise the town of Hampton have done from time to time; and accepting of them by sending for their votes, And that wee the town of Hampton have owned them from time to time. Sworn before the Court at Hampton the 13th 8th mo 1663.
THO: BRADBURY rec.
This is a true Copie of the originall on file as attest Tho : Bradbury rec.
These depositions differ from those cited above and seem to refer to the Wheelwright deed of 1629, which alone was signed by the sagamore Runawit. Edward Colcord was only thirteen years old in 1629, and could not then have been em- ployed as an agent in purchasing land. If the depositions are genuine, there is a defect of memory on the part of both Wheel- wright and Colcord, for they must mean the deed of 1638, which was not signed by sagamore Runawitt. The attested copy of the depositions seems to be in the handwriting of Richard Chamberlain, recorder at Portsmouth and secretary of the Province, 1680-7.
In the same folder of Court Files, No. 17795, is found the original deed of gift, or indenture, by which Captain Thomas Wiggin conveyed to the town of Exeter a large tract of land adjoining Hampton. It has been hidden away for over two hundred years and was never recorded, so far as has been learned. Governor Bell, in his History of Exeter, hints at such a gift as having been made before 1656. Probably what he said is based upon a town record, a copy of which appears also in the same folder of Court Files. The town record is as follows :
At a town meeting the (28) day (2) mon 1656 it was ordered that a petision shall be sent to next generall Corte for to have Captan Wiggin deede
381
APPENDIX
of gift confermed to the town of the land and madow, and that mr bartaline of ipsigd [William Bartholomew of Ipswich] should presente the petision. SAMUEL THING, town clerk.
The deed, or indenture, is clearly written in ancient style, and the three signatures have three different seals in red wax. It is here published for the first time and is the basis of many grants :
This Indenter Made the first day of the 2d Month Aprill in the yeare of Our Lord God 1639 betweene Thomas Wiggins of Pascatiqua in New England Gent sole agent and deputye for the right honorable William Vis- count Saye and Seale and Robert Lord Brooke Sir Arthur Hasellricke Knt and Baronett Sir Arthur [Richard] Saltingstone Knt and certaine other Gents of the Kingdome of England Lords and owners of the plantation of Pascatiqua in New England and also Lords and owners of all that tract of Land leying or being on the south side of the River called Pascatiqua from the sea unto the fall of the said river and three Miles in the Maine Land from the said river (except six thousand acres of the said tract of land leying and being towards the sea) of the one p'te and Captain Richard Morris, Nicholas Needam Isaac Grosse Rulers of the Towne of Exeter for and in the behalfe of the said Towne of the other p'te Wittnesseth that the said Thomas Wiggins for good causes and considerations him thereunto especially moveing hath given granted and confirmed and by these presents doth give grant and confirme unto the said Richard Morris, Nicholas Needam, Isaac Grosse their heires or assignes forever all that p'te or parcell of the said tract of Land from ye said fall towards the sea unto the mouth of a certaine creeke one such side thereof theire Lyeth little Narrowe plats of Mash Grounds wch have been for two years last past in the occupation of John Wheelwright Pastore of the Church of Exeter being by estimation from the fall of the said river unto the said Creeke 3 quarters of a Mile or there abouts bee it more or lesse, and from the said River into the Maine Lands three miles and also all and singular woods under woods and Trees growing or being in or upon the same premises herby given and granted, wth all p'cells commodityes advantages and hereditaments whatsoever be- longing or appertaining unto the said p'misses herby given granted & con- firmed or to any parts therof, except and alwaies received [sic] unto the said Thomas Wiggins, and the said Lords and owners of the said p'mises before specified and mentioned theire heires and assignes agents and deputies and every of them free liberty to take fish at or about the said fall of the said River p'portionably according to that right wch belongs unto them to have or to hold the said part or p'cell of Land wth all p'fitts comodities and hereditaments before in these p'sents given granted and confirmed (ex- cept before excepted) unto the said Richard Morris, Nicholas Needam, Isaac Grosse, theire heires and assignes for ever, to use of the said Towne of Exeter for ever more; yielding and paying yearly unto the said Thomas Wiggins and the said Lords and owners aforesaid theire heires and assignes
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.