USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, from its first discovery to the year 1830; with dissertations upon the rise of opinions and institutions, the growth of agriculture and manufactures, and the influence of leading families and distinguished men, to the year 1874; > Part 12
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Professor Park, in his obituary of Dr. S. H. Taylor, thus al- ludes to the eminent men who have descended from the Scotch emigrants of 1719, and in subsequent years :
" Among teachers are McKeen of Bowdoin and Aiken of Union College; Professors Jarvis Gregg, W. A. Packard, Joseph McKcen, Rev. James Means and Dr. S. H. Taylor. Among clergymen are Rev. David McGregor, son of the first pastor of Londonderry, ancestor of a large and distinguished family; Rev. Samuel Taggart of Colerian, Mass .; Rev. James Miltimore of Newburyport; Rev. Rufus Anderson of Wenham, who, at the close of his life, was preparing a historical work on 'Modern Missions to the Heathen,'
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and whose son, Dr. Rufus Anderson of Boston, is the historian of Missions under the care of the American Board; Rev. Silas McKeen of Bradford, Vt .; Rev. Dr. Morrison and Rev. James T. McCollom. Among the jurists and statesmen are John Bell, member of the Provincial Congress; John and Samuel Bell, both Governors of New Hampshire, and Judge Jeremiah Smith. Among the military men are General George Reid and General John Stark. Of those who have become eminent in New Hampshire, six have been Governors of the state; nine have been members of Congress; five, Judges of the Supreme Court; two, members of the Provincial Congress and one of these was a signer of the Declaration of Independence."
CHAPTER XXXI.
ORIGIN OF THE MILITIA SYSTEM.
During the first years of the existence of the Upper and Lower Plantations, the agents appointed by the proprietors united in themselves both civil and military power. They had arms for offence and defence ; but were not called upon to use them till 1631, when they called out the militia to settle the title to a point of land in Newington, claimed by both agents, which was afterwards called " Bloody Point," although no blood was shed. In 1632, Capt. Walter Neal, with forty armed men, un- der the lead of the Massachusetts colony, pursued, "with four pinnaces and shallops," the famous pirate Dixy Bull. No sold- ier by profession joined the colony till 1631. Then one "soldier for discovery " was sent over by the company. For several years after this unsuccessful "naval expedition" there was little call for arms and munitions of war ; still, as early as 1635 nearly half the invoice of imported goods consisted of weapons of war. In 1640, when the Dover factions, following the rival clergymen Larkham and Knollys, were raising tumults and threatening bloodshed, Francis Williams, governor of the Lower Plantation, being appealed to, sent a company of the militia to the Neck and "quelled the riot." After the union of New Hampshire with Massachusetts, in 1641, the laws of the elder colony con- trolled the military organizations of the younger ally. During the wars that followed with the Indians and French, every man became a soldier and every house was made a garrison. The facts are related in another portion of this work. When New Hampshire became a royal province, in 1679, "the militia was organized and was made to consist of one company of foot in
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each of the four towns of Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter and Hamp- ton, one company of artillery at the fort, and one troop of horse. Richard Waldron of Dover was appointed to the com- mand of these troops with the rank of major." The fort then contained eleven guns of small weight and power, purchased at the expense of Portsmouth and Dover. Until 1718, the organ- ization of the militia was left to the governor and council. In the French and Indian wars, most of the troops were volunteers. Some were "impressed " according to old English custom. The first militia law, in 1718, required all persons from sixteen to sixty years of age, except negroes and Indians, to perform mili- tary service. Each captain must call out and drill his company four times each year. The arms of the soldiers and penalties for neglect of duty or disobedience to orders were minutely specified. This law was amended in 1719, so that a warrant or "warning" under the hand and seal of the commanding officer was " a sufficient impress" to render the delinquent liable to a heavy fine in case of disobedience. The common punishments for minor offences were, at the discretion of the commander, "the bilboes, laying neck and heels, riding the wooden horse or running the gauntlet." The number of men in active service was constantly increasing as the perils of the country multiplied. In 1679 six companies were deemed sufficient for the defence of the province ; in 1773 twelve regiments were enrolled and ready for duty when called. In 1775, when the government assumed a new form, the militia laws were subjected to revision. In 1776 a new act was passed, providing for two classes of soldiers -a Training Band and an Alarm Band. The first band con- tained all the able-bodied men in the province, except persons in official station, negroes, mulattoes and Indians, from the age of sixteen to fifty. The alarm band included men from sixteen to sixty-five not assigned to the other division. These were to be called out, on sudden emergencies, by drum-beats and beacon lights. When soldiers were needed, if volunteers failed to en- list the quotas were filled by draft from those enrolled. This law mentioned every article of the soldier's equipment. It re- mained in force during the Revolutionary war.
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CHAPTER XXXII.
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LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR WENTWORTH'S ADMINISTRATION.
Governor Shute left the province in 1723, and the duties of the executive devolved on Mr. Wentworth. During the war with the Indians he managed the affairs of the state with great pru- dence and discretion ; and the people showed their respect for him by frequent grants of money. He conducted the treaty with the Indians in person, at Boston. On his return, the assembly in their address of congratulation said that " his absence seemed long ; but the service he had done them filled their hearts with satisfaction." As soon as peace returned the next great topic of public interest was the boundary line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. If New Hampshire had been a Paradise, its possession could not have been more eagerly sought by nu- merous suitors. The Indians claimed it; the assigns of Mason claimed it; Massachusetts claimed it; and the actual settlers claimed it. Everybody wished to own the state ; few cared to aid it. When money was to be made, all were active; when money was to be paid, all were passive. Massachusetts claimed, according to the terms of her original charter, all the lands from three miles northward of the Merrimack at its mouth to its source, including a large part of the entire state. There had been a controversy about this line for many long years ; but when war was at their doors it slept. Both provinces were now anxious to get possession of the soil. New Hampshire was alarmed ; she was about to be absorbed by her more powerful neighbor. She numbered only ten thousand inhabitants ; Massa- chusetts had one hundred and twenty thousand. The contend- ing states proceeded to lay out towns. Massachusetts, under pretence of rewarding the brave soldiers who survived Love- well's fight, assigned them large tracts of land within the territory claimed by New Hampshire. Nine townships were thus laid out on the banks of the Merrimack. The smaller state was equally busy. Epsom, Chichester, Gilmanton and Bow were granted. The last named town was partially within the tract claimed by Massachusetts. So many grants were made that settlers could not be found to occupy them. The chief result of this legisla- tion was an expensive and tedious litigation, which lasted many years.
On the twenty-ninth of October, 1727, a violent earthquake oc-
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curred. Flashes of light were observed to accompany a heavy roar resembling distant thunder which announced the shock. The sea was in deep commotion. The earth shook and trembled. Chimneys were cleft asunder, and " the pewter on dressers rat- tled, and in some instances was thrown down." Several lighter shocks were felt during the following night. During this year George I. died ; and the assembly, which had continued its own existence five years, was according to custom dissolved. A new assembly was summoned by writs issued in the name of George II. The people disliked long terms of office; and, as early as 1724, had attempted to limit the sessions of the assembly to three years. In 1727 the triennial act was passed and received the governor's sanction. The freehold estate of a representa- tive was fixed at fifteen hundred pounds ; that of an elector at fifty pounds. This was the first organic law enacted by the peo- ple independent of commissioners and royal orders. But there were defects in the provisions of this law which led to much controversy in future. The house then proceeded to reform the courts ; the council were opposed and the governor dissolved the assembly. The same persons, for the most part, were re- elected ; the same speaker was chosen, whose election the gov- ernor vetoed ; and under the new speaker a stormy session was held. Crimination and recrimination passed between the speaker and the house ; till, finally, in a fit of indignation, the house re- solved to petition the king to annex them to Massachusetts. The coming of a new governor for a time arrested these unhappy feuds. William Burnet, son of the Bishop of Sarum, so well known as an author and the intimate friend of William III., had been ap- pointed Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He was a highly accomplished scholar and statesman. He had been governor of New York and New Jersey where his administration rendered him the favorite of the people. It was the policy of the English cabinet to secure permanent salaries for their pro- vincial governors. Massachusetts long refused to comply with this reasonable requisition. New Hampshire voted two hun- dred pounds sterling for the annual salary of the governor, and the allowance made from it by him to the lieutenant-governor. Burnet visited New Hampshire but once before his death. He was succeeded by Jonathan Belcher. He was a native of Bos- ton, eminent as a merchant and possessed of a large fortune. He was courteous to strangers, faithful to friends and severe to enemies. The appointment was generally popular, but proved to be fruitful in controversies. His first quarrel was with Went- worth, whom he accused of duplicity because he wrote a compli- mentary letter to himself and Shute at the same time, not know- ing which would be his superior in office. Belcher limited his
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perquisites, crippled his influence and removed his son-in-law, Theodore Atkinson, from office. This hostility to Wentworth led to the formation of a party hostile to the governor. But Went- worth was removed by death, December twelfth, 1730. By his excellent character and judicious administration of public af- fairs, in war and peace, he won the confidence of the people, and left an untarnished reputation as the best possible legacy to his fourteen surviving children. Two had died before him.
He was succeeded by David Dunbar, an Irishman by birth, and a bankrupt colonel of the British army. He was needy, greedy and arrogant. He possessed no qualifications that fitted him for his new position. He immediately joined the oppo- sition to Belcher and thus lent his influence to secure a sepa- rate government for New Hampshire. She was in danger of be- ing made an appendage of a sister state. Belcher and his friends favored the union with Massachusetts ; the people op- posed it. The objections urged to an independent existence were its poverty, sparse population and limited resources. There were less than two thousand houses in the whole state. Lumber and fish constituted their principal exports. The entire revenue of the state, from duties and excise, was only four hundred pounds, while the government expenses were fifteen hundred. Still the idea of political sovereignty delighted the people. The opposition, therefore, saw the necessity of enlarging the state and increasing her income. They sought, first of all, to deter- mine her boundaries. Every inch of the soil of New Hamp- shire was covered by conflicting claims. Massachusetts claimed the largest and best part of it. Her claim was founded on her charter given by William and Mary, which substantially covered the same territory which was granted by the first charter of James I. New Hampshire, like the horse in the fable, invited a royal rider to aid in the expulsion of her foe from her domains. After the failure of a joint committee from both provinces, who met at Newbury in 1731 to settle the long and complicated dis- pute, New Hampshire petitioned the king to decide the contro- versy. John Rindge, a merchant of Portsmouth, was appointed their agent in London. Being obliged to return home in 1732, he left the business with John Tomlinson, who proved to be a zealous, persistent and efficient agent of the state. He fur- nished twelve hundred pounds from his private purse to defray the necessary expenses of the agency. After this he was, if possible, twelve hundred-fold more earnest in securing a victory for the state ; otherwise he had no responsible debtor. The posi- tion of Governor Belcher was a delicate one. He was the chief magistrate of both provinces ; he must offend one of them. He favored Massachusetts. He probably acted honestly, but gained
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the good will of neither party. He was the target for the mis- siles of archers on every side. He was persecuted by slanders, forgeries and perjuries, at home and abroad. Every species of intrigue was adopted by the contending parties to gain their ob- ject. Speculators, projectors, adventurers, courtiers, officials, proprietors, politicians and some honest men were parties to the quarrel. Usually self-interest was the source of the water that drove the mill. Arguments and sophistries were used, which if successful would greatly have injured those who advanced them. Even the claims of Mason and Allen were revived by both parties. This was simply suicidal, not patriotic ;
" But as some muskets so contrive it, As oft to miss the mark they drive at, And though well aimed at duck or plover, Bear wide and kick their owners over."
In England the controversy was referred to the Lords of Trade. They recommended a board of twenty commissioners, five of whom should be a quorum, selected from the neighboring royal provinces, to sit at Hampton on the first of August, 1737. According to the royal decree, they met at the time appointed. The assemblies of the two states convened at the same time, that of Massachusetts at Salisbury, that of New Hampshire at Hamp- ton Falls. With the utmost vigilance and jealousy they watched one another. Skillful advocates acted for the states. The alle- gations were patiently heard and considered, and a verdict ren- dered which decided nothing. It was only hypothetical, based on the question whether the new charter of Massachusetts con- veyed the same territory as the old; if so, Massachusetts was the victor ; if not, New Hampshire. So the controversy was no less, but the costs were much greater. After long and angry altercations both parties, being weary of fighting and paying for it, agreed to make the king their umpire ; and the stupid Guelph, who hated "boetry and books," became something more than a figure-head to the ship of state. His decision took everybody by surprise. He pleased New Hampshire and offended Massa- chusetts. George II. assumed that when the first charter was given neither grantor nor grantees knew the northern course of the Merrimack. Where it was known on the south its origin seemed to be in the west, and not in the north; therefore he decided that the northern boundary of Massachusetts should be a curved line, following the course of the river at three miles' distance on the north side, beginning at the Atlantic ocean and ending at a point due north of Pawtucket Falls, now Dracut, thence due west to his majesty's other governments. As the eastern line of "his other governments " was not then establish- ed, this little clause in due time yielded new disputes. By this decision New Hampshire gained a large accession of territory
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beyond all she had sought. "It cut off from Massachusetts twenty-eight townships between the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers, besides large tracts of vacant land which lay intermixed, and districts from six of their old towns which lay north of the Merrimack river," besides lands west of the Connecticut which were then of doubtful ownership.
While the states were contending about the lines which sepa- rated them they became widely separated in feeling, and the harmony of those "good old times" when they fought together against kings, Indians and proprietors was for a time interrupt- ed. The governor and his deputy still pursued one another with unrelenting hate. They fought on no common theatre. States and cabinet ministers were their allies. Dunbar, as surveyor- general of the woods, was so vigilant in arresting wood-cutters and confiscating boards that had been sawed from royal pines, that he was personally assailed by the irritated owners. He was mobbed at Exeter, and he accused, unjustly, the governor of connivance at the escape of the rioters. His letters and those of other personal enemies had weight at court, for the king was as fond of the royal pines as Charles II. was of the royal oak. Possibly he saw them "in his mind's eye" when he gave the territory on which they grew to New Hampshire. Dunbar re- turned to England where he was imprisoned for debt, but he was still a favorite of the court and escaped this "durance vile" for another office more profitable than that he had abandoned.
The enemies of Belcher succeeded in persuading the king first to censure, then to remove him from office. On his return to England he was able to justify himself and regain the royal favor.
In 1732, the first Episcopal church was erected in Portsmouth, called Queen's Chapel. It was consecrated in 1734, and Rev. Arthur Brown became rector of the society. In 1735 a fearful epidemic raged in New England, called the "throat distemper." It resembled the modern diphtheria. It raged for more than a year. Children, for the most part, were its victims. At Hamp- ton Falls it was very fatal. Twenty families lost all their chil- dren. In the whole province one thousand persons, most of whom were under twenty years of age, died of this terrible dis- ease. It extended from Maine to Carolina, and was not modi- fied by seasons. It has appeared in the state not less than six time since, but never with such general mortality. Its true cause is still unknown.
It deserves special notice that no public execution occurred in New Hampshire during the first one hundred and sixteen years of its existence. Many of the great criminals in early times escaped by flight. Some were pardoned, others had their sen- tences commuted. For smaller offences, whipping, the pillory,
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fines and imprisonment were deemed sufficient. On the twenty- seventh of December, 1739, two women, Sarah Simpson and Penelope Kenny, were hung in Portsmouth for the murder of an infant. This event constituted an era in the judicial history of the state.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
NEW HAMPSHIRE AN INDEPENDENT ROYAL PROVINCE.
After George II. had settled the boundaries of his two royal provinces, he determined to set up a new political boundary and make New Hampshire independent of Massachusetts and only dependent on himself. Accordingly, in 1741, he appointed a governor who was to be solely enjoyed by New Hampshire. He nominated Benning Wentworth, Esq., son of the late lieutenant- governor, who so long and successfully administered the affairs of the province. Benning Wentworth was a merchant of good repute, but bankrupt by reason of the failure of the Spanish government to pay him, as she agreed, for a large consignment of timber for the royal navy. The refusal of Spain to do justice in the premises was one cause of the war between that kingdom and England. Mr. Wentworth thereby became a national man ; and through the influence of the zealous and efficient agent of New Hampshire, Mr. Tomlinson, he obtained this new position. The assembly voted him, at first, a salary of two hundred and fifty pounds ; and afterwards doubled it, when a state loan of twenty-five thousand pounds had been issued, by royal license, for ten years.
The year 1743 was distinguished by the visit of the great English preacher Whitefield. He preached at Portsmouth dur- ing his stay there of three weeks, with marked success. In 1744 he again labored in the same city with great zeal and earnest- ness, in spite of a severe illness ; but, as he himself expressed it, "he felt a divine life, distinct from his animal life, which made him laugh at his pains." The great revival of religion at- tending and following the steps of this remarkable man aroused new interest in the cause of education. From it, remotely, sprang Dartmouth College. The converted Indians supplied the school of Eleazar Wheelock at Lebanon with pupils in 1762, and in 1766 one of them, Samson Occum, then a preacher, visited
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England to obtain funds for the permanent establishment of "Moor's Charity School." He succeeded in raising a large amount through the influence of Whitefield, received the pat- ronage of the queen, and the noble institution thus endowed was removed in 1769 to Hanover, N. H.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
KING GEORGE'S WAR.
Ever since the conquest, in 1066, for more than eight centuries, England and France have been political rivals. For more than one third of that long period they have waged open war against one another. The chief causes of hostility have been avarice, ambition and the balance of power. The people who fought their bloody battles and paid the debts that were rolled up in prosecuting them had very little interest in the causes or results of these national contests. The colonists of both countries fought for the supremacy of fatherland, and gained as their re- ward taxation and tyranny. In 1744, after about thirty years of armed truce (it could hardly be called peace), open war again raged between France and England. It was waged to deter- mine what one of several claimants should sit upon the throne of Austria. In such a worthy cause the people of New England engaged heart and soul. It has been the custom of all nations, since lawless piracy passed into legitimate commerce, to secure, in various waters, harbors, islands and strongholds for the pro- tection of their ships. This has been the special policy of those nations who have aimed at supremacy upon the seas. So Eng- land to-day has naval defences in all parts of the world. She controls Hong Kong, Bombay, St. Helena, Gibraltar, Jamaica, the Musketo Coast and Vancouver's Island. A neutral ship can scarcely sail in any waters without passing under the guns of England. Webster, in language never surpassed in beauty and force, speaks of her as " a power which has dotted over the surface of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts ; whose morning drum-beat, following the sun and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth daily with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England."
By the treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, England received from
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France Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and ceded to her the little barren island of Cape Breton, which is separated from Nova Scotia by the narrow channel of Canso. This place has fewer attractions than almost any other portion of the habit- able globe. Its winters are so long and cold that no vegetation comes to maturity. Storms and tempests assail it, icebergs float around it, and perpetual fogs rest upon it. As early as 1501 French mariners from Brittany gave name to this desert island, "from their remembrance of home." Its fine harbors and its facilities for defence constituted its only value to a commercial nation. On the southeast side of this island, commanding an excellent harbor, with deep waters nearly six miles in length, the French had built the city of Louisburg. This had been fortified by twenty-five years of toil, at an immense expense ($5,250,000). The city had all the defences of an ancient capital, high walls, moat and draw-bridge, flanked with towers and bastions, and defended by heavy batteries. It seemed impregnable. This city England and her colonies resolved to capture. The enter- prise, resting, as it did, mainly on New England, seemed per- fectly Quixotic. William Vaughan, son of Lieutenant-Governor Vaughan of Portsmouth, claimed the merit of suggesting it. He certainly bore a conspicuous part in the capture of the city. At the eastern extremity of Nova Scotia, England owned a small island called Canso. The French from Cape Breton took this by surprise, before the news of war had reached New Eng- land. They destroyed the fort and buildings on the island ; and carried eighty men prisoners to Louisburg. These men, after a few months, were dismissed on parole and sent to Boston. They brought to Governor Shirley an accurate account of the city and its defences. He solicited aid from England to conquer it. The towns of Massachusetts were eager for the fight. Her legisla- ture, by a majority of only one vote, determined to undertake the expedition. William Vaughan was in Boston when the de- cision was made ; and, full of enthusiasm, expressed in person the plan of Governor Shirley to the legislature of New Hamp- shire, then in session at Portsmouth. They at once approved the enterprise, and New Hampshire furnished three hundred and four men, to whom the celebrated Mr. Whitefield gave as a motto : "Nothing is to be despaired of, with Christ for a leader." Other colonies assisted, but New England alone furnished men. William Pepperell of Kittery commanded these volunteers. Their rendezvous was at Canso. Through fogs and storms they reached their destination in safety ; but were compelled to re- main there some time, on account of the fields of ice that were floating southward. Here Commodore Warren's squadron met them. He had been ordered to that point by the English govern-
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