USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > History of Plymouth, New Hampshire; vol. I. Narrative--vol. II. Genealogies, Volume I > Part 35
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After his return to Plymouth in September, 1777, Colonel Hobart continued in command of the regiment nearly two years. His influence without doubt was increased, and his efficiency was not lessened. He continued to be aided by the loyal support of Lieutenant-Colonel Webster, whose vigorous mind and active temperament rendered him an efficient co-laborer. The wife of Colonel Hobart died in Plymouth in 1778. At this time his four children were married and settled in life. At the time of his second marriage, in 1779, he removed to Haverhill, Mass., where he lived in retirement until his death in 1799.
Many of the contemporaries of Colonel Hobart who were simi- larly connected with public affairs have left a voluminous corre- spondence and ample files of original documents reflecting light upon the labor and character of the writer. It is a singular fact, and striking in contrast, that the letters and reports of this able man and ardent patriot now preserved in the town and State archives are so small in number. In this fact there is no inference of disparagement. Success is silent. Failures, investigations, and reprimands present ampler material for biography.
In the peaceful days of the colony David Hobart was a plain, estimable citizen, meeting the problems of life with courage and fortitude. With advancing years he lived in an age that developed character and educated leaders for troublous times. He marched
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forward with the procession of events. A farmer, a judge, and a general, - in all he maintained a quiet dignity, with ample resources to meet the increasing demands upon his wisdom and ability. After four years of service and accumulating sacrifice, laying aside his sword and commission, he tenders his resigna- tion in language conspicuous in brevity and in freedom from ostentation.
To the Honorable General Court for the State of New Hampshire. Gentlemen -
I have been Honored with the Command of the Eleventh Regiment of Militia in this State for some years past, which trust I have Discharged according to the best of my capacity - and by change of circumstances it will be inconvenient for me to serve in this station any longer- Wherefore I beg leave to resign this public trust & accordingly Do resign this command, & beg the Honorable Court to accept the same
I am Gentlemen your most obedient Humble Servant
DAVID HOBART
Plymouth June 14th 1779
FRANCIS WORCESTER, son of Rev. Francis and Abigail (Carle- ton) Worcester, was born in Bradford, Mass., March 30, 1721, and died in Plymouth, Oct. 19, 1800. He settled in Hollis in 1744, and resided in that town twenty-four years. He was a selectman of Hollis six years, moderator of the annual town meet- ing eleven years, town treasurer twenty years, and a deacon of the church in Hollis fourteen years. With such credentials of esteem and confidence he removed to Plymouth in 1768, and here renewed many friendships among the former residents of Hollis. He settled on the Lower Intervale, and within a few years he erected a substantial dwelling and farm buildings. He was a selectman of Plymouth, 1769, a moderator of many town meetings, auditor of town accounts, and a deacon of the Congregational church.
In the conduct of town affairs many in this town were more frequently elected to office; but in shaping policies, in directing the action of the town upon the momentous issues of his time,
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no one was more potent than Francis Worcester. His field was not limited to Plymouth. He was a leader in the county and an esteemed and useful factor in the councils of the State.
In 1776 he was appointed a coroner for Grafton County. In the autumn of the same year he was chosen a representative from the classed towns, - Plymouth, New Chester, Cockermouth, and Alexandria. The district as then constituted included the present towns of Plymouth, Groton, Hebron, Bridgewater, Bristol, and Hill. He was re-elected in 1777 and 1778. The first of these three annual legislatures convened Dec. 18, 1776, and the third was dissolved Nov. 19, 1779.
These were eventful years, and grave responsibility was thrust upon the humblest member of the legislature. The constitution vested the council and assembly with executive power, and the exigencies of the times made every member a minister of war. The abbreviated journals and the few letters which estimate his service afford evidence that Francis Worcester was an able sup- porter of the measures and policy which gave New Hampshire an honorable position in the Revolution. This service was approved by the people. The following year he was elected by the voters of Grafton County to the council or senate. The legis- lative year began Dec. 15, 1779. The following year Charles Johnston of Haverhill represented the county in the council, but Mr. Worcester was a member of this dignified body the two suc- ceeding years, and a representative in the legislature which con- vened in December, 1783, being the last legislature under the temporary constitution. After the adoption of a permanent State constitution he was a State senator 1785 and 1788 - thus com- pleting five terms of service in the upper branch of the legislature.
In the council and senate Francis Worcester was associated in service with Meshech Weare, Josiah Bartlett, Matthew Thornton, Woodbury Langdon, Ebenezer Webster, and other leaders in the Revolution. In such surroundings he maintained an established reputation for wisdom and ability in the solution of the gravest problems of an exacting period. He was a constant friend of
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Meshech Weare and a loyal supporter of the Exeter government. It is apparent that he was not in sympathy with the attitude of a majority of the towns in the western part of the county and in their refusal to be represented in the legislature. In effecting a more harmonious sentiment, the pacific and conservative qualities of Mr. Worcester were constantly in exercise. How far he was instrumental in electing Charles Johnston to the council in the autumn of 1778 and 1780 cannot be accurately stated. At the election of a legislature in the autumn of 1782, although elected to the council, he was not a willing candidate. To lead the dis- satisfied towns into closer relations with the State government, he urged the election of a candidate from that section. With this understanding he was elected a representative, and, when it appeared that he had been elected to the council against his own advice, Edward Everett was elected a representative on a second ballot.
The service of Mr. Worcester as a delegate to the conventions to frame a State constitution, and to the convention which ratified the Federal constitution, is stated in another chapter. He was a member of the town committee of safety and was a justice of the peace from 1784 to 1800.
He was a man of superior education, gentle and cultivated in manner, and deliberate and conscientious in the discharge of duty. If he was not a dictator he was an advisory leader of men. In the days of the Revolution there was an abundance of enthusiasm and courage. Public sentiment needed contact with pacific men of the type of Francis Worcester.
ABEL WEBSTER, son of Nathan and Martha Webster, was born in Bradford, Mass., July 2, 1726. Nathan, the father, removed from Bradford to Chester in 1738. Abel, the son, was reared in Chester among an intelligent and vigorous race of men. In the progress of the French and Indian War there were not many young men who did not serve one or more campaigns. Abel Webster was not an exception, and in the campaign of 1758 he served in Capt. Nehemiah Lovewell's company of Col. John Hart's
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regiment, of which Josiah Brown was the ensign. At this date he was a resident of Hollis, where he continued to reside until he removed to this town. The most casual study of the lifework of Abel Webster reveals the fact that he was a man of superior ability and one who had enjoyed more liberal educational advantages than had a majority of his associates. He wrote a fair hand, and his composition is compact and perspicuous.
He was a grantee of Plymouth, and in the proceedings of the organization of proprietors he was associated with several able men who were honored in life and are conspicuous in the annals of their time. In such surroundings Abel Webster was honored by preferment and maintained a prominent position. He was frequently invited by his associates to serve on committees, and he was the clerk of the organization from the first meeting, in 1763, until 1779. In 1764, while Rev. Nathan Ward was at Hollis in conference with the proprietors concerning his future ministry in Plymouth, he was entertained at the home of Abel Webster.
In 1761 he was one of the selectmen of Hollis, and he was taxed in that town to and including 1765. Later in 1765 or early in 1766 he removed with his family to Plymouth. He was present at the first town meeting in July, 1766, and was elected an auditor of accounts; and beginning 1768 he was town clerk twelve consecutive years.
If he had remained through life in Hollis, and if peace and the government of the colony had not been overthrown, it is certain that Abel Webster would have met with honor the duties of life, but would not have attracted the notice of the present generation of men. During the years of his active life a town was founded, and through revolution a State was founded upon the dismem- bered fragments of a colony. In such eras weak men, like spin- dling plants, are weeded from the rows and only the strong survive. In the carly affairs of Plymouth he was a counsellor and a leader, and in the Revolution he was a bold and fearless patriot. Begin- ning several months previous to the dissolution of the colonial
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assembly and council and the departure from the State of Gov- ernor Wentworth, the real government of New Hampshire was vested in four provincial congresses.
The fifth congress established a State government. As stated in Chapter VIII, Abel Webster was a delegate from Plymouth to the first four congresses which met and surmounted the emer- gencies of the eventful year 1775. Of the first and second con- gresses, which assembled at Exeter, July 21, 1774, and Jan. 25, 1775, the journals are not preserved, but it is certain that he was in attendance, and it is reasonably certain that he was the only delegate from Grafton County.
The proceedings of the congresses were progressive, gradually assuming the functions of a government. Abel Webster was per- mitted to join with his patriotie associates in the organization of regiments, in the appointment of officers, and in the adoption of vigorous war measures. The most momentous problem demand- ing serious consideration was the formulation of a plan of civil government. The delegate from Plymouth was honored with an appointment on the committee to which the subject was referred.
In the succeeding years of the war, and while he remained a citizen of this town, he was an ardent patriot, serving upon the town committee of safety and maintaining an honored position among his fellow-men.
There is ample evidence in the records for the conclusion that until 1776 he was in sympathy and harmony with the churches in Hollis and Plymouth. He was one of the committee selected to wait upon Rev. Nathan Ward and communicate to him the desire of the proprietors that he accept the extended call to dwell with and minister to them. On later occasions he was repeatedly elected by the town in parish affairs. In 1777 Abel Webster and a few others, as stated in another chapter, dissented to a vote to continue the salary of the pastor, alleging that they were Baptists and not in sympathy with the prevailing creed. He removed from Plymouth in 1783. The remainder of his life was uneventful. He lived in Kingston and with his sons in Vermont. Later he had
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a home with his youngest daughter in Chester, where he died Feb. 14, 1801.
JOSIAH BROWN, son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Wheeler) Brown, was born in Byfield Parish in Rowley, Mass., May 3, 1720. His parents removed from Rowley to Littleton, Mass., in 1729, and there he grew to manhood, removing to Hollis in 1743. He was one of the petitioners in 1744 for a garrison in that town and was a town officer in 1747 and 1748. Joseph Blanchard, Jr., a well-known surveyor, with several assistants established the ex- terior line of the Masonian patent in 1751. It was a curved line extending from near the town of Rindge on the State line through Sunapee Lake and Newfound Lake and onward to Conway. This line, as then surveyed and established, was the northern line of New Chester, which then included Bridgewater. Plymouth at that date was ungranted land. Josiah Brown was one of the assistants of Joseph Blanchard, Jr., in this survey, and together they traversed the line that now divides Plymouth and Bridgewater.
Among those who became residents of Plymouth, Josiah Brown, in his visit in 1751, so far as known, was the first to approach the locality. The surveying party passed through wooded uplands into the beautiful valley of the Pemigewasset. They chanced upon an ungranted and untenanted tract inviting settlement. It is safe to assume that Blanchard and Brown carried to their homes fairy tales of the fertility of the soil and the beauty of the sur- roundings. Not long after both were grantees of the township, and Mr. Brown became a permanent resident. Josiah Brown, in 1745, served five weeks and four days in Captain Goffe's com- pany in scouting between the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers.
In the progress of the French and Indian War, which. delayed charters and suspended settlements of new towns, he was com- missioned by Gov. Benning Wentworth an ensign in the company of Capt. Nehemiah Lovewell in Colonel Hart's regiment. His commission was dated April 9, 1758, and he was in service until the following December.
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Early in 1763, after the charter of Plymouth had been assured, but before it had been issued, Ensign Josiah Brown and Ensign David Hobart were selected by their associates to employ a sur- veyor and to divide a part of the proposed township into lots. They employed Joseph Blanchard, and the records set forth that Josiah Brown was in Plymouth a considerable part of the summer and autumn of 1763. The following year, with the arrival of the first settlers, he removed with his family to this town, and here he passed the remaining years of his life. He was two years younger than Stephen Webster, Sr., seven years younger than Benjamin Dearborn, but he was older than Rev. Nathan Ward or Col. David Hobart. He purchased several tracts of divided lands and four full rights, and thus became the owner of about one-twelfth of the township. His homestead was on the Lower Intervale.
He was commissioned, May 24, 1765, a lieutenant of a com- pany of detached militia of which David Hobart was the captain. After the organization of the eleventh regiment he held a com- mission of the same rank a short time. From 1765, with unbroken precision, he is styled in the records " Lieut. Josiah Brown."
As represented in other chapters and as expressed in the records of the proprietors, he was frequently appointed on important com- mittees and was an esteemed and a potent factor in the business of the organization. He was one of the strong men of the settle- ment, and held an honored position among the fathers of the town. If incapacitated by the infirmities of age from active service in the Revolution, he remained a wise and useful counsellor. He died late in 1787 or early in the following year. He was deceased March 28, 1788.
MOOR RUSSELL, son of Lieut. Pelatiah and Olive (Moor) Rus- sell, was born in Litchfield, Oct. 30, 1757. His father died about the date of his birth, and little is known of his childhood and youth. In 1775 he was a soldier in the siege of Boston, and participated in the battle of Bunker Hill. His name is not found in the New Hampshire rolls of 1775. Among the Massachusetts
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war rolls is a fragment, without date, bearing the name of Moor Russell and other soldiers attested by J. Gilman, probably Josiah Gilman, proving the roll to be of New Hampshire origin. Imme- diately after this service, in 1775, he removed to Haverhill, where he resided twenty-five years. He enlisted at Haverhill, Oct. 12, 1776, in a company of rangers commanded by Capt. Josiah Rus- sell of Plainfield. This company of fifty-five men served on the northern frontiers, and was discharged Dec. 1, 1776. He also served in Capt. Timothy Barron's company in Colonel Bedel's regiment from April 13, 1777, to April 1, 1778. This regiment, of which David Webster of Plymouth was lieutenant-colonel a part of the year, was stationed at the forts on the Connecticut River and employed in scouting on the frontiers. In his applica- tion for a pension, which was granted 1833, he made no mention of the two earlier enlistments, and presented the term of service of which the proofs were available.
He owned and occupied a large and productive farm in the southern part of Haverhill, adjoining Piermont, and soon became prominent in the affairs of that prosperous town. He was one of the petitioners for the incorporation of the Haverhill Academy 1794, a representative 1799 and 1800, selectman 1800, and mod- erator 1801. He removed from Haverhill to Plymouth, 1801. Three years previously he had established a store in this town. At this date the towns of Haverhill and Plymouth were included in the twelfth senatorial district. At the annual election, Tuesday, March 10, 1801, he was chosen a senator and two days later he removed to Plymouth. He was re-elected to the senate 1802, 1803, 1810, 1811, and 1812. He was a selectman 1805 and 1823, and a representative 1823 and 1824, completing a service of ten years in the State legislature. He was one of the incorporators of the first bank in Grafton County, known as the Coos and later as the Grafton Bank of Haverhill.
At the time Moor Russell removed to this town Plymouth was becoming a social and political centre among the surrounding towns. The main lines of travel and the post routes were through
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the town, and the roads in all directions centred here. Farming was the principal pursuit of the people, and the plain and simple customs of a former generation were preserved. Changes were near, and the town was entering upon an era of prosperity. A new Plymouth, with the throbbing energies of progress, was press- ing forward to succeed the Plymouth planted in the wilderness by the plain and rugged men of a former generation. Moor Rus- sell, in mind and character, in faith and vision of the future, was a safe and prudent leader in the progress and reforms of his time. His consistent life was a power for good in the community. He contributed liberally to the support of the church, and from an early date he was an advocate of temperance, being first among the merchants to renounce the traffic in spirituous liquors. He was a member of the executive committee of the Grafton County Bible Society, and was associated with charitable and benevolent organi- zations of his time. Although an active merchant, from early manhood to venerable age he was a farmer and a general dealer in lumber, cattle, and every production of the farm and forest. The activities of his business career embraced every commodity that was produced and sold in Plymouth. As a merchant he was the founder of the oldest mercantile firm in this vicinity. His first store, established 1798, and three years before his removal to this town, was on the north side of Highland Street and a short distance west of the present brick store. The building, a land- mark of Plymouth, remains, and for many years has been occupied as a dwelling. The store of Moor Russell was the depot of supply for several towns. In the early years the goods were purchased in Portsmouth and later in Boston, and several teams were employed drawing supplies and in transporting to market the products of the farm which had been taken in exchange for goods. Leaving his untarnished mantle upon the shoulders of his sons, he retired from business several years before his death. At times, with partners, the business has been continued by his sons and grandsons to the present time. The brick store was built in 1822 and enlarged 1854.
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Moor Russell, venerable in years and rich in the rewards of a useful life, died in Plymouth Aug. 29, 1851.
SAMUEL EMERSON, son of Nathaniel and Mehitable (Eastman) Emerson, was born in Haverhill, Mass., May 9, 1736. His father died when he was five years of age, and seven years later his mother became the wife of Thomas Abbot of Concord. Samuel Emerson possibly lived a few years in Concord, but he removed from New- buryport, Mass., to this town in 1770. He settled north of Baker's River and there resided until his death. He was a farmer, but he was almost continuously employed in public service. In a review of what he did in life, and the manner in which his many and complex duties were performed, we gain essential assistance in an estimate of his ability and characteristics.
He was clerk of the proprietors many years, and was frequently chosen an agent in the conduct of the affairs of the association. He was a selectman of Plymouth twenty-seven years. His labor in this capacity began in 1774 and ended in March, 1803. Except the years 1778 and 1788 it was continuous service. He was the town clerk from 1781 to 1802 inclusive. He was a representative for the year beginning in December, 1775, being the first legisla- ture under the temporary constitution. In 1776 he was appointed a justice of the peace, and was continuously reappointed until 1814, when he declined a new commission. He was Register of Deeds for Grafton County 1779 to 1786 and county treasurer 1782 to 1786. The most conspicuous service of Samuel Emerson was upon the bench of the Court of Common Pleas of Grafton County. At the reorganization of the courts in 1776 he was appointed as associate justice and serving in this capacity with Chief Justices Hurd and Payne until 1782, when he was appointed chief justice, superseding Judge Payne. He was continued in this position until he was disqualified by the constitutional qualification of age, May 9, 1806. His successor, Judge Ezra Bartlett of Warren, was appointed June 14, 1806.
In the midst of these employments he conducted a farm and found opportunity to serve as highway surveyor, to draw many
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business and legal papers, to draft petitions, and to act as referee in the adjustment of disputes among his townsmen.
He wrote a fair hand. His composition was smooth and clear. His records were not abbreviated, and all essential facts were plainly and fully stated. He was appointed a judge at a time when lawyers were seldom called to the bench. The qualifications in his time were good sense and integrity. Samuel Emerson pos- sessed both, and his service was continued many years.
At the reorganization of the courts under the permanent consti- tution, the representatives of Grafton County recommended to the executive the appointment of Elisha Payne chief justice, and Samuel Emerson first associate justice of the Court of Common Pleas. At the same time they recommended the appointment of Timothy Bedel for sheriff. The governor and council in March, 1785, revised the proposed division of the offices between the eastern and western parts of the county. They reappointed Samuel Emerson chief justice, and continued David Webster in the office of sheriff.
In the Revolution Samuel Emerson was not under arms or in command of companies or regiments, but his patriotism and his loyal attitude to the State is fully attested by his laborious service as a committee of safety, as a selectman, as a muster master, and as a representative during the eventful year of 1776. The posi- tion of Samuel Emerson in the annals of Plymouth is easily dis- cerned. He was the product and not the creator of public sentiment. In the quality of leadership, in formulating policies, and in a ready solution of the problems of the hour he was not the equal of Francis Worcester, David Hobart, and David Webster, but in industry and in attention to the details of public service his career finds few parallels in this or other towns. His life- work was exceptional, and demonstrates the utility in public ser- vice of industry and judgment. At one and the same time on repeated occasions he was a judge, a selectman, a town clerk, a school committee, a highway surveyor, and a member of a special town committee. In each employment he labored with equal appli-
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cation and dignified the office by a studious attention to the smallest detail. He died September, 1819. Upon his headstone, when erected, should be inscribed "Industry and Integrity."
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