USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > History of Plymouth, New Hampshire; vol. I. Narrative--vol. II. Genealogies, Volume I > Part 4
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Early in the year 1763 the original township of Plymouth was an unnamed part of the king's wood and ungranted land. However, it was surrounded by other grants and all its bounding lines were established and defined. It must be borne in mind that since this date the boundaries of Plymouth and the sur- rounding towns have been changed, and that Bridgewater, Hebron, and Bristol were not original grants but were severed from older towns. This tract of ungranted land was bounded on the north
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THE PROPRIETORS.
by Campton and on the east by Holderness. The remaining lines are traced by beginning at the southeast corner at a point on the Pemigewasset which is still the southeast corner of this town, and following the Masonian patent line southwest eleven miles bounding on New Chester and Alexandria, as these towns existed in 1763, to a point in the original line of Alexandria at the south- east corner of Cardigan; thence northeasterly by the line of Car- digan six miles to the southeast corner of Cockermouth; thence nearly in the same direction by the line of Cockermouth five miles and one-half to the southwest corner of Campton. At this date Cardigan had been surveyed, its bounds established, and it bore the name of Cardigan, but for some reason it was not granted until 1769. At all other points this tract of ungranted land was bounded by chartered towns.
The unnamed Plymouth was waiting in the wilderness. Her only history was the story of Baker's fight, and her only respites from solitude were the hurried marches of explorers or the pass- ing surveyors of near-by towns. But nature saw the compass and the chain and her slumber was broken. To her these were the heralds of approaching men. The passing soldier faded in the distance and was forgotten, but the surveyor left the promise of homes and habitation. With bursting throats the song-birds sang a welcome to the approaching pioneers, the untilled earth, rich with the stores of future harvests, rejoiced in the promise of sowing and reaping. The wolves planned many campaigns on future sheepfolds, while reynard, between the feasts of his dreams, made many excursions toward Hollis to discover if the chickens were on the way, and each balmy day the honeybee, emblem of thrift, was humming over fields where the sweet clover would grow, or seeking sunny places for cabins and sheltered, nooks for the husk-braided hive. The solitude was broken, and. meanwhile the sturdy men of Hollis, responding to the summons of the awakened wilderness, were maturing their preparations for an early removal.
The proceedings of the preliminary meetings of the men who VOL. I .- 3
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTHI.
became grantees or proprietors of Plymouth are unknown. It is easy to assume that many conferences were held and several journeys to Portsmouth were made, but speculation and con- jecture have no place in history. It is an important fact in the history of Plymouth that the grantees were in possession and laid out house lots several months before the date of the charter. The record of the first meeting follows: -
At a meeting of the Propriators of a New Town ship on Pemigewasset River met at the house of Benjamin Parker, innholder in Dunstable February 17, 1763.
Voted David Hobart, moderator.
Voted Abel Webster, clerk
Voted to Lay out the enterval on Pemigewasset River into proper Lotts, Each mans Right his Proportion for Quantity and Quality as Near as may bee
Voted Maj Blanchard be a Surveyor to Lay out the Lotts.
Voted Ensign Josiah Brown and Ensign David Hobart be a Com- mittee to Qualify the Lotts with the Surveyor.
Voted Elnathan Blood, John Willoughby Jun. and William McCluere be Chainmen for Laying out the Lotts.
Voted David Hobart and Josiah Brown be a Committee to agree with a Surveyor to Lay out the Lotts in case Maj' Blanchard should fail.
After votes fixing the pay of each person employed and a vote to raise money for current expenses, the meeting was adjourned to the first Tuesday in April, 1763. In the meantime the first survey of lots had been completed, and at the adjourned meeting two committees were chosen and instructed in their duties: -
Voted that Joseph Blanchard, Samuel Cummings and John Hale be a committee to prepair the Lotts in order for Drawing and that Daniel Emerson and Samuel Willoughby be the persons to Draw the Lotts.
Voted, David Hobart, Elnathan Blood and Samuel Cummings be a Committee of this Propriaty to Lay out the Remainder of the enterval that Remained, to be equeally Devided for Quantity and Quality as near as they can ; and for the two Lotts to be Laid out to each Share con- taining one hundred acres Which is to be Don by the Last Day of June next, cupled and Redy for Drawing, that those persons who go to work there this spring be employed in said work. Except a surveyor whom they are to procure as also other help that shall be thought needful.
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THE PROPRIETORS.
There is evidence that the services of Joseph Blanchard could not be secured in surveying the first division of lots in Plymouth and that Matthew Patten of Bedford, one of the proprietors, surveyed the five-and-one-half-acre lots of interval. Mr. Patten and Mr. Blanchard were employed in surveying other lots during the year, for which Mr. Blanchard charged the proprietors £1437 Old Tenor and Mr. Patten £542 Old Tenor.
In the journal of Matthew Patten are found the following entries : -
Feb. 19, 1763. In the afternoon Ensen Hubbard [Hobart] and William McClure came to have me go with them up to Bakers river to survey and I went and Changed snow Shoes with John Bell in order to fit out.
March 11, 1763. I set out with William McClure for Pemitchawasett and Lodged at Capt Fowlers.
March 12 1763 I Joyned the rest of the Company at Pennykook, being Ensign Brown and Hobart, Messrs. Elnathan Blood and John Willabie and tarried there over the Sabath at Mrs. Osgoods.
March 14, 1763 we set out and lodged about 12 miles from Penny- kook, at Mr. Thos Foses.
March 15, 1763 we arrived about 4 or 5 mile above the Crotch of the river
March 16, 1763 we campt about 12 way over the 2 mile Carrieing place.
March 17, 1763 we arrived at the Intervale and Campt.
March 29, 1763. I finished laying out 60 lotts Containing about 347 acres in the Intervale on Pemitchewassett
March 30 1763 we set out for home and came to the Crotch of the river and lay at a loging camp.
March 31, 1763 We came to Mr. Henry Lovejoys and lay there.
April 1, 1763 Set out at half an hour past 2 in the morning and came home that Evening about sunset I was out 19 days. We got as much by hunting as we shared 4-2-6 pr man.
The first meeting, held Feb. 17, 1763, adjourned to meet the last Wednesday in June. There is no record of a meeting in June, and the next meeting was called on a new warrant and was assembled at the inn of Benjamin Parker in Dunstable, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 1763. At the date of this meeting the charter
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
had been received and the legal title to the township was completed.
Each of these early meetings was a mile-stone in the prepara- tion for removal to Plymouth. At the meeting Ang. 2, 1763, Samuel Cummings was chosen proprietors' clerk, and probably he made the original minutes of the meeting. During the fol- lowing year a record book was purchased, and the proceedings of all the meetings until 1781 were engrossed by Abel Webster. The meeting chose Joseph Blanchard, John Hale, and David Hobart assessors and Abel Webster collector. An assessment was made on each right. Then the proprietors voted that David Hobart, Elnathan Blood, and William Nevins be a committee to prosecute the survey of lots to be completed in September. The same committee was instructed " to send persons to view a place for a road from the mouth of Smith's river to the lower end of the intervale and when the men return home to open out the small stuff so as horses can travel." This committee was also instructed to reserve land for a mill and arrange with some per- son for building it.
At a meeting held at the inn of Benjamin Parker Oct. 24, and continued by adjournment Nov. 14, 1763, the proprietors elected John Hale moderator and clerk, Abel Webster collector, John Hale, Stephen Webster, and John Brown assessors of a special assessment which was voted at this meeting. Stephen Powers, William Read, and Deacon Samuel Goodhue were chosen auditors.
At the date of the charter Maj. Joseph Blanchard of Merri- mack was a member of the provincial assembly representing Merrimack and Monson. He was the agent of the applicants for a township, and submitted their petition to Governor Wentworth. When the charter was received it was claimed by a majority of the grantees that Major Blanchard had added six names to a list previously agreed upon. At the meeting in November, 1763, it was voted " Whereas Maj. Joseph Blanchard has put in the charter six rights contrary to agreement, that a committee be
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THE PROPRIETORS.
chosen to settle with him," and John Hale, David Hobart, and William Nevins were selected to confer with Major Blanchard. Probably in a spirit of compromise they agreed upon a surrender of four of the six disputed rights, and Major Blanchard gave the proprietors a written conveyance of the rights of James Cowan, Phineas Lund, Thomas Davis, and Nathaniel Garfield. For some reason Nathaniel Garfield refused to join in this arrangement, and hence only three rights were surrendered. The remaining rights that were challenged are not known. This busi- ness apparently was adjusted without bitterness, and Major Blanchard was soon employed to survey the greater part of the township. Then the proprietors by vote admitted to the pro- priety David Nevins, and the number of sixty proprietors was never changed. At an early date William McClure forfeited his right in neglect to pay the dues, but he was promptly restored. According to his custom, Gov. Benning Wentworth caused to be engrossed on the back of the original charter a reservation of five hundred acres, to be located in the northeast corner of the town- ship, and which was to be accounted as two rights. There was also a reservation of one right or share each to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, for glebe for the Church of England, for the first settled minister, and for a school in said town. These six rights were declared free of taxes. In the charter there were sixty-two grantees. Three were excluded and one was admitted by vote of the proprietors. Before any division of land was made among the proprietors, each grantee owned one undivided sixty-sixth of the township and was assess- able for one-sixtieth of the money expended by the associated proprietors.
The summer and autumn of 1763 was a memorable season in the history of Plymouth. The surveyors, the axemen, and the chainmen were here several months, and committees of super- vision made several visits to the place. It would be unnatural to assume that many of those who were proposing to remove hither did not visit the site of their future homes, and that
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTHI.
other grantees did not come to estimate the value of their new possessions.
During the summer and autumn Joseph Blanchard surveyed the fifty-acre lots of upland, and in June and September Matthew Patten surveyed the sixteen-acre lots of interval. The following passages from Mr. Patten's journal are of interest : -
May 17, 1763. Ensign David Hobart came to my house and agreed for me to go to Pcmitchawesett in about a fortnight.
June 7, 1763. I set out for Pemitchawesett in company with Thos Lund Jun' to survey and I arrived at Pennykook the next day noon, and I got 203 1b Pork and paid for it I got a half a bushell of corn from John Chandler which John Bell bot for me last faull and ground it and I arived there on Saterday afternoon.
There are no entries in his journal until June 13, when he was at his home in Bedford.
Sept. 22 1763 I set out for Plymouth to Survey and lodged at Mrs. Osgoods [Concord] and did not return home untill the 16th of next No- vember being eight weeks in Which time I got 10lb of Beaver by catching while I was out.
The surveying for the present is completed and all the men at Plymouth return to their homes for the winter. One hundred and twenty fifty-acre lots of upland and sixty sixteen-acre lots and sixty five-and-one-half-acre lots of interval have been sur- veyed and numbered.
The lots were drawn Dec. 20, 1763. By this proceeding each proprietor became the sole owner of two lots of upland and one lot of sixteen acres and one five-and-one-half-acre lot of interval, and each still owned his share of the common or undivided land remaining.
In the narratives of the settlement of Plymouth there is no suggestion that any one remained in the town during the winter following the summer of 1763, but it has been intimated that probably some of the men who came in 1764 had begun a clearing and probably had erected a cabin the previous year. If so, on whose land were such improvements made ? The whole town-
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THE PROPRIETORS.
ship belonged to an association, and no one in his sole right owned one inch of land until the first distribution was made in December, 1763.
The proprietors of Plymouth were assembled on a winter day at Parker's inn in Dunstable. They had been assessed to pay for the charter and the cost of surveying and were now to be com- pensated in a distribution of land. From a common property each was to receive a share. Before proceeding to a general dis- tribution, the proprietors voted certain tracts of choice land to Ensign David Hobart, Ensign Josiah Brown, and Abel Webster. Having provided for these worthy men, all the others proceeded to a division by chance and the fickle wheel of fortune. Since the time of Jonah the drawing of lots has been a business of interest. In one receptacle were cards each bearing the name of a proprietor, and in another were the same number of cards each bearing the numbers of two lots of interval and two lots of upland. From one receptacle Daniel Emerson drew a card and announced the name of a proprietor; at the same time Samuel Willoughby drew a card assigning to that proprietor four lots of land. If the proceeding was exciting, it presented a serious feature. The location of a home, the choice of a farm, and the character of a neighborhood were at stake. At this meet- ing it was ordered that in case any proprietor drew lots inferior to the average, he should receive additional land, and at a subse- quent meeting it was voted that Jotham Cummings might throw up one of his fifty-acre lots, " it not being fit to settle on," and that he should have fifty acres out of the common land.
The meeting was continued by adjournment to Jan. 3, 1764, when it was voted that there be purchased "two sets of Mill irons, one for a corn mill and one for a saw mill." Onesipherns Marsh was delegated " to goo to peneycook and speak for the said irons within this Fortnight." The next meeting of the pro- prietors was held at the house of Samuel Cummings, innholder in Hollis, April 16, 1764. John Hale was the moderator and Stephen Webster and Stephen Powers were instructed to audit
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
the accounts of the treasurer. At once the attention of the meeting was directed to Plymouth, the future home of many of the men here assembled. First they determined to spend ten days' labor in repairing the road from Salisbury to Plymouth, and requested Ensign Josiah Brown to oversee the work. Next enterprise stole into the meeting and persuaded them to instruct " Ensign David Hobart, Ensign Josiah Brown and Mr. William Nevins to agree with some person or persons to build a saw mill and a grist mill at Plymouth the ensuing summer."
And then piety and devotion, with an unspoken prayer for the future welfare of wives, children, and themselves, found expres- sion in a vote " to hire Mr Nathan Ward to preach four days in Plymouth this spring." This vote was the praise of a dox- ology. The meeting then adjourned.
It was a busy winter in Hollis and in several families in the near-by towns. The men were making implements of husbandry, and the women were spinning and weaving and fashioning gar- ments for men, women, and children. The shoemaker came and sat by the kitchen fire, adding boots and shoes to the accumulat- ing stores in preparation. In the spring many men were going to Plymouth, and when the planting and sowing was done and a habitation was prepared, the women and children would join them, and a new Hollis would spring up in the valley of the Pemigewasset.
The charter of Plymouth is found in another chapter. The sixty-two original grantees were: -
1. Joseph Blanchard, born in Dunstable April 28, 1729, son of Col. Joseph and Rebecca (Hubbard) Blanchard. He lived in Merrimack, Thornton, and Amherst. He represented Merrimack and Monson in the provincial assembly, 1762-1765, and was a selectman and town officer of Merrimack. He was a noted sur- veyor, and rendered valuable assistance in the preparation of the province map, 1771. He was employed by the proprietors, 1763, in laying out lots in this town.
2. William Read, born Chelmsford, Mass., Feb. 25, 1724, son
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THE PROPRIETORS.
of William and Hannah (Bates) Read. He married Lucy Spald- ing and settled in Litchfield, and for him Reed's Ferry was named. He was a selectman and a colonel. He was killed at a raising in Litchfield. He sold his right to Amaziah Pollard, 1764.
3. Oliver Lawrence, born Groton, Mass., March 18, 1728/9, son of Deacon Peleg Lawrence of Groton and Pepperell, Mass. He married, Dec. 27, 1752, Mary Cummings, born April 22, 1734, daughter of Samuel and Prudence (Lawrence) Cummings of Hollis. He settled in Hollis, where he was a selectman, one of the committee of safety, and a soldier in the Revolution. He died in Hollis April 2, 1797.
4. William Nevins, born 1718, lived in Monson and Hollis. See family register in Vol. II.
5. Onesipherus Marsh, settled in Plymouth. See family register.
6. Samuel Goodhue, born April 6, 1696, son of Deacon Joseph Goodhue of Ipswich, Mass. He married Abigail Bartlett and lived in Stratham, Nottingham, and after about 1740 in Hollis. He was a deacon. He died Nov. 7, 1785.
7. Samuel Cummings, born March 6, 1709; lived in Hollis. See family register.
8. Samuel Hale, born Bradford, Mass., 1734, son of Jonathan and Susannah (Tuttle) Hale and a brother of Colonel and Dr. John Hale of Hollis. He was a physician and settled in Orford soon after the date of the charter. He sold his right to Dr. John Hale, 1766.
9. Joseph Warner, probably lived near Portsmouth. He sold his right in 1763 to Abel Webster, who sold the same to Col. David Webster April 13, 1764.
10. Daniel Emerson, born Hollis, Dec. 15, 1746, son of Rev. Daniel Emerson. He was the son of the minister of Hollis and for that reason his youth did not exclude him from membership in the association of the proprietors. He lived in Hollis, where he died Oct. 4, 1820.
11. Thomas Merrill, born 1729, son of Deacon John Merrill
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTHI.
of Concord. He lived in Concord, Pembroke, and Conway. He was four times married, and through life a prominent man of lis time. In 1763 he was styled of Pembroke. He sold his right to Ebenezer Little, 1765.
12. Stephen Powers, born Oct. 28, 1729, son of Capt. Peter and Anna (Keyes) Powers and brother of Rev. Peter Powers. He married, Jan. 5, 1757, Lucy Cummings, born April 18, 1737, daughter of Deacon William and Lucy (Colburn) Cummings. He lived in Hollis.
13. Elnathan Blood, born Dec. 4, 1744, son of Elnathan and Elizabeth (Boynton) Blood of Hollis. He married, June 5, 1766, Deborah Phelps and lived in Hollis. See No. 37.
14. John Willoughby, born 1735, settled in Plymouth. See family register. Son of No. 41.
15. Ebenezer Cummings, born April 17, 1735, son of Deacon William and Lucy (Colburn) Cummings. He married Elizabeth Abbot and lived in Hollis. He died in the army June 1, 1778, leaving eight children.
16. Richard Pierce, born Jan. 8, 1739, son of Ebenezer Pierce of Groton; married, May 22, 1766, Susannah Jewett. He lived in Hollis.
17. Jonas Keyes, born about 1730; settled in Plymonth. See family register.
18. John Hobart, born Groton, Mass., March 30, 1731, son of Gershom and Lydia (Nutting) Hobart. He settled in Cocker- mouth. His right was subsequently owned by Josiah Brown.
19. John Phelps was of Hollis, living in the region of One Pine Hill, where he died. He sold his right, 1764, to Ebenezer Hartshorn.
20. Jotham Cummings, born Dec. 29, 1741; settled in Ply- mouth. See family register.
21. Gershom Hobart, settled in Plymouth. See family register.
22. James Underwood, born Westford, Mass., 1731, son of Joseph Underwood. He lived in Litchfield and was foremost in the affairs of the town, a representative to the provincial assembly
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THE PROPRIETORS.
and to the House of Representatives and a justice of the county court. He sold his right to Ebenezer Hartshorn, 1765.
23. Nahum Powers, born Hollis, April 11, 1741, son of Capt. Peter Powers. He settled in Plymouth. See family register.
24. Jonathan Johnson, lived in Hollis. He marriel in West- ford, Mass., July 4, 1754, Sarah Bates, daughter of Edward and Mary (Snow) Bates. He sold his whole right in the township to Abel Webster Nov. 18, 1763. Abel Webster sold the same to Col. David Webster April 13, 1764.
25. James Cowan of Merrimack surrendered his interest in the charter.
26. Stephen Ames, born Boxford, Mass., Sept. 1, 1712, son of John and Priscilla (Kimball) Ames. The family removed to Groton, Mass., in 1717, where John, the father, was killed by the Indians July 24, 1726. The son Stephen married, April 14, 1731, Jane Robbins and removed, 1739, from Groton to Hollis. He was a soldier in the French and Indian War, selectman, and representative. He was a cousin of Capt. Jeremiah Eames of Northumberland. His son Stephen, born 1739, settled in Cocker- mouth. He sold his right to Dr. John Hall, 1765.
27. Phineas Lund, born April 3, 1723, son of Thomas Lund of Dunstable, surrendered his right in the township.
28. James Nahor was a prominent citizen of Litchfield, a selectman, and many years foremost in town affairs. He sold his right, 1763, to Abel Webster, who sold it to Col. David Webster.
29. William McClure lived in Dunstable, and he or a son William later lived in Merrimack.
30. Abel Webster, settled in Plymouth. See family register.
31. Ebenezer Hartshorn, settled in Plymouth. Sce family register.
32. William Cummings, born Oct. 2, 1741, son of Deacon William and Lucy (Colburn) Cummings of Hollis (see Nos. 12 and 15). He was a school teacher, town clerk, and selectman of Hollis. He married Mehitable Eastman, and in 1790 removed to Hebron, where he died. He sold his right to Abel Webster, 1764.
33. Jonathan Hobart, born Groton, Mass., son of Gershom and
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Lydia (Nutting) Hobart. He lived in Hollis. He sold his right to Col. David Hobart, who sold the same, April 30, 1764, to Col. David Webster.
34. Benjamin Parker, born Aug. 19, 1719, son of Benjamin and Mary (Sawtell) Parker of Groton. He married Alice Woods and lived in Hollis, where he died Feb. 7, 1802. His right was owned by Benjamin Wright and later by Abel Webster.
35. Samuel Thompson lived in Londonderry. He sold his right to James Ryan, who settled in this town.
36. Josiah Brown, settled in Plymouth. See family register.
37. Elnathan Blood, married in Groton, Mass., Nov. 26, 1741, Elizabeth Boynton; lived in Dunstable and Hollis. Eight chil- dren. He sold his right, 1765, to Ebenezer Little, then of New- buryport, Mass.
38. Moses Merrill, born Salisbury, Mass., Oct. 28, 1707. See Merrill register. In 1763 he was residing in Haverhill, Mass. His son Jacob settled in Plymouth.
39. Zachariah Parker, settled in Plymouth. See family register.
40. Amos Phillips, settled in Plymouth. See family register.
41. John Willoughby, lived in Hollis, where he died Feb. 2, 1793. See family register. His right was subsequently owned by Joseph Blanchard, Abel Webster, and David Webster.
42. David Wright, born Groton, Mass., Aug. 19, 1735, son of Samuel and Hannah (Lawrence) Wright; married, Dec. 24, 1761, Prudence Cummings, daughter of Samuel Cummings (No. 7). He lived in Pepperell, Mass. See Cummings register, Vol. II. He sold his right, 1764, to Abel Webster.
43. Thomas McClure, settled in Plymouth. See family register.
44. David Hobart, settled in Plymouth. See family register.
45. Samuel Cummings, born Westford, Mass., Sept. 16, 1718, son of John and Elizabeth (Adams) Cummings. He married, Oct. 2, 1741, Sarah Spalding and removed, 1757, to Dunstable and in 1773 to Cornish, where he died June 6, 1796.
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THE PROPRIETORS.
46. Abner Keyes, born Chelmsford, Mass., 1738, son of Ezekiel Keyes and brother of Jonas Keyes (No. 17). He married, Dec. 30, 1763, Mary Shedd, born Billerica, Mass., July 4, 1743, daughter of William and Mary (Farmer) Shedd. He lived a few years in Rumney and after 1792 in Hancock, where he died 1819.
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