USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > History of Plymouth, New Hampshire; vol. I. Narrative--vol. II. Genealogies, Volume I > Part 5
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47. John Brown, settled in Plymouth. See family register.
48. John Harvell, settled in Plymouth. See family register.
49. James Hobart, settled in Plymouth. See family register.
50. Matthew Patten, born in Ireland May 19, 1719, settled in Bedford 1738; representative, councillor, and Judge of Probate. He was a surveyor and was employed by the proprietors of Plymouth in the summer and autumn of 1763. Joseph Blanchard was the principal surveyor of this town. Mr. Patten surveyed Piermont and other towns in this county. He married Elizabeth McMurphy, daughter of John McMurphy of Londonderry. He died suddenly in a field in Bedford Aug. 27, 1795.
51. Francis Powers, born Hollis July 15, 1745, son of Capt. Peter Powers and brother of No. 12. He married, May 5, 1763, Elizabeth Cummings, born Jan. 1, 1743, daughter of Deacon William and Lucy (Colburn) Cummings (see No. 15). He lived in Hollis. He sold his right to Ephraim Keyes.
52. Peter Hobart, son of Col. David Hobart; settled in Ply- mouth. See family register.
53. William Nutting, born Groton, Mass., Nov. 20, 1712, son of Jonathan and Mary (Green) Nutting. He married, Jan. 18, 1737 /8, Jane Boynton. He lived in Groton, Mass., where he died June 2, 1776.
54. Thomas Davis, lived near Litchfield.
55. Nathaniel Garfield. He was a resident of Merrimack. He sold his right to Samuel Livermore.
56. Jacob Hildreth, born Litchfield May 12, 1739, son of Jacob and Abigail Hildreth; he married Mary Shepard, born Sept. 21, 1749, daughter of Col. John Shepard. He settled in Amherst, where he died Sept. 13, 1815. He sold his right to Joseph Blanchard and Blanchard sold it to Abel Webster.
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
57. Oliver Parker. There were two men of this name and about the same age living in Groton. One of them removed to Stoddard and was a loyalist in the Revolution.
58. Theodore Atkinson, born New Castle Dec. 20, 1697, son of Theodore Atkinson, who was councillor, 1716. He married, Sept. 4, 1732, Hannah ( Wentworth) Plaisted, daughter of Lieut .- Gov. John Wentworth and widow of Samuel Plaisted. He was secretary of the province. He died Sept. 22, 1779. His only son was Theodore Atkinson (No. 60).
59. William Temple, born Ten Hills, Mass., about 1732, son of Robert and Mehitable (Nelson) Temple and a brother of the wife of John Fenton. He was appointed a councillor of the province of New Hampshire April 4, 1761, and was commissioned lieutenant-governor June 15, 1761. It is probable he did not assume any duties under the last appointment.
60. Theodore Atkinson, born 1736, son of Theodore Atkinson (No. 58); married Frances Deering, who married second Gov. John Wentworth. He was secretary of the province. He died Oct. 28, 1769. Two towns in this State, Francestown and Deer- ing, were gallantly named in her honor.
61. Meshech Weare, born June 16, 1713, son of Nathaniel and Mary (Wait) Weare. He was a member of the provincial assembly twenty years and three years the Speaker of the House. From 1747 to 1776 he was a Justice of the Superior Court of the province and subsequently Chief Justice of the State. He was a colonel of a regiment of the province. He was a delegate in the five provincial congresses and eight and one-half years president of the council and chairman of the committee of safety. He was the first governor under the permanent constitution. He died Jan. 14, 1786. He sold his right to Abel Webster, 1764. ..
62. Joseph Smith was a prominent citizen of Newmarket, a colonel in the militia, and a representative many years to the assembly of the province. He sold his right to Abel Webster, 1763.
63. David Nevins, settled in Plymouth. He was added to the original list by vote of the proprietors. See family register.
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TOWN BOUNDARIES.
V. TOWN BOUNDARIES.
A FTER all the towns in this vicinity had been surveyed and granted, and soon after the settlement of Plymouth, a new survey of the boundaries of the townships was ordered and con- summated. The amended bounds were established in 1767 by Robert Fletcher of Dunstable, a noted surveyor of his time. It was the province of Fletcher's survey to review the existing bounds and to sever tracts from townships that contained an area in excess of the quantity stated in the charter. In this revision of town lines there was severed from the towns in this vicinity one oblong tract fourteen miles in length and one mile and forty rods in width, containing nine thousand and six hundred acres. It extended from near the north line of Rumney to the extension of the south line of Cardigan. It was bounded on the east by Campton and Plymouth and on the west by Rumney, Cocker- mouth, and Cardigan. At this time Cardigan included Orange and a considerable part of Alexandria.
This tract was thus restored to the king's domain, and like other public land, was subject to grant by the governor. When land was at his disposal and his personal friends were peti- tioners, the governor was never idle. The greater part of this land was soon granted. The northern part was granted, March 8, 1773, to Col. Samuel Holland, surveyor-general, formerly a major in the French War and subsequently a Tory. From the north end of the reservation Holland's grant extended south four miles and one hundred rods. It was one mile and forty rods in width and contained three thousand one hundred and five acres. Loon Pond, estimated at one hundred and forty acres, was in
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
nearly the centre of the grant, and the southern extremity was about one mile south of Baker's River. Next south was the grant of three thousand acres to Col. John Fenton, which is dated Feb. 19, 1773. It extended south from Holland's grant four miles and sixty rods to the north line of Cardigan extended. It was bounded on the west by Cockermouth, and for several years it was wholly within the town of Plymouth.
The remainder, or southern part of the Fletcher reservation, extending, same width, from the southern extremity of Fenton's grant to the south line of Cardigan extended, containing about three thousand acres, remained ungranted land and became a part of Cardigan and later of Alexandria.
The Fletcher survey did not cover the northern boundary of Plymouth, but the amended location of the northeast corner of Cockermouth was a thorn in the flesh of the proprietors. It was apparent to all concerned that an equitable and final adjustment of the line between Campton and Plymouth was a serious prob- lem which must be solved. The end was delayed, but the trouble finally came with force and certainty.
The proprietors, at a meeting assembled at the meeting-house July 20, 1772, voted to apply for a new charter and " Chose Samuel Livermore, Esq and Capt. David Hobart a committee to wait on his Excellency the Governor in order to procure a new charter of the township of Plymouth "
The committee preferred a petition alleging that
the northeast corner of Cockermouth was never determined by any authoritative survey except what was done by Robert Fletcher, Esq. . . . by which survey the said town ship of Plymouth was found to con- tain more land than had before been supposed . .. that some of the lots improved and settled do not fall within the quantity of 17000 acres although they are litterally within the bounds of their charter. The Petrns therefore pray your Excellency and honors consideration on the premises and that a new survey may be made of said town of Plymouth to begin at Pemigewasset river opposite the northwest corner of New Holderness and run from thence on a straight line to a hemlock tree newmarked by said Robert Fletcher Esq nineteen miles on a certain
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TOWN BOUNDARIES.
course from Connecticut river and from thence south thirty degrees west five miles and a half to the north east corner of Cardigan, and from thence south thirty seven degrees west six miles to the south east corner of Cardigan, thence turning easterly and running on the same point that the southerly sideline of Cardigan runs to the line commonly called the patent line, thence by said patent line to Pemigewasset river, thence by said river to the bounds first mentioned.
The petition was dismissed, but it is an expression of the atti- tude of the proprietors of Plymouth at this time. It is an interesting document and is found in Town Papers, Vol. XIII, p. 223.
The patent line named in the petition was the boundary line of the Masonian Proprietors, being the northern line of Alex- andria and New Chester, as those towns were constituted at that time. The part of New Chester adjacent to the patent line is now Bridgewater, and to Alexandria has been added the eastern part of Cardigan, and from that town Danbury has been severed.
By the terms of the charter of Plymouth the southern ex- tremity of the grant terminated in a point on the patent line. The point or extremity of the township, in terms of the present time, was very near the northern point of Danbury.
By the terms of the petition for a new charter, the oblong tract reserved by the Fletcher survey, except the northern part of Colonel Holland's grant, is included. In this petition for a new charter Col. John Fenton joins with the proprietors and alleges that his grant of three thousand acres lies within the proposed bounds. In 1767 the proprietors of Plymouth sued the pro- prietors of Cockermouth for trespass on the common land. The. contention in this direction was practically ended by the Fletcher .. survey, which set apart a tract of land between the two towns. over a mile in width. If this arrangement of the lines guaran- teed peace on the western border of Plymouth, it threw down the gauntlet of war on the north. The Fletcher survey removed the northeast corner of Cockermouth to the south, and the proprietors of Campton claimed that a change in the location of the corner of Cockermouth in like manner changed the line between Camp- VOL. I .- 4
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
ton and Plymouth. With an equal opportunity many towns would have maintained a stubborn contention. The proprietors of Plymouth and Campton wisely discussed the situation in a friendly manner. Moses Little, a leader in Campton, owned many acres and had many friends in Plymouth, and there were many in both towns whose friendship was never weakened by contention.
Equal uncertainty and confusion concerning the boundaries and the lands owned by the proprietors existed in other towns. The condition was intolerable. Finally, by concerted action, in 1779 committees were chosen by the proprietors of many of the towns in Grafton County to meet in a convention for a general discussion of the situation, and for the discovery of some measures of relief. The towns embraced in the call for a convention were Plymouth, Campton, Rumney, Cockermouth, Thornton, Warren, Wentworth, Dorchester, Benton, Ellsworth, Lyme, Orford, Pier- mont, and Haverhill. The delegates representing the propri- etors of Plymouth were Samuel Livermore, Samuel Emerson, and Moses Dow. The convention of delegates assembled at the house of Col. David Webster in Plymouth, Wednesday, Sept. 15, 1779. In the convention were several residents of Rocking- ham County, who were proprietors of one or more of the towns embraced in the call. In a discussion of measures to harmonize and adjust the conflicting interests, the convention, in different towns, was in session twenty days. Samuel Livermore was paid for attending five days, Moses Dow for eight days, and Samuel Emerson, who was clerk of the convention, for twenty days.
At a final session, held Dec. 2, 1779, at Rumney, the dele- gates of seven towns agreed to submit the entire controversy to Ebenezer Thompson of Durham, Joseph Badger of Gilmanton, Ebenezer Smith of Meredith, Levi Dearborn of North Hampton, and John Smith of Newmarket. It was further agreed that the committee of the seven towns entering into the compact should petition the legislature for an act confirming the decision of the referees. The seven towns joining in this proceeding were
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TOWN BOUNDARIES.
Plymouth, Campton, Rumney, Warren, Wentworth, Piermont, and Orford.
An act providing that the decision of the referees should be " binding and conclusive in law upon all persons and parties whatsoever " was passed Oct. 27, 1780. In January following, the proprietors of Plymouth chose Abel Webster and Josiah Brown " to wait on the Court's committee in settling the bounds of the town." By the terms of the compact the expense of the referees was to be paid by the seven towns. The proprietors of Plymouth had no money in the treasury, but they were still rich in lands. They ordered a sale of land, and a vendue was held at the house of Adam Brown. Three lots, of one hundred acres each, were sold to Joseph Kimball for one' hundred and seventy- nine silver dollars. The referees were paid £35 12s. 1d., or very nearly $118. Abel Webster was paid £1 17s. 6d. for five days and Josiah Brown fifteen shillings for three days, in attend- ance upon the referees.
The referees, or legislative committee, surveyed the seven town- ships which agreed to abide by their decision, established the bounds, and made a final report Sept. 4, 1784. The bounds of Plymouth, as determined by the referees, follow : -
Beginning at a pine tree on the western bank of the Pemigewasset river opposite Holderness corner where the line of Campton crosses the river ; thence on Campton line south eighty six degrees west about five miles to a hemlock tree the north east corner of Cockermouth ; thence south thirty degrees west five miles one half mile and forty rods to a beech tree; thence south thirty seven degrees west five miles and two hundred and eighty five rods to a beech tree on Grafton line; thence south sixty five degrees east two hundred and sixty rods to a beech tree standing on the Curve line [patent line]; thence following the curve line about twelve miles and a half mile to a white oak tree stand- ing on the bank of Pemigewasset river; thence by said river to the bounds began at.
The west line adjoining Cockermouth and Cardigan was almost exactly the line described in the petition for a new charter in 1772. In the location of the north line Plymouth was aggrieved
52
HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
and Campton was largely benefited. The finding of the referees was final in law, but it opened the door to new contention and several petitions for review.
First, the proprietors of Cockermouth had refused to sign the agreement to refer the location of all the boundaries to the referees, and as soon as the award was made they chose a com- mittee consisting of Richard Cutts Shannon, Samuel Hobart, Edmund Shattuck, Noah Worcester, and John Hale to petition the legislature for a review. Plymouth at the same time chose Samuel Livermore and Samuel Emerson " to make a defense against a petition laid before said court by the proprietors of Cockermouth." A day for the hearing was several times an- nounced and as many times postponed. In the meantime Samuel Livermore, Samuel Emerson, and Jacob Merrill on the part of Plymouth, and Richard Cutts Shannon and Edmund Shattuck on the part of Cockermouth, executed an agreement by which the issue was amicably settled. It was agreed by both parties that the line established by the referees should forever remain the line between the towns. The proprietors of Plymouth quit- claimed to the proprietors of Cockermouth all the land west of the line which had been formerly claimed by them, while on the other hand the proprietors of Cockermouth agreed to withdraw all suits and petitions and pay the costs, and also quitclaimed to Plymouth all lands east of the new town line, except the lots already appropriated by proprietors of Cockermouth between the glebe lot and the southeast corner of Cockermouth.
In 1763, as stated in a former chapter, the proprietors estab- lished the northern line of their township to their unqualified satisfaction. The survey was made by Joseph Blanchard, and the line was subsequently known as Blanchard's line. It ex- tended from the northeast corner of the town in a direct course to a point, very nearly, in the line of Rumney where the railroad enters that town. The line between Campton and Plymouth at the present time is the same, except that for other reasons a cor- ner of Campton adjacent to Loon Pond was annexed to Plymouth
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TOWN BOUNDARIES.
in 1793. The land adjacent to the Blanchard line was divided into lots and distributed among the proprietors in the first divi- sion. Here were fertile farms and here were the homes of some of the most prominent citizens of the town.
The line between Campton and Plymouth established by the legislative committee, as shown on the map, began at the north- east corner of Plymouth and extended westerly in a direct course to the northeast corner of Cockermouth, which is the southeast corner of Rumney. In other words, the line established by the committee, compared with the Blanchard line, severed from Plymouth a tract containing 1688 acres. It was bounded on the west by Rumney, on the north and south by the two locations of the town line. By this proceeding the owners of farms and land in this severed tract were not disturbed in their possessions. To the town it was a serious loss both in population and in taxable estates. To the proprietors it was simply a pecuniary loss. They became accountable to the proprietors of Campton for the original value of the land before improvements were made. Evidently there was an understanding that this severed tract would be re- stored by law to Plymouth whenever the proprietors of Plymouth satisfied the reasonable demands of the proprietors of Campton. The early proceedings of the negotiation are unknown, but the final agreement is a matter of record. The proprietors of Campton in December, 1791, chose Col. Moses Little, Moses Baker, Esq., and John Southmaid a committee with full powers to represent their interests, and in April following the proprie- tors of Plymouth selected Capt. Samuel Dearborn, Lieut. Elisha Bean, and Samuel Marsh with full powers to consummate a settle- ment. Articles of agreement were executed May 9, 1792.
By the conditions of the agreement the proprietors of Campton surrendered all claims to 1688 acres between the committee and Blanchard lines, except sixty-four acres which was common land, and on their part the proprietors of Plymouth deeded to the pro- prietors of Campton one tract, containing 2400 acres, lying east of the Crawford Farm and north of Newfound Lake, twenty
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTHI.
fifty-acre lots in the first range south of Newfound Lake and adjacent to the east line of Cardigan, as that town was then con- stituted; the west half of the two-hundred-acre lot No. 6, south of Newfound Lake; two fifty-acre lots, Nos. 4 and 5 in the second range, south of Newfound Lake, the last named lots containing 1100 acres, or 3564 acres in all.
· The act of the legislature declaring the Blanchard line to be the north line of Plymouth and annexing to this town all the area between the committee line and Blanchard line was approved June 21, 1793. In this act there was also a clause uniting to Plymouth two other tracts of land, owned by Nathaniel Peabody and described as the Everett Farm and the Withe Lot. The his- tory of the lots of land added to Plymouth is discovered in the registry of deeds. Capt. Edward Everett of Rumney sold one hundred and fifty acres with buildings to Nathaniel Peabody and Samuel Atkinson. On account of the uncertainty of the town lines this farm was described as in Rumney or in Campton or in both towns. Atkinson sold his interest to Peabody. In the mean- time Peabody purchased a lot, containing fifty acres, of Luke Withee of Derryfield. These are the two tracts annexed to Ply- mouth in 1793. Peabody sold both tracts to James Harriman, and Harriman sold to Daniel Little, and in 1796 Little sold the whole to Stephen Wells of Plymouth.
In marked contrast with the prevailing literal construction of law our fathers sometimes construed the statutes from the stand- ard of their desires. When the committee or referees declared in 1784 that a line from the northeast corner of Plymouth to the northeast corner of Cockermouth was the boundary between Campton and Plymouth, those who lived on the tract severed from Plymouth gave a liberal construction to the legal effect of the decision and regarded the boundary established by the com- mittee like the student's view of the equator as an imaginary line. They refused to be joined to Campton and continued to pay taxes, to vote, and to hold office in Plymouth.
It has been represented in another connection that nearly or quite
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TOWN BOUNDARIES.
all the earlier settlements were made in the northern and eastern parts of the town and near Baker's and Pemigewasset rivers. With the exception of the sale of a very few lots, the southern part of original Plymouth, now in Hebron, was common land, owned in one tract by the proprietors. This part of the town was not surveyed and divided into lots until 1788.
In 1791 a few families were living in this part of the town. Dr. Abijah Wright, who was also a farmer, was living about one mile north of Newfound Lake. Uriah Pike removed to this sec- tion in 1790, and the other names appended to the petition for incorporation were mainly new arrivals. In their mention of a settlement of a minister they must refer to the ministry of Rev. Samuel Perley, then of Cockermouth. When the subject was first suggested the town of Plymouth made no objection and ap- pointed a committee to join with the petitioners concerning the establishment of a dividing line. Their petition to the General Court follows : -
The Petition of us the Subscribers humbly sheweth that by a late establishment of the Boundaries of the Town of Plymouth (of which we are Inhabitants) our Connection with said Town of Plymouth is rendered exceedingly difficult as the road at present is new & in a great Measure unoccupied & the Length of way from the principal part of us nearly Six miles to the now Centre of said Plymouth, & further, that the greater part of us have been at a great expence in Settling a Gospel minister & Supporting the Gospel among ourselves without any assist- ance of the Town of Plymouth aforesaid & having previously obtained approbation of the Inhabitants of said Plymouth by a unanimous Vote herewith inclos'd & preferrd to Your honours, Signifying that our desires may be fully gratify'd. - Wherefore we pray that Such a part of said Plymouth as is expressd by meets & Bounds (in said Vote herewith preferr'd by the Bearer William Cummings) may be set off & incor- porated into a Township by the name of Weston & that we the Inhabit- ants of the same may be invested with Town Privileges in Such way as Your Honours in Wisdom may Judge fit.
And We your Honour's Petitioners as in duty bound shall ever pray. --
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HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH.
Plymouth Dec. 7, 1791
Eben Kendall
John W Kendall
Evan Bartlett
Josiah Hobart
Jacob Lovejoy
Benjamin Hazelton
Uriah Pike
Jacob Perkins Jonathan Morss
Simeon Lovejoy
James Colburn David Cheney
Ebenezer Kendall Ju.
Samuel Hazaltun
Jarahmeel Bowers
Wm Cummings Jun' Jonathan Bartlett
The boundary line between Plymouth and the new town of Hebron is described as follows: -
Beginning at a hemlock tree on the line between Plymouth and Bridgewater one mile and one hundred and thirty seven rods easterly from Newfound lake; thence north seventeen degrees west two miles and two hundred and twenty six rods to the south west corner of Benjamin Taylor's lot; thence north forty five degrees west forty eight rods to the south east corner of lot No. three in the second range ; thence north sixty degrees west between lots Nos. three and four in the first and second ranges, north of Newfound lake, and so on in the same course to Cockermouth.
These courses are shown by a dotted line on the proprietors' map. The name of Hebron was substituted for Weston, and the town, including also a part of Cockermouth, was incorporated June 15, 1792.
In the division of a town the title of the original proprietors was not changed. At the time Hebron was incorporated the pro- prietors of Plymouth owned several lots in the new town which had been surveyed, but which had not been sold or divided among the propriety. Nearly all of this land was conveyed, as formerly stated, to the proprietors of Campton.
As early as 1795 the common land was nearly consumed and an early dissolution of the propriety was foreshadowed. The busi- ness of the later meetings was limited to a brief contention with the proprietors of Cardigan, and to a final adjustment of a few outstanding accounts.
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