History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and representative citizens, Part 46

Author: Hazlett, Charles A
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : Richmond-Arnold
Number of Pages: 1390

USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and representative citizens > Part 46

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Province of

New Hamps ( In the House of Representatives Jany 21, 1763

The party being heard on the within Petition- Voted & Resolved that the Warrant Referr'd unto in the within Petition is a good & Lawfull War- rant, the want of seals notwithstanding, and also resolved that all the warrants given by ny selectmen or assessors singly or con-Junctly within this Province for the Collecting of any Rates or Taxes for the year 1762 shall be Looked upon and accounted legal and Valid the want of seal or Seals notwithstanding S. Sherburne Speaker.

424

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY

In Council Jany 22d 1763

Read & concurr'd with this addition (viz), That if the Plaintiffs mentioned in the within Petition, shall withdraw their suits & not prosecute them, that in that case no complaint be Receiv'd for cost in such actions from the constable or other Defendant in any of the actions aforesaid.

T. Atkinson, Junr Secry.

Province of

New Hampr ( In the house of Representatives Jany 25th 1763. Read and Concurred.

Consented to

H. Sherburne Speaker. B. WENTWORTH.

Petition for representation in the Geenral Assembly.

To his Excellency Jonathan Belcher Esq. Capt. Genll and Commander in cheif in and over his Majties Province of New Hampshire, the honble the council & house of Representatives conven'd in Genll Assembly.

The humble Petition of Capt Joshua Weeks Ebenezr Johnson & Matthias Haines, Select men for the parrish of Greenland in sd Province In behalfe of the said Parrish, most humbly Sheweth-

That the Parrish of Greenland for several years past since they have been set of from Portsmouth have not had the Bennefio tf having a voat in makeing choice of any person to sit in the Genll Assembly, and therefore are humbly of opinion that they are much Grieved in not having any person to represent them in Genll Assembly nor any Vote in the choice of any other :

Therefore yor humble Petitioners most humbly prays For themselves and in Behalfe of said parrish of Greenland That your excellencie & honrs &c will as in yor wisdom you shall see meet to make such order act or Law so that your Petitioners may have the liberty of other Towns or precincts to have the choice of some one of their Freeholders to Represent them in the Genll Assembly & your Petitioners as in Duty bound shall ever pray

JOSHUA WEEKS EBENEZER JOHNSON MATTHIAS HAINES

May the 10th 1732. In the house of Representatives.

Voted, that the prayer of the Petition be answered and that his Excel- lencie be desired to Issue out a precept for an assembly man to appeare at the next sessions in the fall-

James Jeffry, Cir. Assm

May the 12th 1732. In council May 13, 1732 Read & Concurred R. Waldron, Sec'y

I assent to the foregoing vote, May 15, 1732.

J. BELCHER

Portsmouth votes relating to Greenland

Att a Genll Town meeting held in Portsmo ye 4th June, 1705 : Where as ye Town of Portsmo payes £100 p Annum for ye support of

425

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

their ministers in sd Town- Att the Request of ye inhabitants of Greenland part of sd Town considering ye Distance of Ground ye number of persons & ye Danger of passing to Public worship.

Voted, That ye inhabitants of Greenland be paid out of the Town stock their proportion of sd £100 During ye Maintenance of an able Minister amongst them and no longer & ye sd Proportion be yearly, Proportiond by the Selectmen for time being ye Bounds of Greenland to be on ye south side of coll Packers farme.

Pr Samll Keais, Town clerk.

True Coppy out of ye third Book of Records for Portsmo : foll. 12: p Josh. Peirce, Town cler.

15 Mar. 1719-20

Att a Genll Town meeting in Portsmo ye 8th April, 1706,

1706. Voted, That ye Inhabitants of Greenland in this Town being freed from paying ye proportion of Rates for ye Ministrye fix'd att Straberry Bank in consideration of their maintaining a minister amongst themselves ye sd Inhabitants of Greenland having procured yt they may have 150 acres of land out of ye comons lying & being att Greenland : Bounded to ye Sow west End of ye Great Swamp & ye sd 150 acres to be taken out or Deductd from wt may fall to ye share of sd inhabitants of Greenland of sd comons when- ever there shall be a Division of all ye Towns comons ye sd 150 acres to be laid out by ye Lott layers where it may be most convenient for ye ministry & school for ye use of that part of ye Town.

Samll Keais, Town Cler.

True coppy from ye 3d Book of Record for Portsmo foll: 13th Josh : Peirce, Town Cler.

15th Mar. 1719-20.

And That the Parish of Greenland be bounded upon the Great Bay by the farm of ye widow Jackson, Joshua Peirce, & Israel March; & so to Packers bridge, and thence to Joshua Hainses, M Cates & Edwd Ayras's farm and from thence southwesterly to Hampton bounds; and that these Present Inhabitants with the lands and estates they live upon & whosoever shall live upon them hereafter or build & Inhabit within the limitts afore- said, shall pay their Parish Taxes to Greenland.

The Above is an Extract out of ye Council book pass'd by the Genll Assembly ye 28th of July. 1714.

Attest. Richd Waldron, Cler. con.

Taverns .- At a town-meeting held November II, 1771, it was voted that three taverns could not be kept "on the parade, so called." It seems in the early days the people exercised a care over the "taverns" and tavern-keepers, for at the same meeting it was voted that Mr. John Folsom should not keep a tavern, and then a petition be presented to the court "that he may not be licensed to keep a tavern, and if he now is licensed, that said license be abrogated and rendered null and void."

War of the Revolution .- The first vote on the old town-book concerning

426

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY

the Revolutionary struggle is under date July 12, 1774, when it was voted that Clement March and William Weeks be appointed delegates to attend the Provincial Congress to be held at Exeter for the choice of delegates to the Continental Congress. Thus was Greenland early awake to the importance of the then impending struggle.

January 9, 1775, the town voted to approve "of the measures agreed. upon by the Continental Congress," and also voted "that John Haven, William Weeks, James Brackett, Clement March, and Greenleaf Clark be a committee to carry such measures into execution."

April 21, 1775, it was voted "to send to the aid and assistance of our brethren of the Massachusetts Bay in their defence against the ministerial troops."

"Voted, That twelve men be immediately enlisted and sent for the above purpose."

"Voted, That said men be allowed two shillings lawful money per day each, and be found necessary provisions during this continuance in said service."

"Voted, That Captain Nathan Johnson enlist said men."

Town Stock of Ammunition .- May 1, 1775, it was voted to procure ten fire-arms and a barrel of powder.

July 17th, a committee was appointed to ascertain the number of persons not provided with guns.

Hiring Soldiers .- It appears that the recruiting officer was abroad in the land during the Revolutionary struggle, as well as during the late War of the Rebellion, for under date April 2, 1777, the town

"Voted, That Mr. James Brackett and Lieut. David Simpson be a com- mittee to go to Durham to endeavor to hire soldiers to serve for this town in the Continental service."

It was also "voted, to pay the expense that the officers of the militia were at in treating the soldiers to encourage them to enlist on Tuesday, April the 3d, and Wednesday, April the 3d."

It was also "voted, to pay a bounty of $20 to those who should enlist for three years, or during the present war with Great Britain."

Annexation to Massachusetts .- The following is a list of those in Green- land who, in 1739, petitioned to be annexed to Massachusetts : Samll. Weeks, Joshua Weeks, Benjn. Macres, Samll Chapman, Pennel Chapman, Ebenr. Johnson, Matthias Harris, Lewis Harris, James Johnson, Samll. Davis, John Weeks, Jr., Ebenr. Johnson, Jr., Samuel Weeks, Jr., Joseph Hill, John John- son, George Kennison, Joseph Melon, Joseph Weeks, Samll. King, Joshua Macres, Robert Bryon, Jr., Jona. Dockum, Jr., Jno. Dockum, Robert Bryon, Jno. Watson, Tucker Cate, Jno. Rawlins, Wm. Sympson, Samll. Bryon, Jno. Lang, Jedediah Weeks, David Dearborn, Jno. Weeks, Walter Weeks, Matthias Weeks, Benja. Kennison, Jona. Weeks, James Cate, Enoch Clark, Bracket Johnson, Samll. Hiex, Henry Clark, Elias Philbrook, Beja. Philbrook, Joseph Grant, Jona. Weeks, Henry Clark, Jr., John Johnson, Elisha Bryon, Nathl. Huggin, Danll. Aldin, Jr., Nathan Johnson, Jr., Joseph Nelson, Jr., Leonard Weeks, and Wm. Walles.

THE COMMON, HAMPTON FALLS, N. H.

TOWN HALL AND POLLARD PARK, PLAISTOW, N. H.

SOLDIERS' MONUMENT, GIFT OF A. G. POLLARD, PLAISTOW, N. H.

POLLARD GRADED SCHOOL, PLAISTOW, N. II.

429

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

Civil History .- The town of Greenland was incorporated in 1703. The first record of which we have any knowledge is under date March 14, 1749, as follows :

"Att a legall meeting of the Inhabitants of the Parish of Greenland held at the meeting-house on March 13, 1748-49.

"Voted, Clement March, Esq., moderator; Walter Weeks, clerk.

"Voted, Daniel Lunt, Ebenezer Johnson, Walter Weeks, selectmen.

"Voted, William Rains, Jr., Nathan Marston, assessors. 1

"Voted, Samll. Hains, Jr., constable.

"Voted, Clemtt March, Esq., Enoch Clark, viewers.

"Voted, Joseph Clark, Francis Berry, tythingmen.

"Voted, Joseph Maloon, W. Jinkins, survs. of highways.

"Voted, Natll Grow, B. Kenniston, hog constables.

"Voted, Will. Berry, Joseph Hains, to take account of the heads and stock. "Voted, Henry Clark, Jr., John Watson, fence-viewers.

"Voted, Clemtt March, Esq., Danl. Lunt, Tho. Packer, Esq., a committee to settle the account of the parish with the selectmen for the years 1744, 1745. "Voted, Ja. Nud, John Johnson, to settle the value of the lands in the parish."

Enoch Clark, Walter Weeks, and Ebenezer Johnson were selectmen in 1750.

Conspicuous among the votes at the early town-meetings were those relat- ing to the ministry. Nearly the entire business transacted by the town was in relation to regulating the minister's salary, collecting his rate, etc.

The Congregational Church in Greenland was organized in July, 1706, consisting of twenty-nine members, whose names are as follows: William Philbrick, John Cate, Ebenezer Johnson, Joshua Haines, Samuel Foss, Richard White, Joshua Weeks, Samuel Weeks, Hannah Lewis, Elinor Johnson, Mary Philbrook, Margaret Johnson, Judith Cate, Comfort Weeks, Mary Whidden, Ellis Haines, Prudence Philbrook, Martha Philbrook, Elinor Berry, Elizabeth Berry, Hannah Brick, Susannah Foss, Mary Foss, Abigail Burnham, Dorothy Crockett, Sarah Babbe, Sarah Kenstone, James Sherburne, - Sherburne.

Pastors .- Rev. William Allen was ordained July 15, 1707. Died Septem- ber 8, 1760, aged eighty-four years.

Rev. Samuel MacClintock was ordained as colleague with Mr. Allen, November 3, 1756. Died April 27, 1804, aged seventy-two.

Rev. James Armstrong Neal was ordained May 22, 1805. Died July 18, 1808, aged thirty-four.

Rev. Ephraim Abbott was ordained October 27, 1813. Dismissed October 28, 1828.

Rev. Samuel Wallace Clark was ordained August 5, 1829. Died August 17, 1847, aged fifty-two.

Rev. Edwin Holt was installed March 8, 1848. Dismissed January 7, 1851.

Rev. Edward Robie was ordained February 25, 1852, and is the present pastor having served fifty-two years.

The present church edifice was built in 1756, was remodeled in 1834, and

430

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY

renovated again in 1881. It is the second church edifice occupied by the society.

George Brackett, Esq., who died June 23, 1825, aged eighty-eight, gave in trust to the Massachusetts Society for promoting Christian knowledge $5,000, on conditions that that society pay $200 annually to the pastor of the Congregational Church in Greenland.

Mr. Brackett was very desirous of doing good with his property. He founded the academy in Greenland which bears his name. He gave $2,600 to the academy in Hampton, also considerable sums to other charitable objects. The gift of $5,000 to the Massachusetts Society for promoting Christian knowledge was made six or seven years before his death.

Francis March, who died in New York in 1858, aged seventy-one, a native of Greenland, left by will a legacy of $5,000 to the Congregational Church and Society for the support of their minister.

The clock on the Congregational Church was presented to the town by Simeon S. and Abby Barrell Brackett in 1909, in memory of their children, Ellen Augusta and Colborn Barrell, who died in their twenty-sixth and twenty-third years.

Mr. Brackett is a life long resident of the town and a direct descendant of the first immigrant, Anthony Brackett.

Rev. Samuel MacClintock .- A worthy patriot during the Revolution was Rev. Samuel MacClintock, D. D., pastor of the Congregational Church. He was the son of William MacClintock, who lived at Medford, Mass., where Samuel was born May 1, 1732. He graduated at Princeton in 1751. He settled in the ministry at Greenland in 1756, where he had supplied the desk for the aged Mr. Allen. He was of warm temperament, and encouraged enlistments in the army destined for the overthrow of the French power in America. That his practice might tally with his preaching, he volunteered as chaplain for Col. Goffee's regiment. He continued with his regiment until after the fall of Montreal and its return to Crown Point, which place he left September 22d and returned home, accompanied by Moses Ham, Samuel Sleeper, and Henry Hill as a guard. In the War of the Revolution he warmly espoused the patriot cause, went into active service, officiated as chaplain, "in turn with other clergymen in the province," for the New Hampshire troops in the vicinity of Boston in 1775, and was the regularly appointed chaplain of Stark's regiment of 1775, and Cilley's of 1776, the former ever speaking of him with pleasure as "my chaplain." Dr. MacClintock died April 27, 1804, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. Rev. William Allen, who was ordained July 15, 1707, as pastor, and continued over fifty-three years, died September 8, 1760. His grave in the Greenland Cemetery was but poorly marked until about 1890 when Mrs. Caroline A. Weeks raised a nice marble stone to mark his resting place. (See second column for Methodist Church.)

Methodist Church .- The first Methodist sermon preached in Greenland was in August, 1808, by Rev. George Pickering.

In July, 1808, he organized a church, consisting of forty members, among whoin were the following persons, the only names preserved in the history of the organization : Samuel Hatch, Sr., and his wife, Polly Hatch, Samuel Hatch, Jr., William Simpson and his wife Abigail, Abigail Packer, Thomas

431

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

Chapman and Sally, his wife, Joseph Clark and Comfort, his wife, Isaiah Berry and Elizabeth, his wife, Mary Marston, Olive Snell, and Elizabeth Gookin.

The pastors of the church from its organization to the present, with the year of the appointment of each and not the time of service, are as follows : 1809, George Pickering; 1810, John Brodhead; 1811, Orlando Hinds; 1812, Lewis Bates; 1813, Jonathan Cheney; 1814, William Hinman; 1815, Martin Ruter; 1816, Caleb Dustin; 1817, A. Metcalf (a local preacher who supplied the church until 1835) ; 1835, Russell H. Spaulding; 1836, J. H. Patterson; 1837, Samuel Prescott; 1838, E. D. Trickey; 1840, A. H. Worthing; 1841, John Smith; 1842, Matthew Newhall; 1844, Richard Newhall; 1845, James Adams; 1847, Franklin Furber; 1849, Benjamin R. Hoyt; 1851, Silas Green ; 1853, James Thurston; 1855, Lorenzo Draper; 1856, N. L. Chase; 1858, J. W. Guernsey ; 1860, Charles Young; 1861, Eleazer Smith; 1863, George S. Barnes; 1865, Nelson Green; 1867, A. C. Manson; 1869, George N. Bryant ; 1871, Fred. D. Chandler ; 1873, Hugh Montgomery ; 1875, N. M. D. Granger ; 1877, George W. Ruland; 1880, W. E. Bennett; 1882, W. H. Jones; 1884, O. S. Baketel : 1887, D. W. Downs ; 1888, S. P. Heath; 1889, Mellen Howard ; 1891, J. W. Adams; 1894, T. D. Folsom; 1896, F. O. Tyler; 1899, A. E. Draper. The present pastor is Rev. L. Bragg.

The first church edifice was erected in 1815. Previous to this worship was held in private houses. In November, 1836, the church edifice was destroyed by fire. The present edifice was erected the following year, 1837. It was quite thoroughly remodeled in 1872.

Brackett Academy was incorporated by act of the Legislature of New Hampshire, A. D. 1824. Its title-name was derived from its principal bene- factor, George Brackett, Esq., whose family were among the earliest settlers on that beautiful and fertile tract of land in the town of Greenland bordering the southeastern shore of the Great Bay, and known in the vicinity as the "Bay-side."

The sum of $2,000 was granted by Mr. Brackett to the trustees named in the act of incorporation, for the purpose of founding a literary institution for the higher education of the youth of the community in which he and his ancestors lived. Additional funds to the amount of about two thousand dollars appear to have been contributed by others, citizens of the town and friends of popular education.

The first meeting of the board of trustees was holden August 1I, 1826. It consisted of Rev. Ephraim Abbot (afterwards principal), Rev. Huntington Porter, Nathan Parker, Stephen Pickering, and J. W. March. In the mean time, between the date of the act of incorporation and the first meeting, funds had been procured, material and labor contributed by the citizens, to erect quite an imposing edifice, according to the standard of architecture of those earlier days.

The preamble of the constitution drafted by the Rev. Ephraim Abbot, a learned and progressive Congregational minister of the town, is a model of excellent English, as well as a concise and expressive statement of the value and importance of a good education to every community. It reads as follows :

"A serious consideration of the great design of the Parent of the universe in the creation of man, and of the improvements in knowledge and virtue

432

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY

of which the human mind is capable, and a full conviction that youth is the important period, on the improvement or neglect of which depend conse- quences of the highest moment, both to individuals and to the community, have determined me to appropriate, in the following conveyance, a part of the substance wherewith God has blessed me to the purpose of laying the founda- tion of an academy for the instruction of youth, not only in English and Latin grammar, arithmetic, and the sciences, but more especially to teach them the great end and real business of life."

The first principal was Rev. Ephraim Abbot, a Congregational clergyman, settled over the church at Greenland. It is recorded of him that he worked on the building, then being erected, with fore-plane and hewing-axe.

He was also the first president of the board of trustees. He resigned in 1829, both as principal and trustee. Rev. Huntington Porter was the second president of the board, from 1829 to 1840, and Joseph Hale second principal of the academy. The funds contributed being exhausted, as appears by the record in 1830-31, the building was subsequently leased, free of rent, to any competent teacher who applied to the trustees with testimonials as to his fitness. From 1840 to 1876 ex-Governor Ichabod Goodwin was the acting president of the board of trustees. He was succeeded in 1876 by Charles W. Pickering, of Greenland, but the old charter has been so far modified by the Legislature that the town has control under lease from the trustees of the academy building for all purposes, public and literary. This change was made in 1876, in order to induce the town to appropriate a liberal sum of money to remodel and refurnish the building, which was accordingly done. The build- ing is used for the high school, town hall and a room for the selectmen.

Military Record .- Greenland during the late Rebellion furnished thirty- eight men for the service, and the bounties paid amounted to $24,184. The following is a list of their names, as far as we have been able to secure them :

Jeremiah Mahoney, Peter Barry, James Berry, Pierpont Hammond, John Herrington, Isaiah Bugley, John W. Pickering, John P. Weeks, John A. Tucker, Rufus Simpson, Augustus L. Clark, Ebenezer W. Smith, Joseph San- born, Joseph A. Young, James Welch, Ephraim Pickering, Thomas H. Brown, Jacob Davis, Charles T. Farrell, Edward Burleigh, William H. Mix, Solomon Gray, Albert Durgin, Arthur T. Ball, J. O. Keefe, John Gofy, Robert C. Pierce, Ephraim Packer, Lincol Roak, Charles Burleigh, George Ham, John Sherburn, Horatio Littlefield.

The following died in the service :

John W. Pickering, Joseph Sanborn, Jacob Davis, Jeremiah Mahoney, Peter Browman, John Freeland.

Weeks' Public Library .- The initial steps towards the establishment of a public library were taken at the annual town meeting in 1893, when a vote was passed binding the town to an annual appropriation of not less than twenty-five dollars, for that purpose, in accordance with the provisions of the library law. No active steps were taken to carry the vote into effect until the latter part of the year 1896, at which time arrangements were in progress for opening the library, and to that end $100 worth of books were sent to the town from the state.

Before the preparations for opening the library were completed, the trustees were informed that during the previous year Mrs. Caroline A. Weeks,

433

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

of Greenland, had placed funds in the hands of Charles A. Hazlett, of Ports- mouth, having in view the erection of a library building, at some future date, for her native town. As a result the preparations for opening the library were suspended temporarily.

In March, 1897, the town appropriation was increased to $100. In the spring of the same year active steps were taken towards the erection of a library building. A suitable lot was secured and the building was erected during the year.

The structure is forty feet front by thirty feet deep, of the colonial style of architecture, with pilasters of the Corinthian order; it is constructed of pressed brick, with marble trimmings, granite underpinning, slated roof, copper finials, and windows of plate glass. Over the entrance door appears the inscription "Weeks Library," in marble; and above this a marble book with "A. D. 1897" upon its open pages.

The vestibule has a floor of composite marble tiles, and at the left of the entrance a bronze tablet of the Corinthian order bears, in raised letter- ing, the following: "This building erected as a memorial to George Weeks, Mary T. Weeks, and J. Clement Weeks, by Caroline Avery Weeks, MDCCCXCVII." The walls are adorned with life-size oil portraits of those whose memory the institution was designed to perpetuate. The building was constructed and furnished in accordance with plans designed by Mr. Haz- lett. It was dedicated May 19, 1898, with appropriate ceremonies. The volumes now number over 5,000.

C. W. Brewster in his Rambles speaks of the Weeks House. "The oldest house now standing, built in Portsmouth, is the quaint brick house on the Weeks farm in Greenland." This is no blunder, although it may seem like one, for at the time that house was built Greenland was a part of Ports- mouth. We can find no written record of the year of its being built, but a family tradition dates its erection in 1638, by the father of Leonard Weeks. Leonard was born not far from that time, and had four sons: John, born 1668; Samuel, born 1670; Joseph, born 1671; John, born 1674; and two daughters, Mary and Margaret.

From Leonard the present owner and occupant of the farm descended. The house was built on the main road, at that time; but the new road, built nearly a century ago, leaves it a little ways off from the main road at the present time. The house is 36 feet long by 22 feet wide. The speckled ap- pearance of the house is made by having black hard-burned bricks for headers all over the front. The bricks were burnt in front of the house. The walls of the house are eighteen inches thick. It is of two stories; the lower story is eight and one-half feet in height, the second eight. The win- dows were originally of small diamond glass set in lead. The timbers used throughout the house and for the roof are all of hard wood. The beams in the cellar are squared 12 by 14 inches. The sleepers are of red oak, about ten inches in diameter, with the bark on. There are planks on the inside of the walls, and the plastering is on rift wood nailed to the plank.

There are marks of the house being injured by an earthquake, probably in 1755. If tradition is correct, this is the oldest house in New Hampshire. Brewster further says that "The house was evidently built as a sort of gar- rison, with a view of safety from being burnt by the Indians."

CHAPTER XXXIII

HAMPSTEAD

Geographical-Topographical-Petition for a Parrish-Names of Early Settlers-Petitions-The First Settlements-Congregational Church- Military Record.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and representative citizens, Part 46

Author: Hazlett, Charles A Publication date: 1915 Publisher: Chicago : Richmond-Arnold Number of Pages: 1390

Author: Hazlett, Charles A
Publication date: 1915
Publisher: Chicago : Richmond-Arnold
Number of Pages: 1390