History of Rockingham County, New Hampshire and representative citizens, Part 59

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 59

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).

The Sheafe Family .- On an ancient monument within the diocese of Norfolk, of St. George, Norwich, is this inscription:

"Here are buried under this stone, Thomas Sheff and his wife, Marion; Sometyme we warr as yee now bee, And now we are as bee shall yee; Wherefore of your charite, Pray for us to the Trinite. "Obyt. Mccclxxxxiii."

Here, at Cranbrook, Kent, in England, we first find the Sheafe family, of whom it is believed Jacob Sheafe came to America with Rev. Henry Whit- field, and died in Boston. His son, Sampson Sheafe, came to Great Island in 1675, and here was the beginning of the family in this neighborhood. He had at New Castle housing, wharf, and lands, was one of his Majesty's Council, and collector of customs at Portsmouth.

The Jaffrey House .- This brings us to another and the last name of per- sons living at Great Island who had a conspicuous place in civil as well as ecclesiastical matters. In 1677, after Sampson Sheafe had returned to Boston, he contracted with one George Jaffrey to go to Great Island and

534

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY

take charge solely of his goods, housing, orchard, and land, and to do no other business, in consideration of forty pounds lawful money of New England for two years, and to be found and allowed "good and sufficient meat and drink, washing and lodging." In 1682, Jaffrey was tried for an attempt to defraud the revenue, and this matter brought him into con- flict with Rev. Joshua Moodey. It seems he was afterwards forced to flee and his house was taken by the Government, for there is a record, dated May 16, 1684, ordering the "General Assembly to convene at Great Island, at the house late in possession of George Jaffrey," and, again, "the talk is that his (George Jaffrey's) house must be courthouse and prison both, and standing so near the governor, it is judged suitable for both these ends, that he may have the shorter journey to court, and the prisoners may be always under his eye." And last of all there is a note in the journal of Rev. John Pike: "George Jaffrey, Sr., of Portsmouth, one of the Council, journeying from Boston to Piscataqua on a very cold day, was taken sick and died at Ipswich. A man of singular understanding and usefulness among us.'

Among the men of eminence in this ancient town early in the last century Hon. John Frost held a high rank. He was a native of Kittery, Me., born in 1681, and was the son of Maj. Charles Frost ( who was slain by the Indians on the Sabbath, July 4, 1697, as he was returning from meeting), and grandson of Nicholas Frost, an emigrant from England, born in Tiverton about the year 1595, and settled at Sturgeon Creek, in Eliot, in 1636, where he died in 1663. This grandson, Hon. John Frost, in 1702 married Mary Pepperell, sister of Sir William, the baronet.

Hon. John Frost and his lady were early established at Newcastle, where he soon rose to eminence. He was a member of his Majesty's Council, at one time commanded a British ship of war, afterwards pursued the profes- sion of a merchant, and was much distinguished and highly useful in civil life. His place of residence was on an eminence westerly of the .Prescott mansion, commanding a view of the spacious harbor, the river and its table-lands, with the lofty Agamenticus in the distance. Some remains of his extensive wharf may yet be traced.

His family was numerous and highly respectable, one of whom was Madame Sarah Blunt, born in 1713, consort of Rev. John Blunt, third pastor of the church in Newcastle, and after his decease the wife of Hon. Judge Hill. of South Berwick, Me. Hon. John Frost died February 25, 1732, in the fifty-first year of his age.

In the cemetery is a moss-covered monument, which bears unmistakable evidence that the same poet who sketched the above chaste epitaph has also, in as smooth and as strong lines, drawn another marked portraiture :

"To the memory of Rev'd JOHN BLUNT, Pastor of the Church of Christ of this Town who died Aug. 7, 1748, in the 42d year of his age, whose body lies here interred, this stone is erected.

"Soft is the sleep of saints, in peace they lie,

They rest in silence, but they never die ;

From these dark graves, their flesh refined shall rise And in immortal bloom ascend the skies.

535

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

Then shall thine eyes, dear Blunt! thine hands, thy tongue-

In nicer harmony each member strung-

Resume their warm devotion, and adore

Him in whose service they were joined before."

Rev. Benjamin Randall, "Founder of the Free Will Baptist Society in America," was born in this town in 1749. In youth he acquired a decent mercantile education, and was employed in the occupation of a sail maker.

From childhood his mind was peculiarly susceptible of religious impres- sions, but became more deeply interested in the subject of religion under the itinerant and ministerial labors of Rev. George Whitefield. In 1772 he united with the Congregational Church at New Castle. In 1775, having embraced the principles of the "General Baptists," he was baptized by immer- sion at Madbury, and was ordained at New Durham, April 5, 1780, and there organized a church of the Free Will Baptists-the first ever estab- lished. He died October 22, 1808, aged fifty-nine years.

FORT WILLIAM AND MARY

So many versions of the attacks on Fort William and Mary in December, 1774, have been written that we select the following extracts from a recent paper by John G. Crawford, Esq., read before the Manchester Historic Asso- ciation, December 23, 1896.

"The errors which have occurred in all the histories of New Hampshire in relation to the expeditions which were planned and carried out to dismantle Fort or Castle William and Mary are so apparent that they certainly require some correction.

"Historians are allowed to take great liberty with facts, but when they record important transactions and state matters which are not facts, then that which purports to be history not only ceases to be of value but becomes detrimental and misleading.

"Fort, or Castle, William and Mary was one of the line of forts estab- lished by England along the coast to defend the several harbors and ports of entry. Portsmouth at the time of the trouble between the colonies and the mother country was, next to Boston, the most important port along the New England coast. This fort was situated in New Castle, some two miles down the harbor from Portsmouth. After the close of the French and Indian war there had been but little use to maintain a large force in it; only sufficient to care for the guns and munitions stored therein, and for revenue service. The expense of maintaining the fort, in supplying it with men and pro- visions was borne by the colony of New Hampshire. The troubles which had been brewing between the colonies and England ever since the pas- sage of the stamp act, which culminated in the War of Independence, made the occupation of the fortifications on the coast of great importance in the struggle soon to follow.

"The House of Representatives of the Province of New Hampshire which convened at Portsmouth, the capitol, on Thursday, May 26, 1774, voted: 'That there be allowed and paid unto the captain general of this province for payment of officers, soldiers, billiting, fire-wood, and candles for support of his majesty's Fort William and Mary for one year, viz: from

536

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY

the 25th of March, 1774, to the 25th of March, 1775, the sum of two thou- sand pounds, lawful money, to be paid in four quarterly payments out of the money that is, or shall be in the treasury, with advice of council.' This vote was sent up to the council by Mr. Jennes. The next day, May 27, the secre- tary brought from the board the vote for an allowance for the fort, with a verbal message from his excellency, Governor Wentworth, that he thought the allowance insufficient and desired some alterations might be made, by allowing a larger sum, or appointing a number of soldiers sufficient, with proper allowance.

"The house took immediate consideration of the message from the gov- ernor, and to show their loyalty to England, voted that the captain general be desired to give orders for the enlisting three men to be posted at his Majesty's Fort William and Mary for one year, commencing the 25th day of March, 1774, under such officer as he shall appoint.

"This vote was sent up by Colonel Folsom and Captain Waldron. It was returned on the same day to the assembly, with a message from the governor, in which he said: 'The vote of assembly for the support of his majesty's Castle William and Mary, dated this day, appears to me to be so inadequate that it is my duty to inform the assembly that I do not think it safe to entrust so important a fortress to the care and defense of three men and one officer.' The members of the assembly were not disposed to vote a large sum or raise much of an army to occupy the fort. Already there was a movement to form another government and from this assembly were to come those men who were to lead the colony in its struggle for independence.

"Committees of correspondence had been appointed in several of the col- onies to consider the situation of the country, and on the next day, after voting three men to defend the fort, the assembly chose Hon. John Went- worth of the house, Samuel Cutts, John Gedding, Clement March, Joseph Bartlett, Henry Prescott, and John Pickering a committee to correspond with the committees appointed by the several houses of the sister colonies.

"They took into consideration the 'great difficulties that have arisen and still subsist between our parent country and the colonies on this continent,' and declared they were ready to join in all salutary measures that may be adopted by them at this important crisis for saving the rights and privileges of the Americans.' After choosing this committee and passing the resolutions they took up the governor's message in reference to the support of the castle and authorized the enlistment of five men under an officer to be posted at the fort.

"Governor Wentworth saw the tendency of the members of general assembly to join with the representatives of the sister colonies in appointing a congress of the colonies, and to prevent further action he adjourned the assembly from time to time until the 8th day of June, 1774, when he dis- solved it.

"The provisions made for the fort were carried out, and five men under the command of Capt. John Corcoran were stationed there to defend it. This was the condition of affairs when, on the 13th of December, 1774, the movement was first put on foot to dismantle the fort, and it is this account given by the several historians of New Hampshire that we desire to call attention to, and to give, as far as the records will permit, a correct version of the affair.

537

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

"In order to better understand the true history it is necessary to copy extracts from pages 298 and 299 of McClintock's History of New Hamp- shire. I am fully aware that McClintock's history is not considered reliable in its details, having been hastily gathered, and published without that veri- fication which should accompany all histories, yet it stands before the public as the history of New Hampshire, and though this generation may be aware of its many deficiencies, it may be regarded as correct by the generations to come after us. Yet McClintock is not alone responsible for the many his- torical inaccuracies on these two pages, for the earlier writers upon this sub- ject, including Mr. Amory, in his Life of General John Sullivan, and Head- ley in his work, Washington and His Generals, made the same mistakes.

"'An order had been passed by the king in council, prohibiting the expor- tation of gunpowder and military stores to America. The committee of safety received a copy of it by express from Boston the 13th of December. They collected a company with great secrecy and dispatch, who went to Fort William and Mary at New Castle, under the direction of Maj. John Sulli- van and Capt. John Langdon, confined the captain of the fort and his five men and brought off one hundred barrels of gunpowder. The next day another company brought off fifteen of the lightest cannon, all the small arms and some warlike stores.

"'On the 13th of December, 1774, Paul Revere took his first public ride. While it may not have been so far reaching in importance as his later one, it richly deserves a place in history. It happened in this manner: The Boston committee of safety had just heard of the British order that no military stores should be exported to America. They accordingly sent Paul Revere on a fleet horse to Portsmouth to apprize the similar committee there of the news, and probably to urge them to secure the powder which was in Fort William and Mary in the harbor, as reinforcements were expected

shortly from England. * * John Sullivan was a member of the Pro- vincial congress that year, and had just arrived in Portsmouth from Phila- delphia. * * Sullivan proposed the immediate capture of the place, and offered to lead the men to the attack. A military force was accordingly sum- moned as secretly as possible from the neighborhood, Sullivan and John Langdon took the command and the march was commenced towards the English fort. It was a hazardous undertaking. There danger from the fort. If the captain became aware of their designs he was sure to turn the guns on them and destroy them. But no alarm was given; with a rush they gained the gate, captured the sentry, and before a challenge could be given had the captain and every man in the fort prisoners. The British flag was hauled down, the gunpowder, of which there were one hundred barrels in the fort, was immediately taken away and hid in the houses of the patriots. Sullivan concealed a portion of it under the pulpit of the Durham meeting- house. A large part of this plunder afterwards did good service at Bunker Hill. Next day fifteen of the lighter cannon and all the small arms were carried away. The governor and his officers received no intelligence of the affair until it was too late to remedy it. * *

* It was the first act of armed hostility committed against the crown of Great Britain by an Amer- ican.'

"The above quotation from one and one-half pages of what is called history contains no less than sixteen errors, some of which I desire to call

538

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY

attention to, that the future historian of our state,-and no state stands in need of one more than New Hampshire,-may not repeat the same in giving an account of these expeditions.

"The order in the British council, prohibiting the exportation of gun- powder, etc., may have been the primary cause for the dismantling of the fort but not the immediate cause. That order was not what the committee at Portsmouth received at the hands of Paul Revere from Boston. A gentle- man in Boston, who evidently was informed upon the subject, said in a letter to Mr. Rivington in New York under date of December 20, 1774:

"'On Monday, the 12th instant, our worthy citizen, Mr. Paul Revere, was sent express from only two or three of the committee of correspondence at Boston-of whom no number under seven were empowered to act-to a like committee at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, informing them "That orders had been sent to the governors of these provinces to deliver up the several fortifications or castles to Gen. Gage, and that a number of troops had the preceding day embarked on board the transports with a design to proceed and take possession of said castle." This information was delivered by Paul Revere to Samuel Cutts, one of the committee at Portsmouth, who imme- diately called together the committee to consider the situation. Action was postponed until the following day. Some of the committee deeming a delay dangerous, determined to immediately seize the fort.'

"There was no secrecy about the matter. Notice of their intention was openly avowed on the streets of Portsmouth. In a letter written from Ports- mouth, under date of December 17, 1774, the writer says:

"'On Wednesday last a drum and fife paraded the streets of Portsmouth, accompanied by several committee men and the Sons of Liberty, publicly avowing their intention of taking possession of Fort William and Mary.'

"Notice of this intention was sent by Gov. Wentworth to the commander of the fort. Captain Cochran, who was in command, in his report to Gov. Wentworth on December 14 said :

"'I received your Excellency's favor of yesterday, and in obedience thereto kept a strict watch all night and added two men to my usual number, being all I could get. Nothing material occurred till this day, one o'clock, when I was informed there was a number of people coming to take possession of the fort, upon which, having only five effective men with me, I prepared to make the best defense I could, and pointed some guns to those places where I expected they would enter. About three o'clock the fort was besieged on all sides by upwards of four hundred men. I told them on their peril not to enter; they replied they would. I immediately ordered three four-pounders to be fired on them and then the small arms, and before we could be ready to fire again we were stormed on all quarters, and they imme- diately secured both me and my men and kept us prisoners about one hour and a half, during which time they broke open the powder house and took all the powder away except one barrel, and having put it into boats and sent it off, they released me from my confinement. To which I can only add, that I did all in my power to defend the fort. but all my efforts could not avail against so great a number.'

"This was not Paul Revere's first public ride. He had been sent express on important business on at least two occasions previous to his ride to Ports- mouth.

539

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

"John Sullivan was a member of the continental congress which met September 5. This meeting could hardly be called a congress. It was a meeting of delegates from the several colonies to consider the situation and devise some measures to have the difficulties between the colonies and Eng- land adjusted. They drafted an address to the king, in which they made their final appeal for justice. Peyton Randolph was president. The first name signed to the address after the president's was John Sullivan. John Sullivan had returned from the sitting of congress and was at his home in Durham on the 14th of December, and did not go to Portsmouth until the 15th, as stated by Mr. Bennett, who is the authority for the statements made in Amory's Life of Sullivan.

"The account given by Governor Bell in his History of Exeter, as taken from the lips of Gideon Lamson, is so far from the accounts given by all others, it ceases to be of any value, for any one can readily see the many errors contained therein.

"The errors which have occurred in other histories have arisen from the mixing up of the two expeditions, the one on December 14, when the powder was removed, which occurred in the afternoon of that day, and the expedi- tion on the night of the 15th, when the cannon and small arms were seized. The latter expedition was led by Maj. John Sullivan, and had the writers upon the capture of the fort applied the description to the work accomplished on the night of the 15th, they would not have been far from the truth.

"On the 14th, when the forces started for the fort and removed the pow- der, expresses were sent to all the surrounding towns, and they came in to Portsmouth on the 15th. This is the statement of Captain Bennett. who relates his story many years after. He says he was at work for Mr. Sulli- van, and on the 15th of December a messenger came to his house in Durham and informed Major Sullivan of the situation at Portsmouth, and Sullivan with others immediately started for the latter place.

"In a letter written at Portsmouth under date of December 17. 1774, from which I have already quoted, the writer says :

" 'On Wednesday last a drum and fife paraded the streets of Portsmouth, accompanied by several committee men and Sons of Liberty, publickly avow- ing their intention of taking possession of Fort William and Mary, which was garrisoned by six invalids.'

"After describing the capture of the powder, which he says was carried up to Exeter, a town fifteen miles distant, he says :

" 'The next day after, while the Governor and Council were assembled in the Council Chamber, between two and three hundred persons came from Durham and the adjoining towns headed by Major Sullivan, one of the dele- gates to the Congress. They drew up before the. Council Chamber, and demanded an answer to the following questions: Whether there were any Ships or Troops expected here, or if the Governor had wrote for any? They were answered that his Excellency knew of no forces coming hither, and that none had been sent for; upon which they retired to the Taverns, and about ten or eleven o'clock at night a large party repaired to the Fort and it is said they carried away all the small 'arms. This morning about sixty horsemen accoutred, came into town, and gave out that seven hundred more were on their march to Portsmouth, from Exeter, Greenland, Newmarket, etc., and would be in that Town by eleven o'clock; their intention, it is sus-

540

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY

pected, is to dismantle the Fort, and throw the cannon, consisting of a fine train of 42-pounders, into the Sea.'

"The party led by Major Sullivan on the night of the 15th was conducted in great secrecy and no alarm was given. The capture of the powder on the 14th was in open daylight, there was nothing secret about it. They were fired upon from the fort but no one was injured. The entry was not made through the gate of the fort, but it was stormed on all sides. The four hundred patriots overcame the five soldiers and captured for the American army one hundred barrels of powder. This powder in the first instance was taken to Exeter and from there distributed among the neighboring towns for safety. Part of this powder was sent to the army on the frontier and sold to towns in the province. There is no evidence that any was sent to the army at Cambridge until after the battle of Bunker Hill. (See Professor C. L. Parson's pamphlet as to the tradition of use of the powder at Bunker Hill.)

"On May 20, 1775, the provincial congress at Exeter 'Voted the thanks of the convention to the persons who took and secured for the use of this government a quantity of gunpowder from Castle William and Mary in this province.' After choosing a committee of safety, they voted that Nicholas Gilman and Mr. Poor be a committee to sell any quantity of gunpowder not to exceed four barrels to such frontier towns in this province as they shall think most need it. This was the first action taken in relation to this pow- der, and the sale was limited to the towns in this province.

"On June 2, 1775, they voted, 'That the committee on supplies be desired to apply and obtain the quantity and quality of the powder brought from the Fort William and Mary; also take it into their possession and lay the state of it before the committee of safety.'

"The committee on supplies in making their report, found that the pow- der remaining at that date was stored in the following named places, viz : Kingston, 12 barrels; Epping, 8 barrels; Poplin, 4 barrels; Nottingham, 8 barrels; Brentwood, 6 barrels; Londonderry, I barrel; Exeter, 29 barrels in eleven different houses. Four barrels were furnished to Portsmouth on the request made in April, 1775. They found stored in these different places 72 barrels.

"The first powder sent to the army at Cambridge, at least in any quantity, was on June 18, the next day after the battle of Bunker Hill. On the day of the battle express was sent from the army to the committee at Exeter ; he stopped on his way at Kingston, where Col. Josiah Bartlett resided, one of the committee. He immediately ordered a general meeting of the committee, and on the 18th Col. Bartlett wrote to Gen. Folsom saying, 'Mr. Moreton left Cambridge on the evening of June 17 and rode all night, arriving at Kingston the 18th. He brought the news of the battle of Bunker Hill.' The committee immediately ordered the selectmen of Kingston, where some of the captured powder was stored, to deliver to Samuel Philbrick six barrels of powder to be by him conveyed to the army. They also ordered Major Cilley and the companies of Captains Elkins, Rowe, Clough, Adams, Tit- comb, Gilman, Wentworth, Tilton, and Norris of Colonel Poor's regiment to march to Cambridge to join the army. All the companies except Captain Elkin's started for Cambridge.

"June 21, there was sent to the army by Nathaniel Gordon one cask flints,

541

AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS

quantity 3,200; five kegs bullets, weight 113, 110, 62, 123, 220 pounds each; 30 tents, poles, pins, etc., ten barrels of powder 100 pounds each.

"June 23 'the selectmen of Newmarket were directed' to send by Nicholas Nichols four barrels of the provincial gunpowder, now in their custody, to be dealt out as the public service may require. On this order they received only one barrel, and on the 26th of June they received one more barrel.

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 59

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