History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 118

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1714

USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 118
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 118

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 following clause from the warrant for the choice of Presidential electors in 1788 is worthy of being inserted here, however irrelevant it may seem to the subject in hand :

" And, as it is a matter perhaps of the greatest moment and Conse- quence to us and future posterity, it is to be hoped that a general attend-

501

SEABROOK.

ance will be given, and that Each one will Endeavor to gain Such In- formation as shall Enable him to act with wisdom, prudence, and Dis- cerument."

Evidently the present system of political bosses and machines did not then prevail in political affairs. The following vote was passed at the annual meeting in 1789:

" That the addition to Dr. Langdons Salary for the future Shall be ten pounds, at two Shillings for Days work, or if any Choose to pay money they may have liberty to pay."

It was previously voted that the addition should be in labor. Page 155 is filled with a record of mar- riages by Dr. Langdon, covering a period of three and a half years from March 18, 1786, to Sept. 21, 1789, and the number, fifteen, is small compared with the records of the earlier pastors in this line. In 1792 six marriages by Dr. Langdon are 'recorded, eight of the twelve persons being non-residents. Dec. 14, 1791, Mr. John Goddard and "Mr" Mary Langdon were united by the doctor. Perhaps Mary was a daughter of the doctor, and her marriage the result of an acquaintance formed while he was settled at Portsmouth, where Mr. Goddard resided. About this time " Falls" came to be written with a large F, and the term "parish" omitted.

In February, 1793, it was

" Voted to Sel the Parsonage Land Near Esqr weares, & 3dly, voted to Sel Come of the Comman on the South side of the old meeting house hil as much as Josiah Perveare took in to the Scool house fraim."

And the committee chosen for that purpose were instructed to invest the proceeds in marsh land or upland, to be added to the parsonage.

For the year 1793 Dr. Langdon returned but four marriages, and five of the parties were non-resi- dents.

In 1794, Paine Wingate was again a candidate for Congress.

From March, 1794, to March, 1795, Mr. Langdon returned eleven marriages, and twelve of the persons were non-residents. The next year he returned ten, of whom thirteen were non-residents. And in 1797 he returned only six, of whom just half were residents, among them Dudley Dodge and Betsey Fifield, married June 30, 1796. In 1796, Paine Win- gate was again a candidate for senator, and also the year following. "Page 244, year 1797," contains the following records :

October 30th it was voted to hire some suitable person to preach four Sabbaths, and at an adjourned meeting, December 25th, it was voted to hire eight Sabbaths' preaching. And at another adjournment to Feb. 19, 1798, arrangements were made for two more Sabbaths, and " it was Put to vote and Desired by the Metting that the Select Men Put up a Notification to see if the Town will hire Mr. abbott upon Probation."

And at the same time a committee was appointed to confer with Lieut. Fifield and others, and invite them to join in public worship. Perhaps a similar measure might be beneficial at the present time, in view of the many who do not join in public worship. The above records are the only intimation that Dr. Langdon had been ill, had died, and been buried. 1

From other sources it is learned that he was born in Boston, Mass., in 1723; graduated at Harvard in 1740; opened a school in Portsmouth soon after ; was settled as pastor at Portsmouth from 1746 to 1774, after act- ing as associate pastor for one or two years ; president of Harvard from 1774 to 1780; installed pastor at Hampton Falls Jan. 18, 1781, and died Nov. 29, 1797, aged seventy-five, having been settled sixteen years. Tradition says that as president of Harvard he failed in discipline, and that as a preacher he was quite lengthy, the sun being well down in winter when the afternoon service closed, and no fire in the meet- ing-house either. In delivering his discourse he used a magnifying glass, occasionally examining his manuscript with its aid, and then folding it up, pro- ceeded from memory. While settled here Mr. Lang- don had the misfortune to break a leg, obliging him to preach standing in the broad aisle for several Sab- baths before he was able to assume his usual place in the lofty pulpit. It is learned from tradition that growing feeble from advanced age, he recommended Mr. Abbott as his successor.

March 12, 1798, it was voted to hire Mr. Abbott five Sabbaths on probation, and at the expiration of that time a call was extended to him to settle as pastor. The terms offered him were the parsonage, as usual, ten cords of pine and hemlock wood delivered at his door, two hundred dollars, and his choice between six cords of good merchantable hard wood and twenty- five dollars. May 7th, a month later, this offer was increased to "300 silver dollars," and his lengthy letter of acceptance, on record, is dated June 2, 1798. From the parish records it is learned that Rev. Jacob Abbott and Mrs. Catharine Thayer were joined in marriage Feb. 11, 1802, and that their first daughter was born exactly nine months afterwards, November 11th. There are also recorded the births of two sons and six daughters, making nine children in all. These births were all at regular intervals of two years, with the exception of the last, when the time was eleven months. Mr. Abbott may be considered as the last of the parish pastors, and the only one of the six1 who had any children while here, so far as the records show. The second volume of the parish or town records ends with the beginning of 1814, and the only further reference to Mr. Abbott in this volume is as chairman of the school committee in 1801 and 1807. The only other instance of a com- mittee "to inspect the schools" was in 1794, when Rev. Dr. Langdon was chairman. In all these cases Nath. Hubbard Dodge was a member of that com- mittee.

We have already seen how soon after the settle- ment of Mr. Wingate, in 1763, the secession of the Presbyterians finally led to the incorporation of the parish and town of Seabrook; and, by the way, an effort was made in 1782 to form a town comprising

I Except Mr. Wingate, who had two daughters.

502

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Seabrook and a part of Ilampton Falls, to be called New Hampton Falls. At the dedication of the new town hall of Hampton Falls, Oct. 30, 1877, in the course of an historical address, the orthodox speaker said, " About this time the Baptists gave the authori- ties much trouble." And it is true that in 1808 they did object to being taxed for the support of another minister besides their own, and found it necessary, in order to obtain a hearing, to appeal to Thomas Leavitt, a justice of Hampton Falls, to call a meet- ing-

" to see if said meeting will agree to discharge the Congregational tax standing against the Baptist Society in said Hampton falls," " to see if the meeting will agree that the Inhabitants each of them have liberty to attend any Society they like best and pay their minister tax where they attend only."

And in the light of to-day their request does not seem very unreasonable, though from the remark of the speaker a contrary impression might have been re- ceived. The following are the names of the persons who signed the petition for the above-named meeting : William Brown, Billy Dodge, Jacob Green, John Pike, Toppan Chase, James Green, Nathan Robie, Dudley Dodge, John Brown, Josiah Pike, Isaac Brown, Thomas Moulton, John H. Dodge, Isaac Dodge, Zephaniah Brown, Caleb Pike, Jeremiah Gove, Nathan Brown, Jacob Brown, Jeremiah Gove, Jr., Jonathan Fifield. These people were at that time Christian Baptists, though some of them after- wards became regular Baptists, called by some Calvin Baptists. William Brown was a lay preacher, united with the regular Baptists in 1835, was chosen a deacon, and died in 1856. Jacob and Zephaniab survived him, and remained connected with the Christian Baptists until the last. At the meeting held "at the Congregational meeting-house" these people received a prompt and decided " no" to their requests. But agitation of the truth is never in vain, and " truth, though crushed to earth, will rise again." At the next term of court they entered an action against the selectmen to recover the tax assessed against them in 1806. And at the annual meeting of 1809 it was voted :

" In Respect to the Baptists that the Selectmen shall not tax those that Present Certifycates to them at or before the assessments are made"

for the minister tax. And Nathaniel H. Dodge, Jeremiah Blake, and Theo. F. Sanborn were chosen a committee to settle the legal actions commenced.

In 1810 they were denied their request for a share of the parsonage property, but this point also they finally gained. Rev. Jacob Abbott was the only one of the six parish pastors born in New Hampshire, the rest all being natives of Massachusetts. All were graduates of Harvard, for that was then the only college in the country. Mr. Abbott was born at Wilton, N. H., in 1768, graduated in 1792, was or- dained Aug. 15, 1798, and resigned April 1, 1826, after a settlement of twenty-eight years. While set-

tled here Mr. Abbott used to have in his family young men fitting for Harvard, or those who had been conditioned or suspended, and among the num- ber was one afterwards known as Prof. Webster, who was hanged for the murder of Mr. Parkman. Tradi- tion says he had the reputation of being a hard boy while residing in this place. Mr. Abbott was drowned on Sabbath day, Nov. 2, 1834, at Wind- ham, N. H., aged fifty-six. He preached on the day of his death, and was returning from meeting in a boat across a pond in company with two of his own sons, a neighbor, and his son. Two of the young men escaped by swimming, Ebenezer Abbott clung to the boat and was saved, while the two elder men were drowned. One of Mr. Abbott's daughters became the wife of N. Porter Cram, of Hampton Falls, and is still living with a daughter at Winchester, Mass. In 1826, after Mr. Abbott was dismissed, Mr. Moses Dow preached about three years as a stated supply. The following is taken from the records of the Hampton Falls and Seabrook Evangelical Congregational Church :

" The Revd. Henry C. Jewett was engaged to preach during the sum- mer of 1834. He came in June & remained three or four months. He preached a part of the time in the Hampton Falls meeting house & the remainder in the Exeter Road school-honse ; the Unitarians having pus- session of the meeting-house. After he left those who preferred evan- gelical preaching went to the Congregational oreeting house in Seabrook, where the Revd Jonathan Ward, was then preaching.

" Mr. Abbott, was a Unitarian during the last of his ministry. During his ministry many of the people united with the Baptists or became Unitarian. A part of the chh. however continued steadfast in the faith once delivered to the saints, adhering to and maintaining those doctrines which are generally received by what are called the 'Ortho- dox Churches of New England' & which are termed the Calvinistic Doctrines. But in consequence of the division of sentiment on the subject of religion among the people generally & in compliance with the advice of neighboring ministers who had been consulted on the sub- ject, those who had remained firm in the faith concluded to unite with the people of Seabrook=Seabrook for the purpose of maintaining public religious worship & the ordinances of the gospel. This union after mich consultation, delay & discouragecient was ultimately effected.

" 1764 About the Ist of Nov. 1764 n church was organized in the south part of the town of Hampton Falls, formerly a part of Hampton & now Seabrook. This church was of the Presbyterian order & was connected with the Boston Presbytery. The first Presbyterian chih. of Newbury Port was represented at the organization by John Monlton & Anos Cof- fins. The chh. was made principally of disaffected members of the Ilampton Falls church. They gave as a reason for withdrawing that they were dissatisfied with Mr. Wingate & that they preferred the Presby- terian form of chh. government. Uniting with a few others from other towns they constituted n separate chh. The records of this chh., if any were kept, have been lost. But there are still in existence copies of 'A Sermon Preached January 31, 1765 at the Ordination of the Revd Sam- uel Perley, to the Pastoral care of the Presbyterian chh. & congregation at Hampton Falls By George Leslie A. M. Pastor of a chh. at Linebrook.' It seems that their were many obstacles to the organization of a chh. after this foror & to the establishing the gospel in this order. One of the objections probably was a remonstrance from the Congregational chili. in Hampton Falls; & it is conceived that some would be opposed to the Presbyterian form of chh government Abont 15 years after this those who formerly belonged to the Hampton Falls chh., or n part of them, re- turned and were readmitted. Mr. Perley, was born at Ipswich Mass 1742; graduated at Harvard 1,63; ordained Jany 31 1765, & dismissed May 224 1775, died in Maine Nov. 28, 1831, at the advanced age of 89.

"1775. After Mr. Perleys dismission there was no settled minister in Seabrook for many years. Public worship was continued, but the chb. was much scattered.

" 1799, Feby G, Revd Elias Hall was settled as pastor over the chh. of Christ in Seabrook. Mr. Hall was born in Tolland Conn, 1778, settled Feby 6, 1799 & died Feby 28, 1822, 23 years from time of bis settlement.

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SEABROOK.

During the latter part of his life he preached only occasionally. lle had become unsteady aud finally died an inebriate, when he was first settled he was an acceptable preacher & had a full house. He was not a graduate of any college, preached withont notes and was a very fluent speaker. He once favored Methodist views but was settled as a Congre- gationalist. The Presbyterian form of the chh. was lost & the Congre- gational took its place. But the records, if any were kept are not now to be found. Den. Weare, Dea. Tucker (of SalisImry) Dea. Morrill Thomas Trne, Jolin Eaton, Benjamin Eaton, Thomas Cilly, & Joseph Felchi are reported to have been among the members of the old Presby- terian church. Dea. Tucker and Thomas True, were members of the old Congregational Church. There were probably others, but these are all the names of males that can now be collected. The Congregational church contained hut few male members.

" 1822 After the death of Mr. IIall, there was not settled minister in Seabrook for several years. Part of the time they had preachers of dif- ferent denominations, at others by the Missionary Society, & a part of the time they were entirely destitute."

The first meeting-house in Hampton Falls stood on the common not far from the present site of the Weare monument. It was erected about 1711, re- paired in 1737 by putting on a new roof, etc., used for worship and the frequent business meetings of the parish or town until 1768 or later, and sold at auction Jan. 13, 1780, and the proceeds appropriated for the support of the poor. The second meeting- house in Hampton Falls was located near where the dwelling-house of Wells W. Healey now stands. The committee to locate it in the centre of the popu- lation were Elisha Prescut, William Prescut, Jona- than Cram, and John Tilton. They reported Oct. 26, 1768, that it be "Set on the hill upon the recent piece of Land where the School-house formerly stood, near Let. Joseph Sanborn's." The building committee re- ported Feb. 7, 1769, the sale of twenty-six pews on the floor and one in the gallery for three hundred and fifty-one pounds and two shillings proclamation money, to be paid in materials, and estimated that the sale of the other pews would furnish all the means needed for its erection.

May 10, 1771, is recorded the delivery. of the now meeting-house by the building committee, com- posed of Elisha Prescutt, Samuel Present, William Prescut, and Jonathan Cram. No estimate of cost is given. Its size was sixty-five feet by forty, with pitch roof; it stood facing the sea, with entrances ou the front and west ends, having horse-blocks in front of these entrances. The singing gallery was on the front, facing the pulpit, with the women's gallery on the east end aud the men's on the west. On the first floor seats were arranged around the walls, with the high square pews in the body of the house. These pews were about five feet square.1 So far as can be learned the bell on Rockingham Academy was the only one ever hung in Hampton Falls. March 30, 1739, a meeting was called for the express purpose " to se if the People belonging to this meeting Raise money to by a bell for the youse of said Parish," but in the record of the meeting no allusion whatever is

made to the subject. The first parsonage-house stood where the dwelling of Mr. Joseph T. Sanborn now stands, and it seems by the following records that this house and outbuildings were erected or purchased by Mr. Colton during his ministry :

"30th day of November 1826, Voated that we will take up with Mad- dum Coltons offer and will her for her buildings & Land and all things thereon exepting her monebels three hundred and fifty pounds in money or Lawfull Ulls of Creidet."

Of this amount one hundred pounds was to be paid in six months, with interest on the balance until paid. The following record, like a good many of its com- panions, is puzzling at first sight, but the interpreta- tion seems to be that in the mean time " Maddum Colton" had become " Maddum Newmarch :"

" 27th of March, 1729, Voated that the Selectmen have power to Raise ye whole Sixtey pounds in money this present yeare which is due fiom this parish to markdum newmarch for the purching her buildings and orcherd aud Land."

In February, 1749, during the ministry of Mr. Whipple, the parsonage-house was burned and the minister and his family found friendly shelter in the Sweet tavern-house. The large elm-tree on the prem- ises of Mr. John H. Gove, known to the boys of forty years ago as " the big .elum," stood in the front yard of this tavern. It was set out by one of Mr. Sweet's daughters, and in 1762 was about the size of a gallon bottle. Struck by lightning some years since, its former glory has departed. This temporary residence of Mr. Whipple is described as " the house of Ben- jamin Sweet, Inholder, where Mr. Morton lately lived," and the rent of the "house, cow-yard and well" was thirty ponuds old tenor per year. Feb- ruary 19th, probably the day after the fire, a meeting was called for the 26th, when it was voted to build a new house on the same spot, two stories in height, forty feet by thirty-one feet, with one stack of chim- neys. And under date of March 12, 1750, the build- ing committee, Jonathan Fifield, Samnel Walton, Josiah Bachelder, and Jona Sweet, reported the cost of the new house as eighteen hundred and seven pounds sixteen shillings and two pence old tenor. In October, 1837, Deacon Emery Batchelder assisted in taking down this house, and he says it was then a good house, painted inside and out, and that the "stack of chimneys consisted of three flues, the in- side dimensions being sufficient for a bedroom." After the building of the new meeting-house these premises were not conveniently situated for the use of the minister, and permission was obtained from the Leg- islature to dispose of them. The site of the last par- sonage-house was where the dwelling of Mr. Lewis T. Sanborn now stands. This house, then occupied by Rev. A. M. Bridge, the last settled Unitarian minis- ter, was destroyed by fire in 185-, and in this fire perished the early records of the parish church, ex- cept the little volume from which so many extracts have been given. After Mr. Bridge's death, it was given by Mrs. Bridge to Mr. George Osgood, of Ken-

1 When the roof was last shingled the old shingles had been on for sixty years.

504

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

sington, and no one in Hampton Falls knew of its existence until a few months since.

In regard to the meeting-house erected by the Pres- byterians in 1763, the statement that its timbers came from six different towns is not improbable, for the parish of Ilampton originally included more towns than that, and it was the custom at that time to con- tribute materials instead of money; and during its history of one hundred and nineteen years it has been occupied by almost as many religious organiza- tions,- first, by the Presbyterians in 1764; second, by the Congregationalists in 1799; third, by the Bap- tists in 1828; fourth, by the Congregationalists in 1835; and finally by the Baptists again in 1859. What other house of worship in the land can exceed this record ? During Mr. Perley's pastorate, from 1765 to 1775, he owned, or at least occupied, the house recently clapboarded and painted and long occupied by Mr. David Boyd. The timbers of this house are almost entirely of hard wood, but the few pine ones are fully as sound. The date " 1705," marked under the roof boards with lime, is supposed to indi- cate its age. The "chimney stack" is composed of five different flues. One side in the attic has been plastered, evidently at a later date, and in this is marked the date "1756." One brick was inscribed "D. W." before being burned, and the house is said to have been erected on a part of the original Weare homestead by Deacon Nathaniel Weare for the occu- pation of his son Daniel, a brother of Mesheck. A son-in-law of Rev. Mr. Hall is now residing in Ilampton Falls, As a comment on the drinking customs of those times, it is stated by the highest authority that Mr. Hall actually died from delirium tremens. Having accumulated some property, was induced by his brothers in business in Boston to indorse for them, and, losing all his property in this way, became discouraged and drank more ex- cessively than he otherwise might have done. It is said that Rev. Timothy P. Ropes, first pastor of the Baptist Church, in 1828, was the first minister in this vicinity to stand up against the habit of ministerial drinking. Among those present at the State Tem- perance Convention at Nashua in June, 1882, was Rev. Sumner Lincoln, glorious name, now past eighty years old, who was settled in Hampton Falls in 1843 as pastor of the Unitarian Church. In private con- versation he stated that in his early ministry he had attended funerals where a man walked by the side of the bearers with a bottle, and that a halt was made and the casket, borne on their shoulders, set down, that they might drink on the way to the cemetery. Standing up manfully against this custom, he pub- licly announced that he would attend no more funerals where liquor was used, and though remon- strated with by leading men, his decided action put an end to the custom in that place.

Hampton," the terms used in the first record made, we find under date of 1737 a list of twenty-two males and thirty-five females peaceably dismissed to form a church at Kensington of the same order. In 1764 the Presbyterians go out under protest and cause a division of the township; and before this, in 1744, several had become " Quaqrs" and left. In 1808 the Baptists leave and set up for themselves ; and about 1835 occurred the most vital division of all. A radi- cal orthodox might say it was a division of soul and body, and that while the numerically stronger part retained the body,-the meeting-house,-the other part possessed the soul of vital doctrines. But pre- vions to this time, April 30, 1827, twenty-nine persons had legally organized themselves under the name of the " First Congregational Society in Hampton falls," which title is retained to-day by the organization known only to those outside as the Unitarian Church or Society. Of the twenty-nine constituent members of this society only two survive, Robert S. and True M. Prescott. The final division was evidently the re- sult of the "half-way covenant," for preaching against which Jonathan Edwards, of immortal fame as a theologian, was driven from his life settlement at Northampton, Mass., and reduced to poverty by the sacrifice of his real estate in that place. A similar experience has been the lot of every earnest radical reformer since the world began.

On the 30th day of March, 1832, the selectmen sold the parsonage, land, buildings, and wood, and on the 8th of October the assessors of the Congregational Society receipted for $1154.91, that being the propor- tion due said society. And at the annual meeting of this society April 4, 1836,-

" It was put to vote to see if the Society would give those persons who contemplated forming themselves into a new Society to be called the Ilampton falls and Seabrook Congregational Society their proportion of the fund. Passed in the negative, six voting in favor, eight against."

But on second sober thought this decision was re- versed, and at the next annual meeting, in 1837, it was

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History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 118

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis Number of Pages: 1714

Author: Hurd, D. Hamilton (Duane Hamilton)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : J. W. Lewis
Number of Pages: 1714