History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 130

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 130
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 130

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THE ROLLINS FAMILY.

James Rawlins1 emigrated to America in 1632, with the settlers of Ipswich, Mass. He did not, however, remain long in Ipswich, for he is mentioned by Far- mer as being at Newbury in 1634, being probably one of a small party who went there for the purpose of looking out a favorable spot for settlement. We next hear of him at Dover, where he was located as early as 1644, as he received a grant of land from the town July 10th of that year. Another grant of one hundred acres " was layed out for him" Nov. 26, 1656. This last-named lot is so accurately described, and the po- sition and boundaries are so clearly defined, that the description is copied here for the benefit of descend- ants who may in future desire to visit the old place :

"Given and granted unto James Rawlins, his heirs and assigns, one hundred acres of upland anext to his one lot, as so layed out and bounded, by Capt. Hall of Sargent Hanson who have bounded it as followeth : that is to say, by the water sied 109 rodde; upon the S. E. sied, 80 rodde; upon the N. W. sied 240 rodde, upon a S. W. and by W. line; and the S. E. sied is upon a S. W. and by W. line. Layed 26th of 11th mo., 1656."

Mr. Rawlins resided in that part of ancient Dover called Bloody Point (now Newington) till his death, receiving grants of land at various times. His will, dated Dover, Dec. 16, 1685, gave property to his wife Hannah, to his son Ichabod (the oldest), to Benjamin, and to his "other children," not named in the will. The will was proved July 25, 1691. Obadiah More, of Strawberry Bank, was executor.

Mr. Rawlins was one of the hardy pioneers in the settlement of the western wilderness, a plain, sturdy farmer, possessed of good common sense and practical ideas, capable of thinking and acting for himself, sometimes independently of the arbitrary enactments of the law of his time, and hospitably to the stranger, though proscribed. Thus, probably, he spent his life as contentedly as the savage foes around him would permit, cultivating his broad acres and rearing a family, who were subsequently to do their part in carrying out the undertaking of founding and estab- lishing the new State, and at a good old age his spirit was gathered to his fathers, while his ashes, the first of his family in the New World, were mingled with the virgin soil which he aided in clearing from the "for- est primeval." His children were Ichabod, Thomas, Samuel, James, Benjamin, Joseph, and Deborah.

Thomas2 (James1) lived also at Bloody Point; was taxed there in 1662 and 1668, and removed to Exeter, N. H., where he remained till his death. His farm appears to have been located on the old road leading from Exeter to Hampton. We know but little of him, but one passage in his life has been preserved, which tends to show that he possessed something of his father's independence, and that his ideas of justice

1 New England Ilist. Gen. Register, vol. viti. p. 257.

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HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

were something in advance of those of his neighbors. He was one of the company of Edward Gove, a mem- ber of the dissolved Assembly of New Hampshire, 1683, who were found in arms, and endeavoring to excite an insurrection for the overthrow of the arbi- trary government of the royal Governor, Edward Cranfield. Rawlins was a justice of the peace in 1682. He married, about 1670, Rachel, daughter of Moses and Alice Cox, of Hampton. The precise date of his death is not known. His inventory was returned to the Probate Office, Nov. 7, 1706. His children were Thomas, Moses, Joseph, Mary, Benjamin, Aaron, Samuel, John, Alice, and Rachel. Joseph3 (Thomas2, James1), residence Stratham. At the first town- meeting held in Stratham, April 10, 1716, he was ap- pointed one of a committee of five to build a meeting- house. This was the first church, of course, in the town, and it appears by the record to have been " 48 feet long, 36 feet wide, and 20 feet stud." Joseph Rawlins' will, dated March 11, 1746-47, proved Jan. 25, 1748, bequeathed to his heirs lands in Stratham, Brentwood, Nottingham, and Bow. IIis children were Mary, Joseph, Hannah, Elizabeth, Charity, Mercy, Rachel, Mary, and Joshua. Joshua+ (Joseph3, Thomas2, James1), residence Stratham, married Mary Clark, of Stratham, 1735; died April 19, 1800. Dea. Daniel Clark, the executor of his will, was a brother of Mrs. Rollins, and grandfather of Hon. Daniel Clark, United States senator from New Hampshire, and judge of United States District Court. Their children were llannah, Jonathan, David, Elisha, Nicholas, Sarah, Anna.

Nicholas5 (Joshua4, Joseph3, Thomas?, James1) re- sided at Stratham, was one of the selectmen twenty- six years, and for six years represented that town in the New llampshire Legislature ; was commissioned justice of the peace by Governor Gilman in 1795. IIe was engaged in service of various kinds during the Revolution. In the fall of 1775 fears were enter- tained that Portsmouth might be attacked seaward, and the fortifications were doubly guarded. Joshua Wingate, of Stratham, was appointed colonel of the forces in the harbor, and Jonathan Moulton, of Hamp- ton, colonel of the troops for guarding the sea-coast. Twenty-eight companies were detailed for service at different points in Portsmouth Harbor. Nicholas Rollins commanded the Tenth Company, which was stationed at Pierce's Island. In December, 1775, he served as lieutenant in one of the companies sent to reinforce Gen. Sullivan at Winter Hill. In 1777 he was captain of the Fourth Company in Col. Abraham Drake's regiment. Gen. William Whipple's brigade participated with his command in the battles of Still- water and Saratoga, and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne. He served till January, 1778. He married Abigail, daughter of Abraham Tilton, of Stratham, 1761. Their children were Hannah, Elisha, Nicholas, Daniel, Mary, Levi, Mark, Asa, Ann, Eli- sba, and Abigail.

Nicholas6 (Nicholas5, Joshua4, Joseph3, Thomas2, James1), residence Stratham ; married Ann Fifield, of Stratham, 1795. He was one of the town officers of Stratham many years; died Sept. 20, 1842. Their children were Clarissa, James, Hannah, Levi, Mary, Ann, Martha, Abigail, Nicholas F., Louisa.

James7 (Nicholas6, Nicholas5, Joshua4, Joseph3, Thomas2, James1), residence Stratham, N. H., which town he represented in the Legislature of New Hamp- shire, 1848-49. He married, Nov. 9, 1823, Sophia Moore, of Stratham. Her mother, Mrs. Moore, was a daughter of Deacon Daniel Clark, and sister of Benjamin Clark, father of Hon. Daniel Clark, of Manchester, United States senator. Their children were Benjamin F., James W., Sophia A., Augusta H., and Albert N.

James W. Rollins, an influential farmer in Strat- ham, was born on the old Rollins homestead, which has been in the family several generations, in Strat- ham, N. II., Dec. 27, 1825. His educational advan- tages were confined to the common schools of his native town. He taught school ten or more years, singing school several years, and for many years was leader of the Stratham and North Hampton Choral Union. He is a Republican in politics, and as such has been selectman five years; moderator of town- meetings, representative to State Legislature in 1857 and 1858, serving on the committees of roads and bridges and agriculture. He married Abby A., daughter of L. B. Smith and Betsey Dole, of New- market, N. H., Oct. 14, 1874. Their children are Florence E. and James W., Jr.

. Mrs. Rollins is a native of Andover, Mass. Her father was an extensive dealer in wood and lumber ; was twice married,-first to Betsey Dole, and had four children, of whom Mrs. Rollins is the third. His second wife was Mary Folsom, of Laconia, by whom he had three children.

JOSIAH B. WIGGIN.

Josiah Bartlett Wiggin was born in the town of Stratham, Rockingham Co., N. H., June 1, 1811. His father was Capt. Andrew Wiggin, and his mother Dolly, daughter of David Wiggin, of Greenland, and is a lineal descendant of Thomas Wiggin, who was one of the original grantees of the Squamscot patent, and the first Governor of the provincial colony of New Hampshire. The line of descent was as fol- łows: Thomas Wiggin was the father of Andrew, who was the father of Judge Andrew, who was the father of Bradstreet, who was the father of Andrew, whose son Andrew was the father of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Wiggin lives on the farm where he was born, and which was the property of his ances- tor, Thomas Wiggin, who settled at Dover Point in 1631, and has descended from father to son through these various generations to himself, never having been conveyed out of the family.

Josiah B. Wiggin

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WINDHAM.

Mr. Wiggin received a common-school education, and during a long and active life has been engaged in many callings. When seventeen years of age he left the old home and commenced his business career as clerk in a store at Exeter, where he remained one year ; then had charge of the post-office there for some three years; thence to Dover, in the post-office there, one year; then to South Newmarket, where he remained several years in trade for himself, the latter part of which he was confidential clerk of George O. Hilton, agent of the South Newmarket Iron Foundry Company. For more than forty years he has been an active politician, and as early as 1836 he was the engrossing clerk of the State Legislature, in which capacity he served during the summer and fall session. He was re-elected the next year, and again in 1840, when there were also two sessions. He was assistant clerk of the State Senate in 1841, and re-elected in 1842, when there were two sessions, and elected again in 1844, when there were summer and fall sessions. He was elected register of deeds for Rockingham County in 1845, and again in 1849, and re-elected in 1850. He has been justice of the peace and quorum throughout the State, and notary public; county anditor three years; has been in the insurance and pension business, and in settling estates; was editor one year, and correspondent of several news- papers for many years, and been engaged in historical and genealogical rescarches, especially those relating to the Wiggin family. 1le was town clerk and select- man for several years of his native town, and repre- sentative to the State Legislature in 1878 and 1879, and on the last day of the session of 1878 he was pre- sented with an elegant gold-headed ebony cane.

He has been prominent in town, county, and State affairs. In politics he is an ardent Republican, and widely known to prominent men of both political parties of the State.

Mr. Wiggin married Eleanor Hilton Smith, of Epping, April 16, 1842. Of their four children the first died in infancy ; the second, Andrew C., now re- sides at Manchester, N. II .; the third, Clara E., mar- ried Ephraim Gordon, of Brentwood; and the fourth, Linnie B., died at three years of age.

CHAPTER LXXXIII.1

WINDHAM.

WITHIN the narrow limits allotted to me for this article it will be impossible to give little more than a disjointed and fragmentary sketch of this old town, of its hardy first Scotch settlers, its civil, political, ecclesiastical, and other history, all of which is so interesting and so honorable. For the main annals

of the town and its families, drawn out with great elaborateness and detail, desiring readers, if snch there are, will find in my forthcoming " History of Windham."

Situation .- Its location is in the nave of a wheel, the Merrimac River acting as two-thirds of the cir- cumference of this wheel. It is bounded on the north by Londonderry and Derry, on the east by Salem, on the south by Salem and Pelham, on the west by Hudson, Beaver River, or Londonderry. It is thirty- five miles northwest of Boston, Mass., thirty-three southwest of Concord, N. H., ten miles east of Nashna, twelve miles west of Haverhill, Mass., fifteen miles southeast of Manchester, and ten miles northwest of Lawrence, Mass. It is situated in latitude about forty-two degrees forty-eight minutes north, and in longitude five degrees fifty minutes east from Washing- ton.

Gacntake or Beaver River is the principal stream, which flows out of Tsienneto (Shometo) or Beaver Lake, in Derry, and flows through Windham in nearly a southerly direction, and empties into the Merrimac River at Lowell, Mass. There are six lakes, called ponds, namely,-Sprnce Pond, Iittititty, Mitchell's, Golden's, Cobbett's, and Policy.

Cobbett's Pond is two miles in length, is the second in size, and covers one thousand acres. It lies in a basin, is beautiful for situation, and from its shores in places rise well-cultivated farms or wooded hills. Policy Pond lies partly in Salem, is the largest in area, and extends over ten hundred and seventeen acres. This is also a lovely sheet of water, and is much frequented by pleasure parties from the cities.

Causes for the Settlement .- Windham from 1719 to 1742 was a parish of Londonderry, a part and par- cel of that historic town. Consequently the early history of the two towns is indissolubly connected. It will be impossible to speak of the first settlements here and the characters of the settlers without speak- ing of the causes which induced the emigration and settlement of onr Scottish ancestors in the wilderness, and of their political and religious influences which aided so powerfully in the development and forma- tion of their minds and characters, giving those char- acteristics which contributed to the success of the new settlement, to the high honor which has ever been accorded to it, to the remarkable intelligence of its people, and the great influence which has gone ont from it during these succeeding generations. The causes were of a politico-religious nature, closely connected with the times in which they lived.

During the reign of King James I., of England, a large portion of the six northern counties of Ireland fell to the king, being the sequestered estates of his rebellious Irish subjects.

To hold in check the wild and turbulent spirits of his Irish subjects he induced a large emigration of his Scotch countrymen to the province of Ulster, Ireland. This was in the year 1612. In 1613 the first Presby-

1 By Leonard A. Morrison, author of the " History of the Morrison Family."

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HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

terian Church ever established in Ireland was estab- lished by these Scotch emigrants at Ballycorry, county of Antrim. The Scotch emigrants were stern Presby- terians ; the native Irish were ignorant Roman Catho- lies. They were different in blood and in religion. The Scotch settled on the lands from which the Irish had been expelled, and in consequence of this fact, the unlikeness of the races in manners and customs, and of the distinctness in race and religion, a bitter feud existed between them. Marriages were not con- tracted by representatives of the different nationali- ties.

In 1641 the Catholies massacred over forty thou- sand Protestants. But a change soon occurred in the government ; royalty fell, the protectorate was estab- lished, a man was placed at the helm who was both able and willing to protect the Protestants from their enemies.

In 1649 the strong arm of Cromwell bore an aveng- ing sword, punished the Catholics, and brought peace to the country.

On the accession, in 1660, of Charles II. to the throne of England, his brother James (afterwards James II.) was appointed viceroy of Scotland. lle was a bigoted Catholic, and the Scotch Presbyterians were the legitimate objects of his hate. The fires of persecution were rekindled ; the sword was again un- sheathed and bathed in the "blood of thousands of slaughtered saints."

In consequence of this persecution thousands of the Scotch fled to Ireland and joined their Protestant countrymen there, and among them were many of the fathers and the mothers of the first settlers of Wind- ham and Londonderry.

In 1688-89 occurred the memorable siege of Lon- donderry, Ireland. Many Scotchmen from Scotland rallied to aid the Scotchmen of Ireland, then residents of that city. The heroic nature of the defense, cele- brated in history, is hardly surpassed in the annals of any people. Many of those who were young at the time of the siege were the sturdy men who came in 1719 and afterward, and helped to found this settle- ment. They sought in the new world a larger degree of religious and political liberty than the old world afforded. They came in manhood's strength, prepared the rude habitations, broke the ground, scattered the grain which the rich and virgin soil would bring forth into abundant harvests. Then the old people came, -men who were stalwart and strong during the de- fense of the city,-and shared with them the joys as well as the perils of the new life in the wilderness. Many letters came direct from the " bonnie blue hills" of Scotland.

Such was the nationality and such the education derived in the school of trouble, war, and adversity of the early settlers, and the characteristics thus de- veloped enabled them to triumph over all obstacles in the hard life in the wilderness. From the fact that the early residents were called Scotch-Irish, on ac-

count of a prior abode in Ireland, many have sup- posed that it denoted a mixture of Scotch and Irish descent, but such is not the fact. The blood of Scotia and Erin did not flow commingled in the veins of the first emigrants. "They were of Scottish lineage, pure and simple," and the terms Scotch-English or Scotch- Irish, so far as they imply a different than Scotch origin, are a perversion of truth and false to history.

First Settlements .- The first settlements in Wind- ham were made near Cemetery Hill as early as 1720, and in the locality called Stone Dam. At the latter place, near Butten's mills, in Pelham, David Grigg and Alexander McCoy, each of Scottish blood, the former of Londonderry, Ireland, the latter from the Highlands of Scotland, settled, according to an old record, in 1721. The place was then an unbroken wilderness,-no trails or paths through the forest save as they made them by spotting trees. John Waddell, on the highest point of land near Cemetery Hill, was an carly pioneer, and built the first house in town, In 1723, " Daddy" John Dinsmoor, the emigrant, lo- cated on the line between Windham and London- derry, at what is now known as the Hopkins farm. He had been an Indian captive, but was released, and came to Londonderry. His father was a native of Crehenmead, Scotland, and he himself was the an- cestor of the two Governors of that name, of Robert Dinsmoor, the " Rustic Bard," and all the Dinsmoors of Windham. About 1730, Samuel Morison, son of James and grandson of John Morison, of Aberdeen- shire, Scotland, located in the range. He was the ancestor of the Morisons of the town and of the writer. Thomas Morison, his cousin, settled about the same time near him. He afterwards settled in Peterborough.

In 1733, Henry Campbell, born in Londonderry, Ireland, son of Daniel, of Scotland, settled in the west part of the town; and where his descendants " live unto this day." About this same time Alex- ander Simpson and Adam Templeton struck for set- tlement here.

John Cochran, also of Scoteh blood, came in 1730, and upon his farm, which he hewed from the wilder- ness, his descendants have since lived. Alexander Park and John Armstrong appeared soon after.

These are some of the pioneer fathers: William and Robert Thompson, Joseph Waugh, Thomas Quig- ley, Alexander and James Dunlap, John Kyle, John Morrow, Hugh Graham, John and James Vance, Samuel and William McAdams, James Gilmore, An- drew Armour, John Hopkins, Daniel Clyde, William Thorn, John Stuart, Francis Langlie, Hugh Brown, Samuel Kinkead, Alexander Ritchie, William Jami- son, Nathaniel Hemphill, James Caldwell, and others, who were here in early times, and not a single descend- ant of any one of whom bearing their names live in town to-day.

The First Settlers .- Immediately after the first settlement had been made in Londonderry, near what

555

WINDHAM.

is now Derry East Meeting-house, individuals went out to work in summer upon the more distant glebes and returned to the more populous settlement in the winter. Many of the young men would thus live several years, laboring to provide a home for their future companions. Then they went or sometimes sent to Ire- land for the brave lass who had consented to cross the wide ocean, braving the dangers of the deep and the perils of the wilderness to meet her stern Jord in the forest home. Land was cheap, and John Hopkins bought a large tract for a web of linen cloth. Neigh- bors were far apart, oftentimes as much as three miles, and it was said " we were obliged to go three miles to borrow a needle, not being able to buy one."

Then there were no grist-mills nearer than Haver- hill or Andover, Mass .; so the grain was carried upon poles which trailed from the horse's back. They broke their corn into meal by two revolving stones, being a hand mill called a cuirn. They lived mainly on what could be raised in the ground. They pos- sessed but little wealth, for their lot was cast in a wintry land like their fatherland, Scotland, with a rocky soil.

Amid the trials of their lot their character stands out in bold relief. They were not illiterate people. They had received a fair education, many of them in Scotland or Ireland.

They were stern, uncompromising Presbyterians, and held to their form of worship with great ten- acity. They loved intelligence, liberty, and religion. No sacrifices were too great for liberty, no sufferings too severe for their religion, no hardships too ex- treme to win a home for themselves and their poster- ity where liberty and true religion, twin sisters, might dwell together, and the domestic virtues might un- disturbed shine forth with peculiar brightness.

Petitions and Act of Incorporation .- Up to this period the residents of the territory now known as Windham and nearly a third of Salem had been in- cluded in the town of Londonderry. They labored under great difficulties. They were seven miles from either church of Londonderry. In order to remedy these disadvantages, and to secure a more perfect union among themselves, forty-seven freeholders, in 1747, pe- titioned for the erection of a new parish to Governor Benning Wentworth and the Legislature. The act of incorporating the town of Windham was passed and assented to by the Governor Feb. 12, 1742. The bounds of the town were as follows : "Beginning at the dwelling-house of one John Hopkins of said Londonderry, yeoman, and from thence running on a due west course to Beaver brook so called, then beginning again at the said house at the place where it began before (so as to have ye said house to ye Northiward) and from thence to run on a due east course till it comes to ye easterly line of said London- derry, thence to run as said line runs till it comes to the southerly boundary of said Londonderry, thence to run to the westward as the said boundary runs till

it comes to the said brook, and thence to run as the said brook runs until it comes to the place on the said brook where the said west line runs across said brook." There were excepted out of these limits the polls and estates of John Archibald, James Clark, James Morse, John Hopkins, and John Cochran, and their respective families. This exception was a fruit- ful cause of disorder and litigation for many years, till at last they were legislated into Windham, where they have since remained. By the provisions of the charter Robert Dinsmoor, Joseph Waugh, and Robert Thompson were authorized to call a meeting of the inhabitants March 8, 1742.

The sun which rose on the morning of Feb. 12, 1742, ushered in a new and brighter day to the people. That day Windham became a town with a legal name, clothed with individuality, possessing the same rights, enjoying the same privileges, and subject to the same burdens and responsibilities of other towns in the province. Henceforth the people of this little re- publie in their Congress, where every man was a member, and could and would be heard, were to man- age their domestic affairs in their own time, in their own way, and for their own good.

First Town-Meeting was holden at ten o'clock, March 8, 1742. As Robert Dinsmoor's name stands first on the list of committee, he probably called the meeting to order and presided till Lient. Samuel Morison was elected moderator. IIe presided in the first meeting, and in twenty-nine subsequent legal gatherings of the freeholders. First officers chosen were Robert Dinsmoor, Joseph Waugh, Robert Thom- son, Samuel Morison, William Gregg, selectmen ; William Thom, town clerk; Thomas Morison and John Dinsmoor were chosen inspectors of dears.

It was " voted that the selectman is to provide too staves, one for the Constable, and one for the taything man, and a town book."

In this simple, plain, direct way, Windham com- menced her career as a municipality. The officers worked without pay.

In March, 1744, commeneed the French and Indian war, which lasted till October, 1748. This town es- caped the ravages of the merciless foe, but she shared in the general alarm, and her sons aided in defending other towns in the State from the enemy, and Wil- liam Campbell, William Gregg, Jr., N. L. Smiley, and' William Smiley were scouting as soldiers of Windham in the Merrimac Valley in July, 1745, and other of our soldiers did good service in the war.

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History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 130

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