History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 19

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 19
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 19

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HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

in their houses to destroy them before their next session. In a proclamation of King Charles in 1633, besides permission for these sports, it is ordered " that women shall have leave to carry rushes to the church for decorating it according to their old custom." It is only within very recent years that any flowers and . decorations and the observance of any days were per- mitted in the churches of the Puritan descendant, and still by many are regarded with fear and trembling and serious objection.

Even as early as 1638 some of the colonists began to be alarmed about their degeneracy in matters of religion, and a fast was observed by reason of prev- alence of smallpox and fevers and decay of religion in the churches, which was ascribed to the spread of Mrs. Hutchinson's views.

In 1634 there was a discussion at a lecture in Bos- ton about women's wearing veils. Cotton took the ground that whenever such a custom is not indicative of female subjection it does not come under apostolic command. Endicott took the other side, and in 1634 various regulations were passed against costly dress and compliance with unstable fashions tending to in- jure the Commonwealth.

The settlement at Plymouth seems to have had greater privations in some respect than that at the Piscataqua, for in 1623, in a state of famine, as de- scribed by Governor Winslow, when he had seen men stagger from faintness for want of food, Capt. Miles Standish was sent here for food, where he was hos- pitably received and amply supplied ; and in 1631, the very day before an appointed fast was to be ob- served, a ship bearing provisions came in, and the fast was changed to a thanksgiving day, whose re- ligious observance then had a meaning. "In the absence of bread they feasted themselves with fish. The women once a day as the tide gave way resorted to the mussells and clam bankes, where they daily gathered their families' food with much heavenly discourse of the provisions Christ had formerly made for many thousands of his followers in the wilder- ness.

Cost of Living .- We have, however, abundant evidence from the correspondence between Mason and his agent here that our own settlement was at times in great straits for provisions, and shared the priva- tions which are the attendant of almost all early col- onies. Separated from the friends and comforts of an old land, in dread of savage attacks, and doubtful about the bread of to-morrow, we cannot enter into their hardships while we enjoy the fruits of their sacrifices. The cost of living and the pay of labor seem to our rates exceedingly trifling, for we find an agreement between an innkeeper and the deputies of the General Court, by which they were to be provided with breakfast, dinner, and supper, with wine and beer between meals, with fire and beds at the rate of 38. per day; but such as only dine to pay 18d. for dinner, with wine and beer betwixt meals, and by

wine is intended a cup each man at dinner and supper is no more," but where would one get the 38. or 18d. ?

Early Laws .- Marriage, when it was celebrated,- a rare event in the early settlement,-was performed by a magistrate, or by persons specially appointed for that purpose. Governor Hutchinson, in the His- tory of Massachusetts, says he believes there was no instance of marriage of a clergyman during their first charter. Ambrose Gibbins, writing to Mason, says "a good husband with his wife to tend the cattle and to make butter and cheese will be profitable, for maids they are soone gonne in this countrie."

In 1680 there was set forth a code of province laws of the General Assembly in Portsmouth, wherein, as in the Bay Colony, many of the Mosaic laws, es- pecially those against sensuality, were reproduced in all their severity ; the one against witchcraft, as we shall see, was little needed in our settlement. Here are two showing the relation of parents and children : " If any child or children above sixteen years old of com- petent understanding shall curse or smite their natu- ral father or mother, he or they shall be put to death, unless it can be sufficiently testified that the parents have been very unchristian, easily negligent of ye education of such children, etc." " If any man have a rebellious or stubborne son of sufficient years and understanding, viz., 16 years of age or upwards, wch. shall not obey ye voyce of his father, or ye voice of his mother, yet when they have chastened him will not hearken unto them, etc., such son shall be put to death or otherwise severely punished. There is a law which severely punishes any one who shall wittingly or willingly make or publish any lie wch may be tending to ye damage or hurt of any particular per- son, or wth intent to deceive and abuse the people with false views or reports." " For preventing deceite in trade yt all men may be on a certainty in matters of contracts and bargains, it is ordered that all contracts, agreemts, or covenants for any specia whatsoever shall be paid in the same specia bargained for, any law, usage, or custome to the contrary notwithstanding," and yet so wise have some of our Legislatures grown by two centuries they have come to maintain that deceit in trade is the best thing, and any certainty in matters of business or trade the worst thing, for a nation.

These are some of the customs and laws which re- veal the condition of our early settlers; grown to a populous community, and with the lapse of many years, these customs of society and of worship have all been changed, the sumptuary laws and the strict laws for the surveillance of individuals, the inspec- tion of houses, the punishment of profanity, or in- temperance, or sensuality, or the breaking of the Sabbath have become dead letters, but society en- dures, worship knows no failure, and schemes of re- form of every kind fill the air and enlist the prayers and sacrifices of all good wishers to humanity, and the dishonesties of trade, the sins of impurity, the

PORTSMOUTH.

decline of interest in religion are common complaints and common fears. The severe oversight possible in a small colony is laid aside in a thickly-settled neigh- borhood, where, even with the deepest sympathies or interest, one hardly knows the persons living next him. The causes of danger or suffering of that carly day have passed away with the resources of our vast land, extending through all zones, and the idea of in- dividual opportunity, of personal liberty and religious freedom, with which these colonies began, has widened beyond all conceptions of that day, and into a license which is big with dangers. No law of the State com- pels us to worship or mark the boundaries of Virtue's path ; it is all left to the individual conscience. A divine idea, we Americans are wont to boast, and leading to divine things when rightly received, rightly interpreted, and rightly understood. If each one of our society to-day uses his liberty for the best things we are doubtless better off' than when onr an- cestors were hedged about by so manifold restrictions, but if he does not we are still far from safety or moral growth.

The Shoals .- The Isles of Shoals were of course visited even earlier than the mainland. " Among the remarkablest Isles and mountains for landmarks," writes C'apt. Smith, "are Smith's Isles, a heape to- gether, none neare them, against Accominticus." Ile evidently desired these islands to perpetuate his name and adventures, but after other patents divided New England he writes again, " But no lot for me but Smith's Isles, which are a many of barren rocks, the most overgrowne with such shrubs and sharp whins you can hardly pass them, without either grass or wood, but three or four short shrubby old cedars."

The Isles of Shoals were included in the grant of the Laconia Company of 1631, but upon the 'failure of that venture the grant was divided in 1635 by a line which has continued to the present day, Gorges taking the northern half as a part of the province of Maine, and Mason the southern, as a part of the province of New Hampshire ; but some settlers re- mained there permanently and increased to quite a flourishing colony.

For a long time the islands were a kingdom and government by themselves, and had a constantly in- creasing prosperity, so that the number of inhabitants ran up to about six hundred, and even with a semi- nary of some repute, to which some families on the mainland sent their sous to be educated. It was here that the three brothers t'utt first settled, removing to Portsmouth in [647, but still carrying on business at the Shoals. The islands came under the sway of the Massachusetts about 1652, but a strong element of royalty and Episcopaey for a long time remained. In 1824 the population had fallen to sixty-nine, and within a few years it has entirely disappeared, and all the islands passed under the ownership of the pro- prietors of the large and flourishing hotels which year by year attract summer visitors.

CHAPTER XII.

PORTSMOUTHI .- (Continued.)

The Navy-Ynrd-The "Falkland"-The " Ranger"-The " America"- The Ministry of Rogers-The Half-Way Covenant-A New Parish.

The Navy-Yard .- It was because the early gov- ernment of this settlement saw, on account of the ex- tensive and fine timber lands and the advantages of the deep and never-closed harbor, an admirable loca- . tion for ship-building that Portsmouth was chosen as a place for building ships for the Royal Navy, and at a later date by our government for one of its yards, although the official name is the Kittery Navy- Yard. As early as 1650 there are records of timber for masts I marked with the king's "Broad Arrow" as belonging to the crown.

The "Falkland." The first war-ship built here was the " Falkland," of fifty-four guns, in 1690, and in 1724 still in commission in the Royal Navy. In 1749 a ship-of-war named the "America," of fifty guns, was built for the British government by Col. Nathaniel Meserve. When the war of the Revolu- tion was seen to be inevitable this site at once recom- mended itself to the government. Governor Lang- don, then the owner of Badger's Island, offered its use to Continental Congress, and here, in March, 1755, was begun work on the frigate " Raleigh," of thirty- two guns, and the following May she was launched, and before four months had elapsed she was on the seas and had engaged in attacking four English vessels of war acting as convoy of a large fleet of merchant- men. It was one of the earliest engagements which gave promise of that brilliant bravery which surprised the world as it gained one success after another upon the seas, and over the ships of the greatest naval power in the world.

The "Ranger."-The next ship built here for the Colonial government was "the Ranger," launched in 1777, and immediately given to the command of John Paul Jones, and with her he attacked and cap- tured the "Drake," a British vessel of greater power.

The "America."-In 1776 the keel of the " Amer- ica" was laid at Badger's Island, the only ship of the line which the government at that time completed, and in 1782 this ship was given by Congress to France to replace the " Magnifique," one of her men-of-war, re cently lost in the harbor of Boston. This ship was captured by the British in 1794, and her name changed to the "Impetneux," and long regarded as one of the most valuable and beautiful vessels in the British navy, and yet her builder, Mr. Hackett, of Portsmouth, had never seen a ship-of-the-line. For a long time after the war little was done in the navy, but in 1798 the frigate "Crescent" was built, then the sloop-of- war "Portsmouth," next the "Scammell," and then the "Congress." It was not till 1800, the principal island, on which the buildings of the navy-yard are erected, that was purchased by the government and the

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

various provisions necessary for a naval station ac- tively began. From time to time appropriations were made for increasing its usefulness, from time to time some of the finest ships were here built, and during the late war of the Rebellion a large body of men was steadily employed, and the capacities of the yard enlarged until it became an important station for the government.1

The Ministry of Rogers .- The long ministry of Moodey ended in 1697, and after several attempts to settle a clergyman, on the 3d of May, 1699, Nathaniel Rogers was ordained minister of the town of Ports- month. He was born at Ipswich, Feb. 22, 1669-70, and graduated at Harvard in 1687. There are few names among the elergymen of Massachusetts more eminent than that of Rogers, and the same family which gave the minister to Portsmouth furnished to Ipswich pastors of the same name for a period of over a century. John Rogers, who was chosen to succeed Mr. Oakes as president of Harvard and was installed in 1683, is described as a man of such sweet disposi- tion that " the title of delicice generis humani might have been given him, and his real piety set off with the accomplishments of a gentleman was like a gem set in gold." Of this Rogers, president of Harvard, our clergyman was the youngest son. Rev. Nathaniel Rogers was a man of great elegance in his person and deportment, of a most agreeable manner of preach- ing, and of eminent piety. He was a strict disciple of the Geneva school, a term used to designate the hearty supporters of Calvinism, whose centre of in- fluence and learning was in the Swiss metropolis. The disturbing matters which filled the pastorate of Moodey seem to have produced little irritation during the ministry of Rogers, and, as is often the case, those on either side who could find no harmony in the life- time of a person foremost in creating, sustaining, or bearing the reproach of the difficulties and animosi- ties after his death are glad to be at peace for a while. Rev. Dr. Stiles says of Rogers, " he was a most excel- lent minister ; and his ministry as well as that of that holy man of God, his predecessor, was eminently owned and blessed by the great Head of the Church."

His work was quiet, faithful, and successful, but although repeatedly solicited to publish some of his sermons he always refused, and we have nothing by which to judge of the character of his writings; and the influence of his ministry, which in all respects appears the best, was unhappily greatly lessened by a serious disturbance in regard to building a new church, which for a long time embittered the whole neighbor- hood, and even extended throughout the province.

After being the minister of Portsmouth for fifteen years, preaching in the old South, Mr. Rogers was directed, by a vote of the church-members, to officiate in the new meeting-house which had just been com- pleted on the northeastern corner of the glebe land,

the site of the present North Church. Here he re- | mained preaching with acceptance and success for nine years until his death, on the 3d of October, 1723, making a total pastorate of twenty-four years five ·

months. He was buried at the "Point of Graves;" but the slate which was let into his monument, and on which his epitaph was written, has long since dis- appeared. This inscription was written in Latin, with a Hebrew motto at its close, and with marked classical purity and taste, and fortunately before its destruction was copied by one of his successors, Dr. Stiles, and so has come down to us. Without being fulsome it briefly and beautifully portrays a faithful and distin- guished pastor, well named in the church records " the good Mr. Rogers."

The Half-way Covenant. - It is somewhat re- markable that with a clergyman so strictly of the Genevan school as was Mr. Rogers his church should under his pastorate adopt what was termed the Half- way Covenant, but in the church records under date of April 21, 1707, we find the following: " At a church meeting legally convened it was voted that persons having a competent knowledge, and making a serious profession of ye Xian Religion, and being of a conversation void of scandal, upon ye owning ve covenant, and subjecting themselves to ye govern- ment of Christ in this church, shall be admitted to baptism, and have the like privilege for ye children." It would seem that to be well informed of Christian truth, and to seriously profess to obey its require- ments, to be of a walk and conversation free from all. reproach, to confess the creed, and to he entirely subject to the Head of the Church would be sufficient to admit one to the questionable salvation by the form of baptism, but such was the severity of the Geneva school that all this was only half-way. A man might be of an upright walk beyond question, a glory of example of goodness to all the world, and yet, being without the formal test of election, redemp- tion, and faith, all his goodness was unavailing, and even might make against him. Nevertheless this Half-way Covenant was for a time quite popular in New England, and was in use in the new parish in Portsmonth until it was discontinued by Dr. Putnam. As might be supposed, among the strict followers of the Geneva school it could work only mischief, and deadness to the spiritual life, for it is a tacit admit- tance of the failure of that system through its exces- sive rigidity, and whatever religious tenets one holds to, he must hold to wholly, and not partially, to make them effectual. It might be likened, in some degree, to the old biblical distinction of the proselytes of the gate, in contrast with the proselytes of righteousness, the former being in the eyes of strict Jews only half converts, not required to observe the whole law, but only to abstain from certain heathen practices.

A New Parish .- We come now to consider the gathering and history of a new parish. This matter has never had the careful investigation, or been set

1 See chapter xv.

PORTSMOUTHI.

forth in the simple historical accuracy it deserves. 1 find that it is quite as simple, and far more readily understood than most events in the past with which the historian has to deal. There was, as we have seen, some objection at the time to buikling the old South Church beyond the mill-dam, at the fork of the roads going to New Castle and the cemetery, and the matter was settled only by the appointment of a com- mittee by the General Court, which finally located it there. All the time there had been a small party want- ing it farther up Pleasant Street. Since the building of that first old South more than fifty years had passed away, and from the building of the first chapel near the Universalist Church nearly seventy-five. The popu- lation, which in 1657 I am inclined to think was not far from five hundred, had increased to at least twelve hundred in 1693, and yet they were all included in one parish, and their only place of worship was the old South Church beyond the mill bridge. From some old records I find that of this number, according to the same calculation, Great Island had about two hundred, when a separate parish was established there in 1693. There must still have been in the old parish, wide as its limits still were, allowing for the same rate of increase, although there is every reason to suppose it was much more rapid, at least twelve hundred inhabitants, whose only home for worship was the old South, and all the time the settlement had been growing away from the church and towards the Bank, as this upper part of the town was gener- ally called. The old church was not only in con- stant need of repairs, but was entirely too small to accommodate the large and rapidly increasing parish. We find in the town records the following : " At a Generall Town-meeting held at Portsmo, the 24th day of September, 1711, voted that a new meeting- house be built in the Town. Voted, that the new meeting-house be built on the corner of the minister's ffield, on ye place formerly appointed by ye Com- mittee, and that it be ye stated meeting-house of ye Town. Voters for the meeting-house are sixty-five ; against, are forty-five." A committee was chosen at the same meeting " to carry on ye affaire of building sd House," and the seleetmen were empowered to raise money by way of a town rate for the said house. " This corner of the minister's ffield" referred to in · the vote, was the corner of the glebe land we have already described, and the site of the present North Church.

When this vote was taken there was no thought of any division, only of building a new church for the whole parish, but the parishioners at the south end were not willing to have it built so far to the north. It is said they were willing that it should be built on the spot where later the house of Mr. Joseph Hlaven stood, or the rise of ground near it; but the parishioners at the north end were not willing to go so far south. Instead of compromise, the matter grew only more complicated and excited, and as the new

church went up the dissensions grew wider and fiercer.

The people of Greenland, who were anxious to be set apart and have a parish of their own, all came to the aid of the north end, as the tradition was that in return, as soon as the new church was built, those for whom they voted would vote for their separation.

While, however, a majority of twenty of the whole parish, meaning thereby the whole town, was thus in favor of the new church, and the minister, Mr. Rog- ers, was on that side, there is every reason to sup- pose that the majority was gained out of those who. by the increase of population towards the north, could not be accommodated at the old South. The church, meaning thereby the communicants, had at that day the chief authority in ecclesiastical matters, and after the new meeting-house was finished we find, under date of Jan. 7, 1714, the church voted " that Na- thaniel Rogers, minister of this church, should come to the new meeting-house erected at the Bank on ye next Sabbath, "seven night, and preach there, and con- tinue preaching there as formerly at ye okl Meeting- House, and perform all other offices which appertain to his function." Unfortunately the record does not give the number for or against. We do not know how many church-members there were at this time, the men only voting, but the number was probably between twenty and thirty, as there were twenty male members at the time of Mr. Rogers' ordination, yet at the beginning of the present century the tradition was that while a majority attending the meeting voted for Mr. Rogers to go to the new meeting-house, an actual majority of the church-members were in favor of retaining him at the old. Hence it came that the feeling grew only the more violent, because the parishioners at the south end claimed that unfair measures had been taken to gain the vote, and so they determined to remain at the old South. In this, and this is a fact of great importance, and which has never been set forth, they were advised and sustained by an ecclesiastical council, and the counsel of no less dis- tinguished a clergyman than Dr. Mather, of Boston, whose advice and assistance the parishioners at the south end sought and followed. Mr. Rogers became much disgusted with the conduct of the ministers because they took the side of the people of the old church. Dr. Mather, on the other hand, blamed Mr. Rogers, and wondered how so good a man could discover so much ill humor; but all ecclesiastical history shows that very good men can. The result of the council was, as in general, somewhat unsatis- factory to all sides, and says one of the early his- torians, "the societies separated and did not walk in love till that generation dropped off' the stage."

But the ecclesiastieal council did not settle matters. It never does, and before long the subject comes be- fore the couneil held at Portsmouth. At a general town-meeting held Sept. 9, 1713, the redoubtable John Pickering, who was warm in the cause of the

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

But Mr. Rogers followed the vote of the church, and went to the new meeting-house, whereupon the old parish at the south end sent at once to Mr. Emer- son, of Great Island, or New Castle, to be its minister. Then the matter came to open war, each parish ap- pearing before the General Assembly by a committee. At a meeting of the Council of General Assembly of the province of New Hampshire, held on the 11th of May, 1714, we find the following : " Upon hearing of all parties referring to the meeting-honses of this town, and having seen and considered the grants, agreements, and votes of the said town of Portsmouth referring to the settlements of the Reverend Mr. Rogers, the present minister of the said town or parish, voted that the said Mr. Rogers be established the minister of the said town, and be confirmed in the possession of the glebe land or parsonage lands according to the agreement with the town. It is further ordered and directed that his salary or main- tenance be raised by the selectmen from the inhabit- ants, and paid him from time to time as heretofore."

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History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 19

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