History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 59

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 59
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 59

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Rev. John Wheelwright, a friend and fellow-col- legian of Oliver Cromwell, who had been vicar of Bilsby, in Lincolnshire, England, brought his family to this country in 1636, landing in Boston. The next year he was banished from the colony of Massa- chusetts on account of alleged " antinomian and fam- ilistic" religious opinions, and in the spring of 1638 established himself, with several persons who were driven from Massachusetts for the same cause, with a number of his former friends and parishioners from England, and with others of whom we have no definite previous knowledge, at the Falls of Squamscott, to which he gave the name of Exeter.

Mr. Wheelwright at once gathered a church here and became its minister. He also drew up a form of civil government, which was essential for the peace and good order of the infant settlement, as the laws of Massachusetts were not in force here, and New Hampshire had as yet no laws. The instrument drawn by Wheelwright was styled a " combination," and was signed by the heads of families and inhab- itants.

The following is a copy of the combination :

COMBINATION AT EXETER, 1639 .- Whereas it hath pleased the Lord to move the heart of our dread sover- eign Charles, by the grace of God king. etc., to grant license and liberty to sundry of his subjects to plant themselves in the western parts America, we, his loyal subjects, brethren in the church in Exeter, situate and lying upon the river Pascataquacke, with other inhabi- tants there, considering with ourselves the holy will of God and our own necessity, that we should not live ! without wholesome laws and government among us, of which we are altogether destitute, do in the name of Christ and in the sight of God combine ourselves to- gether to erect and set up amongst us such government as shall be to our best discerning agreeable to the will of God, professing ourselves subjects to our sovereign lord King Charles, according to the liberties of our English colony of the Massachusetts, and binding ourselves solemnly by the grace and help of Christ and in his name and fear to submit ourselves to such godly and Christian laws as are here established in the realm of England to our best knowledge, and to all other such laws which shall upon good grounds be

made and enacted amongst us according to God, that we may live quietly and peaceably together in all godliness and honesty.

Mo. 5, 4, 1639.

John Wheelwright.

William Wardhall.

Augustine Storer.

Robert Smith.

Thomas Wright.

Robert Seward.

William Wentworth.

Richard Bulger.

Henry Elkins.

Christopher Lawson.

George Waltou.

George Barlow.

Samuel Walker.

Richard Morris.

Thomas Petit.

Nicholas Needham.

Henry Roby.

Thomas Wilson.

William Winborne.

George Rawbone.

Thomas Crawley.

William Cole.

Christopher Helme.

Jenness Wall.

Darby Field.

Thomas Leavitt.

Robert Read.

Edmund Littlefield.

Edward Rishworth.

John Cramme.

Francis Matthews.

Philemon Purmot.

Godfrey Dearborne.

Thomas Wardhall.

It was modified after a time, and readopted in its primary form in 1640, as appears by the original in- strument of that date, in the handwriting of Wheel- wright, and signed by him and thirty-four others, now preserved in the town clerk's office.

Wheelwright's Church, which was of course a prim- itive structure and of small dimensions, was situated on the hill north of the house of Richard Bliss, Esq., and near the brick and tile manufactory of Wiggin & Dolloff. It was the fashion of that day to make a burial-ground of the yard which surrounded the church, and for many years it has been common to find the hones of the early settlers of Exeter in the clay excavated for the manufactory. Wheelwright's " house is located by tradition a little southwest of the church, in the field in rear of the house occupied by the Misses Rowland. The first minister of Exeter re- mained here but about four years, when, upon the ex- ; tension of the jurisdiction of Massachusetts over the settlements of New Hampshire, he removed, with some of his warmest supporters, to Wells, in Maine.

The people of New Hampshire remained under the government of Massachusetts until 1680. During that period Exeter was a place of little political impor- tance, not being once represented in the "great and general court," as were Dover, Portsmouth, and Hampton nearly every year. Yet the material in- terests of the people were steadily on the increase here, and there were valuable accessions to the popu- lation. When John Cutt was appointed the first Gov- ernor of the province, Exeter furnished him one of his ablest councilors in the person of John Gilman.

Then came the eventful period of the Indian hos- tilities, in which Exeter, being on the frontier, was for a series of years greatly exposed to the incursions of the savages. Many of her citizens lost their lives

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and others were carried into captivity during this trying period of her history.

Exeter partook largely of the popular indignation that was aroused in the province by the tyrannical conduct of Governor Cranfield, and at a later date was the scene of a rather serious outbreak against the crown officials for attempting with a high hand to enforce the laws against persons charged with tres- passing upon the forest pines marked for masts for his majesty's navy.

In 1682, Edward Cranfield came to New Hamp- clergyman of Exeter, joined the company, "with a shire as Governor. He soon exhibited himself in his true colors as a grasping, unprincipled despot. , a resort to carnal weapons.

The people of the province feared and hated him, and when his arbitrary conduct became intolerable, some of them were so enraged that they actually en- tered into a combination for the avowed purpose of overturning the government.

But it was yet too early for a successful resistance to the arbitrary measures of a royal government, and when next the good people of Exeter saw their in- surgent townsmen it was after they had been tried and convicted as accomplices in the crime of high treason and had been, by direction of the crown, respited and pardoned. Though this lesson failed to teach Cranfield moderation, it showed the people of Exeter that they must adopt a less hazardous mode of resistance to the unwarranted acts of the authorities. In the course of the year the Governor, being disap- pointed in his designs of making great gains from bis office, resorted to the illegal expedient of taxing the people without the consent of the Assembly. To John Folsom, constable, was committed the tax against the inhabitants of Exeter for collection, but he reported to the Governor that the people refused to pay, on account of the illegality of the assessment.

Thereupon the warrant was delivered to the pro- vost-marshal of the province, who was ordered to collect the taxes or imprison the delinquents. But he found the duty no sinecure. He first went to the house of Edward Gilman, where he was met by the wife of Councilor John Gilman, who informed him that " she had provided a kettle of scalding water for him if he came to her house to demand any rates."

He received at the same time a like hospitable as- surance from the wife of Moses Gilman, and other women took pains to let him know that they were preparing red-hot spits, so as to give him a warm re- ception. Some half a score of the sturdy yeomanry of Hampton, on horseback and armed with clubs, then made their appearance on the scene, in order to insure that the marshal and his deputy should receive all due attention ; and, to cap the climax, the Rev. John Cotton, at that time probably officiating as the ¡ club in the hand," the emergency seeming to justify

The assembled party then began good-humoredly but systematically to hustle the marshal and his deputy up and down the house, and laughingly in- quired of them, " What did they wear at their sides ?" alluding to their swords, which were indeed rather ridiculous appendages on such an occasion.

On the 21st of January, 1683, the little village of Exeter witnessed a striking spectacle. A dozen The unfortunate officers soon betook themselves to horsemen, armed with swords, pistols, and guns, with | the Widow Sewell's hostelry, ostensibly for refresh- a trumpeter, and headed by Edward Gove, a member ment ; but their tormenters followed them there, and pushed them about, called them rogues, took the bri- dles off their horses, and then turned them loose, and in short made the place in a thousand ways too hot to hold them. of the Provincial Assembly from Hampton, with a drawn sword, rode through the snowy street of Exeter towards Hampton. A son of Gove and the brothers Wadleigh, Joseph, John, and Robert, Thomas Rawlins, Mark Baker, and John Sleeper The marshal at length found that he had brought his wares to a poor market, and in despair abandoned the attempt to collect illegal taxes in Exeter, which, it is believed, was never resumed. were undoubtedly of the party, and probably Na- thaniel Ladd, Edward Smith, William Healy, and John Young also. All of them were well known in Exeter, and the greater part of them were residents, and they made no secret of their purpose to rise in arms against the tyrannical government of Cranfield.

A half-century again elapsed before Exeter wit- nessed another outbreak of popular feeling. The sovereigns of England depended much upon their American colonies for ship-timber for the royal navy, and very stringent laws were enacted against the felling of any pine-trees suitable for masts which stood upon common lands. The surveyor-general of the woods kept a sharp eye upon all such timber, and marked it with the broad arrow, which denoted that it pertained to the crown. It may naturally be sup- posed, however, that the lumbermen of the frontiers would pay but scanty heed to the regulations which forbade them to touch the finest growth of the for- ests. When the surveyor's back was turned, it is probable that the woodman's axe spared few of the monarch pines, whether they bore the king's mark or not. The surveyors could not help suspecting, if they did not know, that the laws were disregarded, and jealousy and bitter feeling necessarily sprung up on this account between the king's officers and the inland inhabitants of the province.

In 1734, David Dunbar was Lieutenant-Governor and surveyor-general of New Hampshire. He was arbitrary, having been a soldier, needy and jealous. He became convinced that the lumbermen of Exeter were cutting about the mill at Copyhold, now in Brentwood, trees which belonged by law to his royal master, and determined that he would put a stop to it.

246

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Accordingly he paid a visit to the mill in person, but while he was looking about for evidence of the violation of the law, he was greatly terrified by shouts and shrieks from the surrounding woods, and the dis- charge of fire-arms nearer than was agreeable. Dun- bar therefore determined that discretion was the hetter part of valor, and beat a retreat. But a few days after he dispatched ten men in a barge up the river from Portsmouth, with directions to seize and bring off the suspected timber. The men arrived at the village in the evening, and put up for the night at the public-house kept by Capt. Samuel Gilman, the same honse now standing on Water Street next to the Town Hall. After a part of them were in bed, and while the others were carousing there at ten o'clock at night, they were suddenly set upon by a party of men in disguise, who threw some of them out of the windows, and drove the others out at the doors. The party assailed made for the river in all haste, but in the mean time the bottom of their barge had been bored through, the sails cut to pieces or carried away, and the mast hacked down. They un- dertook to make their escape in her, but were obliged to return to the shore and hide until the next day, when they found means to return ignominiously to Portsmonth ; but a part of them having lost their clothes, were in a particularly woful plight.

The party who were engaged in this act of defiance of the surveyor-general's anthority were from the ont- skirts of Exeter, then a very large township, but in- cluded men of respectability and standing. Thomas and Nathaniel Webster, Jonathan, Samuel, and Philip Conner, Trueworthy Dudley, and Ezekiel Gil- man are said to have been among the assailants. They assembled at the public-house kept by Zebnlon Gid- dings, now known as the Rowland House, and there painted their faces and altered their dress so as to defy recognition before setting off on their expedition.

Dunbar believed that a part of them were Natick Indians ; so it is probable that they adopted a disguise calculated to give that idea.

We do not learn that any further attempt was made to enforce the mast-tree laws, nor that any punish- ment was inflicted upon the parties concerned in this breach of the peace ; but Dunbar was so mortified and enraged that he caused the courts to be taken away from Exeter, and bore a bitter grudge against the in- habitants so long as he remained in the province.

The earlier half of the eighteenth century was a severe test of the pluck and endurance of the inhab- itants of New Hampshire. We learn that the winters were often of unusual length and severity. The labors of the husbandmen met with but scanty returns, and the domestic animals were terribly reduced in num- bers by the extreme cold and the want of food. Exe- ter must have suffered greatly in these years, though, as the business of her people was not exclusively agricultural, she probably escaped with less injury than some of the neighboring towns.

After the extension of the settlements of New Hampshire which followed the close of the French war, there was a time of greater prosperity. Exeter, during the administration of the last royal Governor, was a thriving and important town. Governor Went- worth, who was fond of parade, encouraged the form- ation of a battalion of cadets here, officered by the leading citizens, and armed and uniformed in the handsomest style, according to the Governor's taste. Some of his Excellency's warmest and most trusted friends were residents here.

But when the first mutterings of the storm that led to revolution and independence were heard, the men of Exeter ranged themselves at once on the side of the colonists; and throughout the times that tried men's souls this town was the headquarters of the State, in both civil and military matters.

CHAPTER XXXIV.

EXETER .- (Continued.)

WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.

Resolutions of 1774-Lords North and Bute burned in Effigy-Exeter in the first armed resistance to British Authority-Bursting of the War Cloud-Exeter in Arms-The First Company.

Revolutionary .- The feeling inspired in the breasts of the people of Exeter by the oppressive acts of the British Parliament, which led to the American Revo- lution, found utterance in a series of patriotic resolu- tions, adopted "almost unanimously" at a town- meeting in Jannary, 1774. After specifying in indignant terms the grievances of the colonists, the town concentrated their views into the resolve, " That we are ready on all necessary occasions to risk onr lives and fortunes in defence of our rights and liber- ties." These were bold words, but they were sup- ported by acts of equal boldness, as we shall see.

The two most obnoxious of the British ministers, Lords North and Bute, were burnt in effigy in front of the old jail, which stood where the house of N. K. Leavitt, Esq., now is. We can imagine the exnlta- tion of the Liberty Boys at a demonstration so expres- sive and decisive. In September, 1774, when the in- habitants of Boston were reduced to sore straits by the operation of the Boston Port Bill, our town imposed a tax, assessed in regular form upon the citizens, and to be enforced by distraint, to raise money to relieve them.

But in December of the same year the men of Ex- eter were called npon to put to the proof their princi- ples of resistance to tyranny, and were found equal to the occasion. A plan was devised among the bolder leading patriots of the province to seize the arms and ammunition of Fort William and Mary, at the en- trance of the harbor of Portsmouth, which was then slenderly garrisoned, but which was soon to be fully

247

EXETER.

manned. It was arranged that the party which was to proceed down the river, under the leadership of John Sullivan, John Langdon, and others to make the seizure, should be supported by a stronger body of men from Exeter, who were to make their appear- ance in Portsmouth in season to secure the withdrawal of the warlike stores in spite of all opposition.

Accordingly, a detachment of about twenty-five armed horsemen, under Nathaniel Folsom, Nicholas Gilman, and Dr. Giddings, left Exeter in the night fixed for the undertaking, and rode into Portsmouth about daybreak in the morning. They ordered coffee at the inn of James Stoodley, who looked with no small astonishment on their martial array. But they made no allusion to the business which brought them there.

About eight o'clock in the morning, James Hackett, with fifty or sixty of the bold Exeter boys, on foot, marched into town and took their station at the hay- market in Portsmouth, where they waited for orders. This, of course, created great astonishment, but little information could be elicited by any inquiries. At nine o'clock Langdon made his appearance at Stood- ley's, and acquainted the party there that the raid was completely successful, and that Sullivan was then passing up the river in the boats loaded with the munitions which had but lately been the dependence of one of His Majesty's forts, but were ere long to be used against his authority by the oppressed and in- dignant colonists. Thus, in this first overt armed re- sistance of America to the British authority, the men of Exeter took a leading part.

The principal citizens of the town were open and decided in their determination to oppose the parlia- mentary measures. John Phillips, the founder of the academy, a man of learning, wealth, and cultiva- tion, though little fitted by habit or inclination for strife, was firm and ontspoken for the liberties of America. Nathaniel Folsom, who had been distin- guished as an officer in the French and Indian wars, and who was a member of the first Continental Con- gress, was ready to take up arms in his country's cause at a moment's notice, and did afterwards ren- der valuable service as a provincial major-general until he was, by reason of the unworthy jealousies of others, allowed to be droppod.

Nicholas Gilman, the trusted friend of the royal Governor, was no less firmly devoted to the defense of popular rights, and with his active and efficient sons, then just come upon the stage, was a most im- portant and indispensable aid to the cause. He was afterwards the successful manager of the finances of the infant State, and the stay and staff of President Weare; and his sons became in their turn favorite and important officers of New Hampshire.

Enoch Poor had been for some years engaged in ship-building in the town, and, acenstomed in the management of men, was ready to tender his best services in aid of America's cause. His appointment

in the army was peculiarly fortunate for the country. He became a general of light infantry ; was greatly esteemed by Lafayette and by Washington, and his early death was deeply lamented.

James Hackett was also a ship-builder, and as such labored for his country faithfully and well. He was appointed a lieutenant-colonel of one of the regi- ments, but his services could not be spared from the coast defenses. He did, however, serve in Rhode Island on one occasion as an officer in John Lang- don's company of light-horse. Such were a few of the leading spirits of the town as the alarm of war was about to be sounded.

The famous expedition of the British troops from Boston to Lexington and Concord took place on the 19th of April, 1775. Early in the evening of that day a flying report of the affair reached Exeter, which was soon after confirmed by news received from Haverhill that the enemy was at Lexington, that the country was in arms, and a severe action had com- menced, which was raging when the messenger left tò alarm the inland towns.

Our streets were filled with excited men until a late honr at night. About daybreak an express arrived in town with further and more authentic intelligence. The bells were immediately rung, and the drums beat to arms. It happened that three of the leading pa- triots of the town-N. Folsom, N. Gilman, and E. Poor-were absent at Dover, but there were enough others to determine what part Exeter should take in the emergency. The unanimous voice was for every man who could possibly be spared to march at once to the help of our suffering brethren. John T. Gil- man, then twenty-one years of age, was peculiarly active in forwarding the preparations of the Exeter volunteers.

Bullets were cast and cartridges made with all speed, and every one lent a helping hand. The women en- couraged their brothers and sons to offer their services, and contributed their aid to fit them out for their hurried campaign. About nine o'clock in the morn- ing, no less than one hundred and eight of the brave boys of Exeter were paraded at the court- house (nearly opposite the lower church), armed and equipped, and ready to march.

" What road shall we take ?"

"By Haverhill."

" Who shall lead us ?"

" Capt. Hackett."

" Are you all ready ?" asked Hackett.

" Yes," was the unanimous reponse.

" March !" was the laconic order.

One who was of that extemporized band of soldiers has left an account of their march. He says that the inen wore sad countenances while taking leave of their wives and friends at home, but there was no flinching. Once fairly upon the way, however, their spirits rose, and they soon resumed their cheerfulness. They had i a drum and fife, but no flag, for the Stars and Stripes

248

HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

were yet in the future. But they were well armed, especially those who had the bright muskets which Governor Wentworth had taken pains to provide for his " cadets," little suspecting that they were so soon to be used in rebellion against his royal master.

The Exeter company marched through Haverhill to the ferry, but found that town in great distress. A destructive fire had raged there only forty-eight hours before, consuming the finest part of the village; this, in addition to the intelligence of the commencement of hostilities, was particularly depressing to the in- habitants. At nightfall they reached Bragg's tavern in Andover, and passed the night in that town. Re- suming their march at an early hour the next morn- ing, they reached Menotomy at noon, and halted upon the common at Cambridge about two o'clock. Here they were taken charge of by some officers ; their alarm-post was assigned them, and two or three rooms in one of the college buildings were given them for quarters. There they passed the first night of their military service, without even knapsacks for pillows, and the college floors, as one of their nun- ber quaintly remarked, "as hard as any other floors!"

The next morning the company made choice of officers. James Hackett was elected captain ; John W. Gilman and Nathaniel Gookin, lieutenants; and John T. Gilman, Gideon Lamson, and Noah Emery, sergeants. The company soon after went through their exercises on the common, and evidently at- tracted no little attention.

The next day a report came that the British were landing at Chelsea. Capt. Hackett had the honor of being the first to receive marching orders; the com- pany from Londonderry followed. They marched as far as Medford, where they were met by the in- formation that the British had re-embarked. At Medford , they fonud N. Folsom and E. Poor, who were going to the headquarters of the army. Gen. Heath reviewed the New Hampshire troops, and on Sunday Dr. MacClintock, of Greenland, and Dr. Belknap, of Dover, preached to them.

The Exeter Company remained at Cambridge not far from a fortnight, and were highly complimented by Gen. Heath. Then, the emergency having passed, and arrangements being in progress for forming a permanent military establishment, they were per- mitted to return home.

Exeter had also its Committee of Correspondence, charged with looking after the interests of the patri- otic cause. An example of the work which fell to their share may be found in a dingy letter, which is still preserved, dated at Portsmouth, April 21, 1775, and signed by H. Wentworth, chairman, by which the committee of Exeter are informed of "the attack upon the people of Ipswich," and of the expectation of the arrival of two ships of war in Portsmouth, and containing a request for "four or five barrels of pow- der." On the back of the letter is a receipt by the

messenger for fonr barrels of powder, which were de- livered by N. Gilman and Dr. Giddings, together with a memorandum of sixty-eight barrels more in the possession of the friends of liberty in Exeter and the neighboring towns. This powder was undoubtedly a part of that which was seized at Fort William and Mary in December, 1774.

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History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 59

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