History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 60

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 60
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 60

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CHAPTER XXXV.I

EXETER .- (Continued.)

EXETER IN 1776.

Topography of the Village-Industries-Shipping-General View of the Village-Exeter the Capital of the Province and State-Adoption there of the First Written Constitution of the Revolutionary Period -The Powder-House-The " Provincial" Jail-The Court-House- The Meeting-llouse-Prominent Residents -The Revolution - Early Merchants, etc.

IT is extremely questionable if one who only knew Exeter as it was in 1776 would be able to recognize the Exeter of to-day as the same place. The confor- mation of the ground in the vicinity of the river and falls must have greatly changed. The slope from the higher lands down to the water was formerly much more abrupt than it now is. The ridges have since been cut down, and the low ground filled up. A century ago, in very high tides, the western part of Water Street used to be inundated, so that boats could be rowed through it for a considerable distance. The road to Newmarket, in the earlier times, did not run down by the water's edge, but back from it, over the high land. The fact that the bed of Water Street has been artificially raised was demonstrated by an exca- vation made not long since in front of Messrs. Porter & Thyng's store, which exposed a stratum of gravel several feet in thickness, evidently deposited there by successive generations of highway surveyors.

And if we can believe the accounts that have been handed down, there has been a still deeper fill in front of where Mr. John W. Getchell's store now is. The house of Col. John Phillips was built there, more than a century ago, and was destroyed by fire only a few years since. When the house was erected, the front is said to have been three stories in height; within the memory of those now on the stage only two stories have ever been visible, and the lower one of those was sunken at the last considerably below the level of the sidewalk. If the case was as represented, it is plain that Water Street at that point has been built up at least a dozen feet above its original level. But it is proper to say that the foundations of the house which were exposed when Mr. Getchell's building was erected do not appear to confirm the

1 The following interesting chapter was contributed by Governor Chas. H. Bell, being an address delivered by him at Exeter, Feb. 22, 1876.

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EXETER.

tradition. Still, there can be no doubt that the street has been a good deal raised there, if not so much as the height of a story of a house.

The change in the character of the public high- ways since 1776 is worthy of special notice. For The size and extent of the village was of course much less a hundred years since than now. The en- tire population of the town at that period did not quite reach seventeen hundred and fifty souls, which is something less than one-half what it now is. And as a large proportion of the inhabitants lived in the less compact parts of the town, the village could not have greatly exceeded one-third its present dimensions. The character of the buildings, too, was generally in- ferior. To be sure the best of them were spacious, handsome, and constructed from the choicest mate- rials, as a few surviving specimens still attest: but paratively small and poor. Unpainted houses were the rule then ; they are the exceptions now. On the many years before the Revolution the lumber trade was the chief business of the town. Vast quantities of the choicest spoils of the forest were brought each year from inland points to the Exeter landing, a part to be used for the construction of ships here, and the remainder to be rafted or otherwise transported down the river. The greater share of the money raised for the repair of the highways was expended on the roads towards Brentwood and Epping, over which the staple commodity in which our citizens were so deeply interested was hauled to tide-water and a market. The result of it was that the other ways | probably the major part of them must have been com- were sadly neglected. Fortunately this was of less consequence from the fact that most of the travel at that period was upon horseback. The river, too, southerly side of Front Street there used to be noth- served admirably as a public highway in former ing but fields and woods; Bow, Court, Elm, Elliott, and Pine Streets, with all their branches, are the growth of little more than forty years last past. times between the settlements upon its banks. So long as people could do their business by means of boats, they were not so particular:about the condition of the roads.

The basin of the Salt River sixscore years ago pre- sented a far busier scene than it does to-day. The channel was then capable of affording a passage to vessels of considerable size, and ships of from two hundred to five hundred tons burden were built here, six or eight of them each season, it is said. Several vessels were owned here, and made voyages along the coast, and to the West Indies and Europe. With ships unloading their cargoes at our wharves, with carpenters and calkers plying their busy trades in our ship-yards, and with long lines of teams dragging the mighty pines to the river-side, the spectacle must have been full of life and animation. Perhaps some- thing of the same sort may again be realized when the obstructions to the navigation of the Squamscot shall be removed.

As the Revolution drew nigh the lumber trade de- clined, and the business activity of the place dimin- ished. The breaking out of hostilities sent some of the most enterprising citizens into the army ; com- "merce was suspended and ship-building was no longer lucrative. The mechanics became soldiers or sought employment elsewhere, and Exeter, its limited re- sources drawn upon to the utmost to sustain the war, looked forward with anxious hope to the issue that was to bring peace and restore prosperity.

Of course there were no sidewalks in 1776; those have come in mostly within the last half-century. few shade-trees then flung their protecting arms over a part of the village, some of which are still standing, or have but recently disappeared. A giant elm here and there remains to tell the story of the past century, and some sturdy buttonwoods of equal, if not superior, age on both sides of the great bridge succumbed to

disease, and were cut down within the recollection of many persons. But the great bulk of our present or- namental trees are of more recent date even than the sidewalks.

In 1776 Exeter could boast but two churches, and those both Congregational; nor was there either academy or seminary then. But in the article of public-houses a hundred years have probably given us no increase. There were then two taverns on the east side of the river, and the whole number was no doubt greater than it is now. This is to be explained by the different habits of the earlier generation. Auction sales and many kinds of public business were formerly transacted at the inns, as they were usually called. They were places where the citizens of all classes used to meet, especially in the evenings, and the convivial habits of the past age contributed essentially to their being well patronized. Exeter during the period of the Revolution was a place of great resort, and as those were not days when men could whirl into town from their homes by the train in the morning, and whirl back again to their owu firesides in the evening, nearly every visitor here had to pass a night or two under the roof of one or another of our hospitable landlords.

Exeter a century ago had but just assumed the position in the province to which its size and impor- tance entitled it. Forty years before, the town had become an object of jealousy and dislike to some of the dignitaries under the crown at Portsmouth, and in consequence thereof had been tabooed and "left out in the cold," so far as it was in their power to accomplish it. The last royal Governor, John Went- worth, however, was too sensible and politic to allow his conduct to be influenced by an old grudge. He took particular pains to conciliate the inhabitants of Exeter, visited the town repeatedly in much state, formed and commissioned a company of cadets here, embracing many leading men, as a kind of body- guard to the occupant of the gubernatorial office, and

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HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

established relations of intimacy with several of the prominent citizens.

He labored zealously and conscientiously for the good of the province, and at the same time to uphold the power of Britain over it. He hoped no doubt that his special friends in Exeter might adhere to the cause of the crown, as so many of his connections and dependents in Portsmouth did. But he reckoned without his host. When the tocsin of war was sounded Exeter might be said to be a unit on the side of liberty, and the men whom Governor Wentworth had delighted to honor were the first to declare in favor of their oppressed country.

Exeter then became, and remained for many years, the capital of the province and State. The Legisla- ture held its sessions here, and during its adjourn- ments the Committee of Safety took its place, and exercised its functions. The courts were again estab- lished here, and the town became practically the headquarters of all military undertakings in which New Hampshire was concerned. And here on the 5th day of January, 1776, was adopted and put in operation the first written Constitution for popular government of the Revolutionary period. The honor of taking the lead of lier sister colonies in this mo- mentous "new departure" belongs to New Hampshire, and Exeter may well be proud to have been the scene of an occurrence so interesting and so memorable.

The structure in our town which has perhaps re- tained its old-time appearance most perfectly for the past century is the powder-house, situated on the point near the river on the east side. It was built abont 1760, and has apparently undergone little re- pair since that time. It probably first held military stores destined for the French and Indian war, which, however, terminated before they could have been much needed. A few years later it was opened, no doubt, to receive a part of the powder captured by the pro- vincials in the raid, under Sullivan, upon Fort Wil- liam and Mary in Portsmouth Harbor in December, 1774. But as powder without ball hardly met the re- quirements of the times, the selectmen of Exeter pur- chased lead for the " town stock" from John Emery, and sent for a further supply to Portsmouth by Theo- dore Carlton ; employed Thomas Gilman to "run it into bullets," and finally stored the leaden missiles in a chest, which Peter Folsom made for the purpose, at the cost of three and sixpence. The ammunition was dealt out from time to time to other places which stood in greater need, very sparingly thoughi; for not- withstanding Exeter had a powder-mill in 1776, the explosive dust was too precious to be wasted through a large part of the Revolutionary war.

The old powder-house is now somewhat weather- beaten and dilapidated, and perhaps past its useful- ness; but we hope it may be spared, on account of the good service it has done in former days. May no vandal hand be laid upon it, but may it remain a landmark for many years to come !

Another prominent object on the east side, which survived until a recent date, was the jail, on the spot now occupied by the house of Mr. N. K. Leavitt. It is supposed to have been built about the year 1770, when the province was divided into counties. It was a wooden structure, of limited capacity, and at first was surrounded by no exterior fence or wall. It could not have been a very secure place of confine- ment for a person of ingenuity and resources; and indeed more than one prisoner made his escape from it. The notorious Henry Tufts, who published his memoirs thirty years afterwards, tells us that he was incarcerated there before the Revolution, and made his way out without much difficulty. After 1775 the jail became crowded; not only were the persons in this province suspected of disaffection to the American cause committed there, but Tories from other jurisdic- tions, counterfeiters of the colonial paper money, and deserters and skulkers from the Continental army. So much apprehension was then felt that the building was not strong enough to contain its inmates that armed guards were constantly stationed at the door.

The court-house, known also as the town-house and State-house, stood at what is now the easterly corner of Front and Court Streets, on the site of the dwell- ing of the late Mr. Joseph Boardman. The building had formerly been the meeting-house of the first par- ish. When it was moved across the street and de- voted to judicial purposes, it was flanked by the stocks and the whipping-post. Possibly the former instru- ment of discipline may have disappeared before 1776, but the latter undoubtedly lasted till then. The horse- thief Tufts was flogged there shortly before that date, unfortunately without eradicating his inborn propen- sity to appropriate unlawfully the property of other people to his own use.

One of the town schools (for the excellence of which Exeter was early noted) was long kept in this town- house. A "grammar school" was likewise maintained at the expense of the town in 1775-76, under the charge of Clement Weeks, a room being hired of Sammel Davis for the purpose.

The town- and court-house was the place of assembly for the Legislature of New Hampshire, whence it re- ceived the additional name of State-house. Its halls in the "times that tried men's souls" continually echoed to the tread of the wisest and bravest of the dwellers among our granite hills. Sullivan and Fol- som, Stark and Poor, Cilley and Scammell, Dearborn and Reid, in their military attire of blue and buff, often trailed their swords along its corridors; while Weare and Langdon, Gilman and Bartlett, Thornton and Whipple, and a host of other patriots in civil life assembled periodically within its walls to devise the ways and means for keeping an army in the field, until the power of Britain was at length broken, and peace crowned the independence of America.

The meeting-house of the first parish occupied nearly the same spot which its successor, the present

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EXETER.

church, does now. But the yard which surrounded it was then of greater extent, and was filled with snb- stantial stone monuments, bearing inscriptions in memory of the dead who were interred beneath. number of years ago those monuments were carefully leveled with the ground, placed above the bodies they were intended to commemorate, and thinly cov- ered with earth. The rank grass soon sprang up and obliterated all traces of the burying-ground. Subse- quently the street was widened in front, and it is under- stood that the present sidewalk passes over a portion of what was formerly the churchyard. The good taste and propriety of these alterations has been ques- tioned by some of the present generation, we believe; but there is a consolation in the reflection that the memorial stones were neither destroyed nor removed from their proper locations, so that should occasion require, the information they contain can at any time hereafter be made available.

A portion of the main floor of the old meeting- house was left open to all worshipers indiscrimi- nately, except that the men and women occupied different sides. Comparatively few persons had pri- vate seats. The privilege of erecting a pew was highly prized it would appear, for in 1775 the rights to build three of them in the meeting-house were sold at auction to the highest bidders, and realized hand- some premiums,

The services in the religious meetings at that period were conducted in most respects as in our own day. We no longer have tithingmen, however, to look after the sleepers and the nneasy youngsters in ser- mon time. And we do have church-organs and an abundance of hymn-books, which our predecessors did not, by reason of which there has been an essen- tial change in the style and manner of the sacred music. The "pitch pipe" alone was formerly em- ployed to "set the tune," and in good old Deacon Brooks' day the hymn in the first church was " dea- coned" out, a line at a time, before it was sung by the choir.

In 1776 the meeting-house was opened on two oc- casions of peculiar interest to the society. The first was on the 14th of March, when funeral services were performed over the remains of the Rev. Woodbridge Odlin, who had been the pastor of the church for many years. We learn from a contemporary record that a great congregation assembled to witness the solemn ceremony, for the deceased clergyman was highly esteemed.

The other occasion was on the 9th of October, when the Rev. Isaac Mansfield, of Marblehead, Mass., was ordained as the successor of Mr. Odlin. The Rev. Messrs. Thayer, of Hampton, Fogg, of Kensing- ton, and Webster and Noyes, of Salisbury, were present and took part in the exercises. Ordinations were great events in the last century, and we read of one in a town in Massachusetts during the Revolution where the Council during their session disposed of no

less than thirty-eight mugs of flip, twenty-four mugs of cider, eleven gills of rum bitters, and two mugs of sling ! But we have no reason to suppose that the good clergymen and brethren who assisted on the oc- casion referred to'in our town found it such thirsty work. On the contrary, it seems to have been accom- plished with all due decorum.

It may be necessary to remind readers of the present day that houses of worship a hundred years ago con- tained neither fireplaces, stoves, nor other heating apparatus. The congregation, so far as temperature was concerned, were not much more comfortable in the winter ,season in-doors than out. Bnt the gen- eration of that day was brought up to bear hardships without complaint. The good mother, within the remembrance of people not aged, nsed to rely upon a few coals in a foot-stove to keep up the vital heat, and perhaps the youngest child was bundled up so as to be kept comfortable ; but the big boys had to take the severity of the weather seated on the bare boards, with little protection in the way of extra clothing. It is a question how large the attendance in our churches would be if the old fashion of cold rooms were to be resumed. Luckily for the enjoyment as well as for the size of the congregations, in the matter of conveniences and comforts there is no retrogression. Improvements once introduced become necessities ; and New England will never go back to cold churches.

The meeting-house of the first parish had long been provided with a bell, and the town books inform us that in 1776 it was daily rung by Pompey Peters at one and nine o'clock P.M., according to ancient cns- tom, which has also been continued down to our own day.

The present church was not built till more than twenty years after that date. It has been much ad- mired for its architectural proportions, and is un- doubtedly a fine specimen of the ecclesiastical edifices of the last century. Having fortunately escaped de- struction by fire, which recently threatened to con- sume it, it is to be hoped it may now safely survive its centennial in perfect strength and condition.

The other meeting-house in the Exeter of 1776 was that of the second parish, and stood on the lot now occupied by Mrs. Cobb's house. It was a building of ample size, and had resounded to the voice of the elo- quent Whitefield in former years. It has now been gone for more than a generation, and the church in the academy yard is its lineal successor.

No other place of religious worship existed in the town a century ago, unless the few Quakers who lived here and in the vicinity may still have occasionally held meetings. Twenty years before, they are said to have used a building which stood upon Front Street, where now the residences of Mr. J. M. Lovering and Mrs. Kennard are, as the place for their dumb de- votions. No doubt they here received occasional visits from itinerant brethren of their sect, who in "good old colony times" perambulated the whole

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HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

country, and kept up communication and interest be- tween the families and communities of Friends in every section. In the Revolutionary times, however, the peaceful principles of the Quakers became un- popular, and their numbers here had probably dwindled, so that it may be doubtful if the small re- mainder did any acts to attract public attention.

The residence of the Rev. Woodbridge Odlin was in Front Street, on or near the spot where the house of Mr. B. L. Merrill now stands. Mr. Odlin's father, the Rev. John Odlin, lived there before him, and the Rev. John Clark occupied the same premises at a still earlier date, and as the Rev. Dr. Isaac Hurd sub- sequently passed some forty years of his life in the same place, it would be difficult, probably, to find an- other lot of land in New England which has been the home of successive clergymen for so long a period. The Rev. Woodbridge Odlin is described as portly in person, and a perfect gentleman in his conduct and deportment. He was outspoken in his patriotic sen- timents.

The Rev. Mr. Mansfield, his successor, lived not far from the locality where Mr. Charles Conner's house now is.

The Rev. Daniel Rogers, the pastor of the second parish, was a very estimable man, and possessed much learning. During the long term of his residence here he kept a daily journal of occurrences, which our local antiquaries, a generation ago, greatly relied on as containing materials for the history of the town that somebody has been always going to write. What has now become of that journal we know not. It is to be hoped that it has been somewhere safely pre- served, for the loss of it would be irreparable. Too many interesting facts respecting the olden times have already passed into oblivion.

Mr. Rogers lived in a house that formerly stood about where the entrance to Franklin Street now is. It faced towards Water Street, and was long ago removed to another situation.

The "great bridge," perhaps the grandfather of the present one, spanned the river in 1776, as at present. Of course it did not receive its designation from its abstract magnitude, but by way of distinc- tion from its neighbor, the "string bridge," which, much less than a century ago, consisted of merely a single string-piece of timber flanked by a hand-rail, over which only pedestrians could pass.

The next house to the Rev. Mr. Rogers', probably on the west, was that of " Brigadier" Peter Gilman, as he was universally called. It is still standing, and is now the residence of Mr. Manly Darling. It was built by Councilor John Gilman, if we may credit tradition, near two centuries ago, and is undoubtedly the oldest structure in the town.' The main body, which was the original edifice, has its walls composed of squared logs, making it what was called a garrison house, for protection against the attacks of the In- dians. It was formerly much more quaint in its ex-

ternal appearance than now ; but the interior is still worthy of inspection, as an example of the primitive domestic architecture of the country. The front wing, which has been for several years occupied as a store, is an addition of later date, made by the brigadier.

Peter Gilman's career extended back to an early period in the history of Exeter, he having been born in 1703, and as he lived to the good old age of eighty- five, he witnessed many changes, and in the end very great improvements, in his native town. lle was for a long peried a leading citizen. He had the com- mand of a regiment in the French war and served with much credit, receiving subsequently the honor of a brigadier-general's commission. For twelve suc- cessive years he was Speaker of the Assembly of the province, and in 1772 and 1773 he was a member of the Governor's Council. He was undoubtedly in- clined to question the expediency of resisting the royal authority, and in 1775 was required by the Pro- vincial Congress to confine himself to the town of Exeter, and not depart thence without the consent of the proper authorities. But he was evidently not looked upon as a dangerous foe to liberty, and his scruples appear to have been respected by those who took the opposite side. His fellow-citizens chose him moderator in 1775, which could hardly have been done if he had been a Tory in the worst sense of the term.

Brigadier Gilman was a great admirer of Whitefield, and an amusing story is told of the power of the great preacher's eloquence upon him and others, causing them to roll upon the floor in an agony of penitence. Another tradition represents him as sending off a press gang, which had come from Portsmouth to Exeter to seize men for the king's service, by admonishing them that every individual they took would be rescued from their hands before they reached Stratham. The' brigadier appears to have stood up manfully for his townsmen, and hence they naturally stood by him.

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History of Rockingham and Strafford counties, New Hampshire : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 60

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