USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Salem > History of Salem, N.H. > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50
There are several stories of conflicts with the savages after the settlement of Salem, but none of them are sufficiently au- thentic to be given in detail. It is said that Capt. Ebenezer Ayer commanded a small band of men who had for their strong- hold the old garrison house on the north side of World's End Pond, on the Ayer farm. Other garrison houses were at the base of Spicket Hill, near the present causeway, and at the Larabee farm near Captain's Pond. The former of these was the old Peaslee house on the Silas Carey farm. The cellar may be plainly seen today among the apple trees just in the rear of the Carey cellar. It has been partially filled up recently with stones and refuse matter from the adjoining land. Here all of the women and children of the outlying farms used to come to pass the night. We shall have more to say of this house later, as it had many historic scenes affecting the organization of the town enacted within its walls. The other house, which
59
SETTLEMENT.
stood about where the present Larabee house stands, was one of the first dwellings built in the town. The farm, in fact all of the land on that side of the pond belonged at that time to the Wheelers. We regret that no detailed stories of the life in these garrison houses have been preserved.
HIGHWAYS.
The highways of the town, though of such poor character, re- ceived considerable attention from the proprietors at their meet- ings. It was voted that whenever any man found the highways too few to accommodate his property, he might complain to the town and they were to choose two men to come and lay them out. But poor as might be the highways, the bridges must be kept in repair. The negligent attitude of some of the citizens in this matter led to stringent measures in 1669 :
"If committee having in charge the repair of bridges shall summon any man to work and he do not appear, he shall be fined as follows : 1 man absent 1 day, 5s .; yoke of oxen absent 1 day, 2s. 6d. & so in proportion. He shall bring such implements as he may have suitable to the work."
In 1670 it was voted to have all the highways, both old and new, laid out, marked and recorded, and returns made of the same. There is, however, no record of any such general returns.
At a general meeting in 1685 a petition from men in the west. part of the town was presented, asking that a highway be laid out. above Spicket River. When the land there was divided suffi- cient space was left between the lots to allow for highways. The men who had served as lot layers at that time were designated to lay out the new highway, in the place which should be most convenient to the proprietors of the land. This road was per- haps that which was later extended toward Dracut, lying west from the falls in Methuen.
CHURCH MATTERS.
Several notes regarding religious affairs at this time may prove interesting. In 1690, when Mr. Ward was beginning to show and feel the breaking down effects of age, the town engaged Benja- min Rolfe as his assistant. It took a considerable amount of
60
HISTORY OF SALEM.
correspondence before the terms could be arranged, but finally it was agreed that he should have a settlement on the parish, with "forty pounds per annum in wheat, Rye and Indian," and free board to be furnished by Mr. Ward. In 1693 this ven- erable preacher was called to his long home, after faithfully ad- ministering to the parish for nearly half a century. The po- sition of "our Teacher" in Haverhill is almost exactly repro- duced one hundred years later by the work of the Rev. Abner Bayley in Salem. Both lived during the building days of their respective towns, in the latter half of two successive centuries, working from young manhood till the end of their earthly lab- ors for the welfare of those among whom they had been held in such high esteem.
Mr. Rolfe served as minister until 1708, when he became the first victim of the fiendish savages in their raid upon the town. He was followed by several men whose terms of service were of short duration.
In 1710, the Rev. Mr. Joshua Gardner was chosen settled min- ister, the church and town concurring in the vote. He was to be paid "seventy pounds a year, one half in good passable money, the other half in good merchantable corn at money price, besides the use of all the parsonage lands in town."
We find evidences that the boys of the past were not materially different, in some respects at least, from those of the present. This extract from the records, dated March 2, 1714, will illus- trate :- "Several persons moving that some care might be taken to prevent the rudeness and disorderly carriage of the boys in the meetinghouse on Sabath days."
In the same year it was voted to clapboard the parsonage house with "good white pine clapboards without sap." This sort of finish is an outgrowth of the early custom of plastering the rough planks and boards of the houses with clay, and putting thin boards over the clay to keep it from falling off. These boards were at first called clayboards.
In 1718 the Reverend Mr. Samuel Chickley was chosen min- ister at a salary of one hundred pounds per year. This seems a very generous offer for those times. In fact, even today there is not a small number of ministers in the country villages who
RESIDENCE OF SAMUEL MILTON KELLEY. (M 485)
61
SETTLEMENT.
receive no more than the equivalent of this sum, about five hun- dred dollars.
GOVERNMENT.
The development of the government had been progressing dur- ing the past years. The list of town officers voted for each year was fairly fixed by the beginning of the century. In 1700 it comprised the following :
Moderator.
Town clerk and treasurer (often the same man, but not necessarily so).
Two constables, one for the east and one for the west parts of the town.
Five selectmen and assessors.
Three tythingmen.
Six surveyors of highways.
Six fence viewers (five years later there were eight).
Clerk of the market.
Sealer of leather.
The constables were collectors of taxes, and frequently paid bills against the town, signed by the selectmen, without turning the money collected over to the town treasurer. The duties of the selectmen were much the same as they are today. The tythingmen were supposed to keep order at the meetinghouse during divine worship. This office also involved the task of keeping the sleepy members of the congregation awake.
The last division of land was made December 30, 1721, and is known as the fifth division of upland. It included all the un- divided land in the town, most of which was in the northern part. All of the present territory of North Salem was granted at this time, as well as the land lying about Island Pond and beyond. Several of the lots were reserved for the use of the proprietors. The lot layers were Richard Hazzen, Nathaniel Peasly and Tim- othy Ayer.
As showing who were the first owners of the land in the north-
-
62
HISTORY OF SALEM.
ern part of the town, the list of the proprietors is given, with the number of each man's lot :
John Ayers Jr. 1 Joseph Peasley 26
Mr. Robert Clements
2 John Dow 27
Joseph Jowitt
3
Peter Ayer 28
Jno. Page
4 Richard Singletery 29
Thomas Davis
5 Thomas Ayer 30
Jnº Williams Sen™
6 John Hutchins
31
Robert Ayer
7 Walter Simons
32
James Davis Jun"
8 Robert Swan
33
Thomas Whittier
9 John Chenary
34
John Johnson
10
Proprietors
35
Thomas Sleeper
11
Richard Littlehale
36
Henry Palmer
12
Thomas Eatton 37
William Holdrig
13 Nathaniel Ayer
38
Stephen Kent
14 Edward Clark 39
Proprietors
15
Daniel Lad
40
Samuel Guild
16
James Davis
41
Robert Clement
17
James Fiske
42
George Brown
18
George Corlis
43
Mathias Button
19
John Eatton
44
Daniel Hendricks
20
Bartholomew Heath
45
Proprietors
21
Theophilus Satchwell
46
Obadiah Ayer
22
Proprietors 47
William White
23
Hugh Sherratt 48
Thomas Linforth
24
Abraham Tyler 49
Mr. Jno Ward
25 James Pecker 50
It will be noticed that the drawings were in the names of the original proprietors, not those of their heirs. Some few new names had been added to the list by this time.
As the town began to take on larger proportions, it became more and more evident that the existing methods of management would not suffice. The church was too far away from the two growing parts, the west and north, to be a convenient place of worship; nor were the schools distributed as well as conditions seemed to demand. Accordingly the inhabitants of the outlying hamlets began to send in petitions for separate townships or par- ishes.
63
SETTLEMENT.
The first of these came from the part of the town now Methuen, dated July 5, 1720, and signed by Stephen Barker, Henry Bod- well, and others. It requested that a separate township or par- ish be set off in the west part of the town. A very earnest dis- cussion followed its presentation, after which the meeting voted not to grant it.
Friction between the proprietors, or commoners, and the non- commoners began about this time to assume a serious form. The latter, of course, had no rights in the meetings, as they were men who had come to Haverhill after the first organization of the town, and had not been granted proprietors' rights. At this period they were becoming more and more numerous, gaining thereby increasing inherent power. Evidently it was only a question of time when their voice would be powerful enough to cause the proprietors to sit up and take notice.
They maintained that the commoners had no right to issue grants of any more public land; but this did not prevent such grants from being made. The commoners assumed the attitude of calm indifference to the protests of their fellow citizens of more recent arrival. Thereupon the inhabitants held separate meetings, and arranged to make use of these public lands. The year before the proprietors made the fifth division of upland, that is in 1720, the non-commoners voted to grant all of the ter- ritory within the town beyond Hoghill mill and not interfering with the fourth division land, "to those men that have been out in long marches in the time of the war, and to others of the in- habitants of this Town, that will make speedy settlement on the same." This land lay west and north of Hog Hill (in Atkinson, still known by the same name), that is, the northeast part of present Salem. A committee was chosen to lay it out into fifty- acre lots, but we have no evidence that the non-commoners who had voted as above really felt that they could secure a title to the land. At any rate, the proprietors laid out the fifth division the next year, and no protest against their titles given is recorded.
In March, 1721, a second petition comes from the to-be Me- thuen inhabitants to this effect :
"Whereas there is a certain tract of land in the West end of Haverhill containing Fifty or Sixty acres, lying on the south
64
HISTORY OF SALEM.
and south west of a Meadow commonly called bare meadow, which land, together with a piece of land lying on a hill called meetinghouse hill, in times past reserved by our forefathers for the use of the ministry, might in hard times make a convenient Parsonage; if by the blessing of God, the gospel might so flour- ish amongst us, and we grow so populous, as to be able to main- tain and carry on the gospel ministry amongst us.
"We therefore humbly pray that you would take into consid- eration the circumstances we are in, & the difficulty we may here- after meet with in procuring a privilege for the ministry; and that you would grant, & settle & record the above said lands in your Town book, for the above said use, & you will gratify your humble petitioners and oblige us & our posterity to serve you hereafter in what we may.
Joshua Swan
John Gutterson
Henry Bodwell
John Lad
Henry Bodwell, jun
James Sanders jun
Danl Bodwell
Wm Whittier
Jas. Bodwell
Thos Whittier
Thos. Masser
Ephraim Clark
James Davis
Thos Whittier sen.
Abiall Masser
Mathw Harriman
Henry Sanders
Saml Smith
Thos Johnson
Saml Currier
Edwd Carlton
Jona Clark
Saml Hutchins
Stephen Barker
Elisha Davis
John Sanders."
John Hastings
As this was not a request for anything that would weaken the cause of the proprietors, it was granted. The petition is inter- esting to us in that many of the signers were afterwards citi- zens of Salem, while others were the ancestors of some of our leading families today. They lived at that time for the most part in what is now the east part of Methuen, and near the mouth of the Spicket in Lawrence. The land referred to lies. near the line of the electric road from Lawrence to Haverhill, and on the hill at the corner of Arlington and East streets in Methuen. On this hill, on the triangular common in front of the.
11
-
THE OLD AMOS N. WEBSTER HOMESTEAD. (M 381)
RESIDENCE OF PETER LA COURT. (M 336)
65
SETTLEMENT.
residence of Mr. T. L. Barstow, the meetinghouse was subse- quently raised. The graveyard is still there, on the east slope of the crest of the hill, not as it formerly appeared, but remod- elled by Mr. E. F. Searles of Methuen a few years ago.
From 1723 to 1725, the final battles between the proprietors and inhabitants were fought. The latter appealed to the Gen- eral Court to inquire into "ye irregular methods of ye Common- ers" in the administration of public lands. The court ordered a town meeting for the election of officers, but very few voted and no elections were declared. The court, upon hearing of this, sent a second summons, couched in no unmistakable terms, where- upon a meeting was held and officers elected. The last meeting of the two factions jointly was held in 1725, after which the town and proprietors each held separate meetings and elected each their own officers. But the authority of the proprietors over the land was too firmly established to be seriously ques- tioned. We shall find them granting land in Methuen and Salem long after these communities had been made separate towns, just as the Masonian Proprietors of Portsmouth retained their rights.
In December, 1723, a committee of proprietors composed of Dea. James Ayer, Nathaniel Peasly and Richard Hazzen, was chosen to meet a committee from the non-commoners to hear the requests they wished to make regarding the disposal of certain public lands. The report of this committee exposes the fact that the chief grievance of the non-proprietors was of an individual nature; that is, a number of persons had desires for the pieces of public land adjoining their own, while some wanted the cow common divided, thinking, no doubt, that they would share in it. Some of these requested lands were in Salem. These are here given, together with a few others that are interesting for their oddity :
"mathew Harriman junr declared yt hee would bee oneasy unless all ye fences erected on ye cow comon were demolished & itt lay according to ye vote of ye ancient fathers & ye proprietors records Burnt.
"William Johnson would not be easy unless They would fling up ye cow common.
6
66
HISTORY OF SALEM.
"All those above accounted are unreasonable in Their de- mands & soe acted nothing upon it. All ye other persons under written To ye number of about 39 persons Though They had noe materiall objection against ye division of ye Comons yett since They had bore charges lost friends by ye Indians : &C did desire some particular pieces of land upon ye proprietors grant of which They would bee easy & for ye future rest contented & proceeded To request as followeth Jonathan Eastman requests 20 acres in providence neck
"Samll marble senr: Twenty acres in providence neck north of ye Copls pond farm.
"Stephen Webster Twenty acres north of Copls pond as wee goe to providence neck.
"John Webster & nathan webster 40 acres to both in provi- dence neck."
As stated in a preceding chapter, this "Copls pond" is Cap- tain's Pond. The land which Stephen Webster desired is the piece on which his descendants afterwards lived on the north side of the pond, west of the property of Mr. Robert Dunbar. "'Providence neck" is the cut between the two ranges of hills, through which the Providence Brook flows. The land which "Marble asked for was on the west side of the brook, and was held by his descendants for a good many years. Formerly there was an old path from the north side of Captain's Pond westward, past the old site of Johnson's mill on the brook, to an ancient fording place near the bend in the Spicket at the foot of Allen's (or Long's) hill.
METHUEN SET OFF.
July 30, 1724, a petition of Lieut. Stephen Barker and others of the west part of the town asked for a township west of Hawkes' Meadow Brook. The General Court appointed a hear- ing on the petition, to which the proprietors sent Capt. John White to remonstrate. The reason for asking was that the dis- tance to the center of interests of the town was too great. Also the best local government could not be maintained at so great a distance. Captain White was armed with a strategic plan for obtaining a refusal from the court; he would destroy the cause of complaint-distance. His scheme was to provide ferry ac-
67
SETTLEMENT.
commodations, such that the people of the west part of the town could cross the Merrimack and proceed to Haverhill by the short route on the south side of the river, instead of following the wide bend around on the north side. He succeeded, and the petition was denied.
That fall, in November, these same men petitioned the propri- etors for a schoolhouse. They were a growing community, in which it was impossible to educate the children. This request was granted, probably with the idea that it might be a means of keeping the territory undivided. It had always been the aim of the leaders of the proprietors to have this whole great area thickly settled and governed as one town; but this was not to be. They could scarcely manage the main part of it without dis- sesions, which, luckily, were generally satisfactorily healed, ac- counting alike for the joy of the town proper and the neglect of the outlying districts. On this occasion the proprietors granted besides the school a sum of ten pounds a year toward paying a minister for preaching that winter, should they engage one.
It soon became evident that the west end must be separated. The "ferry accommodations" had failed to make a place, and there seemed to be no further excuse for refusing a grant.
Accordingly, the General Court set off the west part of the town as a new town, by the name of Methuen. The council, under date of December 9, 1725, issued the first call for a town meeting. This was posted as follows :
"PROVINCE OF MASSACHUSETTS.
"In Council, December the 9, 1725. Ordered, That Mr. Stephen Barker, a principal inhabitant of the Town of Methuen, be, and hereby is, empowered and directed to notify and sum- mons the inhabitants of the said Town duly qualified for voters, to assemble and meet, some time in the month of March next, to choose Town Officers according to law, to stand for the year.
"Sent down for concurrence
"J. Willard, Secry.
-
68
HISTORY OF SALEM.
"In house of Representatives, December 10, 1725, read and con- curred
"Wi. Dudly, Speaker.
"Consented to, William Dummer."
This order for the first town meeting was inserted in the war- rant. At the meeting held March 9, Lieut. Stephen Barker was chosen moderator, William Whittier town clerk; the five men whose names follow were the first board of selectmen : John Bailey, Ebenezer Barker, Asie Swan, Daniel Bodwell and Thomas Whittier.
An entry under date of January 10, 1726-27 throws light upon the origin of our custom of posting warnings for town meetings upon the doors of the churches. Before this time it had been the duty of the constable to travel to all homesteads in the town, informing them of the coming meeting. The action of the town is recorded thus:
"At a legal town meeting on January the 10, 1726-27, upon adjournment, upon consideration of the great trouble to the constable, by traveling to warn town meetings, the town voted and granted unanimously, that warnings being posted up upon the door of the house where the public worship of God is carried on, fourteen days before the day for the town meeting, shall be accepted for a warning for any town meeting in this town, for the time to come."
After the frame of the meetinghouse had been raised, there was much discussion in regard to finding another location. Sev- eral times the matter was brought before the voters, until finally a committee was chosen to investigate the locations suggested. They reported that the site already selected was in their opinion by far the most convenient place in the town, and it was voted to finish the construction of the building. The frame was raised in the summer of 1726, and the next spring it was boarded up. The meetings were held meantime in various houses in con- venient parts of the town. The warrant for the meeting of March, 1726-27, was posted upon the door of Asie Swan's house, since that was where the religious services were held.
The bill for framing the meetinghouse was brought in at this
STEPHEN BAILEY.
69
SETTLEMENT.
time. The amount was fifty-four pounds, seven shillings and eight pence.
On March 3, 1728-29, it was "voted to give Mr. Christopher Sargent a call to dispense the word of God to us." After much correspondence, of a formal nature, after the manner of the times, Mr. Sargent accepted the call and was in due time or- dained as minister of the new parish.
Here we may leave the story of the development of Methuen, as it was not very closely related to the history of Salem. Such facts as are of importance, however, will be noted in the follow- ing chapter, showing their bearing on the organization of Salem.
As we have no further direct treatment of Haverhill, we may in closing state the final facts regarding the proprietors of that town. As has been stated, they continued to grant land to par- ties in Methuen and Salem for some years. A few of the grants of a public nature will be referred to in a subsequent chapter. The last meeting was held October 10, 1763. By this time all of the public land had been divided, and the management of affairs was in the hands of all the citizens.
The principal facts in the history of this region have been considered. The family names mentioned are in many cases those of our Salem families of today. The forms of government are derived, ready for adoption by the new town which next is to become the object of attention. The origin and growth of this town, Salem, as such, forms the subject of the next branch of our story.
-
CHAPTER III.
Building the Town.
In the preceding chapters the aim of our treatment has been to prepare the way for the development of the town of Salem. It is difficult to determine just where this historical background, as we may term it, ceases and where Salem begins. It seems best, however, to divide the subject where the individuality of this community begins to become apparent, at the time when the men of this vicinity first banded themselves together for their common welfare.
Accordingly, we have left the records of the older town of Methuen which do not treat especially of that part of it which afterwards fell to the jurisdiction. of New Hampshire. In this chapter such Methuen records as give any light upon the par- tition of that town, including petitions for a second precinct or parish, with the action taken thereon, will be fully presented. For such records can only be considered as the first evidences of growing activity in the northern part of the town.
Methuen had scarcely been set off from Haverhill before it became very evident that just as the local government at Haver- hill was not competent to properly manage the affairs at a dis- tance so far away as the village or better settlement near the Spicket, so the new town was in turn unable to supply the needs of the people settled in the neighborhood of Spicket Hill. We find, therefore, as early as March, 1727, an effort was made to have another meetinghouse erected in town to accommodate those dwelling in the north part. The principal movers in this project were Nathaniel Peaslee, John Hastings and Jonathan Emerson, who lived in what is now Salem. The voters of the town dismissed the request.
This merely delayed the matter. These men were not the sort to be so easily turned down. The next spring another petition
71
BUILDING THE TOWN.
It
was presented, having a slightly larger list of signatures. was as follows:
"A humble petition to the Town of Methuen in General, of us the subscribers.
"In the behalf of difficult circumstances in being remote from the public worship of God, whereas we being six miles and up- ward from Haverhill or Methuen, where it is kept, so that we could not attend the public worship of God, whereas a number of us have joined together a part of Haverhill and a part in Me- thuen, to carry on the public worship of God, and have hired a minister to preach to us, in the west end of Haverhill, which is about two miles and half from the furthest of us, now we humbly pray, that the Town would pass an act in the Town, to free us from the minister rate in Methuen and set us off. Beginning at Hawk's Meadow brook's mouth, so running westward about midway between James How's and Samuel Clark's, so running the course over Spicket river, all the land which belongs to Methuen, to join with the party in Haverhill, in carrying on the worship of God.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.