USA > New Hampshire > Belknap County > Sanbornton > History of Sanbornton, New Hampshire, Vol. I - Annals > Part 20
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37. SIMKON CATE.
38. NICHOLAS CLARK.
39. SATCHELL CLARK.
40. Thomas Currenerr.
41. AARON ELLSWORTH.
12. JOHN FOLSOM.
43. DANIKI. GALE [8]; wounded.
44. CALEN GILMAN [00]; discharged Aug. 17.
45. SAMUEL HARPER.
4G. JONATHAN MORRISON.
47. Rougir SMART [went as the " waiter " of Capt. Taylor].
48. DANIEL. T. SANBORN.
49. JONATHAN 11. SANBORN [77].
50. TIMOTHY Surn.
51. ICHABOD SWAINE.
52. JONATHAN TAYLOR [Sen. ]. See after [84-86].
53. JONATHAN THOMPSON.
VII. - 1777.
The following Sanbornton men are found in two or three different companies of Col. Alexander Seammell's regiment, "Continental Line " (Capt. James Gray's and Capt. Richard Weare's companies among them) ; their dates of " enlistment" being mostly in . April, 1777," but varying from March 30 to May 30, with dates of "entry," in a few cases, as late as " July 5 or 7." They mostly re- ceived .. State bounties," from " £16" to " £20" each ; also to [54], [55], [60], and [71], " twenty paper dollars as a bounty " were paid The Conti- by the town, as per sworn testimony of the selectmen ;
Rented soldiers and to [55], " eight dollars good money as a bounty" ! The order of names upon this list is that of the military records, and nearly correspondling with the times of enlistment. The terms of service were prearranged for " three years," except as otherwise here stated.
161
REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
54. THOMAS TAYLOR; d. Aug. 25, 1777 (probably in Vermont or near Still- water).
55. JOSEPH JEWETT; d. Sept. 2, 1777 (probably in Vermout or near Still- Water,.
ANDREW ROWAN; d. March 1, 1778.
57. JOSEPH SMITH [13].
58. JOHN SMITH.
59. STEPHEN (STEVENS) BURLEY ; eight months; discharged Jau. 10, 1776.
00. CALEB GILMAN [44]; eight mouths (probably a re-enlistment after returning with Capt. Taylor).
61. SAMUEL SILVER; transferred Dec. 22, 1778.
62. WILLIAM BURLEY.
JONATHAN BEAN.
64. MOSES CASS.
65. JOIN DURGAN (DURGIN) ; wounded.
Gü. JOUN ROWAN.
JEREMIAH SMITHI.
Cs. JOHN MORRISON.
69. JOHN YKCOOLD ( probably a hired substitute).
TO. JONATHAN CHASE (re-enlisted for 1780).
71. JOHN MAGOON; d. Oct. 25, 1777 (from wounds in battle of' Oct. ? ).
It thus appears that Saubornton furnished at least eighteen .. Conti- mental men " for the regular army of 1777; to eleven of whom, as early as " May 5," according to the State military records, £158 11 .. had been paid by the town as bonuties. These, in addition to the volunteer militia, twenty in umber, who accompanied Capt. Taylor to Bennington. At a special town meeting, Jan. 20, 1778. it was voted " to provide for the families of the sokliers gone from this town into y" Continental army." (Town Records.)
" It is not probable that any town in this vicinity furnished more meu, or did more in the cause of the Revolution, according to its population, than this "; and it is in allusion to the above and similar votes, as well as to most liberal private benefactious, that the carlier annalist continues to say : -
"Those who remained at home scarcely shared au easier fate than those who were in the service; all were ready to sacrifice everything Sacrifices at home.
in life, and even that, at the shrine of freedom. . . . Every dollar that could be raised was cheerfully contributed to aid the callse of liberty, and the only complaint heard was that it was not in their power to do more."
VIII. - 1778.
Two new ". Continentals " for this year : -
72. HUMPHREY HUNT. Enlisted Jan. 27, 1778; re-eulisted May + for two years; to whom, at first, "forty paper dollars as a bounty" were paid by the town; transferred to West Point, 1750.
73. JOSEPH GILMAN. May 14, 1778; nine months; "one hundred paper dollars as a bounty "I showing the swift depreciation. 11
162
HISTORY OF SANBORNTON.
The three selectmen of 17844 " gave solemn oath to y' truth of yt above account by them subscribed before Daniel Sanborn, Justice," Oct. 28, 1784, referring to the " paper-dollar" transactions both of 1778 and the year previous. This is found in the military The two beauty accounts at Concord, as also the entry of .. £16 11s. paid ies of 17is.
by the town of Sanbornton " to its two " Continental men " of 1778, April 9. We learn elsewhere that these were afterwards among the men hired by Col. Folsom to fill up Scammell's regiment, and that they also received liberal .. State bounties."
IX. - 1779.
Four new men are proved to have enlisted this year by the following doements (though one a previous " militia-man " of 1777) : "State of
Pour additional N. Ilampshire to the Select men of Sanbornton, Dr., July
Continentals 15, 1779. To Bounties paid three soldiers enlisted in one In 1979. . of the N. Il. regiments, Continental service, during the war" (the items after each name being, " Continental Bounty, £60 ; State do., £90; total, £150; and whole amount, £450). These three were : -
74. JACOB THOMAS, "Capt. Frye's company, Dec. 8" (otherwise known to have entered the army at fifteen years of age as a tifer).
75. JAMES SANBORN, "Capt. McGregore's company, 1779 " (Capt. Beunet's company, Feb. 15, 1781).
76. NATHAN Horr, Capt. Gilman's company, Dec. 8, 1779.
77. JONATHAN HOBBS SANBORN [49] (the fourth man of the year). Ang. 2, 1779, State of New Hampshire, etc., Dr. to paid him (as a soldier, culisted in Col. Mooney's regiment for the defence of Rhode Island, being joined to Capt. Samuel Rummels's company, July 25), "Bounty, £30; travel to Provi- deuce, £12. Total, £42, as per receipt." The above four men were all mus- tered by Col. Joseph Badger.
The war votes for the year are also significant : first, at the March meeting, " to leave it to the Select men to raise what money they think needful for ye soldiers' familys"; but afterwards, April 13, deeming that action insufficient, " chose Robert Smart, Nathaniel Burley, and Benjamin Iloit a Com. to provide " for thein.Aug. 20, adjourned from the 17th, " Voted, unanimously, to
Significant accept the Plan of Government formed for this State by Vules. y" Convention, the number that voted being fifty-eight." Thus it seems not a Tory was present at the meeting, if there were any in town. Capt. Chase Taylor was also chosen " our representative for y" Convention to be held at Concord, in this State, Sept. 22 next, to regulate ye prices of ye necessaries of life."
.
103
REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
X. - 1780.
On the " muster-roll" of men raised to recruit the New Hamp- shire regiments in the Continental army till the last day of December, mustered at Kingston by Josiah Bartlett, are four . Sauborntou men," with one hundred and twenty-five miles' travel to Worcester, Mass., allowed to each. Three of these, besides [70], were -
78. JEREMIAH TILTON.
79. JOSEPH BURLEY.
80. JEREMIAH SANBORN.
To these should be added a list of seven men who, "in 1780, the same year that Arnold sold West Point," are known to have been eulisted and sent thither as nine months' men under Capt.
The West
Point meu. Sineler of Barnstead, Lieut. Ray of Meredith, and Ensign Sineler, son of the captain. One of these, [72], is already entered ; the other six were -
81. JONATHAN PERKINS, whose father [22] was at West Point the same year, where they unexpectedly met.
82. MOSES LEAVITT.
83. JOSEPH LEAVITT.
84. JOHN TAYLOR,
S5. JONATHAN TAYLOR, S brothers.
86. JONATHAN CATE.
Of [84] we also have the tradition that " when his uncle, Capt. Chase Taylor, was going to Bennington as an officer, he asked his own brother Jonathan to let Jolm go with him as a waiter, promising to take good care of him," etc. Jonathan refused, thinking his sou too young, or being, as some allege, under Tory influence from certain Stratham friends. The falsity of this last allegation i.s,
False tradi-
lou refuted. however, proved from the facts that he himself, according to the lately discovered list, was a Bennington soldier of 1777 (see [52]), and that he afterwards consented to this enlistment for both his sons.
The most important war vote this year was July 20, " to come into a method of equalizing the cost of raising men in this town for y" present war with Brittan, from ye Beginning to y" end thereof, accord- iug to each man's estate," with a committee of five, to whom was also left " to set a price on a tuonth, or any number of months' service in y" war done by men in this town." Hence we find as subjects of future action the ". looking over of the war rate," and the * giving in " of their " war rates " to individuals under special emergencies.
164
HISTORY OF SANBORNTON.
XI. - 1781.
ST. JONATHAN THOMAS [1] reappears on a wuster-roll as "engaglux Jan. 20, 1781," till " Aag. 19," and perhaps later; Is otherwise known as the only Sanbornton man In Col. Thomas Cllley's reghuent. The youthful
SS. SAMUEL FIELD is also upon the sine master-roll for a month's ser- vice carly in the year.
" A return of the soldiers in the New Hampshire line belonging to Sanbornton." (Signed) Ebenezer Smith, " Exeter, June 27, 1781." This list consists of eight men, headed ". During War" ; viz. : -
Nos. [4], [13], and [26], after whose uanies are the words, '" Returned frolls camp"; Nos. [25] and [26], " Whiteomb's luen"; Nos. [es], [29], and [so], tol- lowed by the words, "of Sanbornton." There should be added to these, -
59. JOSIMI SANBORN (afterwards Deacon), who is known, on private authority, to have been "one of the ten men enlisted frout this town ju 1781," and probably [90], below, to make up the " quota of men The ten " kus- which had been requested by a late Act of court for the Conti- bet " of irst Mental service," and hence became interested in the following dred dollar vote of March 15, so long as the contiunance of the war reudered it valid; viz., "To give one hundred silver dollars, or ye value of it, to cach of' ye ten ren that are eulisted into ye Continental Arimey frolu this town. or to as many of them as answer towards our quota of men for s'd armey, $25 10 be paid in twelve months from date; $25 more in two years ; $25 more in three years ; and the remaining $25 in four years."
90. .. Left. THOMAS LYFORD " [3], by vote of March 27, is also to receive "one thousand Continental dollars, of the value thereof, for his service is lulisting meu for ye Continental Arniy."
XII. - 1782, 1783.
To a similar list of eight, and including [87], of nine soldiers given for 1782 as for the year previously, we find added : -
91. HENRY Surrn. "R. war" (perhaps " returned to the war"), " May s, 1752," who a few days betore, " April es," expericuced the town's patriotic liberality on this wise: Voted, "To give Henry Smith, as #
The vote of
the cows. soldier for this town for three years, one good cow ou dennial; three cows more within one year; three more at ge end of two years; and three more at ye end of three years from this date." This action, as counnonly interpreted, marks the persevering and determined spirit of our Sanborntou fathers. But the war was shortly to terminate, and it is most likely that Heury never had the privilege of driving all his promised cows! Indeed, by the surrender of Cornwallis the fall before (Oct. 17), the war was even theu considered as virtually at an end; which fact, if then clearly recognized by the citizens of the town, might give to the above vote the appearance of burtesque! Yet, as the army was not disbanded till Nov. 3, 1755, the promise was probably a sincere one: the people of old Sauborntou were bound to see the war well through! The age of Smith, however, - twenty-one in 1752, - would seem to indicate that he was never a "three-
-
165
REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY.
years' Revolutionary soldier," except on paper! Our last item from the State military papers Is this : " Feb. 6, 1753. Gave a certificate to Capt. Taylor, a select man of Sauboruton, for the following payments to Sanboruton sokliers," seven in number, from Ell to Els each man; and total sum, " EVO lis. Id." These men bad doubtless remained in the service till the final breaking up of the Continental forces. They were Nos. [62], [63], [65], [67], [G8], and [70], as already given, to whom is added, -
92. SIMON GILMAN, as receiving £11 48. 11d.
It is well known that the full payment of the Revolutionary heroes was delayed in all parts of the country, and in some cases for several
The payment years. The three chief items of town action, subsequent
of the soldiers to the war, were as follows, showing a disposition to delayed. adjust all claims on both sides in an equitable manner : March 30, 1784, " Voted that the cost of the war be brought on an average, through the whole of the town, from now forward." Next, - as " smelling " a little "of the powder," doubtless, of the Revolu- tion, - April 5, 1790, " Voted, that the Select men shall prosecute Capt. Sanborn's and Capt. Iloit's notes given for powder, uuless paid soon." Finally, Oct. 30, 1797, at special town meeting, article hav- ing appeared in warrant "to see if Town will settle with the three- years inen, or soldiers that went out in 1777," a committee of three was appointed to inquire into the matter and make report at next annual meeting. (The claim seems to have been only a small one for an nuadjusted balance. ) Said committee - Josiah Emery, Esq., Nathan Taylor, Esq., and William Harper, Esq. - accordingly reported March 13, 1798, that six " underwritten soldiers receive
Back chums
allo wed. from the Town of Sanbornton 83.12 each, in full for their claims, which is in the whole, $18.72." The six recipients were the heirs of Nos. [62] and [63], and Nos. [65], [07], [68], and [70]. The above report was accepted.
The preceding list of the Saubornton soldiers should be somewhat extended, accordingly as we tind reliable evidence from other sources that certain additional men were eulisted in the service, or gather from the family histories of Vol. II. that sundry " ancestors " were " in the Revolutionary war," which may in most cases refer to short
volunteer engagements, like those under Capts. Taylor [35] Other Sauboru- ton soldiers at Bennington, and Perkins [22] at Portsmouth. For exam- uut found ou ple : It is well authenticated that live of the twelve meu the pay-rulls. who withstood the Indians under Lient. Nathan Taylor [23], below Ticonderoga, June 16, 1777, were from Sanbornton, - viz., Nos. [25], [25], and [31] ; also another, -
93. SAMUEL Surru, who was one of the three instantly killed at the outset, and
94. EZEKIEL DANFORTH (called ou one authority " Joshua " by mistake).
166
HISTORY OF SANBORNTON.
95. MOSES DANFORTH, The older brother both of [94] and [32], was nugnes- tionally In the service. There is no evidence of more than que Heury Dan- forth among the Sanbornton sollers. For fuller allestons to the udilitary enreers of these three brothers, see " Family History," Vol. II. p. 210. )
96. CHAASK TAYLOR, Jr., oldest sou of [33], died lu the campaign of 1770, at the carly age of twenty-four.
07. THOMAS Corr and
Js. Sergt. JouN SANBORN were also actively engaged in the patriot cause, as noticed in their several family histories ; while the absence of the three last named, [96-98], from the " Association List" of 1776 is prestinp- tive evidence that they were then In the service. Thomas Copp should cor- tainly be accredited to this town, for he was only at ffanover on a visit when he culisted. Hle is said to have been " at one the chief of the guard at Wash- ington's headquarters."
There has also come to hand, late in the preparation of this Revo- Intionary record, through the kindness of Hon. G. W. Nesmith, the documentary evidence that -
99. JOSEPH HOIT, " of Sanboruton," was in Cupt. Ebenezer Webster's com- pany, at West Point, in 1780, and the only man in that company from this town. The two brothers
100. JEREMIAH SWAIN and
101. DUDLEY SWAIN were undoubtedly in the latter part of the Revolu- tionary service, being both placed upon the pension roll in 1832; and if they moved into town, with their mother, as carly as intimated in Vol. II. p. 743 [ 1] (" soon after " 1770), they must have been soldiers from Sanbornton.
The family histories may contain allusions to other Revolutionary soldiers who elsewhere enlisted before removing to this town ; but the above list of ninety-three (eight having been twice entered )
Final sum-
mary. is believed to contain very nearly all those from Sanbornton found in the regular service, and a considerable portion of those who, as volunteers for shorter periods, responded to their coun- try's call. Can any other town in this Commonwealth, at so early an age and with so small a population, - then numbering not over four hundred souls, - show a better record?
CHAPTER XVI.
MILITARY AFFAIRS AFTER THE REVOLUTION. - WAR OF 1912-1815.
" Our country's call invites the brave The glorious toils of war to try ; Cursed be the coward or the slave Who shuus the fight, - who fears to die."
OLD TYRTEUS (Greek).
"That patriotismn which, catching its inspiration from on high, and leaving at an immeasurable distance below all lesser, grovelling, personal interests and feelings, animates and prompts to deeds of self-sacritice, of valor, of devotion, and to death itself, - that is public virtue ; that is the noblest, the sublimest of all public virtues." -HENRY CLAY.
Nov. 12, 1794. It having been ordered that soldiers should be raised in town, voted " to give the men that shall enlist voluntarily, one dollar ; also to cach a blanket, if called into actual service ; also that the town make up the soldiers' wages $7.00 per month, exclusive of clothing, with what Goverment gives them."
March 20, 1798. One dollar again voted to each volunteer soldier. The former of the above military movements was for the so-called
" Miami War," and the final defeat of the Indians in Ohio,
The Miami and " John under Gen. Wayuc. It was for this service, probably,
Adatus " ward. that two men from Sanbornton were sent out, -James Sanborn and Jonathan Judkins, of whom the former never returned. The movement of 1798 was in the prospect of a war with France, called the . John Adams war," when the French revolutionary gov- ermment pursned a course of insult towards the United States, and attacked the ship " Constellation," but was soon after happily over- throwu.
Military regiments were first formed by the State Legislature, under the new Constitution, Dec. 27, 1792, companies in Gilmanton and Barnstead making up the first battalion, and the com- The old Tenth Regiment, panies of Saubornton, Meredith, and New Hampton form- N. Il. Militia. ing the second battalion of the Tenth Regiment. The annual ** musters " were held alternately in each of the three towns.
March 12, 1805. Town of Sauboruton first " voted not to act ou
-
168
HISTORY OF SANBORNTON.
the article for providing a suitable military parade ground" ; but after- wards " reconsidered," and Joua. Chase, Benjamin Colby, Lieut. Jere. Sanborn, Moses Thompson, and John Lane were chosen a committee " on this business," with anthority to sell the land reserved by the pro- prietors for a military parade, and buy another for the use of the town. But this seems never to have been accomplished ; hence the musters were held in different private fields, chiefly near the Square. The field south of the Ingalls place -i. e., north of the old meeting- house and cemetery - was a favorite muster parade. Here Gov. Jeremiah Smith reviewed the troops in 1809, being entertained by Mr.
Lovejoy, at the large honse on the street where now Amos Muster fielde. M. Baker's. Another parade ground was east of the former, on the Harper (late Baker) farm ; hence Master Lane's Diary item : "1812, Sept. 30. Regiment met in Harper's feld." Afterwards musters were held on the Daniel Sanborn (now 'T. M. Jaques) place, east of the Square. At first, the militia law required " training at sixteen years of age." In 1817 the law was changed " to train at eighteen." But before introducing the later military affairs of the town, let us speak of its connection with the second war with Great Britain, 1812-15.
A large majority of the citizens of Sanbornton were at first oppose I to the war of 1812. Ou one occasion, the year before, at a " test vote," in town meeting, it is said that ouly eleven in the whole town were found ready to support what were then called the Republican or war measures of the administration, which were thought to be tending towards the opening of hostilities. But after the British had perpe- trated their outrages upon our seat of government in August, 1811, and their fleets were seen hovering along the coast of New England as if meditating an attack, then the patriotic spirit of '76 was easily stirred, as shown by the following document. It seems that a mass meeting of the citizens had been previously held ; and at a
Patriotic meet. ings in 1514. second meeting, " Sept. 21, 1814," the committee, through Nathan Taylor, chairman, reported a draft for a " military association," which was inunediately signed by seventy-two individuals, . as below, including many of the leading men of Sanbornton at that time : -
: [Cory.]
". Whereas, the war in which our country is unhappily engaged with at formidable power, has of late assumed a more threatening and alarming aspect ; and not only has the seat of our General Government been seized and desolated, and other ports and harbors of our Country been subjected; but still an invasion and subjugation of our whole Country is threatened by deets and armies on our seaboard and frontiers : And, whereas, our sons and brethren enrolled in the militia have been notified in general orders by the Commander
169
MILITARY AFFAIRS AFTER THE REVOLUTION.
in Chilef of this State to 'Hold themselves in readiness to march at a moment's warning,' and a detachment of these has actually marched for the defence or our seaboard, and others probably innst soon follow; Aud, whereas, a respec- table, and it may be presumed an invaluable body of the free born sons of New Hampshire are by law exempt from military duty, altho' not by the ties or honor, patriotism, and a true sense of American Liberty and Independence, exempt from the hazzard, the toil, and the glory of contending for their dear bought inheritance : - Therefore, resolved, That a ' Military Association ' be
formed in the town of Sandboruton of such persous not enrolled
The Military Association. in the Militia who shall from motives of true patriotism, feel that love of Country and Union which so animated this our land in the attuimment of our Independence; and, in the support of which, to be ready at a moment's warning to aid, under the direction of the Commander in Chief of this State, In the defence of our liberties, our institutions, and all that free- men can hold dear."
[Voted, unanimously, that the above be accepted. ]
" The Committee report the following rules and regulations for the govern- ment of said Association : -
"ARTICLE Isr. - Said association shall be commanded by one Captain, one Lieutenant, one Ensign Clerk, four Sergeants, and four Corporals, all of which officers shall be elected by ballot, by a majority of said association, when, and so often, as the same shall be necessary for a full complement of officers.
" ARTICLE 2D. - The Captain and subalterns to be armed with a sword or hanger, the non-commissioned officers and privates to be nrmed with a good gun and bayonet, and to be furnished with a cartouch box, twenty rounds of cartridges (or powder and ball equivalent), four fints, a priming wire, and brushı.
" ARTICLE 3D. - Each individual to equip himself as aforesaid within one month from the twenty-first day of September, Inst., or in default thereof, or for any misbehaviour as a Gentleman and Soldier, his name to be struck from the, list by a vote of the majority of the company to which he belongs on a full proof of the same, the person accused to have proper notice that he may be heard in his own defence.
" ARTICLE 4TIL. - That the offleers and privates of said association shail cousider themselves under the innnediate direction of the Commander in Chief of this State in the defence thereof agreeably to the Constitution.
" ARTICLE 5TH. - Each individual to subscribe his name to these articles and consider himself bound by the honor of a soldier and a freeman to comply with the same to the fall intent and meaning thereof."
SIGNATURES, IN THEIR ORIGINAL ORDER.
"JOSHUA LANK. J. B. PERKINS. CALEB KIMBALL.
WILLIAM WEEKS. ROBERT STRELK. JOHN CLARK, 3D. JOHN MORRISON.
NATHANIEL BURLEY.
JAMES CLARK.
BENJAMIN P'. SANBORN.
JAMES CHAPMAN.
REUBEN PINIBACK.
SAMUEL. DESTIN. SYMMES SAWYER. JONA. GOVK. JONATHAN MOORE.
Joseph SMITH, JI.
DANIEL BURLERII.
DAVID BenLEY.
DURBAN SANBORN.
-
-
170
HISTORY OF SANBORNTON.
SAMUEL SHIRLEY.
ROBERT HUNKINS.
JAMES SANDERES.
AARON WADLEIGH.
CHRISTOPHER SANHORN.
THOMAS MORISON.
GEORGE WIncHER.
STEPHEN MIKHAILIL.
OBADIAH ELKINS.
JOHN P. HLAYES.
NATHAN TAYLOR.
RICHARD HAZELTON.
JOSHUA LOVEJOY.
PETER HERSEY.
COLE WEEKS.
D. C. ATKINSON.
JONA. PERKINS.
SAMIL .. C. DUDLEY.
EBENE. SANBORN.
JOHN D. SANBORN.
ELISHA SMITH.
JEREMILAI SANBORN, 3D.
JACOB TILTON.
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