USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > History of Strafford County, New Hampshire and representative citizens > Part 28
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June 30, 1656, the town voted to build a house at Oyster River "near the meeting-house, for the use of the minister, of the following dimensions, viz. : thirty-six feet long, ten feet wide, twelve feet in the wall, with two chimnies to be suitably finished." This was done and indicates that the Oyster Rive. inhabitants had built a meeting-house at their own expense, ready for service. The first minister there was the Rev. Edward Fletcher, who served "one whole year" and then returned to England, from whence he had come. Fol- lowing this they had no minister of their own, but they paid their ministerial tax to Dover and had the service of the regular minister at the First Church on Meeting-house Hill, who came over to Oyster River as often as his time would permit.
The town records say: "Mr. Fletcher and the town having had some discourse whether he will leave them, he willingly manifested that he was not minded to stay any longer, but to prepare himself for Old England and could not justly lay any blame upon the town." After Mr. Fletcher left it was arranged that the Rev. John Ruyner, minister of the First Church, should have fifty pounds extra for services rendered at the Oyster River meeting-house. November 10, 1658, in town meeting, it was voted that the charges for "fitting the two meeting-houses of Dover and Oyster River" should be borne by each place respectively, each place taking care of its own house.
In 1662 the tax list shows that twenty-eight taxpayers lived on Dover Neck, twenty-nine lived at Cochecho, twelve at Bloody Point, forty-two at Oyster River and one William Ffollett at Belle-Man's Bank. This shows that Oyster River settlement was a lively place and they employed the Rev. Joseph Hull to be their minister. Mr. Hull was born in England in 1594; graduated from St. Mary's, Oxford University, in 1614; began preaching, as a Puritan minister, in 1621 ; he came to New England about 1650; he came to Oyster River in 1662 and was the minister for that community about three years, then removed to the Isles of Shoals, where he died November 19, 1665. During his ministry the Quaker women missionaries came over from Dover Neck and gave him considerable trouble in his Sunday meetings. They would stand up when he was delivering his sermon and contradict what he said and persist in arguing the question. On one occasion one was so discourte- ous, not to say abusive, that the deacons interfered and removed her from the meeting-house.
In 1668 the minister's house at Oyster River needed repairs and in town
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meeting Captain Walderne and Robert Burnum were chosen to oversee the work, and Left Coffin and William Ffollett were instructed not to "act any- thing" without their consent and "what they shall consent unto shall be the act of the town for finishing the house."
In 1669 the church difficulties between Dover Neck and Oyster River broke out afresh and a petition to the General Court in Boston asking that the Oyster River section of Dover be made a separate township, in which they say: "We groan under intolerable grievances, our ministry being greatly weakened, yea, and hazarded thereby, having neither head nor hand, to move in order to calling (a minister) when without, or selling and main- taining (one) when obtained, and it being so difficult for us to attend civil ( town) meetings there (at Dover Neck meeting-house) that often most of uis cannot be there, hence we are in danger to be neglected or not taken care of, nor our affairs so well provided as if we were a township of our- selves, we being in all two hundred and twenty souls, near fifty families and seventy-odd soldiers, a convenient number of farmers, humbly request this honored court to grant us that so beneficial a privilege of becoming a township." etc.
The petition was duly considered by the General Court; Capt. John Wood- man was the chief spokesman for the petitioners, but Capt. Richard Walderne overruled him in strength of argument. So instead of granting the petition, the committee of the court reported: "We have grounds to hope there may be an agreement and settlement of things betwixt you (Dover Neck and Oyster River) ; we commend to your considering it best that you should jointly agree upon terms which may be most advantageous for each other and for public good; and for that end we judge it mete to respit ye case till next session of this court," etc. That was the end of the case for the time being, and no further effort was made in this direction until 1695.
In 1675 it was agreed that two of the five selectmen should be chosen from Oyster River. Under this arrangement the people for many years had their own minister, who was paid by the town of Dover, but with taxes imposed upon the Oyster River taxpayers. Just who officiated as minister up to 1684 is not quite clear. but during that year the Rev. John Buss was duly installed in that official capacity. Mr. Buss was both physician and minister, and an able man in both capacities. He was born in England about 1640, and as layman did some Puritan preaching before he came over to New England. He first appears at Wells, Me., in 1672, and served that settlement as minister and physician until 1684, when he settled at Oyster River, and was a leader among that people for many years. He lost his house and valuable library in the awful Indian and French massacre in the
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summer of 1694, when nearly a hundred of his parishioners were killed and others were carried away captives. He died in 1736. An ancient landmark, "Parson Buss' Pulpit," on the south side of Oyster River, will ever recall the memories of this fine old gentleman, who was for many years the guardian of the health and the souls of his people there.
In 1695, what the Indians had left of the Oyster River people presented a petition to the Provincial Assembly of New Hampshire, asking to be made a township. There is no record that any action was taken in regard to this petition. It may be of interest to the reader to see the names of the petitioners of this date. They are: John Woodman, Stephen Jones, Paul Davis, Sampson Doe, James Bunker, Sr., Jeremiah Crommett, James Durgin, William Williams, Elias Critchett, Nathaniel Meader, John Cromell, Jere- miah Burnum, John Smith, Thomas Bickford, John Pinder, Ffrancis Mathes, Henry Nock, John Willey, Thomas Edgerly, Edward Leathers, Henry Marsh, Joseph Meader, Edward Wakeham, Philip Chesley, Sr., Thomas Chesley, Jr., George Chesley, William Jackson, Joseph Bunker, John Smith, Joseph Jones, John Doe, Jolin Williams, Thomas Williams, William Durgin, Henry Vines, Philip Cromell, John Meader, Jr., William Tasker, Philip Duly, Eli Demeritt, Joseph Jenkins, James Bunker, James Thomas, John Edgerly, William Durgin, Joseph Smith, Thomas Willey, Thomas Chesley and Ffrancis Pitman.
The next record in regard to this question appears in the Provincial Records, May 4, 1716, as follows: "In Answer to ye Petition of Capt. Nathaniel Hill and ye People of Oyster River.
"That ye agreement of ye town of Dover with yt Part of ye town called Oyster River, abt maintaining a Minister among them at their own cost & charges be confirmed & yt ye new meeting house built there be the place of ye publick worship of God in that District an establish a Distinct parish with all rights & privileges belonging to a Parish with full power to call & settle a Minister there and make Assessments for ye payment of his Salary & all other Parish charges equally on ye several inhabitants within yt Dis- trict & annually to chose five persons, freeholders in said Parish to make ye tax & manage all affairs of ye Parish," etc.
The first parish meeting was held May 14th, following the granting of the petition, at the new meeting house. John Thompson, constable of the district, was authorized to call the meeting and notify the inhabitants. The new meeting house had been erected in 1715 upon the spot where the one afterwards built in 1792 was located; that is where the General Sullivan monument now stands.
The first minister of the new parish was the Rev. Hugh Adams. He was 17
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born May 7, 1676; graduated from Harvard College in 1697; studied for the ministry and preached at Braintree, Mass., where he was ordained and settled September 7, 1707; later he was minister at Chatham, Cape Cod, and was dismissed in 1715. He came to the Oyster River parish in 1716, and August 7, 1717, purchased the residence now known as the "General Sulli- van house."
"At Oyster River Parish, in Dover, March 26th (1718). This day (through the smiles of Heaven upon us) we had a Church gathered here, in Decency and Order of the Gospel, and our Teacher, the Rev. Hugh Adams, was then consecrated and Established the Pastor thereof, who then preached from the Text in Cant. 3-II; we being then favored with the Presence and Approbation of some Reverend Pastors of the next Neighbor- ing Churches with the Honoured Messengers thereof, at the said Solemnity, in our New Meeting-House, wherein they gave the Right Hand of Fellow- ship.
"As witness our Hands.
ยท "NATHANIEL HILL, "STEPHEN JONES."
Mr. Adams was a man of great power and influence in the new town: he was minister in this place until he asked to be dismissed, and his request was granted January 23, 1739. He died in 1750, aged seventy-four. From the records it appears that more than a hundred persons, besides the ten who organized the church, became members during his ministry; and a still larger number of persons of various ages were baptized.
The Rev. Nicholas Gilman, a native of Exeter, was Mr. Adams' suc- cessor in the ministry at Durham; born January 18, 1707; graduated from Harvard College in 1724; was ordained at Durham March 3, 1742. He con- tinned as minister until his death, April 13, 1748. "He was buried at Exeter, the home of his ancestors, whither his remains were carried by the young men of the town. He was greatly beloved for excellencies of charac- ter and disposition."
Mr. Gilman's successor was the Rev. John Adams, son of Matthew Adams of Boston and nephew of the Rev. Hugh Adams, above mentioned. His father was one of the noted men of Boston and a leading citizen when Benjamin Franklin was a boy, to whom he lent books which, no doubt, had much to do in shaping the career of the great philosopher and statesman. Dr. Franklin mentions this fact in his memoirs and gratefully acknowledges the favors received in his boyhood. Mr. Adams was born June 19, 1725: graduated from Harvard College in 1745; and three years later came to
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Durham, as its minister, it being his first pastorate. He was ordained March 25, 1749. He was a man of fine literary ability ; he possessed musical talents of a high order and saw to it that all the best musical talent in the parish was brought into use; he was skilful as a mechanic and would have been a first class master builder had he turned his attention in that direction instead of the ministry. He was a patriot and during the Revolution made the old meeting house ring with soul-stirring sermons in aid of the cause of Ameri- can independence. He was not only a strong minister, but also a good physician for the community at large. At his request he was dismissed June 16, 1778. Soon after he removed to Newfields, Me., where he was one of the leaders in founding the town. He continued his ministry there and practiced medicine until his death, June 9, 1792.
Mr. Adams' successor was the Rev. Curtis Coe: born in Middletown, Conn., July 21, 1750; graduated from Brown University in 1776, and began his ministry at Durham about three years later, being ordained and installed November 1, 1780. He was minister here more than a quarter of a century. He resigned May 1, 1806, and became a home missionary in the frontier towns of New Hampshire and Maine, where no ministers were settled. He was a good man, a great preacher, and successful pastor. He died at Newmarket, June 7, 1829, leaving many worthy descendants.
The meeting house erected in 1715, and under which the powder taken from Fort William and Mary was stored by General Sullivan in December, 1774, was taken down in 1792, and a larger one erected upon the same site, where now the Sullivan monument stands. That meeting house was built by the town, just as the ministers had been supported by the town; this town support of the minister continued up to 1806, when Mr. Coe resigned. After that the town, as such, declined to vote money for the minister's salary in town meetings. In changing over from the old to the new order of ministry there was some little delay in getting the church machinery in working order. They had preaching occasionally, but no regular pastor until 1814, when the Rev. Federal Burt commenced to preach in the meeting house on the hill. He was born March 4. 1789, at South Hampton, Mass. That being the day on which the Federal Government of the United States was put in operation, is the reason why the paternal Burt named his son "Federal" Burt. He graduated from Williams College in 1812; he was formally settled as minister for the Durham church June 18, 1817. He was then a young man of twenty-eight years, and possessed of an interesting person- ality, as well as a thorough knowledge of and skill in using the English language. He had preached quite a while before he was ordained and had created a great revival in 1816, which led to his ordination the following
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year. He was a man of commanding presence and exercised a wonderful power over the people of the town, outside of the church organization. He died February 9, 1828.
The old meeting house on "Broth Hill" was given up in 1848, when the present house of worship was erected. A former resident of the town, who could remember seeing Mr. Burt in the last years of his ministry, wrote as follows: "What a spacious affair it was, with its high galleries all around; its square pews; seats on hinges; high pulpit up a long flight of stairs; the sounding board over the pulpit, slightly back of the preacher; and printed in gilt letters on a green ground the fourth verse of the one hundredth psalm, 'Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise ; be thankful unto him and bless his name.' And then it was an awe inspiring sight as Mr. Burt, robed in his elegant black silk surplice, ascended those stairs, opened the Bible and read the morning lesson."
The Rev. Robert Page was Mr. Burt's successor; born April 25, 1790; graduated from Bowdoin College in 1810; from Andover Theological Sem- inary in 1815; he was installed as pastor at Durham, December 3, 1828; dismissed March 31, 1831, and died January 12, 1876.
His successor was the Rev. Alvan Tobey, D. D .; born at Wilmington, Vt., April 1, 1808; graduated from Amherst College in 1828; Andover Theological Seminary in 1831, and began preaching in Durham the first Sabbath in October of that year, and remained the minister of the church until the first week in January, 1871, a period of a little more than thirty- nine years. It was the wish that he remain pastor for life, but he declined. He was a discrete manager among the people and kept the membership of the church well up, leaving it in fine and harmonious condition. Dr. Tobey received his degree of Doctor of Divinity from Dartmouth College in 1867. He was the author of several religious works during his pastorate. Soon after he retired he removed to Somersworth, where he resided until his death, September 30, 1874.
CHAPTER XXIX HISTORY OF DURHAM (II)
THE OYSTER RIVER MASSACRE, JULY 18, 1694
The greatest event in the history of the Oyster River parish was the massacre perpetrated by the Indians and French on July 18, 1694. At that time the settlement had grown to such an extent that houses were along the banks on both sides of the river, from Durham Point to the falls, where Oyster River freshet connects with the tide water, and all these were attacked soon after midnight, July 17-18. There were twelve garrisoned houses, and several others which were not protected with palisade logs. The dwellers in the latter houses went to the garrisoned houses whenever they supposed there was any danger of attack by the Indians. As they had recovered from the fright given them by the massacre at Cochecho in June, 1689, they were resting quietly in their respective homes on this eventful night, not apprehending any danger, as the Indians had been quiet for some time past, since they had murdered the great and brave Maj. Richard Walderne in his garrison, which stood where the courthouse stands in Dover. Everything was quiet in July, 1694, and the people of Oyster River had no occasion to entertain fear, as they had not done anything to incur the special enmity of the Indians, as Major Walderne and the people at Cochecho had.
It is said that the design of surprising the Oyster River settlement was publicly talked of at Quebec two months before it was put into execution. Sieur de Villieu, who had distinguished himself in the defense of Quebec in 1692, when Sir William Phips attempted to capture it, was leader of this raid .. During the first week in July there were rumors of Indians seen lurking around in the woods hereabout, but no mischief being attempted, the dwellers here imagined they were merely hunting parties, so thought no more of it. But, at length, the necessary preparations having been made, Villieu, with a body of 250 Indians, collected from the tribes of St. John, Penobscot and Norridgewog, attended by a French priest, had gathered in the forest around, early in the night, without being discovered.
At the falls they formed two divisions, one of which was to go on each
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side of the river and plant themselves in ambush in small parties that would cover all the houses, so as to be ready for a simultaneous attack on all at the rising of the sun, which, you know, at that time in July is about 4 o'clock. The plot was well laid, but it miscarried to a certain extent.
You saw just before you crossed over the river to the Sullivan monu- ment, a mill dam and the ruins of an old mill. Well, in 1694, John Dean's house stood near that old mill. I presume he was a miller. As it happened, that morning he arose before daybreak, probably about 2 o'clock, to go off on a journey, perhaps to Portsmouth. It had been agreed among the Indians to commence the attack at all points when the first gun was fired, at sunrise. But when John Dean stepped out of his door to take his boat to go down the river, an Indian shot him dead. This firing disconcerted the plans of the Indians, in part, as several parties who had some distance to go had not then arrived at their stations: the people in general were attacked imme- diately, where the Indians were ready to begin their bloody work; some of the people at the lower part of the river, here, had time to make their escape across Little Bay, to Fox Point, while others prepared for defense. The fight raged for two or three hours.
Of the twelve garrisoned houses, five were destroyed, viz .: Adams', Drew's, Edgerly's, Meader's and Beard's. They entered the Adams gar- rison without resistance, where they killed fourteen persons. The grave is still to be seen in which they were all buried; it is just across the river from where you saw the site of the Davis garrison, near the mouth of the river. It was built by Charles Adams. Mr. Adams and his wife and son, Samuel, were among the number killed. The huge mound of the grave has always been respected by the owners of the soil, by never stirring the sod by plow for planting. The ancient Mathes burying ground is near it.
Thomas Drew's garrison was just above that of Adams'; he surrendered his garrison on the promise of security, but they murdered him; also his brother, Francis, was killed, and several of the family were carried away captives to Canada. Among the number was Thomas Drew, Jr., and his wife, Tamsen: they had been recently married and were living in the old garrison in 1694, when the Indians captured them and burned the house. A boy, nine years old, one of the family, was made to run the gauntlet, the lane of Indians throwing their hatchets at him until he was finally killed. Thomas Drew and his wife were separated by the Indians on their retreat, and he was carried to Canada, but she was carried to Norridgwog. He was redeemed after remaining in Canada two years; she was not redeemed until 1698, and during her bondage of four years she suffered great cruelties. After four years she returned and she and her husband commenced house-
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keeping on the shore of Great Bay. where they lived until he was ninety- three and she was eighty-nine years of age, and they raised a family of fourteen children. Their descendants are numerous and most worthy citizens.
The Edgerly garrison was built by Thomas Edgerly about 1680, on the shore of Little Bay, south of the mouth of Oyster river; on account of the alarm being given ahead of schedule time, by the shooting of John Dean, Mr. Edgerly and his family had time to get out of the house and into boats, by which they crossed over the bay to Fox Point, but they were shot at by the pursuing Indians, and his son, Zachariah, was killed by one shot. The rest escaped. The Indians burned his garrison and all the contents. This Thomas Edgerly was appointed a justice of the peace in 1674 and in February, 1684-5, was one of the judges appointed by Governor Cranfield to try the Rev. Joshua Moody, pastor of the church in Portsmouth, for violation of the law in refusing to administer the Lord's supper to Cranfield and two of his council, according to the forms of the Church of England, "as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer, and no other." Justice Edgerly held that Mr. Moody was not guilty. Whereupon Cranfield revoked Edgerly's com- mission as justice, but it was restored to him by Cranfield's successor. He was living as late as 1715.
Beard's garrison, whose location you saw a short distance this side of the falls, was built by William Beard in 1675, when the Indians first began to be real ugly, and in September of that year a party of Indians under the lead of the Chief Squando made their first onset at Oyster River; they burned two houses belonging to persons named Chesley; killed two men in a canoe and carried away two captains, both of whom soon after made their escape. They came up to Beard's garrison and, meeting him outside the garrison, killed him, and in a barbarous manner cut off his head and set it on a pole in derision ; then they went on to Exeter and Hampton, where they committed more murders. That was the first serious trouble that Oyster River settlement had with the Indians. In 1694 the Beard garrison was occupied by his son-in-law, Edward Leathers, who with his family made their escape before the Indians attacked and burned the garrison. By the way, this Edward Leathers, who seems to have been a very respectable and worthy citizen, as were many of his descendants, was the ancestor of the noted dwellers in the famous Leathers City of Barrington, whose fame was great both far and near, but the city in Barrington is now but a quiet neigh- borhood.
The Meader garrison, which stood in the neighborhood of where Mr. Elisha R. Brown's summer residence is, up there opposite Fox Point, was
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built by John Meader as soon as the wars began in 1675. In 1694 Mr. Meader was about sixty-four years old. When he heard the firing of guns about daybreak on the morning of the massacre, he was not properly and suffi- ciently prepared to defend his house, because ammunition was lacking, so he took his family across the river to Fox Point before the Indians had a chance to begin their attack on his garrison. When they reached there, finding it vacant, they burned it to the ground, but Mr. Meader immediately rebuilt it after the massacre and called on the Government to station soldiers there, which was done, according to the provincial papers, and they remained until December, 1694.
There were other farm houses about the settlement which were not gar- risoned; that is, did not have a large yard around them enclosed by a high stockade of posts in the ground which no man could climb over, the entrance to which was by a gate of strong timbers which was fastened at night by a strong bar across it. On that horrible night in 1694 nearly all of these defenseless houses were set on fire, the inhabitants being either killed or taken prisoners; some of them escaped to the garrisoned houses, or hid in the bushes, or other secret places. Dear friends, just imagine yourself under such circumstances; you can then appreciate this story.
I have told you of the garrisons that were burned. The other seven garrisons, viz .: Jones', Bunker's, Smith's, Davis', Burnham's, Bickford's and Woodman's, were resolutely and successfully defended. Taking them in the order as you saw the localities in coming down here I will first mention-
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