USA > New Hampshire > Sullivan County > Washington > History of Washington, New Hampshire, from the first settlement to the present time, 1768-1886 > Part 2
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`That the Owners of ye other Shares viz : all Exclusive of James Minott, Jun., Josiah Brown, William Spalding, Peter Powers, Stephen Powers, Samuel Cumings, Zacha- riah Stearns, John Stearns, Zachariah Stearns, Jun., Jona- than Combs, Jacob Fletcher and Jeremiah Colburn, Jun., at their own expense make Settlement in ye following Man- ner viz : That there be Three Acres Cleared, Inclosed and Fitted for mowing or Tillage, on some one lott of each of ye fifty Settling Shares aforesaid, at or before the last day of June, 1755, and Two acres more on Each of ye same Lotts annually, for Three years next Coming, and at ye Expiration of Five years from this Date, To have on Each of ye Said Fifty Lotts a Convenient Dwelling House and a Family or some Person Resident there for four years then next coming.
That all necessary Hyways be Laid out in Sd Town- ship Through Grantors and Grantees Lands, as there shall be need for the future, without any pay or allowance for Damages Thereby.
That a. Convenient Meeting House be Built in Said Township and Finished within Ten years from this Date, and Twenty acres reserved for Publick use at ye Place that shall be appointed to Sett said House upon.
That the aforesaid Grantees by a Major Vote in Publick
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Meeting Called for that Purpose, Grant and asess in Equal Proportion Such sum or sums of Money, as they Shall think Necessary from time to time, for carrying forward and completing the Settlement aforesaid, and the Grantees Exclusive of ye Three Publick Lotts, who Shall Neglect for ye Space of Thirty Days next after such asessment is made and Granted to pay the same, so much of Such De- linquents Rights, Respectively Shal and may be Sold as will pay the Tax, and all Charges ariseing thereon by a Committee to be appointed by the Grantees for that pur- pose.
And in Case any of the Grantees Shall Neglect or Re- fuse to Perform any of ye articles aforesaid by him Respectively to be done, he Shall Forfit his Share and Right in Said Township, and every part thereof to those of ye Grantees Who Shall Comply with the Conditions on their Part herein Expressed : and it Shall and may be Lawful for them or any Person by their Authority, to En- ter into and upon the right Share or part of said Delin- quent Owner in ye Name and behalf of ye whole of ye Grantees who shall Comply as aforesaid ; To Remove, Oust and Expell for ye use of them their Heirs and assigns, Provided they Settle or Cause to be Settled Each such Delinquents Right, within the Term of one year at ye far- thest from the Period that is by this Instrument Stipulated to be Done as the Conditions of this Grant. And fully Discharge and Comply with ye whol duty Such Delin- quent ought to have Done; Within one year from time to time after ye Respective Periods Thereof; and in Case ye Grantees fulfilling their Parts as aforesaid shall Neglect fulfilling as aforesaid the Duty of any Delinquent owners that then such Share or Shares shall be forfit, Revert and belong to the Grantors their Heirs and Assigns, and be wholly at their Disposal free from future Charge.
Always Provided there Shall be no Indian War within any of ye Limitted Term as Aforesaid, and in Case that
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Should Happen, the same time to be allowed for doing the duty after such Impediment Shall be Removed.
Lastly that all White Pine Trees growing on Said Tract fit for Masting his Majesty's Royal Navy be and hereby are Granted to his Majesty his Heirs and Successors for Ever.
To all which Premises I, Joseph Blanchard, agent for and in behalf of ye Proprietors the Grantors Have here- unto set my Hand and Seal this Eleventh day of Decem- ber, A. D., 1752, and in the Twenty-Sixth year of his Majesty's Reign.
Signed, Sealed and De. - Joseph Blanchard. [SEAL] livered in Presence of
JAMES MINOT, MARTHA MINOT.
Middlesex, SS., August ye 4th, 1753. Then the above named Joseph Blanchard, appearing acknowledged the above written Instrument to be his free Act and Deed Before me.
JAMES MINOT, Jus. Peace.
. The charter was recorded Dec. 12, 1754, by Daniel Pierce, Esq., of Portsmouth.
The grantees met at Dunstable, New Hampshire, Jan. 27, 1753, and passed the following preamble and vote.
"Whereas Joseph Blanchard, Esq., agent for and in be- half of the proprietors of the lands in the Province of New Hampshire purchased of John Tufton Mason, did on the eleventh day of Dec., 1752 grant the contents of eight miles long and six and a half wide, therefore unanimously voted. that we do hereby accept said title for ourselves and our heirs ; do hereby acknowledge that we do hold said lands under said title, conditions and limitations with the reservations therein mentioned."
A warrant for another meeting was issued in the fol-
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lowing terms, "These are to notify the proprietors of No. 8, or New Concord in the Province of New Hampshire, to meet at the house of Thomas W. Roe in Concord, Coun- ty of Middlesex, innholder, on the first day of Jan. next to choose a moderator, and committee of surveying, and divide into lots, to draw the lots for the speedy settlement of said township, and transact such other business as may be thought necessary."
Henry Price was chosen to couple the lots for draft, and also to assess each single right or share £ 1, 6 s. S d., to de- fray the expenses of the survey. John Stephens was chosen to draw lots for all persons who had rights in the township.
At the close of the meeting they adjourned until April 12, 1754. After some delay the drawing took place, each proprietor receiving four lots. There remained thirty- nine lots that were not drawn. Of these thirty-one were drawn by two persons to be held by them in common. The township was surveyed and a plan made of the lots. Each lot was designated by a number and range; each owner's land being a lot of such a number in such a range. The town was in the form of a parallelogram, eight miles by six and one half, and contained fifty-two square miles; which is more than. the present limits of the town in- clude. At a town meeting held in 1786 it was "voted to set off to New Bradford that part of Washington which lies east of a line drawn from the north-west corner of Hillsborough with a strait line to the north line of that part of Washington, which is included in Col. Kidder's Charter, being three miles from the north-east corner of Washington, from thence continuing the same course to the south line of Fishersfield,-made choice of Jeremiah Bacon, John Vose, and Thomas Penniman to run the aforesaid line."
Each share was divided into two lots and contained two hundred and seventy-eight acres. A sketch of each
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person's share was made, and each lot was described as, "good"; or "very good" ; or "poor". On one of the lots is "half a pond ;" on another "part of a pond." Of one it is said "a river runs through it ;" another had a river "through ye corner."
At another meeting held the same year the proprietors voted to assess the owners of shares eight shillings the share.
At the next meeting it was decided to notify delin- quent shareholders that their forfeited rights would be sold at public vendue in January, 1755. Several lots were sold at that time. In June, 1756, lots were advertised in the Boston Evening Post, and sold for non-payment of taxes.
Up to this time the French and Indian wars had checked all attempts to form new settlements on frontier townships, but the war was now over and a renewed inter- est was manifested by the proprietors of this territory ; and at a meeting held September, 1763 it was voted "that there be a committee of four chosen to go up to New Concord to examine and see where may be the most likely or proper place for a grist and saw mills ; and also. to find the most likely places in the town for roads to accommodate the settlers to get their provisions. That Stephen Hos- mer, John Wood, Joseph Wheeler, Stephen Hosmer, Jr., be the committee."
They met again in 1763 and voted to cut a road through the town's centre from the south line to the north at the expense of the proprietors. Also, "voted to give one hun- dred acres of land to the man who shall first build a grist or saw mill in the most convenient place near the centre of said town for the use of the inhabitants only of said town for fifteen years, and to keep said mill in good repair. To supply the inhabitants with boards and joists during said time, at the rate of eight shillings for cutting one
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thousand feet, and the customary toll for grinding all sorts of grain ; and agreed to pay out of the proprietors' stock £23, 13s. 4d. towards the iron work of said mills."
The last meeting of the grantees was held Nov. 10, 1767. Soon after this it was declared by the Masonian proprietors that these grantees had forfeited their title by non-compliance with the conditions of the charter, which had run sixteen years when revoked. Thus failed the first attempt to settle this town and this was not made by actual settlers, but by proprietors of the land who wished to dispose of it to others for settlement.
The next grant was made to Reuben Kidder, Esq., of New Ipswich, New Hampshire. He was one of the lead- ing grantees of that town, had held a prominent position there, and had been the leading magistrate in that vicin- ity. His ancestors emigrated to this country in 1626 and settled at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was energetic and persevering, and well calculated to succeed in carry- ing forward the enterprise of settling a new township. He was a friend of Gov. Wentworth, and had received a Col.'s commission from that official. He was born in that part of Chelmsford now called Westford. Col. Kidder re- ceived å charter given on the same conditions as that of the proprietors which had but recently been revoked, and his title came from the same source-the twelve men to whom the heirs of Capt. Mason had sold their claim.
These men were Theodore Atkinson, M. H. Went- worth, Richard Wibird, John Wentworth, son of the Governor, George Jaffrey, Nathaniel Meserve, Thomas Parker, Thomas Wallingford, Jotham Odiorn, Joshua Pierce, Samuel Moore, John Moffat.
These proprietors retained one-third of the entire area, which they intended to dispose of when the town had become so much improved as to make the land of more value in the market, and thus receive compensation for that which they had granted to Col. Kidder. It is said
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however, that they failed to receive any pecuniary benefit from these reserved lots.
In 1768 the first installment of actual settlers reached the township. They came directly from New Ipswich, although some of them were residents of other places. There were already settlements made in Peterboro, Dub- lin, Nelson and Stoddard, and it is supposed their route lay through these towns. The roads were untravelled and poorly made : and a part of the way there was no road at all, they being obliged to find their way by means of marked trees. When a stream was bridgeless they felled a tree across it for the use of the women and children, and the men rode the horses through the stream. They came on foot and on horseback; with children and house- hold goods bound on together ; and it has been truly said, that the journey was attended with many hardships; but they pressed on courageously, looking forward to the founding of homes in the wilderness with the same inde- pendent, undaunted spirit that had inspired all the settlers in New England before them. Col. Kidder gave to each of these men a grant of one hundred acres of land, they having the privilege of choosing their land from any part of the township. It is supposed that Archibald White accompanied them as leader and agent for Col. Kidder ; and that Ebenezer Lovell, Simon Lovell, Ephraim Sever- ance Daniel White, Thomas Adams, Jacob Burbank, Moses Chase, Simeon Farnsworth, Daniel Keyes, Silas Tasker, Robert Pollock, John Safford, Abner Sampson, James Scott and David Taylor came with him from New Ipswich, or followed soon after.
They must have been fairly prospered in their journey, as they accomplished it in three days. They found the country an almost unbroken wilderness, and no traces of white men or Indians were to be seen within the limits of the township. Wild game was plentiful in the woods, and the streams and ponds abounded with different kinds of
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fish. They arrived in May and encamped at the outlet of Millen's pond, which situation presented many attractions to the settlers for their new homes. They began to make use of their rations of salt pork, but soon discovered that trout could be obtained from the river near by, and were much more palatable than their supplies which they had brought from New Ipswich. They first built log houses and lived in the plain, simple manner incident to all set- tlers in a new country, having but few of the luxuries of life, although it is said they were men of substantial means.
A large number of the first residents of Washington came from the region of Massachusetts Bay. The set- tlers in that part of New England-the heart of Massa- chusetts-were of pure English stock. They were En- glish when they landed on the shores of the new world, and remained so in their transplanting. Such emigrants from the mother country brought with them a love of liberty, a desire for knowledge, and an attachment to re- ligion that did not forsake them when they built for them- selves new homes in New England. Those men who first came to this town understood the advantages of mental culture. The Sampsons, the Saffords, the Healys, the Faxons, the Farwells had a natural love of learning; and they built here the school house, and laid the foundation of the church before they had reared commodious dwell- ings. The towns of Antrim, Stoddard and Hillsborough were already inhabited, and settlements to the north-west as far as Claremont had been commenced, and there could not have been that feeling of isolation that attended the settlers in frontier townships. Neither were they har- rassed by fear of the cruel Indian. They could pursue their labors in the field, or pass from one dwelling to another, without fear of the deadly ambuscade: their slumber by night and their noon-day meal was not dis- turbed by the warwhoop of the enemy ; and they could
Charles French
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worship God on the day of rest without the matchlock to guard from the sudden attack of the red men. Their dwellings were not burned, nor their wives and children taken captive ; but gentle peace smiled upon them, and prosperity attended their quiet homes.
Their number must have increased somewhat rapidly, as the conditions of the grant required a certain number of families to be located here each year, and we find by the records of the first census, taken in 1773, that the number of inhabitants was then one hundred and thirty- two.
CHAPTER III.
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PETITION FOR INCORPORATION. NAME OF WASHINGTON.
Petition for incorporation. Name of Washington. Brief sketch of some of the first settlers and early residents.
A T the time of the survey of this portion of New Hampshire, made in 1749, this town was designa- ted as No. 8. When the sixty proprietors re- ceived their charter they called it New Concord, as the larger portion of those grantees were residents of Con- cord, Mass. When Col. Reuben Kidder became sole pro- prietor of the township he gave it the name of Camden, wishing to honor an English peer, Lord Camden, a friend of Gov. Wentworth, who had befriended the English colonists in America. The township bore this name until the year 1776, when the following petition was sent for- ward to Exeter by Archibald White, Esq.
"To the General Assembly of New Hampshire in New England. The petition of the inhabitants of a certain un- incorporated township of land, hitherto known by the name of Camden in the county of Cheshire in the govern- ment above named, most humbly sheweth, may it please your honors, that whereas by reason of our being a non- incorporated township we are subject to many inconven- iences and disadvantages as are common, and often incident to non-incorporated societies, both in accord to public and domestic affairs, we therefore your honor's most humble
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petitioners hereby intreat and implore, that according to your wisdom and goodness, you would be pleased to remedy the inconveniences and disadvantages to which we are liable, and invest this town with the powers, liber- ties, and privileges common to incorporated towns within this government, may it please your honors to incorporate this township by the name of Washington, as in duty bound your honor's most humble petitioners, whose names are underwritten, shall ever pray. Dated at Camden afore- said, Sept. 22, 1776.
Reuben Kidder,
Nathan Proctor,
Jacob Burbank,
Wm. White,
Wm. Proctor,
Samuel Tabor,
Ebenezer Spaulding,
Joseph Rounsevel,
David Lowell,
Josiah Proctor,
Church Tabor,
Samuel Copeland,
Benjamin Babcock,
Daniel Severance,
John Steele,
Wm. Steele,
Abner Sampson,
Robert Mann,
David Lowell, Jun.,
Jonathan Brockway,
Archibald White,
Simeon Farnsworth,
James Maxwell,
Archibald White, Jun.
Ephraim Severance,
Paul Hale,
John Safford,
Peter Lowell,
David Danforth,
Jacob Copeland."
Upon reading this petition the house voted that the pe- titioners cause the substance of this petition to be pub- lished in the most public places of the township and in the New Hampshire Gazette or Saturday Circulating Chronicle, that any person concerned may appear before the general Assembly of the state on the third day of next Sessions to shew cause if any there be why the prayer thereof may not be granted. The prayer of the petition- ers was granted at the next session of the court, there
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being no one to oppose. The following is a copy of the act of incorporation.
"State of New IIampshire An Act to Incorporate a place called Camden in the county of Cheshire, Whereas the inhabitants of that tract of Land in the County of Chesh- ire called Camden, have petitioned the general court, rep- resenting that they labor under great disadvantages by reason of their unincorporated state; and praying that they may be incorporated, notice of which has been given, and no objection has been made thereto, and it appearing to be for the public good be it therefore enacted by the council and assembly, that there be and hereby is a town- ship erected and incorporated by the name of Washington bounded northerly by Fishersfield, easterly by Bradford and Hillsborough, southerly by Stoddard and Campbell's Gore-so called-and Westerly by Marlow and Lempster, and the inhabitants thereby erected into a body politic and corporate, to have continuance and succession forever, and are hereby invested with all the rights and privileges and immunities, which any town in this state holds and enjoys : and Mr. Archibald White is hereby authorized to call a meeting of said inhabitants to choose all necessary and customary town officers : giving fourteen days' notice of the time and place and design of such meeting, and such officers shall be hereby invested with all the powers usual in any other town in the state; and every other meeting which shall be annually held in said town for that purpose shall be on the third Monday of March forever. In the House of Representatives, Dec. 9, 1776.
JONATIIAN LOVEWELL, Speaker pro tempore.
Read three times and accepted, and voted that the same be enacted.
M. WEARE,
President."
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Thus the name of Washington, which had become a familiar word in every household in the land, and univers- ally loved and respected, was, for the first time, it is said, given to a town organization. Since then, there is scarce- ly a state or territory from our own White Hills, to the farthest south and west, which has not commemorated that honored name in some manner, either as applied to a natural or political division.
The name Washington signifies, "the town of the mead- ow creek." Its derivation is from the Saxon, waes for water; and one meaning of ing is meadow, and ton is town or inclosure. The family name of the Washingtons was taken from their ancestral home in England.
Washington was included in Cheshire county until July 5, 1827, when Sullivan county was incorporated and named in honor of the Hon. John Sullivan.
From this time forward, that is the year of 1776 we have an account of the business of the town, but for about eight years previous to this the town records are missing and it is impossible to obtain the desired inform- ation respecting those early times.
It is to be regretted that some person should not be chosen in every generation to chronicle the passing events of the times in which they live for future reference. A generation of aged men and women have passed away within the last decade who might have added materially to the interest of a work like this, if the historian could have listened to a recital of the scenes of their early life and reminiscences of by-gone days.
We have an account of a few of those who signed the petition for the act of incorporation which we append together with some others who came to this town within a few years after that time.
REUBEN KIDDER heads the list, and although he was not an actual resident, he was interested in the progress of the town and had an agent here much of the time. A
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brief sketch of his life has been given in another part of the History.
The next name is JOHN SAFFORD. He came from Har- vard, Massachusetts. He built his house near the centre of the town on a prominent hill commanding an extensive view of the country south and east. He extended his original possessions as far as Millen's, then called Safford's pond, and by the east of that pond nearly to what is now the Stoddard road by Oak Hill. He was one of the lead- ing men of the times, holding the offices of town-clerk, moderator, selectman, and also a commission in the mili- tary service with the rank of Lieut. A large portion of the Safford Homestead still remains in the possession of his descendants.
JACOB BURBANK built his house a fourth of a mile to the south-west, where it still remains, now more than one hun- dred years old. He came from Hudson, New Hampshire, a descendant of John Burbank, who settled in Rowley, Massachusetts, in 1640. A son, and afterwards a grand- son, lived on the Burbank place, but it passed out of the possession of the family in 1866.
DAVID DANFORTH chose the south side of Millen's pond. He came from Bilerica, Massachusetts, and was a descend- ant of the Rev. Francis Danforth of Cambridge, Massachi- setts. The birth of his son Eli was the first one recorded in the town clerk's book.
WILLIAM PROCTOR took possession of land lying west of Mr. Danforth's land and bordering on the same pond. He came from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, which was the home of the Proctors in this country for many years.
EBENEZER SPAULDING first settled on the Ashuelot river. He afterwards lived on the Lempster road two miles from the centre village. A change in the boundary of the town finally left him in Lempster. His marriage to Amy Roundy, a native of Windham, Connecticut, was the first
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one recorded by the town clerk of Washington. He died in 1808, his wife surviving him many years. She died at East Washington in 1859, at the age of one hundred years. Many of their descendants are still living.
The ancestors of JOSEPH ROUNSEVEL were originally from Freetown, Massachusetts. He took possession of . land east of the centre, and a part of the land which now constitutes the village was included in his farm. He built a saw-mill on what is now Water street, and a house on the site where the large brick house now stands. He was well educated and held many of the town offices.
ABNER SAMPSON was born in Harvard, Massachusetts, from which place came many of the first settlers in Wash- ington. He built his house in the eastern part of the village and kept tavern there for some years. His son, Ward Sampson, Esq., was one of the most prominent citi- zens here for many years.
SIMON LOWELL was the son of Ebenezer Lowell. He came from New Ipswich and originally from Groton, Mas- sachusetts. He occupied land on the Goshen road. He had a large family, and many of his grand-children are still living.
SIMEON FARNSWORTH, JR., came from Harvard, Massa- chusetts. He was one of a family of sixteen children. His father with probably all his children came here after- wards. Simeon Farnsworth made choice of land lying to the east of John Safford's farm and built his house on the Marlow road about one half mile from the centre village. He died while yet a young man, leaving a wife and several children. One son, Daniel, settled at the north-west of Millen's pond, and died there in old age, and a daughter, Lydia, married Mr. John Shedd, and was the mother of Miss Sarah Shedd, the donor of the free town Library.
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