USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Nashua > History of the city of Nashua, N.H. > Part 3
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7
HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
As in the case of the Endicott Rock, a fresh interest has sprung up within a few years and the Historical and Genealogical society of Milford has had a suitable granite monument, with appropriate inscriptions, prepared to mark the place. The monument was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies, August 21, 1895, Hon. George A. Ramsdell of Nashua, delivering the principal address. The monument stands upon the north side of the highway, two hundred and nine feet from the stones, upon the south bank of the Souhegan river, the true bound.
About the same time a grant of four hundred acres, lying at the mouth of Salmon brook, was made to John Whiting. It was bounded on the north "by the upland," and extended up the brook about a mile and a half, embracing the southerly part of Nashua Village. Several hundred acres, also, were granted at Pennichuck pond, and so down Pennichuck brook, in Merrimack, to the Merri- mack river.
About 1662, five hundred acres upon the easterly side of the Merrimack, in Litchfield, "at Nacook," were granted to the town of Billerica for a "School Farm," and three hundred acres ad- joining, to "Phinehas Pratt and others for straights and hardships endured by them in planting at Plymouth of which he was one."
Four hundred acres were granted to Gov. Endicott, "lying in the westerly part of Pelham," about six miles north of Pawtucket falls, and one mile west of Beaver brook, at a great hill called Masha-shattuck (Deer hill) "lying between two other great hills, and adjoining southerly on a great pond called Pimmo-mitti-quonnit, (a long pond)."
All these grants were made by the Massachusetts Assembly. (Records 1659-60).
Since Mr. Fox wrote, very valuable and interesting historical matter bearing upon all the above mentioned grants has been made public in the history of Billerica, by Rev. Henry A. Hazen, by which it appears that the first grant of land embraced in the township of Dunstable was made by Billerica, she having petitioned the General Court for such a grant of land elsewhere, for her own benefit, which met with favor, as follows :-
"In ans' to the peticion of the inhabitants of Billirrikey, this Court doth grant the toune of Billirrikey eight thousand acres of lands, for the ends desired, in any place or places that are ffree and not capable of making a toune, provided that the said lands be laid out before the next Court of Election, and that the inhabitants of Cambridge doe accept thereof and it is ordered yt Major Willard, Capt Edw. Johnson, Mr. Edward Jackson or any two of them, wth Thomas Danforth, or any other surveyor, shall lay ye same out at the peticoners charge, making retourne to the next Court of Election."
Jonathan Danforth of Billerica, the younger brother of Thomas, and a noted land surveyor, was charged with the task of locating this eight thousand acres. Beyond Chelmsford he had the whole Merrimack valley to choose from, or even the Connecticut and Champlain valleys, if it had suited Billerica's profit to go so far. The survey which he made and returned through the above committee, on which the location was finally sanctioned, is, fortunately, still preserved in the office of the secre- tary of state and on this authority some facts long forgotten have recently come to light.
As described and approved by the court it was located as follows: "Layd out to the vse of the inhabitants of Billerikey eight thousand acres of land, lying vpon Merremacke River, on both sides thereof, taking in the trucking howse now inhabitated by Jno Cromwell the sajd land being lajd out about sixe thousand three hundred acres on the east side of the river, and seventeen hundred fivety acres on the west side, and is bounded by the wilderness surrounding the same, as is demonstrated by a plott thereof, taken and made by Jonathan Danforth, surveyor, and exhibited to this Court by Major Symon Willard and Capt. Edward Johnson, appointed by this Court, Octob. 14, 1656 to lay out the same.
SYMON WILLARD, EDWARD JOHNSON."
" The Court allowes and approves of the retourne of these commissioners in reference to the land herein expressed."
It is very gratifying to know something more of the men who were identified with the events of the settlement of our country than the mere mention of a single act like that related above. Mr. Danforth was one of Billerica's most renowned citizens. He removed from Cambridge to that place in 1654. He was one of the first selectmen, holding the office twenty-one years. He also kept the town records for about the same length of time, and his fine penmanship is as legible and handsome
HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
to this day as if done in copperplate. He was also a famous mathematician and surveyor, and oper- ated all through this region, going as far north as Franklin, and is mentioned in many of the histories of other towns. He died in 1712, aged 85 years. The following lines from Farmer's History, taken from a poem written in the quaint style of the times by his nephew, Rev. John Danforth of Dorchester, are sacred to his memory :-
"He rode the circuit, chained great towns and farms To good behavior; and, by well-marked stations, HIe fixed their bounds for many generations. His arts ne'er failed him though the local stone failed When oft by mines and streames it was assailed. All this was charming, but there's something higher Gave him the lusture which we most desire."
This survey, says Mr. Hazen, p. 43, was the earliest ever made, it is safe to say, in the Merrimack valley beyond Chelmsford, and is the starting point in the history of Dunstable .* The location was in a part of the valley commonly called Naticook, but which Danforth spells Naticott.
The grant began at the Pennichuck brook, which forms the north bound of Nashua, and extends on the west side of the river as far north as the Souhegan river ; then it follows the Merrimack nearly a mile, passing two islands, the larger of which received the surveyor's name, "Jonathan," then runs eastward two or three miles, and southward five or six, returning to its starting point. This Naticott grant remained for a year in the hands of Billerica, when John Parker received authority to dispose of it, under date "9th 6m 1658."
A month later Parker had sold the land, and made his return and agreement with the town, in which he states that the sale was made to William Brenton for two hundred pounds for the entire eight thousand acres.
William Brenton was a Boston merchant and leading business man; often one of the selectmen. He removed soon after to Rhode Island, and was governor of that colony in 1666-8 and died in 1674.
Another purchaser of a portion of this Billerica grant was Thomas Brattle, who, also, was a lead- ing merchant of Boston, and was reported to be one of the wealthiest men in the colony. His name appears first upon the petition for the incorporation of Dunstable. He married Elizabeth, daughter of William Tyng. Died April 5, 1683, in his sixtieth year. He had a son Thomas, who was at one time treasurer of Harvard college and was founder of the Brattle street church, whose meeting-house gave place some years ago to the large business block in New Washington street, formerly known as Brattle square. This was the first meeting-house built of brick in New England, and was erected in 1694. The round shot from a British cannon that was embedded in its walls was looked upon with interest as a memento of the hostility of the mother-country. Thomas Brattle, Jr., died May 18, 1713.
*This does not correspond with what appears elsewhere, but may have reference to other parts of his work.
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
CHAPTER II.
HENRY KIMBALL'S FARM. GRANT TO ANCIENT AND HONORABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY OF BOSTON. ARTILLERY POND. PETITION FOR CONSOLIDATION OF GRANTS INTO ONE PLAN- TATION. TOWNSHIP OF DUNSTABLE. EARLY PROPRIETORS. TRAFFICKING WITH THE IN- DIANS. INDIAN TRIBES. PASSACONAWAY, VENERATED CHIEF. LAST INDIAN RESIDENT. ROBY'S FARM. WHITTIER'S POEM, "THE BASHABA'S FEAST." FIRST SETTLERS. REV. THOMAS WELD, FIRST PASTOR. HIS HOUSE LOT. OLD FORT. HOUSES OF HASSEL, TEMPLE AND PERRY.
A MONG other grants made about 1662 was one of a large tract in Hudson and Pelham to Henry Kimball, and called "Henry Kimball's Farm." Samuel Scarlet had a farm also, on the north side of Merrimack river, perhaps in Tyngsborough ; Lieut. Joseph Wheeler, and his father, Capt. Thomas Wheeler, had a farm upon the Merrimack, in Nashua, a little south of Salmon brook, and several others whose names are not preserved.
In September, 1673, a grant of one thousand acres, lying in Nashville,* was made to the "Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company " of Boston. It was bounded east by the Merrimack, south by the Nashua, west by Spectacle brook ** and extended about one mile northerly of the Nashua river. This embraced the whole of the village of Nashville, and was called the "Artillery Farm." From this cir- cumstance the little pond in the north part of the village was called "Artillery Pond."
At the time this grant was made this pond was a very attractive little sheet of water, covering an area of about twelve acres. Being fed by springs, the water continued with very little variation in depth through the season. In freshets its overflow was to the south, over what are now Merri- mack, Amherst, Fletcher and Franklin streets, to the Nashua river.
There was at one time a mill upon the east side about where the Blanchard churn factory now stands, owned by the late Samuel Shepherd, in which he manufactuted window-sash, doors and blinds by machinery. He claimed the invention of the machinery and that it was the first ever used for this purpose.
Near by was another building in which conveniences for public baths were fitted up. Permission was obtained by the late Gen. George Stark and the late Col. Gilman Scripture to drain the pond by putting in a sewer along the line of the overflow to the river. It was only a partial success, as a ledge was encountered upon the land of Dr. L. F. Locke, to reduce which would involve a greater expense than the expected results would warrant, which was to secure the rich deposit of muck for use upon the lands near by, owned by them. Being only partially drained, it became objectionable, sanitarily, and the city deemed it necessary to carry out the original plan, and opened a channel through the ledge at an expense of several thousand dollars. No water is now seen ; in fact, nearly the entire surface is now under cultivation, while upon its border is a finely graded track, five- eighths of a mile in length, which is much used for pleasure driving and bicycling.
At this period, 14,000 acres, lying along the Merrimack, upon both sides, between Souhegan river and Chelmsford, had been granted to various individuals, but as yet few settlements had been made. It became necessary, therefore, for their mutual benefit, to consolidate all the grants into one plantation, and to secure to the inhabitants all the privileges and immunities of an incorporated town- ship. Accordingly, in September, 1673, the proprietors of the farms already laid out, and others who were disposed to settle here, presented a petition to the General Assembly, of which the following is a copyt :-
"To the Honored Governor, Deputy Governor, with the Magistrates and Deputies now assembled in the General Court at Boston, Sept. 19, 1673.
*For origin of Nashville see division of Nashua.
** The little brook about a mile westerly of the village, which runs through the farm owned by Hiram Woods, now by V. C. Gilman.
tMass. Assembly Records, 1873. The original petition is on file and the ancient spelling has been preserved.
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
"The petition of the Proprietors of the farms that are laid out upon the Merrimac River and places adjacent, with others who desire to joyn with them in the settlement of a plantation there
"HUMBLY SHEWETH
"That whereas there is a considerable tract of the Country's land that is invironed with the properties of particular persons and towns, viz : by the line of the town of Chelmsford, and by the Groton line, and by Mr. Brenton's farm, by Souhegan farms, and beyond Merrimac River by the outermost line of Henry Kimball's farm, and so to Chelmsford line again-All which is in little capacity of doing the country any service except the farms bordering upon it be adjoined to said land to make a plantation there; and there being considerable number of persons who are of a sober and orderly conversation, who do stand in great need of accommodations, who are willing and ready to make present improvement of the said vacant lands : And the Proprietors of the said farms are therefore willing to join with and give encouragement to those that shall improve the said lands :- the farms of those that are within the tract of land before described, being about 14,000 acres at the least :-
"Your Petitioners therefore humbly request the favour of the Honorable Court that they will please to grant the said tract of land to your petitioners, and to such as will join them in the settle- ment of the lands before mentioned, so that those who have improved their farms there, and others who speedily intend to do the same, may be in a way for the support of the public ordinances of God, for without which the greatest part of the year they will be deprived of, the farms lying so far remote from any towns: and farther that the Honorable Court will please grant the like immunities to this plantation, as they in their favours have formerly granted to other new plantations :- So shall your Petitioners be ever engaged to pray :- "
I. Thomas Brattle.
14. Thomas Edwards.
2. Jonathan Tyng.
15. Thomas Wheeler, Sen.
3. Joseph Wheeler.
4. James Parkerson.
17. Joseph Parker.
5. Robert Gibbs.
18. John Morse, Sen.
6. John Turner.
19. Samuel Combs.
7. Sampson Sheaf.
20. James Parker, Jr.
8. Samuel Scarlet.
2I. John Parker.
9. William Lakin.
22. Josiah Parker.
IO. Abraham Parker.
23. Nathaniel Blood.
II. James Knapp.
24. Robert Parris.
12. Robert Proctor.
25. John Jolliffe.
13. Simon Willard, Jr.
26. Zachariah Long.
The petition was granted upon conditions which were then universally inserted in the charters ; that the grantees should "settle" the plantation, procure a minister within three years, and reserve a farm for the use of the colony. By settling the plantation was understood procuring a competent number of actual settlers, (twenty or more), who should build houses capable of defence, at least eighteen feet square, and who should live upon and improve their lands; and also the erection of a meeting-house. The following is a copy of the original charter, dated October 15, 1673, (corres- ponding with October 26th, New Style), which includes all the above grants .*
See photo of the original charter in possession of Dr. Israel T. Hunt, now of Boston, formerly of Nashua, kindly loaned by him for use in this history exclusively.
"At a General Court held at Boston ye 15th (26th) October 1673. In answer to the Petition of Thomas Brattle, Jonathan Tyng, James Parker and William Lakin, in behalf of themselves and others joyning in their humble Petition to desire the favor of this Court to grant them liberty to settle a plantation with their ffarmes, and a considerable tract of land belonging to ye country being in- vironed with the proprieties of particular persons and towns ; as by ye line of Chelmsford, and by Groton line, and by Mr. Brenton's ffarm, by Souhegan ffarmes, and beyond Merrimac River by ye
*Mass. Assembly Records, 1673, Page 730. Records of Towns, 1673. In order to make the dates which are pre- vious to A. D. 1751, compared with our present reckoning, eleven days should in all cases be added.
16. Peter Bulkeley.
II
HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. H.
utmost line of Henry Kimbol's farme, and so to Chelmsford line again, as also such other immunities to the plantation as this Court hath formerly granted to other new plantations :-
"The Court judgeth it meet to grant their request provided a farme of five hundred acres of upland and medo be laid out of this tract for the country's use, and that they shall in settling the plantation endeavor so as to finish it once* within three years, and procure an able and orthordox minister amongst them.
" That this is a true copy taken and compared with the original records, Attest Edward Rawson, Secretary."
"In May, 1674, the new plantation was surveyed by Jonathan Danforth, and its boundaries are thus described ": +
"It lieth upon both sides Merrimac River on the Nashaway River. It is bounded on the South by Chelmsford, by Groton line, and partly by country land. The Westerly line runs due North until you come to Souhegan River to a hill called dram cup hill to a great pine near to ye said River at the N. W. corner of Charlestown School farm; bounded by Souhegan River on the North ; and on the East side Merrimac it begins at a great stone which was supposed to be near the North East corner of Mr. Brenton's land ; and from thence it runs Sou-south east six miles to a pine tree marked :F: stand- ing within sight of Beaver Brook ; thence it runs two degrees West of South four miles and a quarter which reached to the south side of Henry Kimble's farm at Jeremie's Hill; thence from ye South east angell of said farm it runs two degrees and a quarter westward of the south near to the head of the Long Pond which lieth at ye head of Edward Colburn's farm .- And thus it is bounded by ye said Pond and the head of said Colburn's farm; taking in Captain Scarlet's farm so as to close again ; all which is sufficiently bounded and described. Dunstable, 3d. mo. (May) 1674."#
The township of Dunstable embraced a very large tract, probably more than two hundred square miles, including the towns of Nashua, Nashville, Hudson, Hollis, Dunstable and Tyngsborough, besides portions of the towns of Amherst, Milford, Merrimack, Litchfield, Londonderry, Pelham, Brook- line, Pepperell and Townsend, and formed a part of the county of Middlesex. At this late day it is extremely difficult to define its boundaries accurately, but by a perambulation of lines made in 1734, an approximation may be made. The north eastern corner was a very large and high rock now stand- ing about three miles north easterly of the mouth of the Souhegan river in Londonderry. The south east corner was "at the corner of Methuen and Dracut," "in sight of Beaver brook." The north west corner was at "dram cup hill " on the Souhegan, in the westerly part of Milford, and the westerly line which ran "due South," passed "near the west end of Muscatanapus Pond," in Brookline. | It extended ten or twelve miles west of Merrimack river, and from three to five miles east of it, and its average length, north and south, was from twelve to fourteen miles. The present township of Nashua occupies very nearly the centre of the original township.
In 1674, because there was "very little medo left except what is already granted to the ffarmes," the easterly line of the township was extended to Beaver brook, by an additional grant from the Gen- eral Court, and the town was called Dunstable. It received its name in compliment to Mrs. Mary Tyng, wife of Hon. Edward Tyng, one of the magistrates of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, who came from Dunstable, England," about 1630, and whose son Jonathan became possessor of a large tract of land in what is now the town of Tyngsborough. The old English town, says Nason, from which not only the Tyng family but other early settlers came, is pleasantly situated at the base of Chiltern Hills in Bedfordshire, eighteen miles south-southeast of Bedford, and ten miles east-northeast of the Boxmore station of the London & Northwestern railway. It had in 1851, 3,589 inhabitants and with its green fields and neatly trimmed hedge-rows, its ancient stone church and brick dwelling
*The meaning of this is obscure : perhaps it is that the number of settlers necessary to make or " finish " a settle- ment shall be procured within three years.
tTown and Proprietary Records, Page I.
#Before A. D. 1751, the year began March 25th, and the months were often numbered thus : March, or first month ; April, second month; May, third month, &c. In 1751 they began to reckon the year from the first of January. At that time, in consequence of having reckoned only 365 days to a year, eleven days had been gained, which were then struck out of the calendar. Dates prior to 1751 are called Old style ; subsequent, New style.
This pond is situated near the meeting-house, and is still called "Tanapus Pond." Musca-tanapus signifies Bear pond. Mass. Records. Towns. 1734. Page 63.
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HISTORY OF NASHUA, N. II.
houses, makes a very picturesque appearance. Henry I founded here a priory of black canons, which now forms a part of the ancient church.
The name Dunstable probably came from "dun," a hilly place, and " staple," a mart or emporium. [See other reasons elsewhere. ] The town is celebrated for the manufacture of straw plat bonnets and hats, and a certain kind of straw braid in Massachusetts bore the name of " Dunstaple."
The ancient Norman kings had a place in this town, and here Edward I erected a cross to mark the spot where the body of his deceased queen rested on its way to sepulture in Westminster Abbey. The town is also noted as the place where Archbishop Cranmer, in 1553, pronounced the sentence of divorce between Henry VIII and Katharine of Aragon. As the parish register in early times was not well kept, it furnished nothing in respect to the families which emigrated to America, yet the present citizens of old English Dunstable express a kindly interest in the welfare of its namesake in New England.
Among the original proprietors we find the names of many of the leading men in the colony, some of whom, with the children and friends of others, removed here and took up their abode at an early period. Of this number we find Governor Dudley, who married a daughter of Hon. Edward Tyng of this town, Rev. Thomas Weld, who was the first minister, and married another daughter; Thomas Brattle, Peter Bulkely, Hezekiah Usher, Elisha Hutchinson, Francis Cook and others who were Assistants and Magistrates. Many of the first settlers belonged to Boston and its vicinity, a circum- stance which gave strength and influence to the infant plantation.
At what time and by whom Dunstable was first settled is uncertain, but it must have been considerably earlier than the date of the charter in 1673. In the charter, farms are mentioned as then existing, and some of "the farmers" were among the petitioners. Of this number were Scarlett, Wheeler, and others. In 1675, orchards are mentioned as then in existence, which must have been the growth of years. In 1674, "the house of Lt. Wheeler" is designated as a place of holding a meeting of the proprietors, and we have some reason to suppose that he may have been the earliest settler .* Wheeler and Brenton were fur traders among the Indians. In 1657 the trade with the Indians was regulated by the General Court, and the exclusive right of this trade upon Merrimack river was sold to "Maj. (Simon) Willard, Mr. (William) Brenton, Ensign (Thomas) Wheeler, and Thomas Hench- man," for £25. The sale bears the date July 1, 1657.f
For the purpose of trafficking with the Indians more conveniently, it was customary to establish trading houses beyond the settlements, and at places to which they could easily resort. It is not impossible that Wheeler may have resided here for such a purpose at an early date after his grant, as Henchman resided a little farther south in Chelmsford. About 1665, John Cromwell, an Indian trader also, resided at Tyngsborough, but soon after removed to Merrimack, where he built a trading house, about two miles above the mouth of Pennichuck brook, at the falls which now bear his name.# Ac- cording to the custom of the time, it is said that he used his foot as a pound weight in the purchase of furs, until the Indians, beginning to suspect him of cheating them, drove him away and burned his house, the cellar of which still is or was recently visible.
(Rev. Nathaniel Prentice, in his account of Tyngsborough, October, 1815, says that the present owner of the place was ploughing near the spot and found his plough moving over a flat stone which gave a hollow sound. On removing the earth and stone, he discovered a hole, stoned, about six inches in diameter, from which he took a sum of money.)
It is stated by Farmer, | whose authority is unquestionable, that "the ancient settlement " was within the limits of Nashua, and as grants of land were made in 1659, and farms existed here before 1673, and as Chelmsford was settled in 1655, we may reasonably conclude that some, who stood "in
*Lt. Wheeler left town in Phillip's War, 1675, and did not return. His father, Capt. Thomas Wheeler of Groton, the noted Indian fighter, for a time resided with him .- 2 N. H. Hist. Coll. 5.
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