USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Antrim > History of the town of Antrim, New Hampshire, from its earliest settlement to June 27, 1877, with a brief genealogical record of all the Antrim families > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78
Along the shore at " Old Antrim town " Lough Neagh was reputed to have the singular power of turning all substances into stone. Petrified wood lies all along under the water. An ancient canoe recently raised from the bottom was perfect in every part, but had turned into stone. An old writer said that if a pole near Antrim were stuck into the mud and left standing in and above the water, the parts in the mud and above the water would remain wood, while the part in the water would soon become stone. Of course this is exaggeration, but there is in fact something remarkable in the case. This probably accounts for frequent appearances, by moonlight, of what seem like towers and steeples and walls and curious carved work at the bottom, and for the discovery of dead cities under the water. A poet speaks of it thus : -
" On Lough Neagh's banks as the fisherman strays, When the clear cold eve's declining, He sees the round towers of other days In the waves beneath him shining."
As Francestown and Deering were incorporated before this town, it may be supposed that one of these towns would have taken the good name " Antrim," but for the interposition of Gov. Wentworth, who took the notion into his head, just at that time, to perpetuate in the designation of two adjoining towns the name of his wife, Frances Deering. The former was long writ- ten " Frances' Town."
The name Antrim was very dear to the Scotch. It has not been found that there is any place or city in Scotland by this name. Our ancestors found the name on their first arrival in Ireland. It was applied to that city and county which has been
41
NAME AND SURVEY.
said to be more exclusively Scotch than any other in the island, and where our fathers enjoyed their rights to the greatest extent. Like those who settled in Londonderry and kept that honored name, the settlers here clung to that which was next memorable and precious. Consequently, when incorporation was sought, there being then no royal governor, and therefore no royal governor's wife whose name they were compelled to respect, it was a matter of general consent among the people that the new town should be called " Antrim," and this was the request presented in their behalf.
·
Very early in 1777 the inhabitants of this place met and made provisions to defray the expenses of incorporation, and chose Capt. John Duncan to present and enforce their petition before the legislature, as appointed in the notification of that body, indicated above. This session commenced at Exeter, March 12, 1777. Mr. Whiton says there were then "about twenty families and twenty-three resident freeholders." But, as James Hutch- inson and James Dickey and George Bemaine were dead, to make this number it would be necessary to count in Dea. Tris- tram Cheney, who was part of the time in Hillsborough, and also Daniel Miltimore, and perhaps others, who, like him, were on the ground but had not yet brought their families here. The town had been twice surveyed, once by Robert Fletcher of Ports- mouth not far from 1753, and again not earlier than 1775, since John Duncan, James Aiken, and Daniel Nichols were chairmen, the last of whom had not long been here. This last survey was made, no doubt, by Col. Joseph Blanchard of Dunstable. That part falling south of the line thus fixed upon, and west of the Contoocook, was incorporated afterward as Hancock, the act being obtained Nov. 5, 1779.
Mr. Duncan appeared before the assembly at Exeter as directed. No opposition was made. The records of the House for those days are exceedingly brief, and but little is known of what was said on the occasion. The first that appears in regard to it, copied by the kind permission of the secretary of state, is as follows : -
Tuesday Mar, 18, 1777. Met according to adjournment A. M. Upon Reading and Considering the Petition of Sundry of the Inhab- itants of the Society Land, So called to be Incorporated with Town Privileges &c.
Voted that the Prayer thereof be Granted and that the Petitioners have leave to bring in a bill accordingly.
Sent up by Cap Symonds.
42
CHARTER OF ANTRIM.
This indicates that some hearing was previously had. In accordance with this a bill was drawn up at once and presented. There is no record of its first or second reading, but its fate appears by the following entry on the House Journal : -
Friday Mar. 21, 1777. An Act for Incorporating a Part of the Society Land So called into a Township by the Name of Antrim was read a third time and passed to be enacted. Sent up by Captn Symonds and Cap. Wilson.
There were then no senate and no governor, but a body called " The Council " combined, to some extent, senatorial and execu- tive functions, Meshech' Weare being its presiding officer, and sometimes being called "President of New Hampshire." The act of incorporation . was brought before them the day of its passage in the House, and seems to have reached its second reading at that time. On the following day occurs this entry : -
In Council - MARCH 22. 1777.
This Act, having been read a third time, Voted, that the same be enacted.
M. WEARE, President.
A true copy: Attest, E. Thompson Sec'y.
The charter of the town is given below. The original act as delivered to the town is believed to be lost, but this is a copy of that in the State records : -
In the year of our Lord one thousand Seven hundred & Seventy Seven --
State of New Hampshire -
An Act to incorporate Part of a place Called the Society Land in the County of Hillsborough in the said State of New Hampshire.
Whereas a Petition has been preferred to the General Court Loc. Sigill. Mag. in behalf of the Inhabitants of a Part of that Tract of Land in the County of Hillsborough Setting forth that for want of an Incorporation they Were Exposed to many Difficulties & Inconveniences, and praying that they May be incorporated, of Which due Notice has been Given and no Objection has Been made to it, and it appearing to be for the publick Good -
BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED
by the Council and House of Representatives and by the authority of the Same it is enacted, that there be and hereby is a Township erected & incorporated by the Name of Antrim within the following bounds viz: beginning at the Northwesterly Corner of Deering and Thence Running Southerly by Said Deering according to the Course of Contoocook River which is ye Westerly Line of Deering till it Comes opposite to the East-
43
BOUNDARIES.
erly End of the line between the Great Lots Number Three and four thence Running from the Said River westerly To the Northwesterly Corner of Said Lot Number Three thence Running Still westerly on the Said Line between the Said Lots to the Easterly line of Packersfield thence running Northerly by Said Packersfield and by Stoddard to Campbell's Gore So Called thence Running Easterly by Said Campbell's Gore & by Hillsborough to the Bound Where it began - and the Inhab- itants of Said Tract of Land are erected into a body politic and Corpo- rate to have Continuance & Succession forever and are hereby invested With all the powers and Enfranchised with all the Rights Privileges & Immunities Which any Towns in this State hold & Enjoy To Hold to the Said Inhabitants of Said tract of Land & their Successors forever -
And Cap. John Duncan of Said Antrim is hereby authorized & impow- ered to Call a meeting of said Inhabitants, To Choose all Necessary & Customary Town Officers Giving at Least fourteen Days Notice of the Time Place & Design of Such Meeting and Such Officers Shall Hereby be Invested With all the powers of the Like Officers in any other Town in This State and every other meeting Which Shall be annually held in Said Town for that purpose Shall be on the Second Tuesday of March annually forever.
44
FIRST TOWN MEETING.
CHAPTER II.
AN OUTLINE OF EVENTS IN ANTRIM FOR FIFTY YEARS.
1777-1827.
WE have just celebrated the one hundredth anniversary of Antrim's incorporation ; but probably we could realize but little of the pride and joy which our fathers felt when they were first blessed with town privileges and town honors. Only a handful, - twenty-three, - but they had great hearts and great hopes ! They did not, however, call a town meeting till May 1, probably on account of deep snows and the difficulty of assembling for lack of roads. There was nothing in town that could very properly be called a road. The first warrant posted in this town for a legal meeting was as follows (the contradiction of dates was probably a mistake of Lynch in making the record) : -
State of New Hampshire § Antrim Apr. 16. 1777.
And County of Hillsborough ss,
By The authority of The afforsaid State I do hereby Warn all the freeholders and other Inhabitants Quallified by Law to Vote in Town meetings belonging To Said Antrim, to meet on Thursday the first Day of May at 12 of the Clock at the house of Capt. John Duncan in Said Town, To act on the following articles viz. -
1st To Choose a Clerk To Keep the Records Allso Selectmen and Other Necessary Town Officers. -
2ª To See if the Town Will agree to find a Centor and Burying place. -
3dly To See if the Town Will agree to Record the most Leading Roads.
4thly To See What money they Will Rease to Get preaching the Present year and act on aney other thing 'Thought Needful When met -.
And This Shall be your Sufficient Warrant
Given Under my hand and Seal at Antrim This 16th Day of March A: D: 1777.
JOHN DUNCAN
. , Agreeably to this warrant the few scattered yeomen assembled at John Duncan's May 1, 1777. It had little resemblance to the crowded, noisy town meetings of recent date. No politics ! A kitchen-full of quiet, brave, noble, united men ! What a treasure a picture of that town meeting would be ! No presiding officer is mentioned in the record ; but it is probable that John Duncan,
45
TOWN OFFICERS.
who called the meeting to order, acted as moderator throughout. Maurice Lynch was chosen town clerk and began the record in excellent shape, but was not rechosen, as he moved back to New Boston before the close of the year 1777. Thomas Stuart, James Aiken, and Richard McAllister were chosen the first · board of selectmen. Maurice Lynch was chosen constable ; and James Duncan and John Warren were the first highway surveyors. The clause in the warrant to " act on any other thing Thought Needful When met " left the door open pretty wide, and they proceeded to make a pretty liberal construction of this most liberal phrase. They -
Voted the Selectmen a Quartor a Dolar pr Day for their service in the Town Buisness.
Voted To Take Some Meathod To find a Centor.
They then chose Maurice Lynch surveyor for this purpose.
Voted James Aiken & Sam1 Moore To Be Cheanmen. And Capt. John Duncan Tally man.
Voted forty Dollars to be Worked out on the highways this year.
Voted that the Selectmen Shall Be a Committee of Safety for this year.
Voted that 23 Inhabitants or freeholders Those in the Town Will pay a Shilling Each for the Charge of the Chartor.
This shows that there were several besides "Those in the Town," - that is, some who had begun farms but had not yet moved here ; and also that the expense of incorporation was very slight. They also -
Voted to hold Town Meetings at Ricd MeAllostor's house (Abram Smith place on Meeting-House Hill) Till Such Time as ther Will be a proper place to meet at the Centor and To post Warrants for the futter meetings at James Moor's Mills.
This humble grist-mill was on the spot where are now Park- hurst's mills at the Branch, and the warrants were to be put up there because every settler would visit that place on business. The town also voted in regard to the " Meathod to find a Centor," that the " Surveyor and his Assistants Shall go Round The Town and Take the proper Courses and Distances So as to Give Their Return of a proper Centor."
The surveyor went about his work in the early summer, and fixed upon the top of Meeting-House Hill as the " Centor " of the town, though after the enlargement of the town the geographical center was nearly a mile west of that point. It is
46
MEETING-HOUSE AND CEMETERY.
probable they varied some from the exact center for the sake of being on the top of a hill ! Then, after the hurry of summer work was passed, they called a meeting for Aug. 20, the warrant for which is curious enough to be inserted here entire. It was addressed to " Maurice Lynch Constable."
In the Name of the Government and people of this State you are To Warn all the freeholders and other Inhabitants Quallifyd by Law to Vot in Town meetings Belonging To Said Antrim to meet at the Centor of Said Town on Wensday the 20th Day of this Instant at Eight of the Clock in the forenoon first to Chuse A moderator 2nd To See if the Town Will be Satisfyd With the Choice of the Surveyor and his assestanc Maid of the Spot for a meeting house and Buyring place -
3dly for Every Man for to a ax fall the Trees off the Value of one Acer More or Less When Legualy agreed for the Spoot To Build upon. -
4tly To Chuse a Committee for to Regulate the Expense The Town has been at in Respect of the War and Act on aney Thing Thought. Needful in the opinion of the Selectmen and this Shall be your Warrant
It is to be concluded that they had a remarkably good set of selectmen ! But then it was a day of sudden emergencies and mutual confidence, and they did not stand for technical rules. On assembling, they made short work of voting on the several articles. It must be remembered that this town meeting was in the woods. There was no road ; and out of the thick forest there was no opening from which a human dwelling could be seen. The nearest human habitation was the log cabin of Benjamin Gregg, on the E. L. Vose farm. I have heard old people say that the trees on the hill were very large, and I think of this town meeting under them with admiration of the men and the scene. It seems to have been held a few steps from the south- east corner of the old cemetery, under " A Read oak tree markd with the figur of Eight." Having chosen John Duncan modera- tor, they seem to have accepted the report of the surveyor by unanimous consent, as there is no record of any kind about it. In the same way they fixed upon a lot for burial. Then they passed the following votes : -
Voted the Spot to Build the Meeting house to be Between A Read oak tree markd with the figur of Eight and the Deat of the year 1777 -. and the Buring Place, -
Voted to Chope one Acer more or less.
Voted that the Delinqueant inhabitants Shall Pay one Dollar or Else work one Day at Choping ad falling at the Center.
Then, after the transaction of some other business, they dis-
47
GRIST-MILL.
solved the town meeting, and "immediately went to work at felling trees " on the " Acer more or less " which now constitutes the old cemetery. Every man had been notified to bring his ax, and as they met at eight o'clock in the morning, and were eager to commence this public work, it is probable the town · meeting did not last an hour ; and therefore they had time for a vigorous day's work. They had no debate about the " Spoot to Build upon " and no time to waste. It will . be noticed that in this first transaction the idea of building a church was in every mind ; also that the old and beautiful idea that church and cemetery must be together was prevalent here. No doubt they made rapid progress that day in laying the forest low ! It was simply cut down to dry for burning, - an immense pile, enriching with ashes the place of the dead. Alas! now the " Read oak markd with the figur of Eight," and the meeting- house, the highest landmark in the vicinity for fifty years, and houses subsequently occupied there as dwellings, and those voters themselves, are gone ; and only the stones placed at the graves of those noble men, remain to identify the spot! May these be held sacred by future generations ; and may the town commenced by those strong arms do honor to the place where they rest ! No descendant of them - not the remotest son of Antrim - should fail to visit this solemn and commanding ground !
This year (1777), James Moor completed a grist-mill at the Branch on the site of Parkhurst's mill. Moor had been on the ground four years, and must have commenced his mill in 1776, as it was designated as " Moor's Mill " in the spring of 1777. This was only for corn, but it was more a matter of welcome and convenience to the settlers than a new railroad is to a town now. They rejoiced over it " as a great acquisition." Com- pelled to live largely on corn meal, they were obliged to go to mill to Hillsborough and Peterborough, and even to New Boston, till David Lewis built a grist-mill in the southeast part of Fran- cestown, 1774. This latter event was counted a public benefit ; but a grist-mill now in their own town seemed to meet a most urgent want, and was looked upon by them with pride and satisfaction.
In 1777, soon after the first town meeting, Antrim first had a public highway, though " barely passable for horses." The previous year they had put up the frame of the " Great Bridge,"
48
CLEARING LAND.
as the records long designate it, the same being where is now the Baldwin bridge over the Contoocook. It was a small, frail affair, and only called great as compared with any other they planned to have in town, and as measured by " the poverty and fewness of the builders." In the course of 1777 a road was " cut and cleared " from this bridge up by the old Jonas White place, through the Center, over Meeting-House Hill to the new. corn-mill at the Branch, and thence over the English hill to Hillsborough. This was the first road in town, and hardly worthy that name even for many succeeding years. More will be said of roads in another place.
This year, also, Antrim, with all her struggles at home, did not forget her duty to the suffering cause of liberty. About one- fourth of the men in town were in the army more or less in 1777, and a still greater number of those who afterwards settled here were on the field. Under the military history of the town these items will have particular note. At this point it may be said, however, that the town nobly aided the families of absent soldiers ; they carried forward the " clearings " of such as had no families, and occasionally voted to " clear up their fell wood" or " pieces of chopped wood." These were pieces of land on which the trees had been cut and left as they fell, and then burned over. After the fire these tracts were covered with charred logs in every direction. The town cut, piled, and burned these logs, and prepared the new land for a crop, in the absence of its young owner in the army. Many votes of this kind are found in the old records, during the period of the war. Also, year after year, they " Voted Miss Mary Dickey be freed of her Reats," - i. e., the widow of James Dickey was exempted from taxes, as her husband had lost his life in the service.
In 1777 several new settlers located in town. Samuel Gregg certainly built this year, on the Paige or Dea. Newman place, at the present center of the town. His cousin Benjamin Gregg, also, as early as this year, began the Edward L. Vose farm at the Center. Most of the new settlers worked one summer, and sometimes two or three, on their lots, before moving on to them. Hence, it is sometimes difficult to decide when they became res- idents here, as their names are found at the same time in other towns as well as this. In some instances this double residence continued four or five years, as with John Gordon, Matthew Templeton, Benjamin Gregg, the Cheneys, and others. Daniel
49
INCREASE OF POPULATION.
Miltimore settled on the Whiteley place this year, to which he brought his young wife the year following. William Boyd, also, in 1777, settled on the Dea. Worthley farm. His first house stood on the old road several rods north of the present residence on that place. John McAllister, James McAllister, and Philip · Coffin came this year or before. It seems also certain that as many as a half-dozen young men, not named heretofore in these pages, were chopping away all summer on their lots, so that the crash of falling trees was constantly heard, and clearing fires were most of the time burning. Some of the stone walls now standing are thought to have been built this year. It was, altogether, a lively year for Antrim, - the year of incorporation, healthy, toilsome, struggling, hopeful 1777 ! It may be added, that, of a State tax assessed June 1, 1777, Antrim's share was one pound, five shillings, and ten pence.
The year 1778 made some valuable additions to the popula- tion of the town. In the spring of this year Dea. Jonathan Nesmith, having worked on his land the four preceding seasons, moved on to the farm on which he died, now known as the Nesmith place, and was for a long life one of the foremost men in town affairs and church affairs. Dea. James Nesmith the same year moved on to the Chandler Boutwell place. Dea. James Carr located on the place now that of his grandson, William R. Carr. John Gilmore settled this year on the farm long occupied by C. J. Whitney. Elias Cheney, who had been living here with his father, Dea. Tristram Cheney, for several years, moved in 1778 on to the Dimon Dodge place, near Cork bridge. The Dinsmores, Samuel and James, came also this year. Samuel located where his son Samuel now lives, and James fixed on the Zadok Dodge place. Others made begin- nings the same year, and the town's population increased con- siderably.
But, from pecuniary and various other embarrassments, this was one of the hardest years for the town. So many perplexing matters called for attention, that there were five town meetings within eight months. The first regular March meeting ever held here was at the house of Richard McAllister (Abram Smith place on Meeting-House Hill), March 10, 1778. At this they chose Hon. John Duncan town clerk, and Thomas Stuart, Daniel Miltimore, and Daniel Nichols, selectmen. James Dun- can was chosen constable. Maurice Lynch, though absent much 4
1
(
50
DEPRECIATION OF CURRENCY.
in New Boston, and probably for that reason not continued in the office of town clerk, was nevertheless chosen surveyor of highways in his part of the town. Their first vote, after electing town officers, was to raise " 32 dollars for Preaching this year." Then they "Voted five Hundred Dollars to be Reased to be worked out on the Highways -and Each man to have three Dollars A Day for his weages and two Dollars P Day for Oxen." Mr. Whiton is mistaken in saying this was the rate for 1777, as the vote for that year was, " That the Inhabitants Shall Work at highways at the Rate of half a Dollar a Day & find What Tools the Surveyor Will order them to Bring." This large change from a half-dollar per day in 1777 to three dollars in 1778, shows that depreciation of paper currency was quite rapid early in the war, and shows a new hardship which our fathers had to struggle with. From the first, specie had been comparatively scarce in the country. The early settlers, buying tools and seeds, had nothing to return but coin, which had a tendency to draw the specie back to England. As a consequence, the colo- nies were driven to the issue of paper currency for circulation among themselves. Coins of the small denominations, and of trifling intrinsic value, were issued by several States, but these were only convenient for small sums. Paper was issued long before the Revolution, of which Massachusetts paper generally stood highest. As compared with English money, this colonial paper was largely depreciated years before the rupture between this country and Great Britain. In 1767 it would take seven pounds in South Carolina to obtain one pound sterling, and in other colonies somewhat less. Hence, when the war of the Revo- lution broke out, the financial question was the most difficult one. Less than a month after the battle of Lexington Congress pro- vided for the issue of what has since been known as " Continen- tal Paper." Of this money, $2,000,000 were put in circulation June 22, 1775. This was followed by other and larger issues,
until $300,000,000 were in circulation. Laws were passed,
making this paper legal tender for payment of debts, but, in spite of these arbitrary enactments, it depreciated every week until it became worthless. As indicated by the votes of Antrim, it took, March 10, 1778, three dollars of this currency to be worth as much as fifty cents of it was worth ten months before. Coins, therefore, had become extremely scarce. Those who had silver - were charged with concealing it, while the settlers of this town,
51
ASSESSMENT OF TAXES.
being mostly poor, found it almost impossible to get specie enough to pay their taxes to the State. Samuel Gregg, who came here with considerable wealth, nobly aided the citizens of the town by giving specie for paper to a large extent, until its depreciation nearly swept his property away. No remuneration was subsequently made to him, and none of the paper he held ever redeemed.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.