USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Bristol > History of the town of Bristol, Grafton County, New Hampshire, Volume I > Part 7
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Aug. 31, 1803, a meeting was held in New Chester, at the house of Maj. Theophilus Sanborn, when John Smith was elect- ed moderator. A report from the committee on lotting and bounding unlotted lands was presented and accepted. In this work Carr Huse and Theophilus Sanborn were allowed for sixteen days' labor each and Joshua Tolford for fourteen days' labor, at nine shillings per day. Carr Huse, John Smith, and Maj. Sanborn were made a committee to ascertain what common or
45
THE PROPRIETARY HISTORY
undivided lands in town remained unsold, and to prosecute all persons found trespassing thereon.
On Tuesday, Jan. 10, 1804, there was a sale at the house of Maj. Sanborn of the unlotted lands. This sale included a point of land on the west side of the lake near Asa Hastings's ; the "great island" and one small island in the lake ; five islands in the Pemigewasset river ; a gore of land containing eighteen acres between "Moses Lewis's mill lot and the lot Moses Sleeper lives on" ; and several pieces of land in that part of New Chester now Hill. The "great island" in the lake was sold to Sherburn Sanborn for $36.25 ; the "great island in the Pemigewasset river," was sold to John Merrill and Jonathan Merrill for $6.25; the gore between Moses Lewis's lot and Moses Sleeper's was sold at $9 per acre.
CHAPTER V
FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN NEW CHESTER
All kinds, all creatures stand or fall By strength of prowess or of wit; 'Tis God's appointment, who shall sway And who is to submit.
-Wordsworth.
The first blow in the wilderness of New Chester, for the purpose of clearing the land for cultivation, was struck by John Tolford, Jr .; but the honor of being the first permanent settler clearly belongs to Cutting Favor.
John Tolford, Jr., was one of the proprietors of the town and owned one share, consisting of four lots. One of the lots drawn by him was No. 45, in the First Division, located on the river near where is now Pemigewasset bridge. In 1765, he commenced to clear this land, and during the next five years he cleared ten acres of this lot and two acres of Lot 44, belonging to Tomlinson and Davis, and eight acres of Lot 46, belonging to Joshua Willard; and in 1770 he built a cabin on his own lot. He remained here only a few weeks at a time, and his object seems to have been to make the land more salable, rather than to make a settlement. On the organization of the town, in 1773, he was not taxed as a resident, but was taxed as such in 1775. After this latter date, he was taxed as a non-resident.
The same year that John Tolford, Jr., commenced his im- provements, Cutting Favor visited the wilderness of New Ches- ter for the purpose of selecting a place to settle. Tradition says he was accompanied by Benj. Emmons on the same errand. On this trip he came to the brook just north of where he settled, now the Wilson Foster place, and followed up this stream until he came to beaver dams and a meadow. Hunters had been there before him, but the dams remained. The stream was much larger than now and would furnish water for a sawmill; the meadow would afford wild grass for his stock while clearing the land; and the bank of the Pemigewasset was a delightful spot on which to build; and here he decided should be his home. This was in the summer of 1765. On September 5, of this year, he purchased 88 acres of Lot 77, First Division, of Winthrop Sargent, originally drawn by Jacob Sargent, and Feb. 4, 1766, he purchased the whole of Lot 78, of James Quenton. He proba-
47
FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN NEW CHESTER
bly came to New Chester and commenced improvements imme- diately after his second purchase, as it is said that he came in the winter.
Cutting Favor made his first log cabin on a site between the two present farmhouses of Wilson Foster, and here he toiled alone, clearing the land, during the greater part of two years, occasionally making a visit to his home in Newtown, now Newton. In the spring of 1768, he brought his wife and four children to their new home in the wilderness. Mrs. Favor was the first white woman to make her home in New Chester, and their fifth child, Isaac, born Aug. 24, 1768, was the first white child born in the town. In 1773, or earlier, Cutting Favor sent a petition to the New Chester proprietors to be allowed to purchase the island in the Pemigewasset opposite his land, which he said contained at that time, about eighteen acres. In this petition he states that his was the second family that moved into the new plantation.' In this paper he must have alluded to John Tolford, Jr., spoken of above.
Cutting Favor was evidently a man of means for those days. He bought large tracts of land in New Chester, and among his purchases after his settlement was that of Lot 76, which adjoined his home lot on the north. He also made large purchases on the east side of the river, in New Hampton, his land extending a mile from the Pemigewasset. He erected the first saw-mill within the limits of Hill. This stood where the railroad now crosses the brook just north of his home and about a mile south of Smith's river. The dam was on the west side of the high- way, and the water to turn the overshot wheel was conducted over the road in a spout. He later added a grist-mill, and these two mills did service for many years.
Benjamin Emmons was the first permanent settler within the limits of Bristol. July 13, 1767, he purchased of Samuel Emerson, for four pounds, ninety acres-Lot 50, First Division, and soon after set out from his home in Sandown for his new possession in the woods of New Chester. The journey was made on foot and alone, with a pack on his back containing provisions, ax in hand, and his faithful dog by his side. Arriv- ing at his destination, he made of hemlock bark a camp as a temporary shelter. At the two ends of this camp he drove into the ground two willow posts to support the roof. These posts sprouted and grew, and became the two immense trees that stood for many years by the wayside nearly in front of the present residence on this farm. They disappeared, by reason of old age, only a few years ago, but the roots are still there, marking the spot where the first settler in Bristol made his temporary home. Here he commenced to fell the trees and clear the land on what
'State Papers, Vol. 27, P. 347.
48
HISTORY OF BRISTOL
is still known as the Emmons farm, and which is still owned and occupied by his descendants.
Nov. 15, 1771, Benjamin Emmons purchased, of John Tolford, Lot 49, containing one hundred acres adjoining his first purchase on the east, and of David Sleeper Lot 51 on the west, so that his farm consisted of two hundred and eighty acres. His first log house, which was probably built the second season of his stay here, was on the lower side of the highway. The chim- ney was not made of stone, after the general custom of those days, but of brick made by himself from clay near at hand. About once in six weeks, Benjamin Emmons went to Boscawen, renewed his stock of provisions and returned to his task of clearing the land for tillage. Visitors were few and there was but little to break the monotony of life; but one morning as he opened his eyes an Indian stood at the opening of his camp and was looking in upon him, but finally walked away without uttering a word. The following winter found him at his old home in Sandown ; but as spring came he resumed work on his land. This season he planted fields of rye and corn, but the bears made sad havoc with his growing crops. In the fall of this season, while on one of his trips to Boscawen, his "neighbors" in Bridgewater, seven men in all, came down to visit him, and found seven bears in his cornfield.
April 6, 1769, Benjamin Emmons married Elizabeth Fellows of Sandown, and bride and groom at once started for their new home-the log house which Mr. Emmons had erected in the New Chester woods. It is probable that they brought with them a cow and a yoke of oxen, and such household articles as could be transported over the rough roads or trails through the woods. Feb. 20, 1770, a son came to gladden their home, whom they named Samuel. He was the first white child born within the limits of Bristol.
The same year that Cutting Favor settled in Hill, 1766, Thomas Crawford, Jr., is credited, by tradition, with a settle- ment in Bridgewater. June 21, of this year, while a resident of Hampstead and only nineteen years old, he purchased four hundred acres of land in Bridgewater including Lots 9, 20, 5, and 3. Settlement was made on Lot 9, now the farm of Sherman S. Fletcher. He probably commenced to clear the land the same season, and it is thus claimed of him that he settled in Bridgewater in 1766. April 7, 1768, his father, Thomas Craw- ford, of Hampstead, purchased and settled on Lot 8; and Robert Crawford of Sandown settled on Lots 6 and 7 the same season. In 1769, Jonathan Crawford of Chester settled on Lots 11 and 12. In 1771, Jonathan Crawford is credited with having five acres of land improved; Thomas Crawford, Jr., with having seven acres; and Robert Crawford, fifteen. John Mitchell was evidently the second settler in Bridgewater, having settled on Lot I, next
49
FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN NEW CHESTER
to the Plymouth line, in 1767. In 1771, he had fifteen acres of land improved. These settlers were in that part of New Chester now Bridgewater, and in the first division of lots, the home or river lots as they were called.
Peter Sleeper was the first settler within the limits of Bristol village. In the summer of 1768, he commenced to clear Lot 63, First Division, belonging to his father, David Sleeper, who, though not one of the original proprietors, owned large tracts of land in this township. Peter Sleeper's father gave him a deed to this lot May 29, 1769. This was considered a good start in life in those days. Peter Sleeper built his first habitation, a log hut, where Mrs. S. S. Southard now resides, and here he spent most of his time, in hard work, till the fall of 1771, when he brought his family here. His wife rode horseback all the way from their old home in Sandown, carrying in her arms her infant, born July 29, before. Peter Sleeper had at this time six or eight acres of land in tillage. Some years later he built a large, two-story square frame house, one of the first in town, in what is now Mrs. Southard's dooryard on High street. Here he kept tavern for many years.
Previous to Peter Sleeper's settlement with his family, a grist-mill and a saw-mill had been erected where is now the pulp-mill of the Train-Smith Co., and in 1769 John Kidder came from Bedford to Bristol for the purpose of tending this mill. He moved into a small log house, at the corner of Cen- tral square and Spring street, that had been erected for his reception. This was a very small and rude affair for a family of five. There was only one room, and on each side of the fire- place stood what served for chairs during the day and beds at night. Stout poles were driven into augur holes in the logs to support one end, and the other rested on posts set in the ground. On the horizontal pieces poles and boughs were placed, as the foundations for the beds. John Kidder resided here and con- tinued in charge of the mill three or four years, when he pur- chased the land now constituting the Fred Kidder farm, and removed there.
Gideon Sleeper came from Sandown to New Chester to make a settlement one year later than his brother Peter. He selected Lot 62, adjoining his brother's lot on the north, and · built a log house on the Fred H. Briggs place on High street. He married and brought his wife here soon after Peter came with his family; and here three or four children were born. About 1784, he removed to Grafton, where he spent the remain- der of his days, and where some of his descendants are still living.
Joshua Tolford, of Chester, settled on the bank of Smith's river in 1769. He was one of the few original proprietors who settled in the new township. One of his lots was No. 66, First
4
50
HISTORY OF BRISTOL
Division, on the Pemigewasset about where George Price resides. Lot 71 included the falls of Smith's river, and was reserved for a mill lot, and the adjoining lot on the south, 72, was held in common by the proprietors. In 1766, Joshua Tolford proposed to the proprietors that they deed him Lot 72, or exchange it for Lot 66, and he would engage to build mills on the stream.I The exchange was made; but Joshua Tolford made no attempt to carry out his part of the agreement in the erection of mills. May 19, 1767, Maj. John Tolford entered into an agreement with the proprietors to erect mills on Newfound river, as else- where stated, and mills on Smith's river within six years from that date. Maj. Tolford appears to have sold his rights in Lot 71 to Joshua Tolford, as the latter settled on this lot and in 1771 had ten acres of land "improved" and six acres of forest "cut" in addition, and in the fall of 1773 was taxed for a saw-mill. He did not long remain in town, however, but removed a few miles west and settled at what is now known as Clarke's corner in Alexandria. Here he spent the balance of his life.
The year 1770 saw the addition of several families to the new settlement. It appears that Carr Huse settled in what is now Hill village, on Lot 90, and was the first settler there. Tradition gives him second place in the settlement of that part of New Chester now Hill, and this claim seems to be well taken. This man was destined to have a more important part in the development of the new town than any other, and his public spirit and interest in the town is seen throughout his long and active life.
Very soon after, Jacob Heath settled just north of Carr Huse, on Lots 88 and 89 ; Henry Wells, of Chester, settled on the lot next south, 91 ; while Jeremiah Quimby settled a little farther to the north, on Lots 79 and 82.
Robert Forsaith came this same year from Chester. He married Margaret, a daughter of Dea. William Tolford, of Chester, and settled on Lots 73 and 74, later known as the Peaslee place, now owned and occupied by William C. Kelley, south of Smith's river. The history of Chester says that after five children were born to them in New Chester they returned to Chester, where four more children were born. If this be so, he again became a resident of New Chester, as he was here in 1800, and apparently then resided on this same farm, and here he died in 1810.
All the settlements thus far mentioned as being made in 1770 were in that part of New Chester now Hill. Within the limits of Bristol, Moses Worthen, of Sandown, settled on what is still known as the Worthen farm, about one-half mile north- east of Central square. Indeed, there is some evidence to show
1State Papers, Vol. 27, P. 341.
5I
FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN NEW CHESTER
that he was here even earlier than this, as he purchased his land, one-half of Lot 59, of Joshua Tolford, originally drawn by Matthew Thornton, Nov. 17, 1768. Ebenezer Ingalls, of San- down, settled on the next lot to the east, 58, for many years known as the Oren Nelson place; Tom Locke, a great bear hunter, settled on Lot 56, where Solon Dolloff now resides; Lieut. Joseph Basford, on Lot 55; Chase Fuller made a set- tlement on Lot 47, just east of the Heath burying-ground ; while Josiah Heath, of Atkinson, and Peter Heath joined the settlers of Bridgewater on Lots 11 and 14, respectively.
In the spring of 1771, Jonathan Ingalls settled between the land of his brother, Ebenezer, and that of Tom Locke, on what has been known for many years as the Abel Danforth farm. He felled two acres of timber that season. His log house was on the east side of Danforth brook, and on the south side of the high- way.
On the 27th of September, of this year, Samuel Worthen purchased, of Joshua Tolford, the westerly half of Lot 59 ; his father, Moses Worthen, being the owner of the easterly half of the same lot. In the deed of conveyance he is spoken of as "Samuel Worthen, of New Chester, blacksmith." Samuel Worthen is supposed to have been born in 1748, and tradition says he did not come to Bristol with his father, but he was evidently a resident at this time. In 1776, he purchased his father's half of their lot, and subsequently became a large owner of real estate, including the Robinson farm in New Hampton. It was from him that Worthen's rock, in the Pemi- gewasset, took its name, which it still retains. He continued to reside on the Worthen farm till his death, in 1821, and there he reared a large and distinguished family.
Capt. John Underhill, of Chester, one of the proprietors, erected a log cabin this season, and felled two or three acres of timber, on the west bank of the Pemigewasset, north of the Pemigewasset bridge; but he appears to have made no settle- ment. David Emerson made a settlement on Lot 94, next to the Franklin line.
During the year 1773, there was a marked increase in the number of inhabitants in the new town. Among them was Joseph Sanborn, of Hawk', who, Mar. 3, of this year, purchased of Edward Eastman Lot 75, adjoining Cutting Favor's land on the north. His name appears on the tax-list of October, so it seems probable that he made his settlement here in the spring of this year. This lot was originally drawn by Timothy Ingalls. Alexander McClure had eight or ten acres cut on this lot, in 1771, for himself or some other party, but this work was proba- bly done to hasten its sale. Mr. Sanborn was apparently the first settler here, and here he rounded out seventy years of wedded life and died in 1841. Nason Cass settled on Lot 81,
I Now Fremont.
52
HISTORY OF BRISTOL
the third south of Cutting Favor's; Nathaniel Sanborn, on Lot 93, the second from the Franklin line; Jacob Wells, on Lot 88 ; Tilton Bennett, on Lot 87. Another settler in Hill, between 1771 and 1773, was James Moulton. In what is now Bridge- water, Edmond Eastman settled on what is known as the An- drew J. West farm; Andrew Craige settled on Lot 27. Other settlers in Bridgewater this year were John Clark, David Cross, and Jonathan Morgan.
John Smith came this year from Bedford, and settled on the north bank of Smith's river. Later he became the proprietor of the mills there, and operated them for many years. This same year Nathan Sleeper settled near Tom Locke's, or between Solon Dolloff's and the H. N. Emmons place. This was not the Nathan who was for many years a resident of Bristol, but may have been a younger brother of Peter and Gideon. If so, he was at this time only 18 years of age, and like many other young men of those days had selected land and was preparing for himself a home. Color is given to this supposition from the fact that Nathan, the brother of Peter, died in 1775, and this name disappears from the records of New Chester at this time, and does not appear again till Nathan, the son of Peter, comes upon the scene.
In 1774, Abner Fellows settled where H. N. Emmons now resides. He had assisted in moving his daughter, Mrs. Benj. Emmons, to her new home after her marriage, and was so favorably impressed with the country on the north bank of the Pemigewasset that he resolved to locate there himself. He sold his "home place" in Sandown in January, 1773, and May 26, following, purchased Lot 53, and in October, following, Lot 54, in New Chester. His cabin stood where H. N. Emmons's resi- dence now stands. He was at this time about 50 years of age and here he spent the remainder of his life. A large number of his descendants are now residents of this town.
All the settlements thus far made were in the first division of lots, called the river lots, being on the bank of the Pemigewas- set river, extending from Lot I, next to the Plymouth line, to Lot No. 94, next to the Franklin line, a distance of more than nineteen miles.
In 1774, Lieut. Thomas Wells and his brother, Reuben, set- tled on Lot 64, Fourth Division ; while Benj. McAllister, Josiah Fellows, and Gershon Fletcher were also added to the tax-list this year, the last three being settlers in what is now Bridgewater.
During the Revolutionary war, settlers came in slowly, busi- ness being so thoroughly paralyzed by the war that even the settlement of the new towns was retarded. During 1775 and 1776 only two new names were added to the settlers-Ebenezer Kenfield, in Hill, and William Palmer, in Bridgewater.
In 1777, John Bussell became a settler on Lot 84, First Divi-
53
FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN NEW CHESTER
sìon. Wm. and John Corless and Simeon Sanborn are also new names this year; in Hill ; while Oliver Smith Blake appears as a settler on the Caleb Clay farm in the Nelson neighborhood in Bristol. Jacob Spofford, Joseph Haskill, Joseph Cass, and John Ladd appear as new names on the tax-list this year in that part of the old town now Bridgewater.
Daniel Heath came from Hampstead, in 1779, and settled in Bristol on what has been known from that time till the present as the Heath farm. John Emmons, a brother of Benjamin, had preceded Heath on this farm, but after a few months sold his interest to Heath and removed to Murray hill. Daniel Heath was somewhat advanced in life at this time, and died in 1788 (?) while on a business trip to the northern part of the state. He was succeeded by his brother Stephen, and he by his brother Samuel, in 1794 ; and this farm still remains in the hands of his descendants.
Moses Sleeper, of Sandown, settled in Bristol village in 1779. He first occupied the "mill house," at the corner of Central square and Spring street, while he built a log house on the site of the town-house. While residing in this latter place he built the dwelling on the north side of Central square, occupied for many years as a tavern, later by Dea. William Green, and now by Dea. Green's daughters. John Sleeper, a brother, came about the same time, and built his first cabin on North Main street, where David M. Chase now resides, at the base of Sugar hill. In 1800, he built the "tannery house" at the junction of Willow with Lake street. Maj. Theophilus Sanborn settled on New Chester moun- tain this year, just south of where Mrs. John W. Sanborn now resides; John Cleveland came from Connecticut and settled on the west side of the highway just south of Oliver Smith Blake in the Nelson neighborhood ; and Jonathan Merrill settled at Profile Falls.
In that part of New Chester now Hill, the following appear to have settled in 1778 or 1779: Philip Rowell, Lot 89, First Division ; William Bennett, Lot 85, First Division; Nathaniel Bartlett, Lot 43, Third Division ; Nathan Colby, Amos Stephen, Phineas Sargent, Reuben Keezer, Ebenezer Wells, and William Murray ; in Bridgewater, Simeon Cross, Lot 27, First Division; Jonathan Cross, Lot 28, First Division, and Ephraim Webster.
About 1780, Meshach Gurdy settled just north of Smith's river, near where the railroad now is, coming from Sandown. During the next few years his two sons, Samuel and Jacob, cleared land in what was afterwards known as the Locke neigh- borhood, to which they removed later, Samuel settling on the Otis Sanborn farm and Jacob on the Samuel Muzzey farm. In 1780, Asa Hastings settled on the Hastings farm, coming from Alexandria. In 1781, Sherburn Tilton came from Sandown, bought the mill lot in Bristol village, and built a log cabin where
4a
54
HISTORY OF BRISTOL
is now the harness shop of Frank W. Bingham, on the east side of South Main street a few rods south of the river. Tom Fuller came this year and made a home on the south side of New Ches- ter mountain, near the Sleeper burying-ground, on the old road over the mountain. About the same time, or as early as 1782, Daniel Sleeper settled on the hillside east of Newfound lake, on the Laura R. Mitchell farm. Ebenezer Ingalls removed to New Hampton about this time; and his brother, Jonathan, succeeded him on the Oren Nelson farm. The Danforth farm, vacated by Jonathan Ingalls, was now occupied by a new comer, Michael Moshier ; while new settlers, among thein William Powell and Jonathan Tirrell, made their homes in the Locke neighborhood.
As has been seen, a few of the settlers had pushed back from the main road along the Pemigewasset into the interior of the town. A trail, the forerunner of a road, was extended into what is now the Hall neighborhood, as far as Oliver Smith Blake's new home. From John Kidder's a trail extended to the Locke neighborhood, from there westerly, passing Bristol Peak, down the hill to Daniel Sleeper's farm, and thence to the lake. Another trail led from the Locke neighborhood north to the site of the Bridgewater meeting-house, and others to the main road near the Pemigewasset river. Along these trails, settlers made their homes, until this was the most thickly settled part of the town. Here, in 1785, Samuel Drew was a new settler, coming from Plymouth. Here a little later came Stephen Thurston Brown, also from Plymouth. In 1780, when only 15 years of age, Benjamin Locke came to town from Sandown, making his home for three years with his uncle, Tom Locke. At the end of that time he shouldered a pack of provisions, and, with ax in hand, penetrated the wilderness seven miles, and located on Bridge- water hill. He there built a hut and cleared land for a home ; but after spending a year or two in that lonely retreat, constantly annoyed by bears and other wild animals, he sold, and settled in the neighborhood that was later to take his name; where he commenced life in a log cabin of two rooms that stood near where the schoolhouse now stands. His bride was the daugh- ter of the first settler in New Chester. Such men as these gave the neighborhood a name that is still fragrant to all lovers of sturdy, upright manhood.
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