USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Canterbury > History of the town of Canterbury, New Hampshire, 1727-1912, v. 1 > Part 11
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The common and undivided meadows were let out to the inhabitants in 1752 and for the years ensuing, the lessees to pay in work, making and repairing highways.
At the annual meeting in 1754 the town voted to purchase a book for the record of births, marriages and deaths. Five years later this same vote was renewed. It is not probable that the delay in acting upon the first vote was due wholly to the indiffer- ence of the town officers but in part to the distance of Canterbury from a market where such purchases could be made. It is not likely that there were any towns nearer than Portsmouth where blank books could be had, and travel to this seaport was not. frequent.
In 1757 the necessity for a town treasurer was set forth in an article in the warrant for the annual town meeting. There was. occasion for an officer "who shall have power to call in and pay out the town's money according to the town order." Archelaus Moore was the first town treasurer. He was reelected the next. year. A treasurer was not again chosen until 1765 and 1766. It. was many years afterwards before this office was regularly filled.
The first notice of a bounty on wolves was in 1766, when Archelaus Moore was voted £10 for killing one when John Forrest was constable. This must have been an old claim, for the only time that John Forrest was constable prior to 1766 was in 1750. This bounty continued to be offered as late as 1791.
The width of the ox-sled was established in 1768 by formal vote of the town at four and a half feet. Any man found in the public roads with one of less width was to be fined 10s. The reason for this vote will be readily understood by those who have had occa- sion to travel country roads in the winter time.
At the sale of lots in 1764 of the second hundred acre division Jethro Bachelder received lot No. 193 in consideration of £100
1 History of Taxation in N. H., American Economic Association, August 1902.
2 N. H. Prov. Laws (Batchellor), page 176.
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HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
and the further "consideration that said Bachelder build a saw mill on said lot immediately and a grist mill in fourteen months and that he sell boards, plank and joists and saw to and for the inhabitants of this town forever at a reasonable rate and keep the mills in good repair forever." These mills must have been within the present limits of Loudon, as Jethro Bachelder was a settler in that part of Canterbury in 1760.1
1 Province and State Papers, Vol. IX, page 827.
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CHAPTER V.
"THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION. ASSOCIATION TEST AND
SIGNERS. COMMITTEES OF SAFETY. PROMOTING ENLISTMENTS. ACCUSATIONS OF DISLOYALTY. ARREST OF CAPT. JEREMIAH CLOUGH, JR. HIS CONFINEMENT AND VINDICATION. FORMA- TION OF A STATE CONSTITUTION. SUPPLIES FOR THE ARMY. PAPER CURRENCY.
The inhabitants of the town were hardly acting independently of the proprietors when they were called upon to consider the troubles between the colonies and the Mother Country. The records of the town in a meager way tell the story of their patriot- ism in the efforts made to fill their quota of troops, to furnish supplies to the army, to watch over the loyalty of the people and to establish both a state and national government. No documents or letters of that period are now extant to enrich the narrative with the personal perspective of the writers. No definite action by the town was taken on certain articles in the warrants of the town meetings, and the records, of course, contain no account of discussions of these articles. Sometimes there is not even mention of their consideration in the accounts of what took place, but the traditions of these hardy pioneers and their immediate descendants warrant the assumption that no articles were ever ignored. If no action was taken, it was because it was deemed unnecessary after a free exchange of views. Being practical men, the voters engaged in the pressing business at hand, which was made more difficult by their poverty and the scarcity of a circulating currency. They paid their town debts in corn and other products of the farm, and running through the records of the town meetings is evidence of their frugality and watchfulness of public servants while voting their part towards carrying on the war. In narrating what the town did in this trying period, a partial transcript of these records is given because they contain practically the only evidence and because they sometimes forcibly suggest to the imagination the details not given.
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HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
In response to a letter from John Wentworth, speaker of the House of Representatives of New Hampshire, a special town meeting was called July 15, 1774. At this meeting, the call which had been issued for the meeting of the first Continental Congress in Philadelphia in September was approved, and it was voted to send a delegate to Exeter for the purpose of choosing a delegate or delegates from New Hampshire to join this Con- gress. Deacon Ezekiel Morrill was elected as that delegate to meet at Exeter with the delegates from other towns "to consult and conclude on the most proper measures to reconcile differ- ences and difficulties which subsist between Great Britain and our Colonies."
The Continental Congress adopted a non-intercourse resolu- tion, pledging the colonies not to import anything from Great Britain and urging them to do all in their power to make them- selves economically independent of the Mother Country. That body also recommended the election of a committee by the county, town or other local administrative unity in each colony which should oversee the carrying out of this resolution.1 These committees were "to observe the conduct of persons touching the agreement," and all persons violating it were to be " contemned as the enemies of American liberty." The Continental Congress adjourned in October, 1774, after issuing a call for the assembling of a new Congress in May, 1775.
The voters of Canterbury were called together to act upon the recommendations of this Congress as soon as the news of its transactions had been formally laid before the people. At a special town meeting called January 16, 1775, Lieut. Samuel Ames was elected a deputy to meet with deputies from other towns to choose delegates from New Hampshire to the second Continental Congress. He was instructed to vote for a com- mittee to apportion the expense among the towns towards sending delegates to Philadelphia.
At this same meeting, Capt. Jeremiah Clough, Lieut. Samuel Ames, Lieut. David Morrill, Benjamin Blanchard and David Foster were chosen a committee of correspondence "to in- spect the inhabitants of the town of Canterbury and see that they observe and keep the resolutions of our Grand Congress when sitting at Philadelphia last fall." This was Canterbury's
1 Garner and Lodge's History of U. S., Vol. I, page 381.
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THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION.
Committee of Safety, and they were reelected the following year.
At the annual town meeting two months later, called for the purpose of electing town officers and transacting routine business, the town voted £3 15s, as its proportion of the continental charges, and the selectmen were authorized to hire money if there was not enough of last year's collection on hand.
A convention having been called to meet at Exeter May 17, 1775, a special town meeting was called for May 15 to elect deputies. The Rev. Abiel Foster and Capt. Jeremiah Clough were chosen as these deputies "free and clear of any cost or charge, it being their proffer and request to have it so entered." This generous offer, however, was the occasion for subsequent action by the town the next year at a special meeting February 12, 1776, when it was "voted that Mr. Abiel Foster be allowed his expenses at Exeter for attending the Congress the summer past in consequence of his agreeing to be rated his portion of the Province tax during the present dispute with Great Britain and accounting for what money he hath drawn out of the treasury for attendance at said Congress and allowing said sum out of his salary." Mr. Foster was at that time the settled minister of the town and the salary referred to was probably the compen- sation he received from the town for his services as such minister.
Events moved swiftly for the colonies in the year 1775. The second Continental Congress was in session at Philadelphia. The battles at Lexington and Bunker Hill had been fought, and the people had been making rapid strides towards a declaration of independence of Great Britain. Four town meetings, including the annual one, were held in Canterbury that year at which the affairs of the colonies were considered. The last, December 18, was called to elect a representative from the town of Canter- bury and the parish of Loudon to the General Congress to be held at Exeter, pursuant to the order of that body.
The warrant for that meeting contained this proviso. "In case there shall be a recommendation from the Continental Congress that this colony assume government in any particular form which will require a House of Representatives, that they (the Provincial Congress at Exeter) shall resolve themselves into such a house as the said Continental Congress shall recom- mend." No reference in the record of this meeting is made
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HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
to this provision of the call, but Thomas Clough was elected representative for one year "agreeable to a precept from the Provincial Congress." Chosen under such a call, his election was undoubtedly regarded as equivalent to specific instructions. The warrant also prescribed a property qualification for the representative of "real estate of the value of £200 lawful money of the Colony" and marked the difference between Mr. Clough's credentials and those of his predecessors who were merely dele- gates or deputies to provisional assemblies. The Committee of Safety of the previous year were reelected.
Another proviso of this warrant is the following: "It is resolved that no person be allowed a seat in Congress (Provincial Congress at Exeter) who shall by himself or any other person for him before said choice treat with liquor etc. any electors with an apparent view of gaining their votes, or afterwards on that account."
As this proviso appears in several subsequent warrants for town meetings, it is not unreasonable to assume that the Canter- bury town meetings of the eighteenth century resembled some of those of the nineteenth century in rivalry for political preferment. and the inducements held out to electors to secure their favor.
That Canterbury had its Minute Men who were to respond to a call to arms is shown by the records of the annual meeting March 21, 1776. It was there "voted that the account brought in by Capt. (James) Shepherd to this meeting be allowed and also that all the men that went on Lexington Alarm have 3s. per day for every day they spent on that Alarm, one half to be paid out of last year's rates and the other half out of this year's rates."
At an adjourned meeting, it was also "voted to Widow Susan- nah Moore 10s. for a blanket that was lost by Capt. (Jeremiah) Clough's company when (it) went on Lexington alarm." Susannah Moore was the widow of Capt. Samuel Moore and the mother of Susannah Moore who married Abiel Foster, son of Rev. Abiel Foster.
The Continental Congress having recommended the disarming of all persons "disaffected to the cause of America or who have not associated and refuse to associate to defend with arms the United Colonies against the hostile attempts of the British
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THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION.
fleets and armies,"1 the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire requested the towns to secure the signatures of all of their male inhabitants above twenty-one years of age, "lunaticks, idiots and negroes excepted," to an Association Test. This document bore 128 signatures from Canterbury and 69 from Loudon. From neither town was there a return of the names of any individual who refused to sign. As Loudon had been a separate township only three years, the signatures from both towns are given. Of the 197 signers in these two towns only three were obliged to make their mark in subscribing thereto. The Association Test read as follows:
"We the subscribers do hereby solemnly engage and promise that we will to the utmost of our power, at the risque of our lives and fortunes, with arms oppose the hostile proceedings of the British fleets and armies against the United American Colonies." 2
Canterbury Signatures .- Thomas Clough, Ezekiel Morrill, Archelaus Moore, John Moor, Abiel Foster, Sargent Morrill, Jonathan Young, James towl, Obadiah Clough, Joseph Durgin, William Glines Juner,3 Samiel Ames, Benjamin Heath, David Morrill, Joshua Boienton (Boynton),3 Samuel Colby, Tho® Gil- man, Jeremiah Hacket, Ephraim Carter, Abner hoyt, Richerd Ellison,3 Jeremiah Clough, Benja Blanchard 3d,3 Jonathan Blanchard, Samuel Nudd, Joshua Weeks, Jonathan West, William moor,3 Nathaniel Glines, 3 Benja Simson, Thomas Hoyt, David ames, John Moores Jun', Barnard Stiles, Samuel Haines, John Sanborn his Mark X, Nathanael Moore, Richard Hanes, James Shepard, Arch8 Miles, James Gipson (Gibson), James Glines, William Gault, David McCrilles, Benja Johnson, Daniel Foster, John Lyford, Edward thran, Benjamin Woodman, Jonathan Forster, Aaron Sargent his X mark, Benj Sanburn, John Bean, Caleb Heath, Gideon Bartlet, Joseph pallet, Nathan- aiel pallet, Samuel Weeks, Simon Swan (?), James Molony, John McDaniel,3 Jeremiah McDaniel,3 Laban Morrill, Asa Forster, Simon Ames, John Molony,3 Robert Hastings, John Robinson, Simeon Robinson, Joseph Carr, jonathan guile,3 jesse Cross,3 John Cross,3 Stephen Cross,3 William Hancock,3 Reuben Kezar,3 Jacob hath (Heath[?]),3 John Roen,3 Abner Miles, Nathan- iel Perkines,3 David Blancher (Blanchard),3 Samuel miles, James Blanchard, Richard Glines, William Dyer, Shubel Dear- bon,3 Nathaniel Dearbon,3 David Morrison, Nehemiah Clough,
1 In Congress, March 14, 1776.
' N. H. Prov. Papers, Vol. VIII, page 205.
a Residents at this time or later of that part of the town which in 1780 was set off as the town of Northfield. History of Northfield, page 71.
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HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
Benjamin Blanchard,1 Richard Blanchard,1 David Norris, Edward Blanchard,1 John Gibson,1 James Lind Perkins,1 thomas Gibson,1 Peter Hanaford,1 Benjamin Collins,1 John forest,1 John forrest junir,1 William forrest, Nathaniel Witcher,1 Ruben witcher,1 william Samborn, Gideon sawyer,1 Eben" Kimball,1 Jiosh (John[?]) Simons,1 Simon Stevens, William simons,1 Benjamin Witcher, Jeremiah Ladd, Joseph Samborn, Daniel Fletcher, Henry Clough, Walter Haines, William miles, Eli Simons, Tho8 Foss,1 Leavitt Clough, Josiah Miles,1 Benja- min Blanchard Jun", David Forster, Timothy Foss, 1 2 John foss,1 2 Samuel Gerrish, Abner Haines, Edmon colby, Thomas Clough Juner.
Presumably this document contains the names of all of the male inhabitants of the town who were not in the army. The town census of the year before, 1775, showed the number of males above sixteen years of age at home to be 154, with 35 in the army. The difference between 128 who signed the test and 154 males above sixteen years of age is undoubtedly the number of males between sixteen and twenty-one years of age.
Loudon Signatures .- John Glines, Charles Sias, Timothy Tilton, Samuel french, Samuel Cates (Cate), William Tilton, Josiah Rins (Rines), Stephen wells, Thomas Sweat, Benjman will, Thomas Ward, Eliphalet Rawlige (Rawlings), Gashom Mathes, Abel french, moses morriell (Morrill), Ebenezer French, Nathaniel Bachellor, Caleb Pilsbery, john Bradbury, Timothy french, Jonathan Smith, John Sargent, Benjamin Sias, Jonathan Clough, Joseph magoon, Isaac Morrill, Dudley Swasey, Thomas Magoon, His mark, Samuel Chamberlain, Jethro Bachelder (Batchelder), Paul morriel (Morrill), Ephreaim Blunt jr, Samuel morrill, Masten Morrill, Jathro Bachelder Jun", Daniel Ladd, Thomas drake, James Gilman Lyford, Moses Rollings, Wm. Gilman Jn", Joseph Smith, Roger Stevens, Abraham Bachelder, John Drew, Nathan Bachelder, John Sanborn, Joseph Tilton, Nathaniel Tebbets; Ephraim Blunt, Moses Pilsbury, James Sherbon, William boynton, Jacob Sherburne, Ellxandor Gorden, William Davis, Simeon Taylor, Ezekiel Morrill, George Sher- burne, lebe (Libbey) bachelder, Abihail (Abiel) Chamberlain, Isaiah havery (Harvey), Samuel Chamberlain, John Hoit, damiel Bachelder, Moses ordway, Joseph Moulton, olliver Blasdel, Jacob towle, peter Jordn.
1 Residents at this time or later of that part of the town which in 1780 was set off as the town of Northfield. History of Northfield, page 71.
a History of Northfield gives names of Timothy and John Hills, names not found among original signatures from Canterbury. They may have been intended for Timothy and John Foss.
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THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION.
LOUDON, June 3, 1776.
Agreeabel to within Instrument wharas we haf Carried this Instrement to the Inhabatints of Loudon thay haf all Signed Savin one or two that Lived very much out of the way.
NATHAN BACHELDER JOHN DREW Selectmen SAMUEL CHAMBERLAIN
The colony of New Hampshire having now through its Congress at Exeter adopted a plan of government, the electors of Canter- bury were called upon at a town meeting November 18, 1776, to elect a representative to the House of Representatives and to cast their votes for five members of the Council from Rock- ingham County, in which Canterbury was then situated. Thomas Clough was again chosen representative for one year from the meeting of the legislature in December, 1776. The warrant of this meeting contains a most positive declaration in regard to supplying electors with liquor to secure their votes, going so far as to declare that "no person will be allowed a seat in the Council or Assembly who shall by himself or any other person attempt to secure votes by treating electors with liquor." This positive declaration may have been in response to the procla- mation of the Council and Assembly at Exeter declaring a form of government for the State of New Hampshire, for in that proclamation the people are recommended "to prevent and, if possible, to quell all appearance of party spirit, to cultivate and promote peace, union and good order and by all means in their power to discourage profaneness, immorality and injustice." It is about the time of the annual meeting, March 20, 1777, that the first record is found of any enlistments from Canterbury. It is a mere statement following the record of one town meeting and preceding the call for another. It reads: "The following persons enlisted as Continental soldiers from Canterbury : John Rowing, Andrew Rowing, John Miles, Loyd Jones, Walter Hains, Ebenezer Varnum, Pratt Chase, Thomas Hoyt, Prince Thompson."
The next town meeting, eleven days after the annual meeting, is in pursuance of orders from the major general of the state for raising and equipping men for Col. Thomas Stickney's regiment. The town's proportion is "twenty able bodied, effective men to serve as soldiers in the Continental Army
9
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during our contest with Great Britain or for 3 years, as they choose, unless regularly discharged." The town voted "to each and every soldier we have now to raise to make up our present proportion $50."
Capt. Jeremiah Clough,1 Obadiah Mooney, and Lieut. Joseph Soper were chosen a committee to procure these soldiers and were allowed $50, for services and expenses. The sum of $750 was to be raised by assessment upon the ratable estates of the town.
The next vote of the town indicates that individual efforts had already been made to enlist men, for Archelaus Moore, Deacon Asa Foster, Lieut. Laban Morrill, Capt. John Maloney and Lieut. Ebenezer Kimball were elected a committee "to endeavor to search out what men in this town have paid out towards hiring soldiers to go into the Colonies' service, and how much, and what men have been in the service, and how long, and lay the account thereof before the selectmen."
That this was a period of great activity in town is seen in the fact that there were six town meetings between March 20, 1777, the annual meeting, and July 7, 1777. To stimulate enlistments, the town voted April 23, 1777, "$50 to each and every soldier that this town has now to raise to make up their proportion of soldiers to go into the Continental army for three years or during the war with Great Britain in addition to $50 heretofore voted to said soldiers, exclusive of those already enlisted."
The third article of the warrant, which was "to see if the town would vote to give to those already enlisted belonging to the town the same as to those yet to be raised" was voted down, as was also the fourth article, which was to see if the town will accept the resolution of the committee chosen "to examine and regulate what each man has done in support of the war."
There was strong opposition to the vote giving an additional $50 to the new recruits necessary to make up the town's quota, but whether because of the expense to the town or because of the refusal of the town to vote the same additional bounty to those already enlisted does not appear. Seven voters secured the entry of their names on the records as dissenting to the action of the town Benjamin Blanchard, Jr., Benjamin Blanchard,
1 Jeremiah Clough, Senior.
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3d, Capt. Josiah Miles, John Forrest, Samuel Weeks, David Ames and Abner Haines.
The dissenters from the action of the town continued to agitate the subject and secured another town meeting May 12, 1777, to see if the town would reconsider its vote. The voters, how- ever, confirmed the action taken at the meeting held April 23, and authorized the committee enlisting soldiers for the town chosen March 31 to hire money to pay them.
It was also "voted that, whenever men shall (pay) any money to the above committee and take their notes and receipts, it shall be looked upon and valued equally as good as if notes and receipts were given by the selectmen of the town."
Deacon Asa Foster, Lieut. Joseph Soper and Lieut. David Morrill were chosen a committee to fix the prices of sundry articles, such as "good provisions, labor, etc., agreeably to the acts of the General Court."
The Committee of Safety this year were Capt. Jeremiah Clough, David Foster, Lieut. David Morrill, Charles Glidden and Benja- min Blanchard, Jr.
That all the inhabitants of the town were thought to be not as earnest in the support of the war as the majority were shown to be by the town records is indicated in the warrant and votes of the town meeting June 4, 1777. In the call for the meeting it is stated that it is to be held "to take into consideration the prevailing apprehension and complaint in other places that this town is not so generally united and earnestly engaged in support and defence of the independence of the United States as others" and to "take such steps as may serve to give adjacent towns and the public a proper satisfaction as to the state of this town in respect to its attachment or disaffection to the American cause." No vote was taken on this subject and no memorial or answer was made to the insinuations contained in the warrant, but the town did vote that "no man in this town shall call his neighbor a Tory, unless he has sufficient reason therefor, in penalty of being called in question by the committee of safety in this town and suffering their censure."
There was abundant need of this caution, for the popular feeling was intense against those who were suspected of sym- pathizing with Great Britain. The individual charged with being a tory was likely to be immediately ostracised from all
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business and social relations with the community, even if he escaped summary arrest and confinement in jail. Then there were those who took advantage of the public excitement to seek revenge upon neighbors with whom they were at enmity by accusing them of disloyalty. The opportunity was large for gratifying petty spite and malice. Long established authority had been overthrown and a new government had been improvised in its place. Large power had to be assumed by assemblies and Committees of Safety. There was little precedent for a guide. Sudden exigencies required prompt action. Naturally mistakes were made and cases of injustice to individuals occurred. The cautious and conservative citizen, while loyal to the cause, . was likely to doubt the wisdom and discretion of some of his rulers. A government, the immediate outgrowth of a revolution, least. of all can tolerate criticism. Therefore, for the citizen to hesitate or waver was to invite distrust. Once under the ban of suspicion, he was likely to be soon after accused of dis- loyalty if some envious individual sought his downfall. All too frequently a chance remark or indiscreet conversation in a public place was the sole basis of accusations which subjected the accused to arrest and confinement. Hence the vote of the citizens of Canterbury that, "No man in this town shall call his neighbor a Tory unless he has sufficient reason therefor, etc."
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