USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Canterbury > History of the town of Canterbury, New Hampshire, 1727-1912, v. 1 > Part 4
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25
THE CHARTER AND THE PROPRIETORS.
the pulpit No. Three for the sum of Thirty-six Pounds of like money unto James Lindsey, Yeoman. The Pew Ground be- tween the above and the northeast corner No. Twelve for the consideration of Twenty-eight Pounds of like money of the old tenor unto James Head, Yeoman. The Pew Ground on the west side of the parsonage Pew in the northwest corner for the consider- ation of the sum of Twenty-seven Pounds of like money No. Fifteen unto Capt. Jeremiah Clough. The Pew Ground on the north side of the west door of said Meeting House No. Eight for the consideration of Thirty-nine Pounds of like money to John Gibson, Yeoman. The Pew Ground on the south side of the west door No. Fourteen for the sum of Twenty-six Pounds of the like money of the old tenor unto John Glines, Jun'r, Yeoman, TO HAVE AND TO HOLD all and singular the several Pew Grounds hereinbefore granted, bargained, sold and confirmed unto the several respective persons hereinbefore named, their heirs, executors, administrators and assigns from the day of the date hereof for and during the term and time that the said Meeting House shall stand and be in Canterbury: Provided nevertheless and it is the true intent of these presents that, if either of the said persons to whom the respective and several Pew Grounds are granted and sold as aforesaid shall neglect or refuse to pay the several sums afore mentioned by the said committee or their orders at the times and days mentioned in the conditions of sale bearing date the ninth day of this instant August or shall not within the space of two years from the day of the date of said sale build, erect and finish in an handsome workmanlike manner on each of said Pew Grounds to each of them hereby bargained and sold according to the intent and true meaning of these presents, that then for all or either of the causes aforesaid it shall and may be lawful to and for the said committee into such Pews or Pew Grounds to reënter and the same to have again to the said proprietors' use, benefit and behoof these presents or anything herein contained to the contrary hereof in any wise notwithstanding. In witness whereof the said Jeremiah Clough, Josiah Miles and Archelaus Moor, the said committee, their hands and seals have hereunto set this seventeenth day of August in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of our most gracious sovereign lord King George the Second and in the year of our Lord 1756.
JEREMIAH CLOUGH [SEAL] JOSIAH MILES [SEAL] Committee. ARCHELAUS MOOR [SEAL]
Signed and delivered in presence of
THOMAS CLOUGH, NATHANIEL PERKINS.
26
HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
According to the warrant of the town meeting of August 9, 1756, the money derived from the sale of the pew ground of the meeting house was to be used for building the pulpit, the parsonage pew and finishing the inside of the church.
DEED OF PARSONAGE LOT.
Ezekiel Morrill to Canterbury Proprietors.
I, Ezekiel Morrill of Canterbury &c, for and in consideration of 100 acres of the common and undivided land in Canterbury which agreeable to a vote of the Proprietors of Canterbury, aforesaid passed at their meeting on the 25th day of June 1752, I was to have where I would chuse it in the undivided land in Canterbury and which I have chosen adjoining to the home lots against the ends of the first & second long ranges of said home lots which together with the particular bounds of said hundred acre lot may fully appear by the Proprietors book of records reference thereto being had.
Have given, granted &c unto the Proprietors of Canterbury and inhabitants of the same &c for a Parsonage forever, forty acres of land in Canterbury aforesaid, butted & bounded as follows: Beginning at the west end of the lot No. 115, about the middle of the end of said lot at a stake and stones, then running north by the west end of the lots 156 rods to the North- west corner of the lot 118 to a stake and stones there. Then running East on the North side of said lot 100 rods to a stake and stones. Then running South about 21 degrees West to a stake and stones near the Meeting House against the North- easterly corner of said meeting house so that from that bound due west to the west side of said land is 20 rods. Then from that bound running southerly to a stake and stones 20 rods from the last bound. Then running southwesterly 38 rods to the first mentioned bound, including within the bounds mentioned, two acres which I formerly gave to the proprietors & inhab- itants of Canterbury by deed to set the Meeting House upon & also a two rod highway running across the said land on the northerly side of the Meeting House.
Dated June 28, 1756.
The deed is witnessed by Stephen and James Scales and acknowledged before the latter as Justice of the Peace.1
1 Prov. Registry of Deeds Vol. LXX, page 342.
. BUILT BY CHAS. AMES MORRILL, LABAN, DAN W, & GUY E. MORRILL.
RESIDENCE OF JAMES FRAME, HOMESTEAD OF DEA. EZEKIEL MORRILL 1750.
. BUILT BY REUBEN MORRILL,1 803, DAVID & MILO S.MORRILL .
· HOME OF CAPT. DAVID, JOSEPH & SMITH L. MORRILL, OWNED BY JOS. S. MORRILL .
CHAPTER II.
INDIAN TROUBLES. PROTECTING THE SETTLERS. THE INDIAN,
CHRISTO. GARRISONS AT THE FORT. SCOUTING PARTIES. AT- TACK AT CANTERBURY 1746. STEALING NEGRO SLAVES. KILL- ING OF SABATTIS AND PLAUSAWA. ARREST OF THE MURDERERS AND THEIR RESCUE. ACTION OF PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT. RAID OF 1757. ATTESTING THE CHARTER.
To protect the early settlers of Canterbury against hostile Indians was a business the proprietors and provincial authorities had to consider in a very few years after the first settlement in town. The inhabitants do not appear to have had much cause of alarm before the breaking out of King George's War in 1744. In fact, just prior to this time, the Indians were asking the provincial government to establish a truck house or trading post in this locality.1 At a meeting of the council in Portsmouth October 10, 1743, an Indian called Coaus appeared on this errand.2 It is said that James Scales of Canterbury accompanied him to protest against building a depot for supplies at the Pond, namely, Winnepesaukee Lake, though by what authority is not known.3 The council records report Coaus as asking for a truck house "near the river Pemidgwasset where they might have such supplies as were necessary for their furs that they might not be imposed upon, as they often were when they came to the lower towns." This location was probably at the junction of the Pemigewasset and Winnepesaukee Rivers at Franklin. The governor asked him if for the present orders were given to some suitable person at Canterbury, it would answer their end, to which he replied that "It would do very well." Coaus was then informed by the governor that he should meet the assembly in November, when he would recommend that they be furnished with such articles as they desired. Upon being asked what
1 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, page 95.
: Council Records of Province, Vol. I, page 9.
3 Merrimack Journal, September 12, 1873.
28
HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
things would be most suitable, he replied, "Powder, shot, bullets, flints, knives, blankets, shirts, cloth for stockings, pipes, tobacco and rum."
Whether a trading post was afterwards erected in Canterbury is not clear, but provision was made for it. John Odiorne and Hunking Wentworth were appointed a committee "to purchase £30 worth of goods to send up to Canterbury for a supply to trade with Indians to be laid out in the following manner:1
"Rum. £ 3
15 s.
Blankets. 10 0
Cloth suitable for Indian stockings 3 15
Linen for shirts.
5
0
Powder, Shot, Bullets & Flints
5
0
Knives, Pipes & Tobacco 2
10
£ 30
"And when the said committee have purchased said goods, they shall convey the same to the town of Canterbury and deliver them to Mr. James Scales, who is hereby empowered to sell the same to the Indians and receive the pay in furs, etc. and the said James Scales shall render an account of the sale of all such sales of said goods as he shall dispose of to the Indians to the general assembly within six months of the date hereof."
It is doubtful if Mr. Scales added to the varied list of his attainments that of Indian trader, for the proprietors voted March 15, 1744, to build a fort in Canterbury. This fort was constructed of hewn, white oak timber and was located on the hill near the house occupied by Billy E. Pillsbury. Capt. Jere- miah Clough was chosen to take command of the inhabitants of the town and put them in a posture of defence. His dwelling house is said to have stood near the fort.2
The Proprietors' Records furnish no further information of Indian trouble. It is from the provincial records in the votes of the assembly and the orders of the governor and council, and Potters' "Military History of New Hampshire," that the facts are obtained, supplemented by such traditions as the Rev.
1 N. H. State Papers, Vol. XI, page 262.
2 Historical Sermon of Rev. William Patrick, October 27, 1833.
29
INDIAN TROUBLES.
William Patrick, who was settled as minister in 1803, thought worthy to perpetuate in his historical sermon written thirty years later. Mr. Patrick undoubtedly talked with the younger of the participants and with the descendants of those who suf- fered from Indian raids. As he rejected some of the stories that were related to him as being too far removed in point of time from the actual occurrence to be credited without corrobora- tive evidence, the instances he recites may be accepted as accurate in their main features, though some allowance must be made for details.
The fort could hardly have been completed in Canterbury before it became the rendezvous of scouting parties sent out by the provincial government, for in July, 1744, there were twenty men under command of Capt. Jeremiah Clough on duty in this vicinity, the muster roll showing six there twenty-five days and the entire number fourteen days. Another roll indicates that there were six men under Captain Clough in the garrison from September 26 to December 18.1 From January to March, 1745, a small force was kept on duty at the fort.2 When the time came for spring planting, provision was made for protecting the settlement. Captain Clough with six men was on duty from April 17 for a month and three days.3 This force was increased to ten men from June 19 to September 6, 1745, for which Captain Clough was allowed £68, 1s. 4d.4 Later in the year he was voted by the provincial government £30, 9s. 12d. "in full for the muster roll of the men at the garrison in Canterbury and scouting thereabouts" and "50s. for his trouble and expense in transporting a great gun to Canterbury and making up the muster roll." 5
Captain Clough's command was not the only scouting party in this part of the state. Lieut. William Miles, with thirteen men, was on duty for twenty-eight days from September 9, 1745, as scouts about the Pemigewasset and its branches.6 The follow- ing is the muster roll of his command:
1 Potter's Military History of N. H., pages 55, 56. The only Canterbury name besides that of Captain Clough is James Gibson.
2 Idem, page 60. With Captain Clough were Josiah Miles and John Gibson.
Idem, page 76.
. N. H. State Papers, Vol. V, page 381.
& Idem, Vol. V, page 389.
· N. H. State Papers, Vol. XVI, page 903.
30
HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
William Miles, commander.
Joseph Simons, sergt.
Philip Call.
Josiah Miles, sergt.
Richard Jackman, sergt.
Josephen Whidden.
John Fowler.
James Gipson.
John Brown.
Joseph Vaunce.
Samuel Shepherd.
Samuel Moor.
Benja Blanchard.
Simon Rummery.
These were evidently precautionary measures, as was the action of the assembly April 11, 1745. In the preamble to a vote passed that day, it is recited that several allowances had been made for the support and pay of the Indian, Christo, "and this house being apprehensive that it may be of very dangerous con- sequences to help him any longer at Canterbury, now the season of the year advances when, if this Christo has any treacherous designs to perpetrate, he may be instrumental in destroying all the people where he is.
"Voted that this Province be not at any further charge about the pay and support of said Christo unless he be kept at Fort William and Mary." 1
Christo had a wigwam on the bank of a little brook which emptied into the Merrimack just below Amoskeag Falls. There he lived by hunting and fishing, and in the early days of the settlements at Concord and Canterbury he was upon most friendly terms with the whites. In fact, he was employed as scout by the provincial government as late as the early part of the year 1745. The following bill was presented for his board and services at about the time that the legislature voted to discon- tinue his employment unless he removed to Fort William and Mary:
"The Province of New Hampshire to Jeremiah Clough Dr.2
"To keeping Christo by order of the Captain General 30 days from the 19th of December to the 19th of January 1745.
"To billeting at 30s. per day. £4 10s
"To his wages 5 17
£10 7s.
"JEREMIAH CLOUGH."
1 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, page 312.
2 N. H. State Papers, Vol. V, page 339.
31
INDIAN TROUBLES.
At a later date this bill was reduced and paid. Christo appears to have returned about 1747 to the St. Francis Indians, to which tribe he claimed to belong. That year he is said to have been concerned in the raid upon Epsom. He continued upon friendly terms, however, with the Canterbury settlers until prior to the breaking out of the French and Indian War, as will later appear. His death probably occurred at St. Francis.1
The muster roll of Captain Clough's scouts who were on duty at Canterbury from seventy-four to seventy-nine days following June 19, 1745, is in existence, but the names are not those of Canterbury settlers, with the possible exception of Simon Rumril. Having furnished his command with "victuals and powder," Captain Clough asks allowance of his bill from the provincial government. Attached to the muster roll is a bill of 10/6 (probably 10s. 6d.) of Doctor James Scales "medi- sens and tendance of some of the above soldiers in sickness." Both bills were ordered paid.2
The year 1746 was one of constant alarms and attended by at least one raid of Canterbury by the Indians. A small guard was kept at the garrison from November 23, 1745, to April 16, 1746.3 The latter month the council advised the governor "to enlist or impress 10 men" to be placed at Canterbury.4 In May the house voted that there be "delivered to Capt. Jeremiah Clough by the treasurer to be lodged in the Fort at Canterbury and to be used only upon extraordinary occasions one half a barrel of gun powder and half a hundred weight of bullets." 5 The muster rolls show Captain Clough and eleven men in the fort from April to July, 1746, and Sergt. Joseph Gass and nine men on duty there from April 21 to May 19 that year.6
June 3, 1746, a party of fourteen men with horses started from Portsmouth with a month's provisions for thirty men who were at that time serving with Captain Clough at Canterbury.7
1 The Farmers' Monthly Visitor, September, 1853. Chandler E. Potter, Editor.
2 N. H. State Papers, Vol. XVI, pages 899, 900.
¿ Potter's Military History of N. H., page 81.
Prov. Papers, Vol. V, page 107.
Idem, Vol. V, page 412.
" Potter's Military History of N. H., pages 82, 84.
7 Idem, page 89.
32
HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
Captain Clough's activities were not confined to Canterbury. With nineteen men he was "scouting on the borders of Winnepe- saukee Pond, Pimegiwaset River" from May 29 to June 29, 1746.1 The muster roll shows no Canterbury names, the settlers having all they could do to protect their own families. It was during Captain Clough's absence on this scouting expedition that the Indians raided Canterbury. Of this attack the Rev. William Patrick says : 2
"At this early period of the settlement, the intervale lands bordering upon the Merrimack River were owned in small lots by the inhabitants. Upon them they depended to raise most of their bread, (they) supposing that Indian corn could not well be cultivated upon the upland. In the proper season the men repaired thither in small bands with their hoes and guns to cultivate the soil, and, while one stood sentinel, the others per- formed the labors of the day. They were careful to return before the shades of evening should give any advantage to an enemy that might be lurking in ambush to take their lives or to carry them into captivity. As early as the year 1746 we find that a company of infantry was sent to assist the inhabitants of Rumford (Concord) and those in the vicinity against the encroach- ments of the hostile Indians.
"A Mr. Benjamin Blanchard, who then occupied the farm where Colonel (Morrill) Shepherd now lives, wishing some one to accompany him from the fort to his dwelling house, Mr. Samuel Shepherd consented to go. On their return to the fort, at the westerly end of the Soper orchard, so called, and not more than two rods distant, seven Indians rose from behind a pine log and discharged their guns and, strange as it may appear, neither of them were hurt. They returned the fire, but without ex- ecution. They both ran, and Shepherd made his escape, but Blanchard who was a corpulent man, was overtaken, knocked down and scalped. He also received a slight wound in the leg by an arrow supposed to have been dipped in poison. This was on the 11th of June, 1746. The report of the muskets soon drew forth the effective men from the fort, who found Blanchard, the
1 Potter's Military History of N. H., page 88.
? Rev. William Patrick's Sermon, October 27, 1833.
33
INDIAN TROUBLES.
blood streaming from his head. He was conveyed to the garrison when, after twelve days extreme suffering, he expired.1
"Such were the dangers and toils to which our forefathers were exposed. About this time, Mr. (James) Scales, while employed in his domestic concerns, discovered a party of Indians near his house, made his escape, gave the alarm and prevented their murderous design. Near the same time it is supposed, the family of Mr. Samuel Shepherd narrowly escaped death or captivity. Mrs. Shepherd one evening, by the light of the moon, discovered a party of the savages skulkng around their buildings. To flee was impossible. She artfully hit upon a plan which succeeded. Having furnished her husband and children with those domestic utensils which were calculated to make the most noise, she gave the signal by crying aloud, 'Stand to your arms!' They then struck their discordant music; the enemy were intimidated and fled. Tradition relates many other providential escapes; but length of time has so far obscured the facts, that they can not be related with historical accuracy."
The news of this attack upon Canterbury was carried to Ports- mouth as early as possible. July 9, 1746, the house authorized a force of from thirty to fifty men to start in pursuit of the Indians, making Captain Clough's fort their headquarters.2 There were twenty-three men under Captain Barnett,3 a larger force under Captain Clough, twenty-four men with Captain James Gilmore, twenty-three men with Capt. Andrew Todd, and twenty-three led by Thomas Wells scouting about Canter-
1 There is doubt whether it was Benjamin or Richard Blanchard who was scalped by the Indians. There is nothing in the Province Registry of Deeds showing that any Benjamin Blanchard was a land owner in Canterbury in 1746. The farm described by Mr. Patrick was lot 35 deeded to Richard Blanchard in 1733 and at a much later date owned by Col. Morrill Shepard. (Prov. Reg. Deeds, Vol. XXIV, page 532.) This Richard Blanchard died before 1750. (Deed of Samuel Moore to Daniel Ames Oct. 19, 1750, unrecorded) which indicates that he might have been the victim (Seealso "History and Description of New England"' by A. J. Coolidge and J. B. Mansfield, page 433). The Rev. Timothy Walker, minister at Concord, 1730 to 1782, made two contempo- raneous notations of the event in his diary, in one of which he gives the name as Benjamin and in the other Richard. A Benjamin Blanchard was on the muster rolls of Capt. Jeremiah Clough's Co. from July 4 to December 4, 1746, and he was probably the first settler in Northfield in 1760. The father of this Benjamin is said to have been scalped by the Indians. (History of Merri- mack County, page 519.) If the father's name was Benjamin, then Richard may have been his grandfather. See also account of Richard in Chapter III.
? Prov. Papers, Vol. V, page 439.
* Moses Barnett.
4
34
HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
bury and guarding the settlers during the remainder of the summer.1
The following is the muster roll of the men under Captain Clough on duty at Canterbury during the winter of 1746-47.2
Sergt. Jeremiah Clough Dec. 5 to Jan. 4.
Cen'l Samuel French, Dec. 5 to Jan. 4.
Ezek'l Clough, Dec. 5 to Jan. 4.
Henry Elkins, Dec. 5 to Jan. 4.
John Manuel, Dec. 5 to Jan. 4.
Philip Call, Dec. 5 to Jan. 4.
Thomas Clough, Dec. 5 to Jan. 4. James Scales, Dec. 5 to Dec. 20.
Moris Ervis, Dec. 5 to Dec. 20.
Wm. Preston, Dec. 5 to Dec. 20.
Henry Ervin, Dec. 5 to Dec. 20.
Steph'n Call, Dec. 5 to Dec. 20.
A company of scouts under Capt. Daniel Ladd of Exeter was sent in the summer of 1746 to protect the inhabitants of the frontier towns. The following is an extract from the diary of Abner Clough, the clerk of the company.
"Aug. 17, 1746, Sunday. Marched to Canterbury and went to meeting some part of the day; on the 18th went down to the intervale in order to guard some people about their work, but it rained all day .- 19th. Went to the intervale to guard some people. In the afternoon scouted some, made no discovery. But Capt. Tolford with his men discovered where there had laid some Indians in ambush, and also where the Indians had roasted some corn .- 21st. Went down to the lower end of the town to guard some people about their work .- 22d. Went to the same place for to guard the people .- 23d, Early in the morning marched from the fort to go to the intervale to guard &c, but when we had marched about half a mile we crossed a field and found where there lay two Indians, and had but just gone, for the grass seemed to rise up after them. We ranged about the woods but could see nothing of them, but found several more had laid. We supposed these two Indians laid them for spies .- 24th Sunday. Marched across the woods &c .; returned to the fort .- 25th. Scouted some, made another discovery.
1 Prov. Papers, Vol. V, pages 454 to 467.
: N. H. State Papers, Vol. XVI, page 915.
35
INDIAN TROUBLES.
Returned to the fort just after sunset. The watch in Canterbury said that they discovered an Indian, plain. Looked after him but it soon grew dark .- 26th. Returned to Rumford."
On Captain Ladd's muster roll are found the following names of men who were then or later identified with Canterbury: Joseph Mann, John Forrest, Moses Danforth, Simon Rumril, Samuel Shepard, Jr., Samuel Moore, John Dolloff, Josiah Miles and John Moore, (Potter's Military History of N. H., pages 94 and 95).
Early in the year 1748, the inhabitants of Concord, Canterbury and Boscawen petitioned the provincial government to have the garrison which had been abandoned at the grist mill of Henry Lovejoy in West Concord renewed. They set forth that "the . two last mentioned places are greatly distressed for want of a suitable grist mill . and that it is the only mill in all three towns that stands under the command of the guns of a garrison. That the ill consequences of abandoning the said garrison the past year has been severely felt by us. That the said Lovejoy appears desirous of residing there again, provided he might be favored by such a number of soldiers, as just to keep his garrison with a tolerable degree of safety." 1 This not only shows the apprehension of Indian raids the inhabitants of Can- terbury had at this time but also the distance many of them had to travel to a suitable grist mill. If there were any other grist mills in town, they appear to have been crude and inadequate and entirely unprotected. The following are Canterbury names found upon the petition: Jeremiah Clough, Thomas Clough, Archelaus Moore, James Gibson, William Forrest, William Forrest, Jr., William Miles, James Head, William Moore, Samuel Shepherd, James Scales, John Gibson, John Forest, Benjamin Blanchard, Samuel Moore, Thomas Danforth, Josiah Miles and Moses Danforth.2
1192416
A petition for wages and billeting addressed to the provincial government and signed by Jeremiah Clough, Philip Call, Samuel French, Thomas Clough, Ezekiel Clough, Henry Elkins, Samuel Moor, Samuel and James Shepherd reads as follows : 3
"That whereas your humble Petitioners, by Order his Excel- lency the Governor, kept the Garrison at Canterbury in the Province of New Hampshire aforesaid, as follows, viz:
1 N. H. Town Papers, Vol. XI, page 391.
2 Bouton's History of Concord, page 176.
N. H. Town Papers, Vol. IX, pages 90, 91.
36
HISTORY OF CANTERBURY.
Jere Clough
Philip Call ( begin with ye 5th of Jan. 1747-to
Sam'l French S ye 20th of November following.
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