USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Dunbarton > History of the town of Dunbarton, Merrimack County, New-Hampshire, from the grant by Mason's assigns, in 1751, to the year 1860 > Part 2
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The warrant calling a special town meeting, May 10, 1777, during one of the darkest periods of the war, con- tains an urgent appeal to the people, requesting their at- tendance : " As," say the selectmen, "our all seems to depend upon making a stand at this time ;" thus mani-
* General Stark, in a letter to President Weare, dated Derryfield, 18th March, 1781, states: "I have received two letters from Lieut. Howe. One of them informs me that he shall be able to muster forty recruits to-morrow ; and the other gave intelligence of some persons tracked from Long Island to Amherst, supposed to belong to the Dunbarton tory elub. I sent Lt. Archibald Stark to examine the suspected houses; which, 1 sup- pose, was executed this morning at day-break." The estates of the refugees who actually went over to the enemy were sold for the public benefit by General Stark, as commissioner appointed by the State authorities.
In lot No. 13, in the second range, a cellar is still to be seen, as also the stump, and a sprout now producing fruit, of an old sweet apple tree, probably planted by Samuel Stinson, who lived and died there. The land is now included in the Borough Farm, where Major Caleb Stark settled. Lot No. 12, in the same range, was also confiscated. The lot, divided into four portions, is now owned by Otis Duke, the heirs of Caleb Stark, Nathan Gutterson, and Mrs. Nancy Healey.
20
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON. .
festing the fact that spirit and zeal were not wanting in Dunbarton amid the desponding gloom which then per- vaded the country : ere long to be dispelled by the star of victory destined to arise at Bennington.
An elderly inhabitant of this town informed the writer, that when a boy he witnessed the lamentations of many women and children when their nearest and dearest rela- tives were called for to fill the ranks of the force designed for the Vermont frontier, and also the rejoicings of the same individuals, when their volunteer friends returned home victorious, without the loss of a man .*
The civil affairs of this, as of other towns, were in an unsettled condition during the early portion of the Revo- lutionary war. Magistrates could no longer compel obe- dience in the king's name. The tax-gatherer, with his baton of office, bearing the name of the third George, could not collect the government dues, until. that detested name had been erased, and the more popular letters, U. S. A., substitued. No acts, however, of violence or outrage characterized this brief interval of no law, as it has been designated.
Steadfastly adhering to the object which induced their emigration to the wilds of New-Hampshire, the Scottish Presbyterians and their descendants caused religious insti- tutions to be regarded as a prominent feature in the form- ation of their early settlements.
At the second proprietors' meeting, held at London- derry in March, 1752, a vote was passed by the grantees, " that a meeting-house should be built within five years from May next ensuing." On the 4th of October, 1753, the proprietors-
" Voted, That there be a house for public worship built, of thirty feet square, and ten feet post ; also,
" Voted, That Caleb Page, Samuel Rankin and John Stark be a committee to build said meeting-house."
* For the Bennington expedition, eighteen men were required to be furnished by Dunbarton, either as volunteers or by draft. Their names, with a few exceptions, we have not been able to obtain.
21
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
In 1764 the proprietors voted to sell four reserved lots, called " free lots," being lot No. 12 in the first range, Nos. 1 and 2 in the thirteenth range, and No. 2 in the second range. In January, 1765, they also-" Voted, That Wil- liam Stark, William Stinson and Jeremiah Page be a committee for building and finishing the meeting-house, as far as the money will go for which the four lots of land were sold."
The lands sold produced the sum of two thousand and five pounds, and between the years 1765 and 1767,* the house was finished. Long, however, before the above dates, and, as tradition reports, soon after the grant and settlement, a sermon was preached by the Rev. Mr. Mc- Gregor, in the open air, upon the ground since inclosed as a public burial place, and which probably contains the relics of many who there heard the words of grace uttered for the first time amid the forest hills of Starkstown.
The scene and occasion could scarcely fail in producing an impression, deep and lasting, upon the minds of the settlers who had there assembled from their distantly sep- arated abodes. Their rural sanctuary was surrounded by a forest, in which the stately pine, chestnut, and other noble trees, flourished on the soil they had for ages occu- pied as freeholders, undisturbed in their solitude by other sounds than those of the winds of heaven, the Indian's ear-piercing yell, or the startling tones uttered by the prowling beast of prey.
The first house erected in town for public worship was · a low framed structure, without pews, or perhaps but one, with seats of rough plank, resting upon chestnut logs ; a rude dais raised for the accommodation of singers, and a pulpit constructed of rough boards.
The building was not remarkably tight, and possessed no conveniences for affording artificial warmth to its oc- cupants during a cold winter's day. These deficiences,
* That the house was built prior to the second Tuesday of March, 1767, we infer from this entry in the record of that date:
"Voted, The pound be built as near the meeting-house as possible."
.
22
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
1
however, which would appear insufferable to many effemi- nate worshippers of this degenerate age, were, as was the state of the weather, objects of trivial import in the estima- tion of our "rough and ready" church-going ancestors, many of whom had in earlier times performed their devo- tions with loaded muskets beside them.
The house of the proprietors answered all intended pur- poses for twenty years, more or less, when it was removed to make way for the plain, unsteepled, yet respectable, unpretending edifice, designed for a temple of divine wor- ship, as well as a town-house, which now occupies the ground where it stood.
Seventy years ago the common around it was partially covered with large forest trees, having in its vicinity but two dwelling-houses. One of these, the house of William Stark, stood upon the site of the new Congregational meeting-house, on the school lot *; the other was that of Doctor Dugall, who was permitted temporarily to settle upon the glebe, or pastor's lot. He was the town's first resident physician.
Preaching was for several years furnished by different clergymen, among whom were Mr. McGregore, Mr. Da- vidson of Londonderry, Mr. Cotton, and Mr. Houston of Bedford. On the 3d of August, 1773, a committee was appointed by the town, to " confer with Mr. William Fessenden in regard to a settlement as a gospel minis- ter." He had already given satisfaction in town as a preacher, but previous to his conference with the com- mittee he had established himself in another place. Dur- ing the Revolution, propositions for the benefit of the pulpit or the school were generally voted down. The claims of the soldier were paramount to all others.
For three years, from 1780 to 1783, but twenty-four days' preaching were hired. In 1785 Mr. Bradford preached, and on the 20th of October the town voted that he should have a call to settle, and a salary of seventy pounds. His doctrinal sentiments, however, proved not
* Lot No. 9, R. three.
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HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
entirely satisfactory. In 1786 Mr. Williams preached, and thoughts were once entertained of conferring the set- tlement upon him. The town record of Nov. 13, 1786, reads : "Put to vote to see if the town will treat with Mr. Williams in regard to a settlement as a gospel minister, and it was passed in the negative."
A committee was appointed, October 30, 1788, to en- gage Mr. Harris " for one year, or a shorter time, to preach on trial ;" and on the 26th of January, 1789, a vote was passed to give him a call. He was then about twenty- seven years of age, and was ordained August 26, 1789. Dr. Emmons, an eminent scholar and divine, with whom he had studied divinity, delivered the discourse upon the occasion. Previous to this event a church, consisting of eight or ten members, had been established. Mr. Harris first appropriated the proprietors' grant for the first set- tled minister, and located himself on the ministerial lot .* He also, by a vote of the town, obtained the use of the parsonage lot, with an additional salary of “ seventy pounds by the year ; one half of which was to be paid in cash, and the other in corn and rye."
The salary was obtained by a tax assessed upon all rat- able polls and estates in town, without distinction of creeds. Such was the practice of the time, supported by statute. This procedure proved a source of much diffi- culty, as many of the tax-payers dissented from the doc- trines of the standing order. Mr. Harris, as we have been informed, was himself opposed to the system which com- pelled men, by legal proceedings, to contribute towards the support of the pulpit. The selectmen's books show that he contributed voluntarily five dollars towards paying the costs of those whose property had been distrained by the collectors of the minister tax.
* Lot No. 8, fourth range.
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HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
REMONSTRANCE AGAINST THE MINISTER TAX.
To the Inhabitants of the Town of Dunbarton, in the County of Hillsborough :
· The undersigned, inhabitants of this town, take this method of expressing their opinion relative to assessing and distraining certain of said inhabitants for rates to- wards the salary of the Rev. Mr. Harris. They view all such assessments, against such as claim an exemption on account of their being of a different persuasion, or de- nomination in religion, from the said Harris, as clearly illegal, arbitrary, and unconstitutional ; as tending to com- pel such persons to advance moneys without any equiva- lent in return ; as violating the first and most important rights secured to the citizens of the State by the consti- tution ; the right of liberty of conscience ; and ultimately tending to the disturbance instead of the happiness of society.
The foregoing and other good reasons induce the sub- scribers openly to protest against all assessments aforesaid and the consequences thereof ; and they claim the right of putting their protest on the records of said town, that the same may be a perpetual memorial against the proceed- ings before mentioned.
Archibald Stark,
William Wheeler,
Thomas Huse,
Joel Wheeler,
Francis Smart, Caleb Stark,
William Moore,
Daniel Wheeler,
Alexander Leslie,
Caleb Bancroft, Asa Putney,
J. S. Colby,
Jonathan Merrill,
David McGregore,
James Stuart,
Timothy Hoyt, Archelaus Colby,
John Stark, Samuel Stuart,
John Merrill, John Gould,
Samuel Lord, James Stuart, John Miller,
Joseph Healey,
Ebenezer Gould,
Phinehas Bailey, Jr.,
Archelaus Perkins, Asa Burnham,
Michael Hoyt, Israel Clifford,
Stephen Wheeler,
Thomas Hoyt,
Caleb Page,
Oliver Bayley,
Jesse Merrill,
Joseph Swan,
Daniel Messer.
DUNBARTON, March 11, 1796.
The foregoing delivered to me and requested to be re- corded. DAVID STORY, Town Clerk.
DUNBARTON, March 29, 1796.
[Town Rec., vol. 1, p. 87.]
Moses Carr,
John Stinson,
Richard Merrill,
Samuel Morrison,
John Gould, Jr., Phinehas Bailey,
Thomas Tewksbury,
25
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
This system continued encountering opposition in seve- ral towns, and creating hostile feelings in most of them, throughout the State, until 1819, when the talented efforts in the Legislature and popular appeals in the public jour- nals, of the Hon. Thomas Whipple, of Wentworth, pro- cured the passage of an act which forever exempted the people of New-Hampshire from such taxation.
In 1807, the town resolved to sell or lease for a term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, the parsonage land, in separate lots, so arranged as to command good prices.
The following is an account of the proceedings upon that subject, copied from the records :
LEASE OF THE PARSONAGE.
In March, 1807, the town "Voted, To lease or sell the parsonage land for nine hundred and ninety-nine years.
9. Voted, To raise a committee to lease or sell the parson- age land.
10. Voted, To raise a committee to lot out the parsonage land, and make a return of the same at the adjournment of this meeting.
11. Voted, To choose a committee of seven for the above purpose.
12. Chose David Story, Esq., (Did not accept.)
Jeremiah Stinson,
John Church, Major John Mills, Asa Burnham, (Did not accept.) Daniel Jameson,
Ebenezer Chase, (Did not accept.)
Capt. Joseph Leach, (Did not accept.) Capt. John Gould,
Capt. William Parker,
Lieut. Thomas Mills."
" Dunbarton, March 17, 1807. We, being a committee appointed by said town to treat with the Rev. W. Harris,
3
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HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
with respect to his salary on former contract, agree to re- port and do report ; that for and in consideration of their former contracts, they do agree to give him four hundred dollars, in full compensation for his former contracts, dur- ing his ministry in said town, by his relinquishing all claim that he hath, or ever had, to the parsonage land ; the one half to be paid by the first of November; the other half by the first of March annually : All which is humbly submitted.
DAVID STORY, JOHN FULTON, WILLIAM STINSON, EBENEZER CHASE, MATTHEW MCCURDY, JOHN MILLS, WILLIAM BROWN, WILLIAM PARKER,
Committee."
In testimony of my agreement to the above proposal, I set my name hereunto.
WALTER HARRIS.
Agreeably to a vote of the town at their adjournment, on the twenty-fourth of last March, we, the subscribers, have divided the parsonage land into such lots as, in our opinion, will best effect the designing of the town; and have made plans of the same, which plans, together with this declaration, we offer to the town as our report.
JOHN MILLS, THOMAS MILLS, DANIEL JAMESON, JOHN GOULD, WILLIAM PARKER,
- Committee.
JEREMIAH STINSON, JEREMIAH STINSON, Town Clerk.
Attest :
DUNBARTON, April 8, 1807.
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HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
Remonstrance of Capt. Joseph Leach, and others, in regard to the sale or lease of the Parsonage land.
"We, the subscribers, hereby object against the pro- ceedings of the inhabitants of this town on the article of selling the Parsonage land: because, we say, that the lands which are by charter annexed to the office of the ministry, ought not to be sold, and the proceeds thereof enjoyed by the present incumbent, for thereby the succeed- ing minister will ever be deprived of his parsonage.
2. We object to the alteration of the former contract with the present minister, and hereby declare ourselves freed from the former and the latter contracts, if so altered ; and that we never will be bound thereby.
3. We declare ourselves of the opinion that the above articles are contrary to law and right.
4. We say that this town, as a town, ought to be of no bigoted sect, persuasion, or denomination, but a political body, and by that all truly religious associations are solely voluntary."
Joseph Leach,
Samuel Leach, John Leach,
James Goodwin, Moses Carr,
Israel Clifford,
Jeremiah Page, Jr., John Page,
Caleb Page, Jr.,
Samuel Morrison,
Jonathan Clifford,
Amos Webster,
Robert Mark,
John Lord, John Stinson,
Samuel Lord, Jr.,
Joseph Healey,
Peter C. Page,
John Stinson, Jr.,
Caleb Page,
Josiah Bailey,
Laban Page.
Joseph Leach, Jr.,
Alpheus Goodwin,
Attest :
JEREMIAH STINSON, Town Clerk.
Received and recorded, April 8, 1807.
Thomas Stinson, John Miller,
JEREMIAH STINSON, Town Clerk.
In 1808 the town voted to release from the minister tax for 1807 : Asa Burnham, Israel Clifford, Jonathan Clifford, Joseph Healey, Joseph Leach, Joseph Leach, Jr., Samuel Leach, Caleb Page, Caleb Page, Jr., Archelaus Perkins, Elijah Stearns, Thomas Stinson, Widow Agnes Stewart,
28
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
Robert Stark, Peter C. Page, James Taggart, Jacob Carr, Amos Webster, Philip Emery, John Page.
Voted, To accept the report of the committee appointed by the town to lease the parsonage land.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SALE OF THE PARSONAGE LAND AT VENDUE, HELD IN DUNBARTON, ON THE TWELFTH DAY OF MAY, A. D. 1807.
Articles of sale of the parsonage land in the town of Dunbarton.
1. The highest bidder shall be the purchaser.
2. Any person purchasing any lot or lots shall give the following security : viz., a mortgage deed to be given back of the land bid off, together with a note to the amount of the purchase, on demand, with interest, punctually to be paid the first day of March next ensuing; then annually on the first day of March; the above note to be to the acceptance of the committee.
3. A lease will be given of the land for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, agreeably to a vote of the town, within ten days after the sale, at Jeremiah Stinson's office.
4. Said land will be sold in lots by the acre, agreeably to the plans.
5. To be left discretionary to the vendue-master what shall be considered a bid.
6. The principal will be received at any time, by the purchaser paying interest on the same, his obligation given up, and the mortgage discharged.
7. If any bid is disputed, the land to be set up again.
JOHN GOULD, DANIEL JAMESON, Committee. JEREMIAH STINSON,
THOMAS STARK, Vendue-Master.
Attest : JEREMIAH STINSON, Town Clerk.
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HISTORY OF DUNBARTON ..
Dunbarton, May 12, 1807. Proceedings of the sale of the parsonage land.
Bids. Lot No. 1, east of the meeting-house, struck off to William Bayley, 12 acre, at $102 per acre. Lot No. 2, one acre, east of the meeting-house, struck off to David Story, at ninety-seven dollars per acre. Lot No. 3, one acre, east of the meeting-house, struck off to Lieut. Thomas Mills, at ninety-five dollars per acre. Lot No. 4, sixteen acres, east of the meeting-house, struck off to Major Wm. Brown at fifty-six dollars per acre. Lot No. 5, east of the meeting-house, twenty-one acres, struck off to John Stinson, Jr., at thirty-three dollars per acre. Lot No. 6, thirty-five acres, east of the meeting-house, struck off to Samuel Hearsey at thirteen dollars per acre. Lot No. 7, thirty-five acres, east of the meeting-house, struck off to Lieut. Thomas Mills at twelve dollars per acre. Lot No. 1, north-west corner of the Healey piece, struck off to Robert Holmes at ninety-five dollars and fifty cents per acre. Lot No. 3, three acres, in the Healey piece, struck off to Sam- uel Smith at thirty-nine dollars per acre. Lot No. 2, in the Healey piece, struck off to Thomas Hammond, Jr., at eighty dollars per acre. Lot No. 1, of the half lot, twenty- two acres, struck off to Ebenezer Chase, at twenty-two dollars twenty-five cents per acre. Lot No. 2, half lot, nineteen acres, struck off to Doct. James Clement, at twenty dollars per acre. Lot No. 3, half lot, seven acres, one hundred and twelve rods, struck off to Samuel Per- kins at thirty-one dollars fifty cents per acre. Lot No. 4, half lot, seventeen acres, struck off to Robert Chase at fourteen dollars twenty-five cents per acre.
JOHN WHIPPLE, Clerk.
Attest : JEREMIAH STINSON, Town Clerk.
The interest of the fund arising from the sale of the parsonage land was applied toward the stipulated salary of the minister; the remainder was voted to be raised by a tax upon all ratable polls and estates. Those who
30
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
opposed the sale of the land, and others of similar princi- ples, refused to pay this tax. Their property was conse- quently attached, and their assessments, with cost, levied upon the same. We have heard that three individuals, Archibald Stark, 2d, Caleb Page, and Joel Wheeler, were carried to jail in consequence of their pertinacious refusal to pay the tribute.
The cattle of Asa Burnham and others, including Maj. Caleb Stark, were seized in their barnyards; and in due time put up at vendue. The latter had for several years made Mr. Harris an annual present, more than equal to his proportion of the assessment, which, although satisfactory to him was not so to the leaders of his church. They resolved upon stronger measures to compel payment as of a legal claim. His cattle were seized, and the tax levied ; but he never paid one voluntarily, and we think involun- tarily, afterward. A portion of the above remarks apply to periods anterior to 1807.
A process thus instituted to compel individuals to sup- port creeds to which their consciences could not respond, which differed only in name from the tithe system of Eng- land, was unpopular, and engendered a spirit of hostility, not soon to be allayed, or the cause of it forgotten. In these matters the descendants of those who fled from their fatherland to be rid of the iron shackles of church and state policy, and seek religious toleration in New-Hampshire forests, appear to have lost sight of those principles of religious freedom which were the inducing motives for their ancestors' emigration. The doctrines of religion, the pre- cepts of virtue, as exemplified in the sentiments and con- duct of our Saviour, require not the strong arm of civil power to compel their belief or adoption.
Persons whose property had been distrained, or their persons arrested on account of their refusal to pay the minister tax, prior to 1796, brought suits against the selectmen, "for taxing them in the minister list of taxes in said town, which they say is illegal; and granting a warrant to the collector to collect the same."
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HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
In consequence, the town chose a committee "to endeavor to settle the matter with those persons who have brought actions." The town voted to refund their taxes and cost.
At an adjourned meeting, in 1797 :
" Voted to refund to Mr. Thomas Huse, for taxes and cost of prosecution, it being by cause of an action brought against the town, £2 14s. 3d.
Mr. Huse agrees to the above vote.
Likewise voted to refund to Asa Putney, for his taxes and cost of prosecution, 2 15
Mr. Putney agrees to the above vote.
Likewise voted to refund to William Moore, for his taxes and cost of prosecution, the sum of 2 8 2
Mr. Moore agrees to the above vote.
Likewise voted to refund to James Stark, for his taxes and costs of prosecution, the sum of 2 4 4
Said Stark agrees to the above.
Likewise voted to refund to Archibald Stark, for his taxes and cost of prosecution, 2 10 9
And Archibald Stark agrees to the above."
At a meeting, February 6, 1797 :
" Voted to abate Capt. McGregore's tax, in Dr. Sawyer's min- ister list of taxes, £0 9s. 7d.
Voted not to abate Caleb Page's tax.
Likewise abated John Stinson's, in ditto list,
0 97
Also abated Samuel Stewart's tax, in ditto list, 102
Likewise abated Major Stark's tax, in ditto list, 2 9 10
Also abated Zebadiah Silver's tax, in ditto list, 02 1
Also Francis Smart's tax, in ditto list, 0 44
Also Benjamin Stuart's tax, in ditto list,
04 1
Voted for the collector not to make distraint on Caleb Page, for his minister tax for 1795, before the next annual meeting."
At an adjourned meeting, March 26, 1810 :
" Voted, To refund to Mr. Asa Burnham his minister taxes and cost of his property being taken by distress. Put to vote to refund to all others in similar circumstances with Mr. Burnham their minister taxes and costs, and passed in the negative.
" Voted, To refund to Caleb Page his minister tax, and cost of property taken by distress, to pay the same.
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HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
" Voted, To refund Caleb Page, Jr., his minister tax, and cost of property taken by distress to pay the same.
"Voted, To abate John K. Guile's minister tax. Put to vote that the selectmen inquire of every individual, when they take the inventory, whether they are willing to be taxed to pay the minister, and to tax none but those who are willing. Passed in the negative.
" Voted, That the Rev. Walter Harris's salary be assessed on the ratable polls and estates in said town, excepting those who are of a different denomination."
Several persons of other denominations were exempted from the minister tax in this town, by producing certifi- cates similar to the following, which were recorded in the town books:
" Goffstown, April 2, 1807. This may certify, to whom it may concern, that Winthrop Sargent, of Dunbarton, has joined the Baptist society of Goffstown, and does attend and support the gospel in the same.
Attest :
MOSES GOULD, S. Clerk.
Recorded, December 2, 1809.
Attest :
D. JAMESON, Town Clerk."
From the time the compulsory system of taxation before mentioned was discontinued, nothing of a religious nature excited the sympathies of the town until the year 1830, when the parsonage interest was divided by law, allowing to every voter the privilege of declaring to which religious society his portion should be paid.
One party contended that it should be apportioned according to ratable polls and estates; the other main- tained the position that, inasmuch as the fund originated in a donation from the lord proprietors of the township, it ought in justice to be divided according to the polls. The latter principle was sustained by a majority of the legal voters.
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