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 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20
In 1833 another dispute occurred, in consequence of a claim advanced by the Universalist and Baptist societies
33
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
to the use of the meeting-house, for public worship a cer- tain number of Sabbath days in the year, according to their proportion of the parsonage interest, or ownership of pews.
To this proposition the Congregationalists refused their assent, claiming for their society the exclusive right to its use on all occasions, excepting when the house was required for holding public town meetings.
The claimants, on the other hand, contended that the house was under the control of the town ; was erected for the exclusive use of no particular society ; that it had been repaired by the town, and used as a town-house from the time of its erection.
At a town meeting called to investigate the subject, a committee of two persons (one selected from each of the two contending parties) was chosen, to consult the Hon. George Sullivan, then Attorney-General, upon the ques- tion. Of this committee, Edward Gould, Esq., was appointed on the part of the Universalists and Baptists ; and John Mills, Jr., Esquire, to represent the Congrega- tionalists. At a subsequent meeting the committee re- ported Mr. Sullivan's opinion, which was, in substance, that a majority of the legal voters in town could control the use of the house in religious as well as all other matters. A committee was, in consequence, appointed to apportion the number of Sabbaths in the year to be allotted to each society.
In consequence of these proceedings, the Congregational Society abandoned the old meeting-house, as a place for their worship, and erected a house on the site of Col. Wil- liam Stark's former dwelling-house, which was taken down to make room for the new edifice. It therefore stands upon Lot No. Nine (the old school lot), in the third range.
When the town purchased a farm for the use of their poor, at a meeting held September 2, 1837, a vote was passed, as follows : " 2. Voted, To take the surplus reve- nue fund, belonging to said town, to pay for a farm that
34
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
said town bought for the benefit of their poor. " 3. Voted, To hire so much of the public money belonging to said town as will pay for the remainder of said farm. "4. Chose Charles Stinson agent to hire so much of the said money of the said town, as will pay for the remainder of the said farm."
In consequence of this application of all the available portion of the parsonage fund, the interest of the sum thus applied was raised by a tax upon ratable polls and estates until 1858, when the assessment of a tax for that purpose was forbidden by a legal voter. Able jurists have been consulted, and their opinion concedes the fact, that the town have, although unintentionally, voted away the par- sonage fund, beyond any present hope of recovery. The different religious societies are consequently deprived annually of the sum of two hundred and twenty-five dol- lars.
In granting townships, the Lord Proprietors usually set apart a right, called the " School Lot." Such a right was reserved in this town. At the proprietors' meeting, March 2, 1752, after voting the parsonage lot, another lot was voted, as the record states, "for the use and maintenance of a school forever." In a warrant, dated May 24, 1761, calling a meeting on the second Tuesday of June follow- ing, the second article is, "to see if the proprietors will change away the School lot, which is the ninth in the third range, for the twelfth lot in the fourth range, if Captain William Stark will purchase said twelfth lot, to lay for the use of the school in said town."
At the meeting, held in consequence of this warrant, it was-" Voted and freely consented to by the proprietors of Starkstown, that the ninth lot in the third range should be exchanged for the twelfth, in the fourth range, which twelfth lot is to lay for the use of the school forever, in the room of the ninth lot in the third range."
Long before the passage of this vote, William Stark had" erected his dwelling-house upon lot No. Nine, for which he never paid, nor after this vote did he ever purchase lot
35
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
No. twelve, in the fourth range,* which was to be ex- changed for it ; so that in fact no exchange took place, the conditions of the vote not having on his part been fulfilled. He therefore had no title to lot No. Nine, or lot No. Twelve. After his departure to join the British army in 1776, and sudden death the same year, his family remained upon the premises, their possession of which and claim for improvements constituting their sole title. The land was, in consequence, not confiscated with his other property. His non-performance of the conditions of exchange, ac- cording to the intent and meaning of the foregoing vote, created much difficulty, and rendered the grant of the pro- prietors for a school of but little benefit to the inhabitants. To recoverthis lot, the town appointed several committees to negotiate with his widow, as will appear in another part of this work. At a meeting, August 29, 1808, the town " Voted, That the selectmen pay no attention to widow Mary McGwinn, under the present circumstances." At the adjourned meeting, March 21, 1809, the town " Voted, That the selectmen attend to Mrs. McGwinn's situation, and make provision for her, and likewise look up her property, if any she may have."
1136464
An article was inserted in the warrant of March, 1810, "to see if the town will take into consideration and de- vise measures to recover the school lot, now occupied by Thomas Stark and others." At the ensuing meeting they -" Voted, To accept the verbal report of the committee respecting the school lot."
At the adjourned meeting, March 26, 1810 : " Voted, To choose a committee of two, to make inquiry into the con- dition of the original school lot, and to make a report at a future meeting. Chose David Story, Esq., and Major J. Mills, committee."
The town assisted Mrs. McGwinn, and eventually ob- tained possession of the school lot, which was sold or leased 999 years, to Stephen Johnson, against whom an action of
* Lot No. 12, range 4, was granted to Captain John Stark, for the first saw-mill. It is now called the Ladd lot.
36
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
ejectment was commenced in behalf of the heirs of Wil- liam Stark, (or perhaps in his own behalf) by the Hon. Charles H. Atherton. His action, however, could not be sustained. An article in the warrant of 1823, "to see if the town will consider Stephen Johnson, in his late farm law-suit," was dismissed.
At the meeting, in March, 1771, the sum of thirty dollars was appropriated for a town school, which appears to be the first for that purpose upon record. The same amount was annually appropriated during the years 1772, '3, '4 and '5. In 1776 the school money was voted down, as was the case from that date until March 22, 1786, when the sum of seventy-two dollars was voted for the town school. In 1788, the town " Voted, To raise eighty dollars for a town school *; and that the selectmen divide the town into proper districts for a town school, and that no men send from one district to another." In 1789, " Voted, To raise twenty-four pounds for a town school." In 1790, " Voted, Twenty-four pounds for a town school;" and in 1791 "thirty-five pounds were voted for the use of a school."
The law of 1791, which directed a tax to be assessed, amounting to seven thousand five hundred pounds stir- ling, upon the several towns, in proportion to their tax- able property, gave a direct impulse to the common schools throughout the State.
Prior to the passage of the act of 1805, Dunbarton had been divided into three districts, each containing a school- house. Mr. Robert Hogg, a person of education, from England, known as "Master Hogg," is the principal male teacher ; and Miss Sarah Clement, the most noted female teacher, of whom the tradition of those times has informed us. The principal books furnished to these primitive schools were the Bible, Psalter, New-England Primer, and Dilworth's Spelling Book. We have now in possession two books which Captain Caleb Page directed Rev. William Fessenden to procure for the use of his grandson, Caleb
* In referring to the school lot the language of the record is " a town school," " a school," or "the school."
37
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
Stark. They are Salmon's Historical Grammar, and Fen- ning's Dictionary. We have acquired much information from each of them. With the progress of our country's advance, circumstances have changed; and in no particu- lar more ostensibly than in the facilities afforded for mental improvement. Public encouragement has exerted a won- derful influence over the common schools of New-Hamp- shire, and acted with talismanic power upon the system of education in our own as well as in other towns. It is our confident hope and trust, that the youth of this genera- tion, and others who may hereafter appear in their places, may improve and justly appreciate the superior advantages which they enjoy over those which fell to the lot of their ancestors.
For several years after the settlement of the town com- menced, the nearest grain-mill was at Concord, to which the settlers carried grists upon their backs in summer, and in winter drew them upon hand-sleds, through a path marked by spotted trees. From the trees of the forest many of these hardy pioneers, who could relish coarser preparations, with much labor, formed large mortars, in which their corn could be rendered fit for making samp and hominy-the use of which they learned from their In- dian predecessors. Flax was generally cultivated, and its manufacture into cloth for common garments, as also into fine linen, afforded a familiar employment to the wives and daughters of these Scotch-Irish settlers. Potatoes were cultivated ; but, not being at that period, as at present, ar- ticles of general requisition, a few bushels (three or four) were considered an abundant supply for a family.
The trees marked by the king's surveyors were impedi- ments in the husbandman's progress. Any damage which occurred to them in clearing the land, subjected the offender to a considerable fine. These trees were reserved in all grants, for the use of the royal navy. They were marked, and by the surveyors registered in books.
Notwithstanding all these difficulties, hardships and pri- vations, these sturdy foresters possessed many sources of
38
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
enjoyment ; horse races were common; huskings, wool shearings, flax breakings, apple pearings, house raisings and spinning bees were joyful scenes to the people of those days. But few of these industrial pastimes are now in fashion with their posterity; but the legacies of broad lands and liberty, bequeathed them by their untutored, but industrious, and intrepid progenitors, should induce them to venerate their memory, and honor the land of their birth.
" Breaths there the man with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land ! Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned As home, his footsteps he hath turned, From wandering on a foreign strand ! "-SCOTT.
We insert the following from the Edinburgh Encyclo- pædia, presuming the occupants of " our gude towne " may be interested by a description of the time-honored castle, from which its name was derived :
DUMBARTON, TOWN AND CASTLE.
"Dumbarton is a town of Scotland, situated at the con- fluence of the rivers Clyde and Leven, within the parish and county of the same name. Dumbritton (the fort of Britons) was the ancient name of the castle, which has been a place of strength from the earliest times, and was long deemed impregnable. It is a bold, insulated basaltic rock, rising to a great height out of the sands on the north side of the Clyde.
"It is naturally inaccessible ; but by artificial means, on the north-east side, where it is strongly fortified, access to the summit is obtained. Near the top it divides into two points, on which batteries are erected. In the hollow be- twixt these, there are a battery, barracks for the garrison, and a well which affords a constant supply of water. 'Bede says, that this fortress, was Acluith or Ancluid (a place on the Cluid, or Clyde). Boethius affirms that the Caledonians possessed it before the Britons, and that it
39
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
successfully resisted the attacks of Agricola* by whom it was besieged. In the reign of Egbert, of Northumberland, (A. D. 756) it was, however, reduced by famine, and again in 1571, during the troubles of Queen Mary's reign, it was taken by escalade and surprise. Fleming, the Governor, who was in Mary's interest, vaunted that he held in his hands the fetters of Scotland, and that he could, with little assistance, easily put them on. A common soldier, how- ever, broke these boasted chains. He proposed to scale the rock and fortifications in the night. He, with some intrepid followers, succeeded in the perilous enterprise, and placed in the hands of the Regent the only fort occu- pied for the Queen. It is one of the Scottish forts which are still kept in repair and garrisoned. Some parts of the rock are magnetic." * " The prospect from the top of the castle is extensive and varied. Loch Lomond, the Clyde, and the Leven, an interminable range of moun- tains, overtopped by Ben Lomond, and the towns of Glas- gow, Greenock, Port Glasgow, and Dumbarton, with the villages, gentlemen's seats, and cottages, with which the rich intervening valleys are covered, form an assemblage of objects peculiarly interesting.
" The town of Dumbarton, situated a little to the north- west of the castle, on the eastern bank of the Leven, which flows nearly round it, is a royal burgh; and was erected in 1221, by Alexander II. It sends a member to Parlia- ment, along with the burghs of Glasgow, Renfrew, and Ruther Glen. It consists chiefly of one large street in a crescent form. The houses are generally old. The in- habitants amount to about two thousand."-Edinburgh En- cyclopædia.
The eighth day of April, 1751, may be considered the birth day of this town (Dunbarton, N. H).
*Agricola, father-in-law of the historian Tacitus, commanded the Ro- man armies in Britain, in the reign of Domitian, and defeated the Caledo- nians (100,000 men) under their leader Galgacus, in a great and decisive battle, at the foot of the Grampian Hills.
40
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
PROPRIETORS' RECORDS-ADVERTISEMENT.
The proprietors of a tract of land granted to Archibald Stark and others, are hereby notified to meet at the house of Samuel Rankin, in Londonderry, innholder, on Mon- day, the eighth day of April next, at ten o'clock in the forenoon :
Firstly. To meet with Colonel Blanchard, and hear their charter read, that he has drafted, and approve or not ap- prove of it.
Secondly. To see who are the persons that will make settlement this spring, and to act and do any other mat- ters or things as shall be then judged for the advantage of the proprietors in every account. Dated at Londonderry, March ye 27, 1751.
Testis : ALEXANDER McMURPHY, Clerk.
JOHN HOGG,
HUGH RAMSEY, Committee.
ARCHIBALD STARK.
At a meeting holden at the house of Samuel Rankin, innholder, in Londonderry, met agreeably to the foregoing warning, April ye 8th, 1751 :
Firstly. Voted, Samuel Emerson, Esq., moderator for said meeting.
Secondly. Voted, That our charter shall run in the same tenor of this that we have heard read ; also, Voted, That all those shares which have not paid in fact their full quota, the sum of thirty pounds for each right, in such time as the charter of the proprietors has or shall order, and those, which, with the privileges of non-settlement, are pur- chased, have likewise agreed to, shall likewise be forfeited to the settler ; and that this be an article entered in the charter.
Also, Voted, That ye highways shall go where the ma- jority of the proprietors shall choose; also, Voted, That the thirty that are to settle first shall have three acres of land cleared by the last day of October next, and have the
41
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
same fenced in; and a house, not less than sixteen feet square, and their families there, by the last day of May next following.
Testis : ALEXANDER McMURPHY, Clerk.
PROVINCE OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. At a meeting of the proprietors of the lands purchased of John Tufton Mason, Esq., at Portsmouth, held on Monday, the second day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and fifty-two, Therefore, Voted, That there be and hereby is granted unto Archibald Stark, William Stark, John Stark, Archibald Stark, Jr., all of a place called Amoskeag, in the province of New-Hampshire; the Rev. David McGregor, Robert McMurphy, William Rankin, William Stinson, John Cochran, James Evans, Hugh Dunshee, John McCurdy, John Carr, John Cochran, Hugh Jameson, David Stinson, Joseph Scoby, Matthew Thornton, Daniel McCurdy, John Carr, John Cochran, Dr. Alexander Todd, William Hogg, James McGregore, David Leslie, George Clark, William Rankin, William Stinson, James Rogers, James Cochran, John McDuffie, James McGregore, Samuel Todd, David Craige, all of Londonderry, in said province ; Thomas Mills, Samuel Hogg, Caleb Page, Jr., Samuel Richards, Thomas Fol- lansbee, Jr., all of Hampstead, in said province; and Jere- miah Page, of said place ; William Elliot, John Hall, Adam Dickey, all of Derryfield, in said province ; Joseph Blanchard, Esq., Joseph Blanchard, Jr., both of Dunstable, in said province ; Joseph Putney, James Rogers, (their eldest sons for one right), all living on the tract of land hereby granted ; William Putney and Obadiah Foster, of the same place, for one hundred acres, and the remaining part of the share or right to Hugh Ramsay, of said Lon- donderry ; John Morton, of Portsmouth, in said province, and George Mussey, of said Portsmouth ; William Stark, (William Stark, above named, having three rights, being the same man), and Archibald Stark, above named; Samuel Emerson, Esq., James Varnum, both of Chester, 4
42
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
in said province ; John Campbell, of Haverhill, William Hyslop, of Boston, both in the province of Massachusetts Bay ; William Gault, of Canterbury, in the province of New-Hampshire; Samuel Fulton, late of said London- derry : Equally as excepting aforesaid, to them and their heirs and assigns, excepting as hereafter excepted, on the terms, conditions and limitations hereinafter expressed, all the right, title, estate, interest and property of the said proprietors, of, in and unto all that tract or parcel of land, about five miles square, more or less, situated in the province of New-Hampshire, and bounded as follows : Beginning at the main river, on the northerly side of a tract of land lately granted by said proprietors to Thomas Parker and others, and running westward as far as that tract of land runs, joining on the same; then running north, two degrees west, five miles and one hundred and eighty rods; then north, seventy-nine rods east, till it comes to Bow line; then southerly, by the township of Bow, and continuing by that till it comes to said river; then by that till it comes to the place where it begins.
To have and to hold to them, their heirs and assigns, as aforesaid, on the following terms and conditions, namely : That the division already made, and the lots, as they have been numbered and drawn, shall be and hereby is ratified and confirmed as a full and effectual severance and divi- sion of the said tract of land, to hold the respective lots to the person or persons to whose name or names the re- spective numbers of said lots are affixed, and to his and their heirs and assigns, excepting as is hereinafter other- wise mentioned : That the said grantees make a settlement on the said tract of land in the following manner, viz. : That thirty families be settled on the said tract of land, each having a house of sixteen feet square, or equal thereto, on the same lot, belonging to the respective owners of thirty shares among the said grantees ; and that each of the said thirty have three acres of land fitted for tillage or mowing, on one of the lots belonging to each respective share of the thirty, by the last day of May next; and shall clear
43
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
three acres of land more yearly, on one lot of each of the thirty shares aforesaid for the term of two years from the said last day of May next : That ten families more shall be settled on the lots belonging to ten other shares of the said grantees, having an house of the dimensions aforesaid, and three acres of land cleared on a lot belonging to each of said shares, by the expiration of three years, to be com- puted from the last day of May next, which ten families are each to proceed in clearing three acres yearly for the two years then next succeeding, in manner as aforesaid :
And that ten families more be settled on the lots be- longing to ten other shares of the said grantees, each having an house on a lot belonging to the respective shares, of the same dimensions as aforesaid, and three acres of land cleared as aforesaid, within five years from May next, and to proceed in clearing three acres more yearly the two next succeeding years, as aforesaid : That David Stinson, David McGregore, James McGregore, David Lesley, Samuel Fulton, Archibald Stark, (Archi- bald Stark for one more) George Clark, William Rankin and William Stinson, make or cause to be made the settle- ment of the first ten families above mentioned :
That Joseph Blanchard, James Rogers, John Camp- bell, Samuel Emerson, James Cochran, Matthew Ramsay, James Varnum, John McDuffie, Robert McMurphy and Archibald Stark, make or cause to be made the settlement of the second ten families above mentioned; and that William Gault, William Stark, Joseph Blanchard, Esq., William Hyslop, James McGregore, William Stark, Adam Dickey, Jeremiah Page, Samuel Todd, and David Craige, in consideration of their having paid a certain sum of money to the settlers to carry on the settlement, be and hereby are exempted from making any settlement on their shares :
That in order to carry on the said settlement to effect, each of the aforesaid grantees pay all such sum and sums of money as shall be voted to be raised by the major part of the said grantees, at any regular meeting of them,
44
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
according to such rules as have been or shall be agreed upon by them for calling the same, to such person or persons, and at such time as they shall determine as aforesaid ; and in default of such payment, that the part, share and right of the grantee who shall refuse or neglect to pay as afore- said, in and to said land, shall be and hereby is subject to and charged with the payment thereof; and the person or persons appointed to receive such sum or sums of money as aforesaid, shall and hereby have full power and author- ity to sell so much thereof, as near as it can be conveniently done, as will raise money sufficient for such payment, with all incidental charges, as occasion shall require, from time to time, giving the delinquent person three weeks' notice of such design before the sale is actually made :
That a meeting-house of sufficient dimensions be built on said land within five years from next May, fit for preach- ing in, and that the grantees maintain the preaching of the gospel there constantly after six years from next May :
That any and every of the said grantees who shall neglect to perform and fulfill every article, matter and thing herein enjoined for him to do, he shall forfeit his whole right, share and interest in and to the said tract of land, to those of said grantees who shall have done and performed the same for themselves ; and they shall have the term of one year after such forfeiture accrues, (which shall be reckoned and adjudged to be immediately on the expiration of the time herein allowed for the doing any of the said matters and things) to settle or cause such forfeited right or share to be settled :
That twenty-five of the said rights and shares be and hereby are reserved to the said grantors, their heirs and assigns ; and one said share [shall] be for the first minis- ter, his heirs and assigns, who shall there continue till he is regularly dismissed, or as long as he shall live; that another of said shares shall be for the use of the ministry there forever ; and another for the use and maintenance of a school there forever; that these three shares, with twenty-two of those above reserved, shall be and hereby
45
HISTORY OF DUNBARTON.
are exempted and fully exonerated from any and every duty, charge, matter and thing relating to the making of the said settlement, and from all taxes and charges, until improved by the owners of each respective right :
That all highways that shall be laid out on said land shall be by a committee, to be appointed for that purpose by the grantors and grantees; only the person on whose land such way shall run not to be paid for the same.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.