USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > Durham > History of the town of Durham, New Hampshire (Oyster River Plantation) with genealogical notes, Volume 1 > Part 21
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The following bill of sale may be of interest and further follows the fortunes of the Barhew family :
Know all men by these presents that I Jeremish Burnum Junr of Durham in the County of Strafford and State of New Hampshire, yeoman, for and in Consideration of the sum of thirty pounds rightful money to me in hand before the delivery hereof well and truly paid by my daughter Elizabeth Burnam of said Town, single woman and Spinster, the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, have given, granted, bargained and sold and by these presents do give, grant, bargain and sell unto my said Daughter Elizabeth, my Negro boy named Jabal now about Seven Years old.
To have and to hold the said Negro to her the sd Elizabeth, her heirs or assigns, to her or their only proper use and benefit during the term of his
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natural life. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 29th day of June A.D. 1778.
JEREMIAH BURNUM JUNE.
Signed, Sealed & deld in presence of JOHN SMITH JAMES SMITH.
Jabal or Jubal was afterward acquired by Capt. Smith Emer- son. Candace, his sister, was given to Elizabeth Burnham at the time of her marriage, and Peter, the youngest, remained with the Burnham family. His sleeping place, called Pete's hole, could be seen in the ruins of the old Burnham mansion.
Robert Thompson was the owner of several slaves, three of whom are mentioned in the settlement of his estate, 1752, viz., John Battles valued at £350, Page £120, and Nan £350. The wife of Robert Thompson in her will gave to her brother, Solo- mon Emerson, her negro woman, Dinah.
A negro servant of Solomon Emerson, named George, about to go to war, made his will, 5 June 1777, giving property to wife, Phillis. A negro slave named Sidon is mentioned in the inven- tory of Samuel Thompson, 1755.
The inventory of the estate of Capt. Samuel Emerson, 1743, shows the appraisal of one man negro at £55, one woman negro at £80 and one young man negro at £130.
The inventory of Capt. Samuel Demeritt, 1770, shows that he owned a negro named Prince.
A negro man, Peter, belonging to Hon. George Frost was buried 16 July 1785, according to record of the Rev. Curtis Coe.
Judge Valentine Smith used to mention a female slave named Phillis, who took excellent care of his mother, Lydia Millett Smith, in her sickness. The slave was buried in the family burial grounds at Lubberland.
Col. Thomas Tash had a slave named Oxford Tash, who died 14 October 1810, aged sixty. He fought in the Revo- lutionary War and was wounded in action. He refused a pension so long as he could support himself.
A slave of Capt. Nathaniel Randall served in Capt. Thomas Tash's company in 1758. His name is enrolled as "Cesar Durham, negro, by the consent of his master Nathaniel Randal, enlisted April 29, 1758, age 45." Another negro served in the
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same company and is enrolled as "Sippo Negro Servant to Doctor Joseph Atkinson, enlisted April 8, 1758, age 26."
Peter Adams, negro, served in the Revolution, 1777, from Durham, perhaps slave or servant of the Rev. John Adams, perhaps belonging to Lieut .- Col. Winborn Adams.
Robert Lapish of Durham, in 1777, bought of Jacob Sheafe of Portsmouth a negro slave named Joseph, aged about 37 years.
Gen. John Sullivan had his slaves and special quarters for them erected in the rear of his house. They often rowed him down the river thirteen miles to Portsmouth. One was named Noble.
The following exact copy of a liberation paper will be of interest:
Know all men by these presents that I, John Woodman, of Durham in the county of Strafford and State of New Hampshire, yeoman, for and in consideration of the sum of sixty pounds lawful money to me in hand paid before the delivery hereof by my negro man Dan, a servant for life, about twenty-eight years of age, the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, have given, granted, bargained & sold & by these presents do give, grant, bargain and sell unto the aforesaid Dan his time for life, liberating & making him a free man to all intents as tho' he had been born free, hereby engaging for myself, my heirs, execrs & admin's that no person or persons claiming from, by or under me or them shall have any right to demand any service of him in future as a slave.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal this 23d day of June Anno Domini 1777.
Signed Sealed & delivered JOHN WOODMAN.
in presence of JOHN SMITH
JONB. CHESLEY.
This slave took the name Dan Martin and served as a soldier in the Revolution. According to the records of Durham Dan Martin, "late a soldier for Durham," received £17. He and his family used to live on the landing, near the wharves, near the Gleason house. He used to work upon the boats that carried freight to Portsmouth. He died at Greenland June 1839. His wife died 2 March 1830. He was sometimes called Dan Wood- man, and he named a son Archelaus, for the brother of his former master. They were buried in the Chesley-Young burial lot.
"Duke Smith" and "Black Pegg" were among the paupers bid off to those who would board them for the least money, 1783-86. The price varied from three to four shillings per week. In 1786 the town was charged "for a Sheet and Shift to bury
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Black Pegg in." She had been kept by Robert Wille, and Duke Smith lived with Moses Edgerly at the expense of the town.
The records of Durham show that Portsmouth or Porch was the negro dog-whipper in the meeting house, in 1751, 1754 and 1755. The dog-whipper was once a well-known official in England. In many cases he was the sexton. Perhaps they remembered the saying of the revelator, "Without are dogs."
During the Revolution, 1779, twenty slaves of New Hamp- shire petitioned the Honorable Council and House of Repre- sentatives for their freedom. Among them was Peter Frost, slave of the Hon. George Frost of Durham. They express the desire "that the name of Slave may not more be heard in a Land gloriously contending for the Sweets of Freedom." No action was taken on this petition, "postponed to a more convenient opportunity." Nero Brewster headed the petition, called King Brewster, slave of Col. William Brewster of Portsmouth.
The census returns for 1767 show that Durham then had twenty-one male slaves and eleven female slaves; in 1773 there were fifteen male slaves and nine female; in 1775 Durham had twenty-five slaves for life; in 1786 there were only three in Dur- ham and nine in all Strafford County.
Agitation for the abolition of slavery began in New Hamp- shire soon after 1830, amid much opposition. A Strafford County Anti-Slavery Convention was held at Gilmanton Center, 27 April 1836. Among those who signed the call were the fol- lowing from Durham, John A. Richardson, Joseph Coe, G. W. Thompson, Richard Steele and John I. Kelly. An anti-slavery address was given at Durham 17 November 1836 by the Rev. David Root of Dover, on Thanksgiving evening, and at the close of the address an Anti-Slavery Society was formed, con- sisting of sixty-three members. The officers of the society were Dea. Abraham Perkins, president; Dea. Daniel Mathes, vice- president, and Richard Steele, Esq., secretary.
The great change in public opinion that had gradually come about in Durham, on the subject of slavery, is well illustrated in the following letter addressed to Miss Mary P. Thompson by the Rev. Alvan Tobey, on the occasion of her request for a church letter to join a Presbyterian church at Maysville, Ky. The letter is dated 4 May 1847:
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Your request for a dismission from the Congregational church in this place and a recommendation to the Presbyterian church in Maysville, Ky., was laid before the church last Sabbath, and the matter was referred to a commit- tee consisting of the pastor and deacons, on the ground that the circum- stances are somewhat peculiar. The peculiarity of the circumstances does not relate to you personally, but to the fact that Maysville is in a slave state, & the Presbyterian church there probably has members who are slave-holders. It is the first instance in which a direct act of fellowship with a church in a slave-holding state has come before us. It is important that we should decide upon the right action in this case, as it may be a precedent in time to come, and our whole course should be regulated by correct principles. Probably a majority of this church would not consider the fact of another church having some members who are slaveholders a reason for withholding from it all fellowship. But if a church and its pastor should defend slavery as right, as a good institution, and its members should hold slaves & manage them for purposes of gain, like any other property, it is hardly probable that we should think it right to have fellowship with them. In this case it seems to us desirable to have more information before we act.
We should be glad to know whether there are slaveholders in the Presby- terian church in Maysville? if there are, on what ground they are considered justifiable in continuing the relation of master and slave? And whether slavery is approved and cherished by the church as a good thing? Or is it lamented and its removal sincerely desired?
Perhaps,-probably, I think, it would have been granted, if all the church had the same views on the subject that I have. But such is not the case. A few years ago the subject of slavery & abolition was discussed in the church & created such a difference of opinion & feeling as threatened to produce serious difficulty. The alienation caused by it then has apparently been healed, & none of us, I believe, wish to have it come back again. We wish & we mean, I think, to act together if we can, but we all are strongly opposed to slavery and ready to express our disapprobation of it and our desire for its removal, if we can in any way that is proper & promises to do good. In my own opinion slavery should not be a bar to christian fellowship.
I believe there are Christian slaveholders & that for us to separate from them is neither wise nor right. It is not the way most likely to promote the abolition of slavery & it rejects those whom, not withstanding their imper- fections, I believe God accepts.
The church at Durham decided not to grant the desired letter, after learning that there were slaveholders in the church at Maysville. Had all northern advisers been as wise and consider- ate as the Rev. Mr. Tobey, perhaps much trouble might have been avoided. Who can say? Both North and South now rejoice that slavery is no more forever in this "land of the free."
The will of Margaret Blydenburgh of Durham was signed 30 May 1849 and approved the first Tuesday in January 1862. In it a bequest is made to "William Lloyd Garrison, the editor
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of the newspaper called the Liberator, . through my regard to his devotedness and valuable services to the cause of truth, religion and liberty." The sum was $1,000. Also she gave the residue of her estate to him, to Wendell Phillips, to Parker Pillsbury and to Frederick Douglass, the well-known advocates of anti-slavery principles, as a trust fund for the benefit of the fugitive slaves who may be in the free states.
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EDUCATION
The first record of any public school in Dover is dated 5 April 1658, when it was voted that twenty pounds be appropriated for the maintenance of a schoolmaster for all the children. He was to teach reading, writing, casting accounts and Latin. Charles Buckner was then employed. Probably private schools had existed before this date. Massachusetts, about 1647, required that towns of fifty householders should have a school.
The early ministers, like Daniel Maud, were teachers of schools as well as preachers of the Gospel. Sometimes they were physi- cians also and they did much law business. Ministers and school- masters were exempted from Province rates as early as 1692, and also from military duty.
A petition, dated 1715, shows that the people at the Point were accustomed "to hire a Schoolmaster for themselves and adjacent neighbors." They objected to having one school- master for the whole town, as the school, in that case, would be too far distant for their benefit. When Oyster River became a parish, in 1716, the people were permitted and required to have a schoolmaster. Dover petitioned, in 1722, to be released from the obligation to have a grammar school during the Indian War.
The first reference to schools after the incorporation of Dur- ham as a town is found under date of 8 October 1736, in a pre- amble to a call for a town meeting, signed by the selectmen, "And itt is the Desire of our Reverant pasture Mr. Hugh Adams that ye town should vote that he should have the one half of his salary paid him on or before the first week in October annually from time to time and whereas his son Winbon Adams was the schoolmaster of this Town for the present year and Deceast in that ofice in the Town service to see if the Town will vote that sum certain Part of his funeral charge be Paid out of the town stock." Winborn Adams was born in Boston and at the time of his deccase was 21 years of age.
The earliest schoolmasters in Durham were Hercules Mooney, 1751-66, and John Smith, who is first mentioned in this office in 1757. Both of these were noted in their profession. Dr. Joseph Atkinson taught in 1758, and Dr. Samuel Shepard in 1759, 1762
17
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MODERN SCHOOL HOUSE
PACKERS FALLS DISTRICT ERECTED 1888.
NO.10, SCHOOL HOUSE PACKERS FALLS
NO 5 SCHOOL HOUSE PACKERS FALLS
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and 1764. Dea. Nathaniel Norton was a teacher in 1767, and William Parsons taught in that and the following year. John Marshall is mentioned as a teacher in 1772. Up to 1754 there seems to have been but one public school. In 1764 it was voted that the school money be divided. In 1768 the town voted to keep a grammar school. In 1769 six districts and committees were voted, and forty pounds were raised for the support of schools. After the close of the Revolutionary War seventy-five pounds were voted to maintain schools.
In the town warrant, dated 8 April 1794, was an article as follows, "to see if the town will vote to build a house for the purpose of holding town meetings in the future or vote a certain sum to be laid out in conjunction with subscribers who propose to build a house for an academy and to have both under one roof." The proposal was defeated. The next year the town voted "that money should be raised sufficient to build a school house in each district in the town." At a subsequent meeting the same year this vote was reconsidered. In 1797 a committee of eight was appointed to locate and build schoolhouses in the several districts. The town warrant, dated 26 March 1798, called the meeting "at the schoolhouse lately erected near the Widow Griffin's in said Durham." Miss Mary P. Thompson attended school there when she was but three years and a half old. She writes, "The old wooden school-house, where I first went to school in my childhood stood between the Griffin house (now Buzzell's) and the present house of Samuel Runlett, opposite the Richardson house."
The Durham school districts are mentioned in the records of 1794 as I, Falls, First North District, i. e., in Durham village; 2, Falls, Second North District, i. e., the district around Buck's Hill; 3, Falls, South District, now the Broth Hill District; 4, Lubber- land; 5, Point District; 6, Packer's Falls; 7, District below Jones' Creek; afterward called the Bridge District; 8, District above William Spinney's. The last was called the Mast Road District in 1797.
In accordance with a law passed in 1805, providing for the separation of towns into districts for school purposes, Durham was divided into ten school districts and until 1885 the duty of providing teachers was taken from the selectman and imposed upon a prudential committee of theseveral districts. In Durham,
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during this period, a superintending school committee, consisting of from one to three persons, was annually chosen to supervise the schools, often the pastor of one of the churches filling this office for a very small remuneration.
Benjamin Thompson, who founded the college, taught school three months in 1825 for $12 per month in District Number Two and $14 per month in District Number Four, as receipts show. During this time he was informed by a note as follows:
MR. THOMPSON:
SIR-I would inform you that Ivory has Come home with a peace pinched out of his Check he says by James Langley Between Schools. you will En- quire into it. From yours &c. WEAR COLCORD.
Mr. Thompson preserved a list of fifty-seven boys and forty- three girls who were his pupils in the two districts. The list, alphabetically arranged, is as follows: Boys-John Burnham, Joseph Burnham, Langdon Burnham, Moses Burnham, William Chesley, Ivory Colcord, William Colcord, Caleb Davis, Enoch Davis, George Davis, Charles Follett, Richard Follett, John Farnham, Daniel Holt, Henry Holt, Stephen Holt, Joseph Hoit, Robinson Jones, John Keniston, Nathan Keniston, Andrew Langley, Gilman Langley, James Langley, John Langley, Thomas Langley, Alfred Langley, Moses Langley, John Langley and James Langley again, David Laken, Ezekiel Leathers, Stephen Nudd, Alfred Paul, Howard Paul, James Paul, Stephen Paul, Frederic Parks, Timothy Parks, Charles Parks, Alfred Pinkham, Daniel Pinkham, Stephen Pinkham, William Pink- ham, James Presson, William Shackford, Mark W. Walker, James Wiggin, George Wiggin, John Wiggin, William Wiggin, Jacob Willey, Henry Willey, Ira Willey, James Willey, Ira Tego and John Tego.
The girls were Caroline Burnham, Ellza Burnham, Hannah Burnham, Hannah Burnham again, Jane Cox, Jane Davis, Mary Davis, Sarah Ann Colcord, Temperance Ann Edgerly, Susan Farnham, Abigail Farnham, Caroline Follett, Elizabeth Holt, Elizabeth Hussey, Caroline Jenkens, Mary Keniston, Lucia Ann Keniston, Abigail Langley, Abigail Langley again, Abigail Lang- ley, 3d, Martha Langley, Mary Ann Langley, Sophronia Langley, Sarah Langley, Deborah Langley, Caroline Mathes, Jane Nudd, Caroline Paul, Mary Paul, Susan Paul, Temperance Ann Paul, Jane Parks, Sarah Ann Parks, Eliza Pinkham, Caroline Pinkham,
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Sally Pinkham, Fanny Pinkham, Maria Tego, Harriet Willey, Mehitable Willey, Susannah Willey, Mary Willey, Lydia Wiggin.
George Frost was a teacher near the close of the eighteenth century, and one of his pupils was Judge Valentine Smith. The school was in one of the chambers of the Smith homestead at Lubberland. Judge Smith himself taught at Lubberland.
Among the teachers in the village, in the thirties, were Samuel Burnham, Sarah Odell, Hannah Ela, Edmund J. Lane, Susan R. Wilson, George P. Edney, Timothy Hilliard.
Stephen Mitchell taught in 1802; Edward Wells in 1802, 1804, 1805 and 1808; Charles Hardy in 1807.
There was a petition for "a woman school," for the benefit of small children, in 1804. Mrs. Mary Hardy, widow of Theo- philus Hardy, and sister of Gen. John Sullivan, was teaching in 1812. She rented the front room in the old schoolhouse between the Runlett and the Griffin houses, and this was called the "girls' room." Here she lived, cooked in the open fireplace, and taught.
Sarah S. Blunt taught in 1835; Abigail H. Folsom in 1838; Preston Rand, Jr., and John S. Woodman in 1839; and Hiram Kelsey in 1840. Other natives of Durham who have become noted as teachers are Edward Lancaster, Edwin DeMeritt, Prof. B. F. Dame, John S. Hayes of Somerville, Mass., George W. Ransom, and Calvert King Mellen.
In the year 1846 the amount raised for schools was $546, divided among the ten districts of the town. About fifteen years later and until the time the district system was abolished the amount so expended annually varied from $1,200 to $1,500. In 1902-03 the amount expended in three schools, with five teachers, was $2,835.
In 1859-60 the number of pupils enrolled was 292; in 1884-85 the number was 148. The length of the school year in 1857 and in 1884 varied in the different districts from fifteen to thirty-two weeks. Now there are four schoolhouses and thirty-six weeks of school. The equipment is excellent, and there is state aid in supervision of the schools.
We have seen that Durham academy was talked of in Durham as early as 1794. It was not till 1839 that the New Hampshire Christian Baptist Conference decided to establish "an Academy where the youth both male and female may be taught the various branches of education free from the leaven of sectarianism."
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They further stated that "their wish and intention is to establish an Academy of a strictly literary character, without any reference to the profession the students may be disposed to choose after- ward." The conference invited requests from any villages or neighborhoods that wished to have such an institution. In response to this appeal Elder William Demeritt of Durham, pastor of the Christian Baptist Church, and other citizens of Durham became interested in securing the location of this academy. They were successful in their efforts, and the act of incorporation was passed in 1840, locating the institution at Durham, to be known as the Durham Academy. Elder Demeritt was the chief finan- cial and business manager. The original design was to have an institution that would accommodate 250 pupils, and donations were solicited throughout the conference. A large share of the expense, however, was paid by Elder Demeritt, who left his farm and moved into the house now occupied by C. E. Hoitt, where he boarded pupils. The academy was located on an acre of land between the village cemetery and the brick church, bought of Widow Hannah Young. It was a two-story edifice built of brick and stone and consisted of a large room and two class rooms on each floor, besides a basement. The lower story was devoted to the boys, and the upper story to the girls, while the basement was used by the Christian Society as a vestry. The building had a tower and bell. The site can be seen easterly of the present schoolhouse fence.
The first term of the academy commenced 27 August 1841, with Joshua D. Berry as principal, assisted by his sister. Among those who taught in the academy might be mentioned Trueman K. Wright, Miss Martha Bridgman of Hanover, who married Mr. Wright, Maurice Lamprey of Hampton, Mary F. Kent, O. D. Adams, Mr. Hills, Mr. Pease, Mr. Courser, Miss Richardson, Miss Allen, Orrin Payson, Edward Lancaster, Ira G. Hoitt, James Bates, Dr. John G. Pike, Joshua M. Pitman, Mary E. Kelley, George K. Hilton, Abraham Burnham and George F. Kelton.
Among the pupils who attended were Hon. Joshua B. Smith, Miss Mary P. Thompson, Maj. Enoch G. Adams, Dr. John G. Pike, Dr. T. J. W. Pray, Hamilton Smith, John S. Hayes, J. W. Coe, John E. Thompson, Dr. R. L. Hodsdon and Dea. Winthrop S. Meserve.
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Elder William Demeritt died in 1842 and the academy severely felt his absence. An effort was made to cancel the debt and to raise an endowment. The tuition and other resources were not sufficient to meet expenses, and thus the institution gradually declined. Higher institutions of learning must give much for little in order to attract students. Education has to be about as free as the Gospel before many will be induced to receive it.
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VILLAGE SCHOOL HOUSE Erected on site of the Brick Meeting House
But while Durham Academy flourished, it ranked high in efficiency and was a credit to the town.
In one term sixty-eight males and forty-four females were enrolled as pupils, about thirty per cent. being non-residents and some coming from other states. The academic year consisted of four terms of eleven weeks cach. Students were fitted for college, and there were other courses of four years. The tuition was $4 per term, with additional expense for extras. Board was from $1.25 to $1.50 per week, including everything except wood.
In 1864 John S. Smith, pastor of the First Christian Church, proposed that the academy building be sold at auction and the
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seats used for the brick church that had been built near by. The walls were cracked and the building was unsafe. The brick and stone were taken to Portsmouth. The bell was stored in Mark Willey's shop, and in 1879 it could not be found, and an effort was made to collect $42 for it.
For about sixty years the people of Durham have missed the advantages of the academy and have been obliged to pay tuition and car-fares to have their children attend the high school, academy, or seminary in Dover, Newmarket, Exeter or other towns. Some families have removed from town in order to educate their children, and other families have not moved into town because of this lack of educational facilities. This has been a serious loss to the town. The growing college and increasing · population demand a preparatory school of first grade. Such an institution would help Durham in many ways. The conse- quent increase of value to real estate would indirectly pay for the building. It would attract students and families to the town. It is hoped that some generous person may imitate the noble example of Benjamin Thompson and give or bequeath funds sufficient to establish an institution that shall even surpass in honor and usefulness old Durham Academy.
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