USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Hampton Falls > History of the town of Hampton Falls, New Hampshire : from the time of the first settlement within its borders, 1640 until 1900 > Part 19
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Kathie are of Cancelli
PETER WEARE.
Peter Weare was a son of Nathaniel Weare, Esq., and was born in Newbury November 15, 1660, and died in 1247, aged eighty- seven years. He was one of the signers of Weare's petition. He was one of the selectmen in 1691 and representative in 1216, and until the separation of Hampton Falls in 1718, when he was chosen as their representative as long as he wished to go. The people of Hampton Falls had unlimited confidence in him and elected him to any office he desired. He was generally the presid- ing officer in their parish meetings. In 1698 he was appointed one of the council. How long he retained this office we are unable to say. He did not leave the board when his father resigned, at the time when Usher took his seat, January ?, 1699. He prob- ably held the office until Governor Shute arrived in 1716. He was a military man and rose to the rank of colonel, by which title he was generally known. He was one of the first members of the church at Hampton Falls in 1711, and headed the petition for the incorporation of the parish in 1218. He married, January 6, 1692, Elizebeth Wilson of Exeter.
His children were as follows:
PETER, born December 12, 1698.
SUSANNA, born August 1. 1202: married Capt. Nathaniel Healy. NATHANIEL, Capt., born in 170%.
EBENEAZER, born March 4, 1:08; married Prudence Locke. STEPHEN, born in 1210.
Poter. Wax
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HISTORY OF HAMPTON FALLS.
NATHANIEL WEARE, 2D.
Nathaniel Weare, 2d, was a son of Nathaniel Weare, 1st, and was born in August, 1669. He was representative in 1696. He was selectman in 1714 and 1:15 and speaker of the house of repre- sentatives in 1227, and for many years a judge of the superior court. November 9, 1690, he married Huldah, daughter of John Hussey, who was born July 16, 1670, and died in 1:02. He died March 26, 1:55.
His children were as follows:
DANIEL, born September 12, 1693; married, first, Hannah Green; second, Mary Bradstreet.
PETER, born January 16, 1695: married Mary Felt.
JOHN, born September 12, 1696; married Abigail Taylor.
HANNAHI, born January 12, 1699; married - Allen.
HULDAH, born January 16, 1:02; married Isaac Green.
August 24, 1703, he married Mary Wait, and their children were as follows:
MARY, born March 22, 1704; married Jere. Brown.
NATHAN, born September 22, 1705; died June 17, 1725.
MERCY, born March 22, 1:08.
SARAH, born July 5, 1209; married Jonathan Dow.
ELESEBETH, born September 11, 1711; married Joseph Tilton,
MESHECH, born June 16, 1713; president of New Hampshire. ABIGAIL, born March 17, 1:16; married Col. Abraham Drake. MEHETABLE, born December 18, 1720; married Caleb Sanborn.
His will was dated February 26, 1754, and proved April 24, 1753. He named in his will the above children except Nathan and Mary, and also speaks of his daughter. Abigail Weare, and her children, Weare and Abigail Drake.
Hatte Doarofun
MESHECH WEARE.
BY EZRA S. STEARNS.
Meshech Weare was born in Hampton Falls, June 16, 1713. For several years, and until the state demanded and freely re-
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BIOGRAPHIICAL SKETCHES.
ceived his undivided service, he was much employed in town affairs. Between 1245 and 115 he served twenty years in the provincial house of representatives, and was three years speaker of the house. From 124 to 1226 he was a justice of the superior court of judi- cature, and during the ensuing six years he was the chief justice of that court. As early as 1155 he was a colonel. and for some years was the commandant, of the Third Regiment of the provincial militia. Beginning with the Revolution he was a delegate in the five provincial congresses, and when the rebellion advanced to rev- olution he was eight and one half years the president of the council and the chairman of the committee of safety. To complete the measure of a most remarkable career, under the constitution of 1184 he was unanimously elected the first governor of New Hamp- shire. In feeble health he performed the duties of this exalted office, and died January 14, 1286, about seven months after the completion of a prolonged and illustrious service.
Several numbers of the "New Hampshire Register." a few local histories, the biographical encyclopedias, and editorial notes ap- pended to historical publications present brief sketches of Meshech Weare. These are all in substantially the same language, and the most pretentious is limited to less than a half page of ordinary print. The Plumer Biographies, Volume V. of the Collections of the New Hampshire Historical Society in an article by Paine Wingate, and "Bench and Bar" by Governor Bell, contain articles scarcely more extended, and none exceeding three pages in length. The only available material for a more extended account of the labors of this eminent man is preserved in the original records of his time.
I. Nathaniel Weare, the emigrant ancestor of a distinguished family, settled in Newbury, Massachusetts, as early as 1638. He was a proprietor of Newbury, and for twenty years his name is fre- quently mentioned in the records. In 1659 he removed to Nan- tucket, where he died March 1, 1680-81.
II. Nathaniel Weare, son of Nathaniel the emigrant. was born in England, 1631. He married, December 3. 1656. Elizabeth Swain, a daughter of Richard Swain, then of Rowley. Massachu- setts, and later of Hampton. New Hampshire. He lived a few years in Newbury, and there his son Peter was born. In 1262 he re- moved to Hampton. His homestead, by divisions of the ancient town, for many years was a part of Hampton Falls, and more
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HISTORY OF HAMPTON FALLS.
recently a part of Seabrook. He was frequently employed in pub- lic affairs, and was a prominent character in the contentions and controversies of his time. Twice he visited England, and boldly asserted the cause of the people before the king. He was a rep- resentative in the assembly convening in 1685, and again in 1696, and a member of the council with little interruption from 1692 to 1715. In April, 1694, he was appointed chief justice of the supe- rior court of judicature, succeeding Judge Martyn, and presided in that conrt until 1696, when he was succeeded by Judge Smith. He died May 13, 1718, aged 87 years.
III. Nathaniel Weare, son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Swain) Weare, was born in Hampton, August 29, 1663, and died March 26, 1755. He was a representative in the assembly which convened December 13, 1721, and was elected speaker. This assembly was dissolved the 27th day of the ensuing March, and a newly elected assembly convened April 9 of the same year. He was again a member, and again elected speaker, of the assembly. This elec- tion of speaker was set aside by Lieutenant-Governor John Went- worth, and the house was directed to proceed in another election. The house firmly denied the authority of the governor to veto its election of a speaker, and an animated controversy ensued, which was finally ended by the voluntary resignation of Mr. Weare.
The assembly reluctantly accepted the resignation, and adopted resolutions expressing their regard and respect for their chosen speaker. He remained a member of the assembly until its dissolu- tion, December 3, 1730. He was a member of the succeeding assembly, which continued from February 3, 1:30-31, until May 18, 1732, and also of the assembly which convened March 8, 1:36- 37, and was dissolved November 17, 1238.
Beginning with 1730, he was eight years a justice of the superior court of judicature. He married, November 19, 1692. Huldah Hussey, who died leaving five children; and he married, second, August 24, 1203, Mary Wait, who became the mother of nine chil- dren. Of these fourteen children of Nathaniel Weare. Meshech Weare was the eleventh child and the youngest son.
Peter Weare, another son of Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Swain) Weare, born in Newbury, November 15, 1660, was two years of age when the family removed to Hampton. He was a representa- tive in the assembly from April 20, 1115, to November 27. 1727; and from July 2, 1722, to November 21, 112:, he was speaker of the house. He was again a member of the assembly from January
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GOV. WEARE MANSION .- BUILT IN 1735. Washington remained over night in this house in 1775, the guest of Guvernor Weare
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
1 to October 22, 1134. In 1226 he was appointed a justice of the superior court of judicature, and was continued on the bench about four years. During the brief administration of Governor Allen he was a member of the council, in 1698, but he was not included in the succeeding administration of the Earl of Bellamont.
Unaided by the favors of a royal government, which a more sub- missive spirit would have secured, this family arose to eminence through the force of intellect and character. The record is inspir- ing. Nathaniel Weare, his sons Peter and Nathaniel, and his grandson Meshech. were members of the provincial assembly; three of them were speakers of the house, and two were members of the council. All were justices of the superior court of judicature, and two were chief justices of that court. In addition to these distinguished honors, like the gentry of Kentucky the Weares were all colonels. It is safe to assert that Meshech Weare was of a dis- tinguished lineage.
Of the early life of Meshech Weare nothing has been written, and little is known. He was graduated at Harvard University, 1:35. with a good reputation for scholarship and deportment. The ensuing three years were devoted to the study of theology, and during some portion of this time he was called to officiate as a preacher in the neighboring churches. In 1138 he married a lady of many attractions and an equal number of acres. In the care of a family and of a farm of ample proportions he was peace- fully and agreeably employed, until by progressive stages and fre- quent promotions he was fully occupied in the affairs of state. In 1439, at the age of twenty-six years, he was chosen by his towns- men the moderator of a town meeting. This was not in itself a remarkable event. but in the life of Meshech Weare it was the first of a series of accumulating honors and faithful service. In 1:40, and in many succeeding years, he was one of the selectmen of Hampton Falls. The records continue to assert his frequent em- ployment in town affairs and to bear his name upon important committees and other positions of trust. until. in the troublous times of the Revolution, the state demanded and received his undi- vided time and efforts. His last service in town affairs was in June, 1:25, when he was called to preside over a town meeting. These glints of his home life testify at once to the ability and in- dustry of the man and the unlimited confidence of his townsmen.
When considered in connection with the characteristics of Mr.
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HISTORY OF HAMPTON FALLS.
Weare. the following brief extracts from the records of Hampton Falls have a peculiar significance:
Taken up. by Meshech Weare of Hampton Falls, a stray steer com- ing in four years old. being a brindled steer with a white face and white belly. his two hind feet white above the hoofs and has a brindled spot by each eye and is marked with a crop of the right ear and a notch in the end of the same, which is cropped.
MESHECH WEARE.
HAMPTON FALLS. December ve 4th 1752.
Here we find him performing the simplest offices of the good citizen with the same conscientious care and painstaking industry with which, in later times, through seasons of gloom and difficulty, he directed with steady hand the affairs of state. And again, in the midst of his supremest trial, his industry and the variety of his employments are happily reflected in the records,-
Jonathan Green and Abigail Perkins, both of Kensington in the county of Rockingham and state of New Hampshire, were joined in holy Matrimony the 21st Day of October, 1778.
By me, MESHECH WEARE, Jus. of Peace.
The following day he was again at Exeter, and there gave an order to Colonel Folsom to deliver to the receiver-general $150,000, which had recently been received from Philadelphia.
Meshech Weare was endowed with a measure of ability. en- larged by a liberal education, that fitted him for any publie station. Manifesting a degree of integrity that easily won the confidence of his fellowmen, and early acquiring a habit of industry that sought new conquests, he could not long confine his labor to the narrow limits of his native town.
In January, 1:44-45, and before he had completed his thirty- second year, he was elected a representative to the assembly or house of representatives. At this date the assembly consisted of twenty members. The towns of Portsmouth. Hampton (inelnd- ing Hampton Falls), and Dover were permitted to send three mem- bers each, Exeter, two. and Newcastle, Rye, Newmarket, Greenland, Stratham, Newington, Durham, Kingston, and Londonderry, one each.
From and after the act generally known as the "Triennial Act of April 22. 1128." the assembly was convened for the term of three years. unless sooner dissolved by the royal governor. In this instance it was dissolved in the following May, and a writ was
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
immediately issued for the election of a new assembly, which con- vened June 5 of the same year. This assembly was dissolved June 4. 1:48, and a new assembly convened January 3, 1748-49, which was continued until January 4, 1252. During these seven years Mr. Weare was continued a member, and among associates of great ability he occupied a prominent position and received frequent and honorable mention in the records.
The story of his life, even it feebly told, is never monotonous. His accumulating honors and rapid advancement through succes- sive promotions are continually renewed in the annals of his time. Incident follows incident, and honor succeeds honor, with a rapidity that crowds the written page with the record of his successes and achievements.
The succeeding assembly convened September 19, 1752, and was dissolved September 18, 1255. In this assembly he was a member, and in the organization of the house he was elected speaker. At this time five additional members were admitted-one each from the towns of South Hampton, Chester, and Plaistow, one from the district of Salem and Pelham, and one from the district of Dun- stable and Merrimack.
Of the two succeeding assemblies, beginning October 23, 1755, and ending November 3, 1761, he was not a member. The town of Hampton Falls was represented by Josiah Batchelder in the first and by Richard Nason in the second assembly. His absence from the board of lawmakers was not long continued.
Of the next assembly, convening January 19, 1762, he was again a member. Henry Sherburne, who had been the speaker during the preceding six years, was continued in that office. This assem- bly-one of the shortest in the history of the province-was ab- ruptly dissolved February 4. It is difficult, at this remote period, to discover the cause of the governor's displeasure. In a sudden fit of dissatisfaction he arbitrarily dissolved an assembly that had scarcely completed an organization. The people, to whom he ap- pealed in a new election, firmly sustained their chosen repre- sentatives. All the members who had been suddenly dismissed through the caprice of a royal governor were again elected through the consistent and steadfast adherence of the people, and again appeared before the governor in an assembly which convened March 10, 1262. and was dissolved March 8. 1265. He was also elected to the succeeding assembly, which convened May 21, 1265.
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HISTORY OF HAMPTON FALLS.
At this time only a member of the assembly was eligible to the office of clerk. Andrew Clarkson, for ten years the clerk of the assembly, having died, Mr. Weare was elected his successor Novem- ber 21, 1765. With the exception of three years he was clerk, and the records are transcribed in his hand until 1:15, when the royal government was dissolved, and on the ruins of a province was founded a state. Of the assembly convening May 17, 1:68, and ending April 13, 1:1, he was an active member. In the succeed- ing assembly, continuing three years, the town of Hampton Falls was represented by Jonathan Tilton, but Mr. Weare was elected to the assembly of historie interest which convened April 2. 1714.
In opposition to the known wishes of Governor John Wentworth, this assembly chose a committee to correspond with like committees of the other provinces. After refusing to reconsider this action, the governor dissolved the assembly June 8, 1:14. The members who composed this assembly subsequently met in an informal con- vention and issued a call for the choice of delegates to convene at Exeter in July. They also recommended a day of fasting and prayer, which, says Dr. Belknap, was observed with religious solemnity.
In the midst of the stirring events of the spring of 1115, Gov- ernor Wentworth issued a writ for the election of a new assembly, which convened on the 4th day of May. The sessions were poorly attended. Mr. Weare first appeared in the house on the 12th day of June, and qualified as clerk on the following day. The records clearly foretell the approaching Revolution. The contest for free- dom was here begun .- by the assembly for the people and the royal governor for the throne. Failing to secure the desired legis- lation and to end an increasing contention, the governor prorogued the assembly from July 18 to September 28. The assembly never reconvened. The service of Mr. Weare under the insignia of a king is here ended. His future efforts are in behalf of a free and independent state. It is over thirty years from his earliest to his latest service in the provincial legislature. During this period he was elected to the assembly ten times, and faithfully represented his townsmen over twenty years, of which he was nearly seven years a clerk, and three years a speaker, of the house.
At the suggestion of the Lords of Trade, in the form of volumin- ous letters sent to the several American colonies, a convention com- prising twenty-three delegates, representing New Hampshire, Mas-
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
sachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, was held at Albany, in the summer of 1754. The delegates assembled June 19, and remained in conference until July 11, discussing plans for the greater security of the colonies and the maintenance of a firmer friendship with the Indians. All the proceedings, and even the interviews with representative Indians, were conducted with decorum, and are reported at length in Documents Colonial History of New York, Vol. VI.
In this conference, or congress as it was called, New Hampshire was represented by four delegates. The council selected Theodore Atkinson and Richard Wibird, and the house chose Meshech Weare and Henry Sherburne, and, in order to remove all barriers to their attendance, the council and assembly were prorogued from May 8 to July 16. Mr. Weare and his associates from New Hampshire were in constant attendance, and made an early report of the pro- ceedings to the council and assembly.
In the present use of the term Mr. Weare was not a lawyer, and according to the usages of his time he was eligible to the bench. Members of the legal profession were seldom called to a judicial office until an opposite practice became quite general early in the present century. In 1:47 he was appointed a justice of the supe- rior court of judicature, and was continued in that office until 1726, when he was promoted to chief justice of that court. On account of advancing age and increasing infirmities, he resigned June 9, 1182, after a faithful and efficient service of thirty-five years. His resignation was accepted by the legislature with expressions of regret, and the house of representatives signalized the solemnity of the proceeding in the following terms:
WHEREAS the Honble Meshech Weare. Esqr. Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Judicature of this State, hath signified to this House that. by reason of his advaneed age & bodily infirmities, he is unable any longer to perform the duties of that office & hath accordingly pre- sented his resignation thereof to this House-It is therefore
Resolred: That the Speaker, in the name of the House of Repre- sentatives, make Known to the said Meshech Weare, Esqr. that it is with regret they find themselves obliged to accept of his resignation on account of his want of health still to perform the great and important duties of the office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Judicature for said state, &, at the same time, desire to have expressed the high sense which they entertain of the uprightness & integrity of his con- duct and of his due administration of Justice in his saïd office. during his long continuance therein: And Return him there most sincere & united thanks for his past services.
14
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HISTORY OF HAMPTON FALLS.
The appointment of a committee of correspondence, May 28, 1774, by the provincial house of representatives and in direct oppo- sition to the wishes of Governor Wentworth, was the first act in the legislative history of the Revolution. The succeeding con- gresses, and later the stated sessions of the legislature to the pres- ent time, are a connected series of events, and are a continued se- quence of the initial action of this committee. The assembly hav- ing been dissolved, there was no legal organization existing. Imme- diately the committee bridged the chasm. They called together the members of the late assembly, and that body issued letters to the several towns inviting them to send delegates to the first pro- vincial congress, which convened at Exeter in July, 1774. These assembled delegates, clothed with the authority of an election by the people for a specific purpose, appointed John Sullivan and Nathaniel Folsom delegates to a general congress of the provinces. John Wentworth, of Somersworth, Meshech Weare, and Josiah Bartlett were chosen to instruct the delegates.
The second congress or convention, comprising one hundred and forty-four delegates, assembled at Exeter, January 25, 1775. At this session, a committee to call a succeeding congress, and a com- mittee of correspondence were chosen. Mr. Weare was a member of both committees.
The third congress assembled at Exeter, April 21, 1775. John Wentworth of Somersworth, who had been president of the two pre- ceding congresses, was again chosen to preside, and during his ab- sence Mr. Weare was chosen temporary chairman.
The fourth provincial congress assembled at Exeter, May 17, 1775. The last provincial assembly, it has been stated, convened at Portsmouth the fourth day of the same month. Mr. Weare and several other recognized patriots were members of both bodies. He met with the infant government at Exeter the 2d day of June, and with the expiring administration at Portsmouth the twelfth and thirteenth days of the same month. The attendance roll of the congress from June 10 to July 7 is not found in the state archives, but the journals prove his presence at Exeter, July 5, 6, and 7, and during these three days, in the absence of President Thornton, he was president pro tempore. The congress having adjourned from July ? to August 22, he was again in the assembly at Portsmouth, July 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 18, and when the con- gress reassembled at Exeter he remained in that body until it was
STATE OF NIW - HAMPSHIRE.
PROCLAMATION
FOR À ER AL Thankfgiving THROUGHOUT THIS STATE.
A T the commencement of the year we bowed our knee to the Supremes · Ruler of the Univerfe, with Fafting, Hunflistioo anes Prater, humbly imploring the Gniles of his indulgent Providence through the courfe of the fucelive fusions. his hi fine on our civil and feedler ance . and i'. guardian care of the important interests ( this new campi .. It is our indifpenfible duty io retten, "! !!: chofe of the year, and give Pod the praife of the rich profidi,o ef bletrys with which we .. . perunded, . . 1 bear witness to his characier as . Prever-heading GOD
I DO THEREFORE, with Nice of COUNCH., .d areabl, to _ vuse of the GENERAL-COURT, ifhe this PROCLAMATION, hereby appoi'm The " Y l'e Second Day of DREVBER ney, or be a Day of PUBER. THANKSGIVING MYPhone this State ; and Miniflers and People of every deno mination are exported w affemble and devote a realonable part of faid day to public Worthit, that all ana. with one heart and one . celebrate the praties of their Sayer and Allownull Benefactor ; that he has und over our unworthin f., and against the first of all our ingratitude bath crowned he was with a mont happy leaton for perfecting and securing the laver Harv ft, and frites is the wishing of Peace with that of Plenty, to replace the expenditure, of a tedious war ; that he has fo tar Succeeded our Trade and Commerce, and been the health of his people's countenance al their God ; th ... he ha. wip.d off all irk of former fo jection from this State, by oftebli'- ing a new Conflitution of Government, in which our Libertic. nel and facred are amply fe- cared ; that he has continued the lives of our Amboff dont at forcion Court, and is giving us honour and reljet .bility with the nations of the earth --- Above all, that he i: contin' - tons the exalted privil ges of the glorious Gospel which are able to make wife to falvation, and fe- cure to the humbL bel'ever a glori, s citizenfhip when State and I'mpires Grill be no more.
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