USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Keene > History of the town of Keene, from 1732, when the township was granted by Massachusetts, to 1874, when it became a city > Part 9
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1 Sergt. Thomas Taylor was of Deerfield, and married Thankful, sister of John Hawks and aunt of Mrs. David Nims. He was afterwards with Capt. Isaac Wyman at Fort Massachusetts.
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
passed the upper end of Merry's meadow, in what is now Hinsdale, some of the horses showed restiveness, as they usually did when Indians were near. It was afterwards learned that Raimbault and some Indians lay concealed within a few yards of that spot, but Raimbault restrained the savages, telling them that a much larger force would soon appear.
The next morning, Thursday, July 14, Sergt. Taylor, with his ten recruits and his six other soldiers, started from Northfield for Upper Ashuelot by the same route, the trav- elled path being on the east side of the river, via Fort Hinsdell to Dummer. He had heard the report that Indians were in the vicinity, and remembered the fate of the four- teen soldiers, mostly from his own company, only a month before. He therefore marched with advanced guards on each side of the path. He had passed Merry's meadow and was near the ford of the Connecticut and close upon its bank, when his right flank was attacked by concealed Indians. His men returned the fire, but Taylor reported that "Not less than 100 guns were fired before we could reload;" and they saw the whole line of their foes, front, flank and rear, closing in upon them.
As prisoners paid better than scalps, the enemy tried to induce Taylor and his men to surrender, but they fled to the bank of the river, where they continued the fight and did some execution. Two of the Indians were killed and several wounded. Two of Taylor's men were killed, and himself and ten others were taken prisoners. Four escaped, two across the river to Fort Dummer, and two to Hins- dale's fort. Two of the captured were wounded, and were killed and scalped about a mile from the place of the fight. The remaining nine prisoners were conducted up the east side of the river a few miles, to a place called "Catsbane" -in what is now Chesterfield-where they crossed the Connecticut and followed up West river over the spot of Melvin's disaster, thence across the mountains to Otter creek and down that stream to Crown Point, and thence to Canada; making on an average twenty miles a day. Sergt. Taylor returned from captivity to his post at Upper Ash- uelot on the 30th of September. Daniel Farmer, another
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THE OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
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of the captured, had been wounded on the same spot in the fight of the 16th of June, had recovered, and was return- ing to duty in the squad of ten recruits; and five others of the Ashuelot company, Jonathan Lawrence, Daniel How, Jr., John Edgehill, Reuben Walker, John Henry, and two other men, all returned to duty. Daniel How, Jr., had been captured once before.
John Henry in his petition to the general court of Massachusetts for relief said: "Your petitioner had seven bullets through his clothes, but escaped into a thicket; when happening to see an Indian seize one of his fellow soldiers he ran up within a few feet of the Indian and shot him through the body; whereupon he was sur- rounded, and engaged the savages with his gun clubbed until it was broken in pieces, when he was taken and carried to Canada, where he remained two months and eighteen days, when he returned home." For killing the Indian he was barbarously treated, both on the march and while in captivity.
All the prisoners were sold to the French, who held them till the last of September, when there was a cessation of hos- tilities and they were allowed to return home. Sergt. Tay- lor also petitioned the general court for relief, and it was:
"Ordered, £100 be granted and paid to ye petitioner, to be equally divided between him and ye survivors; and ye further sum of 50 shillings be allowed ye petitioner for his bravery in ye action; also that he be allowed £7 for his expenses in travelling to Boston and attendance on ye Court; also that 26 shillings and 3 pence be allowed John Henry for his expenses, and 24 shillings to Daniel How jr for his expenses in this affair." Henry was of Concord, Mass. How and Henry went to Boston as witnesses.
This fight took place less than a mile below Fort Dummer, and upon the discharge of the first volley the "great gun" of the fort was fired, and expresses were sent to the more distant posts. Col. Williams immediately sent up a strong force from Hatfield, Deerfield and North- field under Capt. Phineas Stevens, who happened to be at Deerfield at that time. With 129 men, he followed the enemy for several days, but could not overtake them in their rapid retreat of twenty miles a day.
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
Upon the urgent solicitations of commanding officers and others in the Connecticut valley, the governor of Massachusetts issued orders on the 18th of July to raise a sufficient force out of the militia for the protection of the frontiers.
We may well tender our grateful acknowledgments to old Massachusetts for all she did for the protection of this corner of New Hampshire during those perilous times. Not only did that province grant aid, but, in the poverty of the public treasury and delays in collecting taxes, private individuals and commanding and staff officers advanced large sums to defray public expenses, to be reim- bursed later. At one time, Col. Williams, chief commissary of the frontier, had advanced 6,000 pounds and Col. Josiah Willard, subcommissary and commander at Fort Dummer, 10,000 pounds, of their own funds and what they could borrow on their own responsibility. They were reimbursed by the provincial government of Massachusetts.
New Hampshire had kept troops in the field and gar- risons in the forts in the central and eastern parts of the province through the season of 1748. Capt. John Goffe, with two lieutenants, commanded two companies of scouts, one of thirty-two, the other of fifty-four men; Capt. Job Coleman one of forty-five men; and Capt. Moses Foster one of twenty-six men; but none were sent into the Con- necticut valley. The battles of these towns had been fought by Massachusetts troops and the citizens themselves, at No. 4 and about Fort Dummer.
All through that season of 1748, while young Capt. Josiah Willard was here with his company, the charred and blackened remains of the meetinghouse and the thirty-one log cabins that had been the peaceful homes of the settlers prior to the war must have made the place a scene of des -. olation and sad recollections, particularly to those soldiers, inhabitants of the town, who had enlisted in the company and remained to aid in guarding their property and main- taining their rights.
Under date of August 19, 1748, Galissoniere reports that he has "ordered all hostilities to cease, and, so far as depends on him, will put a stop to all hostilities on
95
THE OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
the part of our Indians." It was under this order that Sergt. Taylor and his men, and many others, were re- leased.
A treaty of peace between England and France was signed at Aix La Chapelle, in October, but it was not pro- claimed at Boston till the spring following, and on the frontiers not till still later; and the Indians continued to make occasional raids. On the 20th of June, 1749, they appeared again at No. 4, shot Ensign Obadiah Sartwell and captured Enos Stevens, a young son of Capt. Phineas. The lad was taken to Canada, but was soon released by the French commander and sent back by the way of Albany, reaching No. 4 in September. That was the last raid of the savages in the Connecticut valley for several years.
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CHAPTER III. THE RETURN OF THE SETTLERS AND THE NEW HAMPSHIRE CHARTER. 1749-1754.
Massachusetts discharged most of her troops, but in the unsettled state of affairs left a small force at Fort Dummer and another at No. 4 for the protection of the frontier; and "Capt. John Catlin of Deerfield had a com- pany of 56 men, raised from the Middlesex and Worcester regiments, mustered July 13 (1749), discharged Oct. 12. This company was billeted one half the time at Northfield and one half the time at Keene. The allowance for billet- ing per man per week at Northfield was 8 shillings, at Keene, 10 shillings 7 pence 3 farthings, new tenor." (Mas- sachusetts Archives.)
This record from the Massachusetts Archives makes it evident that some of the proprietors had returned to Up- per Ashuelot in the spring or early summer of 1749, with their families, for soldiers could not be "billeted " without inhabitants upon whom to billet them. (John Kilburn, the first settler of Walpole, came there in 1749, which shows that the advance of pioneers had been resumed.) And this evidence is corroborated by the following documents copied from the New Hampshire State Papers, where twenty "In- habitants of the upper Ashuelot"-and of "the Upper Township on Ashuelot River where we Dwell"-signed petitions dated here on the 11th of Feb., 1750, showing that they spent the winter of 1749-50 here; and to do that they must have been here in the summer of 1749 to rebuild the cabins in which to dwell:
"We whose Names are Hereunto Subscribed Inhabitants of the upper Ashuelot for a Long time Labour under many Great Difficulties for want of Town Priviledges we Do Therefore Hereby Constitute and Impower our Trusty friend Capt Jeremiah Hall to Represent our Difficulties to his Excellency the Governor of New Hampshire and to Any
HRATON HOUSE. BUILT ABOUT 1780. OLDEST HOUSE IN TOWN. NOW 500 MARLBORO STREET.
97
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE CHARTER.
Others Concerned In that affair that we may be Incorpor- ated Into a Town and Likewise we give power to him to Chuse a man to asist him In the affaires. "Upper Ashuelot February ye 11th 1750.
" William Smeed Jonathan Underwood Michael medcalf jr
Ebenezer Nims John Rogers Oliver Medcalf
David Nims Nathan Blake Abijah medcalf
Ephraim Dorman Ebenezer Day Jabez Hill
Nathan Fairbanks Gideon Ellis
David Foster
Joseph Elles Michaell Medcalf Amos Foster."
"We the Subscribers Do hereby Impower Capt Jeremiah Hall to Pertition In our behalf for the Upper Township on Ashuelot River where we Dwell to his Excellency the Gov- ernour of New Hampshire and all Concern'd in that affair In the same form that it was laid by the Massachusetts "Upper Ashuelot Febry 11th 1750
"William Smeed Ebenezer Day David Foster
Ebenezer Nims
Gideon Ellis Oliver medcalf
David Nims
Michael Medcalf
Michael medcalf jr
Ephraim Dorman Jabez Hill
Abijah medcalf
Nathan Fairbanks Jonathan Underwood Samuel Hall
Joseph Elles John Rogers
Nathan Blake Elijah Dorman" Jesse Hall
"We whose Names are Hereunto Subscribed Being Propriators of the Upper Ashuelot Township so called Do hereby Impower M' Benjamin Guild to joyne with Capt Jeremiah Hall in Petetioning His Exelency the Govoner of the Province of New Hamshire He observing the Instruc- tions Given by others of the Propriators to the said Capt Hall
"Wrentham Febr 20th 1750.
"John Whiting Asa Richardson Abigail Guild
Daniel Haws Sarah Greene Robart Blak
Joseph Fisher Joseph Richardson Seth Heaton
Samuel Fisher Daniell maceene Elijah Blake
Benjamin Guild William Hancock
Josiah Fisher for
Obediah Blake Samuel Danils
the hares of
Ebenezer Daniels Esther Messenger
Aaron Fisher
Nathaniel Ware Jonathan Whiting
Nathan Bucknam
Hannah Dale
Jacob Bacon
Abner Ellis
Nath" Fairbnks." (State Papers, vol. 12, pages 307-9.)
But no notice of those petitions was taken by the authorities of New Hampshire. In their estimation, the little settlements in the southwestern corner of the prov- ince were too far away, and it would cost too much to
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
protect them if they were admitted to the body politic. So the little band of pioneers on the Ashuelot had to wait three years longer for recognition. Mr. Hale in his Annals, page 28, says :
"On the restoration of peace, the settlers who had been driven from their lands, by the war, made prepara- tions to return. The exact time when Upper Ashuelot was again occupied, has not been ascertained. It was, probably, some time in 1750; certainly as early as 1751; as it is within the recollection of Thomas Wells, now liv- ing, who came to reside here in 1752, that eight or ten dwelling houses had then been erected."
But Mr. Hale, writing merely the "Annals of Keene," evidently did not deem it necessary to examine thoroughly the archives of Massachusetts or the records of the province of New Hampshire, and did not discover the above data, which prove clearly that some of the settlers had returned in 1749.
"Prov of Newhamshore
"To his Excellency Benning Wentworth Esq" Govor" &c In & over his Majestys Province of New hamphore
The petion of John Densmoor & Ruth his Wife Humbly Shews that Josiah Fisher of upper Ashaulott In the Prov- ince of New Hamshore decesed Late Husband of the said Ruth had In his Lifetime a Grant from the Massachusettets Government of one Whole Wright or Share In sd township & that In his Lifetime Bult an house & Cleard & In proved Near forty acres of Land In sd township & In the Begining of the War with ye Endins the sd Josiah Was Killed & the sd Ruth ye Wedow of the Decsd was left with out any Children by the decesd But she still Continued att ye said Ashualuett & In proved sd Lands tell ye Endins Drove of the In habitance of sd town & Sence the Sasition of arms the sd Ruth with hir Present Husband hath fenced & In Proved the sd Lands afore sd wharefore your Peti- tioners Humbly Pray that your Exellency Would be plesed to Grant to your Petioners the sd Lands afore sd upon the Condition that your Exellency grants to others ye Kings subjects In sd Province & your Petioners In duty Bound Shall Ever Pray - "Novm ye 8th 1750 John Dunsmoor Ruth Dunsmoor"
Hinsdale, Winchester, Westmoreland and Lower Ashue- lot were reoccupied about the same time with Upper Ashuelot, and settlements had been made, now soon to
.
99
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE CHARTER.
be revived, at Peterboro, Rindge and Hillsborough. No. 4 had been first settled in 1740, and like the other advanced settlements had been abandoned for a time from fear of the Indians; but peace restored its prosperity and in June, 1750, it had a population sufficient to organize a military company of its own citizens numbering twenty-nine officers and men. John Kilburn, at No. 3 (Walpole), was fol- lowed in 1752 by Col. Benjamin Bellows.
Migration flowed in all directions to the cheap and fertile lands which might now be occupied in safety. The population of New Hampshire, then about 30,000, in- creased rapidly. The governor and his friends encouraged immigration, for the business of granting townships was exceedingly profitable. In each case, the governor reserved a large tract of land to himself-usually 500 acres, as in the case of Keene-and he and his subordinates received remunerative fees.
The rich meadow lands on the upper Connecticut and its branches, about the present town of Haverhill, were also occupied by settlers about this time. But this aroused the jealousy of the St. Francis Indians and their allies, the Squawkheags, who still claimed ownership of those lands, rich in fish and game, which had been the hunting ground of their fathers. The whites persisted, and the Indians retaliated by committing some outrages in the eastern and central parts of the province. But, with those exceptions, the Indians were peaceful for several years.
"The sketch here presented of Keene Village [page 101], as it was in 1750, has been drawn by the compiler from the recollection of descriptions of it given him by Thomas Wells, and other aged people, who resided here near that time and had heard people older than themselves talk about it. No building was then standing, and the sites of such only as are designated on the sketch have been precisely ascertained. There was a dwelling house on the road to Boston, near Beaver Brook. The well used by the family, who occupied it, was at the foot of the declivity South of it, near where now grows a large elm tree. It had a high curb, made of small round timber, like a cob house, with a platform leading to it from the top of the bank. When the alarm was given at the time of the attack by the In- dians, a man, whose name has not come down to us,
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
descended into this well, remained there two days, and then ascended, unharmed. When Keene was abandoned, it con- tained about forty dwelling houses in all.
"It may be worth while to put on record a few facts in regard to Main-street. Where the back part of the Cheshire House now stands, was once a bog, or quagmire which continued South to Church-street, and beyond it. About opposite the Railroad Station, but rather North of it, there was a considerable depression in the street; men now living remember walking erect under the causeway, the top of which was several feet below the present sur- face; and younger men than they remember when the water (Beaver Brook in a freshet overflowing its banks) was so deep, at this place, that boats were guided, and men swam, from one point on the street to another. On the West side of the street, just South of Gen. Wilson's garden, was a pond surrounded by alders, and after this period visited by wild ducks. A little South of this pond, in the middle of the street, was a conical hill, on which the third meeting- house was placed. And many men now living have most disagreeable recollections of the horrible travelling caused by the deep, adhesive mud which, in the spring of the year, covered many portions of Main-street, as well as of West- street and Court-street. But all the streets have become so dry that but little inconvenience is now felt in travelling, at the worst season of the year. This change has been effected, partly by deepening and clearing out the channels of the Ashuelot River and Beaver Brook, partly by agri- cultural drains throughout the valley, and partly by cart- ing on gravel, and thus raising and hardening the surface of the streets."
(Annals, pages 28-30.)
The map on the opposite page is printed from the original wood cut which was used in the publication of the Annals of Keene.
In March, 1751, Gov. Wentworth was again petitioned by Jeremiah Hall and Benjamin Guild "in behalf of them Selves and others Inhabitants Settlers and Proprietors of a certain Tract of land Called the upper Township on Ashuelot River," for a charter of incorporation; setting forth "that in the year 1737, in virtue of a Grant from the massachusets Government, a plantation was begun on said Tract of land-That in the year 1738 a minister was settled there and a meeting house built-That before the last Indian War with the Indians there were Thirty one
101
THE NEW HAMPSHIRE CHARTER.
TO SULLIVAN
CLAY · PITS
TO ASHSWAMP
FISHER KILLED .
CAUSEWAY
BEAVER BROOK
TO BEECH HILL
2
BLAKE! MRS. CLARK.
MO KENNDY
SWAMP
TORT
SKETCH of KEENE 1750
DORMAN
TO BOSTON
1. 2 , 8 , SITES OF MELTING HOUSE
1
TITH
ACHUELOT R.
102
HISTORY OF KEENE.
Dwelling houses built on said Tract of land Sundry barns and a Fort of near a hundred foot square having eighteen fire Rooms within said fort a Saw mill and Grist mill built-that the setlers and others who were preparing for setling there before the Indian War had made large Im- provements there and laid out their Substanc in doing the same-
"That in the Spring of ye year 1747-The Indians burnt down all the dwelling Houses there except four- also burnt down all the Barns but one also burnt down the meeting house and the Fort also much household Stuff and killed Considerable Cattle Horses Sheep and Swine That the sd Settlers and Proprietors are returned and returning on to the said Tract of land in order to cultivate and Improve the same and in case a peace Continues with the Indians in a few years there will be forty or fifty familys in case there was an Incorporation - Wherefore "March ye 4th 1750-1 Jeremiah Hall Benjamin Guild"
This petition met the same fate as the former ones, no notice being taken of it so far as the records show. Neither do we find any record of what was done here in the next two years. But we find the following in the New Hampshire State Papers, vol. 12, page 310:
"Upper Ashuelot Febu ye 2nd 1753
"We whose names are underwritten Do hereby Author- ize and Impower our Trusty Friend Mr Ephraim Dorman to Prefer a Petition to his Excellency the Governour of New Hampshire for a Township known by the Name of the Upper Ashuelot and to Pray his Excellency to Grant a Charter of this Land to the Inhabitants and others Con- cerned in said Lands and to Insert a Clause in said Petition Praying his Excellency that if it might be Consistent with his Pleasure he would Insert a Clause in his Charter where- by every man may be Intitled to those Lands which he Thought himself to be the Honest owner of he Paying the Charges that have arisen on said Lands to Prevent End- less Law-Suits and other Difficulties Impending over_us and to set forth in said Petition the Great Cost and Ex- pence we have been at in Building two Forts and Defend- ing the Kings Lands and the Great Losses we have Sus- tained by the Enemy as set forth in the Petition Lodged with Mr Atkinson Secretary and to take the Names Lodged with Mr Livermore and annex to said Petition
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THE NEW HAMPSHIRE CHARTER.
"Jeremiah Hall Samuel Reed Isaac Clark
William Barnes Benjamin Larrabee Nathan Blake
Ebenezer Daniels
David Foster Michael medcalfjr
Jabez Hill Benjamin Twitchell Joseph Elles
Timothy Harrington David Nims
Gideon Ellis
Daniel Twitchell Ebenezer Day
Eleazer Sanger
Amos Foster
William Smeed
Titus Belding
Ebenezer Nims
From the statement above made, and from the list of grantees, it is evident that the original petition, with a larger number of names, had been "Lodged with Mr. Atkinson Secretary" of the province; also that there was an order of the citizens appointing and authorizing Benja- min Bellows to go to Portsmouth as their agent, with Mr. Dorman, to procure the charter, but neither of those papers can now be found.
"At a Council holden at Portsmouth by his Excelencys orders, on Wednesday April 11th 1753. Present
Samuel Solley
Richard Wibird
"Theodore Atkinson) Esqrs Daniel Warner / Esqrs
"The Secretary by his Excelencys order laid before the Board the petition of Benja Bellows in behalf of & as im- power'd by the claimers & settlers of that tract of land called & known by the name of the upper Ashuelot pray- ing that as they had settled the said tract of land by virtue of a grant from the Massachusetts Government before the line of Government was run and continued there till drove of by the Indian War &c and that a grant may be made so as not to break in upon their former surveys & laying out but to those persons that claim the same & have made improvements thereon &c and then asked the Council wheither they would advise his Excelency to make the said grant agreable to the said request-To which they did unanimously consent & advise."
(Prov. Papers, vol. 6, page 21.)
Claiming the right to name the town, the governor named it Keene. In his business as merchant at Ports- mouth, previous to his appointment as governor, Mr. Wentworth had contracted with an agent of the court of Spain to supply that government with a large quantity of oak timber. To meet the expense involved he borrowed money in London. When he delivered the timber at Cadiz the agent with whom he had made the contract was out
·
Jonah French."
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HISTORY OF KEENE.
of office and the new agent declined to pay. On his voyage home his ship foundered and he was saved with the crew in a boat, to find himself bankrupt. Afterwards he made another voyage to Spain and claimed payment for his timber. Sir Benjamin Keene was then the English minister to Spain, and he used his influence to aid Mr. Wentworth, who, though unsuccessful in his suit, formed a warm friendship for Sir Benjamin, and his gratitude, and his admiration for the man, led him to name this town in his honor. (See sketch of Sir Benjamin Keene.)
The charter covered the same tract granted by Massa- chusetts with the addition of a narrow strip on the east side extending to the "Patent Line"-the west line of the Mason grant of 1629, a curve which formed the original west lines of Fitzwilliam, Packersfield, Stoddard; the east lines of Richmond, Keene, Gilsum, Newport, Croydon, and so on through the state ;- thus ratifying the Massachu- setts grant and confirming the proprietors in the possession of their lands. The town then contained 39.45 square miles, or 25,248 acres.
CHARTER OF KEENE, 1753.
The following is the record of the charter of Keene found in the Book of Charters, pages 149-152:
P-S-
Province of New Hampr
George the Second by the Grace of God of Great Brittain France & Ireland King De- fender of the faith &ca
To all Persons to whom these Presents Shall come Greeting
Keene Whereas Sundry of our Loveing Subjects before the Settlement of the Dividing Line of our Province of New Hampshire aforesaid and our Other Government of the Massachusetts. Bay had by Permission of our Said Gov- ernment of the Massachusetts Bay begun A Settlement of A Tract of Land on Ashuelot River so Called and made Sundry Divisions of & Improvements upon the Said Tract of Land And there remain'd till the Indian Warr forced them off and our Said Subjects being Desireous to make an Immediate Settlement on the Premisses & haveing Peti- tioned our Governour in Council for his Majestys Grant of the Premisses to be so made as might not subvert & Dis- troy their former Surveys & Laying out in severalty made thereon as aforesaid Now Know Ye that we of our Especial
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