USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Peterborough > History of the town of Peterborough, Hillsborough county, New Hampshire > Part 4
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* For the following in relation to the boundary of the State derived from the Massachusetts collection, Palfrey's "New England," and Belknap's and Sanborn's " New Hampshire," I am indebted to N. H. Morison, LL. D., of Baltimore, Md.
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SETTLEMENT.
decision, who passed it over to the lords of trade. They re- ferred it to twenty commissioners, to be taken from four other colonies not interested ; viz., Nova Scotia, Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey, who met at Hampton August 1, 1737. Meantime, Massachusetts perceived that she was playing a losing game, and hastened to assert her authority by laying out numerous towns in the disputed territory before the de- cision should be made. She would thus secure much land to her own people. Among the grants thus hurried through at this time were nine townships, called Canada towns, because granted to Massachusetts towns for service rendered in the expedition to Quebec in 1690, six of which towns were in New Hampshire; among them was Rindge granted to Rowley, and Lyndeborough granted to Salem. We have not traced the other four. She at the same time granted seven town- ships to the officers and soldiers who served in the Indian war of 1675, called King Philip's war. Among these last were Amherst, then called Souhegan West, and Merrimack, called Souhegan East. Under spur of the same feeling, she now listened favorably to the petitioners, who, since 1722, accord- ing to their own account, had sought in vain for a township of land on which to settle, and granted their request without further delay.
The commissioners which met at Hampton, Aug. 1, 1737, agreed upon the northern, which is really the eastern, boun- dary of the State, admitting in full the New Hampshire claim, and greatly enlarging the province on that side; but they referred the southern boundary back to the king for decision. In 1740, the king in council confirmed the northern boundary as fixed by the commissioners, and decided that the south- ern boundary should run three miles north of and par- allel to the Merrimack to a point north of Pawtucket Falls when the river turns north, and from that point should run due west. That is, like sensible men, they decided to execute the charter, so far as it could be executed, by following the north bank of the river; and when the river turned so as to have no north bank, they took a straight line. Had the river turned to the south, they said, instead of the north.
.
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HISTORY OF PETERBOROUGH.
Massachusetts would have justly complained of a loss of ter- ritory by following the stream, and the same rule ought to hold now that the stream is found to come from the north. The course of the stream from Lowell to Newburyport is considerable north of east; so that by following the stream up three miles from its bank, the point from which the line was to run due west was carried fourteen miles south of the starting point claimed by New Hampshire at the mouth of the stream. This in fact gave to New Hampshire a strip of land fourteen miles wide, extending from the Merrimack to the Connecticut (fifty miles), and containing twenty-eight townships, more than she had ever claimed! In 1741, the new line was run by New Hampshire surveyors, Massachu- setts refusing to take any part in it. This decision of the Privy Council transferred a large part, if not the whole town, of Peterborough from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts to that of New Hampshire. Had the line been run as New Hampshire claimed it should be, due west from a point three miles north of the middle of the Merrimack at its mouth, the State line must have passed through or near the northern part of the town.
This dispute about boundaries, the jealousy of Massachu- setts, and, it is said, the direct promptings of her magistrates, aroused John Tufton Mason, the heir of the Masons, to assert and finally to establish his claim to the proprietorship of the soil extending sixty miles from the sea, which claim had been illegally sold in 1691 to Samuel Allen; and he offered to sell his claim to the province, through Tomlinson, the New Hampshire agent in London, for £1,000; but the long and bitter dispute with Massachusetts, the Indian war of 1744, and the expedition to Louisburg, in which Mason took part, so engrossed the attention of the province, that this offer was not accepted till it was too late. Wearied out by the long delay, Mason sold his claim, in 1746, to twelve proprietors of New Hampshire, men living in Portsmouth, for £1,500.
The property was conveyed by deed on the very day that the Assembly agreed to accept the proposition made to Tom- linson ; and this gave rise to an angry discussion between the
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SETTLEMENT.
government of the province and the new proprietors. This claim had always been an odious one to the settlers, seriously impairing the value of their land, and threatening some day to dispossess them of it entirely. To forestall the outcry which was sure to follow the purchase of this claim, the pro- prietors voluntarily and at once sent a quitclaim deed to all the towns that had been actually settled under a grant from . either Massachusetts or New Hampshire; and to the proprie- tors of townships which had been granted but not yet settled they were extremely liberal. Their claim had been divided into fifteen shares; and their settlements with the townships was uniformly made by reserving one portion of land for each of their fifteen shares and one for each of their two secreta- ries, making seventeen portions of land in each township re- served to themselves. In the case of Peterborough, each one of these portions contained two hundred acres, making the thirty-four hundred acres reserved on the East Mountain.
In these very years, in which no permanent occupation of Peterborough was made, from 1739 to 1749, there arose a still more serious obstacle to the success of the settlement, - the claims of the Masonian Proprietors. We know not how much this claim retarded the settlement, but probably a good deal. The lots offered for sale with a doubtful title could not be sold; and it is significant that immediately after the quit- claim deed of the Masonian Proprietors was made, in 1748, the settlement went on with great success. The following is a copy of the quitclaim of the Masonian Proprietors : -
PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
At a meeting of the Proprietors of the lands purchased of John Tufton Mason Esq, lying within the province of New Hampshire, held by adjournment at the dwelling-house of Sarah Priest widow in Portsmouth in said Province on Thursday the twenty-sixth day of January Anno Domini 1748.
Upon reading and considering the petition of John Hill & John Fowle Esqs to have a grant of the said Proprietors of their right in that tract of land called & known by the name of Peter- borough made to them and Jeremiah Gridley Esq and the heirs
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HISTORY OF PETERBOROUGH.
of John Vassall Esq, deceased, for the reasons set forth in the said petition on file -
Voted, that for the said reasons, first reserving to the said Pro- prietors their heirs and assigns, the quantity of thirty-four hundred acres of the said tract of land to be laid as the said Petitioners & others interested as aforesaid shall think most convenient for pro- moting the said settlement, (but not be subject to any charge or ' Tax, until improved by the said Proprietors or those who hold under them or any of them) they have and hereby do grant on the terms and conditions hereafter mentioned, All their right title estate interest & property of in and unto the said tract of land, and quit their claim unto the said John Hill John Fowle Jeremiah Gridley and the heirs of the said John Vassall their heirs and assigns in equal shares, that is to say, the share of the said Heirs of the said John Vassall being equal to one of the other shares of the said Grantees they the said Grantees making a plan of the whole town- ship and the lots therein and how the said reserved lands are laid out, and returning the same to the said Proprietors, -
Provided that in case either of the said Grantees of the said Shares shall neglect to perform & pay a proportionable part of all the duty and charge of making the settlement, then such delinquent Grantee shall forfeit his right and Share in said lands, to the owners or owner of the other Shares, who shall perform and pay the same.
Provided, also that the said Grantees settle forty families on said tract of land within four years from this time, and each family have fifteen acres of land cleared and fitted for tillage, -have a meeting- house built there, and preaching in the same constantly supported thence forward, but in case of an Indian war within the said term, the same time to be allowed after that impediment shall be removed.
Provided, also that all trees fit for his majesty's use for masting the royal navy be kept reserved and spared from waste and de- struction, which are hereby reserved for and granted to the use of his majesty, his heirs and successors for the use aforesaid.
Copy of Record
Attest
GEO : JAFFREY Junr Pro. Clerk.
Though this quitclaim seemed to be the end of the contro- versy, yet the matter hung on the proprietors for nearly
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SETTLEMENT.
twenty years, till John Hill, the clerk, sent to the Masonian Proprietors the following letter, and plan of the town, which is found in a good state of preservation among the Masonian records in the possession of Robert E. Pierce, of Portsmouth :
BOSTON, May 22, 1765.
Sir, -I here enclose a plan of Peterborough and a plan of Hillsborough the reservations of the grant of the Proprietors of the lands purchased of John Tufton Mason Esqr are marked and described on each plan, which please to present said Proprietors with my compliments and dutiful regards to said Proprietors and you'1 very much oblige your humble servant
JOHN HILL.
P. S. Please to acquaint me with the receipt of the same. To Geo : Jaffrey Esqr at Portsmouth New Hampshire.
The following is the last recorded act of the proprietors : *
Sent the plan of Peterborough to Mason's Proprietors and wrote on it thus ;
This is a plat of Peterborough town and the lots marked Mason are numbered from one to thirty-four inclusive are laid out by the Grantees of said town of Peterborough agreeable to the grant of the Proprietors of the lands purchased of John Tufton Mason Esq; the said lots contain thirty-four hundred acres, they are laid out where the said Grantees think it most convenient for promoting the settlement of said town, as by the said Proprietors quitclaim to the Grantees will appear. The prict lines and the numbered lots show so much of said town, that Col Blanchard left out on the west side of said town, and throw'd the town so much farther to the east, which was a great damage to the settlers and expense as well as damage to the Proprietors.
It is probable that this tardy settlement with the Maso- nian Proprietors was occasioned by an unwillingness on the part of the Peterborough Proprietors to comply with this con- dition of the quitclaim; viz., "making a plan of the whole township, and the lots therein, and how the said reserved
* Copied from an attested copy from Proprietors' records by Judge Smith in 1787, which origi- nal records cannot be found.
7
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HISTORY OF PETERBOROUGH.
lands are laid out, and returning the same to the said Propri- etors," for this would admit the right of Col. Blanchard in cutting off a valuable strip of land on the west side of the town, and adding the same quantity of mountainous and worthless land on the east. It was finally thought best to comply with all the conditions of the Masonian Proprietors, - and thus ended this long controversy. It must, however, be acknowledged that the Masonian Proprietors dealt with great leniency with all the townships started under a false jurisdic- tion, and quite relieved their fears by assurances of their not being molested by complying with very mild and easy terms, which they carried out in good faith.
As far as we can ascertain, it would appear that from 1744 to 1749 the town was entirely deserted, not a single person having been here for the purpose of making improvements on the land, or even for a temporary residence.
It is probable that before this a number of persons had bought lots of land, and had made some improvement on the same; but during this cruel war of 1744 a strict non-inter- course was observed. It is hardly possible to conceive what a change has taken place in this region since that time. It was then a frontier town, and so continued for many years, and nothing but a wilderness lay between it and the Canadas. At home, it had no nearer neighbors than Townsend and Lunenburg. How rapidly has all this changed ; what towns, villages, cities, manufactures, and business of all kinds have sprung up around and among us, -leaving us to wonder if, within so short a period, all these changes could have taken place. Never was there a more restless spirit than that in our ancestors ; they pushed on fearlessly to take up land, and bravely endured the hardships of such a life. Belknap says, very justly p. 325, "The passion for occupying new lands rose to a great height. These tracts were filled with emi- · grants from Massachusetts and Connecticut. Population and cultivation began to increase with a rapidity hitherto unknown ; and from this time may be dated the flourishing State of New Hampshire, which before had been circumscribed and stinted in its growth by the continued danger of a savage enemy."
Bufford's Lith Boston
Lane, Luidta
CHAPTER IV.
PETITION FOR INCORPORATION, 1759.
Name of the Town. - How Obtained. - Early Method Naming Towns. - Account of Earl Peterborough. - Not on Proprietors' Records till 1753 .- Petition for Incorporation. - Town Charter. - First Meet- ing. - Record of Town Meetings. - Entire Loss of Town Papers. - Materials for Early History Sparse.
WE know nothing in what manner Peterborough received its name. The author has heard his father (the late Hon. Samuel Smith) say that it was given in honor of the Earl of Peterborough, but by whom or how he did not know. This town, probably, like many of its neighboring towns, was not named till sometime after its settlement. The towns near Peterborough were known for a considerable time after their settlement as Monadnocks No. 1, 2, 3, and 4, and so contin- ued till a name was selected. It is significant that in a cer- tain deed to Lieut. John Gregg, of the farm C, by John Hill, Dec. 6, 1743, it is described as in "East Monadnick." It may be that this was at first the designation of the town, which it so well represents in location, till near 1750. Previ- ous to this the proprietors had called it the "township." It is first recognized in their records by the name of Peter- borough, at their meeting held at Peterborough, Sept. 22, 1753 .*
* For many of the following facts I am indebted to Nathaniel H. Morison, LL. D., Provost Peabody Institute, Baltimore, prepared from the " Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society," February, 1873, in a paper by Wm. H. Whitmore.
52
HISTORY OF PETERBOROUGH.
Many of the early towns in Massachusetts were named from English towns, often obscure ones, from which some one of the early settlers had emigrated. These early towns were all named in the act of incorporation, and not till 1732 was a town incorporated in blank. During that year Harvard and Townsend were so incorporated, the names being fitted in afterwards. This practice of incorporating towns in blank became more frequent from 1732 to 1760, when Bernard became governor. During his administration most of the towns were so incorporated, and the name filled in by him. This practice continued down to the Revolution. The first towns named from distinguished Englishmen were Berwick (1713) and Georgetown (1716). After this it became more common to give the names of persons, especially of noblemen, ministers of state, and other distinguished personages, to the new towns. From 1730 to 1774 most of the towns incorpo- rated received the names of persons, English or American, as Amherst, Temple, Townsend, Mason, Fitchburg, Jaffrey, Fitzwilliam, Marlborough, Keene, Hancock, etc. It must be remembered that at the time Peterborough was settled these towns were supposed to be in Massachusetts.
There can be no doubt that the statement of Hon. S. Smith, that the town was named from the Earl of Peter- borough, is entirely correct. It is in strict accordance with what had become a common custom in Massachusetts ; and the proprietors, all of whom lived in that State, in so naming the town would but follow the general practice of their time. And there were ample reasons for selecting the Earl of Peter- borough for this honor. That brilliant but eccentric noble- man, "the most extraordinary character of that age, not excepting the king of Sweden," says Lord Macaulay, was born in 1658, and died in 1735. His daring and brilliant exploits in Spain, during the war of the Spanish succession, where, landing with a small army of five thousand men, he maintained himself for two years against all the efforts of Spain and France to dislodge him, gaining victories over vastly superior forces, capturing important cities, raising în
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PETITION FOR INCORPORATION, 1759.
a single day the siege of Barcelona, then in a desperate con- dition, by passing through the allied fleet, in a dark night, in a small boat with a single companion, and leading the Eng- lish squadron to victory the next day, had captivated the imagination of Englishmen all the world over. He possessed in the highest degree many of those qualities which create and adorn a popular hero, -wit, courtesy, generosity, and reckless daring. Some of the settlers are known to have admired him, and it would be strange if the proprietors did not share in the general feeling of their countrymen. I think there can be little doubt, therefore, that admiration for the heroic deeds of Charles Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborough, who had died eighteen years before, caused the title by which he was universally known to be selected as the name of the town.
In regard to the names of the towns in New England, it seems a great misfortune that many of the beautiful Indian names of the new territory were not adopted, and that the early settlers almost uniformly selected the English, Scottish, or Irish names, which are kept up even to the present time. In all the region of the Monadnock Mountain not one town received this beautiful name; and it is but recently that it has been applied to the railroad and to the East Jaffrey bank. Not one town on its borders received the euphonious name of Souhegan ; and but one town in all the course of the Contoo- cook River received anything like its name; i. e., Contoocook- ville.
The settlement went on prosperously up to 1759; but great inconveniences were experienced in the management of the common finances, and of all subjects of general improvement,- as to roads, support of public worship, bridges, etc., and the settlers felt the need of being incorporated, so they could act for themselves, instead of being entirely dependent upon the proprietors. A petition was sent to the provincial legisla- ture, signed by Thomas Morison, Jonathan Morison, and Thomas Cunningham, an authorized committee for this pur- pose, as seen in a preceding chapter.
54
HISTORY OF PETERBOROUGH.
Agreeably to this petition, the following act of incorpora- tion was granted Jan. 17, 1760 :-
PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
P. S. George the Second By the Grace of God of Great Brittain France & Ireland, King Defenderof the Faith &c.
To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting :
Whereas our loyal subjects, Inhabitants of a Tract of Land within our Province of New Hampshire, known by the name of Peterborough have humbly Petitioned & Requested us that they may be erected & incorporated into a Township & enfranchised with the same Powers & Privileges which other Towns within our said Province, by Law, have & Enjoy, and it appearing to us to be conducive to the general good of our said Province, as well as to the said Inhabitants in particular by maintaining good order & Encouraging the coulture of the Land that the same should be done.
Know ye therefore, that we of our special Grace, certain Knowl- edge & for the Encouragement & Promoting the good Ends & Pur- poses aforesaid by & with the advice of our Trusty & well beloved Benning Wentworth Esqr our Governour & Commander in chief & of our Council for said Province of New Hampshire, Have Erected & ordained & by these Presents for us our Heirs & Successors, Do will & ordain that the Inhabitants of the Tract of Land aforesaid or that shall Inhabit or improve thereon the same being Limited & Bounded as follows, beginning at a Burch Tree marked, standing at the South East Corner of the Premises, thence Running west six miles by the North Line of a Tract of Land, called Peterborough Slip, to a Beach Tree marked, thence North by the East line of two Tracts of Land, called the Middle and North Menadnock six miles to a Red Oak Tree marked, from thence East, six miles by Land claimed by Mark Hunking Wenthforth Esq and by Land claimed by the Heirs of Joseph Blanchard Esq deceased to a Hemlock Tree marked and from thence South Six miles to the Tree first mentioned Shall be & by these Presents are Declared & ordained to be a Town corporate and are hereby erected and Incorporated into a Body Politic & cor- porate to have a continuance two years only by the Name of Peter- borough, with all the Powers & Authorities Privileges Immunities & Franchises which any other Town, in said Province by law hold & enjoy, - allways Reserving to us our Heirs & Successors all
,
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PETITION FOR INCORPORATION, 1759.
which Pine Trees that are or shall be found growing & being on said Tract of Land fit for the use of our Royal Navy, Reserving to us, our Heirs and successors the Power & Right of Dividing said Town when it Shall appear Necessary & Convenient for the Ben- efit of the Inhabitants thereof - Provided, Nevertheless and it is hereby Declared, that this our Charter and Grant is not intended, or shall in any manner be construed to extend to or effect the Private Property of the Soil within the Limits aforesaid, and as the several Towns within our said Province of New Hampshire are by the Laws thereof Enabled & authorized to assemble & by the ma- jority of the votes Present to choose all such officers and transact such affairs as by the said Laws are Declared. We do by these Presents Nominate & appoint Mr Hugh Willson to call the First Meeting of said Inhabitants to be held within the said Town at any time within Sixty Days from the date hereof giving Legal Notice of the time & design of Holding such meeting, after which the annual meeting of said Town for the choice of such officers & man- agement of the affairs aforesaid, shall be held within the same, on the first Tuesday of January annually. In testimony whereof we have caused the Seal of our said Province to be hereunto affixed.
Witness Benning Wentworth Esq our Governour & Commander in chief of our said Province of New Hampshire the 17th Day of Jany in the 33d year of our reign & in the year of our Lord Christ 1760.
B. WENTWORTH.
By His Excellency's command with advice of Council.
THEODORE ATKINSON Sec.
Province of New Hampshire Feb. 5th 1760.
Recorded according to the original charter under the Province Seal.
THEODORE ATKINSON Sec.
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Secretary's Office, Concord, Oct. 4, 1875.
I certify that the above is a true copy of the original record of the Charter of Peterborough.
A. B. THOMPSON, Dep'y Secretary of State.
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HISTORY OF PETERBOROUGH.
The following is a copy verbatim et literatim of the first meeting of the town :-
1760
Pursuant To an order from His Excelency Benning Wintworth Esqr Governer of his majasties Province of newhampshire the hon- ourable his majasties Counsill of sd Province by their Charter in- corporateing of a tract of Land lying in sd Province of the contents of about Six miles Square commonly called and known by the name of Peterborough authorizing and Directing me the Subcriber to call the first meeting of sd Inhabitants to chuse town officers for the year insuing : These are thereforeto Give notice to sd Inhab- itants that they assemble & meet at the meetinghouse in sd Peter- borough on munday the Seventeenth day of march Instant at ten o' the clock in ye forenoon. first to hear the Charter of said town- ship read & then to Proceed in chusing a town clerk and Select men & all other necessary town officers for the year Ensuing : Given under my han and seal this ye First Day of
march A. D. 1760. HUGH WILLSON.
all the freeholders and other Inhabitants Being met on sd day according to the time appointed in the warrant : the Charter being read and the meeting being opened John Fargusson was chosen town clerk and then the select men which were as fol- loweth Hugh Willson thomas morison Jonathan morison Gentn Joseph Caldwell & John Swan junr were the Select men that weare Chosen by vote. it was also voted that Hugh willson Thomas morison & Jonathan morison Gentn John Smith Thos Cuningham & John Robbe, Should be Surveyrs of the high ways this year. William Robbe Junr Constable James Robbe & Hugh Dunlap tithingmen. Thos archable & John Robbe Hogg Reifs fence viewers and Prisers. voted that Saml mitchel Alexander Robbe & William Smith be a Commitee to recken with the old Commitee. voted under the same head that William mcnee william Smith and John Robbe be a commitee to invite regular minisers to Preach this year, &c.
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