USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Rye > History of the town of Rye, New Hampshire, from its discovery and settlement to December 31, 1903 > Part 7
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GROVE ROAD, RYE.
existence, for official mention thereof would have been made only in the records of Portsmouth, of which Rye was then a part, and the Portsmouth records were destroyed in that year by the selectmen. The bridge is called the Pine Tree bridge, but neither the origin of the name nor when it was bestowed have been discovered.
An old deed, showing the transfer by "Wm Seavey Senior to his son William Seavey Jr, both of Portsmouth in the County of Portsmouth," of a " Mill on the side of the Creek the mill stands on," was "acknowledged July 6, 1680 before Elias Stillman.
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FERRIES, BRIDGES, AND ROADS.
Witness Nathaniel Drake, John Foss, of the Council Port of N. H." While this deed does not enable us to positively locate the mill transferred, there is good ground for believing that it was at the mouth of Seavey's creek, the farms in that section of the town having been largely occupied by families named Seavey from a very early period of the state's settlement.
In 1785 Rye was taxed to pay part of the expense of sup- porting and keeping in repair the hoist of the Newmarket bridge ; but this was a county tax, Rye being as little benefited by the Newmarket bridge as by the present one across Little Harbor.
NAMES OF RYE ROADS.
In 1893, one hundred and sixty-seven years after Rye was set off from Newcastle as a separate parish, and more than a century after its final and complete political separation from the parent town, it occurred to the people of Rye that it was advis- able to do something that had never been done, that would probably prove a convenience and certainly could do no harm, and that would cost nothing, namely, to give official names to the highways of the town. In accordance with this idea, at an adjourned town meeting held the 15th day of March in that year, it was " Voted to accept the report of the selectmen in regard to naming the roads," from which it is reasonable to infer that the subject had been considered and some action taken at a previous meeting, although the town records do not say so, nor is the report of the selectmen given.
It was further " Voted, that the chair appoint three men to confer with Wallace S. Goss in regard to the names of the roads, and report later in the meeting," in compliance with which vote the chair named Henry Knox, Charles D. Garland, and Thomas W. Rand, who after consultation rendered two reports, one (the purport of which the records do not give) signed by Mr. Knox, the other by Messrs. Garland and Rand, upon which the meeting
Voted to accept the majority report of the committee appointed to con- fer with Wallace S. Goss in regard to naming the roads, which is as follows :
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HISTORY OF RVE.
MILES.
Lafayette Road, from North Hampton to Portsmouth line . .
I
Dow Road, from Lafayette to Washington Roads
Washington Road or Avenue, from Greenland line to Sandy Beach
31
West Road, from C. D. Garland's store [corner West and Washing- ton Roads] to North Hampton line 11
Garland Road, from West to Grove Roads
3
Grove Road, from Washington to Central Roads
I
Fern Avenue, [Drake's Lane,] from Washington to Grove Roads
Central Road, from Rye Center to Farragut House 3
South Road, from North Hampton line to the sea near A. J. Drake's Wood Road, from South Road to North Hampton near A. G. Jenness' Causeway Road, from Central Road to the sea by John Jenness' .
Farragut Road, from Farragut House to North Hampton line .
Ocean Road [still popularly called Sea Road] from Central Road to the sea
Bridge Road, from Central Road by J. Disco Jenness'
Perkins Road, from Central Road to the sea
Love Lane, from Central to South Roads .
Cable Road, [still generally called the Jenness Beach Road,] from Cen- tral Road to Straw's Point [Locke's Neck].
Locke Road, from Central Road to Straw's Point
Harbor Road, from Locke Road to Little Neck I Portsmouth Road, from Washington Road to Portsmouth line
Sagamore Road, from John O. Foss' [on Washington Road] to Ports- mouth line . ·
3
Wallis Road, from Centre schoolhouse to Wallis Sands .
2
Atlantic Road, from Washington Road by Concord Point to Wallis Sands life-saving station [now included in the state boulevard] I
Brackett Road, [formerly Brackett Lane, in part, ] from Washington Road by East schoolhouse to Pioneer Road
Clark Road, from Brackett to Sagamore Roads . 12
Marsh Road, from old East schoolhouse to Wallis Sands
Pioneer Road, from Sagamore Road [at Foye's Corner, at the junction of Sagamore and Elwyn Roads] to Odiorne's Point 2
Columbus Road, from Pioneer Road to the sea . .
Wentworth Road, from Portsmouth line to Newcastle
Fair Hill Road, from Marsh Road to James Parsons' [the former Dow farm] .
Elwyn Road, from Orion L. Foye's [Foye's Corner on Sagamore Road, ] to Portsmouth line
This table makes the aggregate length of Rye's highways approximately thirty miles. The words enclosed in brackets
2
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FERRIES, BRIDGES, AND ROADS.
are interpolations, and not a part of the selectmen's report as recorded.
The selectmen of 1893 appear to have acted very sensibly in their selection of names for the roads, for although some of the roads carry their names around a sharp corner, while the road under another name keeps straight on, or as nearly straight on as any Rye road runs, there is reason in every case for this apparent eccentricity, in matters relating to the earliest laying out of the roads, or other incidents in connection with the
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FARM SCENE, RYE.
town's early history. For instance, Washington road, from its start at the Greenland line until it passes Rye Centre, has a general trend to the left all the way; but shortly after passing the Centre it takes a decided turn to the right, and runs down to the sea at Sandy Beach. Wallis road starts at Washington road, where the latter turns off to the sea, and continues on a fairly direct course until it crosses Sagamore road, when it too swings around to the right to reach the sea at Wallis Sands. Washington road and Wallis road both follow very closely
7
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HISTORY OF RYE.
paths that existed from an early period of the town's settle- ment, and were very early laid out as public highways. South road runs nearly parallel with the town's southerly boun- dary, from the North Hampton line to the sea; and Central road runs from the Centre, with many crooks and turns in its course, to the southeasterly corner of the town. Other roads bear the names of men or families who were prominent in the town's affairs in former days, or who laid out, or lived on, the roads named in their honor; and still others take names from their environment. The road from Odiorne's Point to Saga- more road is most appropriately designated Pioneer road ; across Sagamore road its continuation becomes Elwyn road as far as the Portsmouth line, beyond which it is Rye road until Lafayette road is crossed, when the name again changes to Peverly Hill road, which name holds until Portsmouth Plains are reached. Peverly Hill, Rye, and Elwyn roads, and Pioneer road as far as Brackett road, were all a part of the first road between Portsmouth and Rye.
On Morrill's plan of Rye (1805) the part of Pioneer road from Brackett road to Odiorne's Point, and a branch from it to Frost's Point, are designated by two parallel rows of dots, as is also the old road from Pioneer road through the woods and pas- ture to Newcastle bridge,-which latter road, by the way, was slighted by the selectmen and town meeting when they were bestowing names, although it would have been easy to have chosen an appropriate one; Newcastle road would be signifi- cant, as this now almost forgotten road through the woods, with a gate across it at its junction with Pioneer road, was surely a highway as early as 1693, and probably for years before that date.
As to why these old roads should have been indicated by parallel lines of dots, while the others were all shown by con- tinuous double lines, the only explanation we can think of is that they were " subject to gates and bars," which the roads marked by continuous lines were not. In the early days of the province, when roads were laid out there was no thought of fencing them by the town or towns that laid them out, or of
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FERRIES, BRIDGES, AND ROADS.
compelling the settlers through whose lands the roads passed to be at the labor and expense of fencing their premises on both sides of the roads. Whenever a road cut the fence of a settler he could put up a gate or set of movable bars, or the town did it for him; the traveler, in his use of the highway, had a full right to open the gate or remove the bars, but he had no right to leave the gate open or the bars down; he was obliged to leave them as he found them, and if he did not do this he was responsible for any damage that might result from the straying of cattle, etc., in consequence. As the number of settlers along the line of a road increased, so would the num- ber of gates and bars, and with the increase of travel between one town and another these obstructions would become more and more of an annoyance, and the main highways of commu- nication would be fenced in and the gates and bars along them removed ; and then, gradually, the side roads would be simi- larly improved, and highways subject to gates would generally be changed from mere public rights of way to open and unob- structed public roads.
But even at the present date the old-time gates across high- ways have not been wholly eliminated, and it is possible in this immediate vicinity to find such checks to free movement across roads that certainly have been highways for two hun- dred years, and probably much longer than that. A number of such roads, unfenced, and gate-obstructed, still exist in Kit- tery and York, just across the Piscataqua river in Maine; and there is one such road in Rye-the one for which we have sug- gested Newcastle road as an appropriate name, and which, running from Pioneer road to a junction with the new Went- worth road near the so-called Wentworth bridge, is not only closed by a gate at its junction with Pioneer road, but has gates at several other points along its route. Yet this road, up to the time of the opening of the Newcastle toll bridge in 1821, was the only highway for foot and team travel between Newcastle and Portsmouth ; but there is no record that it was ever freed from gates, and no probability that it ever was, for if the gates had ever been removed by the town they would
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HISTORY OF RYE.
not have been allowed to be replaced. Our " Newcastle road " is still subject to the same restrictions, and probably in about the same condition, as when it was first laid out as a public highway.
Other of the present roads of the town, namely, Garland road, Fern avenue, Love lane, Jenness Beach road from Cen- tral road to the sea, Wallis road from Brackett road to the sea, Marsh and Fair Hill roads, and Sagamore road from Wallis road to the Portsmouth line, are represented on Morrill's plan by a single line of dots, as also is the end of Pioneer road at Odiorne's Point, and the end of the road to Frost's Point. These single lines it is probable indicated that where they were drawn there existed, at the time the plan was made, lanes or private ways that were open to public use by sufferance, but which had not been declared public highways.
The roads of Rye are all " natural " or gravel-made roads, as distinguished from macadamized highways, but they will com- pare favorably with those of any country town, being better than are to be found in most of such towns, and the excellent condition in which they are kept is a source of just pride to the townspeople, and of approving comment by the many peo- ple from other states who annually pass their summers herc. Although the cost of keeping them so is large, even as a busi- ness proposition the expenditure pays, the existence of good roads being a strong attraction to that large class of people who like to "go somewhere for the summer," and a great induce- ment to those who come once to return in succeeding years. Sixteen feet in width is sufficient for the easy and safe passage of two vehicles, and it is better that this width should be kept in good order than that forty feet should be maintained in infe- rior condition at greater cost.
The earliest pathways made by the white men were simply footpaths indicated by " blazed " trees short distances apart. In many places there were well defined trails made by the Indians in their travels from one hunting ground to another, or from the interior to the seashore for shellfish and such fish as
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FERRIES, BRIDGES, AND ROADS.
the rivers did not afford; and these Indian trails, which were always well located, were very naturally utilized by the whites when they came to build roads. The Indians were tireless trav- elers, when occasion required, but much preferred an easy route to a difficult one when they had the choice. According to tradition the road from Frost's Point to Rye Centre and through to North Hampton, in general trend following the crest of a low ridge nearly all the way, is almost exactly on the line of an old Indian trail.
For years after the first settlements were made ordinary travel was attended by difficulties which at the present day would by most people be regarded as insurmountable. Wheel carriages were unknown. Even the most delicate woman had no resource other than a horse, or, in case of sore infirmity, a litter. The men used their sturdy legs, or hardy horses, to transport them- selves from place to place. And travelers experienced no little inconvenience from the rugged nature of the country. The bank of a small river was occasionally torn away at the fording place by a freshet, or a swollen and rapid stream confronted the traveler and compelled him to await the subsidence of the flood, unless his knowledge of the country enabled him so to direct his way as to get around the obstacles. Bridges and roads laid out by scientific survey, cleared of trees and rocks, and graded, were productions of a later date.
Tradition, which does not confine itself to matters of record, nor always even to probabilities, says the reason our roads are so crooked is that they were laid out along sheep and cow paths; the domestic animals in their wanderings in quest of food chose the easiest routes they could find, and the settlers, trusting to the instinct of the animals rather than to their own reason and exploration, adopted for themselves the routes selected by the dumb creatures. But the early settlers knew that it was easier to skirt a swamp than to flounder through it, or bridge it or build a causeway across it; easier to go around a hill than over it, easier to turn out for a ledge than to remove it, quite as well as any animal. The distances to be covered by roads were long, the labor and expense of building them
86
HISTORY OF RYE.
very great, and the people few in number, widely scattered and of very limited means; no wonder they built their roads along the lines that presented the fewest obstacles, regardless of the number of curves and corners found necessary. Again, when a settler secured a grant of land he made a path thereto by the easiest way he could find ; a few rods more of distance, or a few extra turns, did not count with him. Then another settler made another path to connect with that made by the first one, and in time the two or three or score of farm paths became a public highway. It is probable that to the immediate necessi- ties and present convenience of the early settlers that Rye, Bos- ton, and other places are indebted for the crookedness of some of their public ways, rather than to the vagrant wanderings of the gentle, useful, and inoffensive cow.
There was a road or pathway along the seashore from Ports- mouth through Rye to Hampton as early as 1644; and prob- ably many years earlier than that there was a road, or what passed for such at that time, between the Little Harbor settle- ment and Strawberry Bank, from Frost's Point (as it is now called) or near there up through the present Elwyn and Pev- erly Hill roads in Portsmouth to Portsmouth Plains, and then in to the "Banke" by what is now Middle road. This was the only route by which Sagamore creek and the marsh at its head could be avoided, and there must have been more or less foot travel between the two settlements from the beginning ; all communication could not have been carried on by water. This road would also accommodate the settlers on Great Island, who very soon outnumbered those at Little Harbor and Straw- berry Bank; and the State Papers show that as early as 1643 a ferry was legally established between the island and Little Har- bor, and fares fixed to various points, a reasonable presumption being that previous to that date the ferrying had been in the hands of unlicensed persons, who charged what they saw fit for their services. This pathway for most of its extent was a part of the seashore road which in 1644 extended through Rye to Hampton, and it is not an extravagance to assume that it is the oldest road in New Hampshire. Certainly all the probabilities
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FERRIES, BRIDGES, AND ROADS.
point in this direction. And not improbably the first bridge and the first grist-mill built by the settlers of New Hampshire were built on this road, near the mouth of Seavey's creek.
From the town records we learn that the road from Rye Centre to the present Farragut House (now Central road ) was laid out in 1727, previous to that time there having been only a footpath a portion of the way. In early times that portion of this road from Meeting House hill to the Mill or Harbor road was known as Raghole road, perhaps from the quantity of ragweed that grew on the land there.
In the seventeenth century there was a way or path from Sandy Beach to Breakfast hill, and about 1728 the town laid out a short piece of this path as a road, " from the beach up to Nehemiah Berry's, near Brackett's Lane," Brackett's lane being the part of the present Brackett road between Washing- ton and Wallis roads, and the piece of road then laid out the section of Washington road between Brackett road and the beach.
In 1743 John Jenness " gave a road to the sea on condition that they kept gates, &c., coming by David Moulton's to his Father's Hezekiah-to Richard Jenness Esq., Wm Locke, Francis Locke, John Garland, Ebenezer Philbrick, Isaac Libbee, Samuel Seavey, Joseph Brown, John Knowles, Joses Philbrick, Jacob Libbee, Joshua Jenness, Jonathan Towle, Francis Jenness, Richard Jenness Jr, Amos Knowles, James Locke, Charity Dow and Ozem Dowrst, all of Rye." Records and old documents show that all the persons named in Jenness' gift had holdings of land along the line of the pathway from Breakfast hill to Sandy Beach (which tradition says was origi- nally an Indian trail), so Jenness' road must have been prac- tically identical with the present Washington road. Eleven years later the following entry was made in the town records :
April 25 day 1754, Whereas there is no highway laid out as yet from the highway that was laid out through Nehemiah Berry's field to the Sea for the Convenience of the People. We the present Selectmen think proper to lay out a highway from that up as far as Amos Rands, which takes it beginning at Nehemiah Berrys little field, being two rods wide running by
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HISTORY OF RYE.
Samuel Berrys being two rods wide to the north of Samuel Berry's fence as it now stands so running to the Widow Tuckers, to the North of her fence from thence to Samuel Berrys Wood field to the North of his fence, from thence through James Mardens grant and through Stephen Mardens land to his house-And from thence by said Mardens land to the S. E. Corner of Samuel Dowrst old grant, to the south of said grant to William Berrys House, two rods wide-So from the S. W. Corner of Wm Berrys pig stie to Ben Jenness N. E. Corner to Goss grant so to the north of Thomas Goss grant to his N. W. Corner from thence to the Wallis Corner straight, straight from thence on a straight course two rods to the south of the S. E. Corner of Berry Grant through said Berry grant as the way now runs to his S. W. Corner-from thence to Samuel Seaveys S. E. Corner of his old grant being two rods wide to the South by said grant to Jonathan Dolbees, from thence to Amos Rands-
Joses Philbrick Ebenr Berry Selectmen- James Marden
This was a continuation of the road laid out in or near 1728 from Sandy Beach "up to Nehemiah Berry's," and carried that road (possibly over the exact line of Jenness' road and certainly very near it) as far as what is now West road, the two pieces of road, with the continuation to the Greenland line, being what is now Washington road. Amos Rand lived near what is now known as Garland's Corner, at the junction of West and Washington roads, although West road did not then exist, it having been laid out probably about 1770, and com- monly called " the new road " as late as 1774. That the select- men in 1754 declared " there is no highway laid out as yet" from Nehemiah Berry's to Amos Rand's does not necessarily conflict with the statement that John Jenness had previously given " a road to the sea" between those two points. Jenness could not lay out a highway, and presumably the road he gave was merely a right of way, which certainly was " subject to gates," and many of them. This right of way was found to be of so much convenience and benefit to many persons that the selectmen laid it out as a public highway, probably relocating and straightening it here and there, designated its boundaries, and provided for the removal of the gates. In one place in their record they mention that the new highway is to go " as
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FERRIES, BRIDGES, AND ROADS.
the way now runs," indicating that there was some kind of a road there, if not a public highway.
A petition was circulated in 1783 for a highway to connect Long lane (now Lafayette road) in Portsmouth and the road " which runs by Rye Meeting House," an attempt to secure the building of such a road by means of a lottery some years previously having failed. This petition was signed by Joseph Parsons, David Locke, and sixty-three other persons, and suc- ceeded in its object, the court of general sessions ordering the laying out of the road, and appointing a committee to lay it out and assess the damages, the committee making returns to the court as follows :
We the subscribers appointed by the honble Court of General Sessons of the peace to lay out a Road from that which runs by Rye Meeting House to Long Lane (so called) have done the same in the following manner Viz : Beginning at the South east Corner of land of Samuel Rand & Benjamin Marden, thence running on the Easterly side of said Land North about 31 degrees West 80 Rods-thence North 15 degrees West through a Corner of Samuel Dowse Foss land leaving as much of a Corner of said Rand and Marden's land into said Foss land on this point 11 Rods-to be fenced by the Parish of Rye, thence North about 40 degrees West 80 Rods to Portsmouth line-which road we have laid out two rods wide & have esti- mated the land being two acres & Twenty two rods at Ten pounds ten shil- lings to be paid to the said Rand and Marden, by the Parish of Rye-The removing and building 171 Rods of Fence to be done & paid by the said Parish of Rye-From the said Portsmouth line we proceeded North about 47 degrees West, on the Easterly side of Mark Lang's land 1733 rods, thence on the same Course on the Easterly side of Sherburne land 121 rods to the said long Lane-It appeared to us that there was a priviledge of a road three rods wide from said long lane to New Castle & Portsmouth line, Nearly in the same place where we have laid out said Road-And we have Estimated the Making 1733 Rods fence at Thirty Pounds to be paid to Mr Mark Lang by the Town of Portsmouth, and the making of 121 rods of fence at Twenty one Pounds, three shillings to be paid to said Sher- burne by said Town of Portsmouth.
Wm Weeks Ephraim Pickering a Copy attª Joseph Dow
May 5, 1784.
-N Emery Junt Clerk Pro tem Js. Peace
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HISTORY OF RYE.
This is the " new road" of Merrill's plan of Portsmouth (1805) also shown on Morrill's plan of Rye of the same date, but without a name, and now Portsmouth road, from Washing- ton road to the Portsmouth line. The town records inform us that in 1797
The road from Richard Lockes, 3d to Little Neck or the sea was laid out to be two rods wide to Nathan Goss Mill dam, thence one rod wide over said dam-thence two rods to the Beach, the town to make the gates to Jeremiah Locke's land-N. Goss gives the road through his land, reserving a Water Course under the Bridge two rods wide at the Mill-
Wm Seavey Nathan Goss Selectmen John Lang
This is the present Harbor road. In 1802 the town " Voted to build a gate and hang it on the Bridge by Nathan Goss
ON THE ROCKS NEAR WALLIS SANDS.
mill," showing that this road, although laid out by the town five years before, was still subject to gates.
The town in 1800 " Voted to lay out and make passable an open road from. Lieut Sam1 Wallis or W"" Rand to the sea after
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