USA > New Hampshire > Coos County > Incidents in White Mountain history, together with many interesting anecdotes illustrating life in the backwoods > Part 17
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Having satisfied their cupidity, they started on. Finding the number of captives too large to manage safely, they told Jonathan Clark he might return, provided he would keep the path they had travelled. Suspecting something was wrong, after going a short distance out of sight of the Indians, he left the path, and struck out into the woods. As he afterwards learned, it was the saving of his life ; for, not long after he had taken the woods, two Indians who had been left behind came along the path, and would undoubtedly have killed him as a deserter.
Capt. Rindge's was the last house on the frontier, and an unbroken wilderness now lay between them and Canada. Shortly after leaving the house, the Indians took a large piece of spruce bark, and ordered Segar to write on it, that
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if they were taken by Americans the prisoners would all be killed. This they fastened to a tree.
At the encampments at night the savages amused them- selves by their brutal dances. Says our author, of one of these scenes : " During our tarry in this place, we were per- mitted to sit down and rest ourselves; but they would not permit us to sit together. This was a very rocky place. Here they took the hair of their scalps in their teeth, and began to shake their heads, to whoop, to jump from rock to rock, and conducted and acted in such a hideous and awful manner, as almost to make our hair stand upright upon our heads, and to fill us with fear and trembling. I had heard of an Indian powwow ; but what tongue can tell, or imagination can describe, the looks and actions of these savages on such occa- sions ? Such scenes are beyond description. Their actions are inconceivable. It would seem that Bedlam had broken loose, and that hell was in an uproar."
After reaching Umbagog Lake, the remaining distance was made in canoes, carrying them on their shoulders across the carrying-places. During the whole march the captives suffered exceedingly from hunger. For days nothing would be given them to eat; and, when so worn down that they could with difficulty move, old moccasons of moose-skin, tainted by the heat, would be broiled, and bits of it given them. But once after leaving the settlements until they reached the St. Francois river was anything eatable given them, and this was moose-meat dried in the smoke. Most of this distance, too, they travelled with their hands tied fast behind them.
After reaching the St. Francois they fared better. Fish were plenty in these waters, and easily taken. Sturgeon were taken in large quantities by torchlight. As they came
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among the remote settlers, milk frequently was obtained, and occasionally, says our narrator, "we had good bread and milk to eat, which was a very luscious dish, and highly pleas- ing to us, and we ate as much as we wanted."
But a short distance from their village the Indians com- menced loud demonstrations of rejoicing. As they entered the encampment, it was dark; but the Indians made it as light as day with their torches. There were seventy Indian warriors at this place. " When we came near the shore, an Indian clinched me by the arm, and violently pulled me to him, swaggering over me as though he would have killed me. I was surrounded by the Indians on every side, with terrible countenances, and of a strange language which I did not understand. At this time there were great rejoicings among them over the prisoners, scalps and plunder, which they had taken in this nefarious enterprise."
The captives were readily given up to the British officers, except Clark. No abuse was offered them amid the wild carousal of their captors. Black Plato stood awhile as a mark at which they threw firebrands; but, crying lustily, was released uninjured.
Clark had completely taken the fancy of the Indians, or, perhaps, of the squaws. They determined on making him their chief, and had already " cut off his hair, painted him, and dressed him in an Indian dress," when they were pre- vailed upon to give him up. A bounty was paid the Indians by the British officers of eight dollars for a scalp, or for a prisoner.
" We were here under guard two days. After this, we were given up by the British guard to the Indians, with an interpreter, to carry us in their canoes to Montreal. About ten Indians took the charge of us. On account of contrary
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head winds, we were many days in going up the river St. Lawrence. The prisoners were sometimes ordered to march by land, with a number of Indians to guard them. When we were in the canoes we were not permitted to wear our shoes. The canoes, as soon as we were on the land, left the shore even before I could pick up my shoes. When the Indians came up again, I immediately went for my shoes ; but I could not find them. I asked for them, but an Indian told me they had sold them for pipes. I found some fault with them for their conduct; but they told me the king would find me shoes. These were the last things they could take from me. They had ordered me to give them my shirt before, and they gave me an old frock for it without giving me any back. I could not help myself, for I was a prisoner, and in their power.
" We at length arrived at Montreal, and were conducted to the commander. There were three of us. They examined us, and asked us many questions ; - where we were taken prisoners ; how long we had been in the American service, and many other like questions.
" The Indians requested the commander that they might keep Mr. Clark ; but he would not grant their request. The Indians then took off all the ornaments from him, and every rag of clothes, except a very short shirt. They now received their bounty money for the prisoners and scalps. They took Plato away with them, and sold him to a Frenchman in Can- ada. Afterwards he was sent back to his old master, Capt. Rindge. The rest of us were given up to the British. We were ordered to go with a man, who conducted us to the jail, and delivered us to the guard, where were ten prisoners, and some of them confined in irons. Our situation now was truly distressing. We had been so worn down with hunger
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and a fatiguing journey through the wilderness, and distress- ing fears in our minds, that we were almost ready to despond. Our allowance was not half sufficient for us. In this place were multitudes of rats, which would devour the whole allowance that was granted to us, and was of itself too small for us ; but we took every measure to secure it from the rats. The lice which we caught of the Indians were a great annoy- ance to our bodies. We were, therefore, afflicted on every side."
After remaining in this situation some forty days, they were sent with others to an island, fifty miles up the St. Lawrence. Here they remained till the close of the war in 1782, enduring much from the extreme cold and want of food. On the general exchange of prisoners attendant upon peace, they were returned to Boston, after suffering sixteen months' captivity.
" I tarried at Newton some time to refresh myself, after I returned from captivity ; and, soon after the peace, I returned to Bethel, and have made me a small farm, where I have resided ever since, and have reared up a large family. I have undergone all the hardships and self-denials which are incident to those who are engaged in settling new countries ; but have lived to see the town rise from a howling wilderness into fruitful fields, and in flourishing circumstances, and peace and order promoted therein for the rising generations and those yet unborn."
CHAPTER XVIII.
SHELBURNE.
SITUATION OF SIIELBURNE. - MOUNTAINS. - EVENING DRIVE AMONG THE MOUNTAINS. - MOUNT MORIAH. - MOSES' ROCK. - GRANNY STARBIRD'S LEDGE. - WHY SO CALLED. - MINERAL WEALTH OF THIS TOWN. - EARLY SETTLERS. - MR. DANIEL INGALLS. - MOSES INGALLS. - KILLING THE DEVIL. - ROBERT FLETCHER INGALLS. - SUFFERINGS OF THE EARLY SET- . TLERS. - INDIAN MASSACRE. - TERRIBLE ENCOUNTER WITH WOLVES. - THE FAMISHED SOLDIER.
" Long since that white-haired ancient slept ; but Still * * his venerable form again
Is at my side, his voice is in my ear."
THIS town, situated in Coos County, was chartered as early as the year 1668. It was rechartered by George III., King of England, to Mark H. Wentworth and six others. It then included what was called Shelburne Addition, now in- corporated into a town called Gorham. This new charter was given in the year 1771, and the town surveyed by Theodore Atkinson the same year. The town is bounded north by Success, east by Maine and Bean's Purchase, and west by Gorham. The population in 1820, when it was incorporated, was 205. In 1850 it was 430, indicating a fair increase. The Androscoggin river passes through the centre of the town, into which fall the waters of Rattle river
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and many smaller streams. The soil on each bank of the river is very good, producing in abundance grain and grass ; but, as we rise from the river, the land becomes mountainous and unfit for cultivation. Besides the ranges of mountains bordering on the river, many isolated peaks stand within its bounds. Mount Moriah, the highest of the several summits, lies in the southern part of the town. "It was so named, by one of the early settlers of the region, because its shape or position coincided with some conception he had formed of its Scripture namesake." A writer in the Boston Transcript thus describes the beauty of this and other mountains lying within an evening's drive of the Alpine House, in Gorham :
" About six in the evening is the time for a drive. Na- ture, as Willis charmingly said, pours the wine of her beauty twice a day - in the early morning, and the evening when the long shadows fall. Here the saying is more literally true, not only as to the shadows, but in regard to color. Her richest flasks are reserved for the dessert-hour of the day's feast. Then they are bountifully poured. Herr Alexander and Wizard Anderson, when they perform the trick of turn- ing many liquors from one bottle, to an astonished crowd, meanly parody the magic of the evening sun shedding over these hills the most various juices of light from his single urn. Those strong, substantial, twin-majesties, Madison and Jeffer- son, have a steady preference for a brown-sherry hue; the An- droscoggin Hills take to the lighter and sparkling yellows, hocks and champagne; but the clarets, the red hermitage, and the deep purple Burgundies, are reserved for the ridge of Mount Moriah. This wine for the eye does not interfere with the temperance pledge ; and the visual flavor is so delicious, that one is eager all through the day for the evening repast."
Mount Moriah is much visited by travellers. The view
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from its summit is beautiful and extensive. To the east can be seen Umbagog Lake, embosomed amid high hills, the highest of which is Saddleback Mountain, and still further to the eastward the Blue Mountains in Temple, Bald Moun- tains in Carthage, Mount Abraham in Kingfield, and be- yond all Mount Bigelow in Franklin County. South-cast- erly, when the atmosphere is clear, Portland and the ocean beyond may be distinctly seen with a good glass. More to the south lie Pleasant Mountain, amid numerous small sheets of water, and Lake Winnipiseogee, still further to the right. The White Mountains shut in the view on the west.
Near the centre of the town is a steep, precipitous ledge, named Moses' Rock. It is sixty feet high and ninety long, very smooth, and rising in an angle of fifty degrees. Tradi- tion says that a hunter once drove a moose over the steep descent, and his dog, in close pursuit, followed close at his heels, both mingling together in one common mass at the foot. During the early survey of the town, the best lot of land in the township was offered to the man who would climb this ledge. One Moses Ingalls, stripping off his shoes, accom- plished the daring feat, running up its smooth front like a cat. This circumstance gave it its name.
Not far from this ledge is another, called Granny Star- bird's Ledge. An immense boulder, many thousand tons in weight, a great portion of which has been blown to pieces and used on the railroad, formerly rested on a shelf of this ledge. Under this large rock an old lady, named Starbird, many years ago, took shelter from a heavy, desolating storm of rain. On her way, on horseback, to see a sick person, being a doctress by profession, she took shelter under this rock, one night, as some protection against the storm. The ground was too wet to lie down; so, to protect herself and
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horse from the pelting of the rain, she stood and held him by the bridle all night. In this condition, with sleepless attention she realized all the terrors of the storm. She saw every flash of lightning, heard every peal of thunder that broke over her, and keenly felt every gust of the tempest that swept by her shallow retreat. Her situation was any- thing but desirable. She bore, however, her exposure with a hardy spirit, and awaited the light of morning with a calm- ness such as few beside herself could exhibit. At length the light of day began to appear, but there was no cessation of the storm. This continued in its strength, and the rain fell in torrents on the projection of rock over her head. Still the wind howled around her. About noon the clouds retired, the sun shone out, and she resumed her journey. It is not strange that, from such a circumstance, the ledge under which she rested that fearful night should ever since bear the name of " Granny Starbird's Ledge."
A lead mine was discovered a few years since in the north- west part of this town, on a hill-side, and in the bed of a small mountain rivulet. The ravine is a deep gap in the mica-slate rocks which form the principal mass of the moun- tain, and in this are numerous veins of quartz and brown spar, with veins of lead, zinc and copper ore. The veins of ore contain much brown spar, or carbonate of lime, and iron in the form of rhomboids and in foliated masses. The black blende fills the narrow parts of the vein, and the swells or pockets are filled with very pure and heavy masses of the argentiferous galena, almost free from the zinc ore. Sixteen hundred and eighty grains of this Shelburne lead yield three grains of fine silver.
On a Mr. Burbank's farm, in this town, where the Andros- coggin river cuts through the intervales, are large numbers
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of forest trees buried in the alluvial soil at the depth of from ten to twelve feet. The trees project from the bank into the river, and are generally found to lie in a nearly horizontal position, the tops pointing to the northward. The wood is but little altered, and is sufficiently sound to be sawed, many of the maples having been dug out and manufactured into wheels for wagons. From the magnitude of the stumps of trees that are found on the surface, which are estimated to be at least two hundred years old, and from the fineness of the strata of alluvial matter covering the buried trees, it is evi- dent that they must have been buried there for a great length of time. The prevalence of clay over and around them accounts for their not having undergone decomposition ; the exclusion of air and the prevention of the circulation of water having contributed to their preservation.
Some of the first settlers in the town of Shelburne were Hope Austin, Benjamin and Daniel Ingalls. These moved into it in the year 1770. In 1772 came Thomas Green Wheeler, Nathaniel Porter and Peter Poor, who was after- wards killed by the Indians.
In 1780 came Moses Messer, Capt. Jonathan Rindge, Jon- athan Evans and Simeon Evans, all valuable men, who left a good impress on the general character of their posterity. One of them was particularly a worthy man, and conspicuous in his day for the many moral virtues he exhibited. His name was fragrant with piety in all the region about him. Mr. Daniel Ingalls was generally known and highly esteemed in all the vicinity of the White Mountains. A sense of the divine mercy seemed to be ever present with him, whether he sat in the house, or walked by the way. In his journeyings, he has been heard frequently, on alighting from his horse, and while drinking at some spring by the roadside, to ejacu-
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late, " How good the Lord is, to furnish so plentifully this refreshing water to drink !" He exhibited religion in its best light. In his conversation and general deportment he pre- sented it in a manner to show its real character. He was cheerful, and yet you would very seldom say he verged to levity ; sober when he should be, and yet seldom seen with an aspect of sadness or gloom on his face. He was a man of much prayer, and always attached as much importance to the duties as he did to the doctrines of religion; as much to what commended its practice as he did to its precept. Many interesting anecdotes have been told of him in our hearing, some of which we shall here relate. He once took a journey of considerable length with Col. David Page - a cotemporary of his living in Conway. In the course of it they tarried together during a night at the house of a friend. On rising, the colonel suggested to Mr. Ingalls whether he had not bet- ter, that morning, omit family worship, which it was his usual practice to perform, and make the most of the day, by taking an early start. In his opinion this omission of worship would be best, because in the time required to perform it they might catch their horses, and be ready the sooner to start after breakfast. To all this Mr. Ingalls, often called Deacon In- galls, kindly replied, " No, colonel, no ! let us worship first." This was enough. The colonel, highly respecting the deacon, submitted. They took breakfast, and then had worship, and while they worshipped, the horses both came up to the bars of the pasture, near the house, and stood there waiting to be taken.
Another slight incident, transpiring after his death, clearly shows how Mr. Ingalls was esteemed in his life. His death made a deep sensation in the region where he was known, and that was widely extended. At Conway the news was
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received by all with sadness. Said a man in this town, as the news was announced to him in the field where he was at work with others, "How straight Deacon Ingalls went up to heaven when he died !" and, pointing upward with his ex- tended arm, he continued, "No eagle ever went up straighter into the sky than he did when he breathed his last breath." This very serious appearance and language was the more noticeable, because previous to this he had generally been a very rude man, and seemed often to take pleasure in annoying the deacon with infidel cavils.
Moses and Robert Fletcher Ingalls, the two eldest sons of Deacon Ingalls, came to Shelburne soon after their father. They were both valuable men, yet quite different in their general characteristics. Their days were spent near each other, in the discharge of mutual kindnesses, and still you would seldom see two brothers more unlike. Moses was quick and irritable naturally, while Fletcher was more cool and even in his disposition. Moses was all life and energy in whatever he undertook - a grand pioneer for a new country. No hard- ships or discouragements seemed, in the least, to repress his energies. He was bold to a proverb, as his ascent of the ledge called by his name fully proves. Nor were his wit and shrewdness less than his courage. He was especially fond of hunting moose and bears.
One Sabbath morning, unknown to his father, he joined his companions and started on a hunt. They followed down the Androscoggin a few miles, when they espied a large moose in the river eating water-grass. Ingalls gave him a shot. The moose escaped, as they supposed, uninjured. On his return home, being asked by his father where he had been, he replied that he had been out hunting, seen a moose, and had a shot at him, but did not kill him. To this his father
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replied, with false discretion we think, " No, Moses ! that was the devil you shot at, instead of a moose. How dare you so break the Sabbath ? " Some few days after this, Moses, pass- ing down the river, found the moose dead, killed by the shot he had given him the previous Sabbath. Returning home, with exultation marked on his countenance, he said, " Father, the devil is dead ! " - " What do you say ?" replied his father. "Why, Moses, what do you mean ? " - " Mean, father ! " said he in return, " mean, why I mean as I said, the devil is dead. You said the creature I shot at the other day was the devil, and, if so, he is dead, because I have just found the creature I know to be the one I shot at, and he is dead enough." Long after that the report went, Moses shot the devil.
Robert Fletcher Ingalls, familiarly called " Uncle Fletcher," to whom we have already referred as the younger brother of Moses, resided, all his days, in the first framed house ever built in Shelburne. This house is still standing, owned by his son-in-law, Barker Burbank, Esq. Some of the boards on it, still to be seen, were cut with a whip-saw, an instrument much used in early times.
In his youth, this Mr. Ingalls was very mirthful, but afterwards became more manly and serious in his deportment. He was respected, by all that knew him, as a man of genuine piety and Christian benevolence. He aimed at all times, and everywhere, to be doing good. To the cause of temperance, especially, he was an early and ardent friend. The first temperance meeting, we think, ever had under the shadow of these mountains, was under his direction and appointment. Among the various means he took to stay the evil, was the formation of a body, called the " Cold Water Army," designed to embrace especially the youth of both sexes in
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that region. By dint of much effort, he brought most of these in town, under fifteen years of age, into it. He regarded it as a sort of child in his old age, and spared no toil in labor- ing for its extension and prosperity. On the fourth of July, the year before his death, in a procession formed for celebrat- ing the day, he was put at the head of his army and marched to the meeting-house to listen to an oration. After the ora- tion, by request, he addressed the young soldiers of the army. And it was an address, as we have been told, worth hearing; kind, instructive and pathetic. Scarcely an eye in the assembly was free from tears when the old man sat down.
Among many impressive counsels and expostulations, he uttered on this occasion, these were a few : " I charge you," turning himself to the parents of the children, and the citizens of the town, "I charge you, in the name of Heaven, to bring up these children right. Train them in the good way of temperance and sobriety ; guard them from evil as you would the most precious jewels put into your hands." He spoke in this way till there was not an unfeeling heart in the assembly. And now he is dead we may suppose he is still speaking to - some of the survivors of that tearful assembly through the sweet and clear recollections of his looks and words.
The history of Shelburne is strikingly diversified with scenes of toil and hardships endured by its early settlers. Mr. Hope Austin with his family, consisting of a wife and three children, moved into this town April 1st, 1781. At that time there was five feet of snow on the ground. All the way from Bethel they waded through this depth of snow, occasionally going on the ice of the Androscoggin river, along which their path lay. The furniture was drawn by Mr. Austin and two hired men, on hand-sleds. Mrs. Austin went on foot, carrying her youngest child, nine months old, in her
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arms, with Judith the eldest girl, six years of age, and little James, then four years, trudging by her side. They went, in this way, at least twelve miles to their place of residence. When they arrived at their new home, they found simply the walls of a cabin without floor or roof. To make a shelter from the rains and snows, they cut poles and laid them across the walls to serve as the support of a roof. On these they laid rough shingles covering a space large enough for a bed. With no more covering on its roof, and with only some shingles nailed together and put into one of the sides for a door, they lived till the next June.
Then they covered all its walls, and gave it an entire roof. For something to shelter their cow, they dug a large square hole in the snow, down to the ground, and covered it over with poles and boughs. This served as a house till the snow went off, and then the poor cow needed no shelter but the open heavens. Thus they lived quietly and happily, if not very comfortably, till August, the time of the Indian mas- sacre.
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