USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > Dover > Landmarks in ancient Dover, New Hampshire > Part 16
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" This infant was called John Little, quoth he, Which name shall be changed anon ;
The words we'll transpose, so wherever he goes,
His name shall be called Little John."
LITTLE JOHN'S FALLS. Mentioned July 3, 1717, when Jeremiah Tibbetts conveyed to Samuel Tibbetts, Jr., land on the Newichawannock river " at the mouth of the first cove above Little John's falls "-part of a hund- red acre grant to Henry Tibbetts in 1656, bounded N. by Ralph Twom- bley's land, N. E. by John Dam's, S. W. by Joseph Austin's, and S. by said river. These falls are below the Samuel Hale place in Rollinsford. They begin in the Newichawannock
above the mouth of the Great Works river,1 and extend down an eighth of a mile or more to Madam's Cove.
LITTLE RIVER. This stream is fre- quently mentioned in the early rec- ords of Dover and Durham. It rises at Mendum's pond, in Barrington, and empties into Lamprey river, south of Lee Hill. Three score acres of land were granted to Jethro Furber, June 23, 1701, " adjacent to Lam- pereal Little River," laid out Feb. 2, 1726-7, " beginning on the northeast side of said Little river above the old mast way." (Dover Records.)
A highway was laid out July 31, 1755, beginning " at the northeast side of the spruce hole by the mast rode," extending to Jethro Furber's land, then " by his land to Litel River, then across litel River by Fur- ber's land, then southerly to Lam- preel river, and along this river as far as the bridge"-evidently the bridge at Wadleigh's falls. Com- munication was opened between this stream and the lowest falls in Oyster river at least 200 years ago, by means of the Mast road, which is mentioned in a grant to John Thomp- son, Sr., Ap. 2, 1694. This road comes to the upper side of Little river a short distance above Lee Hill, where a sawmill was erected at an early day. "Little river mill" is mentioned in the will of said John Thompson Ap. 12, 1733. And again Jan. 1, 1750, when John Follet con- veyed to Samuel Demerit of Durham
' Great Works river rises in Bonny Bigg Pond, North Berwick, or among the ponds above, and empties into the Newichawannock below Salmon Falls, on the South Berwick side. It is mentioned Dec. 18, 1674, when Moses Spencer conveyed to Daniel Goodwin, Sr., a tract of land "on ye North side of great work river and is a little above the place called the great Eddy." The Great Eddy is mentioned Ap. 26, 1672, when 1,282 acres of land were laid out to Capt. Rich- ard Waldron and others on the S. side of the Newichawannock, about a mile above the head line of Dover, "beginning at a certaine elbow of the said river knowne by the name of the Great Eddy, neare to a point of land called Goljabs Neck." (N. H. Prov. Pap. 1: 314-315.)
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Landmarks in Ancient Dover.
16 part of Little River mill, with all his rights in the falls, mill-pond, etc.
Jonathan Thompson of Durham, in his will of Sept. 10, 1756, gives his son Jonathan one half his right in Little River sawmill and the falls. And to his son Joseph his right in the gristmill and fulling-mill at Little river, with all his right to the falls where said mills stood. The two last mills were a short distance below the saw-mill, at Thompson's falls, after- wards called Bartlett's falls. (See Mendum's Pond.)
There is a Little river which rises in Acton, Me., and empties into the Salmon Falls river on the Berwick side, opposite Rochester.
LITTLE WATER BROOK. Mentioned the 30th, 6 mo., 1643, when Edward Starbuck had a grant of four score acres of upland "at Cutchechoe, next above the Lott of John Baker, at the little water Brook," forty of which were on one side of the fresh river (the Cochecho), and forty on the other. The name has not been perpetuated.
LITTLEWORTH. This is a district in Dover, between the Cochecho river and Barbadoes Pond. It is so called Aug. 15, 1721, in a deed from John to Ichabod Haise. (See Broad Turn.) " Ye mast path yt goes to a place called by ye name of Little- worth " is mentioned Dec. 9, 1722. "The road from Littleworth to the Saplings " is mentioned Sept. 20, 1734. (See the Saplings.) It is miscalled Trueworth on Whitehouse's map of 1834. Littleworth is the name of one of the present school- districts in Dover.
LOG HILL. This name was common- ly given in former times to a hill in
the vicinity of a saw-mill, from which logs could be rolled down to the waterside. One is mentioned Dec. 25, 1695, when Peter Coffin of Exeter conveyed to his grandson Tristram Coffin all his lands " at logg hill " at Cochecho. The log hill above the Cochecho first falls is said to have been the high bank where the Ports- mouth and Dover R. R. crosses the old bed of the Cochecho river. From it led the Great Mast path, southward, in the line of Lexington St., into the " logg swamp." Se. Log Will Spring. fr. 27 " A conneniant Logg hill accom- modable to the mill " at the second falls on the Cochechio, was laid out March 4, 1703-4, " beginning att the Taill of sd mill " and extending five rods by the river side. On the same day were renewed " the bounds of the ancient cartway leading from the falls into the swamp" till it met the other way leading from the broad turn.
Sandy Log Hill, in the upper part of Dover, on the west side of the Eel- Weir falls, is mentioned Nov. 5, 1741. (See Sandy Log Hill.)
A log hill at Quamphegan falls is mentioned Dec. 7, 1732, when Thomas Tebbets conveyed to Nathan Lord one third part of the saw-mill at Quamphegan, on the west side of the river, called " ye shere mill " (share mill), with one third of " the privilege of the land called ye logg hill." (See Quamphegan.)
A logg hill, adjacent to Gerrish's mill in Madbury, is mentioned Jan. 7, 1758. (See Gerrish's Mill.)
The log hill at Durham falls is still in use.
There is also a log hill at Wad- leigh's falls in Lee.
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Landmarks in Ancient Dover.
LOG SWAMP. See Cochecho Log Swamp and Waldron's Log Swamp.
LONG CREEK and LONG CREEK BROOK. Long creek is mentioned the 10th, 8 mo., 1653, when John Hill had a grant of land on the north- west side of the Great Bay, between Thomas Footman's and the long creek. Thomas Wille, the 10th, 2 mo, 1654, had a grant on the N. W. side of Little Bay, beginning " at the mouth of the Long creek, and so upwards into the woods." It is again men- tioned Oct. 26, 1658, when a grove of pines, reserved by the town, was laid out on the N. W. side of Little Bay, about half a mile from a creek " commonly called the long creek," bounded on the south by Thomas Wille's grant. Win. Perkins and wife Elizabeth conveyed to Thomas Edgerly, Jan. 28, 1669, twenty acres previously a part of Thomas Wille's 60 acres on the S. W. side of the Long creek. "John Alt's Long Creek near ye mill" is mentioned in 1678. Thomas Edgerly, Sr., and wife " Rebeckah " (daughter of John Alt,) conveyed to their son Samuel, May 1, 1700, fifteen acres of land " beginning at the head of ye old dam seated between the long Crike brook and the highway that goeth into ye commons, lying to the west of the little Bay in Oyster River."
Long creek, properly speaking, was the inlet from Great Bay now called Crummit's creek, in Durham, but the name appears from the above grants and conveyances to have been also given to a branch of it that crosses Long marsh.
Another Long Creek is on the east- ern side of Dover Neck, just below the mouth of the Cochecho river. It
is mentioned the 6th, 10 mo., 1656, when Thomas Canney's grant of 16 acres of upland to join his land at Tomson's poynt was laid out from the outmost point turning up to Cochecho, 50 rods to the long creek westward below Tomson's poynt butting on Fore river, thence running three score and ten rods up the long creek side, re- serving a cartway from the woods to the water side, at the head of the creek, and up Cochecho river three score and ten rods, and from the end of that three score and ten rods up- on a straight line over to the bound at the head of the long creek.
Love and Mary Canney, Feb. 12, 1742, confirmed to John Gage all right to 70 acres in Dover, bounded southerly on Gage's land to the mouth of the Cochecho river, and westerly on said river to Thompson's Point, extending downward to a place commonly called Long Creek, and running up said creek to Benjn Roberts, Jr., his land, which he bought of Randall.
LONG FALLS. These falls in Lam- prey river are mentioned Jan. 29, 1718, when Geo. Jeffrey and Henry Dyer conveyed to Andrew Glidden and others all right and title to " cer- tain falls between Wadleigh's falls and Packer's falls, called the long falls," with the use and improvement of the water privilege "where the present saw-mill standeth, on ye south side of Lamperill river, and no other part thereof, all the rest being reserved, being part of the grant to Mr. Valentine Hill in 1652 of 100 acres of land adjoining each mill that should by him be erected on the falls in said river."
Forty acres, granted to Francis
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Landmarks in Ancient Dover.
Pitman in 1702, were laid ont to | lower end of the long marsh above Joseph Jenkins Oct. 9, 1726, on the north side of Lampreall river, on the west side of a lot laid out to Samnel Smith adjoining to the long falls. (See Lamprey River Falls.)
The name of " Long Falls " is also given on the State map of Lee, in 1803, to the falls in North river in the southwestern part of Lee, for- merly called " Great Falls."
LONG GUT. A name formerly given to the run at the lower end of the Canney portion of the Calves' Pasture on Dover Neck, a short dis- tance below the run from Pinkham's spring.
LONG HILL. This hill is mentioned July 31, 1721, when 60 acres of land, granted to Zachariah Field in 1694, were laid out to his son Stephen on ye northwest side of ye Long Hill. The " mast way to Long Hill" is men- tioned June 24, 1738. " Long-hill road" is mentioned in the surveyor's warrant of 1810, as " crossing Rey- ner's brook at the bridge." Long Hill school-district is mentioned as early as 1790. This hill is in the upper part of Dover, on the east side of the river Cochecho.
There is another Long hill, which deserves its name, in the upper part of Madbury near Mr. Reuben Hayes's.
LONG MARSII. This marsh is chiefly in the Durham Point district. It is mentioned the 10th, 7 mo .. 1663, when "all the longe marsh wich layes joining too Antoney nutters marsh, and soe towards Oyster River falls," was laid out "for the minis- trie " at Oyster River. Twenty acres of land were granted to Eze- kiel Pitman, Ap. 2, 1694, at the
the head of John Davis's land. And Feb. 22, 1720-21, a road was laid out across the long marsh, beginning at Team Hill, and extending to " the King's thoroughfare road to Lam- prey river." The name of Long marsh is still perpetnated ; and the old road, mentioned above, is still known as the " Long Marsh road."
A Long marsh on the Greenland shore of Great Bay is mentioned Ap. 9, 1729. (See Wigwam Point.)
LONG MARSHI BROOK. This brook rises in the Long marsh, Durham, and empties into Crummit's creek. In a deed from Joseph Smith to John Sambon, June 13, 1743, this name is also given to Denbow's brook, which rises in the Long marsh, and after uniting with a brook from the Moat, empties into Oyster river mill-pond. (See Horsehide Brook.)
LONG POINT. This point is on the Newington shore of Great Bay, at the lower side of Laighton's Cove. It is mentioned July 17, 1645, when " Darby ffield of Oyster River, plan- ter," sold John Bickford (also of Oyster River) "seven or eight acres of marsh at Long Poynt in the great bay, together with one poynt of land thereunto adjoining."
By virtue of an order of the gen- eral court " that 400 acres of upland should be given to the inhabitants of Dover who had marsh in the Great Bay, Elder Nutter, Wm. Storey, Henry Lancaster, and Wm. Furber, appointed to lay out and bound unto the particular inhabitants their divi- sion of upland to their marsh, laid out the 27th, 11 mo., 1656, thirty acres of upland to John Bickford, Senior, joining to his marsh upon the
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Landmarks in Ancient Dover.
northeast end over the neck from water to water, joining to Tho. Lay- ton's upland within twoel (12) poll or thereabouts." (Dover Records.)
The order of the General Court, above mentioned, refers to a grant to the town of Dover of all the marsh from Hogstye Cove round about the bay up to Cotterill's Delight, with 400 acres of upland adjoining (N. H. Prov. Pap., 1 : 222.) The fact that the Bickford land at Long Point, as well as the Laighton land adjoining, was a part of these 400 acres, proves conclusively that the ancient Hogsty cove was not the present Laighton's cove, as many writers have supposed, but must have been below Long Point ; that is, farther down the shore of the Great Bay. Anthony Nutter bought of Wm. Pomfrett of Dover, the 20th, 6 mo., 1651, a marsh on the N. E. side of Great Bay, at the great cove there, above long point. This was at the head of Herod's cove, now Laighton's. Thirty acres of upland (part of the 400 acre grant to Dover) were laid out to Elder Nutter, the 10th, 10 mo., 1656, ad- joining his marsh : 22 acres of it on the easterly side of John Dam's up- land, and four acres at the head of the creek that runneth through Elder Nutter's marsh, and four acres ad- joining Thomas Layton's upland on the S. W. side of the creek. As this grant was part of the 400 acres, it was, of course, above Hogsty cove.
Wm. Furber, Sr., " of Dover, in Piscataqua River, in consideration of ve natural love and tender affection to his dutiful and well-beloved son Jethro," conveyed to him, Feb. 14, " in ye year of or Lord God, accord- ing to ye computation of ye church of
England, 1677," a neck of land, con- taining 100 acres or thereabouts, within ye mouth of ye Great Bay, in ye township of Dover, commonly called and known by the name of Long Point, bounded on ye N. W. by the land of Wm. Furber, Jr. ; on ye S. W. by John Bickford's, on ye S. E. by the land of Thomas Layton, late of Do- ver, deceased, and on ye N. E. by Anthony Nutter's land.
As this land was between the Ferry Farm and the Bickford land, it is evident that the name of Long Point, like that of Durham Point, Welch cove, etc., was given, not merely to the point itself, but to the neighboring district.
Anna Walker, relict of Samuel Walker of Newington, May 22, 1731, conveyed to her well beloved brother Lemuel Bickford, shipwright, all right to a tract of land in Newington " at a place called or known by ye name of Long Point, and is part of ye farm my honourd father Mr. John Bickford, late of Newington, dyed possessª of, and is yet in ye posses- sion of my honed mother Mrs. Susan Bickford." Joseph Bickford of the city of Bristol, mariner, gave a power of attorney, dated at London, Ap. 12, 1740, to his brother Eliakim Bickford, mariner, to receive from his brother Lemuel Bickford of New- ington, shipwright, all money and rents due from one ninth part of the land in Newington, adjoining Great Bay at Long Point, and all other lands that belonged to his father John Bickford, deceased.
Lemuel Bickford of Newington, shipwright, and wife Temperance, for 1250 pounds, new tenor, conveyed to Thomas Pickering, gentleman,
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Landmarks in Ancient Dover.
May 2, 1751, 100 acres of upland, marsh, and thatch-beds, with build- ings thereon, bounded northerly by the land of Jethro Bickford and Richard Dam, east by Thomas Layton and said Dam, and on all other sides by the Great Bay, being all the tract on which the said Lemuel then lived, except one acre of salt marsh and flats belonging to Jethro Bickford. Thomas Pickering, in his will of Ap. 4, 1782, gives his son Nicholas the farm whereon the said Nicholas then lived-the same which said Thomas bought of Lemuel Bickford.
Nicholas Pickering, in his will of Nov. 21, 1807, gives his grandson Nicholas Woodman (son of his daugh- ter Betsey, who married a Woodman) " all the farm whereon I now live." It was from this Nicholas Woodman that Long Point acquired the name of Woodman's Point, by which it is sometimes called. Richard Dame calls it Long Point on his map of Newing- ton. Properly speaking, Long Point is the whole neck of land on the north side of Laighton's cove, be- tween that cove and Great Bay. At the upper side is a small bluff, called High Point, which is surrounded by marshes and becomes an island at high tide. Both points are now owned by the heirs of Mr. James Alfred Pickering.
A pine grove covers the ridge as you go to the end of Long Point, and beyond are oaks, and tall tapering cedars of funereal aspect, that skirt the point itself, which terminates in a broad slaty ledge, from which there is a fine view up and down the Great Bay. Off the point is Nunney's island,
green with low shrubs, and all along the shore the wild convolvulus blooms profusely in every direction, lighting up this romantic, but somewhat des- olate point.
There is a Long Point on the Lub- berland shore of Great Bay, at the lower side of Broad Cove. (See Jewell's Point.)
LONG REACHI. This name is given to that portion of the Pascataqua river between Dover Point and the narrows below Boiling Rock. It is so called on Holland's map of 1784, and is in common use among the river boatmen to this day. The name was also given in early times to the adjacent shores. James Rawlins, in 1662, mortgaged 100 acres of land "lying in ye Long Reach, back from Canney's cove upward." Pike's Journal of Aug. 24, 1694, says "8 persons were killed and captivated at Long Reach : 5 at Downing's and 3 at Toby's."1 This was in Kittery, which then extended up the river as far as the Berwick townships. Rich- ard Cutts, in his will of May 10, 1675, gives his daughter Bridget his land " in the long reach," next Capt. Pen- dleton's, " thirty three pole broad front on the river, and so back the whole depth." This was in Portsmouth.
That part of the Long Reach in the vicinity of the Pulpit is often called the Pulpit Reach, which is, of course, below the bounds of ancient Dover. Theodore Atkinson, administrator of the estate of Dr. Robert Pike of Portsmouth, conveyed to Christopher Rymes, mariner, a parcel of land said Pike bought of Samuel Cutt, de- ceased, June 30, 1720, fronting on
1 James Tobey's land "near ffrankes fort" is mentioned Jan. 13, 1695-6; Joshua Downing of Kittery is mentioned in 1717.
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Landmarks in Ancient Dover.
the Pascataqua "at a place com- monly called by ye name of ye Pulpit Reach, 60 poles on the river, and carrying the same breadth back into the woods 266 rods, being ye farm commonly called Cutt's farm, and the westerly half of 200 acres granted by Portsmouth to John and Richard Cutt." (For the Pulpit, see Pascat- aqua River.)
LONG TURN. Mentioned Ap. 19, 1725, when John Pitman (and Elisa- beth) conveyed to Benedictus Torr 20 acres of land granted to his father Joseph Pitman on the north side of Mahorimet's hill, but afterwards re- moved to the long turn on the west- erly side of ye mast way yt leads up to ye Hook timber at or near ye place in ye way commonly called ye long or broad turn, beginning at a red oak by ye above said way. Benedictus Torr and Leah conveyed this land to Benj" and Ralph Hall Nov. 29, 1726. Ralph Hall conveyed to Benj" Hall, Nov. 21, 1749, all right and title to 132 acres in that part of Dover called Madbury, on the westerly side of the mast way that leads along by said Benjamin's dwelling-house, part of a grant to Joseph Pitman, and pur- chased by said Ralph and Benj", as tenants in common, of Benedictus Tarr of Dover, deceased. Benje and Frances Hall of the parish of Mad- bury conveyed to Joseph Masarve, Sept. 6, 1756, half of the homestead where they then dwelt (17 acres), re- serving one square rod where their children lay buried, beginning at the N. E. corner of the lot which Wm. Hill purchased of Ralph Hall.1
The names of Broad Turn, Great Turn, and Long Turn are supposed by some to apply, not to the high- ways, but to the long bend in the Bellamy river, in its course through Madbury. (See Great Turn.)
LUBBERLAND. This name was given to the upper shore of Great Bay as early as 1669. (See Cleft Core.) It then formed part of the Oyster River precinct, but the greater part of it now belongs to Newmarket. It is frequently mentioned in the public records of the last two hon- dred years. A right was reserved for two highways " from Lubberland to Oyster River" when John Alt's grant of 80 acres on Great Bay was laid out Dec. 9, 1679. " The path to Lubberland" is mentioned in a deed from John York to John Pin- der, May 16, 1681. The Rev. John Pike records the death of " Roger Rose of Lubber-Land " Aug. 6, 1705. The Rev. John Buss, in his " hum- ble petition " of May 26, 1716, speaks of his thirty-acre grant be- tween the minister's lot and " Lubber Land." Twenty acres were laid out to him July 25, 1716, "on the west side of the path or high way going to Lobber Land." The Rev. Hugh Adams in 1717 calls it " Lover Land," for which there appears no precedent. Since his day, however, this form of the name is occasionally found, sometimes absurdly varied to Loving-land. In a few instances Lob- berland and Louberland are mention- ed. But the prevailing form from the beginning is Lubberland.
Lubberland brook is mentioned
1 Ralph Hall and Elisabeth, conveyed to Wm. Hill, June 13, 1744, eight acres of land, part of his right from the town of Dover, beginning at a rock at a place called freetown in Dover, on the north side of a road that runs from James Huckins' to Joseph Daniels', Jr.
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Landmarks in Ancient Dover.
June 23, 1701, when John Daniel's grant was laid out between Thomas Morris's land and John Bickford's, on the north side of Lubberland brook-apparently the brook that empties into Crummit's creek.
Lubberland creek, for Goddard's, is mentioned March 10, 1740-41.1 (See Goddard's Creek.) Lubberland marshes are mentioned June 15, 1734. (See Birch Point.)
Lubberland school-district is men- tioned in the Durham records of 1784.
The name of Lubberland was per- haps given by the sailors or fisher- men of early times, by way of derid- ing the peaceful farmers along the Great Bay. 2
"A cup of welcome to thee out of Lobby-Land," cries Lord Saville to Chiflinch in Scott's Peveril of the Peak. "Why, thou hast been so long in the country that thou hast got a bumpkinly clod-compelling sort of look thyself."
It has been kindly suggested to the writer by the author of " New Castle, Historic and Picturesque," that the name of Lubberland may have been derived from some old tale of English folk-lore, brought over by our early settlers, and he refers to the use of the name in Ben Jonson's "' Bartholomew Fair " by John Little- wit : " Good mother, how shall we find a pig if we do not look about for't : will it run off o' the spit into
onr mouths, think you, as in Lubber- land, and cry, wee, wee !"
This Lubberland of JJonson's may be the " Lob's pound " of pixy-land, mentioned by Massinger and the author of " Hndibras," or the " pond- fold " of Phooka or Pouka, the Irish Puck. Pixy-land is Puck's land, and Puck himself, in the " Midsum- mer-Night's Dream," is addressed as "Thou lob of spirits !" Grimm tells us of a German sprite, whom he calls " Good Lubber." Lob's pound seems to be a place or condition into which one is led by a kind of elfish enchant- ment or diablerie, worthy of the " Lubber-fiend" of Milton's " L'AI- legro."
But, Pixy-land or not, the drive along the shore of Lubberland from Newmarket to Jewell's Point, when the waters of the Great Bay are at high tide, and the sun is turning to the west in a cloudless sky, is one of constant delight.
Low STREET. This name was given in early times to a road in the lower part of Dover Neck, nearly parallel with High street, between that street and Back river. It is mentioned Ap. 5, 1701, when Syl- vanns Nock (and Eliza) conveyed to Win. Harford his dwelling on Dover Neck, with seven acres of land, bounded E. by high street, W. by low street, N. by a lane separating it from John Pinkham's land, and S. by Philip Cromwell's land. John
1 There is a Lubber's Creek at New Castle, so called in an advertisement of Nov. 15, 1800.
2 Land-louper and louper-lan, Scotch words from which Louberlan or Lubberland may have been derived, has a more invidious signification, as is evident from the application of the name of "landlouper " to Capt. Waverley by the Laird of Balmawhapple, and to the German advent- urer Dousterswivel by Mr. Jonathan Oldbuck. The Zetlanders also called the pirate Cleveland a " landlouper," though for many years he had been a cruiser in the Spanish main. And Scott, too, makes King James I use the word " dyke-louper " in reference to the escapades of the Duke of Buckingham. A louper is evidently a person given to overleaping the proper bounds of moral restraint.
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Landmarks in Ancient Dover.
Pinkham conveyed to his son Amos, June 19, 1715, his dwelling-house and four acres of land on Dover Neck, bounded E. by high street, W. by low street, and S. by a lane between this lane and Wm. Har- ford's. Amos Pinkham and Eliza- beth conveyed this house and land to Otis Pinkham Aug. 8, 1720.
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