USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Exeter > Men and things of Exeter. Sketches from the history of an old New Hampshire town > Part 2
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Joseph L. Beckett, a native of Exeter, and long a member of the typographical corps here, has met with deserved pro- motion, and has for some years past held a responsible position in the office of the Boston Post, which seems to have been largely indebted for its success to New Hampshire talent.
Thomas J. Whittem, who was the pro- prietor of a printing office here for nearly ten years, has since returned to Ports- mouth, where he had previously resided, and where for a time he was engaged in the publication of the Portsmouth Jour- nal.
V. NEWSPAPERIAL.
The first newspaper published in Exe- ter, and the third in New Hampshire, appeared in the latter part of the year 1775. It was conducted by Robert L. Fowle, and issued at irregular intervals until some time in the year 1777. It was printed with large type and on small pa .- per,-often on only a half sheet. The number of titles which it bore, in its brief existence, was remarkable, as the following list of a part of them will show, viz. A New Hampshire Gazette; The
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N. H. Gazette; The N. H. Gazette, or Exeter Morning Chronicle; The N. H. [State] Gazette, or Exeter Circulating Morning Chronicle ; The Journal, or the N. H. Gazette and Tuesday's Liberty Advertiser. The days of publication were changed nearly as often as the title. The proprietor's name did not appear ; and a single person was undoubtedly printer, publisher and editor, as the con- tents of the paper were made up chiefly of advertisements and extracts from other journals, with only occasional original communications.
The second paper was enti led The Ex- eter Chronicle, and was still shorter-lived than the first, having been commenced in June, 1784, and discontinued in De- cember of the same year. John Melcher and George J. Osborne were the publish- ers.
Newspapers were published in Exeter during the twelve succeeding years, un- der various titles, and different proprie- tors, but probably constituting a single series, and numbered continuously as such. From the impossibility of con- sulting files of these, at the present day, it is not easy to fix the succession of the papers, with accuracy ; but it is believed that the following statement is substan- tially correct.
About July, 1785, Henry Ranlet com- menced the publication of a paper called The American Herald of Liberty, which in 1791 was entitled The New Hampshire Gazette; in 1792-3, The New Hampshire Gazetteer ; in 1795, The Weekly Visitor or Exeter Gazette, and published by John Lainson, and afterwards by Lamson & Odiorne ; and in 1796, The Herald of Lib-
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erty or Exeter Gazette, and published by Samuel Winslow and Stearns & Wins- low, until it ceased in 1797.
The Freeman's Oracle, or New Hamp- shire Advertiser, appears to have been commenced about August 1, 1786, was under the charge of John Lamson in 1789, and probably did not survive that year.
The Political Banquet and Farmer's Feast, was established by Henry Ranlet in 1797, and continued about one year, when it probably merged in The Exeter Federal Miscellany, which was but of short duration, it is presumed.
It is not known that any other journal was set up in Exeter, until May 21, 1810, when the Constitutionalist was begun, by Ephraim C. Beals. It was given up June 4, 1811, but recommenced June 23, 1812, and finally discontinued June 14, 1814. The Constitutionalist was conduct- ed with more ability than any paper which preceded it, but probably had no recognized editorial head. It extended over nearly the whole period of the war of 1812, when the popular feelings were sharply divided, and personalities were much indulged in.
In the department of local news, how- ever, this journal was little in advance of the earlier ones. One or two para- graphs per week afforded all the infor- mation it contained respecting New Hampshire affairs ; and unless a fire or some other unusual event occurred in Exeter, no allusion was made to home matters except in the column of deaths and marriages.
During the latter part of its existence, The Constitutionalist was published by
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Joseph G. Folsom; but in the change of proprietors there was no noticeable change of character.
The Watchman was the next journal established in Exeter. It was begun Oc- tober 2, 1816, by Henry A. Ranlet ; in De- cember of the same year its title was changed to The Exeter Watchman, and Nathaniel Boardman became the pub- lisher; November 9, 1819, it passed into the hands of George Lamson, and the name was altered to Exeter Watchman and Agricultural Repository; and Feb- ruary 6, 1821, Samuel T. Moses became the publisher, and gave it the final desig- nation of Northern Republican. August 6, 1821, the last number of the paper was issued.
George Lamson, who might properly have been mentioned in the notices of Exeter printers, was a man of much in- telligence and enterprise, and is well re- membered for many excellent traits of character. He printed quite a number of law books, and took pains to furnish employment to deserving, needy persons.
September 21, 1824, Francis Grant con- menced the publication of the Rocking- ham Gazette, which was under the edi- torial charge of Oliver W. B. Peabody. It was continued until October, 1827, when its subscriptions were transferred to The Portsmouth Journal. This was the earliest paper here which professed to have an editor. Mr. Peabody was a gentleman of learning and taste, and the selections and original articles-though the latter were not very numerous- which appeared in the Gazette, were of a higher literary order than any of the former papers afforded. In the matter of
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news, of course, journalism of that time was but the mere germ of what it now is.
Joseph Y. James was the proprietor of a small paper called The Hive, begun in September, 1829, and carried on till sometime in the year 1830.
On the " 2d mo. 12th, 1830," Michael H. Barton issued the first number of a pub- lication of eight duodecimo pages, enti- tled Something New, to be devoted, as the prefatory address announced, to the introduction of a perfect alphabet and reformed orthography of the langauge; probably something like the phono- graphic system, of a later date. Man- kind were undoubtedly content to live in ignorance of Mr. Barton's improved method, as we do not learn that the pub- lication reached a second number.
May 10, 1831, John S. Sleeper estab- dished the Exeter News-Letter, for which, during his editorship of two years, he gained a wide circulation and a high character, though as he had not a practical acquaintance with printing, he did not find it a pecuniary success. He disposed of the paper to John C. Gerrish, who was fortunate in obtaining the edi- torial assistance of John Kelly, a gentle- man of literary taste, with a fund of quiet humor, and much antiquarian knowledge. He occupied the editorial chair nearly twenty years, the paper having in the meantime been transferred to Messrs. Smith, Hall & Clarke as pro- prietors. Subsequently, Levi W. Leon- ard was the editor, for several years; and the paper has undergone other changes in the editorial and publishing depart- ments, since. It has been repeatedly en- larged, since its firstappearance, and now
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contains nearly double the amount of matter it then did.
The Christian Journal was commenced April 2, 1835, and was issued every other week, by the Executive Committee of the Eastern Christian Publishing Associa- tion, Elijah Shaw being the editor, and J. C. Gerrish the printer. The first year the " Editorial council" consisted of Moses How, Mark Fernald and Samuel E. Brown ; the next year, of M. Fernald, M. How, Noah Piper and William H. Gage; the third year of Messrs. Fernald, Piper, Gage and Josiah Prescott; the fourth year of Messrs. Fernald, Piper; How and Prescott. At the commence- ment of the fifth year the name was al- tered to Christian Herald and Journal. P. R. Russell was announced as assistant editor, and the editorial council were M. Fernald, Julius C. Blodgett, M. How and B. F. Carter ; and on beginning the sixth year the title was abbreviated to Chris- tian Herald, Elijah Shaw, David Millard and Philemon R. Russell were an- nounced as editors, and A. R. Brown as printer, and the paper was issued weekly. The Herald was subsequently removed to Newburyport, Massachusetts, where it still survives.
In January, 1840, appeared the first number of the Granite State Democrat, of which James Shrigley was publisher, and J. L. Beckett printer, who soon, however, became publisher. The paper in 1842 was conducted by Ferdinand El- lis, Jr., and afterwards by William Young, and was dated "Exeter and New- market," but was printed at Exeter. In January, 1843, Samuel C. Baldwin be- came the editor and publisher, but in
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consequence of ill health, relinquished the undertaking. and no number was is- sued after March 9, 1843. An attempt was subsequently made to revive the pa- per, but without success.
The year 1841 must have been peculiar- ly promising to newspaper schemes. A prospectus was issued in February for the publication of a semi-monthly paper, to be called The Rose and Thorn ; but it is supposed that nothing farther came of it. In June, The Granite Pillar and New Hampshire Temperance Advocate was brought out, to be continued monthly, by Abraham R. Brown, under the editor- ship of Joseph Fullonton ; but it was not long-lived.
The next literary venture of 1841 was The Factory Girl and Ladies' Garland, commenced November i, and issued semi-monthly, by J. L. Beckett. This paper, or a continuation of it, under the designation of The Factory Girl, was af- terwards carried on by C. C. Dearborn, and in the latter part of 1843 was conduct- ed by A. R. Brown under the name of The Factory Girls' Garland. Apparently the same paper much enlarged, with the title of Weekly Messenger, Literary Wreath and Factory Girls' Garland was published in 1845 and some time in 1846 by Mr. Brown ; but it was afterwards removed to Law- rence, Massachusetts, by J. L. Beckett.
The Squamscot Fountain was begun in March, 1843 ; a weekly, devoted to the cause of temperance, and undertaken by Samuel Webster and J. P. Clough. It was afterwards called the Squamscot Fountain and Weekly Advertiser, and Mr. Webster became the sole proprietor ; but it did not last long.
C
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A paper, called The Factory Girls' Al- bum, and Operatives' Advocate, was be- gun February 14, 1846, of which Charles C. Dearborn was the publisher and pro- prietor, and William P. Moulton the printer. The paper was issued a part of the time weekly, and afterwards semi- monthly, and was enlarged after a few numbers. It was continued somewhat over a year.
The initial number of a projected week- ly, of a religious and literary character, to be styled The Olive Leaf, and to be edited by R. O. Williams, was issued January 1, 1853, by Currier & Co., pro- prietors ; but we do not learn that suffi- cient enconragement was offered to in- duce them to go on with it.
About 1857 The American Ballot and Rockingham County Intelligencer, a weekly journal which had been estab- lished in Portsmouth in the interest of the American party, some three years before, was removed to Exeter. Thomas J. Whittem was editor and proprietor ; and the paper, though bearing date Exeter and Portsmouth, continued to be printed at Exeter until September 7, 1865, when it was discontinued.
VI. ANTINOMIAN.
Though the word antinomian, which was applied as a term of reproach to Wheelwright and others of the early set- tlers of Exeter, by derivation signifies against law, yet we do not learn that in their generation, or afterwards, the town was remarkable for lawlessness or dis- order. It was not until near half a cen-
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tury had passed, that the slightest out- break took place, and then it was in re- sistance to tyranny.
In 1682 Edward Cranfield came to New Hampshire as Governor. He soon ex- hibited himself in his true colors as a grasping, unprincipled despot. The peo- ple of the Province feared and hated him, and when his arbitrary conduct became intolerable, some of them were so enraged that they actually entered into a combination for the avowed pur- pose of overturning the government.
On the twenty-first of January, 1683, the little village of Exeter witnessed a striking spectacle. A dozen horsemen, armed with swords, pistols and guns, with a trumpeter, and headed by Ed- ward Gove, a member of the provincial Assembly from Hampton, with a drawn sword, rode through the snowy street of Exeter, towards Hampton. A son of Gove, and the brothers Wadleigh, Jo- seph, John and Robert, Thomas Rawlins, Mark Baker and John Sleeper were un- doubtedly of the party, and probably Nathaniel Ladd, Edward Smith, William Healy and John Young, also. All of them were well known in Exeter, and the greater part of them were residents ; and they made no secret of their purpose to rise in arms against the tyrannical government of Cranfield.
But it was yet too early for a success- ful resistance to the arbitrary measures of a royal government; and when next the good people of Exeter saw their in- surgent townsmen, it was after they had been tried and convicted as accomplices in the crime of high treason, and had been, by direction of the crown, respited
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and pardoned. Though this lesson failed to teach Cranfield moderation, it showed the people of Exeter that they must adopt a less hazardous mode of resist- ance to the unwarranted acts of the au- thorities. In the course of the year, the Governor, being disappointed in his de- signs of making great gains from his office, resorted to the illegal expedient of taxing the people without the consent of the Assembly. To John Folsom, con- stable, was committed the tax against the inhabitants of Exeter for collection ; but he reported to the Governor that the people refused to pay, on account of the illegality of the assessment.
Thereupon the warrant was delivered to the provost marshal of the province, who was ordered to collect the taxes or imprison the delinquents. But he found the duty no sinecure. He first went to the house of Edward Gilman, where he was met by the wife of Councillor John Gilman, who informed him that "she had provided a kettle of scalding water for him, if he came to her house to de- mand any rates." He received, at the same time, a like hospitable assurance from the wife of Moses Gilman, and other women took pains to let him know that they were preparing red hot spits, so as to give him a warm reception. Some half a score of the sturdy yeomanry of Hampton, on horseback and armed with clubs, then made their appearance on the scene, in order to ensure that the marshal and his deputy should receive all due attention. And to cap the cli- max, the Rev. John Cotton, at that time probably officiating as the clergyman of Exeter, joined the company, "with a
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club in his hand ;" the emergency seem- ing to justify a resort to carnal weapons.
The assembled party then began good humoredly but systematically to hustle the marshal and his deputy up and down the house, and laughingly inquired of them "what they did wear at their sides," alluding to their swords, which were indeed rather ridiculous append- ages, on such an occasion.
The unfortunate officers soon betook themselves to the widow Sewell's hos- telry, ostensibly for refreshment; but their tormentors followed them there, and pushed them about, called them rogues, took the bridles off their horses and then turned them loose, and in short made the place in a thousand ways too hot to hold them.
The marshal at length found that he had brought his wares to a poor market, and in despair abandoned the attempt to collect illegal taxes in Exeter; which it is believed was never resumed.
A half century again elapsed, before Exeter witnessed another outbreak of popular feeling. The sovereigns of Eng- land depended much upon their Ameri- can colonies for ship timber for the royal navy, and very stringent laws were en- acted against the felling of any pine trees suitable for masts, which stood upon common lands. The Surveyor general of the woods kept a sharp eye upon all such timber, and marked it with the broad arrow which denoted that it per- tained to the crown. It may naturally be supposed, however, that the lumber- men of the frontiers would pay but scanty heed to the regulations which for- bade them to touch the finest growth of
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the forests. When the surveyor's back was turned, it is probable that the wood- man's axe spared few of the monarch pines, whether they bore the king's mark or not. The surveyors could not help suspecting, if they did not know, that the laws were disregarded, and jealousy and bitter feeling necessarily sprung up on this account between the king's officers and the inland inhabitants of the prov- ince.
In 1734 David Dunbar was Lieutenant Governor and Surveyor General of New Hampshire. He was arbitrary, having been a soldier, needy and jealous. He became convinced that the lumbermen of Exeter were cutting about the mill at Copyhold, now in Brentwood, trees which belonged by law to his royal mas- ter, and determined that he would put a stop to it.
Accordingly he paid a visit to the mill in person, but while he was looking about for evidence of the violation of the law, he was greatly terrified by shouts and shrieks from the surrounding woods, and the discharge of fire arms nearer than was agreeable. Dunbar therefore deter- mined that discretion was the better part of valor, and beat a retreat. But a few days after, he despatched ten men in a barge up the river from Portsmouth, with directions to seize and bring off the suspected timber. The men arrived at the village in the evening, and put up for the night at the public house kept by Capt. Samuel Gilman, the same house now standing on Water street next to the Town Hall. After a part of them were in bed and while the others were carous- ing, there, at ten o'clock at night, they
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were suddenly set upon by a party of men in disguise, who threw some of them out of the windows, and drove the others out at the doors. The party assailed made for the river, in all haste, but in the meantime the bottom of their barge had been bored through, the sails cut to pieces or carried away, and the mast hacked down. They undertook to make their escape in her, but were obliged to return to the shore, and hide until the next day, when they found means to return ignominiously to Portsmouth ; but a part of them having lost their clothes, were in a particularly woful plight.
The party who were engaged in this act of defiance of the Surveyor General's authority, were from the outskirts of Ex- eter, then a very large township, but in- cluded men of respectability and stand- ing. Thomas and Nathaniel Webster, Jonathan, Samuel and Philip Conner, Trueworthy Dudley and Ezekiel Gilman are said to have been among the assail- ants. They assembled at the public house kept by Zebulon Giddings, now known as the Rowland house, and there painted their faces and altered their dress so as to defy recognition, before setting off on their expedition.
Dunbar believed that a part of them were Natick Indians; so it is probable that they adopted a disguise calculated to give that idea.
We do not learn that any further at- tempt was made to enforce the mast-tree laws; nor that any punishment was in- flicted upon the parties concerned in this breach of the peace ; but Dunbar was so mortified and enraged that he caused the
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Courts to be taken away from Exeter, and bore a bitter grudge against the inhabi- tants so long as he remained in the prov- ince.
The next scene of lawlessness wit- nessed in Exeter, was at the remove of still another half century, in 1786. The peculiarity of this occasion,-which has made not a little figure in history,-was that the persons who were guilty of the disorderly conduct, belonged, without an exception, to other places, and simply made their appearance in Exeter to in- dulge in their illegal proceedings. The people of the town were not only uncon- nected with the outbreak, but were, to a man, ready to condemn and crush it.
For some years after the close of the revolutionary war, the people were hard- ly reconciled to the situation. The times were hard, money was scarce, and the acquisition of independence had not freed them, as many had fancied it would do, from the restraints of law. Com- plaints were rife among the people be- cause the legislature of the State would not authorize the issue of paper money, which many believed was the panacea for their fiscal troubles. At length the discontent became so intensified that it took an organized form among the peo- ple of several interior towns in Rocking- ham county, and on the morning of Sep- tember 20th, 1786, the rumor reached Ex- eter, that a body of men were about to enter the town to obtain in one way or another, "a redress of grievances."
During the forenoon, a great number of persons attracted by the report, came into town from the neighboring places, not for the purpose of joining in any il-
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legal demonstration, but to witness what was about to take place. The legislature was in session in the meeting-house, which stood nearly on the site of the present lower church, while the Supreme Court was sitting in the Court house, which was 'on the opposite side of the street, occupying about the center of what is now the entrance to Court street.
Between two and three o'clock in the afternoon, the expected assemblage made its appearance, coming down Front street. It had been formed into the sem- blance of a military array, at Kingston, and consisted of about two hundred per- sons, or a little more, about one-half of them on foot and provided with fire- arms or swords, and the residue follow- ing in the rear on horseback, and carry- ing clubs and whips.
They halted near the residence of the late Nathaniel Gilman on Front street, and asked civilly for water. They then marched down the street, and passing over the great bridge, turned and came back as far as the Court house, which they surrounded, under the mistaken belief that the legislature was in session there. Judge Samuel Livermore, who was upon the bench, sternly ordered that the business should proceed with- out pause, and forbade any one to look from the windows.
The mob, in a few minutes became aware of their mistake, and attempted to surround the meeting-house. The spectators who were packed somewhat densely in' and about the yard of the church, yielded only inch by inch, and it was an hour or more before the riot- ous assemblage' reached the building.
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They then placed guards at the doors and windows, and announced, in sub- stance, that they meant to keep the mem- bers of the general court in durance, un- til they passed a law for the emission of paper money, which should be a legal tender for debts and taxes. One member only is reported to have escaped from the building, and he got out of a window.
John Sullivan, the president of the State, was present in the meeting-house, -a man of resolution and a soldier. He made his appearance before the excited crowd, and said to them that they " need not expect to frighten him, for he had smelt powder before." In allusion to the demand which some of them had made for justice, he said, "you ask for justice, and justice you shall have."
It was noticeable that he did not ad- vise the crowd to disperse, however; he undoubtedly felt that it was better to crush the insurrection in the bud. It presently grew toward evening, and the good citizens of Exeter began to think it was time that a little pressure should be applied to the insurgents. Agreeably to a suggestion of Col. Nathaniel Gilman, a drum was beaten, a little way off, as if a body of soldiers were approaching, while he himself with his stentorian voice cried out something about "Hackett's artillery." The mob waited for nothing further, but incontinently took to their heels, and did not pause till they had reached the outskirt of the village. They passed the night near where the passen- ger depot of the railroad formerly stood.
No sooner was the village relieved from their presence, than effectual steps were taken to suppress the rising. The legis-
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lature having given the proper authori- ty, the president at once sent orders into the neighboring towns to assemble the militia. A volunteer company of the principal citizens of Exeter was imme- diately enrolled under the command of Nicholas Gilman, who had served in the revolutionary army, and was afterwards a Senator of the United States. By the next morning the village of Exeter was a scene of no small excitement and mili- tary display. A large body of troops, horse and foot, were assembled, and under the direction of the president and the immediate command of Gen. Joseph Cilley, they marched with military mu- sic to meet the force of the insurgents, the armed portion of whom were drawn up on the ridge beyond little river, on the Kingston road.
The government column, with the Ex- eter volunteer company holding the post of honor in the front, moved to within the distance of some forty rods from the opposing party, when Gen. Cil- ley at the head of a small number of horsemen, dashed forward and across the stream, and by a coup de main seized and made prisoners of the leaders of the insurgents. The remainder broke and fled, but were pursued, and quite a num - ber of them captured.
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