USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Newmarket > Old Newmarket, New Hampshire; historical sketches > Part 2
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(Walton) Sheafe, granddaughter of Shadrach Walton, and great -- granddaughter of George Walton. There were five children by his earlier marriages, and it was a very serious and disturbing thing to Mehitable and her family to find that the house was haunted. This state of things could not long be endured. The ghostly presence of the departed second wife disturbed the harmony of the home. The Rev. John Moody was called, and he, with solemn ceremony and prayer, laid the ghost, assigning it to the northeast chamber. The shutters were closed and the room sealed. It is said that the seal was not broken for more than a hun- dred years. Modern psychology would associate Mehitable and her haunted house with her great-grandfather, George Walton, of Great Island, and the stone-throwing demon that Mather tells us about in his Magnalia.
With the death of the Rev. John Moody, church dis- sensions which had existed for years came to a climax. The congregation had dwindled to the personal friends of the minister. Sixty-five persons at one time left the church and went to a new fold.
Rev. Nathaniel Ewer, a young man, had organized a church at Newmarket Plains. They were called New Lights, or Separatists. The congregation came from Dur- ham, Lee and Newmarket. The meeting house stood near the present home of Daniel Brady. It was called The West Society. From January, 1778, to March, 1782, ninety-two men were admitted as members of this church. Neither the East nor the West Society had authority to settle a minister or collect money by taxation. The inhabitants in legal town meeting settled this difficulty. Then the East and West Societies united under the Rev. Nathaniel Ewer,
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and general harmony prevailed. At this time, the town at a special meeting voted to build a new meeting house at the center of the town. General James Hill, then owner of the Moody parsonage, donated land for this purpose on the west side of the Exeter Road at its junction with the Ash Swamp Road and near the Hubertus Neal Tavern.
On November 7, 1791, a public vendue was held at the former Moody parsonage to receive bids for the construc- tion of the new meeting house. On May 13, 1792, the frame was ready to be raised. This must have been a great day. The people gathered from far and near. The town provided "sixty gallons of good West India rum, three quintals of salted fish, three barrels of cider, seven bushels of potatoes, twelve pounds of coffee and an ade- quate amount of butter and crushed sugar." Mention is made of the generosity of one woman who donated the fourth barrel of cider. No one has ever said that the women of Newmarket ever fail to provide refreshments for public occasions. The town voted "to sell the old meeting house, erected in 1729, to the highest bidder and to take pay for the same in cash, beef, fish, rum or lum- ber-all or either of said articles to be at cash price." It was voted that the meeting house be paid for by the sale of pews. This second meeting house met the needs of the people. It was built two stories high with two rows of windows and a gallery around three sides. There were fifty-four floor pews and twenty-seven in the gallery. There were three entrance doors and a horse-block at each door. The high pulpit, with its sounding board, faced the central door. In front of the pulpit were special seats for the officials of the town. Over the pulpit on a black back-
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ground, in gilt letters, was this inscription: "O Thou that hearest prayer. Unto thee shall all flesh come."-Psalms LXV, 2. Under this text was the date of the building of the church, 1792.
The steeple of this meeting house was so high that "the top of it could be seen from the Four Corners." The weather vane was in the form of a fish, the sacred sign of the early Christians. One summer this vane was struck by lightning and bent so the head was down. It was never righted. The notorious Henry Tufts was at one time a tything-man at this church.
The Rev. Nathaniel Ewer must have been a liberal minded man. On two or more occasions Lorenzo Dow spoke from his pulpit. Lorenzo was the Billy Sunday of his time. He was a stout, heavily whiskered man of belliger- ent appearance. One peculiarity of his preaching was the frequent repetition of the phrase "And you can't deny it." All of his statements seemed conclusive when so ended, emphasized as they were by a vigorous pounding of the pulpit. He was an itinerant preacher from Virginia and the author of a religious book, "The Opinions of Dow, or Thoughts of Lorenzo." He was much opposed to the doc- trine of predestination. Preaching from the text, "Hath not the potter power over the clay to make one vessel to honor and another to dishonor ?" his argument was nailed with this statement: "A potter never made any vessel on purpose to destroy it, for the most dishonorable vessel in family sickness is as useful as the honorable tea cup. And you can't deny it."
INSTITUTIONS AND INDUSTRIES
According to the records the Town Pound must have been an institution of much importance and one of the first to be established. It required the services of a lawyer, constable, justice, three appraisers, town clerk and town crier. The cost of the care and keep of the animal im- pounded, added to the fees of the above officials, was a bill of expense, the thought of which made many a man mend his fences. Stray cattle were not tolerated in any New England community. The first pound in Newmarket was located on the west side of the road to Exeter near the Newfields and Stratham Y. In later years one was built on the east side of the Exeter road at the foot of Pine Hill. This pound was built of stone and was in use in 1860. The first pound was built of wood.
The largest number of slaves owned in Newmarket at any one time was twenty-nine. This was in the year 1767. The will of Captain Eliphalet Coffin, of Lamprey River, mentions his mulatto girl, Tina, his negro girl, Peg, and his negro man, Jack, to be the property of his wife while she lived. Scipio, the slave of Rev. John Moody, was killed in lowering a hogshead of cider into his master's wine cellar, the helpers failing to hold it back. In 1742 Lieutenant Samuel Gilman's negro, Pomp, was chosen constable. At
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a parish meeting March 21, 1743, "Pomp was chosen day whipper." Can any one tell if the function of this office is correctly indicated by the official title ? Caesar was born a slave in Durham. Early in life he was sold to a resident of Nottingham, whose daughter married and settled in Newmarket. This was Caesar's opportunity to buy his longed for freedom. His unusual singing voice had helped him to earn money for this purpose; and the assurance that he would have a home with his master's daughter set- tled the question. It is said that Caesar was intelligent, honest, industrious and devout, an unusual combination of qualities. The quality of his voice was long remembered. He was not the only slave in town whose character is definitely recorded. Sambo was the servant of the widow of Andrew Glidden. On January 1, 1731, a complaint was entered in court against Sambo, who "on December 28, 1730, did put a man, Edward Hilton by name, in great fear of his life by threatening speach and by attempts against him with force of arms. The said Sambo, holding an axe in his hands, of the value of twelve shillings, struck at said complainant a fell blow, swore profanely that he, the said Sambo, would split out the brains of said complainant and bury him in a swamp. And said Hilton prays that Sambo may be dealt with according to law." The result was a fine of ten shillings which was paid by Colonel Joseph Smith, son-in-law of Widow Glidden.
In New England, schools and churches went together. The school law required that in each town "After the Lord had increased them to the number of fifty households, one within the town shall be appointed to teach all children who shall resort to him to read and write." In 1728 the town
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of Exeter voted that "Newmarket be free from paying for the school in Exeter, provided they keep a school at their own expense." The first schools were taught in homes. In 1749 and 1750 Nehemiah McNeal was the town school- master, teaching and boarding in the homes of his pupils. In 1774 it was proposed in town meeting that two reading and writing schools be kept in the town. This received a negative vote. In 1776 decisive action was taken in rela- tion to schools. The town was then divided into six school districts, each district to provide a place for a school. The length of each term was determined by the number of children in each district. The boundaries of each of these districts enclosed large areas, and the children must have been compelled to walk long distances. The bare-footed youngsters made good progress over the rough roads to knowledge. One of the earliest school houses stood on the northern slope of Pine Hill. This hill then was steep and long. The old highway to Exeter avoided the hill by turn- ing to the east on more level ground.
The earliest industries utilized the plentiful supply of timber. Saw and grist mills were the first necessity. Our commerce began with the products of the saw-mill :- masts, planks, boards, staves. Later, dried fish from the Squamscott and salted alewives from the Lamprey were sent to the West Indies. The return cargo brought whale oil, molasses and rum.
Farming lands were planted and made productive; woodlands were cleared; carpenters were busy building better homes; women were spinning, weaving, and caring for their households. Families were large and well dis- ciplined. The cooking was by the open fire-place, the brick
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oven, or by a tin contraption called a Dutch oven, which was placed near the glowing coals to heat for the baking.
In those days it was generally understood that day- light was for work. Night was intended by the Creator as a period of rest from labor. When necessity called for light in the home at night, it was supplied by the open fire-place or by lighted knots of pitch-pine wood. Some- times an invention of the housewife was used-a saucer of grease, a button or button-mold tied securely in a piece of cotton or linen cloth, with the upright end an inch long, clipped smoothly. This was placed in the saucer to absorb the grease. The upright end or wick was lighted and gave a flickering, smoky, economical light. It was called a slut. Candles, called tallow dips, were in general use, and later whale oil and fluid lamps. The pot of lye for soap making, the kettle of dye for the homespun cloth, the frame and sticks for holding the tallow dips, the spinning wheel and hand loom, the hemlock broom baptized with water after each sweeping and hung in the cellar-way to insure longer usefulness, the clean and carefully sanded kitchen floor, the long kitchen dresser holding unprotected the dishes and cooking utensils, the strings of apples carefully pared and sliced, drying in the September sun, giving to and receiving substance and flavor from bees and flies-these and other methods of our great-grandmothers are familiar folk lore.
In 1719 Archibald McPhedris came here from Ports- mouth and established what he called "the first iron works in America." The General Assembly encouraged the en- terprise by granting the company a strip of land two miles wide, and Governor Shute in 1722 granted the township of Barrington to the proprietors of the Ironworks at Lamprey
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River. The proprietors were Archibald McPhedris, George Jaffrey and Robert Wilson. The iron ore to be used was supposed to be found in large quantities at Lamprey River. The iron fixtures of the Warner House at Portsmouth were made here. The wife of McPhedris was the daughter of Governor Wentworth; and the daughter of the house of McPhedris married Jonathan Warner, receiving what is now known as the Warner House, a wedding gift from her father. McPhedris died in 1729, and soon "the first iron works in America" was a dead industry.
In 1751 there was a carding mill in operation on the west bank of salt river. It was two stories high. The lower story was used to dye and full hand-woven cloth sup- plied by the town's women. There were blacksmith shops, harness makers, and shoe makers doing business in town. There was a tannery in the field near the present Exeter Street railroad crossing. This was on the Chapman estate. In 1904 the late Ernest F. Harvey found and dug up the tannery vats in his field near the brook.
SHIPBUILDING
There is no record of the date when ship building began in Newmarket. It was one of the earliest indus- tries. The rivers were the first highways and boats were needed for conveyance. The land roads must have been hard to travel. They are mentioned as "where the sleds go through in winter ;" "as the path goes;" "a way to Wad- leys;" "by the Indian path."
The oak and pine woods were a great asset to the pioneers. The most traveled early roads were from the forests to the landing places at Newfields and Lamprey River. Packets and gondaloes were there loaded with lum- ber brought from the woods of Nottingham and Lee, and from the oak and pine woods near Lamprey River. The broad arrow marked the trees best suited for masts. These were reserved for the King's navy. Tradition tells of a pine tree bearing the King's sign which was cut in the woods of Newmarket. It was said to have been eight feet in diameter at the butt, one hundred and eleven feet long. It required seventy oxen to draw it to the riverside. This is indeed a tall story.
It is recorded that twenty-one ships of different kinds were built in Newmarket in one year. General James Hill got out the timber for the war ship "America" at New-
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fields. This was a ship of seventy-four guns, the largest then built on this side of the Atlantic. Paul Jones superin- tended the building and Newmarket furnished the stout timbers. The Oaks at Newfields, the Mast-way and Ash Swamp supplied an immense amount of timber which was hauled to the landing and shipped to Portsmouth. One of the ships built at Newmarket was the brig Rokeby. It was launched and taken down through the bays and Pis- cataqua River to Portsmouth where it was outfitted and placed under the command of Captain John Parrot.
Time gives to each succeeding generation a new aspect. Ideas, projects, individuals, locations all change with the passing years. So it is not strange that a ship yard that flourished here more than a hundred and seventy-five years ago has left no trace that it ever existed. Long years before the Revolutionary war it was the important indus- try at Lamprey River and at Newfields. At one time seven vessels were on the stocks at Lamprey River and the work was so urgent that shipwrights were exempted from mili- tary training. The launching of a ship was of interest and importance to every person in town. Refreshments were furnished for all and the day was given over to games and sociability.
Where was this Lamprey River ship yard? No one seemed to know. The old rope-walk behind the present telephone exchange, a saw-pit, now the basement of a house over the Creek Bridge from Creighton Street, are the only hints that a ship yard was once an active town industry. Its location was guess work.
Such old records of the town as have escaped destruc- tion are now in safe keeping at the state capital. A brief
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time given to looking up these records failed to indicate any such industry in town; so the matter rested.
When the town sewer was laid in 1912 the workmen found more than seven feet below the surface large quanti- ties of oak chips and pieces of ship timber fastened with oak pins. These were under Main Street about twenty- five feet north of the Town Hall. Then the saw-pit and the rope-walk took on new interest as auxiliaries to this ship yard. This new evidence sent me to Concord, again, where I found a town warrant dated Newmarket, Septem- ber 25, 1752, in which an article contained this statement: "The landing-place at Lampry River is much incumbered with ship-yards so the public have not the benefit of said landing place." Fourteen years later a petition was made to have the landing place surveyed and properly laid out to prevent encroachment by private ship yards. In this peti- tion it is stated "The landing place has been in use over one hundred years and no legal return or record can be found of said landing place ever being laid out."
In 1766 the following was inserted in the town war- rant :- "To see if the town will pass a vote that the select- men and lot layers shall perambulate or lay out said land- ing place according as it has been formally used and. improved, and make a return thereof that it may be recorded upon said town records so as to prevent private encroachments by erecting wharves to obstruct public use, the town to prosecute and remove all encroachments on said landing." Here, then, was good evidence that at this par- ticular place on Main Street there was at one time a ship yard. The land sloped gradually to the river and the "ways," well greased, would gracefully urge the craft to its
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initial splash. In those days the bottle broken at the prow never contained spring water.
ยท Newmarket shares with Lee in the fame of the priva- teer, General Sullivan, and its enterprising commander, Captain Robert Parker. He was born at Portsmouth August 15, 1735. When he was fourteen years of age he was apprenticed to Mark Newmarch, a ship builder of Portsmouth. When this apprenticeship of seven years was ended he went to sea as ship's carpenter. It was not long before he was in command of a brig. In 1774 he brought from France a cargo of powder. Escaping the vigilance of British ships he safely landed it at Portsmouth. Some- how, sailors think they are born to end their days on a farm. Captain Parker was no exception. Before he was forty he had acquired a small fortune; and he very well knew how to use it. He wanted a good-sized farm, feeling quite competent to manage it. He was familiar with the good, fertile farms of Greenland and Stratham; but in travelling Leeward he found the farm he wanted. The fine old oaks and pines would make excellent ship timber. He bought three hundred acres of farm and forest land on the west side of the Mast Road in the town of Lee. He then considered enclosing his possessions. He had observed without approval the stone walls everywhere to be seen in this part of New England, and he decided to build better and save repairs. Under his direction these acres were enclosed with stone walls so closely built that a squirrel could find no place of shelter. Neighbors watched with admiration these solid lines of wall; but when this sea going farmer laid out a ship yard and his workmen were actually fitting timber for a ship, curiosity and interest extended to
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the neighboring towns, for in Lee sailing facilities were lacking and even ducks languished for water.
In this ship yard activities suddenly ceased. Captain Robert Parker was going to sea again! He had offered his services to the Committee of Safety at Exeter, inform- ing them that he knew that a ship was to arrive at Martinico to take on a cargo of powder and woolen goods for the British army, and he wanted to be on the spot to intercept it. His services were accepted. Captain Parker assem- bled his crew and sailed away. When he was next heard from he was at the dock at Portsmouth to deliver the cargo of the British ship. Then he and his crew took shore leave.
In the farming community of Lee the industry of ship- building again revived. It was in the spring of 1777 that the building of the privateer, General Sullivan, was fairly begun in this ship yard five miles from tide water. Ten men of Lee, including Captain Parker, worked on its con- struction, each man owning one-tenth of the ship. When it was completed and all timbers numbered, it was taken apart, loaded on ox teams, hauled to Newmarket ship yard, put together again and launched there. It made its first voyage from Portsmouth in 1778. On its return it came up the river and was again in the ship yard to be over- hauled. The General Sullivan, with Captain Parker, con- tinued successful privateering until the privateering season closed.
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THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR
On the thirty-first day of October, 1774, public interest in events taking place in Boston called for an expression of sympathy and for action by every town in the Province. A warrant was issued "to notify and warn all freeholders and inhabitants of Newmarket qualified to vote in town affairs to meet on the above date at the Rev. John Moody's meet- ing house at one o'clock in the afternoon.
"First, To choose a moderator.
"Second, To see whether the town will vote any dona- tion out of the town stock, or otherwise, for the use of the poor inhabitants of Boston who are suffering in the common cause of liberty, and what particular sum.
"Third, To choose a committee to transmit the dona- tion, if voted, in such articles as may be thought best unto the committee in Boston.
"Fourth, To see whether the town will express senti- ments of condolence to said suffering Bostonians in their unhappy and distressing dilemma."
The petition for this warrant received fifty signatures. The voters assembled at the time and place appointed. In this meeting there was a free discussion of conditions and of the peril facing every town and village. Sentiments of indignation towards the British and of sympathy for the
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citizens of Boston were freely expressed. A sum the equal of three hundred dollars was appropriated. Only one vote was found to be in the negative. A committee was appointed to deliver the above sum, with resolutions of sympathy and condolence.
There are several versions of the story of the first hostile act in the Revolutionary War. Many years ago claims were made for several individuals as originators of the plan, or leaders of the expedition to capture Fort Will- iam and Mary. As recently as 1886 the "Dover Inquirer" printed a series of interesting articles about this historical event. Editors Brewster, of Portsmouth, and Scales, of Dover, Mary P. Thompson, historian of Durham, Rev. Dr. Quint, of Dover, and others brought before the public evi- dence in the case. The rumpus was started by the "Exeter Gazette." "Harpers Weekly" pushed it along. The "Portsmouth Journal" and other New Hampshire news- papers manifested interest. The descendants of the men for whom leadership was claimed, along with the reading public, awaited the result of the controversy. There was no decision.
Is it definitely known who led the party? Was it Cap- tain John Pickering, John Sullivan or John Langdon ? They were all there and doubtless every man in the party felt himself a leader. All were earnest patriots with the same purpose in mind. How many did they number ? Was it. a privately planned party or was it given publicity "by the beating of drums and the gathering of a mob in the streets of Portsmouth with the loudly proclaimed pur- pose of dismantling the fort at New Castle and taking away . the guns and ammunition," as Governor John Wentworth
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wrote on the 17th of December, 1774? Lacking defi- nite knowledge, I prefer the story that in location and per- sonnel gives to Durham the origin and execution of this famous patriotic action. It is like this :
When George III, in council, prohibited the exportation of gun-powder and all military stores to America, and this news reached Boston, Paul Revere rode express to Ports- mouth with the news that the British ship, Scarborough, was on its way with soldiers to reinforce the fort at New Castle. John Sullivan, of Durham, heard the news and did some planning with John Langdon, of Portsmouth. These plans were made known to a few trusty friends and were to be executed quietly and without delay. One man came near being too late. He was at work in Sullivan's mill at Packers Falls. He reached the landing place where Ben- jamin Mathes' gundalow was to take them out with the tide, just in time to be one of the party. We all know the story, how they captured Fort William and Mary without loss of life or injury and returned to Durham with one hundred barrels of gun-powder, sixty stands of arms and fifteen cannon. These were all safely secreted through the winter. In the spring they did good service.
Naturally, Newmarket was greatly excited and enthu- siastic over this successful and heroic adventure of their nearest neighbor. It was, is, and always will be an incen- tive to patriotic service.
The capture of Fort William and Mary increased the desire of the people to throw off the tyranny of govern- ment of the Colonies by King George III; and preparations were made for whatever might happen. Committees of Safety were organized in all towns. In Newmarket, Thomas Tash was chosen chairman.
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