USA > New Hampshire > Sketches of the history of New-Hampshire, from its settlement in 1623, to 1833: comprising notices of the memorable events and interesting incidents of a period of two hundred and ten years > Part 14
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In 'May a new Assembly of Representatives, chosen in
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compliance with the Governor's Writs of Election, met at Portsmouth, to whom he earnestly recommended the adoption of conciliatory measures. For the purpose of consulting their constituents they requested a short recess, which he granted by adjourning them to the twelfth of June. A few days after their adjournment, a third Convention of Delegates from an hundred and two towns, chosen at the request of the Commit- tee of Correspondence, met at Exeter, and chose Matthew Thornton, then of Londonderry, to be their President. In this body was included a full and equal representation of the people. The former Legislative Assemblies had been consti- tuted of Representatives from those towns only to whom the Governor thought proper to send Writs of Election. In many instances, towns respectable for age and population had been left unrepresented.
The Convention took a bold stand, and adopted the most energetic measures for the support of the American cause .- In addition to the two regiments already in service, they voted to raise a third, to be commanded by Col. Poor; the whole to consist of 2000 men. They elected a new Secretary and Treasurer, and appointed a Committee of Supplies for the army, and a COMMITTEE OF SAFETY, the latter of which con- stituted the Supreme Executive, and possessed in the recess of the Convention very extensive powers. Secretary Atkinson declined to deliver the records of his office, alleging that it would be an act contrary to his honor and his oath ; but stated that he had no thoughts of attempting to maintain possession of them by force. Their removal being considered indispen- sable to their safety, a Committee of the Convention afterwards entered his office, and in opposition to his remonstrances took possession of the archives, and removed them to Exeter .- They offered him a receipt for the papers, which he refused to receive ; declaring that he would be concerned in the transaction only as a passive spectator. The Convention emitted bills of credit, which for some time passed as current money ; reorganized the Militia into twelve regiments, out of which they enlisted four regiments of minute-men ; provided a force for the defence of Portsmouth harbor, and a company of rangers to protect the new settlements on Connecticut river, which had been extended northward to Stewartstown. The few scattered inhabitants of the most northern towns deserted their habitations after the commencement of hostili- ties. For the security of those who resided lower down the river, a small fort was constructed in Northumberland, and entrusted to the command of Capt. Eames.
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As a specimen of the feelings which extensively pervaded the people of New-Hampshire in this day of peril, the reader may take the following extract from an Address of the Con- vention to their constituents, of the date of June :- "We seriously and carnestly recommend the practice of that pure and undefiled religion, which embalmed the memory of our pious ancestors, as that alone on which we can build a solid hope and confidence in the Divine protection and favor- without whose blessing, all the means of safety we have or can propose, will end in our shame and disappointment."
Between the inhabitants of Portsmouth, and the crew of the Scarborough Frigate, then lying in the harbor, subsisted strong feelings of suspicion and hostility. The crew began to dismantle the Fort, and to capture vessels bringing to the town supplies of provisions. A party of citizens, desirous of preserving for the future exigencies of the country, all the military stores within their reach, went to a battery on Great Island, and seized and brought off eight pieces of heavy can- non.
Soon after this transaction the Assembly, at the expiration of their adjournment, again met, when the Governor renew- edly recommended measures of conciliation. But he found the public mind in such a temper as rendered it utterly un- manageable. He had sent Writs of Election to three towns not before represented, in which resided some of his political friends, in the expectation that they, would be returned as members. The House expelled the members from these towns; on which he again adjourned the Assembly, without giving them an opportunity to pass any further acts. One of the expelled members venturing to speak reproachfully of the friends of liberty, was threatened with an assault, and compelled to flee for refuge to the Governor's house. In a peremptory manner the people demanded that he should be given up; Wentworth refused to comply ; but a mounted cannon being pointed at his house, he yielded to the demand. After this open insult he took up his residence in the Fort, under protection of the Frigate, and his house was plundered. In a leter to Secretary Atkinson dated from "Castle William and Mary," he says, "We shall rejoice exceedingly to see you in this our pleasant retirement, where we breathe a good air, and have some safety from unreasonable attacks."
On the 17th of June was fought the sanguinary battle of Bunker hill. A party of Americans had thrown up in the preceding night a small redoubt, about eight rods square, on the summit of Breed's hill in Charlestown. As soon as the
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dawn of morning disclosed the work to the view of the British in Boston, they poured upon it an incessant shower of shot and bombs ; in despite of which, our men continued to work till they had constructed a slight breastwork, extending from the east side of the redoubt towards Mystic river. The enemy then determined to storm the works. Soon after noon, (the day being exceedingly hot) the flower of their army crossed from Boston to Charlestown, and landed at Moreton's Point. While the main body of the Americans occupied the redoubt, a detachment of New-Hampshire militia was posted behind the breastwork, extending eastward towards the Mystic .- Thousands of spectators on the steeples and roofs in in Boston, and on all the neighboring hills, stood gazing, and awaiting in breathless suspense the issue ofthe approaching conflict. In the mean time Charlestown was set on fire by order of the British General, in the hope that the smoke of the conflagra- tion wonld favor the approach of his troops-the lofty steeple of the Church forming a pyramid of fire, towering far above the other sheets of flame. The British lines advanced slowly to the assault ; the Americans sustained their fire till they came within twelve rods, and then poured upon the enemy such a destructive fire as compelled them to retreat with pre- cipitate confusion, leaving the declivity strewed with the dead and wounded. Again they formed, and renewed the attack ; it was a second time followed with the same disastrous result. Some British officers exclaimed, "It is downwright butchery to lead on the men afresh:"-but an high sense of honor im- pelled them to the effort. On the third attack, the ammunition of the Americans failed ; after opposing for a little space the but-ends of their muskets to the British bayonets, they were compelled to yield the redoubt to the enemy. The New- Hampshire troops, posted behind the breast work on the left of the main body, behaved with distinguished bravery, and made good the defence of their position, till the loss of the redoubt exposed them to the danger of having their retreat cut off-when they reluctantly retired. In the battle, and in the retreat over Charlestown neck, where they were exposed to a raking fire from ships of War, they lost several men ; among whom they particularly lamented Major Andrew Mc- Clary, of Epsom, who was killed by a cannon shot, and Capt Baldwin of Hillsborough. The British loss, in killed and wounded, was more than 1000 men ; that of the Americans, less than 400. To the former, the battle had all the consequen- ces of a defeat ; to the latter, those of a victory. All the rest
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of the year the British were cooped up in Boston, unable to undertake any enterprise of importance.
It is a remarkable fact that the sound of cannon at Bunker Hill was distinctly heard, by applying the ear to the ground, at several places in the interior of this State, particularly at Plymouth, Hanover, and Haverhill, some of them distant from the scene of action more than 100 miles. However strange it may be thought, the matter is established by the tes- timony of witnesses so numerous and respectable, as to place it beyond reasonable doubt. It belongs to history to verify the fact : an explanation of it must be sought elsewhere.
The Scarborough continued to intercept vessels bound to Portsmouth, and prevented the fishing boats of the town from going out of the harbor. The inhabitants retaliated by refu- sing to allow the frigate any supplies of fresh provisions. On the departure of the armed vessels for Boston, parties of vol- unteers, under Maj. Worthen, seized the opportunity to erect two new forts on Trefethen and Pierce's islands, forming a narrow channel about a mile below Portsmouth. These for- tifications were furnished with cannon, and were thought to add much to the security of the town.
In September, Gov. Wentworth, who had taken passsage to Boston in one of the ships of war, returned to the Isles of Shoals, and from Gosport issued a Proclamation for another adjournment of the Assembly. Soon after this last act of his administration here, he took his final leave of New-Hamp- shire. His disposition was amiable, and his measures as moderate as could be expected from one, who was under offi- cial obligation to oppose the American cause. He watched with intense solicitude, the progress of the controversy, and his wishes to effect a reconciliation between the Colonies and the mother country, were unquestionably sincere. His feel- ings are strongly depicted in the following extract of a letter to one of his friends: "Our atmosphere threatens an hurri- cane. I have in vain striven almost to death to prevent it .--- If I can at last bring out of it safety to my country and honor to my sovereign, my labors will be joyful." When the Brit- ish troops evacuated Boston, he went with them to Nova- Scotia. He was afterwards Governor of this Province, and died there in 1820, at an advanced age.
By the conflagration of Portland, by a British naval force, in October, fears were excited that an attempt would be made to inflict on Portsmouth a similar injury. Washington, having taken the chief command of the American army, sent Gen. Sullivan, who had been appointed a Major General by Con-
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gress, to superintend the preparations for defence. The forts were repaired ; an attempt was made to throw a boom across the narrows ; an old ship was scuttled and sunk in the chan- nel of the river; and fire rafts were prepared to burn the ene- mies' shipping. Many families removed into the country for safety. As the British found sufficient employment elsewhere, the apprehended attack was never made. 1
At the distance of nine miles southeast of Portsmouth light house, lies a cluster of small, craggy islands, eight in number, presenting an inhospitable and dreary aspect. Five of them belong to Maine ; the three others, of which the largest is Star island, containing 150 acres, are within the jurisdiction of New-Hampshire. They were visited, if not discovered, in 1614, by Captain Smith, who called them Smith's Islands ; but they afterwards acquired their present name of Isles of Shoals. The inhabitants of Star Island, now called Gosport, were early invested with town privileges. For more than a centu- tury prior to this period, the islands had been populous, con- taining some hundreds of people engaged in the fisheries .- As they were exposed to the depredations of the British, and were often made the involuntary instruments of furnishing to the enemy supplies of provisions, their removal to the main- land was urged not only by considerations of personal safety, but by a patriotic regard to the American cause. The princi- pal inhabitants accordingly removed to the towns on the neigh- boring coast ; and as few of them ever returned, the business of the islands was almost ruined-nor have they since recov- ered their former prosperity.
In this place as well as in any other, we may break the thread of the narration, by stating a few additional particulars in rela- tion to these islands. They are mere beds of rocks,covered with a thin stratum of soil ; and probably would never have been inhabited but for their advantageous situation for the prosecu- tion of the fisheries. In the rocks are many chasms-one of which, on Star island, remarkable as the place where a female, named Betty Moodey, concealed herself when the Indians once visited the place and took away some captives, is called " Betty Moodey's Hole." With the exception of a few inclo- sures for gardens and mowing grounds, the lands lie common ; trees there are none but a few willows and Lombardy poplars, planted by the inhabitants. In ancient times, three or four thousand quintals of fish were annually caught and cured here, of which the winter or dun fish were peculiarly excel- lent, and commanded a high price. The drink of the fisher- men was formerly bounce, a liquor composed of spruce beer
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and wine, in the proportion of two parts of the former to one of the latter; but afterwards, to the great injury both of their health and morals, they substituted rum in its place. The nature of their occupation exposed them to casualities, many boats and men being lost at sea, especially in the great storm of February, 1695. As early as 1650, the Rev. John Brock, afterwards Minister of Reading, began to preach here, of whom the following story is related by Mather : He had per- suaded the fishermen to agree to spend one day in each month, besides sabbaths, in religious worship. On one of these days they desired him to postpone the meeting, as the rough weath- er had for a time prevented their going out a fishing, and they wished to improve the favorable opportunity then presented. Having endeavored, but ineffectually, to dissuade them from their purpose, he thus addressed them :- " If you are resolved to neglect your duty to God, and will go away, I say unto you, catch fish if you can ; but as for you who will tarry and wor- ship the Lord Jesus Christ, I will pray to him that you may catch fish till you are weary." Of thirty-five men, only five remained with the Minister. The thirty who went from the meeting, with all their skill, caught through the day but four fishes-while the five, who attended Divine service, afterwards went out and caught five hundred. In 1732, the Rev. John Tucke was ordained as the Minister of these Islands, and preached to the fishermen more than forty years.
The sermon at his ordination was preached by the Rev. Mr. Fitch of Portsmouth from the appropriate text, " I will make you fishers of men." His salary was made up by the contri- bution of a quintal of dun fish from each fisherman, the whole number being from eighty to an hundred ; and as this sort of fish brought about a guinea a quintal, the stipend yielded him an ample support. Among the first settlers on the island, were two men named Pepperell and Gibbons. After a short resi- denco they found the place too narrow, and determined on a removal. Whither should they go ? To determine this point, they resorted to the singular expedient of setting up two sticks, with the intention of going in whatever direction they might happen to fall. Pepperell's stick fell towards the north-west, and he accordingly emigrated to Kittery. Gibbon's fell north- cast ; and in compliance with the intimation, he removed to that part of Maine afterwards known as Waldo's Patent.
To return from the digression :- the Convention at Exeter, which has been elected for a period of six months, continued their labors with little intermission, and exercised all the effec- tive powers of government. By the disolution of the royal
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government, an event necessarily resulting from the final departure of the Governor and some of the Counsellors, the affairs of the Province were thrown into a critical state. A conviction that some kind of civil Constitution, suited to the public exigencies, must be formed-and that without delay- became general : and it led to an application to the Continen- tal Congress for advice. It was given-and in pursuance of it, the Convention called on the towns to elect another Con- vention, to meet in December, empowered to assume govern- ment and frame a Constitution, to continue in force during the War. The new Convention met at Exeter in December, and elected Col. Thornton to be their President. As soon as possible after their meeting, they prepared a " PLAN OF Gov- ERNMENT," and then resolved themselves into an House of Representatives. The new PLAN created a Council of twelve persons, to be chosen in the first instance by the House, and to constitute a co-ordinate branch of the Legislature. It provided that a new Legislature should be elected annually by the people ; that no act should be valid, unless passed by both branches ; that the public officers of the Province, and and the General and field Officers of the Militia, should be elected by the two Houses. It established the necessary Ju- dicial Courts. The executive powers were to be exercised by the the two Houses when in session ; and in their recess, by a COMMITTEE OF SAFETY appointed by the Legislature, the President of the Council to be President of this Executive Committee. This Constitution, hastily prepared, and of course deficient in its provisions, went into operation in January 1776. Meshech Weare of Hampton Falls, a man remarkable for fi- delity and unwearied application to business, was elected President of the Council, and appointed Chief Justice of the Superior Court. The confidence of his fellow-citizens invest- ed him with the highest offices, legislative, executive, and ju- dicial; and continued him at the head of the government during the war, and afterwards, till age compelled him to retire to the shade of private life.
Among the reasons assigned by the Convention to justify their assumption of government, were the following :- the oppressive acts of the British Government; the invasion of the country by its troops ; the sudden and abrupt departure of the late Governor ; the fact that no Courts were open for the trial and punishment of offenders, Fand that the property and lives of the inhabitants were of course in a state of insecurity.
In March, the Council and Assembly sitting at Exeter,issued a Proclamation, stating that they had established a PLAN OF
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GOVERNMENT, and appointed the necessary officers for the administration of Justice in the several Counties ; and forbid- ding all persons to claim or exercise any civil jurisdiction not derived from them.
Even at this period, the Legislature had not relinquished all expectations of a satisfactory adjustment of the controversy with Great Britain. In the preamble of the Instrument which created the Plan of Government, and introduced into New- Hampshire a REPUBLICAN system of polity, they say, " We shall rejoice if such a reconciliation between us and our parent State can be effected, as shall be approved by the Continental Congress." They were at the same time determined not to yield the great points in debate. Popular resentment had for some time run high against those who justified the oppressive measures of the British Ministry, or refused to unite with their fellow citizens in the defence of American liberties. Some of these individuals had withdrawn to Nova Scotia, or sought refuge with the British troops in Boston ; while others had been imprisoned or restrained within the limits of their res- pective towns or neighborhoods. In some instances which occurred in Massachusetts, a guard was set over them at their own houses : a circumstance which led one of them, a man of wit, who had been repeatedly put under guard at home, to remark that "he was guarded, regarded, and disregarded." That some of these persons were treated with an harshness, as unnecessary as it was repugnant to the principles of human- ity, is not to be denied.
The investment of Boston was in the mean time continued. Among the numerous forces who surrounded the town, were sixteen companies of New-Hampshire militia, who, on the expiration of the enlistment of the Connecticut troops, had marched to Cambridge to supply their places. Alarmed at the fortifications constructed on Dorchester heights, the British fleet and army, in March, evacuated Boston and repaired to Halifax, carrying with them numbers of American adherents to the royal cause, who fled from the indignation of their countrymen. Washington entered the town with colors dis- played, drums beating, and other demonstrations of triumph. It exhibited but a melancholy spectacle-the public buildings having been defaced, the churches stripped of their pews and benches for fuel, and many of the houses and stores plun- dered by the soldiery.
Four regiments were raised in New-Hampshire for the service of 1776. One, raised in the western part of the Pro- vince under Col. Bedel, was destined to act in Canada. The
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others marched under Washington to New-York, then sup- posed to be the intended point of attack on the part of the British. Soon after their arrival, they were placed under the command of Gen. Sullivan and ordered to Canada, to reinforce the troops, who, having invaded that country, had been defea- ted under the walls of Quebec, and were retreating before a superior force. At the mouth of the Sorel, Sullivan met the retreating army ; but found the united forces of the Americans unable to cope with the enemy. The small pox spread through the camp and disabled many of the men. A considerable body of New-Hampshire troops, stationed at a post called The Cedars, forty miles above Montreal, were captured by a force of British and Indians, who had descended the St. Lawrence to attack them. In consequence of the death of Gen. Thomas by the small pox, and the capture of Gen. Thompson, Sullivan succeeded to the chief command ; and finding a retreat indis- pensable, conducted it with much address ; the British pursuing so closely as hardly to allow the men time to cook their victuals. In June the Americans evacuated Canada, and not long after retired to Ticonderoga.
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In the midst of these hostilities, the Colonies had continued to profess allegiance to the King, and a wish for reconciliation with Britain. Some of the bolder spirits had indeed been long ripe for a declaration of Independence : but the mass of the people were not so soon prepared for so adventurous a step. The progress of the contest gradually produced a con- viction that resistance had gone too far to admit a cordial reconciliation, and that a return, on any terms, to their former connection with an irritated government, would be hazardous. These views at length inclined the people at large to take a bold stand. In June, the Legislature of New-Hampshire, following the example of some other Colonies, passed a reso- lution, empowering and instructing their Delegates in Congress to unite with those of the other Colonies in a Declaration of Independence. Such a Declaration was issued on the 4th of July, by which the THIRTEEN UNITED COLONIES became free, sovereign, and independent States, and all political con- nexion between them and Great Britain was forever dissolved. This measure was hailed with enthusiasm by a great majority of the people. The Declaration was brought by express to Exeter, and read by John Taylor Gilman to an assemblage of his fellow citizens, listening with unutterable emotions ; his own mind at one moment being so transported with the feelings inspired by the great event, as to render him for a little time incapable of proceeding in the reading. In the shire towns of
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the several Counties it was published with the beat of drum. The signers on the part of New-Hampshire of this memorable Instrument, were John Langdon and William Whipple of Portsmouth, and Matthew Thornton of Londonderry. From this time the style of Colony or Province was discontinued, and the more important one of STATE assumed.
It were foreign from our plan to detail the reverses of the ยท American army near New-York, and their disastrous retreat, pressed by a victorious enemy, across New-Jersey into Penn- sylvania. Late in the year, the regiments of this State, with ranks thinned by the united ravages of small pox, dysentery, and putrid fever, marched from Ticonderoga, joined the rem- nant of the army under Washington, and materially assisted in the brilliant affairs of Trenton and Princeton : successes, which stemmed the tide of disaster and revived the drooping spirits of the country. Notwithstanding the army was ill fed, and so miserably clad, that their marches might have been traced by the blood which oozed from their naked feet ;- the New-Hampshire troops evinced a noble devotion to the cause of their country, and at the earnest solicitation of Generals Sullivan and Stark, consented to serve amid these privations and sufferings, for several weeks after the period of their enlistment had expired. Home, with all its attractions, could not induce them to leave, in the hour of peril, the standard of their counu y .
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