USA > New Hampshire > The Colonial garrisons of New Hampshire > Part 2
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In 1675, when the Indians began to be dangerous, he had a stockade placed around it. Of the five garrisons near the falls, Capt. Heard's was the only one saved in the mas- sacre of June 28, 1689. Elder William Wentworth came to the garrison that night for safety. The two squaws who had been permitted to sleep before the kitchen fire opened the gates of the stockade to let in the Indians. Just as they were about to enter, a dog barked and awakened Elder Wentworth; he arose and pushed them out, and falling upon his back, held the gate closed till other members of the household came to his aid. The Indians fired several bullets through the door but no one was hit.
This garrison house was long the frontier post, the last garrison between Dover and Canada.
The best story connected with the Dover garrisons is that of Mrs. Heard's escape, as told by Cotton Mather, Magnalia, Vol. 2, Appendix to last chapter. This is quoted in Rockingham and Strafford Counties, Hurd, p. 791.
Coffin Garrison: The garrisoned home of Captain Peter Coffin, who was taxed in Dover as early as 1657, was de- stroyed by the Indians in 1689. The house stood on a high hill near the corner of Orchard Street, about sixty feet back from Central Avenue. The street was so named because the Coffin orchard covered the ground west of the house. This land remained in possession of the Coffin family for more than two hundred years.
"On June 27, 1689, two squaws asked to sleep in Peter Coffin's house on Orchard Street; he permitted them to do so. In the night they opened the gates and admitted the Indians, but the latter, having no special grudge against him, spared his life and the lives of his family. They took everything in the house they wanted; then, finding a bag of money, they made Peter scatter it by handsful on the floor for them to scramble for and pick up by firelight on the hearth."
Coffin Garrison: The Tristram Coffin garrison house stood near the present Belknap School house. "After the above described events in the Captain Peter Coffin garrison, the Indians took Peter and his family to the son Tristram Coffin's house, where the squaws had not been admitted during the evening. They demanded him to surrender; on his declining to do so, they threatened to kill his father before his eyes. So they were admitted. The Indians put both families into a deserted house, intending to reserve them for prisoners; but while they were plundering, the families escaped. As soon as dawn appeared, fearing pur- suit, the Indians departed in haste." '(Data of the Heard
.
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and Coffin garrisons furnished by Mrs. George F. Symes.)
Damme Garrison: This house was built by Deacon John Damme for his son William, about 1675, and stood one-half mile from Back River. It was on the top of a steep hill, at the foot of which on the north, is a brook; on the west a lane was made and known as Spruce Lane, changed by Mrs. Rounds to "Garrison Road." The house was surrounded by a stockade before 1680. The walls are massive hewn logs twenty feet long and more, making the house forty feet long by twenty-two feet in width; in the rear can be seen the manner in which the carpenter joined the timbers in the framing. The oak timbers were never clapboarded. The large garret afforded ample room for the family beds, with trundle beds for the children. The government sent soldiers there to guard it against attack by Indians, but so far as known it was never molested.
After the house had remained in possession of the Damme family for nearly a century, and the Drew family for one hundred and twelve years, and Mrs. Rounds had owned it for thirty-two years, she turned it over to the Woodman Institute. The garrison was moved in 1915 to the city and re-located upon the Institute grounds. It took one week to move it on rollers with the motive power of one horse, and four men who kept the rollers in place. The old building is visited by a great many people during the summer months. The antique collection housed within its old walls is of especial interest. (History of Dover, by John Scales, 1923, pp. 210-215.)
Pinkham Garrison: The garrison house which was built by Richard Pinkham, who came with the first settlers in 1633, was fortified in 1675. Rev. Dr. Quint, in No. 71 of his Historical Memoranda published in the Dover Enquirer in 1852, says: "the garrison continued to be a dwelling house until one side was blown down by a hurricane 27 years ago (1825). This garrison house was located about five rods westerly from the new house which stands on the north side of a lane leading from High Street toward Back River."
Tibbetts Garrison: The Tibbetts garrison house stood south of the Pinkham garrison, and north of the second Meeting House, about half way between the two places.
Gerrish Garrison: Captain John Gerrish, son of Captain William Gerrish, of Newbury, Mass., was born 15 May, 1645; he married Elizabeth, daughter of Major Richard Walderne, of Dover, and settled in Bellamy, a part of Dover, in 1669, where on May 6, 1670, the Major gave him "a house partly furnished," ... "which house stood a short
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distance below the Sawyer residence on Middlebrook Farm. This house escaped destruction in the massacre of 1689."
Field's Garrison: This. garrison house was built by Zachariah Field before 1694, and probably as early as 1690, when the plains on which it stood were already known, as they are this day, as Field's Plains. The Rev. John Pike relates that July 8, 1707, John Bunker and Ichabod Rawl- ings were going with a cart from Lieut. Zach. Field's gar- rison to James Bunker's for a loom, when they were slain. by the Indians. This garrison stood near the present school-house at Back River, but on the opposite side of the road, on the so-called "Paul Meserve farm," on Piscataqua Bridge Road. (Landmarks in Ancient Dover, Magazine edition, by Miss Mary P. Thompson, p. 13.) Lieutenant Zachariah2 Field (Darby1) was born about 1645; removed to Dover about 1685 and died in 1720. In 1707 his house was a garrison, himself Lieutenant commanding. (Genea- logical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, by Charles Thornton Libby, Vol. II, p. 232.)
Hayes Garrison: The site of the John Hayes garrison house is at the northeast corner of Toland and what is now called Mineral Road. At the time the garrison stood there, Mineral Road (not then known by that name) ran east of the house and crossed the Cocheco River a little farther down the river than it does now. . .. There is still (1937) evidence of the location of this garrison house which was taken down in 1812. It is referred to in Miss Thompson's Landmarks, p. 62, as the Garrison House of Lieutenant Jonathan3 Hayes. Old deeds show that this house came to him from his father, John2 Hayes. A deposition of Peter2 Hayes, now in the Archives at Concord, mentions the gar- rison house of his father, John1 Hayes. This would carry it back to Feb. 3, 1707 (O. S.), when it was garrisoned by several men. John1 Hayes was married to Mary Horne in 1686, and John2 Hayes was born about 1687. (Mrs. Carl Adams Richmond, Tyngsboro, Mass., genealogist of the Hayes family.)
Meserve Garrison: A Meserve garrison house stood at Back River, the ruins of which were standing in 1875, but were taken down before 1888. (Landmarks in Ancient Dover, p. 26.)
Torr Garrison: A garrison was built at the end of the seventeenth or the beginning of the eighteenth century, by Benedictus Torr, but was burned down by the Indians soon after. Another was then erected which stood opposite the present residence of Mr. Simon Torr. When taken down some years ago a part of the timbers were used in con-
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structing the present (1888) barn. It stood within the limits of modern Dover. (Landmarks in Ancient Dover, p. 89.)
Wentworth Garrison: Ezekiel Wentworth's garrison is mentioned March 6, 1710-11, as beyond Ebenezer Varney's corner, on the way from Cocheco to Quampheggan. (Landmarks in Ancient Dover, p. 73.)
DURHAM
Oyster River had been a "famous rendezvous" for the Indians, and they resented the intrusion of colonists. The frequency of murderous attacks over a period of fifty years (1675-1724) accounts for the un- usual number of garrisons. In 1694, out of the twelve then in use, five were destroyed during the massacre.
Beard's Garrison: In 1675, the Indians "assaulted an- other house at Oyster River (Durham) the which, although it was garrisoned, yet meeting with a good old man, whose name was Beard, without the garrison, they killed him upon the place and in a barbarous manner cut off his head and set it upon a pole in derision." ... The man slain was William Beard, whose garrison stood east of Beard's Creek, between the turnpike road and the highway to Dover, a short distance from the corner.
The Chesley families were nearest neighbors to Beard and probably were in his garrison when their houses were burned, for they survived this raid. (Hist. Durham, p. 86.)
James Davis Garrison: Below Jones's garrison were those of Bunker, Smith and Davis, all of which were suc- cessfully defended in the massacre of 1689. Lieut. James Davis sent his family away by water and with the help of his brother, Sergt. Joseph Davis, defended his garrison, extinguishing the fire applied to it. Sergt. Davis was fired upon by three Indians. He stooped and a bullet split a sapling just above his head. He shot an Indian whose bones were found in a swamp soon after. Col. James Davis was born at the garrison house near the mouth of Oyster river, 23 May, 1662, and died at the same place 8 Septem- ber, 1749. He was the most prominent man of his time in Durham, and few his equal in the Province of New Hamp- shire. (Hist. Durham, pp. 100, 292, 293.)
Huckins Garrison: James Huggins (Huckins) of Oyster River was slain, his garrison taken, and 18 persons killed or carried away. James Huckins was a lieutenant; he had a garrison house which stood a few rods south of the house now owned by heirs of the late Andrew E. Meserve, east of the railroad and on the north side of the second road crossed by the railroad as it runs from Durham to Dover. The men slain were at work in the field which lies south-
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east of the garrison, beyond Huckins' brook. They were all buried under a mound which still exists in the southeast corner of the field which now belongs to the Coe family. The Indians then attacked the garrison house, defended only by two boys and women and children. They managed to set fire to the roof of the garrison but the boys held out till the Indians promised to spare the lives of all. Yet they killed three or four of the children, and carried away the rest of the inmates, except one of the boys, probably Robert Huck- ins, who escaped the next day. The garrison house was destroyed. Lieut. Huckins's widow was recovered after a year of captivity at Fort Androscoggin, on Laurel Hill, Auburn, Maine. James Huckins was slain by Indians August, 1689. (p. 87.)
Adams Garrison: The garrison house of Charles Adams stood south of the road to Durham Point, and not far from the ruins of the brick house built by Washington Mathes. This garrison was burned and fourteen of the Adams fam- ily perished in the Indian massacre of 1694. One daugh- ter, Ursula, was taken to Canada, never to return. The bodies of the fourteen were buried under a little mound close to the tomb on the east side of the Mathes burial ground, a pathetic reminder of the hardships and suffer- ings of those who prepared this beautiful land for us. (History of Durham, 1913, p. 50.)
INDIANS ATTACKING A GARRISON HOUSE From an old wood engraving
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Bickford's Garrison: The garrison that Thomas Bick- ford successfully defended in 1694 stood near the water at Durham Point, as traces of a cellar indicate. (p. 49.)
After setting fire to the Adams garrison the Indians attacked the garrison of Thomas Bickford at the extremity of the Point. Bickford's defence of his house seems to have been about the only item of special interest in this mas- sacre that the Rev. Cotton Mather thought worthy of being recorded in his Magnalia Christi Americana. (p. 94.) He says : "Several persons remarkably escaped this bloody del- uge, but none with more bravery than one Thomas Bick- ford, who had an house, a little pallisaded, by the river side, but no man in it besides himself. He dexterously put his wife and mother and children aboard a canoe, and, sending them down the river, he alone betook himself to the defence of his house, against many Indians that made an assault upon him. They first would have persuaded him with many fair promises, and then terrified him with as many fiery threat- enings, to yield himself; but he flouted and fired at them daring 'em to come if they durst. His main strategem was to change his livery as frequently as he could; appearing sometimes in one coat, sometimes in another, sometimes in an hat and sometimes in a cap; which caused his be- siegers to mistake this one for many defendants. In fine, the pitiful wretches, despairing to beat him out of his house, e'en left him in it; whereas many that opened unto them upon their solemn engagements of giving them life and good quarter, were barbarously butchered by them." (Magnalia, Vol. 2 Appendix, Article XX.)
Bunker Garrison: The Bunker garrison house was prob- ably built by James Bunker soon after 1652, when he bought the land on which it stood. The walls, except the gable ends, were of hewn hemlock logs, nine inches in thickness. There were loopholes for defence, afterwards enlarged into windows. This was the last remaining gar- rison of Oyster River that was attacked by the Indians in 1694. The old garrison was allowed to go to ruins beyond restoration. This garrison stood on the hill west of Bunk- er's Creek. (History of Durham, p. 64.) The foundation outline may still (1937) be seen from the road. Of the twenty soldiers sent to guard the Durham garrisons, three were posted at Bunker's. (p. 103.)
Burnham's Garrison: The Robert Burnham garrison - probably the house of Ambrose Gibbons - stood on the hilltop, where the old cellar may be plainly seen (1937), as well as the cellar of a smaller house, or out-building near by. (p. 57.)
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In the massacre of 1694 "the Burnham garrison, on a hilltop, was easily defended by its situation. Hither fled Moses Davis, who had heard the first shot that killed John Dean. Ezekiel Pitman and family, who lived only a gun- shot's distance from Burnham's, were alarmed by shouts. They escaped through one end of the house while the In- dians were entering the other, and, protected by the shade of trees, made their way to the Burnham garrison, on which no serious attack seems to have been made. Tra- dition in the Burnham family says that the yard-gate had been left open that night, and ten Indians were sent to surprise the garrison. They were fatigued and fell asleep on the bank of the river near the house. John Willey, with his family, spent that night at the Burnham garrison. He had been kept awake by toothache and heard the first gun fired. He immediately closed the gate and shouted to the Pitman family. The shot awakened the Indians, who at once made the attack upon the Pitman dwelling." (p. 90.)
Belknap's version is that they "ran to Pitman's defence- less house, and forced the door at the moment that he had burst a way through that end of the house which was next to the garrison." This suggests the less substantial con- struction of the little dwellings dependent on the garrisons.
Drew Garrison: William Drew settled on what became known as Drew's Point before 1648. Doubtless Drew was the first person to live on this Point. The cellar of his gar- rison house may be plainly seen. The house was burned in 1694. (p. 52.)
Francis Drew surrendered the garrison at Drew's Point, on promise of quarter. He is supposed to have killed an Indian whose bones were found in the house after it was burned. Francis Drew attempted to escape and ran towards the Adams garrison but was overtaken by the In- dians, bound and tomahawked. His wife was carried away and was rendered so feeble by hunger that she was left to die in the woods. (p. 93.)
Durgin Garrison: William Durgin lived near what is now known as Adams Point "at Durgin's the west side of Mathews his neck." Here was probably the Durgin gar- rison mentioned in 1695. The ferry landing seems to have been in a little cove at the southeast corner of the field. Adams Point was first called Mathews Neck. (p. 36.)
Edgerly Garrison: Thomas Edgerly owned land on both sides of Long, or Mill Creek. His garrison house was evi- dently north of Long Creek, now Meader's Creek, and was burned by the Indians in 1694. Shortly afterward he peti- tioned that the neighboring house of John Rand should be made a garrison. (p. 43.)
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Goddard's Garrison: John Goddard was one of Capt. John Mason's colonists, who came over in the Pied Cow in 1634. He aided in erecting the first saw mill and grist mill run by water in New England, at what is now Great Works, South Berwick, Maine. His house, which was a garrison, stood south of the creek. (p. 33.)
Hill's Garrison: Valentine Hill built a house on the north side of Oyster River and lived in it, ... which house tradition says forms a part of the Frost house on the hill. This, then, must be the oldest house in Durham, and it is doubtful whether there is another so old within the limits of ancient Dover. This house must have been a garrison capable of resisting the Indian attack of 1694. (pp. 69-70.)
Mathes Garrison: The Matthews, or Mathes, garrison seems to have resisted the attack (massacre of 1694), and probably sheltered some of the neighbors. All houses be- tween this and the Burnham garrison were doubtless burned. (p. 94.)
Meader's Garrison: The neck of land between the mouth of Oyster River and Royall's Cove was acquired by John Meader, in 1660. Here John Meader had a garrison, and here lived several generations of the Meader family, many of whom were Quakers. (p. 62.) The Meader garrison was abandoned and burned in the massacre of 1694. The fam- ily escaped by boat. (p. 100.)
The site of this garrison was near the summer home of Harold W. Brown-at what was first known as Hill's Neck.
Woodman Garrison: Woodman's garrison was built by Captain John Woodman soon after 1656, when he came to Oyster River. Miss Mary P. Thompson, in Landmarks in Ancient Dover, p. 179, thus describes the location of this garrison: "It is beautifully situated on the eastern slope of a hill at the head of Beard's Creek, with brooks and deep ravines on every side of the acclivity, except at the west. It had a fine outlook for an approaching enemy, as well as a charming view in every direction, except in the rear, where the rise of land intercepts the prospect. Durham village which did not exist when this garrison was built, lies at the south in full view, embosomed among trees; and at the east may be traced the windings of Oyster River on it way to the Piscataqua. At the north, through an open- ing between the hills, can be seen the spot where the Huck- ins garrison stood, and nearer at hand, but separated from it by a profound ravine, is the field where occurred the massacre of 1689."
Both parties of Indians met at the falls after their raids on the south and north sides of the river and made an
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attack on the garrison of Capt. John Woodman, which re- sisted the attack and remained, with bullets in its timbers, till it burned in 1896.
Rand's Garrison: In the southeast corner of a large field of the John Emerson farm, a few rods from the shore, not far from a fine spring of water, is a depression that marks the cellar of the house built by John Ault, given to his son-in-law, John Rand, and used as a garrison of this region, after 1694. (p. 45.)
A petition written the day after the massacre (July, 1694), by Thomas Edgerly, Sr., "Whereas it has pleased God to cast affliction upon him and his neighbors by the sudden incursion of the Indian Enemyes, etc. . . . Hunmly desires your consideration of his Low Condition and that you would graunt him and his Neighbors Liberty to make the house of John Rand a Garrison ffor the Security and defence of some of the Remaining ffamilies adjacent, and to graunt us supply of six men, and shall always pray ffor your happiness and Prosperity." (N. H. State Papers, Vol. XVIII, p. 640.)
Jonathan Chesley Garrison: Jonathan Chesley's old gar- rison house is the one now standing (1937) on the north- erly side of the road to Madbury, a short distance east and on the opposite side of the road from W. S. Meserve's house. The date, 1716, has recently been found on one of the interior timbers, but the house was probably built be- fore that year. Jonathan Chesley bought this land of Joseph Smith who had bought it of Joseph Leathers in 1697. It was formerly a part of the William Beard estate. (History of Durham, p. 67.)
Captain Samuel Chesley Garrison : The garrison of Capt. Samuel Chesley (brother of Jonathan) stood three or four rods east of the Meserve house. He was an officer who took part in two expeditions to Port Royal. From the last of these he arrived at Portsmouth in the sloop Sarah and Hannah, Thursday, August 28, 1707. ... Three weeks later (September 17th) he and his brother, James, with six other young men, were slain by Indians while lumbering in the forest not far from Capt. Chesley's house. (Land- marks in Ancient Dover, p. 48.)
Philip Chesley's Garrison : Philip Chesley's garrison and "the late" Capt. (Samuel) Chesley's garrison are men- tioned September 29, 1707. (N. H. Prov. Papers, II, 567. Landmarks, p. 48.)
Joseph Chesley Garrison: In Lubberland on the farm of Peter Smith are Chesley graves, and the garrison built by Joseph Chesley about 1707 was located in this vicinity. (Hist. of Durham, p. 244.)
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George Chesley Garrison: Another Chesley garrison stood immediately in front of the present Christian meet- ing-house in Durham village. It was built by George Ches- ley who acquired this land October 16, 1699. According to the family tradition he was killed by Indians near the Durham Point meeting-house, on his way to Crummit's mill. The estate of a George Chesley was administered upon by his widow, Deliverance, and his brother, Joseph, September 5, 1710. (Landmarks, p. 48.)
David Davis Garrison: Another garrison was built by David Davis (son of the David who built the garrison in 1695 in Lubberland) at Packer's Falls, early in the eight- eenth century, where five generations of David Davises have lived. The original garrison stood on a knoll in the center of the field back of its present location, to which it was moved prior to 1790 in order to be on the highway. Additions have been made by later generations so that the garrison of pre-Revolutionary times forms but a part of the present building, occupied by Eben Meserve Davis. (Hist. Durham, p. 356.)
Jabez Davis Garrison: The Jabez Davis garrison was about a mile from the village. (p. 303.)
Jones Garrison: Stephen Jones built a garrison (about 1672) on the upper, or west side of Jones' Creek, not far from the river. It was burned before 1732. The site of the garrison is made known by a depression containing broken bricks, pieces of pottery and of flint. It is about five or six rods north of the road leading to Piscataqua Bridge, and about ten or twelve rods from the Chesley divi- sion line, on the plain below the walled burial place of the Jones family. (p. 64.) The farm is now owned by Dr. Alice M. Chesley-Lamprey, of Exeter, a descendant of Stephen Jones. She has marked the site.
In the Jones family the tradition has been preserved that Ensign Stephen Jones in the night heard the barking of dogs and thought wolves were about. He got up and went some distance from the house to take care of swine. Returning he went into a flanker, got on the top of it and sat there with his legs hanging down on the outside. An Indian fired at him; he threw himself back, and the bullet entered the flanker betwixt his legs. A band of Indians from behind a rock a few rods from the garrison kept fir- ing on the house. (p. 98.)
Pendergast Garrison: A part of the old Pendergast house still standing near the Newmarket line, Packer's Falls district, is claimed to be the original garrison. The family living in the house in 1935 stated that it was built. in 1737.
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In Baptisms by Rev. Hugh Adams: "1719-20, January 11, James, the infant son of James Tilley, at the gar- rison, second falls," perhaps now the Pendergast garrison. (History Newfields, p. 310.) If the present building was built about 1737, there must have been an earlier garrison on the site, or near by. The Pendergast family are buried in a family cemetery not far from the house.
Joshua Woodman Garrison: Another garrison ... is said to have stood near Wiswall's mill, built by Joshua Wood- man. (Landmarks in Ancient Dover, p. 49.) This would be in the region of Packer's Falls. (E. K. F.)
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