USA > New Hampshire > The Colonial garrisons of New Hampshire > Part 3
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EPPING
Lawrence Garrison: The site of David Lawrence's gar- rison house is near the overhead R. R. bridge and was prob- ably built before 1747 when he was parish clerk of Epping. He was a grandson of David Lawrence of Exeter, who had land granted to him by Exeter in 1674.
Sanborn Garrison: The site of the Richard Sanborn gar- rison house is at the foot of Red Oak Hill. This garrison was also probably built before 1747, when Richard Sanborn was living in Epping and signed the petition relative to building a meeting house.
It is also stated that another garrison house stood where John Waugh lived in 1925. (Sites of these garrisons given by Mrs. Walter P. Sanborn, Epping.)
EPSOM
Garrison: The proprietors built a block house, or gar- rison, for refuge in case of danger. It was built near An- drew McClary's house. The old foundation was uncovered in 1885 during preparations for erection of a house for Augustus Lord. Mrs. McCoy and family were hastening to and had nearly reached this garrison, when captured by Indians in 1754.
Captain Andrew McClary rendered the colony efficient military service, and was associated with such noted fight- ers and rangers as Stark, Goffe and Rogers. In 1753 he applied to Governor Wentworth for a company to go in pursuit of the Indians who committed the massacre at Salisbury. At another time he obtained a small company to aid in garrison duty at Epsom, when lurking Indians were seen. (Hist. Belknap and Merrimack Cos., Hurd.)
The monument and bronze tablet at the site of the home of Major Andrew McClary, now on the Lawrence farm at Epsom Center, indicate the near location of the garrison.
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EXETER
"The towns of Dover and Exeter being more exposed than Portsmouth and Hampton, suffered the greatest share in the common calamity. ... When many of the eastern settlements were wholly broken up, they stood their ground, and thus gained to themselves a reputation which their posterity boast of to this day." (Belknap, p. 137, King William's War.)
John Gilman's Garrison: This may be called with con- fidence the oldest house in New Hampshire. Eighteenth century additions were built against it, but the four walls stand, masked by clapboards; and removal of lath and
JOHN GILMAN'S GARRISON, EXETER
Corner on second floor. The log in which the window is cut is twenty-one inches high and seven thick. Sawn log faces were later hacked to hold plaster.
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plaster inside shows the construction. The building has already been described in the Foreword. Tradition con- nects the people of this garrison with an event of the tenth of June, 1697, when according to Belknap, the town of Exeter was remarkably preserved from destruction. A body of Indians were concealed near the town, intending to attack early the next morning. "A number of women and children, contrary to the advice of their friends, went into the fields without a guard, to gather strawberries. When they were gone, some persons, to frighten them, fired an alarm; which quickly spread through the town, and brought the people together in arms. The Indians sup- posing that they were discovered, and quickened by fear, after killing one, wounding another and taking a child, made a hasty retreat." Bell's History gives the place of the Indian ambush as Fort Rock, which is on the property of Mr. Ambrose Swasey.
The Gilman garrison stands at the corner of Water and Clifford Streets, near Great Bridge and the Squamscott Falls. Across the river there was a watch tower which gave its name to Tower Hill. The garrison house is owned by Mrs. A. T. Dudley.
An illustrated article upon this garrison may be found in Pencil Points for June, 1933.
Sewall Garrison: This house was built probably about 1676, by Edward Sewall on land granted to him by Exeter in 1675. Edward Sewall died in 1713, and in 1726 his heirs sold it to Trueworthy Dudley.
The house has been remodeled many times and from the outside shows no sign of its great age. The kitchen was formerly in a lean-to. The brick oven is still retained. It is stated a small closet in the attic formerly contained a loophole through which a gun could be trained on the hill opposite in case Indians appeared from the forest beyond. In removing clapboards when a sun porch was added, it was found that the walls were filled with bricks. A summer beam crosses the ceiling of the dining room, and there are three summer beams in rooms upstairs. The old house has had several owners, the present (1937) being Chester H. Smith.
Daniel Young Garrison: The site of the Daniel Young garrison house, indicated by the cellar hole, is at the end of Garrison Lane, about one-fourth of a mile beyond the site of the Barker mill. It is shown on the map of Exeter, 1802, as the house of Peter Cushing. A highway was laid out by the selectmen of Exeter on March 31st, 1746, "from the High Way that Leads by Daniel Youngs Dweling House to
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the Great Medows ... at the West End of his barn between his two orchards." (Second Book of Exeter Town Records, typed copy, p. 65.) This would indicate that the house was built sometime previously, to have two established orchards. Daniel Young sold the west half of the house and the land on the west to Thomas Dolloff, his son-in-law, in 1757.
The name of the original owner of this garrison was lost until a search of records in preparation of this article traced back through Gilman, Colcord, Cushing and Dolloff ownership to Daniel Young. The name of Daniel Young appears in Bell's Exeter as a member of scouting parties in the summer of 1710. He was probably a son of John Young, who was killed by Indians in Exeter, July 9, 1697.
An oil painting of this old house has been found which shows a two-story house with overhang, a huge central chimney and a large front door, the well and its sweep, orchards, the road going by the house (laid out in 1746) and the entrance from Garrison Lane. The house was taken down many years ago. Arthur J. Conner is the present owner of the land about the old garrison site.
FRANKLIN
Call Garrison: The site of the Philip Call garrison house is on the state highway in what is now known as the lower village. The first settlement "sprang up about the Gar- rison House of Philip Call." This site has been marked with a boulder and tablet by Abigail Webster Chapter, D. A. R. Franklin was originally a part of the old township of Salisbury.
HAMPSTEAD
Peter Morse Garrison: Peter Morse, born Oct. 3, 1701, son of Dea. William and Sarah (Merrill) Morse, bought twenty-four acres of land of Stephen Johnson, Sr., April 21, 1727. He cleared the land and fixed his dwelling about half a mile northeast of the present home of a great-great- grandson, Clarence B. Morse. The cellar of the house to which he brought his wife, Tamasine Hale, and where their six children were born, still remains, as also the ruins of the Morse mill on Beaver Brook near by. The house, built about 1727-8, is spoken of as "the Peter Morse Garrison House." (History of Hampstead, by Harriet E. Noyes, 1899, pp. 153, 307.)
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HAMPTON
Philbrick Garrison: The Philbrick garrison house was probably built by William Sanborn, who, in 1647, sold six acres of land with the buildings thereon to Thomas2 Phil- brick, who, in 1651, sold the premises to his father, Thomas1 Philbrick. It has never been alienated from the Philbrick family. The old garrison house was torn down in 1855, and a new house built on the site, which is in the east part of the town on the main road to Hampton Beach. The fol- lowing description of the garrison is in Dow's History of Hampton, Vol. 1, p. 247: "It was heavily timbered, the eastern half of the second story projecting over the first, with openings here and there in the floor of the projection through which shot might be fired downward, or water poured, if the savages pursued their favorite plan of set- ting fire to the house. Other loopholes guarded the ap- proach. A fragmentary jotting, still to be seen in an old manuscript of the third Deacon Samuel Dow, who lived nearly opposite, - 'Remember, Remember how ye Indians came down upon you to destroy you had you not had help from ye garrison to drive' . .. very likely referred to an attack frustrated by the soldiers stationed here."
Wingate-Toppan Garrison: This house was built about 1700 by Col. Joshua Wingate, who was born 2 Feb., 1679. It was early called "The Garrison House," being stoutly constructed and the residence of the military commander, and later used as a place of refuge in threatened Indian attack. After Col. Wingate's daughter, Sarah, married Dr. Edmund Toppan, the property passed into the Toppan fam- ily and became known as 'the old Toppan house.' It was demolished in 1900. (Harold Murdock Taylor, in Anthony Taylor of Hampton, 1935, pp. 67-68.)
Many people wishing to inspect the old building and the floors being deemed unsafe, it was torn down, in which process it was found that seven distinct additions had been made to the house during its two hundred years of exist- ence. (Christopher S. Toppan, 1937.) The barns are still standing. The cellar hole, now surrounded by elm trees, shows the site of the garrison which is on the west side of Lafayette road about five hundred feet south of Whittier's Corner. Old photographs show an ornamental fence in front of the house consisting of fancy panels eight feet long, a different design in each panel, one being a spider web. The posts were ornamented with turned tops. The History of Hampton states that the house was originally surrounded by a stockade.
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HAMPTON FALLS
Bonus Norton Garrison: The Marshall place, near the Hampton causeway on Lafayette highway, was the site of a garrison house at the early settlement of the town, where Bonus Norton was living soon after 1700. A covered well, found within recent years, was probably used by the gar- rison.
Bonus Norton was born in England in 1657, and died in Hampton Falls in 1718, aged 61. His gravestone is the oldest inscribed stone in the Quaker Cemetery in Seabrook. Robert Marshall, a later owner of the place, lived in the old garrison house until his death in 1844, aged 90 years. His son, John Marshall, built the present house in 1846. It is now (1937) the home of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur W. Chase. Mrs. Chase is a granddaughter of John Marshall. (Hamp- ton Falls, Brown, Vol. 1, pp. 570-571. Hampton, Dow, Vol. 2, p. 882.)
James Prescott Garrison: James Prescott, from Lin- colnshire, England, came to Hampton in 1665 and settled in what is now Hampton Falls. He married in 1668, Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Boulter, and built a garrison house which was called "Prescott's Fort." This original Prescott homestead is now W. B. Farmer's Applecrest Farm. Pres- cott was one of the grantees of Kingston, and late in life removed to that place where he died in 1728. (Hamp- ton Falls, Brown, Vol. 1, p. 557. Hampton, Dow, Vol. 2, p. 928.)
Tilton Garrison: The site of the Daniel Tilton garrison house, 1667, is on the corner of Monument Square, where the Akerman family lives (1937). Daniel2 Tilton (Wil- liam1) was born in Hampton about 1648; married 23 Dec., 1669, Mehitable Sanborn. When he was about twenty-one years old, and at the time of his marriage, he was allowed "to sitt downe as a smith." Here on Hampton Falls Hill he built his house, the garrison, and also his blacksmith shop. (Hampton Falls, Brown, p. 573. Hampton, Dow, p. 994.)
HAVERHILL
Johnston Garrison: The house built by Colonel Charles Johnston, of Revolutionary fame, one of the first settlers, was surrounded in early days by a stockade. It still stands (1937) and is north of the Common on College Road, where a tablet on a boulder on the lawn tells its history.
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HINSDALE
Daniel Shattuck Garrison: In the autumn of 1736, or '37 Daniel Shattuck put up a good sized and heavily timbered log house on the brook that ran through his lot in "Merry's Meadows," and now bears his name. This house he afterwards made into a fort, by building another similar structure on the opposite side of the brook, connecting the two by a plank palisade and surrounding the whole with a line of strong pickets. This fort was on the farm now known as the John Stearns place. The brook has since changed its course, and runs some distance to the south of the site of the fort.
John Evans Garrison: In 1741 John Evans built south of the Ashuelot (river) on what is now known as the Elihu Stebbins homestead. Evans was driven off in 1745, but returned after the close of the Cape Breton war. Evans' house was fortified in 1754, and served as a temporary refuge for the Stebbins and Stratton families then living on the opposite side of the river.
Josiah Sartwell Garrison: In 1738 Josiah Sartwell, then living in Northfield, Massachusetts, obtained from the gen- eral court a grant of a hundred acres, which was laid out on the west bank of the Connecticut. On this, in 1740, he built what was known as Sartwell's Fort.
Orlando Bridgman Garrison: In 1742 Orlando Bridgman built a blockhouse on his farm, which was about half a mile south of Sartwell's. This was assaulted and burned in 1747, when several persons were killed and others taken prisoners. (History and Description of New England, p. 528.)
Robert Cooper Garrison: In the spring of 1737 Robert Cooper built a house near the site of the old Hinsdale meet- ing house.
Hinsdell Garrison: The coming of these families (above) induced Rev. Ebenezer Hinsdell, then at Fort Dummer, to erect a block-house upon land he owned on Ash-swamp brook, and to build a grist-mill on the next brook, about fifty rods below. This mill-site was convenient to the set- tlers just now located, and would accommodate the gar- rison stationed at Fort Dummer. Hinsdell's buildings were put up, probably, in the summer of 1742, and stood on the bluff back of the meadow, about sixty rods east of the river. The cellar-hole of his "fort" is still to be seen about twenty rods southwest of the house of Lemuel Liscom.
These several block-houses, which were strictly private enterprises, and were used as dwellings, proved of great
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service in the subsequent wars. Hinsdale was especially exposed to Indian raids, with records of several attacks on the garrisons, and murder of settlers working in their fields. An attack on the grist-mill was successfully re- pulsed. (The above garrisons given in the Gazetteer of Cheshire County, N. H., 1736-1885, by Hamilton Child, p. 186.)
FRONTIER BLOCK HOUSE, 1746.
HOLLIS
Flagg Garrison: Eleazer Flagg, from Concord, Massa- chusetts, settled in the southwest part of the town (1732) on or near the place afterwards owned by his grandson, Captain Reuben Flagg, and now by Timothy E. Flagg, Esq. The house of Mr. Flagg is said to have been fortified against the attacks of the Indians, and was used as a gar- rison house .. . Mr. Flagg was the second settler. (History of Hollis, 1730 to 1879, S. T. Worcester, p. 32.)
HOOKSETT
Gault Garrison: The site of the Gault garrison is about three hundred feet west of the William Head house, be- tween that house and the river. (Miss Edith S. Freeman, 1937.) Samuel Gault was born in Scotland; married Elsie Carlton, of Wales. They had three children born in Scot- land; moved to Londonderry, Ireland, where two children
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were born. They came to this country and settled in Hook- sett, then included in Suncook. May 25, 1736, Gault pur- chased land now owned by his great-great-grandson, Morris C. Gault, and built his garrison house about 1737. (His- tory of Merrimack County, p. 364.)
HOPKINTON
Kimball Garrison: Kimball's garrison house stood near the spot now occupied by the home of James K. Story, on the road from Hopkinton village to Concord. Aaron Kim- ball, claimed to be the builder of the house, is said to have come to Hopkinton from Bradford, Massachusetts. He was prominent in the early records of the town, and was called Lieutenant. His son, Abraham Kimball, was born here April 18, 1742, being the first white male child born in the township. He was captured by the Indians April 13, 1753. "The boy escaped through the sagacity of a dog that seized an Indian who was making preparations to kill the captive." (History of Hopkinton, C. C. Lord, 1890, pp. 29, 32. History and Description of New England, p. 532.)
Putney's Garrison: Samuel and John Putney, from Amesbury, Massachusetts, built a fort on what is known as Putney's Hill. The site is now marked by a tablet. (His- tory of Hopkinton, p. 30. Early Town Papers, Vol. XII.)
Woodwell's Garrison: David Woodwell came from Hop- kinton, Massachusetts, and built a fort near the location of the present village of Contoocook; the place is identified by the depression made in excavating the cellar. (Early Town Papers, Vol. XII.) The site of this garrison house, where Mary Woodwell, with seven others, was captured by the Indians in April, 1746, is on the Central State Road from Dover to Claremont, one-half mile east of Contoocook. The site is marked by a memorial tablet. A detailed account of the capture at Woodwell's garrison was written by the late General Walter Harriman and published in Vol. IV, No. 6, of the Granite Monthly.
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HUDSON
Hills Garrison: The Hills garrison stood about twenty- five rods east of the Litchfield Road, on the farm now owned by J. H. LeGallee. A granite boulder, with the fol- lowing inscription, marks the location: "Site of the Hills Garrison, The First Settlement of Hudson, about 1710. Erected by Kimball Webster, 1901. Nathaniel Hills died April 12, 1748, aged 65. Henry Hills died August 20, 1757, aged 69." (Hudson, by Kimball Webster, p. 82.)
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Blodgett Garrison: The Joseph Blodgett garrison was located about two and one-half miles below the mouth of the Nashua River, nearly half-way between the present river road and the Merrimack, on the farm now owned by Philip J. Connell. A boulder, with bronze tablet, is in- scribed : "Site of Blodgett Garrison, Joseph and Mary Blodgett. Their eldest son, Joseph, born here February 9, 1718, being the first white child born in this town." (p. 83.)
Taylor Garrison: The John Taylor garrison was located upon that part of the Joseph Hills farm, containing 45 acres, that was willed to Gershom Hills by his father, Jo- seph. The farm is now owned by Charles W. Spalding. It was situated about equal distance between the Derry and Litchfield Roads as they at present exist. Some pieces of timber that entered into the construction of this garrison are still preserved by Mr. Spalding. (p. 86.)
Fletcher Garrison: The Fletcher garrison was situated a little south of the line as established in 1741, between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It stood near the River Road, ... and was occupied by Captain Robert Fletcher. (p. 87.)
Thus it will be seen that the Hills garrison was situated very near the north line of Nottingham West, as it was in- corporated in 1733. John Taylor's garrison was about one- half mile south of the Hills garrison; Joseph Blodgett's was located about three miles southerly from the Taylor gar- rison; and the Fletcher garrison nearly three miles south- erly from the Blodgett garrison. No one of these was more than one-half mile from the Merrimack. (p. 87.)
From anticipated attacks of the savages, the first set- tlers lived in garrisons, but there appears to be no record of depredations committed by the Indians.
KENSINGTON
When the first house was built in Kensington by Ste- phen Green, it is said there was not another dwelling be- tween it and Canada, except the wigwams of the savages. People used a ladder to enter the house and at night drew in the ladder to prevent the intrusion of Indians. (History of Newfields, Fitts, p. 143.)
KINGSTON
Sleeper Garrison: The garrison of Aaron Sleeper, built about 1700, in which the first town meeting was held in 1750, was on the Exeter Road. (History of Rockingham County, p. 491.)
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Sanborn Garrison: Site of the log cabin and garrison house of Ensign Tristram Sanborn; the log cabin was burned by Indians, and Ensign Sanborn immediately built a garrison on its site. Located west of the Aaron Sleeper garrison. (pp. 491, 493.)
Kingston was granted in 1694 to James Prescott, Ebenezer Webster and others belonging to Hampton. A short time subsequent to the grant, garrison houses were erected on the plain. The Indians were exceedingly troublesome to the settlers. (History and Description of New England, p. 545.)
LEE
Randall Garrison: "Built of logs with loop-holes for the discharge of guns," by Captain Nathaniel Randall. (Land- marks of Ancient Dover, p. 49.)
Captain Nathaniel Randall was born in Dover in 1695, and married about 1720, Mary, daughter of Israel and Ann (Wingate) Hodgdon. He settled in Durham (now Lee) in the early part of the eighteenth century, where he bought land on the north side of the Mast Road and built there a garrison house. He gave this garrison house and his homestead farm to his son, Myles Randall. It was taken down about 1850. (Frank A. Davis, M.D., from data given to him by Dr. Francis D. Randall.)
Doe-Fox Garrison: The site of this old garrison is on a road once called Cider Street, which turns off the Wadleys Falls-Lee Depot Road to the right at the South Lee school house and the site of the old Union meeting house. The garrison was built by Joseph Doe on land bought of John Bickford, 23 June, 1737. After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Doe, the house became the property of their daughter, who had married Elijah Fox. Up to that time it had been called the Doe garrison; later it came to be called the Fox gar- rison. About 1880, the old house was taken down. (John Scales, in Home Day address, delivered at Lee, August 23, 1916.)
The old garrison was a large, nearly square, two-story structure, with a very large chimney in one end. It was apparently never painted and presented a weatherbeaten appearance. There is no record that the garrison was ever attacked by Indians. (Frank A. Davis, M.D.)
Jones Garrison : The Jones garrison was at "Newtown," on the farm of the late Nehemiah Snell, Lee, and was built some time before the Doe-Fox garrison, probably about 1700, as there was a settlement in that part of Durham (now Lee) previous to that date, perhaps as early as 1670- 80. At the time the garrison was built the Indians were
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THE COLONIAL GARRISONS
very troublesome, and it was often resorted to as a place of safety by the residents of that part of (then) old Dover. It was removed many years ago. (John Scales.)
MADBURY
Clark's Garrison: The site of Clark's garrison is nearly on the line between Dover and Madbury, on what in former days was called "Clark's Plains," on the old Mast Road. The garrison was built by Abraham Clark about 1693-4, and taken down in 1836.
Daniels' Garrison: Not much is known about this gar- rison except that it stood at the end of David's Lane, which led from the old Province Road inland a short distance. It was so called from David Daniels, who owned the farm originally. The house was made into a garrison. Several generations of the Daniels family lived here.
DeMerritt Garrison: This garrison was built by Eli De- Merritt, Jr., about 1720. Eli was the first son of Eli, or Ely de Merit, the immigrant, who took a grant of land in Madbury from Dover, April 11, 1693-4, and doubtless lived here. The garrison was taken down in 1836, and the present house erected near its site by Alfred DeMerritt, a great-great-grandson of Eli, Jr. . This stands just under the brow of Pudding Hill, near the confines of the Dover line.
Zachariah Field Garrison: Lieutenant Zachariah Field (Darby1) was born about 1645; removed to Dover around 1685, and died in 1720. In 1707 his house was a garrison, himself lieutenant commanding. (Genealogical Dictionary of Maine and New Hampshire, Vol. II, p. 232, by Charles Thornton Libby.)
The following, taken from Miss Thompson's Landmarks in Ancient Dover, p. 58, refers to this garrison: "Pudding Hill in Madbury, east of the railway station, on the back road to Dover. ... Many Indian traditions are connected with Pudding Hill. Two men in early times were harvest- ing grain on the Davis land when some Indians stole in between them and their muskets, which lay on the ground while they were at work. Catching a glimpse of their foes, the men started, one for Field's garrison and the other for Woodman's, with the Indians in pursuit. Both got safely into garrison, and the signal guns, fired almost at the same instant, showed they arrived at the same time."
Gerrish Garrison: The Gerrish garrison stood in the field a little west of the present (1937) dwelling house of William Sanders. It was built by Captain Paul Gerrish,
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who, at an early date, built the first saw-mill at the falls in the Bellamy River near by.
Meserve's Garrison : On the top of the hill, called "Har- vey's Hill" (a corruption of Misharvey - Meservé), just east of the old house on the Meserve lands, stood the gar- rison called Meserve's. The earthworks can still (1937) be seen. It was probably built in the early part of the eighteenth century by Daniel Meserve, whose ancestors settled and built a garrison also in the Back River district of old Dover. The land of Daniel Meserve, Jr., is men- tioned in a deed dated Dec. 19, 1746. This garrison was in the section called Freetown.
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