USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > Dover > The first parish in Dover, New Hampshire : two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, October 28, 1883 > Part 7
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"Captt. Tebbets, Ens. beard, Mr. Samll Emerson Chosen to Represent the Towne Att the next sessions of the generall assembly, to shew Reasons why the meeting house at Cochecha should not be stated the place of Publick worship for the futner."
At a session of the assembly held 15 May 1714, it was voted to
" Advise the inhabitants of Dover, at their next Town meeting, to choose three persons a committee to treat with those of Cochecho that were at the charge to erect the meeting Ilouse there, in order to agreement upon reasonable Terms, to make it the Town meeting House and the only place of meeting for the future; but if they cannot come to any agreement, that the persons chosen by the Town and three of the principal disbursers for erecting the said new meeting House at Cochecho, to appear at the next sitting of the General Assembly, and make /report of their proceedings therein and wherein they differ, in order to a final determination of that matter; and that in the mean time the meeting be kept one Sabbath day at Dover neck, m the old meeting House, and the other at Cochecho, in the new."
Two days after, being 17 May 1714, the town
" Voted, That Mr. Sever preach ye next Lord's day at Cochecha, and so Every other Lord's day during this sumer and till A final settlement be directed."
On the 22d of April 1715, it appeared to the assembly that " there is no agreement about ye Meeting house at Cochecho," and it was voted that "a committee of both houses be chosen to go to Dover to view both meeting houses there, & Enquire into the situation of ye Inhabit- ants thereabt, & make report weh of the two houses, since ye separa- tion of Newington, best suits ye remaining Inhabitants to meet con- stantly to attend ye Publick worship of God on ye Lord's day."
The council selected John Plaisted and Mark Hunking; the house added Samuel Thing and Peter Weare, as committee; and the select- men of Dover were notified to meet the committee "on Monday next at ten o'clock," which was 25 April 1715.
The committee reported the next day after the hearing. It had found that " the new Meeting house hath 73 [72?] Inhabitants as con- venient to it as ye Old hath 23, weh renders the difference three to one, & we are of opinion y' the new meeting house at Cochecha is the most suitable place for the publick worship in that town." 1
1 l'he names of the persons thus counted, translate.l into something intelligible, were these : --
Those nearer the new meeting house than the old : -
Cochecho and Somersworth. - Howard Henderson, Thomas Pots, Samuel Cosen, Eleazar Clark, William Stiles, Benjamin Wamoth, Sylvanus Nock Sylvanus Noch, jun., Philip Sia. pole, James Stagpole, Daniel Goodwin, Zachariah Noch, Thomas Nock, Lient. Hate vil Roberts, Thomas Tibbets, John Tibbets, Ens. Paul Wentworth, Love Rob ants, Samuel Smith, July Wentworth, William Clark, Col. Richard Wakhon, William Twombly, Joseph Ham, Lieut. Heard, Tim shy Gerrish, Paul Gerrish, John Waldron, John Ham, William Foss, Thomas Horne, John Horne, John Heard, Benjamin Wentworth, Ephraim Wentworth, Benjamin Wentworth, jun., Gershom Wentworth, John Kicker,
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THE FIRST PARISH IN DOVER.
The assembly accepted the report, and on that day ordered that the "meeting to attend ye Publick worship of God on the Lord's day be hereafter held at the new meeting house at Cochecha," all the people to pay taxes for the support of the ministry there, excepting those of Oyster River and Bloody Point, the latter having been just previously made a parish.
Thus and then Dover Neck ceased to be the public centre of the parish and town. The logic of population had transferred the seat of affairs to Cochecho; but no change could take away the beauty of its scenery, or its historic sacredness to the memory of the emigrant fathers.
Some conciliatory action, however, followed. "For an amicable union and for maintaining of Peace and Christian Love amongst us," an agreement was entered into, I May 1716, between Richard Wal- dron, Capt. Timothy Gerrish, Lieut. Tristram Heard, Ensign Paul Wentworth, Sergt. John Ham, and Mr. William Foss, in behalf of Cochecho, and Capt. Thomas Tebbets, Lieut. Joseph Roberts, Mr. Samuel Tebbets, Mr. Thomas Roberts, sen., and Ensign Joseph Beard, for Dover Neck, agreeing to join in calling a minister who should preach at Cochecho every Sabbath day in the months of November to April, both included, and every other Sabbath during the remainder of the year, the other alternate Sabbaths in May to October, both included, in the old meeting house on Dover Neck ; that on the accep- tance of this plan by the town, the new meeting-house at Cochecho was to become the town's meeting-house, "they paying in Equal proportion towards the decent finishing the same," and provided that every person building a pew there for himself and family should pay ten pounds " towards the building and finishing the sd house." The town was also to vote a sum not exceeding ten pounds for repairing the old house on Dover Neck.
Maturin Ricker, John Heard, Thomas Downs, Jeremiah Rollins, Jabez Garland, John Ellis, Morris Hobbs, Samuel Cromwell, James Guppy, John Wingate, Jobn Twombly, Edward Evans, Benjamin Hanson, Nathaniel Young, Mark Giles, John Hayes, Peter Hayes, John Ham, Richard Hamock, Jonathan Young, Joseph Evans, Benjamin Evans, Nathaniel Hanson.
Back River. - John Drew, Francis Drew, Israel Hodgdon, Zachariah Field. John Field, Daniel Meserve, Joseph Jenkins, James Pinkham, Solomon Pinkham, Edward Evans, jun., John Crosby, -- " 72 families."
Indifferent families : -
John Bickford, Thomas A. b, Samuel Kenney, Samuel Cearll, Richard Hussey, Edward Cloutman. Living nearer the old house on Dover Neck : -
Capt. Tuttle, Capt. Tebbets, John Hall, John Foy, Joseph Hall, Nicholas Harford, Richard Ack- ling, Lieut. Joseph Roberts, Thomas Roberts, Nathaniel Roberts, John Roberts, Joshina Cromwell, Thomas Roberts, Samuel Tebbets, Samuel Willey, Nathaniel Perkins, Thomas Young, Es.7., Joseph Beard.
Back River, - Samuel Emerson, Richard Pinkham, Thomas Starboard, James Nute, Samuel Nute, - " 24 [ 23?] persons."
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THE MEMORIAL ADDRESS.
'This agreement was ratified and adopted by the town, 28 May 1716. More money was needed, however, and at a town meeting held 20 May 1717, it was recited that inasmuch as the money granted by the town (of which I do not find the record) for glazing and seating the new meeting-house at Cochecho was not sufficient, it was voted "that if Any gentleman will be so kinde as to advance twenty or thirty pounds for that service, that it may be decently fitted for the present occations, and trust the towne for the same till next year, that money shall then be Raised to Reimburse them, and they first paid."
The following vote shows when the third house became, substan_ tially, the only house, and when the bell came up from Dover Neck : -
"Att a Parrish meetting held att the new metting hous att Cochecha the 20th day of February 1720[-1] . . . 24, a vote for fencing of the Parsonage Land, or part thearof. A vote for fencing in the whole 20 Acres of sd Land. Att the meetting agreed with John Wingett to fence the sd Parsonage Land, which is 20 Acors, for Eighteen Pounds, and to be Paid out of the next years Rate, and the fence to be well made by the last day of aprell next Insuing the Date hereof; and by the 25th Day of December next the money is to be paid to sd Wingett or his orders, if the fence be made. Att the same meeting, voted that the meettings on Lords Day shall bee Constantly keep at Cochecha new meetting hous for the futer, Exsepting one Sabbath or two att Dover. Att the same meeting, voted that the Bell att Dover shall be brought up to Cochecha,-Sargant John Diew and Sargant Thomas Roberts Chosen vewers of sd fence when made." .
The meeting-house on Pine Hill stood but a few rods from the Cushing tomb, a little west of north. It was nearly square, and faced southerly, with an entrance at least on its front. It had no steeple. The bell, says the record of Asa A. Tufts in the church book, was hung on the schoolhouse near by, which stood where the present brick schoolhouse stands ; but another tradition says that the bell was upon a low framed tower near the church. In all respects this meeting- house was of the old style, - a high pulpit, sounding-board, broad centre aisle, square pews, and the like.
In this house preached Nicholas Sever a brief period, and all the remainder of its days it was occupied by the long pastorale of Jona- than Cushing, who, however, lived to occupy its successor.
This house was abandoned in 1758, when its successor was entered. The town voted, 27 November 1758, "That the Select men take care of the old meeting house in the Best manner they Can, so that it may not be exposed to be tore to pieces this next winter." At a meeting held 26 November 1759, the town appointed Mr. Samuel Emerson, Lieut. Moses Wingate, and Lieut. Dudley Watson, "a committee to Sell the old meeting house standing on sd pine hill in the best manner they Can." Nothing further appears regarding this house,
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THE FIRST PARISH IN DOVER.
save that the last town meeting held in the house was that of 31 March 1760.
The Pine Hill burial ground, it is here natural to mention, was set apart for its purpose by vote of the town 29 March 1731. Perhaps, according to ancient custom, graves had already begun to group near the meeting-house. An earlier burial public ground had been set apart regularly on the east side of the Dover Neck road, which still remains, but without an ancient stone. The Friends' burial ground was on the western side of the Dover Neck road. A very ancient burial ground is that east of the Methodist church, sometimes called the "Waldron Ground," because the Waldrons once buried there. Thomas Westbrook Waldron's tombstone says that the remains of his great- grandfather, the famous Major Richard Walderne, taken from the ruins of the garrison-house1 destroyed 28 June 1689, were buried in that lot. The lot was once much larger, but a former owner of adjoining land sold off a tier of lots on its northern side, wherein diggers of cellars found the bones of the dead thus heartlessly desecrated. This ground was clearly the public Cochecho burial ground in early times.
The vote of the town setting apart the Pine Hill lot, 29 March 1731, was as follows : -
" Voted, That there be one acre. & an half of Land Granted for the use of the Town for ever, for a publick Burying-place, To be Laid out by ye select men near ye meeting-house on pine-hill at Cochecha."
This was the origin of that city of the dead, which has grown2 so populous, and to which your feet have turned on so many sad days. It contains the ashes of your departed : the departed themselves are not there.
The fourth house. - This house, the immediate predecessor of the one in which we meet to-day, stood upon the site of this present one. The history of its erection is gathered mainly from the records of the town. A special interest is in the fact that one third of the house, built in the year 1758, is still standing on another site and transformed into a dwelling-house.
At a town meeting held 20 June 1757, it was
1 The site of that garrison-house is often stated wrongly. The house stood about the centre of the now open lot on Central street, between First and Second streets. My best authority was that of the late Mrs. Abigail ( Waldron ) Walker, daughter of Thomas Westbrook Waldron, who informed me that she remembered the little mound of the ruins still remaining in her childhood, and which was rever- ently kept undisturbed in their gardening. A silver spoon was once, however, found in the mound.
2 Successive additions of territory have been made to this burial place, whose dates I have not yet recorded. I well remember when its old part, in my boyhood, was surveyed, the lots made regular, the paths straightened ; as 1 assisted in carrying the chain for Mr. William B. Wiggin, the surveyor.
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THE MEMORIAL ADDRESS.
"Voted, That a good house be provided for Publick worship.
"Voted, That a new meeting house be built for the Publick worship of God. The voters were 29 yeas to 13 nays.
" Also Voted at said meeting that the old meeting house be pulled Down & applyed towards building a new one as far as it will hold out.
" Voted, That the new meetinghouse be set up Either where the old one stands or near by on the Town's Privilidge Either on the hill or under the hill as the Town shall think most proper.
" Voted, That a committee be chosen to Draw a plan for the new meeting house with a suitable number of pews numbered and valued in order to be sold to carry on the Charge of building said house, and to take proper advise as to the bigness & moddle of said house - also voted that John Gage, Esq', Daniel Horn, Job Clem- ents, Capt. Richd Waldron, Nehemiah Kembal, Capt. Thomas Wk Waldron & Lt Joshua Winget be the Committe to serve in the above business on their own cost and prefer the same to the next meeting for the Town's approbation."
At a meeting held 4 July 1757 :-
Voted, That a plan of Berwick Lower meetinghouse taken by the Committe and prefered to the Town and that the Town accepted the same and that a meeting house of the like Dementions & bigness Except the highth be built on the Town's cost and that the Privilidges of the Pews be sold at publick vandue to Defray the Charge and Expense in Building said house as far as it will go.
The Berwick lower meeting-house was the one of the present South Berwick church. It stood upon a cross-road which runs about a mile below South Berwick village, from the Eliot road to the York road. An ancient burial ground still marks the spot.
At the same meeting the following action was taken : -
Also Voted, That a Committee of three men be Chosen to sell the pew Privi - lidges at publick vandue & that Capt. Thomas Westbrook Waldron, Stephen Evens and L' Dudly Watson be sd Committee and make return thereof the next Town meeting.
Also Voted, at said meeting that Each bidder pay ten p cent Cash Down and Security for the remainder according to the form following viz,
At a meeting held 18 July 1757 : -
Voted, first, That the Town accepts of the Report of the Committe for 19 pew Privilidges already sold.
gly That said Waldron Evens & Watson be further Chosen and Continued to sell all the remainder of the pew privilidges.
3dly That said privilidges be sold at publick vandue to the highest bidder by said committe.
4ły That the frame be procured and Raised at or before the first Day of May next.
sly That a Committe of five men be chose to Carry on the building said meeting house, & that Capt John Winget Capt Thos Wk Waldron John Gage Esq' Mr Shad- rach Hodgdon & Mr Daniel Ham be said Committe.
Gly That Labouring men have thirty shillings old Tenor p day finding them- selves.
zly That the Committe appointed to build the house Draw Instructions for them
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THE FIRST PARISII IN DOVER.
to work by and Lay the same before the Town at the next meeting for their appro- bation and also of the place where they think most Convenient to build the new house or near the old house.
The town voted instructions, 25 July 1757, to the committee to em- ploy in the work the purchasers of pew privileges, and others in the parish, so far as possible ; and to have " the house ready to use by the 12. Day of May 1758."
The town did not, however, escape the trouble almost inevitable in the location of meeting-houses in early times. It is not surprising that the bleak winds which sweep over Pine Hill should make some persons prefer a more sheltered location; nor, on the other hand, that many should adhere to the old site simply because the old meeting-house stood there. The friends of the old rallied. The town voted, 1 May 1758, not to allow the committee to select a new lot. At an adjourned meet- ing, S May, it voted to build upon Pine Hill, " as near the old meeting house as may be set with convenency on the Town's privelege." A meeting was called for 5 June 1758, but that meeting adhered to the same vote.
But a change came. At a meeting held 10 July 1758, the town voted that Capt. Thomas W. Waldron, Capt. Richard Waldron, and Lieut. Dudley Watson be a committee to "procure & make suitable Provision for the Raising the new meeting house." It voted also " that the new meeting house be Erected and set upon a place or Lot of Land Purchased from Joseph Hanson, Esq', as by a deed1 of this Date may appear." 2
You will notice how long time was allowed in which to frame the building, - from the 18th of July until the first of May following. But they builded strong frames in those days. They put oak in. 'They had no steam saws then to cut and square their posts and sills and beams. A fall and winter's work went into that frame.
And while these town meetings were held and solemn determination had to build a house unto the Lord, and weighty deliberations made as to where to build, war was raging with the French and Indians. It had drawn away from our own fields then, but it demanded men. Old Ticonderoga was one of its scenes. From the westerly part of this old town marched Capt. Hercules Mooney, with ninety men ; and here Capt. John Titcomb, earlier a soldier of Louisburg, formed his
1 See Appendix.
2 " Thomas Millet Esqr Lt Shadrach Hodgdon Sergt Wm Hanson Capt John Winget En& Wm Twombly Mr Sam! Emerson Capt Wm Shackford Ens John Drew Mr. Jona Bickford all Enter their Decent against the Illegality of said meeting."
Nothing appears to have come from their " Decent against the Illegality."
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THE MEMORIAL ADDRESS.
ninety-four men in front of that old house still standing nearly oppo- site this present edifice, and marched them away to the war.
The house was finished. On the 22d of November 1758, the town voted : -
"That the Revd. Mr. Cushing for this Winter Season Shall preach & hold forth the Publick Worship of God in the new meeting house Built in said Town, and thereto Continue Said Service for the future, & that he begin the Publick Worship there by preaching one or more Sermons on Wednesday ye 13th Day Dec. next."
It was so done, and the house was dedicated 13 December 1758. You can see one third of it. It is owned by Theodore W. Woodman, and it is the first house this side the brook, on the east side of Court Street. It is one hundred and twenty-five years old.
The house, however, was not finished at the time it was dedicated. In fact, the building committee recommended, 8 November 1758, "to remove the long seats in the old house to the new one & set them up there till the Spring or Longer if needed." Further appropriations were made 7 July 1759, for completing the work ; Capt. Richard Wal- dron was placed on the building committee in room of Capt. John Winget ; and it was voted "that the Committee that finishes the house be Impowered to Let out the whole or part thereof by a Jobb or Jobbs."
The committee reported, 27 July 1761, the completion of their work. Their accounts (audited by Samuel Emerson, John Bickford, and James Young), showed the cost of the house to be £11,248, 18sh., 4d. This sounds very large. But it will be remembered that paper currency then was greatly depreciated. In 1758, ten pounds in cur- rency equalled one pound in silver. The house cost, therefore, a little over eleven hundred pounds.
But the parish, incorporated 11 June 1762, found the house yet unfinished ; and, 24 September 1764, voted : -
"That the meeting house be finished this fall. That the cost of finishing said house be paid by the parishioners. Mr. Dudley Watson, Mr. Otis Baker, Maj. John Titcomb & Mr. Stephen Evens be a Committee to finish the meeting house this fall in a Good workmanlike manner & that they have all the Nails Laths or any other supplies beretofore purchased & not made use of for their use In finishing said house & that they have two thousand Pounds old tenor for finishing said house whereof they are to have full Power to Collect all the outstanding Debts due from the Persons Indebted to said Parish towards Building said house & the Remainder if any be after said sums are Collected to be paid by a Tax on sd Parishioners & be paid them the sd Committee by the Last of March Next."
Various changes or improvements are noted from time to time. Thus, 26 September 1765, "Voted, That the Pulpit, canopy, pillows
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THE FIRST PARISHI IN DOVER.
[charitably "pillars "], Breast work, &c., of said meeting house be painted, & also all other Inside Paintings, viz., Doors, etc., as is usual for meeting houses."
On the 3d of March 1772, it was "Voted, That the two hind seats of mens on floor be built for Singing seats." It is not probable that there was any choir prior to this time.
When the doors opened directly into the air it was cold. The parish voted, 20 April 1786, "That the owners of Pews at the East End of the meeting house may build a Porch at the east End Door, not to extend more than seven feet from the house, at the expense of those who own Pews at said Door."
It voted, 7 May 1792, "To sell a Pew Privelege in the Gallery on the Woman's side." This vote shows us that there was a men's gallery and a women's gallery.
A marked change was made by vote of 17 August 1792. "Voted, To build a Pew for the Singers to project from the front of the front Gallery as far forward as the Committee shall think convenient, and that they proceed to do it as soon as may be." This had been done before 8 September following. It projected nearly into the centre of the house, was over the centre aisle, and stood upon pillars. It was taken away only a few years before the house was taken down.
A vote of 26 March 1800 ordered, "That Benjamin Peirce purchase a Burying Cloth at the Expense of the parish."
And 29 March 1826, a musical era appears : -
Voted, That the Wardens be empowered to purchase for the use of the Society a suitable double bass Viol & such music books as may be necessary for use in the meeting house on the Sabbath & if necessary to furnish female assistance in sacred music - provided the whole expense does not exceed the sum of 100 Dollars.
There had been musical instruments used before this vote, and women had been singers in the gallery. A bass-viol had been used, which is now the property of Asa A. Tufts, as it was once that of his father. Asa A. Tufts was the first to play upon the new double-bass viol thus purchased. A musical society called the "Dover Harmo- nious Society" practised church music and was the choir in public worship in Mr. Clary's time, but was dissolved shortly before his de- parture. Belknap's book of Psalms and Hymns was the book used. In the last century the old custom of lineing the hymns was still followed. Belknap's diary says, 23 March 1767, "At a Chh & Congrega: meet- ing Dec" Ham refus'd to sett ye Psalm & Cap' Evens was chose for y* Business." He writes 21 June 1767, "Voted to sing Watts' Psalms in Congregation. 28. Sung them ye Ist 'Time."
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THE MEMORIAL ADDRESS.
What became of the old bell which was rung on Dover Neck and thence was taken to Pine Hill, I do not discover. The last allusion I find is in a vote 26 May 1740 : "That the bell shall be rang at proper times and seasons. That the Selectmen shall be a Committee to agree with some proper person to ring the Bell at proper times and seasons." There is then a blank in bell-history until a meeting of 27 March 1775, when, on the petition of Otis Baker and others that the town would buy " a suitable bell & clock," it was voted that " nothing be done." Again, 6 March 1786, a town meeting was held, on the request of Ezra Green and thirty-eight others, to consider the subject of pur- chasing a bell, "Inasmuch," said the petitioners, " as this is the only Shire town in the County, and not being accommodated with a bell for the Convenience of said Town nor county."
The town acted 13 September 1788. At that time, "hearing the Request of a Number of Inhabitants respecting a Bell, Voted, to sell Land on the Landing sufficient to pay for the Bell & the expense attending the same." Against that vote the Friends protested, 2 No- vember 1789. They did not believe in bells, and thought it to be unjust that town lands should be sold for such a purpose. The town admitted the justice of their complaint, but not until 28 March 1791, when it voted to repay to the Quakers their share of the proceeds of the Landing lots.
On the 20th of October 1788, the parish voted " that the Parish war- dens be empowered to hang the Bell in the meeting house Belfry, and hire some suitable Person to Ring the same for the present year." It voted, 1 June 1789, "That the Bell be rung on Sabbath days and Lecture days as usual " ; " that the Bell may be rung on Week-Days at one o'clock and at Nine in the Evening, provided Individuals will be at the Expense of the same"; "that the Wardens be impowered to hire some suitable Person or Persons to take care of the Meeting house and to Ring the Bell on Sabbath days and on Lecture days" ; and that "the Wardens be empowered to repair the Belfry and put it in such order as they shall think will be sufficient for ringing the Bell with safety."
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