USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Concord > The history of Concord : from its first grant in 1725, to the organization of the city government in 1853, with a history of the ancient Penacooks ; the whole interspersed with numerous interesting incidents and anecdotes, down to the present period, 1885 > Part 5
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" This all Indian hand; but pray do you consider your humble servant,
JOHN HOGKINS."
[Signed also by fourteen other Indians.]
Under pretence of fear of the Mohawks, Hogkins removed, in the fall of the same year, with the Penacooks, to the castward ; and soon after, together with the Saco Indians, entered into a treaty with the Council of New-Hampshire, of mutual aid and protection against the Mohawks and all other enemies, agreeing, also, to return and live near the English. Yet, with the old poison of revenge rankling in his bosom, he entered into a con- spiracy with other Indians, in 1689, to make the attack on Dover, which ended in the death of Maj. Waldron and about twenty others. Through the friendship of two Penacook Indians, Maj. Hinksman, of Chelmsford, had notice of this conspiracy, and in- formed the government of Massachusetts, who hastily dispatched a letter to Maj. Waldron, giving him warning ; but unfortunately detained on the way, it was too late to save him from savage revenge. In this letter they say there is a report of "a gath- ering of some Indians in and about Penecooke, with designe of mischiefe to the English. Among the said Indians one Hawkins is said to be a principal designer; and that they have a particular
* See Appendix, Belknap's Ilist. of N. Il., Farmer's ed., vol. i., p. 508.
39
THE PENACOOKS-HOPE-HOOD.
designe against yourself and Mr. Peter Coffin, which the Council thought it necessary presently to despatch advice thereof, to give you notice, that you take care of your own safeguard-they intending to betray you on a pretention of trade."
Next we hear of Hawkins in a fort on the river Androscoggin, at a place (Pechypscott) which was attacked the 12th of Sep- tember, 1690, by Maj. Benjamin Church and a body of soldiers, and was taken and burnt. Several Indians were captured, among whom was a brother-in-law of Kancamagus, and a sister of his was slain. On the 29th of November, 1690, a truce or treaty of peace was made by the government of Massachusetts " with the eastern Indian enemy, sagamores," among whom was John Hawkins. The sagamores, six in number, " covenant, promise and agree for themselves, and all the eastward Indians now in open hostility with the English - from Pennecook, Win- nepesseockeege, Ossipe, Pigwocket, Amoscongin, Pechepscut, Kennebeck river"-to keep the peace, &c. This treaty " was signed and sealed, interchangeably, upon the water, in canoes, at Sackatehock, (Maine,) when the wind blew;"* and this is the last we know of Kancamagus !
HOPE-HOOD.
THE name of this Indian is connected with the Penacooks, not as one of the tribe, but as acting with them in hostilities to the English, in 1685, and afterwards. In April, 1689, Col. Bar- tholomew Gidney, of Salem, is instructed by the Council of Massachusetts to dispatch a messenger to Penacook, to ascertain the number and situation of the Indians there, and to concert measures for securing Hope-Hood, and other hostile Indians. He is described as one of " the most bloody warriors of the
* Mass. Ilist. Coll., 3d series, vol. i., pp. 112-114.
40
INDIAN IIISTORY.
age." "A tiger," "killing, burning and destroying in every place where he found the people unguarded." He was killed, in 1690, in a fight with an Indian party, which he mistook for hostile Indians, but who were his friends and confederates.
After this the Penacooks continued to exist as a distinct tribe for many years, but their power was gone. They are mentioned in Penhallow's Indian Wars, in 1703, in a conference held by Gov. Dudley, at Casco, with delegates from several tribes. Those of them who were hostile to the English probably mixed with the eastern Indians, between whom and the Penacooks was a close affinity. As the Governor of Canada had encouraged the Indians who inhabited the borders of New-England to re- move to Canada, it is likely that some of them went thither, and were incorporated with the tribes of St. Francis. But those who continued friendly to the English -of whom there had always been a small number -remained here until 1725, and after, and were highly useful to the first inhabitants; supplying them with food in the winter, when almost in a state of starvation.
WATTANUMMON.
WATTANUMMON is the name of an Indian chief who, at the time the first settlers came to Penacook, lived in a wigwam on the knoll or rise of ground on the south side of the brook which is the outlet of Horse-shoe Pond -where the Concord and Montreal Railroad now crosses. He was a friendly Indian, and owned the land which lies east of said brook, from its junction with the Merrimack, westward, to what is called Farnum's Eddy. This brook and field are called by his name. A tradition is well preserved, that soon after Capt. Ebenezer Eastman came hither, in the summer of 1726, he crossed over from the east side with his men, and began to cut the grass on Wattanummon's field :
41
THE PENACOOKS-WATTANUMMON.
Seeing which, the old Indian went forth with a gun and two of his sons, to prevent the trespass. As he approached, Eastman and his party ceased their labor and saluted him : " How do ? how do ?" His reply, in broken English, was: "My land ! my grass ! No cut! no cut!" and drew up his gun. Eastman replied : " Yes, this is your land, and your grass. Come, boys, put aside your tools and rest." Sitting down under a shade, the lunch and the bottle were brought forth and offered to the old chief. "Won't you take a drink ?" "Yes, yes ; me drink !" Capt. Eastman drank a little himself, and then offered a cup to one of Wattanummon's sons. The old Indian interposed, saying, " He no drink ;" and taking the cup himself, drank it, exclaim- ing: "Hugh ! good !" By this time the old Indian began to be very generous and friendly ; and, stretching forth his arms, ex- claimed : " My land ! my grass ! - all mine ; every thing! You may cut grass- all you want !" After this friendly interchange of property-rum for grass- Capt. Eastman and Wattanum- mon lived in peace on opposite sides of the river. What finally became of old Wattanummon is unknown.
Some interesting facts are related, either of him or another of the same name, previous to this period. In May, 1689, mention is made of Watanum, " one of the chief captains " of Wonalancet. In 1689, March 5th, "a company of thirty or forty Indians made an attack on Andover, and killed five persons ;" and Col. Dudley Bradstreet and family were preserved by the friendly interference of "Waternummon, an Indian who lived at New- bury." In June, 1703, Waternummon is mentioned as one of the chiefs of Penacook and Pigwacket who was at the conference in Casco.
" About the year 1720, (or 1712 ?) Capt. Thomas Baker, of Northampton, Massachusetts, set off with a scouting party of thirty-four men ; passed up Connecticut river, and crossed the height of land to Pemigeswasset river. He there discovered a party of Indians, whose sachem was called Waternummus, whom he attacked and destroyed. Baker and the sachem levelled and discharged their guns at each other at the same instant. The ball from the Indian's gun grazed Baker's left eye-brow, but did him no injury. The ball from Baker's gun went through the
42
INDIAN HISTORY.
heart of the sachem. Immediately upon being wounded, he leaped four or five feet high and then fell instantly dead. The Indians fied, but Baker and his party pursued and destroyed every one of them." This affair took place, it is said, at the confluence of a small river with the Pemigewasset, (between Plymouth and Campton,) and hence has ever since had the name of Baker's river."* If the above story is correct, the Waternummus above named, said to have been killed in 1720, or earlier, could not be the Wattanummon of Penacook, 1726. It seems, however, probable that the person mentioned as " one of the chief captains" of Wonalancet, in 1689, and the one friendly to Col. Bradstreet, of Andover, was the old sagamore- farmer who lived, in 1726, on the bank of the stream, and culti- vated the field that bears his name.'
MRS. DUSTIN.
AT the junction of the Contoocook river with the Merrimack, on the north line of Concord, and near where now is the flour- ishing village of Fisherville, is an island, known by common tradition as the scene where the captive woman from Haverhill, Mrs. HANNAII DUSTIN, performed the daring exploit of killing and scalping ten Indians, and making her escape. The Northern Railroad now passes directly across this island, and by many a traveler it is looked at as an object of strange curiosity. A monument ought to be erected on the island, to commemorate the deed of the heroic woman.
A part of the history of Mrs. Dustin belongs to Haverhill ; yet, as the scene of her exploit lies chiefly in Penacook, we are re- quired to give it a conspicuous place.
The attack on Haverhill was made by the Indians on the 15th
** See Ilon. C. E. Potter's notice in the Farmer's Visitor, Vol. 13, No. 9.
43
MRS. DUSTIN.
of March, 1697. Mrs. Hannah, wife of Mr. Thomas Dustin, was confined to her bed with an infant child, seven days old, and attended by a nurse, Mary Neff. Hearing the war-whoop of the savages as they approached, Mr. Dustin ran from the field where he was at work, to his house, and ordered his children - seven in number-to flee ; while he seized his gun, and finding it impossible to remove his wife and infant, mounted his horse and rode after his children-defending them against the savages who were in pursuit. Supposing it impossible to save them all, his first thought was to catch up one of them-even the one that he loved the most - and save that ; but he was unable to make a choice ; and, keeping in their rear, he retreated and fired, sometimes with fatal effect, till the Indians gave over their pursuit.
In the meantime a small party of Indians entered the house, took Mrs. Dustin and nurse prisoners, and set the house on fire. The babe was snatched from the arms of the nurse, and its brains dashed out against an apple tree. Feeble, and with but one shoe on, Mrs. Dustin was compelled to travel through the wilderness, in this inclement season, till they reached the home of her Indian captors, on the island above named. The Indians on the island were twelve in number: two men, three women, and seven children; and with them an English boy, named Samuel Lannardson, who was taken prisoner about a year before at Worcester.
After a few days the women were informed by the Indians that they would soon start for a distant settlement, and when they arrived there would be obliged to submit to Indian customs - of which one was to run the gauntlet, naked, between two files of Indians. On learning this, Mrs. Dustin formed her deadly plan. She told the boy Lannardson to ask his master where he would strike a man if he wished to kill him instantly, and how he would take off a scalp. The Indian laid his finger on his temple-" Strike 'em there," said he; and then in- structed the boy how to scalp. Engaging the nurse and the boy in her plot, they waited the midnight hour for executing it. With tomahawks in hand they struck the fatal blows on the heads of the Indians as they lay fast asleep. Ten were killed at
44
INDIAN HISTORY.
once. Mrs. Dustin killed her master, and Samuel Lannardson despatched the very Indian who told him where to strike and how to take off a scalp. A favorite Indian boy was spared, and one of the squaws whom they left for dead, jumped up and ran into the thicket. Mrs. Dustin, gathering up what provisions there were in the wigwam - taking the gun of her dead master, and the tomahawk with which she killed him, and, to prevent pursuit, scuttling the Indian canoes, except one - she embarked in that, with the nurse and boy Lannardson, on the waters of the Merrimack, to seek their way to Haverhill. They had not pro- ceeded far, however, when Mrs. Dustin, perceiving that they had neglected to take the scalps, and fearing lest her neighbors - should she ever arrive at her home - would not credit her story, hastened back with her companions to the scene of death, took of the scalps of the slain, put them " into a bag, and, with these bloody witnesses of their feat, hastened again on their downward course to Haverhill. There they safely arrived." On the 21st of April following, Mrs. Dustin and her two attendants went to Boston, carrying, as proofs of their exploit, the gun, tomahawk, and ten scalps, and received as a reward from the General Court, fifty pounds, besides many valuable presents from others."
·
Mr. Dustin's heroism in defending his children has been com- memorated by Mrs. SARAH J. HALE, editor of the Ladies' Mag- azine, in beautiful stanzas, called the " FATHER'S CHOICE."
"Now fly, as flies the rushing wind ! Urge, urge thy lagging steed ; The savage yell is fieree behind, And life is on thy speed.
" And from those dear ones make thy choice ; The group he wildly eyed : When -"father" -burst from every voice, And - " child"-his heart replied.
" There's one that now can share his toil, And one he meant for fame ; And one that wears his mother's smile, And one that bears her name.
* See a more detailed and very interesting narrative of the whole affair in Merick's Hist. of Haverhill.
45
MRS. DUSTIN.
" And one will prattle on his knee, Or slumber on his breast ; And one whose joys of infaney Are still by smiles expressed.
" They feel no fear while he is near ; He'll shield them from the foc ; But oh ! his ear must thrill to hear Their shriekings should he go.
" In vain his quivering lips would speak ; No words his thoughts allow ; There's burning tears upon his check, Deatlı's marble on his brow.
" And twice he smote his clenched hand - Then bade his children fly ! And turned, and e'en the savage band Cower'd at his wrathful eye.
" Swift as the lightning, winged with death, Flashed forth the quivering flame ! Their fiereest warrior bows beneath The father's deadly aim.
" Not the wild eries that rend the skies, His heart of purpose move ; He saves his children, or he dies The sacrifice of love.
" Ambition goads the conqueror on ; Hate points the murderer's brand - But love and duty, these alone Can nerve the good man's hand.
" The hero may resign the field, The coward murderer flec ; Ile cannot fear, he will not yield, That strikes, sweet love, for thee.
" They come, they come -he heeds no cry Save the soft ehild-like wail, ' Oh, father, save !' ' My children, fly !' Were mingled on the gale.
" And firmer still he drew his breath, And sterner flashed his eye, As fast he hurls the leaden death, Still shouting -'Children, fly !'
46
INDIAN HISTORY.
" No shadow on his brow appeared, Nor tremor shook his frame, Save when at intervals he heard Some trembler lisp his name.
" In vain the foe - those fiends unchained - Like famished tigers chafe ; The sheltering roof is near'd, is gain'd - All, all the dear ones safe !"
It may here be added that Mrs. Dustin was the daughter of Michael and Hannah Emerson, and the eldest of fifteen children. She was born December 23, 1657, and married to Thomas Dustin December 3, 1677. She had thirteen children. She was forty years of age when captured by the Indians. Her descendants of the name of Dustin, and also her family con- nections of the name of Emerson, are numerous in New-Hamp- shire. Mr. Thomas Dustin, of Henniker, N. H., a descendant who has retained the name, is said to have in possession the identical gun which his heroic maternal ancestor took from her Indian captor.
.
"SQUAW LOT."
ON the east side of Merrimack river, due west from Federal bridge, and bordering the river, is a lot known as the "Squaw lot." The eastern bound - a dark stone - may be seen, close to the fence, on the road that runs by the house of Mr. George W. Moulton, and about one hundred paces from said house. The western bound of the lot -a stone - is also visible, about forty rods further on the same road. The lot now belongs to the heirs of the late Jeremiah Pecker, Esq. The tradition respecting this lot is, that soon after the first settlement of Pen- acook, an Indian chief, named Peorawarrah, enamoured of the wife of another Indian, ran away with her from a settlement
" SQUAW LOT." 47
below Penacook ; and passing up the Merrimack in a bark canoe, had lodged for the night on Sewall's island. Missing his wife, the Indian, jealous of the cause, with his gun in hand, started in pursuit. Assured that he was on the track of the guilty pair, he sped his way on foot till near night fall, when he discovered the canoe, and saw the place of their landing on the island. Secret- ing himself in the bushes directly opposite, on the east side of the river, and near the late residence of Henry S. Thatcher, Esq., he impatiently waited the dawn of morning, to execute his pur- pose. At early dawn, Peorawarrah pushed off his canoe, to pursue their flight up the river. The revengeful husband watched his opportunity, and as a current in the river turned the course of the canoe, the guilty pair were brought within the range of his deadly aim. He fired, and both were killed- fell overboard and sunk. The report of the gun was heard by one of the settlers -tradition says, Ebenezer Virgin - who afterwards met the Indian who had satiated his revenge. The Indian told him what he had done, and said -" Peorawarrak had good gun." A few days after, the body of the squaw, with the mark of a bullet shot on it, was found washed up on the shore of the river. It was buried on the adjacent land, and ever since the lot has been called " the Squaw lot."
Tradition further says that Ebenezer Virgin made search in the river for Peorawarrah's gun, and found it ; that at his death the gun descended to his son John ; then to his grandson John,* from whom it was obtained, by exchange for another gun, by Jonathan Eastman, Esq., about forty years ago, and is still in his possession, as fit for good service as ever. This gun, bearing marks of antiquity, identically the same " good gun," except the stock, as when in the hands of Peorawarrah -the writer has seen and handled, and has no doubt of the substantial truth of the tradition. It is carefully kept, though in frequent service, by Esq. Eastman, now seventy-two years of age, and called " Peorawarrah's gun." +
* This was the " Old John Virgin " whose life and death are noticed in another place.
+ Mr. Eastman informed me that he intended the gun should go, after his death, to his grandson, Jonathan Eastman lecker.
1
THE LAST OF THE PENACOOKS.
PEHAUNGUN.
TRADITION says that the last Penacook who died here was named PEHAUNGUN, a celebrated warrior, whose wigwam and planting grounds were on the cast side of the river, upon the land afterwards owned and occupied by Stilson Eastman ; subsequently, by John Miller; then by the late Mr. Samuel Blake, and now by two of Mr. Blake's sons. Pehaungun is mentioned in connection with Tahanto, at the trial of the Indian for the murder of Thomas Dickinson, in 1668. He is there called an " ancient Indian." He is supposed to have died about 1732, at the advanced age of one hundred and twenty years or more. The tradition respecting his death is, that the Indians had a " big drunk" at his wigwam- that they drank from the bung-hole of a keg of rum. Capt. Eastman, hearing the drunken revel and outeries, went to see what was going on, and was invited to drink ; but, hoisting the keg to his mouth, he let more run out than ran in; seeing which, Pehaungun threatened to kill him. Capt. Eastman withdrew, and the next morning this " ancient Indian" was found dead. The Indians who partook of the revel feared that the spirit of the old warrior would come back and punish them; therefore, in burying him, they placed his body in a hollow trunk of pine, covered over with a slab ; bound it round with withes, and, laying it in the ground, threw in dirt, and then stamped it down hard - crying out, " He no get out ! he no get up!" They then stuck up willow boughs about the grave ; some at the same time dancing, wailing, howl- ing and tearing their hair. The whole ceremony was concluded with another " big drunk," which laid them all low on the ground.
CHAPTER II.
NOTICES OF PENACOOK PREVIOUS TO ITS SETTLEMENT BY THE WHITES.
BY virtue of her original charter, obtained in 1628, Massa- chusetts claimed all that part of New-England lying between three miles to the northward of Merrimack river, to the source of the same, and three miles to the southward of Charles river ; and in length, within the described breadth from the Atlantic ocean to the South sea. Accordingly, in 1638, men were sent to discover the sources of the Merrimack, and found some part of it above Penacook to lie more northerly than forty-three and a half degrees.
In 1652 the General Court of Massachusetts ordered a survey, to ascertain the northern bound of the colony ; and for this pur- pose appointed Captains EDWARD JOHNSON and SIMON WILLARD commissioners. Capt. Johnson, accompanied by John Sherman, of Watertown, and Jonathan Ince, of Cambridge, surveyors, together with several Indian guides, went up the river Merri- mack, to find the most northerly part thereof, which the Indians told them was Aquedocktan, the outlet of lake Winnepissiogee. Capt. Johnson was the author of " The Wonder-Working Provi- dence of Zion's Saviour." John Sherman was the ancestor of the distinguished Roger Sherman, of Connecticut; and Jonathan Ince was a graduate of Harvard college. The surveyors, on the 1st of August, 1652, decided the head source of the Merrimack " where it issues out of the lake called Winnapusseakit," to be in "latitude forty-three degrees, forty minutes and twelve sec- onds, besides those minutes which are to be allowed for the three miles north which run into the lake." At this point, which is
4
50
HISTORY OF PENACOOK
now called the Weares, a rock was discovered, a few years since, with its surface but little above the water, and about twenty feet in circumference, on which the following letters were found sculptured :
EI
SW W P IOHN ENDICVT GOV
Col. Philip Carrigain, of Concord, who carefully examined these letters in 1834, gives the following explanation : "The E I, are the initials of Edward Johnson ; S W, of Simon Wil- lard - the two commissioners. W P are on the same line, and immediately precede IOHN ENDICVT, and it is not improbable they stand for worshipful - a title often given, in those Puritan- ical times, to the governor and magistrates." The surveyors on this expedition passed through Penacook " in a Bote," and occu- pied nineteen days; and the whole expense attending it was about £84 .*
*" Accoumpt of Disbursments about Jorney to the head of the Merrimeck :
Ipr. for makeing the Bote & Ores, with all the Boards & Stuff,
03
01. 00
for one man for the Jerney & his worke in preparing levall,
03
03 00
for 5 pound of powder 4 pond of shott match and Indian flowes, [?] 00
00
11
00
It. to James Prentise for the jorny,
03
00
00
10
07 00
Reseaved in parte of this Accoumpt,
Ipr. for the Sayles, pieces of Rope & two Blockes the Bote & some Ruff &c, that were left,
02
17 00
Remaynes to me still on this Accoumpt,
07
10
00
Due to Good. Bull for carting
00
16 00
Sum total due to Capt. Johnson,
08
06
00
" The Deputies consent this bill should be satisfyed to Capt. Johnson.
" DANIEL DENISON. 13 6 8
" The Deputies consent that Capt. Johnson be paid for his Journey,
" DANIEL DENISON.
" The Magists. consent hereto.
EDWARD RAWSON, Secret'y. WM. TORREY, Cleric.
" Consented to by the deputyes.
" The Magists. desire these accompts may by the Auditor and the psons concern'd drawne & put into such a way as may stand on record. EDW. RAWSON, Secr'y."
In the other account are charged, among other things, " 6 gal. & 3 quarts of liquers ; 3834 Ibs. of Bacon ; payd one of our pilatts ; paid two other Indians, and payd for ells in our jorny," &c., &c. The whole expense of the expedition could not be less than £84 108. 10d.
S. d.
for 3 yooke of oxen and a horse,
12
51
BEFORE SETTLEMENT.
While Massachusetts was thus fixing the bounds of her colony at the head waters of the Merrimack, the General Court of New- Hampshire also had an eye on the same, and claimed that the said territory was within their patent and jurisdiction. This claim of New-Hampshire was founded on a patent obtained by Capt. John Mason, in 1629, " under the common seal of the Council of Plymouth," which conveyed the land "from the middle part of Merrimack river; and from thence, northward, along the sea coast, to Piscataqua river, and up the same to the farthest head thereof; and from thence, north-westward, until sixty miles from the first entrance of Piscataqua river ; and also through Merrimack river to the farthest head thereof; and so forward up into the land westward, until sixty miles were fin- ished ; and from thence, to cross over land to the end of the sixty miles accounted from Piscataqua river, together with all islands and islets within five leagues distance of the premises."
This territory was called NEW-HAMPSHIRE. But, owing to the unsettled state of affairs, the towns settled at this period in New- Hampshire agreed, for their better defence and security, to place themselves under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts ;* which con- tinued from 1641 till 1680. Hence, being under one govern- ment, in 1659 a petition was presented to the General Court of Massachusetts, by inhabitants of Dover and Newbury, in the words following :
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