USA > New Hampshire > Cheshire County > Fitzwilliam > The history of Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, from 1752-1887 > Part 4
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It will be seen at a glance that another road of the same kind (of which the one just mentioned should be an extension or western division) was equally necessary in order to reach the Connecticut River. That such a road was built about 1735 or perhaps a little later there can be no question, but its exact location through the northern part of Worcester County, Mass., and some of the New Hampshire towns is a matter of uncertainty, for the reason that, in succeeding years, wher- ever it did not meet the wants of the people as a public high- way it soon went out of use, and wherever it did it was main- tained like the town roads in general, and as time went on its particular history was lost. But while its exact location in many places cannot be given, its general direction can be stated without any doubt. It started in the vicinity of Fitchburg, Mass., and passed through a part of Ashburnham into Win- chendon, in the same State. In the latter town a branch is believed to have left the main line, and proceeding in a west- erly direction passed through the south-western corner of
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THE OLD MILITARY ROAD.
Fitzwilliam into Richmond, and was continued to the Con- necticut River to furnish supplies to Fort Dummer, now Brat- tleborough, Vt. The other or more important branch (and with this we are specially concerned), taking a north-westerly direction from the point of junction in Winchendon, passed through the entire length of Fitzwilliam, and proceeded on- ward to Charlestown No. 4.
In 1871 the writer traced this road easily, for a considerable distance, through the section of the town north-west of the central village. The road was located a short distance west of the dwelling-house of Gilbert C. Bemis, recently burned, and proceeding northerly passed east of the Rockwood Pond, but west of the present travelled road. The track was grown up with trees, some of them of very large size, but the sluices made across the water-courses were standing as they were built one hundred and forty or one hundred and fifty years ago, and other marks remained showing the position of the road. The first house erected by General James Reed was not far from the site of Mr. Bemis's dwelling, and the cellar of the old house is a notable object in that part of the town. This house was kept as an inn for many years, first by General Reed and later by his son, Colonel Sylvanus Reed. Near by, but on the other side of the old road, is seen the cellar of the house built by Daniel Mellen, Sr. A little farther south, on the Fay Hill, as more recently called, Benjamin Bigelow, the first set- tler in town, located.
Whether this military road can be very definitely traced through the towns north-west of Fitzwilliam is not known ; nor can it be very certainly located through the south part of Fitzwilliam. Even among the persons best informed in the case there is a difference of opinion. One supposition is that the road entered the town near the south-east corner thereof, and passing west of Sip Pond, ran near No. 4 school-house, thence east of the Collins Pond, and then, passing near the spot where the first meeting-house was afterward erected, proceeded to the Fay Hill, and so on as before described. If this is cor- rect, it seems very probable that the road leading from No. 4 school-house southerly to Amos McGee's is a part of the orig-
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HISTORY OF FITZWILLIAM.
inal road, and the only part now in use within the limits of Fitzwilliam. Another opinion is that the road entered Fitz- william farther west, coming in from Royalston, and proceed- ing as nearly as practicable in a direct course, struck the pre- vionsly described route perhaps near the locality of the old meeting-house.
But it is not necessary to go back far in the last century to find the beginning of both these roads. In 1795 a road was laid out over the first described route as far as from the south- east corner of the town to the McGee place, then occupied by Richard Gleason, Sr. And in 1796 a road was laid out substantially covering the second or west route. Though the definite location of a great part of this road thus appears to be entirely lost, the real existence of such a road is beyond a doubt, and it is equally certain that by it the early settlers came to their new homes in the town of Fitzwilliam. It is also highly probable that the continuation of this road through Vermont was used in the Revolutionary War for the passage of troops and the transportation of supplies from New Hamp- shire, for the military operations in the country about Lake Champlain.
CHAPTER IV.
GRANTS OF THE LANDS IN SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Deficiency of Records-Early Explorers-Royal Claims-Plymouth Company -Ferdinando Gorges-Captain John Mason-His Heirs-Masonian Proprietors-Monadnock Townships-First Grant of Monadnock No. 4- Division of Second Grant-Ranges, Lots, etc.
T THE early settlers of Fitzwilliam, as is true of pioneers gener- ally, did not deem it necessary to keep carefully prepared records of their movements and business transactions. This common fanlt of the age can hardly surprise us when we re- member that the necessity was laid upon them to work, to give all their time, thoughts, and strength to the founding of homes for themselves and their families in the wilderness. As the result of this, much of the early history of this town and of each of the adjoining towns has been lost and can never be re- covered. so meagre and unsatisfactory are the ancient records. Still not a few of the motives and movements of the men who took part in opening this section of New Hampshire for settle- inent are traced withont difficulty.
The first white men who explored this region were not in quest of fame, good farms, or valuable sites for manufacturing establishments ; for since the precious metals had usually been found in mountainous regions like Mexico and Peru, the opinion was early entertained that they must be found about the base and upon the sides of Monadnock.
Accordingly, the first individuals and companies that ob- tained grants of these lands from the British crown sent out hands of men charged to explore the region carefully for gold and silver. The gold fever then raged, as it has in later times, and the men infected with it, both in Europe and in this country, had great expectations, which, perhaps fortu- nately for them and for us, were doomed to disappointment.
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HISTORY OF FITZWILLIAM.
That these explorers met with no success we all know, but their failure has not deterred some of the present generation from repeating, upon a limited scale, the same fruitless ex- periment. Probably no mines of either of the precious metals will ever be discovered in Monadnock. And so far as can be known certainly by the existing generation, the same is true of the White Mountains.
Professor Sanborn, of Dartmouth College, in his " History of New Hampshire," makes the following statement, doubt- less on good authority, as it has been given substantially by other writers :
In June, 1642, Darby Field, with two Indian guides, first ascended the White Mountains. In August of the same year another party, led by Thomas Gorges and Richard Vines from Maine, set out, on foot, to ex- plore the " delectable mountains." They penetrated the desert wilder- ness, and climbed the rugged sides of the " White Hills" from the east. They gave a very extravagant and incoherent description of what they saw. Their imagination ran riot in marvellous inventions. They de- scribed them (the mountains) as " extending a hundred leagues, on which snow lieth all the year." On one of these mountains they found a plain of a day's journey (it must have been a Sabbath-day's journey) whereon nothing grew but moss ; and " at the farther end of this plain, a rude heap of mossy stones, piled up on one another, a mile high, on which one might ascend from stone to stone, like a pair of winding stairs, to the top, where was another level of about an acre, with a pond of clear water.
The country beyond was said to be "daunting terrible." They named these mountains "the Crystal Hills." Their provisions failed them before the beautiful lake was reached ; and though they were within one day's journey of it, they were obliged to return home. So the men of that age died without the sight.
Plainly those who sent out such exploring expeditions were obliged to take their pay in romance ; the more improbable the story the better.
Of the eight Monadnock towns, Rindge has a peculiar his- tory, which is lucidly set forth by her historian, Ezra S. Stearns, Esq.
In 1690 Sir William Phipps, who had been a sailor, led an expedition against the French into Canada. This was a mis-
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THE "CANADA" TOWNS.
erable failure, and the troops that survived the fearful hard- ships of the campaign could get no pay for their service. Some of these were from Dorchester, Mass. ; others were from Row- ley, Ipswich, and other towns in the eastern part of that State. Forty years later these soldiers or their heirs obtained from the General Court of Massachusetts, in the way of remuneration, grants of wild lands, some of which are now in New Hamp- shire, but were then claimed by Massachusetts ; and this claim was generally allowed. The men from Dorchester thus oh- tained what was deemed a title to the town of Ashburnham, which was then called Dorchester Canada. Winchendon be- came in the same way Ipswich Canada, and Rindge, Rowley Canada. The boundary-line between Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which was for a long time in dispute, was finally settled by George the Second in 1740 ; and this left our neigh- bor Rindge to share the fortunes of the other towns in South- ern New Hampshire .* The whole difficulty respecting the Massachusetts claims to this region arose from the mistake (very early made) of supposing that the Merrimae River, in the greater part of its course, runs east instead of south.
It does not appear that the heirs of the soldiers to whom
* The entire history of the establishment of this line is interesting, especially as the old question is, in a certain sense, reopened at the present time, after the lapse of one hundred and forty-six years.
The king determined that the northern boundary of the province of Massachusetts be a similar curve-line, pursuing the course of the Merrimac River at three miles' dis- tance on the north side thereof, beginning at the Atlantic Ocean and ending at a point dne north of Patucket Falls, and a straight line drawn from thence due west till it meets with IIis Majesty's other governments.
This decision was a surprise to both parties, for it gave to New Hampshire a strip of territory nearly sixty miles long and fourteen broad above all that this province had ever claimed, while it deprived Massachusetts of twenty-eight new towns between the Merrimac and Connecticut rivers, and parts of six old towns on the north side of the Merrimae toward its mouth, as well as a vast tract of land west of the Connecticut River, for " His Majesty's other governments" in that direction were generally sup- posed to be bounded on the east by a line twenty miles east of the Hudson River.
When orders were given to run out and mark these lines, the Assembly of Massachu- setts virtually refused to appoint surveyors, and New Hampshire was authorized to proceed with the work. The surveyors were to allow 10° for the westerly variation of the needle, and the chief mistakes claimed to have been made in running the lines seem to have had reference to this matter of the needle's variation. If these claims of New Hampshire shall be allowed, it will give to this State a triangular strip of territory coming to a point in Draeut, Mass., but of considerable width on the banks of the Con- neeticut River. The New Hampshire Commission for the settlement of this matter consists of John J. Bell, of Exeter ; Charles II. Roberts, of Concord, and N. II. Clarke, of Plaistow.
4
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HISTORY OF FITZWILLIAM.
Rowley Canada was granted ever obtained any benefit from what was supposed to be a valuable property, for Rindge be- ing declared to be in New Hampshire in 1740, its fortunes ever after differed not materially from those of the Monad- nock towns generally.
It appears from the ancient records that a large part of the territory embraced in Southern New Hampshire was repeatedly given away and sold and resold by those who had no just title to a foot of land in this region.
The following statement, which is condensed as far as it can be if the continuity of the narrative shall be preserved, is be- lieved to be truthful, for it is made on the authority of the Colonial Records and of the best early historians of New Hampshire, particularly Belknap, who published his history in 1785 and 1791.
Claiming it by right of discovery, James the First, in 1606, set apart for colonization all the territory in North America between the forty-first and forty-fifth degrees of north lati- tude, and (for anything that appears to the contrary) from ocean to ocean. This was named North Virginia. The grant in question was made to a company of " Knights, Gentlemen, and Merchants," residing chiefly in the south-west part of England, and was named, from the chief city of that section of England, " The Plymouth Company." One fifth part of the precious metals and one fifteenth part of the copper that might be found in the country thus obtained the king re- served for his treasury.
Fourteen years later, or about the year that became memo- rable by the arrival of the Pilgrims on the coast of Massa- chusetts, this " Council of Plymouth," as it was afterward called, obtained a new charter that enlarged its possessions ; for it granted to that company all the lands between the for- tieth and forty-eighth degrees of north latitude, " from sea to sea," which expression, if it meant anything, meant from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or a territory about five hundred and fifty miles wide and two thousand five hundred miles long. This grant was called " New England in America."
Two of the most active and ambitious members of this
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GORGES AND MASON.
" Council of Plymouth" that obtained the grant of this im- mense territory were Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason. The former, Gorges, who had been the com- mander of the fort and Governor of Plymouth, England, was a bold, restless, impulsive man, who, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, appears to have been associated with Sir Walter Raleigh in attempts to found colonies in Virginia. He is said to have been a scholar and statesman like his associate, Raleigh, and it was his claim that his enterprises were undertaken largely to advance religion and the cause of humanity in gen- eral. Historians quote him as saying that
the planting of colonies in America was undertaken for the advancement of religion, the enlargement of the bounds of our nation, and the employ- ment of many thousands of all sorts of people.
Many of his schemes having miscarried, he deemed himself fortunate when he fell in with Captain John Mason, who was a man of the same spirit. Formerly he had been a merchant in London, but at a later period he had been Governor of Newfoundland, where he had succeeded in restoring to their tribes some captive Indians. Being a man of ability, Mason was appointed Secretary of the Plymouth Company, and soon obtained from his associates a grant of
all the land from the river Naumkeag (Salem) round Cape Ann to the river Merrimac and up each of these rivers to the farthest head thereof ; then to cross over from the head of the one to the head of the other, with all the islands lying within three miles of the coast.
This district was called " Mariana, " doubtless from its hav- ing the ocean for its eastern boundary. So little was known of the length of the Nanmkeag (which was supposed to be a great river rising far to the west), and also respecting the gen- eral course of the Merrimac River, that this was deemed to be a very valuable grant, whereas it actually embraced but a com- paratively small territory-viz., the triangular section of Massa- chusetts included in lines drawn from Lowell to Newburyport and Salem, with the sea-shore as its eastern boundary. Not a foot of this grant lay in New Hampshire. Probably becoming convinced that a mistake had been made, Gorges and Mason
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HISTORY OF FITZWILLIAM.
soon obtained another grant "of all the lands between the rivers Merrimac and Sagadahoek (the Kennebec), extending back to the great lakes and river of Canada." This they held jointly and called it Laconia, because of the great number of lakes that it contained. Both of these men seem to have had visions of great wealth and of nobility also through their American possessions, and both were sorely disappointed. In 1629 Mason obtained from the Plymouth Council a new patent, but covering no new territory, for the whole of it had been granted seven years before to him and Gorges jointly. This embraced the land
from the middle of Piscataqua River aud up the same to the farthest head thereof, and from thence north-westward until sixty miles from the mouth of the harbor were finished ; also through Merrimac River to the farthest head thereof, and so forward up into the land westward until sixty miles were finished ; and from thence to cross overland to the end of sixty miles accounted from Piscataqua River ; together with all the islands within five leagues from the shore.
This territory Mason and Gorges named New Hampshire, the former having been for a time Governor of Portsmouth, in Hampshire County, England.
Not long after the two partners divided their American pos- sessions, Gorges taking the eastern division, which became the province of Maine, and Mason holding as his share what is now New Hampshire.
From 1625 to 1648 Charles the First was King of England, and it was a time of great lawlessness in the New England colonies generally. The Plymouth Council was obliged to surrender its charter to the crown, while Gorges and Mason established no civil governments in the territories which they claimed to own. In 1635 Captain Mason died suddenly, leaving what had been regarded as his princely estate greatly reduced by large outlays for supplies and wages paid to his colonists. His widow, who was his executrix, sent over from England one Captain Francis Norton to care for and manage the property here ; but he and those whom he employed managed to divide nearly all the goods and cattle among them- selves.
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THE MASON ESTATE.
One hundred of great cattle, valued at twenty-five pounds each, very large beasts of a yellow color, and said to have been brought by Cap- tain Mason from Denmark,
are reported to have been driven to Boston and sold as a part of the booty.
Captain Mason left a will, made a few days before his death, by which he left to his grandson, Robert Tufton, " his manor of Mason Hall," near Portsmouth, and to his grandson, John Tufton, the remainder of his estate in New Hampshire, on condition that each should take the surname of Mason. John Tufton Mason died when young, and his share became the property of his younger brother, Robert Tufton Mason. This young man became of age in 1650. Litigation concerning the title to the New Hampshire property succeeding, Massachu- setts now had a survey made of what she deemed her territory, and fixed her northern boundary as far north as the head-waters of the Merrimae River. The Mason estate seemed now com- pletely swallowed np, and during the Protectorate of Crom- well no help conld be hoped for from the British Government, as the Masons were royalists. But after the restoration of Charles the Second, in 1660, Robert Tufton Mason appealed to the king for redress. The decision was that New Hamp- shire belonged to the heir of Captain John Mason.
These grants did not remove the granted territory from under the British Government. When the settlements in- creased so as to require them, the usual colonial officers were generally appointed by the King and Conncil ; but at this time there being no recognized royal governor in the territory north of Massachusetts, the government of that province claimed the right to control the entire region, and this claim was ac- quiesced in for nearly forty years, or until 1680.
Robert Tufton Mason died in 168S, while he was doing everything possible to enforce his claim to New Hampshire. Soon after his sons and heirs sold to Samuel Allen, of London, their entire elaim to the province for seven hundred and fifty pounds. Allen was made Governor of New Hampshire, but his claims were disregarded. A serions informality was found in the deed to Allen, and his heirs practically relinquished
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HISTORY OF FITZWILLIAM.
their claim to the property, which reverted, as a matter of course, to the heirs of Mason. *
In 1744 John Tufton Mason (who was a great-great-grand- son of Captain John Mason, and the third of that name) offered to release his interest in the territory to the province of New Hampshire for one thousand pounds New England currency.
So much of the genealogy of the Mason family as is needed is here given :
1. Captain John Mason. Died 1635.
2. Anne Mason Tufton, his daughter.
3. John and Robert Tufton Mason. John died when a child ; Robert (succeeding to the estate) died in 1688, leaving two sons, John and Robert. John had no children, but
4. Robert, who died in 1718, left two sons, John and Thomas. This
5. John Tufton Mason represented the Mason claim and sold it, as will be seen below.
Benning Wentworth was now Governor of New Hampshire, a man of energy and no mean capacity for business, but he was busy with his schemes for including what is now Vermont within the limits of New Hampshire, and granting charters for and giving names to towns west of the Connecticut River. The noted expedition for the capture of Louisburg, which Mason joined, was also engrossing public attention to the ex- clusion of almost everything else.
Two years passed, when the New Hampshire Assembly took measures to complete the bargain with Mason ; but on the same day when this was to have been done, Mason sold all his in- terest in New Hampshire to a company of twelve men, whose names follow :
Theodore Atkinson, Mark Hunking Wentworth, Richard Wibird, John Wentworth, Jr., John Moffat, Samnel Moore, Jotham Odiorne, Jr., George Jaffrey, Jr., Joshua Pierce, and Nathaniel Meserve, all of Portsmouth ; Thomas Wallingford,
* In the conveyance to Allen the lands are described as being "In New Hampshire, Main, Masonia, Laconia, Mason-hall and Mariana, in America, in the parish of Green- Wich."
55
THE MASONIAN PROPRIETORS.
of Somersworth, and Thomas Packer, of Greenland. The first of the twelve seems to have had three shares, the second two shares, and the others one share each.
At a later date there were added to these nine new pro- prietors-viz., John Rindge, Joseph Blanchard, Daniel Pierce, John Tufton Mason, John Thomlinson, Mathew Livermore, William Packer, Sammel Solley, and Clement March, making the whole number twenty-one. These gentlemen it has been customary to denominate, for the sake of convenience, "the Masonian Proprietors."*
The character of Mason, in making this sale of his claims, appears to have been above suspicion, for he had seasonably notified the Assembly of the consequences that would follow in case of delay. The price actually paid to Mason by the new proprietors was fifteen hundred pounds. The settlers generally seem to have been indignant at first, while the gov- ernment of the province blustered ; but the proprietors re- mained nnmoved. To conciliate all parties, they granted char- ters for new townships upon very liberal terms, demanding no pay from actual settlers npon their lands.
In every township granted by them, one right was set apart for a settled minister of the gospel, one for a parsonage, one for a school, and fifteen must be reserved for themselves, and, in some cases at least, two for their attorneys. In general also they stipulated that the purchasers or grantees of the new townships should, within a limited time, build meeting-houses, clear and make suitable roads, erect mills, and settle ministers. Of course they did not anticipate anything like rival religions churches and societies while imposing these conditions upon those who purchased their lands.
The liberality of the Masonian proprietors soon won popular favor, and the settlements increased notwithstanding the great draft of men and money occasioned by alinost constant war
* These men were among the most respected and Influential in the province, and nine of the twenty-one held the office of councillor under the royal government-viz. : Jotham Odiorne, appointed in 1724; Theodore Atkinson, Secretary, 1734 and 1762; Richard Wibird, appointed 1739 ; John Rindge, appointed 1740 ; Joseph Blanchard, ap- pointed 1740 ; Samuel Solley, appointed 1753 ; M. Il. Wentworth, appointed 1759 ; Daniel Pierce, appointed 1766 ; George Jaffrey, appointed 1766.
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