USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Hillsborough > The history of Hillsborough, New Hampshire, 1735-1921, Volume 1 > Part 6
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66
HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH.
be said that Mrs. McColley was the only woman at the settlement. Still all honor to Margaret McColley, who had dared to brave the perils and the hardships to do her part in the founding of the new town. As the oldest of the Gibson children was barely six, of youngsters at play there were a merry group.
While it could not have been an unexpected event to the wise ones, and who is not wise in regard to his neighbor's business, in the fall James Lyon, as soon as his crops were harvested, hied himself away and was gone two weeks, but when he came back he was not alone and yet two came as one, and the better half was Mary Lyon, the first bride to come to Hillsborough. You may be certain there was a grand, if simple, reception when the newly wedded couple went to their home at the Centre. There were now at least three women in town, and at least three full- fledged homes. How honest John Hill's heart must have throbbed when he heard the news.
The winter for 1740-4I came in early, before Thanksgiving, but our pioneers had anticipated it by such preparations as they could make. The summer had been quite favorable to the growth of their crops, and we do not imagine there was any excessive suffering. Anyway midwinter was brightened by an event some- time expected and yet bringing much rejoicing. This was nothing less than the appearance upon the scene of a new mem- ber of the McColley family. He was straightway christened John, and his after life proves that he was a bright boy, worthy of being the joy of any mother's heart. It might now truly be said that the population of Number Seven had begun to grow.
If proudly toasted and boosted as the "uncrowned king," Master John McColley was soon to have a fair rival, for four months and a day later, May 19, 1741, a child was born into the Gibson family, and very appropriately a daughter, who was named Elizabeth. Happiness now reigned supreme in at least two families.
The following summer the wives and children of others of the men in town must have come hither to make more cheerful the bachelor homes. Though there is no evidence to prove it, it seems apparent that James McColley's brother John joined the numbers. His name disappears from the records of Litchfield,
67
FIRST FUNERAL.
though we know he was not dead. The live stock of the brothers is no longer on the inventory. By this time Number Seven must have had a population approaching forty, counting adults and children.
It is not to be supposed that a religious people would allow their meeting house to remain unopened during those years, and probably services were held at various times under the auspices of a Mr. Grayson of Amherst, and possibly other ministers. But it is certain there was no settled minister, nor does there seem to have been any effort made to settle one. The fact was, as has already been hinted, wars and rumors of warfare with the Indians ever gave uneasiness to the minds of the colonists. This constant threat kept others from joining them, as well as casting a gloom over their lives.
In December, 1741, death for the first time visited the fron- tier hamlet, when the infant child of Thomas and Mary Lyon found early surcease from life's toil. Three days later the first funeral in town was held, and in a biting storm a little form was laid away in an unmarked grave in the Centre cemetery, long since lost to identification, not stopping long enough here to leave more than a date line.
Three years then passed silently without so much as leaving a pen mark on the historic page* though there were two if not other births and one life went out during the interval. Word was brought up from the lower settlements that war was again being waged between the French and English, while far and wide the Indians were committing deeds of atrocity. The pioneers of Number Seven now realized they had made a mistake in settling over such a wide territory. In other places, where the hamlets were more compact, garrison houses had been constructed whither the inhabitants could flee for safety upon an alarm of danger. But this was not practical with the distances that inter- vened between the settler fartherest on the west, east and south.
*It does not seem probable that these earlier citizens of Number Seven at- tempted any regular form of government, as this was hardly necessary. Their very environments served to unite them in the single endeavor to improve their condition. So there were really no records kept of those trying years' experi- ences. This was not unusual. Upon the second settlement, made under less hazardous conditions, .it was ten years before an effort at incorporation as & township was attempted and a board of town officers chosen. With the election of a clerk an official record begins .- Author.
68
HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH.
Number Seven had not been planned to be a frontier outpost, which it was in reality if not so intended. Mr. Smith says there were about twelve families in the town, but this calculation might be safely increased by three. But twelve or fifteen or twenty, the odds of a few families did not matter. Already word had come that settlers not as removed as they had begun to seek the protection of more densely populated sections. Everywhere among the scattered settlements of Northern New England it was the same. "The husbandman cleared and tilled his soil under the protection of a guard, uncertain whether the seed he committed to the ground might be watered by his blood or that of his enemy." A balladist of that period in the quaint language peculiar to the time describes vividly the situation :
"England and France a cruel war, Had with each other waged; Woe to the colonies ! for there Its bloodiest contest raged.
The fierce Canadian (Frenchmen they) Had set the Indians on; 'Twas sad to see for many a day, The mischief that was done.
Houses were burnt and cattle slain, And smiling fields laid waste ; To seek the lurking foe was vain, His steps might not be traced ;
For the dark, trackless woods conceal'd Him, issuing whence he seized The unwary laborer in his field, A captive if he pleased ;
Or else more merciful dispatched Him at a single blow, Then his defenceless home attacked, And laid his loved ones low ;
Or led into captivity The children and the wife, In hardship, pain and misery, . To drag a weary life.
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FLIGHT OF THE PIONEERS.
Such scenes as these, we understand Were acted o'er and o'er, Beginning first at Westmoreland, Not far from Number Four.
In both these towns, in Keene likewise, Were killed and taken some; And then eight persons by surprise, They took in Hopkinton.
Oh ! faces gathered paleness then, Hearts trembled with dismay ;- Of foes without, the fears within, Disturbed them night and day."
The attack upon the inhabitants of Hopkinton, mentioned above, occurred on the morning of April 22, 1746, and brought the terror very close to the homes in Number Seven. The report said that a party of Indians armed with muskets, tomahawks and knives entered one of the fortified houses while its inmates slept, the door having been left open by one who had gone out early to hunt, and captured eight persons before they could rally to resist. Immediately a messenger hastened to warn Colonel Hill's colony of the peril of their situation. To add to their trepidation that very day a party of red men were seen prowling about the Contoocook falls, and to all appearance a warparty. Small wonder if even such men as Samuel Gibson, Isaac Baldwin, and James McColley, and others, all of them inured in Indian fight- ing, thinking of the danger to their families, should quickly decide that flight was their only expedient.
So, in haste and with many misgivings, they buried the heavier articles of their households and implements of husbandry, to prepare to seek a place of greater safety until the war-cloud should blow over. When it should be safe for them to do so, they would return to take up the burdens of husbandry where they had so suddenly and unexpectedly laid them down.
The men collected their livestock together and drove the cattle and the hogs before them, while the women took charge of the children, and along with these the house cats and other pets. It was a solemn band of self-exiled pioneers that moved slowly down the forest pathway, now well-known to most of them and
70
HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH.
leading to a haven of protection. There were many backward glances, and perhaps a few tears in eyes unaccustomed to weep, but like the Acadians sent into exile that very summer, each carried in his or her heart a prayer for a speedy return to the beloved homes they were forced to desert. None of the Acadians ever returned to the scenes of their loves and hopes, while of these forty-odd fugitives of old Number Seven few, very few, ever came back, and these only after long years, to find their homes fallen in ruins and the sunlight shut out from their clear- ings by a new growth of forest. The Indian had fled to the happy hunting grounds of his fathers, but the shadows of solitude brooded in silence over a scene once merry with the laughter of children and the rejoicings of the inmates of hopeful homes.
CHAPTER V. THE INTERVAL OF INDIAN WARS. 1745-1762.
Capture of Louisburg by New England Troops-Its Importance Not Appreciated by Great Britain-Awakening of a Feeling of Resent- ment which Developed the Spirit of '76-Enemies of '45 Become Allies in '76-Colonel Hill Buys Back His Interest in Number Seven-So Saves the Early Settlers from Loss-Seeks Protection from the Indians-Petition from the Inhabitants of Merrimack- Masonian Proprietors-Colonel Hill Petitions for Relief-Gets Quit-Claim Deed to Hillsborough-Has to Allow Reserved Lots- Royal Society Land-"Cumberland"-Breaking Out of the Seven Years War-Rogers Rangers-Men From Number Seven Who Were Active-Result of War and Forecast.
The war that devastated New England at the time of the flight of the pioneers of Number Seven was known abroad as "The War of the Austrian Succession," but here as "Shirley's War," that being the name of the governor of Massachusetts at the time. On account of the capture by the raw New England troops under Pepperell of the French stronghold on the Island of Breton, it has also been called "Cape Breton War." But the name matters little. Though this particular struggle was not an Indian war, the red men were everywhere aroused, and the English settlers in this county trembled for their safety. Fortu- nately the conflict of which we have spoken was short and sharp, and in 1747 peace was again declared. Still the respite was doubtful.
While the capture of Louisburg by raw New England troops seems of small importance to the historian of the mightier con- quests of the world, yet it was portentious of future events in more ways than one. In the first place it was the beginning of that wider endeavor which made England "mistress of the sea." Again it suggested to Pitt and other British leaders the reason- ableness of wresting Canada from their oldtime enemy France. This dream was realized fourteen years later.
71
72
HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH.
The contempt with which their success at Louisburg, then known as the "Dunkirk of America," by the British council showed to the New England colonists that their affairs were of minor consequence in their homeland. Their loyal love and faith received then their first shock, and from that day may be dated the beginning of that rebellious spirit which eventually found expression in the Revolution. It was also the awakening of conquest upon the sea, led by Paul Jones within twenty-five years. By an extraordinary outcome of destiny the French, from whom they won the victory of Louisburg in '45, were their allies in '76, helping them to establish their independence, while the old French colonies in the valley of the St. Lawrence remained as vassals of Great Britain. Another link that connects Louis- burg with the Revolution was the fact that Gridley, the man who planned the trenches and parallel lines of that stronghold, laid out the fortifications of Bunker Hill.
The pioneers of Number Seven all returned to their former homes, and took up life anew as if the fearful experience was only a dream. With his characteristic honesty of purpose Colonel Hill came forward and very generously bought out the interests of all who had undertaken the founding of his town. Thus he was again sole proprietor ; that is, as far as his Massachusetts title went. Ever on the alert for the safety of the inhabitants of the outlying towns, we find him petitioning the governor and general court as follows :
PROTECTION FROM THE INDIANS, 1744.
To His Excellancy Benning Wentworth Esq. Capt. General & Governor in Chief in and over his Majestys Province of New Hamp- shire, to the Hon.ble his Majesties Council & House of Representatives in General Court Assembled.
Jno Hill in behalf of himself & and other proprietors of a Town- ship NO. 7 in the line of Towns commonly called Hillborough & another Township called Peterborough both in the Province of New Hamp- shire, humbly shows That your Petitioners & the other sd proprietors have been at great Charge and Expence in settling & bringing forward ye sd Townships to their present circumstances, there being near 40 families that would not be in Each of sd Towns but are discouraged by the danger of an Indian War, & are now ready to go on if they can be protected in their settlement. Wherefore your Petitioners in
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AN APPEAL FOR PROTECTION.
behalf of himself & the other proprietors pray in Consideration of the great Expence they have been at in the settlements and the manifest advantage that will accrue to the Province from them, that being Frontier Towns thay may be Defended & protected by this Government as Your Excellency & Hounrs shall seem meet & your Petitioners shall ever pray &c.
JOHN HILL.
PETITION FOR PROTECTION FROM MERRIMACK, 1747.
To His Excellancy Benning Wentworth Esqr Gov. &c The Hon. his Majestys Council & House of Representatives in the Generall Assembly Convened May 13th 1747.
The Petition of us Subscribers Inhabitants of the Souhegan West Humbly Sheweth that there is Settled and now remains in this planta- tion thirty five familys in which is about Fifty eight men upwards of sixteen years old. That when we began our settlement we ap- prehended no danger of our ever being a frontier, there being at that time so many above us begun and obligated to fulfill the conditions of the Massachusetts grants, which occasioned us to settle scattering, only Regarding the advantages of Good and Compact Farms. That the difficulty of War happening so early on her Settlements, and the Defenceless Condition they was in, has obliged them all, viz: Peters- borough, Salem- Canada, New Boston and Hillsborugh (so called) Intirely to draw off as well as the forts on the Connecticut River left naked. Whereby we are left as much exposed as any of the Frontiers on the Merrimack River.
Wherefore Your Petitioners most Humbly Pray that your Ex- cellency & Honrs would so far Comiserate our Present Difficult Cir- cumstances as to Grant us so many Soldiers as your Excellency & Honrs may Judge of Necessity for Our Defence and your Petirs as in Duty bound Shall Pray &c.
Daniel Wilkins
William Howard Jacob Wellman
John Shepard his
his
Joseph X Wilkins mark Benj Cheever
David X Hartsorn mark Andrew Bixbe
John Davis
Andrew Beeton
James Cofren
William Bradford
Samuel Walton
Ebenezer Ellinwood
William Peabody
Thomas Clark
Solomon Hutchinson
John Seetown
Daniel Wilkins Junr
Ebenezer Lyon
Benjamin Cheever Junr Israel Towne
Caleb Stiles
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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH.
In Council May 13th 1747 read & ordered to be sent Down to the Honble House.
THEODORE ATKINSON Secy.
Succeeding events prove that the prayer was not heeded, or at least the government was powerless to assist the endangered inhabitants. Other petitions and supplications were forwarded at this and later periods which show the situation as it existed at the time.
MASONIAN PROPRIETORS.
In 1746 John Tufton Mason, who represented the Masonian claimants, sold out his interest for £1,500 to a company that be- came known as the Masonian Proprietors. The interest was divided into 15 shares owned as follows :
Theodore Atkinson
3 shares
Mark H. Wentworth
2
Richard Wibird'
1 share
John Wentworth
1
George Jaffrey
1
Nathaniel Wentworth
1
Thomas Parker 1
Thomas Wallingford
1
Jotham Odiorne
1
66
Joshua Pierce
1
Samuel Moore
1
John Moffatt
1
15 shares
Before granting townships 3 shares were added, and 9 new members :
John Ringe
Joseph Blanchard Daniel Pierce
John Tufton Mason
John Tomlinson
Matthew Livermore
William Parker
Samuel Selley
Clement March
All were Portsmouth men, excepting Joseph Blanchard.
Reasonable in their claims, quitclaiming their title to these who had come into actual possession, this company soon removed the bitterness of feeling which had arisen previously.
75
MASONIAN QUIT-CLAIM.
With indefatigable purpose, realizing that his title from Massachusetts was void, Colonel Hill early in 1749, according to the present calendar, petitioned to the Masonian Proprietors as follows :
PETITION OF COL. JOHN HILL, 1748-9.
To the Proprs Purchasers of the Grant made to Capt. Jon Mason March 1 in London by the Council of Plimouth Lying on the Province of New Hampshire in New England Gentn
I purchased of Sundry Proprs who had their Grant from the Massachusetts Government a Township in the line towns (called No. 7 or Hillboro) & Lately I've been Informed that Township falls within the Limits of Sd Masons Grant. Against whome I've no Inclination to Dispute ..
Therefore Gentlemen if it be the Case the Sd Lands are Situated within your property I would gladly assist you and Acquaint you that, free from designs of Injuring any Body but with a view to Serve my Country and my Self Have in Bringing forward a Settlement of a town in the most usefull man'er for the Public Service; Have been at near 2220; if within your property I would gladly Acquaint you that, free from design of Injuring any Body but with a view to Serve my Country and my Self Have in Bringing forward a Settlement of a town in the most useful maner, if within it is at the Extreme parts of your Grant the Attempt of Setling of that Remote Wilderness, Opening Roads Discovering the Country and being a Barricord Previous to the entry on ye Lands within, Has bin of Supr Service (be it within your Claim) to Any Recompence you have in your Generosity, Accept from Sundry of your Near grants & Shall in that way further prosecute any Duty of Settlement you think advisable for publick Service on that Land and Esteem it a favour for your Quit claim to those Lands that I may pursue my Settlement free from debate & with Incouragement to Industry Shall Readily Submitt my self to your Compassion And order therein. I am Gentlemen
Your Most Obedient Humble servant JOHN HILL
The Masonian Proprietors, as they had done in other cases, readily granted the request of Colonel Hill and promptly sent him the following :
QUIT-CLAIM TO HILLBOROUGH, 1748-9
Upon Reading & Considering the Request & Petition of Collo John Hill of Boston Esqr to have a Quit Claim from the Said Proprietors
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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH.
of their Right to that Tract of land Commonly called Hillborough to him the Said John Hill for the Reasons Set forth in his Petition on file
Voted That the Said Proprietors first Reserving to themselves their Heirs & assigns the Quantity of Seventeen hundred Acres of the said tract of land to be laid out as the Said John Hill shall think most Convenient for promoting the Settlement there but not to be Subject to any Charge or Tax untill improved by Said Proprietors or those who hold under them or any of them have and hereby do grant (on the Terms & Conditions hereafter mentioned) all their Right Title Estate Interest & Property unto the Said Tract of land called & known by ye name of Hillborough to him ye Said John Hill his heirs and Assigns forever he Returning to the Proprietors a Plan of the Said Seventeen Hundred Acres are laid out-also reserving all Pine Trees for his Majesty's Use fit for masting for the Royal Navy.
As there was a long delay in establishing the second settle- ment and in making a survey of the township, Colonel Hill's reply to the Proprietors was not made until the end of sixteen years. Although it does not come here in chronological order, it may be better understood if presented at this time.
JOHN HILL TO MASONIAN PROPRIETORS, 1765.
Boston May 22, 1756.
Sir:
I here Inclose a plan - - - of Hillborough the Reservations of the Grant of the Proprietors of the Lands purchased of John Tufton Mason Esqr are marked and described on Each* Plan-which pleas to present to Said proprietors with my Compliments and dutifull Regards to them-and Youll Very Much oblige
Your Most Humble Sert JOHN HILL
P. S. Please to Acquaint me with the Receipt of the Same. To George Jaffrey Esqr
RESERVED LOTS, 1779.
State of New Hampshire Portsmouth February 22d 1779 Monday ten of the clock before noon at the House of Mr. John Penhallow improved by him as a store, the Proprietors meet according to adjournment ... Whereas John Hill Esqr hath returned to Said Proprietore a Plan of Hillsborough with the reserved Seventeen hundred acres to said Proprietors, laid out in form two hundred Acre Lotts, numbered on said plan No. 27 No. 28 No 29 No 30, and three hundred Acre Lotts numbered 41, 42, 43, which Said Lotts are presumed to contain the number of Acres in each Lott as expressed in Said
* The second plan referred to Peterborough.
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SOCIETY LAND.
Plan ... therefore voted that each of the Said two hundred Acre Lotts be divided into two equal parts and numbered on Said Plan from 1 to 8, and that the Said three three hundred Acre Lotts be divided into three equal parts on the Plan and be numbered 9 to 17, and that a draft of all of Said lotts be now drawn to the Rights of each of the fifteen Proprietors Shares and the low Lotts No 1 & No. 2 and being drawn to said Rights and entered on Record shall be a Severance of the Same to Said Proprietors &c
The Draft of the Said Lotts were drawn as follows Vizt
1st To John Rindge No. 1 in No. 27
2nd To Theodore Atkinson Esqr No. 7 in No. 30
3rd Thomlinson & Mason No. 2 in No. 27
4th Mark Hg Wentworth Esqr
No. 11 in No. 30
5th Law lott No. 2
No. 8 in No. 30
6th Solly & March
No. 17 in No. 43
7th Geo: Jaffrey
No. 15 in 43
8 Thos. Packer Esqr
No. 14 in No. 42
9 Pierce & Moore
No. 12 in No. 42
10 Blanchard Meserve & Co No. 5 in No. 29
11 Jotham Odiorne Esqr No. 6 in No. 40
12 Richd Wibird Esqr No. 10 in No. 21
13 Josha Peirce Esqr No. 4 in No. 26
14 Thos Walingford Esqr No. 16 in No. 43
15 Law lott No. 1 No. 13 in No. 42
16 Jon Wentworth Esqr
No. 3 in No. 28
17 John Moffatt Esqr
No. 9 in No. 41
The lots designated in the preceding document were located in the northern part of the town, lots 27, 28, and 41 bordering on the town of Bradford.
In 1753 there remained in the Contoocook valley quite an area of wild land that had not been included in any of the grants. This was then divided into fifteen shares consisting of two lots each, one of intervale land and the other of upland. This ex- tensive territory prior to the early stages of the Revolution was known as "Royal Society Land," and later on simply as "Society Land." Before the closing of the War for Independence there seems to have an organization respecting the conduct of the ownership of this large tract of ungranted country, though the first meeting of this body of which we have any record was held on March 25, 1782.
However this may have been action had already been taken regarding the placing of this territory, for we find that Frances-
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HISTORY OF HILLSBOROUGH.
town had "absorbed" Lots 8, 9, 10, in 1772 ; Deering, Nos. 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 in 1774; Antrim, Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7 in 1777 ; Hancock, Nos. 1, 2, and 3, with most of a "mile square lot" that had been granted Col. Joseph Blanchard for assistance to Robert Fletcher in surveying the tract in colonial days, in 1779. A portion still undivided was added to Greenfield in 1791.
Even then a section between the river and Crotchet Moun- tain remained unchartered until 1842, when the town of Benning- ton was incorporated. This whole tract for a considerable period was designated as "Cumberland."
Having secured by honorable means a valid title to his grant, which was already proving an expensive investment, Colonel Hill now turned his attention resolutely to improving his township. But another Indian war was driving at the very heart of New England-a war more pronounced, prolonged and more terrific than any it had experienced, for this was the life and death grapple between the French and Indians on the one hand and the English colonists on the other. In the hands of the master of this war rested the fortune of New England, French or English.
While the previous Indian wars had found the New England colonists poorly prepared to meet their foes, the "Seven Years' War" opened with them in readiness for the enemy that would never rest until thoroughly conquered. As early as 1752 several attacks were made by the red men, and children, women and even men were taken into captivity. The most noted and far- reaching in its influence was the surprise of a hunting party of four who had been trapped while hunting in what is now Rumney, N. H. This quartette consisted of William and John Stark, Ben- jamin Eastman and David Stinson, all from the towns in the Merrimack valley.
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