USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Derry > The history of Londonderry : comprising the towns of Derry and Londonderry, N.H. > Part 19
USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Londonderry > The history of Londonderry : comprising the towns of Derry and Londonderry, N.H. > Part 19
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cloth ; and that the amount of property imported and sold, in the various stores in the town, was not less than seventy- five thousand dollars.
The population of the town, according to the census of 1830, was one thousand nine hundred and eighty-four; and according to the census of 1840, it was two thousand one hundred and sixty-three.
The early ecclesiastical history of Peterborough is far from favorable. The church, as originally organized, was Presbyterian. The gentlemen first separated to the office of elders, were William McNee, William Smith, Samuel Moore, and Samuel Mitchel. They were consecrated by Rev. Robert Annan, of Boston, in 1778, and they all "adorned their profession, and died in faith." A Presby- terian minister, by the name of Johnston, came with the first settlers and remained with them about a year. The desk was supplied for a time by Rev. Mr. Harvey, and in the year 1764 by Rev. Mr. Powers.
The first settled minister in the town was Rev. John Mor- rison. He was born at Pathfoot, in Scotland, in 1743, and was of a family distinct from that of the Morrisons who were among the first settlers of the town. He was graduated at Edinburgh, in 1765, arrived at Boston the May following, and was ordained at Peterborough, November 26, 1766. Although he was possessed of more than ordinary talent, he soon proved to be intemperate and licentious. His conduct after a time became so scandalous that a presbytery was held, and he was suspended for a time from his office. He relinquished his connection with the society in March, 1772, visited South Carolina, returned and joined the American army, at Cambridge, in 1775. He soon after went over to the British, and remained with them till his death, which took place at Charleston, S. C., in 1782. He became a pro- fessed atheist, and died an abandoned profligate.
In October, 1778, Mr. David Annan, having received a
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call, was ordained for Peterborough, by the presbytery, which met at Wallkill, N. J. He was a brother of Robert Annan, who was for a time pastor of Federal Street church, in Boston, was born at Cupar of Fife, in Scotland, April 4, 1754, and came to America when young. He received his education at New Brunswick College, N. J. In 1792, the pastoral connection of Mr. Annan with the society in Peter- borough was dissolved, at his request, by the presbytery of Londonderry. He was by the same presbytery deposed from the ministry, in 1800, and died in Ireland, in 1802. Mr. Annan possessed respectable talents, and might easily have retained the confidence of his people. But his intem- perate habits, his licentious and corrupt conversation, and his haughty, overbearing demeanor, at length deprived him of their respect and regard. So brutal was his treatment of his wife, who was an estimable woman, that she was some- times compelled to pass the whole night, with her children, in the woods ; and she finally obtained a bill of divorce, on the ground of extreme cruelty. Mr. Morrison and Mr. Annan were the only settled ministers in the place for fifty years.
" The question," says the Rev. J. H. Morrison, in his cen- tenary address, " How could religion be kept alive under such circumstances, is readily answered. Our people were always readers, and the Bible was almost their only book. Here they went for counsel and support. It was to them prophet and priest. With all their reverence for the public minis- trations of religion, their reverence for the written word was far greater. In the next place, the practice of family prayer was faithfully observed. Morning and evening the Scriptures were read; and if the flame of devotion burned dim in the house of public worship, it was not permitted to go out upon the family altar."
After the dismission of Mr. Annan, a call was given to Rev. Z. S. Moore, but it was declined, and the town con-
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tinued without a minister until October 23, 1799, when Rev. Elijah Dunbar was ordained. The church had originally belonged to the Londonderry presbytery, but at the settle- ment of Mr. Annan, at his request, it was dismissed from the Londonderry presbytery, and united with the New York presbytery. When Mr. Dunbar was settled, that presbytery had become extinct, and the church, being left an indepen- dent body, adopted the Congregational form. As there were many who were still attached to the Presbyterian mode, it was arranged that once a year the communion should be administered by a Presbyterian, in the Presbyterian manner. This service was for many years performed by Rev. Wil- liam Morrison, of Londonderry. In 1822, a portion of the people who had never been pleased with the Congregational form, and others who had never been quite at ease under an Arminian preacher, withdrew, and formed a Presbyterian society. Mr. Dunbar retained his pastoral connection with the Congregational society, until February, 1827. He was succeeded in June, of the same year, by Abiel Abbot, D. D., who is still the pastor. The present number of communi- cants in this church, who are residents in the town, is sixty- eight.
The Presbyterian society erected a meeting-house in 1825, and, in 1827, Rev. Peter Holt was installed their pastor. In March, 1835, Mr. Holt resigned his office as pastor of this society, and Rev. Mr. Pine was installed the next year, and was dismissed in January, 1837. Rev. Joshua Barret was stated supply from February, 1837, to February, 1839. Rev. James R. French was ordained pastor, March 18, 1840, and was dismissed in April, 1847. The present pastor, Rev. Henry J. Lamb, was ordained July 14, 1847. The present number of members in this church is one hundred and seventy-five.
A Baptist church was constituted November, 1822, con- sisting of forty members, and the first pastor was Rev.
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Charles Cummings. Rev. Mr. Goodnow commenced his labors with this church in June, 1831. Rev. George Daland was the pastor from March, 1834, until 1836. Rev. John Peacock commenced preaching September, 1837, and re- mained one year. Rev. J. M. Wilmarth was settled Sept., 1838, and was dismissed March, 1840. Rev. Zebulon Jones was the pastor from April, 1840, to November, 1843. Rev. A. Brown commenced preaching Jan., 1844, and remained one year. Rev. Sherborn Dearborn commenced his labors in September, 1845, and was dismissed August, 1847. The present pastor, Rev. J. M. Chick, was settled December, 1847. The number of resident members in this church at the present time is eighty-three.
There has been in this town for several years a Methodist church, which now contains seventy-eight members.
To the foregoing historical sketch of Peterborough, the following item, from the Boston Evening Traveller, is appended, in the belief that it will not be uninteresting :-
NEW HAMPSHIRE IN OLD TIMES.
The oldest son of New Hampshire who attended the grand festival, on Wednesday, was our fellow-citizen, Mr. Samuel Gregg, of 18 Leverett Street. He was born in Peterborough, N. H., in 1772, and has resided in Boston constantly for the last half-century. Among the first settlers in his native town were his mother and father. The latter, subsequently known as Major Samuel Gregg, was a native of Londonderry. Joining, at the early age of seventeen, the English army in the old French war, he was at the capture of Louisburg, and on the plains of Abraham, with the brave General Wolfe, whose great victory there united the Cana- das to the British empire. When the Revolution broke out, he refused to act under his commission of lieutenant in the king's service, took up arms for his countrymen, and with his wife, who was born in Haverhill, Mass., staked all for
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the cause of independence. The following, related a few hours since by their son, the present Samuel Gregg, and the oldest person at the dinner on Wednesday, will give some idea of the necessities and toils of some of the first founders of the Granite State. "My parents planted themselves in Peterborough," remarked Mr. Gregg, "about one hundred years ago, on the banks of the Contoocook. At that period there was not a settler, nor a single improvement, between their house and Canada; and it was years afterwards, before they had one neighbor ; and for a long time but one, between them on the north and the boundaries of that province. On a cold winter's day, my mother threw on her cloak of scarlet cloth, such as the great-great-grandmothers of the rising generation were then accustomed to wear, and with her husband, went out upon the ice down the Contoocook, to see the family of their nearest northern neighbor, in Antrim, twelve miles off by land, and some fifteen by the river. They arrived about noon, but found their neighbor, Mr. James Aiken, had gone with his wife to make a call on some of their relatives, twenty-five or thirty miles distant at the east. Miss Aiken, their little daughter, then about twelve years old, made a cup of tea for my mother, after which, the two disappointed travellers retraced their steps, over the ice to their dwelling, which they reached in the evening. That night there fell a rain so heavy as to break up the frozen stream ; and had they not returned as they did, they could not have reached home for less than four or five weeks, as there were no roads, and the snow was three or four feet deep in the woods. In those days, there was not a cart nor a vehicle on wheels, nor a highway, in the whole town of Peterborough ; and my ancestor was obliged to take his grain four miles to mill, and bring the meal back upon a rude car, composed of poles, fastened lengthwise to a cross- piece, the front being elevated by the oxen, and the rear drawn over the ground, somewhat like a sled."
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HISTORY OF LONDONDERRY.
BEDFORD.
A settlement was commenced in Bedford in the year 1737 by a few individuals from Londonderry, among whom were Robert and James Walker, John Goffe, Matthew Patten, and Capt. Samuel Patten. These individuals settled near the bank of the Merrimack river. They were soon followed by many others, so that, in 1750, the town which had been called Souhegan East, or Narraganset, No. 5, was incorpo- rated under its present name, and with its present limits, its territory originally extending south to Souhegan river.
As might be expected from a people of such an origin, they made early provision for the institution of the gospel. In 1750, the town gave a call to Rev. Alexander Boyd, and soon after to Rev. Messrs. Alexander McDowell, and Sam- uel McClintock; but in each case without success. A meeting-house was raised in 1755, but not fully finished until some years after.
On Sept. 28, 1757, Rev. John Houston was ordained pastor of the church, which was organized in the Presbyterian order. Rev. Mr. True of Hampstead, offered the prayer; Rev. Mr. Parsons of Newbury, preached the sermon ; Rev. David Mac- Gregor of Londonderry, gave the charge; Rev. Mr. True gave the right hand of fellowship, and Rev. Mr. White of Gloucester, concluded with prayer.
James Little, James Gilmore, Benjamin Smith, and Wil- liam Moor, constituted the first board of elders.
About this time, sundry inhabitants of Merrimack, who had removed to that town from Londonderry, united for a number of years with the inhabitants of Bedford, probably from preference for the Presbyterian form of government. Mr. Houston continued to fill the office of minister in Bedford, till 1775. This town partook largely of the patriotic feeling that prevailed at this time throughout the country, and many of its citizens engaged in the dangers and hardships of the
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revolutionary war. Their minister differed from the great body of the people, in his views of public affairs, and on this account he ceased preaching, and in 1778 his pastoral con- nection was dissolved by act of the presbytery.
Rev. Mr. Houston was educated at Princeton, N. J., where he took his degree in 1753 ; he studied divinity with the Rev. David MacGregor of Londonderry. He was consid- ered a sound, orthodox divine, and a man of considerable native and acquired talent, but somewhat deficient as a public speaker. He was a conscientious and good man. He was born in Londonderry, and died in Bedford, 1798, aged 75. For a long period after the dismissal of Mr. Houston, the town was destitute of a settled ministry. The people were supplied with preaching part of the year, but, with a single exception, by no one individual for any length of time. Rev. William Pickles, from Wales, England, preached for a time, as a stated supply. He was a man of very popular talents, but his habits and general deportment were such as to dis- honor his sacred profession. His influence was unfavorable to the cause of vital piety. As might be expected in such a state of things, the ordinances of religion were neglected, divisions arose, and the interests of piety declined. But during this long period of nearly thirty years, the watchful providence of God surrounded the church, through seasons of peril, and preserved it from becoming extinct.
On Sept. 5, 1804, Rev. David MacGregor, a native of Lon- donderry, was ordained to the pastoral charge of the church and congregation in Bedford. The religious aspect of things now began to change. The church as a body became more regular and consistent, additions were yearly made to their number, and the cause of piety and benevolence advanced with a steady progress.
In April, 1825, the pastoral relation, subsisting between Mr. MacGregor and the church, was, by mutual consent, dissolved by act of presbytery. Mr. MacGregor received
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his education at Dartmouth College, where he took his degree in 1799. He studied divinity with Rev. Dr. Mor- rison of Londonderry. His ministry, it is believed, was greatly blessed. He removed to Falmouth, Maine, where he is engaged in the business of instruction.
The present pastor, Rev. Thomas Savage, was installed over the church and people July 5, 1826.
The old meeting-house having been occupied for the wor- ship of God from generation to generation for nearly eighty years, and having become unsuitable for a place of worship, a new house was erected, and solemnly dedicated to the service of God, December 25, 1832. The church has shared with other churches in spiritual blessings ; and since the settlement of the present pastor, two hundred and seventy- two have been added by profession.
CHERRY VALLEY.
In the year 1741, an emigration of a number of families to the valley of the Mohawk, west of the Hudson river, took place under the following circumstances. A patent of a territory now called Cherry Valley, containing eight thou- sand acres of land, lying about ten miles south of the Mohawk river, and fifty-two west from Albany, was granted to John Lindesay, a Scotch gentleman of some distinction, and three others. At that time, with very few exceptions, the whole country west of Cherry Valley, reaching on to the Pacific ocean, was one unbroken wilderness. The whole country called the Great West, the vast Valley of the Mississippi, was almost an unknown land. Attracted by the beauty of the scenery, the wild and romantic features of the country, not unlike his native Scotland, Mr. Lindesay, the principal patentee, with his family, took up his abode in this place in the summer of 1740. An Indian footpath only afforded him communication with the Mohawk river.
The winter which followed was one of great severity.
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Long ere spring revisited the Valley, his provisions were exhausted. The great depth of snow entirely interrupted his intercourse with the settlements of the Mohawk. He realized in their greatest extent the dangers and trials of a borderer. A lingering death by starvation was before him. At this critical period, an Indian arrived from the Mohawk, on snow-shoes. The Indian returned, at the solicitation of Mr. Lindesay, and procured provisions, which he carried on his back to the distressed emigrants, and thus saved the lives of the first family which settled in Cherry Valley.
About the time of his settlement, Mr. Lindesay became acquainted with the Rev. Samuel Dunlop, a native of Ireland, and a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin ; and induced him by liberal offers to aid the settlement, through his influence with his countrymen at home and in this country. He con- sented, and having gone to Ireland and married, he returned with his wife and a few families. From New York he came immediately to Londonderry, where his countrymen had settled twenty years before, and which had now become a thriving town. By his representations of the tract of terri- tory offered for settlement on the most favorable terms, a number of persons from Londonderry were persuaded to remove to Cherry Valley. David Ramsay, William Gault, James Campbell, William Dickson, and others, with their families, in all about thirty persons, accompanied him to that then remote and exposed settlement, and laid the foundation of a thriving colony.
One of the first movements of this little band, was the organization of a church under the pastoral charge of Mr. Dunlop, and the erection of a rude edifice of logs, in which they assembled to worship the God of their fathers. In his own house, Mr. Dunlop opened a classical school, and there educated some young men, who afterwards, and especially during the Revolution, acted conspicuous parts. It is worthy of especial remembrance, that in this Valley, and principally
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by individuals from Londonderry, the first regular society was organized for religious worship in the English language, and the first classical school established in central or western New York.
The conduct of these emigrants from Ireland, in the estab- lishment of churches and schools, is the best evidence of the spirit with which the foundations of their settlements were laid. Virtue and knowledge, the two great pillars of repub- lican institutions, were uniformly the object of their pursuit. Thus did this colony seek to plant in the very centre of the wilderness, the seeds of Christianity and civilization. Their numbers were small, their means were limited, but their aim was noble, and their enterprise ultimately successful.
Settlements were not then, as now, thrown forward with such rapidity that a frontier hamlet of to-day becomes a city, with a densely peopled country around it, to-morrow. On the contrary, the encroachments upon the wilderness, and upon the home of the red man, previous to the Revolution, were made slowly, and with great caution, and the increase of these frontier settlements was very slow ; so that in 1752, twelve years after the first settlement of Cherry Valley, there were but eight families in the place. In 1765, they had increased to forty families. The slow increase of this and other frontier settlements, was owing in a great degree to the long and bloody wars between England and France during this period. The battle-field was transferred from Europe to America, and the contest for national supremacy was maintained with renewed vigor amid the forest homes of our fathers, and upon their inland seas. Most of the Indian tribes at the north, allured away by the French Jesuits, and by the liberal presents of the French monarch, took up the hatchet against the English and Americans. Hence the frontier inhabitants were kept under constant apprehension ; and though the settlement of Cherry Valley escaped destruc- tion, yet the inhabitants were called into service, and ex-
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changed the peaceful pursuits of agriculture for the excite- ments and dangers of the camp, and were engaged in distant and hazardous expeditions.
When the war of the Revolution commenced, Cherry Valley was still a frontier settlement, and its citizens early embraced the colonial cause. This region seems early in the progress of the war to have been marked out for destruc- tion, and the settlement of Cherry Valley, after repeated alarms, was destined to share the common fate of the frontier hamlets of New York. The 11th of November, 1778, has been rendered memorable by the sacrifices, and sufferings, and death of many of the early settlers of this Valley. On this day, the place was attacked by the savage foe. Between thirty and forty of the inhabitants were killed ; others were retained as hostages, or prisoners, to be borne away through the wilderness to take up their abode with the savages, and to suffer a tedious and dreadful captivity. All the houses in the place were burned, and the inhabitants who escaped abandoned the settlement. This destruction of the settle- ment closed the revolutionary drama at Cherry Valley. At the close of the Revolution, and when peace was once more restored, the remnant of the inhabitants returned to their former homes ; but war, and disease, and poverty had done their fearful work ; and many a once familiar face was never again seen around the domestic hearth.
In 1784, a few log-houses were built by the inhabitants who had returned to their former homes. The long and bloody war through which they had passed had thinned their ranks, and whitened the heads and furrowed the cheeks of the survivors. They had once more a home, but it was again a forest home. A few log-huts had been built, but there was no building in the settlement where the inhabitants could assemble together. They met, therefore, like their fathers, under the open heavens. The place where they gath- ered was hallowed ground. It had been set apart for the burial
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of their dead. The graves of their kindred and friends were round about them. It was the place which had been conse- crated by their patriotism, for there stood their little fort. The inhabitants being assembled on this spot, organized anew, on the 5th day of April, 1785, that Presbyterian society which has continued to this day. Their beloved pastor, Rev. Samuel Dunlop, whom many of them had fol- lowed to this place, was gone. He had ministered for nearly forty years to the early settlers. At the time of the mas- sacre, his family were slain. He alone with one daughter escaped. Under the protection of an Indian chief, he stood and beheld the destruction of his earthly hopes, his home and the homes of his friends melting away with the flames. He survived the massacre but a short time. The misfortunes of that day, carried down his grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.
The first regular pastor over the newly organized society was the Rev. Dr. Nott, now president of Union College. The population soon increased, and numbers of the descend- ants of the little band who went out from Londonderry, and there fixed their abode, still reside in that Valley, while others have contributed to swell that western tide which is spreading its population over more distant portions of the land. Among these, many in the various pursuits of life, and in the learned professions, have been distinguished for character and usefulness.
Of the first settlers, the late Col. Samuel Campbell was the last survivor. He was a true patriot and an excel- lent citizen. He served in the French war, and was with Sir William Johnson at Fort Edward, in 1757, at the time of the massacre at Fort William Henry. During the stormy period of the Revolution he was an active and efficient friend of his country, and, at its close, found himself stripped of most of his property. At the massacre and conflagration of the town, his family, with the exception of himself and his eldest
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son, were taken and carried into captivity. His wife and children were for a long time detained as prisoners among the Indians in Canada, but were at length exchanged. Again Mr. Campbell commenced his laborious life, and lived to see a large and prosperous family around him. He was born in Londonderry, and was three years old when his father re- moved from that place. He closed his eventful life in 1824, at the age of eighty-six. Others, descendants of these settlers, are mentioned with honor by the historian of this settlement ; as Col. Samuel Clyde, John Moor, Robert Mc- Kean, the Gaults, the Dicksons, the Ramseys, and Wilsons, names familiar to the natives of Londonderry. They were sterling men, with strong and vigorous intellects, and tried principles. They have all been indeed gathered to their resting-places, and the clods of the valley are over them, to be removed only at the general resurrection, but they have left their impression on the community, the foundation of which they there laid.
The following incident was related a few years since to a gentleman from Londonderry, who visited Cherry Valley, by Mrs. Clyde, then living in the place.
At the time of the massacre, to which we have referred, Samuel Clyde, a native of Windham, N. H., and his wife, whose maiden name was Thornton of Londonderry, with a young family, resided about a mile west of the main settlement. They were aroused in the night by the sound of musketry and the shouts of Indians. Mr. Clyde seized his gun and proceeded to the defence of the settlement. Mrs. Clyde, with an infant but two weeks old, and several small children, fled to the woods. The snow falling fast at the time, providen- tially covered their tracks. Having found a secreted place in a thicket, she lay down with her little ones on the snow and was soon covered by it, some inches deep. In this situa- tion, she passed the dreary night, and could distinctly hear the dying shrieks of the slaughtered inhabitants, mingled with the
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