USA > New Hampshire > Strafford County > New Durham > The history of New Durham, New Hampshire: from the first settlement to the present time > Part 3
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Who can guess what reason Esther had for withholding the name of her seducer ? Was he a well-known family man whose name and reputation she would so nobly protect ?
Indeed the small town governing bodies were faced with as many challenges in the eighteenth century, as they are today in the twentieth. With their want of education, and lack of worldly knowl- edge, it seems apparent that a strong sense of justice and fair play, attended with good moral virtues and a respectful adherence to the ten Commandments, were the guides which pointed the way to the solutions to their problems.
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ATTACh
The Tavern and home of Shadrach Allard in 1762. at New Durham Corner. Town meetings were held here before the Meeting House was completed in 1772, and frequently afterward. From an old photograph taken by the late Izah P. Berry.
CHAPTER FIVE Early Taverns
Where village statesmen talk'd with looks profound, And news much older than their ale went round.
The Deserted Village-Oliver Goldsmith.
Inns and taverns had an important place in the lives of the early Colonists. Roads were incredibly bad, transportation difficult and slow. When Benjamin Randal came with his family to New Durham in 1778, the journey from Newcastle took three days. When Governor John Wentworth journeyed by stage coach from Portsmouth to his beloved Wolfeborough, he was obliged to halt his entourage and stop overnight at an Inn in Rochester.
The earliest stage coaches were nothing more than large wagons with benches, a cover over all and the driver's seat outside. They traveled about four or five miles an hour, stopping every ten miles or so for "horse baiting."* The roads were rough trails that had been cleared of rocks and trees - dusty and bumpy in summer, almost impassable in winter and dangerous mires of deep mud in spring, when many a coach overturned. After a ten-mile journey the bruised passengers were aching with weariness and the horses sweating with exertion.
The elegant Concord coaches did not appear until after 1827 and their novel springs and upholstered seats made a tremendous improvement in comfort. But there was not to be a smooth paved road in New England until well after 1900.
Travelers were relieved to quit the stage coach when it stopped at a tavern. There they were greeted by the inn keeper, freshened themselves and enjoyed food and drink. If they stopped for the night, they might have to share their room with fellow travelers, always paying extra for a fire or hot water in their room.
The tavern keeper, or "inn holder" as he is often named in New Durham annals, was usually a man of good character, respected throughout the community. He often held town offices, did his share of improving the land, tried to maintain good order in his place of business and supported the church.
There were inns from earliest times, not always as separate buildings, but in a man's home where he could offer travelers a night's lodging with food and drink beside a warm fire. Though we
* Bait: To stop for rest and refreshment.
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are certain that there were accommodations in town soon after the earliest settlers moved in, we find the first license to an inn holder in New Durham to have been granted to Major Joseph Mooney in March, 1793. Others over the next ten years included Capt. John Bennett, Josiah Edgerly, Jeremiah Folsom (his widow, Nanny Fol- som, carried on as tavern keeper after his death) Ebenezer Durgin, Solomon Davis, Thomas Norton, Samuel Runnals, Jr., Ephraim Perkins, Reuben Hayes and Benjamin Brown. Others had license to sell by retail, namely Richard Jennings, trader, James Jewett, mill owner, and Samuel Elkins. Even the redoubtable Col. Thomas Tash had "the free approbation and consent" of the selectmen to sell rum and other spirits in New Durham, though he did not have a tavern.
A house of vast proportions was built at New Durham corner in the 1760's. This was the home of Shadrach Allard, his wife Sarah and a large family of children and it was at this house that town meetings were held in the ten years between the town's in- corporation and the completion of the Meeting House at the top of the hill. Even after the latter was finished, many a town meeting was adjourned as soon as the moderator was chosen, to re-convene at the tavern!
Major Joseph Mooney ran this tavern until 1802-03, when he moved to Alton and it was subsequently owned by Stephen Berry Jr., and Joseph Berry. The structure was demolished around 1910 but part of the stone foundations may still be seen on Mr. Cecil M. Pike's property at New Durham corner.
On the second division "county road" to Wolfeboro to the north east of Shaw's pond, there once stood a beautiful and com- modious tavern. Solomon Davis, listed as a resident in 1784 was the inn holder - he also had a half interest in a mill and owned several hundred acres of land in that area.
It was a large building with small-paned windows and a wide, paneled front door. The main hall was of generous proportions with a graceful stairway. On either side were parlors; in the rear were the dining room, kitchen and tap room, with the wicket which was let down over the bar at closing time. Upstairs to the left was a large room extending the entire width of the house, and several other rooms.
It was later known as the "Chesley place", and now is collapsed in ruin.
Another tavern well patronized in the late 1700's was "Half Way House" on New Durham Ridge. It was situated on the moun- tainous road which led westerly to Barnstead in the south part of the Gore which later became Alton and was "halfway" between Portsmouth and Concord. It was known in recent years as the "Dan Watson place."
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A building of great beauty, it contained living and dining rooms on the first floor, a basement kitchen, many bedrooms, seven fire- places and two stairways. The fireplace walls in four of the front rooms were of raised paneling and very handsome. We do not know the name of the inn holder who kept this establishment, but it probably was Davis, for there were several families of that name on the Ridge and this was Davis property. It is presently owned by Mr. Roy Berry.
Not all tavern keepers depended solely on their patronage for a living. Major Mooney was a tanner by trade, Josiah Edgerly a "joiner" or cabinet maker, Reuben Hayes a store keeper or "trader", as were Richard Jennings, James Jewett, (who had a store and mill) and James Perkins "Gentleman and Trader". Some men, whose main occupation was farming, had a tavern license in order to extend more hospitality to travelers who might be looking for lodgings at some distance from a public tavern.
The local townsmen frequented the tavern for many of the same reasons that a modern man enjoys his club or lodge today. There were always others with whom to pass the time of day; a game of cards might be played, or a wager made, all accompanied, of course, by a warming measure of rum.
One important reason for going to the tavern was to learn the news of the day. If anything of the slightest interest had hap- pened locally it was sure to be discussed, argued about, or, in some cases, fought over! Many ideas and plans for the town's develop- ment originated at the tavern, to be taken up officially later at a town meeting.
The stage drivers and passengers who stopped overnight often had news of other settlements. A storm had washed out a bridge, a mill had burned, a runaway slave had been drowned while being pursued. Occasionally a newspaper would be passed around the tavern tables, a copy of the "New Hampshire Gazette", a weekly paper published in Portsmouth by Daniel Fowle, but few men could read and the contents would not have enlightened them much, in any case. Some news of England, a few local items, and advertise- ments comprised the coverage. It would not be until 1809, when Isaac Hill took over the "New Hampshire Patriot" and introduced a new era in journalism, that a newspaper would attempt to inform its readers about the state of the Union, or to influence their political thinking.
They listened and they talked of young John Wentworth, who had taken his uncle Benning's place as Royal Governor of the Prov- ince of New Hampshire in 1766, of his skill as a woodsman, (Sur- veyor-General of His Majesty's Woods in No. America.") his per- sistance in developing roads and agriculture, in establishing courts and building schools. "A good man," they said. He was doing a lot for New Hampshire, though some thought that he was spending a lot of money doing it.
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They grew apprehensive as they learned about disturbing events taking place in faraway Boston. They wondered about the British "redcoats" stationed there, and why they should fire on the men of Boston in the "Boston Massacre". They spoke about the tax on tea and the "Boston Tea Party". They argued in the tavern about becoming separated from England and whether there would be a war, and whether the American colonies could stand by themselves.
In the spring of 1775, the news came about the battle of Lex- ington, but to New Hampshire men, what transpired in Portsmouth was of greater impact. Governor John Wentworth and his wife and child had been forced to flee their home, to take refuge in the damp and crumbling old Fort William and Mary, at Newcastle. He could not return to the city even to dissolve the general Assembly, for fear of death at the hands of the Patriots, many of whom had been his friends and supporters. His beautiful and costly home was pillaged and looted, Portsmouth was crowded with armed com- panies of men, Royalists were leaving the city by any means they could. War seemed inevitable.
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CHAPTER SIX The War for Independence
Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land, Drawing no dividend from time's tomorrows . . . Soldiers are dreamers; when the guns begin They think of firelit homes, clean beds, and wives.
- Siegfried Sassoon.
Every school boy and girl knows the history of the American Revolution ; how the ill-trained and outnumbered troops, sometimes poorly commanded and always insufficiently equipped, managed to achieve final victory, making it possible for the United States of America to emerge as an independent nation.
New Durham had been settled for only 25 years, by 1775, had been incorporated as a town for 13 years. Men were still laboring to lay out roads, clear fields and build decent homes. In 1770 there were forty two families in town; there were few males over sixteen capable of bearing arms who could be spared.
The soldier's life, even during a short term of enlistment, was not a merry one. He was ill-equipped in the matter of shoes, cloth- ing and firearms; food was scarce and poor; disease and wounds often resulted in permanent and crippling disability or death. He was often not paid until after his service was over.
Desertions were not uncommon, and were less from lack of courage than from the urgent necessity of getting home to relieve his wife and children of the manual labor on the farm. There was hardly a family whose man was at war that did not suffer the most cruel hardships.
Since diligent research has failed to produce any previously- compiled list of Revolutionary war soldiers who were residents of New Durham and New Durham Gore at the time of their enlist- ments, we present the following roster with some confidence as to its accuracy :
Lt. Shadrach Allard Capt. Robert Boodey Joseph Buzzell New Durham Gore
Robert Carson
Lt. Ephraim Chamberlin
New Durham Gore
John Colomy
Richard Colomy
Ens. Timothy Davis
New Durham Gore
David Doe
John Doe
Jonathan Doe
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Capt. Peter Drowne Josiah Durgin Lt. Thomas French Ens. John Glidden Lt. John Glidden New Durham Gore
Barzilla Hinds Abraham Libbey Benjamin Libbey New Durham and the Gore Benjamin Mooney
Joseph Morrill New Durham Gore
Edward Peavey
Rev. Nathaniel Porter Capt. Joseph Roberts New Durham Gore
Abraham Runnals James Runnals Joseph Runnals William Young John York
The first men to enlist from New Durham were Abraham Libbey, aged 26, Barzillia Hinds*, aged 25 and Robert Carson, aged 27, (variously spelled Karsen, Cason, Corson, etc.) all "yeo- men" who joined Capt. Benjamin Titcomb's company of the Second New Hampshire Regiment under Col. Enoch Poor, on June 13, 1775. On the same day, Josiah Durgin, aged 28, and David Doe, aged 24, were mustered in to Capt. Jonathan Wentworth's company - on the 20th of June, William Young, aged 21, joined this com- pany in Col. Poor's regiment.
On March 5, 1776, Col. Joseph Badger formed the Tenth Regi- ment of Militia, recruiting men from Gilmanton, Barnstead, Wolfe- borough, Sanbornton, Middleton and New Durham. The Seventh Company in New Durham had as its officers: Capt. Robert Boody, 1st Lieut. Shadrach Allard, 2nd Lieut. Thomas French and Ensign John Glidden. The Fourteenth Company in the Gore officers were: Captain Joseph Roberts, 1st Lieut. Ephraim Chamberlin, 2nd Lieut. John Glidden and Ensign Timothy Davis.
Rev. Nathaniel Porter went from New Durham in July, 1776 as Chaplain in Col. Joshua Wingate's Regiment; in 1777 he served in the Third Regiment under Col. Alexander Scammel.
Abraham Runnals and Edward Peavey were privates in Capt. John Brewster's Company in Col. Long's Regiment at Newcastle, from Aug. 7 to Dec. 7, 1776.
In June, 1777, Col. Badger reported that he had six New Dur- ham men enlisted for three years in the Tenth Regiment, namely: Edward Peavey, Robert Carson, Richard Colomy, aged 21, David Doe, Jonathan Doe, aged 25 and Joseph Runnals, aged 20. Three of these were re-enlistments. Col. Badger reported earlier in the year that in New Durham there were 56 men between the ages of 16 and 50 capable of bearing arms; in the Gore there were 20.
Peter Drowne, later to serve the town as Selectman, Town Clerk and Lot Layer, was a volunteer in Col. John Langdon's Com- pany from Sept. 29 to Oct. 31, 1777 under Gen. Gates at Saratoga.
* Hinds enlisted from New Durham but he might have been a transient worker; he settled in Gilmanton in 1776.
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Later he was Captain of a Company in Col. Stephen Peabody's Regiment in Rhode Island Jan. 1 to Sept. 16, 1778. Capt. Drowne is listed as "of New Durham" in the War records, but his name does not appear in town records until 1780.
In June, 1780, three more regiments were recruited from this State. "The men were to furnish their own clothing, knapsacks and blankets and serve until the last day of December next following, or be liable to a fine of $500. They were to be paid forty shillings a month, 'in money equal to Indian corn at four shillings a bushel, Grass-fed beef at three pence a pound, or Sole-Leather at eighteen pence a pound.' They were also to have five pounds each for clothing money, two dollars in paper currency per mile for travel, and money for rations until they could draw continental rations."
Benjamin Mooney and John York enlisted July 10, 1780 in the Third Regiment "for New Durham", which term meant that they did not necessarily live in the town they enlisted for. But a Benja- min Mooney was a settler here in 1770; in 1784, a Lt. Benjamin Mooney and an Ens. John York were listed on the town's poll tax list.
John Doe and John Colomy of New Durham and Joseph Buzzell of New Durham Gore enlisted for two months' service Sept. 21, 1781, for defense of the Northern frontiers of the State in Capt. Jacob Smith's Company of Rangers.
Samuel Small was of Rochester, John Bryant of Middleton: both men were hired by New Durham to fill its quota. They served six months at West Point in 1781.
Benjamin Libbey of New Durham Gore and James Runnals of New Durham were sent to Rhode Island in July, 1779 by Col. Badger to serve under Col. Hercules Mooney. The same Libbey gave his address as "New Durham" when he went in for Gilmanton to West Point for six months in Aug. 1781. Joseph Morrill of the Gore served in Gen. Stark's regiment in 1776; as a result of smallpox contracted in the service, he became almost totally blind and re- ceived a pension for life.
In July, 1782, New Durham was called upon for four men to make up its quota, and "hearing that the Town had no credit for their men formerly sent by said Town ... voted that Capt. Robert Boody be the person to apply to the Committee of Safety ... and present the returns and claims to certain soldiers employed in said service by said town and certify the same."
This touched off a little local war in the case of David Doe, both Rochester and New Durham claiming that he was of their quota. It was finally proved through many depositions that though he worked in Rochester, his home was in New Durham and there- fore belonged to this town's quota. The case for Robert Cason (Carson or Corson) was stated by Capt. John Colomy and Josiah
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Doe - depositions to the effect that he (Cason) came to New Dur- ham and made his home with Capt. Robert Boody in March, 1775; that "He had no other home in this country but Capt. Robert Boody's in New Durham". Finally all claims were settled.
Several men, whose names are familiar in New Durham records, came here to make their homes after the war. Samuel Runnals, Esq., of Durham, was Captain of a Company under the command of Col. Hercules Mooney for the defense of Rhode Island in 1779. He moved to this town in 1782-3, married and had ten children. Lt. Asa Folsom, who served with Capt. Drowne in Rhode Island later moved here. Col. Thomas Tash, who commanded a regiment of New Hampshire men in 1776, moved here with his family in 1783. Zebulon Davis of Rochester and Elisha Thomas of Newmarket, both of whom were in Col. Tash's regiment, also came to New Dur- ham to live, as did John Davis of Kittery, Capt. Joseph Berry and Benjamin Randal. Others may have been Jonathan Folsom, Lt. Stephen Berrey and Lt. Thomas Hays, though we have no proof.
The end of the war did not always mean the end of suffering. The following documents are examples of the aftermath of war.
This petition was addressed to the General Assembly, dated Jan. 4, 1787:
"Humbly Sheweth Elisha Thomas of New Durham in the County of Strafford, Yeoman, that in the Year 1776, he inlisted into Capt John Gordon's Company as a private Soldier, in the Regment under the Command of Col. Thomas Tash of this State in the federal Service, that in the Month of November in the same year, at the Alarm at Planks Point on North River State of New York in Discharging his Gun, his Left hand, was torn 'to Pieces, by bursting of said Gun, and his Thumb carried away, and his Fingers and hand rendered almost wholly useless, by Means whereof, he suffered the most excruciating Pain for a long Time, & has ever Since been in a great Measure, deprived of the Means of gaining a Subsistance for himself & a numerous Family of Children - Where- fore Your Petitioner most Humbly Prays this honorable Assembly to take his Case in their wise and equitable Consideration and make him such Grant, or Allowance as Justice and Humanity may dictate for the Relief of himself & a Poor and Indegent Family and as in Duty Bound he will ever Pray -
Elisha Thomas"
After this accident, he was judged unfit for duty and discharged from the service, receiving a pension of twenty four shillings a month. In a report of 1789 of the invalids of the New Hampshire rolls, made by an examining committee, Sergeant Thomas is listed as dead. But he did not die as a result of war injuries. Elisha Thomas was hanged for murder.
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Following is another petition :
"State of New Hampshire Concord Feb 3d 1791 -
To the Honorable the Congress of the United States of Amer- ica, most humbly sheweth,
Richard Colomey of New Durham in said State - that he was a soldier in Captain Frederick Bells Company, in Col George Reids Regt in Genl Enoch Poors Brigade in the Late Continental Army - that on the nineteenth day of April, 1777 - in battle at Stillwater, he received two wounds, one in his knee & the other in his hip and the ball still remains in his hip - by means of which Your Petitioner and Memorialist is much disenabled - that by reason of his living remote in the Country being poor, ignorant & he never made application to be enrolled as an inviled penr in this State till the time of enrolling therein had expired -
Therefore he most ardently pray Your honl body to take his distressed case into consideration, and Grant him such relief in the premises as may appear Just and reasonable - and as in duty bound he will ever pray -
Test: Josh Atherton John Young
his Richard X Colomey mark"
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CHAPTER SEVEN The New Government
After the close of the Revolutionary war, the colonies who had fought so valiantly for independence were faced with the gi- gantic task of setting up an independent government. While the Federal government was drafting a new constitution, New Hamp- shire, in common with other states, was holding meetings and con- ventions to formulate a constitution of her own. This seemed equally as important as the creation of the national constitution, it perhaps seemed more so, for the proposition of the "United States of Amer- ica" was new and untried, whereas the provinces had had some form of government (under English rule, to be sure) for many years.
New Hampshire assembled her wisest men, her soldiers, pa- triots, lawyers and educated citizens to work out fair and just laws for the new constitution, and after five years of conventions, where the proposed laws were written, re-written and submitted to the people, (who rejected them more than once) the constitution was finally adopted in June, 1784. In Exeter, in June, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth and deciding state to ratify the na- tional constitution.
Every town, no matter how small, took its part in this new democracy. The men served as grand and petit jurors at the Gen- eral Sessions at Dover, or in the Court of Common Pleas at Gil- manton. (Men duly qualified, that is, by having rateable estates or a personal estate to the value of 40 pounds sterling.) They voted at town meetings for the "President" of the state, (1776-1792) for Senators and county officers. They elected Col. Tash to represent New Durham, the Gore and Wolfeborough in the General Assembly at Exeter in 1777-78.
Though the interest in New Hampshire's new government was keen, the voters did not always do their duty. In 1788, the warrant called the voters to meet for the purpose of choosing a representa- tive of the State in Congress, also an Elector of this state for Pres- ident and Vice-president. Perhaps it was a cold day on that De- cember 15 for "there were no people present to bring in their votes and the Selectmen concluded to dissolve the meeting."
"Presidents" (of the State) Meshech Weare, John Langdon and John Sullivan; Governors Josiah Bartlett and John Taylor Gilman, headed the State of New Hampshire in the thirty years after the Revolutionary War and accomplished a great deal in spite of political friction. Some of the ambitious plans which the last unfortunate Royal Governor John Wentworth held so dear for his beloved New Hampshire were well carried out by these men.
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Many just laws were passed which were of great benefit to the people. One important one was the establishment of the district system in schooling; towns were empowered to divide into districts and to raise and appropriate money for school purposes. There had been elementary education before this, of course. As early as 1719, every town of 50 households or more was required to provide a school master to teach children to read and write, and every town of 100 households or more was supposed to have a grammar school kept by "some discreet person, of good conversation, well instructed in the tongues".
New Durham's original land grant specified that there should be a portion reserved for a school house; though we find no record of a building for that purpose in the early years, we know that some sort of elementary instruction was available. In 1779 the town raised money to "hire a town school" and, for years thereafter, voted money for schooling; in 1796, $150 was raised and a group of men appointed to collect this sum. The following year, a com- mittee was chosen "to see school money properly laid out to appro- bate school masters the following year."
In 1797, the town voted:
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"That the Selectmen may assess the polls and estates the present year in a sum equal to $140 (or a less sum as they may see fit) for each school district in New Durham for the purpose of building school houses in said town, provided the said districts do not build said school houses by the first of February next to the acceptance of the school committee."
For some time, the town had been using the interest money from the sale of portions of the parsonage lots as contributions toward the support of their ministers, but as time went on, this money was more often set aside for the support of a school. The teaching, before school houses were built, was often done by school masters who traveled from district to district, boarding with dif- ferent families, teaching the children of the household and neigh- boring children. Reading, writing and spelling were the principle subjects, with simple arithmetic added for the older children. The teachers were paid six to eight dollars a month and out of this paid one dollar a week for their board.
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