USA > New Hampshire > The history of New-Hampshire > Part 30
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
in controversy exceeded one hundred pounds, another appeal was allowed to the governor and council ; and if it exceeded three hundred pounds, to the king in council. The appeal to the gov- ernor in council was first established by Cutt's commission, and continued by subsequent commissions and instructions. In Queen Anne's time, it was complained of as a grievance, that the governor and council received appeals and decided causes, without taking an oath to do justice. An oath was then prescribed and taken. The authority of this court had been recognised by several clauses in the laws ; but was disrelished by many of the people ; partly because the judges who had before decided cases, were generally members of the council ; partly because no jury was admitted in this court of appeal ; and partly because no such institution was known in the neighboring province of Massachusetts. The house moved for a repeal of the several clauses in the laws relative to this obnoxious court ; the council non-concurred their vote, and referred them to the royal instructions. The house persisted in their endeavors, and the council in their opposition. Both sides grew warm, and there was no prospect of an accommodation. The lieutenant governor put an end to the session, and soon after dissolved the assembly by proclamation .*
A new assembly was called ; the same persons, with but two or three exceptions, were re-elected, and the same spirit appeared in all their transactions. They chose for their speaker Na-
1728. thaniel Weare, who had been speaker of the former as- sembly, and having as usual presented him to the lieutenant gov- ernor, he negatived the choice. The house desired to know by what authority ; he produced his commission ; nothing appeared in that, which satisfied them ; and they adjourned from day to day without doing any business. After nine days, they chose another speaker, Andrew Wiggin, and sent up the vote, with a preamble, justifying their former choice. The lieutenant govern- or approved the speaker, but disapproved the preamble ; and thus the controversy closed, each side retaining their own opinion. The speeches and messages from the chair, and the answers from the house, during this session, were filled with reproaches ; the public business was conducted with ill humor, and the house car- ried their opposition so far as to pass a vote for addressing the king to annex the province to Massachusetts ; to this vote the council made no answer. But as a new governor was expected, they
* [1728. Pembroke, originally Suncook, was granted by Massachusetts to 60 persons, of whom 46 were the soldiers, or their legal representatives, who were engaged with Capt. John Lovewell in May, 1725, against the Indians at Pequawket. The settlement began the next year after the grant was made. The first permanent settlement of Rochester was made 28 December, 1728, by Capt. Timothy Roberts. Rev. Amos Main, H. C. 1729, the first minister, was ordained in 1737, at which time the place contained 60 families. (MS. Petition.) Farmington, incorporated in 1798, and Milton, incorporated in 1802, were both taken from Rochester.]
223
PROVINCE. WILLIAM BURNET.
1728.]
agreed in appointing a committee of bothi houses to go to Boston, and compliment him on his arrival.
The expected governor was William Burnet, son of the cele- brated Bishop of Sarum, whose name was dear to the people of New-England, as a steady and active friend to civil and religious liberty. Mr. Burnet was a man of good understanding and polite literature ; fond of books and of the conversation of literary men ; but an enemy to ostentation and parade. He had been governor of New-York and New-Jersey, and quitted those provinces with reluctance, to make way for another person, for whom the British ministry had to provide. Whilst at New-York, he was very popular, and his fame having reached New-England, the expect- ations of the people were much raised on the news of his appoint- ment, to the government of Massachusetts and New-Hampshire. Lieutenant Governor Wentworth characterized him in one of his speeches as ' a gentleman of known worth, having justly obtained ' a universal regard from all who have had the honor to be under ' his government.' He was received with much parade at
Boston, whither the lieutenant-governor of New-Hamp- July 22. shire, with a committee of the council and assembly, went to compliment him on his arrival .*
Mr. Burnet had positive instructions from the crown to insist on the establishment of a permanent salary in both his provinces. He began with Massachusetts, and held a long controversy with the general court to no purpose. In New-Hampshire, a precedent had been established in the administration of Dudley, which was favorable to his views. Though some of the assembly were averse to a permanent salary ; yet the lieutenant governor had so much interest with them, by virtue of having made them proprietors in the lately granted townships, that they were induced to consent ; on condition that he should be allowed one third part of the salary, and they should be discharged from all obligations to him.1 This bargain being concluded, the house passed a vote, 1729. with which the council concurred, to pay ' Governor Bur- May 9
'net, for the term of three years, or during his administration, the ' sum of two hundred pounds sterling, or six hundred pounds in ' bills of credit ; which sum was to be in full of all demands from
(1) Belcher's MS. letter.
* Mr. Hutchinson has represented Governor Burnet as a man of humor, and given an anecdote respecting his indifference to the custom of saying grace at meals. The following story of the same kind, perhaps will not be disagreeable to the reader.
One of the committee, who went from Boston, to meet him on the borders of Rhode-Island, and conduct him to the seat of government, was the facetious Col. Tailer. Burnet complained of the long graces which were said by cler- gymen on the road, and asked Tailer when they would shorten. He answer- ed, ' the graces will increase in length, till you come to Boston ; after that ' they will shorten till you come to your government of New-Hampshire, ' where your Excellency will find no grace at all.'
224
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1729.
' this government, for his salary ; and all expenses in coming to, ' tarrying in, or going from this province ; and also for any al- ' lowance to be made to the lieutenant governor ; and that the ' excise on liquors should be appropriated to that use.' To this vote, six of the representatives entered their dissent.
Sept. 7. The governor came but once into New-England. His
death, which happened after a few months, was supposed to be occasioned by the ill effect, which his controversy with Massachusetts, and the disappointment which he suffered, had on his nerves .*
When the death of Governor Burnet was known in England, the resentment against the province of Massachusetts was very 1730. high, on account of their determined refusal to fix a salary
on the king's governor.2 It was even proposed, to reduce them to 'a more absolute dependence on the crown ;' but a spirit of moderation prevailed ; and it was thought that Mr. Jonathan Belcher, then in England, being a native of the province, and well acquainted with the temper of his countrymen would have more influence than a stranger, to carry the favorite point of a fixed salary. His appointment, as governor of New-Hampshire, was merely an appendage to his other commission.
Belcher was a merchant of large fortune and unblemished reputation. He had spent six years in Europe ; had been twice at the court of Hanover, before the protestant succession took place in the family of Brunswick; and had received from the Princess Sophia, a rich golden medal.3 He was graceful in his person, elegant and polite in his manners ; of a lofty and aspiring disposition ; a steady, generous friend ; a vindictive, but not im- placable enemy. Frank and sincere, he was extremely liberal in his censures, both in conversation and letters. Having a high sense of the dignity of his commission, he determined to support it, even at the expense of his private fortune ; the emoluments of office in both provinces being inadequate to the style in which he chose to live.
Whilst he was in England, and it was uncertain whether he would be appointed, or Shute would return, Wentworth wrote letters of compliment to both. Belcher knew nothing of the let- ter to Shute, till his arrival in America, and after he had made a
(1) Journal of the House of Representatives. (2) Letters of Francis Wilkes, agent. (3) Belcher's letter to the Bishop of Lincoln, MS.
* [1729. Litchfield, a small fertile township on Merrimack river, was set- tled by people from Chelmsford. Its Indian name was Natticott, and it was granted by Massachusetts as early as 1656, to a Mr. Brenton, and for many years was known by the name of Brenton's Farm. It was afterwards inclu- ded in Dunstable grant, from which it was separated and incorporated by Massachusetts in 1734. On the settlement of the boundary line in 1741, it fell within New-Hampshire, and was incorporated 5 June, 1749. A church was organized, and a minister, Rev. Joshua Tufts, H. C. 1736, was ordained as early as 1741.]
225
PROVINCE. JONATHAN BELCHER.
1730.]
visit to New-Hampshire, and had been entertained at the house of the lieutenant-governor. He was then informned, that Went- worth had written a letter to Shute, of the same tenor as that to himself. This he deemed an act of duplicity. How far it was so, cannot now be determined. The persuasion was so strong in the mind of Belcher, that on his next visit to Portsmouth, he re- fused an invitation to Wentworth's house. This was not the only way in which he manifested his displeasure. When the affair of the salary came before the assembly, he not only refused Aug. 31. to make such a compromise as Burnet had done ; but obliged the lieutenant-governor under his hand, to ' quit all elaim to any part of the salary, and to acknowledge that he had no ex- pectation from, or dependence on the assembly, for any allowance, but that he depended wholly on the governor.' The same salary was then voted, and in nearly the same words, as to his predeces- sor. He allowed the lieutenant-governor, the fees and perquisites only which arose from registers, certificates, licenses and passes, amounting to about fifty pounds sterling. Wentworth and his friends were disappointed and digusted. He himself did not long survive ; being seized with a lethargic disorder, he Dec. 12. died within five months ; but his family connections resent- Æ. 59. ed the affront, and drew a considerable party into their
views. Benning Wentworth, his son, and Theodore Atkinson, who had married his daughter, were at the head of the opposition. The latter was removed from his office of collector of the customs, to make room for Richard Wibird ; the naval office was taken from him and given to Ellis Huske ;* and the office of high sheriff, which he had held, was divided between him and Eleazar Russell. Other alterations were made, which greatly offended the friends of the late lieutenant-governor ; but Belcher, satisfied that his conduct was agreeable to his commission and instructions, disregarded his opponents and apprehended no danger from their resentment. Atkinson was a man of humor, and took occasion to express his disgust in a singular manner. The governor, who was fond of parade, had ordered a troop of horse, to meet him on the road, and escort him to Portsmouth. The officers of govern- ment met him, and joined the cavalcade. Atkinson was tardy ; but when he appeared, having broken the sheriff's wand, he held one half in his hand. Being chid by the governor for not appear- ing sooner, he begged his excellency to excuse him, because he had but half a horse to ride.
In addition to what has been observed, respecting Lieutenant Governor Wentworth, the following portrait of his character, by some contemporary friend, deserves remembrance.
* [His son Ellis Huske was Postmaster in Boston, and the publisher of the Boston Weekly Post Boy. He was the person, it is said, who recommended to the British government, the Stamp Act of 1765.]
31
226
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE. [1730.
' He was born at Portsmouth of worthy parents, from whom ' he had a religious education. His inclination leading him to the ' sea, he soon became a commander of note, and gave a laudable ' example to that order, by his sober behaviour, and his constant ' care to uphold the worship of God in his ship. Wherever he ' came, by his discreet and obliging deportment, he gained the love ' and esteem of those with whom he conversed.
' On his leaving the sea, he had considerable business as a ' merchant, and always had the reputation of a fair and generous ' dealer.
' He has approved himself to the general acceptance of his ' majesty's good subjects throughout this province, and under his ' mild administration, we enjoyed great quietness.
' He was a gentleman of good natural abilities, much improved ' by conversation ; remarkably civil and kind to strangers ; re- ' spectful to the ministers of the gospel ; a lover of good men of ' all denominations ; compassionate and bountiful to the poor ; ' courteous and affable to all ; having a constant regard to the du- ' ties of divine worship, in private and public, and paying a due ' deference to all the sacred institutions of Christ.
' He had sixteen children, of whom fourteen yet survive ' him.'1 *
CHAPTER XVI.
Dunbar's lieutenancy and enmity to Belcher. Efforts to settle the boundary lines. Divisions. Riot. Trade. Episcopal Church. Throat distemper.
MR. WENTWORTH Was succeeded in the lieutenancy by David Dunbar, Esquire, a native of Ireland, and a reduced colonel in
the British service ; who was also deputed to be surveyor
1731. of the king's woods. This appointment was made by the June 24. recommendation of the board of trade ; of which Colonel Bladen was an active member, who bore no good will to Governor Belcher. Dunbar had been commander of a fort at Pemaquid, which it was in contemplation to annex to Nova-Scotia.2 .He had taken upon him to govern the few scattered people in that district, with a degree of rigor to which they could not easily submit. This conduct had already opened a controversy, between him and
(1) N. E. Weekly Journal, Dec. 28. (2) Hutch. il. 224, 379.
* [Lieutenant Governor Wentworth was son of Samuel Wentworth, and was born 16 June, 1672. One of the fourteen surviving children was Ben- ning Wentworth, the first governor of New-Hampshire after the establish- ment of the boundary lines.]
227
PROVINCE. JONATHAN BELCHER.
1731.]
the province of Massachusetts ; and it was very unfortunate for Belcher to have such a person connected with both his govern- ments. What were the merits, which recommended Dunbar to these stations, it is not easy at this time to determine. The only qualifications, which appear to have pleaded in his favor, were poverty and the friendship of men in power. He was an instru- ment of intrigue and disaffection ; and he no sooner made liis appearance in New-Hampshire, than he joined the party who were in opposition to the governor. Belcher perceived the ad- vantage which his enemies would derive from this alliance, and made all the efforts in his power to displace him. In his letters to the ministry, to the board of trade, and to his friends in Eng- land, he continually represented him in the worst light, and solicited his removal. It is not improbable, that his numerous letters of this kind, written in his usual style, with great freedom and with- out any reserve, might confirm the suspicions, raised by the letters of his adversaries, and induce the ministry to keep Dunbar in place, as a check upon Belcher, and to preserve the balance of parties.1
Within a few weeks after Dunbar's coming to Portsmonth, a complaint was drawn up against Belcher, and signed by July 10. fifteen persons ; alleging that his government was grievous, oppressive and arbitrary, and praying the king for his removal. This roused the governor's friends, at the head of whom was Richard Waldron," the secretary who drew up a counter address, and procured an hundred names to be subscribed.2 Both address- es reached England about the same time. Richard Partridge, f Mr. Belcher's brother in law, in conjunction with his son Jona- than Belcher, then a student in the Temple, applied for a copy of the complaint against him, at the plantation office, and obtained it ;
(1) Belcher's MS. letters. (2) MS. copies of Addresses.
*[He was the son of Colonel Richard Waldron, and grandson of Major Rich- ard Waldron, who was killed at Dover in 1689. He was born 21 February, 1694, and graduated at Harvard college in 1712. He fixed liis residence at first on his paternal estate at Dover, but removed afterwards to Portsmouth, and lived at the plains. In 1728, he was appointed a counsellor, and soon af- ter, secretary of the province. In 1737, he was appointed judge of probate. He retained these offices as long as Governor Belcher was in office ; but soon after Governor Wentworth commenced his administration, he suspended Mr. Waldron as counsellor, removed him from office, and appointed Theodore At- kinson, secretary, and Andrew Wiggin, judge of probate.
In 1749, he was elected a representative of Hampton, and when the assem- bly met, was unanimously chosen speaker. Mr. Waldron was a person of distinguished talents and literary acquirements. A strong friendship existed between him and Governor Belcher, which continued through life. He was a professor of religion, and zealously attached to the church, of which he was a respectable member. He died in 1753, aged 59. Thomas Westbrook Wal- dron, who died at Dover, 3 April, 1785, aged 64, was his son. Adams, Annals of Portsmouth, 191, 192.]
t [Richard Partridge, as has been already stated, was son of Lieutenant-Gov- ernor William Partridge. He was born 9 December, 1681, and after being appointed agent, resided in London, where he was living in 1749.]
228
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
[1731.
but could not get sight of the letters which accompanied it, though, on the foundation of those letters, a representation had been made by the board of trade, to the king.1
The only effect which Dunbar's letters had at that time, was to procure the appointment of Theodore Atkinson, Benning Went- worth and Joshua Peirce, to be counsellors of New-Hampshire ; and though Belcher remonstrated to the secretary of state against these appointments, and recommended other persons in their room, he could not prevail, any farther than to delay the admis- sion of the two former for about two years ; during which time, they were elected into the house of representatives, and kept up the opposition there. The recommendations, which he made of other persons, were duly attended to when vacancies happened ; and thus the council was composed of his friends, and his ene- mies. The civil officers, whom he appointed, were sometimes superseded, by persons recommended and sent from England ; and in one instance, a commission for the naval office, in favor of a Mr. Reynolds, son of the bishop of Lincoln, was filled up in England, and sent over with orders for him to sign it ; which he was obliged punctually to obey.
From the confidential letters of the leading men on both sides, which have fallen into my hands in the course of my researches, the views of each party may plainly be seen ; though they en- deavored to conceal them from each other. The governor and his friends had projected an union of New-Hampshire with Mas- sachusetts ; but were at a loss by what means to bring it into effect. 2 The most desirable method would have been, a unanimity in the people of New-Hampshire, in petitioning the crown for it ; but as this could not be had, the project was kept out of sight, till some favorable opportunity should present.
The other party contemplated not only the continuance of a sep- arate government, but the appointment of a distinct governor, who should reside in the province, and have no connection with Massa- chusetts. The greatest obstacle in their way, was the smallness and poverty of the province, which was not able to support a gen- tleman in the character of governor. To remove this obstacle, it was necessary to have the limits of territory, not only fixed, but enlarged. They were therefore zealous, in their attempts for this purpose ; and had the address to persuade a majority of the peo- ple, that they would be gainers by the establishment of the lines ; that the lands would be granted to them and their children ; and that the expense of obtaining the settlement would be so trifling, that each man's share would not exceed the value of a pullet.
The governor's friends were averse to pressing the settlement of the line ; and their reasons were these. The controversy is
(1) Belcher's letters. (2) Belcher's, Waldron's, Atkinson's and Thomlin- son's letters MS.
229
1
1731.]
PROVINCE. JONATHAN BELCHER.
either between the king and the subjects of his charter government of Massachusetts ; or else, between the heirs of Mason or Allen and the people of Massachusetts. If the controversy be settled even in favor of New-Hampshire, the lands which fall within the line, will be either the king's property, to be granted by his gov- ernor and council according to royal instructions ; or else the property of the heirs of Mason or Allen, to be disposed of by them. On both suppositions, the people of New-Hampshire can have no property in the lands, and therefore why should they be zealous about the division, or tax themselves to pay the expense of it ?
The governor, as obliged by his instructions, frequently urged the settlement of the lines in his speeches, and declared, that the assembly of New-Hampshire had done more towards effecting it, than that of Massachusetts. A committee from both provinces met at Newbury in the autumn of 1731, on this long contested Sept. 21. affair ; but the influence of that party in Massachusetts, of
which Elisha Cooke was at the head, prevented an accommoda-
tion. Soon after this fruitless conference, the representatives of New-Hampshire, of whom a majority was in favor of settling the line, determined no longer to treat with Massachusetts ; but to represent the matter to the king, and petition him to decide the con- troversy.1 Newman's commission, as agent, having expired, Oct. 7. they chose for this purpose, John Rindge, merchant, of Ports-
mouth, then bound on a voyage to London. The appointment of this gentleman was fortunate for them, not only as he had large connexions in England ; but as he was capable of advancing money, to carry on the solicitation. The council, a majority of which was in the opposite interest, did neither concur in the ap- pointment, nor consent to the petition.
Mr. Rindge, on his arrival in England, petitioned the king in his own name, and in behalf of the representatives of New- Hampshire, to establish the boundaries of the province ; 1732. but his private affairs requiring his return to America, he Feb. 28. did, agreeably to his instructions, leave the business in the hands of Captain John Thomlinson, merchant, of London ; who was well known in New-Hampshire, where he had frequently been in quality of a sea commander. He was a gentleman of great pen- etration, industry and address ; and having fully entered into the views of Belcher's opponents, prosecuted the affair of the line, ' with ardor and diligence ;' employing for his solicitor, Ferdinan- do John Parris ; who being well supplied with money, was inde- fatigable in his attention. The petition was of course referred to the Lords of Trade, and Francis Wilks the agent of Massa- chusetts, was served with a copy to be sent to his constituents .*
(1) Assembly Records.
* [The province of New-Hampshire at this time (1732) contained 25 incor- porated townships and parishes, 2946 ratable inhabitants, 1316 two story dwell-
230
HISTORY OF NEW-HAMPSHIRE.
[1732.
Whilst the matter of the line was pending on the other side of the Atlantic, the parties in New-Hampshire maintained their op- position ; and were on all occasions vilifying and abusing each other, especially in their letters to their friends in England. On the one side, Belcher incessantly represented Dunbar, as the fo- menter of opposition ; as false, perfidious, malicious and re- vengeful ; that he did no service to the crown, nor to himself ; but was ' a plague to the governor and a deceiver of the people.' He was also very liberal in his reflections, on his other opposers. On the other side, they represented him as unfriendly to the royal interest ; as obstructing the settlement of the lines ; conniving at the destruction of the king's timber, and partial to his other gov- ernment, where all his interest lay ; and that he had not even a freehold in New-Hampshire. As an instance of his partiality, they 1733. alleged, that in almost every session of the assembly of Massachusetts, he consented to grants of the disputed lands, to the people of that province ; by which means, their as- sembly raised money, to enable their agent to protract the con- troversy, that they might have opportunity to lay out more town- ships ; while at the same time, he rejected a supply bill of the New-Hampshire assembly, and dissolved them, because that in it, they had made an appropriation for their agent. The truth was, that the council did not consent to the bill, because they had no hand in appointing the agent, and the bill never came before the governor. The frequent dissolution of assemblies was another subject of complaint ; and in fact, this measure never produced the desired effect ; for the same persons were generally re-elected, and no reconciling measures were adopted by either party .*
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.