USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Sutton > The history of Sutton, New Hampshire : consisting of the historical collections of Erastus Wadleigh, Esq., and A. H. Worthen, part 1 > Part 3
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I should think it best that a meeting of the proprietors should be called as soon as conveniently may be, to call the former Collectors to account for the moneys that they have received and agree upon some method of settling with the Masonians.
Perhaps there may be some other business which I am unac-
23
EXTRACTS FROM RECORDS.
quainted with that may be necessary to be acted on by the proprie- tors at said meeting.
As I am informed that you are Clerk of the proprietors, I would request that a meeting may be called for the above purpose, and any other that you may think necessary, as soon as may be, and I will endeavor to attend the meeting and use my efforts to have the affairs settled.
I have frequently mentioned this affair to Esq. Samuel White, and he gave me reason to expect that a meeting would be called, but I have not heard of any, and I am not easy to have it lay so any longer.
I am, Sir, your friend etc. etc. JOSIAH BARTLETT.
In order to conclude the account of the Bartlett claims, the following letter is inserted here, although the date of it carries us far ahead of the time we have now reached in the compilation of this history. It was found bound up in the same package with the preceding.
To MATTHEW HARVEY Esq. SALISBURY, June 22, 1798.
SIR,-
Bailey Bartlett Esq., son to Major Enoch Bartlett, late of Haver- hill Mass., has left with me two orders, one of which was drawn upon the Treasurer of Perrystown, Cutting Marsh, by the Assessors, for £12, dated July 8, 1774, the other in favor of John Hall for 24s. and dated Oct. 28, 1774.
These sums, with the Interest Mr. Bartlett now calls for and has left the orders with me for collection. Be so obliging, sir, as to mention the business to the proper persons, and persuade them to make immediate payment.
I am sir, with much respect Your humble servant, THOMAS THOMPSON.
After being brought before proprietary meetings at various times, the difficulty still unsettled passes over into the next century, when it is brought
24
HISTORY OF SUTTON.
before the town at town-meeting ; but the town, by a vote to call a meeting of the proprietors, refuse to take any action. The following are some of the votes regarding this matter.
Apr 25, 1787. Voted that Josiah Bartlett Esq. and Major Enoch Bartlett be a com. to apply to the Masonians to see if they will be so good as to give up their note to the proprietors of Perrys- town for part or the remainder of the money that was demanded for re-granting said town, or that they will endeavor to get rid of it as it was not given " for Value Received "-and that they do not pay it till recovered by law.
In Town Meeting Apr. 17, 1800,-In Warrant-To see what the town will do in respect to a Writ in favor of Bailey Bartlett Esq. for a debt due to him by the proprietors of Sutton. Voted to sub- mit the article in the Warrant to Mr. Moses Hills to get all the information he can respecting the Writ mentioned in foregoing Warrant, and to report the same to the town. At adj. meeting May 3, 1800. Then met according to adj't, Voted that the Selectmen shall call a proprietor's meeting as soon as may be.
The affair was probably settled without a lawsuit, as it does not appear again on the records.
In the preamble of the new grant, the Masonians state that the time for the performance of the con- ditions contained in the first and in the additional grants is long past, and the conditions thereof re- main unperformed, whereby the property of the said granted lands has reverted to the said grantors,- that the grantees having become duly convinced that their lands are justly forfeited according to the conditions of the first grant, and having solicited said grantors to indulge them with a longer time to perform the conditions thereof, and to dispense with the settling of a minister, which settling was one of the conditions of the first grant, have decided to indulge them. The Masonians being, as they state,
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EXTRACTS FROM RECORDS.
"desirous to encourage the settling of the said lands," they conclude that they will not insist on the settling of a minister. They also extend the time for fulfilment of conditions of the charter two years.
1772. Voted that Major Enoch Bartlett, James McHard and Cutting Marsh be a com. to agree with Ebenezer Noyes or some other man to build a grist-mill in said town, to be completed the first of June next, and to engage to the value of $100, to be paid by our Treasurer, by an order from them in proportion as the charges arise, and to enter into bonds on the affair.
Voted to raise 150 Pounds to defray the charges of the Propriety.
1773. Voted that if there is not upon the original Right of Capt. Obadiah Perry,-now Col. Bartlett's-land fit for settlement, he shall have other lands proper for it of the undivided lands in town.
Some fourteen years after this vote was put on record, Dea. Matthew Harvey and Benjamin Wad- leigh were chosen a committee to view Esq. Josiah Bartlett's lots of land in town, to ascertain if they are fit for settlement. They. reported that
The 1st Div. Lot is but ordinary, but some Lots in town are settled on meaner land than that,-but that the 2nd Div. Lot we think will do for a pretty good settlement.
These lots were either No. 22, 1st division, and No. 32, 2d division, or No. 72, 1st division, and No. 1, 2d division. Obadiah Perry owned one of these rights, and Obadiah Perry, Jr., the other, but in the schedule the writer forgot to affix the Jr. to either name.
Apr. 5, 1774. Voted to allow Ebenezer Kesar 42s. for his labor. and others he hired to build a bridge over the river between Benja- min Wadleigh's house and his own house, and work on the road there fourteen days.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Apr. 24, 1776. John Knight, Samuel Peaslee, Silas Russel and Benjamin Wadleigh be a com. to determine what private ways are necessary to be opened or cleared for settlers, with power to lay ont or exchange such ways where wanted, and to make a due return thereof,-also said Com. or any two of them may labor, or employ others for making said ways, or repairing public highways all at the charge of this Propriety. Voted Samuel Bean be added to this Com. to see the roads made passable.
Sept. 23, 1776. Voted that Samuel Peaslee, Silas Russel and Ephraim Gile be a Com. to open, repair, and clear necessary ways in said town for the inhabitants and travellers at the charge of the Propriety.
The meeting at which the last vote was passed was arranged in manner following : A petition was sent to Wyseman Claggett, Esq., one of the justices of the peace through the state :
We the subscribers who are proprietors of more than a sixteenth part of a new plantation called Perrystown desire that you will issue your Warrant for warning said proprietors that have com- pleted their settlement according to the first and second grants of said town to meet at the house of Enoch Knight, Innholder in Atkinson on Monday Sept. 23, 1776, at 2 P. M. to act on the fol- lowing particulars, viz :
1st, To choose all such officers as shall be necessary to serve in said Propriety.
2nd, To see what method to take with regard to the Rights that the settlement wa'n't completed by the 1st. of Nov. last.
3rd, To choose any Com. that may be wanted to do business for the Propriety.
4th, To raise any sum of money that may be thought necessary to defray Charges.
5th, To come into some method how to warn meetings for the future
(Signed by)
Humphrey Noyes
Ebenezer Noyes
Matthew Harvey
Thomas Noyes
Thomas Wadleigh Joseph Noyes
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EXTRACTS FROM RECORDS.
The warning was issued by Esq. Claggett, and with the foregoing petition was printed in the Exeter Circulating Morning Chronicle. The proprietors met according to warning, and chose Captain Thomas Noyes moderator, and John Knights clerk, who was empowered to call a future meeting on application of any six of the proprietors.
This was really the first town-meeting held for Perrystown, and, under the name of committees, men were chosen to do the public work, who, we may assume, were just as faithful and efficient as if they had been termed selectmen. The embryo town had now assumed at least a tadpole stage of development, which in 1784, eight years hence, we shall see exchanged for perfected froghood, by the process of incorporation.
All previous meetings noted on the proprietor's record book were held not so much in the interest of Perrystown as of the propriety. Of this word " propriety," in the peculiar sense here used, refer- ence to proprietary records of other New Hamp- shire towns shows that it was not confined to Per- rystown. It was used as an abbreviated expres- sion of the body of proprietors-the corporation.
When met, it was voted that any proprietor who did not perform the settlement of his respective Right before the 1st of Nov. last, but shall duly complete the same by the 1st of Nov. next, shall be fully entitled to his Right so settled,-and that where two or more owned a Right, and one of the owners shall perform the settlement, he shall have the Right if he has given due notice to his partner to join him.
Voted that the cost of warning this meeting in the public prints shall be paid by the Propriety,-also the expense of this meet- ing at the house of Enoch Knight in Plaistow, which is 0 6s. 0.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
Meeting adj. to Monday Nov. 1st at house of John Hall inholder in Plaistow.
The next entry in the record book is as follows :
None attended but the clerk and one or two men,-so it ceases.
There is not another entry made till March 3, 1787, which was three years after Perrystown was incorporated under the name of Sutton. The entry is as follows :
The request of a number of the proprietors of Perrystown alias Sutton in the Province [had the clerk forgotton that N. H. had been a State for several years ?] of N. H. to Mr. John Knight, clerk of said proprietors. We desire that you would warn a meet- ing of said proprietors by posting advertisements in the several towns directed, to meet at the house of John Hall, Innholder in Plaistow on Wednesday April 25th next, at 2 o'clock P. M. to act on the following particulars.
To choose a Moderator and all proper officers, viz. a Clerk, Assessors, and Collector.
To choose a Com. to settle with all former Collectors, and pass and allow accounts.
To choose a Com. to settle with those whose lands are cut short by ponds, or to make them a reasonable allowance.
To choose a Com. to make sale of the undivided land in town for payment of debts or as may be agreed when met.
To see what the proprietors will do respecting the Rights of Matthew Harvey, and Daniel Marsh, who both drew one Lot in the 2nd Div.
To examine and adjust the default of Ebenezer Noyes about a grist-mill in said town and to determine how to warn future meetings.
Enoch Bartlett
Isaac Peaslee
Enoch Marsh
Matthew Harvey
Cutting Marsh Thomas Wadleigh
Stephen Woodward Zebediah Sargent
The proceedings at this meeting were according to the articles in the warning.
29
EXTRACTS FROM RECORDS.
Voted, That Matthew Harvey and David Eaton [that were the former Com. to employ a Surveyor and Chainmen to find the com- mon and undivided land in town] be a Com. to make allowance for ponds, and to divide the remainder in quantity and quality to each share or Right, and number the Lots and report at our next meeting.
Jan. 16, 1789. Last Meeting held in Plaistow.
Moderator, Capt William Pressey.
Clerk, John Knight.
As few of the proprietors attended, the meeting was adjourned to the house of Dea. Matthew Harvey in Sutton on May 14, 1789.
Met accordingly and voted that Capt. Stephen Harriman, Capt. William Pressey and Matthew Harvey are chosen Com. to settle with all the former collectors that are not settled with, and all those that have any demands upon the Propriety. Voted that the meeting stand adjourned to the 2nd Tuesday in January, 1790 at the house of Matthew Harvey in Sutton at 4 o'clock P. M.
MATTHEW HARVEY, Pro. Clerk.
The Proprietors' Record here ends. The third and last division of lands has taken place, and the proprietors as a body have nothing more to dispose of, and so withdraw from active interest in Sutton affairs, leaving the little remaining proprietary busi- ness to be closed up by a committee.
EARLY HISTORY.
COPY OF THE ORDER FOR TAKING THE CENSUS OF 1775.
In Provincial Congress.
New Hampshire August 25th, 1775.
WHERAS, it is necessary that an exact account of all the Inhabi- tants of this colony should be taken, in order to be transmitted to the Congress of the United American Colonies :
Therefore resolved, that it be recommended to the Selectmen of the several Towns and Parishes, and other Places in this Colony to take an exact Number of the Inhabitants of their respective Districts. including every Soul in the same, in separate Columns, as follows :
Males under 16 years of age ; males from 16 years of age, to 50, not in the army : all males above 50 years of age ; Persons gone in the army ; all females; Negroes and Slaves for life.
And in such Places where no Selectmen are chosen that the Selectmen of the next adjacent Town take the same, or some suita- ble person living in such Place by their Appointment.
And that the return thereof be made to the Committee of Safety for said Colony, as soon as may be, by the Selectmen or Selectman or Person appointed, who shall take the same upon oath to their Fidelity and Impartiality therein, which Oath any Justice of the Peace or Town Clerk is impowered to administer.
And wheras a late Requisition of this Congress that every Town, Parish, and other Places within this Colony return the Number of the Fire Arms in their respective Districts fit for use, and the num- ber wanting to compleat one for every person capable of using them, has not been complied with; therefore it is now earnestly recom- mended that the same be forthwith done, adding these to the Quan- tity of Powder in each Place, and where there is a Public Stock, to return a separate Account thereof, and that the whole be returned to the Committee of Safety for this Colony.
And it is further recommended that no part of the aforemen- tioned business be delayed ; for its being as speedily done as possible will be of great Utility to the Colony; and it is strictly further enjoined, upon all Selectmen and Committees to endeavor to prevent all persons from burning their Powder in shooting at Birds and other Game,-
By Order of Congress.
MATTHEW THORNTON President.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
1773. In 1773 there were in Perrystown 12 Tax Payers. Rateable Estate 9s. Proportion of public taxes 9s. on every £1000 -the least of any town in the County. No meeting called in 1775.
1775. Enumeration of Inhabitants of the town, taken by Benja- min Wadleigh by order of Provincial Congress.
Perrystown and Fishersfield were taken together. In both towns there were
Males under 16 years of age 39
" from 16 to 50 years of age
22
" Above 50 years of age 5
Gone in the Army
4
Females
. 60
Total, 130
12 Guns-No powder,-no Slaves. Sworn to before Daniel Flanders,-Warner.
Sept. 23, 1776. The Proprietors who had completed their settle- ment held a meeting at the house of Enoch Knight, Innholder in Atkinson.
Voted that Samuel Peaslee, Silas Russell, and Ephraim Gile clear and make roads necessary at the charge of the Proprietors.
We find no record of municipal meetings till 1777, after which town-meetings were annually held, and town officers chosen.
We find no record of Proprietors' meetings from 1778 to 1787. The colonies were at war with Great Britain till 1783, and in this one absorbing interest it seems that all minor interests were nearly forgotten.
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
April 25, 1787, a meeting was held in Plaistow. Dea. Matthew Harvey and David Eaton were again chosen a committee to employ a surveyor and chain- men to find the common land in town.
Jan. 2, 1788, Dea. Matthew Harvey and Enoch Marsh were chosen a committee to draw lots of the third division for each original proprietor of the common or undivided land in Sutton.
The last meeting of proprietors of which we have any record was held at the house of Dea. Matthew Harvey in Sutton.
EARLY SETTLERS.
We refer to those who settled in Perrystown previous to 1780, naming them in the order of their settlement. The term "settlers" should be understood to mean those who were of age, or land- owners, abiding here with their families, if any they had.
1767. David Peaslee and his son Samuel.
1770. Cornelius Bean, Samuel Bean, Jacob Davis, Ephraim Gile, Jonathan Stephens.
1771. Benjamin Wadleigh, Jonathan Davis.
1772. Matthew Harvey, Ebenezer Keyser.
1773. Silas Russell, Benjamin Philbrook, Jr., Phineas Stevens, Capt. William Pressey, Jeremiah Davis.
The other settlers previous to 1780 were Pain Tongue, Daniel Messer, Benjamin Masten, Jacob Masten, David Eaton, Samuel Andrew, Benjamin Critchett, Jonathan Wadleigh, Joseph Wadleigh, Capt. George Marden, Samuel Roby, Jonathan Roby, Jonathan Nelson, Philip and Asa Nelson (sons of Jonathan), Moses Quimby, James King, Ezra Jones, Francis Como, Peter Peaslee, Abra- ham Peaslee, Joseph Johnson, Jonathan Johnson (brothers), Caleb Kimball, Thomas Wadleigh, Nathaniel Cheney, and some others.
David Peaslee married a sister of Samuel Bean,
3
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
1st, and settled at the base of Kimball's hill, known as Downing Corner. He had a family of eight sons and several daughters, one of whom married Capt. Ephraim Hildreth.
David Peaslee was the ancestor of the Peaslees now living in town. He died about the first of the present century.
Samuel, his son, came here with his father; sub- sequently lived where E. B. Lear lives, and in his last days lived at the South Village, where he died in 1821, aged 75 years. His wife died soon after, leaving a large family.
Samuel Peaslee was a man who had cleared more land, made more bridges and roads, built more log houses, carried more grain on his back to Hopkin- ton to be ground, and endured more hardship, than any other man who lived in town. His eldest daughter was the first female born in town (177]), married Samuel Andrew, Jr., and died here in 1839, leaving descendants.
Cornelius and Samuel Bean were sons of Sam- uel Bean, of Sandown; came here in 1770. Cor- nelius lived near David Peaslee's, where, in that same year, his son Joseph was born, being the first child born in town. Cornelius had been in the French War, and was at the taking of Quebec by the English. He was a man of great physical strength, and was accustomed to move from place to place. It was said of him that he would build a house, and move into it the same day. Many anec- dotes are told of him. He was more inclined to help others than to help himself. He died in Sutton about 1823, leaving no children living in this town;
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EARLY SETTLERS.
even the first born, to whom the town voted a lot of land at its birth, never claimed more than two or three feet, as it did not survive its infancy. The wife of Cornelius survived him many years.
Samuel Bean settled near where Milton B. Wadleigh lives. He was a man of energy and sound judgment; was frequently chosen one of the selectmen, and was selected to build mills, find and clear roads, and execute various other kinds of public business. He had nine sons,-Isaac, Jacob, Samuel, Joseph, Moses, Benjamin, William, Ephraim, Reuben. One daughter married Isaac Fellows, one married a Mr. Phillips, of Glover, Vt., and one never married. Isaac, Jacob, and Ephraim always lived in Sutton, and died here leaving families. Benjamin and Samuel removed to Glover, Vt. Joseph and Moses went to Hat- ley, Canada East, where they died leaving families. In 1831, William and Reuben went to Corinth, Me., where the latter was living a few years ago. This family (the Beans) were noted for industry, cheerfulness, and some of them were fond of sport. They and their offspring have made more roads and more stone wall than any other family in town.
Jacob Davis resided where in the recent years has resided Mr. A. M. Cumings. He had passed middle age when he came here with his family, among whom were John, Jacob, Aaron, Anna, Betty; Ezekiel was born after coming to Sutton. Jacob Davis was an industrious, trustworthy man. By his neighbors he was often called "Father Davis." He selected a favorable locality and good soil, and was a prominent farmer. A strange
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
fatality seemed to affect his family. Jacob and John were insane, and died, leaving families, some of whom were insane. Betty and Aaron never married: the former was insane. Ezekiel lived on the homestead. He was not fond of farming, but possessed a good share of mechanical skill. He manufactured wooden ware; was a cooper and maker of farming implements. None of the descendants of JJacob Davis, Jr., now live in town except the descendants of his daughter, who married Moses Davis, son of Jeremiah.
Ephraim Gile was the progenitor of the Giles of Sutton, and from him Gile's pond takes its name. He lived east of Benjamin Wadleigh's farm. Mr. Gile came from Haverhill, Mass. His farm is still known as the "Gile farm," although the buildings are no longer there.
He built the first cider-mill in town, a rude log structure, of course, but still it served its purpose, since he, according to his own statement, "made therein the first year, from eight bushels of apples, one barrel of whole cider, one barrel of water-cider, and one barrel of charming good drink." The trees from which this cider was made are still living, and in bearing condition. The seeds from which they originated were brought from Haver- hill, Mass.
Ephraim Gile had two sons, Reuben and David, and several daughters, one of whom, Lydia, married Jacob Masten. After the death of his first wife, who accompanied him from Haverhill, Ephraim Gile married for second wife the widow of Eben- ezer Keyser, and for third wife the widow of
37
EARLY SETTLERS.
Nathaniel Eaton, who was mother of the late Na- thaniel Eaton, the centenarian. Ephraim Gile died about 1820, aged 90 years.
Benjamin Wadleigh was the oldest of nine sons and three daughters of Thomas Wadleigh, Hamp- stead, who was the progenitor of all the Wadleighs of Sutton and vicinity. The average age of this great family was more than seventy-five years each. Their names were Benjamin, Jonathan, Joseph, Thomas, John, Moses, Ephraim, Aaron, Henry, Judith, Betsey, Susan. The father, Thomas, never resided permanently in Sutton, but became a propri- etor of the town before its settlement.
By the Proprietors' Record, we find that he was here in 1763 as one of a committee to clear and find roads, make mills and other necessary preparations for settlement. He had been in the French War, and was said to be a man of remarkable physical power and endurance. His sons John and Thomas were in the battle of Bunker Hill, and in most of the battles of the Revolutionary War. John sub- sequently joined the Shakers at Canterbury, and continued with them till his death at the age of about ninety-five years.
Among the descendants of Thomas Wadleigh, Sen., are ex-Senator Bainbridge Wadleigh of Boston, George A. Pillsbury and ex-Governor John S. Pillsbury of Minneapolis, Minn., the late Gilbert Wadleigh of Milford, Edward D. Burnham of Hopkinton, late state councillor; Thomas Wad- leigh Pillsbury, G. W. Wadleigh, Benjamin E. Badger, Dr. Moses Wadleigh Russell, John E. Robertson, and the widow of Hon. J. Y. Mugridge,
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HISTORY OF SUTTON.
all of Concord, N. H .; Benjamin E. Porter, Esq., of Lynn, Mass .; Hon. Thomas Wadleigh Harvey, Painesville, O., late commissioner of common schools for the state of Ohio; Milton Wadleigh, Galena, O., engineer and land surveyor of Jo Davis county; G. A. Wadleigh and Corliss Wadleigh, merchants of Boston; and Lydia F. Wadleigh, lady superin- tendent of N. Y. Female Normal College.
Seven of the sons of Thomas Wadleigh, Sen., settled in Sutton, and one daughter married the late Hon. Benjamin Evans, of Warner.
Benjamin Wadleigh's family was the seventh that moved into Sutton. His age at that time was 22 years; his wife, who was a daughter of Ebenezer Kezar, was aged 19. They brought with them one child, the other children being born in Sutton. He lived where his great-grandson, Milton B. Wad- leigh, now resides. Before coming here he had learned the trades of shoemaker (including snow- shoes) and tanner, of Judge Calef, of Hampstead. He had three sons who lived to adult age, Jesse, John, and Benjamin; and five daughters, Mehit- able, Hannah, Judith, Dolly, Susan. Jesse and John went to Hatley, P. Q., early in this century, had families, and died there. Benjamin remained on the homestead; was justice of the peace, rep- resentative, town-clerk, selectman, and county judge from 1833 to 1853, when his age disqualified him. He died in 1864, on the farm on which he
was born, aged 81 years. Children: Eliphalet, Luther, Erastus, Milton, Benjamin, Gilbert, Han- nah (m. Col. N. A. Davis), and Lydia.
Mehitable Wadleigh, a daughter of Benjamin
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