USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Warner > The history of Warner, New Hampshire, for one hundred and forty- four years, from 1735 to 1879 > Part 11
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But it is found that differences of opinion exist. There are those who believe that the town received its name from Daniel Warner, of Portsmouth, who was in the provincial council from 1753 to the com- mencement of the Revolutionary strife. The tradi- tion seems to be, that this Daniel Warner came into the township before its incorporation, and, finding no bridge over the river, promised to contribute forty dollars towards building such a structure if the inhab- itants would call the town by his name, and that the town accepted the proposition.
With the utmost respect for those who entertain
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this belief, the author must dissent from it, and for the following reasons :
1. It is evident (for the records everywhere have been searched) that Daniel Warner never owned an acre of land in the township before or since its incor- poration ; and there is no evidence, and but little probability, that he ever set foot upon its soil. In other sections of New Hampshire this man held large landed estates, and his honors would naturally have come (if at all) from a section where his interests were, instead of from one where he had no interests, and where he was probably entirely unknown.
2. According to the tradition, it was "Col. Warner" who proposed to contribute the forty dollars. But Daniel Warner, of the council, was never a colonel at all, and was never known by that title. Seth Warner was a colonel, and if either one of the Warners rode through the township and found no bridge, this is probably the man. He was in close correspondence with Gov. Wentworth during the " border war," at the very time the town was incorporated, as well as for several years before. His name was as familiar in New Hampshire at that time as a household word. Ethan Allen made journeys to Portsmouth to consult with the government of the province during the bor- der difficulty, and why should not Seth Warner have done this ? He was the stern defender of the New Hampshire Grants, and he had the confidence of the
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New Hampshire government more than Allen. If he ever made this journey, his true course was through the town of Warner.
3. Daniel Warner never paid a dollar towards build- ing or repairing any bridge in town! The silence of the records is proof of this, and the believers in the " tradition" admit that nothing was ever paid .. Yet Daniel Warner was a man of great wealth through life, and he left at his death a large estate. What shall be said of this act of bad faith on his part ? As the story runs, the people of the town promptly per- formed their part of the contract, and then he refused to perform his. It was a downright swindle !- and the voice of every man and woman in town, if the name came from that source, would have demanded a change.
4. Daniel Warner was not loyal in the great strug- gle for national existence. He followed in the foot- steps of his chief, the royal governor. In short, he was a tory, and he fell under the ban of an exacting public opinion.
The Committee of Safety of the colony of New Hampshire sent out, in April, 1776, to the seve- ral towns of the colony, the following pledge or test :
" We, the subscribers do hereby solemnly engage and promise, that we will to the utmost of our Power, and the risque of our Lives and Fortunes, with Arms, oppose the hostile proceedings
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of the British Fleets and Armies against the United American Colonies."
This was New Hampshire's declaration of indepen- dence. It preceded the national declaration of July 4th. Eight thousand one hundred and ninety-nine (8199) persons signed it, and seven hundred and sev- enty-three (773) refused to sign. Among those who refused to sign this patriotic test were
DANIEL WARNER and JONATHAN WARNER.
In the list of persons in Portsmouth, reported to the Committee of Safety as "notoriously disaffected to the Common Cause," is the name of
JONATHAN WARNER.
The Committee of Safety, in 1777, ordered the sheriff of Rockingham county to seize from Jona- than Warner two hogsheads of rum, for the use of the American army, " as he would not sell it to the army at a reasonable rate." Daniel Warner, the father, was the chief member of this firm, and it was his property that was thus confiscated by order of the Committee of Safety. These two Warners (father and son) clung to the fortunes of Gov. Wentworth, who was compelled to flee the country. They both refused to sign the Association Test. They both had their property confiscated. They were both on the side of the enemy in the supreme struggle of the col-
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onies for independence, and the public odium rested severely upon the heads of both.
In that day of intolerance and hate, when the un- faithful were pursued ; when they were driven from the town, the state, and even across the seas ; when they were tarred and feathered ; when their printing- presses were destroyed, and their houses were sacked and burned ; when their names were hissed, and their persons treated with indignity,-is it probable that the patriotic citizens of Warner had so little self-respect as to tolerate this name, if derived from the quarter claimed ? Is it probable that Capt. Francis Davis, who had three sons in the Revolutionary army, two of whom were in the battle of Bunker Hill,-Francis Davis, the first representative, elected the year that gave the nation birth,-is it probable that he would have submitted tamely to this dishonor, when the mere expression of a wish on his part would have caused an immediate repudiation of the name ?
Is it probable that John Langdon, Meshech Weare, Josiah Bartlett, John Sullivan, or any of their com- peers, would have permitted the name to stand, if bestowed to honor one who proved unfaithful in the " time that tried men's souls" ?
Assuming that the town takes its name from Col. Seth Warner, a brief sketch of his character and ser- vices will be useful and interesting to the reader. His life, though short, was an active one, and full of
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incident ; but space will not permit any extended reference to his public career. He was born in Roxbury, Litchfield county, Connecticut, in 1743. He was the son of Dr. Benjamin Warner, who in 1763 removed with his family to Bennington, in the New Hampshire Grants. This was the second year after the settlement of that town.
In 1765, Seth Warner, at the age of 22, went back to Connecticut, and married a young lady who had been his school-mate, and of whom it is said, "She was always his first choice at the spelling-school." Their home in Bennington was opposite " The Wild- Cat Tavern," which became famous in history as the head-quarters of the Vermont patriots during the bor- der struggle, and also during the subsequent struggle for independence. An air of romance seems to hover over this whole region. It is a magnificent country, and the stirring events which transpired there have made it memorable forever. The hotel took this name from the fact that on the large sign which creaked in the wind there was a full-sized painting of a fierce wild-cat. The Council of Safety held a per- petual session in that tavern during the first years of the Revolution, and Gen. Stark was not an unknown guest in that house. He mounted his horse at its front door on the morning of August 16, 1777, and rode to the battle.
Benning Wentworth, the royal governor of New
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Hampshire, granted Bennington to Connecticut and Massachusetts proprietors in 1749. He granted many other townships in the present state of Vermont (which territory was called the New Hampshire Grants), claiming that the province of New Hamp- shire extended westward to within twenty miles of the Hudson river. The New York authorities dis- puted this claim, and contended that their jurisdiction extended eastward to the Connecticut river. A bitter controversy grew up between the two colonies, the settlers upon the grants generally siding with New Hampshire. New York made attempts to drive these settlers out, or to compel them to pay for their lands again, and to pay to New York. When the execu- tive officers of New York came to eject the settlers from their possessions, they were resisted. At the head of these settlers stood Seth Warner,-a man of noble physique, two or three inches above six feet tall, straight as a hickory tree, and compactly built. In the History of Vermont, by Samuel Williams, LL. D., it is said of Warner, " He was cool, steady, resolute, and fully determined that the laws of New York respecting the settlers should never be carried into execution."
The government of New York, early in this contro- versy, offered a reward of £20 each for the arrest of Warner and several others, but that offer did not in the least weaken the firmness of these patriotic men.
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They continued, without wavering, to defend the set- tlers under the New Hampshire Grants, and to resist, with force when necessary, all attempts of the New Yorkers to drive them out.
To show still further the heat of the controversy, and the hazard of opposing the New York authorities, the following enactment of that government is pre- sented :
" If any person or persons oppose any civil officer of New York in the discharge of his official duty, or wilfully burn or destroy the grain, corn or hay of any other person ; or if any persons, un- lawfully, riotously, and tumultuously assembled together to the disturbance of the public peace, shall wilfully and with force, de- molish or pull down, or begin to demolish or pull down, any dwelling-house, barn, stable, grist-mill, or outhouse, within either of the counties of Albany or Charlotte, then each of such offences shall be judged felony, without benefit of clergy, and the offenders therein shall be adjudged felons, and shall suffer death, as in case of felony, without benefit of clergy."
A copy of this law was forwarded to the sheriff's, and was posted up by them in public places, with the following clause added :
"And in case such offenders shall not respectively surrender themselves, he or she, so neglecting or refusing, shall, from the day appointed for his surrender as aforesaid, be adjudged, deemed, and (if indicted for a capital offence hereafter to be perpetrated) convicted of felony, and shall suffer death, as in case of persons convicted of felony by verdict and judgment, without benefit of clergy."
At the same time the governor of New York issued a proclamation, offering a reward of fifty pounds each for apprehending and securing Seth Warner, Ethan
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Allen, Remember Baker, and several others. And yet these undaunted men remained true to their convic- tions. This " bloody code," and this additional re- ward, failed to move them. Though they might, in a figurative sense, have adopted the words of Paul, " In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft," yet they never swerved.
It appears that Albany and Charlotte counties were made, by the New York authorities, to cover the whole of the New Hampshire Grants. It appears further, from the spirit of this law, that the settlers generally stood boldly by their rights, and did not quietly tolerate the partisans of New York who were in their midst. They undoubtedly made the water rather hot for them.
Various associations were formed among the set- tlers for the protection of their rights, and a conven- tion of representatives from the several towns on the west side of the Green Mountains was called. In the meantime the government of New York was making grants and establishing courts in this territory. The sheriff of Albany county being required to execute a writ of possession against James Breckenridge, of Bennington, called to his assistance, by order of the New York government, a posse of 750 armed men. The settlers, having timely notice of his approach, prepared for resistance. Seth Warner was at their
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head. He formed his men just west of the Wild-Cat Tavern, in two ranks, facing the enemy. They stood, with grounded arms, in silence, Warner at the front. The sheriff, having approached to within ten rods of Warner's line, with his army, halted, and, after a few minutes' consultation with his officers, beat a hasty retreat. Not a gun was fired on either side.
John Munro, a sheriff under New York authority, moved, perhaps, by a hope of reward and a desire for notoriety, on the 22d day of March, 1772, resolved to attempt the arrest of Warner. . He soon found his opportunity. Warner, in company with a single friend, was riding in the vicinity of Munro's resi- dence, and being met by Munro and several of his dependents, a brisk conversation ensued, in the midst of which Munro seized the bridle of Warner's horse, and commanded those present to assist in arresting him. Warner instantly struck Munro over the head with a dull cutlass, and levelled him to the ground.
In the History of Vermont, by Williams, already referred to, it is said,-" In services of this dangerous and important nature Warner was engaged from the year 1765 to 1775." And it may be added, that, dur- ing this whole period of ten years, he was on intimate relations with the government and people of New Hampshire. John Wentworth, and those in authority with him, would have been guilty of base ingratitude
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if they had not, in some manner, acknowledged or recognized his services.
In the Revolution, Col. Warner's record, though cut short by wounds and disease, was a brilliant one. He was in at the tap of the drum. He commanded the small force that took Crown Point. A regiment of " Green Mountain Boys " was raised, and Seth War- ner, as lieut. colonel, was placed in command. In the Life of Ethan Allen, by Jared Sparks, referring to this matter, it is stated that, after the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, “ Allen and Warner set off on a journey to the Continental Congress, with a design of procuring pay for the soldiers who had served under them, and of soliciting authority to raise a new regiment in the New Hampshire Grants."
In both these objects they were successful. By an order of congress they were introduced on the floor of the house, and when they had each addressed the house they withdrew. It was resolved by congress that a regiment should be raised, not exceeding 500 men, and to consist of seven companies. A lieut. colonel was to be the highest officer. The commit- tees of safety of several townships assembled at Dor- set to choose officers for the new regiment. The choice fell on Seth Warner for lieut. colonel, and on Samuel Safford for major. A portion of the commit- tee wanted Allen for the commanding officer of the regiment : he received five votes, and Warner forty,
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HISTORY OF WARNER.
In September, 1775, Warner is found at the head of this regiment during the siege of St. John's by Gen. Montgomery. Their term of service having expired on the 20th of November, Montgomery dis- charged them with thanks for meritorious services, and they returned to the New Hampshire Grants. In the attack on St. John's, our force under Gen. Mont- gomery was completely successful, as the British army was captured and destroyed. Warner and his regi- ment bore a conspicuous part in that engagement.
Warner, in dead of winter, raised another force, and marched to join Gen. Wooster at Quebec. This winter campaign in Canada proved extremely dis- tressing. In the spring of 1776 a large body of British troops arrived at Quebec, and the American army was compelled to make a hasty retreat. Col. Warner took a position exposed to great danger, and requiring the utmost vigilance. He was always at the rear, picking up the wounded and diseased, drum- ming up the stragglers, and keeping just before the advance of the British army.
Congress, on the 5th day of July, 1776, resolved to raise a regiment, consisting of new troops and a por- tion of those who had served with so much reputation in Canada, to be commanded, as before, by a lieut. colonel. Warner was again appointed, but the New York people were bitterly hostile to him. The Pro- vincial Congress of that state demanded his removal
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from the command, " especially as this Warner hath been invariably opposed to the legislature of this state, and hath been, on that account, proclaimed an outlaw by the late government thereof." But Warner was not interfered with. He raised his regiment and repaired to Ticonderoga, where he remained till the close of the campaign. When the American army fell back from Ticonderoga, it was hotly pursued by the British. Warner again took position at the rear, and had several fierce engagements with the advance line of the invading army. From the History of Ver- mont, by Henry W. DePuy, the following facts may be gathered. At Hubbardton the advanced corps of the British army overtook the rear of the American army, on the 7th day of July, 1777. The larger part of this army had gone forward. All that was left of it was a part of Hale's, a part of Francis's, and a part of Warner's regiments. The enemy attacked them with superior numbers and the highest prospect of success, but our army opposed them with great spirit and vig- or. No officers or troops could have displayed more courage and firmness than ours displayed through the whole action. Large reinforcements of the enemy arriving, it became impossible to make effectual op- position. Francis fell in rallying his men for a fresh onset. Hale was captured with his regiment. "Sur- rounded on every side by the enemy, but calm and undaunted, Col. Warner fought his way through all
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opposition." He brought off the troops that were not captured with Hale, checked the enemy in their pur- suit, and, contrary to all expectation, arrived safely with his troops at Manchester. To the northward of that town the whole country was now deserted. Bur- goyne, with his disciplined army, was moving down through there, as Sherman moved, at a later day, in his march to the sea. But at Manchester, Warner determined to make a stand. And DePuy says, in conclusion, " Encouraged by his example and firmness, a body of the militia soon joined him, and he was once more in a situation to protect the inhabitants, harass the enemy, and break up the advanced parties."
Col. Warner, in obedience to Gen. Schuyler's com- mand, scoured the country, up and down, west of the mountains, to gather up and bring to Bennington such property as the British might supply themselves with. Large droves of cattle were thus brought in and sold, under the direction of the Council of Safety. What tories there were in that region escaped and joined the enemy. Through the whole of this un- pleasant business, just recited, the firmness and hu- manity of Warner were conspicuous. Only one per- son was killed by the scouts during the summer.
Schuyler, who at first had contented himself with granting the Vermonters half a ton of powder, sent to Warner, a few weeks before the battle of Bennington, $4,000, and an order for whatever clothing could be
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procured at Albany. He also ordered all the troops from New Hampshire, which were then marching towards the camp, to unite with Warner. The corre- spondence between Stark and Warner at this point is voluminous and intensely interesting.
About the first of August, 1777, Gen. Stark arrived at Manchester, on the New Hampshire Grants, with 800 New Hampshire militia, on his way to the seat of war on the Hudson. The battle of Bennington, in which Stark deservedly won great renown, was fought the 16th day of August, 1777. Col. Warner rode with Stark to the field, and was with him through the whole engagement. Ex-Governor Hiland Hall, in his admi- rable history of Vermont, says,-
" Warner's residence was at Bennington; he was familiarly ac- quainted with every rod of ground in the neighborhood of the posts which had been occupied by Baum, and their approaches ; he was a colonel in the continental army, superior in rank to any offi- cer in the vicinity; and he had already acquired a high reputa- tion for bravery and skill,-all which naturally made him the chief counsellor and assistant of Stark in his deadly struggle with the enemy."
Warner's efficiency was felt throughout the coming battle. In discovering the position and strength of the enemy, in arranging the disposition of the troops, in determining the time and point of attack, and in the execution of every design, his services were inval- uable.
Warner's regiment was at Manchester on the 15th
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under command of Major Safford, who brought it up to participate in the second engagement on the 16th, and to save the day.
This is not the place for a full description of that important battle,-a battle in which New Hampshire played a most prominent part. Burgoyne, who had believed that "six hundred men could march from the Hudson to the Connecticut, subjugating all the intervening region, without any risk of loss," and who had boasted that his should be a triumphal march down through the country to the sea-board, found an impassable barrier at Bennington. His army of 1,500 men, under Col. Baum, was routed and destroyed. Baum was mortally wounded. Burgoyne hurried up Col. Breyman, in the afternoon, to reinforce Baum, but Warner's intrepid regiment came up in hot haste, swung into line on the double-quick at the opportune moment, and put Breyman and his force to flight. The day was ours. The field was ours, and the can- non, and the munitions, and the rum; and certain historians have asserted that our army, the rest of that day, gave humble heed to 1 Timothy, 5:23.
New Hampshire was proudly represented on that battle-field, for, in the first place, Gen. Stark, the hero of the day, was New Hampshire's favorite son; and in the second place, fully one half of his men were New Hampshire soldiers. Col. Moses Nichols, of Amherst ; Col. David Hobart, of Plymouth; and Col. Thomas
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Stickney, of Concord, each with his regiment, was conspicuous in that engagement.
Capt. Ebenezer Webster (the father of Daniel) was also in this battle. His company constituted a part of Col. Stickney's regiment, and he fought with distin- guished bravery. Stark, in speaking of Webster, said, " His face was so dark that gunpowder wouldn't black it."
The town of Warner was well represented at Ben- nington. In Capt. Webster's company there were five of our men, viz., Paskey Pressey, sergeant, Robert Gould, Abner Watkins, Francis Davis, John Palmer. $
Asa Patney, who went into the service from Hop- kinton, but who, immediately after the war, became a permanent resident of Warner, was severely wounded in this battle.
THE DAY BRIGHTENS.
The Colonies had long been depressed by disaster and defeat, but the decisive victory at Bennington turned the tide of success, and brought light out of darkness. The American cause looked up. A change of officers took place at this time. Gates took com- mand of the army of the north. Arnold, who up to this period had been faithful, and whose career had been brilliant, was also with that army, as was the patriot of Poland, the accomplished Kosciusko. There was a grand uprising of the people through the whole
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country in consequence of this staggering blow to Burgoyne's army. Doubt and fear gave way to con- fidence and courage. The halting became bold, and the timid became aggressive.
"Then Freedom sternly said, 'I shun No strife nor pang beneath the sun, When human rights are staked and won.' "
Col. Warner at this time was but 34 years of age, yet the credit due to him for the triumphant result at Bennington is second only to that due to the general commanding. In reporting this battle to Major-Gen. Gates, Gen. Stark recognizes the solid merits of War- ner, and pays him this proud compliment : " Colonel Warner's superior skill in the action was of extraor- dinary service to me."
Soon after the battle of Bennington, Warner was promoted to the full rank of colonel by the Conti- nental Congress, but his active service did not long continue. He is reported sick at Hoosac, the latter part of August. The indefatigable exertions which he had made in the cause of right, "as God gave him to see the right," and the constant exposure and fatigue to which he had been subjected from his early manhood. undermined his constitution and hastened his death. Disease in an aggravated form struck its fangs into his system, and totally unfitted him for active service. His limbs became paralyzed, and he suffered intense pain. He did not, however, relin-
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quish the field at once. In a memorial to Congress in 1786, asking a pension for the family of Col. War- ner, and signed by Gov. Thomas Chittenden, Ethan Allen, Samuel Safford, Gideon Brownson, and seven others of the foremost men of Vermont, the following statement appears :
" After the battle of Bennington, Col. Warner began sensibly to decline, so that there remained but little prospect of his future usefulness. He, however, grappled with his disorder, and contin- ued in the service at intervals, until, receiving a wound from an ambush of Indians near Fort George, in September, 1780 (at which time the only two of his officers that were with him fell dead at his side), he was obliged to retire from the service."
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