USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > Warner > The history of Warner, New Hampshire, for one hundred and forty- four years, from 1735 to 1879 > Part 7
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
Then what on earth was this fence to be for ? Was it to keep out the Indians, or the settlers in adjacent towns, or the wild beasts ? Was it to serve as a
119
THE POTASH.
prison wall to keep the inhabitants of Warner in, and to prevent their going back to Amesbury ?
In foreign countries they have their "walled cities," but old Number One stands preeminent as the first rural township among the hills to be hedged in. But not so. The proprietors only had an attack of " tem- porary insanity," for they hastily despatched orders to their faithful employé to desist, and, at a subsequent meeting, "Voted to allow Barns Jewell, 1 pound 4 shillings [which is just four dollars], for his trouble and charges in what he did in fencing the town."
THE POTASH.
At the annual meeting of the proprietors, March, 1766, at Amesbury,-
" Voted that Richard Harbard, Stephen Emery, and James Walker, of Concord, shall have half a right throughout the town (they paying equal proportion of the charges with the proprietors), and eighty acres of land nigh Mr. Flanders, provided they set up and carry on the potash in said town.
" Voted, also, to lay out the first Division of 60 acre Lots."
Dea. Nathan Currier, Simeon Bartlett, and Daniel Quimby were chosen to lay out said lots, and also to survey and lay out eighty acres for the potash lot. This committee employed Abial Chandler, of Concord,
120
HISTORY OF WARNER.
to survey the sixties, and to survey and measure off 300 acres of intervale land, giving to each right five acres.
The potash lot was " nigh Mr. Flanders," meaning Daniel Flanders, who has already been mentioned, and who lived at the Lower village, where the Henry B. Chase house stands, or a little further down. The eighty-acre lot granted for the potash was at the Brooks place. These Concord parties, to whom the grant was made, turned over their chance to one Jacob Hoyt of the same town. Hoyt came on and built a small hotel on the spot where the old Carter tavern afterwards stood. He entertained travellers, and kept an " open bar," according to the custom of the times, for everybody. Across the street, near down to the little brook, but on the west side of it, is a very small plat of ground where the old potash stood. The sills were much lower than the road, and the ashes were carried in over the beams, on an inclined bridge. Every ten bushels of ashes, accord- ing to the law as laid down by Hoyt, entitled a man to a gill of West India rum as a gratuity. The early settlers of Warner, it is to be presumed, were not " sinners above all the Gallileans." They were about an average class, and they had their appetites and weaknesses, in common with the race. They liked their "toddy," and the manufacturer of ashes always expected this gratuity of a gill of rum for each and
121
THE OLD TAVERN.
every ten bushels, besides the going price of his com- modity. In those days families burnt vast amounts of fuel, their fireplaces being large and open, and their houses unfinished and cold. They cared not how much they burnt. Firewood was abundant and cheap, and while there was not " millions in it," there was ashes in it, and there was rum in the ashes !
THE OLD TAVERN.
The history of the first inn, tavern, hotel, or whatever it may be called, of Warner, if it could be faithfully written, would be as thrilling as Dickens's celebrated story of the Bleak House. But it cannot be written. This hotel stood at the Lower village,- a village that at one time was the business centre of the town. The lawyer, the doctor, the post-office, the stores, the potash, and the tavern were all there.
The first building on the old site of the " Carter stand" was erected in 1766, by Jacob Hoyt. It was made of logs, It was his dwelling-house, and, on a small scale, a public house. In the course of eight or ten years this gave way to a small one-story frame house, which had all the appointments of an approved country tavern. This latter hotel building was dis- placed, some time about the beginning of the present century, by the large, low, two-story house, with nar- row halls and 7 by 9 glass, which was last occupied by Samuel Brooks.
---
122
HISTORY OF WARNER.
After Jacob Hoyt, Dr. John Currier came as tav- erner, and, after him, Richard Pattee, a cousin to John. Mr. Pattee was an ensign in the War of 1812. He also served as deputy sheriff from 1813 to 1816. After Mr. Pattee, William Carter became the landlord of this house, though he may not have immediately succeeded the above named. He was born in Wil- mington, Mass., 1787. He carried on the baking business in Concord a number of years, but removed to Warner in 1828, and kept the hotel seven years. After leaving Warner, in 1836, Mr. Carter kept the old Raymond House at Bradford Corner, then carried on the baking business at Amherst, and finally died at Lebanon, at the residence of his son, Henry W. Car- ter, in 1875.
The last occupants of this old tavern house were Samuel Brooks and his family, who took possession in 1835, and remained in occupancy till 1857, a period of twenty-two years.
Mr. Brooks was a native of Charlestown, Mass., where he spent the larger portion of his life. He learned the hatter's trade when a boy, but, having no mechanical inclinations or skill, he never followed it a day. He purchased this ancient hotel, with the farm attached, in 1835, and (taking down the old familiar sign) made it simply a residence for his family. He was an inveterate reader, and a man of marked char- acteristics. His doors were always open to his friends.
-Rundls
123
THE OLD TAVERN.
After the marriage of his only daughter to Hon. John Abbot, he went to Concord to pass the evening of his life. He soon thereafter sold out his property in Warner, and the famous house, which for generations had sheltered the weary traveller from the storm, and which had finally been the peaceful family abode, went the way of all the earth.
GEORGE RUNELS. Warner Lower Village has given birth to many prominent men and women, and among the number is the subject of this sketch. His ances- tor, who was of Scotch origin, came from Halifax to Bradford, Mass., in 1674. His grandfather (who was a blacksmith) was born at Haverhill, Mass., in 1726. His father (Major Daniel Runels) was born at Haver- hill, in 1775. Major Runels learned his trade, and, on becoming of age, went to Corinth, Vt., and there worked at blacksmithing a short time. In 1797 he came to Warner, and in 1799 married Chloe, a daugh- ter of John George. Their children were Daniel G., Hannah, Sally, Charles, and George, all of whom are dead except the last named.
George Runels was born February 3, 1823. His mother died in 1829, and he remained with his father till he died, in 1837. He then worked with his broth- er (Daniel G.) one year at blacksmithing and farm- ing ; then for six months he worked half the time for Levi Bartlett, and the other half for Noyes Rand.
9
:
124
HISTORY OF WARNER.
He was next with his guardian and uncle (Maj. Dan- iel George) a short time. He received his schooling at the brick house by the river, and at New London academy, where he was a student one quarter. He went to Lowell in the spring of 1840, and learned the trade of a stone-cutter. In the fall of that year he travelled with Henry Carter, visited all the New Hampshire musters, engaged in selling books and other notions. In November of the same year he went on board of a barque, and sailed to the Pacific on a whaling expedition. In about twenty months after sailing the barque was wrecked on the Fejee Islands. The crew were picked up (after being in boats three days) by a ship, which left them in New Zealand. Mr. Runels worked there three months, pit- sawing in the woods and building a wharf-the first wharf on that island. He sailed from there to New Holland, and back, in a Scotch brig. He then went on board a vessel from Salem, Mass., which was trad- ing with the natives of the Fejee Islands: he re- mained with this vessel about one year, and left her at Manila, on one of the Philippine Islands. From there he went in an English ship to Canton, Singa- poor, and Calcutta, leaving her at the latter place. He was sick with Asiatic cholera six weeks in Cal- cutta. Having recovered his health, he shipped on board of a Boston vessel, and came home around the Cape of Good Hope. He went again to Lowell, and
125
FIRST GRIST-MILL.
started the business of stone-cutting there in 1845, in which pursuit he remained till 1849. In the fall of that year he went to California, and returned in 1850. He then went to farming in Waterbury, Vt., where he remained till 1854. Since that time he has been extensively engaged in business at Lowell till within about one year, when, having acquired a competence, he retired from active work. For the past twelve months he has travelled in Florida, Colorado, Califor- nia, and the West generally.
Mr. Runels married, in 1845, Miss Mary A. Morrill, of Springfield, N. H. Three children have been born to this couple, viz., Emma, who died in 1871, aged 23, and Charles and Henry, who are engaged in the stone business at Lowell.
FIRST GRIST-MILL.
At a meeting held Nov. 10, 1766,-
" Voted to raise 16 shillings on each right, to pay the charges of laying out the 60 acre Lots, and for building the Meeting House, and that said tax be paid before the lots are drawn."
" At the same meeting, voted that Daniel Quimby and Ezekiel Dimond be a committee to make sale of the Mill and Privilege for the most it will bring and oblige the buyer to build a Grist Mill."
Also, chose Ezekiel Dimond and Joseph Eastman
126
HISTORY OF WARNER.
to clear roads in town, and raised $30 to pay for the same.
Over four years had now elapsed since the first set- tlements had been made in town, but the indispensa- ble grist-mill had not yet put in an appearance. The privation was sorely felt. The inhabitants were un- der the necessity of going to Hopkinton or Boscawen with their grists, and relying on such ordinary mills as had been already erected in those places. At times, however, from one cause and another, those mills failed to perform their functions, and the War- ner people were compelled to go to Concord to get their grinding done. In such cases, they patronized the mill on Turkey river, where St. Paul's School is now located. Capt. Daniel Flood used to carry two bushels of corn on his shoulders to that mill, and bring the meal back in the same way. Others, also, carried grists on their backs to the same mill, the distance of which from Warner town hall is sixteen miles. There were then but few horses in town, the roads were very poor, and it was a difficult and tedious job to convey horses over the Contoocook on log rafts. Even after the "fary boate" commenced running, the toll for a team was an item to be consid- ered in that day of money scarcity. Hence the early settlers bent their shoulders to the task in the man- ner stated.
Much depends upon custom. The men of Warner
127
FIRST GRIST-MILL.
of a century ago did not look upon these hardships as they would be looked upon by the men of to-day. They were accustomed to carrying heavy burdens on their shoulders through the forest paths. Philip Flanders brought two bushels of potatoes on his back from Concord, being accompanied by Isaac Walker, who brought a bushel and a half in the same way. Jacob Collins, the father of Levi, carried the boards for his rye bins on his shoulders from Bean's mill, at Waterloo, through the woods and up the hills to his home in district No. 10, because no team could get through.
The mill on Turkey river, which the Warner peo- ple occasionally patronized, performed faithful service 145 years (from 1733 to 1878), when it was convert- ed into a laundry for the accommodation of St. Paul's School. This mill was established shortly after the settlement of Concord. At a meeting of the proprie- tors of that town, October 13, 1732,-
" Voted, that any Person that is agreeable and shall be accepted of by the Proprietors of Penny Cook that will build a Grist Mill on Turkey River in Penny Cook for the use of the Proprietors shall have one hundred acres of Land convenient to the mill and the Benefit of the whole Stream of said Turkey River."
It seems that one Barachias Farnum was deemed "agreeable," for he accepted the gift, went forward in pursuance of the vote, and built the mill in 1733.
-
128
HISTORY OF WARNER.
At the annual meeting, in March, 1767, Capt. Wm. Rowell was chosen moderator, and Nehemiah Ord- . way, clerk. Simeon Bartlett, Nathan Currier, Nehe- miah Ordway, Ezekiel Evans, and Barnard Hoyt were chosen committee for the year.
"Voted that said committee be instructed and em- powered to make sale of Delinquent Proprietors' Lands ; also to provide Preaching according to a former vote."
Also, voted to raise one dollar on each right, to de- fray the charges of the present year.
Also, " voted to give Increase Morrill a 40 acre Lot . near where Palmer built a frame, he complying with the terms and settling as other settlers." "
" Hereby hangs a tale," as subsequent pages will show.
CHAPTER IX.
THE MASONIAN PROPRIETORS-A NEW GRANT-ORGANIZING UNDER IT.
OT only were the Rye claimants unacknowledged by the Amesbury people and the settlers in War- ner, but they were also unrecognized by the Masonian proprietors themselves. The grant which was made to them in 1749 had become "null and void." The grantees had not complied with the conditions of the grant, and had therefore forfeited their claim to the township. Hence the Salisbury and Amesbury pro- prietors could make their appeal only to the twelve, whose names have been heretofore given. And yet the Rye grantees (or persons who settled under their authority) had acquired certain rights which could not be justly ignored. It seemed to be an acknowl- edged principle, that when persons, acting in good faith, became settlers upon the unoccupied lands (even if those who gave them permission so to do had no authority over the matter), they should be protected and made secure in possession. This was very favorable to the settler, and was just and right.
The Rye people left no record, and we can never
130
HISTORY OF WARNER.
know exactly what steps were taken, or what labors were done by them. The grant of the township to them, as already stated, fell ; but they had gained, by settlement or otherwise, a strong foothold in town, and the records hereafter will show that it required considerable money to remove the incumbrance.
On the 27th day of July, 1767, the Amesbury pro- prietors met at the house of Widow Esther Colby, in Amesbury. After choosing Thomas Rowell modera- tor,-
"Voted that Capt. Jonathan Barnard, Increase Mor- rill, and Ezekiel Evans, be a committee to go and treat with the Proprietors of Mason's Patten, so called, and agree with them, if they can upon reasonable terms, and take sufficient security of them of said Township, and give security for such a sum as shall be agreed upon, and make return of their proceedings at the adjournment of this meeting."
Met, according to adjournment, the 10th day of August, of the same year, when Mr. Barnard, from the committee, reported that "he and they had not settled the affair."
At the same meeting the said Barnard and Evans, of the committee, were instructed " to go immediately to the Mason Proprietors, and obtain from them the best terms on which they would relinquish their claim."
131
THE MASONIAN PROPRIETORS.
These men went promptly to Portsmouth on their mission. Something had got to be done, and the fol- lowing record will show what was done.
The other party now appears.
" Province of New Hampshire S Portsmouth, September 30, 1767.
"The Proprietors met according to adjournment :-
" Voted that Col. Theodore Atkinson be, and hereby is author- ized to write to Capt. Jonathan Barnard, Increase Morrill and Ezekiel Evans, in answer to their application to the Proprietors for the Township called Number One in ye line of Towns, and re- ceive their Reply, and make agreement for the same in behalf of the Proprietors, and make report of his Proceedings as Soon as may be."
Negotiations were now successfully begun. Corre- spondence ensued ; kind feelings prevailed ;- the Ma- sonian proprietors fixed the price for which they would dispose of the township (which had been so long a subject of dispute), or of their interest in it, and the Amesbury proprietors accepted the offer and closed the trade.
At a meeting of the latter, in Amesbury, November 4, 1767,-
" Voted to pay the sum claimed by the Masonian Proprietors, namely, six hundred dollars, or ten dollars on each right, except the public rights, and chose Jonathan Barnard, Increase Morrill and Ezekiel Evans, a committee to take a Grant of the said Ma- sonian Proprietors of the said township of New Amesbury, in the Province of New Hampshire, on the terms that had been agreed upon by the former committee, and give them security for the payment of the six hundred dollars."
132
HISTORY OF WARNER.
At the same meeting,-
" Voted that if any proprietor has an 80 acre Lot judged not fit for settlement, he may apply to Abial Chandler, surveyor, and another man, and have another Lot laid out at the cost of the Proprietary."
GRANT BY THE MASONIAN PROPRIETORS.
"Province of
New Hampshire $ At a meeting of the Proprietors of the lands purchased of John Tufton Mason Esq., in New Hampshire, held at Portsmouth, in said Province, by adjournment, on the 24th day of December, 1767-
" Whereas, Capt. Jonathan Barnard, Increase Morrill and Eze- kiel Evans have applied to said Proprietors, in behalf of them- selves and others whose names are hereinafter mentioned, for the right of said Proprietors to a tract of land hereinafter described, which they were disposed to settle with all convenient dispatch, and the said Proprietors being desirous of encouraging the settle- ment of all the Lands within their claim and of accomodating such persons who were inclined to make such settlements, and for the greater advantage of the settlers, instead of reserving a part to the Grantors, as has been usually done by them in such cases, have agreed to take a sum of money as an acknowledge- ment of their right: and hereupon it is voted, That there be, and hereby is Granted all the right, title, interest, property and demand of said Proprietors in and to the said Tract of Land, containing the quantity of six miles square, within the following Bounds, viz-Begining at a place, called and known by the Name of Contoocook, thence running North 15 degrees west, six miles, then running from each end of this line, west 5 degrees south, six miles ; thence crossing and running over on a straight line from the west end of one of these last mentioned lines to the other, so as to make the quantity of six miles square and no more. In consideration of the sum of One Hundred and Eighty Pounds, to the said Proprietors in hand paid, or secured to be paid by the Grantees, whose names are as follows :-
133
A NEW GRANT.
Jonathan Barnard
Daniel Quimby
Increase Morrill
Thomas Fowler
Ezekiel Evans
Barns Jewell
Richard Currier
Nathan Goodwin
Dr. Nehemiah Ordway
Francis Davis
Humphrey Pierce Reuben Dimond
Peter Sargent
Joseph Jewell
Thomas Jewell
Samuel Barnard Jr.
Abraham Morrill
Stephen Colby
Dr. George Abbott
Barnard Hoyt
Jeremiah Flanders
Benjamin Evans
Samuel Barnard
Joseph Eastman
Theodore Hoyt
Simeon Morrill
Nehemiah Ordway Jr.
Elihu Gould
Gideon Rowell
John Nichols
Samuel Straw
Rev. Pain Wingate
Israel Straw
Thomas Rowell
James Ordway
Thomas Barnard
Ezekiel Morrill
David Ring
Jarvis Ring
Benjamin Tucker
Joseph Jones
Simeon Bartlett
Dr. Stephen Sargent
Enoch Sargent
William Straw
Bartholomew Heath
Benjamin Sargent
Jonathan Pressey
David Bagley
Stephen Merrill
Benjamin Osgood
Nathan Currier
Eastman Hoyt
Widow Esther Colby
Jonathan Martin
John Wells
Eliphalet Lowell
and Daniel Morrill,-on the terms and limitations here- inafter expressed-To have and to hold to them the said Grantees in several and separate shares to them and to their sev- eral and respective heirs and assigns forever, on the terms and conditions following, viz :
That the said Grantees settle forty families, each having a house of 18 by 16 feet, or equivalent thereto, and three acres of land fit for tillage mowing or pasturing within three years to each family : That they lay out three rights or shares, one for the use
Aaron Rowell
134
HISTORY OF WARNER.
of the minister of the Gospel who shall be ordained and settled there, that one right be for the use of the ministry in town when incorporated, forever, and one other right for the use of a school for and towards the support thereof forever, each of said rights to be laid out in Lots as the Grantees manage the other rights and to be free from the charge of Settlement or any public taxes to that end : That each Grantee do faithfully and duly pay his proportion of all taxes that shall be agreed on by the majority at any legal meeting for carrying on the settlement: That they build a Meeting House and maintain constant preaching there, from and after the term of three years from the date hereof : That all White Pine Trees, growing on said tract of land be re- served for His Majesty's Use.
That each Grantee who shall neglect to pay his proportion of the Taxes that shall be agreed on as aforesaid shall forfeit so much of his share as will raise the money at which he is assessed whether laid out into Lots or lying in common, and the other Grantees shall hereby have power to direct how and in what man- ner the same shall be disposed of for this purpose, and he who shall not perform the duty required of him as his proportion and part of making the said settlement shall forfeit his whole right or share to those of said Grantees who shall have duly performed the same.
"But in case the majority of the Grantees shall neglect to make the settlement and perform the several matters and things necessary thereunto according to the time above limited, they shall forfeit the whole tract to the said Grantors, and it shall and may be lawful for them to enter in and to the same to re-possess their proper estate; and there is also reserved in said tract of Land, land sufficient for convenient highways through the said tract as is usually granted in other towns by said Proprietors.
" Attest : George Jaffrey, P. Clerk."
Thus the Salisbury and Amesbury proprietors have at last an unquestioned title to the township, exclu- sive of certain rights acquired by individuals under the Rye grant. But time has wrought great changes
135
A NEW GRANT.
since this grant was made by Massachusetts in 1735. Thirty-two years have elapsed-almost a third of a century-and many of the original proprietors have been "gathered to their fathers." Others have become discouraged by the continuous, up-hill struggle to ac- quire possession of the town, and have fallen out. Perhaps most of these sold their rights for some small consideration. Of the sixty original proprietors, only twenty-five remain. The other thirty-five appear no more.
The sum of one hundred and eighty pounds, stated as the consideration of this grant, is identical with the stipulated price of $600,-a pound being, at that time, three dollars and a third.
By the terms of the grant, these proprietors were to " build a Meeting House, and maintain constant preaching from, and after three years," fror: which it appears that the grantees did not deem the humble log house already in existence as a fit temple in which to worship the Most High. This is not strange: but perhaps if they had prayerfully studied the les- son concerning " the woman of Samaria," they would have been less fastidious.
The white pine trees were reserved for the use of his majesty the king, but the war of the Revolution and the independence of the colonies cancelled that obligation.
This additional burden of $600 was a grievous one
136
HISTORY OF WARNER.
to the long-suffering and over-taxed proprietors of township No. One. They had to submit to it, how- ever, or surrender their entire claim to the town. But this was not the last, nor the worst, as the subse- quent records will show. Under the Rye grant, cer- tain acknowledged rights had been acquired. To clear away the incumbrances, still further taxation had to be imposed.
DANIEL BARNARD. Capt. Jonathan Barnard, “ Inn- holder of Amesbury," was a man of some note in his day. He commanded a company of his majesty's militia, under the provincial government of Massachu- setts. He was one of the original proprietors of Warner under the grant of 1735, and he stood at the head of the list of proprietors under the Masonian grant of 1767. That he was a man of character and ability is evident from the fact that he was often intrusted, as these pages show, with important mis- sions concerning the affairs of the township. He was the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch. His son, Charles Barnard, a soldier of the Revolution, settled in Warner, on the north-east slope of Burnt hill. Charles had at least two sons, Thomas and Ezekiel, who are yet remembered by many of the people of Warner. One of the sons of Thomas is Hon. Daniel Barnard, of Franklin, whose nativity each one will settle in his own way. He was born in Orange, the 23d day of January, 1827; but if his
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.