USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Warren > The history of Warren; a mountain hamlet, located among the White hills of New Hampshire > Part 15
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What a happy idea was this: The village green should be alive with horses, beeves, sheep, and hogs, with loads of hay and grain and wood, and long rows of stalls where marketmen and marketwomen, carrying well filled baskets, could buy and sell poultry, fish, meats, and vegetables of every sort and kind.
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
But there must be a few conditions. The privileges must not be all on one side. If the grantees do not hasten, the town will not flourish with a rich and teeming population, and the quit- rents, ears of corn, and proclamation money will not come in fast enough, and the royal governor and his secretary cannot ride in their coaches and build their palaces on the shore of the smiling lake as they would like. So it was stipulated:
1st. That every grantee for every fifty acres he owns shall with- in the term of five years plant and cultivate five acres of land.
2d. That all pine trees fit for masting our royal navy shall be carefully preserved.
3d. That a town lot one acre in size shall be laid out near the centre of the town for each grantee.
4th. That for ten years each grantee shall pay the rent of one ear of Indian corn annually.
5th. That after ten years each grantee shall annually pay for every hundred acres owned one shilling proclamation money.
We are thus particular to put all these conditions into our most important history because it must be remembered that the governor put them all in the charter.
Then in the most gracious manner possible the governor reserved for himself only one lot containing five hundred acres, and he was very particular to have it marked on the little plan of the town accompanying the charter. But he had the misfortune to locate it in a very poor place, owing no doubt to his great skill in geography. Wachipauka pond, the precipitous face of Web- ster Slide mountain, and the blueberry patch on its summit, con- stituted the good gentleman's reservation.
Governor Wentworth was an excellent man. He belonged to the high church of England, and withal was piously inclined. So he told his brother-in-law the honorable secretary to reserve one whole share " for the incorporated society for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts," "one share for a glebe for the Church of England as by law established," and "one share for the first settled minister."
But not an acre did he give to the witch-hanging, ear-crop- ping, cheek-branding, bundling puritans, as he called them, nor to the Scotch covenanters. Not he! He did not believe in them.
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ONE SHARE FOR EDUCATION.
But he did believe in education, and was very willing to do something for coming generations, especially when other people paid the expenses ; and so he ordered in addition that "one share should be appropriated for the benefit of a school in said town forever."
How satisfactory were all these conditions, provisions, and reservations, and how well John Page, Esq., Colonel Jonathan Greeley, and all their friends felt that night. Visions of broad acres and riches without limit, accruing from great sales of land and from rents, floated before them. The entire brood was reck- oned up before a single chicken had burst the shell, and with characteristic liberality drinks and viands were ordered up. Bowls of hot punch and mugs of good old fashioned flip circulated freely, and with song and jest and shout the time flew fast. The moon had gone down in the west and the stars were dimming when these future lords of the soil separated for their homes.
CHAPTER IV.
OF EAGER MEN-HOW THEY HELD SEVERAL MEETINGS - ALSO OF A GAY AND FESTIVE CORPORATION DINNER -CONCLUDING WITH A POWERFUL EFFORT TO OBTAIN A SURVEYOR OF THE "KING'S WOODS."
NOW there shall be no more delay. The long summer and autumn had passed, and part of the winter had gone, since the visit of John Page, Esq., to Portsmouth, and it did seem to the anxious grantees that the Rt. Hon. Theodore Atkinson, Esq., had not the slightest regard for their feelings and desire for gain, else he would have recorded and forwarded the charter sooner. No more time should be lost; a meeting must forthwith be called. At the gathering at the inn of mine host, Colonel Jonathan Gree- ley, the grantees one and all had importuned John Page, Esq., to make all possible haste, post the notices, and let them, the eager grantees, immediately assemble.
John Page, Esq., did so, agreeably to the provisions of the charter, and in just ten days after it was recorded, on February 8th, 1764, Colonel Jonathan Greeley's lively inn was honored by the great initiatory meeting.
The proprietors of our little mountain hamlet assembled in full numbers. Even Moses Greeley, of Salisbury, was present. At ten o'clock A. M. they were ready for business, and John Page, Esq., as directed by the charter, called the meeting to order.
It was held in the long dining hall back of the parlor and the tap-room. A bright fire was blazing on the open hearth, there were benches around the hall on which the men were to sit, while some of the more chilly gathered standing about the fire. An old
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THE FIRST PROPRIETARY MEETING.
table was placed upon a little platform at one end of the hall, and by it sat John Page, Esq. Rapping upon it with his knuckles he called the meeting to order and immediately the hum of conversa- tion ceased.
From the time of his return from Portsmouth he had kept close possession of the charter, and now drawing it forth he pro- ceeded to read it at length. When he had finished a buzz was heard about the room, as is usual at town meetings, but Esquire Page again rapped upon the table and proceeded to remark that the first business in order would be the choosing of a town clerk; and the proper way to proceed would be to elect him by ballot. He therefore requested that written ballots might be prepared and forwarded. Upon counting them it was found that Jeremy Web- ster had received the whole number, and it was declared that Jeremy Webster was unanimously elected. In a like manner Jeremy Webster, Colonel Jonathan Greeley, and Lieutenant James Graves were chosen selectmen. It was then voted that the annual meeting of the proprietors of Warren should be held on the first Wednesday of March, and that the next one should be held at the inn of mine host, Col. Jonathan Greeley, on the 7th of March, 1764, that date falling on the said first Wednesday. The meeting was then dissolved.
But the proprietors did not disperse. It was the first corpora- tion meeting and there must be a corporation dinner. John Page, Esq., himself says that two long tables were set in the very hall in which the meeting was held. The plates, knives, spoons, pewter- platters, mugs, and service, all brought from England, were arrayed with mathematical exactness. Roast beef, spare ribs, turkeys, and chickens; chicken pies, plum puddings, mince pies, apple pies, cakes, sauce, and savory viands of all kinds, including without doubt sundry pots of baked beans contrasted with huge loaves of Indian meal bread, fairly caused the festive board to groan.
John Page, Esq., also says that he himself sat at the head of one table, and Col. Jonathan Greeley at the other, and that each man carved for himself, as was the fashion in "ye ancient time." As beef, pork, and fowl rapidly disappeared, what cheer was there-what jokes they cracked-how rich they felt-and how
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
fast flew the time. And then the hissing hot punch was brought in, and first of all, every one standing, they drank King George's health. Then the song, the jest, the laugh, and the health of our good governor was not forgotten. To each other long life, hap- piness, and riches were drank, and the short hours flew swiftly by until one by one our worthy proprietors had drank themselves sober and had departed their several ways. The expense of this and all other meetings was paid out of the proprietors' stock .*
It was a worthy company that took supper at Col. Greeley's inn. The presence of the Rt. Hon. Theodore Atkinson, Jun., the Hon. Josiah Bartlett, afterwards governor of New Hampshire, Col. Jonathan Greeley, a man of much influence, John Page, Esq., and a host of other good and notable men, made a most respecta- ble meeting.
Of course not many plans were made, for according to the vote another meeting was soon to be held, at which a programme was to be fully discussed and adopted.
Consider for a moment this first meeting of our forefathers. All northern New Hampshire was then a wilderness. The little hamlet of Warren was chalked on the map, but there was no road to it or through it; nothing but an Indian trail. A few settlers had just set themselves down by the Connecticut river, at the Coos intervals, and twenty miles away the.Hobarts and the Web- sters were building the first camps on the Pemigewassett. King George ruled the British empire, and the western world but com -. posed his royal provinces. The king's head ornamented all the coin of the realm, and even on Jonathan Greeley's sign was painted the English coat of arms. No dreams of independence flitted through their brains then; all were loyal subjects.
Riches were what the proprietors wanted, and so when the first Wednesday of March, 1764, came they were nearly all present and eager for action. How avarice will spur men. on.
The meeting being called to order in the same old hall, John Page, Esq., was chosen moderator; Jeremy Webster, clerk; Jos- eph Whitcher, constable; Capt. Ephraim Brown, Col. Jonathan Greeley, and Jeremy Webster, selectmen; Capt. Stephen Webster, Joseph Page, and Ebenezer Stevens, surveyors of highways; and
* See Proprietors' Records.
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SCARCITY OF SURVEYORS.
that there might be no delay they determined to choose a com- mittee to run the lines round about the township and view the land. For this purpose they chose John Page, Esq:, Lt. James Graves, Col. Jonathan Greeley, Capt. John Hazen, and Captain Stephen Webster. They were authorized to procure a surveyor and other necessary assistants and to proceed immediately to the business. Our first annual town meeting, at which these fourteen men were immortalized by being elected to such important offices, was then adjourned. Every one now believed that the work would go bravely on and that soon the land would be all sold and settled-and then how rich they would be.
Our valorous committee, chosen to run the lines and view the lands, did indeed go to work in a bold and enterprising manner. They made application to every trusty and skillful surveyor in the country, but to no purpose. They were all engaged running town lines and lotting lands for other proprietors. The committee even made sundry and divers journeys across the border to the land of Massachusetts Bay to see if they could find one, but with- out any better success. The whole summer went by, and when autumn came they were thoroughly convinced that among other requisites a considerable sum of money was necessary to secure the services of so important a personage as a surveyor had now got to be.
Accordingly a third meeting was called and held on the 17th of September, 1764, when it was voted, "That a dollar (or its equiv- alent in paper currency,) be paid upon each right in order to fur- nish and pay the fore-mentioned committee when they should act for running the lines about the township." That there should be no mistake this time, Col. Jonathan Greeley was chosen treasurer, to collect and pay out the money for that purpose.
But prosperity did not smile upon them. Although the hon- orable committee labored with all their might, still no surveyor was procured. The year went by and nothing was done.
Consequently when the selectmen, as in duty bound, on the 19th of February, 1765, warned another meeting to be held on the 6th of March following, they inserted an article in the warrant, "To vote what the proprietors will further do relative to the com- mittee chosen last year and the business they were to transact."
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
This was the mighty question. Every grantee considered it most thoroughly. At the 6th of March meeting, held at the inn of Col. Jonathan Greeley, they voted unanimously "That the propri- etors' committee run the lines about the township as formerly determined; they are to begin the work about the first of June next, and to proceed in the business as fast as possible, and if they need assistance they are hereby authorized to get it."
Now they will surely act-no, gently, not yet. They cannot get a surveyor any more than last year, although the most strenu- ous efforts are made. The summer again goes by and the lines are not run. Some of the proprietors who had paid liberally were indignant, and said this would not answer.
The last of August the rulers of the proprietary, otherwise the distinguished selectmen for that year, call another meeting. It is to be held on the second Tuesday of September, 1765. The proprietors were alarmed. They had contributed to the little purse of gold for the governor, they had paid for corporation din- ners, they had been assessed for contingent expenses; these had all been outgoes, but not a penny had they received. Besides, the conditions of the charter, especially that one requiring that the town should be settled in five years, had not been fulfilled, and if much more precious time was wasted all would be lost. The proprietors met as directed, this time at Jacob Currier's inn, in South Hampton, and not at Col. Greeley's; but they did nothing but talk. After a long discussion they adjourned to meet again in one week at the same place.
Being met again and the meeting called to order, John Page, Esq., said that he had some good news to communicate. He then announced that by good fortune the proprietors' committee had - secured the services of an excellent surveyor and assistants. This piece of information was greeted with applause, and the whole proprietary felt so good that both flip and punch were ordered up and every one drank to his heart's content.t
It was then voted that when the meeting adjourn it be to meet on the third Tuesday of October, 1765, to hear the further report of the committee. Some one then suggesting that they had better
* See Proprietors' Records.
t Proprietors' Records.
181
A SURVEYOR FOUND AT LAST.
meet at Col. Jonathan Greeley's again, a motion to that effect was passed with almost an unanimous vote, only a few of Jacob Currier's friends dissenting, as they wanted him to have the profits of the meetings. But the majority remembered the good things in Col. Greeley's larder and bar; they believed also that the good will of his place had much to do with success. Thus the hope of gain combined with a longing for the flesh-pots of Egypt succeeded.
There shall be no more delay. The committee, no longer fur- nished with excuses, must act at once, and we shall now have the pleasure of accompanying the valiant little surveying party far to the north for a delightful stroll in the great wilderness of the future town of Warren.
CHAPTERSV.
HOW THE LINES WERE RUN ROUND ABOUT WARREN-A CAMP IN THE FOREST- A ROARING, RAGING EQUINOCTIAL STORM WORTH SEEING, AND A REPORT OF THE WHOLE AFFAIR BY SURVEYOR LEAVITT.
AND now John Page, Esq., and his associates move in their work, and Benjamin Leavitt, the excellent surveyor whom they had hired, together with his assistants, are soon ready.
The committee accompany him, and one bright morning we find the little surveying party breaking camp beside Stinson pond, on the east side of Mount Carr, and wending their way by the blazed line to the northeast corner of the town of Romney.
They found and established that point of our little mountain hamlet. Its lines had before been chalked on the map, but now its bounds were to be set up, and the trees blazed to show the course.
They first traced the east line, following along upon the eastern slope of Mount Carr. At noon they halted for dinner on the shores of Glen upper pond. No clearings were visible. There are none to be seen to-day. The same wildness, the same solitude witnessed by John Page, Esq., Benj. Leavitt, and their associates, when they stood by that little circular pond a hundred years ago, exists there now. The deer and the bear then came to drink of its water. The bear drinks there to-day, and the mottled fawn and the antlered buck now crop the grass upon the moist shore the same as then. There were moose there then, but there are none there now.
183
THE BOUNDARY LINES RUN.
At night they camped on the side of Mt. Kineo. The morrow saw them across Cushman mountain to the northeast corner, saw them traveling down the slope of Mt. Waternomee, on the north line, to the Asquamchumauke river. That night they camped by the roaring torrent. The third day they crossed the spur of Moosehillock, passed the head waters of Berry and Oliverian brooks, climbed the precipitous Webster Slide, and sundown found them camped by a little stream that flowed down into Tarleton lake. Across the lake or around it, down over Piermont mountain, leaving Eastman ponds to the east and including them in Warren, to the southwest corner, and there they camped the night of the fourth day. Eastward over Sentinel mountain, across Martin brook, then so called from a hunter who had trapped upon it, and over the spur of Beech hill to the Asquamchumauke river again. Here the quick eye of Surveyor Leavitt noted the old Indian trail. It was about two o'clock in the afternoon. Leaving their surveying instruments in a safe place they followed the trail up the river for two miles, crossed the mouth of Black brook- the Mikaseota-and at the end of the ridge between the brook and the river they camped for the night.
Tradition, that most trustworthy historian, has it that while they were cooking their supper John Page, Esq., followed up Black brook a few rods to where there was a little white fall leap- ing over the mica slate rock, and shot a deer which had come there to drink, the sun being about half-an hour high. The sur- veying party had an extra supper that night. Flashing knives carved out the choicest morsels, and by their campfire that gleamed through the woods they sat for long hours telling old legends and bloody tales of Indian wars.
The next morning they crossed the valley and climbed the hill, came back and followed the trail to Runaway pond, then back and up the valley to Berry brook. At night they had re- turned to their camp again on the end of the ridge. The land in the valley was good, and the great pine trees on the plain, where the common is now, some of them more than two hundred feet high, in whose cones they heard the autumn wind sighing, were the objects of their especial admiration. But they could only admire them. The surveyor of the king's woods had marked
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HISTORY OF WARREN.
them with the broad arrow, and they could only be used for masting the royal navy.
They had gone to sleep, their camp-fire burning brightly in the darkness. Hours of quiet went by, when suddenly John Page, Esq., started up. What was that? Was it the howl of the wolf, the cry of the catamount, or the well-nigh forgotten but terrible whoop of the savage? He listened for a moment but heard nothing save the murmer of the brook and the river, which united just below them. Soon a flash of lightning lighted up the forest, followed by the low deep rumble of thunder behind the western mountain. A moment more, others having been aroused, and a sharp flash blinded their eyes, followed by another, which in turn was succeeded by a crash of thunder louder and more stunning than any they had ever before heard. Mount Carr echoed back the terrible peal, and then the rain poured down in torrents.
Our little surveying, land-locating, fortune-hunting party were now all wide awake. Their fire was out, their camp leaked, and almost in less than no time they were drenching wet. For the rest of the night they sat there in a delightful condition of shiver. They thanked their lucky stars for their good fortune, that they had only got a good wetting and nothing more, and. without doubt they said their prayers and made sundry pious ejaculations during those luminous and happy hours. But they did not swear.
When the morning dawned they found that the wind was blowing from the northeast, that black clouds were hurrying · across the sky from Moosehillock to Mount Carr, and that the thunder shower was but the prelude of the storm. It was no use to break up the camp then-everything was too wet. They made a fire, dried their clothes, breakfasted on the remains of the veni- son, longed for a dish of delicious punch to wash it down, and then tightening the camp and gathering more firewood waited as best they might for what could not be helped.
By ten o'clock A. M. the wind was howling in the woods and the rain fell fast. All day long they sat there, managing one way and another to pass away the time, while Surveyor Leavitt made notes in his journal to assist him in writing his report.
185
A STORM AMONG THE MOUNTAINS.
When the sun went down a new sound arose. As the evening hours wore on it seemed as if all the storm spirits had leaped from the waterfalls in the ravines of Mount Carr, and were joining in one grand pæan, louder than the mightiest roar of the ocean. The Indians' god, Gitche Manito, with the whole host of lesser aboriginal divinities, assisted by Jupiter Tonans, Vulcan, Pluto, and every other heathen god, seemed mingling their voices in one continuous roll of thunder through the huge mountain forests. John Page and his companions had heard the roar of the ocean in a storm, but never a sound like this. People of Warren some- times hear the same now, when the equinoctial storm of autumn comes late, or when the winter breaks up suddenly and the melt- ing snows and warm rains turn the mountain streams to torrents.
In the morning the storm was over. A bright fire made them comfortable, the last of the venison was cooked for breakfast, and when the white mists from the waterfalls were climbing out of the ravines and chasing each other over the wooded crest of Mount Carr, and the wind had shaken the rain from the trees and bushes, they hurried back down the trail to the spot where they had left their surveying instruments. They crossed the now roaring Asquamchumauke and climbed over the eastern mountain. The line was finished that day, and night found them back in their old camp by Stinson pond. Four days more and they were at home making up their report.
On the third Tuesday of October, 1765, the proprietors met again. Col. Jonathan Greeley's long hall and cosy tap-room seemed like home to them. The meeting having been called to order, John Page, Esq., chosen moderator, and Jeremy Webster, clerk, they passed the following vote: "That we receive and accept the report of the committee we sent to the township, and give the committee, Jeremy Webster, Esq., Col. Jonathan Greeley, and John Page, Esq., the sum of sixty-four dollars for their time and expense in going up to Warren to run the lines about the township and viewing the land." *
The report of the committee has not come down to us in form, but tradition says that the committee told the proprietors that our beautiful little hamlet was located among great mountains " daunt-
* See Proprietors' Records.
186
HISTORY OF WARREN.
ing terrible ;" that to all sound appearances "loud roaring divels" lived among said mountains; that silver rivers and streams ran through it, and upon the borders around it were sparkling lakes and ponds. They might also have stated that on Patch brook (not then having a name) was an old beaver meadow where the grass grew wild, and that there was another meadow larger and better, at the outlet of Runaway pond.
Perhaps they might have further made mention of the fact that on the slopes of Beech hill and Picked hill were immense maple groves where sugar might at some later day be made, but this we can only conjecture. Suffice it to say that the committee made an exceedingly interesting report, that the proprietors were mightily well-pleased thereat, and immediately took other and more determined steps to accomplish the settlement of the town.
.
CHAPTER VI.
CONDITIONS HARD AND TERRIBLE-A ROAD MADE OF AN INDIAN TRAIL-RICH LOTS OF LAND DRAWN BY LOT, AND HOW MEN FELT RICH BUT ANXIOUS.
" 1ST, That every grantee for every fifty acres of land he owns in Warren township shall within the term of five years plant and cultivate five acres of land."
LIKE the sword suspended by a hair over the head of ter- rified Damocles, so the above condition of the charter was forever hanging over our worthy proprietors. The very first condition- it must be fulfilled. A failure, and the little hamlet of Warren was lost to them. The other conditions could be easily complied with. The pine trees fit for masting our royal navy could be pre- served; the town lots could be laid out; the rent of one ear of Indian corn only could be yielded; and the one shilling proclama- tion money could be " deposited in our council chamber at Ports- mouth " without difficulty. But in performing our first condition. -there was the trouble.
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