USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Weare > The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888 > Part 15
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110
Soon after, more troops were called for, and another regiment of three hundred men was raised. It was commanded by Col. Peter Gilman of Exeter. In the first company was John Mudgett, in the second was Winthrop Clough, a Weare man, and in the sixth was Moses Gile. The regiment marched to Albany by way of Number Four. It saw no active service, and both regiments were discharged and sent home early in the winter.
The plan of the campaign for 1756 was similar to that of 1755. Crown Point was not yet taken, and our province raised a regiment of seven hundred men, twelve companies. Nathaniel Meserve was colonel, and John Goffe major and also captain of the seventh com- pany. Nathaniel Martin was his first lieutenant, John Worthley and Jacob Jewell were corporals, and Joseph George and Caleb Emery were privates .* In the fifth was Josiah Brown. Philbrick Colby and James Emerson again went in a company from Haverhill. These were the Weare men in the army for this year.
This regiment had charge of Fort Edward a short time. They did not see any battles, for under the poor management of Lord Loudon there were none. In the fall they went to Albany and soon after came home.
For the campaigns of 1757, the province raised a regiment of five hundred men. Nathaniel Meserve was colonel, John Goffe, lieuten- ant-colonel. In the sixth company, Nathaniel Martint was first
* Adjt .- Gen.'s Report, vol. ii, 1866, p. 168.
t After the war was over King George made proclamation at St. James', London, Oct. 7, 1763, the third year of his reign, that the meritorious soldiers should be re- warded with grants of land.
Accordingly, Oct. 31, 1765, Gov. Benning Wentworth, with the advice and consent of
124
HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
[1758.
lieutenant, Caleb Emery senior corporal, Joseph Webster, Jonathan Corliss, Thomas Kennedy, John Darling and Robert Kennedy privates .*
Thomas Worthing, Philbrick Colby, Ebenezer Bailey, Samuel Ayer, James Emerson and Jonathan Blaisdellt served this year in Haverhill companies.
Part of this regiment under Colonel Meserve sailed to Halifax, where he and his son died of small-pox. The other part, under Colonel Goffe, went to Fort William Henry, at the head of Lake George. Montcalm, the French general, attacked and captured it, and then let the Indians kill and scalp the unarmed soldiers. Out of two hundred New Hampshire men eighty were slain or made prisoners. Some of these were inhumanly tortured. New Hamp- shire was in mourning. Ezekiel Stevens of Derryfield was scalped alive, almost the entire skin of his head being taken off. He es- caped and for the rest of his life had to wear a woolen cap.# None of the Weare men were killed.
New Hampshire at once raised a battalion of two hundred and fifty men for the defence of Fort Edward. It was commanded by Maj. Thomas Tash. Samuel Philbrick, David Moulton and Win- throp Clough, familiar names in Weare, were in the third company, John Webster in the fourth. These troops were posted at Number Four.
All our troops were discharged in the fall, as usual, and came home.
Crown Point and Ticonderoga were yet, 1758, in the hands of the French, and young Lord Howe and General Abercrombie pre- pared to lead their army against them.
New Hampshire sent a regiment of eight hundred men. John Hart was colonel, and John Goffe lieutenant-colonel. Josiah Brown was in the second company; Bond Little, Caleb Emery, Robert Kennedy, Thomas Kennedy, Joseph Webster, William Whittaker and Benoni Coburn were in the fifth,§ John Hazen of
his eouneil, gave to Lieut. Nathaniel Martin, of Weare, 2,000 acres of land, situate in what is now the town of Madison, adjoining Conway, he to pay yearly one ear of Indian corn as rent for the first ten years, if demanded, and then yearly forever one shilling proclamation money for every one hundred aeres he shall own or settle. Joshua Martin, of Goffstown, and Samuel Stark, of Derryfield, each also received a grant of the same amount of land at that time. - Records, Secretary of State.
* Adjt .- Gen.'s Report, vol. ii, 1866, p. 187.
t Jonathan Blaisdell settled on lot 47, range 1, on the south side of Mt. Misery.
# Potter's Manchester, p. 315.
§ Philbrick Colby again served in a Haverhill company.
125
CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA.
1759.]
Plaistow was their captain,* and John Marsh in the eighth. Part of the regiment went to Louisburg on Cape Breton Island, under Colonel Hart, and the other to Crown Point, under Lieutenant-Colo- nel Goffe. They marched by the way of Number Four and Albany.
The army set out on a calm Sunday morning, July 5th, to attack Ticonderoga. A thousand boats full of soldiers, with waving flags and strains of martial music, swept down Lake George. An assault was ordered before the artillery came up ; but the works proved stronger than was anticipated, General Abercrombie showed himself a cow- ard by hiding in a saw-mill, the men lost heart, and a bad repulse was the result. The remainder of the season was frittered away, and late in autumn our soldiers came home.
In 1759 General Amherst commanded the army that went against Crown Point and Ticonderoga. In the New Hampshire regiment were a thousand men. Zaccheus Lovewell was colonel, and John Goffe lieutenant-colonel. The rolls of the regiment are lost, we can not tell what Weare men went, but no doubt there were some. William Hutchins and James Emerson were in Capt. Edward Moore's com- pany from Haverhill. The regiment marched from Dunstable, now Nashua, by the way of Worcester and Springfield to Albany. It was in active service the whole season. It served at the capture of Niagara and won honor at the taking of Ticonderoga and Quebec.t Robert Rogers also with his rangers annihilated the St. Francis In- dians this year. The regiment, as usual, came home late in the fall.
Col. John Goffe commanded the New Hampshire regiment in 1760. He had eight hundred men. Abraham Johnson was in the first company, Robert Kennedy and Nathaniel Martin in the second, Thomas Kennedy and Stephen George in the third, Jonathan Cor- liss, Ezra Clement, Joseph Emmons, Asa Heath, Moses Huse and Bond Little in the fourth; John Darling, Thomas Eastman, Ithamar Eaton, Nathaniel Fifield and William Mudgett in the fifth ; Josiah Brown in the sixth, Winthrop Clough, Timothy Clough, Timothy Blake, Ephraim Philbrick, Jonathan Philbrick and Joseph Webster in the seventh,# and in Capt. James Smith's Haverhill company was William Hutchins. James Emerson also served this year.§
* Adjt .- Gen.'s Report, vol. ii, 1866, p. 211. t Idem, p. 228. # Idem, p. 243.
§ From his petition to the General Court of Massachusetts, we learn that in march- ing from Crown Point to Ticonderoga, Dec. 30, 1760, he fell through the ice, lost liis pack, and narrowly escaped death. He was so badly frostbitten that he was forty days getting home, and was confined thirty days after arriving home. He was at Cape Breton, and in the service every year since the beginning of the Canada expe- dition. - Hist. of Haverhill, p. 355.
126
HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
[1762.
The regiment had good arms, but no uniforms. They dressed in homespun. Some of the men were not very neat, and Colonel Goffe, getting slightly disgusted, ordered that they should have good shoes and socks; should shirt twice a week, comb their hair, " keep it constantly Tyd," and wash their hands and faces every morning. He also ordered that they should not wear woolen night- caps in the daytime, as many were accustomed to do (for “it must be detrimental to their health and cleanliness"), but hats, all of which " should be cockt or cut uniformly." Of course this order would not apply to any Weare men But what a fine sight the army generally must have been! Coats long and short and of many colors ; breeches and waistcoats of untanned skins or leather; the men's hair long and flowing, or "Tyd in a queue," and woolen night- caps of every hue on their heads.
It is said the tune " Yankee Doodle" was written in derision and as a burlesque of the grotesque dress and uncouth appearance of some of the New England troops. But the British heard its stirring notes at Bunker Hill and had to march after it themselves at York- town .*
Our regiment went up the Souhegan, climbed over Pack Monad- nock mountain, cutting the road through the woods as they went along, into the valley of the Contoocook, toiled up through the high pass in Dublin, by Monadnock lake to Keene, and thence to Number Four. They crossed the Connecticut at Wentworth's ferry, built a block house, enclosed with pickets, at the mouth of Black river, for a place of refuge ; cut an entirely new wagon road twenty-six miles to the foot of the Green mountains, and crossed them, packing or hauling their stores over on "jumpers" or "horse barrows." Here they found a path cut by Capt. John Stark and his rangers the year before to Otter creek, and thence they had a good road to Crown Point. A large drove of cattle followed them through the woods for General Amherst's army.
They went down Lake Champlain in boats, had a small fight at Isle au Noix, and joined the army, eighteen thousand strong, with which General Amherst invested Montreal. Most of the forts in the west had been taken, Ticonderoga and Crown Point had fallen, Wolfe had won Quebec on the Plains of Abraham, and the French governor saw the folly of resistance and soon gave up the city.
* Potter's Manchester, p. 343. .
127
INCORPORATION.
1764.]
Canada henceforth was a British province, and Indian incursions entirely ceased.
Peace was not declared till 1763, and although there was not much more fighting, the army must be kept up. In 1761 Philbrick Colby was out in Capt. Edward Moore's company, and Nathaniel Weed * in Capt. Henry Young Brown's, both of Haverhill .; In 1762 George Hadley # was in Captain Moore's company.
Other Weare men in the war were David Moulton, Ebenezer Sinclair, Jeremiah Corliss, Cornelius Bean, Daniel Emerson, Benja- min Collins, John Flood, but we have not learned in what companies or regiments they served.
All the soldiers got an excellent drill in the old French and In- dian war, were thoroughly imbued with a martial spirit, and were well prepared to enter upon the Revolution, which soon followed.
CHAPTER XII.
INCORPORATION.
Up to 1764 the proprietors had taken sole charge of the town. They had made the roads, built the bridges, helped put up the cabins and clear the land, and laid out the Center Square. Their rule was a mild aristocracy; they collected no taxes of the settlers and did but little for them.
The citizens were not satisfied, and they determined to have a change. They wanted to manage their own affairs, raise taxes, choose town officers and enjoy the high honors of holding office. In short, they wished to set up a little democracy, pure and simple, for themselves. It was a laudable wish, and no doubt the Robies- town proprietors were very willing they should.
But they could not do it alone. They owed allegiance to the province of New Hampshire, and they must have its sanction and the aid of its moral and physical force to enforce their own acts.
Accordingly the citizens, very likely acting under advice, and
* Nathaniel Weed, lived for some time on the John Jewell place. His son, Asa Weed, married Abbie Green, aunt of Josiah G. Dearborn. He, settled on lot 43, range 1.
+ Hist. of Haverhill, p. 358.
# George Hadley settled in Weare, on lot 61, range 2.
128
HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.
[1764.
following the example of other towns, drew up a petition to the governor and council, in which they set forth that they were of "Hails Town," otherwise called "Colo Weares Town"; that they were "under grate disadvantages" " in chusinge Town officers"; in "laying out and manding High-Ways"; "gitting and supporting a Minister," and many other things that are "Netsetry for the good and Bennfit of the Town"; and they pray to be incorporated with "all the Prebilidgs and Immunitys of other Towns in this Provence." It was dated April 3, 1764, and twenty-one citizens signed it .*
It was presented by Col. John Goffe to the governor, and, after taking time enough to consider it, Sept. 21, 1764, with the advice of the council, he gave them a "grant" or "charter," as he called it. We should term it an act of incorporation, and at the present time should expect the General Court to incorporate towns and give charters. But it seems to have been the custom for the governor and council to give them at that time.
The charter commences with a great flourish. The king himself speaks. "GEORGE THE THIRD by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting." Then, after thus announcing himself, he goes on and calls our citizens his "loving subjects"; says they have "humbly petitioned," and thinks that to grant their request will be conducive, by maintaining order and en- couraging the culture of the land, to the general good of the prov- ince, as well as to the inhabitants themselves. He also says he has taken the advice of "Our trusty and well beloved Benning Went- worth, our governor and commander-in-chief, and of our council, for said Province," and they think the township should be incorporated.
* " PROVINCE OF } To his Excellency Bening Wintworth, Esqr Capt. General and' NEW HAMPSHIRE. Governor and commander-in-Chief in and over this his Majesty's Provence of New Hampshire Honnourable his Majesty's Counsel.
" the Humble Pettition of the Inhabitants of that Tract of land known by the name of Hails Town, otherwise called Colo Weares Town, Humbly shewith :
" That your Pettitioners are under grate disadvantages for want the Prviligs of other Towns in this Provence in chusinge Town officers and laying out and manding High-Ways, gitting and supporting a Minister and maney other things that are Netsetry for the good and Bennfit of the Town: Wherefor your Pettitioners Humbly pray your Excelleney and Honors to in Corprate us into a Town, granting us all the Prebilidgs and Immunitys of other Towns in this Provence, and your Pettitioners, as in Dutey Bound, shall ever pray.
" Dated at Hailes Town this 3d day of April, 1764.
" ASA HEATH, STEPHEN GEORGE, CALEB EMORY,
THOMAS WORTHLY, NATHANIEL CORLISS, JOHN MUDGET, JEREMIAH CORLLES
AARON QUINBE,
BENONY COBEN,
WILLIAM HUTCHINS,
BOND LITTLE,
JOSIAH BROWN,
JACOB JEWELL,
JOHN JEWELL,
ABRAHAM JOHNSON,
JEREMIAH ALLEN,
JONATHAN ATWOOD,
STEPHEN EMERSON,
JOHN SIMONS,
STEPHEN EMERSON, JR.,
WILLIAM DARLING."
129
CHARTER.
1764.]
He recites the bounds, making the town six miles square, when in truth it was then seven and is now nearly eight; he annexes a slip ofland on the south which belonged to the Masonian Proprietors, or their grantees, called the gore (it had been previously offered to New Boston, and that town would not have it), and he names the town Weare in honor of Meshech Weare, afterwards the first presi- dent or governor of the State of New Hampshire .*
Then he gives our citizens all the " powers, immunities, fran- chises " and " Prebilidgs " that other towns enjoy.
He reserves all the white-pine trees fit for the use of our royal navy. This will make trouble; the "Surveyor of the King's Woods" has already been to Weare and put the " broad arrow," otherwise called the broad R (R for Rex, the king) on them, and the settlers will not dare to cut them, for there is a very stringent law against it.
The right of dividing the town he also reserves ; to be done when it shall appear necessary and convenient to the inhabi- tants. Many times since it has so appeared to the minority, but the majority of the citizens have always been in favor of unity and preserving the town intact.
He promises that private property shall be held inviolate by the owners, but forgets to say the public has the right of eminent do- main.
He declares that the citizens shall hold town meetings when they please, and by a majority of the voters present, choose all such of- ficers and transact all such affairs " as by the laws are declared."
And then the great king, as the charter tells us, appoints Col. John Goffe, our patron, to call the first town-meeting within the next thirty days, he giving legal notice of the time, place and design of the same.
. He ends by fixing the second Tuesday of March in each year as the time to hold the annual town meeting.
Such was our charter. Benning Wentworth signs it. "The Right Honorable Theodore Atkinson Jr., Esq".," puts his name to it, the great seal is affixed, and it is recorded in the Book of Charters.t
* Some wanted to continue the old name Halestown, for it was popular and had become fixed. Although the charter said Weare, Halestown was used in deeds and other legal papers, petitions and muster rolls of soldiers, as we have seen, till long after the Revolution.
t " PROVINCE OF } GEORGE THE THIRD by the grace of God, of Great Britain, NEW HAMPSHIRE. France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith &cc. To all to whom these presents shall come greeting : Whereas our loving subjects, inhabitants
9
130
HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1764.
It seems wonderful that the great king, who was a blockhead, should know so much about our town and then make such blunders in the area of both the town and gore. But it must be remembered that Benning Wentworth, who was really the king in this case, though he tried to hide as being only the king's adviser, was a great geographer, as we saw in the French war, when he attempted to send a regiment in boats up the Pemigewasset river to Lake Cham- plain and Crown Point, and this may account for it.
Col. John Goffe at once did his duty. He caused a notice to be
on a tract of land within our Province of New Hampshire, aforcsaid by the name of Weare have humbly petitioned and requested that they may be erected and Incorpo- rated into a township and infranchized with the same powers and privileges which other towns have and enjoy within our said Province by law.
" And it appearing unto us to be conducive to the general good of our said Province as well as to the said Inhabitants in particular by maintaining good order and encourag- ing the culture of the said lands that the same should be done; Know ye therefore that we of our especial grace, certain knowledge and for the encouragement and promotion of these good ends and purposes by and with the advice of our trusty and well beloved Benning Wentworth Esqr our Governor and Commander in Chief and of our Council for said Province of New Hampshire have erected and ordained and by these pres- ents for us our heirs and successors do will and ordain that our loving subjects residing on the tract of land aforesaid or that shall hereafter reside and improve thereon the saine being limited and bounded as follows, viz :
Bounds. " Beginning at the Northwesterly corner of a tract of land lately granted by said proprietors to Archibald Stark and others, thence running south eighty five degrees west six iniles, thence south two degrees east six miles, thence noth eighty five degrees east six miles, thence north five degrees west to the corner first mentioned so as to make up the quantity of six miles square. Gore. " Together with a slip of land on the south side of said town being six miles long and one mile in width joining on New Boston :
" Shall be and by these presents are declared and ordained to be a town corpo- rated, and are hereby erected and incorporated into a body politic and corporate to have continuance until His Majesty's pleasure shall be signified to the contrary ;
Name of " By the name of WEARE;
Weare. " With the powers and authoritys, privileges, immunitics and franchises Powers. which any other towns in said province by law hold and enjoy ;
Masts. " Always reserving to us our heirs and successors all white pine trees that are or shall be found growing or being on the said tract of land fit for the use of our royal navy;
Right to di- " Reserving also the power and right of dividing the said town when it vide the town, shall appear necessary and convenient for the benefit of the inhabitants thereof.
Private prop- " Provided nevertheless and it is hereby declared that this our Charter
erty not to be and grant is not intended or shall in any manner be construed to extend
affected. to or affect the private property of the soil within the limits aforesaid; and as the several towns within our said Province of New Hampshire Power to do are by the laws thereof enabled and authorized to assemble and by the town business. majority of the voters present to choose all such officers and transact all such affairs as by the said laws are declared,
John Goffe " We do by these presents nominate and appoint John Goffe Esqr to call
to call first the first meeting any time within thirty days from the date hereof, giv- Town-meeting.ing legal notice of the time, place and design of holding such meeting;
Annual " After which the annual meeting for said town for the choice of officers
meeting, and management of the affairs aforcsaid shall be held within said town- ship on the second Tuesday of March annually.
" In testimony whereof we have caused the scal of our said Province to be here- unto affxed.
" Witness BENNING WENTWORTH ESQR our Governor and Commander in Chief in and over our said Province of New Hampshire the twenty first day of September in ~~ ) the fourth year of our reign. Annoque Domini 1764. " BENNING WENTWORTII L.S. " By His Excellencys Command with advice of Council.
" T. ATKINSON JUNR Sectry.
" PROVINCE OF } September 21, 1769. Recorded in the Book of Charters, No. Page NEW HAMPSHIRE. 272 & 273. p T. ATKINSON JUNK Secry."
131
FIRST TOWN-MEETING.
1764.]
given by Jeremiah Allen, Esq., that the first town-meeting would be held Oct. 9, 1764, at Allen's inn, at ten o'clock in the forenoon. This seems a little irregular and perhaps a page of the record is lost. The business to be done at that time was to hear the charter read, to vote thereon, to choose town officers, to raise money to bear the charges of getting the charter, also to bear the charges of the town till the second Tuesday of March next, and to do any other thing thought proper. Jeremiah Allen signed the call .*
At the appointed time Col. John Goffe t was present. He called
* WARRANT FOR THE FIRST TOWN-MEETING.
" PROVINCE OF 1 These are to Inform and Notify the Inhabitanee of Haels Town NEW HAMPSHIRE. ) or Weares Town. So Caled that they Assemble and met at the House of Left Jeremiah Allens Inholder on Tusday the Ninth of october next at ten of the Clock in the fore Noon then when meet to Chuse Town offecers and to hear the Charter Read and Vot their on and to Raise So much Money as Shall Defray the Charge of the Charter and to bare, the Charges of the Town till the Second Tuasday of March Next and any other thing may be thought proper att Said Metting
JEREMIAH ALLEN " Dated September the 28 Ad 1764
" A true Reccord by me JEREMIAH CORLLES, Town Clark."
+ COL. JOHN GOFFE was born, probably in Boston, in 1701. He was the son of John Goffe, Esq., who was one of the early settlers of Londonderry. Colonel Goffe moved to Derryfied in 1734, and built his cabin near the mouth of Cohas brook, where he resided his whole life, except ten years from 1738 to 1748, when he lived on the west side of the Merrimack, in Bedford. John Goffe, Esq., his father, who died 1748, lived on Colonel John's Cohas brook farm while the Colonel was in Bedford. In early life Colonel Goffe was a hunter, and in some old deed he was called " Hunter John." This pursuit inured him to the hardships of the wilderness, made him all excellent marksman, brought him in frequent contact with the Indians, gave him a knowledge of their manners, customs, and language, and well fitted him for the duties of his after life. Colonel Goffe went with the famous Capt. John Lovewell on his march to Pequawket to fight the Indians, but was left in the fort at Ossipee Lake, from which he retreated with the others. In 1745, during King George's war, he com- manded a company of scouts to protect the Merrimack valley from Indian incur- sions, and also marched companies into the wilderness after the savages in 1746, '47, '48. On the breaking out of the French-Indian war, in 1755, he was the captain of Co. 2, in the first regiment New Hampshire sent to the scene of action. He was major of the New Hampshire regiment in the Crown Point expedition, of 1756; lieutenant- colonel in those of 1757, '58, '59, and colonel of that of 1760. He was in all the engage- ments about Crown Point and Ticonderoga, escaped with his life at the terrible massacre at Fort William Henry, and was present at the surrender of Montreal.
In 1765, he received the grant of the town of Jefferson, then called Dartmouth, in consideration of his public services.
When the war was over he was colonel of the 9th Regt., N. H. Militia, till the Revolution, and it was from him and Colonel Lutwyche, Sheriff Whiting got his posse comitatus to go to Weare. He was a member of the Provincial Legislature, and when New Hampshire was divided into counties in 1771, was made the first judge of probate, and held the office till 1776.
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.