The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 22

Author: Little, William, 1833-1893. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Lowell, Mass., Printed by S. W. Huse & Co.
Number of Pages: 1240

USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Weare > The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888 > Part 22

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* The citation published was as follows :-

" All persons claiming property in the following WHITE-PINE LOGS, seized by order of the Surveyor General in Goffstown and Weare, in the Province of New Hampshire may appear at a Court of Vice Admiralty to be held at Portsmouth, on Thursday the 27th Instant at Ten of the clock A. M. and shew cause why the same should not be declared forfeited agreeable to an Information filed in said Court.

" 200 White Pine Logs from 15 to 30 Inches diameter lying at Richard's mill in Goffs- town.

" 250 Ditto from 15 to 35 inches diameter at Patty's mill,

" 35 Ditto from 36 to 20 ditto at Dow's mill,

" 140 Ditto from 30 to 18 ditto at Asa Patty's old mill,

" 270 Ditto from 36 to 17 ditto at Clement's mill in Weare,

" 154 Ditto from 36 to 15 ditto at Job Rowles' mill,

" Also 74 bundles of Clapboards at Merrimack River.

" Portsmouth, Feb. 5, 1772.

JOHN SHERBURN, D. Rr."

t " [ L. S. ] To SAMUEL BLODGET, of Goffstown, in said province Esq.

" Whereas, His Majesty, by his royal Commission, dated the 16th day of July 1766, hath been graciously pleased to appoint me Surveyor General of all His Majesty's woods, in North America, with power to appoint deputies and under officers to carry the said service effectually into execution ;

" I do, therefore, by virtue of authority vested in me by said commission, appoint and depute you, to preserve the King's woods from trespass or waste, and to put in execution all the acts of Parliament, and Statutes enacted for that purpose, and to do and perform all acts and things whatsoever, to the said office appertaining, in the following Districts, viz :- Goffstown, Bedford, Weare, Pembroke, Allenstown, Bow, Dunbarton, Merrimack, Amherst, Litchfield, Chester, Concord, Boscawen, Hopkin- ton, New Boston, Sanbornton, New Salisbury, Canterbury, Methuen, Wilton, Peter- borough, Temple, Plymouth, New Chester, Alexandria, New Britian, Meredith,

188

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1772.

agreed upon a settlement of the 'Squog valley matters; the men to pay a certain sum, the logs to be given up to them, and the cases dropped. Then Blodget came home ; he had not been quite true to the men who employed him.

Feb. 24th, he sent each offender a copy of a letter he had pre- pared, in which he showed the hypocrite. He said the late seizure had caused him a disagreeable journey to Portsmouth to see the governor for his friends, who have "cut the King's Timber "; that the governor had made him a deputy to put the severe law in force, but that he should be loth to do it "unless obstinate or notorious offenders " should compel him. At the close, he wrote that the governor had put the cases into his hands, and if they would call soon he would make it easy for them .*

Three men from Bedford and fourteen from Goffstown came at once, settled and got their logs.t

But the men of Weare were " obstinate," and maybe, " notorious offenders." They did not come.

Warrants against them were put into the hands of Benjamin Whiting, Esq.,# of Hollis, sheriff of the county, who had already made himself hateful to the people, and he was sent to make arrests

Lyndborough, Henneker, New Amesbury and Camden, all in the aforesaid province, and also Haverhill, Andover, Dracut, Chelmsford, and Ipswich, in the Province of Mass. Bay; Hereby authorizing and requiring you the said Sam. Blodget, to forbid and prevent, by all lawful means, the violation of said acts, and to sieze and Mark for his Majesty's use, all pine timber that you may find cut and hauled from the King's woods, without license first had and obtained from me, and all offenders as aforesaid, to prosecute and to punish, as to law and justice apertains. And you, the said Sam. Blodget are hereby required to return to me an exact account of your pro- ceedings herein, quarterly, from this date, or oftener, if occasion shall require, and for your encouragement to exert yourself with diligence and fidelity in the duties of the said office, you will receive such compensation for your services, as your incrit shall appear to me to deserve, out of the fines and forfeitures only, that may accrue or be levied by your means. This warrant to be in force during pleasure only. Given under my hand and seal, at Portsmouth the 11th day of Febuary, 1772. " J. WENTWORTH.

" SAMUEL BLODGET, ESQ.

" To be Assistant Deputy Surveyor of the woods."

* " GOFFSTOWN, Feb. 24th 1772.

" Sir :- The late seizure of White pine Logs, has caused me a disagreeable journey to Portsmouth, at the special request of a number of my friends, to solicit the Gov- ernor in the behalf of them who have unneccessarily trespassed in cutting the King's timber, &c. His Excellency thought fit to deputise me one of his Majesty's Survey- ors of the King's woods in this Western District, thereby authorizing me to carry the King's laws into execution. As they are very severe, I shall be very loth to prosecute unless obstinate or notorious offenders force it upon me; of which I give you this early notice, at the same time acquaint you his Excellency has pleased to put it in my hands to make the matter casy to you. SAM BLODGET."

t Among the trespassers, werc James McFerson, William McFerson, Thomas Miller, of Bedford, and Thomas Shirley, Alexander Gilchrist, Samuel Kennedy, Joseph Kennedy, John Pattee, Asa Pattec, Ebenezer Hadley, John Hadley, John Clogston, Silas Walker, David McClure, Job Kidder, John Little and Plummer Had- ley, of Goffstown. These settled with Mr. Blodget and their logs were restored.

# Sheriff Whiting was a tory, in the time of the Revolution, and refused to sign the Association Test. His townsmen made it hot for him, he moved to Nova Scotia and never returned .- Hist. of Hillsborough Co., p. 595.

189

BENJAMIN WHITING, ESQ.

1772.]

in the name of the king. He went to Weare, April 13th, with his deputy, John Quigley, Esq.,* of Francestown, for Ebenezer Mudg- ett, the chief of these offenders, who lived on the north road from Clement's mill, now Oil Mill, to South Weare.

It was late in the day when they found him ; he said he would give bail the next morning, and the sheriff and his deputy went to Aaron Quimby's inn, near by, for the night. The news that the sheriff had come for Mudgett spread like wild fire. Scores of men said they would bail him. They met at his house and made a plan how to give it. Mudgett went to the inn at dawn, woke the sheriff, burst into the room and told him the bail was ready. Whiting rose, chid Mudgett for coming so early, and began to dress. Then more than twenty men rushed in, faces blacked, switches in their hands, to give bail. Whiting seized his pistols and would have shot some of them, but they caught him, took away his small guns, held him by his arms and legs up from the floor, his face down, two men on each side, and with their rods beat him to their hearts' content. They crossed out the account against them of all logs cut, drawn and forfeited, on his bare back, much to his great comfort and delight. They made him wish he had never heard of pine trees fit for masting the royal navy. Whiting said : " They almost killed me."

Quigley, his deputy, showed fight; they had to take up the floor over his head and beat him with long poles thrust down from the garret to capture him, and then they tickled him the same way.

Their horses, with ears cropped, manes and tails cut and sheared, were led to the door, saddled and bridled, and they, the king's men, told to mount; they refused, force was applied; they got on and rode off down the road, with jeers, jokes and shouts ringing in their ears.

They were mad; said it was a high-handed outrage and that they would give the Weare men a dose of martial law. They went to Cols. John Goffe, of Derryfield, and Edward Goldstone Lutwytche, of Merrimack, and from their two regiments got a posse comitatus, which, armed with muskets, marched to Weare. But the rioters had fled to the woods, and not a soul of them could be found. Mat- thew Patten, who set out to go to old " Hailstown," perhaps to

* Quigley was also a tory, and " had to leave his country for his country's good." -Prov. Papers, vol. vii, pp. 417, 563, 689.

190

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1772.

act as a justice in the case, says in his journal that he met the soldiers in Goffstown, April 17th, coming home .*

But Sheriff Whiting did not let the matter rest. One of the rioters was soon caught and put in jail ; the rest gave bail to come to court.

At the September term, eight men were indicted .; They were Timothy Worthley, Jonathan Worthley, Caleb Atwood, William Dustin, Abraham Johnson, Jotham Tuttle, William Quimby, hus- bandmen, and Ebenezer Mudgett, yeoman. These names are very familiar in the early history of Weare, and Caleb Atwood, as we have seen, was a worthy member of the Baptist church, and had been a brave soldier in the old French and Indian war.

They were charged with being rioters, routers, disturbers of the peace and with "making an assault upon the body of Benjamin Whiting, Esq., sheriff, and that they beat, wounded and evilly intreated him and other injuries did so that his life was despaired of, he being in the execution of his office," " against the peace of our Lord the King his crown and dignity."

There were present, holding the court, "The Honorable Theo-

* " April 17, 1772 I set out to go to Hailstown on acct of a number of men that Resqued a prisioner from the High Sheriff on last Wednesday morning and abusing the Sheriff and cutting one of his horses ears off the Malitia was Raised and sent up they went up yesterday and I went within a few Rods of John Smiths in Goffstown and I met the High Sheriff & a number more coming home and I turned about and eame home and John Jameson Set the Shoes on my horses fore feet that he made the 13th instant and I writ Seven letters at the desire of the High Sheriff to Several per- sons viz, 7 of them in Goffstown and of the foraging Disturbance this week."

t " ANNO REGNI REGIS GEORGII TERTII DUEDECIMO.

"PROVINCE OF { At his Majesty's Superior Court of judicature held at Amherst NEW HAMPSHIRE. Sin and for the County of Hillsborough on the second Tuesday in September in the twelfth year of his Majesty's reign and in the Ycar of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy two.

" Present The HONORABLE THEODORE ATKINSON EsQr. Chief Justice.

MESHECH WEARE

" The Honble LEVERETT HUBBARD ( WILLIAM PARKER

Esqrs Justices.

" The Jurors for our Lord the King upon their oaths do present that Timothy Worthly, Jona Worthly, Caleb Atwood, William Dustin, Abraham Johnson, Jotham Tuttle and William Quimby all of Weare in the County of Hillsborough, Husbandmen & Ebenezer Mudget of Weare aforesaid Yeoman, did at Weare aforesaid on the 14th day of April last with force and arins as Rioters, Routers & disturbers of the Peace of the said Lord the King riotously and unlawfully assemble and gather themselves together to disturb the Peace & being so assembled & gathered together in and upon the body of one Benjamin Whiting Esq. Sheriff of the same County in the Peace of the said Lord the King & in the execution of his Office then and there being, an assault made & him then and there beat, wounded & evilly intreated so that his life was despaired of and other injuries to the said Benjamin Whiting then and there did, to the great damage of the said Benjamin Whiting and against the peace of the said Lord the King his crown and dignity.

" The said Timothy Worthly, Jonathan Worthly, Caleb Atwood, William Dustin, Abraham Johnson, Jotham Tuttle, William Quimby and Ebenezer Mudget being arraigned at the Bar severally pleaded that they would not contend with our Lord the King but submit themselves to his grace.

" It is therefore considered that they pay each a fine of Twenty shillings and costs of prosecution standing committed till sentence be performed."

191

OPPRESSIVE ACTS.

1772.]

dore Atkinson Esqr., Chief Justice," and " The Honorables Meshech Weare, Leverett Hubbard and William Parker Esqrs., Justices."

They were arraigned before this august tribunal and severally pleaded that they " would not contend with our Lord the King but submit themselves to his grace."

They were ordered to pay a fine of twenty shillings each, and costs of prosecution, "standing committed till sentence be per- formed."

It was a very light fine. Such a slight punishment for so great an outrage on the sheriff of the county, when serving a legal pro- cess, seems to show that the court had more sympathy for the men who cut the logs, and regard for popular sentiment, than for the sheriff and the odious pine tree law.

England, at this time, was trying to oppress her provinces by compelling them to pay taxes to support her extravagant home government, in which they had no part. America said "no tax- ation without representation," and meant it. The mother country, as she styled herself, had enacted the Stamp Act, the Sugar Act and imposed a duty on tea. The citizens of Portsmouth burnt George Meserve, the stamp master, in effigy, made him give up his com- mission and take an oath that he would not perform the duties of the office; they seized and bound the custom-house officers and landed molasses without paying any duty, and would not suffer tea to be received at their wharves. In Boston they threw the tea into the harbor,- the " tea party." These laws were odious, and no one was punished for violating them, although Governor Wentworth offered $200 reward to find out the rioters. Public sentiment, as in the pine tree case, was on their side.

The pine tree law, as it was enforced, was more oppressive and offensive to the citizens of New Hampshire than all the above acts combined, and contributed more to unite the yeomanry in hostility to the British government. The only reason why the " Rebellion " at Portsmouth and the " Boston tea party " are better known than our Pine Tree Riot is because they have had better historians. The bitter feeling, that grew out of these and other laws, soon culminated in the Revolution.

192

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1774.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE REVOLUTION.

TAXATION without representation was the cause of the war. The sugar tax, the tea tax, the Stamp Act, the law that all our ex- ports and imports should be sent to, or brought from, England, the prohibition to cut pine trees, all without the consent of the peo- ple, were held to be great grievances. Out of these grew the Boston Port Bill, the Mutiny Act, the Boston Massacre, the attempt to govern by force, and the quartering of troops on the people. The citizens protested against these things, all the time affirming their loyalty to the king, and did not know they were so soon to be involved in war.

At the suggestion of Virginia, committees of correspondence were formed in all the provinces, and by them a strong bond of union was created. The New Hampshire General Court or Assem- bly, in the spring of 1774, chose a Committee of Safety, and took measures to stem the tide of British oppression. Our royal gov- ernor, John Wentworth, tried to defeat the wishes of the repre- sentatives ; and when he soon found he could not, adjourned them.

Then the Committee of Safety at once called them to meet to consult for the public good. They did so in their hall. The governor and his sheriff came in and dispersed them. They met in another room and provided to send circulars to all the towns in the province, to choose delegates to a convention to be held at Exeter, July 27, 1774. Eighty-five men met at that date, and formed the first New Hampshire congress. By invitation of Massachusetts, they chose delegates to the proposed Continental Congress, to be held at Philadelphia, to consult on public affairs. The latter met Sept. 5, 1774.

This meeting of congress was contagious, and many county con- gresses were held. There were three at Amherst, for the county of Hillsborough ; the first one meeting Nov. 8, 1774. They were to preserve peace and good order in the county. Weare took a lively interest in them, but sent no delegate.

All these things roused the people ; they began to arm and drill ; they formed companies, chose leaders-prepared to march at a minute's warning ; hence were called minute-men. Weare had its " train band," "alarm list " and " Sons of Liberty."

193

THE LEXINGTON ALARM.

1775.]

General Gage, who commanded the British troops in Massa- chusetts, was alarmed. He at once began to fortify Boston, and seized all the powder he could find in that vicinity. Word came that he would visit New Hampshire to make seizures. The Sons of Liberty, afraid they would lose their own, hid it, and determined to add to their store. Four hundred men went to Fort William and Mary, in Portsmouth harbor, took and carried away ninety-seven barrels of powder, sixty stands of arms, sixteen cannon, and secreted them. Some of this powder was afterwards used at Bunker hill.

Our town took note of this and laid in a stock of powder and lead. The town also voted at its March meeting to raise £4 1s. for the Continental Congress.

Massachusetts gathered more supplies, arms and ammunition ; General Gage threatened to take these also, and the minute-men pledged themselves to resist him.

The Committee of Safety arranged to give notice if any expedi- tion should leave Boston, and the town committees provided men with fleet horses to spread the alarm.

General Gage, in the night of April 18, 1775, secretly sent off a body of soldiers to destroy the military stores collected at Concord. But the Sons of Liberty were alert, they saw the soldiers set out ; a lantern, the agreed signal, was hung in the steeple of the Old North church; Paul Revere rode night-express to let the people know the British were coming; the minute-men were roused, the royal soldiers met a sturdy resistance, and at the north bridge in Concord " was fired the shot heard round the world."

Horsemen spread the news through all the land. It reached Derryfield and Bedford about noon of the same day, and some fleet rider brought it up the Piscataquog to Weare. Every man in town knew it by the next morn.

Capt. Jonathan Atwood commanded the minute-men of Weare, and at dawn, with twelve of them, he was off to the scene of action .*

* THE LEXINGTON ALARM.

" State of New-Hampshire Debtor April 1775 -

" To part of the Inhabitants of Weare, for time and expences during our march to Cambridge, and return upon the Lexinton alarm. Our Names are as follows -

£ S

" Capta Jonathan Atwood and Horse 7 days eight shillings per day. 2 16

0 Caleb Atwood and Horse, 6 days, and expenses six shillings per day. 1 16 0

0 Nath' Weed, and horse and expences 6 days six shillings per day. 1 0 16

0 Mark Flood, 6 days, and expence, four shillings per day .... 1 0 0 4

Samuel Wathing 6 days and expences. four shillings per day. 1

Samuel Colwell, 9 days, and expences. four shillings per day .. 1 16 0

0 0 Abraham Melvin 6 days and expence. four shillings per day. 1 4

Samuel Brocklebank 6 days and expence. four shillings per day 1

0 0

194

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1757.

They had four horses to carry the provisions and baggage, and they made quick time to Cambridge. They took turns riding, " ride and tie," as it was called, and they got there without much fatigue. They found that the British had retreated to Boston, terribly whipped ; that nothing could be done just then, and so at the end of six days they were at home again. Years after, at the request of the state, they put in a bill for their services.

The man who brought the news did not tell the result of the battle, and the report came to Weare that the regulars were coming through the country, burning houses, killing cattle and murdering the people. There was a panic, and families at once began to hide their property and look out a safe place for themselves in the woods. Mrs. Samuel Philbrick, whose husband was then at Sea- brook or Newburyport on business, told Samuel Cilley, their hired man, to mount the horse and ride till he found out the truth of the story and then come back and report. He went as far as Dunstable, now Nashua, where he stopped over night, learned the result of the fight and hurried back with the news, much to the delight of the people. Jonathan Marble, who lived in the north-west part of the town, tried to quiet the fears of his neigh- bors. He said the red-coats would never get to Weare, for Uncle Merrill, who had charge of the ferry over Merrimack river at Derryfield, would not ferry them across. Mrs. John Muzzy called her children round her, six in number, and said " we will make sure of the maple sugar before the regulars get here." So they ate it all, in a very short time, the children gorging themselves to their great delight.

New Hampshire was all alive. Its third congress* met at Exeter two days after the Concord fight. They elected Col. Nathaniel Folsom commander of the New Hampshire troops, recommended the towns to supply the soldiers who had gone from them with

Phillip Hoit 6 days, with his Horse and expences. 6 shillings per day ... 1 16 0

0 Aaron Quimby 6 days and expences. four shillings per day .. 1 4

Mardin Emerson 6 days, and expenees. four shillings per day. 1

0 0 Ephraim Hadley 6 day and expence four shilling per Day. 1 4

0 0 Levi Hovey nine Day at 4s ... 1 16

" STAT OF NEWHAMPSHIRE, SS } Weare January 3th yr 1787 Then the within named

HILLSBOROUGH Cpt Jonathan Atwood Caleb Atwood Nathaniel Weed Mark Flood Samuel Worthin Abraham Malvin Mardin Emerson and Epharim Hadley and Sam' Colwell Personaly appeared and made Solom oath to the within a Count as true before me SAMEL PHILBRICK, Justise Pece "

* The second New Hampshire congress was held at Exeter, Jan. 25, 1775; onc hun- dred and forty-four members present. It chose delegates to the Continental Con- gress, a committee to call future congresses and voted a spirited address to the people.

195

THE FOURTH CONGRESS AT EXETER.

1775.]

food and other necessaries, and to provide £500 worth of provision for the public use.

In the mean time all the towns were raising men and hurrying them away to the seat of war. Weare sent thirty-six men to Cam- bridge: twelve of them went for six weeks ;* eight for two months ;; three for six months ;# eight for eight months ; § three for nine months ; | one for eleven months, T and four for twelve months .** Seven other Weare men were also in Massachusetts reg- iments at this time.tt

Something further must be done for the organization of the pro- vincial troops, the raising of supplies and the internal management of the civil affairs of the province. So a convention was called, to meet at Exeter, May 17th, " to adopt and pursue such measures as shall preserve and restore the rights of this and the other prov- inces." The chairman of the third congress had sent circulars to every town, urging them to elect deputies to this, the fourth con- gress, fully empowered to act in behalf of themselves and constitu- ents for six months.

Weare got a circular, called a town-meeting, and Maj. Samuel Page was elected her deputy. The congress met, and, adjourning several times, sat for six months. Major Page was paid for fifty- five days attendance, and for five hundred miles travel to the various sessions.## He was Weare's first representative.

The congress acted vigorously. They voted to raise a force of two thousand men and to adopt those already in the field, they to form three regiments, under John Stark, James Reed and Enoch

* " A list of those men that went to Cambridge for six weeks, year 1775.

"Nathaniel Weed, John Mudget

Mark Flood

Jonathan Hadlock WilliamQuimby

Jeremiah Page Joseph Hadlock Ebenezer Sargent

Enos Ferren

Samuel Ayer Lieut. Ebenezer Bailey James Brown."

t " A list of those men that went to Cambridge for two months, year 1775. " Marden Emerson, Jacob Carr, Joseph Colby Asa Heath

Joshua Maxfield, Joseph Huntington Jesse Bailey Daniel Watson."

+ " Aaron Quimbe Henry Tuxbury Jonathan Worthley "

§ " A list of those men that went to Bunker Hill for eight months, 1775.

" Jonathan Page Reuben Trusel John Flanders Ephraim Hadley

Stockman Sweat Ebenezer Sinclear Jacob Flanders Samuel Caldwell Junr."

|| " A list of those men that went to Cambridge " 9 month's service.

" Thomas Coben, Stockman Sweat, Benjamin Sweat." T " Moses Flood served 11 months."

** " A list of those men that went to Cambridge" etc. "12 months service."

" Jacob Carr, Reuben Trusel, John Kimball, Samuel Caldwell, Junr."

tt " Men in Mass. regts. Col. Paul D. Sargent's Regt. Capt. James Perry's company, Oct. 6, 1775. Halestown [Weare] Men Abraham Webster, Benoni Coburn, Samuel Silsby, Bradbury Mills. Col. John Nixon's Regt. of Mass. Capt. Moses McFarland's Co. Weare Men Serg. William Hutchins, Joshua Willit, Thos Sheppard." - State Papers, vol. xv, pp. 740, 742.

## Provincial Papers, vol. vii. p. 666.

196

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1775.

Poor, colonels ; the whole to make a brigade, commanded by Gen. Nathaniel Folsom. They chose a committee of supplies "for the army "; a " Committee of Safety," to be the supreme executive of the province; set up a post-office at Portsmouth, with riders to various parts of the state; asked the selectmen of the towns to procure fire-arms and send them to Colonel Stark's soldiers, and voted to fit eight cannon with carriages for the field. They also passed a vote of thanks to those who took the powder and other stores from Fort William and Mary.

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The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 22

Author: Little, William, 1833-1893. cn Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Lowell, Mass., Printed by S. W. Huse & Co. Number of Pages: 1240

Author: Little, William, 1833-1893. cn
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Lowell, Mass., Printed by S. W. Huse & Co.
Number of Pages: 1240