The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 7

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 7

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" Pike and perch from the Suncook taken, Nuts from the trees of the Black hills shaken, Cranberries picked on the Squamscot bog, And grapes from the vines of Piscataquog."

Wonnalancet, son of Passaconaway, and a peaceful chief, was a friend of the English. Kancamaugus, a war-chief, with Mesandowit, killed Major Waldron and twenty-two others at Dover, and carried away twenty-seven captives. Waternomee was killed by Lieut. Thomas Baker at the mouth of Baker river, and Paugus slew Capt. John Lovewell by Lovewell pond in Fryeburg, Me.

Manesquo, a mythical sachem of the Nipmucks, once lived by the Piscataquog. He had a beautiful daughter, whom, at a meeting of the warriors, he accidentally killed, and she was buried with Pasca- gora, an Indian seer, on the island at the river's mouth.

JOE ENGLISH.

1705.]

" An elm-tree sapling growing nigh, Points out the hillock where they lie."

Filled with sorrow the chief and his clan left the land of their birth a lonely solitude, and made their home in the northern wilder- ness.

" And still the Piscataquog rolls its bright water, The island still offers it deep gloomy shade, And where played the maiden, Manesquo's fair daughter, The little bird warbles her sweet serenade."

Fifty years after Manesquo came back to his early home and the graves of his kindred to die.

" Day by day this chief was seen; Roaming about the meadow green ; Now by the brook, now by the bog, Now by the bright Piscataquog."

When the snows of early winter came he was found dead, and tradition has it that he was buried by his daughter's side,

" Where now the island sand-bars clog The mouth of our Piscataquog." - Stark.

One of the last of our Indians who lived in the valley of the Piscataquog was Joe English. He was the grandson of Woscono- met, sagamore of the Agawams at the mouth of the Merrimack. In Queen Anne's war, 1705, he was the firm friend of the whites, and from this fact he got his name. The other Indians thought he told their plans to rob and kill the settlers, and they determined to kill him the first good chance. One day after a weary hunt he had put away his two guns in a hollow tree, which was still alive and grow- ing, to protect them from the dampness of the night,* and was resting in the twilight by his wigwam. A slight noise startled him, and looking sharp he saw three Indians creeping steathily towards him. In a moment he was off for the hill that bears his name. He knew the chances were against him in a long race, so made up his mind to outwit his pursuers. He ran slow, that they might think him an easy prey, and be the more eager to take him. They were almost on him at the top of the hill, when off he went again at great speed, and they strained every nerve to keep up. Joe soon came to the brink of the cliff. Quick as a flash he sprang one side behind a high, jutting rock and held his breath, that they

* The father of Dea. James Cochran of New Boston, found these guns many years after in the same hollow tree, each loaded with three balls. They were highly orna- mented with brass nails. They have been kept in the Cochran family ever since, and often used. Dr. Alonzo F. Carr of Goffstown saw them several years ago.

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1706.

might not hear and find him. It was but a moment; the fast, light steps of his foes were heard flying past, and then with a screech the dark forms went down on the rocks below. Dead! They were food for the eagles and wolves. The hill seen so plainly from South Weare has ever since borne the name "Joe English."

Joe did not dare go back to his wigwam. He made his way to the settlements in the south part of the state, where he thought he would be safe.

But the Indians were determined to have his life, and July 27, 1706, near Dunstable, now Nashua, they ambushed him, shot him through the thigh, and then one of them buried a tomahawk in his brain. Thus died Joe English, the white man's friend; and Massa- chusetts gave a grant to his wife and two children, because, as the words of the grant have it, "he died in the service of his country."*

Lovewell's war broke out in 1723 and lasted three years. Mas- sachusetts offered a bounty of £100 for each Indian scalp. No less than seventeen scouting parties were raised in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire the first two years of the war, and went marching through the north woods hunting for Indians.

Capt. Daniel Peckert led one of these through Weare; the first

* Potter's Manchester, p. 254. Potter says: "Lieutenant Butterfield and his wife were riding betwixt Dunstable and Chelmsford, on horseback, with Joe English as companion and guard, when they fell into an Indian ambuscade. The horse was shot upon the first fire, Butterfield and his wife falling to the ground. The main ob- ject of the Indians being to secure Joe, Butterfield and a soldier made their escape, while the Indians, one of the party being left in charge of Mrs. B., went in pursuit of him. Joe made for the woods, and finding thiem gaining upon him he turned about and presented his gun as if to fire. The Indians fearing his fatal aim fell to the ground, and Joe took to his heels for life. This was repeated several times until Joe had almost gained the thick woods, when one of the Indians fired, breaking the arm with which he held his gun. The gun fell to the ground, and Joe redoubled his speed. Another shot struck his thigh, and he fell. 'Now, Joe,' said they, ' we got you, you no tell English again we come!' 'No,' he retorted, ' Cap'n Butterfield tell that at Pawtucket.' The Indians were alarmed, there was no time for delay, and one of them buried his hatchet in Joe's licad."

t The following is an exact copy of Captain Pecker's scout journal. The original can be found in the archives of the Massachusetts Secretary of State, "38 A."

" CAPT. PECKER'S JOURNAL, DEC. 12, 1723. [The above is written on the back of the original.]

" A journal of my proceedings in my Second March after the Indian Enemy.

" 1723. Novbr. 23. - Victualed part of my Company -

" 24. - Sabbatlı day -

"25. - Victualed the other part of iny Men-

" 26. - Marched from Haverhill -Westward 14 miles -

" 27. - Marched further Westward- 12 miles-

" 28. - We got to Dunstable, -8 miles -Thanksgiving Day -

" 29. - Lay by, by reason of bad Weather-

" 30. - Marched to Nashua River, -8 miles-

" Dec : 1 .- Marched up to Penncclinck Brook about Northwest, being 10 miles - "2. - Marclied about N : W : np to Souhegan & so crossed thic River, -12 miles-

"3. - Marched by Unhenonuck hill, -14 Miles-

"4. - Stecring Northward to a Great Mountain & so sent out a Scont to the hill to sec what they could Discover, being 8 miles-

" 5. - Steering about North & by East up to Poscattaquoag River & so crossed Said River, -12 Miles-

CAPTAIN PECKER'S SCOUT.

1723.]

white men who ever set foot in our town, of whom there is any record. They were from Haverhill, Mass., and setting out Nov. 26, 1723, marched to the west, fourteen miles. It is interesting to fol- low them and note their exaggerated distances. The 27th they made twelve miles, the 28th they got to Dunstable, eight miles, an inhabited town, it being Thanksgiving day, and the 29th they " lay by, by reason of bad Weather." The 30th they struck into the wilderness and marched to the Nashua river, eight miles. They were after the "Indian Enemy," as Captain Pecker's "scout journal" says; to first get their scalps and then the bounty on them. It was said Indians were residing near the height of land be- tween the Merrimack and the Contoocook, and they might also meet some sent down from Canada by the pious Jesuit fathers, to burn houses and barns, kill cattle and murder the settlers. Dec. 1st they reached Pennechuck brook, ten miles. It will be noticed that the places had nearly the same names as at present. The 2d they came to and crossed the Souhegan, twelve miles, and the 3d passed the Unhenonuck hill, fourteen miles. The 4th the captain writes, " Steering Northward to a Great Mountain [it must have been snow- clad ], and so sent out a Scout to the hill to see what they could Discover, being eight miles." It is probable the hill to which the scout was sent was either the Unhenonuck or Joe English; but what was the "Great Mountain " ?

It is very evident that they did not reach any mountain, but only steered towards one. Was it Lyndeborough, or Piscataquog, or, as is more likely, Crotched mountain ? Perhaps it was Mount Kear- sarge, as some have suggested, but it is hardly probable. Dec. 5th they crossed the "Poscattaquoag River," twelve miles ; may be in the town of New Boston or Francestown. Captain Pecker was careful to spell the name of the river correctly, a spelling that many prefer to the present one. Dec. 6th they went over another part of the

"6 .- Steering about N : E: over another part of Poscattaquoag River, about 10 a Clock, I sent Eight Men, under the Command of Jonathan Robin, up to Contoocook River & to return the third day to me at Suncook River, and then went with the rest of my Company to Black Brook, - 14 Miles-

"7 & 8. - lay Still by reason of bad Weather-

" 9. - Marched from Black Brook down to Merrimack River, against Suncook, be- ing a Stormy Day of Snow, the Scout returning to me at night, & told me they had marched up to some of the Southerly Branches of Contoocook River (10 miles) & Dis- covered Nothing -

" 10 .- Marched from Annahookset hill, Crost Merrimack River & So Steering a South Easterly Course, Marched to Great Massapisset pond, - 16 miles-

" 11 .- Marched from Massapisset pond to the Northermost part of Cheshire, -16 miles -

"12. - Marched from thence to Haverhill, -18 miles-

" DANIEL PECKER."

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1723.

" Poscattaquoag," about ten o'clock. This must have been in Weare. Captain Pecker made a halt here, for he sent Jonathan Robin with a scout of eight men to the Contoocook river to look for Indians, and then he marched over the Kuncanowet hills to Blaek brook in Dunbarton, fourteen miles. Black brook had the same name then, in 1723, as now. He lay in camp here two days by reason of bad weather, and the 9th marched from Black brook down to the Merrimack river opposite Suncook, being a stormy day of snow, ten miles. Jonathan Robin* with his scout returned to him at night and reported they had "Discovered Nothing." The next day they marched from Annahookset hill,t "Crost Merri- mack River," and at night reached "Great Massapisset pond," six- teen miles, where they camped. Dec. 11th they came to Cheshire, now Chester, sixteen miles, and the 12th got home to Haverhill, eighteen miles.

It will be seen that they claimed to have marched one hundred and sixty-two miles, when the distance was not half that. But it is slow getting through a trackless wilderness ; and a mile an hour is about as much as a man can make. They had much stormy weather, and theirs was no pleasure party. There was no comfort camping in the forest amid storms of hail and rain, or marching through the falling snow from Black brook over the hills to the Merrimack. Though a bloodless campaign, as it proved, yet at that time none knew how soon the silence of the woods might be broken by death- shots, for they had not then learned that our Indians had gone to the north part of the state on the breaking out of the war .;

There is a tradition that Capt. John Lovewell, the noted Indian fighter, once led a scout, through our town, killing a black moose on the way, to the height of land between the Merrimack and Con- necticut rivers, where he had a fight with the Indians.§ Mount Lovell in Washington is said to have been named for him. We can im- agine him camped with the scout on the bank of the Piscataquog, and can almost smell the cooking venison and see the flash of their knives in the light of their evening fire as they carve out the choicest morsels.

* Jonathan Robin was afterwards killed by the Indians in Capt. John Lovewell's great fight by Lovewell pond, Maine.

t The quartz " Pinnacle."

# Capt. Daniel Pecker was one of the first grantees of Lane's town or New Boston. We have sought in vain in both histories of Haverhill for his name and a list of the men of his scout.

§ Whiton's N. H., p. 72; Hist. of Antrim, p. 314.

ROBERT ROGERS.

1725.]

Lovewell would as soon march in the winter as at any time, his men wrapped in their blankets lying at night on hemlock boughs placed on the snow, with nothing over them but the sky and the stars. He made a trip in mid-winter to the head waters of the Pemigewasset, killed an Indian man and captured a boy whom he carried to Boston, for which he received £200. Soon after he killed ten Indians in a winter's night by a small pond in Wakefield, getting £1,000 for their scalps, and was him- self killed by Paugus and his braves at Lovewell's pond in Frye- burg, Me.

When Lovewell's war was over nearly all our Nipmuck Indians had moved away to Canada, and only small parties strolled through our woods. Robert Rogers, the great scout ranger who lived in the adjoin- ing town of Dunbarton with John Stark, afterwards Maj .- Gen. John Stark of Derryfield, and Samuel Orr of Goffstown, were once hunt- ing on the Asquamchumauke river near Moosilauke mountain. While they were sitting in their camp one rainy day, three Indians called upon them and remained till a little before night, when they departed. Not long after Stark and Orr missed Rogers, who was gone so long they began to have apprehension of his safety, but about midnight he returned and carelessly threw into one corner of the cabin the bloody scalps of the three Indians whom he had tracked and murdered. Stark reproved him for killing these Indians in time of peace. "Oh ! Damn it!" says Rogers, "there 'll be war before another year."

But generally in time of peace both white and red men hunted amicably together. In fact the first white men to come to Weare were hunters. They were plenty in all the woods from soon after David Thompson's first settlement at Little Harbor, and furs were the chief and most profitable export sent to England.

The hunters built their camps near beaver meadows, and by their long lines of culheag traps set for sable, mink and wild cats. They were the most simple dwellings the white men had. Two forked stakes about six feet long were driven into the ground eight feet apart, a pole was laid in the forks for a plate; two more poles for rafters, each some twelve feet long, reach from the plate to the ground in the rear. On these are placed small sticks, the ribs of the roof, and then the top and right-angled triangular sides are covered with spruce bark.

Before the open front, which most often faced the south-east, the

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1735.

fire was built. Moss, dry leaves, green spruce, hemlock or fir boughs made an excellent bed if only spread thick enough, and a good woolen blanket kept them warm frosty nights. The Indians often occupied these camps with the white hunters.

The first settlers of Weare found a stone camp similar to these high up on the Kuncanowet hills. An overhanging ledge formed one side of it, a wall of large stones the other and the north end. It had been covered with bark laid on rough rafters of spruce, and a pile of mold showed the bed of moss and boughs. Among the ashes of the ancient fire were found the charred bones of the moose and bear. This camp was large enough for six men.

Another relic of the early hunters was found by Jonathan Dow on his farm near North Weare when hoeing in rye. It was a steel trap in perfect order, and it was thought a bear was caught in it, died, and the oil from its body kept it from rust. It is told that many years ago before the settlers came, a hunter from down coun- try set a line of traps, was taken sick, went home and died. A friend found most of them, but this was lost. The trap is still in existence and has been in constant use.

The last exploit of the Indians in Weare was with one of these hunters, the last one, perhaps, in our town who mnade hunting a business. In the time of King George's war, 1744-47, Timothy Corliss of Haverhill, Mass., came to Weare to catch beaver and other game. He built his main camp by the Piscataquog, and had other frail ones up the river and its branches. One of these was on the land* since occupied by Joseph Philbrick and others, south-west of Odiorne hill and by the meadows of the Peacock. One day he saw, on the north end of the Hodgdon meadow,t the smoke of an Indian fire, and knowing they were on the war-path and thick in the woods, he left at once. He ran a long way in the bed of the stream to conceal his tracks, and near night came to his main camp. Thinking he was safe he set his gun in its place and began to cook his supper. As he bent over the fire, quick as a flash an Indian caught him round the arms, and turning his head he saw six more behind him. They bound him with a rope that night, and at dawn were off for Canada. Corliss staid there till the next summer, and the war about closing he paid a light ransom and came home.

* The camp was about twenty-five rods from Peacock brook, and near the highway laid out in 1845.

t The fire was in the meadow south of where is now Hon. Moses A. Hodgdon's house.

THE OLD OAK. 1735-1887. The South-east Corner Bound of Weare.

TIMOTHY CORLISS.

1690.]

Afterwards he moved to Weare with his father, and here spent his long life.

In the old French and Indian war, 1755-63, Indians were often prowling round, but they committed no outrage in Weare, though they scared away many of the settlers in the neighboring towns.

When this last war was over, it was common to see them strolling about, and they were well treated by the settlers, who gave them food and let them sleep by their great fire-places. But after the Revolution most went to Canada, and soon one was rarely to be seen.

CHAPTER VIII.

HALESTOWN.

IN 1690 Sir William Phipps,* then governor of Massachusetts, as we have seen, made his ill-fated expedition to Canada. The sol- diers were mostly raised in the various towns of Massachusetts, and Beverly furnished a company. It was a troop of horse, and the General Court ordered it dismounted and formed as infantry. The company did not wish this to be done, and by two of its cor- porals, Samuel Corning and Thomas Raiment, remonstrated, "stating that they were provided for and fully equipped for a troop, and the delay in bringing about the change would delay the public business." The court did not enforce its order, but allowed it to proceed and organize, and William Raimentt was chosen captain.

The names of but few of his men are known. Corporals Corning and Raiment, John 'Grover, James Dennis, Lawrence Dennis,

* Sir William Phipps was a man of brilliant fortune. He was born about 1650, in a small Maine hamlet, and soon went to Boston, where he was first a smith and then a sailor. He got command of a ship and went in search of a Spanish vessel that was lost near the Bahamas, loaded with silver. Luck was with him, and he raised, from the bottom of the sea, treasure to the amount of £300,000, equal to more than a mil- lion dollars of our money. The King of England made first a knight of him for his service, then high sheriff of all New England and after that governor of Massachusetts.

t Capt. William Raymond lived in Beverly1 and so did most of his company, al- though some might have been from Manchester. The Raymonds were early settlers in the former town, and were a numerous family. In a petition to the General Court in 1671, Captain R. spells his name Rayment. It is also spelt in many places Raiment. He was identified with all the public interests of his town, represented it in the General Court, and served it faithfully in the various offices of trust and honor to which he was called. In 1691 he was indemnified by the town for loss sustained as its commissioner in the time of Sir Edmond Andros. He had four children, and some of his descendants still live in Beverly .- Hist. of Beverly, p. 33.

1 In the second parish, near the house of Mr. Isaac Babson.

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1690.

George Trow, Joseph Morgan and Rev. John Hale* are recorded as members of his company.

The soldiers sailed for Canada Aug. 4th, and returned Nov. 20, 1690. They were paid in paper money, the first emission in New England. This soon largely depreciated in value and was a great loss to the men.

With a pretense of patriotism, as has been told, Massachusetts wished to grant the New Hampshire lands for settlement, that she might fortify her claim to them by possession and occupancy, and the government put up these old soldiers or their heirs to petition for townships. Col. Robert Halet was one of the first men of Bev- erly and about that time a member of the General Court. He put in a petition early in 1735 in behalf of the officers and soldiers of Captain Raymond's company, or their heirs, for a township six miles square, and the reason he gave,' why they should be remembered, was that they endured great hardships. He would also have told the truth if he had said they suffered severely by the depreciation of the currency.

The petition was referred to a committee; it reported at once ; the legislature acted promptly, voted the township to "lye" in some suitable place so as not to spoil another one, and that the

* Rev. John Hale went as chaplain. " He had a strong motive for engaging in this military office. The soldiers under the command of Captain Raymond were raised among his parishioners, and he chose to follow them to watch over the morals of so large a portion of the young men of hisflock." Three hundred acres of land were granted, Dec. 31, 1734, to his heirs on account of his services in this expedition, on the petition of Robert Hale, his grandson. - Mass. Hist. Coll., 3 S., vol. vii, p. 268.

t Col. Robert Hale was grandson of Rev. John Hale, the chaplain, and son of Robert Hale. He was born Feb. 12, 1703. When fifteen years old he taught a gram- mar school, graduated at Harvard college in 1721, studied medicine, and about 1723 engaged in a practice that soon extended to all the neighboring towns. The same year he married, first, Elizabeth Gilman, daughter of Col. John Gilman of Exeter, and second, Elizabeth Clarke, daughter of Hon. John Clarke of Boston, Dec. 21, 1737. He had three daughters. He was energetic, had sound judgment and business capacity; was appreciated by his townsmen and chosen surveyor, selectman, as- sessor, town clerk, treasurer, school committee and representative for thirteen years to the General Court, where he was chairman of several important committees and a member of many more. He was a collector of excise, and a justice of the peace for nearly forty years. Doctor Hale made a public profession of religion in 1726; took a great interest in ecclesiastical matters and had a controversy about them.

In 1740 a land bank was established, and Doctor Hale was one of its managers. Governor Belcher, who had moncy schemes of his own, opposed it, and there was trouble between the two men. Doctor Hale resigned his civil and military offices, and Governor Belcher was removed from his office and was succeeded by Gov. William Shirley.

Doctor Hale got a colonel's commission in 1745 and commanded a regiment at Louisburg. He took an active part in the siege and greatly aided in the capture of this Dunkirk of America. He was a commissioner to New York in 1747, to adopt measures for a general defence; to New Hampshire in 1755, to lay the subject of an attack upon Crown Point before this province and solicit aid (Governor Wentworth entered into the plan heartily), and in 1761 was made sheriff of Essex county and discharged the duties of the office with fidelity. Colonel Hale dicd after a long ill- ness in 1767. His name was often spelled "Haile."- Hist. of Beverly, pp. 38, 53.

GRANT OF HALESTOWN.

1735.]

grantees should begin the settlement at once .* The vote recited that each one should build on his lot a house, eighteen feet square and seven feet stud; plow and bring to English grass fit for mow- ing, six acres; settle a learned Orthodox minister, and build a convenient meeting-house for the public worship of God.

It divided the town into sixty-three shares, one of which was for the first settled minister; one for the ministry; and one for a school. Each grantee was to give a bondt in the sum of £20 to do these things in five years, and if any did not they were to forfeit their right to the province.

Col. Robert Hale and John Wainwright, Esq., with whom was joined Ebenezer Burill, by the honorable council, were appointed a committee, Jan. 20, 1735, to lay out the town at the charge of the province.

March 20th, the General Court further ordered that Colonel Hale call a meeting of the grantees to choose a moderator and clerk. The meeting was held, officers chosen, bonds signed for the commit- tee of the General Court, and the town divided into the sixty-three

* A petition of Robert Hale Esq in behalf of the officers & soldiers that were in the Expedition against Canada in the year 1690 under the Command of Capt. William Raymond, most of whom belonged to the Town of Beverly which town has had no grant of land from the Province excepting some few Narraganset soldiers and the heirs of the Petrs Grandfather, that the said soldiers in the Canada Expedition en- dured Great hardship and therefore praying for a grant of land of six miles square for a township for the said soldiers and their Represents.

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The history of Weare, New Hampshire, 1735-1888, Part 7

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