USA > New Hampshire > Rockingham County > Windham > The history of Windham in New Hampshire (Rockingham country). 1719-1883. A Scotch settlement (commonly called Scotch-Irish), embracing nearly one third of the ancient settlement and historic township of Londonderry, N.H > Part 27
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Boxes of clothing have been sent to the unfortunate and needy in different parts of the country. The hearts of destitute and suffering ones have been gladdened, and their pressing wants
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
alleviated, by the remembrances of this society. And when the war came, with its sacrifices, the brave soldier was not forgotten. The soul of many a war-worn and suffering soldier was gladdened by receiving articles which added to his comfort, and eased the agony of cruel wounds. The amount of value contributed in clothing and in money, by this society, and in the proceeds of festivals by our citizens, for the Sanitary and Christian commis- sions, was nearly $650.
After the war their attention was turned to the freedman, and he was aided. Since that time the society has aided in freeing the Religious Society from its debt upon the parsonage. Since 1873 it has contributed for repairs made upon the church in 1874: for the parsonage, $1,130; for the church, $2,176. The amount contributed by this organization for different benevolent purpo- ses, is $4,730. This does not include the cost of the pulpit about 1853, nor the proceeds of some of the earlier "tea parties."
Taken all in all, this society has done a work upon which it can look with eminent satisfaction. Its members have sought out the suffering ones and given relief; they have cheered the hearts of the destitute by timely gifts ; the missionary at home and abroad has felt their aiding hand; the brave men who bore aloft the star- emblazoned flag of the Republic, during the assaults of treason upon the government, received many tokens of kind remem- brance; and those members of a long-suffering and enslaved · race, the freedmen, have been recipients of their kindness.
" They have found the Lord in their suffering brothers, And not in the clouds descending."
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SLAVERY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. ·
CHAPTER XXV.
SLAVERY IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. - ANOTHER CENSUS IN 1775. - THE ANTI- SLAVERY MOVEMENT .- ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY IN WINDHAM, APRIL 8, 1834.
SLAVERY was never legalized, or established by authority of law, in New Hampshire; but as it existed in other colonies, it crept in here, was tolerated, and regulated by law, so that Indian and negro servants or slaves were owned and held as property .* They were taxed as other property. In 1728, each negro, mulatto, or Indian slave, being male, was assessed at £20; each woman slave was excluded.t In fact, slaves were taxed to their owners like horses, oxen, or any other property, till the adoption of the State Constitution in 1784, and even till 1789, when by the new apportionment of taxable property, passed Feb. 8, 1789, "male and female servants were expunged " from the list. Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, D. D., compiler of Provincial and State Papers of New Hampshire, thinks that by the adoption of the first and second clauses in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution of the State, virtually and in effect slavery was abolished in New Hampshire.
The first clause is, 1. " All men are born free and independent ; therefore, all enforcement of right originates from the people, is founded in consent, and instituted for the general good." 2. " All men have natural, essential, and inherent rights, among which are the enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and in a word, of seeking and obtaining happiness."
By the passage of this act, Feb. 8, 1789, slavery ceased to be known as an institution of the State. No enactments on the sub- ject can be found subsequently upon the statute-books of the State. The institution had been weighed in the moral balances by the peo- ple of the State, and found wanting. It had been brought before the moral sense of a Christian people, and decided to be wrong ; when so decided, it was' by legislative enactment consigned to death, and buried.
The fact, that by the adoption of the State Constitution, in 1784, " slavery was in fact terminated, and a very large propor- tion of those held as slaves availed themselves of their liberty,
* Town Papers, vol. ix, p. 896.
+ Provincial Papers, vol. iv, p. 499.
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
or were discharged ; vet, as a portion of them still remained in the families where they had lived, and perhaps did not desire a change, they were inadvertently reckoned by the census-takers under the head of ' slaves,' no discrimination being made in re- gard to their condition, though in reality free. No other suppo- sition can explain the inconsistency of the census returns at dif- ferent periods."
ANOTHER CENSUS IN 1775.
In 1775 the number of "negroes and slaves for life " in New Hampshire was 657 ; in 1790, six years after the adoption of the Constitution, 158; by 1800, 8; by 1810, 0; in 1830, 3; in 1840, 1, -mistake of census-taker.
While such is the history of the institution in the State, we shall have brief notices of its existence in Windham. Allusions are occasionally made to "slaves " upon the records of the town. In 1767, there were four slaves in town; in 1773, there were thirteen, five males and eight females. Sept. 15, 1775, the num- ber of "negroes and slaves for life " was thirteen.
In 1785, Windham voted the use of Pew No. 36 in the church for negroes, if their masters would pay rates.
On the second day of June, 1786, there were " nine Blacks living with there masters."
In 1788, Dec. 15, the town again voted the use of Pew No. 36 in the church for slaves, if "their masters " apply to the said committee for the same.
In censuses taken after 1790, no slaves are mentioned, but colored persons are alluded to.
So ends the history of the peculiar institution in New Hamp- shire ; but it did not die so easily in the nation. It developed with wonderful rapidity, till State after State was controlled utterly by it. It became a dominating power in the nation ; its demand become so obnoxious, that the consciences of good men and women were aroused, and an agitation on the subject com- menced, which ceased not till the manacles of four millions of slaves were melted away by the flames of the great rebellion.
THE ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT.
William Lloyd Garrison, the apostle of this crusade, started a paper called " The Liberator," Jan. 1, 1831, and advocated im- mediate and unconditional emancipation of the slaves in the country. It caused intense excitement. Saints and sinners for- got their warfare, and for once were united in condemnation of his doctrines, and that the abolition movement should cease. Benjamin Chase, in his History of Chester, N. H., says : "Eccle- siastical bodies passed resohitions denouncing abolition, and religious newspapers and theological quarterlies published long and labored articles defending slavery from the Bible." George
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ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY IN WINDHAM, 1834.
Thompson, the celebrated English champion of human rights, was mobbed in Concord, N. H. Oct. 21, 1835, about five thou- sand gentlemen of wealth and influence turned out in a mob and quelled a meeting of the Female Antislavery Society in Boston. Politicians and clergymen vied with each other in their devotion to slavery, and in their effort to squelch the emancipation move- ment.
In explanation of the position taken by many of the Presbyterian clergymen at that time, the Hon. John C. Park, of Boston, says : " They were Bible men. They found slavery unrebuked in the Bible, as was concubinage, and other social evils, which the spirit of Christianity has redressed. They did not appreciate the advance which society had made under the light of the Gospel. This is the only solution I can give to such a strange, but acknowl- edged, state of things."
An American Antislavery Society was formed, "The Libera- tor" found its way to Windham, and Dea. Jonathan Cochran and others were its readers before 1834. They became convinced of the monstrous wickedness of human slavery, and never ceased their opposition to the same till Abraham Lincoln, by the stroke of his pen, Jan. 1, 1863, declared it abolished, which a million of loyal bayonets made certain upon the battle-field, and which was afterwards made forever secure by National enactments, and by adoption into the Constitution of a redeemed and purified nation.
ANTISLAVERY SOCIETY IN WINDHAM, APRIL 8, 1834.
The friends of antislavery in Windham met on the twenty- eighth day of April, 1834, and formed a society with the follow- ing constitution : -
We, the undersigned, hold that every person of full age and sane mind has a right to freedom from personal bondage, of whatever kind, unless imposed by the sentence of the law for some crime.
We hold that man cannot, consistently with reason, religion, and the immutable principles of justice, be the property of man.
We hold that whoever retains his fellow-man in bondage is guilty of violating the laws of God. and injuring the best interests of society.
We hold that a mere difference of complexion is no reason why any man should be deprived of his natural rights, or subjected to any political disability.
While advancing these opinions as the principles on which we mean to act, we declare that we will not operate, on the existing relations of society, by any other than peaceable means, and that we will give no countenance to violence or insurrection.
With these declared principles, they formed the " Windham Antislavery Society, auxiliary to the National Antislavery Society."
The object of this society was, "by all means sanctioned by law, humanity, and religion, to effect the abolition of slavery in the United States ; to improve the character and condition of the
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
colored people ; to inform and correct public opinion in relation to their condition, and to obtain for them equal privileges with the whites."
Rev. Calvin Cutler, Jeremiah Morrison, Dea. David Campbell, and Dea. Jonathan Cochran were among the most active leaders in this movement. Among its members were the following per- sons : Rev. Samuel Harris, Rev. Calvin Cutler, Dea. Jacob Harris, Dea. Jonathan Cochran, Jeremiah Morrison, Dea. Theo- dore Dinsmoor, Dea. Samuel Anderson, Giles Merrill, Dr. Daniel L. Simpson, Dea. David Campbell, David Campbell, 2d, John Hills, J. A. Burnham, James Burnham, Stephen Fessenden, and many others.
The solid, substantial men of the town were the active mem- bers of this society. The society had frequent meetings, and succeeded in awakening and keeping alive a strong and healthy public sentiment on this great question, now settled. And here let the fact be recorded, to the everlasting honor of the town, that from the organization of that society till the settlement of the slavery question, the public sentiment of Windham was over- whelmingly antislavery. It was positive, earnest, aggressive. It believed in no compromise. And when treason against the nation, in the form of the slaveholders' rebellion, endangered the life of the republic and the liberty of man, it said, Let slavery, the monster, die ! When slavery was dead, it uttered songs of thanks- giving over its accursed grave.
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IMPORTANT EVENTS FROM 1719 TO 1821.
CHAPTER XXVI.
IMPORTANT EVENTS FROM 1719 TO 1821 -COLORED PEOPLE - WITCH STORY -STRANGE PEOPLE - ANECDOTES - THE MINISTER'S DISAP- POINTMENT - FIRST DEATH AND BURIAL IN WINDHAM, ABOUT 1721 -FEVER AND AGUE -FIRST FRAMED HOUSE - INCORPORATION OF WINDHAM, 1742-CHANGE OF DATES FROM OLD STYLE TO NEW, 1752 - THE DARK DAY OF MAY 19, 1790 - THE WILLOW TREE, 1780-82. -THE GREAT FROST, MAY 17, 1794 -THE GREAT MUSTER STORM OF 1801 OR 1802 - THE COLD FRIDAY, JAN. 19, 1810 - SPOTTED FEVER, 1812- FIRST WAGON, 1813 -THE GREAT SEPTEMBER GALE OF 1815 - THE LIBERTY POLE AND FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION, 1815 - POVERTY YEAR, 1816. - SABBATH BREAKING IN 1818. - GREAT GALE, SEPT. 9, 1821.
THIS town has never been largely populated with colored peo- ple. Near the commencement of the present century, a family of negroes lived in a house which stood on the road from George Copp's house, over his hill to Isaac Emerson's.
Rose, Pomp, and Jeff, three negroes, lived in town. Rose lived and died at 'Squire John Dinsmoor's (the John Kelley place). Jeff died at 'Squire John Nesmith's (Horace Berry's place). When he went to church he did not go inside, but sat in the porch. Pomp died in town. They were all buried in that part of the original cemetery on the hill, in the southeasterly corner, near the highway. In the grave they find perfect equality, which they never found while living. In its unbroken silence there is no distinction between white and black, bond or free, cultured or ignorant, and the quietness of peace resteth over all.
Peter Smith was brought from Salem, Mass., and was always called Peter Thom, because he lived with Benjamin Thom, in the Range. He was killed by a falling tree.
The "Old Harry House," which in a ruined condition still stands a short distance north of Jacob A. Nesmith's, between the two roads. It once stood opposite Mr. Nesmith's house, and was used and occupied as a. millinery room by Maria Dinsmoor, daughter of the " Rustic Bard." It was afterwards moved to its present position, and occupied by a colored man named Harry Chew. He married a colored lady of Exeter, and they had two children. One daughter grew up, and they removed to Salem, Mass. The daughter became quite a musician ; could "play on the piano "; her mind was filled with pride, in which her mother shared, and the father they would not permit to live at home ;
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
and in his old age and in poverty he found a place of refuge in the almshouse of that city, where he died.
WITCH STORY.
" Old Rif" was a colored man, and slave of Robert Smith's. One day, while out gunning with George Simpson, they became lost. They thought they knew every inch of the ground. The sun was fast sinking behind the western hills, and they came to a halt. At that moment they saw a rabbit standing upon its hind legs, looking at them ; they tried to frighten it away, but it would not away at their bidding. "Old Rif" knew that the rabbit was bewitched, and he had heard that to shoot silver sleeve-buttons at a rabbit would destroy the witch. So he loaded his gun, putting in his silver sleeve-buttons, and shot the rabbit. The witch was instantly killed, their minds immediately became clear, the ground at once became familiar, the pathway was plain before them, and they readily and quickly found their way home. He was said to be the last slave in New Hampshire, and died not far from 1842.
Other colored people have lived in town, of whom no account will be given except as found in the families in which they lived. (See Hemphill family.)
STRANGE PEOPLE.
Among those strange beings who have lived in town, and wan- dered about among our people, a few will be mentioned.
Ki Vickus. - His looks were very repugnant. He was short, thiekset, with short neck, and piercing small eyes, which looked out from under shaggy eyebrows, and a bushy, neglected head of hair. He was simple, and was often imposed upon. He would always obey orders. If asked to pray, he would pray; if asked to preach, he would try. Once, when asked to preach, he con- sented, and was told that a pulpit would be prepared. A molas- ses hogshead was filled with water, and the head slightly laid on. He mounted the pulpit and got under good headway with his preaching, when the head fell in and he with it. Another time, when asked to pray for corn, he said, "Give us corn, - yea, Lord, corn already shelled."
Billy Thompson one day met an acquaintance, and in a slow, drawling manner, said, " I was down to Pelham last Sunday, and heard Rev. Mr. Church preach. He said that Simon Peter's wife's mother lay sick of a fever. Have you heard from her within three or four days ?"
Fanny Adams was helped by the town. An innocent pecu- liarity of hers was that she would always try to sing when re- quested ; and when doing so, the contortions of her face made the young people laugh. One of her favorite songs began, " When Adam was born he lived in the Garden of Eden." The following curious incident occurred at her funeral, in the winter
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STRANGE PEOPLE. - ANECDOTES.
of 1824, in connection with John Wortkins. Now John was a shrewd pedler, and would never give a direct answer, nor would he reveal his previous history. If asked where he came from, he would say, "I came from the moon." At the funeral previously alluded to, Rev. Samuel Harris commenced to speak a few words to the inmates of the almshouse individually ; and as John was nearest him, he began as follows, slowly and solemnly, " Mr. Wortkins, you are getting far advanced in years." Mr. Wort- kins broke in quickly, " Yes, yes; a hundred and forty." The minister smiled, and all farther exhortation ceased.
Mr. Durgin, or Dugan, was an eccentric character, and reticent in regard to his previous history. He was the Nimrod of the day, a mighty hunter, and with his long gun, he was often seen pass- ing with lengthy strides from thicket to thicket, in pursuit of game.
ANECDOTES.
An early minister of Windham, whose mind at times was not well balanced, had preached during the Sabbath-morning service about Nebuchadnezzar. At its conclusion he remarked, "Now we will turn Nebuchadnezzar out to grass, and in the afternoon we will harness him in again." This happened in the old church on the hill.
Giles Merrill, of Windham, was teaching school in a neighbor- ing town, and for the first few days he permitted the scholars to do about as they chose. Following the custom of the times, he set the copy in the writing-books for his scholars, which was, " New teachers, new laws." One of his large boys enlarged upon the text so it would read, -
" New teachers, new laws," New devil, sharp claws.
He subsequently wished he had followed the copy.
Joseph - - was not like Joseph, the son of Jacob of old, for instead of going to see how his brothers were prospering with the flocks of sheep under their care, he concluded to have a flock of his own. So in the woods he built a pen of pine boughs, and put into it six or eight sheep belonging to his neighbors. To prevent the owners from knowing their sheep by the marks upon their ears, he cut off their ears close to their heads. This was an index to the man's character.
In early days, all drank liquor more or less. The Rev. John Kinkead took liquor to excess. The Rev. David McGregor, of Londonderry, labored to have him renounce the soul-destroying practice. Usually, when he came to visit Mr. Kinkead, the latter was so much under the influence of intoxicants that his visits were fruitless of good. One morning he started bright and early for Windham, hoping to find his ministerial brother before he had partaken of liquor. He arrived at Mr. Kinkead's and rapped at the door, when his brother's head soon appeared
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
from an upraised window, and seeing his visitor said, "Hatch your horse and come in." By the time he entered Mr. Kinkead stood at the table pouring out the toddy, and exclaimed, -
" A dram in the morning is good for the sight, Drink hard all day, ye will sleep well at night. When ye are sleeping, ye are thinking of no evil,
A good deal of good comes from hard drinking after all."
Will ye have a dram, Mr. Mc Gregor ?"
Mr. Kinkead used to preach to his people against indulging in strong drink, and said, " Don't do as I do, but do as I tell ye."
Daniel Campbell, of Amherst, a native of Windham, died in his one hundredth year. A short time before his death, another aged man visited him, and as he departed, said, "We are very old, and it is uncertain about our meeting again." "I don't know, " said Campbell; "it is seldom you hear of men of our age dying."
An acquaintance sold Samuel Campbell a cheese. Campbell immediately sent back word, asking if he had any more such cheeses for sale, for said he, "I am making a pair of cart-wheels, and I want the cheeses for hubs. I can't find any white oak that will compare with them for toughness."
A good deacon lost his wife, and his mind reverted to a very nice widow who had land. He went to his brother, and asked him, if he married Peggy if he would have the land. His brother replied, " I swow, Sam, if it is the farm you want, marry the farm; if it is Peggy you want, marry Peggy," -which he did.
THE MINISTER'S DISAPPOINTMENT.
One of the earliest ministers of Windham (probably not a set- tled pastor) wooed and engaged to marry a lady of the parish. The day was set for the nuptials. He went to Boston to pro- cure his wedding garments. Soon after he left, his sweet enchan- tress eloped with another and married him. The minister's friends knew that he could ill afford to purchase an outfit for a wedding which had become impossible, and immediately dispatched Alexander Park on his very fleet horse, to go to the tailor's in Boston, apprise the minister of his loss, and prevent him from procuring his outfit. In this he succeeded by going to Boston on horseback (the only mode of travelling in those days) in an incredibly short time.
Dr. Harris, of Salem, was attending a patient in the east of Windham, and left his medicine with the "gude wife, " telling her she might "put some religion into it and give it to the patient." She asked what he meant by "religion " in the medi- cine. He replied, " Why, new rum, of course." The doctor was fond of his toddy.
A man not much given to political matters, always deferred to
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FIRST DEATH AND BURIAL IN WINDHAM, 1721.
Dea. Samuel Morison. He said, " I have a wee round head, and } vote as Deacon M. does." At a town-meeting, the article being acted upon was to see if the town would vote to put a steeple on the meeting-house. Not noticing "the question before the house, " he as usual voted as he saw Deacon Morison vote, when to his extreme disgust he found he had "voted for that accursed steeple," to which he was bitterly opposed.
A man in Windham had two daughters. Molly was not very brilliant intellectually, while Jenny was remarkably sharp. On the 20th or 21st of April, 1775, when the scare of the advance of the British regulars to Lexington was flying over the country, her brother Jamie started in hot haste for powder. Molly made her way to a neighbor's to carry the alarm. Sauntering into the house, she muttered, "Jamie's getting powther." " What is Jamie getting powder for ?" ",Jamie's ahful 'feart.'" "What is Jamie afraid of ?" "'Eglars" (Regulars).
FIRST DEATH AND BURIAL IN WINDHAM, ABOUT 1721.
It was that of a boy killed by the Indians on the banks of Golden Brook, east of the James Noyes house, which must have been as early as 1721. A party of men, when the town was a wilderness, were passing from Haverhill to David Gregg's near Stone Dam, and arrived at this point near some rocks, where they stopped, lighted a fire, and ate their dinner, and then continued their journey. After their departure, they discovered that they had left an article ; and a boy, one of the company, was sent back for it, and was killed at that spot. His body was found and buried on the banks of the brook. Its murmuring waters are the only dirge sung over that early grave.
FEVER AND AGUE.
Fever and ague made its appearance among the first settlers, but was not prevalent.
FIRST FRAMED HOUSE,
Built by John Waddell, on Copp's Hill, near the cemetery. The first two-story framed house was built by David Gregg, south of Charles W. Campbell's, in School District No. 5, about 1728.
The second was built by Daniel Clyde, on the Clyde homestead, now owned by O. A. Simpson.
INCORPORATION OF WINDHAM, 1742.
Feb. 12 (Old Style), 1742, Windham was incorporated.
CHANGE OF DATES FROM OLD STYLE TO NEW STYLE, 1752.
Persons familiar with the Windham records have observed in the first part of the first volume, during January, February, and
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HISTORY OF WINDHAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE.
to the 25th of March each year, that till 1753 those months would be written as of two years, or double dates given. Thus, Wind- ham was incorporated by the record Feb. 12, 1741-2, Old Style.
Previous to 1752, the 25th of March was considered the first day of the year. This was called the Julian Calendar, and had been in use since A. D. 325, which was found to be erroneous.
In 1751, the British Parliament, by statute, provided that the first day of the next January should be considered as the first day of the year 1752, and that the third day of September, 1752, should be called the fourteenth, thus omitting eleven nominal days.
Pope Gregory XIII, in 1582, made a correction of the Calen- dar, which was quickly adopted by all Catholic countries, but was not till 1752 established in England. From the use of these two different calendars, the custom arose of indicating the change by double dates between the first of January and the 25th of March of each year ; thus, Jan. 1, 1741-2. This change was called " New Style." By the New Style, Windham was incor- porated Feb. 23, 1742.
THE DARK DAY OF MAY 19, 1790.
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