USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Lyndeborough > The history of the town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire,1735-1905 > Part 26
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A family of this kind which came into our town from Wilton
I
8
0
Widow Fletcher O O I
3 John Burton
O
I 5 2
5
O
Heirs of Lynde
O 2 10 O
Robert Hooper O I IO 3 Heirs of Lynde
O
0 10 2
O 9 2 Dr. Lemmon
0 1 8
0
O 7
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TOWN OFFICERS
in 1773 was duly warned out according to law. But there was a failure to enforce the law, which occasioned the town consid- erable trouble and expense. :
The warrant for this warning was served, and a copy of the same sent to Stephen Holland, Esq., clerk of Hillsboro Ses- sions, who about that time left the office, and was succeeded by Robert Fletcher, Esq. Upon the removal of the papers belong- ing to said office, the* "warrant with many other papers was lost, and no record of the same to be found, whereby the Town of Lyndeborough is likely to become chargeable with the main- tenance of the said family." Hence, the town, through its representative, Nehemiah Rand, petitioned the Legislature " that the said warrant & Service & returning may be Good & Established So that the Town of Lyndeborough may have the Benefit of the Laws of this State in Such Cases made & pro- vided &c."
A committee of the legislature upon this petition reported as follows :
That in the latter end of May, 1773, the then selectmen of Lyndeborough made out a warrant in the Following words viz province of New Hampshire Hillsborough ss
(Seal) To James Boutwell Constable for the Town of Lynde- borough in said County Greeting.
Whereas there is a person come of Late with his wife to sojourn or Dwell in This Town & last came from Wilton in this County viz Elisha Wilkins & wife and are not by Law In- habitants of this Town therefore are likely to become too chargeable to this Town unless means are taken to prevent the Same. Pursuant therefore to the Laws of this Province in that case made & provided.t
You are hereby required in his Majesties Name instantly to warn the said Elisha Wilkins & wife to depart & leave this Town within fourteen days from this date. hereof fail not & make return of this warrant with your proceedings thereon to the Clerk of his Majesties Court of General Sessions of the Peace next to be holden at Amherst
Given under our hands & Seals the day of May 1773 Signed by the Select men.
Your Committee also find that the said warning was served by the said James Boutwell on the said Wilkins & wife about the first of June 1773 & sent by him to the Clerk of the Ses-
*Hammond Town Papers, XII., pp. 524-526. +Batch., XXI., p. 316.
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HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
sion by Andrew Fuller Esq. with money to pay for recording the Same, & the said Fuller delivered the said warning & money to the then Clerk of the Sessions at the Sessions of said Court in July 1773 & the said warrant cannot now be found in the Clerks Office.
Therefore your Committee agree to report that upon any tryal respecting the Settlement of said Wilkins and wife the Town of Lyndeborough or any others concerned may offer in Evidence the before recited warrant which shall be deemed as good & legal evidence as the original would have been if the same had not been lost, & shall be considered as dated the last day of May signed by the then Selectmen & served on the first day of June 1773. Signed Francis Worster for the Committee which report being read & considered voted that it be received & accepted. Sent up by Mr. Rand.
Editor Hammond informs us that the foregoing report was adopted, and was in the hand-writing of John Sullivan .*
The next year the town chose a committee of fifteen to peti- tion the General Court "for a redress of the grievance we labor under respecting Elisha Wilkins." The committee were : -
Dr. Benjamin Jones Mr. James Boutwell
Dea. Ephraim Putnam
Andrew Fuller Esq.
Mr. John Reynolds
Cap. Samuel Huston
Peter Clark
Lt. Jotham Blanchard
Capt. William Blaney
Ensign Abiel Willson
Mr. Joseph Herrick
Capt. Benjamin Epes
Capt. William Barron
No report of this committee appears upon our town records.
There was a petition from the selectmen about that time, which is reported as non-concurred by the General Court, which perhaps may have related to this case.t Some of our town's people afterwards attempted to get the matter revived ; but the town, twice, at least, dismissed the subject, so that further efforts in that direction were not encouraged. Thus the town endeav- ored, though without success, to free itself from a burden which had come upon it from its neighbor.
In 1775, it was voted "to raise 4:0:0 L. M. for the support of the poor this year."
In November of the same year, it was voted, "to sell the cow that was purchased by the Overseers of the Poor for the Town," and afterwards returned to the town. "Dea. Cram, *Batch., XII., p. 526. tBatch., XXI., p. 331.
Lt. Amos Whittemore
Lt. Jeremiah Carleton
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TOWN OFFICERS
Doctor Jones and Nathaniel Phelps were chosen a committee to sell the Town's cow at a public vandue."
In 1776, the town voted that the overseers of the poor "take care of the necessitous poor, and lay their account before the town." This course appears to have been followed for a num- ber of years. The next entry regarding the poor relates to the overseers' request for instructions in regard to " binding out a poor child cast upon the town." They were authorized " to use their best judgment in the case."
The common method of caring for them, for many years, was to " vendue " them to the lowest bidder. In this way they were taken to the homes of those citizens who were able and willing to receive them and care for them on the lowest terms. Hence in 1790, there were small sums of money on account of the poor, due to David Putnam, David Cram, Benjamin Jones, Capt. Barron, Capt. Kidder, Ithamar Woodward, Uriah Cram, James Boutwell, Solomon Cram, Jacob Cram and John Smith, all of whom shared in this work, although only Mr. James Boutwell and Capt. Barron were the overseers of the poor. The selectmen were frequently chosen also overseers of the poor. This custom long retained its hold. There was a slight de- parture from it when Joseph Jones and Israel H. Goodridge, in 1825, were chosen overseers of the poor, though the latter was also one of the selectmen. But in 1826, an entirely distinct board of overseers of the poor was chosen, and the next year the town voted "to purchase a farm," and chose Israel H. Goodridge, Asa Manning, Capt. William Clark, Jotham Hil- dreth and Elias McIntire, a committee to purchase the farm, and also stock and tools, and to make all necessary repairs on the buildings.
Of the several farms purchasable, that of Mr. Eleazar Wood- ward, containing 133 acres, was bought for fifteen hundred dollars. The committee reported that they paid for all, live stock, tools, repairs and household stuff two thousand, one hundred and seven dollars and eighty-seven cents. The re- port was accepted by the town, and thus its experiment of car- ing for the poor upon its own farm was tried.
The names of the superintendents and their terms of service follows:
Levi McIntire, 1828, 1829, Town Records, Vol. IV, pp. 82, 109; Israel Woodward, 1830, 1831, pp. 133, 156; David Holt, 1832, p. 184 ; Jesse Read, 1833, 1834, pp. 209, 238; William Carson, 1835, p. 264; James Grant,
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HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
1836-1838, pp. 292, 332, 357; George Smith, 1839, p. 385; William Fisher, 1840, 1841, pp. 419, 455; Samuel Jones, 1842-1844, pp. 477, 501, 534; Samuel Jones, 1845, Town Records, Vol. V, p. 1 ; Sylvester Proctor, 1846-1848, pp. 28, 44, 64 ; Mynard Dutton, 1849, p. 93 ; Persons S. Holt, 1850, p. 122 ; James Grant, 1851, p. 158; Henry Clark, 1852, p. 184; James R. Wright, 1853-1858, pp. 226, 262, 304, 353, 409, 451; Ebenezer Fisk, 1859, p. 481 ; William Ryerson, 1860, Town Records, Vol. VI, p. 19 ; B. F. Woodbury, 1861-1865, pp. 99, 122, 177, 223, 271 ; A. F. Clark, 1866, p. 367 ; Martin Whitney, 1867-1869, pp. 419, 465; D. G. Dickey, 1870, Town Records, Vol. VII, p. 20.
In 1870, the town voted to sell its farm and all personal prop- erty. The sale was effected April 16, 1870, the net proceeds amounting to $5601.18. Since that time our town has adopted the county system.
AID FOR SUFFERERS BY THE PORTSMOUTH FIRES.
The annual town meeting in Lyndeborough, March 1, 1803, voted " to choose a committee to send an answer to the request of the town of Portsmouth respecting the sufferers by the late fire."
Benjamin Jones, Esq., and Peter Clark, Esq., together with the selectmen, Jonathan Butler, Daniel Putnam and Oliver Whiting, were chosen as this committee. We have found no re- port of their doings. But the character of the men composing the committee forbids us to think that they were either indiffer- ent to the suffering or inefficient in affording relief.
Respecting this fire in Dec., 1802, one of the historians of N. H. wrote : "Near the close of the year, the town of Ports- mouth was visited by a most calamitous conflagration, which consumed more than a hundred buildings, and laid waste a fair and important portion of the place. The amount of property de- stroyed was estimated at two hundred thousand dollars ; and more than forty-five thousand were contributed in various places for the relief of the sufferers."*
But a much more disastrous conflagration occurred in Ports- mouth near the close of the year 1813, by which nearly four hundred buildings were reduced to ashes, including a flourish- ing portion of the town. "More than one-fourth of these were dwelling houses, many of them large and elegant. So intense was the fire, that in the evening, the reflection of the light from the clouds was visible in the western parts of the State, and even in Vermont to the summits of the Green Mountains, a distance of more than one hundred miles. Large contributions of money
*Whiton, p. 171.
275
TOWN OFFICERS
and provisions were collected from all quarters for the relief of the numerous sufferers."*
In these contributions it is pleasant to know that our town had a generous share. A little subscription book, an interest- ing relic, now yellow with age, yet well preserved, and written in the neat, legible penmanship of Nathan Wheeler, gives evi- dence of the interest our town's people manifested in contribut- ing for the relief of the distressed. Every page contains the name or names of Revolutionary veterans and of citizens then prominent in the town's affairs. A sample page from the an- cient document would certainly interest the curious and awaken memories of some who were both loved and honored in their times.
LYNDEBOROUGH TREASURERS.
Very much might be said in various connexions of some of the men on our list below. In the days of the Revolution, Ephraim Putnam bought the ammunition, James Boutwell kept the "powder dry," and Peter Clark and his company fired it away at Bennington and at Saratoga. Again, while six of those named served but one year each, yet their brief service in no wise indicated any inferiority; for one of them was a revolution- ary minute-man, another the first native of Lyndeborough to become a college graduate, and a third a soldier in our civil war. The second column furnishes the names of those distin- guished for many years of service, that of Nehemiah Boutwell appearing four times, and representing nineteen years of service; that of Nathaniel T. McIntire eighteen years, Levi P. Hadley fourteen years, and that of Josiah Wheeler, who surpassed all others, thirty-two years of continuous service. Surely these may be justly reckoned as among the official worthies of our town.
1765-73 Ephraim Putnam
1809
Nehemiah Boutwell
1774-77 James Boutwell
1810 Jacob Richardson
1778-91 Peter Clark
18II-18
Nehemiah Boutwell
No record of Treasurer's name
1819
Timothy Richardson
from 1782-90. But the name
1820-24 Nehemiah Boutwell
was presumably omitted by oversight.
1825
Aaron Barnes
1791 Jeremiah Carleton
1826-30 Nehemiah Boutwell Oliver Bixby
I792-95 Dr. Benjamin Jones
1831 1832-64 Josiah Wheeler
1796-97 Capt. William Dutton
1865-66
Samuel Jones
1798-1802 Jacob Dascomb
1867-69
George E. Spalding
1803-04 Jonathan Butler
1870-87
Nathaniel T. McIntire
1 805-06
Dr. Benjamin Jones
1888
Byron Putnam
1807
Caleb Huston
1889-1902
Levi P. Hadley
1808
Jacob Richardson
1903-05
Charles H. Tarbell
* Whiton, p. 182.
CHAPTER XIII.
ECCLESIASTICAL MATTERS.
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, BY J. A. WOODWARD .*
The Congregational form of church government, or govern- ment of the church by its members, originated with the Pilgrim fathers, and in its elementary form came with the Mayflower. In this new and rugged land it was nurtured by strong men whose memory of persecution for belief's sake was fresh and who had come to this country to enjoy religious liberty. This form of creed soon became the prevailing religion of New England. These Puritans wanted no elders or bishop to pre- scribe rules of church government, for them, and like the de- mocracy they founded in civil government, the church must be of the people, for the people and by the people.
Ecclesiastical history was an integral part of our town history for nearly a hundred years, as during that time the minister was paid by the whole town. The first settlers of Lyndeborough were trained in the Puritan faith, and brought with them the Bible and catechism. They observed the Sabbath and under- stood the advantages of public worship. They were men and women of fortitude, courage and perseverance, and they had need of those qualities to effect a permanent settlement here. It was a wilderness far from the villages of eastern Massachusetts from which they came. Their life was one of unceasing toil in overcoming the obstacles nature had placed in the way of their making homes. They had few books, no newspapers, and houses were widely scattered and separated by dense forests. They desired to have the Gospel preached to them in their new home, and it was a part of their contract with the proprietors that they should have a meeting-house and preaching within five years after the settlement began. The proprietors were also interested to do their part, so far as possible. But it was so much easier to vote at Salem than it was to carry out the vote in Salem-Canada that the progress at first was slow and discouraging.
*By kind permission of Rev. Frank G. Clark we availed ourselves of that portion of his excellent Historical Address which relates to the history of the old Congregational Church. This Address was delivered at the celebration of the One Hundred and Fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of the town. We have copied it extensively, and it has been of invaluable assistance in preparing this part of our Town History.
-
CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, LYNDEBOROUGH.
277
ECCLESIASTICAL MATTERS
The church in those days represented much more to its mem- bers than now. It was the tribunal before which the differences of the neighborhood were brought for settlement. It kept a watchful eye on the walk and conversation of the community. It was at a meeting of the church that a charter for the town was proposed, and at a later meeting it was voted to obtain a charter and appoint a committee to get it.
The long sermons of the Sabbath meeting gave the only op- portunity to have thoughts quickened and minds enlarged and educated. The isolation of the people's lives made them turn to the church for comfort.
The proprietors voted March 7, 1739, to place the meeting- house as near the centre of the township as it could be, and a com- mittee was appointed "to look out a convenient spot for the same, and make report at the next meeting, and to clear a road from the end of the road already cleared to the said meeting house place." The place selected was on Putnam hill, east of the south village, in the upper end of the field north of Edwin H. Putnam's, partly on lot 41 and partly on lot 44, at the west- ern ends of said lots. Benjamin Lynde donated twenty acres and John Cram ten for the use of the meeting-house, which was to be set on the road adjoining said lots. They voted to " build and set up a good frame, thirty-five feet long, thirty feet wide, and twenty feet stud, on or before May 10, 1740, and to under- pin the same with good, handsome stones." But for various rea- sons the frame was not raised until September 24, 1741. The bills for raising the frame as approved by the proprietors indi- cate that the rum and sugar used on the occasion cost more (six- teen pounds and six shillings) than the bread, fish and cheese (eleven pounds and five shillings). It took liquor in those days to hew timber and put up frames, and one would judge it was not used sparingly. The frame stood uncovered for a long time. The proprietors voted Aug. 23, 1743, to finish the meeting- house : viz., " boarding sides and ends with feather-edged boards, to board and shingle the roof and put on weather boards, and finish the covings, to make and hang all the outside doors ; to lay a double floor below ; to make six seats on each side ; to fix pillars under the galleries ; to make a conveniency for the min- ister to stand in to preach, and to glaze the said house with glass seven inches one way and nine the other way, and to make five windows."
There is evidence from the records that the house was
278
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
boarded and shingled, but there is nothing to show that it was ever finished. No doubt it was used for a time, but no evi- dence of it can be found in any records. Eleven years later, Oct. 10, 1754, a committee was appointed to " view the meeting- house and see in what manner it can be made suitable for public worship," and five years later, in 1759, the proprietors voted an appropriation "for a new meeting-house to be erected for the accommodation of the present inhabitants." After the strip was taken from Salem-Canada and given to No. 2, or Wilton, the first location of the meeting-house was no longer near the centre of the town, and this explains the reason for building a new house.
But they did not wait to have a meeting-house built before they provided preaching, for the records of the proprietors for Dec. 10, 1741, read, "It being put to vote whether the word of God should be preached in the town this winter, passed in the affirmative, and six pounds were granted for that purpose." Aug. 23, 1743, John Cram, Jacob Putnam and John Dale, Jr. were appointed a committee to procure a minister to preach, and three pounds, old tenor, were allowed for as many days as they shall have preaching for the next six months ensuing.
The following letter was sent to Lyndeborough by the propri- etors, Dec. 25, 1755, in answer to a petition for a minister : -
To the inhabitants of Lyndeboro':
The committee of the proprietors met together on your peti- tion for having the preaching of the Gospel continue among them, and considering your earnest request (with which we are well pleased) and the advantage it may be to the spiritual and temporal interests of the town, have resolved to allow such Gos- pel minister as you shall get to preach for the three following months $6. 10 old tenor for every Sabbath after the twenty-fifth of the instant month.
I am in the name
Your Assured Friend
Salem Dec 25, 1755
B. Lynde.
The first meeting in Lyndeborough, in the interests of a settled ministry of which there is any record, is suggestive of the practical piety of those days. It was held at the house of Ephraim Putnam. The record of the meeting is as follows :
I. Chose Jonathan Cram, moderator.
2. Chose Jacob Welman, society " clark."
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ECCLESIASTICAL MATTERS
3. Voted "to keep a day of fasting and prayer for the bless- ing of Almighty God in "chusing " a "minester " and settling church order.
4. Voted "to send for Mr. Daniel Wilkins of Sowhegan West and Mr. Daniel Emerson of Hollis, and Mr. Joseph Emerson of Pepperill to carry on the work of the above said day of fasting which was the 23rd day of September, 1756, and to give their advice on the "waitty afair " of "setteling a min- ister."
5. Chose Jonathan Cram, Jacob Wellman and Benjamin Cram a " commity " to carry on the Business of this society till the " next munday " after the above Sª day of fasting.
Jacob Wellman, Society Clerk.
The above sd day of fasting was kept and two of the ministers they sent for came and carried on the work of the day, and advised them to " settel " a minister.
At a meeting of the inhabitants of Lyndeborough, held Sept. 27, 1756, it was voted "to choose a minister at that time."
"Mr. John Rand who is our present teacher" was unani- mously chosen to settle among us in the work of the ministry in the Congregational way of worship and church government. But Mr. Rand was evidently absent from town at the time, for at a meeting held June 6, 1757, it is recorded "that Mr. John Rand being gone from us a long time ; voted not to wait any longer for Mr. John Rand's return." Without being in " Law- full " means to hear from him, and if he is not "Likely " to come to preach the Gospel to us any more, to try for another man to preach the Gospel to us.
Sept. 12, 1757, it was voted "that the society will pay what the proprietors fall short of nine pounds silver old tenor for each Sabbath that Mr. Nathan Holt shall stay and preach the Gospel to us from the date hereof."
Mr. Holt probably supplied the church until the following December. At an adjourned meeting of the society, held Oct. 31, 1757, it is recorded that "Mr. John Rand employ six weeks every year in the service of the 'Neighboring ' towns which are destitute of Pastors." This was a permission. It was also voted "to appoint John Johnson, Jonathan Cram, Ephraim Putnam, Moses Stiles and Ephraim Powers a committee to con- sult with Mr. Rand with respect to a council for his ordination."
280
HISTORY OF LYNDEBOROUGH
On the fifth of December, 1757, a church was organized, Rev. Mr. Clark says, with eight male members and perhaps twenty or more in all. He also says that " this was the seventh church organized in the county and that there was no church on the north and west nearer than Keene and the nearest on the south and west were Amherst, Nashua and Hollis." This church or- ganized that December day was a controlling influence in the development of the town for nearly a hundred years.
Dec. 7, or two days after the organization of the church, Mr. John Rand was ordained, and the following is the record of the event.
" On the seventh day of the same month Mr. John Rand was ordained a 'pasture' of this church by Mr. Hemingway of North Town, Mr. Emerson of Holis Mr. Meril of Nottingham and Mr. Wilkins of Souhegan west and their delegates and the church under the care of Mr. Joseph Emerson in peperil." Mr. Rand was to receive forty pounds from the proprietors as a settlement, payable in three instalments, and a yearly salary of forty pounds, and the society was to furnish him with a certain amount of wood. In addition to this he was to have one shil- ling for each soul in town, the number of shillings increas- ing with the increase in population. This would make his salary about $400, probably.
Mr. Rand lived for a time on what is now called the Boutwell place. It would be hard to say at this time whether this first minister of the church in Lyndeborough had a successful pas- torate or not. The records would seem to show that there were misunderstandings between pastor and people. Perhaps his ideas were a little in advance of the times. Rev. Mr. Clark says of him that " he was said to have been Arminian in doc- trine but inclined to the Episcopal form of worship. He occa- sionally ministered to a few persons of the latter denomination then resident in Goffstown and Bedford but was never again settled in the ministry." He was dismissed from the church in Lyndeborough April 8, 1762. For further record of Rev. John Rand, see Genealogies.
The first record of the choice of tything-men was on March 5, 1759, when Ephraim. Powers and Moses Stiles were chosen.
At a meeting of the society, held Sept. 6, 1759, it was put to vote by the moderator whether the society would accept of the proprietors' vote of money at their last meeting for the
281
ECCLESIASTICAL MATTERS
building of a meeting-house in the township of Lyndeborough which "passed in the negative." Rev. Frank G. Clark com- ments on this vote as follows: "The proprietors voted to appro- priate {13-8s-6d for glass and nails for this house, but the aid was declined by the people, probably on account of the small sum offered. Tradition says the people were so much dis- pleased with Benjamin Lynde, Jr. Esq., that they thought seri- ously of changing the name of the town, showing that they had grit as well as grace."
In March, 1758, Melchizedek Boffee and Ephraim Powers were chosen a committee " to take care and see that there is no disorder on the Sabbath day for the year ensuing." Probably they were meant to be tything-men.
The first record in regard to the meeting-house above men- tioned, is dated Oct. 31, 1757, and is as follows : " Also voted that the meeting-house shall be set on the road that goes from ye Beaver pond bridge to Jonathan Cram Jun. on a place called the Rockey Hill not further from a place called the Rocky ledge on the road to the lower corner of the town so called than the said bridge is." This would seem to be the road to Johnsons' Corner.
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