USA > New Hampshire > Hillsborough County > Lyndeborough > The history of the town of Lyndeborough, New Hampshire,1735-1905 > Part 55
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Instead of any attempt to give a sketch of the company, the
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carefully prepared history printed in pamphlet form was distrib- uted freely as a souvenir among the audience until the supply was exhausted. This is substantially the same as the historical sketch of the company given in this volume. (Pages 207-218.)
While the exercises were in progress, the troopers and officers of Gen. Tolles staff enjoyed an afternoon's sport at revolver practice on the hillside behind the tent. A dress parade took place about five o'clock, and a large and attractive crowd filled the hall to enjoy the dancing in the evening.
"Among the guests were : Governor N. J. Batchelder, Brigadier-Gen. Jason E. Tolles, Congressman Frank D. Currier, Adjt. Gen. A. D. Ayling, Col. E. C. Hutchinson, Lieut. Col. H. H. Jewell, Maj. A. F. Cummings, Maj. George M. Follett, Lieut. Col. A. G. Shattuck; Nathan C. Jameson and wife, Antrim; O. B. Warren of Rochester, junior vice department commander of the Grand Army of New Hampshire; M. L. Piper of Auburn, United States capital police ; Police Commissioner F. D. Run- nels of Nashua ; Gen. Chas. H. Burns, Wilton; Col. J. E. Pecker of Con- cord; Col. W. B. Rotch of Milford ; Gen. D. M. White of Peterborough ; former Congressman Henry M. Baker of Bow; Col. John G. Crawford of Manchester ; Maj. D. E. Proctor of Wilton ; Dr. H. S. Hutchinson of Milford, the Rev. Francis H. Buffum of Winchester ; Rev. M. F. Johnson of Nashua ; Rev. F. A. Robinson of Milford ; Rev. W. N. Donovan of New- town Centre, Mass .; District Attorney Charles J. Hamblett of Nashua ; H. K. Libbey of Manchester ; Judge A. L. Keyes of Milford."- Cabinet.
Everybody seemed to regard the centennial celebration of the Lafayette Artillery as a complete and praiseworthy success.
CHAPTER XXXIII. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
BY REV. D. DONOVAN.
JOHN MASON .- A brief account of John Mason, the founder of New Hampshire, can hardly fail to interest those who live on lands included in the grant made to Gorges and Mason, jointly, by King James the First of England, in 1622.
John Mason was the son of John and Isabella Mason, and was born in Lynn Regis, or King's Lynn, in the maritime county of Norfolk, England. Very little is known of his early life. He attracted first notice as a merchant in London. Later he en- tered the naval service, and became an officer in the fleet which assisted the Dutch Republic in its struggle to free itself from Spain. In 1610, after the independence of Holland had been secured, he was made commander of the king's fleet, which was sent to control the turbulent people of the Hebrides. With a squadron consisting of two ships of war and two pinnaces, fitted out at his own expense, he undertook and effected this task. It was, perhaps, to reimburse him for the expense of this expedi- tion that in 1615 he was made governor of Newfoundland, then one of the most valuable of the English possessions in North America. He made the first English map of that island, and was commissioned by the king "to deal with the pirates then infesting the Newfoundland region."*
"In 1621 he returned to England," and about that time be- came intimately connected with Sir Ferdinando Gorges and others who were interested in colonizing enterprises. They, with a few others admitted as their partners, effected the settle- ment of New Hampshire in 1623. After his return he was ap- pointed governor of the town of Portsmouth, England.t When a vacancy occurred in the Council of Plymouth, Mason "was elected a member of that body, and was chosen their secretary. He was thus placed in the front rank of those who were actively engaged in promoting discoveries and encouraging settlements in North America."# His election to the "Great Council for New England," composed of "persons of honor and even of blood," of which in November he became vice-president,
*Batchellor, Vol. XXVII., Pref. pp. 4, 5.
¡Prov. Papers, vol. I, p. 4. # Hist. of Town of Mason.
·
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"showed the high estimation put on Mason by some of the fore- most persons in England."
"Early in 1635 the Council for New England became satis- fied of its inability to control affairs in New England. It had long had enemies at home as well as here. There was an unwill- ingness to recognize the powers granted by the sovereign in the nature of government, and it had no strength to enforce its de- crees. The Colony of Massachusetts Bay became large and powerful, and disregarded all authority, kingly as well as other, as far as they thought it prudent. Complaints against the council were constantly made to the Privy Council, and they were cited to answer. They determined thereupon to surrender their great charter to the king, and to divide the whole territory of New England among themselves. Pursuant to this resolve Mason received a new grant from the council, dated April 22, 1635, of the lands hitherto granted to him by the council. This grant embraced all the land between the Naumkeag and Pascataqua rivers, extending three score miles inland, with the south half of the Isles of Shoals, to be called New Hampshire."
" On the surrender of the New England Patent in 1635, it was the design of the king to place over that territory a general governor, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges received the appointment. To complete the vice-regal government, Capt. John Mason was appointed Oct. 1, Vice-Admiral of New England."
" Mason made every preparation to come to New Hampshire, looking forward to a visit to his plantation, as well as to the charge he had undertaken. In November he was taken ill, and died early in December, 1635, an event that proved disastrous to his interests in New England, which fell, by the terms of his will, to his widow and to his grandson, then not one year old."
" The death of Mason was regarded at the time" by " his friends and associates as a far-reaching calamity,"* but by the Puritan element as the removal of a formidable obstacle to their designs on the Pascataqua plantations.
He had taken great pains in founding his settlement. He in- troduced fine cattle from Denmark and encouraged agriculture. His hope was to enrich himself from mines of the precious metals which he believed were to be discovered, and from fish- eries which would be developed, as well as from traffic with the Indians in valuable furs. He expended large sums of money in laying the foundation of a splendid establishment which he ex-
*Batch., Vol. XXVII., Pref. p. 5.
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pected at some future day would amply reward him for his expen- diture. What would have resulted from his outlays cannot now be calculated with any certainty. He was not permitted to reap the anticipated fortune. He died in 1635, having had about twelve years in which to improve his plantation. About a year before his death he wrote that he "had never received a penny for all his outlay on his plantation in Pascataqua." Indeed, until the near approach of his death, his opportunity for the greatest usefulness to the colony had not arrived.
He had but one child, a daughter, Anne, who married Joseph Tufton. Three sons and two daughters were born of this mar- riage, and to these were bequeathed his New Hampshire posses- sions. His lineal descendants down to the time of the sale of his possessions to the Portsmouth syndicate in 1746 are given as follows by Batchellor XXVII., p. 6 of preface : --
I. Capt. John Mason, died Dec. 1635.
2. Anne Mason, daughter, married Joseph Tufton.
3. Robert Tufton, alias Mason, son of Anne, born 1635. Took sur- name of Mason by terms of his grandfather's will.
4. Robert Tufton Mason, 2nd., son. He and his elder brother John
undertook to pass their interest in New Hampshire to Samuel Allen in 1691.
5. John Tufton Mason, son, died in Havanna 1718.
6. Col. John Tufton Mason, son, born in Boston, Mass. Apr. 29, 1713 : sold title to lands in New Hampshire to the Masonian Proprietors in 1746, claiming that the transaction with Allen in 1691 conveyed only a life interest.
JUDGE BENJAMIN LYNDE .- The first of this name of Lynde, of whom we have record in this country, was Simon Lynde, son of Enoch, of London, England, a wealthy merchant. Simon followed his father's occupation, and in 1650, when he was 26 years of age, came to New England, and seems to have had his home in Boston. He possessed much wealth, and later in life was by royal authority appointed one of the counsellors for New England.
Benjamin Lynde is said to have been the sixth son of Simon, and was born Sept. 22, 1666. He was graduated at Harvard College, and entered upon the study of law. He was sent to London for his legal education, and was admitted to the Middle Temple Oct. 18, 1692. He returned to his native land after completing his legal studies, and was soon ranked among the foremost in his profession in New England. On the resignation of Judge Sewall in 1728, he was made chief justice of the prov-
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ince, and held this office up to the time of his death, Jan. 28, 1745. A brief notice of him in the Boston Evening Post closes his life record thus : -
"Inflexible justice, unshattered integrity, affability and humanity were ever conspicuous with him. He was a sincere friend, most affec- tionate to his relations, and the delight of all who were honored with his friendship and acquaintance."
Such was the father of Benjamin Lynde, Jr., Esq., the promi- nent proprietor of many shares in the old township of Salem- Canada.
BENJAMIN LYNDE, JR., the eldest son of Judge Benjamin Lynde, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, October 15, 1700. He entered Harvard College in 1714, and was graduated in 1718, in the class with Theodore Atkinson, who afterward became chief justice of New Hampshire, and also with Richard Dana, who became a distinguished advocate. He took his master's degree in 1721, and was appointed a special judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Suffolk County in 1734. When the commission appointed for the settle- ment of the boundary between New Hampshire and Massa- chusetts met at Hampton in 1737, he was named as one of the agents to accompany it. Two years later he was made one of the standing judges of the Court of Common Pleas for Essex Co., and in 1745, the year of his father's death, " he was raised to the Superior Bench of the Province." The latter position he held for twenty-seven years, and he was also a member of the council for twenty-eight years. "The most important trial that took place during his judicial term was that of the soldiers who fired on the mob in State street. In the absence of Chief Justice Hutchinson, Judge Lynde presided. It was a time of great political excitement, and the occasion was one that required the utmost firmness and skill on the part of the judges to insure a just and impartial decision." These trials lasted several days, and, as has been said, "proceeded with care and patience on the part of the Bench and counsel ; and both Judges and Jury seem to have acted with all the impartiality that is exhibited in the most enlightened tribunals." "The result," said Judge Washburn, " is a proud memorial of the purity of the adminis- tration of Justice in Massachusetts." (Sketch in Journal of Benjamin Lynde, pp. 13, 14.)
" Judge Lynde was noted for his learning, his liberality and public spirit." "On November 1, 1731, Judge Lynde married
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Mary, the daughter of Major John Bowles of Roxbury, a de- scendant of the Rev. John Eliot," the famous missionary among the Indians. They had three daughters. Mary, the eldest, married Hon. Andrew Oliver, Jr., one of the judges of the Common Pleas for Essex.
Hannah died unmarried ; and Lydia married Sept. 30, 1767, Rev. William Walter, rector of Trinity Church, Boston, " who represented the Lynde estate in the meetings of the proprietors for many years."
In the spring of 1781, Benjamin Lynde, Jr., Esq., received a kick from a horse, from the effects of which he did not recover, and he died on the 5th of October following, at the advanced age of 81. He was a diligent student of our Colonial History, and was a contributor to "Prince's Chronological History of New England."
An extract from his last will and testament follows : -
"I give and devise to my said Grandchild, B. Lynde Oliver and his heirs, One third of my Lands and Farm, (not mortgaged Lands) I shall die possessed of in the Township of Lyndeborough in New Hampshire."
"Item. I give, devise and bequeath to my said Grandson, Lynde Walter, two of my Farms at Lyndeborough, N. H., which I had in right of two MASONIAN GRAND PROPRIETORS, viz., No. I, adjoining South on Temple Town, and No. 5, adjoining East on what was originally Salem- Canada, and South on Mr. Moffat No. 2, each of said farms containing 200 acres apiece, to him and his heirs forever; But if he should die be- fore he arrives at the age of eighteen years of marriage, then I give said Farms to any son of my daughter, Walter, called after my name; and if none such, then to my Grandson, Benjamin Lynde Oliver and his heirs forever.
Dated, May 10, 1776.
Diary and Letters of Benj. Lynde, Appendix pp. 236 and 237.
Mr. Lynde evidently possessed great wealth for his day, and bequeathed it in liberal portions among his children and grand- children. The names of Walter and Oliver figure largely in the records of the Lyndeborough proprietors after Mr. Lynde's decease, as his heirs and successors.
The "Diary and Letters" of Benjamin Lynde contains good portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Lynde. (The N. E. Historic Genea- logical Society, Boston.)
WILLIAM WALTER, D.D .- William Walter was the son of Thomas Walter and grandson of Rev. Nathaniel Walter of Roxbury, Massachusetts. His mother was Rebecca, daughter of Rev. Joseph Belcher. Thus, inheriting from both parents
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something of clerical culture, it causes little surprise that he should possess literary tastes and tendencies. He was born in 1737, and was graduated from Harvard in 1756. We assume that he received theological training at the feet of some of the pastors in his vicinity. Through the courtesy of the sexton of Trinity Church, Boston, the writer was permitted to copy a brief but luminous sketch of Doctor Walter from the sermon of Rev. Phillips Brooks at the consecration of the new Trinity Church, Boston, February 9, 1877. When speaking of the " Greene Foundation for the support of an assistant minister," Dr. Brooks said :
"The first assistant Minister on the Foundation was Dr. William Walter, and on the death of Mr. Hooper he became Rector of the parish. He had been bred a Congregationalist, but became a member of our Church and went to London for ordination. For ten years he served Trinity with faithfulness, and then the beginning of the Revolution came. On the 17th of March, 1776, Boston was evacuated by the British, and the Minister of Trinity went with Gen. Howe and the British troops to Halifax, N. S., where he remained until the Revolution was over. Then he returned to Boston, and became the Rector of Christ Church. He died in 1800, and his funeral sermon was preached by his successor in Trinity, Dr. Parker. That sermon gives us a good idea of the faith- ful and earnest parish minister, and though in those hot days of patriotic zeal there was no chance for one who was not of sympathy with the cause of the Colonies, to be the preacher here, the very fact that when the war was over the royalist could come back to Boston and become again the Rector of a parish in the town, bears witness to the honor in which he must have been held."
Under date of September 30, 1767, Benjamin Lynde, Jr., Esq., wrote in his diary :
"My daughter Lydia married to Rev. Mr. William Walter, minister of Trinity Church in Boston, where she went to live the 7th of October following."
Doctor Walter was a prominent figure among the Lynde- borough proprietors, especially after the death of his father-in- law, Benjamin Lynde. When present in their meetings he was usually chosen moderator. He was active in the work of com- pleting the disposal of Benjamin Lynde's estate in Lynde- borough. His letter to the Masonian proprietors, as Rev. Frank G. Clark has appreciatively said, "is well worthy of preservation for its vigorous English and as showing the diffi- culties in those early days of securing accurate surveys of lots." He was earnest in his efforts to secure fair dealings for his
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associates, and ready to make reasonable concessions to those whose claims infringed upon the Lyndeborough grant.
In order to close up the business of the original proprietors of the town, the common, unoccupied and undivided lands were surveyed and a map was made of the ten different pieces of unequal value to be disposed of. A valuation was made of the several pieces by judicious and reliable men, (Dea. Ephraim Putnam and Capt. Peter Clark, p. 92) and the various share- holders were to receive a piece out of these common lands, pro- portioned to his property in the town. As the representative of Benjamin Lynde, Dr. Walter was the largest shareholder. For this reason, he requested that he might have the privilege of first choice out of the common lands. To this request his asso- ciates readily acceded, as expressed in the following terms :
" Whereas the Rev. Dr. Walter has requested that he may be allowed the first choice in said commons ; and as we consider he has taken the lead in all matters that have been transacted in the meetings of the propriety since 1792, and been eminently serviceable to the propriety,- Voted, that he be allowed his choice in the division of said commons, provided he make his choice known at the next meeting."
This vote was attested by Sewall Goodridge, Proprietors' Clerk.
In war time he remained in Nova Scotia. " He returned to Boston in 1791, became rector of Christ Church, and remained in that relation till his death .* He died in Boston, December 5, 1800. He had two sons, William and Benjamin Lynde Walter, who were merchants in Boston, and the elder of whom became the founder of the "Boston Transcript."
COL. ISRAEL HUTCHINSON .- Colonel Hutchinson was an early proprietor of Lyndeborough lands, which lay upon the northern tier of lots. Encroachments were made upon his right by Wallingford's survey and purchasers, so that his estate was eighty acres short of the quantity for which he had paid. He at- tempted to have the matter adjusted, and petitioned the Mason- ian Proprietors to indemnify him "by allowing other lands or monies that shall be a reasonable compensation."
Col. Hutchinson's connection with the Putnam family may account for his investment in Lyndeborough lands. He married Mehitabel, the widow of Archelaus Putnam of Danvers, Mass., and was himself a Danvers man. The Putnams of Salem- Canada, Jacob and Ephraim, were brothers of Archelaus, and
* Memorial Hist. of Boston, Vol. III, pp. 128, 129.
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possibly, through the marriage of his widow, were brought into closer relationship in business with Col. Hutchinson. An ap- preciative notice of the latter is found in the New England Magazine for October, 1902, p. 230.
Col. Israel Hutchinson was the son of Elisha Hutchinson, and was born in Danvers, Mass., Nov. 27, 1727. " He was one of a scouting party in the Maine wilds in Indian warfare. He was at Ticonderoga and Lake George, and with Wolfe when he scaled the heights of Abraham .. He led a company of minute men on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, and was promi- nent at the siege of Boston, commanding at Fort Hill on evacua- tion. For twenty-one years he was elected to Senate, House or Council. He died in 1811."
The same publication, page 229, presents a picture of his monument, with the inscription : -
Israel Hutchinson 1727-18II Served his Country as Sergt. Co. of Rangers 1757 At Lake George and Ticonderoga 1758 Capt. Quebec 1759
Capt. Battle of Lexington 1775 Col. Siege of Boston -New York-New Jersey- -Crossing of the Delaware- Trenton His men manned boats in Retreat from Long Island
Representative and Councillor 2I yrs.
An Honored Citizen and Loyal Soldier
Col. Hutchinson's marriage with Madam Mehitabel Putnam, brought him also into the relationship of step-father to Miss Phebe Putnam, who became a permanent resident of Lyndebor- ough, as the wife of Rev. Sewall Goodridge, pastor of Lynde- borough for more than forty years. The relationship also has her kindly acknowledgment in the fact that she named one of her favored sons, Israel Hutchinson Goodridge. Mr. Hutchin- son was also sufficiently in touch with Lyndeborough to become at another time an investor in 'Scataquog mine, little to his pe- cuniary profit. He appears to have been in his day one of the prominent men in the Bay State.
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"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."
JOHN BADGER .- Among the early pioneers in Salem-Can- ada came John Badger, who settled near the southern line of the town in 1739. He with his two brothers, Joseph and Eliphalet, came to New England about 1728 or 1729. Tradition has it that the father was a wealthy Englishman who had done business in Scotland, whither he had sent John, his youngest son, to collect some of his accounts. While thus engaged he had formed the acquaintance of a winsome Scottish lassie named Mary McFarland. The acquaintance ripened into an intimacy. The attractions were mutual. But, it is said, "the course of true love never did run smooth." The truth of this sentiment the lovers were destined to test. For the young man's father became aware of his son's attachment ; and with a Johnsonian dislike for the young lady's nationality, attempted to break up a union between them. He accordingly sent John with his older brothers across the seas, to seek his fortune in the new world. But
" The best laid schemes o' mice and men, Gang aft a-gley."
The heart of the young lady was too deeply enlisted to endure such hindrance and submit to defeat. Full of the energy, hardihood, and fire of her nationality she formed the purpose to seek her lover, to brave the dangers and inconveniences of the sea, and share his fortunes on these perilous and sparsely peopled shores.
" Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it."
She landed on the shores of the majestic Sagadahoc, where she and her lover were soon reunited and became husband and wife. They remained no long time in Maine, but came into this province, and found a home for a few years in what was then known as Nottingham West, now Hudson. About the year 1738, Mr. Badger doubtless visited this town. He erected his cabin and entered it in April, 1739. A melancholy interest attaches to the career of this devoted family by reason of the faithful love which they cherished for one another, and the genuine heroism displayed by the Scottish maiden and the pioneer matron. John and Mary Badger were the parents of three children before they came into this town. His sojourn here was brief, for he was the first settler to answer the unwel- come summons of death. In February, 1740, amid the deep
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snows of well nigh a trackless wilderness, he yielded his life a victim to consumption. He died in the night. The nearest neighbors were three miles away. In the words of Dr. Eph- raim Peabody :
"His wife composed him on the bed for rest, left her children, of whom she had three, the oldest but eight years of age, with their breakfast, and with strict injunctions not to wake their father, as he was asleep, and putting on her snowshoes proceeded to seek assistance. That indeed was a dreary morning as she went forth through the solitary woods of winter. Death is in her home aud her children wait her return. Uphold her trembling heart, Thou Father of the fatherless and the widow's God! Neighbors returned with her. A tree was hollowed out for a coffin, and so in the solitude was he committed to the earth. What, then, must have been her loneliness- a solitary widow in the wilderness! She must watch by the bedside of her children alone; her tears shall be shed alone ; she shall no more kneel by her husband's side to pray; his voice shall no more waken her at morning, and when the night approaches she shall unconsciously look forth to the forest, watching for his return, who shall never return again."*
In the sketch of the history of Lyndeborough, in the History of Hillsborough County, Mr. David C. Grant gave John Badger the credit of being the first settler of Salem-Canada. The Gene- alogy of the Chamberlain Family, compiled by Mr. Willis B. Chamberlain, page 12, accords this honor to Mr. John Cram. Rev. F. G. Clark also says that "John Cram stands at the head of the pioneers of the settlement," and the Proprietors' Records call him " one of the first settlers."
Manuscripts of more recent date and of undoubted authority make it clear that Mr. John Cram was the first settler in our town. He came here in 1737, and both children and grand- children formed a part of his household. It was to this family that Mrs. Badger went for assistance at the time of her hus- band's death.
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