USA > New Hampshire > Grafton County > Plymouth > Twenty decades in Plymouth, New Hampsire : 1763-1963 > Part 2
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Penalties were severe. On June 16, 1774, Charles Newton was convicted of stealing from John Willoughby. The Superior Court fixed his sentence that he be set in the pillory in some open space and there have one of his ears cut off and be imprisoned one whole year, and pay the cost of prosecution.
This sentence was changed to a fine of ten shillings to the King or be whipped ten stripes on his naked back by the public whipper. Also that he pay to John Willoughby nine shillings, being three times the value of the goods stolen and he must pay the cost of the prosecution, or be sold into serv- itude to John Willoughby for a term of six months.
Fine paid in Court is recorded.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
On December 12, 1774, Paul Revere rode from Boston to Portsmouth to warn the patriots that they should seize the gunpowder in Fort William and Mary, located upon an island in the harbor at Portsmouth. The British were preparing to remove this powder to Boston. On the night of December 14, John Sullivan, John Langdon and a band of volunteers captured the fort, secretly transferred the powder to Durham and concealed it beneath the pulpit of the meetinghouse until it could be gradually taken to the camp of the Colonials.
This powder was doubly valuable, because John Stark fought the Battle of Bunker Hill with it. Also, the explosive power of this English powder ex- ceeded the force of that which the Colonials manufactured with their native potash. This imported powder was mixed with the native product to provide a greater supply for their cannon. For this reason, possibly the elms of the Baker River Valley furnished some extra shots for John Stark's troops at the rail fence that was stuffed with hay from John Fenton's farm near Breed's Hill on June 17, 1775.
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John Fenton was a wealthy resident of Portsmouth who purchased, or so he claimed, hundreds of acres in Bridgewater that included the farm now owned by Mr. Preston Martin, called "The Tory Farm." Large barns were erected and equipped with expensive implements of that day. Fields were cleared where herds of cattle were pastured and crops were harvested by many employees.
Within a two year period, Mr. Fenton divided his time between Ports- mouth and Plymouth. He participated in civic affairs, won the respect of the voters and was elected in 1774 to represent Plymouth in the Provincial As- sembly. He gave the impression that he favored the patriots' cause, yet all the time he was serving the royalists.
When his duplicity was discovered, the patriots at Portsmouth attempted to arrest him, but he fled for refuge into the home of Governor Wentworth. A gun was aimed at the door and his surrender demanded. He paid the Gov- ernor the courtesy of obeying the patriots. After being confined for several months, he was permitted to flee to Ireland. The British granted him a pension and he died in 1785. His taxes were never paid in Plymouth and his employees received no compensation for their labors. Tory Road perpetuates his memory in Bridgewater.
The battle of Lexington on the 18th of April, 1775, definitely proved that the thirteen colonies were at war with England. Later in that year several regiments were enlisted to invade Canada. This experiment ended in disaster, because the army was poorly equipped and disease claimed many lives. Eben- ezer and Jeremiah Blodgett died of camp fever. Almost panic seized the in- habitants of the northern frontier when faced by invasion by bands of Cana- dians and Indians.
Committees of Safety were organized in several towns under the com- mand of Captain David Webster. The selectmen of Plymouth sent a petition to the colonial assembly at Exeter for 45 guns, 100 pounds of powder and 100 weight of lead.
These provisions were none too soon. In June of 1776, an alarm from Lancaster that a messenger had brought news of an invasion from Canada sent Captain Webster with his armed guards to protect these northern towns. Whether these scouts rode horses up the Coos Road to Haverhill, then along the trails to Littleton and Lancaster, some seventy miles, or tramped with their muskets on their shoulders and their supply of corn meal on their backs, is not recorded.
During this alarm in the Connecticut Valley, at Philadelphia the Liberty Bell rang and the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed. But gloom
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British Cannon on the Courthouse Green, 1777
settled over this northern region. A British army was assembling in Canada that threatened to invade the Champlain Valley and isolate New England.
Two new regiments were ordered to enroll. With imminent danger menac- ing their homes, ninety-one men enlisted from Plymouth. Considering that the total number of inhabitants was 382, only 57 heads of families, and scores of children under sixteen years of age, the situation was critical. Women and children cultivated the crops, fed the cattle and sheep, spun the cloth for the homespun garments and kept the home fires burning.
In August, 1777, Burgoyne's army was advancing down the Hudson Val- ley. John Stark at Bennington, Vermont discovered that a detachment in- tended to seize the stores of the Colonials in the town. This quick-witted scout practiced the tactics that he had learned in other skirmishes. The British
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troops surrendered to the New Hampshire patriots. In this battle, Colonel David Hobart and his eleventh regiment led an attack upon the Tory breast- works with such success that he and his men received commendation for their bravery. With Colonel Hobart were eleven other men from Plymouth. His nephew, Solomon Hobart was killed. Col. Hobart served in the French and Indian War before he became a Proprietor on the Fairground Road in Plym- outh.
With General Burgoyne's army at Saratoga, an emergency arose that called for immediate action. The Committee of Safety for the Province was summoned to a meeting. This urged more enlistments with Lieut. Colonel David Webster in command of volunteers for this section of New Hampshire. These untrained men hurriedly marched to Saratoga in September, 1777. There they served under General Gates with orders to hold the line of defense, but were not actively engaged in the actual battle. Amos Webster, younger brother of Lieut. Col. David Webster was killed in this Battle of Saratoga, declared by historians one of the ten decisive battles in the history of the world, on October 8, 1777.
Ten days later these soldiers from Plymouth witnessed the surrender of Burgoyne's army. Then they were discharged to return to their farms with papers stating that they had faithfully served in the Northern Army. Colonel David Hobart resigned in 1779 and Lieut. Col. David Webster became full colonel of the 11th regiment for the remainder of the war.
When Burgoyne surrendered, the danger of invasion of New England ceased. During the following four years, when quotas for enlisted men were assigned, Plymouth fulfilled all obligations, even paying generous bounties near the close of the war.
Also as food supplies were requisitioned, the response was immediate. In 1781 Plymouth was assessed for 7053 pounds of beef. One ponders in what condition this was delivered, on the hoof, salted or frozen? Corn meal and peas were articles for barter in payment of taxes since paper money was not "worth a Continental." Women contributed their homespun linen and wool. Certainly the town of Plymouth during the eight years of the American Revolution had a record of supreme loyalty to the cause of liberty.
DISTRICT SCHOOLS
Meanwhile schools were not neglected. The parents were not illiterate, and by the light of the fireplaces they taught their children to read and write to save taxes. In 1774 the town was divided into "societies" or districts with a vote at the town meeting to provide a "constant writing school." The next year five districts were established to employ Nathan Ward, Jr. to teach 312
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-G. G. Clark
The first schoolhouse in West Plymouth, destroyed in 1849.
days, his time to be allotted among the districts according to the amount of taxes that each paid. School houses were not constructed until the Revolution was closed.
Textbooks were unknown. The Bible and the Westminster Catechism served for readers while a slab of wood and a bit of charcoal from the fire- place substituted for writing materials. If the Stearns History of Plymouth is consulted on page 274, a list of the taxpayers in each school district may be read, a most valuable school census of heads of families in 1775.
The year 1776 brought sadness to the Ward Family and the community. A fatal disease attacked the older children that caused the death of five of the Ward Family within a period of thirty-six days. Apparently this so affected their mother that she died a few months later, leaving Parson Ward with four young sons to protect. After some months, Miss Lydia Clough of Salem, Mass. became the second wife of the minister.
A NEW HAMPSHIRE CONSTITUTION
Throughout the Revolution no stable colonial government existed. Coun- ty courts were suspended, leaving the town to punish offenders of the laws.
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The colonial legislature voted to call delegates, who were appointed to repre- sent groups of towns, to a Provincial Congress with power to frame a state constitution. Five different sessions of this Congress were convened before an acceptable constitution was ratified by the towns. So thoroughly was this document compiled that it served as a model for the Federal Constitution. Three representatives for Plymouth should be mentioned: Abel Webster. Francis Worcester and Samuel Emerson. Abel Webster has been honored already for his many years of civic responsibilities. He was the representative in four of the Provincial Congresses, then he moved to Kingston.
Elder Francis Worcester, as he was designated, came to Plymouth from Hollis in 1770, aged 48 years. He was a deacon in Hollis and soon was ap- pointed to the same honored position in the church at Plymouth. He was the son of a clergyman in Bradford, Mass., well educated, "gentle and attractive in manner, deliberate in the discharge of duty." His contribution in the fifth Congress was highly valuable.
Samuel Emerson was born in Haverhill, Mass., and came to Plymouth from Hollis in 1770, aged 36 years. Immediately he was appointed to receive and distribute the guns and ammunition that the colony delivered for the protection of the town. He cultivated a farm on the present Fairground Road to support a family of eleven children. Simultaneously he filled the office of selectman, town clerk for 27 years and justice of the peace for 28 years. His reputation was one of exceptional understanding and judgment and his honesty was without a flaw. He drew many legal papers for his townsmen. He was the representative also in the fifth Colonial Congress.
When the county courts were resumed, he was appointed Assistant Judge in the Court of Common Pleas in 1776-1782 and Chief Justice until retire- ment because of age in 1806. He died in 1819 at 85 years of age. His grave may be found in the small cemetery near the Fairground Road, probably on the farm that he owned for over half a century.
THE BAKER RIVER BRIDGE
Near the close of this decade in 1786 the town decided to build a bridge over the Baker River, probably on the Coos Road since this was the traveled highway, and voted to run a lottery to pay for it. Parson Ward offered to donate ten pounds of his annual salary to the enterprise. although his salary had been reduced one half for two years during the Revolution. Bridges at this period were framed of logs with planks that were held in place by heavy logs along the two sides with a constant rumbling as traffic rolled across the length of the bridge.
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RELIGIOUS DISSENSION
Unfortunately, harmony did not exist continually among the inhabitants. In 1780, discord arose about religious doctrines. Fifteen taxpayers refused to assent to the teaching of Rev. Ward, remained absent from his religious serv- ices and were delinquent with their minister's tax during several years.
When the Proprietors surrendered their responsibilities to the organized Town of Plymouth in July, 1766, the voters agreed to pay a salary to Rev. Ward of 50 pounds and 30 cords of wood. Although a Congregational church was established with a few members, according to the demands of the Char- ter, the town, not the church, employed the minister. Very properly the tax collector assessed the estates of these fifteen voters.
Abel Webster, one of the dissenters, rode his horse to Exeter with a peti- tion to the Provincial Assembly that asked for relief from this situation. Deacon Francis Worcester was the representative for Plymouth in the Assem- bly. Through his intercession with Mr. Webster the petition was withheld while a compromise was arranged that pledged the dissenters to pay the taxes that they owed with an agreement that they be excused from future payments to Rev. Ward. This arrangement established a precedent that was adopted in other towns with disastrous results in future years for ministers' salaries.
SUMMARY
In this decade Grafton County was organized and the courthouse was erected. The town was divided into school districts. The Provincial Congress framed the Constitution of the State of New Hampshire.
The Hatch Dairy Barn that served as the meet- inghouse in 1788 - 89, on Route 25.
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1783-1793
The Town of Plymouth was twenty years of age. Changes were now de- veloping in the West Plymouth section. The log cabins and dug-outs were replaced by framed structures of one story design, the roofs slanting at a steep angle to the window frames and one large chimney a bit off center of the ridge- pole. Several may be found even to this day along the Coos Road.
The present Highland Street was a narrow cart path that passed the log meetinghouse and continued to the top of Ward Hill. Two years earlier, 1781, Enoch Ward began to frame a two story house, now called "The Emerson House." He had invited the neighbors to a raising and now, after many months, the house was ready to be occupied in 1783, the first of the colonial type dwellings that gradually lined Highland Street. Enoch was the business man of the Ward Family. During the Revolution he rode his horse to Ports- mouth and to Boston to barter products of the farms for imported necessities. He found his bride in Concord but lived in Boscawen where two children were born.
Now he established his home on Highland Street, and began to erect other houses at dates that are difficult to determine, because evidently one half of a two story house would be erected and the other half much later; for example the present 1820 and Hunt houses, both of the same plan, are worthwhile studies in antique designs.
A possession of Enoch's descendants, the Hunt Family, is a small diary that lists his transactions during the Revolution. He died on July 29, 1825, yet his colonial houses stand as memorials of his skill.
THE SECOND MEETINGHOUSE
The population was crowding the log meetinghouse. Although the tax- payers considered a larger structure in 1781, the Revolution had so depleted the financial situation that not until 1787 was a committee appointed to pro- cure the timbers, framed and ready to raise in the fall.
Probably no event was celebrated with such enthusiasm as the raising. Thirty-nine pounds in taxes were appropriated for the dinner at noon and while nine pounds paid for the beef, several barrels of New England rum account for a part of the expenses. as was the custom of a raising. The frames
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1.
Che 1820 House
LUNCHEON AFTERNOON TIA DINNER
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+1
The 1820 House on Highland Street. The west rooms were built by Enoch Ward, Jr. in 1800, the east rooms by Leonard George about 1820. This is one of the few Colonial homes with the overhang at the base of the gable.
for the walls were spread upon the ground, pinned together with wooden pins. The front wall was lifted by manpower upon the stone foundation and braced with strong poles. Then the side walls and lastly the back were lifted and the master carpenter rode high on the top plates to fasten the pins at the corners. The rafters were set into the roof trusses, each of which weighed nearly ten thousand pounds, and the ridge pole was set in place, certainly a gigantic task that demanded all of the ropes and the manpower of the entire vicinity.
The walls were boarded, roof covered and temporary seats provided at this time. Then the building stood for several years before even the interior was completed.
Meanwhile some impatient person thought to hasten the voters by setting a fire that consumed the log meetinghouse in 1785. Again the Webster tavern accommodated many small gatherings, and King George's barn was arranged for the Sabbath services. As we now drive past the Hatch Dairy, observe the barn that then stood on the other side of the Coos Road which was this tem- porary meetinghouse, now removed to the present location.
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PEMIGEWASSET HOUSE.
The shay that Dr. John Rogers may have used. He lived from 1755 to 1814. His son, Dr. Samuel Rogers, followed him, 1785 to 1858.
In 1781 or 1782 the first permanent physician came to Plymouth. Two doctors had briefly lived in town, but were soon called to become surgeons in the Revolution. How several hundred inhabitants existed without a doctor seems impossible to understand today. Women were experienced in the culture and application of medication with native herbs. A bag of hops was ready to heat to relieve a toothache; lye soap was a painful yet potent antiseptic for a cut; sage tea, or smartweed, relieved a cold. Grandmothers presided at child- births apparently with native skill, since making a study in the genealogical volume of the Stearns History reveals that few infants died before they were two years of age.
The reputation that Dr. Rogers bequeathed to the future was of a skilled, educated, courteous and compassionate friend, the latter attribute being his greatest asset. His presence beside the ill was a healing balm.
Dr. Rogers built a house on South Main Street, then another nearby where he became the first postmaster in 1795. Post riders had delivered mail from Portsmouth since 1781 and regularly since 1785. Postage to Plymouth on one letter for 500 miles was twenty-five cents.
THE FIRST STORE
Not to shop at a store is unimaginable today, yet a quarter of a century passed before a store opened its doors in Plymouth. The first merchant to this
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day is mentioned by his entire name, Jabez Hatch Weld, presuming that his personality was impressive. He established his store on South Main Street in 1790, selling groceries, grain, cattle and real estate, until his sudden death in 1824, leaving his son to continue the business.
Mr. Weld was a prosperous man as proved by his possession of a slave named Antonio. The tale was related by Miss Caroline Mudgett at a meeting of the D.A.R. about the trial and conviction of Antonio for stealing. This crime demanded a public whipping with a many-lashed whip.
The magistrate who was responsible for this punishment tied the victim to a large tree near the court house for the night. When the public appeared to witness this cruel spectacle, no Antonio was found. Some sympathetic indi- vidual had cut the bonds and the slave had disappeared never to be found in Plymouth. Yet Antonio was not forgotten, because the tree where he spent some hours of the darkness was known while it stood as "Antonio's Tree."
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
The Treaty of Peace that terminated the Revolution was signed in 1783. A convention was called to frame a Constitution of the United States at Phila- delphia on May 20, 1787 and four months later announced that a document was ready for ratification by the thirteen states to become operative when nine had ratified.
The following story is credited to Miss Caroline Mudgett, thorough his- torian of Plymouth, recalled from a paper that she gave to Asquamchumauke Chapter, D.A.R .:
Delegates to represent the towns in New Hampshire assembled in Exeter at a convention to consider ratification of this document. Both state and indi- vidual rights seemed to be omitted to the dissatisfaction of these cautious rep- resentatives. Samuel Livermore was the presiding officer while Francis Wor- cester represented Plymouth.
When Samuel Livermore realized that the convention did not intend to consent to ratification, he advised that a recess be voted to convene again in June.
During this interim, both Mr. Livermore and Francis Worcester mounted their horses to ride from town to town to reason with the delegates who were opposed to ratification, until every man understood the problems.
At the date in June that the convention re-convened, three other states were meeting and eight others had ratified. On June 21, 1787, the delegates voted to ratify with the proviso that a bill of rights be submitted to the first session of the new congress.
Then a rider with the necessary papers was sent to Philadelphia with in-
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Caroline Walker Mudgett 1865 - 1957
structions to spare neither himself nor steeds to win the race should the other three states ratify. One of the three did vote in the affirmative but the rider from New Hampshire delivered his papers first. Thus New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify and so made the Constitution operative. On April 30, 1789, George Washington was inaugurated as the first President of the United States.
Miss Mudgett did not hesitate to express her gratification in the fact that two citizens of this vicinity deserved honor for the important wisdom that each displayed with their methods of persuasion among the delegates rather than creating antagonism because of misunderstanding the issues: Samuel Liver- more and Francis Worcester.
After the Revolution the problem of district schools provided a topic for community discussion. Ten years later, in 1792, at a town meeting, the voters decided to divide the town into four districts and to build a school house in each district with dimensions of twenty-one by twenty-six feet and a nine foot stud.
A committee of four men was appointed to procure a suitable teacher for
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-G. G. Clark
Interior of the old brick schoolhouse at Plymouth and Bridgewater Union District, about 1853.
a "Grammar School." This plan seems to indicate that the small children were expected to be taught their ABC's at home, because a grammar school was for older pupils. Illiteracy was unknown in Plymouth at this time.
A suitable teacher was a man. The son of Eleazar Wheelock, the Presi- dent of Dartmouth College, and several other undergraduates of the college were employed, thus aiding these students to defray some part of their ex- penses. Schools were kept a number of weeks in each schoolhouse.
The son of Widow Bridget Snow taught over a period of fifteen years. He was accused of Tory sympathies during the Revolution because of letters that he sent to soldiers that contained ideas that were construed to be disloyal. Later these were believed to be facetious remarks and Benjamin was permitted to return from Nova Scotia where he fled for a time. Evidently he was kindly received and hired to resume his teaching.
At the turn of the 19th century, comprehension of living conditions, then and now, is impossible. The pace cannot be estimated other than by compar- ison. Riding a horse was rapid transportation at several miles per hour along the rough bridle paths. The deliberate gait of an ox team on the ride to church
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on a Sabbath morning would test the power of self control beyond endurance today. Walking would be preferable.
The contrast in comfortable living in the year 1803 and today is incom- prehensible. The water supply for man and beast presented problems. A brook on a farm was a necessity unless a well could be excavated and an oaken bucket utilized. Fortunately for homes in our village many springs flowed from the terraces above Main Street. One of the daily burdens was carrying water in and out of the homes, often the task of growing boys in the families. Tubs of many sizes of the homemade sort served for dishpans, laundry and bathtubs and farmyard utensils.
Only a fireplace sufficed for heating the houses and for cooking purposes. Since the fires never were allowed to be quenched in the kitchen, the brick chimneys were always warm, certainly an advantage in cold weather. Sleeping quarters were freezing cold in winter, only a hot stone tucked between the blankets tempered the chill at bedtime.
Candles composed of fats that were carefully conserved from beef and lamb drippings, so called, furnished necessary light where the flame of the fire- place could not penetrate the darkness.
Opening cans are our daily privileges to be appreciated in contrast to the task of preserving the products of the farm for winter use. Berries and vege- tables were dried, meat was salted or frozen solid, wheat and corn were reduced to meal and flour at the grist mill. Bunches of herbs were tied to dry for flavor- ing and medicinal purposes.
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