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HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF EXETER
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
By CHARLES H. BELL.
EXETER: THE QUARTER-MILLENNIAL YEAR.
1888.
PRESS OF E. FARWELL & CO. BOSTON.
PREFACE.
My chief aim iu preparing this history has been to make it useful. I have quoted largely from the manuscript records of the town, because they are liable to be destroyed, and what is in print is safe. For the same reason, and for the benefit of gene- alogists, I have given many lists of early names.
A town history is valuable almost in proportion to the accessi- bility of its contents. For the sake of ease of reference I have made a general classification of subjects in the present work ; have introduced numerous sub-titles ; have arranged all consider- able lists of names in alphabetical order ; have given a full table of contents at the beginning and a sufficient index at the end. Classification necessitates some repetition, but that is of small consequence in comparison with the advantages of the method.
A complete genealogical history of Exeter is a desideratum. But it would be a work of years. In this volume will be found all the information deemed most valuable to the investigator of family history, which is contained in the records of the town ; to wit : all the " family registers " iu auy books ; all the marriages and births in the first (oldest) book, and all the deaths in the same, before the year 1800.
In addition to these I have added, from other sources, the fol- lowing : excerpts from the records of old Norfolk county, Massa- chusetts ; a list of all the baptisms of children in Exeter, by the Rev. Woodbridge Odliu, between 1743 and 1763 ; a list of all the publishments of intentions of marriage in the town between 1783 and 1800. These lists may properly be termed new, as they are
iv PREFACE.
taken from manuscripts which have not been open to public inspection.
The orthography of proper names has been a source of per- plexity. A uniform rule is hard to fix and harder to follow. In spite of the best intentions variations have crept in. My only consolation is that I have probably not spelt names in half so many ways as their owners did.
My thanks are especially due to Professor Bradbury L. Cilley for the unlimited use of the manuscripts of his grandfather, the Hon. John Kelly, and of the late William Smith, Esq., each of whom planned a histor^^ of the town ; also to John Ward Dean, Esq., of Boston, and to my townsmen Messrs. George W, Dear- born, John T. Perry, William H. Belknap, Edward Giddings and many others who have most obligingly aided me in obtaining information.
It would be idle to suppose that this work is free from mistakes. In writing the history of a town the difficulties may be said to be in a direct ratio to the remoteness of the period treated of. Exeter being two hundred and fifty years old. the information respecting it has had to be gleaned from a multitude of sources, and the liabilities to errors of all kinds are correspondingly increased. The greatest care and pains have been bestowed, however, to insure accuracy, and it is hoped that mistakes Avill not be found to be immerous or important.
My townsmen will of course note many omissions, due for the most part to limited time and space. It is not believed that they will seriously detract from the value of the work to others.
Charles H. Bell.
CONTENTS.
MUNICIPAL.
CHAPTER I.
Exeter as an Independent Republic. — The Rev. John "V^Tieelwright ; the deeds from the Indians; the disputed Indian deed of 1629; trials of the opening year; the first church; another Indian deed; the Combina- tion ; the first criminal proceeding ; the Elders' oath ; the oath of the people ; first allotment of lands ; notices of early settlers ; early enact- ments. . . • . . • • • • • 3 — 43
CHAPTER II.
Exeter under the Massachusetts Government. — The conditions of annexation ; the fishery ; the care of the cattle ; the staple commodity ; project for a change of government ; number and names of inhabi- tants 44 — 61
CHAPTER III.
Exeter under the New Hampshire Provincial Government. — Gove's rebellion against Cranfield ; Robert Tufton Mason's land suits ; resistance to illegal taxation ; the province -without a government ; specimens of early town accounts; the mast-tree riot of 1734; a dis- orderly election ; demonstration against the stamp act ; patriotic action of the town in 1770; another patriotic expression of the town; help for the suffering poor of Boston; the census of 1775; the earliest written Constitution 62 — 89
CHAPTER IV.
Exeter under the State Government. — The Association test of 1776; first reading of the Declaration of Independence ; the evils of a paper currency ; the paper money mob of 1786 ; the Convention for the adoption of the Federal Constitution ; the visit of Washington ; court- house, fire engine, library, etc. ; honors to the memory of Washington ; temperance; War of 1812; prayer in town meetings; support of the poor ; celebration of bi-centennial anniversary ; re-naming streets ; new court-house ; lighting streets ; sidewalks ; steam fire engine ; water works. . . . • . • • • • .90 — 111
Vi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
Boundaries and Divisions ; Roads and Bridges. — The Hampton bound of 1653 ; the Dover bound of 1653 ; Captain Thomas AViggin's deed of gift ; enlargement of Exeter bounds ; Squamscot Patent under Exeter government ; townships carved from Exeter territory ; highways, their location, laying out and repairs ; bridges ; the village streets.
112 — 128
CHAPTER VI.
The Common Lands. — Lands of Edward and William Hilton ; grants of town lands ; list of distributees of land as reported in 1725 ; proceedings to hasten a distribution ; final distribution. . . . 129 — 146
CHAPTER Vn.
Officers of the Town. — List of toMn officers : rulers ; assistant rulers ; town clerks ; selectmen ; moderators ; representatives. . 147 — 152
ECCLESIASTICAL. CHAPTER VIII.
The First Religious Society. — Attempts to get a pastor, after j\Ir. Wheelwright's departure ; Mr. Dudley engaged ; new house of worship ; difficulty of paying salary ; fears of losing Mr. Dudley ; death of Mr. Dudley ; Elder Wentworth temjjorarily employed. . . 155 — 170
CHAPTER IX.
The First Society and its Offshoots. — A new meeting-house; re- organization of the church ; death of Mr. Clark ; engagement of Mr. John Odlin ; parish of Newmarket set off; a new meeting-house ; Epping parish set off; Brentwood parish set off; Rev. Woodbridge Odlin, colleague ; second parish incorporated ; succession of pastors, Isaac Mansfield, William F. Rowland, John Smith, William Williams, Joy H. Fairchild, Roswell D. Hitchcock, William D. Hitchcock, Nathan- iel Lasell, Elias Nason, John O. Barrows, Swift Byington. 171 — 193
CHAPTER X.
The Second Parish; Other Religious Societies. — Rev. Daniel Rogers; his epitaph; Joseph Brown ; Isaac Hurd ; Asa Mann; Orpheus T. Lanphear ; John W. Chickering, Jr. ; George E. Street ; Quakers ; the Baptist society ; the Universalist society ; the Christian society ; the Methodist society ; the Advent society ; the Roman Catholic society; the Unitarian society ; the Episcopal society. . 194 — 211
CONTENTS. vii
MILITARY.
CHAPTER XL
The Indian and French Wars. — Philip's war; King William's -war; services of Exeter men ; a fortunate escape ; Queen Anne's war ; Colonel Wintkrop Hilton's expeditions ; his death; occurrences of 1712; assault upon the Rollins family ; the Louisburg expedition ; roll of Captain Light's company; occurrences of 1746; the Crown Point expeditions ; Captain Nathaniel Folsom at Lake George ; capitulation of Fort William Henry; inventory of Major John Oilman's losses; later expeditions against French posts ; the Exeter Cadets. . . . 215 — 239
CHAPTER XII.
The Revolution and the War of 1812. — The powder from Fort Wil- liam and Mary ; the Exeter volunteers march to Cambridge ; Exeter soldiers in 1775; in 1776; in 1777; in 1778; in 1779; in 1780; in 1781 ; supplies furnished by the town to soldiers' families; the War of 1812; roll of Captain Nathaniel Oilman's company; roll of Captain James Thom's company. 240 — 259
CHAPTER Xin.
The War for the Union. — Exeter soldiers in the several New Hampshire regiments ; in the military or naval service. Notices of officers, Oen. Oilman Marston ; Lieutenant Colonel Henry H. Pearson ; Lieutenant Colonel Moses N. Collins ; Captain Albert M. Perkins. . 260 — 282
EDUCATIONAL. CHAPTER XIV.
The Schools and Academies. — Law of INLassachusetts and New Hamp- shire ; list of early instructors ; town orders concerning schools; forma- tion of school districts ; the Robinson Female Seminary ; the Phillips Exeter Academy ; the Female Academy. ... . 285 — 300
CHAPTER XV.
The Press. — The earliest newspaper ; first New Testament printed in the State ; samples of early journalism ; the NcAvs-Letter ; the Oazette and present publications ; contributors to the press. . . 301 — 314
INDUSTRIAL.
CHAPTER XVI.
Mills and Manufactures. — The first saw-mill ; Pickpocket falls granted ; CraAvley's falls; Pickpocket; paper-mills; powder-mills; "falls of the Squamscot ;" Exeter Manufacturing Company; other water-mills.
317 — 334
viii CONTEXTS.
CHAPTER XVII.
Busixiiss AND Trade. — Lumbering; ship-building; pottery; duck manu- factory ; saddlery and carriages ; hats; ^vool ; leather; the earlier mer- chants; banks; insurance companies 3oo — 348
BIOGRAPHICAL.
CHAPTER XVIII.
Judges and Lawyers. —John Oilman; Robert Wadleigh ; Kinsley Hall ; Peter Coffin ; Richard Hilton ; Xicholas Oilman ; Samuel Oilman ; X'icholas Perryman ; X'^oah Emery ; William Parker ; John Pickering ; Oliver Peabody ; Nathaniel Parker ; Oeorge Sullivan ; Moses Hodgdon; Solon Stevens ; Jeremiah Smith ; James Thom ; Joseph Tilton ; Jotham Lawrence ; Stephen Peabody ; Jeremiah Fellowes ; Oeorge Lamson ; AA'illiam Smith ; Oliver W. B. Peabody ; John Sullivan ; Samuel T. Oilman; James Bell; John Kelly; Timothy Farrar; Amos Tuck; Henry F. French ; John S. Wells ; William W. Stickney ; Alva Wood ; Oeorge C. Peavey ; other lawyers. .... 349 — 377
CHAPTER XIX.
Medical Mex. — Thomas Deane ; Josiah Oilman; Dudley Odlin ; Robert Oilman ; Eliphalet Hale ; John Oiddingc ; John Odlin ; Nathaniel Oil- man ; Caleb O. Adams; Joseph Tilton; Samuel Tenney ; X'athaniel Peabody ; William Parker, Jr., X'athan X^orlh ; AVilliam Perry ; David W. Oorham ; Samuel B. Swett ; other physicians. . . 378 — 389
CHAPTER XX.
Families and Individuals. — Dudley family; Folsom family; Leavitt family; Thing family ; Conner family ; Lyford family ; Robinson family; Smith families ; Odlin family ; Barker, Colcord, DoUoft', Kimball, Shute and others. Jonathan Cass; Enoch Poor; John Rogers; James Bur- ley ; Samuel Hatch ; Seth Walker ; Joseph Pearson ; Waddy V. Cobbs; John C. Long. The colored population. . . . 390 — 399
MISCELLANEOUS.
CHAPTER XXI.
Homicides; Burial-places; The "White Caps." — Mrs. Willix ; John- son; John Wadleigh ; Mrs. Ferguson; first four public burial-places; the cemetery ; other burial-places. The " White caps ;" their search for hidden treasure. ........ 403 — 414
CONTENTS. ix
CHAPTER XXII.
Things New and Old. — Trees: the oldest elm; early houses ; the Clif- ford house ; Dean house ; Ladd house ; Rowland house ; Odiorne house; Hildreth house ; Peabodj- house ; Oilman house ; Tilton house ; other old houses ; statistics; societies; localities. . . 415 — 428
APPENDIX.
I. The Indian deed of 1629 to Wheelwright and others. II. Transcripts of the Exeter Records, 1639 to 1644. III. Extracts from Hon. Jeremiah Smith's bi-centennial address, 183S. .... 431 — 469
GENEALOGICAL.
Family Registers, from the Exeter Records. Marriages, from the Exe- ter Records. Births, from the town Records. Deaths, prior to the year 1800, from the town Records. Births, Deaths and Marriages from the earliest town Records. Marriages, Births and Deaths from the Records of old Norfolk county, in Massachusetts. Baptisms of children in the First society, from 1743 to 1763. Publishments of intentions of marriage, from 1783 to 1800. . . . 3 §2
CORRECTIONS.
Page 149, Thomas Deane, Nathaniel Webster and Josiah Oilman were selectmen in 1741. " 151, John Oilman was representative in 1697 as well as in 1693. ^^ " 219, line 38, for Huntson, read Huntoon. " 220, note, for Edward, read N'athaniel, Swasey. . " 239, line 13, for lieutenant. Colonel, read lieutenant colonel.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Fac-simile of Exeter " Combination "
re-subscribed April 2, 1640 Plan of the village of Exeter in 1802 Exeter with its sub-divisions Plan of the township of Exeter in 1802
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drawn July 4, 1639; |
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Frontis. |
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Page 103 |
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" 317 |
MUNICIPAL.
HISTORY OF EXETER.
CHAPTER I.
EXETER AS AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC.
The river Pascataqua which forms the bound, next the sea, between New Hampshire and Maine, may, with its tributaries, be rudely represented by a man's left hand and wrist laid upon a table, back upwards and fingers wide apart. The thumb would stand for the Salmon Falls or Newichwannock river, the forefinger for Bellamy river, the second finger for Oyster river, the third for Lamprey river and the fourth for Exeter or Squamscot river ; while the palm of the hand would represent the Great Bay, into which most of those streams pour their waters, and the wrist the Pascataqua proper.
Before the foundation of Exeter there were but two organized settlements within the limits of New Hampshire, the one at the mouth of the Pascataqua about Strawberr}' Bank, now Ports- mouth ; the other about Dover at the confluence of the Salmon Falls and the Pascataqua. Both settlements were straggling, small and weak, being wholly self-ruled, for as yet there was no general government in New Hampshire. The Europeans who composed the population had most of them come thither to better their worldly condition by fishery and trade, and with no purpose of a religious character. The greater number of them were bred in the English church, and had little sympathy with the Puritans of the Massachusetts Bay.
Besides the inhabitants of these two settlements there were a few scattered dwellers along the Pascataqua and its aflfluents. Two of the most prominent of these, Edward Hilton and Thomas Wiggin, belong to Exeter history. Hilton was originally a fish- monger in the city of London, and emigrated to this country in 1623, doubtless with the expectation of engaging in the fishery here. He settled in Dover at what is now styled the Point, and after seven years obtained from the Council of Pl3niiouth, under the authority of the British Crown, a grant of lands on the upper
4 HISTORY OF EXETER.
Pascataqufi, known as the Hilton or Squamscot Patent. It em- braced Dover Point and a belt of territory south of the Pascataqua and east of the Squamscot, three miles in breadth, and extending to the falls of the latter river, at what is now Exeter. This grant afterwards passed into the hands of a company who appointed Captain Thomas Wiggin their agent.
Hilton and Wiggin had before 1640 both quitted Dover, and planted themselves on opposite sides of the Squamscot, and within three or four miles of the falls. There they were found by the company who settled Exeter, on their arrival, or soon afterward, Hilton domiciled in what is now South Newmarket, and Wiggin in what is now Stratham. Both were men of enterprise and natu- ral leaders, and each, no doubt, had his retainers about him. Hil- ton was attached, in a quiet way, to the observances of the Eng- lish church, and, consequently, was held in small consideration by the Puritan authorities of the Massachusetts Bay, when they came subsequently to rule over the New Hampshire settlements. Wig- gin's religious professions harmonized more nearly with their own, and he consequently enjoyed a much greater share of their appro- bation and confidence.
If we are to credit tradition there were three other persons dwelling at the falls of the Squamscot before the arrival of the company of Wheelwright in 1638. These were Ealph Hall, Thomas Leavitt and Thomas Wilson, all of whom were located on the eastern side of the river, while most of the other early comers chose the western side. Hall and Leavitt were young men, and may, for aught we know, have been tlie pioneers of the settle- ment ; but the antecedents of Wilson leave little room to doubt that he was of Wheelwright's company.
The falls of the Squamscot, round which the village of Exeter has clustered from the beginning, are formed by the passage of a beautiful inland stream over a succession of ledges into a broad basin below, where its waters mingle with the tides from the sea. This was a well known fishing place of the Indians. The country around was covered, for the most part, with dense forests, broken here and there by tracts of natural meadow, and by marshes bor- dering upon the tide-water.
On the third day of April, 1638, the Eev. John Wheelwright purchased l:)y a deed from the local sagamore and his son, a re- lease of the right of the Indian occupants to this localit}^ and to a tract of the surrounding country, thirty miles in extent, reaching
HISTORY OF EXETER. 5
from the Dorthern boundary of the Massachusetts Bay ou the south, to the Pascataqua patents on the east, and on the north to Oyster river. His purpose in making the purchase was to begin a settlement, to which he gave the name of Exeter.*
THE REV. JOHN M^HEELWRIGHT.
Mr. Wheelwright, who is justly styled the founder of Exeter, deserves a more extended notice. He was born in or near the hamlet of Saleby in Lincolnshire, England, probably in the early part of the year 1592. His father was a man of sufficient means to afford him a university education, and to leave him heir to some freehold property. At Sidney College, Cambridge, he gained his bachelor's degree in 1614, and that of M. A. four years later. One of his fellow collegians was the famous Oliver Cromwell, who afterwards bore testimony to his athletic vigor and pluck, "that he was more afraid of meeting AVheelwright at football than he had been since of meeting an army in the field, for he was infalli- bly sure of being tripped up by him." Mr. Wheelwright was married on the eighth of November, 1G21, to Marie, daughter of the Rev. Thomas Storre, vicar of Bilsby, in the county of Lincoln ; and on the ninth of April, 1623, having taken holy orders, on the death of his father-in-law, succeeded him in the vicarage. He is described as a faithful and zealous minister ; but like many able and conscientious men of his time, he was led to question the au- thority of certain dogmas and observances of the English church, until he found himself at length arrayed in the ranks of the Puri- tans, so that after about ten years he was silenced by the ecclesi- astical powers, for non-conformity. He continued to reside in England for two or three years afterwards and then emigrated to the new world. He took with him his wife by a second marriage, Mary, daughter of Edward Hutchinson of Alford, and his five children, and landed in Boston on the twenty-sixth of May, 1636.
There he soon became highly esteemed, insomuch that after about six months, it was proposed by some of the members of the Boston church that he should be settled over them as a second teacher, in conjunction with the Rev. John Wilson and the Rev.
» Of course this name was borrowed from Exeter in England. The cause of its se- lection is unknown. There is no evidence that Wheelwright ever had any acquaint- ance with the English Exeter, and the only one of his companions who is known to have come from that place, or its vicinity, was Godfrey Dearborn.
(3 . HISTOPvY OF EXETER.
John Cotton, two of the most eminent divines of the colony. But upon some objection beiug made to this, Mr. Wheelwright was placed in charge of a new church gathered at Mount Wollaston, afterwards Braiutree and now Quincy ; and i-eceived a grant of two liundred acres of land there.
About this time Anne Hutchinson, a woman of keen wit and dominant disposition, the wife of William Hutchinson, a brother of Wheelwright's second wife, rendered herself a conspicuous fiffure in the reli2,ious circles of Boston. With the fondness for theological speculations which was characteristic of that age, she had adopted some opinions not in unison with those of the major- ity of the ministers and elders of the Massachnsetts Bay, and was in the habit of enunciating them in the shape of criticisms on their sermons and doctrines, at weekly meetings of the sisterhood held at her house in Boston. These heterodox opinions were the merest theoretic abstractions imaginable, such as that "the person of the Holy Ghost dwells in a justified person," and that " no sanctifica- tion can help to evidence to us our justification," and the like, and had no possible relation to the practical concerns of life. Their opponents, however, gave them the bad name of "Antinomian." But Wheelwright also professed the same views in the main, and Cotton timidly indorsed them, while a large proportion of the members of the Boston church approved them. All this was bit- terly unpalatable to the authorities of church and state (who were substantially the same) in the Massachusetts Bay, and they took counsel together how to suppress the rising heresy. Excommuni- cation of the offenders was the obvious remedy ; iDut as l)y far the greater part of the Boston church were in sympathy with them, there was danger that in the attempt to apply that remedy the movers might find themselves victims instead of victors. They therefore resolved on other and safer measures.
Apparently every utterance of Wheelwright was strictly watched, to find cause of accusation against him. At length the desired pretext was obtained, in a sermon which he preached on a Fast day in Boston, on the nineteenth of January, 1636-7. It is impossible for any unprejudiced person of our time to discover in this production, which is still extant, anything to cause alarm to the most timorous heart, but to the jaundiced eyes of the Massa- chusetts rulers of that day, it seemed to be filled with threatenings of ruin and destruction. And tliey determined that out of his dis- course they would find matter for his condemnation. It would
HISTORY OF EXETER. 7
require too much space to follow in detail the various proceedings which they instituted against Wheelwright. First, the great and Greueral Court, backed by an advisory counsel of the clergy, pro- nounced him guilty of "sedition and contempt of the civil author- ity." Wheelwright was not daunted by this. The next applica- tion was a synod of the clergy of the colony, who, after a laborious session of twenty-four days, condemned no less than eighty-two erroneous opinions, which they alleged had been brought to New England and " spread underhand there." Wheelwright attended the meetings of the synod, and, of course, understood very well that its conclusions were in effect, if not by name, a condemna- tion of his position and course ; but he did not swerve a hair's breadth for that. Then his prosecutors determined to oust him b}' force. The General Court was to be the instrument; and in order to make sure of a majority of deputies who would perform their beliests, the authorities resorted to the extraordinary course of a special election. Before this tribunal, thus organized to con- vict, Wheelwright appeared and pleaded not guilty. To such a trial there could be but one ending. For the offences of which he had previously been found guilty, " and for now justifying himself and his former practice, being to the disturbance of the civil peace," he was by the court disfranchised and banished.
Wheelwright was not the only victim. Mrs. Hutchinson also was banished from the colony, and several of their adherents were "disarmed" — deprived of all weapons — an ignominious and harsh punishment at that time when the means of protection and defence were so essential. Thus one of the earliest acts of those who emigrated hither to obtain their religious freedom, was to establish a religious despotism. The poor pretence that the act was necessary for the maintenance of "the civil peace," finds no justification in any fact which the most prejudiced apologist has been able to urge in its favor.
The sentence against Wheelwright was pronounced early in November, 1637, and he was allowed two weeks to depart out of the jurisdiction. Much to the surprise of many, instead of accom- panying his sister-in-law to Rhode Island, where he would have been welcomed to an asylum of religious freedom, he turned his face towards the far less inviting solitude of the falls of the Squamscot. It is probable that he sailed from Boston to the mouth of the Pascataqua in a coaster belonging to John Clark, afterwards of Rhode Island, one of his sympathizers ; and then
8 HISTORY OF EXETER.
made his difficult way overland to his destination. The succeed- ing inclement season he must have passed in the rude cabin of some neighboring settler, perhaps that of Edward Hilton. It was a bitter winter, and the snow covered the ground to the depth of three feet, from the fourth of November to the fifth of the follow- ing March.
But no sooner were the icy chains of winter loosed, than the resolute and indefatigable Wheelwright began to bestir hbnself in making preparations for his new settlement.
THE DEEDS FROM THE INDIANS.
The release of the Indians' right to the lands in and about Exe- ter was contained in two deeds which are still preserved, and are here given, with the original orthography and contractions.
Know all men by these presents that I Wehanownowit Sagamore of piskatoquake for good considerations me therevnto mouing & for certen comodys which I have received have graunted & sould vnto John Whelewright of piscatoquake, Samuel Hutchinson & Augustine Stor of Boston Edward Calcord & Darby Field of pis- catoquake & John Compton of Roxbury and Nicholas Needome of Mount Walliston all the right title & interest in all such lauds, woods, meadows, riuers, brookes springs as of right belong vnto me from Merimack riuer to the patents of piscatoquake bounded w""'' the South East side of piscatoquake patents & so to goe into the Country north West thirty miles as far as oyster riuer to haue & to hold the same to them & their heires forever, onely the ground w'^ is broken up excepted. & that it shall be lawfull for the said Sagamore to huut & fish & foul in the said limits. In Witness whereof I haue hereunto set my hand the 3*^ day of April 1638. Signed & possession giuen. These being present
James Wall.
James, his m'ke Wehanownowit his m'ke.
his W. C. m'ke. William Cole
his M m'ke. Lawrence Cowpland
Know all men by these p''sents y' I Wehanownowitt Sagamore of Puschataquake for a certajne some of money to mee in hand payd & other m''chandable comodities wch I haue reed as likewise for other good causes & considerations mee y'' imto spetially mouing
HISTORY OF EXETER. 9
haue granted barganed alienated & sould vnto John Wheelewright of Pischataqua & Augustine Storr of Bostone all those Lands woods Medowes Marshes rivers brookes springs with all the app""- tenances emoluments pfitts comoditys there unto belonging lying , and situate within three miles of the Northerne side of y*" river Meremake extending thirty miles along by the river from the sea side & from the sayd river side to Pischataqua Patents thirty Miles vp into the countrey North West & soe from the ffalls of Pischa- taqua to Oyster river thirty Miles square ev'y way, to haue & to hould the same to them & y'' heyres for euer only the ground wch is broaken vp is excepted & it shall bee lawfull for y'' sayd Saga- more to hunt fish & foule in the sayd lymitts. In witnesse w'of I have hereunto sett my hand & scale the third day of Aprill 1G38.
Signed sealed & deliv'ed & possession given in the p'sence of
James his m'ke Aspamabough his m'ke
Edward Calcord Wehanownowit his m'ke.
Nicholas Needham Pummadockyou* his m'ke.
AVilliam Furbar the Sagamore's son
It will be observed that in the description of the premises re- leased, the main difference between these two instruments was in regard to the southern boundary ; in the former deed it was a line three miles north of the Merrimac river ; in the latter it was the river itself. The occasion of this duplication of the title-deeds was, in all likelihood, the want of knowledge of the exact location of the northern limit of Massachusetts ; and the intention was to claim to that limit, and to rely on whichever of the deeds the better sustained that claim.
The change of grantees named in the deeds indicates that there could have been no intention of vesting the title in them person- ally ; and, accordingly, it will be found that they never assumed the ownership in themselves, but allowed the conveyances to enure to the benefit of the great body of the settlers, and the lauds to be at their disposal and control. This fact, taken in connection with the prompt appearance upon the ground of no less than nine of Wheelwright's friends and supporters, in the character of grantees
*The original deeds bear the totems or distinctive marks of Ibe Indians, being rude sketches, as follows: those of James and of Wehanownowit a man holding a toma- hawk; that of Pummadockyon a man holding a bow and arrow; and that of Aspam- abough a bow and arrow.
10 HISTORY OF EXETER.
and witnesses, and the speedy arrival of numerous others, leaves little question that the project of the Exeter settlement had been fully organized and understood beforehand.
THE DISPUTED INDIAN DEED OF 1629.
In the trial of the action at law of Allen against Waldron in 1707, which involved ihe title to substantially all the lands in New Hampshire, the defendant introduced in evidence a deed purport- ing to have been executed by Passacouawa}^, sagamore of Pena- cook, Runawit of Pentucket, Wahanownawit of Squamscot and Howls of Newichwannock, to the Rev. John Wheelwright and others, on the seventeenth day of May, 1629, nearly nine years prior to the date of the deeds already mentioned. It assumed to convey the rights of the grantors' tribesmen to the same territory described in those deeds, and even more. The instrument under- went the ordeal of the courts unscathed, and passed into the his- tory of the time as a genuine document, and was universally so regarded for a hundred years. In 1820 Mr. James Savage, while editing an edition of Winthrop's Journal, was led, by a compari- son of dates, to inquire into the authenticity of the deed, and with characteristic positiveness, to pronounce it spurious. His view was adopted by several of the historians of New Hampshire, in- cluding Mr. John Farmer and the Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Bouton. It has, however, been queried by some others whether the reasons given for discrediting the instrument are conclusive.
But it seems quite unnecessary to go, in this work, into any in- quiry on the subject. Whether the deed of 1629 was true or false, it is certain tliat Wheelwright in making his settlement did not rely upon it, but upon the conveyances of the later date. The question respecting the authenticity of the earlier deed, therefore, however interesting it may be to antiquaries, can affect no one's title or claim, and is of no practical importance.
The instrument, however, as a historical curiosity, is worthy of preservation. Being of considerable length it will be placed in the appendix (I).
TRIALS OF THE OPENING YEAR.
The opening year of Exeter's settlement must have tested to the utmost the courage and endurance of the colonists. Everything needed to render the place habitable had to be created ; for the
HISTORY OF EXETEll. 11
lack of means of transport in the wilderness preclnded the convej'- ance thither of anything beyond the absolute essentials of exist- ence. The trees of the primeval forest had to be felled, and from their trunks rude dwellings constructed, to shelter the tender ones. The absence of household furniture compelled the fashioning of substitutes from wood or bark. Planting-land must be cleared, and seed sown, to provide against the danger of starvation. Nu- merous other wants, the products of civilization, clamored also to be at once supplied ; so that every hour of the first season must have been devoted to providing the means for rendering life secure and tolerable. Nothing short of extraordinary firmness of character, the consciousness of right in their religious trials, and their confidence in their leader and pastor, would have enabled the early settlers of the town to bear up under the difficulties and hardships of their position.
From the best information that can now be obtained, the popu- lation of P^xeter did not advance during the first year much, if at all, beyond a score of families. These consisted in about equal proportions of Wheelwright's parishioners and adherents from Mount Wollaston and its vicinity in Massachusetts, and of his con- nections and friends lately arrived from Lincolnshire in England. In July, 1637, in the midst of the Antinomian excitement, a ship had reached Boston, from England, bringing as passengers a brother of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, and a number of other transat- lantic friends of Wheelwright. The General Court of Massachu- setts had recently enacted a law forbidding new comers to tarry in the colony for a longer time than three weeks, without the written permission of a member of the council or of two other magistrates. That friends of Wheelwright should be suffered to make their permanent homes in Massachusetts was out of the ques- tion. Governor Winthrop gave them leave to remain for four months, but no longer. In November, 1637, therefore, they had to seek an abiding place elsewhere. They, doubtless, chose to go where Wheelwright went, and found winter quarters somewhere on the Pascataqua ; and in the following spring sat down with him at Exeter. Of these we can reckon about ten heads of families, and of those who came from the neighborhood of Boston, about the same number.
The wives and little ones did not stay long behind. Wheel- wright's family left Massachusetts in March, 1638, to follow him to Exeter by water. The difficulties of travelling thither l)y land
12 HISTORY OF EXETER.
were too great for women and children, even at the most favorable season. But it was quite practicable to navigate a vessel of fair size along the coast and up the river to the very foot of the falls of the Squamscot ; and it is altogether likely that most of the fami- lies adopted that mode of conveyance for themselves and their more portable household effects.
THE FIRST CHURCH.
This was essentially a religious colonization, and there can be no doubt that at an early stage, a church was gathered, though its records have long since disappeared. We assume that this was done before December 13, 1638, because the fact is recorded in the past tense in Winthrop's contemporaneous History of New England, under that date. The time of the formation of the church is not there given, but the facts recited would imply that it must have been in existence for some weeks, if not months before that date. It probably included in its membership all, or nearly all, the adult persons in the settlement. The members of the newly gathered church wrote to the church in Boston, no doubt, in the autumn of 1638, asking for the dismission of Wheelwright therefrom, in order that he might be their minister ; but as Wheel- wright himself, for obvious reasons, did not join in the petition, the elders of the Boston church declined to lay the i)roposal before the members. Upon this being made known to Wheelwright he sent his own request to the same effect, which reached the elders early in December ; and thereupon on the sixth of the following January the Boston church dismissed Wheelwright, Richard Mor- ris, Hichard Bulgar, Philemon Pormort, Isaac Gross, Christopher Marshall, George Bates, Thomas Wardell and William Wardell " unto the church of Christ at the falls of the Pascataqua, if they be rightly gathered and ordered." And two months afterwards, on March 3, 1639, they dismissed to the same church, also, Susanna Hutchinson, widow, Mary, the wife of Wheelwright, Leonora, the wife of Kichard Morris, Henry Elkins and his wife, this time without conditions, being apparently satisfied that the church of Exeter tt-as "rightly gathered and ordered."
It was a circumstance none too creditable to the temper of the authorities of Massachusetts, that after they had relieved them- selves from all, even imaginary danger from their heterodox brethren by banishing them from their territory, they must needs
HISTORY OF EXETER. 13
grudge them a friendly reception among their new neighbors. In September, 1638, tlae General Court of that colony directed the governor to write to the Rev. George Burdett at Dover, Thomas AViggin at Squamscot, and others, of the vicinity, reproaching them for having aided Wheelwright in founding the plantation at Exeter. This gratuitous act of unfriendliness must naturally have reached the ears of the parties at whom it was aimed, and could not fail to embitter them still more against their persistent perse- cutors.
Shortly afterwards the settlement of Winicowet, now Hampton, was begun under the authority of Massachusetts. Prior to this time that colony had made no claim nor attempt to exercise juris- diction over any territory lying more than three miles north of the Merrimac river — the line to which the obvious construction of her charter would appear to restrict her. But Winicowet was above that distance north of the Merrimac, and, moreover, was embraced in Wheelwright's purchase from the Indians. He, therefore, gave notice to the settlers of Hampton and to the General Court of Massachusetts that the lands of Hampton had been bought by Exeter from the Indian sagamores, and would be lotted out in farms, unless Massachusetts could show a better title. The Gen- eral Court replied that they looked upon this as against good neighborhood, religion and common honesty, as Exeter knew that Massachusetts claimed Hampton as within her patent, or as vacant land, and had taken possession thereof by building a house there above two years before. The Exeter proprietors made reply, that they claimed nothing which was within the patent of Massachu- setts. But, before that, the authorities of Massachusetts had sent men to explore the course of the Merrimac, and had discovered that its source was far to the northward of the Pascataqua planta- tions, and thereupon resolved upon that construction of their charter which they promulgated by a solemn order in 1652, claim- ing that the northern bound of their patent was an east and west line drawn through a point three miles northerly of the northern- most extremity of the Merrimac. This new interpretation must be admitted to be highly artificial ; but Massachusetts had a strong government, while the New Hampshire settlements were feeble, and England was hopelessly far away. Massachusetts was thus in a condition to enforce her claims, and they were submitted to for the time. But when they were subsequently brought before the English tribunals they were unhesitatingly rejected.
14 HISTORY OF EXETER.
Thus passed the first year of the life of the new town, if town it can be called which was without municipal regulations or any kind of civil government. Thus far the inhabitants had been so fully engrossed in providing for their prime necessities, their inter- ests were so little conflicting, and the influence of their leader was so complete, that no disorder or serious differences had occurred. But the second year was to bring accessions to their numbers, of those who could not be expected to jdeld equal obedience to Wheelwright's wishes. The existence of the new plantation had been bruited about, and another set of inhabitants, of different antecedents and purposes, began to come in. And before the end of the second year the population had at least doubled.
ANOTHER INDIAN DEED.
On the tenth of April, 1639, ^Mieelwright succeeded in strength- ening the town's title to the territory purchased from Wehanowna- wit and Pummadockyon the year before, by the confirmatory grant of another Indian of authority, indorsed upon their deed, in the following terms :
Know all men by these p^'sents that I Watohantowet doe fully consent to the grant within written, & do yeild up all my right in the said purchased lands to the ptys w"' in written. In witnesse whereof I haue herevnto set my hand the tenth day of April 1639.
I doe likewise grant vnto them for goode consideration all the meadows & gi'ounds extending for the space of one english mile on the East side of Oyster river. April 10. 1639.
These being p'sent
Watohantowet * his m'ke. his a m'ke
Darby Field
From the last clause in the foregoing grant it appears that Watahantowet claimed the proprietorship of lands beyond Oyster river, afterwards appropriated by Dover, and now included in Dur- ham. So far as those lands were concerned, Exeter benefited little by the conveyance.
* The totem of Wataliantowet delineated upon the deed was an armless man.
HISTORY OF EXETER. 15
THE COMBINATION.
As the second season aclvfinced the need of some form of civil government became apparent. There were no constituted authori- ties over the patent of New Hampshire, and the Exeter settlers were driven to the expedient adopted nineteen years before by the Pilgrim Fathers, and perhaps employed by one at least of the other plantations upon the Pascataqna. They agreed upon a vol- untary association for governmental purposes, which was drawn up by their pastor and subscribed by him and probably by the greater number of the adult males of the settlement. It bore date the fourth day of July, 1639 ; just one hundred and thirty-seven years before the adoption of the memorable declaration of American Independence.
The following is the language of this compact :
Whereas it has pleased the lord to moue the heart of our Dread Soveraigne Charles, by the grace of god King of England, Scot- land France & Ireland, to grant licence & liberty to sundry of his subjects to plant them selves in the AYesterne partes of America ; Wee his loyall subjects, brethren of the church of Exceter, situate & lying upon the river of Piscataquacke w"" other inhabitants there considering w"^ our selves the holy will of god and oiir owne neces- sity that we should not live w*out wholsome lawes & ci\'il govern- ment amongst us, of w"" we are altogether destitute, doe in the name of Christ & in the sight of god combine our selves together, to erect & set up amongst us such government as shall be to our best discerning, agreeable to the will of god, professing our selves subjects to our Soveraigne Lord King Charles according to the lib- ertys of om* English Colony of the Massachusets & binding our selves solemnely by the grace & helpe of Christ & in his name & f eare to submit our selves to such godly & christian laws as are established in the Realme of England to our best knowledge, & to all other such lawes w'' shall upon good grounds be made & inacted amongst us according to god y' we may live quietly & peaceablely together in all godlyness and honesty.
Mon. 5*, d. 4"^ 1639.
This instrimient was soon found to be unsatisfactory to some of the brethren, because of its too lavish expressions of loyalty to the king, who was of course in their minds identified with prelacy. Like their neighbors of Massachusetts they were willing to
16 HISTORY OF EXETER.
acknowledge, in a general way, that he was their lawful sovereign, and that they were his subjects, but they had no disposition to make any unnecessary or exuberant professions of allegiance. It might have been at this time and on this account that some of the inhabitants made overtures to the Massachusetts authorities to be received under their government, as the people of Dover had just done. The Exeter people, however, soon "repented themselves" and withdrew the proposal. The objectionable feature of the Combination had been cancelled, and a new compact drawn, of the same purport, except that it simply acknowledged the king to be their sovereign, and themselves to be his subjects. This second compact was executed in due form, was apparently satisfactory to the former dissentients, and went into effect, as the basis of gov- ernment. But, quite curiously, it seems to have led to trouble in the opposite direction — because it did not contain loyalty enough.
THE FIRST CRIMINAL TROCEEDING.
One Gabriel Fish, a member of the Exeter church, who perhaps understood by the change in the compact for government, that roy- alty was at a discount, was guilty of "speaking against" his maj- esty ; possibly of uttering speeches which might be construed as treasonable. This by no means suited the views of the leading men of Exeter. They at once caused Fish to be arrested, and some of them proceeded to Massachusetts to take advice what to do with him.
This occuiTence brought a new and singular figure into the his- tory of the town. Captain John Underhill was a military adven- turer who after having lived for seven years in Massachusetts and distinguished himself in the Pequot war, and otherwise, was dis- armed for his adherence to the opinions of Wheelwright and Mrs. Hutchinson, and came to Dover, where he was chosen chief magis- trate, under the style of governor. He was fond of brave apparel, addicted to the use of " the good creature tobacco," and possibly not averse to a stoup of strong waters, a little too partial to the other sex, and wore his political and religious principles rather loosely ; in short, he showed a singularly incongruous outline against the prim background of New England Puritanism. He, hearing of the detention of Fish, and perhaps to ingratiate himself with the prelatical party who were strong at the mouth of the Pas- cataqua, and would be glad to see a maliguer of the king soundly
HISTORY OF EXETEK. 17
punished, sent thirteen armed men from Dover to Exeter, who took Fish from custody there, and conveyed him to Dover. This and otlier instances of misconduct occasioned a change of opinion in Dover respecting Uuderhill, wliicli resulted in deposing him and electing Thomas Roberts in his place, who at once restored Fish to the authorities of Exeter. It is not improbable that his return was a source of embarrassment. The change in the Exeter Combination would hardly justify his punishment for speaking against the king, and the authorities of IMassachusetts were by no means anxious to claim jurisdiction of the case ; so we may imag- ine that the charge against Fish was not pressed.
But tlie result of this liasco appears to have been to make j'^et another change in the P^xeter compact for government. On the second of April, 1G40, the original Combination, as alread}' given in these pages, was re-executed, with the following explanatory preamble :
Whereas a certen combination was made by us the brethren of the chur^'li of P^xeter w"' the rest of the Inhabitants bearing date Mon. o"^, d. 4, 1639 w'' afterwards upon the instant request of some of the brethren, was altered & put into such a form of wordes, wherein howsoever we doe acknowledge the King's Majesty our dread Soveraigne & our selves his subjects, yet some expressions are contained therein w'' may seeme to admit of such a sence as somewhat derogates from that due Allegiance w^ we owe iito his Highuesse quite contrary to our true intents and meanings : Wee therefore doe revoke, disanull make voyd and frustrate the said latter combination, as if it never had been done & doe ratify, con- firme & establish the former, w*" wee only stand unto, as being in force & vertue, the w'' for substance is here set down in manner and form following.
Mon. 2\ d. -2, 1640.
Here follows the combination substantially as it was originally drawn, and appended to it are the following signatures :
John "Whelewright Richard BuUgar
Augustine Storre Christopher Lawson
Thomas Wight George Barlow *
William Wantworth Richard Moris
Henry Elkins Nicholas Needham
George Walton * Thomas Willson *
Samuell Walker George Ruobone *
18 HISTORY OF EXETER.
Thomas Pettit William Coole *
Henry Roby James Walles *
Willia Weiibourne Thomas Levitt *
Thomas Crawley * Edmond Littlefield
Chr: Helme John Crame *
Darby Field * Godfrye Deareborne *
Robert Read * Philemon Pormort
Edward Rishworth Thomas Wardell
Francis Mathews * Willia Wardell *
Ralph Hall Robert Smith * Robert Soward*
We have advanced a little beyond the chronological order of our narrative, for the purpose of giving a continuous history of the formation and changes of the Combination. We will now return to the original date of it, July 4, 1(339.
At the same time when that Combination was formed, a regular scheme of government was apparently established. The executive aiid judicial functions were vested in a board of three magistrates, or elders, of whom the chief was styled Ruler. They were chosen by the whole body of the freemen, who wei'e the electors and legis- lators, their enactments, however, requiring the approval of the Ruler. An inhabitant had to be admitted a freeman, before he could enjoy the privileges of an elector ; and there is one instance of a freeman being deprived of his privileges as such, by reason of misconduct.
Both the Elders and the People were required to take certain prescribed oaths, which are here given.
THE ELDERS OATH, Y*^ 4th DAY, 5x11 M°. 1639.
You shall sweare by the great and dreadfull name of the high God maker & Gov'' of heaven and earth, and by the Lord Jesus Christ y® Prince of the Kings and Rulers of the earth that in his name and f eare you will Rule and Governe this his people according to the righteous will of God's Ministeringe Justice and Judgm' upon the workers of iniquity and Ministering due incurridgm' and Countinance to well doers — protecting of people so farre as in you by the helpe of [God] lyeth, from forren Annoyance and in- ward disturbance that they may live a quiett and peacable life in all godlyness and honesty. Soe God bee helpful and gratious to you and yo" in Christ Jesus.
*These made their marks; although at least one of them James Wall (here written Walles) was capable of writing a neat signature.
HISTORY OF EXETER. 19
THE OATH OF THE PEOPLE.
Wee doe here sweare by the Great and dreadfull name of ye high God, maker & Gouern"' of Heaven & earth and by the Lord Jesus X' y*^ King & Savio'' of his people that in his name & fear we will submitt o"" selves to be ruld & gouerued by, according to y* will & word of God and such holsome Laws & ordinances as shall be derived theire from by o' honr'^ Rulers and y" Lawfull assistance with the consent of y*^ people and y' wee will be ready to assist them by the helpe of God in the administracon of Justice and p^'servacou of peace with o'' bodys and goods and best endeauo" according to God, so God protect & saue us and o" in Christ Jesus.
Isaac Gross was chosen the first Ruler, and undoubtedly quali- fied himself by taking the Elder's oath. It is not unlikely that he was also a ruling elder in the church. On the eighteenth of January, 1640, Augustine Storre and Anthony Stanyan were joined with him, and the three were to have " the ordering of all town affairs according to God." These officers corresponded closely to our modern selectmen, in respect to their duties, and under their administration the affairs of the little town went on satisfactorily.
A glimpse of the customs of the time is afforded us by a trans- action recorded in the Note Book of Thomas Lechford, Esq., an English lawyer, who practised his profession in Boston in Massa- chusetts from 1638 to 1611. Under date of July 5, 1639, he records the drawing of a covenant between Elizabeth Evans of Bridgend in the county of Glamorgan in Wales and John Wheel- wright, minister, by which she engaged to become his servant for three years from June 25 then last past, for three pounds per annum as wages, and in consideration that her passage to this country was paid by Wheelwright. The instrument appears not to have been executed in Boston, and we know that Wheelwright's sentence of banishment was still in force. No doubt it was com- pleted in Exeter, having been brought thither by Richard Bulgar or Richard Morris, both of whom had business with the lawyer about that time.
FIRST ALLOTMENT OF LANDS.
It was near the close of the second season before any general distribution of land appears to have been made, from the ample domain at the disposal of the town. On Wednesday of the first week in December, 1639, the town made a beginning, by first
20 HISTORY OF EXETER.
defining the extensive uplands and meadows which belonged to Edward Hilton, whose claim was treated as antedating that of the Exeter proprietors.
They then provided that all the meadows belonging to the town between the village and Mr. Hilton's house, and from Lamprey river to the head of the Little Bay should be equally apportioned into four parts ; of which one part should be divided liy lot among those inhabitants who had no cattle, or a less number of goats than four ; the hay growing thereon, however, to be distributed among the others, until such time as they should have cattle of their own, or sell the meadows to those having cattle. The other three parts of the meadows were to be divided by lot among the inhabitants having cattle, according to the number thereof ; and the division was to be made before the next court or town meetinir.
The town also provided that upland lots for planting should be laid out by lot to all the inhabitants, by the river between Stony creek and the creek on this (the south) side of Mr. Hilton's, according to the number of persons and cattle belonging to each, except such persons as lived on the eastern side of the river, and "William Hilton and John Smart, who were to have lots on that side of the river, where the town should think most convenient, [acting] by Ruler Needham and Augustine Storre.
The division of lands thus ordered was duly made, doubtless in the course of the same month.*
The marshes and meadows, bearing spontaneously a species of grass on which when dried the cattle could well subsist, were at this eai'ly period, when no considerable clearing away of the forest had been effected, of great value to the settlers. The whole extent of them was but one hundred and ten acres, but they were appor- tioned with particularity among the thirty-seven heads of families then belonging to Exeter, excluding Edward Hiltou, whose lauds had already been secured to him. These marshes were situated partly in the vicinity of Lamprey river, and partly between the Hilton place in what is now South Newmarket, and the present village of Exeter.
The uplands for planting-lots, which were also divided, amounted to about four hundred and thirty- three acres, and were allotted to thirty-two inhabitants, not including Edward Hilton, nor those who lived on the eastern side of the river. The shares varied from
* A complete record of the allotments may be found in the appendix (11).
HISTORY OF EXETER. 21
four acres and twenty rods, per man, to eighty acres. Ten of the inhabitants received each no more than the smaller amount ; and only Wheelwright received the larger. The uplands here dis- tributed lay on the western bank of the salt river, beginning at the brook on the southerly side of the Hilton place in South Newmarket and extending towards Exeter village about one mile and thi-ee- quarters, if the measurements are correct.
The inhabitants began early to exercise their new privileges as legislators, and before the second year of the settlement had passed by, had enacted a small body of orders, made necessary by the circumstances of a frontier life. Setting fire to the woods and thus destroying the feed of the cattle was forbidden. So was digging a saw-pit and leaving it open, and the offender was made liable to pay the damage caused thereby to man or beast. Every man was required to cut down such trees 07i his own lot, as were offensive to any other, under the penalty of half a crown for each refusal. This last requirement is a refinement of legislation, the like of which is probably not to be found in any other code in Christendom.
NOTICES OF EARLY SETTLERS.
The close of the second year of the new settlement found the inhabitants increased in numbers, with an organized government founded on a voluntary association, and constituting a complete autonomy ; with rights of property secured, and apparently noth- ing wanting but greater population and strength to insure their perpetuity.
This seems a convenient time to take an inventory of the mate- rial of which the original settlement of Exeter was composed. The following is a list of the adult males, almost without exception of English birth, and mostly heads of families, who are known to have been inhabitants of the place within the first two years after its foundation in the spring of 1638.
1. George Barlow, of whom, prior to his appearance in Exeter, nothing has been learned. He had no assignment in the uplands or marshes in 1639, but was a subscriber of the restored Combina- tion, A\n-il 2, 1640 ; so it seems probable that he came in the early spring of that year. In 1641 he received from the town a grant of forty acres of upland, and in 1650 four acres more. In 1649-50 leave was given him and others to set up a saw-mill at
22 HISTORY OF EXETER.
the falls on Lamprey river a " a little above the wigwams." He is said to have been a preacher while in Exeter, and he certainly was so in Saco in 1652 ; but his style was so little relished by the powers of Massachusetts that in 1653 they forbade him to preach or prophesy under a penalty of ten pounds for each offence. About 1660 he removed to Plymouth and there essayed to be a lawyer. He is referred to in Bishop's Neio England Judged for his severity against the Quakers.
2. George Bates, a thatcher, was an inhabitant of Boston as early as December, 1635, and, two years later, received a grant of fifteen acres of land there. He had been admitted to the Boston church in January, 1636, but having taken his departure to Exeter he was on the sixth of January, 1639, in company with several others, dismissed to the church newly gathered in that place. His stay in Exeter, however, proved brief, and he was received back again into the Boston church May 31, 1640. From his associa- tions he was probably a sympathizer with Wheelwright, but though his handicraft must naturally have been in request in a new place, it is very likely that the hardships and privations of a frontier life were too much for his strength or his resolution, and he aban- doned it.
3. Jeremiah Blackwell came to this country in the ship True- love in 1635, being then eighteen years old. Where he passed the succeeding three or four years is not ascertained. At the end of that time he appeared in Exeter. In the division of the up- lands in 1639 he received four acres and twenty poles, being, no doubt, the share of a single or childless man. After that his name is not mentioned. It is clear that he made no long stay in Exeter.
4. Richard Bulgar, born in 1608, probably came over in the fleet with Winthrop, and in 1637 had an allotment of twenty acres of land in Boston. He was admitted to the church there in 1634, and had a child baptized the same year. His residence was in Roxbury, and he is described as a bricklayer. His handwriting would indicate that his education was good. Being disarmed in 1637 on account of his sympathy with the Antinomian party, he departed the next year to Rhode Island, but in 1639 received his dismission to the church in Exeter. There he was allotted four acres and twenty poles of upland, and subscribed the Combination. In 1641 he was chosen lieutenant of "the band of soldiers," and in 1644 lot layer. Soon afterwards he left Exeter, and in 1646 was described as of Boston. Later he returned to Rhode Island,
HISTORY OF EXETER. 23
where his intelligence and business capacity were rewarded with the office of Solicitor General, wliich he held in 1656, and two or three subsequent years.
5. Edward Colcord was born in 1616 or 1617 and came to this country in 1631. For the next seven years he probably lived somewhere on the Pascataqua, and being an active man and acquainted with the Indians he rendered assistance to Wheelwright in obtaining his land grants from the sagamores, and was a party to one of the deeds.
A religious colony could not have been greatly to his taste, and in 1640 he had removed to Dover, where he was a magistrate to end small causes. But in 1645 he was a resident of Hampton, and the following year saw him back again at Exeter, where he obtained a grant of lands from the town, and the right of an inhabitant. It is doubtful if he availed himself of this, for in 1652 the town again voted to receive him, together with two others, as inhabitants, and invited them to take up their residence in Exeter. Colcord received more than one grant from the town, and was appointed to some minor offices. But he was incorrigibly litigious and something of a rolling stone, and after a brief sojourn in the town he made himself a home in Hampton, where he died February 10, 1681-2. He and his wife Ann had ten childi-en, several of whom were married. Their descendants still live in Exeter and the vicinity.
6. William Cole was of Boston February 20, 1637, when he received an allotment of two acres of land " only for his present planting," at Mount Wollastou. No doubt he was a parishioner there of Wheelwright, and certainly was one of his earliest com- panions at Exeter, for he witnessed one of the Indian deeds of April 3, 1638. In the first division of lands he received a share both in the marshes and the uplands, and he was a signer of the Combination. He was appointed an overseer of fences in 1643, but probably soon followed Wheelwright to Wells. He after- wards removed to Hampton, where his wife Eunice became " vehe- mently suspected " of being a witch. He died in Hampton May 26, 1662, aged eighty-one years. His descendants are still found in the vicinity.
7. John Compton was of Eoxbury in 1634, and was disarmed in 1637 for his adhesion to the AVheelwright party. The circum- stance that a summons was issued March 12, 1638, to him and others who "had licence to depart" out of Massachusetts, to
24 IIISTOllY OF EXETER.
appear at the uext court if they were uot gone before, was not likely to have prolonged his stay there, and it is safe to infer that he was at the falls of the Squamscot withAVheelwright on April 3, 1638, as he was a grantee in one of the Indian deeds then exe- cuted. In the first division of lands he received a considerable share both of marsh and upland. He did not subscribe the Com- bination, but probably soon returned to Boston, where the Book of Possessions shows that he owned a house and garden, about lGrj2.
H. Lawrence Copeland was of Braiutree and presuinably a pa- rishioner of Wheelwright. lie was in Exeter April 3, 1638, and witnessed one of tlie Indian deeds of that date. It is not probable that he remained long in the town. He returned to Braiutree to reside, where he attained the extraordinary age of one hundred years.
9. John Cram probably ])egan to live in Boston as early as 1635, and in 1637 was assigned sixteen acres of land at Muddy Eiver (Brookline). At the first division of lauds in Exeter he was no doubt settled there, as he was allotted eight acres and forty poles of upland ; he was also a signer of the Combination. He had a wife and two or more children when he came to Exeter. His sou Josepli, supposed to be the oldest, was drowned June 24, 1648, aged fifteen years ; and his daughter Lydia was born July 27 of the same year. He served as townsman in 1648 and 1641) and soon after removed to Hampton and there died March 5, 1681-2. The town record commemorates him as "• good old John Cram, one just in his generation." He was twice married, his first wife being named Lydia ; his second Esther. His descendants are still found in the vicinit3^
10. Thomas Crawley, of whom nothing is learned, prior to his appearance in Exeter. His name does not occur in the first ap- portionment of lands, but as he subscribed the Combination, it is very likely that he came to I^xeter between January and April, 1640. In 1644-.) he had a grant of a house lot of four acres on condition of building upon it and fencing it within a twelvemonth. Other grants were subsequently made him ))3' the town, the most important of which was that of a saw-mill privilege, in the present Brentwood, in 1652, which has been known as "■ Crawley's falls," to this day. He had children, one of whom was named Phebe, a minor in 1660. Crawley probably went to Maine, where his name was afterwards found.
HISTORY OF EXETER. 25
11. Godfrey Dearborn was from Devonshire in Elngland, perhaps from the city of E^xeter, and brought to the new Exeter a wife and two or three children. An assignment of ten acres and fifty poles of upland was made him, and his name is affixed to the Combina- tion. Later he received other grants of land, and in 1648 was one of the selectmen. It has been supposed that he lived in what is now Stratham, near the Scammon place. About 1650 he removed to Hampton. His wife having died he married November 25, 1662, Dorothy, the widow of Philemon Daltou, and himself died Febru- ary 4, 1686. His posterity is numerous.
12. Henry Elkius, a tailor, was of Boston in 1634, and there had an assignment of eight acres of land in 1637. Sidina; with Wheelwright in the theological controversy of that year, he was disarmed, and came in 1638 to P^xeter. He, with his wife Mary, was dismissed from the Boston church to that of Exeter March 3, 1630. They had a daughter, Maria, baptized in Boston, April 8,
1638. In the first division of lands in P^xeter he received one of the smaller shares of upland ; and he set his name to the Combina- tion. He continued in P^xeter till 1645, but some time afterwards removed to Hampton and died there November 19, 1668.
13. Darby Yield is described by Winthrop as an Irishman, though some slight evidence has been discovered to connect his patron3'mic with the Hutchinson famil3\ He appeared in P^xeter as one of the grantees of the Indian deed of April 3, 1638, and witnessed the deed of confirmation of Watohantowet April 10,
1639. He had no share in the first division of lands, but was a subscriber of the Combination. He is noted as the first European who visited the White mountains, which he did in 1642. In 1645 he was living at Oyster river, now Durham, and died in 1649, leav- ing children.
14. Gal)riel P'ish, fisherman, was an early inhabitant of Boston and moved to Exeter in 1638. On the third of August, 1639, he gave Edward Rishworth a letter of attorney to receive ten pounds from James Carrington of Thorsthorpe in Lincolnshire, P^nglaud ; whence we may infer that he, perhaps, came from that great hive of the friends of Wheelwright. After Fish was arrested for speak- ing against the king, as has already been mentioned, he probabl}'- thought it wise to return to Boston, where apparently his offence was easily condoned. The records show the birth and baptism of several of his children there in 1642 and subsequently. Fish was a householder in Boston, according to the Book of Possessions, compiled al^ont 1652.
26 HISTORY OF EXETER.
15. Isaac Gross, of Boston in 1635, was termed hnsbaudman, and received a " great" allotment of fifty acres of land at Muddy River in 1637. Being a friend of Cotton and Wheelwright he was disarmed, and followed the latter to Exeter. There in the first di\asion of lands he had, under tlie honoi'ary title of "Mr.," an assignment of twenty-eight acres and one hundred and forty poles of upland, and of marshland six acres and fifty poles "on this side of Mr. Hilton's " and two acres at Lamprey river. From this liberal allowance, it is to be inferred that he had a considerable family, and also an unusual number of cattle. He was dismissed January 6, 1639, from the Boston to the Exeter church, and was chosen the first Ruler of the plantation of Exeter, in w^hich capac- ity he served about a year, probably. He returned to Boston " in a few years," according to Savage, and there died in 1649, leav- ing a good estate to be divided among his widow, children and grandchildren.
16. Ralph Hall, said to be a son of John Hall, senior, and a brother of Deacon John Hall of Dover, was born in 1618. If, therefore, as tradition asserts, he was located in Exeter before the arrival of Wheelwright's company, he could not have been above twenty years of age. It is understood that he lived on the eastern side of the salt river, down nearly to the mouth of Wheelwright's creek. It might have been for that reason that he had no share in the first division of lands, but his name appears to the Combina- tion. He may have lived in Charlestown about 1647 with his wife Mary, as has been alleged. The Exeter records show the death of his daughter Mercy in July, 1648, aged about one year and a half, and the birth of his daughter Hildea, April 16, 1649. He is said to have gone to Dover in 1650. But he returned to Exeter fourteen years afterward, Avhen he was admitted an inhabitant, October 10, 1664, and received a grant of fifty acres of laud. He was a lieutenant, then an officer of responsibility, and held various positions of trust in the town, the most important being that of delegate to the first provincial assembly iu 1680. His death took place in March, 1701. Some of his descendants have been men of note, and the name has always been kept alive in the town.
17. Christoplier Helme, a Lincolnshire man, connected by blood with others of the Exeter ijioneers, arrived iu Boston in July, 1637, no doubt, and was suffered to remain there not above four months, so that he probably reached Exeter among the fore- most. He received no share in the first allotment of lands, for
HISTOEY OF EXETER. 27
what reason it is not known, but he set his hand to the Combina- tion. Upon tlie departure of Wheelwright in 1643, Hehne returned for a little time to Boston, and thence migrated with the Gorton- ,ists to Warwick, Rhode Island. There he died before December, 1650, leaving a widow Margaret and a son William. Some of his name, presumably descendants, have been prominent in Rhode Island.
18. Edward Hilton has already been mentioned. The records of Exeter show that he was settled and had a house in the part of Exeter which is now South Newmarket, at least at early as Decem- ber, 1639. He became a leading man in the place, serving as townsman or selectman from 1645 nearly every year up to 1652. In 1646 he was one of the purchasers of Wheelwright's house, in order that it might be used as the residence of the Rev. Nathaniel Norcross, afterwards of Lancaster, who had been invited to settle in Exeter ; and after the declination of Mr. Norcross he was in 1650 one of the inhabitants who, in behalf of the town, entered into the engagement with the Rev. Samuel Dudley to become their minister. Mr. Hilton was repeatedly chosen by the inhabitants on important committees to look after their interests, and was in all respects a useful and valuable citizen. He died early in the year 1671.
19. William Hilton, a brother of Edward, and a member of the Fishmongers' Guild of London, came over to Plymouth in the ship Fortune, November 11, 1621. There he remained till the arrival of his wife and two children in the Anne, in July or August, 1623. In a little time afterwards they settled themselves on the Pascat- aqua with Edward Hilton at or near Dover. In the first division of lands in Exeter, he was assigned three acres of marsh, and it was voted that he and John Smart were to have lots on the other (eastern) side of the river, where it should be thought most con- venient; and on the third of February, 1641, it was agreed by the town that he might enjoy certain marshes and uplands at Oyster river. He seems to have occupied some part of the de- batable ground between Exeter and Dover, but was perhaps accounted a citizen of the latter place. This was certainly the case in 1644 when he was chosen a deputy to the Massachusetts General Court from Dover. But shortly afterwards he went further to the eastward, and maintained much the same divided citizenship between Kittcry and York. His death occurred in the latter place in 1665 or 1666.
28 HISTORY OF EXETER.
20. Samuel Hutchiuson was an unmarried brother of Mrs. Wheelwright, and no doubt landed in Boston with other Lincoln- shire friends July 12, 1637, and was upon his special request licensed to remain there until the first month after winter. Then he proceeded to Exeter, and was made a grantee in one of the Indian deeds of April, 1638. Little more than a month after- wards a grant of land appears to have been made him in Rhode Island, where his brother William had gone. Though Samuel resided there at a later period, he probably did not go at once, but staid for a year or two in and about Exeter. His mother, Mrs. Susanna Hutchinson, was there, an inmate of Wheelwright's family, as probably he was also. He, with Needham and others, negotiated with Tliomas Gorges, September 27, 1641, for the tract of land at Wells, Avhicli was the second place of refuge of AVheel Wright and his followers. He died in Boston, it is believed, in 1677.
21. Christopher Lawson, a connection of Helme and others of the Combination, without much question arrived with them from Lincolnshire at Boston in New England, in July, 1637, and proba- bly proceeded to Exeter the next year. His name appears on the Combination, but not in the division of lands. He was a cooper by trade, and a trader by nature. Some of his dealings in Exeter appeared rather too sharp for the primitive fashions of the place, and on the fifth of September, 1643, he was bound over in the sum of ten pounds to answer to the charge of extortion brought against him by five of his neighbors. Apparently his character was not seriously affected by this circumstance ; for the town bestowed upon him, the next year, a right of fishery in the river, Avhich would now be regarded as an indefensible monopoly. Lawson vibrated for some years between P^xeter and Boston, two of his children being baptized in the latter place, one in 1643 and the other in 1645. In 1648 he was a member of a committee to invite the Rev. Mr. Tompson of Braintree to settle over the church in Exeter, and the same year the town made him a grant of one hun- dred acres of land. After buying and selling lots in Dover and in Boston, and dabbling to a consideral)le extent in shares of the " Squamscot Patent," Lawson went, before 1665, to Maine, where he became a considerable man. There he suffered some domestic infelicities, which resulted in ])ringing mutual complaints between his wife Elizabeth and himself before the General Court in 1669. And there, for want of further knowledge, we leave him.
HISTORY OF EXETER. 29
22. Thomas Leavitt Avas^ry probably a connection of Wheel- wright's wife, and another of those " friends " who reached Boston in Jul}^ 1637. It is possible that he proceeded at once to Exeter, and thns antedated the organized settlement, as the tradition is. He took npland on the eastern side of the fresh river jnst above tlie falls, and the same long remained in the possession of his descendants. In the first division of lands he received one of the smaller shares, fonr acres and twenty poles of the uplands ; being then a young man, for he lived till November 28, 1696. His name was also appended to the Combination. He became an inhabitant of Hampton about 1643. His wife was Isabel, daughter of John Bland of JMartha's Vineyard, who came from Colchester, England. They had eight children, and numerous descendants. Three of the sons were probably residents of Exeter.
23. Edmund Littlelield not improbably came to Boston with Wheelwright's other friends in July, 1637, accompanied by his son Anthony. His wife Ann and six of their other children did not accompany him, but sailed later, and reached Boston in the ship Bevis in May, 1638. Littlelield was a warm partisan of Wheel- wright, and probably was early at Exeter. He had assigned him in the first division of lands, twenty-one acres of upland ; and was a subscriber of the Combination. The circumstance that he had no share of the meadows implies that he owned no cattle, which is lilvely to have been the case, as he was a new comer in the countr3\ Littlefield remained in Exeter no longer than Wheel- wright, but accompanied him to Wells, where he was a leading man, and is spoken of in handsome terms by Judge Bourne in his history of that town. He died December 11, 1661.
24. Francis Littlefield was the eldest son of Edmund, and was born in 1619. Tradition, fortified by some known facts, asserts that he had at an early age quitted his parents, who, believing him to be dead, gave the name Francis to another son born in 1631 ; but that the older Francis, who was really living, crossed the Atlantic and rejoined his father, probably at Exeter, and before the division of the uplands in 1639. In that division he received one of the smaller shares, foin* acres and twenty poles. It is probable that he was already married, or he would hardly' have had an assignment separate from his father's. He probabl}' left Exeter as early as his father did, and went to Woburn, Massachusetts, where his wife Jane died December 20, 1646, leaving a daughter six days old. Shortly afterwards he went to
30 HISTORY OF EXETER.
Dover. In 1648 he was again married, and after two or three years removed to Wells, and there passed the rest of his long life. He died in 1712, leaving several children.
25. Christopher Marshall was of Boston in 1634, and joined the church in August of that year. He was admitted freeman May 6, 1635 ; in 1637 belonged to the party of Cotton and Wheelwright. He was married between August, 1634, and May 13, 1638, and was dismissed to the church at Exeter, January 6, 1639, but did not remain long in the place. Savage thinks he returned to Eng- land in 1640 or 1641, and nothing more is learned of him.
26. Francis Mathews was one of the company sent over by John Mason in 1631. He was a signer of the Combination, but probably soon afterwards removed to the part of Dover which is now Durham, with his wif e Thomasine and three children. There he died about 1648, and his descendants in Strafford county have been numerous. They more commonly spell the name Matlies.
27. Grifflu Montague was of Brookline in 1635. He received in December, 1639, ten acres and fifty poles in the division of uplands in P^xeter, and one acre and thirty-six poles in the division of the marsh " next the town." From this we infer that he had a family and some cattle. His name appears several times upon the Exeter records within the ensuing twelve years. He belonged to Cape Porpoise, Maine, in 1653, and died before April 1, 1672, leaving his property to his wife Margaret.
28. William Moore (spelled Mauer or Mawer) was probably the same person to whom it appeared to the selectmen of Boston, on the twenty-sixth of September, 1636, that William Hudson had " sold a house plot and garden without the consent of the appointed allotters, contrary to a former order, said Mawer being a stranger." On February 19, 1638, there was granted to him " a great lot at the Mount (Wollaston) for nine heads." On February 7, 1640, he w-as described as " late of Boston," in a conveyance which he made to Captain Edward Gibbon, for fifteen pounds, of one house and garden plot with the building thereon and appurtenances. William Moore received in Exeter in December, 1639, twenty-two acres and one hundred and ten poles, in the division of the uplands, two acres and forty poles in the marsh " on tliis side of Mr. Hilton's," and one hundred and twenty poles of that at Lamprey river ; the amount of the former corresponding well with the "nine heads" of his family, and the latter showing that he was possessed of cattle. He did not subscribe the Combination,
HISTORY OF EXETER. 31
for what reason is unknown. He remained a lifelong inhabitant of the town, and bore his share of its burdens, as well as enjoyed its rewards and honors. He received grants of lands, and held various offices of responsibility. He was a captain in the militia ; and the last appearance of his name upon the records is as mod- erator of a town meeting in 1699. He must have been then an old man, and probably died soon afterwards. He left numerous descendants.
29. Richard Morris was of Boston, having probably immigrated thither in the fleet with Winthrop in 1630 ; and in 1631 was, with his wife Leonora, admitted to the church. At that time he was styled sergeant ; in 1633 he was made ensign, and later lieutenant. He was deputy to the General Court in 1635 and 1636, and the next year was in coimnand of the fort at Castle Island. Appar- ently something had occurred to weaken his standing with the authorities before 1637, but in that year he forfeited all their good will by signing a remonstrance in favor of Wheelwright ; so that he was disarmed, and retired to Exeter, the next year, probably. In the first division of lands he received thirty-three acres of upland, and seven acres and forty poles of marsh ; so he probably had a considerable household and cattle. His name appears on the records with the honorable prefix of "Mr." He was a signer of the Combination, and was dismissed to the church at Exeter in January, 1639. It is probable that Mr. Morris did not care to remain in Exeter after Wheelwright's departure, and the extension of the jurisdiction of Massachusetts over the New Hampshire set- tlement ; and it seems likely that he was the person of that name who went to Portsmouth, lihode Island, in 1643, and was living there in 1655.
30. Nicholas Needham was of Boston in 1636, and received on the twentieth of February of that year an allotment of two acres of land at Mount Wollaston, "only for his present planting." No doubt a parishioner and sympathizer of Wheelwright, he proba- bly came with him to Exeter, as he Avas made a grantee in one of the Indian deeds of 1638. In the apportionment of the lauds, he received twelve acres and sixty poles of upland, and four acres of marsh. He also set his signature to the Combination. Being elected the second Ruler of the settlement, he held the office about two years, when he resigned it October 20, 1642. His rcBidence in Exeter did not outlast that of Wheelwright. Foreseeing the hour of need, he, with others, negotiated with Thomas Gorges iu
32 HISTORY OF EXETER.
1641 for a tract of land in Wells, to which \yheelwrlght and his immediate friends retired, when the long arm of Massachusetts power was extended over the New Hampshire plantations. The historian of Wells is not certain whether Needham settled in that place. If he did not his subsequent history is unascertained. Savage thinks he was living in 1652.
31. Thomas Pettit was of Boston in 1634, from which time he served for three years and a half with Oliver Mellows, and there- upon January 8, 1638, received from the town a grant of a house plot " towards the new mylne." Mellows was in sympathy with Wheelwright, and was disarmed in 1637, and it w^ould be very natural that his journeyman should be led by the same feeling to migrate to the ne sv settlement which Wheelwright was founding. Pettit received six acres and thirty poles as his share of the Exeter uplands, and also affixed his name to the Combination. He was for a while a man of some prominence in the town and served as selectman in 16o2 and 1655, after which his name disappears from the records. His wife was named Christian ; the}^ had a daughter Hannah, born in Hxeter in the beginning of February, 1647-8. His son, Thomas Pettit, Jr., had a grant of thirty acres of land in 1649.
32. Philemon Pormort was married in Alford, Lincolnshire, England, October 11, 1627, to Susanna, daughter of William Belliugham. They emigrated to Nevr England, probably with one child or more, and were admitted to the Boston church in August, 1634. He was chosen schoolmaster April 13, 1635, and in 1637 had a grant of tliirty acres of land. Pormort was an adherent of Wheelwright, having quite likely known liim in England, and was, on Wheelwright's expulsion from Massachusetts Bay, advised to depart himself, on pain of imprisonment ; therefore he came to Exeter. He was a subscriber of the Combination, was dismissed in January, 1630, to the Exeter church, and received fourteen acres and seventy poles in the division of the uplands. He had three children, at least, born in this country, one or two of them at Exeter. He went with Wheelwright to Wells, and, according to the historian of that town, remained there some years, taking an active part in the affairs of the church, but at length Avas denied tlie privilege of conununion for the reason that his theological views did not agree with those of the ruling powers in Massachu- setts. He was in Boston in 1653, and is supposed to have re- moved thence to Great Island or Portsmouth. Descendants bearing his name have till lately lived in the vicinity.
HISTORY OF EXETEll. 33
33. Robert Read was of Boston as early as 1635, and in Exeter early enongli to be entitled to an allotment of nine acres and fifty poles in the division of the uplands, and to set his name to the Combination. lie removed to Hampton after 1645, according to Kelly, and afterwards to Boston, and finally to Hampton again, according to Quint. To him and his wife Hannah were born three children: Rebecca, September 29, 1646; Deborah, January 25, 1649; and Samuel, who was baptized April 3, 1653, and died March 31, 1654. Read's wife died June 24, 1655, and he himself was drowned October 20, 1657, with six others by the upsetting of a boat sailing out of Hampton river ; a catastrophe on which was founded Whittier's poem of the Wreck of Ri vermouth.
34. Edward Rishworth was baptized at Saleby in Lincolnshire, England, May 5, 1617. In all probability he came to this coun- try with others of Wheelwright's friends in Jul}", 1637, and became one of the earliest settlers of Exeter. He appears to have ])een nearly connected, by his marriage, with the family of "Wheel- wright's wife. In the division of the uplands he was awarded one of the smaller shares, and he was a signer of the Combination. In 1640 he was chosen by the court of the town to be '' Secretary, to look to the book, and to enter all actions that are brought." This undoubtedly included the functions of Town Clerk. Wlien Wheelwright left P^xeter, Rishworth departed Avith him to Wells, where he became a man of consequence. He was a magistrate and a representative of York, to which place he removed from Wells, for thirteen years. He lived to be nearly seventy, and a son of his, bearing the same name, was the husband of Wheel- wright's daughter Susanna.
35. Henry Roby was of the Combination, but had no share in the first division of the uplands or meadows ; so very likely he did not come to Exeter till the spring of 1640. He was granted liberty in 1649, with others, to set up a saw-mill, and in 1650 was chosen selectman. Soon afterwards he removed to Hampton where he died in the spring of 1688. After the erection of New Hampshire into a royal province, Roby was appointed a judge of the Court of Sessions, before which the Rev. Joshua Moody was tried in 1684 for refusing to administer the Lord's Supper in the form set forth in the book of common prayer, to Governor Cranfield. Roby was at first for acquitting Moody, but Cranfield "found means " to gain him over, and he concurred with other justices in the judgment of condemnation. In his later years Roby is said
;]4 HISTOIIY OF EXETER.
by Kelly to have become intemperate and embarrassed, so that at his death he was buried hastily to avoid arrest of his body. His wife was named Kuth, and they had several children. His descend- ants are still found in this region.
36. George Ruobone or Rabone was assigned one of the smaller shares in the division of the uplands ; and was a subscriber of the Combination. He appears to have remained in Exeter but a short time, as he is represented by Judge Bourne in his history of AVells, to have been one of the earliest settlers of that place "before Wheelwright and his fellow refugees came from Exeter." He seems afterwards to have changed his rather unusual name to Haborne, and under that designation is described in a deed as of Hampton in 1G50.
37. Robert Seward subscribed the Combination, but had no share of the nplands, having probably not arrived in P^xeter before the spring of lG-40. He staid but a brief time, and was living in Portsmouth in 1649, after which nothing has been ascertained respecting him.
38. John Smart came from the county of Norfolk, England, to Hingham, Massachusetts, in 1635, with his wife and two sons, and in September of that year drew his house lot there. He came to Exeter in time to receive an assignment of one acre and twenty- six poles of the meadows " next the town," which implies that he had cattle or goats. The lands he first took up appear to have been situated on the eastern or Stratham side of the river, and he did not subscribe the Combination. But he was a public-spirited citizen, and joined with others in the agreement to purchase Wheelwright's house, to be used as a parsonage. He lived in the northerly part of the town, now Newmarket, and his descendants live there still.
39. Robert Smith is thought to have been of Boston in 1638. In the division of the Hxeter uplands he had six acres and thirty poles, a share one-half larger than the smallest ; and his name was affixed to the Combination. When the town came under the Mas- sachusetts government, on tlie seventh of September, 1643, he was appointed one of the magistrates " to end small business at Exe- ter." After a residence of some years in the place he removed to Hampton. Hon. Joseph Smith, a judge of the Superior Court, and a :nan useful and prominent in his day, was his son.
40. Anthony Stau3'an, described as glover, was a passenger from England to Boston in 1635, and in February, 1637-8, had
HISTORY OF EXETER. 35
assigned to him " a great lot for eleven heads" at Mount Wollas- tou. In P^xeter, in December, 1639, there were awarded to him, under the honorary designation of " Mr.," twenty-seven acres and one hundred and thirty-five poles of upland, and ten and one-half acres of the marshes. These large grants imply that he had a considerable family, and a good number of cattle. He was a member of the Exeter church, and though a resident of the town prior to the execution of the Combination, did not set his hand to it. Possibly he was in doubt whether to fix his residence in the new settlement, as in July, KUl, he was "granted to be a towns- man" of Boston, and on the twenty-fourth of July, 1G42, his son John was baptized there, at the age of six days. But if he medi- tated abandoning Exeter he soon changed his mind, for he was back again in May, 1643, and held the otfice of magistrate to end small causes in 1645, and that of town clerk in 1647. Subse- quently he removed to Hampton from which he was representative to the General Court of Massachusetts in 1654. He was living in 1683. His first wife was named Mary, and after her decease he married, January 1, 1656, Ann, widow of William Partridge of Salisbury, jMassachusetts. He left children by whom liis name has been handed down to our time.
41. Augustine Storre was doubly a brother-in-law of Wheel- wrio-ht, being a brother of his first wife, and the husband of a sister of his second. He undoubtedly came over from England in July, 1637, and probably left Boston in the autumn following, and was in P^xeter in the spring of 1638. When the first division of lands was made, he was allotted, with the title of respect of " Mr.," twenty acres and one hundred poles of upland, and two and three-quarters acres of the marshes. His name appears on the Combination, the next in order to Wheelwright's, and he was chosen an assistant to the first Kuler. It is evident that he was held in high esteem by the inhabitants. AVhen Wheelwright's resi- dence in Exeter came to an end, Storre, as might be expected from their connection, quitted the place also, and is understood to have oone to Wells, after Avhich nothing is learned of him.
42. Samuel Walker had one of the smaller assignments of land in Exeter, and was a signer of the Combination. Of his former history nothing has been discovered. In 1643, in a time of scarcity, he was one of those appointed by the town to appropriate and dispose of to the needy, any corn not required by the owners before harvest. This appointment speaks well for his character
M HISTORY OF EXETER.
for discretion and fairness. It is supposed that he left the town soon afterwards, probably for the eastward.
43. James Wall was a carpenter, and was sent over from Eng- land, with two otjiers, by John Mason, the patentee of New Hampshire. They came in the Pied Cow, under a written contract dated March 14, 1634, to run five years, by which they were em- ployed to build saw-mills and houses for him at Newichwannock. They arrived there the thirteenth of July of the same year, and there Wall remained till some time after the death of Mason in 1635. He was in Exeter April 3, 1638, and witnessed one of the Indian deeds to Wheelwright of that date, and no doubt remained there during the formation of the settlement, when his services as a carpenter would be most important. On the assignment of the lands, ten acres and ninety poles of uplands and something less than two acres of the marshes fell to his share. His name also appears upon the Combination. He mnst have lived in Exeter about twelve years, and was a useful citizen, repeatedly intrusted with town offices. In 1650 he changed his residence to Hampton, and died there October 3, 1659, leaving a widow, Mary, and two children.
44. George Walton, born about 1615, becams an inhabitant of New Hampshire about 1635, and so remained till his death, half a century later. He had no assignment in the lirst division of lands in Exeter, but joined in establishing the Combination a few months later ; so it is not unlikely that he came to Exeter between those events. He did not remain very long, for in 1648 he was in Dover, where he was licensed to keep an " ordinary'," and in 1662 was a vintner in Portsmouth. His later years were passed at Great Island, where he suffered from the persecutions of a "stone- throwing demon," an account of which may be found in Mather's Magnolia and elsewhere. Less superstitious persons, however, attributed his tribulations to mischievous human agency. His wife was named Alice, and they had several children, one of whom was Shadrach Walton, well known in the military, civU and judi- cial service of the province.
45. Thomas Wardell, a shoemaker, and an inhabitant of Lin- colnshire, England, came to this country, and was admitted to the Boston church November 9, 1634. By his wife Elizabeth he had two children, baptized in Boston; Eliakim, November 23, 1634, and Martha, September 3, 1637, and two others, born probably in Exeter; Benjamin, in February, 1640, and Samuel, May 16, 1643.
HISTORY OF EXETER, 37
lu January, 1637, he was allotted twenty acres of land in Boston, but being an outspoken supporter of Wheelwright he was dis- armed; and thereupon proceeded, in 1638, no doubt, to Exeter. In January, 1639, he was recommended by the Boston church to membership in that formed at Exeter. He received twelve acres and sixty poles in the division of the Exeter uplands, and was a signer of the Combination. Evidently he was a man in whom his townsmen reposed confidence ; for in 1641 he was chosen sergeant of the band of soldiers in Exeter, and approved as such by Nicho- las Needham, Ruler ; in 1642 he was chosen one of the committee to collect and distribute to the poor the surplus corn, in a time of scarcity ; and in 1643 he was appointed by the General Court of Massachusetts a magistrate to end small causes in Exeter. But he did not continue there very long afterwards. It is uncertain whether he removed to Ipswich or to Boston, Avhere the death of a person bearing his name is recorded December 10, 1646.
46. William Wardell, supposed to be a brother of Thomas, probably came to this country in 1633 with Ednuuid Quincy, whose servant he is described as being, and joined the Boston church February 9, 1634. By his wife Alice he had a daughter Meribah, born May 14, 1637, and a son Uzell, April 7, 1639 ; the latter born in Exeter. He received in Boston February 20, 1636, two acres of land laid out at the Mount (Wollaston) only for his present planting; and February 19, 1637, a great lot at the same place " for three heads." But the next year he migrated to I2xe- ter, on being disarmed as a friend of the Antinomian party. He took with him some cattle, or goats, as it appears that he had in the first division of lands one hundred and twenty poles of meadow " on this side of Mr. Hilton's," and the same quantity at Lamprey river. He also had ten acres and fifty poles of upland ; and set his hand to the Combination. He left Exeter with AYheelwright, and his name is subscribed as a witness to the deed of Sao-amore Thomas Chabinocke to John Wadleigh at Wells October 18, 1649, and attested by said Wardell's oath March 25, 1657. He also swore allegiance to Massachusetts at Wells July 5, 1653. Another person of the same name was living in Boston at the same time, but whether a relative is not known.
47. William Wenbourne was of Boston in 1635, in which year there was born to hun and Elizabeth his wife, a son John, on the twenty-second of November. A second son was born September 21, 1638, bearing the same name, the former one having doubtless
38 HISTORY OF EXETER.
died. The latter part of the next year Weiibourue was in Exeter, where he was allotted seven acres and thirty poles of upland, and a few months later signed the C!ombination. Upon the town being received under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, he was appointed clerk of the writs and one of the three inferior magistrates. He probably returned to Boston before 164:8, where he was chosen constable in 1653, and was living in 1662. The name of A\"inborn has been preserved in Durham up to recent times, so it is not unlikely that his descendants are still to be found in the vicinity.
48. William AVentAvorth was a native of Lincolnshire, England, and was born in March, 1615-16. He was a family connection and parishioner of Wheelwright, and probably came to this country in July, 1637, in the vessel with others of Wheelwright's " friends." No doubt he made little stay in Boston, but pushed on speedily to the Pascataqua country, and was one of the earliest at the settle- ment of Exeter. He had in the division of the uplands one of the small shares, and set his signature, in excellent chirography, to the Combination. When Massachusetts began to stretch out her hand over the New Hampshire towns, he joined Wheelwright in departing into Maine, and resided in Wells until 1649, when he removed to Dover, where, with the exception of temporary absences, he spent the residue of his life. He was a ruling elder in the church, and as such was a preacher and expounder, though not technically a clergyman. At some time after the decease of the Rev. Samuel Dudley, which occurred in 1683, he was employed to preach at Exeter, and continued to do so until 1693, when by reason of age and infirmity he was compelled to desist. He lived, however, till March 15, 1696-7, when he had completed his eighty- first year. His physical vigor was remarkable, as is evidenced by his successful resistance to the attempts of the Indians to enter the house where he was at the Dover massacre in 1689 ; and no one of the little company of Exeter pioneers, save Wheelwright, was of a more sturdy manhood than Wentworth. He was the progeni- tor of a long line of descendants, able and stalwart, mentally and physically ; three of whom held the highest executive offices in the province of New Hampshire ; others have sat in the councils of the nation, and many more have manifested the hereditary capacity and force in various callings. The history of tlie family has been laboriously compiled ]iy one, by no means the least dis- tinguished of Elder Wentworth's descendants.
49. John Wheelwright deserves here a brief sketch of his
HISTORY OF EXETER. 39
subsequent career. He retreated before the advance of Massachu- setts to Wells in the spring of 1643, and while he was there the G-eneral Court, in not the most gracious manner, annulled his sentence of banishment, and re-enfranchised him. After minister- ing to the little community at Wells for four years, he accepted the invitation of the church at Hampton to settle over them as the pastoral colleague of the Rev. Timothy Dalton, their religious teacher. In Hampton he continued, to the entire acceptance of his flock, until 1(355 or 1G5G when he made a voyage to England. There he was received with high favor b}' Oliver Cromwell, his fellow collegian, now the highest personage in the land ; nhd also by Sir Henry Vane, a friend and fellow sufferer in the Antinomian struggle in Massachusetts. After Cromwell's death Wheelwright returned to New England, in company with several other minis- ters, in the summer of 16(32. He accepted the invitation of the church at Salisbury, Massachusetts, to become their spiritual guide, and, though then arrived at the age of threescore and ten, enjoyed among them the longest pastorate of his checkered life. He had his trials there, indeed, for he was not one to yield his opinions because another opposed them, but on the whole his min- istrations were useful and his motives and independence were respected. It was a pleasant episode in his later life that he preached a sermon in 1671-2 in behalf of Harvard College, solic- iting contributions for the rebuilding of Harvard Hall which had been destroyed by lire, — thus showing that he harbored no malice against the dignitaries of Massacliusetts for the harsh treat- ment that he had formerly received at their hands. His death took place at Salisbury November 15, 167'J.
50. Thomas Wight, of whom nothing is learned prior to his appearance in Exeter, had six acres and thirty poles allotted hiin as his share of the uplands ; and was a subscriber of the Combina- tion. In the five subsequent years that he spent in the town, his name appears seldom on the records. He had a house, and perhaps two, as his " old house" is referred to ; and he was cen- sured and fined in 1642 by the town court for " contemptuous carriage and speeches against the court and magistrates." He lived in the town at least two years and a half, afterwards, and then went away, we know not whither. Mr. Savage thinks Thomas Wight was the same person elsewhere called Thomas AVright, but he gives no authority for the belief. The name is uniformly written Weight in the town records ; but is subscribed Wight, apparently in his own hand, to the Combination.
40 HISTORY OF EXETER.
51. Balthazar Willix, whose name would indicate that he was of foreign origin, was undoubtedly in Elxeter as early as tlie l)eginuing of ir)40, as he was then awarded one of the smaller shares of the uplands. He was not a signer of the Combination. His name appears, however, repeatedly in the records, at a later date, in his own bold and handsome chirography. In jNIay, 1643, he was one of the petitioners to the General Court pf Massachu- setts to receive Exeter under their government. His name is not found in the records after 1 (!.■)(). In the month of May or June, 1648, Willix's wife was robbed and brutally murdered on her way from Dover to Plxeter. Whether the perpetrator of the outrage was ever brought to justice is not known. "NVillix did not remain in Exeter long afterwards, but took up his residence in Salisbury, where he was taxed in 165U, and died March 23, 1651.
52. Thomas Wilson came to this country in June, 1633, with his wife and three sons ; Humphrey, Samuel and Joshua. He also had children born here: Deborah in August, 1634, and L3'dia in November, 163(5. His home was in Koxbury, and he had the misfortune to lose his house and goods by fire. Being in sympa- thy with Wheelwright he came with him to p]xeter to reside, but subsequently made peace with the church which he had left. He was a signer of the Combination, and occupied the island at the falls and some lands on the eastern side of the river. In the first division of lands he received four acres and twenty-eight rods of marsh. He built the first grist-mill in the town. On the twentieth of October, 1642, on the resignation of Nicholas Needham as Ruler, he was elected his successor. He died in the summer of 1643, leaving a will in which he made provision for his widow and children. The former was married the next year to John Legat. A difference arose about the estate between her and her oldest son, Humphre}^ which was by the General Court referred to the County Court at Ipswich. Humphrey Wilson continued an inhabi- tant of the town through life, probably, and his descendants, though none bearing his name, are still living in Exeter.
The foregoing are the names of all the men who are known to have been inhabitants of Exeter in the first two years of its exist- ence. William Eurber and John Uuderhill, though temporarily in the place at the times of the execution of the Indian deeds, which they respectively witnessed, were residents of Dover, and never of Exeter.
HISTORY OF EXETER. 41
EARLY ENACTMENTS.
The third 3^ear opened upon Exeter, in the spring of 1640, with a population of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred souls, including women and children, living under a practicable and regu- lar system of government. The municipal regulations adopted by the inhal)itants from time to time, as long as they ruled them- selves, were generally marked by equity and good sense. A few examples are given :
It was enacted that any inhabitant might sell to the Indians such merchandise as he pleased, except weapons, ammunition and strong waters. The charges of the town were to be ratably pro- portioned among the inhabitants, owners of land, and cattle, and privileges. In conformity with the professions of the Combina- tion, treason, " reviling his majesty the Lord's anointed " and the like, were made punishable capitally. Judicious regulations were prescribed in regard to the purchase of lots, the felling of timber, and the attendance of the inhabitants at town meetings. The miller's toll was limited ; all creeks were declared free for fishing ; fences were ordered to be erected, and highways of three rods in width to be made. Rules were laid down to prevent injury to growing crops by swine. The control of the lands by the town was jealously preserved ; and no inhabitant was permitted to buy for his own use from the Indians any of the planting ground reserved for their cultivation ; but must tender it first to the town.
It would appear that even in this early stage of the settlement, slander was not wholly unknown, and an order was passed that any persons spreading abroad any accusation which could not be proved by the mouth of two or three witnesses, should be liable to the court's censure. Thus early too was enacted the law that no foreigners should be employed to work in the town, if inhabitants would do the work as cheaply and as well. Of course it was not natives of foreign countries that were here referred to, but any persons not citizens of Exeter. This disinclination to encourage " foreigners " to come into the town, was exhibited repeatedly by similar orders, at later dates ; and, indeed, is thought by some not to have entirely died out yet !
These regulations appear to have been scrupulously carried into effect, without distinction of persons.
* The first clerk of the town and court was Edward Rishworth. The second was John Legat, who had been a resident and school-
42 niSTORY OF EXETER.
master of Hampton in 1640, and afterwards filled the same impor- tant station in Exeter. He wrote a handsome hand, and was well informed and business-like, and for several years took a somewhat prominent part in the affairs of the town. He received repeated grants of lands and privileges, and was one of the townsmen from 1647 to 1649. It was probably in the latter year that he removed back to Hampton. There he was living in 1664. His name is not extinct in the vicinity.
By the spring of 1641 a " band of soldiers " had been organized in Exeter, and the freemen elected Richard Bulgar lieutenant and Thomas Wardell sergeant ; and their choice was approved by Ruler Needham.
On the twenty-sixth of October, 1642, Nicholas Needham re- signed his office of Ruler, and Thomas Wilson, being chosen in his place, gave his approbation to all the laws and orders which had been made during Ruler Needham's administration.
The grain crop of the season of 1642 was for some reason a very scanty one, and by the succeeding spring the poorer class of inhabitants began to suffer from scarcity of food. The majority of the town made no scruple in applying the doctrine of " eminent domain" to the case. On May 6, 1643, they appointed a commit- tee of discreet and judicious citizens, and authorized them to search the houses, and take therefrom any corn not needed by the owners, and dispose of the same to such poor people as stood most in need of it, for such pay as they could make ; the owners, how- ever, to be compensated at market rates ; an arbitrary measure, but one entirely justifiable under the peculiar circumstances.
Meadow or marsh lauds were considered specially desirable by the owners of cattle, as no other mowing grouud had yet been res- cued from the forest. Patches of this natural grass land Avere found by explorers here and there, on the margins of streams ; and it was ordered, August 21, 1643, that an}^ inhabitant who should discover any piece of marsh land of less than twenty acres, should be at liberty to enjoy it as his own ; if above twenty acres, it was to be at the disposal of the town, except that the finder was to be entitled to a double proportion of it.
At a town court held September 5, 1643, Christopher Lawson was put under recognizance to answer to the charge of extortion " at the next Court to be holden for Exeter either here or else- where." This language indicates an understanding that the town government was about to be merged in an authority of a wider
HISTORY OF EXETER. 43
sweep, which we shall see was soon accomplished. One of the last acts of the town court was to fill up the measure of justice to Thomas Biggs, who was found guilty of sundry petty larcenies, by adjudging him to make ample restitution to the sufferers, and also to be whipped six stripes. It is satisfactory to know that this punishment was very likely the making of the young culprit, for he became a useful citizen, and was repeatedly elected to posts of responsibility in the town, in after years.
The records of the town, during the period of its self-govern- ment, contain many particulars of interest that could not well be included in this chapter ; and for the satisfaction of the curious, it has been thought expedient to print them entire in the original language and orthography, in the appendix (II).
CHAPTER II. EXETER UNDER THE MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNMENT.
By the spring of 1G43 nil the New Hampshire plantations, except Exeter, were under the sway of Massachusetts. Hampton had orignally been settled from that colony ; Dover and Portsmouth had been induced to submit themselves to her rule, partly by her claim that they fell within her patent, but more, perhaps, by the favorable terms which she held out to tliem. That church-mem- bership was a prerequisite to the privilege of voting in civil affairs, was a cardinal doctrine in Massachusetts. This was now surren- dered, and the citizeus of the New Hampshire towns were to be allowed the elective franchise without reference to that qualifica- tion ; a proof of the price Avhich the Bay Puritans were ready to pay, to purchase an extension of their jurisdiction.
Exeter was the last to yield. A large part of her inhabitants felt that they had been treated with harshness and injustice by the authorities of Massachusetts, and some of them utterly refused to submit again to her dominion but quitted the place to avoid it. A petition, however, was forwarded in May, 1643, to the Massa- chusetts General Court, that Exeter might be received within tlieir jurisdiction. It was subscribed by Thomas Rashleigh, Richard Bulgar, William Wenborne, Thomas Wardell, Samuel Walker, Christopher Lawson, John Legat, Henry Rob}', Thomas Biggs, AVilliam Cole, Tliomas Pettit, Robert Smith, John Cram, Nathan- iel Boulter, Robert Seward, Abraham Drake aud AVllliam JNIoore. Eleven of these were signers of the Combination. The petition itself has been destroyed, and we can only infer its contents from the reception it met with. It could not have been an uncondi- tional surrender to Massachusetts, but must have stipulated for some terms which her rulers were unwilliug to grant. Tlie Gen- eral Court answered curtl}', that " as Exeter fell within the Massa- chusetts patent, they took it ill that the petitioners should capit- ulate witli them." In other words the Exeter people must accept
such conditions as Massachusetts chose to impose.
44
HISTORY OF EXETER. 45
Immediately afterwards a second petition was forwarded, couched in language sufficiently humble, as follows :
To the Right Worshipful the Governor, the Deputie Governor and the Magistrates, with the assistance and deputyes of this honored Courte at present assembled in Boston.
The humble petition of the inhabitants of Exeter, who do humbly request that this honored Court would be pleased to appoint the bounds of our Towne to be layed out to us, both towards Hampton & also downe the River on that side which Capt. Wiggons his farm is on, for he doth Clame all the laud from the towne downwards, on the one side, & Hampton on the other side doth clame to be neere us, that we shall not be able to subsist to be a Towne except this honored Court be pleased to releave us. And we suppose that Capt. Wiggens his farme and a good way below it, may well be laid within our Township if this honored Court so please.
Also we do humbly crave that the Court would be pleased to grant that we may still peaceably enjoy thouse small quantitie of meddows, which are at Lamperell river that Dover men now seeme to lay clame to, notwithstanding they know we long since purchased them & allso quietly possest them with their consent.
Likewise we do humbly request that this honored Court would be pleased to establish three men among us to put an Ishew to small differences amongst us, & one to be a Clarke of the writes, that so we might not be so troblesom to the Courts for every small matter. The three men which we desire the ending of Controver- sies are Anthony Stanean, Samuel Greenffield & James Wall & we do desire that John Legat may be the Clarke of the writes. Thus leaving our Petition to your Judicious Consideration & your- selves to the Lord, we rest and remaine ever ready to do 3'ou our best service.
Samuel Greenfield * Henry Roby
Anthony Stanyan Richard Carter
Thomas AVij?ht William M[oore]
Nathaniel Boulter James Wall
John Tedd * Humphrey Willsou
Robert Hethersay Ralph Hall
John Legat JohnBursley*
Abraham Di-ake Francis Swain
Thomas Jones * John Davis
Nicholas Swain Balthazer Willix
Thomas King * John Smart
4G HISTORY OF EXETER.
Of these twenty-two subscribers only four had set then- hands to the Combination, and not one of them was in any wa}' connected with tlie Antinomian dissensions of 1637.
This petition bore date May 12 [1643], and apparently was pre- sented near the close of the current session of the General Court. The printed records make no mention of it then ; but an indorse- ment upon the petition shows that both branches of the Legislature acceded to it.
On the seventh of the following September the General Court formally received Exeter within the Massachusetts government and assigned it to the neAvly formed county of Norfolk. But it is a curious fact that in the appointment of permanent town oflicers the nominees of the^ accepted petition were rejected, and signers of the rejected petition and of the Combination were preferred. William Wenborne was appointed clerk of the writs, and William Wenborne, Robert Smith and Thomas Wardell were made masi'is- trates to decide small causes. Massachusetts knew how to con- ciliate as well as to coerce.
THE CONDITIONS OF ANNEXATION.
The terms on which Exeter was admitted were substantially those accorded to the other New Hampshire towns : namel}', " the same order, and way of administration of justice and way of keep- ing courts, as is established at Ipswich and Salem ;" exemption from " all public charges other thau those that .shall arise for or from amoug [the people] themselves, or from any occasion or course that may be taken to procure their own proper good or benefit;" and the enjoyment of " all such lawful liberties of fish- ing, planting, felling timber as formerly they have enjoyed in the said [Pascataqua] river." The town was to send no delegate to the General Court, but this was no hardship, as the inhabitants could ill afford the expense which would thereby fall upon them, and their apparent need of a representative in the Legislature was small.
At first it was ordered that PLxeter causes at lavr should be tried at Ipswich ; afterwards at the courts held in one of three or four towns (not including Exeter) in the county of Norfolk. There ample opportunities were afforded to the inhabitants for settling all litigated questions above the jurisdiction of the town magis- trates ; and towns were compelled b}' presentments of the grand
HISTORY OF EXETER. 47
jury to keep their meeting-houses, watch-houses, stocks, roads and bridges in good and serviceable order ; while the General Court exercised a watchful and paternal care over their ecclesiastical and municipal concerns.
The government of Exeter was of course modified, to conform to the usages of Massachusetts. Three townsmen were chosen, Richard Bulgar, Samuel Greenfield and Christopher Lawson, whose duties approximated those of selectmen of the present day. By a vote of the town, April 8, 1644, they were empowered to ' ' make town rates ; to distrain for all town debts ; to pay the town's debts out of the town's treasury, or to make rates for it ; to look to the execution of all town orders ; to grant and lay out lots, provided they be not above twenty acres ; to receive into the town as inhabitants, or to keep out, such as they in their wisdom think meet."
THE FISHERY.
The fishery furnished a very important article of subsistence to the early inhabitants ; indeed, for the first few seasons, before the land had been brought fairly under cultivation, it must have been well nigh indispensable. The river, above and below the falls, abounded in fish of various kinds, and the salmon, we learn from tradition, were especially plentiful. Still we can hardly give credence to the often repeated tale that the ancient indentures of apprenticeship in Exeter used to contain a proviso that the apprentices should uot be compelled to eat salmon more than twice a week ! No instrument containing such a clause has ever been found ; and the story has been told of half a score of towns in England, and was, undoubtedly, an importation from that country.
The salmon, for the excellent reason that they can no longer pass the dams to breed their young in tlie fresh water above, have long deserted the Squamscot ; but the alewives still frequent the river, though probably not in such profusion as formerly. At first the latter were chiefly used as manure for the cultivated lands ; and thus rendered necessary the stringent regulations that were adopted to prevent swine and dogs from feeding upon them.
As early as the second of November, 1640, it was ordered by the town that "all creeks are free; only he that makes a weir therein is to have in the first place the benefit of it in fishing time ; and so others may set a weir either above or below, and enjoy the same libertv."
48 HISTORY OF EXETER.
Ou the twenty-eighth of June, 1G44, the town granted to Christo- pher Lawson and his heirs '' the right to set a weir in the river of Exeter " upon certain conditions, one of which w\as that the inhabi- tants should be supplied with alewives lo fish their land, at three shillings a thousand, in such pay as the town afforded ; and another that he should make flood gates " so that barks, boats and canoes may come to the town." The inhabitants reserved to themselves liberty to fish in the falls and elsewhere in the river, but not to set any other weir so as to forestall Lawson's. This monopoly, though formidable in sound, being extended to Lawson's " heirs forever," enjoyed but a brief span of life ; for the very next year, April 26, 1645, the town resumed the control of tlie fisliery by passing the following vote :
All the creeks for fishing this year are divided into three divi- sions by lot, eleven or twelve persons to a division according as the lots lie, as follow : the first division of lots, from the mill downward, are to have Rawbone's creek and the creek ai)ove it; the second division from the mill downward, are to have all the creeks on the mill side of the river ; and tlie tliird division are to have all the creeks on the town side of the river, except Mr. Needliam's creek and the great cove creek, which two creelvs lie common.
This vote casts a little light upon tlie topography of the town at that early date. The mill (there was then but one) was Wilson's, on the eastern side of the island at the falls. The "mill side" of the river was the opposite from the " town side" which was, of course, the western. This indicates that, from the very begin- ning, the main settlement was on the western side of the river ; though tradition asserts that two or three settlers planted their houses on the opposite bank, between what is now styled Powder- house point and Wheelwright's creek ; and depressions in the soil, -which may have been cellars, go to confirm the tale.
The people of Exeter were not long in discovering that the Massachusetts control was to be no sinecure, but was to extend sometimes to their pettiest concerns. When, in 1644, they chose Samuel Greenfield to "keep a sulHcient ordinary, and draw wine and strong w^aters, and trade with the Indians," the General Court " denied him to draw wine until they had a more full and satisfac- tory information of him." And wdien the town "took the minds of the trained bands for the re-establishing Richard Bullgar in his former office of lieutenant," the General Court "thought it not meet that he should be their lieutenant until further information
HISTORY OF EXETER. 49
be given to this Court of said Bullgar ;, in the meantime he to exer- cise the trainband as their sergeant."
The first three or four years after Exeter submitted to Massa- chusetts appear to have formed a critical period in the history of the town. The departure of Wheelwright and other leading inhabi- tants was a heavy draft upon the little colony, not to be counter- balanced by the ordinary recruits of a frontier settlement. Relig- ious differences had crept in among the inhabitants to such an extent that the aid of the General Court was evoked to compose them. A committee of ministers was accordingly appointed to examine the ground of the complaints, and to do their best to bring about harmony. At the same time the town prayed to be excused from the payment of taxes — " rate and head money," — no doubt upon the plea of their poverty and unsettled condition. The General Court, willing as they were to afford relief in spirit- ual matters, were not inclined, however, to remit their pecuniary obligations, l)ut " conceived meet that they forthwith send in their rates to the Treasurer."
Two events concurred, however, within the next three years, to give renewed strength to the town, and tide it over the threatening period, to stability and prosperity. The first was the settlement in Exeter of Edward Gilmau in 1647, and his relatives shortly afterwards, men of property and energy, who setup saw-mills and gave an impulse to the business of the place. The second was the engagement in 1G.')0 of the Rev. Samuel Dudley as the minister of the town, who united the previously discordant religious elements, and became in every respect one of the most useful citizens.
TIIK CAIIK OF THE CATTLE.
On the first of May, 1649, the selectmen, in behalf of the town, entered into a written agreement with Gowen Wilson to drive, and take the oversight of the cows and other cattle of the inhabitants, for the season. As the transaction illustrates the customs of the times, the instrument is here given in full :
It is covenanted and agreed upon between Gowen Wilson and the town of P^xeter that the said Gowen is to keep all the neat herd of the town of Exeter from one-year-old and upward (work- ing cattle excepted) from the day of the date hereof until three weeks after Michaelmas, to go every morning through the town at
4
50 HISTORY OF EXETER.
the usual time that cow-herds go forth, and so to have the cattle turned into the town street and the said Goweu to drive them into the woods, and all the day to keep tliem in such convenient places as may be best for their feeding, on both sides of the river, and at night to bring them home again, at the like usual time of herds coming home ; iu like manner to bring them through the street from the first house to the last who have cattle in that street, and to seek up or cause to be sought any that shall be lost from before him, and in like manner to keep them every third Sabbath day.
And iu consideration hereof the inhabitants of the town who have cattle are to pay or cause to be paid uuto the said Goweu Wilson the sum of eleven pound, to be paid by every man's equal proportion according to the number of their cattle in manner as folio wetli, viz. : at the first entry to have a peck of corn a head for all and every the milch cows, and a pound of butter a cow, suddenly, after his eutry upon the said work, as he shall have occasiou to use it. And the rest of the aforesaid (11 1.) is half of it to be paid in good English commodities at price current, about the beginning of August uext, and the other half of the pay to be paid in corn at harvest at 3 ^ a bushel.
AYituess to this agreement the hands of us,
GowEN "Wilson, John Leoat, James Wall, Henry IIoby.
This writing discloses to us some facts of interest about the condition of the settlement and its people at that period. The cattle were compelled to gather their subsistence " in the woods," because so little of the surrounding country was as yet cleared from the forest growth. A cow-herd was necessary to keep them from straying ; therefore it is clear that there was an absence of enclosures. " The town street" implies that as yet there was but a single thoroughfare, doubtless along the line of the present AVater street. The fact that the herd was to be driven to pasture only " every third Sabbath," shows the respect entertained by the people for the Lord's da3^ And the mode in which compensation was to be made, in corn, butter and English commodities, without a particle of cash, reveals the extreme scarcity of money among the people. Indeed, for long years afterwards, much of the
HISTORY OF EXETER. 51
business of the place was carried on ])y ])arter, or " country pay," as it was termed, and would have been practicable in no other method.
Up to the year 1G50 the General Court had at intervals made appointments of local magistrates to end small causes in the town. In 1645 they were Anthony Stanyan, Robert Smith and John Legat ; in 1(U6 Anthony Stanyan, Samuel Crreenfield and James Wall. But when in May, 1G50, the inhabitants made application for another similar appointment, it was refused by the General Court upon the ground that there was no need of such commis- sioners, as Captain Thomas Wiggiu, an Associate, lived so near. But the town were allowed the privilege of choosing a cqnstable, provided the person of their choice should be approved by the county court " as fit for the place."
The fathers of Exeter early learned the need of a system of supervision of the conduct of their public servants. As early as August 2G, 1650, a vote was passed that one of the duties of the townsmen should be to "call to account" their predecessors in office. And this, or some equivalent mode of auditing the accounts of the receiving and disbursing officers of the town, was maintained with great regularity afterwards, from that time to the present.
THE STAPLE COMMODITY.
Tlie manufacture of lumber was, for more than a century, the chief source of revenue to the inhabitants. There was everywhere an al)nudance of the fittest oaks and pines that had survived their weaker brethren, and were truly monarchs of the forest. Tiie land was owned in common, and a long period elapsed before much of it was divided. The lumber, therefore, cost the inliabi- tants nothing but the necessary labor in getting it out. Naturally, some secured much more than others ; there was a great deal of waste ; and non-residents did not hesitate to help thsmselves from the bounteous supply. To remedy these troubles, and to insure something like equality or equity among the inhabitants in the enjoyment of the products of their common domain, as well as to prevent strangers from encroaching thereon, the town from time to time adopted regulations ; a brief summary of which will be presented.
On the first of October, 1640, the felling of timber within half a mile of the town, except on one's own particular lot, or for
52 HISTORY OF EXETER.
buildiug or fencing, was prohibited under a penalty of five shillings per tree ; and it was provided that none but inhabitants or town dwellers should have liberty to fell or saw any pine, oak or other timber under a like penalty to the offender.
On the fourteenth of January, 1642, " upon the great complaint of the great destruction and spoil of timber about the tow^n," it was ordered that the inhabitants who had felled timber for pipe staves or bolts, should have a year's time to work it up, except that those who had timber Ij'ing for a year unwrought, should have but six months more ; after which if still unwrought, it should be forfeited.
On th^ sixteenth of February, 1647, it was required that every inhabitant should cease felling timber for the present till further order. Such as had timber felled had liberty to work up so much of it as would complete their i)roportions formerly granted or legally purchased ; and what they had felled more than their shares, they were to leave to the town's use. Every inhabitant should give an account to the townsmen what shares he had pur- chased and what timber he had already used. The}' who had not made up their proportional shares might fell timber aud woi'k it up, to the amount of their said shares. A penalty of five shillings was imposed " for every tree that any man shall transgress in." John Legat and Thomas Pettit were appointed cullers of pipe staves for the town, aud sworn according to the order of the court.
On the twenty-second of April, 1650, it was ordered " by the freemen and some others, chosen for the ordering of the sole affairs of the town," that every inhabitant should pay for every thousand of pipe staves made by him, two shillings, for the mainte- nance of the ministry ; for every thousand of hogshead staves one shilling and six pence ; aud for every thousand of bolts, sold before made into staves, four shillings.
On the twenty-sixth of August, 1650, it was voted by the town that none but settled inhabitants should have the privilege upon the Common to fell or use timber, and not future comers into town until they should be accepted for inhabitants ; all others were prohibited. Onlj' one person to each house lot was to enjoy the privilege, and he must build a good, habitable house thereon withiu six months.
On the first day of Ma}^ 1657, it was voted that "for the preser- vation of pipe-stave timber, and that there might be some proi)or-
HISTORY OF EXETER. 53
tiou [fixed], that some might not have great [share] of thnber and some none," it was ordered that from that time forward there should not be above one person in a family at one time employed in making of pipe staves, hogshead staves or bolts, or in any other work concerning white oak timber, except it be for saw-mills or building of houses or fencing stuff, on pain of forfeiture of ten shillings for each transgression, one-half to him who should give notice, and the other half to the use of the town. This order applied to work upon the Common, and on all ground not laid out.
It was voted June 2<S, 165-4, that the order theretofore made, debarring strangers from coming into town to fell timber and make staves, should be still in force ; and that for time to come no man living in another town, should, under any pretence whatsoever » fell timber or make staves or bolts or any timber work, unless he became a settled inhabitant, approved of by the town, and resident three months in the town before he should make any improvement of timber.
On the first day of December, 1664, "the town ha\ing taken into consideration the worth of masts, and that every year they may be still of greater consequence, and that his majesty for his own shipping may cause some to be transported from hence ; for the preservation of such timber as may make masts, " ordered that .Tohn Folsom be authorized to mark such trees as he thought fit for masts ; to impose a penalty of twenty shillings upon any one felling a tree so marked ; and to sell such trees for the benefit of the town, at the following prices : " for those of thirty inches [diameter] and upwards, thirty shillings each ; between thirty and twenty-four inches, twenty shillings ; between twenty-four and twent}^ inches, ten shillings."
At a town meeting jNIarch 3, 1673-4, it was ordered that thence- forth every single person who was legally admitted into the town should have liberty to make one thousand white oak pipe staves within one year, or the value of them in hogshead or barrel staves, red or white, and no more ; and every family of less than four, servants excepted, three thousand ; provided, that neither single persons nor families should sell their privilege to any other, but might hire men to work out their proper proportions.
Samuel Leavitt and John Wedgewood were empowered to " seize upon " any transgressor of the order, and to have for theii* pains, one-half the overplus of his proper share ; the other half to go to the town.
54 HISTORY OF EXETER.
On the twentieth of April, 1652, the town agreed to pa}'^ to the Rev. Saninel Dudley twenty shillings for the use of his two bulls. Mr. Dudley, in addition to his qualifications as a religious teacher, was a notable man of affairs. He acquired numerous tracts of land, was interested in mills and in agriculture, was employed to keep the town books, was the general conveyancer and attorney of the place, and now seems to have added to his other cares the desire to improve the breed of the cattle of the town.
The early records of Exeter are made up pretty largely of the elections of oMicers and of grants of land, but an occasional entry is met with which apparently must have had in its time a special significance. Such a one is a vote passed November 9, 1652, that the town book should be kept in Thomas King's house, and should not go therefrom unless there should be special occasion, and that by consent of the major part of the town ; and that any person warned to be at a town meeting who should not be there at half an hour after the time appointed, should pay for the use of the town two shillings ; and John Robinson was appointed to " gather up " any fines incurred for violation of this order. Curiosity is naturally excited to learn the occasion of such action. Had any unscrupulous hand attempted to tamper with the records? Had some obnoxious vote been prematurely sprung upon a town meet- ing? We ask these questions in vain. Interesting as the infor- mation might be, no clue to it has reached to our time.
In the lumber business many transient persons were employed. If disabled by sickness or accident, there was danger that the town would be made liable for their support. To guard against pauperism from this source, the following vote was passed April o, 1665 :
Ordered that what person soever shall hire any servant for more or less time, if it happen that he that is hired shall be lamed or any ways unserviceal)le made in work during that time [he] shall be kept by the charge of him that hires him, if he be not able to keep himself, that so the town may be freed from such charges.
This vote was supplemented by a rule promulgated by the select- men, August 30, 1671, as follows :
Ordered that no man shall receive any person or persons into town without the consent of the selectmen, or security to free the town from any cliarge that may ensue thereby, upon twenty shillings a mouth forfeiture ; and that uo man shall come to
HISTORY OF EXETER. 55
inhabit, by purchase or otherwise, without the consent of the selectmen, upon the same penalty.
PROJECT FOR A CHANGE OP GOVERNMEXT.
For nearly a quarter of a century after the death of John IMason, the patentee of New Hampshire, in 1635, little had occurred to remind the inhabitants that his representatives still claimed the title to the soil. They lived in England, and Robert Tufton jMasou, to whom his grandfather's American estates descended, did not become of age till 1650. He was attached to the estab- lished church and the royal government ; therefore it would have been idle for him, during the protectorate of Cromwell, to expect any aid from the ruling powers in regaining the lands of which he alleged that Massachusetts had dispossessed him. But upon the restoration of Charles II. to the English throne, in 1660, he peti- tioned his majesty for the restoration of the lands. The king's attorney general, to whom the subject was referred, reported that Mason had a good and legal title to the province of New Hamp- shire. Though no immediate action resulted therefrom, yet we shall see that this movement of Mason was destined ere long to produce momentous consequences.
Until 1661, the king did nothing ; but on April 25, of that year, in consequence of other complaints and petitions, respecting matters of dispute in New England, he commissioned Colonel Richard Nicholls, Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright and Samuel Maverick to visit the several colonies of New England ; to deter- mine all complaints ; to provide for the peace and security of the country according to their discretion and to such instructions as they should receive from the king ; and to report to him their doings.
This commission was exceedingly obnoxious to the rulers of Massachusetts, who were conscious that it was especially aimed at themselves and their conduct, and who claimed that it was an interference with rights vested in the colonists by their charter. The commissioners, however, pursuant to their instructions, visited the several colonies of New England, and their inquiries caused little friction, except in Massachusetts and her dependencies. They determined that the assumption of that colony to include within her charter limits and jurisdiction the New Hampshire settlements, was an act of usurpation ; and gave the people of those settlements to understaiud that they would release them from the rule of Massachusetts, if that were their desire.
56 HISTORY OF EXETER.
Accordingly a petition was drawn, addressed to the King of England, purporting to represent the wishes of the towns of Ports- mouth, Dover, Exeter and Hampton, expressing their great joy that his majesty had sent over the Commissioners, and sorrow at their ill treatment by the Bay government ; and praj'ing that the king would take the petitioners (towns) into his immediate pro- tection, that thej' might be governed by the known laws of Eng- land ; and that they might enjoy the sacraments they had been so long deprived of. This petition, so far as known, contained but nine signatures, two of them of Exeter men, Edward Hilton and John Folsom. The former was a moderate church of England man, the latter, who apparently was concerned in circulating the paper, was of a high and somewhat turbulent temper. There is no doubt that there was a party in New Hampshire disaffected to the government of Massachusetts, and had there been a reasonable probability that they would have bettered themselves by a demon- stration against it, a considerable number of names might have been obtained for that end. But the reflecting part of them had little confidence in the present movement, and prudently kept clear of it.
The General Court of Massachusetts in their turn appointed a committee to inquire into the disposition of the New Hampshire towns towards their government. Respecting that of Exeter they interrogated the Rev. Samuel Dudley, who replied as follows :
Concerning the question that is in hand, whether the town of Exeter hath subscribed to that petition to his majesty for the taking of Portsmouth, Dover, Hampton and f^xeter under his immediate government, I do affirm to my best apprehension, that the town of Exeter hath no hand in that petition directly or indirectly.
It is sufficient for our purpose to know that the action of the royal commissioners led to no change of government, but rather to a demonstration in favor of Massachusetts. The several New Hampshire towns united in a general collection to aid in building a new hall for Harvard College, to replace that which had been recently destroyed by fire. For this laudable purpose the town of Exeter contributed ten pounds.
In connection with this subject it is worthy of mention that Samuel Maverick, one of the king's commissioners, had about the year 1660, made a brief report to his majesty, Charles II., respect-
HISTORY OF EXETER. 57
ing the several settlements in tlie New England colonies, which he was, by his early and long residence in this country, well qualified to do. This paper, after lying unknown to historians for more than two hundred years, has recently come to light. Every scrap of information of that early date, is of interest. Maverick's notice of Exeter, therefore, meagre though it is, is entitled to a place here :
Exeter, Above this (the saw-mill on Lamperell creek), at the fall of the river Pascataqua, is the town of Iilxeter, where are more saw-mills ; down the south side of this river are farms and other straggling families.
Taxation was probably no more agreeable to property holders in former times than it is at present. In February, 1672, the selectmen gave notice to the inhabitants to bring in a list of their estates, both of outlands and all else, to one of the selectmen, together with an account of all debts due them from the town, on or before the next sixth day of March ; under the penalty of forfeiting what was due them from the town, upon their neglect to bring in an account thereof, and of the payment of two shillings by every one Avho should not bring in a list of his estate to make a true rate by. We can imagine that this rule would cause the exhibition of all claims against the town : but whether it would bring to light all taxable property, might depend much on the amount which the rate payer would be liable to be assessed.
The year 1(575 was made men)orable by the fierce outbreak of Indian hostilities known as King Philip's War. The loss of life with which Exeter was visited, is related in detail in another chapter. To defray the growing charges of the Indian war the General Court of Massachusetts on the thirteenth of October levied upon the New Hampshire towns seven single country rates. The proportion of Exeter was eight pounds, eight shillings for a single rate, and the entire tax required of the town was twent3'-five pounds, four shillings in November, 1675, and thirty-three pounds, twelve shillings in March, 1676. Happily, the war was of brief duration.
On the eleventh of March, 1679, Edward Smith, Edward Oilman and Peter Folsom were appointed by the town a committee to ascertain the town debts and the legality of the same. It thus appears that we have an early precedent for incurring a town debt ; and the report of the committee having fortunately been preserved.
58 HISTORY OF EXETER.
is given here, as an example of the formal manner in which agents of the town performed their functions two hundred years ago.
Theis may certifie all whome it may concerne that whereas wee underwritten, at a Towne meeting y'^ 11"' of March 1678 [9] were appointed a comittee to examine y^ Towne Debts & y" legallity thereof, and y*' Towne standing to y'' same as wee should bring in o"" Judgm'% doe declare & informe as followeth ; that wee under- written as aforesd haveing tryed & examined y" accounts, charges and disbursments of Capt", John Gillman, doe find for & allow uuto him. Errors excepted, — 77'. 19". 00'^
The last Barr" of powder w*^'' Capt". Gillman bought for y<= Towne stock is not included in y'' Sume al)oue written.
Edwu Smith. Edwaud Oilman
PeTEU X FOLLSIIAM.
Exeter continued under the laws of Massachusetts between thirty-six and tliirty-seven years, until New Hampshire, in 1680, was erected into a royal province. The rule of the sister colony was on the whole equitable and beneficial ; and the little town exhibited marked improvement, both in respect to material advan- tages, and in the temper and harmony of the people.
NUMBER AND NAMES OF INHABITANTS.
The population made but a very gradual increase, as was to be expected, for there was little in the frontier settlement to attract new comers. It was those who were content to endure hard work and hard fare, in the faith of securing better things in the future, who were the bone and sinew of Exeter. Yet there was a gain in numbers. On the twelfth of October, 1669, the General Court appointed John Gilman lieutenant of the military company, at the same time declaring that there were ' ' about sixty soldiers in Exe- ter." This, if the usual ratio holds good, would imply that there were about three hundred inhabitants of all classes. A fair pro- portion of the early settlers had passed their lives in the town, and were succeeded by then- children. Others had come in, some for a temporary, others for a permanent residence. The new names that appear upon the town records between 1640 and 1680 will be given here, together with others derived from other sources. No
HISTORY OF EXETER.
59
complete list is to he found, on the books of the town, or else- where, and it is probable that the fullest that can now be gathered, is quite imperfect.
NAMES FIRST ON THE TOWN BOOKS BETWEEN IGIO AND 1680.
John Barber, John Bean, • Thomas Biggs, Nathaniel Bolter, Robert Booth, Richard Bray, WilUam Bromfield, John Bursley, Philip Cartee, Philip Chesley, John Clark, . Jeremy Connor, Thomas Cornish, Ciiristian DoUofl', Abraham Drake, Nathaniel Drake, Teague Drisco, Biley Dudley, Sanuiel Dudley, Theophilus Dudley Eleazer Elkins, Ephraim Folsora, Israel Folsom, John Folsom, John Folsom, Jr., Nathaniel Folsom, Peter Folsom, Samuel Folsom, John Garland, Charles Oilman, Edward Gihnan, Si., Edward Oilman (Jr.), John Oilman, John Oilman, Jr., Moses Oilman, Charles Olidden, James Godfrey, Alexander Gordon, Samuel Greenfield, William Hacket,
|
April |
1, |
1678 |
|
|
January |
21, |
1660- |
1 |
|
September |
5, |
1643 |
|
|
jNIay |
6, |
1645 |
|
|
February |
10, |
1647- |
8 |
|
October |
10, |
1664 |
|
|
December |
1, |
1664 |
|
|
September |
-5, |
1643 |
|
|
March |
29, |
1608 |
|
|
January |
21, |
1664- |
5 |
|
August |
29, |
1661 |
|
|
October |
10, |
1664 |
|
|
January |
12, |
1648- |
9 |
|
March |
30, |
1668 |
|
|
June |
10, |
1644 |
|
|
April |
22 |
1649 |
|
|
October |
10, |
1664 |
|
|
April |
1, |
1678 |
|
|
May |
13, |
1650 |
|
|
December |
1, |
1664 |
|
|
]\Iarch |
3, |
1673- |
4 |
|
April |
1, |
1678 |
|
|
October |
10, |
1664 |
|
|
November |
4, |
1647 |
|
|
September |
28, |
1668 |
|
|
October |
10, |
1664 |
|
|
March |
80, |
1670 |
|
|
October |
10, |
1664 |
|
|
August |
26, |
1650 |
|
|
September |
28, |
1668 |
|
|
May |
10, |
1652 |
|
|
November |
4, |
1647 |
|
|
January |
12, |
1648- |
9 |
|
April |
1, |
1678 |
|
|
February |
10, |
1647- |
8 |
|
March |
30, |
1674 |
|
|
March |
16, |
1660- |
1 |
|
October |
10, |
1664 |
|
|
May |
19, |
1644 |
|
|
October |
10, |
1664 |
GO
HISTORY OF EXETER.
Joseph Hall, Samuel Hall, Robert Hathersay (Her William Huntington, Edmond Johnson, Thomas Jones, Joel Judkins, Duny (?) Kelley, James Kidd, John Kimming, Thomas King, Nathaniel Ladd, Cornelius Lary, David Lawrence, Jeremy Leavitt, Moses Leavitt, Samuel Leavitt, John Legat, . Nicholas Liston, Henry Magoon, Thomas Marston, * Richard Morgan, Nicholas Norris, George Person (Pearson Thomas Pettit, Jr., Robert Powell, Thomas Rashleigh, John Robinson, Jonathan Robinson, Jonathan Rollins, Thomas Rollins, John Saunders, Edward Sewall, Jonathan Sewall, Robert Seward, John Sinclair, John Smart, . John Smart, Jr., Robert Smart, Edward Smith, Nicholas Smith, Francis Swain, Nicholas Swain, Richard Swain,
sey),
),
October
March
August
February
August
August
April
October
March
October
January
February
October
March
March
October
September
October
January
April
January
March
August
March 18 (
May
October
May
April
March
October
March
January
April
April
April
October
January
April
April
March
March
March
December
November
10, 1664 11, 1678-9 5, 1644
27, 1644-5 26, 1650
5, 1644 2, 1675
10, 1664
11, 1678-9 10, 1664 16, 1644-5 18, 1678-9 10, 1664 30, 1674 30, 1670 10, 1664
28, 1668 20, 1642
12, 1648-9
2, 1664 16, 1644-5
29, 1668
30, 1671 about), 1679
20, 1652 10, 1664
6, 1643 20, 1652
3, 1673-4 10, 1664 30, 1670 16, 1644-5
2, 1675
1, 1678
1, 1678 10, 1664 16, 1644-5 22, 1649 22, 1649
30, 1670
4, 1658-9
31, 1645 16, 1646
4, 1647
• Frobably nevet; came to live iu Exeter
HISTORY OF EXETER.
(U
Joseph Taylor, William Taylor, John Tedd, . Jonathan Thing, Jonathan Thing, Jr., Thomas Tyler, Robert Wadleigh, John "Warren, Thomas Warren, . John Wedgewood, William Whitridge, Gowen Wilson, Humphrey Wilson, John Young,
111 addition to the foregoing, the following names of persons belonging to Exeter within the period referred to, appear on the records of old Norfolk county, to wit :
|
March |
4, 1658-9 |
|
|
June |
26, 1650 |
|
|
November |
4, 1647 |
|
|
January |
22, 1659-60 |
|
|
March |
30, 1670 |
|
|
May |
20, 1652 |
|
|
March |
15, 1667-S |
|
|
April |
22, 1049 |
|
|
October |
10, 1664 |
|
|
March |
3, 1673-4 |
|
|
April |
3, 1649 |
|
|
November 24, 1650 |
||
|
June |
17, 1644 |
|
|
March |
30, 1670 |
John Barsham, 1669 Isaac Cole, 1671 Isaac Cross, 1651 David Cushing, 1655
John Goddard (?) 1678 ' Thomas Hithersea, 1650 Henry Lamprey, 1666 Edward Littlefield, 1651
And the foUowins: additional names are extracted from a list of those who took the oath of allegiance and fidelity to the country, November 30, 1G77, at Exeter; all, with a few possible excep- tions, inhabitants of the town.
John Clark, Jr. James Daniel Stephen Dudley Mr. Michael French Daniel Gilman Jeremy Gilman Moses Gilman, Jr. Kinsley Hall Armstrong Horn William Morgan James Perkins
David Robinson George Roberts Edward Roe James Sinclair Mr. Richard Smart Robert Smart, Jr. Jonathan Smith Mr. John Thomas John Wadleigh Joseph Wadleigh
CHAPTER III.
EXETER UNDER THE NEW HAMPSHIRE PROVINCIAL
GOVERNMENT.
The new governraeut of the province of New Hampshire went into operation in January, 1680. A governor and six councillors were appointed by the Crown. One of the councillors was an Exeter man, John Gilnian, who, under the Massachusetts regime, had been a magistrate and an Assistant. The members of the lower house of Assembly were elected by the people of the several towns, Exeter being entitled to choose two. Her deputies in 1680 were Captain Bartholomew Tippen and Lieutenant Ralph Hall. The latter had been a resident of the town for a number of years ; but Tippen was a new comer, and apparently did not remain long. He had been a man of some prominence under the Massachusetts government, which was probably the reason that he was so speedily elected to office here.
Though the population of the town must have been about three hundred, the number of qualified voters at the first election was but twenty ; there being in the entire province only two hundred and nine. There was no uniform rule determining the qualifica- tions of voters, but they were selected arbitrarily ; one conse- quence of which was that Exeter had a less number, in proportion to her population, than some of the other towns. Exeter had nearly seventy tax-payers.
For the first two years after New Hampshire had become a distinct province, and so loug as the principal offices of govern- ment were filled by her own citizens, affairs went on smoothly. But Robert Mason, who, as the heir of John Mason, the patentee, claimed the soil of New Hampshire as his property, and at whose solicitation, and for whose benefit, in a great measure, a separate government had been provided for the province, found that he was yet no nearer the fruition of his hopes of securing the title and emoluments of the lands, than he was under the rule of Massa-
C2
HISTORY OF EXETER. 63
cbusetts. He therefore made application to the king for the appointment of a new governor, a stranger to New Hampshire, Edward Cranfield, a need}', arbitrary and unscrupulous man. Mason's request was complied with, and he at once took effectual means to attach the appointee to his interest.
The people speedily read the character and purposes" of their new governor. He took his seat in October, 1683, and summoned an assembly in November, with whose concurrence a fresh body of laws was ena<3ted, one of the most important of which provided for a change in the manner of selecting jurors. They had before been chosen by the inhabitants of the several towns ; thenceforth they were to be appointed by the sheriff, after the English custom. This piece of legislation was a fatal mistake for the people, for it put the entire pei'sonnel of the judicial courts into the control of the governor ; who, having the right to suspend refractory coun- cillors, could thus appoint such judges and sheriffs, and tlii'ough them, such jurors as he pleased.
The governor, however, kept up a show of fairness, until the assembly had voted him a present of two hundred and fifty pounds, by which they vainly hoped to detach him from the interest of Mason. Immediately afterwards he came out in his true colors ; aud Ijecause he could not make the popular branch consent to a bill Avhich he approved, and because he refused to approve certain bills which they presented, he resorted to the extreme and unpre- cedented step of dissolving the assembly.
gove's rebellion against cranfield.
Then, for the first time, the full extent of their utter powerless- ness against the tyranny of a mercenary governor dawned upon tlie understanding of the mass of the people. It is not strange that it suggested to some unbalanced minds the idea of forcible resistance. Edward Gove of Hampton, who had been a member of the dissolved assembly, distracted by indignation and heated by strong drink, attempted to raise the standard of revolt. He succeeded, howev^er, in enlisting only eight or ten young fellows in his own town and Exeter, who joined him probably in a spirit of adventure, fortified, perhaps, with the idea that they were thus championing the cause of the people. Gove, with his little follow- ing, armed with sword and pistol, appeared on horseback in the streets of Exeter, and rode to the sound of the trumpet, into
(54 HISTORY OF EXETER.
Hampton, where they were soon arrested and committed to prison for trial.
The hare-brained project never could have endangered the gov- ernment for a moment, but Cranfield chose to regard it in the most serious light, and without delay issued a commission for a court to try the culprits. Through his attorney general he caused an indict- ment to be presented to the grand jury against them, for treason, the highest crime known to the law. For this offence the prison- ers, nine in number, were tried, with indecent haste, little more than a week after the acts complained of were committed ; and, apparently undefended, were found guilty ; Gove of the entire offence of treason, and the others of lesser offences. Gove was sent to England and imprisoned in the Tower of London about three years, and then was pardoned and returned home.
The Exeter men concerned in this escapade were Robert, John and Joseph Wadleigh, sons of Robert Wadleigh who was a member of the dissolved assembly, Thomas Rollins and John Sleeper, and perhaps Mark Baker. They were all permitted by the governor to be set at liberty on giving security to keep the peace, except one of the Wadleighs, who was detained in prison for more than a year afterwards by the governor, apparently out of ill will to his father. Edward Smith and John Young, both of Exeter, had also been complained of as associated with Gove, but were not indicted. Nathaniel Ladd, likewise of Exeter, acted as the trumpeter to Gove's train, but when the others were captured, made his escape. It is probable that he remained perda until after the trial. He put his mettle to a better use a few years later when he fought at Maquoit against the hostile Indians, though he received his death-wound there.
Governor Cranfield finding his selfish projects impeded by the presence in his council of men identified in feeling with the people, suspended, by virtue of the power conferred b}^ his commission, three of his councillors, among them John Gilmau of Exeter ; and filled their places with others more subservient to his will. Then, all things being prepared to his mind, Mason entered upon his legal campaign against the landholders of the province.
ROBERT TUFTON JIASOn's LAND SUITS.
In order to understand the feelings of the people it is necessary to look at Mason's claim from their point of view. They were
HISTORY OF EXETER. 65
aware that, half a century before, the soil had been granted to Captain John Mason by the Council of Plymouth, by virtue of a royal patent. But they believed that though he maintained a settlement upon it for a few years, his heirs after his death had abandoned it. During the more than forty years that had elapsed since that time, the territory had been regarded and dealt with as if it had never been granted. A title had been purchased from the Indian occupants, and the lands had thenceforward been bought and sold, and transmitted by inheritance, in all respects as if they were allodial. They had been improved by the sweat of the settlers' brows, and defended by their blood against the incursions of savage enemies. These claims outweighed a thousand-fold in tlieir minds the stale paper title of Mason, His demands they regarded as unjust and inequitable in the highest degree, and they were prepared to resist them to the bitter end.
But as the courts were now constituted, and the jurors selected, they knew that they were helpless. Mason brought a great number of suits, in the different towns of the province, to recover the lauds from their occupants. In Exeter the following persons were sued : Nathaniel Folsom, Ricliard Morgan, Kinsley Hall, Ralph Hall, Christian Dolloft", Ephraim Folsom, Philip Cartee, Moses Leavitt, John Folsom, Eleazer Elkius, Jonathan Robinson, Jonathan Thing, Humphrey Wilson, Peter Folsom, John Gilmau, Jr. and iiphraim Folsom; — in the adjoining precinct of Squam- scot, Andrew \Yiggin and AN^illiam Moore, Jr.
Pliable juries were empanelled by the sheriff, a creature of Crantield's, and the tenants knew it to be idle to make defence ; so verdicts were returned against them " at the rate of from nine to twelve in a day." So far as the courts were concerned the governor and Mason had everything their own way.
But when the attempt was made to put the judgments in force, the tenants had their innings. The sheriff could indeed formally deliver to the claimant the possession of the lauds he had recov- ered ; but the formality amounted to nothing, and the tenants continued to enjoy the premises as before. Attempts were made to sell the lands that had been thus levied on, but nobody woul4 buy them. After a few experiments of this kind Mason recognized the futility of the proceedings, and for the time desisted. But it was fully a quarter of a century before the verdict of an indepen- dent jury put a quietus on the Masoniau claims, and relieved the land-owners from apprehension.
66 HISTORY OF EXJ^TER.
KESISTANCE TO ILLEGAL TAXATION.
But the irrepressible Craufield, in the language of one of his contemporaries, "had come here after money, and money he would have." After vainly trying several devices to induce the General Assembly to pass a bill to raise money, he determined in 1684 to levy taxes on the people with the assent of the council only, and without the concurrence of the popular branch of the assembly. This was clearly a usurpation of power ; and even his accommodating council at first remonstrated against it. But the apprehension of an outbreak among the Indians at the eastward induced them to comply. The taxes were ordered by the governor and council, and warrants were issued to the constables of the several towns for their collection. But they met everywhere the same reception as in Exeter, where John Folsom, the constable, returned his warrant with the statement ' ' tliat he had demanded the taxes, but was answered by almost all of them that the [governor's] commission directed the taxes should be raised by the General Assembly, but these being done by the governor and council, they would not pay."
Thereupon the Exeter warrant was committed for collection to Thomas Thurton, provost marshal of the province, together with an order of the Court of Sessions for a fine of fifty shillings against John Folsom, for neglect of duty as constable. Thurton was a coarse, brutal man, and his errand was not calculated to win him a very hearty welcome. He came to Exeter by way of Hampton, attended by his deputy, both on horseback, with swords by their sides. Half a score of Hampton men, armed with clubs, followed them on horseback to see and share the anticipated sport. They proceeded first to the house of Edward Gilman, situated nearly opposite the site of the present First church. Such a caval- cade naturally attracted attention, and it took little time for the whole village to learn the business that had brought it. A crowd gathered. John Folsom, the delinquent constable, appeared, and Thurton demanded of him the fine imposed by the Quarter Sessions. Folsom replied that if the marshal " came to levy execution at his house, he should meet with a red-hot spit and scalding water ; and that he did not value any warrant from the governor, council or justice of the peace, and that the marshal might go, like a rogue as he was."
Two of Mr. Gilman's aunts were at his house, the wife of John Gilman, the suspended councillor, and of Moses Gilman, his
»
HISTORY OF EXETER. 67
brother ; and they likewise gave Thurton to understand that they had kettles of boiling water ready for him, if he came to their houses to demand rates. The marshal now began to realize that he had come on a bootless errand. The crowd, reinforced by the addition among others of the Rev. John Cotton, the temporary minister of the town, then began to hustle the marshal and his deputy up and down the house, asking them tauntingly what they wore at their sides, — meaning their swords, which were, to be sure, rather ridiculous appendages, when their wearers dared not use them. There was nothing worse than horse play, but the marshal understood very well that if he were to attempt any serious resistance, he was liable to be roughly treated. From Edward Oilman's he and his deputy went next to the house of the widow of Henry Sewall, to obtain refreshment for themselves and their horses. The crowd followed them thither, and still kept up the same system of annoyance. Then the officers and their unwel- come retinue proceeded to the house of Jonathan Thing, to serve an attachment upon him ; but the crowd would not suffer them to do so, but plainly declared to the marshal that he " should do no business relating to the execution of his office." In the end, the officers were glad to get off with whole skins, and without making the least progress in the business they had come for.
We obtain our only knowledge of this transaction from the testi- mony of Thurton himself, a bitterly prejudiced and unscrupulous witness ; but it is evident that though the whole community were indignant at the illegal attempt at taxation, and determined that the marshal should not be permitted to execute his warrant, yet they scrupulously refrained from acts of violence. The glimpse, too, that we get of the Exeter women of two hundred years ago proves that they possessed a spirit worthy of the mothers of men who had to endure the hardships of a frontier life, and to meet the onslaughts of a savage foe, with no defence save then- own right arms and trusty weapons.
THE PROVINCE WITHOUT A GOVERNMENT.
The records of Exeter tell nothing of the transactions of a period of several years between 1680 and 1690. There were proba- bly reasons in the condition of the times for this reticence. Robert Mason sought to support his land-claims by searching the books of records of the several towns, whereupon the books were abstracted, and for a time disappeared. Meantime Governor Cranfield became
(58 HISTORY OF EXETER.
discouraged in his attempt to gather wealth from his position in New Hampshire, and abandoned his office. Walter Barefoote succeeded him, and was in his turn succeeded by Joseph Dudley. Then in 1686 the province passed under the rule of Edmund Andros, governor of New England. As the appointee and repre- sentative of a Catholic sovereign, James 11. , he made few friends in Puritan Massachusetts where was his official residence. His downfall approached on this side of the water, with equal steps with that of his royal master, on the other side. Almost simul- taneously with the deposition and miprisoument of Andros by the Massachusetts colonists, in the spring of 1689, came the news of the Revolution in England, and the accession of William III. The New England colonies were thus left without a representative of royalty to rule over them. Massachusetts, with her charter and long experience, easily set up a temporary government which answered all her wants ; but New Hampshire had no facilities for the purpose, and simply went on for nearly a year witliout an executive ; and, thanks to the orderly disposition and good sense of the people, without serious difficulties ; and this notwithstand- ing the situation was further complicated by the fact that an Indian war was raging in the province at the time, and Dover and Oyster river were the scenes of savage incursions and atrocities.
More than one attempt was made to induce the people of the province to unite in choosing delegates to establish a government ad interim^ but for a time without avail. They did, indeed, go so far as to elect William Vaughan of Portsmouth, a member of the board of commissioners of the United Colonies of New P2ngland, for defence against the Indians ; though there is no entry upon the records of Exeter that she took part in the election. And it was not until December, 1689, that the New Hampshire towns reached the point of choosing delegates to meet for the purpose of devising some method of protection against the common enemy. Delegates were then elected by Portsmouth, Dover, Exeter and Hampton, who assembled in convention at Portsmouth on the twenty-fourth of January, 1690. The whole number was twenty-two, of whom four were from Exeter : Robert Wadleigh, Samuel Leavitt, William Hilton and Jonathan Thing ; the last two talking the place of William Moore, who was originally chosen. The convention agreed upon a brief plan for the present government of the province, and submitted it to the people ; and in pursuance thereof in Dover, if nowhere else, an election was held and officers were
HISTORY OF EXETER. 69
voted for. But the unreasonable jealousy manifested by Hampton towards the other towns, prevented the proposed government from going into effect.
By this time the need of a recognized head of autliority in the province was so apparent and so pressing, that some of the princi- pal men of Portsmouth who were kindly affected towards Massa- chusetts, drew up a petition, addressed to the authorities of that colony, to be received under their government and protection, as formerly, until their majesties' pleasure should be known. The petition was speedily circulated in the several towns, and received the signatures of three hundred and seventy-two persons, a very large proportion of the adult males in the province. Of these, sixty or seventy, at least, were residents of Exeter. Agreeably to the prayer of the petition the old union with Massachusetts was renewed on the nineteenth of March, 1690, and lasted until the commission of Governor Samuel Allen was published in New Hampshire on the thirteenth of August, 1692.
During the second union Massachusetts made a call upon the New Hampshire towns to choose each " two meet persons " to assemble together with the Justices of the Peace of the province, to adjust the chai^ges of the Indian war, and to assess the amount thereof upon the inhabitants. Exeter chose Peter Coffin and John Gilraan as her representatives for this duty.
The records of the town do not show any important action for several years after this, save what properly belongs to other departments of this history. At the annual meeting in April, 1705, John Light was received an inhabitant, and had a condi- tional grant of land ; perhaps the last instance of this formal investiture with the privileges of citizenship. It was not many years later that the final division of the town's lands was made, after which there was no reason, and no attempt, to keep up the old theory of a close corporation of the inhabitants.
Shortly afterwards the town began to improve their system of records. It was voted in 1707 that " all rates made by the select- men shall be committed to the town clerk to be entered upon record, before they be delivered to the constable ;" in 1713 that " the town clerk buy a book at the town's charge and enter all the votes needed by the selectmen, at large, and all accounts of the town's disbursements, debt and credit ;" and in 1721 that " a book shall be bought for the selectmen to keep a fair record of what money they raise, and how they dispose of it." These acts speak
70 HISTORY OF EXETER.
well for the care and prudence of the people, and merit the warmest gratitude of the antiquary and historian in later times.
From the selectmen's accounts we learn that in the year 1714 they paid bounties to Captain Hill and Samuel Dudley, Jr., on "five wolves' heads." These animals were so great a source of annoyance that the bounty paid for their destruction was raised by the town, two years afterwards, to two pounds a head.
In the year 1717 the selectmen paid to Peter Folsom, Jr., for work on the stocks, fifteen shillings aud eight pence ; and to Samuel Goodhue for mending the glass in the meeting-house, one pound and eleven pence. Later payments for the same objects, especially the latter, appear on the selectmen's account books, with some frequency. The meeting-house windows must have been a burden on the rate-payers.
In the same year the province authorized an issue of paper money to the amount of fifteen thousand pounds, which was to be lent to inhabitants in small sums on approved landed security. The town chose Samuel Thing, Nicholas Gilman, Nicholas Gordon, Moses Leavitt and Jonathan Thing a committee to act with the representatives, in letting a portion of the money, in Exeter, and empowered a majority of them to appraise upon oath the value of the lands offered as security for such loans.
At the same meeting it was voted that Samuel Thing and Henry Dyer request Colonel John Bridger, his majesty's surveyor gen- eral, to mark the trees in the town which were fit for the king's service, " so that his majesty's subjects may go to work to get their livelihood." The law which reserved for masts for the royal nav\' the largest and finest growth of the forest, was a stnnding grievance to the colonists, as the language of the above vote implies, and led, as we shall see, to later trouble. In the same year the town for the first time voted compensation to their officers ; twenty shillings to each of the selectmen and five shillings to each of the assessors, and committee. The presumption is that before that time these officers had performed their duties gratuitously, regarding the honor of their positions as a sufficient recompense. It is. perhaps, needless to add that the fashion of payment, once set, has been pretty faithfully followed, from that time to this.
On March 22, 1722, the town voted to make the minister's rate by itself, to be paid in money ; and all other town charges to be paid in "peichers;" an ineffectual attempt, probabW, to write " specie." But specie at that time meant something quite differ-
HISTORY OF EXETER. 71
ent from gold and silver coin. It must have referred to articles of produce or mei'chandise at certain specified prices, for the vote proceeds to define the " specishers " (as the word is spelled this time) in which the town charges may be paid, as being " mer- chantable boards and joist at 40/- per M. ; Indian corn at 3/- per bushel; Barley 3/6; Eye 4/-; wheat 5/6; Ked oak hhd. staves 30/- per M. ; White oak 40/-; White oak bbl. 30/-; good pork 4 d a lb ; beef at 3 d."
The accounts of the selectmen for the year 1721 show that they paid four shillings and sixpence for " a brazen head put on the black staff ;" and those of 1728 a like sum for " a black staff." In our days of republican simplicity it requires a moment's thought to realize that these entries refer to the official badge of the consta- ble, which was then a black rod surmounted by a royal crown of brass. Though we may smile at such insignia now, there was a deal of dignity and of authority too, in them, a hundred and fifty years ago.
At a meeting of the town, held September 28, 1731, a new meeting-house having been built, it was voted that the old one be taken down as soon as it could be with convenience, and that a court-house be built of the stutf of said old house. Theophilus Smith, Benjamin Thing and Jeremiah Conner were appointed a committee to " discourse with workmen " about taking down the old meeting-house and building a court-house, and to make report.
It was also voted that the town-house should be built forty feet long and twenty-five feet wide, and be set on the south side of the highway over against the meeting-house, as nigh the school-house as might be with conveniency to the town land ; and that the court-house be finished, so far as it could be done, by the first of March next, so that the court might sit in it.
This provision for a court-house, which in all probability was designed to be fitted up in the town-house building, was made in consequence of an act passed by the General Assembly in 1730, which provided for one term of the Inferior Court to be held in each year in Exeter, and gave the like privilege to Dover and to Hampton. Prior to this, all the courts in the province were held in Portsmouth, to the manifest inconvenience of parties who resided in the interior. Great efforts were made before and after this time, to give the inland towns a small share, at least, of the courts ; but the people of Portsmouth, aided by the influence of the provincial government, constantly resisted and obstructed the
72 HISTORY OF EXETER.
just legislation for the purpose, up to the time of the Revolution, when P^xeter became in effect the capital of the State. It is not known whether under the law of 1730 even a single term of the Inferior Court was held outside of Portsmouth ; for the provincial officials had the address to induce the king in council either to refuse his assent to the law, or to order the repeal of it. The tradition is that this was done by the influence of the lieutenant governor and surveyor general, in revenge for the insult to his authority committed by the "mast-tree mob" in Exeter, hereafter to be mentioned.
The town-house was finished in 1732 and stood nearly opposite the meeting-house. It was flanked b}' the stocks and whipping- post, erected in the most public position as a terror to evil-doers. The "town-house rates" amounted to two hundred and forty pounds, four shillings and eight pence.*
THE MAST-TKEE RIOT OE 1734.
The lumbermen of the New Hampshire frontiers were not men troubled with nice scruples. They regarded the legal claim of tlie king to the most valuable trees on their lands, as one which it was not morally wrong for them to evade or to transgress. And this feeling was intensified by the domineering conduct towards them of the surveyor general and his agents. Consequently there were not a few of them who had no hesitation in taking the risk incurred by despoiling the royal navy of its thnber, and the surveyor gen- eral of his perquisites. If they were detected and convicted, they were willing to pay the penalty ; if they escaped discovery they slept none the less soundly.
Complaints had been repeatedly made in regard to some of the people of Exeter that they paid small regard to the laws on this subject. As early as 1708 John Bridger, then surveyor general, addressed a letter to Peter Coffin and Theopbilus Dudley, justices of the peace in Exeter, charging that several mast trees which were reserved for her majesty's navy, had been felled, cut and destroyed by Jeremiah Gilman, James Oilman, David Oilman, Samuel Piper, John Downer, Moses Pike and Jonathan Smith ; and requiring said Coffin and Dudley to do them justice according
*0n March 2G, 1733, the town excused the tax-payers of the new parish of New- market from an assessment of twenty-flve pounds for this object, " in considera- tion that tliey had lately been at great expense iu building a meeting-house and settling a minister there."
HISTORY OF EXETER. 73
to law. What came of the application is not known, but it is questionable whether the surve^'-or general got much satisfaction.
His successor in office, David Dunbar, who had been a soldier and was arbitrary, needy and litigious, learning or suspecting that mast trees had been cut in P^xeter, in the early part of the year 1734, visited a saw-mill at the Copyhold, as it was and still is called, in that part of Exeter which is now Brentwood, to see if he could discover any lumber there, from trees of the size reserved for the nav3^ The people employed in the woods around were of course at once apprised of his presence, and divined his purpose ; but having very little respect for dignitaries of his sort, made the welkin ring with their shouts and cries and with the discharges of small arms. The surveyor general, fearing that if he persisted in his investigations, they would proceed to acts of violence, con- cluded that discretion was the better part of valor, and retreated. But he was satisfied that the law had been violated, and that an inspection of the piles of lumber about the mill would prove it. On his return to Portsmouth, therefore, he employed ten men to proceed in a sail boat to Exeter, and thence to go to the Copyhold mill, to set the king's broad arrow on any lumber they might find there, which gave evidence of being cut from mast trees.
These men landed at the village of Exeter in the evening of April 23, 1j6.S4^ and proceeded to the public house of Samuel Gilman on "Water street, the same house afterwards occupied by Oliver Peabody, and still standing, though much altered. There they passed the evening, in the fashion of the tune. Meanwhile the fact of their arrival and the nature of their errand spread rapidly through the town. A number of the persons who were most aggrieved by the operations of the surveyor general, assem- bled at the public house kept by Zebulon Giddinge,* afterwards occupied by the family of the Eev. William F. Rowland, and also still standing, and there disguising themselves so as to resemble Indians, sallied forth, about thirty in number, to head off Dunbar's expedition.
What they did, we learn chiefly from the testimony of those whom they assailed, men neither by character nor by feeling likely to give a perfectly impartial account. But there seems little doubt that the quasi Indians seized upon several of Dunbar's party as they were about going to bed, and handled them pretty roughly,
*The orthography of this name has been modernized into Giddings.
74 HISTORY OF EXETER.
hauling them down stairs and hustling them out of the door, at the same time uttering dire threats against them. They certainly frightened and dispersed the party, and scuttled their boat and destroyed the sails. The unlucky wights, who little expected such treatment, were fain to retrace their way to Portsmouth as best they could, bearing the marks of their adventure in the shape of torn clothes and bloody noses, if nothing worse.
The actors in this illegal proceeding were probably well known in Exeter, and included men who were by no means habitual law- breakers. Dunbar was furious at their demonstration. Holding the office of lieutenant governor as well as of surveyor general, he instantly summoned a meeting of the council, Belcher, the gover- nor, being at the time absent from the province. To them he represented that he believed the justices of the peace in Exeter had some knowledge of the affair, and proposed that they should be sent for and examined before the council, and that a proclama- tion should be issued, offering a reward for detecting the persons that were guilty of the oft'ence. The council, however, were not prepai'ed to sanction tliese proposals of the testy lieutenant gover- nor, but replied that in their opinion the examination of the matter appertained to the justices of the peace, and not to the council, and the issuing of a proclamation appertained to tlie governor ; and therefore they did not advise it without his order.
The governor did, indeed, issue a proclamation, but offered no reward, except the vague promise that "whosoever shall detect the offenders above mentioned, or any of them, shall receive all proper marks of the countenance and favor of this government." The governor and his lieutenant were not friends.
The baffled lieutenant governor subsequently addressed a letter to Nicholas Gilman, John Gilman and Bartholomew Thing, justices of the peace at Exeter, in which he demanded that some of them should go with Charles Gorwood, his assistant, to Copyhold mill. Black rock mill, upper and lower Tuckaway mills, Wadleigh's mill, the Book mill, Gilman's mill and Piscassic mill, all in Exeter, and the last two near Newmarket, and there oblige men to separate and mark for his majesty's use such white pine boards as they found sawn from mast trees. And in case of the non-compliance of said justices with the above order, he required them to hire or impress a man to go with said Gorwood for the purpose aforesaid.
The justices, after nearly a month's delay, replied that they had employed a man to go with Gorv.^ood as desired ; but as to his
HISTORY OF EXETER. 75
demand that some of them should go, they could not, upon the most deliberate consideration, find any authority to support them in so doing. Thus Dunbar had to submit to a snubbing in every quarter.
The ludicrous phase of the affair is to be found in the testimony of Peter Greeley, who was Dunbar's particular assistant and henchman. He deposed that Simon Oilman of Exeter revealed to him in confidence that the people of Exeter had hired three Natick Indians to kill Dunbar, Theodore Atkinson, and himself (Greeley), and had supplied the Indians with a quart of rum each every day, " that they should not fail of their work ;" and that the Indians, as soon as they had accomplished the deed, were to go at once to Natick, where they would not be discovered. Apparently it never dawned on Peter Greeley or his headstrong employer that Simon was " chaffing" them, and that the whole demonstrations, from Dunbar's visit at Copyhold mill to the riotous proceedings at Exeter, were simply intended to prevent the further interference of the surveyor general with the lumbermen, however they failed to respect the trees reserved for the use of his majesty's navy.
At the annual town meeting in March, 1738, Elisha Odlin was chosen town clerk in the place of Bartholomew Thing, who had held the office for several years befoi-e. So far as we can now discover, the change was made in consequence of the feeling that had arisen on the then engrossing question of the division of the town's common lands. For some cause, now unknown. Thing declined to deliver up the town books and records to his successor.
It may be that he had some show of right for withholding the records. Concealment of the public archives was no new thing in the history of the province, and it had taken place probably with very general approval. But in the present case the majority of the inhabitants were indignant at the late town clerk's conduct. A meeting of the town was called, and voted that the books should be removed out of Thing's hands and put into Odlin's ; that Jona- than Wadleigh, Edward Hall, John Robinson, John Odlin, Jr. and Zebulon Giddiuge, should be a committee to prosecute Thing if he refused to deliver them, and that the selectmen should raise money to defray the charges of such prosecution. Nothing further is heard of the recalcitrant town clerk's scruples.
The town meeting of June 15, 1738, was held in the town-house, the first information which the record affords, of its completion.
It appears that the town was somewhat infested with wolves.
76 HISTORY OF EXETER.
even as late as 1742, for at the March meeting in that year a bounty of five pounds was voted " to any person of the first parish who should kill a grown wolf within said parish limits." At the first glance it does not appear why this offer should be confined to a single j^arish, unless indeed it referred to a " wolf in sheep's clothing." But when it is remembered that the inhabitants of the southwesterly part of the town had recently been set off into a separate parish, it is easy to see that the intention was to bind Exeter to pay the bounty, and to leave the new precinct of Brent- wood to act for itself. The reason of making the bounty so large, undoubtedly, was the depreciation of the paper money of the period.
In looking over the records of the town meetings we are often met by entries of adjournments for fifteen minutes, or for other brief periods. The cause of these little intermissions of business was ostensibly to allow the voters time for consultation, or the committees the opportunity to prepare their reports. But when we remember the habits of the times, and that there were compara- tively few men who did not indulge in strong potations pretty regularly every day, we can see that another consideration was, perhaps, not without its weight. It was manifestly only fair that men should be allowed time to take their customary refreshment, without apprehension that some objectionable vote might be carried in their absence. An adjournment put all upon an equal footing, — in one sense, at least. It is proper to say, however, that in the matter of dram-drinking, Exeter was no worse, and probabl}' no better, than all other places. Indeed, in after years, when the temperance reform arose, the town earl}^ took advanced ground in its favor. As indicative, however, of the universal use of strong liquors on all occasions, we find among the town accounts for 1722 these entries : " Expenses of town, ram and shuger 5/6 ; rum, raising the bell 1/- ; rum and shuger 2/6 ; same 10/-; same 1/6." In the accounts for 1736 are found the following : "paid Capt. Samuel Gilman for drink given to those men that signed a deed for land in the way that led to drtnkioater road 17/4," and " for 1 gall, rum and 2 lb. sugar and allspice for William Gay's (a town pauper's) funeral, 1 1. 5 s. 2 d." and in 1743, these : " for rum and sugar in proving the bounds of Kensington 17/9;" and " Benjamin Thing for rum to move the pound 10/-."
In the year 1 746 the people of Newmarket and others presented a petition to the General Assembly for leave to erect a draw-
HISTORY OF EXETER. 77
bridge over the Squamscot river between Newmarket and Strat- ham. As early as the year 1700, a right of ferry had been granted there to Eichard Hilton, which had been in use up to that time.
The convenience of a bridge to the people of the towns which had in the meantime grown up on the northwestern side of the river, who had to pass it in order to go to Portsmouth the seat of government, furnished a powerful argument to the ^jietitioners. But Exeter feared that a bridge would cause injury to its business, and appointed Ezekiel Gilman, Daniel Oilman and Nicholas Ferryman a committee to oppose the petition. They set out, in a lengthy remonstrance to the assembly, various reasons against the erection of a bridge ; the likelihood that it would prevent the ascent of the fish, especially the bass, which were represented as abundant ; the obstruction to the free passage up and down the river, of mast trees, rafts, gundalows and vessels, and the conse- quent injury to the navigation and ship-building interest of Exeter ; and, in fact, made the best of a rather weak case. But the Legis- lature passed a bill permitting the bridge to be built, under some restrictions. Various difficulties postponed the erection of it, and more legislation was found needful ; among other things a lottery was legalized in aid of the enterprise ; and it was not till a quarter of a century had elapsed that the bridge was fairly completed.
A DISORDERLY ELECTION.
The demeanor of the people of Exeter at town meetings in the earlier part of the present century, is said to have been in general a pattern of decorum. Every voter, for example, respectfully doffed his hat in passing the moderator to deposit his ballot. But it was not alwa3'S so. At a meeting of the town held on the twenty-fifth of October, 1755, for the choice of representatives in the assembly, things were not conducted in this orderly fashion. The long contest over the question of incorporating a second parish had just ended in the triumph of the seceding members, who had procured an act of the assembly freeing them from all liability to the old parish ; and it is more than likely that some bitterness of feeling was the result. Peter Oilman and John Phillips, two prominent partisans of the new parish, were declared elected representatives. A remonstrance was presented to the assembly, against their being allowed to take seats, upon the ground of unfair practices in their election. A hearing was had
78 HISTORY OF EXETER.
thereon, at which Ephraim Robinson, a prominent member of the old parish, testified that " when the votes were numbered and the person declared to be chosen, the moderator was told the votes were not all brought in ; to which he answered it was too late to bring in, then, for the person was chosen. Then there was a poll desired by seven persons or more, and it was denied. In voting for the second person, a number of persons declared they would not vote till the first vote was decided ; and in voting for the last person there was one vote changed after it was put into the hat, and some more was asked to be changed. And when the second person was declared to be chosen, there was a poll again demanded by seven persons or more, but not granted. The whole of the meeting was carried on with the greatest irregularity and confu- sion, after the moderator was chosen, that ever I see in any town meeting before."
The Legislature ordered the return to be set aside and a precept to be sent to the town for a new election ; at which Peter Oilman and Zebulon Giddinge were chosen.
For several succeeding years the attention of the people was much occupied with the French and Indian wars, which, though carried on at a distance, yet demanded new military organizations at home, every season. Exeter sent forth her annual quota of combatants, and was substantially the headquarters of one or more battalions, as will appear in the chapter devoted to military history.
The 3'ear 1758 was memorable for the prevalence in the town of that most dreaded scourge, the small-pox, a legacy, not improba- bly, of the camp. It made such inroads among the inhabitants that a town meeting was found needful, to give authority to the selectmen to take effectual measures for its eradication.
DEMONSTRATION AGAINST THE STAMP ACT.
Scarcely had tlie welcome news of peace with France and her savage allies been proclaimed, before the determination of England to exact tribute from her American colonies was manifested, by tlie passage of the Stamp Act ; which was rendered no more agreeable to the people of New Hampshire by the knowledge that it originated from the suggestion of one of her own sons, Mr. John Huske. There is no need to repeat here the oft told tale of the mingled sorrow and indignation with which this injudicious piece
HISTORY OF KXETEK. 79
of legislation was universally received on this side of the water. The feeling of the citizens of Exeter was well expressed by the Rev. Daniel Rogers, pastor of the Second church, who wrote in his diary under date of November 1, 17G5, the day when the law went into effect : " The infamous Stamp Act, abhorred by all the British Colonies, took place."
The fifth of the same month used in many places in New Eng- land to be observed as "pope's day," in commemoration of the discovery of Guy Fawkes's gunpowder plot. This year it was made the occasion of a display of popular feeling in'Exeter against the Stamp Act. Three effigies, representing, according to the Rev. Mr. Rogers, the pope, the devil and a stamp master, but according to another eye witness, Lords North and Bute as two of the characters, were carried about the streets of the town, and finally taken across the river, to the front of where the jail after- wards stood, and there set fire to and burnt to ashes. We may safely assume that the exhibition was witnessed by the citizens with abundant tokens of approbation.
The person appointed stamp-distributor for New Hampshire was constrained by the expressions of popular feeling to resign his office, and consequently no stamps ever got into use. This led to the opinion on the part of some persons, that proceedings in the courts of law could possess no validity, and to fears that universal license was to rule. But the substantial citizens of Exeter did not hesitate to array themselves against disorder. They entered into a written engagement for mutual protection and defence, whicli they subscribed and published, in the following terms :
Whereas many evil minded persons have, on account of the Stamp Act, concluded that all the laws of this province, and the execution of the same, are at an end ; and that crimes against the public peace and private property may be committed with impunity, which opinion will render it unsafe for the peace officers to exert themselves in the execution of their offices :
Therefore we the subscribers, inhabitants of the town of Exeter, to prevent, as much as in us lies, the evils naturally consequent upon such an opinion, and for preserving the peace and good order of the community and of our own properties, do hereby combine, promise and engage to assemble ourselves together when and where need requires, in aid of the peace officers, and to stand by and defend them in the execution of their respective offices,
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HISTORY OF EXETER.
and each other in our respective properties and persons, to the utmost, against all disturbers of the public peace and invaders of private property.
Witness our hands at Exeter this 15"^ day of November A. D. 1765.
John Bellamy Theodore Carleton Eliphalet Coffin Peter Coffin John Dudley Noah Emery Nathaniel Folsom Samuel Folsom Trueworthy Folsom John Giddiuge Bartholomew Oilman Daniel Oilman
John Ward Oilman Josiah Oilman Josiah Oilman ter. Nicholas Oilman Peter Oilman Samuel Oilman Samuel Oilman 4*1* John Hall John Lanison John Nelson Thomas Odiorne AVinthrop Odlin
Thomas Parsons Benjamin Philbrick John Phillips Enoch Poor John Rice Charles Rundlet Theophilus Smith Joseph SAvasey Daniel Tilton Jacob Tiltou *
PATRIOTIC ACTION OF THE TOWN IN 1770.
The following year the Stamp Act was repealed, to the great joy and gratitude of the colonists. But England insisted on her claim of right to tax the Americans without their consent, and imposed a duty on the importation of tea and a few other articles into the provinces. This renewed the irritation among the col- onists, which, however, did not fairly break forth into open expres- sion until the intelligence of the " Boston massacre," March 5, 1770. Twelve days after that tragical occurrence a meeting of the town of Exeter was called, upon a petition of a number of the inhabitants, to act upon the following articles :
1. To see whether the town will pass any vote for the encour- agement of the produce and manufactures of this country.
2. To see whether they will pass any vote or votes to discoun- tenance the importation and consumption of unnecessary and superfluous foreign articles ; and very particularly, as the duty on Tea furnishes so enormous a sum towards the support of a set of miscreants who devour the fruits of our honest industry, and [are] justly deemed the bane of this countr}^, to see if the town will pass a vote not to make use of any foreign tea, and use their influence to prevent the consumption of it in their respective families, till the duty is taken off.
*Two copies of this agreement have been found, diHei'ing slightly in the names of the subscribers. All the names upon each are here retained.
HISTOllY OF EXETER. 81
3. To see if the town will inquire, or choose a committee to inquire, of the representatives of this town, what legal and consti- tutional measures have been taken by the General Assembly of this province for the redress of our grievances, in order to know what, or whether any measures ma}' now be advisable to be pro- moted by them, and if any measures be advisable, to give tlieir Representatives [instructions] to be by them observed, at their next session.
At the meeting of the town, held on the twenty-fifth of March, 1770, the vote for the encouragement of the produce and manu- factures of this country passed in the affirmative, as did also that to discountenance the importation and consumption of unnecessary and superfluous articles. The town also resolved not to make use of any foreign tea, but to exert their influence to prevent the con- sumption of it in their respective families, till the duty should be taken off. Upon the article relative to the inquiry and instruction of the representatives, a committee was appointed, consisting of Nathaniel Folsom, John Phillips, Nicholas Oilman, Samuel Folsora, Joseph Gilman and Enoch Poor.
The meeting was then adjourned to the succeeding second of April, on which day the committee made their report, at consider- able length. The substance of it was, that the General Assembly of this province had authorized a letter to be prepared and signed by their Speaker, addressed to their agent at the Court of Great Britain, to be presented to the king, expressing then- hearty con- currence with the patriotic sentiments contained in a communica- tion received from the house of Burgesses of Virginia ; that the proposed letter was drafted and sent to the Speaker (Peter Gilman) at Exeter, for his signature, but as it did not express his personal views, he failed to subscribe it, wherefore it was not transmitted to England seasonably to co-operate with the petitions from the other colonies; and "■ that our American brethren may not construe it as deserting their interest upon any ungenerous separate views, we therefore give it as our instruction to the rep- resentatives of this town to use their influence in the House to promote a more public demonstration of their being governed by those noble, patriotic and loyal principles in which they have so happily harmonized with the other provinces, and, particularly, that an address to his majesty for redress of grievances, may (though late) be forthwith transmitted without further loss of time."
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82 HISTORY OF EXETER.
The representatives were also instructed to expedite the act for dividing the province into counties.
The report of the committee was adopted by the town.
The facts of the case were that Peter Gihnan, who was tlien, perhaps, the foremost citizen of the town, and had occupied the Speaker's chair in the General Assembly for a number of years, was opposed to measures looking to resistance to the Crown of England. He had received honors and emoluments from the royal governors, had repeatedly taken the oath of allegiance in his official capacity, had nothing to gain, but much tliat might be lost by a change of government, and had arrived at a period of life when a man becomes conservative and averse to radical measures. It is only fair to say, however, that in compliance with the evident will of his constituents he soon after set his signature to the letter referred to ; and though it was well known that he disapproved of the measures of the Revolution, yet he remained at his home, unmo- lested, throughout the war that followed, and apparently retained the respect of his townsmen, though they, with scarce an excep- tion, were whigs of the most determined character. In 1771, when he ceased to be a member of the assembly, the town gave hun a vote of thanks for his past services as their representative.
The law for dividing the province into counties, a long delayed act of justice to the people, went into effect in 1771. By its pro- visions certain terms of the courts were to be held in Exeter, and it was proposed that the town should furnish a suitable site for a county court-house. The open space in front of the present town- house, was then disfigured by a pound and several small buildings, erected in the midst of it. At a meeting of the town held July 8, 1771, it was voted "to grant liberty for a county court-house to be built on the land on which the pound and the shops belonging to Dr. Josiah Oilman, John Ward Gihnan, Samuel Gilnian and Samuel Folsom now stand," and that the land should be cleared of all incumbrances whatsoever. It was some years, however, before the court-house was erected, and in the meantime the courts were held in the town-house, which stood nearly opposite the First church. The earliest session of the Superior Court in the town was held on the first Tuesday of September, 1771.
In the year 1771 was built, at the expense of the town, the brick powder-house, near the first point on the eastern side of the salt river. Whether this was done in anticipation of the armed struggle that was soon to follow, we cannot tell. It is probable,
HISTORY OF EXETER. 83
however, that it became the storehouse in that war, and perhaps in subsequent wars, of " the town's stock of powder." The quaint little structure is one of the links that connect us with the past, and should not be suffered to go to decay.
ANOTHER PATRIOTIC EXPRESSION OF THE TOWN.
Political affairs were now gradually but surely tending towards a wider separation of the colonies from the mother country. The British Parliament, with a perverse misunderstanding of the temper of our people, persisted in retaining the duty on tea imported into the colonies, as a token of their right to impose taxes on them without their consent.