others.
The last attack of the Indians during the war was upon a
party in Dover. Benjamin and William Evans were killed.
John Evans was wounded, scalped and left for dead, but re-
covered, and lived fifty years after. The attacking party eluded
pursuit, and took Benjamin Evans, Jr., a lad of thirteen, captive
with them to Canada.
A treaty of peace was brought about in December.
That New Hampshire escaped with so little loss during this
war is attributed to the fact that the fury of the enemy was di-
rected to the destruction of the eastern settlements, and because
the men of the whole Province, by training, had become veterans,
soldiers, and scouts.
In May, 1726, the governor and council appointed Nathaniel
Weare, Theodore Atkinson and Richard Waldron, Jr., a commit-
tee to warn off the settlers at Penacook ; a commission promptly
attended to, for they reported the same month that they had
visited the locality known as Penacook, where they had found
forty men clearing the land and laying out a town. In April, the
Lieutenant-Governor, John Wentworth, addressed the General
Assembly, held at Portsmouth, stating the case, and called for
supplies to press upon the home government the need of deter-
mining the boundary of the Province adjoining the Massachusetts
colony. The Assembly voted ^lOO to Mr. Agent Newman, for
him " to prosecute and endeavor a speedy settlement of the lines
between this Government and that of the Mass."
1726] ROYAL PROVINCE. 163
The township of Rye, taken from Poitsmcnith, Greenland, and
Hampton, was incorporated in 1726. It was settled as early as
1635, and for many years it was known as Sandy Beach. The
inhabitants having been obligetl to attend religious services in
neighboring towns, had at length built a meeting house of their
own, in 1725, and demanded and received a town charter the
following year. They had suffered, in common with adjoining-
towns, by the depredations of the Indians during the forty years
of alternate war and peace preceding their incorporation.
Rev. Nathaniel Merrill was settled in 1726; Rev. Samuel
Parsons, in 1736 ; Rev. Huntington Porter, in 1784, who
preached his half century sermon in 1835. He died in Lynn
in 1844, aged nearly eighty-nine years.
The first settlers of the town were of the names of Berry,
Seavey, Rand, Brackett, Wallis, Jenness and Locke.
The Puritans were distinguished for their large families ; and
the older settlements, near tide-water, in the course of several
generations, had become crowded. The young men viewed
with envy the prosperity of the Scotch-Irish new comers. Why
should not they receive land for actual settlement as well as
aliens and strangers .' Had not their fathers and grandfathers
done good service in the various Indian wars.' Many petitions
were sent to the Gi'cat and General Court of Massachusetts,
claiming grants on a multitude of pretexts. This northern part
of the colony was even then in dispute, and might at any time,
by decision of the home government, be decided to be within
the limits of the Royal Province of New Hampshire.
The township of Penacook was granted by Massachusetts,
January 11, 1725, to Benjamin Stevens, Ebenezer Eastman and
others, and included seven miles square. Settlement was com-
menced the following year In 1727, Captain Ebenezer East-
man moved his family into the place. In 1728, the south boun-
daries of the town were extended, as an equivalent for lands
within the limits before granted to Governor Endicott, and
claimed by heirs of Judge Sewall.
The first settlers of the plantation of Penacook were carefully
selected men. brave, lavv-al)iaing. God-fearing, chosen from
164 HISTORY OF NEW HAMPSHIKE. [1726
among their fellows by a committee of the court, to establish a
model community. They came to stay. Very many of the
first families are represented by their descendants to this day.
They laid out wide and beautiful Main street substantially as it
is now; they divided the land into home lots and farms, cleared
away the forest trees, built log-houses at first (which were soon
replaced by frame buildings, some still standing), and a meeting-
house. Their plantation was incorporated, under the name of
Rumford, in 1733. They built several garrison-houses for the
protection of their families, for an Indian war broke out soon
after the settlement was effected. For a number of years this
was a frontier post, e.xposed to the attacks of the savages. Of
a Sunday their minister would go into the pulpit, armed with
the best gun in the parish, and preach to a congregation armed
and equipped to repulse a possible Indian surprise. Men went
to their work in the fields with an armed escort.
^The First Congregational Church in Fenacook or Rumford
•or Concord was organized in November, 1730. The proprietors
•oi the town, at a meeting in Andover, Mass., in February, 1726,
voted to build a block-house, which should serve the double pur-
pose of a fort and a meeting-house. Early in 1727, the first
family moved into the town, and Rev. Bezaleel Toppan was
employed to preach one year from May. Mr.Toppan and Rev.
Enoch Coffin, both proprietors of the town, were employed by
the settlers to preach till October, 1730, when it was resolved
to establish a permanent ministry. Rev. Timothy Walker was
at once called to be the minister of the town.
He was a native of Woburn, Mass., and a graduate of Har-
vard College, in the class of 1725. He died suddenly, on
Sabbath morning, in September, 1782, aged seventy-seven years,
deeply mourned by the people he had so faithfully served and
led, and between whom and himself the mutual attachment had
remained strong to the last.
The deep impress of this early ministry has never been
effaced, and the influence of Mr. Walker, to a large degree,
decided the moral tone and habits of the town. For more than
1726] KOVAL PKOVI.NXE. 1*^5
half a century he directed the thouglit, and was the religidiis
teicher of the early settlers ; and his clear convictions, his bold
utterances, and his firm adherence to practical principles, made
him a wise leader. He served the town as well as the church.
His wise counsel and prompt and judicious action ni relation to
every matter of public in.terest were 'if great benefit to the
people, and gciv â– him a wide and acknowledged influence. Three
times he visited England, as agent for the town, to confirm its
endangered rights, and was enabled by his personal influence
and wisdom to make secure forever the claims and privileges of
the settlers. His influence will be acknowledged, and his name
remembered with gratitude by future generations. His daugh-
ter married Benjamin Thompson, afterwards Count Rumford,
and was the mother of the Countess of Rumford.
The fiist meeting-house of Concord was built of logs, in
1727, and served as a fort an J a place of worship. It stood near
West's brook, and was occupied by this chui'ch twenty-three
years. The second house was that so long known as the " Old
North." The main body of the house was built in 1751. In
1783 it was completed with porches and a spire, and in 1802
enlarged so as to furnish sittings for twelve hundred people, and
a bell was placed in the tower. Central in its location, it was
for a long time the only place of public worship in the town,
and was used by t!ie Church for ninety years. It served the
State also. In tliis house the Convention of 178S met " to form
a permanent plan of go\-crnment for the State." Here, with
religious services, in 1784, the new State Constitution was first
introduced, and here, too, in June, 17S8, the Federal Constitu-
tion was adopted, b\' which New Hampshire became one of the
States of the Union. This was the ninth State to adopt that
Constitution, the number required to retider it operative ; so
that, by this vote, it became binding upon the United States.
After another church edifice was built this was used hv the
"Methodist Biblical Institute" till 1866. When it was de-
stroyed by fire, in November, 1870, there jjassed from sight
the church building which had associated with it more of
marked and precinus history than with any other in the State.
1 66
IIISTIIKV (II- Nl:\V UAMPSIIlKr
[1727
The third house of worshiii was dedicated in iS^2and I'lirned
I 1873. The present house of worship was dedicated in 1876.
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH AT CONCORD.
From the parent cluirch liave been separated the South church
and the churches at East and West Concord. To Mr. Walker
l/2y] KOVAL PROVINCE. I67
succeeded Rev. Israel I'Lvans, a chaplain in the continental army,
Rev. Asa McFarland, Rev. Nathaniel Bouton, D. D., the State
historian, and the present pastor, Rev. Franklin D. Ayer, D. D.
Concord was incorporated by New Hampshire, June 7, 1765.
1 So great was the security felt by the settlers at the close of
Lovewell's war, that they emigrated into the wilderness in every
direction. The first settlement in that part of West Dunstable
known as Witch Brook Valley was made about the year 1728
by Caleb Fry, according to a copy of an original draft or plan
of the township of Dunstable by Jonathan Blanchard, dated June, '
1720. This plan is now in a tolerable state of preservation, to
be seen at the office of the Hillsborough county registry of deeds
at Nashua. Mr. Fry held a land grant west of Timothy Rogers's
grant, lying on the west of Penichuck pond, and embraced
nearly all the territory now included in District No. 8 in the town
of Hollis, lying west of the school-house. According to tradi-
tion, he came from Andover, was a son of James Fry, who was a
soldier in the Narragansett war of 1676, and a brother of James
Fry, of Andover, one of the grantees of Souhegan West, after-
wards called Amherst.
That Mr. Fry was the first one to occupy his own land grant
in all this section is evident from the fact that he built a turn-
ing mill, and operated it a number of years. This mill was sit-
uated on the Little Gulf brook, east side of Ridge hill, so called,
about twenty rods south of the road at the Spaulding place, in
the north part of Hollis. At a short distance easterly from
this mill is still to be seen the place of an old cellar-hole, indi-
cating that a dwelling once stood there. It was on this spot
in the wilderness that Mr. Fry erected his log-hut. It is evident
that he cultivated a piece of land, and set out thereon three
apple-trees, one of which is now standing, and in bearing con-
dition, over one hundred and fifty years old, and is the largest
apple-tree in the town of Hollis. Mr. Fry also manufactured
wooden ware, and was employed a portion of the time in trap-
ping. At what time he left is unknown, but it was before 1746.
The early landmarks have disappeared, and it is not easy to
* C. S. Spaulding.
i6S HisioKV vv m:w iiamtsiiike. [^7-7
reproduce the scenes in which they planted their habitations.
To men employed in subjugating the forests, fighting wild men
and wild beasts, clearing lots, and making paths, there was no
leisure, and little disposition, to make records of their doings.
The survivors of Captain John Lovewell's expedition to Pig-
wacket petitioned the General Court of Massachusetts for the
grant of a township as a recompense for their sufferings, and
received the grant of Suncook, or " Lovewell's Township."
Meanwhile the authorities of the Province of New Hampshire
had jealously watched the proceedings of the Massachusetts
Ba)' people. The township of Bow was incorporated May 20,
1727, conflicting with the grants of Penacook and Suncook.
The township was laid out January 28, 1728-g, b)' Andrew
Wiggin, William Moor, and Edward Fifield.
April 5, 1725, Colonel Tyng, in command of a scouting party
ascending the Merrimack valley to Lake Winnipiseogee, reported
meeting a company of "Irish," who were located on and occupy-
ing the lands on the intervale about the village of East Concord.
They had built a fort for protection against the savages. Later
they were dislodged from those fair fields and forced to mov^e
on. Previous to the granting of Epsom, in May, 1727, certain
Scotch-Irish families, from Londonderry, had settled within that
territory. It is probable that the fruitful and fertile lands of
Lovewell's township had been thoroughly examined by these
hardy pioneers before it was granted by either Province. They
were not allowed to purchase land in Penacook ; the proprietor
forfeited his right if he sold to one of the race. No such re-
striction kept them from purchasing the rights of the proprietors
of Suncook, or Lovewell's township ; and a fair field was opened
for their settlement.
There is reason to believe that the first movement toward a
settlement of Suncook was in the summer of 1728. It was the
custom of the young men to start early in the spring for the
newly-granted wild lands, build a rude log shanty for temporary
shelter, and proceerl at once to clear away the forest growth
from their lots. The a.xe and fire-brand were the means em-
ployed. Not uiifrequcntly the crop of the first season nearly
1729] KOVAI. PKOVINXE. 169
paid for the land. After the harvest the toilers would return
to a more settled community in which to pass the winter.
Tradition asserts that Francis Doyne and his wife were the
first white inhabitants who ever wintered in the township,
172S-9, and they may be said to have been the first permanent
settlers. Their log hut is said to have been located about in
the middle of the field west of Pembroke street, just north- of
the road leading toward Garvin's falls. After a severe snow-
storm they were visited by a party from Penacook, who were
anxious as to their safety, and were found in a roughly-built
cabin, comfortable, contented, and protected against the incle-
mency of the weather. Doyne was one of Captain Lovewell's
soldiers. During the same summer, 1728, the property was
probably visited, both by many of the original grantees, tlieir
heirs, and others wanting to purchase. The amount of work
accomplished during this first year towards effecting a perma-
nent settlement is unknown ; but there is reason to believe that
the active settlement was undertaken during the summer of
1729. Land certainly was not at a premium at that time,
when the right to three hundred and sixty-five acres, with the
chance of drawing the best lands in the township, was sold for
twenty-four pounds. As silver was reckoned at twenty shillings,
or one pound, to the ounce then, the land brought but six and a
half cents for an acre.
In a general sense the settlers of the township displaced the
Indians, but no particular tribe is known to have occupied the
territory save as a hunting-ground and fishing rendezvous. The
name of one Indian only has come down to us as having any
connection with the place, and his record is very traditional and
vague. Plausawa, in whose honor the hill in \(jrth Pembroke
is named, is said to have had his wigwam in that locality. With
his comrades, Sabatis and Christi, he was a frequent visitor to
this and neighboring sections, until war was declared, when he
cast his lot with the St. Francis tribe. The three are charged
with having led or instigated the attack upon Suncook and Ep-
som in after years. During a cessation of hostilities, Plausawa
and Sabatis were killed while on a friendly visit to Poscawen,
in 1753.
IILSTDKV OK NEW IIAMPSHIKE.
['730
Lovewell's township, or Suncook, was a frontier town for
many years after its settlement. That it suffered no more dur-
ing the contest was owing to the fact that its young men were
constantly on the scout toward the encmv.
The settlers were the Puritans, from the old Bay Colony ; the
Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, from the settlement of London-
IJJOj KOVAI, rUON'lN'CE. IJI
derry ; and, lastly, the New Hampshire settlers from the neigh-
borhood of Exeter, Dover and Kingston, who came in later under
Bow titles. Truly the town was not homogeneous. A French
family was the first to locate in town, and several Welsh families
settled there later.
The inroad of settlers in 1730 was probably rapid. The
i;iants of the forest fell before the woodman's axe, and the log
cabin was rendered homelike by the presence of women and
â– children. The few scattering Indians remaining in the neigh-
borhood were indifferent or friendl)-, and doubtless the settlers
received occasional calls from them.
The log houses built by the pioneers of the last century have
been replaced by framed buildings, but they may still be seen
in the logging camps of Grafton and Coos counties, and in all
new countries. In summer the life 'was not unpleasant ; the
river teemed with shad, salmon, and trout ; the deer and the
bear wandered in the neighboring forests ; the virgin soil yielded
wonderful harvests. Their fare was simple, but with prudence
iind foresight one could provide for the family during the long
winter months, with ordinary exertion. Fuel was at their very
doors, to be had for the chopping, and pitch pine knots answered
for candles and gas.
Wolves, lean and hungry, might howl about their safely
barred windows, but could not enter their dwellings ; nor could
the cold affect them, with logs hospitably piled in the open fire-
place. The Bible and New England Primer might form tlieir
thoroughly read library, but tradition was a never failing source
of interest to them
James Moore probably erected his house this year, said to
have been the first framed building in the townsliip, and the
frame to-day forms a part of Samuel Emery JMoore's house.
Neighbors from Buckstreet and Concord assisted at the raising,
and a few Indians are said to have helped. Tradition asserts
that one of the latter was worsted in a friendly contest and trial
â– of strength, usual from time immemorial on such occasions, and
became very angry at his overthrow, threatening vengeance.
His wrath was appeased by a ]")otation from a brown jug which
1/2
1II.^T(,U;V OF NEW liAMPSIlIKi:.
[1730
".:
JT
il'^fe-vr-^ ''i-^
Note. Very early in the Suncook records is a mention of a conflict between the Orthodox and
Presbyterian churches. By the former Rev. Aaron Whttemore was settled as the minister uf the
parish, the latter entering a formal protest. At the time of his settlement the Presbyterians were in
a majoiity in the township; but absent grantees, residents in Massachusetts, claimed the right of
voting by proxy, and maintained control of the political and reli^ous affairs of the town.
Rev. Aaron Whittemore was a graduate of Harvard College,
taiued a leading position in the affairs of Suncook and Pembroke,
war his house was garrisoned by an armed force, and he had ;
prominent families in the State trace back their ancestry to hii
numerous and influential. Among them are the Kittredges and Woodmans, besides the \Vhittemores
scattered throughout the State from Nashua to the Upper Coos.
Submitting to the inevitable the Presbyterian members of the parish became reconciled; and for
many years listened to the preaching, and paid their rates towards the support, of Mr. Whittemore.
The Province line, as determined, must have been to the latter a grievance, for he was a faithful
son of the Bay Colony and in favor of its laws and institutions.
ind for a third of a century sus-
During the French and Indian
he militia. Many
nd his descendants are very
1730] Kt)V.VL i'KO\'l\CE. 173
had already come into use. Moore was very sagacious in his
treatment of the Indians, and gained their friendship ; his place
was avoided by them in after years during the hostilities,
although it was fortified to repel an attack.
Besides granting the township of Bow, the New Hampshire
authorities, in 1727, granted Epsom, Barnstead, Chichester, Can-
terbury and Gilmanton to companies intending to form perma-
nent settlements, thus extending the frontier out into the interior.
Epsom and Canterbury were immediately occupied and garri-
soned later during the French and Indian wars, while the other
townships were not reclaimed from the wilderness until the re-
turn of peace.
Newmarket was cut off from E.xeter in 1727. Rev. John
Moody was ordained and settled in 1730; Rev. S. Tombs, in
1794; Rev. James Thurston, in 1800.
Governor William Burnet assumed the ofifice of chief magis-
trate of Massachusetts and New Hampshire in July 172S, com-
ing from New York, where he had acted in the same capacity.
He was welcomed at Boston by a committee of the council and
assembly of the Province of New Hampshire, and was after-
wards granted a regular salary. He died in September, 1729,
having visited New England but once, and was succeeded by
Governor Jonathan Belcher.
Governor Burnet had been very popular in New York, and
was described by Lieutenant-Governor Wentworth, in one of his
speeches, as " a gentleman of known worth, having justly ob-
tained a universal regard from all who have had the honor tt)
be under his government." He died at the early age of forty-
one years.
Belcher, a native of New England, was a merchant of large
fortune and unblemished reputation. He had spent six years in
Europe and had been presented at court. " He was graceful in
his person, elegant and polite in his manners ; of a lofty antl
aspiring disposition ; a steady, generous friend ; a vindictive, but
not implacable enemy." ^
A controversy soon arose between the new governor and
' Belknap.
174 lIISruKV OF NEW IIAMi'.SllIKE. L ' 73^
Wciitworth, the lieutenant-governor of the Provinec, on account
of a letter which Wentworth had written to Governor Shute,
and all friendly relations between the two ceased. Belcher took
active measures to express his enmity, curtailing the importance
and emoluments of the office of lieutenant-governor, to the dis-
gust and disappointment of Wentworth and liis many friends.
Wentworth himself did not long survive, but died Dec. 12, 1730,
at the age of fifty-nine years.
Lieutenant-Governor John Wentworth was the son of Samuel
and Mary (Benning) Wentworth of New Castle, and the grand-
son of Elder William Wentworth of Exeter, who signed the
"combination" in 1639. He was born in June 16, 1672, and in
early life was a sea-captain. After leaving the sea he was a mer-
chant, and was reputed a fair and generous dealer. " He was a
gentleman of good naturcd abilities, much improved by conver-
sation ; remarkably ci\il ami kind to strangers ; respectful to
the ministers of the gospel ; a Un-er of good men of all denomi-
nations ; compassionate and bountiful to the pbor ; courteous
and affable to all." Mn February, 1711-12, he was appointed
a councillor by Queen Anne, in place of Winthrop Hilton, de-
ceased, and was justice of the Court of Common Pleas from 171 3
to 171S. He was appointed lieutenant-governor in 1717, and
held the office until his death. Of his sixteen children, fourteen
survivetl him, of whom one was Benning Wentworth and another
the wife of Theodore Atkinson.
The course pursued by Governor Belcher was resented by the
friends of Wentworth and the opposition was led by Benning
Wentworth and Theodore Atkinson ; but Belcher disregarded
his opponents and apprehended no danger from their resent-
ment.
Mr. Wentworth was succeeded as lieutenant-governor by
David Dunbar, a native of Ireland, formerly a colonel in the
l^ritish service, and unfriendly to Governor Belcher. He had
been commander of the fort at Pemaquid, and upon his appear-
ance in New Hampshii'c, in 1731, he joined the paity in opposi-
tion to the governor. Soon after his arrival a petition was sent
' liilkn.i.).
173'] KOVAI. I'KOX'I.VCE. I75
to England, praying for the removal of Governor Belcher, " alleg-
ing that his government was grievous, oppressive, and arbitrary."
Richard Waldron, with a party friendly to the governor, drew up
an address in Belcher's favor, and forwarded it at the same time.
As a result of letters and petitions, Theodore Atkinson, Benning
Wentworth, and Joshua Peirce were appointed councillors, but
being kept out of office for two years, the two former were elected
to the Assembly, where they maintained their opposition.
Dr. Belknap is of the opinion that it was the design of Gov-
ernor Belcher to effect a union of New Hampshire with Massa-
chusetts ; but the people could not be brought to ask for it.
The opposition favored a government entirely distinct from
Massachusetts. The chief trouble which they encountered was
the poverty and limited area of the Province, and so they ad-
vocated its enlargement. They were in favor of determining"
the boundary lines of the Province, which the governor and his