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THE

HISTORY OF WEARE,

NEW HAMPSHIRE

1735—1888.

BY

WILLIAM LITTLE,

DAVID CROSS, JOSIAH G. DEARBORN",

ABNER P. COLLINS, ROBERT PEASLEE,

SYLVESTER C. GOULD,

Town Committee tvho furnished the material.

Jlubltshcti t)» the JToton.

L0^VT:LL, MASS.: Printed by S. W. Huse & Co.

1888.

Copyright, 18SS. By the Town op Weare.

AA

PREFACE.

TO PRESEKYE the aimals of Weare was an idea long cherished by the citizens. Josiah G. Dearborn and Abner P. Collins each began collecting historical facts and family records about 1850; but a town history was not written. After years of waiting, a meeting was held at the town-house, March 1, 1882, to take measures to prepare and publish one. Twenty-eight men were present; John L. Hadley was chairman, and Albert B. Johnson secretary. They selected a general committee of twenty-six persons* to aid in the work, and a publishing committee, consisting of David Cross, Josiah G. Dearborn, Abner P. Collins, Robert Peaslee and Sylvester C. Gould, who were to collect material, write the book or procure a writer, and i)ublish the same when authorized by the town.

At the annual town-meeting, March 14, 1882, five hundred dollars was appropriated towards paying the preliminary expenses, to be expended by the publishing committee, and John L. Hadley, Albei-t li. Johnson, Abner P. Collins and Robert Peaslee were chosen a linance committee to approve the bills. Under this arrangement many

Abner P. Collins, John L. Hadley, Albert B. Johnson, Robert Peaslee, Moses A. Hodgdon, Daniel P. Woodbury, Zepliauiah Breed, Charles E. Hoag,

* General Committee.

George W. Colby, Jason P. Dearborn, Harrison Simons, Eben B. Bartlett, Ira Gove, Oliver D. Sawyer, Levi B. Laney, David Cross,

Cyrus E. Wood,

Sylvester C. Gould, William B. Gove, Josiah G. Dearborn, Manley TJaymond, Caroline Johnson, Mrs. Jessie Johnson, Dana B. Gove, Dr. James P. Whittle, Newell Evans.

*-v*^ >r

rr^cz.rd

IV PREFACE.

circulars were distributed. :i large amount of material gathered and a writer engaged.

The town, at its annual meeting, March 12, 188.5, approved the action of the committee, instructed them to publish an edition of the historj' not to exceed one thousand cojiies, the same to be the prop- erty of the town, and authorized the selectmen to hire fifteen hundred dollars to carry on the work.

The writer of this history made a beginning of the work about Oct. 1, 1884. To facilitate his labor he once had his residence for a short period in Weare. He also visited the town scores of times, climbed all its hills and mountains, saw all its sparkling ponds and lieard the music of each rill, brook and river. He went to the town-house, the meeting-houses, every school-house and each cemetery. He read every town book and report, all the church records, and for days listened to the tales of olden times. As the years went Ijy, his interest in this history so increased that the labor became a real pleasure.

He was greatly assisted by the members of the publishing com- mittee. Josiah G. Dearboi'u and Robert Pe'aslee spared no effort, time or expense to procure information and perfect the work. They also gave particular attention to the history of the first set- tlers, — whence thej^ came, when and where they settled. This necessitated the examining of an immense number of old deeds, and a thorough search of the records of the counties of Rockingham and Hillsborough. As a result of tlitir labors, we have the excellent chapters on settlers and town lots, and one of the very best town maps. Abner P. Collins assisted them somewhat in this work. He also gave us many pleasant anecdotes, and, as will be seen, is the author of the excellent genealogy. Sylvester C. Gould aided greatly in furnishing ancient volumes and pamphlets, of which he has a fine collection, in procuring old manuscripts, in reading proof and in making numerous happy suggestions.

Others who rendered nmch help were Jolin L. Hadley, Ira Gove, James Priest, Zephaniah Breed, George Simons, Warren F.. Collins, George C. Gilmoi-e, Mrs. Moses A. Hodgdon, Carrie E. Paige, Lucetta Foster and Jacob Follansbee, who had a wonderful memory of events. Many more gave in their mite, foi- all which we are exceedingly grateful.

George C. Patten, civil engineer, of Deering, did much gratuitous

PREFACE. V

work in drattiiig and i)reparing the map, and also nica^urt'd tho altitude of Mounts William and Wallinj^ford.

The town has been remarkal)ly fortunate in preserving its records (excepting those of the proprietors), and the first town book, the first church book, tlie Meshech AVeare papers and the Revolutionarj- war rolls are historical treasui'es.

The lists of tax-payers and the census are new features, not to be found in any other town history. By the first the name of nearly every man, who has lived in town, can be learned ; and they also show a curious fact. — that tliere are now a third more tax-payers, \\heu the population is_but one thousand five hundred and seventy, than there were when it was jiearly two thousand eight hundred. The census gives the name and age of nearly every person living in town in 1887, and a hundred j'ears hence will be a most interesting document.

The tables of longevity show that the present generation, instead of growing "wiser and weaker," as is often said, is growing wiser, healthier and stronger, and that about four times as many people now live to be eiglity years old as there were near ttie begimiing of the present century. This is due to better education, temperance and a more proper regard to the laws of health.

We have tried to make this work a little less arid than the or- dinary town history. We think that many of the chapters will Ix* very agreeable, and that those on the "Olden Times,*' "The Pine- tree Kiot," "Game," "A Round Trii» to Salem," "Witches," "Farm- ing" and some others, will be found very pleasant reading. Of course, the chapters on "Roads," "Town Lots" and "Town Officers" are not to be read; they are only for reference or hard study.

'J'here is an abundance of matter in the book, and in this resj)ect it will compare well with similar histories. It is also well illustrated, there being over seventy pictures, costing more than three thousand dollars. The friends and pupils of Moses A. Cartland owe a debt of gratitude to Miss Carrie E. Paige, for soliciting the money and furnishing his excellent i)ortrait. The \\hole cost is about seven thousand dollars; and reckoning the time of each |)erson who worked, more than twenty years have been spent upon it.

The nnstakes that we would correct are few and will be louud in the table of "Errata." The reader may fiiul some others, and it is hoped he will make the projjcr rectifications.

VI PREFACE.

We would return thanks for the many liospitalities rendered, par- ticularly to Josiah G. Dearborn, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Peaslee, Mr. and Mrs. Abner P. Collins, Mr. and Mrs. Moses A. Hodgdon, Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Bartlett, Mr. and Mrs. Harry H. Simons, Mr. and Mrs. Alonzo C. Follausbee, Dr. Abram B. Story and Josiah Dow Chase, whose home afforded us such charming drives and excellent views.

In conclusion, we would recommend that in the future the citizens of the town keep records of the deaths and ages of all old people, fatal casualties, frosts, floods and hurricanes, comets and meteors, fires, the migration of birds, early and late planting, harvesting, the amount of crops raised and dairy products, the building of houses and mills, changes in churches, erecting of school- and meeting-houses, the laying out and improvement of cemeteries, industries and all other interesting things that may happen, and that these records be preserved. If this shall be done, then Weare, sometime in the next century, can have a better town history than has yet been written.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAriER.							PAGE.
I.	Topography and Names 1
II.	Geology ....						14
III.	Flora ....						20
IV.	Fauna ....						30
V.	Masonian Title						33
VI.	Boundary Line						42
VII.	Indians ....						50
VIII.	Halestown						61
IX.	ROBIESTOAVN						69
X.	Settlers ....						93
XI.	The French and Indian ^\	'AR					120
XII.	Incorporation						127
XIII.	The First Church						140
XIV.	Schools ....						1.56
XV.	Courts ....						161
XVI.	Additional Settlers .						166
XVII.	The Olden Times .						179
XVIII.	The Pine-tree Riot .						185
XIX.	The Revolution — 1775						192
XX.	The Revolution — 177G						203
XXI.	The Revolution — 1777						209
XXII.	The Revolt tion — 1778						222
XXIII.	Ti 1 E R evolution — 1779						227
XXIV.	The Revolution — 1780-81						232
XXV.	The Revolution — 1782-S3						240
XXVI.	The Friends or Quakers						246
XXVII.	Game						254
XXVIII.	Schools ....						265
XXIX.	The Dark Day						275
XXX.	The Antipedoraptists .						278
XXXI.	Boundary Lines .						286
XXXII.	Meeting-houses						296

VIU

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER.

XXXIII. The Congregationalists

XXXIV. A Round Trip to Salem XXXV. The Shakers .

XXXVI. The Small-pox

XXXVII. The Universalists

XXXVIII. Town-houses .

XXXIX. The Antipedobaptists

XL. Schools .

XLI. The Freewill Baptists

XLII. The 1812 War

XLIII. The Spotted Fever

XLIV. Meteorological

XLV. The Militia .

XLVI. Paupers and the Poor Farm

XLVII. The Ministerial Fund

XLVIII. Calvinist Baptists

XLIX. First Freewill Baptists

L. The Pound

LI. Witches .

LII. Masons

Lin. Temperance

LIV. Craney-hill Church

LV. Second Freewill Baptists

LVI. Third Freewill Baptists

LVII. The Surplus Revenue

LVIII. The Adventists

LIX. The Railroad

LX. Farming .

IvXI. The Rebellion

LXII. The Congregationalists

LXIII. The Universalists

LXIV. Roads

LXV. Division of the Town

LXVI. Cemeteries

LXVII. Industries

LXVIII. Miscellaneous

LXIX. Town Lots

LXX. Town Officers Genealogy Index of Persons General Index

PAGE.

305

308 313 316 320 327 334 340 351 360 368 369 375 383 389 394 402 410 413 418 422 429 433 439 446 451 454 462 470 489 495 498 512 518 528 563 663 690 709 1033 10.39

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

William Little (see p. 021)

Mount Wallingfokd, from Weare C'euter Mount William, from Mount William Pond .

The Traveler

The Dolmen

The Great Boulder

The Old Oak (at the south-east corner of the town)

Plan of Halestoavn

Pea8Lee's Mill (site of the tirst saw-mill)

Sarah Dearborn

Home of Sarah Dearborn

^[ouNT Odiorne

Mount Lovell

Mount Crotched

View from Mount Dearborn (looking south) . View fro:m Mount Wallingford (looking north) Friends' North Meetint^-house ....

Boundary Lines of Weare

Birthplace of David Cross (see pp. 396 and 454)

MoiNTs William and Wallingford

Olive Cross (see p. 805) .

The Old North Meeting-house

]\[OUNT KEARSARGE

KlNCANOW'ET OR Dl'NBARTON lllLLS

Plan of the Oi>d Soith Meetinc^ Hiram Simons .... (tEorge Simons .... Outlet of Mount Willia.m I'ond Residence of George Simons Site of Old Town-house Old Town-house Bestored . The Town-house Raymond Cave ....

-house

PAGE.

Frontispiece 1

11

18

18

20

61

65

89

184

184

184

184

184

184

184

246

287

■ 298

298

298

298

298

298

;wi

;}25

;{2() :v.n :«i 3:51 :!;u

332 337

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

North Weare School-house

Home of Nathan G. Chase

Summer Kesidence of Caroline Chase Tiffany

White Mountains

Mount Lovell

Great Monadnock

JosiAH G. Dearborn

Phinehas Stone .

Jonathan Stone .

Phinehas J. Stone

Calvinist Baptist Meeting-house (East Weare)

North Weare Meeting-house

East Weare Freewill Baptist Meeting-house

David Cross

James Priest

Abraham Melvin

John Bartlett .

Oliver W. Lull .

John L. Hadley .

South Weare Meeting-house

East Weare .

Lewis Simons

Moses A. Hodgdon

James Simons

Moses Sawyer

Harrison Simons .

Log Cabin

Moses A. Cartland

Harrison Hobson

John Hodgdon

Abram B. Story .

Samuel C. Eastman

Robert Pkaslee .

John F. Colby

The Old Colby Homestead

Mount William and Barnard Hi

Home of Moses Peaslee .

Moses Peaslee .

Mary (Johnson) Peaslee .

Falls at First Mill Site

Home of Samuel Philbrick

Amos Stone ....

Jonathan Marshall .

PAGE.

340

348 348 348 348 348 349 365 366 380 394 433 441 454 456 465 467 478 490 492 529 531 535 542 553 556 563 598 628 629 631 633 663 783 786 967 967 967 967 967 971 994 1030

THE HISTORY OF WEARE.

ADDENDA.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR SOLDIERS.

In Vol. Ill, War Rolls of the Revolutiou, published since this history was printed, appear the names of the following soldiers who served in that war from Weare or for Weare : Jonathan Flood, Samuel Dustin (of Hales- town), John Duston, Stephen Richeson (of Ilailstown), Joseph Tucker, Moses Basford anil John George. The last live were in Captain Kidder's company. Colonel Xichols' regiment.

Parish Richardson, who in early times lived in Weare and had a famous dog case, moved to Acworth and was a soldier in the Revolution.

ERRATA.

The following errors have been discovered, which the reader is desired to turn to and correct : —

Page 3 — Line 23, for "Lenoxville" read "Princeton." " 100 — Line 4, for " range three " read " range two." " 169 — Line 23, for "lot fifty-seven, range one," read "lot ftftj'-eight, ran^e two."

" 300— Line 51, for " Sam ," read " Sam Waters.

(I

349 — Line 45, for "Jeremiah Green" read "Abraham Green." " 409 — Line 21, for " 1847 " read " 1872.- " 519 — Line 6, for " range one " read "range four." " 525 — Line 21. Sarah Dow was not the lirst person buried in the yard. " 607 — Line 2, for " Sylvester Nichols hanged himself " read " Augustus

Nichols shot himself." " 666 — Lines 9 and 10. transfer ". John L. Leach and Henry IT. Leach,"

to line 9.

671 — Line 55, erase " Mill site, 33."

672 — Line 9, insert "Mill site, 33."

673 — Line 16, for "John" read ■■ James."

675 — Line 47, insert " 6 " before " Isaac."

676 — Line 28, erase "Joseph George; 4."

679 — Line 11, insert "who sold" before "fifty."

680 — Line 1, for " 1741 " read " 1749." 680 — Line 19, insert "site 8, Perry A. Eaton; 9, owned by 'I'homas

Raymond, occupied by tenants." 686 — Line 21, for "Patrick Brown" read " P.-latiali Brown." " 686 — Line 29, after " 4 " insert " Jonathan Worthley ." " 693 — Line 38, for " Jeremiah Peaslee " read " Jeremiah Philbrick."

History of Weare, New Hampshire.

CHAPTER I. TOPOGRAPHY AND NAMES.

"VVeare* is an upland farming town, full of low mountains, high hills, sparkling ponds, winding rivers, rapid trout-brooks, and scores of musical rills.

Its latitude is 43° 4' north ; longitude, 71° 44' west.

It is in New Hampshire, county of Hillsborough, fifteen miles from Concord, the state capital, eighteen miles north-west of Manchester, and seventy miles from Boston.

The town is bounded north by Henniker and Hopkinton ; east by Hopkinton, Dunbarton, and Goffstown ; south by Goffstown, New Boston, and Francestown; and west by Francestown and Deering.

Its area is 36,628 acres, or more than 57 square miles ; and it has 23,892 acres of improved land. The average length of the town is over 7f miles; the breadth is 7 miles 110 rods, and it is the largest town, in territory, in the county of Hillsborough. t

Weare has four elevations called mountains, fifteen considerable hills, two rivers, more than thirty brooks which have names, three ponds, and several small "tarns."

MOUNTAINS.

Mount Dearborn (1229), twelve hundred and twenty-nine feet high, has the greatest altitude. It was named by Prof. C. H. Hitch-

* The mime "Weare" means an enclosed place on a river. — Sanftorji'* Ilist. of y. n.,p.421.

tThe east line of Weave is S miles and -.'T ritils lonij, the west line 7 miles and 2.50 rods, the south 7 miles 110 rods, and the north 7 miles ami 0-2 rods.

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

cock, State geologist, on his map of the state, for Hon. Josiah G. Dearborn, who owns a farm on its south slope. The summit is surrounded by woods, obscuring the view; the west side precipitous, the other sides gentle slopes, with woodlands, fertile fields, and pastures, Caleb Atwood was the first settler upon this mountain, and his buildings were the most elevated of any in town.

Mount Wallingfoed (1213) is very nearly in the center of the town. It has two crests: the west one twenty-three feet the higher. It was measured by George C. Patten, surveyor, in 1883, by leveling from North Weare depot. The name. Mount Wallingford, was given it because one of the original proprietors, Thomas Walling- ford of Dover, owned the lot which included it. Breed hill is a common name for it, from Ebenezer Breed, who once owned the pastures upon it, where hundreds of sheep browse every year.

Its view is the most extensive of any in Weare. On a clear day, one can see in the south-west the woody crest of Duncan hill in

Hancock; then to the west,

Mount Pitcher in Stod- dard, the mountains in Antrim, and Mount Lov- ell's blue cone in Wash- ington. North-west are Sunapee's long blue ridge, Kearsarge's great dome, Cardigan's peak of rock, and Mount Carr's fir- arched bow. In the far north is the great White Mountains cluster, Moosi- lauke, with peak, crest, and dome, — a huge mass; Lafayette, sharp and needle-like, pricking the blue ; Liberty and Flume, conical haystacks ; Sand- wich's dome and White- face, Tripyramid with a gray slide* upon it, and

LIST OF MOUNTAINS THAT CAN BE SEEN

FROM MOUNT WALLINGFORD, AND

THEIR ALTITUDES.

Duncan hill, Hancock 2,003 ft.

Mount Pitcher, Stoddard 2,170 "

Mount wmard, Antrim 1,500 "

Mount Tuttle, Antrim 1,700 "

Mount Robb, Antrim 1,700 "

Mount Lovell, Washington 2,487 "

Deering hills, Deeriiig 1,300 "

Craney hUl, Henniker 1,420 "

Stewart Peak, Warner 1,808 "

Mount Sunapee, Newbury 2,683 "

Bald Mink hill, Warner 1,528 "

Mount Kearsarge, Warner 2,943 "

Mount Cardigan, Orange 3,156 "

Mount Ragged, Andover 2,256 "

Mount Carr, Warren 3,522 "

Moosilauke, Benton 4,811 "

Mount Kinsman, Easton 4,200 "

Mount Lafayette, Franconia 5,25!) "

Mount Haystack, Franconia 4,,500 "

Mount Liberty, Lincoln 4,500 "

Mount Flume, Lincoln 4,500 "

Mount Osceola, Livermore 4,400 "

Mount Welch, Livermore 3,500 "

Sandwich Dome, Sandwich 3,999 "

Salmon mountains, Sanbornton .... 2,300 "

Tripyramid, Waterville 4,200 "

*Made by the gi-eat rain storm Oct. 4, 1869.

MOUNT WALLINGFORD AND MOUNT WILLIAM.

Mount Washington, wliite and Lazy, and highest of all, seen over the middle }3eak of the last. And then a troop, marching Indian file to the east, are Osceola, Kancamau- gus, Passaconaway, Pau- gus, and Chocorua. Os- sipee, with huge, wooded and gnarly tops, stretches southward beyond Win- nipesuakee, " the Smile of the Great Spirit"; and Copple Crown, Great Moose, and the Blue hills of Strafford file away still further towards the south. Pawtuckaway, with its trio of humps, is almost due east; the twin Unca- " noonucs, south-east ; and in the broad south, Joe English, Wachusett in Massachusetts, Pis- cataquog, Temple, Pack Monadnock, and Crotched mountain with its ragged, scraggly crests.

Two cities and seven villages, with their church-spires, tall chim- neys, and white cottages, are clearly seen : Manchester, Concord, Goffstown, Dunbarton, Gilmanton, East Weare, Hopkinton, Weare Center, and North Weare.

Three ponds sparkle in the sun : Duck pond to the north. Mount William pond to the east, and Negro pond in New Boston, at the south.

This view from Mount Wallingford is as broad and grand as that from any other mountain of equal height in the state.

Mount William (1158) is situated nearly due east from Mount Wallingford. It is partly wooded, has a precipitous, rocky, eastern side, and was used as a sheep pasture by Mr. Abraham Melvin. Tlie crest is a bald ledge and looks down on Mount William j)ond. The view is similar to that from Mount Wallingford, but is not quite so extensive.

Mouirt Washington, Coos C,293 ft.

Whlteface, Watorvillc 4,007 "

Kancaniuugus, Liverraore 3,500 "

Passaconaway, Waterville 4,-200 "

Mount Paugus, Albanj' 3,200 "

Chocorua, Albany 3,.540 "

Ossipec, Tuftonborough 2,950 "

Bean hill, Xorthtield 1,515 "

Mount Belknap, Gilford 2,394 "

Copple Crown, Brookfleld 2,100 "

Great Moose mountain, Brookfleld . . . 1,404 "

Mount Bald, Brookfleld 1,500 "

Mount Teneritt'e, Milton 1,100 "

Mount Catamount, Pittsfleld 1,341 "

Mount Blue, Milton 1,415 "

Mount Blue, Strafford 1,151 "

Blue .Job, Farmington 1,400 "

McCoj' mountain, Epsom 1,590 "

Mount Pawtuckaway, Nottingham . . . 892 "

Uncanoonucs, Goflfstown 1,333 "

Scribner hill, Goffstown 950 "

Joe English, New Boston 1,100 "

WaclAisett, Lenoxville. Mass 2,025 "

Piscataquog mountain, Lyndeborough . 1,300"

Lj'ndeborough mountain, Lyndeborough 1,.500 "

Temple mountain, Temple 1,755 "

Pack Monadnock, Peterborough .... 2,289 "

Crotched mountain, Francestown . . . 2,066 "

From Mount Misery .can be seen

Great Monadnock, Jaffrey 3,186 "

4 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

It is told, that Col. Robert Hale, with a party of explorers and surveyors, was traveling up the Piscataquog about the year 1735. From an open meadow by the river they saw before thera this mountain, and by mutual consent they called it Mount William, for Capt. William Raymond, their townsman, who led a company of soldiers to Canada in 1690, to fight the French and Indians.

Some claim that the name comes from a Mr. Williams, a "squatter," who built his cabin upon its side some time in the last century.

A dim tradition gives the name another origin : that, in early times, "a man on horseback" was journeying by the mountain, ac- companied by an Indian guide on foot named William. The latter was very tired, and the gentleman, pitying him, told him to get up behind and ride, saying, "Mount, William"; whence the name Mount William, — a somewhat improbable story,* which any one can believe, or not, just as he pleases. Mount William appeaijs on Carrigain's map of New Hampshire (1816), from surveys made in 1805.

Mount Misery (1000) is in the south-west part of the town. Its top is covered with a large growth of trees, which do not hide the view. Great Monadnock and other mountains to the west loom up grandly from it. Hodgdon meadow is at its northern base, Ferrin pond at its western foot, and on its southern slope are some of the finest farms in town.

Mr. Andrew Philbrick, who died at the age of eighty years, said it was so called because, when the surveyors were first laying out the lots, one of the men was taken sick and died on the mountain in great misery.

Tliere are those who dispute this origin of the name, and Mr. Jesse Nichols tells how one of the first settlers, who often got tipsy and was terribly lazy, having frequently to cross this mountain in the hot summer, would sit down on nearly every stone he came to, "mop his forehead," and exclaim, "Oh, misery I " And from this the name.

There is another tradition, but, as yet, we have found no one to vouch for it : that the surveyors found it very rough and rocky, and one of them, in agony, cried out, "Oh, misery! "

A fourth origin for the name is, that there is a Mount Misery in

* Zeplianiali Breed said the story was told him by an old lady who died many years ago.

THE HILLS OF WEARE. O

Hampstead, near the north line of Plaistow.* Some of Weare's settlers came from that section, brought the name along with them, and applied it to this mountain.

The reader can take his choice of these legends, or find another to suit him better.

HILLS.

The fifteen hills of Weare are, with a few exceptions, situated near tlie borders of the town. Commencing at the south-east part, near Oil Mill, we have first the

KuNCAXowET HILLS (1129) ; t ^ long ridge with many crests, which are in Dunbarton, but whose western slope extends into Weare and forms the eastern boundary of the Piscataquog valley. The namej is of Indian origin, from "kunnaway" (a bear), " wadchu" (a mountain), and " et" (a place) ; meaning " the mountaiti place of the bear." The hills are mostly wooded, but have some farms upon them.

Sugar hill (1000) is a fertile ridge, two or three miles long, in the north-east part of the town, near Dunbarton. It has many fine farms upon it, and its name comes from the fact that rock-maple trees once abounded tliere, and maple-sugar was made.

Burnt hill (1000) is west of Sugar hill and north of the Piscataquog. It got its name from extensive forest fires that once occurred upon it.

Rattlesxake hill (1000) is nearly in the center of the north line of the town, and abounds with shelving rocks and abrupt precipices, forming dens and caves. During the summer season the rei)tile from which the hill takes its name is frequently found. § Rattlesnakes have been killed here since 1823. In old times, the farmers used to set the woods on fire and burn it over to destroy them.

Pine hill (975) is in the north ])art of the town, Avest of Eattle- snake hill. An immense number of pines once grew upon it, whence the name.

Mount Ararat (987), on the north line of the town, west of Pine hill, was so called by some student of Bible literature, in honor of Mount Ararat, where the ark is said to have rested.

* Hitchcock's GeoL, voL iii, pai't 1, p. 170.

tTlie hcifilit of Woaio's hills are taken from the contour lines on Cline's map. t Found so spelled on a state map made about 1704. It is sometimes spelled " Duncanowet."

§ Farmer and Moore's Gazeteer (1823), p. 256.

b HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Ckaney hill (1100) has three crests ; the lowest one in Weare, the other two in Henniker. It is said to have its name from a Mr. Crane, who lived on it ; but more likely from Craney pond, a sheet of water, with reedy, muddy shores, where cranes and other water birds once abounded.

Hogback hill* (734) ; so called from its looking like a hog's back ; is a singular formation of river-drift, near the junction of Thorndike brook with the Piscataquog.

Chevet hill (1000) is west of Clinton Grove and south of the Piscataquog. Chevey Chase once lived on its slope, and from him comes the name. It is covered with open woods, has a fertile pasture on its top, and affords a fine view of the neighboring country. It is also called Townly hill by the Quakers.

Mine hill (1100). Iron pyrites and some other minerals are found on it, hence the name. It is in the west part of the town, half way from Mount Wallingford to Deering line ; wooded on its top, and has sheep pastures on its sides.

Toby hill (976) f is near the middle of the west line, and is an excellent, fertile ridge. It was first settled by Samuel B. Toby, whose buildings on it were the second highest in town, and it was named for him.

Odiorne hill (1050). Jotham Odiorne, of Portsmouth, a Mason- ian proprietor, being one of the twelve who bought out Mason, owned a lot of land on this hill, and the early settlers gave it his name. It is a pretty, rounded eminence between Mounts Dearborn and Misery; has several great boulders, travelers from the north, on its summit, and is called by Hitchcock, state geologist, Mount Odiorne.

Boar's Head hill (867) is west of Mount Misery, near Deering line, and the name is from Great Boar's Head in Hampton, whence many of the early settlers came. It is covered with wood, and is very rocky.

Barnard hill (937) is east of Mount William. It was so christened for Tristram Barnard, who once lived upon it. It has many good farms, with strong soil, full of boulders. Abraham Melvin, familiarly known as "Sheep Melvin," lived on it for more than three-fourths of a century, and annually raised hundreds of sheep.

*There is another small eminence of the same name near Sugar hill. fN. n. Geol., vol. i, p. aS.").

THE RIVERS OF WEARE. I

Raymond cliff (650), a spur of Barnard hill, is a high ledge

rising abruptly from the valley of the Piscataquog near Everett

station. It has several caves, with a huge boulder at the entrance

of one of them. Jeremiah T. (Hogg) Raymond once owned a farm

at its foot, and immortalized himself by bestowing his name upon

the cliff.*

RIVERS.

Weare has more than fifteen miles of river length flowing within her borders, but only two rivers.

Piscataquog river is formed by three streams, called the north branch, the middle branch, and the south branch. The two first run through Weare, and the north branch is called by Weare people the Piscataquog. It is an Indian name, from "pos" (great), "attuck" (a deer), and "quoag" (a place); meaning '■'■great deer 'place^'' as Judge Potter says;t or, "a place for many deer^'' as a writer in the Historical Collections^ would have it. The correct spelling of the word is " Poscattaquoag." § In Deering the stream is sometimes called "Nomkeag," from "namaos" (a fish), and "keag" (a place) ; meaning "fish-place."

Several small streams from Deering hills flow into Gregg pond. A dam at the outlet of this little lake allows the water to be drawn down twenty-three feet from high-water mark, thus making it a valuable reservoir. || The Piscataquog issues from Gregg pond, flows five miles in Deering, and enters the west part of Weare south of a central east-west line of the town. It runs almost due north about three miles, bows away to the east about five miles, then flows south six miles, and at Oil Mill village passes into New Boston. It receives the united waters of middle and south branches in Goffstown, and falls into the Merrimack at Manchester, about thirty-two miles, as the river runs, from its source. Twenty ponds and more than a hundred brooks help swell its waters.

The river falls about three hundred and fifty feet from Deering line to Oil Mill Village, affording, for a small stream, one of the best water powers in the state. There are twenty-three mill sites where

* There ai-e sonu^ oilier sinull eminences called hills : Leighton hill, north of >[ount Wallingforil; Hvintin^'ton hill, a part of Barnard hill ; White Oak hill, two miles north- west of Oil Mill, — a ^rreat place to hunt foxe.s; Green hill, east of Mount \\illiam; I'easlee's ledne, north of Green hill; Hear hill, in the west part of the town; and rase hill, a spur of lUirnt hill, so called from Col. Samuel Page, the first upon it. Also, Goulil hill is a part of Harnard hill.

t Ili.st. of Manchester, p. JS. t Vol. viii N. II. Hist. Col., p. ^yl.

§.See Capt. Daniel Pecker's .Scout Journal, />().s•^

It The dam is a huge earth-work, liOOfeet long, GO feet thick at ita base, 12 feet at its top ; was made in 1884 ; cost $12,000, and flows over 300 acres at a depth of 20 feet.

8 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

(lams are or have been erected, and the water-wheels of fifteen mills in this town are now driven by it.

Before the white men built dams upon it, salmon, shad, alewives, and lamper-eels abounded in its waters ; and its valley for many centuries was a noted huntino- g-round for the Indians.

Middle Branch kiver rises in Haunted, otherwise called Scoby, pond, in Franeestown. It bows up from New Boston, and flows (a sluggish stream) for about one mile in Weare. It is so called be- cause it runs between the north and south branches, and we have not been able to find that it ever had any other name. The maps of the county and state do not show its course correctly. It is nearly as large as the north branch ; has seven mill sites on it, — there are none in Weare, — and it unites with the south branch near the center of New Boston.

BROOKS.

Weare's brooks joined end to end would make a stream near a hundred miles long. Most of them are never-failing, running at all seasons : now high and roaring from freshets and melting snows, then low and silent from summer drouth. The following are the largest : —

Feerin brook, Enos Ferrin, whose house was near it, gave it his name, flows from Ferrin pond through the south-west part of Weare, turns the wheel of one saw-mill, is four miles long, and empties into Middle Branch. It has five aflluents.*

Peacock brook. Mr. Andrew Philbrick said that old Mr. Zebu- Ion Carr, now long since dead, told him that it got its name from the fact that it would rise and fall like a peacock's tail. The rain pours suddenly into it from Toby hill, Mine hill, Odiorne hill.

* Affluents of Ferkix brook : —

Greex brook rises in a small meadow near the south road leadinK to Deerinfj, and abont one-tliird of a mile east of Deering line. It empties into Ferrin brook, right banlc, and was so called from Klisha Green.

I.o( KE i!RooK, in the west part of the town from the east slope of Candlewood liill, is nearly a miU- long, and falls into Ferrin brook, right bank. Benjamin Locke once owne<rthe farm by it, and gav(^ it his name.

Ki(;nT-i.oAi>.s--MKAi)ow liuooK has its source near Candlewood hill; flows through a meadow of the same name: so called because it furnishcil. annually, eight loads of meadow hay, on P^lisha (ireen's farm; is one mile long, and joins Ferrin brook, right bank.

l>iLY-PONi) BROOK, froHi Lily pond; fragrant in summer time with water-lilies; between Mount Misery and Ferrin pond; is one mile long, and enters Ferrin brook, left V)ank.

F^IMONS I5UOOK, so called from .Joseph Emmons, a soldier of the old French and Indian war, rises on the south-western slope of Mount Misery; is one mile long, and runs into Ferrin brook, left bank ; it fails in tinu' of drouth.

Cram huook, name from Nathan Cram, who once owned the laml through which it flows, is a small stream, one mile long, from the slope south of Mount Misery, and runs into ."Middle Branch in New Boston, between Ferrin brook and the Peacock.

THE BROOKS OF WEARE. U

Mount Misery, and Mount Dearborn, and causes its quick fluctua- tions. Two branches unite to form it : one from near Deering line, and the other from Clinton Grove. It is six miles long, and once had many beaver ponds on it; their old dams are still to be seen. It has eight mill sites now or once used. Hodgdon and Philbrick meadows afford an excellent place to make a reservoir, one and one- half miles long, half a mile wide in some places, and ten feet deep. The stream below the meadow has more than two hundred feet fall. What a busy, laughing, hurrying, useful little river it would be if the pond could only be made, the mill-dams built, and mills set at work ! It would be about the same, summer and winter, in rain and drouth ; and it ought to have hundreds of happy people dwelling on its banks.*

Meadow brook gets its name from its winding through Dustin meadow, and an old deed from William Dustin to Charles George, made in 180G, thus calls it.f It comes down from the height of land west of Mount William pond ; is a rapid, loud-talking brook in spring-time and freshets ; was a good trout-stream once ; has three affluents, runs four miles in all; has seven mill sites; turns the mill wheels, or once did, of a tannery, two grist mills, carding machine, cabinet shop, blacksmith shop, and saw-mill, and falls into Middle Branch in Weare. In old times, a canal from Mount William pond was dug to its head-waters, by Jesse Hadley, that he might have a reservoir and make the stream a fine water-power. The water from the pond ran that way for a short time, when some good folks in the north part of the town, for the sake of their own mills and as they had a right to do, kindly put a stop to it by filling up the canal. Hadley took counsel, found that he could not legally draw the water from the pond, and gave up the enterprise.

Ottek brook. When the land was all woods, trappers caught many otters on this stream, hence its name. It rises on the east slope of Mount William, has one branch from Gould hill, is five miles long; the first mile a swift, wild brook, then a meadow stream, full of deep pools, Avhere trout hide and otters plunge, a home for mink. Years ago, it had three saw-mills on it. It falls into Middle Branch in New Boston.

*Crui!ii;u nifooK, iVoin tin- south slope of Mount Misery, prot its name from Moses Currier, an e:ui.\ settler, flows south-easterly two miles, ami is an affluent of the I'eacoek.

tit is also called "Meadow brook " in a deed from Charles George to Peter and .lohu Dearborn, is'J.'i.

10 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Bassett brook is formed by two branches : one rises in Hop- kinton, the other in Dunbarton, and flows by the old Stark burying- ground. It is five miles long, famous for ti'out, and enters the Piscataquog, left bank, one mile below East Weare. Jeremiah Bassett owned a small farm by it, had a saw-mill on it, and gave it his name. It has one afiluent, in Weare.*

Choate brook, so called from Simeon Choate, flows from Hop- kinton ; is four miles long, and joins the Piscataquog, left bank, a little below East Weare. A saw-mill on this brook, in Weare, stands within four feet of Hopkinton line. The brook has had many names: Asa brook, from Asa Choate; Parcel brook. Cold Meadow brook. Bald Meadow brook, Meadow brook, and may be some others. The road from Hills bridge over the Contoocook in Hopkinton, about which there was so much contention, comes down through its valley. A small branch enters it from the west.

Center brook issues from Mount William pond; is rapid for the first mile, running under ground, like an African stream, part of the way ; flows through the north-east corner of Duck pond, then through the Center Square of the town as first laid out; has five mill sites and two mills ; is four miles long, and enters the Piscataquog, right bank, a little east of North Weare. As it runs through Center Square and the center of the town, it is called Center brook. It has two tributaries.!

Dudley brook issues from Pleasant pond in Henniker; flows south-east through Dudley pond in Deeriug. Turns a saw-mill and grist-mill in the latter town ; enters the north-west part of Weare ; is four miles long ; a good trout stream, and runs into the Piscata- quog, left bank. A man by the name of John Dudley, of Deering, Avas its godfather. Mills have been owned on it by Runnels, Lover- ing, Bartlett, Breed, and Dow. It has one affluent in Weare. %

Sall brook rises in a swamp west of Mount Ararat, and flows north beside the road from North Weare to Henniker, one-half mile in Weare, two miles in Henniker, and falls into the Contoocook

* Alexander brook; name from David Alexander; is a merry, tinkling trout brook, from the Kuncanowet hills. It is two miles long, and runs into Bassett brook, left bank.

t David C. Breed brook rises on the north slope of Mount Wallingford, is two miles long, and runs in an easterlj- coui-se into Center brook, left bank. It got its name from the man who owns Vac land through which it flows.

ZKrnAMAii Bkekd brook starts near CHnton (;rove. is two miles long, and enters Cinder brook, left bank, not far from Duek pond ; so called from Zeplianiah Breed.

X IlADLOCK BROOK is a T)<!ering stream, two miles long, its lower half mile in Weare, where it unites witli Dudley brook, right bank. Ilezekiah Hadlock cleared a farm by it years ago, dammed it, fished it, and named it. One man said " it was an awful trout brook."

Ir'

o

O

o

cc

O

THE BROOKS OF WEARE. 11

river. Once it drove a saw-raill, a grist-mill, two shingle-mills, and a small rake factory; all in Henniker. The owners of these mills, many years ago, diverted the water of Dustin brook in Weare down their stream of euphonious name, but it was soon turned back again by mill-men on the Piscataquog. The stream was so called in honor of Widow Sally Dow, a lady who lived beside it in Henniker.*

PONDS.

Weare has three ponds of considemble size and four small ones. Mount William pond is at the southerly foot of Mount Wil- liam, and takes its name from the mountain. It has a bold, rocky

*THE FOLLOWING SMALL STREAJIS ARE AFFLUENTS OF THE PISCATAQUOG,

RIGHT bank: —

IIt;sK BROOK was named for Enoch Huse, who once owned the fann through which it rtow.s. It starts on the south slope of Barnard hill, is a hajjpy, laughing stream two miles long: sometimes called Hoyt brook. Formerly it had two saw- mills: it enters the Piscataquog a mile above Oil Mill.

HtXTiNfJToN HKf)OK, from that part of Barnard hill that is sometimes called Huntington hill, so called from John Huntington, is two miles long, and runs into the Piscataquog about a mile below East Weare.

(iETC-HEL Bi?(JOK, about One mile long, from the north-west side of Gould hill, flows into the Piscataquog. It was named for Winthrop Getchel, a very eccentric man, who had a lunise on its bank.

Maxi iEi,i> HHODK, name from John Maxfield, is from the valley west of Barnard hill; three-quarters of a mile long, has one branch, and falls into the Piscataquog one-half mile above East Weare.

Burrows hrook, AVilliam Fletcher Burrows gave it his name, from a spring on the north side of Breed hill, is three-fourths of a mile long, and empties into Max- field brook, left bank. It is sometimes called Breed brook.

H\LF-MOON--MEAi)ow BROOK, SO called from the .shape of the meadow through which it flows, is three-quarters of a mile long; runs by what is called the " Honey Pot " into the Piscataquog. The Honey Pot is a deep spring, twenty-flve feet across, never-tailing, never is frozen more tlian twenty-four hours at a time, and sends a small rill to Ilalf-moou-raeadow brook. Moses Peaslee and a boy once caught thirty- six trout from it in less than half an hour, all weighing ten pounds.

Stonixo brook rises in the Stoning pasture on lot two, range five ; is about one- half mile long, flows north-east, and falls into the Piscataquog. Its name is from Amos Stoning, who settled by it in 1780, and lived there seventy years.

HousE-XECK bkook Starts in a meadow north of Mount William, about one-half mile long, a very crooked stream, crosses the highway twice, and enters Center brook south of Center Square. .

Dow BROOK, Winthrop Dow gave it his name, comes from a swamp near Leigh- ton hill, runs a mile, or more, and falls into the Piscataquog. There was a tannery on it once. , , , ,

TiioRNOiKK BROOK, Thomas Thorndike lived by it, and the name of the Dvook commemorates the fact. It comes from the east slope of Chevey hill, the watershed between it and the Peacock being a ftnv rods south of the Friends' church at Clinton Grove. It is a mile and a half long, a trout brook; has one mill site, — a mill there once,- and falls into the Piscataquog a mile or more west of North Weare.

SMALL STREAMS IN THE NORTH PART OF THE TOWN : —

CILLEY nuooK rises near Hopkinton line, is four miles long, has a saw-mill on it,— once had two tanneries, — and runs south into the Piscataquog, left bank. John Cilley lived bv it, and it was named for him ; it has one branch.

Fi:l('ii hkook comes from south-west of Sugar hill; two miles long, once full of trout, and unites with Cilley brook, right bank. Joseph Felch was the nearest neigh- bor to it, and it borrowed his name.

Boo liiiooK conies from Moose bog, hence its name, and runs into the Piscataquog, left bank,. just east of the North Weare depot. The railroad formerly ran up its val- lev to Henniker. . „..,,. ,_ ,

WooDHi UY HuooK. a little, musical stream, runs by the home ol « illiam Wood- burv, and got its name from him. It falls into the Piscataquog, left bank.

Hanson brook, in North Weare, is so called from Daniel Hanson, and empties

12 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

shore. The water in its basin is forty feet and nine inches deep.* The pond was dug by the ice sheet thousands of years ago, and its surface contains one hundred and twenty-eight acres. t Its outlet is Center brook, and a dam flows the pond about six feet. A canal, cut early the present century, made, for a short time, Meadow brook its out- let. Many kinds of fish abound in its waters, which are clear as crystal, the bottom being visible at its greatest depth. It is sur- rounded by fields and pastures where high blueberries grow, and woodlands. Fishermen camp here days at a time, and some of the pious early settlers came here to be baptized. From a boat on its surface, one can see Mounts William, Wallingford, and Dearborn.

Duck pond is near the center of the town, at the north foot of Mount Wallingford. Center brook runs through it. It has a great deposit of mud in parts of it, although some say it is bottomless, contains about fifty acres of water surface, is full of Avhite pond- lilies, and bushels of them, of the sweetest fragrance, are carried away every year. The pond seems to be filling up, or "growing over," slowly, and is surrounded by swampy woods, which abound with birds. Redwings, Maryland yellow-throats, and cat-birds are especially plenty. In primitive times, its tender water-plants made it an excellent feeding ground for great numbers of wild duck, lience the name, "Duck pond." Pickerel, eels, and horn-pouts flourish, and there is talk of introducing German carp. Reptiles

into the Piscataquog, left bank. It had a taniieiy, owned by Pelatiah Gove, on it once, and is lost in dry times.

DrsTix BROOK rises in Clougli pond on the east slope of Craney liill, near Henni- ker line; it runs south down a steep declivity, falling about seventy-five feet in a few rods, forming Chipmunk falls ; flows through a meadow where it nearly joins Sail brook, which runs north into the Contoocook, tlirough the Dyer Dow ponh," and falls into the Piscataquog, left bank. This pond is celebrated for being the place where Stephen Lee, a noted counterfeiter, hid his tools and dies, wlien hard-pressed bj' the officers. Many people hunted for the tools and dies, but never found them. Paul Dustin settled by the brook and gave it his name.

Toby brook,' a small stream, starts on Craney hill, named for .Samuel B. Toby, one mile long, and runs south into the Piscataquog, left bank.

Emkrv brook, Caleb Emery, a Revolutionary soldier, furnished the name, rises on Craney hill, by Henniker line, a fine trout stream once, two miles long, and Joins the Piscataquog, left bank, in the north-west part of the town. It is also some- times called Putney brook, from Nathan Putney. It has two branches.

Coi.MNs brook, another Craney hill stream, is one mile long, and is a branch of Kmery brook, left bank. Reuben Collins gave his name to it.

Ilrzzv liHooK, from Craiiey hill in Henniker, flows south one mile into Emery brook, left bank. .Joseph Huzzy gave the name.

JoiixsoN BROOK, name froui Amos Johnson, sometimes called Horne brook, a nickname for .Johnson, comes from a spring in the north-west part of the town. It is one mile long, a trout stream ; runs south into the Piscataquog, left bank. Johnson had a daughter Dorcas, and the neighbors sometimes called it Dorcas brook ; it is also called Brown brook, from Enoch Brown, who lived near it. It has one branch.

.SiiKARER ISKOOK, name; in honor of Samuel Shearer, is a branch of Johnson brook, a mile long, from the west.

* Herbert Barrett measured it in February, 188.5, tlirough the ice.. He found it thirty-six feet nine inches deep; but the surface of the pond was about four feet below high-water mark at that time.

t Geology of N. II., vol. i, p. 309.

VILLAGES AND PLACES OF WEARE 13

thrive here, and a huge mud-turtle once caught by the nose a sheep that was drinking at this pond, pulled it into the water, and drowned it.

Ferrin pond, in the west part of the town, — Mount Misery to the east of it, Boar's Head to the north-west of it, — contains about forty acres, and its outlet is Ferrin brook. It has hard, rocky shores, and is evidently a glacier-dug pond. An immense boulder stands at its head. Pickerel and horn-pout abound in its waters, and woods and rocky pastures are on its banks. Enos Ferrin, who settled near it, bestowed his name upon both pond and brook.

Clough pond is high up on the east side of Craney hill. It contains three or four acres, and its surplus waters flow away through Dustin brook to the Piscataquog. A man named Clough lived near it and furnished the name.

Lily pond No. 1, between Mount Misery and Ferrin pond, is the source of Lily-pond brook.

Lily pond No. 2, on the Tristram Johnson place, east slope of Mount William, is circular in form, and about two hundred feet in diameter. In its center is a small island, which Winthrop Clough cleared and cultivated as a garden. John Maxfield, just a little crazy, afterwards lived at the Clough place, planted the island, and called it " Lord Maxfield's garden."

Joe pond, at East Weare, contains about three acres, and is nearly three liundred feet in diameter. Formerly it had no outlet. Charles Black dug a canal to it and made it a part of his mill-pond reservoir. It abounds with fish, and is also noted for the great number of its Avater-adders. So called for Joseph Collins.

There are many meadows where the first settlers found natural mowing, and some where an abundance of higli blueberries and cranberries grow.

Green meadow is in the west part of the town, near the foot of Candlewood hill, an eminence in Francestown.

Squamscot bog is at the foot of Chevey hill ; abounds in cran- berries ; and it is thought by some that it was the place referred to by Whittier, where the cranberries were picked for the marriage feast in his "Bridal of Pennacook."

VILLAGES AND PLACES.

Weare has five villages and several places with local names : Oil Mill, in the south-east part of the town, by New Boston line.

14 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

South Weare, in the south-central part of the town. North Weare, in the north-central. East Weare, in the east-central. Weare Cexter, north of Mount Wallinorford, Clinton Grove, in the west-central. Everett Station, between Oil Mill and East Weare. Rockland, on the Piscataquog, east of North Weare. Boston, on the Piscataquog; a short distance west of East Weare ; one-half mile above East Weare station.

Slab City, between Clinton Grove and North Weare.

CHAPTER IT. GEOLOGY.

Weare was once part of a nebula. Scientists speak of it as a nebulous haze or cloud, — the fire mist. "It contained the promise

and potency of all future life." Out of the fire-mist have come sun, planets, and satellites. The spectroscope shows, in the chemical con- stitution of the nebula, all the successive phases of cosmic growth : nebula, sun, and planet. " They are as plainly seen bursting into life throughout the heavens, as the germ, leaf, and flower at our feet." As the nebula condensed, the earth was at first a fierv ring cast off from the nebulous sun, then an incandescent sphere, and at length a granite shell, its center a glowing mass. The planets are ancient fragments of the sun, freezing as they whirl ; the moon is a cold cinder of the earth. Once it was a live planet circling round its sun, the earth.

When the hot granite shell further cooled, it increased in thick- ness, and hot rain fell upon it in torrents ; chemical reactions were produced, and disintegration took place. The cooling earth shrank in size, its crust crumpled, and great folds appeared as mountain ranges. Then the prodigous rains denuded and destroyed them, the debris was swept down into hot seas, and secondary rocks were formed. Strata of these on the surface of the earth are found many thousands of feet thick. The earth still cooling, and the crust

GEOLOGY OF WEARE. 15

breaking, tliese strata, once horizontal, were tilted up, — inclined at all angles, — and these, in turn, gradually rose above the sea.

The first territory now remaining to us, in New Hampshire, that was thus redeemed from the primeval ocean, is the back-bone or rj^ge extending from north to south sixty-one miles, between the Merrimack and Connecticut rivers.* Besides this great mass, there are in the state eleven or more smaller masses that appeared as islands above the sea. The largest of these, and next to the main ridge, is the north part of Weare, and another is Raymond cliff, north-west of Oil Mill village.f

But this land was not permanent. There have since been numer- ous continental elevations and depressions, and the whole land surface of North America has been many times, for long ages, under the sea. During these periods many different kinds of secondary or metamorphic rocks were formed. Of these, only the deep-lying beds are found in Weare; all the later fossiliferous rocks have been eroded and swept away.

Granite was the primordial rock out of which, as many geolo- gists teach, our present rocks are formed. It consists of quartz, feldspar, and mica, and has no planes of cleveage. No original srranite is found in Weare.

The rocks of Weare are gyieiss and mica-schist^ and the many varieties of them.

Gneiss is formed from the disintegrated granite, and it is much like it, but it has the mica and other ingredients in layers, and cleaves readily in the direction of the mica layers. It is a metamorphic rock, and a compact, hard gneiss is what is called granite, and is extensively quarried in this state.

PoRPHYRinc GNEISS lias large crystals of potash feldspar, three- fourths of an inch to two inches long, of a whitish-gray color, scattered through a base of much finer material.

Lake gneiss is simply a fine-grained gneiss.

MiCA-scHisT differs from gneiss in that it has finer-grained mate- rials and consists largely of mica, with feldspar and quartz. It divides easily into slabs, — that is, is very schistose.

RocKixGHAM-scHiST has the mica in coarse blotches. $

Ferruginous-schist is simply a mica-schist that has six to seven per cent, of red peroxide of iron.

FiBROLiTE-scHiST is a mica-schist that has fibrolite crystals in it.

*Geol. of N. II., part 2, p. 519. t Ibid., vol. i, pp. 512, 515. Xlbid., vol. ii, p. 576.

16 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

MoNTALBAN ROCK * is a feldspathic mica^schist carrying crystals of andalusite, or some closely related silicate.

These rocks are located as follows : —

PoRPHTRiTic GNEISS t forms the two islands that were a part«)f the first land of New Hampshire : North Weare and Raymond cliff.

Lake gneiss $ extends in a great mass, ten miles long, through Francestown, Deering, and the north-west part of Weare. A pre- cipitous cliff of it is found nearly three miles west of North Weare station, facing westward, and near the union of Dudley and Had- lock brooks. Other layers of it crop out near the west line of the town, and it comes within a mile of Clinton Grove. It underlies nearly the whole of South Weare, and extends along the slope of Mount Dearborn to Odiorne hill and the east base of Mount Misery. The porphyritic gneiss that crops out at Raymond cliff is wedge-shaped, and makes a notch in the lake gneiss. §

Mica-schist forms Rattlesnake hill. There is an out-crop of it two miles north of Clinton Grove and a mile west, also near the west line of the town ; and Mount Misery and Odiorne hill are composed of it.

Ferruginous-schist || is found on the summit of Mount Walling- ford and throughout the west part of the town. It reddens the mica-schist rocks.

FiBROLiTE-scHiST** makes the top of Mount Misery.

RocKiNGHAM-scHiSTft fomis the huge masses of Mounts Walling- ford and William and rests upon the lake gneiss.

Montalban rocks tt are on the Kuncanowet hills.

On the east slope of Mount Misery is a large mass of talc, of the variety called steatite, or soapstone. Moses A. Hodgdon has quar- ried a large amount of it, and his mine is seventy-one feet long, sixty feet wide, and ten feet deep. There are masses of mica-schist in it called "horses," — one thirty-five feet long, — and portions of the wall-rock are hornblendic. The soapstone is the same as that at Francestown, — may be on the same out-crop, — and both are characterized by massiveness, arising from the uniform dissemination of crystallized radiated bunches of talc through the rock. Minute

*Geol. of N. II., vol. ii, p. 112. ^Jbid. vol. ii, p. 581. ft^Wd-. vol. ii, p. 581.

t Jhid., vol. ji, pp. 51il, o'.s. || Ibid., vol. ii, pp. .575, 501. XX Ibid., vol. ii, p. G41.

i Ibid., vol. ii, pp. 535, 5.37. ** Ibid., vol. ii, p. 590.

GEOLOGY OF WEARE. 17

bits of pyrrhotite occur occasionally, but they do not injure tlie soapst one. *

The minerals found, besides the soapstone and pyrrhotite, are arsefiopyrite, asbestos, and crystals of feldspar.

A great change in the face of the country occurred during the early stages of the human period. A time of intense cold came on, and the land was deeply buried beneath a sheet of ice from three thousand to six thousand feet thick. It is hard to tell the causes of the glacial cold. Some attribute it to astronomical causes, — that the change in the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, in the precession of the equinoxes, and the motion of the line of apsides, whereby there was an excess of twenty-eight winter days more than summer days, caused it. Others think there was a great elevation of the continent near the north pole ; that it began in local glaciers, like those in Greenland now, and in time they became continental, ex- tending as far south as the fortieth degree of latitude.

The ice overtopped all the present hills, even Mount Washington itself. It carved and ground down the rocks, made the valleys and ridges, dug the lake beds, carried square miles of earth and rocks on its back, and pushed out to sea- more than fifty miles. It piled up the moraines, long lines of waste; formed the lenticular hills, and left a layer of rubbish on the land hundreds of feet deep. It ground a rock blanket from the whole land more than a thousand feet thick.

Some think the glacial cold began about two hundred and forty thousand years ago, and terminated about eighty thousand years ago. Others, skeptical, say that it all happened not more than ten thou- sand years ago. •

The weight of the ice depressed the general surface in this section about two liundred feet When the ice melted, all our river-valleys were either estuaries of the sea or inland lakes, and the immense flow of water Hlled them full of sand and gravel. This was tlie Champlain period.

After this the country gradually rose to its normal level, and the rivers and streams slowlv cut down throuo;h the gravels to the bed- rock, making their valleys and terraces. The time occupied to do this is called the Terrace ])eriod.

In Weare there are many indications of the ice sheet: —

Stbi^ are on all the rocks, which have been planed smooth.

*Geol. of X. H„ vol iii, part 2, pp. 34, 113, 135; vol. ii, p. 390.

2^:

18 HISTORY OF WEAKE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

They are very distinct where the ledges have been covered up and not exposed to the M-eather. They show tliat the ice moved south about twenty degrees east.*

Lenticular hills show it. Their trend is with that of the moving ice. They are composed of till or hard-pan, covered with soil. The till is of two kinds : blue till at the bottom, gray at the top, with a thin intercallary layer of sand between them. The blue till has polished striated boulders in it and was probably moulded under the glacier during its decline and departure. The upper till has angular boulders and it probably fell down when the ice melted. The south-east slope of Mount Dearborn, the top of Chevey hill, where the till crowns a high ledge, and many of the eminences in the south-west part of the town are lenticular hills.t

The beds of Mount William and Ferrin ponds were gouged out by the moving glacier.

Boulders by the thousands, on all the hills, were brought there by the ice sheet. Some of them are really curiosities. One on the south slope of Mount Wallingford has the form of an elephant; so much so, that nearly every one notices it. On the long south slope of Barnard hill is a vast navy of them, stranded when the ice melted. One on the farm of Mr. Alonzo C. Follansbee was pushed forward by the ice over the edge of a precipice. If it had gone six inches further, it would have plunged down ; but there it has hung, prow in air, through sunshine and storm, just ready to take its leap, for the last eighty thousand years. Another huge one, with a thou- sand lesser companions around it, is in an old pasture a half mile to the north. It will weigh more than two tliousand tons. Near the latter is what seems a veritable dolmen or cromlech. Like the others, it is a boulder of porphyritic gneiss, will weigh twenty-five tons, and rests on six smaller boulders, each about a cubic foot in volume, placed under it in regular order. It looks as though some huge giant had taken it up in his hands, held it, while some little giant carefully placed the six bed-rocks on the ledge, and then set it down gently upon them.

Embossed rocks {roches moutenes) are abundant in town. Many ar^ found on the south slope of Barnard hill, among the boulders.

Precipices on the south-east slopes of the hills show that the ice crept slowly from the north to their summits, then broke off and fell

*GeoI. of N. H., VOL iii, part I, p. 190. f Ibid., voL iii, part 1, p. 297.

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GEOLOGY OF WEARE. 19

down, thereby drilling out great depressions at their foot. The south-east face of Mount William, Raymond cliff and Mount Misery show this.

The terraces in the valley of the Piscataquog were formed of materials broken up by the ice sheet. This drift or glacial waste has been worn, sorted, and rearranged, by water action; much of it is laid down in strata.

The clay beds are from the feldspar of the rocks ground up by the great ice mill. Their material was sorted out by the action of running water and laid down in the Champlaiu period in compara- tively still water. They are like the lenticular hills : blue clay at the bottom, gray clay at the top, with a thin intercallary stratum of fine sand* between them. The gray clay is the best. Beds of clay are situated in the valleys of the Peacock, Meadow brook, the Otter, Choate brook, the Piscataquog, and near Henniker line. The thin stratum of sand often thins out so as to allow the upper and lower deposits of boulder clay to come together.

Kettle holes are found in great beds of drift. Many are to be seen in the valley of the Piscataquog. They were probably formed by the slow melting of a great chunk or mass of ice, covered up in the gravel and left by the retreating glacier. The debris upon it fell to the bottom and the great bowl or kettle in the ground has ever since remained. Some have very steep sides.

Pot holes worn in the solid rock are high up on the Kuncanowet hills. There is now no river or brook near by to form them, and they were probably worn out by a stream of water running from the melting ice sheet. Formerly it was thought they were made by the Indians, to be used by them as store-houses for their corn.

Since the ice period, only frost and snow, wind and rain, and running brooks and rills have made a change in the surface. But this has not been much, for the kettle holes, as we have seen, have stood for eighty thousand years without tilling up. Some say that it is only about ten thousand years ago that they were formed ; but we fail to see why, if they would last so perfect for ten thousand years, they might not for eighty thousand years as well.

Several caves have evidently been formed since the glacial epoch.

Raymond cave is in the side of Raymond cliff, near Everett station. Its opening is large enough for a man to comfortably enter

*Geol. of X. II., vol. iii, part 3, p. 3'27.

20 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

erect. For the first forty feet it is about twelve feet high and eight feet wide, then for the next forty feet it is of smaller dimensions. It is very cold in summer. The cave is formed of huge, angular blocks which have fallen from the cliff above. Frost and ice, or the lightning, may have cracked them, and an earthquake shook them down. A great boulder of porphyritic gneiss is near the entrance of the cave. It is forty-five feet long, thirty feet thick, thirty feet high and weighs about two thousand two hundred and sixty-eight tons. Jacob Carr and others started this great rock from the brink of the cliff above, one Fourth of July morning. It made such a thundering noise going down, and the earth trembling, the inhabitants thought it was a veritable earthquake. It fell nearly a hundred feet, broke huge trees as though they were pipe- stems, and crushed rocks, tons in weight, in its course.*

Cake caves are on the old Jacob Carr place. Huge blocks have fallen from the cliff above, and piling up loosely, formed great holes or crevices. Into some of these persons can crawl twenty to fifty feet.

The soils of Weare vary in different parts of the town. Near Oil Mill, and up the valleys of the Piscataquog and Otter, is some pine plain and scrub oak land. Where the river is sluggish, alluvial soil is found ; on the uplands the soil is better, though hard, and on the lenticular hills it is best of all.

The early settlers sat down first on the plain land, for it was easier to clear, and there were some natural or beaver meadows on the streams near by, where they could get hay at once for their stock. But the hills with strong soil were settled very soon after.

CHAPTER III.

FLORA.

Changes of climate have led to corresponding changes of vegeta- tion. Long before the glacial epoch, the trees, shrubs, and herbs, now growing in New England, flourished at the North pole. Many of them, with huge sequoias like those now in California, are found as fossils in Greenland. The semi-tropical vegetation of Florida and the West Indies, palms, bananas, oranges, lemons,

* John h. II. MarshaU says that his father, Moody Marshall, vouched for this.

•«^Vi Vv%V»Y.\C^

TH E G REAT BOULDER.

\

THE FLORA OF WEARE. 21

and fiofs, grew on our tertiary hills. The remains of cinnamon trees have been dug up in Vermont.

But when the cold came on and the glacier advanced, the tropical vegetation moved southward; the deciduous forests succeeded. These were followed by the present flora of the arctic zone, and finally all were driven south by the ice. These changes occupied many thousand years.

When the ice sheet had melted, the water subsided, and the new soil become fit for land vegetation, moss and lichens first appeared, then the dwarf willow, ancestor of the little willow that grows in our wet lands, and after it the small gray birch that is always found in the meanest and coldest soil. These had clung near the toe of the glacier on its advance, and they followed its retreat. They still grow in Spitzbergen and Greenland, and insular patches of them are found upon the tops of the highest mountains. An arctic butter- fly also kept company with the edge of the ice, and a few got left behind on the summit of Mount Washington. They all live within five hundred feet of the top. If they descend lower, they die. The species is not found anywhere else south of Labrador.

In time, as the climate further ameliorated. New Hampshire was clothed with the dwarf fir and white spruce, then came black spruce, arbor vitae, canoe birch, and beeches. When it grew still warmer, then appeared white and red pine. At length the common pitch pine occupies the lighter soils, and with oak, maple, ash, and their associate trees, now make up the New Hampshire forest. The semi-tropical forest may yet return in the aeons to come.

Botanists tell us that there are twenty-seven natnral orders in the flora of this state, and that the pine family is the most imjiortant.

White Pines (Pinus strobus) are the largest. When the town was first settled some were cut in Weare seventeen rods long, and their stumps were so broad and large that a yoke of oxen could easily mount and turn about upon them. The surveyors of the king's woods, in the Piscataquog valley, once put the broad arrow- mark, some say the broad "R," on all fit for masting the royal navy.*

Red Pine (Pinus resinosa) occurs in groups, grows from eighty

* In 1885 Robert Teaslee cut a pine on his farm one hundred and forty feet long and four feet in (lianu't(_T, straislit as an iirrow.

Hon. Mosus A. llodsdon, in 18(!4. out a pine that was over six feet in diameter, and one loj,' from it wciyhucl more than seven tons. It was sold with other lumber for ship timber.

22 HISTORY OF WEAKE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

to a hundred feet bigh, tall and slim, straight as candles and slender enough for liberty poles. It is wrongly called Norway pine. A fine grove of these is now growing by the road from Oil Mill to South Weare.

Pitch Pine (Pinus rigida) grows on plains and drift-knolls. Some are found in the valley of the Piscataquog and by the Otter.

Black Spruce (Abies nigra), not very plenty, is found upon the highest land. It is an excellent timber tree.

Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea) is also rare. A few are found grow- ing on the slopes of Mounts Dearborn and Wallingford.

Hemlock (Abies Canadensis) , most graceful of all the spruces, is very common.

Hackmatack, or Tamarack, or Bald Spruce (Larix Americana), is found in swamps, or set out as an ornamental tree.

Red Cedar (Juniperus Virginiana) is rare. Some are growing near Oil Mill village.

Juniper (Juniperus communis) spreads over hilly pastures and is a pest.

Yew (Taxus Canadensis), called ground hemlock, is found in the shade of woods and cold swamps.

Arbor Vitae (Thuya occidentalis) is used for hedges about gar- dens and front yards. These mostly retain their green, needle-like leaves throughout the year.

The deciduous trees have leafless branches in Avinter, are delicate green in spring, have full leafage^in summer, and gorgeous hues in autumn. People like the maples best.

White Maple (Acer dasycarpum) grows on intervals and along the banks of streams, — rarely away from them.

Red Maple (Acer rubrum), erroneously called white maple, gives the brilliant scarlet hue to the woodlands in autumn.

Rock or Sugar Maple (Acer saccharinum) is the largest of the genus. It furnishes sugar and timber and makes the best of wood.

Beech (Fagus ferruginea) is common in the highlands, often growing with spruce and hemlock. Large quantities of beech-nuts were gathered by the early settlers, and beech groves were a favorite resort for wild turkeys two hundred years ago. It is a handsome tree.

Black Birch (Betula lenta) is a common tree in our upland woods. From it wei'e produced the ever-enduring leaf table-tops of our ancestors' bis kitchens.

THE FLORA OF WEARE. 23

«

Golden or Yellow Birch (Betula lutea) is a very handsome tree ; symmetrical in proportions and luxuriant in foliage.

Paper or Canoe Birch (Betula papyracea) grows high up on the hills, its white bark in striking contrast with the fir and spruce. Most of the ancient growth has been cut and sold for peg-wood. It is often called canoe birch, and a hundred years ago they were found large enough to furnish bark, in one piece, sufficient for a canoe fourteen feet long. Two Indians could make a good bark canoe in one day, weighing less than forty pounds and ca])able of carrying fi%'e or six persons.

White or Gray Birch (Betula populifolia) is the smallest of all the birches ; light and graceful, and extensively used for hoop poles.

White Oak (Quercus alba) flourishes at altitudes of less than five hundred feet. Once plenty in town, but now mostly cut off for timber.

Yellow Oak (Quercus prinus) is a companion of white oak, both being often found growing in the same locality.

Red Oak (Quercus rubra) is the hardiest of the species, and is found at an altitude of more than one thousand feet. The old growth attained a height of eighty feet ; but they are scarce now, most of them having been culled out, sent to coopers' shops, and wrought into barrels.

Chestnut Oak (Quercus prinus) grows at an altitude of about five hundred feet, in small colonies. It is rare, but a few have been found in Weare.

Scrub Oak (Quercus illicifolia) abounds on pine plain land, and is of little value, except as a summer home for birds.

Chestnut (Castanea vesca) is found at an altitude of four to eight hundred feet. Some have been transplanted and cultivated by the farmers for the delicious nuts they afford.

Elm (Ulmus Americana and racemosa) thrives best on the alluvial soil of rivers. Some elms in town are majestic in appearance and are used as shade and ornamental trees. They are often of great size, being found eighteen feet in circumference, eighty feet high, and the graceful top spreading seventy-five feet in diameter. Many an- cient elms in the valley of the Piscataquog were cut, to supply back- logs for the roarins: winter fires of the farmers in the olden times.

Red Elm or Slippery Elm (Ulmus fulva) is found on James Grant's farm, and on the John Jewell place west of the Peacock.

Butternut (Juglans cineria) is found by streams and on hills.

24 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Many have been transplanted and cultivated. It has one of the best of nuts, but hard to crack. The tree is the white walnut.

Walnut (Juglans nigra) is not plenty, most of those in town hav- ing been transplanted and cultivated. There are a few of these trees, one a very large one, on the James Grant place, and an- other at Dearborn's tavern, South Weare.

Hickory (Carya alba and porcina) is tolerably plenty. There are two kinds: one has a shag-bark nut, and the other pig-nuts. A few of the first kind are now growing on Alonzo C. Follansbee's farm, and many of the second on the George Mudgett farm, one mile north-west of Oil Mill, and also on the Abraham Melvin place on Barnard hill.

Basswood (Tilia Americana) grows on the highland and is plenty.

White Ash (Fraxinus Americana) , once plenty, is now rare.

Brown Ash (Fraxinus sambucifolia), also once common, has mostly disappeared, having been used for hoop poles and "basket stuff."

Poplar (Populus grandidentata) is a large tree, common on rocky hills.

White Poplar (Populus tremuloides) has dark-colored bark on its trunk, and its young leaves are clothed with white down.

Black Cherry (Primus serotina) is common near streams, and furnishes a handsome ornamental wood.

Buttonwood (Plantanus occidentalis) is a rare tree, a few being found along the rivers.

Many trees have been introduced ; most of them from Europe. They are Lombardy Poplar (Populus nigra), Locust (Robinia pseu- dacacia). Horse Chestnut (^sculus hippocastanum), Balm of Gilead (Populus candicans). Thorn (Crataegus toraontosa). Quince (Cydonia vulgaris). Pear (Pyrus communis), Apple (Pyrus mains), Peach (Prunus vulgaris). Plum (Prunus domestica), Cherry (Prunus ce- rasus), and Mulberry (Morus alba).

Shrubs are more plenty to-day than when the country was first settled. When the land was all woods they were only found by the borders of ponds and streams, on rocky hillsides and in paths made by the hurricane. Clearing the forest increased their growth, and they are now abundant, with their beautiful flowers and luscious fruit, on all uncultivated, cleared land. The following is a partial list: —

Shad bush (Alemanchier Canadensis) bears a profusion of white blossoms.

THE FLORA OF WEARE. 25

Pigeon Cherry (Prunus Pennsylvanica) ; white as snow with flowers ; scarlet with berries of gentle acid.

Mountain Ash (Pyrus Americana) flourishes by wild streams and in the crevices of rocks; white flowers, red berries, which, with its foliage, were food for moose and deer.

White and Red Hardbacks (Spira?a tomentosa and salicifolia) ; white and red flowers ; common by roadsides and in pastures.

Blackberry (Rubus vilosus and Canadensis); two kinds: high and low ; along roads and on the borders of fields.

Raspberry (Rubus strigosus and occidentalis) in newly cleared fields.

Mulberry or Flowering Raspberry (Rubus odoratus) ; with broad leaves, handsome rose-like flowers, and delicious fruit.

Dogwood (Cornus florida and stolonifera) grows in moist soils; white flowers in June, clusters of red, white, and blue fruit in autumn.

Viburnums include the arrow-wood, with pure-white flowers ; withe-rod ; hobble bush, with hydrangea-like blossoms in May, and cranberry bush, with bright-red fruit which ripens after frosts.

Heath family has the kalmias or American laurels, azalea with pink flowers, rhodora with purple flowers that come before the leaves, clethra and rarely the stately rhododendron or great rose bay.

Spoonwood or Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) forms dense thickets in swampy woods and has pink and white flowers and glossy leaves. The little sheep laurel (Kalmia angustifolia), over- running pastures, has a profusion of rose-red flowers.

Trailing Arbutus or May-flower (Epigaea repens) ; fragrant pink and white flowers, among the first of spring.

Creeping Snowberry (Chiogenes) grows on old logs and stumps, with snow-white berries half hidden by the leaves.

Clethra has sweet-scented white flowers in July and August.

Blueberry (Vacinium Pennsylvanicum and corymbosum). The dwarf has the greatest range, in fields and pastures and high up on mountains. The high is common to swamps and shores of ponds.

Huckleberry (Gaylussacia frondosa) flourishes on dry soils.

Cranberry (O.vycoccus macrocarpus) has the same range as the high blueberry.

Winterberry (Prinos verticillatus) is well known for its crimson berries, persistent long after its leaves have fallen.

Striped Maj)le (Acer Pennsylvanicum), witli handsome leaves, grows in higliland woods, and was a favorite food for the moose.

26 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Mountain Maple (Acer spicatum) grows along the banks of rocky streams.

Sumach (Rhus), thi*ee kinds, delights in rocky situations on southern slopes of hills, and in autumn has purple leaves and scarlet spikes of fruit.

Poison Ivy (Rhus toxicodendron).

Alder (Alnus incana) is common by sluggish streams, in pastures, and on mountain tops.

Willow (Salix), seven or eight species, grows in every variety of soil, and is the shrub found nearest the pole.

Labrador Tea (Sedum latifolium) is found in bogs and bears clusters of white flowers in June. In the time of the Revolution it was used as a substitute for tea.

Bayberry (myrica cerifera) yields tallow, and the first settlers made candles of it.*

The herbaceous plants are about the same as when the first clear- ings were made. We give a few of the most common.

Liverwort (Hepatica triloba), with downy, young leaves and white or sky-blue flowers, is the first to appear in early spring.

Yellow Violet or Pansy (Viola) and its blue cousins soon after peer through the brown carpet of fallen leaves in the woods ; and then come:

Ginseng (trifolium and quinquefolium), with white flower;

Yellow Bell Wort (Uvularia), several species, with delicate yel- low flower ;

Wake-robin (Trillium), several species, flower dark purple;

Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum biflorum), with flowering cupola, and

Blood Root (Sanguinaria Canadensis), with its frail blossoms.

Clintonia borealis, with shining leaves and yellow bells, shows itself a little later beneath the shade of hemlocks and about the same time the little

Anemone, many species, or Wind Flower, nods in the open glades, and

* other shrubs are Witch Hazel (Hamnnielis Virginiana), Hornbeam (Carpinus Americana), Leverwoort (Ostrj-a Virginica), ?:i(ler (Sambucus Canadensis and pubens), Snow Ball (Viburnum opulus;, Button Bush {Cephalanthus occidentalis), Leatherwoort or Wicopy fDirca palustris), Sweet Fern (Coniptonia asplenifolia), Bar- berry (Berberis vulgaris), Choke Cherry (Prunus Virginiana), Lilac (Syringa vul- garis. Currant (Ribes rubrum aureum), Skunk Currant (Kibes nigrum) Gooseberry (Ribes Cynosbati, hirtellum, uvacrispa). Dwarf Cherrv (Prunus pumila), Rose (Rosa—), Fever Bush or Spice Bush (Benzoin odoriferum). Hazelnut (Corylus Americana), Sassafras offleinale, Grape Vine (Vitis T.ubi-usca and cordifolia). Wood- bine or American Ivy (Ampelopsis quinquefolia), Andromeda, many species, Sweet Gale (Myrica Gale), Matrimony Vine (Lj^cium barbarum;, Choke Berry (Pyrus arbutifolia), Diervilla.

I

THE FLORA OF WEARE. 27

Bluets (IToustonia coerulea), with white or pale-blue flowers soon follow them.

Saxifrage (Saxifraga Virginieiisis), another early flower, comes up in the crevices of ledges, and its friend, the

"Wild Columbine (Aquilegia Canadensis), called Honey Suckle, with its curiously formed flower, swings in every passing breeze.

Mitrewort (Mitella diphylla) shows its bright, white flower in all marshy places.

Sturdy Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum) stands up under the trees.

Twin Flower (Linnaea borealis), very fragrant, with its nodding, bell-shaped, roseate flowers, trails about the roots of moss-grown trees in upland woods.

Winter Green (Pyrola), four species, some with rose-colored flowers,

Prince's Pine or Pipsissewa (Chiraaphila umbellata),

Indian Pipe and Pine Sap (Mouotropa uniflora and Hypoptiys) 2;row in evergreen woods.

Blazing Star (Chamgelirium luteum) and Wild Lupine (Lupinus perennis) are common by hedges on the borders of fields.

Lady's Slippers (Cypripedium), several species, handsome and stemless, grow under pines.

Touch-me-not, or Jewel Weed (Impatiens fulva), or Wild Balsam, occurs in rich, moist places.

Water Lily (Xymphaea odorata), sweetest of flowers, thrives in muddy ponds. ■

Yellow Lily (Nuphar advena) grows in all ponds.

Canada Lily (Lilium of many species) flourishes in meadows along the rivers, and

Red Lily is common in the pastures.

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis) rears its flaming spikes along brooksidcs in August.

Willow Herb (Epilobium angustifolium) with showy, bright-j)urple flowers, springs up in great profusion in newly cleared lands.

Golden Rod (Solidago), many species, and Asters, in great abundance adorn our fields and pastures in late summer and early autumn

Little Pink Pogonia is found in wet places.

Round-leavod Orchis, with shining leaves, is spread flat upon the ground, and

28

HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

Lady's Tresses (Spiranthes), with little twisted spikes, are half hidden in the grass in late summer.

Gentians (Gentiana crinita and Andrewsii), greatly admired, are among the last flowers of fall, and are found in meadows and along moist hillsides.

Bitter Sweet or Staff Tree (Celastrus scandens). Its arilled seeds, bright scarlet, persist in winter, and

Winter Green, Checkerberry (Gaultheria procumbens) with scar- let berries in close bunches, blazes all winter long.*

The Sedges are a numerous family, more than fifty species, and grow in low, wet meadows.

* HERBACEOUS PLAXTS.

A dash after the Latin name indicates many species.

Anemone, or Wind Flowei'.

Asters.

Agrimony (agrimonia eupatoria).

Angelica (arcliangelica atropurpurea).

Autumn claiidelion (leontodon autum-

nalis). Arrowliead (sagittaria vai'iabalis). Asparagus (asparagus officinalis). Blood root (sanguinaria Canadensis). Bluets (houstonia ccerulea). Blazing star (chaniielirium luteum). Buncli berry (cornus canadensis). Burr-marigold, beggar-ticks (bidens — ). Burdock (lappa officinalis). Balm (melissa officinalis). Blue-curls (bruuella vulgaris). Bindweed (convolvulus arvensis). Carrot (daucus carota). Cinquefoil (potentilla — ). Crowfoot, or Buttercup (ranunculus — ). Cat-tail (typha) . Clintonia borealis. Canada lily (lilium). Cardinal flower (lobelia cardinalis). Cowslip, or Marsh marigold (caltha pal-

ustris). Celandine (cheledoneum majus). Crane's bill (geranium maculatum). Chickweed (stellaria, media). Chick weed (trientalis Americana). Caraway (carum carvi). Coriander (coriandrum sativum). Cow wheat (melampyrum pratense). Colt's foot (tussilago'farfara). Cudweed (gnaphalium — ). Catmint, or Ground ivy (ncpeta cataria

and N. glechoma). Comfrey (Symphytum officinale). DcadlynightshaUe (atropa belladonna). Dandelion (taraxacum dens-leonis). Day lily (hemerocallis fulva). Dog's bane (apocynum and rossemifoli-

um), Dock sorrel (rumcx — ). Evei'lasting (antennaria). Evening primrose (cenothera — ). Elecampane (inula helenum). False Solomon's seal (smilacijui race-

mosa). Fireweed (erechtites hieracifolius).

Ginseng (trifolium and quinquefolium). Golden-rod (solidago — ). Gentians (crinita and Andrewsii). Gold-thread (coptis trifolia). Horse-radish (amoracia rusticana). Horseweed, Hogweed (ambrosia artemisi-

refolia). Hawkweed (hieracium — ). Harebell (campanula rotundifolia). Hop (humulus lupulusl. Indian pipe (monotropa uniflora). Indian tobacco (lobelia inflata). Jack-in-the-pulpit (arisienia triphyllum). Knot-grass (polygonum — ). Liverwort ( hepiitica-triloba) . Ladies' slippers (cypripedium — ). Ladies' tresses (spiranthes — ). Life of man (aralia racemosa). Larkspur (delphinium — ). Live-forever (sempervivum tectorum ). Lettuce (lactuca Canadensis). Loose strife (lysimachia — ). Mallow (malva — ). Mitrewort (mitella diphylla). Mountain Fringe (adlumia cirrhosa). Mustard (brassica — ). Mullein (verbascum thapsus). Milkweed (asclepias — ). Mayweed (anthemis — ). Motherwort (leonurus cardiaca). Morning glory (pharbitis purpurea). Nettle (urtica"— ). Orchis.

Oxeye (heliopsis — ). Prince's pine, or Pipsissewa (chimaphila

umbellata). Pine sap (monotropa — ). Pogonia.

Partridge berry (mitchella repens). Poke, or Gargetweed (Phytolacca decan-

dra). Pitcher plant (sarracenia — ). Poppy (papaver — - ). I'epper grass (lepidum virginicum). Plantain (plantago — ). Pennyroyal (liedeoma — ). Potato (salanum tuberosum). PigwcH'd, or Goosefoot (che'nopodium — ). I'ickerel weed (pontederia cordata). Purslane (portulaca oleracea).

THE FLORA OF WEARE.

29

There are twenty-five, or more, kinds of grass, including the white-top and the blue-joint.*

Of the ferns there are about forty species. Among these the coarse fronds of the bracken, the plume-like ostrich fern, the maiden- hair fern with delicate fronds, and the fragrant wood fern, are common. t

The trailing evergreen (club moss) is found in deep woods and on cold, bleak hillsides.

Mosses and lichens are aliundant, and there are many kinds.

The Indians did not modify the natural vegetation, and there is no evidence that they wei-e preceded by an agricultural race. They planted maize, beans, and pumpkins, — exotic plants derived, from a southern clime.

The Europeans introduced many new species; expelled none. Some native species have become rare ; none are extinct. The influx of European plants was rapid, and it still goes on, new- comers being noticed every year, and the whole number is reckoned by hundreds and perhaps thousands. Some are pests, some are ornamental and useful.

Peavine (amphicarpae nionoica).

Periwinkle (vinca minor)-

Parsnip (peucedanuni sativum).

RhuV)arb (rlieuiu rliaponticuui).

Red lily (liliuni— ).

Rutland beauty (ealystegia sepium).

Rock rose (heliantlienmm — ).

Soapwort (saponaria otHcinalis).

Star grass (hypoxia erecta).

Skull-cap (Scutellaria — ).

Solomon's seal (polygonatum bifloruni).

Saxifrage (saxifraga — ).

Sarsaparilla (aralia nudicaulis).

Skunk cabbage (symplocarpus fcetidus).

Sweet Hag (acorus calanuis).

Strawberry (fragaria virginiana).

Shepherd's purse (capsella bursa pastoris).

Snake head (chelone glabra).

Sow thistle (sonchus arvensis).

St. .lohn's-wort (hyp»!ricum — ).

Sunflower (helianthus — ).

Spearmint peppermint horscmint

(mintlia — ).

Twin Hower (linna^a borealis).

Touch-me-not, or .Jewel weed (impatiens lulva).

Toad-flax, TJulter-and-eggs (liiuiria vul- garis).

Tansj- (tanacetum vulgare). Thbroughwort, boneset (eupatorium — ). Thistle (cirsium lanceolatum and ar-

vense). Thorn apple (datura stramonium). Two-leaved Solomon's seal ( uiajanthe-

mum bifolium). Virgin's bower (clematis — ). Vervain (verbena — ). Violet pansy (viola — ). Wake-robin (trillium — ). Wild columbine (aquilegia Canadensis). Winter green (pyrola — ). Wild lupine (lupinus perennis). Water lily (nymphaui odorata). Willow herb (epilobium angustifolium). Winter green, or Checkerberry (gaulthe-

ria grocumbens). Water-cress (nasturtium — ). Wood sorrel (oxalis aeetosella). Wormwood (artemisia — ). Whiteweed ( erigeron — and leucauthe-

nuim — ). Wild pink (dianthus — ). Yellow violet (viola — ). Yellow bell-wort (uvularia — ). Yellow lily ;nuphar advena ). Yarrow (achillea millt'folium ).

*The following aic .some of the grasses: Herd's grass. Red top. White top, .June grass, Fowl Meadow grass. Orchard grass. Twitch grass, Hassock grass. Creep- ing Soft grass, Sweet-scented N'ernal grass, Cut grass, Hroad-leaved Panic grass, IJarn grass, Manna grass. Hair .stocked Panic grass, Heardcd I>arnid grass. Tickle grass. Freshwater Cord grass, Purple Wood grass, Kabbit-foot clover. Hair grass, Burr grass. Beard grass. Cotton grass, liluc-joint grass.

t Some of the ferns: Common brake, Common i)olypody. Ostrich fern. Swamp fern. Beech fern. Fragrant Wood fern. Fragile Itladder fern. Marsh Shield fern. Oak fern, I.aily fern. Cinnamon fern. Maiden Hair fern, Uoyal or Buck's Horn fern. Sensi- tive fern.

30 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

CHAPTER IV. FAUNA.

Before the glacial epoch Weare had, living on her hills and in her valleys, the mastodon, mammoth, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, the four-toed horse, and many other animals not now inhabiting the country. Some of these are extinct, and others have migrated to the torrid zone. The mastodon and mammoth, like the dodo, have only died out within a few hundred years. These were animals of the tertiary period.

Wihen the ice sheet was slowly coming down from the pole, the white bear, musk ox, reindeer, arctic fox, arctic rabbit, lemmintr, and some other animals, kept front of it, living for a time in Weare, and thousands of years afterwards retreated with it as it melted-. Without doubt the Esquimaux came and went with them.

Moose were the largest animals that hunters and the first settlers found in Weare, and many of them were killed. Their flesh was the farmer's beef. A fat one would weigh twelve hundred pounds ; the upper lip and tongue were esteemed rare delicacies. There is a tradition that Capt. John Lovewell and his party of Indian fighters killed a black one in Weare, when he marched to Mount Lovell. The Indians made moccasins and snow-shoes from their skins.

The deer, cousin to the moose, were very plenty in town. The first settlers often feasted on venison. An old man of Goffstown, in 1850, said he could remember when there were more deer in Weare than sheep.

The caribou, another cousin, was a rare animal, a few stragglers only coming down from the north. It had broad hoofs which an- swered for snow-shoes in the winter wilderness.

The panther, other names lion, cougar, painter, catamount, was the fiercest and most dreaded animal the settlers saw. Still it was an arrant coward in the jDresence of man, never being known to at- tack him. It was a night prowler, and had a weird, unearthly cry, at which dogs and wild animals slunk away. It has been known to kill fifty sheep in a night. Its color is a tawny yellow, and some have been caught eleven feet three inches long.

The wolves came down from the north in packs, and at times would make night hideous with their howling. They were very de- structive to the deer. When famishing they would attack any ani-

THE FAUNA OF WEARE. 31

mal they could find, horses and men not excepted. They have been known to make a meal of raw-hide, eat up an old harness, or devour their wounded companions. Mothers in old times took their chil- dren to the door at night to hear the wolves howl on the hills ; and occasionally tlie wolves themselves put their noses on the small win- dow panes and looked in at the family around the kitchen fire.

The black bear was abundant in Weare ; two to three feet tall, four to six feet long, and would weigh from three to four hundred pounds. Being a fruit-eater, its flesh made dainty steaks upon which the settlers regaled themselves. It was very fond of honey, would hunt out wild swarms, climb the tree, gnaw into them, and eat honey, comb, bees, and all. It hibernated three to four months during the wintei', in caverns, hollow trees, and under great logs. Its skin made a royal robe for the Indian.

The wolverine, or glutton, was sometimes found. It was thirty inches long, fifteen inches high, of a brownish color, and could eat thirteen pounds of meat a day. It killed small animals, and deer, beaver and bears, dropping upon them from the trees. Hunters hated it, for it ate their provision, and would follow their sable lines even when fifty miles long, destroying their traps and devouring their game.

The bay lynx or wild cat, the Canada lynx or loupcervier, the fisher cat or Pennant's marten, and the sable or pine marten were all much sought after by hunters for their furs, and a great many were captured.

The beaver, next to the ant and the Indian, was the most intelli- gent animal the settlers met with in Weare. They lived in com- munities, had laws and executed them even to inflicting the death penalty. They were once very plenty, and their old dams and meadows, where their ponds were, are still to be seen.

These animals have all disappeared from town, but occasionally a straggler of the cat and deer species may appear, straying down from the northern woods and mountains.

The following animals are found in Weare at the present time : otter; musquash; mink, inhabiting the streans and ponds; hedge- hog or porcupine, with its sharp quills ; raccoon, with its cunning, half-human face ; northern hare and gray rabbit, changing their colors to white in winter ; the sly, red fox and the black fox, glittering like silver in the bright sun ; skunk, sweet-smelling at a distance ; wood- chuck, delighting to burrow in clover fields ; stoat, or ermine, with

32 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

*

tail jet black at the tip ; beautiful, tawny weasel, small weasel, little nimble weasel ; gray squirrel, black squirrel, red squirrel, or the chickaree, as the Indians called it, flying squirrel, striped squirrel, or chip-munk ; deer-mouse, that can jump twelve feet at a leap;, little, brown, stai'-nose mole, shrew-mole, Say's least shrew-mole, Brewer's shrew-mole ; bat, we have but one kind ; black rat, Nor- way rat, which drives out the black ; field mouse, which makes such a cunning nest for its young ; jumping mouse, European mouse, white-footed mouse, and meadow mouse.

We give no description of these, for most of them are plenty, and the good people of Weare, and others, can easily find and examine them for themselves.

Weare' s birds aro mostly the same as when the town was first settled. Only one, the wild turkey, has wholly disappeared. It was the largest bird of the New England forest, was very beautiful when in full plumage, and was remarkably shy and wary. A full- grown gobbler would weigh between thirty and forty pounds. They were once plenty in Weare.

At the beginning of the present century wild pigeons were abundant. They went in vast flocks, many millions, that seemingly had no beginning nor ending, making as they flew a great cloud across tlie sky, miles wide and so dense it darkened the sun for hours together. W^hen killed and dressed these pigeons were often found to have in their crops undigested rice from the swamps of Georgia and the Carolinas.

The following birds are found in town during the winter, some coming from the north at the beginning of cold weather, and some remaining the year round. They are the crow, pine grosbeak, butch- er bird, chickadee, ruffed grouse, snow-bunting, blue jay, white- bellied nuthatch, downy woodpecker, hairy woodpecker, Canada sparrow, English sparrow, lesser redpoll, crossbill, cedar bird, Bohemian waxwing, Lapland longspur, snowy and other owls.

The blue-bird, robin, song sparrow and blue snow-bird are the first to return from the South in spring, often making their appearance early in March. Then comes the red-wing blackbird, goldfinch, fox-colored finch, phebe, winter wren, and clape. Following them come a great throng, almost always arriving in the night ; sparrows, thrushes, blackbirds, orioles, swallows, warblers, flycatchers, wrens, vireos, snipe, woodcock, birds of the swamp, various water birds, and the ruby-throated humming bird. Along with them are owls,

1G03.] THE MASONIAX TITLE. 33

hawks and eagles, to kill and destroy, and in the spring and fall the farmer in his field hears wild geese honking from the sky.

Reptiles are numerous: several kinds of turtles, or tortoise ; rattle- snake, the only kind poisonous ; black, striped, green and brown snakes ; house and water adders ; the blue-tailed skink or lizard ; twelve kinds of salamanders ; toads and frogs of many varieties, and hylodes that sing in the spring.

Crickets and katydids sing in late summer and early autumn and make the fields and woods vocal when the birds are silent.

Eleven kinds of fish live in the streams and ponds : trout, pickerel, black bass, dace, perch, chub, shiners, sunfish, suckers, horn-pout and the silver eel ; the last migrate to the sea, and if, in returning, they meet an obstruction in the stream they can not surmount, they crawl ou shore and glide like snakes to the water above.

There are one hundred and twenty-six kinds of spiders, some with four, some with six and some with eight eyes.

Insects are a numerous family. Many of them are a great nuisance and pest, like the louse, bed-bug and Colorado potato beetle, and some are useful and beautiful like the honey-bee and butterfly.

And then there are the vibreos, bacterii, bacillii, animalculoe, without end or number, and that other great swarm of microscopic life, the protista, but whether the last are animals or plants it is im- possible to tell.

CHAPTER V. MASONIAN TITLE.

We shall try to show, in a brief way, how the title to the land in Weare came to its citizens. To do this clearly it will be necessary to tell of the voyages, discoveries, land grants, long lawsuits, and a great line-fight of the early times.

Martin Princ: was the first white man known to have come to our state. He set out from the old world April 10, 1603, and in June, the month of roses, came to the Piscataqua. He calls it "the best river" he had met, and sailed upon its bright, swift tide to the Great bay. His shi]) was the Speechcell, fifty tons, with a crew of thirty men and boys. With him came Capt. William Brown, in 3

34 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1605.

the barque Discoverer, with thirteen men and a boy. They then went to the south, took in a load of sassafras, and got home at the end of six months.

Samuel de Charaplain, a noted man in the annals of Canada, came in his ship, from France, to the Isles of Shoals; made the mouth of the Piscataqua river July 15, 1605, went on shore the next day at the " Cape of the Islands,'''' now known as Odiorne Point in the town of Rye, and there met a few Indians. He gave them knives and beads. They drew for him with a coal a map of the coast to the south, and July 17th, he found "a very wide stream," to which he gave the name "Riviere du Gas," now known as the Merrimack. Champlain, no doubt, was the first white man to set foot on our soil and to find our chief river.*

Capt. John Smith in 1614 came by good luck to the Isles of Shoals ; gave them the name of Smith's Isles, and sailed up the Piscataqua which he found to be " a safe harbor with a rocky shored He went back to England, put in print " A Tale of his Trip " to the new world, made a rough map of the coast, and gave it to Prince Charles, who called the land New England.

Hundreds of other bold navigators had explored the North Amer- ican coast as the centuries rolled by, but these are the only recorded ones who had come to the mouth of the Piscataqua.

Kino- James saw the advantage to be derived from the new country and to promote its settlement, made a grant Nov. 3, 1620, of the whole of New England to the Plymouth Company which was made up of dukes, earls, lords, and knights, forty men in all. This was the first link in our chain of title.

Sir Ferdinando Gorges was one of the company's head men. He was smart, full of life, and would put through any job he took in hand. He had been in the navy, was a friend of Sir Walter Raleigh of whose high spirit he had a large share. Some one had brought him three Indians from the new world. He took them into his house, learned their speech, and found out all he could about the land from whence they came. He fell in love with it, filled it with the brightest air-castles, thought there was a fortune to be made out of it, and was the chief man to get the grant from the king; the company made him their president, and he did most of their work.

Capt. John Mason was first a merchant of London, then a sea cap-

*The first to write of the Merrimack was DeMonts, who beard of it while on the banks of the St. Lawrence, 1604.

1621.] THE MASONIAN TITLE. 35

tain, after that governor^of Newfoundland, and wlien he went home, was made governor of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. Capt. Mason took the place of some one, who died, in the Plymouth com- pany, was its scribe, and soon had as much interest as Gorges in its work. These two men hold a high place in the history of our state. They got grants from the Plymouth Company, of all the lauds about the Piscataqua, and those of Mason were the second link in our chain of title.

Captain Mason's first grant was made to him March 9, 1621, Its bounds were from the river Naumkeag, now Salem, Mass., round Cape Ann on the sea to the river Merrimack, and up each of those streams to the source, and from these last points its west bound to be a straight line. Marianna was the name of this grant.

Mason and Gorges got the next grant jointly, Aug. 10, 1622. It was of all the land from the mouth of the Merrimack to the Sagadahock [Kennebec], and thence to run back to the great lakes and the river of Canada. The name of this grant was Laconia.

While Mason and Gorges thus got the land, David Thomjjson,* a Scotchman, whose home was in Plymouth, England, with three merchants of that place, Abraham Colraer, Nicholas Sherwill and Leonard Pomerie, planned to make a settlement in the new world. They made application to the Council of New England in the fall of 1622 for six thousand acres at Piscataqua and one island in Mas- sachusetts Bay, and Oct. 16th they were granted to Thompson. He at once conveyed one-fourth part of the island to the three mer- chants in fee-simjjle and covenanted to convey one-fourth of the land.

David Thompson, the first white settler of New Hampshire, with his wife and four men, set sail January, 1623, in the shij) Jonathan^ a name which should be as celebrated as the Mayfloioer, and ar- rived at the mouth of the Piscataqua early hi the sjyritiff.-f Three more men came soon after in the ship Providence, and joined him. These vessels with thousands of others from Europe, at this period, whitened with their sails the banks of Newfoundland and New England, whither they had come to fish.

Thompson settled on the west shore of the river and called his new plantation "Pannaway" — maybe the Indians' name. It was changed years after, 1655, to Little Harbor, and is now known as

* His name was variously spelleil Tomson, Tliomson aud Thompson. jMass. Hist. Coll. (lS76),"vol. xiv, pp. 359, 373.

36 HISTORY OF WEAKE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, [1623.

Odiorne Point in Rye. He Avith his men at once built a cabin roofed witli bark, cleared and planted a few acres, set up salt works, hunted in the woods, fished in the sea, and got ready to engage in the fur trade, which was his object in coming to the new woi'ld.

The stones which were the foundation of his house, the old moss- grown well near by and the moxinds of the ancient grave-yard are still to be seen.

His son, John Thompson, was born at Pannaway in 1625. May be he was the first white child of our state.

Thompson and his little" party soon had neighbors. William and Edward Hilton, brothers, the first from the new Plymouth colony, the other direct from old England, with a few men, plenty of food and tools, the very next July or August, 1623, went eight miles uj) the river to the north-west and built their huts on a neck of land called by the Indians Winnichannet. The Hiltons gave the place the English name, Northam, but it is now known as Dover Point. This was the second settlement in Captain Mason's Laconia, now New Hampshire. The third was at Hampton, and the fourth at Exeter.

David Thompson left Pannaway at the end of three years, 1626, and went to live on his island that now bears his name in Massa- chusetts Bay. Long after, 1648, the General Court of that province granted it to his son John, and it remained in the family many years.

Captain Mason and others soon sent men to go on with the work which Thompson had begun. They occupied the cabins he had built, one of which was called the " Large house," cleared more land, began a settlement at Strawberry Bank, now Portsmouth, and in 1628 our Pannaway^ then called PascataquacJc, made a liberal contribution toward the charge of expelling Thomas Morton, a piratical gentleman, from Merry Mount.* A little later Captain Mason and his associates sent two vessels to "Pascataquake"; first, the barque WarwicJce, loaded with butter, cheese, meal, beef and other stores, and then their good ship the Pide- Cowe, with several wives on board for the men. Eighty emigrants came in one year, and the settlement was quite flourishing.

* The following were the contributions :-

£.s.

riimouth 2 10

Naumkeak 1 10

Pascataquack 2 10

Jeffrey and Burslom 2 00

£.s.

Xatascot 1 10

Thomson '. 0 15

Blackston 0 12

Edward Hilton 1 00

— 1 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc, vol. in, p. 63.

1627.] THE MASONIAN TITLE, 37

The Plymouth Company now, so to speak, laid an egg that by and by was destined to hatch a big fight. Why they did it, we do not knoAv, and may be they did not. This was it : March 19> 1627, they made a grant to Sir Henry Koswell and his friends of the land now known as Massachusetts. Its north bound was a line " three English miles to the northward of said river called Monomack alias Merrimack^ or to the northward of any or every part thereof r It was a great mistake to give Sir Henry the same land they gave to Captain Mason as Marianna, and Laconia in part.

But the company soon did another thing just as strange when, Nov. 7, 1629, they gave Captain Mason a new grant. His new south bound was from the middle point of the Merrimack and through said stream to its head.* The strip of land three miles wide north of the Merrimack and all of Marianna was thus twice granted to different parties.

And then to cap the whole, with no thought on the part of the company of its grant to Roswell, to get back his Marianna, Captain Mason got a new grant Aj^ril 22, 1635, of all the land from Naum- keag, now Salem, to his north and east line in the Piscataqua.f

To make it so strong that his title and ours could not fail, Sep- tember, 1635, he had Gorges quit claim to him by deed all his right to that 2:>art of Laconia now called New Hampshire.!

To state it in brief once more, these were Mason's titles : —

Grant of Marianna, March 9, 1621; Laconia, Aug. 10, 1622; New Hampshire,§ Nov. 7, 1629 ; Marianna, once more, April 22, 1635 ; quit claim of Gorges, September, 1635.

It will be seen that Captain Mason's last grants of New Hamp- shire and Marianna, \x\io\i which he would have to rely, were both of a date after that to Sir Henry Roswell. It was held that when he got the last grants he let go the first, and that Roswell now had

* Bounds of Xew Humpshire by the grant of Xov. 7, 1629: "All that part of the mainland in New H^ngland lying uison the sea-coast, beginning from the middle part of Merrimack river, and from thence to proceed northwards along the sea-coast to Pascataqua river, and so forwards up within said river and to the furtherest head thereof, and from thence north-westward until threescore miles be linnished from the first entrance of Pascataqua river; also from Merrimack through said river and to the furtherest head thereof and so forward up into tlic lands westwards until three- score miles be linnislietl ; and from thence to cross overland to the three-score miles' end accomptetl from Pascataqua river, together with all islands and isletts within live leagues distance of the premises, ami abutting on the same."

It is said the patent to Captain Mason for New Hampshire in 1629 was made in pur- suance ot an agreement of Mason and Gorges to make the Pascataqua the lUvisional line between them. — Province Papers, vol. i, pp. 23, 'J6.

t i'rovince Papers, vol. i, p. 32.

X Idem, p. 41.

§The name " New Hampshire" was not fixed upon the place till 167'J. — J/aAS. Hist. Coll. (187GJ, vol. xiv,p. 37o.

38 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1635.

the first grant and would hold his north bound to a point three miles north of the Merrimack. But Mason did not seem to see these facts. He felt that all was sure and he was brave to ^o on to clear land, plant, make salt, mine, hunt, fish and get rich. But death soon caught him. He died between Nov. 26, 1635, when his will was made, and Dec. 22, 1635, when it was proved.

He had no son, and so gave his lands, houses and goods to his grandsons, John Tufton and Eobert Tufton, sons of his dauiyhter Jane Mason Tufton,* if they would take the name of Mason. They took the name. John died in youth, Eobert got the whole, and he was the third link in our chain of title.

To make it plain, these are its Masonian links: Capt. John Mason\ Robert Tufton Mason^, who took the name of Mason and died in 1688, aged 56; Robert Tufton Mason^ who lived at Ports- mouth and was lost at sea in 1696; John Tufton Mason*, who died at Havana, and John Tufton Mason^, born in 1713.

After Captain Mason's death much of his personal estate was lost. The men he had to care for it took it for their own use and as pay for their work for him. They drove most of the stock through the woods to Boston and sold it.f Some of the houses were burnt, and the rest they said were their own. New Hampshire was joined to Massachusetts in 1641, and the civil wars in England were bars to suits.

Anne Mason, widow of Captain John, was the executrix of his will. In 1650 she sent Joseph Mason, to America to look up and take care of the grants. He found that Richard Leader had the land at Quampeagan falls on the Newicbwannock river, and he sued him in the court of Norfolk. This court thought they had no right to hear the case, as the land might not be in their jurisdiction, and it was sent to the Great and General Court of Massachusetts, which said they must find the north line of their province and then they could tell whether they could try the case or not.

So in 1652 they sent Cajjts. Edward Johnson and Simon Willard, with John Sherman and Jonathan Ince, surveyors, and some Indian guides^ to find the line which must be three miles north of the head of Merrimack river, as was set forth in Sir Henry Roswell's grant. They set out from Boston the last of July, went to Pawtucket falls

* .Jane Mason marrierl Josepli Tufton.

t One Norton drove a huudrecl bead of cattle to Boston, where he sold them at £20 Rtei-lin{? a liead. They were of the Danish breed, the tirst cattle brought into the state having been imported from Denmark. — Whiton's N. H.,p. 18.

1652.] THE MASONIAN TITLE. 39

on the Merrimack, hired the Indian guides, made a canoe* and sailed, rowed and poled up the river shaded by the cool woods. They passed Nashua in their frail craft, pulled by the falls, carried round at Namaoskeag and Isle au Hooksett, and in due time came to the crotch of the stream where the shad and the salmon were wont to part company. Here they left their boat and took to the forest. They marched up the swift, tumbling stream, by the chain of beautiful bays, to find the head of the river, which the Indians said was at Aquedochtan.f the outlet of Lake Winnipesaukee. Aug. 1st they got there, and were the first white pleasure party to that place now called the Weirs, where so many thousand tourists go every summer.

They found the latitude was 43° 40' 12", and as tjje line must be three miles north of the head of the river, they added three miles, which made the latitude of tlie line 43° 43' 12", and a line drawn due east and west through this point from New York to the sea, they said was the north line of Massachusetts.

Before they left they cut upon a stone, whose flat top was just

above the water, '• their mark," which at this day reads thus : —

"E J s w

W P JOHN

EXDICUT Gov."

which means —

EDWARD JOHNSOX, SJMON WILLAKD,

WORSHIPFUL JOHN EXDICUT, Governor.

This Stone is now known as " Exdicott rock," and is now care- fully preserved by the state.

Then they hurried back down the Aquedochtan to their canoe, made fast time in the swift current of the Merrimack, shot the rapids and the falls and at the end of nineteen days were safe at home again. The trip cost £84. :|:

The surveyors made their report to the General Court, and it held that some of the land should be laid out to Mason's heirs.

Joseph Mason did not try to get any more of the grants, but went home with his mind made up that they were lost if England did not set things right. He had seen the temper of the folks and did not

* The following are items in their account : " Ipr. for makinf? the Koto & Ores, with all the Hoards & stutt", £3 Is Orf. Contra— the Bote and some Uutl' &c. that were lett, £2 17s 0<l." — X. II. Hist. Coll., vol. iv, p. 197.

t Spelled " Ahquedaukon" by Potter. — //is^ of Manchester, p. 113.

i Farmer's Belknap, p. 57; Potter's Manchester, p. 113; N. H.Hiat. Coll., vol. iv, p. 194.

40 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1677.

like the way they acted in his suit. He had won his case in part, and it was a victory for Mason's heirs.

Robert Tufton Mason- was a loyalist, and could do nothing under Cromwell. But when King Charles II came to the throne, Mason^ went to him twice with his case; the king each time sent it to his attorney-general, who held that Mason- had a good and legal title to the grants. It then went to the Lords of Trade, who set a time to hear it, and notified Massachusetts to come to court. In 1677, that province said she made no claim to the lands only to a point three miles north of the Merrimack. The court then told the king that the case was not between Mason"^ and Massachusetts, but between Mason"^ and those who lived on the land, and that there was no court in which it coul4 be tried.

So in 1679, that Mason- might get his grants, New Hampshire was made a royal province, with Jolin Cutt of Portsmouth, governor. Edward Randolph, Mason^'s kinsman, a man of good address, stern, smart and full of pluck, brought the commission, and the new gov- ernment was set up. Mason^ soon came from England with author- ity to take his seat in its council, and at once tried to collect his rents and have the people take leases of him. Most refused, and he found it u23-hill work. He got iiilo trouble, and to avoid arrest went to England. Governor Cutt died within a year.

Mason'^ at once went to the king, and by deeding to him one fifth part of the quit rents, got him to make Edward Cranfield lieutenant- governor of the province. To get Cranfield to take the place he made a deed to him of the whole of the grants for twenty-one years, for wliich Cranfield was to pay £150 annually for seven years.

Cranfield was just the man for the place. He could play the tyrant, had a great love of wealth, and to get rich was the one thing on which he had set his heart.

Mason^ and he soon came to America. By his commission he could choose his own ofiicers, fix the court, put in or out the judges, and name his own council. The assembly knew Ins love of gold, and to win him to their side gave liim £250 for his own use. He took the funds, but was true to Mason-.

P^eb. 14, 1683, he said that all who held land must take leases of Mason'-, but they would not have to pay back rents; some took them, but the most refused.

Cranfield put new men in his council, made Waltei- Barefoot judge, Mason^ chancellor, Edward Randolph attorney-general, and

1683.] THE MASONIAN TITLE. 41

James Sherlock sheriff.* Some who did not like the old clique who had " run the province," and some who were bribed to take leases of Mason^, were made under sheriffs, jurors and witnesses.

Mason" then brought forty suits, and more, one of which was against Major Waldron, of Dover, who was afterwards killed by the Indians. With such a court and jury, Waldron stoutly protest- ing, all the defendants suffered default, and Mason- got judgments and executions.

Major Vaughan, one of defendants, took an appeal to the king. To try it Mason^ had to go to England, but before he went he gave to Jonathan Tyng, and nineteen others, a deed of a long strip of land on both sides of the Merrimack, six miles in breadth, from Souhegan to Lake Winnipesaukee, which they had hitherto bought of the Indians. For it he and his heirs were to have a yearly rent of ten shillings. This was called '•'•the million acre purchased He also sold to Hezekiah IJjther, the right to work the mines for a thousand years, reserving to himself one-fourth part of the royal ores. These sales were made to fix his claim to the waste land. He set sail June, 1686, and Nov. 6th, that year, beat Mr. Vaughan.

In the spring of 1687, he came back with bright hopes to enforce his claims and get his rents. But now he got "cast." Sir Edmund Andros had been made governor of all New England. A new set of men had been put in the courts and other places, who envied Mason^'s claim, and thought to share it. New Hampshire would do nothing for him, and he tried to get his cases sent to the high court for all New England, then held at Boston. But all at once death put an end to his work. He died in August or September, 1688, at Esopus on the Hudson, and left two sons, John^ and Robert^, heirs to his claim.

New Hampshire now wished to unite again with Massachusetts, but was not able to do so. The king was silent as to their re- quest, and for a long while they could not learn the reason. But at last it came out. John Tufton Mason^ and Robert Tufton Mason'* had sold the Capt. John Mason grants to Samuel Allen, merchant of London, for £750, and he wanted to get rich out of them. To do this he got the king, March 1, 1692, to make him governor of the jirovince, and his son-in-law, John Usher, lieuten- ant-governor. Allen (lid not try to enforce his claim for some years,

* His council wei-e Nathaniel Fryer, Robert Elliot, John Hiuckes, James Sherlock, Francis Chauipernoon and Edward Kaudolph.

42 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1700.

and when he did, he found that the files of the court in all the Mason'^ cases had been stolen. So in 1700, he brought new suits. But now the court was in the hands of the defendants, and they took care to fix it and pack the jury on their side. Richard Waldron, son of Major Waldron, with whom Mason^ had the suit, was now defend- ant. At the trial Allen was "cast," and of course had to pay cost. He took an appeal to the king, and it was held that he might bring a new suit, and that the waste lands were his. Dec. 22, 1703, he took them by " turf and twig^'' as the custom then was. New Hampshire now tried to buy him out; he said he would sell, but he died May 5, 1705, the day before the deed was to be made.

His only son Thomas Allen did not want to sell. By leave of Queen Anne, he brought a new suit against Waldron first in the court of common pleas where he was cast and then in the high court. The queen ordered that the jury should find a special ver- dict for Allen, but though sent out twice they refused and found for Waldron. This trial was one of the most noted ever had in New Hampshire. Allen at once went to the queen with the case, but his death put an end to it, and his heirs being minors did not renew it.

And now it seemed as though our chain of title through Mason's grants and his heirs and their assigns had come to an end, and it looked for a long time as though the titles to New Hampshire lands west of the Merrimack, would be through the grant to Sir Henry Roswell.

How the great dispute about the south boundary line of our state arose, what was done in the premises, and how by its settlement Mason's heirs were enabled to assert their claim once more, and come into possession of the land, and our title through them con- tinue, we shall try briefly to narrate.

CHAPTER VI. BOUNDARY LINE.

Massachusetts had watched all the proceedings of the Masons. She had seen how Allen had been beaten by fraud, that both Mason's and Allen's claims had every time been Sustained in England, and now she began to fear that she might lose a part of

1731.] THE BOUNDARY LINE. 43

her own territory and that her north boundary line might be fixed in accordance with Captain Mason's grants.

Heretofore, she had pursued a vacillating policy in regard to that line, claiming it in many different places. Once she said it was by Mr. Weare's house in Hampton, then as far north as Pennacook, soon after up as far as the '•'• J£nclicott tree'*'' three miles north of the forks of the Merrimack; a fourth time at a point three miles north of the '■'• Endicott rock'''' at the outlet of Lake Winnipesaukee, and then she came before the Lords of Trade in 1677 and said she did not claim the land only to a point three miles north of the mouth of the Merrimack.

The exact place of the line three miles north of the river follow- inor its bends was hard to fix, but Massachusetts marked it out on her map three miles off from the stream from the ocean to " Endi- cott's tree,'''' but no survey of it had ever been made.

On account of this there was trouble on the border all the time. It was about where they should vote, pay taxes, do military duty, go to court and what officers should arrest them when they commit- ted trespass on timber lands, or did other wicked things. There was a conflict of jurisdiction, and the officers of the one province often arrested and put in jail those of the other. Offenders escaped punishment when brought to court by setting up that they lived in the other province.

Governor Allen tried to fix the line in 1696 so that he might know the bounds and stop the stealing of trees. He had the line run on his own account as far west as folks lived. New Hampshire tried to have it done in 1708, 1713 and in 1716; and both sides in 1719 chose men to adjust it, but Massachusetts, by some quibble, thwarted the effort. The border troubles went on, and Governor Belcher in 1731 tried to settle the boundary, but the Massachusetts committee, led by Elisha Cooke, prevented it.

New Hampshire was disgusted and applied to the king for aid. John Rindge, merchant, of Portsmouth, went to London to trade and was agent for our province. He got John Thomlinson, mer- chant of London, a keen, shrewd, sharp, long-headed man, to aid him. Thomlinson put £1,200 into the case, and, of course, after that he never let it sleep. He set his lawyer, John Ferdinando Parris, to work, and he exerted all his energy. Massachusetts was notified. Then she came to New Hampshire and wanted to leave it out again, iier old tactics, but our province refused.

44 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1734.

This increased her fears that she might be beaten, and to prevent a total loss she determined to take time by the forelock, get possesion of the lands and with them enrich her own people. So she at once beo-an to srant them to her citizens and to offer great inducements to forward their settlement. She tried to hide her purpose under the cloak of patriotism. New Hanipshire comprehended her brilliant diplomacy and to thwart it made grants of some of the same land, but Massachusetts persisted in her course and under the pretense that she would need a line of towns on the frontier to keep out the French and Indians, she laid out and made grants of the double row of nine towns from the Merrimack to the Connecticut, and four more towns on the east side of the latter stream, with two on the west.* These were called '■'■towns for defence.''''

Then she voted nine towns to the heirs of the men who fought in King Philip's Indian war in 1675. These were known as the nine Narragaxset towns, but only seven of them were laid out.f

To pay the men who went with Sir William Phipps, 1690, to fight in Canada, a score or so of towns were granted them, one of which was our town of Weare, and all Avere called Canada town- ships.t

While Massachusetts thus made these grants, John Eindge kept at work on the line case.§ He put in a petition for New Hampshire in his own name. It was sent to the Lords of Trade, and they gave notice to Massachusetts to come and defend. She held back and

* Massachusetts had already laid out Pennacook, now Concord, Kontakook (Bos- cawen and Webster) and Baker, or Gerrish town, otherwise called Stevenstown.now Franklin. ^ . ., „ _

The VIVE Towvs for defevce were : No. 1. Warner, 2. Bradford, 3. Camden fnow Washington) and Fishersfleld (now Newbury), 4. Lempster and a part of Acworlh, 5. Hopkinton, 6. Henniker, 7. Hillsborough, S. Windsor and parts of Stoddard and Washington, 9. parts of Marlow, Alstead and GUsum. There were four towns in the north row and tiye in the south.

The FOUR TOWVS FOR DEFEVCE On the east side of the Connecticut river were : No. 1. Hinsdale and Chesterfield, 2. AVestmorland, 3. Walpole, 4. Charlestown, for- merly caUed Number Four.

t N \RR \GAVSET TOWNS. No. 1 is now Buxton, Me. ; 2. Westmmster, Mass. ; 3. parts of Amherst, Merrimack, Milford and Mount Vernon ; 4. included the present town of Goffstown and part of the city of Manchester, but as the grantees reported that they found the land so poor and barren as to be altogether incapable of makmg a settle- ment, it was abandoned, and another township, at a place called Quabbin, now Green- -ssach, Mass., was assigned to them in its stead; 5. Bedford and parts of Manchester and Merrimack ; 6. Templetou, Mass. ; 7. Gorham, Me. They were called Narraganset No. 1, Narraganset No. 2, etc. . ^

J Canada Towvs. 1. AVeare, 2. Bow, 3. Lyudeborough, 4. New Ipswich, 5. Peter- borough, 6. Richmond, 7. Rindgc, 8. Salisbury, etc. They were known as, 1. Canada to Beverly, 2. Caiuida to Dantzick, 3. Canada to Saletn, 4. Canada to Ipswich, 5. Canada to Ilarwood, 6. Canada to Sylvester, 7. Canada to Rowley, 8. Canada to Baker or Stevens, or Capts. John March, Stephen Greenleaf and Philip Nelson.

§ Our province in a like manner said that what she did was to fix the line so those near it might know where to pay taxes, vote, cut trees and go to court. But tliis was not the whole truth. It was also done to get clean rid of the bay province, to own the waste land, to make gi-ants and get rich. New Hampshire men were told the grants would be made to them, and of course they said "go on with the case."

1737.] THE BOUNDARY LINE. 45

said she did not want a trial, and then went right on as usual making grants.

Parris, in 1733, put the question: "From what part of the Mer- rimack river shall the line start?" It was sent to the attorney-gen- eral, and both sides were heard,

Massachusetts put in the grant to Roswell, and the charter of William and Mary which had the same bounds.

New Hampshire put in the grants to Capt. John Mason.

It was found June 5, 1734, that according to the charter of William and Mary, " The division Jine ought to be taken from three miles north oi the mouth of the Merrimack where it runs into the sea."

Then the Lords of Trade said the kinsj should name men from the provinces near by to fix the line. Eight of them met at Hampton, Aug. 1, 1737. Some time was spent to get to work, and Aug. 10th, our General Assembly met at George's inn, Hampton Falls, north of the line, and the Great and General Court of Massa- chusetts met at Salisbury, south of the line and not five miles off. Exactly what these great and general courts met for we have never found out, probably that they might have a good influence on the commissioners. At anv rate thev had a "great time," and how they got there has been well set forth, thus : —

" Dear Paddy, you ne'er did behold such a sight, As yesterday morning was seen before night, You in all your bom days saw, nor I did n't neither, So many fine horses and men ride together. At the head the lower house trotted two in a row; Then all the higher house pranced after the low. Then the governor's coach galloped on like the wind. And the last that came foremost were troopers behind ; But I fear it means no good, to your neck or mine ; For they say 'tis to fix a right place for the line."

There was much talk, and a great deal of time spent. The gov- ernor, to while it away, with some friends rode through the woods to "the mighty falls at Skeag." He came back well pleased with his trip.

The commissioners heard the case and all the "proofs" were put in.

Massachusetts said the line should run from a point three miles north of the Black Rocks* parallel with tlie stream, and tliree

* The Black Rocks are in the north bank of the Merrimack, just west of its mouth. Thej' are now as plain to be seen as when the great and general courts met there more than a hundred and lifty years ago. The south point of them at mean tide is the south end of the three-mile liiie. Many pleasure excursions are made these late days to the Black Kocks.

46 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

[1738.

miles from it to the crotch, where tlie Pemigewasset and Winnipe- saukee meet, and from thence due north three miles to a tree known for more than seventy years past as the Endicott Tree* and then due west to New York.

New Hampshire said that the line should run from the point three miles north of the Black Rocks due west to New York. That the line might not go up the river, she said she would give up a strip of land nearly fifteen miles wide across the whole south end of our state.

The king's commissioners were no doubt well "log-rolled." They found that if the facts were one way the line should be as Massa- chusetts said; if another way it should be as New Hampshire said; also, that there was a law point in the case for a higher court to decide, and so in fact they drew their pay and did not find at all.

Both sides took an appeal to the king. Wilkes and Partridge, on the death of Edmund Quincy, 1738, were counsel for Massachusetts; Thomlinson and Parris were for New Hampshire, and they were too many guns for the bay province. By their shrewd, smart work New Hampshire got more than she could ask or hope. Parris was very dexterous in his "petition of appeal." He recited all the circum- stances attending the whole transaction from the bejrinnino:. and colored them in such a manner as to asperse the governor and as- sembly of " tlie vast, opulent, overgrown province of Massachusetts," while "the poor, little, loyal, distressed province of New Hampshire" was represented as ready to be devoured, and the king's own prop- erty and possessions swallowed up, by the boundless rapacity of the charter government. England thought Massachusetts was not quite loyal, and hated her Puritanism. On the other hand, she thought New Hampshire was true, and liked her leading men, many of whom were members of the state church.

It was brought in, Aug. 5, 1740, that the line should start from a point on the sea three miles north of the Black Rocks, and then to run on the course of the stream three miles off to a point at a hard pine treef three miles due north of Pawtucket falls, and thence in a straight line due west to New York. This line gave to New Hampshire a territory about fifty miles long by fourteen wide more than she claimed at the hearings. {

It is said the place of tlie Endicott Tree can not now be found, but we do not see

1741.] THE BOUNDARY LINE. 47

As a reason for thus fixing the line, it was said that when the first <yrants were made the land was not well known, that the course of the stream was thought to be from west to east, and it would be riglit for the line to be parallel to it as far as the stream so run ; and if the stream bent to the south, it would not be right to run the line south, and so not right to turn it north when it was found the stream came from that way.

Thus was the danger to the Masonian title, through which ours comes, averted, and our chain of title kept whole. But Massachu- setts was so enraged about the decision that she would not help run the line, and her historians have generally ignored the whole subject in their works.

The line was run for our state three miles north of the river, in February and March, 1741, by George Mitchell, from the sea to the hard pine tree, and by Richard Hazen west of that to New York. It is said that Hazen, by order of Governor Belcher, allowed ten deo-rees for the variation of the needle when he should have al- lowed but six degrees and forty minutes, thus making the line cross the Connecticut river two and one-fourth miles too far north, and losing from New Hampshire over eighty square miles of terri- tory.* Yet the new line cut off from Massachusetts twenty-eight towns and placesf and gave them to New Hampshire, and also gave her what is now Vermont.

As the contest to fix the line had gone on, John Tufton Mason*, son of Eobert Tufton Mason^ who sold to Allen, thought he would try and annul that sale.

It was said that his father, Robert^ and uncle, John', could not sell for a longer term than their own lives, and that the fiction by which the land was held at tlie time of the sale to be in England made the sale void, and that the sale was only to Allen himself and not to his heirs ; and so the entail to him. Mason, was still good.

* A commission was appointed by eac-h state in 18-2o to rectify this mistake, but it failed to accomplish any thing. Three commissioners were appointed by each state in 1885, " for the purpo'se of ascertaininf? and establishing: the true jurisdictional boundary between the two states." They are still entjaged in their duties, and as yet, 1886," have made no report.

t It " cut oflr from Massachusetts," says Douglass, " the constituted, but not repre- sented, towns of Humford, Litchfield oh Merrimack river, with part of Nottingham, West [Hudson] and Dunstable, part of Groton and Town.scnd, part of Northlicld ; and the districts and grants not incorporated were Merry's Town, Contoocook, tin- nine townships commonly called the double row of Frontier towns against the French and their Indian auxiliaries; the row of four townships on the east sidi' of the t'onnecti- cut river, the row of two townships west side of Connecticut river, Canada to tiallop and others, Canada to Sylvester and others. Lower Ashuelot, Upper Ashuelot. Canada to Kowley, Canada to Salem, Canada to Ueverly [Weare], Narraganset No. 3, Narra- ganset No. 5, Lane's New Boston and the township to Ipswich."— Douglass' Summai-y, Hist, of Amherst.

48 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1746.

But while trying to get, as he thought, his rights, and to earn the means to pay for a suit, John Tufton Mason* died in Havana, 1718, where he had gone to trade.

His first son, John Tufton Mason^, born 1713, took up the case and tried to make good his claim. Massachusetts, as we have said, thought it might be a good one, and, while the line case was on trial bought for £500 all the lands to which he had a claim, lying be- tween the Merrimack and their north line as far west as the hard pine tree near Pawtucket falls. Then they sent him to England to work on their side of the line case, but he soon fell out with them, met Thomlinson and made a trade with him to sell the rest of his claim to New Hampshire for £1,000. Thomlinson tried to have our province close it, but they let it rest for a long time, then all at once said they would buy. They were too late, John Tufton Mason^ Jan. 30, 1746, sold his whole claim for £1,500 to twelve men,* in fifteen shares.

New Hampshire was indignant and made trouble about it, but she had to submit to it. Allen's heirs and their assigns also tried to get the land once more, but they, too, in the end, had to get out of the way.f

The twelve men, known as the Masonian Proprietors or the Lord Proprietors, to whom several others^ were soon joined, at once put a deed of quit claim on record to the seventeen old towns east of the Merrimack, and made peace where they could with the men who had claims in the new ones laid out by Massachusetts. Yet some of the settlers in the new towns quit their farms, but the most held on and got new deeds. Our province also did well enough, for the Masonian lands were only about one sixth of the whole territoiy, as the new lines made it, and there was plenty of other land out of which the governor and his council could make grants of townships and get rich.

Thus the long fight, that had gone on for a hundred years, and in which kings, queens, earls, dukes and lords, sir knights, and keen lawyers took a part, came to an end. From this time, 1746, the

* The purchasers were: Theodore Atkinson (three fifteenths), M. H. Wentworth (two tifteenths), Richard Wibird, John Wentworth (son of the governor), George Jaf- frey, Nathaniel Meserve, Thomas Packer, Thomas Wallingford, Jotham Odiome, Josliua Pierce, Samuel Moore and John MoflFatt, one fifteenth each.

t Thej^ made much trouble and blufl'ed some men to pay them small sums for quit claim deeds.

X Among these were John Thomlinson who worked so pei'sistentlj' for New Hamp- shire in the line case, and John Tufton Mason"' who sold to the twelve men.

1746.] THE MASONIAN TITLE. 49

Masonian Proprietors held the land, and at once began to make grants and stretch out their lines.

In their haste to get wealth they laid out townships before they marked the boundaries of their purchase. It was soon found that their eight Monadnock towns* were outside of a straight line draAvn from the end of the crooked line sixty miles from the sea, to the north end of the east line up the Piscataqua, and they were put to their wits' end to fix it. But it is said they did it in this way: they run the south line straight from the sea sixty miles to a point in Fitzwilliam, ten miles or so west of the former end of the line in Rindge, and then they said the north-west line must be in all places sixty miles from the sea, and so they made it a curve, like the curve of the sea coast, and took in all their new towns. This curve is shown on some of the old maps of the province, and is known as the "Masonian Curve," but they could not run it twice in the same jilace, and on some maps one and a half or two curves are shown.

But when the revolution was over, the curve line, being itself uncer- tain, made it hard to tell where the bounds of the towns near it were. Allen's heirs and assigns also set up claims to the waste lands, and some suits were brought. The state, we were no longer a province, to quiet the titlesf and fix town bounds held, 1786, that the west line should be a straight linet and not a curve, and that Allen's heirs had no claim to any land west of the straight line. Then the Masonian Proprietors bought the land of the state between the straight line and the curve for $40,000 in secui-ities, and $800 cash, and made the town lines as they thought they should be.

Thus from King James I, through the Plymouth Company, Capt. John Mason and his heirs, and the Lord Proprietors, one of whom was John Tuftou Mason^, came our titles which thus far have stood all tests and trials.

* Monadnock Xo. 1, or South Monailnock, is now Rindge; 3Ionadnoek Xo. 2, or Mid- dle Monadnock, .Jaffrey; Monadnock Xo. 3, or Xortli Monadnock, Dublin; Monadnock Xo. 4, Fitzwilliani ; IMonadnock Xo. .5, Miirlborough ; Monadnock Xo. 6, Nelson ; Monadnock Xo. 7, .Stoddard or Limerick ; Monadnock Xo. S, Washington.

t Province Papers, vol. x, p. 275.

X Tliis line ran through Weare from north-east to south-west, entering Weare from Hopkinton, running out of it into Francestown and dividing our town into two nearly equal parts.

50 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1623.

CHAPTER VII. • INDIANS.

What race of men lived in our land in pleiocene times can not now be told. Along with the ice-sheet which succeeded came the wicked Scraelings, as the Indians called the Esquimaux, they were here thousands of years, and it is said their stone tools have been found in the drift. Heat and the red Indians drove them back to the north.

Whence came the Indians is as hard to tell as whence the pleio- cene man. Some think from eastern Asia, and point for proof to his Mongol face. No doubt the Indians like all other animals had their origin from the moner, evolved through countless ages.

The Indians of New England were Algonquins, one of the eight great tribes that held the land now called the United States. They occupied the coast from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Fear, were divided into many small tribes, and each of these into clans.

The Nipmuck was the tribe that lived in the Merrimack and Connecticut valleys. It was the name they gave themselves, and means fresh water Indians, from nipe (fresh water), and auke (a place). The early writers of New England history variously spelled the name Nipmuck, Nipmug, Nipnet and Nopnet.

The clans of Nipmuck Indians on the Merrimack were known as the Agawams at its mouth ; the Pawtuckets at Pawtucket falls ; the Nashuas ; Souhegans ; Namaoskeags ; Pennacooks ; Winnipe- saukees; Pemigewassets, and above the last the Coos. These names were but a freak of the early writers. All any small tribe or clan had to do was to chaage the place of their residence a few miles, and they often did it, and they had a change of name, it being that of the new place to which they removed. If a few families went to Amoskeag falls to fish they were Amoskeags, to Pennacook to plant they were Pennacooks, and if in late autumn the same fami- lies went to Lake Winnipesaukee where they could fish- through the ice and hunt on the hills, they were Winnipesaukees.

It must be certain that each town in our state has had at some time a great tribe of red men in it, and as we have seen the name of the tribe was the same as their name for the place where they were. The town of Weare had hills and dales full of wild game, large streams alive at certain seasons with the speckled trout and

1623.] THE NIPMUCKS. 51

golden salmon, rich land to plant and of course the " Poscatta- quoags," a small tribe, had been here, off and on, for centuries.

They were similar to all other Indians in the country. They were tall, straight, and well made, eyes black, hair long and coarse, color a bronze, their health the best.

The men did not like to work. They wage war, hunt and fish, sing and dance, and have games of chance and spoi'ts.

The squaws do all the hard labor. They bring home the fish and game, get the wood, light the fire and cook the food. They make baskets of willow or ash, mats of reeds, rushes and corn husks, and clothes of skins.

They built the wigwams. These were rude huts made of poles set in the ground in a circle, bent together at the top, tied with a withe, and covered with mats, skins, or bark of trees. A hole was left in the top for the smoke to go out, and another at one side for a door, closed in winter with the skin of a bear, and so low they had to crawl in and out. They slept on mats and soft furs. For a fire- place they set up a stout pole in the center, put a flat stone on its edge by it, and made a hearth of small rocks let into the ground. A branch or limb was left on the fire-pole for a peg on which they hung their clay pots. These were frail houses, and new ones had to be built at each change of residence. They were filthy, and they were often burned to get rid of the fleas, which were called poppeh^ from the fact they could jump so quick.

They clear their small half-acre fields by girdling the trees and burning the underbrush. They break up the mellow ground with their hoes made of bone, wood or stone. When the leaves on the oak are as large as a mouse's ear they begin to plant. The shad and salmon, alewives and laniper eels are coming up the river now by the million, and they enrich the land by putting a large fish in each hill. Maize or corn is the chief crop, but they also raise pumpkins, squashes, melons and beans from seeds that were first brought from the south. Tliey round up the hills, kill the Aveeds and set the children to scare away the squirrels and crows.

The men make their own tools and weapons, axes, knives, awls, needles, gouges, arrow- and spear-heads, mortars and pestles, of quartz, jasper, schert, jade, hornblende, flint and slate, canoes of birch bark sewed with roots or fine strips of rawhide on a light frame work of spruce, the holes made tight with pitch, paddles of bass and ash, both canoe and paddles weighing less than forty

52 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1623.

liounds. A man could carry a canoe round rapids and falls, and from pond to pond on his back, and five men could safely ride in it.

To hunt they had bows, arrows and spears. They bent down a small tree, cut off the top, a peg just holds it, a snare is put on its end, and in it they caught deer, rabbits, grouse and other small game ; for mink, sable and wild cats, they set culheags or dead falls, and for moose, deer and bears, they made a drive by building two long fences in the form of the letter V just open at its apex. All the old men, women and children would go up the valley and on the hills upon either side, start up the game with whoops and shouts, hurry it into and through tlie drive, where it was killed by the hunt- ers at the apex. What meat they did not eat at once they smoked or dried at the wigwam fire for future use.

War was their delight. Forty men would go on the war-path, but often no more than five or six. It was glory they sought. The young war-chief led them. The old sachems were for the coun- cil. To fight they used bows and arrows, spears and war clubs, tomahawks of stone and scalping knives of bone. They hardly ever engaged in open combat, but relied upon the deadly ambush, stratagem, and often crept upon their victims when they were sound asleep at early dawn. Captives they tortured, and the scalps of their dead foes were hung on the poles of their wigwams. When they were tired of this they made peace and smoked the calumet.

In the spring when the fish came up the rivers from the ocean, they had the shad and salmon dances. When maize was ripe enough to roast they circled in the green corn dance, and when game was plenty in autumn they often joined at night, beneath the ghostly trees which were lighted by their spectral fires, in the wild hunters' dance.

When one died the body was wrapped in skins and seated in his grave, face to the rising sun. His ornaments, bows and arrows, tools, paint and food were buried with him, for the soul would need them on its journey to the land of shades. The Indians were much attached to the graves of their friends, and made sacred mounds above them which they planted with wild flowers.

They had an infinite number of gods, great and small, good and bad. (Sitche Manitou was their great god, and his home was on the mountain tops. All that had life or motion had a divinity in it. They saw a spirit in every blade of green grass, in the waving for-

1623.] INDIANS IN WEARE. 53

est trees, in the flow of the blue river, the leap of the water-fall, the trickling drops of the grotto, and heard it in the voice of the winds. Bright shades danced in the stars, glided on the moonbeams, smiled in the rosy dawn and in the golden sunset. These would never die, but M'ith the spirits of the dead Indians would live for- ever in the hajipy luuiting-grounds of the far south-west.

The Indians, who at times lived in Weare, have a history, but it is not written in books. It consists of their bones dug iip in making excavations or their stone implements turned up by the plow.

Once they had a home by the Hodgdon meadow. Here was a fertile soil to plant, much game and good fishing waters. Moses A. Hodgdon found arrowheads, a stone axe, and a large pestle or stone to dress skins. It is eighteen inches long, two inches thick, made of hornblende, and one side looks as though it had been oiled.

Alvah Gove, who lived near Hodgdon' s, found arrowheads and a stone axe, and Obadiah Gove picked up a stone gouge neatly made.

Thomas and John Follansbee, when they lived near the Harlan Mar- shall place, three miles above Oil Mill, found a stone knife, arrow- and spear-heads, a skinning implement made of blue stone, a stone mortar for pounding corn, and on the intervale in a bend of the Piscataquog several stone fire-places. Here once was a cluster of wigwams by the blue, winding river.

The Felches dug up a stone axe near Hogback hill. It was kept in the family for a long time.

Mrs. Mary Edmunds Felch.said she had seen many arrowheads which her husband plowed up on Sugar hill.

John S. Day found a stone axe on his Uncle Abner Hoyt's land near the Kuncanowet hills.

Geo'rge Day saw many arrowheads picked up along the banks of the Piscataquog.

Andrew J. Philbrick's father plowed out two arrowheads, some other implements, and many flint flakes, on the upland south of Center square.

John Emerson found arrowheads by Duck poud.

Ezekiel Moore discovered a needle on the Benjamin Perkins place in South Weare. It was sharp-pointed, had a beveled head, made of hard slate, and was probably used to make holes to sew birch canoes and snow-shoes. He plowed open what was supposed to be an Indian grave on a sandy knoll, and an ox fell in, and he

54 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1623,

saw a tomahawk and stone pestle found on the Simon P. Colby place neax- by.

Jeremiah G. Davis got large pieces of pottery from the same Perkins place.

Page R. Merrill had two fine stone gouges and an Indian's skull on Sugar hill.

Albert B. Johnson has an Indian pestle found by James Gould on the flat between East Weare and "Boston."

Probably many other stone implements have been discovered in the past and no record made of them, and very likely many more will be in the future.

The first settlers found an Indian trail through Weare. It led from Amoskeag falls up Black brook by Gorham pond in Dunbar- ton, over the Kuncanowet hills, up the Piscataquog, over the high- land and the Contoocook, and on to the Connecticut river, where is now Claremont. David D. Hanson, a hunter and part Indian, used to tell about the Indian trail near a hundred vears a^o.

The chiefs of pur Nipmucks were Passaconaway, Wonnalancet, Kancamaugus, Waternomee and Paugus. Passaconaway was a sorcerer, who lived to be more than a hundred years old. It is said he could make water burn, or freeze on the hottest summer day, green leaves from the ashes of dead ones, and a live snake from a dry skin. Whittier gives a poetical account of the marriage of his daughter, Wetamoo, to Monatawampatee, the haughty sagamore of Saugus. In telling how the wedding feast was provided he thus mentions our bright river : —

" Pike and perch from the Suncook taken, Nuts from the trees of the Black hills shaken, Cranberries picked on the Squamscot bog. And grapes from the vines of Piscataquog."

Wonnalancet, son of Passaconaway, and a peaceful chief, was a friend of the English. Kancamaugus, a war-chief, with Mesandowit, killed Major Waldron and twenty-two others at Dover, and carried away twenty-seven captives. Waternomee was killed by Lieut. Thomas Baker at the mouth of Baker river, and Paugus slew Capt. John Lovewell by Lovewell pond in Fryeburg, Me.

Manesquo, a mythical sachem of the Nipmucks, once lived by the Piscataquog. He had a beautiful daughter, whom, at a meeting of the warriors, he accidentally killed, and she was buried with Pasca- gora, an Indian seer, on the island at the river's mouth.

1705.] JOE ENGLISH. OO

" An elm -tree sapling growing nigh, Pointe out the hillock vhere they lie."

Filled with sorrow the chief and his clan left the land of their

birth a lonelv solitude, and made their home in the northern wilder-

ness.

" And still the Pisfcataquog rolls Its bright water. The island atill offers it deep gloom:- And where played the maiden. Mane- . . • daughter.

The little bird warbles her sweet serenade. "

Fifty years after Manesquo came back to his early home and the graves of his kindred to die.

" Day by day this cMef was seen ; Roaming about the meadow green ; Now by the brook, now by the bog, Xoiw by the bri^it Piscataqaog-"

When the snows of earlv winter came he was found dead, and tradition has it that he was buried by his daughter's side,

" Where now the island sand-bars clog The moath of oar Piscataqoog." — Stark,

One of the last of our Indians who lived in the valley of the Piscataquog was Joe English. He was the grandson of Woscono- met, sagamore of the Agawaras at the mouth of the Merrimack. In Qaeen Anne's war, 1705, he was the firm friend of the whites, and from this fact he got his name. The other Indians thought he told their f>lans to rob and kill the settlers, and they determined to kill him the first good chance. One day after a weary hunt he had put awav his two jmns in a hollow tree, which was still alive and nrrow- ing, to protect them from the dampness of the night,* and was resting in the twilight by his wigwam. A slight noise startled him, and looking sharp he saw three Indians creeping steathily towards him. In a moment he was ofi' for the hill that bears his name. He knew the chances were against him in a long race, so made up his mind to outwit his pursuers. He ran slow, that they might think him an easy prey, and be the more eager to take him. They were almost on him at the top of the hiil, when off he went again at great speed, and they strained everj- nerve to keep up. Joe soon came to the brink of the cliff. Quick as a flash he sprang one side behind a high, jutting rock and held his breath, that they

aft. 1-

often QseU. Dt wn saw the.

56 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1706.

might not hear and find him. It was but a moment ; the fast, light steps of his foes were heard flying past, and tlien with a screech the dark forms went down on the rocks below. Dead ! They were food for the eagles and wolves. The hill seen so plainly from South Weare has ever since borne the name "Joe Ensjlish."

Joe did not dare go back to his wigwam. He made his way to the settlements in the south part of the state, where he thought he would be safe.

But the Indians were determined to have his life, and July 27, 1706, near Dunstable, now Nashua, they ambushed him, shot him through the thigh, and then one of them buried a tomahawk in his brain. Thus died Joe English, the white man's friend ; and Massa- chusetts gave a grant to his wife and two children, because, as the words of the grant have it, "he died in the service of his country."*

Lovewell's war broke out in 1723 and lasted three years. Mas- sachusetts offered a bounty of £100 for each Indian scalp. No less than seventeen scouting parties were raised in Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire the first two years of the war, and went marching through the north woods hunting for Indians.

Capt. Daniel Peckerf led one of these through Weare; the first

* Potter's Maneliester, p. 254. Potter says : " Lieutenant ButterfieUl and his wife were riding betwixt Dunstable and Chelmsford, on horseback, with Joe English as companion and guard, when they fell into an Indian ambuscade. The horse was shot upon the first Are, Butterfield and his wife falling to the ground. The main ob- ject of the Indians being to secure Joe, Butterfield and a soldier made their escape, "while the Indians, one of the party being left in charge of Mrs. B., went in pursuit of him. Joe made for the woods, and finding them gaining upon him he turned about and presented his gun as if to fire. The Indians fearing his fatal aim fell to the ground, and Joe took to his heels for life. This was repeated several times until Joe had almost gained the thick woods, when one of the Indians fired, breaking the arm with which he held his gun. The gun fell to the ground, and Joe redoubled his speed. Another shot struck his thigh, and he fell. ' \ow, .Joe,' said they, ' we got you, you no tell English again we come 1' ' Xo,' he retorted, ' Cap'n Butterfield tell that at Pawtucket.' The Indians were alarmed, there was no time for delay, and one of them buried his hatchet in Joe's head."

t The following is an exact copy of Captain Pecker's scout .journal. The original can be found in the archives of the Massachusetts Secretary of State, " 38 A." " Capt. Pecker's Journal, Dec. 12, 1723. [The above is written on the back of the original.]

" A journal of my proceedings in my Second March after the Indian Enemy.

" 1723. Novi"-. 23. — Victualed part of my Coiiipany —

" 24. — Sabbath day —

" 2.^. — Victualed the other part of my Men —

" 2(). — Marched from Haverhill — Westward 14 miles —

" 27. — Marched further Westward — 12 miles —

" 28. — We got to Dunstable, — 8 miles —Thanksgiving Day —

" 2i1. — Lay by, by reason of bad Weather —

" 30. — Marclied to Nashua River, — 8 miles —

" Dec: 1. — Marched up to Pennechuck Brook about Xorthwcst, being 10 miles —

" 2. — INIarchod about N : W ; up to Souhegan & so crossed the River, — 12 miles —

"3. — Marched by Uuhenonnck hill, — 14 Miles —

" 4. — Steering Northward to a Great Mountain & so sent out a Scout to the hill to see what they could Discover, being 8 miles —

" .5. — steering about North & by East up to Poseattaquoag River & so crossed Said River,- 12 Miles —

1723.] CAPTAIN PECKER'S SCOUT. 57

white men who ever set foot in our town, of whom there is any record. They were from Haverhill, Mass., and setting out Nov. 26, 1723, marched to the west, fourteen miles. It is interesting to fol- low them and note their exaggerated distances. The 27th they made twelve miles, the 28th they got to Dunstable, eight miles, an inhabited town, it being Thanksgiving day, and the 29th they " lay by, by reason of bad Weather." The 30th they struck into the wilderness and marched to the Xashua river, eight miles. They were after the "Indian Enemy," as Captain Pecker's "scout journal" says; to first get their scalps and then the bounty on them. It was said Indians were residing near the height of land be- tween the Merrimack and the Contoocook, and they might also meet some sent down from Canada by the pious Jesuit fathers, to burn houses and barns, kill cattle and murder the settlers. Dec. 1st they reached Pennechuck brook, ten miles. It will be noticed that the places had nearly the same names as at present. The 2d they came to and crossed the Souhegan, twelve miles, and the 3d passed the Unhenonuck hill, fourteen miles. The 4th the captain writes, " Steering Northward to a Great Mountain [it must have been snow- clad], and so sent out a Scout to the hill to see what they could Discover, being eight miles." It is probable the hill to which the scout was sent was either the Unhenonuck or Joe English; but what was the "Great Mountain" '?

It is very evident that they did not reach any mountain, but only steered towards one. Was it Lyndeborough, or Piscataquog, or, as is more likely, Crotched mountain? Perhaps it was Mount Kear- sarge, as some have suggested, but it is hardly probable. Dec. 5th they crossed the "Poscattaquoag River," twelve miles ; may be in the town of New Boston or Francestown. Captain Pecker was careful to spell the name of the river correctly, a spelling that many prefer to the present one. Dec. 6th they went over another part of the

"(). — Steorius about X : E : over iinothor part of Poscattaquoiiii: Kivfi-, about 10 a Clock, I si'ut Kifjlit Men, uuder the Comuiauil of .Touathau Kobiu, up to Ctiiitoorook Hivor »vc to return the third day to mo at Suncook lUver, and then went with the rest of uiy Company to lUack Ilrook, — 14 Miles —

" 7 & ^. — lav Still bj- reason of bad Weatlier —

"9. — Marched from Bhiek Brook down to Merrimack River, against Suncook, be- ins a Stormy Day of Snow, the Scout returnintf to me at nijjht, \- told me they had mareheil up" to some of the Southerly Branches of Contoocook Uiver (10 miles) &• Dis- covered Nothin):; —

"10. — Marched from Annahookset hill, Crost Merrimack Uiver & So Steering a South Easterly Course, Marched to Great Massapisset pond,— ic miles —

"U.— Marched from Massapisset pond to the Northcnnost part of Cheshire, — 1«> miles —

" 1 J. — Marched from thence to llaverhill,— IS miles —

" Daxiel Pecker."

58 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1723.

" Poscattaquoag," about ten o'clock. This must have been in Weare. Captain Pecker made a halt here, for he sent Jonathan Robin with a scout of eight men to the Contoocook river to look for Indians, and then he mai-clied over the Kuncanowet hills to Black brook in Dunbarton, fourteen miles. Black brook had the same name then, in 1723, as now. He lay in camp here two days by reason of bad weather, and the 9th marched from Black brook down to the Merrimack river o])posite Suncook, being a stormy day of snow, ten miles. Jonathan Robin* with his'scout returned to him at night and reported they had "Discovered Nothing." The next day they marched from Annahookset hill,t " Crost Merri- mack River," and at night reached "Great Massapisset pond," six- teen miles, where they camped. Dec. 11th they came to Cheshire, now Chester, sixteen miles, and the I'ith got home to Haverhill, eighteen miles.

It will be seen that they claimed to have marched one hundred and sixty-two miles, when the distance was not half that. But it is slow settinsf throuo-h a trackless wilderness : and a mile an hour is about as much as a man can make. They had much stormy weather, and theirs was no pleasure party. There was no comfort camping in the forest amid storms of hail and rain, or marching through the falling snow from Black brook aver the hills to the Merrimack. Though a bloodless campaign, as it proved, yet at that time none knew how soon the silence of the woods might be broken by death- shots, for they had not then learned that our Indians had gone to the north part of the state on the breaking out of the war.J

There is a tradition that Capt. John Lovewell, the noted Indian fighter, once led a scout, through our town, killing a black moose on the way, to the height of land between the Merrimack and Con- necticut rivers, where he had a fight with the Indians. § Mount Lovell in Washington is said to have been named for him. We can im- agine hitn camped with the scout on the bank of the Piscataquog, and can almost smell the cooking venison and see the flash of their knives in the light of their evening fire as they carve out the choicest morsels.

*.I()iiatha)i Robin was afterwards killed by the Indians in Capt. Jolm LovcweU's great fight by Lovewell pond, Maine.

t The quartz " J'innacle."

J ("apt. Daniel Pecker was one of the first grantees of Lane's town^r Xew Boston. We have sought in vain in both histories of Haverhill for his name and a list of the men of his .scout.

§ VVhiton's N. H., p. 11; Hist, of Antrim, p. 314.

1725.] ROBERT ROGERS. 59

Lovewell would as soon march in the winter as at any time, his men wrapped in their blankets lying at night on hemlock boughs i)laced on the snow, with nothing over them but the sky and the stars. He made a trip in mid-winter to the head waters of the Pemigewasset, killed an Indian man and cai)tured a boy whom he carried to Boston, for which he received £"200. Soon after he killed ten Indians in a winter's night by a small pond in WakelTeld, getting £1,000 for their scalps, and was him- self killed by Paugus and his braves at Lovewell's pond in Frye- burg. Me.

When Lovewell's war was over nearly all our Nipmuck Indians had moved away to Canada, and only small parties strolled through our woods. Robert Rogers, the great scout ranger who lived in the adjoin- ing town of Dunbai-ton with John Stark, afterwards Maj.-Gen. John Stark of Derryfield, and Samuel Orr of Goffstown, were once hunt- ing on the Asquamchuraauke river near Moosilauke mountain. While they were sitting in their camp one rainy day, three Indians called upon them and remained till a little before night, when they departed. Not long after Stark and Orr missed Rogers, who was gone so long they began to have apprehension of his safety, but about midnight he returned and carelessly threw into one corner of the cabin the bloody scalps of the three Indians whom he had tracked and murdered. Stark reproved him for killing these Indians in time of peace. " Oh ! Damn it ! " says Rogers, "there '11 be war before another year."

But generally in time of peace both white and red men hunted

amicably together. In fact the first white men to come to Weare

were hunters. They were plenty in all the woods from soon after

* David Thompson's first settlement at Little Harbor, and furs were

the chief and most profitable export sent to England.

The hunters built their camps near beaver meadows, and by their long lines of culheag traps set for sable, mink and wild cats. They were the most simple dwellings the white men had. Two forked stakes about six feet long were driven into the ground eight feet apart, a pole was laid in the forks for a plate ; two more poles for rafters, each some twelve feet long, reach from the plate to the ground in the rear. On these are placed small sticks, the ribs of the roof, and then the top and right-angled triangular sides are covered with spruce bark.

Before the open front, which most often faced the south-east, the

60 HISTORY OF WEARE. NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1735.

fire was built. Moss, dry leaves, green spruce, hemlock or fir boughs made an excellent bed if only spread thick enough, and a good woolen blanket kept them warm frosty nights. The Indians often occupied these camps with the white hunters.

The first settlers of Weare found a stone camp similar to these high up on the Kuncanowet hills. An overhanging ledge formed one side of it, a wall of laroe stones the other and the north end. It had been covered with bark laid on rough rafters of spruce, and a pile of mold showed the bed of moss and boughs. Among the ashes of the ancient fire were found the charred bones of the moose and bear. This camp was large enough for six men.

Another relic of the early hunters was found by Jonathan Dow on his farm near North Weare when hoeing in rye. It was a steel trap in perfect order, and it was thought a bear was caught in it, died, and the oil from its body kept it from rust. It is told that many years ago before the settlers came, a hunter from down coun- try set a line of traps, w^as taken sick, went home and died. A friend found most of them, but this was lost. . The trap is still in existence and has been in constant use.

The last exploit of the Indians in Weare was with one of these hunters, the last one, perhaps, in our town who made hunting a business. In the time of King George's war, 1744-47, Timothy Corliss of Haverhill, Mass., came to 'Weare to catch beaver and other game. He built his main camp by the Piscataquog, and had other frail ones up the river and its branches. One of these was on the land* since occupied by Joseph Philbrick and others, south-west of Odiorne hill and by the meadows of the Peacock. One day he saw, on the north end of the Hodgdon meadow, f the smoke of an Indian fire, and knowing they were on the war-path and thick in the woods, he left at once. He ran a long way in the bed of the stream to conceal his tracks, and near night came to his main camp. Thinking he was safe he set his gun in its ]ilace and began to cook his supper. As he bent over the fire, quick as a flash an Indian caught him round the arms, and turning his head he saw six more behind him. They bound him with a rope that night, and at dawn were off for Canada. Corliss staid there till the next sunmier, and tlie war about closing he paid a light ransom and came home.

* The camp was about twenty-five rods from Peacock brook, and near the highway- laid out in 184o.

t Tlic lire was in the meadow south of where is now Hon. Moses A. Hodgdon's house.

THE OLD OAK. 1735-1887.

The South-east Corner Bound of Weare.

1690.] TIMOTHY CORLISS. 61

Afterwards he moved to Weare with his father, and here spent his long life.

In the old French and Indian war, 1755-63, Indians were often prowling round, but they committed no outrage in Weare, though they scared away many of the settlers in the neighboring towns.

When this last war was over, it was common to see them strolling about, and they were well treated by the settlers, who gave them food and let them sleep by their great fire-places. But after the Revolution most went to Canada, and soon one was rarely to be seen.

CHAPTER VIII. HALESTOWN.

In 1690 Sir William Phipps,* then governor of Massachusetts, as we have seen, made his ill-fated expedition to Canada. The sol- diers were mostly raised in the various towns of Massachusetts, and Beverly furnished a company. It was a troop of horse, and the General Court ordered it dismounted and formed as infantry. The company did not wish this to be done, and by two of its cor- porals, Samuel Corning and Thomas Raiment, remonstrated, "stating that they were provided for and fully equipped for a troop, and the delay in bringing about the change would delay the j^ublic business." The court did not enforce its order, but allowed it to proceed and organize, and William Raimentf was chosen captain.

The names of but few of his men are known. Corporals Corning and Raiment, John Grover, James Dennis, Lawrence Dennis,

* Sir William Phii)p.s was a man of brilliant foi-timc. He was born about 11)50, in a small Maine bamlet, and t^oon went to Ko.ston, where he was Urst a smith and then a sailor. He got eonnuaiid of a ship and went in seareh of a Spanish vessel that was lost n(!ar the Bahamas, loatUMl with silver. Luek was with him. and he raised, from the bottom of the sea, treasure to the amount of £800. (KMI. efpial to mori- than a mil- lion dollars of our money. The KiiiK' of KiiKhind made first a kiiij;lit of him for his service, tlien hif^-h sherilf'of all New Kuirland and after that jjovernor t)f .Massachusetts.

t Capt. William Raymond lived in Hcvt'rly' and so did most of his company, al- thoujifli some mifiht have been from Manchester. The Raymonds were early settlers in tlie former town, and were a numerous family. In a petition to the (ieneral C\>urt in 1()71, Captain K. siiells liis name Hayment. It is also spelt in many places Hainient. He was identitied with all the public interests of his town, rein'esented it in the (Jeneral Court, and served it faithfully in the various otlices of trust and honor to which he was called. In U>!)1 he was iudcmnilicd 1)\- the town for loss sustained as its commissioner in the; time of Sir Kdmoud Aiidros. He hail four cliiKlren, ami some of his descendants still live in JSevcrly. — Jlist. of Jleverh/, p. 33.

1 In the seconil parish, near tlie bouse of Mr. Isaac Babson.

62 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1690.

George Trow, Joseph Morgan and Rev. John Hale* are recorded as members of his company.

The soldiers sailed for Canada Aug. 4th, and returned Nov. 20, 1690. They were paid in paper money, the first emission in New England. This soon largely depreciated in value and was a great loss to the men.

With a pretense of patriotism, as has been told, Massachusetts wished to grant the New Hampshire lands for settlement, that she might fortify her claim to them by possession and occupancy, and the government jjut up these old soldiers or their heirs to petition for townships. Col. Robert Halej was one of the first men of Bev- erly and about that time a member of the General Court. He put in a petition early in 1735 in behalf of the officers and soldiers of Captain Raymond's company, or their heirs, for a township six miles square, and the reason he gave,' why they should be remembered, was that they endured great hardships. He would also have told the truth if he had said they suffered severely by the depreciation of the currency.

The petition was referred to a committee ; it reported at once ; the legislature acted promptly, voted the township to "lye" in some suitable place so as not to spoil another one, and that the

* Rev. .John Hale went as chaplain. " He had a strong motive for engaging in this military office. The soldiers under the command of Captain Kaj'mond were raised among his parishioners, and he chose to follow them to watch over the morals of so large a portion of the young men of his flock." Three hundred acres of land were granted, Dec. 31, 1734, to his heirs on account of liis services in this expedition, on the petition of Robert Hale, his grandson. — iJfass. Mist. Coll., 3 S., vol. vii,p. 268.

t Col. Robert Hale was grandson of Rev. John Hale, the chaplain, and son of Robert Hale. He was born Feb. 12, 1703. When fifteen years old he taught a gram- mar school, graduated at Harvard college in 17-21, studied medicine, and about 1723 engaged in a pi-.actice that soon extended to all the neighboring towns. The same year he married, first, Elizabeth Oilman, daughter of Col. John Gilman of Exeter, and second, Elizabeth Clarke, daughter of Hon. John Clarke of Boston, Dec. 21, 1737. He had three daughters. He was energetic, had sound judgment and business capacity; was appreciated by his townsmen and chosen surveyor, selectman, as- sessor, town clerk, treasurer", school committee and representative for thirteen years to the General Court, where he was chairman of several important committees and a member of many more. He was a collector of excise, and a justice of the peace for nearlj' forty years. Doctor Hale made a public profession of religion in 1726; took a great interest in ecclesiastical matters and had a controversy about them.

In 1740 a land bank was established, and Doctor Hale was one of its managers. Governor Belcher, who had money schemes of his own, opposed it, and there was trouble between the two men. Doctor Hale resigned his civil and military offices, and (Governor Belcher was removed from his office and was succeeded by Gov. William Shirley.

Doctor Hale got a colonel's commission in 174.') and commanded a regiment at Louisburg. He took an active part in the siege and greatly aided in the capture of this Dunkirk of America. He was a commissioner to New York in 1747, to adopt measures for a general defence; to New Hampshire in I'Tih, to lay the subject of an attack upon Crown Point before this province and solicit aid (Governor Wentworth entered into the plan lieartily), and in 17(il was made sherifl' of Essex county and discharged the duties of the office with fltlelity. Colonel Hale died after a long ill- ness in 17f>7. His name was often .spelled "Halle." — /fi*^ of Beverly, piJ. 38, 63.

1735.] GRANT OF HALESTOWN. 63

o-rantees should beGfin the settlement at once.* The vote recited that each one should build on his lot a house, eighteen feet square and seven feet stud; plow and bring to English grass fit for mow- ing, six acres; settle a learned Orthodox minister, and build a convenient meeting-house for the ])ublic worshij) of God.

It divided the town into sixty-three shares, one of which was for the first settled minister ; one for the ministry ; and one for a scliool. Each grantee was to give a bondf in the sum of £20 to do these things in five years, and if any did not they were to forfeit their right to the province.

Col. Robert Hale and John Wainwright, Esq., with whom was joined Ebenezer Burill, by the honorable council, Avere appointed a committee, Jan. 20, 1735, to lay out the town at the charge of the province.

March 20th, the General Court further ordered that Colonel Hale call a meeting of the grantees to choose a moderator and clerk. The meeting was held, ofiicers chosen, bonds signed for the commit- tee of the General Court, and the town divided into the sixty-three

* A petition of Robert Hale Esq in behalf of the officers & soldiers that were in the f:xpeaitiou against Canada in the year 1090 under the Command of Capt. William Raymond, most of whom belonged to tlie Town of Beverly which town has had no grant of land from the Province excepting some few Xarraganset soldiers and the heirs of the Pet" Grandfather, that the said soldiers in the Canada Expedition en- dured Great hardship and therefore praying for a gi-ant of land of six miles square for a township for the said soldiers and their Represents.

In the House of Represents. Read & in answer to this petition —

Voted, That a tract of the Unappropriated lands of the Province of the Contents of six miles square be & hereby is granted to the Pet" their heirs and assigns Re- spectively for a Township to Ive in some suitable place, so as not to spoil or incom- mode the settlement of another ToAvn and that the Grantees be and hereby are obliged to bring forward the settlement of the said Township in as Regular and Defensible a manner as the Situation & circumstances of the place will admit of, in the following manner, Viz, that each Grantee or his heirs or assigns build an house on his res])ective Lot or share of eighteen feet square and seven feet stud at tin- least and ])low and bring to Englisli grass and lit for mowing six acres of land; and that tliev settle a learned Orthodox minister ami build a convenient nu'cting house for the Public worship of God. That oiu- sixty third part of the Township be and hereby is granted to the lirst settled minister, the like quantity for tlie use of the ministry, and the like quantity also for the use of the school m all the divisions of said township. That the said Grantees be and hereby are obliged to comi)ly with all the conditions within live vears. and that Robert Hale and John Wainwright, Ksq" with such as shall be appointed bv the Hon'''- Hoartl be a Committee to lay out the said township at the charge of the "Province ; and the Committee is directed to take Bond of each (irantee of Tweutv pounds for the I'ullilment of the conditions afore- said, the bond to be made to tlnrProVinee Treasurer, and in case any of the (Jrantees fail of the performance of his (iraut such person shall forfeit all right title or pre- tence thereto to the Province to be disposed of as this Court shall think i)it)per. the Connnittee to return a plat of the said township to this Court within twelve mouths for confirmation.

In Council, Head and concurred, and Ebenezer Burrill E.sq'. is joined with the Committee of the House for the above aflalr.

June 19, 1735. Consented to J. BELCHER

t George Trow of Beverly, in a deed given to Colonel Hale, Nov. 25, 173G, of one right or share, says he gave a bond for it to the Committee of the General Court.— Reg. of Deeds, Jiecords, Middlesex Co.

64 HISTOKY OF WEARE, XEW HAMPSHIRE. [1735.

shares. But, sad to relate, the records of the grantees' meetings are lost.*

No name was given to the township in the grant by the General Court, but Colonel Hale being the first petitioner it was naturally called "Hales Town" for him. An old plan of Dunbarton has " Hales Town " on it for its western boundary. It was so called in many old deeds made from 1735 to 1764, and in the Masonian records at Portsmouth the name "Halestown" is found. But some times it simply appears as "the township of Hale." The name clung to it till long after the Revolution, and is jJopular even to this day.

The township had other names about this time; "to Beverly" appears as its name on Thomas Jeffrey's map of New England, from surveys made 1740-50. This name was given to the township because most of the grantees lived in Beverly, and the name of that town stood for them.

"Beverly Canada" and "Canada to Beverly" were other names for it, for, as has been told, it was one of the nine Canada town- ships granted to the soldiers of King William's war. Douglass' Summary, written in 1746-49, and published in 1760, mentions these names.!

The commissioners, appointed by the House of Representatives and the Honorable Council, to make a plan of the township, hast- ened slowl}' in their work. They employed William Gregg of Londonderry as surveyor, and Isaac Gray and Jeremiah Butman as chainmen, to lay out the land. It must have been late in the season when they crossed the Merrimack and went up the Piscataquog to Halestown. On their way, they tramped by walls of verdure l)rightened by the autumnal sun, saw forests festooned with grape vines, and streams alive with wild fowl. They built a camp by the old oak at the south-east corner of the town ; the tree is still grow- ing, though its top is partly dead. They then made an accurate survey and put the river on their map, with every crook and bend, as well as could be done to-day. It is more than probable that the whole committee with the surveyor and chainmen went to Hales- town. When they got to East Weare and swung round the great

*Tlie foUowing were some of the grantees: Rev. .John Chipman, who was a brother-in-law of Colonel Hale; .Jeremiah Person, Benjamin Lynde, .James Lyudal, Thomas Boyd, George Hull (?), Joseph Hull (?).

t Douglass' Summary, vol. i, p. 424; X. H. Hist. Coll., vol. v., pp. 80, 86.

1735.]

PLAN SURVEYED BY WILLIAM GREGG.

65

^4 ,^-4^- fiWii/_9^ /s?o___^

"^^srs^^p^

\ .^^ ■^'^^w

The above is a plan of the grant made by the General Court, in 1735, to Capt. William Raynient and others, and surveyed by William Gregg. 5

66 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1736.

bend of the river, the bald mountain in the south-west burst upon their vision, with its steep precipice standing out against the sky, and out of respect for the soldier they named it Mount William. Rainy days they staid in their camp and worked only when it was fair. The morning air was chill and sharp, the leaves were chang- ing their hue and beneath the oaks, chestnut and beech the ground was strewed with nuts. Squirrels chattered as they laid up their winter store, grouse were in great plenty, and wild turkeys gobbled in the solitudes.

They ran the south line first, on Lane's town, now New Boston, just surveyed by Jerahmel Cummings, to a great white-pine tree, at the south-west corner ; the west line on ungranted land to a large hemlock at the north-west corner, the north line on the gore be- tween Halestown and No. 5 of the nine frontier towns for defence, now Henniker, and Hopkinton, to a "birch tree" on the line of Gorham Town, since called Starks town, now Dunbarton, and the east line on the latter town and Goffstown back to the old oak. Halestown contained, by this survey, 24,682 acres made up by the addition of 1642 acres allowed for the swag of chain and bad lands.

The next winter, P'eb. 17, 1736, surveyor Gregg and the chain- men, Gray and Butman, went before Richard Saltonstall, justice of the jjeace, and made oath that in performing said service they acted faithfully and truly, according to the several trusts respectively reposed in them.*

*This plan is the Drauglit of a track of land Laiying- on the Wast Sid of Meruy- mak River adjoining the South Sid to a Township Latly Survy' by .Jerahmel Cum- mings and laid out to setesfy a grant made by the General Court to Capt AVilliam Rayment and others at thei'e Sesions in May 1735 and Contains •24()S-2 acers being ot the Contants of six Mills Square with the adition of 1042 acars allowed for swag of Cliaine and Bad Land.

Sorveyed by me WILLIAM GREGG Sorveyer Londondery, Febwrary 17tli 173G

Essex ss : February 17th 1736 Then William Gregg as Survey aiul Isaac Gray and .Jeremiah Butman as Chainmen who laid out the Land above described made oath that in performing said Service they acted faithfully and truly according to the several Trusts respectively reposed in them.

before RICHa SALTONSTALL Jus Pac

In the House of Representatives March I'.rth 1736, Read and ordered That the plat be accepted and the lands therein deliniated and described be and hereby are con- firmed to the heirs descendants or lawful Representatives of the said Capt William Rayment late of Beverly deceased antl the other Grantees mentioned in the petition of Robert Hale Esq' m their behalf passed this Court in their late Sitting, and to their heirs and assigns respectively forever, provided the plat exceeds not the quantity of six miles square and sixteen hundred and forty two acres allowed for swag of Chain and bad land within the tract, and does not interfere with any former (iraiit, provided also the petitioners Grantees their lieirs or assigns comply with the conditions of the Grant

Sent up for Concurrence. J. QUINCY Spi"

Mar 20, 1736. In Coimcil Read & Coneurd SEVION FROST, Deput Secry

24 Consented to J. BELCHER

1736.] HALESTOWN DEEDS. 67

Marcli 19, 1736, the plan and return were received and read in the House of Representatives, and it was ordered that it be accepted and the lands confirmed to the heirs, descendants, or lawful rep- resentatives of Capt. William Raymond and the other grantees, provided the plat contains no more land than it purports ; does not interfere with any former grant, and the grantees comj>ly with its conditions. J, Quincy, the speaker, sent it up to the Honorable Council for concurrence ; March 20th, Simon Frost, deputy secretary of the province, certified that the council concurred, and March 24th, Jonathan Belcher, the governor, consented to the same.

In 1736 there was much selling and buying of rights or shares in all the Narraganset towns, towns for defence and Canada towns.

In Beverly, as the record shows, March 3, 1736, Joseph Mor- gan, one of the soldiers who served under Capt. William Raymond, sold to Dr. Robert Hale, for £10, his right in Halestown.

March 15th, John Grover, whose father, John Grover, was one of the soldiers, sold for 20s. his right, to Doctor Hale.

March 29th, Thomas Pitman, for £14, sold to Doctor Hale two rights which he held as heir of his two brothers, James and Law- rence Dennis, "who were two of those soldiers."

Nov. 25th, for £16, George Trow sold to Dr. Robert Hale his right, "for which he gave a bond to the committee of the General Court."

There was no place to record the deeds, said townships not having been assigned to any counties. The General Court of Massachusetts, to remedy this, to preserve the king's peace and that common justice might be done, enacted, Feb. 2, 1737, that all the townships and places in the Merrimack valley should be a part of the county of Middlesex ; those in tlie Connecticut valley a part of Hampshire county, and some between the two valleys should be joined to the county of Worcester.*

Of course all these Halestown deeds and those afterwards made were at once recorded in the registry of deeds at Cambridge. In these records we find one that recites that Robert Hale, March 9, 1738, sold to Gersham Keyes for £100, current money of New Eng- land, three hundred acres in '■'■the townshi}) of Hale^'' that lies about eight miles westerly of Merrimack river and adjoins the nortli side of the township granted to John Simpson and others, and lies

*Fogg'3 Gaz., p. ir>.

68 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE. [1737.

on the south side of said township of Hale, its southeast corner being just about one and three-fourths miles west from the south- east corner of " said township," being one-half mile west of the sixty acre house lots and from thence extends westerly upon the said township line three hundred rods, thence running north, east and south, making a square large enough to contain the three hun- dred acres. This tract was confirmed to Doctor Hale by the grantees, Dec. 9, 1737.

Gersham Keyes mortgaged this land to Joseph Heath, April 3, 1738, as security to raise money.

Keyes also sold to Doctor Hale, June 6, 1738, one full right or share in a certain township called Hale, lying in the county of Middlesex, on the north side of the Piscataquog river, being " the right No, 13," and the same which draws " home lot No. 5."

What was done by the proprietors of "the township of Hale" is mostly under a cloud. Only a few things like these records, found in the state archives and in the registry of deeds, peer out through the fog which envelops our history of these early times.

That the proprietors held meetings, chose officers, passed votes and raised money is certain. They held one Dec. 9, 1737, as we have just seen, when they confirmed the three hundred acres to Doctor Hale.

That they sent committees to the township to select a place to set the " Public Meeting-House " for the worship of God, to lay out the "Public Buryiug-Place," to locate the "Public Training-Field," and to run out the lots for the minister, the ministry and the school is not so certain. This was done in the neighboring township of Am- herst* and the cliairman of the committee to do it there was our own Dr. Robert Hale. Why he should not have done it for his own town as well as for Amherst we can not see.

Settlements were soon begun in Bedford, Goffstown, New Boston, Amherst and Hopkinton. Why should they not have been in Halestown as well? The dimmest kind of a tradition comes down through the haze, that clearings were made and a few log cabins built before the settlement of the boundary line in 1740, but there is nothing certain about it, and if it was so they were afterwards al- lowed to grow up to bushes and the cabins go to decay.

It is told how an effort was made to settle one of the required

* History of Amherst, p. 35.

1735.] ROBIESTOWN. 69

families of New Boston about 1735-45, and by mistake it got into Halestown. The tradition comes through tlie Clements who lived, long after, at Oil Mill.

One of New Boston's proprietors, from Newbury, Mass., wishing to comply with the terms of the grant, thought to set up his old negro as a family in his township. So he built that kind of a hab- itation known as a dug-out in the side of a hill, put in a large tiat rock for a fire-back, and made a hole out through the ground for a smoke flue with a hollow log as a chimney top. Soon after the master went home and left the poor darkey in the woods. The latter was very pious and thought his master had committed an unpardonable sin in leaving him there, so he began to pray for him ; to the Lord to keep him, to the devil not to touch him. Just then an old bear looked down through the chimney hole ; darkey thought it was the devil sure, and in his simplicity cried out, "Oh, good devil ! Oh, dear devil ! please do n't look here for old massa, he has gone home to Newbury, and if you wont trouble him he '11 never come back any more." It is said the bear left at once, the negro ran to the nearest New Boston cabin, and that was the last of the would-be first family of Halestown.*

CHAPTER IX. EOBIESTOWN.t

The settlement of the state line in 1740, as has been told, located Halestown and many other Massachusetts grants in New Hamp- shire. The Lord Proprietors, a few years after, 1746, bought of John Tufton Mason^ the rights of Capt. John Mason^ and thinking to make a fortune out of them, at once began to make grants of

■ ■ 5^»

*.Iaines Priest says the negi-o, who was once a slave, had his ceUar on lot .5 in the Gore; that Mrs. .laiiies Simons, who is the .srroat-frramlilaufrhti'r otMonatlian Clement, states that tlif nefiro, whose name was Adam, returned to IlaU'stown ahont ITdOand lived tliere many Vfars.

t The records" oV Hohiestown were destroyed many years ago. One of the town elerks of Wcarc, thinkin-; it too nnieli work to taki- eareof them, l)urned them. This wise man does not (U'scrve to be remembered. A few memoranihi made on slips of paper by Mesheeli Weare, when lie was ju-oprietors' clerk, ari^ all the rt'conls that are left "to ns. These afterwards fell into the liands of .lohn Farmi-r. a noted anti- quarian, who donated them to Hon. .Iosci)h rhilbriek, then the littest man in Weare to have them. Hon. J. (i. Deai'born. on»' of t lie committee to publish this historv. had the good luck to lind theui at Lynn, Mass., in the possession of the (laughter of .\lr. 1*.

70 HISTORY OF WEARE, NEW HAMPSHIRE, [1748.

townships to large bodies of associated men called town proprietors. The Masonian Proprietors did this by vote, and in addition to the fees received at the outset, they reserved a part of the land for themselves, which they believed would be greatly enhanced in value by the settling and improvement of the adjacent lands.

The Lord Proprietors, who mostly lived at Portsmouth, once Strawberry Bank, New Hampshire's only seaport, met, Dec. 21, 1748, at the dwelling house of Sarah Eust in that town and "voted That Mr, Weare* and y^ Persons to be his associates and the other persons agreed upon have a township equal to six miles square at a place called Hales Town upon such conditions, restric- tions & reservations as shall hereafter be agreed upon."t

It was then necessary for the Lord Proprietors to make some settlement with the old proprietors of Halestown, and Feb. 15, 1749, it is recorded "That Col. Joseph Blanchard be desired and empow- ered to confer [with] Coll Robt Hale a principal proprietor in Hales Town so called & adjust a settlement of said Hales Town with said Coll Hale upon such Terms and Conditions as have been or shall be agreed upon by & between sd. Hale & y* Proprietors [of] Mason's Right." %

Colonel Blanchard acted ; and an arrangement was made by which Colonel Hale and a few other of the Halestown proprietors, who had got all the rights into their hands, should come in and make up the number of the town proprietors of a new grant.

The matter slept till Sept. 11, 1749, when notice was given that a meeting of the Lord Proprietors would be held the 20th instant ; firsts to receive the reports of any committees to treat with settlers; second, of those appointed to take plans of lands laid out into town- ships; third, io fix on the terms to dispose of lands to settlers;

* Meshecb W'eare, son of Hon. Xathaniel Weai-e, was born at Hampton Falls, June 11), 1713. He gi-aduated at Harvard in 1735, studied for the ministry and preached for a short time. Having married a lady ]30ssessed of a large landed estate, he soon re- linquished his calling and devoted himself to the care of his wife's property. He also held imi^ortant civil offices; was an active magistrate, represented his town tor a great number ot years in the General Court, and served first as a justice and then as chief justice of the superior ccnirt of judicature, which jilace he filled with integrity and satisfaction to the public He was also colonel of a regiment of militia under the royal government, and, in K.^Jt, was a commissioner to Albany to consult and pro- vide for the best means of coniluct in the. old French and Indian War. At tlie com- mencement of the devolution he was made chairman of the committee of safety, and when the courts of law were organized he was also placed at the head of the jutlicial de- partment. He continued in both offices till 17S1, when a constitution and form of government was established, and he was almost unanimouslv elected chief execu- tive magistrate l)y tlie style of Ilia Excellenc;/ the President of the State. He declined a re-election on account of age and intirmitie's, and died Jan. l.i, 17SG, aged 72 j-ears and 7 months.

t Lord Proprii'tors' Records, vol. i, p. 28.

I Masonian llecords at Portsmouth, vol. i, p. 53.

1749.] THE GRANT. * 71

fourth^ to raise money to pay charges, and fifths to do any thing else that may be thought proper.

The Lord Proprietors met Sept, 20, 1749. PTon. Kichard Wibird was chosen moderator, and then they voted to Ichabod Robie* and his associates, one of whom was Mr. Weare, that tract of land hith- erto called Halestown.t

Ichabod Robie and his associates, eighty in number, were the town proprietors. Most of them lived in Hampton Falls, a few in Hampton and other towns near by, and " the other persons agreed upon," in Beverly and the towns near there. Among them were one colonel, thi'ee captains, one lieutenant, two esquires, two minis- ters, two deacons, and one widow.

The bounds were slightly changed from those of Halestown. Instead of leaving the gore on the north side, as it was by Gregg's survey, it was left on the south side, and instead of commencing at the old oak tree at the south-east corner of Halestown, they began at

* Icliabort Robie, the first in the list of town proprietors, was born in Haverhill, Mass., in 1683. His gi-andfather, Henry Uobie, came from England to Dorchester, Mass., in 1639, went to Exeter and settled the same year and was one of the select- men in that place in 1(5.50. John Robie, Ichabod's father, lived in Haverhill, Mass., whore ho built a house in l(57.>-77, as recorded in the public records in accordance with a law passed in 1660. John's wife died in 1691, leaving him a family of seven small children, the eldest not eleven years old. June 16th, that year, while moving, he was killed bv the Indians on the road, and his whole family captured. This was in the time of King William's war. Ichabod, then but eight years old, soon managed to escape, went to Dover to live and there learned the tanner's trade. In 1703 he came to Hampton Falls and settled on what is now the old Robie homestead, occupied at present by Nathan Henrv Robie. Here he carried on the tanning business, and the remains of his old vats are still to be seen. Ho married Mary Cass, by whom he had one or more children, and died in 1752. By his will he gave his grandson, Ichabod Robie, two 100-acre lots, Nos. 49 and .50, range three, in Weare. Samuel Robie, grand- son of Ichabod id, camo to Weare to live and owned the north half of tliese lots.

f'PROVixcE OF ) Notice is hereby given to the Proprietors of the land pur- Ni;w H.\MrsHiKE: i chased of John Tiifton Mason Esquire, in the Province of New llampsliire.that there will be hold a meeting of said Proprietors at the dwelling house of Sarah Kust, Widow, in Portsmouth, in said Province, on Wednesday the twentieth day of September inst, at five of the Clock afternoon, then and there at said meeting— " 1st To receive the reports of any committee or Persons appointed to treat with settlers.

■"2nd To receive the reports of Persons appointed to take plans of lands to be laid out in Townships.

"3rd To consult or resolve upon Terms of disposing of lands to Purchasers or •Settlers.

" 4th To consider what mav bi- done in respect to any growing changes of the pro- priety and raising of money to defray the same,