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HISTORICAL SKETCHES
op THE
DISCOVERY, SETTLEMENT,
AND
PROGRESS OF EVENTS
IN THE
COOS COUNTRY AND VICINITY.
PRINCIPALLT INCLUDED
BETWEEN THE YEARS 1754 AND 1785
BY REV. GRANT POWERS, A.M., CH.S.
HAVERHILL, N. H.
PUBLISHED BY J. F. C. HAYES,
1841.
District of Connecticut, ss.
Be it remembered, that on the ninth day of March, A. L>.
1840, Grant Powers, of the said district, hath deposited in
this office the title of a book, the title of which is in the word?
following, to wit : —
" Historical Sketches of the Discovery, Settlement, and
Progress of Events in the Coos Country and Vicinity, princi-
pally included between the years 1754 and 17S5. By Rev.
Grant Powers, A. M., C. H. S."
The right whereof he claims as author, in conformity with
an act of Congress, entitled " An act to amend the several
acts respecting copy rights."
CHARLES A. INGERSOLL,
Clerk of the District of Connecticut.
District of Connecticut, ss.
The fjrcgoing is a true copy of the original record of copy
right, recorded March 9th, A. D. 1840.
ittest, CHARLES A. INGERSOLL,
Clerk of the District.
A true
01 cogy rig&i.
TH- GRANT POWERS
NEW YO
PUBLIC LIBRARY
Astor.UnoxandTilden^
^\ Foundations!
1596
STEREOTYPED BT
MORRILL, SIL8BT, «St CO. COKCOED, K. H.
PREFACE.
The history of our nation is peculiar in a number
of things, but in none more than in this — that it re-
cords its own origin. There is no other nation that
does this, the Jews excepted. No one of the present
nations of Europe can tell us a word of their earliest
ancestors, or even specify the century in which their
territory was first taken possession of by them, but
all is involved in obscurity as are the years before the
flood. But it is far different with our early history as
a nation. We know the men who said they would be
free, and who laid the foundation of this mighty re-
public. We know whence they came, the object for
which they came, the spot to which they came, and
the year, the month, and the day they took possession.
Our nation -owes a lasting debt of gratitude to our
.an<iest<3rs for their fidelity in recording the incipient
steps taken by them in settling ibis new world. But
with regret must we say that their descendants soon
began to relax in their fidelity in this respect, and they
continued to decline, until their delinquency was al-
most entire. It may well be doubted, whether more
ihan one half o{ the towns in New England have any
well-authenticated history of their early settlement,
and had not the attention of the people been called to
this subject by recently organized Historical Societies,
and centennial addresses, a very few years had buried
ir PREFACE.
all in oblivion with those towns whose history was not
already recorded. There seems, truly, an anomaJy
in the human character, inasmuch as man delights to
retrace the line of his descent to his remotest ancestry,
and has a strong passion to live in the memory of his
descendants, and yet possesses very little inclination to
do any thing directly to furnish the means to his pos-
terity of knowing that he ever existed.
One reason for the indifference manifested towards
recording present events, is the general impression that
they can have no important bearing upon what is to
come, unless they are such events as greatly interest
the community in present time — the result of a great
battle, a revolution in a kingdom, or a destructive
earthquake. But nothing is more delusive than such
an impression. What would the inhabitants of the
city of London now give for the year, the month, and
day, in which the first man pitched his tent on that
ground ? What would they give if they could know
his name, his origin, whence he came, the circum-
stances in which he came, the object for his coming,
and, withal, a minute description of the place as it
then was ? An octavo pamphlet of ten pages, con-
taining well-authenticated facts of this kind, would be
worth millions sterling to the author or proprietor.
And the history of our ancestors' landing at Plymouth
is infinitely more important in our history than the
history of the surrender of Burgoyne's army, or that
of Cornwallis. And even those occurrences which
do not seem to stand intimately connected with any
great results, time will often vest with peculiar interest,
in the view of posterity. How unhappy is the reflec-
PREFACE.
tion, then, that the early settlement of our towns
should be permitted to be forever lost through the apa-
thy or indifference of their inhabitants, since the time
will certainly arrive when the subject will be duly ap-
preciated, and our descendants will reproach us for
our stupidity and sloth in this respect !
it was in view of these and kindred considerations,
that the auihor of the following Sketches commenced,
sixteen years ago, visiting the survivors among the first
settlers in the Coos country, and in some towns in the
vicinity. He was careful to take down their state-
ments in their presence, and they were interrogated
upon almost all subjects here introduced. Some made
further communications under their own hand-writing,
and he has obtained written and published documents,
as far as he was able, to aid him in this work. But as
It has been his main design to go back of written and
published documents, and to bring to liglit tilings
which would never have appeared, unless they were
taken up in a work of this kind, he could avail him-
self of those documents but in a limited degree ; and
in general, they are introduced as corroborative testi-
mony, or explanatory, merely. But he fears he has
already raised, by his remarks, expectations which he
will by no means be able to satisfy ; and yet he has
done what he could with his means. He could not
create means, and yet had procured so many, that he
could hardly feel justified in permitting them to perish
with himself. It will be perceived that he writes
things grave, things trivial, and things important, and
this with a view to present as nearly as possible, to
the present and future generations, the circumstances,
1*
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
OF THE
COOS COUNTRY AND VICINITY.
So late as 1760, there was no settlement by
the English, in the Connecticut Valley, above
the town of Charlestown, in New Hampshire,
which was then called "No. 4." Nor were
there more than three towns settled south of
Charlestown, in the valley within the present
limits of New Hampshire. Hinsdale, or " Fort
Dummer," was settled in 1683. Westmoreland,
or " No. 2," was settled in 1741 ; Walpole in
1752.
These towns, with the exception of Walpole,
were all settled by Massachusetts men ; for,
until 1741, it was supposed the north line of
Massachusetts would include these towns.
At Hinsdale and Charlestown, forts were built
at an early j^eriod of their settlement, and sol-
diers were stationed there for the double purpose
of affording protection to the settlers, and arrest-
ing the progress of the Indians from Canada,
10 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
while meditating incursions upon the frontier
towns in Massachusetts.
And so Httle interest did New Hampshire feel
in the settlement of the Connecticut Valley,
which has been very justly denominated the
"Garden of New England," that in 1745, when
the Governor recommended to the Assembly of
New Hampshire the taking and sustaining their
newly-acquired " Fort Dummer," which fell to
them upon the establishment of the line between
the two colonies, the lower House declined the
acceptance of this place and that of "No. 4;"
alleging that the fort was fifty miles distant
ftom any towns settled by New Hampshire ;
that they did not own the territory ; and that
they were unequal to the expense of maintaining
those places.
Nor was it until 1752, that the Governor of
New Hampshire was permitted to adopt any
measures to secure to that colony this invaluable
tract of country. He then made several grants
of townships on both sides of the Connecticut
River, and a plan was laid for taking possession
of the " Rich Meadows of Cohos,"* of which
they had heard by hunters and captives returned.
The original design was to cut a road from
" No. 4 " to the Cohos ; to lay out two town-
* Coos was spelt Cohos and Coioass by our ancestors,
O* THE COOS COUNTET. 11
ships, one on each side of the river, and opposite
to each other, where Haverhill and Newbury
now are. They were to erect stockades, with
lodgements for two hundred men, in each town-
ship, enclosing a space of fifteen acres ; in the
centre of which was to be a citadel, containing
the public buildings and granaries, which were
to be large enough to receive all the inhabitants
and their movable effects, in case of necessitv-
As an inducement for people to remove to this
new plantation, they were to have courts of
judicature, and other civil privileges, among
themselves, and were to be under strict military
discipline.
" In pursuance of this plan," says Dr. Belknap,
vol. ii. p. 215, " a party was sent up, in the spring
of 1752, to view the meadows of Cohos, and lay
out the proposed townships." It seems that this
project embraced the two objects of possessing
the Cohos country, and establishing a military
post there. It was to be partly civil and partly
military, and a number of adventurers were
about to enlist in the enterprise. But the whole
plan was defeated by the timely remonstrance
of the Indians of the St. Francis tribe. And
notwithstanding Mr. Belknap says, " A party was
sent up, in the spring of 1752, to view the mea-
dows of Cohos, and lay out the proposed town-
13 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
ships," it is extremely doubtful whether that
party ever reached their destination, if they ever
left "No. 4." There were no returns made of
this tour. They certainly did not lay out the
townships. And we find in the Life of General
Stark, that in 1754, the General Court of New
Hampshire determined to send a party to explore
this ^'hitherto unknown region,'''' referring to the
Cohos country.
Now, if this country had been explored by
the party of 1752, it could not have been called
the '' /«7Aer^o unexplored region" in 1754, seeing
that, in each instance, the General Court is re-
presented as the principal mover in those explor-
ing parties. And by the kindness of the late
Mr. Farmer, of Concord, N. H., I have been
furnished with the extract from Col. Israel Wil-
liams' letter, to which Dr. Belknap refers for his
authority in saying what he does of the explor-
ing party of 1752. And with the additional
evidence which has been obtained upon these
transactions since Dr. Belknap's time, I should
feel that Col. Williams' letter was insufficient to
authorize the assertion, that a party was actually
sent into the Cohos country in 1752. It is but
a mere allusion to such a thing, or to such an
intention.
The letter of Col. Williams was written to
t)F TUE COOS COUNTRY. 13
the Governor of Massachusetts, dated at Hat-
field, 19 March, 1753, and speaks of " our people
going to take a view of the Cowass meadows
last spring." This by no means says they did
go to view them — but were " going," or were
preparing to go, and view them. And doubtless
this was fact. A party might have been sent on
by the Governor as far as "No. 4," and even
farther,- but the Indians remonstrating and
threatening, they relinquished their object. Dr.
Belknap states that the Indians came to " No. 4,"
and made this threat ; that it was communicated
to the Governor of Massachusetts, and he sent
the information to the Governor of New Hamp-
shire, and the project was laid aside. The only
discrepancy in all this testimony is found in Dr.
Belknap's understanding Col. Williams to say
that the party of 1752 did go into the Cohos
country, when he did not say it ; and as the
evidence is now exhibited, we must think he
did not mean to say it.
But notwithstanding this project of exploring
the Cohos from " No. 4 " was suspended, yet the
Governor and House of Assembly did by no
means abandon the idea of a future possession
of those meadows, and events hastened their at-
tempt to explore and possess the Cohos country.
In the spring of 1752, John Stark, afterward
2 V
14 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
General Stark, Amos Eastman, afterward of
Hollis, N.H.J David Stinson, of Londonderry,
and William Stark, were hunting upon Baker's
River, in the town of Rumney. They were
surprised by a party of ten Indians. John Stark
and Amos Eastman were taken prisoners, Stinson
was killed, and William Stark escaped by flight,
John Stark and Eastman were carried into cap-
tivity to the head-quarters of the St. Francis
tribe in Canada, and were led directly through
the "Meadows," so much talked of in Massa-
chusetts and New Hampshire. '%
These men returned from their captivity m
the summer of 1752, and gave an interesting
account of Cohos ; and as the country was ex-
pecting that the war with the French and In-
dians would soon be renev/ed, and that the
French would be desirous of taking the Cohos
country for a military post, the General Court of
New Hampshire determined to send a company
to explore the region ; not to attempt to ascend
the Connecticut from "No. 4," but to pursue the
track of the Indians as they came from the great
valley to Baker's River and the Pemigewasset,
and returned again with their prisoners.
Accordingly, in the spring of 1754, Col. Love-
well, Maj. Tolford, and Capt. Page, were sent
out at the head of a company, with John Stark
Gr THE coos COUNTRY. 15
for their guide. They left Concord, March 10,
1754, and in seven days made Connecticut River
at Piermont. They spent but one night in the
valley, and made a precipitate retreat to Coacord,
at which place they arrived on the thirteenth
day from their departure.*
The cause of this failure to explore the region
to which they were sent, I have not learned ;
but that it was a fculure, we must know — for
one night spent in the woods at Piermont could
have returned to the government no information
concerning the Coos meadows. The probability
was, they feared an Indian foe superior to their
own force.
But the government was not discouraged by
this failure, and the same season, 1754, Capt.
Peter Powers, of Hollis, N. H., Lieut. James
Stevens, and Ensign Ephraim Hale, both of
Townsend, Mass., were appointed to march at
the head of a company to effect, if possible, what
had hitherto been attempted in vain. The com-
pany rendezvoused at Concord, which was then
called Rumford, and commenced their tour on
Saturday, June 15, 1754.
It may not be improper to state in this place,
that there is no record of this tour in the state
papers of that day, and no reference to it in any
* Stark's Life.
16 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
papers of subsequent date, as I can learn. The
evidence of its having been performed consists,
at this day, in the tradition among the descend-
ants of Capt. Powers, that he was the first to
explore the Coos country, and in his manuscript
journal kept by himself during his tour, recently
found among papers on file, preserved by the
late Samson Powers, of HoUis, youngest son of
the said Peter Powers. I have also the same
tin safe, of ample dimensions, which contained
his journal, and a piece of his tent-cloth which
was spread over him at night, on this very ex-
pedition.
The only rational explanation that can be
given for the silence of all public records in re-
lation to this exploring tour, may be found in the
loose manner in which such things were trans-
acted at that day, and in the commotion which
immediately followed Capt. Powers' return ; for
already war was renewed in Europe between
France and England, and the intelligence of it
having reached Quebec, the Indians renewed
their incursions upon our frontier towns, and
made a descent upon Boscawen a few days after
the return of the exploring company. This sus-
pended all further thought of settling the Coos
country during the war that was then raging,
and Capt. Powers' report wa? not called for, or
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 17
it was lost during that war, or the war of the
Revohition, which followed hard upon the resto-
ration of peace between France and England.
Capt. Powers' journal is not entire — some
pages of the returning expedition are lost, and,
probably, some prefatory remarks. I should
think, also, that it is not as full in description
as he would have returned to government, but
general facts noted to enable him to make out a
correct statement in things essential ; and, final-
ly, it is an interesting document of antiquity, and
must be so, especially, to the people of Coos,
who have for a long time felt an earnest desire to
know who first explored that part of the Great
Valley. I shall give the journal as it is found,
only correcting some of the orthography, and
oifering some explanation in notes.
JOURNAL.
" Saticrday^ June 15tk, 1754. This day left
Rumford," (now Concord,)" and marched to
Contoocook, which is about eight miles, and
here tarried all night."
[The original Indian name of Concord was
Penacook. From 1733, it bore the name of
Rumford, until 1763, and then took the name
Concord.]
2*
18 HISTORICAI. SKETCHES
" {Sunday, June l^th. This day tarried at
Contoocook, and went to meeting, and tarried
here all this night."
[Contoocook was present Boscawen. The Rev.
Phinehas Stevens was minister in this place at
that time.]
'■^ Monday^ June V7th, This morning fair
weather, and we fixed our packs, and went and
put them on board our canoes, about nine of the
clock, and some of the men went in the canoes,
and the rest on the shore. And so we marched
up the River Merrimack to the crotch, or parting
thereof; and then up the Pemigewasset about
one mile and a half, and camped above the car-
rying-place, which carrying-place is about one
hundred rods long ; and the whole of this day's
march is thirteen miles.
'■' Tuesday, June ISth. This day marched
up the Pemigewasset River, about eight miles, to
Smith's River, and then east one hundred rods,
and then north, two hundred and twenty rods,
to the long carrying-place on Pemigewasset Ri-
ver, and there camped."
[This encampment, I think, must have been
on or near the present line Avhich divides Bristol
from New-Chester upon the Pemigewasset. It
might be interesting to the present inhabitants
of those towns to mark out the spot which was
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 19
thus occupied by swords and bristling bayonets
in 1754, whilst the whole country around re-
mained an unbroken wilderness. And what may
be true in this case, may be true of others in re-
spect to all places hereafter to be named by the
exploring party.]
" Wednesday, June 19th. We marched on
our journey, and carried across the long carrying-
place on Pemigewasset River two miles north-
east, which land hath a good soil, beech and
maple, with a good quantity of large masts.
From the place where we put in the canoes, we
steered east, north-east, up the river about one
mile, and then we steered north-east one mile,
and north six miles up to Sawheganet Falls,
where we carried by about four rods ; and from
the falls we steered about north-east, to Pemige-
wasset interval, two miles, and from the begin-
ning of the interval we made good our course
north four miles, and there camped on a narrow
point of land. The last four miles the river
was extremely crooked.
" ThursdaT/, June 20th. We steered our
course, one turn with another, which were great
turns, west, north-west, about two miles and a
half, to the crotch, or parting of the Pemigewas-
set River, at Baker's River mouth ; thence from
the mouth of Baker's River, up said river, north*
30 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
west by west, six miles. This river is extraor-
dinary crooked, and good interval. Thence up
the river about two miles north-west, and there
we shot a moose, the sun about a half an hour
high, and there camped."
[This must have been in the town of Rum-
ney.]
" Friday, June 2\st. We steered up the said
Baker's River with our canoes about five miles
as the river ran, which was extraordinary crook-
ed. In the after part of this day, there was a
great shower of ' haile and ra/ne,' which pre-
vented our proceeding any further, and here we
camped ; and here left our canoes, for the water
in the river was so shoal that we could not go
with them any further.
" Saturday, June 22c?. This morning was
dark and cloudy weather ; but after ten of the
clock, it cleared off hot, and we marched up the
river near the Indian carrying-place, from Baker's
River to Connecticut River, and there camped,
and could not go any further by reason of a great
shower of rain, which held almost all this after-
noon.
" Sunday, June 23(7. This morning dark and
cloudy weather, and we marched up this river
about one mile, and came to the Indian carryings
place, and, by reason of the dark weather, we
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 21
were obliged to follow the marked way, that
way marked by Major Lovewell and Capt.
Tolford, and others, from Baker's River to Con-
necticut River. And this day's march was but
about six miles ; and we camped between the
two first Baker Ponds. And it came on a great
storm of rain, which prevented our marching
any further. And on this day's march we saw
a considerable quantity of white pine timber,
and found it was something large, fit for thirty-
inch masts, as we judged. But before this day's
march, we saw no white pine timber, that was
very large, on this Baker's River, but a great
quantity of small white pine, fit for boards and
small masts. And on this river there is a great
quantity of excellent interval, from the begin-
ning of it to the place where we left this river.
And it layeth of a pretty equal proportion from
one end to the other ; and back of the inter-
val, there is a considerable quantity of large
mountains."
[Those more familiarly acquainted with the
serpentine course of Baker's River than the wri-
ter, may fix on the several encampments in
Rumney and Wentworth with tolerable accu-
racy ; but we shall all agree that, at this last
date, they were encamped between the Baker
Ponds, lying in the north-east part of the present
22 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
town of Orford. It is a little singular that it
should not have been discovered until recently,
that the south-western branch of Baker's River
afforded greater facilities for communication be-
tween the Connecticut Valley and Pemigewasset
than those routs which have been hitherto im-
proved, seeing the Indians had given their pre-
ference to this south branch, and it was improved
by the first English parties which explored the
country.]
" Monday, Jtme 2Ath. This morning it rained
hard, and all the night past, and it held raining
all this day, and we kept our camp, and here we
stayed the night ensuing, and it rained almost
all night.
" Tuesday, June 25th. This morning fair
weather, and we swung our packs, the sun about
a half an hour high, and we marched along the
carrying-place, or road marked, about two miles,
and then steered our course north, twelve de-
grees west, about twelve miles, and came to that
part of the Coos interval that is called Moose
Meadow. And then steered our course up the
river by the side of the interval, about north-
east, and came to a large stream that came into
the interval, which is here about a mile wide.
This stream came out of the east, and we camped
here this night. There are on this river the
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 23
best falls and conveniences for all sorts of mills.
These falls are nearly twenty feet perpendicu-
lar."
[^' Moose Meadoio^^ must have been the In-
dian name for that part of Coos which they
made first, and I am quite confident that some
of the old people whom I consulted relative to
the first settlements, called the meadow owned
by Major Merrill, in Piermont, " Moose Meadow ;"
but I have no minute of it, and as at that time
I had no knowledge of this document, I was not
particular to retain the locality of Moose Meadow.
But we at length find the company encamped
upon the banks of the Oliverian in Haverhill,
which river was then without a name, as well
as Haverhill itself. They passed along, he says,
"by the side of the interval" — that is, at the
foot of the hill where the meadows commence.
He says, the interval was " here about a mile
'wide.'''' He meant on both sides of the riv^er.
He calls the OUverian a "large stream." The
heavy rains, he has already described, rendered it
such. The falls, I should think, were accurately
described. He does not tell us on which side of
the Oliverian he made his encampment ; probably
south, upon the elevated platform formerly owned
by Richard Gookin : or, if he crossed the river
that night, he would select the dry spot where
24 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Stands the dwelling-house of the late Capt. Jo^
seph Pearson. Permit me, kind reader, to add
a reflection. How dark is the future with all to
whom God has not revealed what his future
Providences shall be ! Capt. Powers, when he
camped upon the banks of the Oliverian, must
have marched in his meandering course at least
seventy miles without seeing a human habita-
tion ! And what had been his astonishment, if
it had been revealed to him that night, that his
first-born son should be the minister of a church
and people in that place, in a less time than
eleven years ; that he should sustain that relation
nearly twenty years : and that his grandson,
by his own youngest son, should hold the same
station about fifteen years, from the fifty-seventh
to the seventy-second year after his decease !
This would have been an astounding vision,
but no more than what time has fulfilled.]
"Wed7iesdai/, June 2Q>th. This morning fair
weather, and we marched up the interval to the
great turn of clear interval, which is the upper-
most part of the clear interval, on the westerly
side of Connecticut River, and there came a
great shower of rain, which held almost all this
afternoon ; and we camped by the river on the
easterly side, above all the clear interval ; and
this day's march Avas about six miles, and very
crooked."
OlP THE COOS COUNTRY. 25
[It Will appear, as we advance in these sketches,
that the Little Ox Bow on Haverhill side, and
the Great Ox Bow on Newbury side, were cleared
interval when the first settlers came in. They
had been cleared and cultivated to some extent
by the Indians, and this is the fact to which the
journal alludes. Their encampment was on the
well-known Porter place.]
" Thursday, June ^7th. This morning it was
cloudy weather, and it began to rain, the sun
about an hour high, and we marched, notwith-
standing, up the river to Amonoosuck River,
and our course was about north, distance about
five miles ; and we camped here, for the River
Amonoosuck was so high we could not go over
it without a canoe ; for it was swift water, and
near twenty rods wide. This afternoon it cleared
off" fair, and we went about our canoe, and partly
built it. Some of our men went up the River
Amonoosuck, to see what discoveries they could
make ; and they discovered excellent land, and
a considerable quantity of large white pines.
*' Friday, June 28th. This morning fair wea-
ther, and we went about the canoe, and completed
the same by about twelve of the clock this day,
and went over the river ; and we concluded to
let the men go down the river in the canoe,
who were not likely to perform the remaining
3
'^(y HISTORICAL SKETCHES
part of the journey, by reason of sprains in the
ankles, and weakness of body. They were four
in number : and we steered our course for the
great interval about east, north-east ; and we
this day marched, after we left the river, about
ten miles. And the land was exceedingly good
upland, and some quantity of white pine, but
not thick, but some of them fit for masts."
[These four men, it would seem, were about
to take their chance upon the riv^er, and to re-
turn by the way of Charlestown.]
" l^aturday, June 29tk. This morning was
cloudy, but we swung our packs, and steered
our course about north-east, ten miles, and
came to Connecticut River. There it came on
rainy, and we camped by the side of the river,
and it rained all this afternoon, and we kept our
camp all this night. The land was, this day's
march, very good, and it may be said, as good
as ever was seen by any of us. The common
growth of wood was beech and maple, and not
thick at all. It hath a great quantity of small
Ijrooks. This day and the day past, there were
about three brooks fit for corn-mills ; and these
were the largest of the brooks that we saw."
[It seems that the march of the two last days
was made between the valley of the Connecti-
r-ut, and that of the Amonoosuck, upon the high
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 27
lands of Bath, Lyman, and Littleton, and we
now find them encamped in the southern part
of Daltcn.]
" Sunday, June 30th. This morning exceed-
ing rainy weather, and it rained all the night
past, and continued raining until twelve of the
clock this day; and after that, it was fair wea-
ther, and we marched along up Connecticut Ri-
ver ; and our course we made good this day, was
about five miles, east by north, and there came
to a large stream, which came from the south-
east. This river is about three rods wide, and
we called it ^Jtark'^s River, by reason of Ensign
John Stark's being found by the Indians at the
mouth of this river. This river comes into the
Connecticut at the foot of the upper interval, and
thence we travelled up the interval about seven
miles, and came to a large river which came
from the south-east ; and it is about five rods
wide. Here we concluded to go no further with
the full scout, by reason of our provisions being
almost all spent ; and almost all our men had worn
out their shoes. This river we called Powers''
River, it being the camping place at the end of
our journey ; and there we camped by the river."
[It seems that John Stark had been taken
twice by the Indians while on his hunting expe-
ditions — once on Stark's River, and once on
28 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Baker's River. The river which they named
Stark's River runs through Dalton, and is now
called John's River, because Stark's name was
John, perhaps ; but I think they had better pre-
served the original name, and this would have
perpetuated a historical fact, and borne up a
name that the whole town would delight to
cherish among them ; but who is to know whe-
ther this is John Stark's River, or John Smith's
River, or any other John's River? The river
they called Pozvers^ River is in Lancaster, and
is now called IsraeVs River. This, too, I think,
ought to bear the name they gave it, instead of
a wandering, and perhaps a worthless hunter.
Capt. Powers was the first man of English de-
scent, who ever visited that town for discovery.
He did it in imminent peril, and for the good
of his country. How much more gratifying it
would be to the present inhabitants of that town,
and to all future generations of theirs, did they
bear upon their river the name of the first man
who ever by authority discovered their town !
There has been much wrong in these things in
many of our towns. Our worthy ancestors, who
bore the toils and went through the perils of
exploring and settling our forests, and of subdu-
ing them, richly merited this cheap method of
perpetuating a memorial of themselves. I do
OP THE COOS COUNXnY. 29
not attach blame to the people of Lancaster for
this — for they may not know, to this day, that
such a company ever visited their town, or that
their river was ever formally named by persons
under authority ; but these are the facts. There
is no record in the journal of any transaction on
the first day of July. It was probably spent in
inactivity and rest.]
* Tuesday^ Jidij 2d. This morning fair wea-
ther, and we thought proper to mend our shoes,
and to return homeward ; and accordingly we
went about the same ; and whilst the men were
this way engaged, the captain, with two more
of his men, marched up the river to sec what
further discoveries they could make, and they
travelled about five miles, and there they dis-
covered where the Indians had a large camping
place, and had been making canoes, and had not
been gone above one or two days at most ; and
so they returned to the rest of the men again
about twelve of the clock ; and then we return-
ed, and marched down the river to Stark's River,
and there camped. This afternoon it rained
hard, but ^'■e were forced to travel for want of
provisions. This interval is exceedingly large,
and the farther up the larger. The general
course of this river is from north-east by east, as
far as the interval extends."
3*
30 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
[The captain and his two men penetrated,
probably, as far as present Northumberland, and
must have travelled nearly one hundred and forty
miles after they left the habitations of civilized
men. At Northumberland they first fell upon
the trail of Indians, where they had, probably,
been preparing themselves canoes to enable them
to descend upon our frontier settlements.]
" Wednesday, July 3d. This morning cloudy
weather, and thundered ; and after the sun an
hour high, it rained hard, and continued about
an hour, and then we swung packs, and steered
our course west-south-west, aiming for Amonoo-
suck River; and this day we marched about
fourteen miles, and camped."
[We shall perceive that, for the last twelve
days of their march, the rain had fallen in unu-
sual abundance for that season of the year ; and
it would not be strange if they spoke of some
small streams as larger than they are ordinarily
found, especially since the clearing of the coun-
try ; but as far as my knowledge extends, they
were not far from present truth concerning them ;
and as it regards distances, they were remarkably
accurate, seeing they were in a wi)ld;rness, fol-
lowed the course of streams, and did not carry a
chain.]
" Thursday, July ^th. We marched on ouy
OP THE C003 COUNTRY. 31
course west-south-west, and this day we marched
about twenty miles, and camped."
[This was the day on which the Delegates
from six of the Colonies signed, at Albany, arti-
cles of union for mutual government and defence,
anticipating the renewal of war between France
and England, "exactly twenty-two years before
the declaration of American independence."—
Belknap.]
^^ Friday, July 5th. We marched about
three miles to our packs at Amonoosuck, the
same course we had steered heretofore ; and we
afterwards went over Connecticut River, and
looked up Wells' River, and camped a little be-
low Wells' River this night."
[At the west end of the bridge, perhaps, lead-
ing from Haverhill to Wells' River.]
" Saturday, July 6th. Marched down the
great river to Great Coos, and crossed the river
below the great turn of clear interval, and there
left the great river, and steered south by east
about three miles, and there camped. Here was
the best of upland, and some quantity of large
white pines."
[I think they crossed into Haverhill at the
"Dow Farm," so called, and the three miles
brought them to Haverhill Corner, and their de-
scription of it answers to the description given
32 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
by the first settlers. I would say to the people
of Haverhill Corner, that eighty-five years ago,
on the sixth of July last, (1839,) your Common
was the encampment of an exploring company,
sent out by the government of England ; that
this company felt themselves surrounded by a
vast wilderness ; and, while the towering trees
of the forest formed their canopy, they confided
in their own vigilance and prowess, under God,
to protect them from beasts of prey and savage
men. Well may you exclaim, while in your
ceiled houses, and while surveying from your
windows your ample fields and meadows, What
hath God wrought .']
I must inform the reader that, at this point of
time, the journal ceases to speak of their home-
ward march, and no trace of the remainder can
be found. We are left to suppose that they re-
traced their steps the way they came, with hos-
tile Indians pressing hard in their rear ; for we
learn from Belknap, that by the fifteenth of Au-
gust, of that year, they were at Bakerstown and
vicinity, (now Salisbury,) killing and taking cap-
tive the inhabitants.
From this time until the fall of Quebec into
the possession of the British in 1759, no more
efforts were made to discover and settle new ter-
OF THE COOS COUNTRT. 33
ritories, but every man had as much as lie could
do to retain what he already had in possession.
Nor docs it appear that any steps were taken
towards the settlement of the Connecticut Val-
ley in 1760 ; for our men were still employed in
Canada in gathering up the fragments of the
French armies which were stationed in different
places, and had not as yet surrendered to the
English. But in 1761, when the Colonies no
longer feared the incursions of the French and
Indians upon their frontier towns, the spirit of
emigration from the older settlements, and of
extending their possessions, revived, and sur-
passed all that had been before witnessed. Men
from Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New
Hampshire were now preparing to transplant
themselves into the then great western valley
of the Connecticut, and the Governor of New
Hampshire did not let slip the golden oppor-
tunity of filling his coffers. In every town-
ship granted to petitioners, five hundred acres
of land were reserved for the Governor, without
fees or charges, and he was well rewarded by
petitioners for his services. No less than sixty
townships were granted on the west side of Con-
necticut River, and eighteen on the east side, in
the year 1761. At this time, New Hampshire
claimed all the land west to New York line.
34 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
The reason which Mr. Belknap gives for the
great rush into the Connecticut Valley at this
time is, that the continual passing of troops
through these lands during the war, caused the
value of them to be more generally known.
This was undoubtedly true, especially after the
successes of the English at Ticonderoga, Crown
Point, and in Canada, in 1759. There was then
no danger to be apprehended from the enemy,
and it is not reasonable to suppose that Massa-
chusetts and New Hampshire men, returning
from those successful campaigns, would make
the tour of Lake Champlain and North River to
Albany, rather than cross the highlands of Ver-
mont, and descend the Connecticut River, a tour
which some of them must have previously made
while captives to the French and Indians.
This fact, in connection with Capt. Powers'
journal of an earlier date by some years, con-
vinces me that the traditionary tales which have
been so long rife in the Coos country, that their
fathers were indebted for the discovery of their
country to Major Rogers' famished men, as they
fled from the infuriated Indians of the St. Fran-
cis tribe in 1759, are all apocryphal. The truth
is, when Major Rogers disbanded his men for
their greater safety, he appointed them to ren-
dezvous at the Upper Coos, says Belknap ; which
OP THE COOS COUNTRY. 35
could not have been done, if the place had not
been known. Some of Rogers' men, no doubt,
made the Coos, and some passed through it,
whilst others there perished, whose remains were
found by the first settlers ; but those who sur-
vived that disastrous retreat were the last men in
the world to give a description of the country-
through which they passed, whilst hunger, like
an armed man, was threatening them with disso-
lution at every step.
The tradition, that speaks of a company of
men sent up the river as far as Coos, for the re-
lief of Rogers' men, and of their returning just
when Rogers' men came up to witness the yet
living embers of the fires they had left behind
them, must also be fabulous. Rogers left Crown
Point with two hundred rangers on the thirteenth
of September, 1759, to destroy the Indians at St.
Francis, who had committed so many depreda-
tions and cruelties upon our border inhabitants.
They were sent out with the utmost secrecy.
On the 5th of October he struck the fatal blow,
and commenced his retreat, which terminated
disastrously to many. How could the people of
New Hampshire know of this expedition ? How
in time to make this provision ? And how could
they know that their aid would be needed, or
where it would be needed ?
36 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
The probability is, that the Indians discovered
the exploring party of Captain Powers in 1754,
and related the fact to the early settlers, and
imagination soon connected the two events of
Powers' exploration and Rogers' retreat, giving
the latter as the cause of the former. My view
of this subject is, that the first information which
our people received of the "Coos Meadows" was
derived from Indians, hunters, and captives.
The second source of intelligence was from
Captain Powers and his company. And the
third was from the soldiers of the old French
war. But it is time that I proceed to the settle-
ment of the " Cohos Meadows.^''
There were two men who were the principal
agents in the first settlement of Haverhill and
Newbury in the Coos country, — Col. Jacob Bai-
ley, of Newbury, Mass., and Capt. John Kazen,
of Haverhill, Mass. They were both officers in
the old French war, and stood high in the esti-
mation of government. It is supposed that they
were taught to expect each a charter of a town-
ship in the Coos, if they went on and com-
menced settlements therein. They agreed to
act in conjunction, and to proceed harmoniously
in the undertaking. Hazen was to go on first,
and take possession of the east side of the river,
and Bailey was to take possession of the west
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 37
side as soon as he could find persons to do it,
and come on himself as soon as his affairs at
home would permit.
Accordingly, Capt. Hazen sent on two men
with his cattle in the summer of 1761, viz.,
Michael Johnston and John Pettie. They came
from Haverhill, Mass., by No. 4, or Charlestown,
and then up the Connecticut River. They took
possession of the Little Ox Bow, on the east
side of the river, in the north parish of Haver-
hill, N. H. They found this Ox Bow, and the
Great Ox Bow on the west side of the river,
^^ cleared intei^al,'''' according to what Capt.
Powers states in his journal ; and they had in
former years been cultivated by the Indians for
the growth of Indian corn. The hills were
swarded over, and a tall wild grass grew sponta-
neously and luxuriantly, so that an abundance
of fodder for the cattle was easily procured.
The Indians dwelt at this time on these mea-
dows, east and west of the river, and were ami-
cable. The loss of their strong ally, the French,
and the chastisement which Rogers inflicted
upon their brethren at St. Francis, had cooled
their ardor, and rendered the idea of our men
taking possession of those meadows far more
acceptable to them than it was in 1752, when
they threatened war in case the country was
4
38 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
explored for the purpose of settlement. It wag
not wonderful that the Indians should feel deep
repugnance at the idea of losing this country.
It was a fine country for them. It was easy of
cultivation, and suited to their imperfect means.
The soil was rich. The river abounded in sal-
mon, and the streams in trout, and the whole
country was plentifully supplied with game, bear,
deer, moose, and fowls. It was the half-way
resting place between the Canadas and the shores
of the Atlantic ; and while this was retained, it
was the key that opened the door to, or shut it
against, the most direct communication between
the Colonies and the Canadas. And what was
more than all to the Indians, it was their fathers^
sepulchre.
I cannot but marvel somewhat at the conclu-
sion of the Rev. Clark Perry, in his "Annals
and Historical Sketches of Newbury, Vt., 1831."
He says, p. 24, " It does not appear that this sec-
tion of country was ever the permanent abode
of Indians." But why it should not have been,
I cannot conjecture. Certainly there was no
spot in New England which could have present-
ed to the Indian greater inducements for a per-
manent abode ; and we know of no one place in
New England which has exhibited stronger in-
dications of Indian settlements.
OP THE COOS COUNTRY. 39
I have a communication from David Johnson,
Esq., of Newbury, touching this point, and I
think the evidence he gives of an old Indian
settlement in that place is conclusive. No man
is better qualified to judge impartially and cor-
I'ectly in this matter than Mr. Johnson. He hasr
always lived on the place of which he speaks,
and he is a gentleman who feels the liveliest
interest in antiquities ; has been accumulating
facts of this kind for many years ; and I would
embrace this opportunity to express my obliga-
tions to him for his prompt and persevering aid
in the work before me. I shall put down his
communication as I have received it.
" On the high ground, east of the mouth of
Cow Meadow Brook, and south of the three large
projecting rocks, were found many indications
of an old and extensive Indian settlement. There
were many domestic implements. Among the
rest were a stone mortar and pestle. The pestle
I have seen. Heads of arrows, large quantities
of ashes, and the ground burnt over to a great
extent, are eome of the marks of a long resi-
dence there. The burnt ground and ashes were
still visible the last time it was ploughed. On
the meadow, forty or fifty rods below, near the
rocks in the river, was evidently a burying
ground. The remains of many of the sons of
40 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
the forest are there deposited. Bones have fre-
quently been turned up by the plough. That
they were buried in the sitting posture, peculiar
to the Indians, has been ascertained.
" When the first settlers came here, the re-
mains of a fort were still visible on the Ox Bow,
a dozen or twenty rods from the east end of
Moses Johnson's lower garden, on the south side
of the lane. The size of the fort was plain to
be seen. Trees about as large as a man's thigh
were growing in the circumference of the old
fort. A profusion of white flint-stones and
heads of arrows may yet be seen scattered over
the ground. It is a tradition which I have fre-
quently heard repeated, that after the fight with
Love well, the Indians said they should now he
obliged to leave Coossuck." *
It will appear in the sequel of these sketches,
that at a remote period, there was an intimate
connection between the Indians of Coos, of
Maine, and of the St. Francis. The connection
between the Coos and St. Francis tribe contin-
ued until the last.
We now return to Johnston and Pet tie, whom
we have left on the Little Ox Bow. They made
themselves a booth, and built a shed for their
cattle, and spent the subsequent winter in feed-
- • Our Coos.
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 41
iiig out the hay they had gathered during sum-
mer. One would suppose that these individuals
must have felt themselves sufficiently solitary
from November, 1761, to June, 1762, not having,
for a great part of this time, a white man within
sixty miles of them, yet surrounded with In-
dians, and their cattle a temptation for the latter
to massacre them, that they might seize upon the
booty. But they survived the winter unharmed,
and in the spring of 1762, Capt. Hazen came to
their relief, with hands and materials for building
a grist-mill and saw-mill, where the Svv'azey
mills now stand.
But before Capt. Hazen arrived, a family had
come into Newbury, by the name of Sleeper.
In March, 1762, Glazier Wheeler, from Shutes-
bury, Mass., came up with a brother of his, to
hunt near the head of Connecticut River, and
while on the way, they fell in with Samuel
Sleeper and his family, at Charlestown. They
%vere from Hampton, N. H. Sleeper was a Qua-
ker preacher, but was now employed by General
Jacob Bailey to proceed to Newbury, and take
possession mitil the general could come on in
person. Sleeper contracted with Wheeler to
take him and his family on to his semi-sleigh
and semi-sled, and carry them to Newbury.
Sleepcr pitched his tent a little south of where
4*
42 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
the Kents now live, and have long lived. Tho-
mas Chamberlain next came on from Dunstable,
N. H., and settled on "Musquash Meadow,"
south of the " Great Ox Bow," and a little at
the north-west of the ferry at the Dow farm.
Richard Chamberlain came on next from Hins-
dale, N. H., and settled on Musquash Meadow.
Chamberlain landed at the ferry about noon with
his family. Before night, a hut was erected of
posts and bark, which served them three months
for a habitation. In the centre stood a large
stump, which was their table. The house he
afterward erected stood near Josiah Little's barn,
not far from the river. The old cellar may yet
be seen.
These two Chamberlains were not in the in-
terest of Hazen or Bailey, but were employed to
come on and take possession for one Oliver Wil-
lard, of Northfield, Mass., who was endeavoring
to supplant Bailey and Hazen. But the latter
being united in their petitions for grants ; being
also in favor with the Governor, and having
taken possession by their agents prior to Wil-
lard, succeeded, and Willard failed. Willard's
disappointment was great, and his anger violent.
He gave out vaunting threats that if he could
catch Hazen out of the settlement, he would
flog him to his heart's content. Hazen, how-
OP THE COOS COUNTRY. 43
ever, had seen too many tomahawks and bristling
bayonets around the walls of Q^uebec to be
greatly disquieted by a threat of this kind. But
these two men afterward met in Charlestown,
and upon Willard's attempting to execute his
promise, he caught the severest flogging that
any man need receive, and this terminated the
matter.
This same year, 1762, John Hazleton, from
Hampstead, N. H., moved into Newbury, and first
lived at the foot of the hill, south of the Johnson
village, but afterward settled in the south part
of the town, where Col. Moody Chamberlain
now lives, near the south bridge. In this family,
in 1763, before they moved from the Ox Bow,
the first English child was born in this town —
Betsey Hazleton, now the Widow Lovewell, of
the north parish in Haverhill, in her 77th year.
The same year, the first male child of English
descent was born in the family of Thomaa
Chamberlain, and was called Jacob Bailey Cham-
berlain. The parents of this son received a
hundred acres of land, as a bounty, according to
a promise of the original proprietor, that the first
mother of a son born in that settlement should
receive one hundred acres of land.
I now return to Hazen and his party. I have
said he came on in the spring of 1762, with men
44 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
and materials for building a saw-mill and grist-
mill, where the Swazey mills now stand. With
Hazen came Col. Joshua Howard, of Haverhill,
Mass., born April 24, 1740. He was then 22
yeai's of age, and lived in Haverhill until Janu-
ary 7th, 1839, almost 99 years of age. He was
a man of strict veracity, and at the time when he
gave his narration of events in the early settle>-
ment of these towns, (July 27, 1824,) he was
of sound mind and good memory. I am much
indebted to him for materials in these sketches.
Howard labored that first season in preparing
the timbers for the mills, and was present at the
raising of them. He relates one providential es-
cape from death at the raising of those mills,
which deserves notice. One of their company,
John Hughs, an Irishman, fell from the frame,
sixteen feet, and struck perpendicularly upon the
mud-sill, head downwards, without any thing to
abate the force of the fall. He was taken up
without signs of life ; but Glazier Wheeler, from
Newbury, found a penknif© with the company,
and opened a vein, and after the loss of blood,
he revived, and soon recovered from the tremen-
dous blow. Physicians and surgeons, those com-
fortable adjuncts to an improved state of society,
were then out of the question, and every mind,
in such an emergency, was put upon its own
or THE coos COUNTRY. 45
resources. But I have a tale more melancholy
to relate.
Johnston and Pettie, who had spent the winter
in solitariness, now thought of visiting their
friends at the east ; and preparing themselves a
canoe, they took their departure in June, in-
tending to descend the river to Charlestown.
They made their way pleasantly until they came
near the mouth of White River, in Lebanon.
Here they were drawn into a whirlpool ; their
canoe was upset, and they were plunged into the
river. Johnston made every effort to reach the
diore, but sunk into the arms of death. Pettie,
being the better swimmer, gained the shore, and
was enabled to bear the melancholy tidings of
Johnston's death to his friends.
Some time after this event, a stranger, passing
up the river in a boat, discovered the body of a
man lying upon the shore of a small island in
tlie river, between Lebanon, N. H., and Hartford,
Vt. Not knowing any thing of Johnston or of
his fate, and being far from any settlement, he
performed the kindest office to a stranger corpse
which remained in his power. He digged a
grave in the best manner he could, interred the
body, and left it the sole proprietor of the island.
It now bears his name, "Johnston's Island,"
He is still the only occupant, and will probably
46 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
remain such, until the Great Proprietor of the
world shall assert his claim, recall the dead, and
extinguish all earthly titles. Col. Charles John-
ston, brother of Michael Johnston, after he came
to Haverhill, and learned the resting place of his
brother, went down to the island, found the
lonely grave, bedewed it with his tears, erected
a monument to his brother's memory, and re-
signed all into the keeping of Him who had
given and taken. Capt. Michael Johnston, now
of Haverhill, was so called to bear up and per-
petuate the name of that uncle who found this
early grave.
Col. Howard relates that he and two others
were the first among the settlers who came from
Salisbury in a straight course to Haverhill.
They came on in April, 1762. Howard, Jesse
Harriman, and Simeon Stevens employed an old
hunter at Concord to guide them through. They
came west of Newfound Pond, in Hebron, fol-
lowed up the north-west branch of Baker's River
into Coventry, and down the Oliverian to the
Connecticut. They performed the journey in
four da^T-s from Concord.
In June, of this year, the first family moved
into Haverhill. Uriah Morse, and Hannah, his
wife, came from Northfield, Mass., and settled
upon the bank of Poole Brook, west of the bridge
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 47
on the main road, and a little south-west of the
house where David Merrill lived for many years.
They boarded Capt. Hazen's men, while they
were building the mills, and other adventurers
as they came into the settlement. The first
child of English descent had its birth in this
family, in the spring of 1763 ; but we hear of no
bounty bestowed upon the parents, as in New-
bury, the same year, nor do we learn whether it
was male or female. Indeed, it survived its
birth but a few days. The first death of an
adult occurred in this family, also — Polly Har-
riman died of consumption, aged 18 years. She
was buried a little south-west of the present
meeting-house in the north parish of Haverhill,
between the meeting-house and the Southards.
Her death was much lamented.
Poole Brook derived its name from a man
whose name was Poole, who lived fifty or sixty
rods north of Uriah Morse's house. Poole was
drowned one mile above the Narroivs, in Con-
necticut River, above Wells' River. Glazier
Wheeler and his son Charles found the body of
Poole, seven days after drowning, and it was
brought down to the great Ox Bow and interred.
Polly, the only child of Mr. Poole, married John
J hnson, of Newbury, and was drowned in the
Connecticut, near where her father was buried.
48 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Thomas Johnson, Timothy Bedel, Capt. Hazen,
and Jesse Harriman boarded in the family of
Uriah Morse in the autmnn of 1762. Johnson
was now in his 21st year. He was born March
22d, 1742, and came into the settlement in the
service of General Bailey ; but the first season he
boarded on the east side of the river. He origi-
nated in Haverhill, Mass. Thomas Johnson's
first purchase in Newbury bears date October 6,
1763. It is the united testimony of the first
settlers, that at that early period, moose, bear,
deer, beaver, otter, mink and sables were nu-
merous ; and that salmon enriched and adorned
the river. Trout was not so abundant in the
streams as salmon in the river, and shad never
appeared above Bellows' Falls, in Walpole.
We now come to speak of the events of 1763,
in those settlements. This was the year of
charters with them. Newbury's charter bears
date March 18th, 1763, signed by Benning Went-
worth, and I think Haverhill charter bears the
same date.
The first town meeting under the charter was
held by the freemen of Newbury, June 13, 1763,
and not less than 100 miles from the location of
their grant, viz., at Plaistow, N. H. And before
this meeting was adjourned, they voted to un te
with Haverhill in paying a preacher for the Urn
OF THE COOS COUNTIlY. 49
of two or three months, " this fall or winter," —
a very worthy example, while they were yet so
few and feeble.
This was a year of enlargement with Haver-
hill and Newbury. Benjamin Hall, from Massa-
chusetts, came in and settled near the Porter
place, where the Southards now live. Jonathan
Saunders and Sarah Rowell, both from Hamp-
ton, N. H., came and settled near the present
house of Dr. Carleton, late deceased. Jacob
Hall, from Northfield, Mass., came and settled on
the Dow farm, so called. Hon. James Wood-
ward, of Hampstead, N. H., came and settled on
his place at the age of twenty-two years. He
purchased his farm at twenty cents per acre.
Mr. John Page, father of the present governor
of New Hampshire, came into Haverhill this
year from Lunenburg, Mass. He was employed
by his uncle, David Page, to assist in driving up
his cattle to Lancaster, and this was the begin-
ning of the settlement of that town — David
Page's son having been up in the preceding June
of that year, and marked out a way for them
from Haverhill. John Page returned from Lan-
caster, and bought his farm in Haverhill, but
spent the subsequent winter in taking care of
Gej Bailey's stock in Newbury, which arrived
that season, and not in 1763, as many have snp-
5
50 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
posed. This was Mr. Page's account, Captain
Howard's, and Col. Joshua Bailey's, who came
with his father to Newbury in 1T64, at eleven
years of age. Page continued to labor for Gen.
Bailey until he was able to pay for his farm. He
then came to Haverhill, married Abigail Saun-
ders, daughter of the first settler south of him,
and lived to the age of eighty-two, and departed
this life in 1823.
This year Noah White came into Newbury
with his family, and settled. Thomas Johnson
established himself in the Ox Bow, and Col. Ja-
cob Kent came into Newbury, Noveiiiber 4, 1763,
the twelfth family in both towns. There were
a number of young men boarding in those fami-
lies. Col. Kent was born at Chebacco, Mass., June
11, 1726, and Mary White, his wife, was born
at Plaistow, N. H., August 14, 1736. Mrs. Kent
survived her husband many years, and lived to a
great age. She was nearly ninety years of age
when I visited her to obtain information relative
to the first settlers, and I found her memory good
upon subjects of ancient date. In answer to the
question, " Were there many wild animals in the
town when you first came here, such as bears
and wolves ?" she replied, '' O, yes — there were
enough of them creatures ! I was once fright-
ened almost out of my wits by them. It was
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 51
on a Sabbath day. The colonel was gone to
meeting, and I was left alone, and there came
three great bears to the door, and looked right
in upon me ! I expected nothing but they would
come in and devour me ; but after looking at me
awhile, they turned away, and trotted off, and
glad was I." Ladies of Newbury and Haver-
hill, how would you like, at this time, to have
your devotions interrupted, or your domestic con-
cerns thus unceremoniously inspected, by stran-
ger gentlemen, such as these ? Mum !
In this year, says Col. Joshua Bailey, John
Foreman and several others of Pennsylvania, hav-
ing enlisted into the British army near the com-
mencement of the old French war, and having
been retained in Canada after peace was restored,
deserted and made through the woods until they
came upon the head waters of the Connecticut,
and following down the stream, they came into
the north part of Haverhill. But here they found
themselves famishing through lack of sustenance,
and as they knew not that there was an English
settlement within a hundred miles of them,
they were prepared to seize upon any thing which
could satisfy the demands of hunger. They
unexpectedly came in sight of a horse upon the
plain north of the north parish meeting-house,
and supposing it to be wild; or one that had gone
bZ HISTORICAL SKETCHES
far astray, they shot it, and fed themselves upon
its flesh. Replenishing their packs with the
residue of the meat, they proceeded south, but
soon discovered smokes ascending from chimneys
on the Ox Bow and vicinity. They were alarm-
ed at the idea of falling into the hands of hostile
Indians, especially since they had killed one of
their horses. But after some consultation, they
concluded that one of their number should cross
the river, make what discoveries he could, and
then return and report. He accordingly swam
the river, and, to his great joy, found these were
English settlements. The news and a boat were
soon carried back to his companions. They
were brought on to the Ox Bow, where they
found food, a shelter, and sympathizing friends.
Col. Bailey says, this fact of their killing the
horse on that plain gave the name " Horse Mea-
dow" to that section of the town, and not the
traditionary story of horses finding a rush-g7-ass
there sooner in the spring than elsewhere.
At this time, 1763, we are told, there were no
roads in any direction, and that their bread-stuffs
were brought from Charlestown in boats. It is a
little extraordinary that none of the first settlers
make mention of the great drought which pre-
vailed inthe Colonies for the years 1761 and 1762.*
" See Belknap, vol. ii. p. 238.
OF THE COOS COUNTltY. 53
It must have affected them whatever were their
seasons at Coos ; for as yet they were depending
on foreign supplies. -^
We now come to speak of the progress of these
settlements in 1764 This was a year of increase,
and they realized an accession which seemed to
give character to the settlements for many years.
Deacon Jonathan Elkins with his family, from
Hampton, N. H., came into Haverhill, and set-
tled near Doctor Carleton's. Deacon Elkins was
a valuable acquisition to the town ; but he re-
jnained here bul little more than ten years, be-
fore he remoyed to Peacham, Vt., and was one
of the first settlers, and most efficient, in that
town. Col. Timothy Beedel, from New- Salem,
moved his family to this place, and settled on
Poole Brook, where David Merrill long lived.
Hon. Ezekiel Ladd came in and settled on the
place where he lived fifty-four years, and died at
the advanced age of eighty years, f IS 18. J) He
married Ruth Hutchins. They both belonged
to Haverhill, Mass. Mrs. Ladd died 1817, aged
seventy-six.
Newbury was enlarged and blessed, also, this
year by the arrival of Gen. Jacob Bailey with
his family. He had been fram the first the prin-
cipal mover in the settlement. His influence
was felt in every proceeding, and now he had
5*
54 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
come to bless himself, and to save much people
alive, in the approaching contest between Great
Britain and her Colonies. He arrived in New-
bury, October, 1764. He lived, at that time,
south of the Johnson Village, and north of the
hill, on the east side of the road. He was thirty-
eight years of age when he came to Newbury,
and lived until March, 1815, when he resigned
a long life, that had been devoted to his country,
to his town, and, for a considerable length of
time, to his God. He died at eighty-nine years
of age.
This same year came the Rev. Peter Powers,
of Hollis, N. H., to labor with this people in
holy things. Mr. Powers was born in Dunsta-
ble, N. H., November 29, 1728, moved to Hollis
with his father, January, 1731, which was the
first settlement in that town. He graduated at
Harvard College in 1754, the year his father
explored the Coos country. He was first settled
in the ministry at Newent, then a parish in Nor-
wich, Con., now the town of Lisbon, where he
labored some years ; but taking a dismission
from that charge, he came to Newbury at thirty-
six years of age. Through his instrumentality a
church was gathered and organized in Newbury,
in the fall of 1764, composed of members from
both sides of the river. The two settlements
or TUE coos COUNTRY. 55
united, also, in forming an ecclesiastical society,
which union continued nearly twenty years.
We now enter upon the transactions and events
of 1765. During this year, the settlements at
Coos began to have some neighbors. One or
two settlements were made at Bradford, Orford,
Lyme, Thetford, Hanover, Lebanon, and Ply-
mouth ; but more of these hereafter.
On the 24th of January, 1765, the Rev. Mr.
Powers received a call to take the spiritual charge
of this newly constituted church and society in
the wilderness. He gave his answer in the af-
firmative, February 1, 1765. They then voted
that " the installment be on the last Wednesday
of this instant, and voted, that the Reverend
Messrs. Abner Bailey, Daniel Emerson, Joseph
Emerson, Henry True, and Joseph Goodhue, with
their churches, be a council for said installment.
Voted, that Jacob Bailey, Esq., shall represent the
town of Newbury at the council, which was voted
to meet for said installment down country where
it is thought best. Jacob Kent, Town Clerk."
There is, to us, some novelty in this vote for
installment somewhere ; but the necessity of the
case explains the whole affair. There were no
ministers or churches in all the region, and they
must go by their delegation until they found
them. The ministers selected for the council
o6 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
belonged in Hollis and vicinity, and the Rev.
Mr. Powers was installed at Hollis, February 27,
1765, as the title page to the sermon that was
preached on the occasion showeth, which is as
follows : —
" A Sermon preached at Holiis, February 27,
1765, at the Installation of the Rev. Peter Pow-
ers, A. M., for the Towns of Newbury and Ha-
verhill, at a Place called Coos, in the Province
of New-hampshire. By Myself Published at
the desire of many who heard it, to whom it is
humbly dedicated by the unworthy Author.
Then saith he to his servants, the wedding is
ready — Go ye therefore into the high ways, and
as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
Matt. xxii. 8, 9. Portsmouth, in New-hampshire,
Printed and sold by Daniel and Robert Fowle,
1765."
There is novelty in the circumstance of Mr.
Powers' preaching his own installation sermon,
but it was nothing uncommon at that day ; and
there is room for doubt whether the moderns
have made an improvement in this particular.
Mr. Powers' goods were brought from Charles-
town to Newbury upon the ice on the river, the
last of February, by the people of Newbury and
Haverhill ; but the family did not arrive until
April of that year,
OF THE coos COUNTRY. 57
A circiimstancG occurred on the journey with
the goods, which gave rise to an anecdote which
was rife among the old people, down to a late
period. It has been related to me by persons
belonging to several different towns. There was
a man living in Newbury, and a member of the
church, by the name of Wcnj. He was an ec-
centric character, and would on some occasions
speak unadvisedly, yet \vas a very friendly man,
and was held in general esteem. He was one
who volunteered his services to bring up the
goods upon the ice. It was so late in February,
that in some places, especially where tributaries
came in, the ice was thin and brittle. They,
however, made their way without serious diffi-
culty, until they came to the mouth of Ompom-
panoosuc, at the north-east part of Norwich,
where Way's sled broke through, and had like
to have gone down, sled, team, Way and all.
But by timely effort on the part of his travelling
companions, they were all extricated. As soon
as Way and his team reached firm footing, he
turned around and surveyed the danger he had
been in ; and, as he saw the waters boihng and
eddying with a frightful aspect, he said to his
companions, " That is a cursed hole." When the
party had arrived at Newbury, and they were re-
lating the trials and dangers of the way, some
58 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
one mentioned what Mr. Way said of Ompom-
panoosuc. It was not long before this came to
the ears of Mr. Powers, and he resolved to go, as
his custom was in like cases, and have a conver-
sation with Mr. Way, and admonish him, if he
should be found to have been delinquent. He
accordingly went and told Mr. Way that he had
been told he had been speaking unadvisedly and
wickedly. " What, what is it ?" said Mr. Way.
" Why, they say you said of Ompompanoosuc,
that it was a cursed hole.'" " Well, it is a cursed
hole," said Way ; " I say, it is a cursed hole, and
I can prove it." " no, you cannot," said Mr.
Powers, " and you have done very wrong — you
must repent." " Why," said Way, "did not the
Lord curse the earth for man's sin ?" " Yes,"
said Mr. Powers. ''Well," replied Way, "do
you think that little divilish Ompompanoosuc
was an exception?" Mr. Powers turned away,
and exclaimed, " O, Mr. Way, Mr. Way, I stand
in fear for you," and recording his nolle prosequi^
departed.
Mr. Powers lived in a house a little north of
the house of Gen. Bailey, and south of Thomas
Johnson's. He preached for a time at Gen.
Bailey's house, and, in the mean time, they
;uilt a log meeting-house, south of Gen. Bai-
.ey's, and north of the hill, where they wor*
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 59
shipped some years. This was the house voted
to be built, 28 feet by 25 feet, in October, 1764,
as stated by the Rev. Mr. Perry in his manuscript
of 1831, but which he conckides never was
builded, pp. 14 and 16, in manuscript. The
truth is, Mr. Perry was laboring under a mistake
in regard to meeting-houses. The first meeting-
house stood where I have located it. A framed
meeting-house was some years afterward erected
near where the present Congregational meeting-
house stands ; but as there was dissatisfaction in
regard to its location, it was pulled down, and
re-erected on the spot where Mr. Perry speaks
of the first meeting-house standing, viz., " west
of the burying ground ;" but it was not for a
meeting-house that it was erected there, but
for a court-house and jail ; still, divine service
might have been maintained there after the
first house had become too small to accommo-
date the congregation, and before the present
meeting-house was erected in 1790.
I wish here to be indulged with a single
remark in respect to Brother Perry's manuscript.
It was a very laudable undertaking. I am not
altogether unaided by it ; but he was in too
much haste in preparing it ; depended too much
on common report, and did not compare notes
sufficiently. It will not guide us safely through
60 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
the labyrinth of the twenty-five first years, in
these settlements. But as I have said, they
worshipped at the Ox Bow some years, and
Haverhill people assembled with them, with
great punctuality. There was a foot-path lead-
ing from Judge James Woodward's late resi-
dence, north-westerly, to the river, where was
a log canoe to set them across, and from the
point of landing, a serpentine path through tall
grass, bushes, and sometimes towering trees,
led them to the place of worship. They had
another canoe at the Dow farm, and another at
the Porter place.
At that day it was a sin and disreputable in
the view of all, for persons to absent themselves
from the place of worship without valid cause ;
and parents were seen uniformly carrying their
children in their arms from Dr. Carleton's place
to the Johnson Tillage and back again, the same
day, and sometimes when the grass and bushes
were wet, and the trees from above dropped upon
them their dewy blessings ; and all this, that they
might hear the word of life dispensed. Going
and returning in their meandering course could
not have been a less distance than twelve miles,
and sometimes each parent had one to carry.
Nor was the attendance at worship less uniform
and punctual with those on the west side of the
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 61
river. Some females walked from Moretown,
now Bradford, and others from Ryegate, a dis-
tance of ten miles. Those from the latter place,
wheo they came to Wells' River, (there being
no canoe,) would bare their feet, and "trip it
along as nimbly as the deer." The men gene-
rally went bare-footed ; the ladies, certainly,
wore shoes.
The wife of Judge Ladd related to me her
extreme mortification on the first Sabbath she
attended meeting at tlie Ox Bow. She and her
husband had been recently married. They
came from Haverhill, Mass., and had seen and
tasted some of the refinements of life. She
thought she must appear as well as any of them,
and put on her wedding silks, with mufiled cuffs,
extending from the shoulder to the elbow^ and
there made fast by brilliant sleeve-buttons.
(Ladies of the toilet of eighty years' experience
will understand all this.) She wore silk hose
and florid shoes. Her husband appeared, also,
in his best, and they took their seats on benches
early in the sanctuary. But she remarked that
" they went alone, sat alone, and returned alone ;
for it was not possible for her to get near enough
to any one of the females to hold conversation
with them ; and she was so homo-sick, she
thought she should die, and would have given
6
fx3 HlSTORrCAL SKETCHES
any thing could she have formed some acqiiainl-
ance with those who were to be her female
neighbors," but they were actually afraid of her,
and each sat, or stood, at a proper distance, lest
they should soil her dress. On their return
home, she told her husband she had learned one
lesson, and that was. When among Romans,
conforon to Romans. The next Sabbath she ap-
peared in a clean check-linen gown, and other
articles in accordance, and she found very socia-
ble and warm-hearted friends.
But their worship was destined to interrup-
tions in the summer of 1765. I have already
spoken of Samuel Sleeper, the first settler in
Newbury, in 1762 ; that he was a Q-uaker preach-
er, and that he came on to take possession for
Gen. Bailey. We do not hear of any irregu-
larities practised by Sleeper until after the settle-
ment of Mr. Powers. Then he claimed the
right to hold forth at any time, and on all occa-
sions, when the Spirit moved him ; and while
Mr. Powers was speaking, he would sometimes
say — " Thee lies, friend Peter." And at other
times he would vociferate — " False doctrines !
false doctrines !" Then again — ^'Glorious truths !
Glorious truths !"' The principal men used all
means to dissuade him from such a course of
conduct ; but he grew more insolent and boister-
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 63
ous, and they at length incarcerated him in a
cellar on Musquash Meadow ; but as soon as
Sleeper was disposed of, one Benoni Wright, a
convert and pupil of Sleeper, volunteered to fill
the vacated seat of his master, and if Sleeper
had chastised the sinners with whips, Wright
would do it with scoi^pions. He permitted his
beard to grow at full length, and by tliis, he be-
came a professed prophet of the Lord, and deliv-
ered his messages in the most boisterous and
frantic manner. But he gained no converts, and
as he resisted .every remonstrance of the people,
they adopted a summary course with him. The
eldei*s of the people in bolli ssttlements took
him on to the meadow, near where Sleeper was
in duress, held a court upon him, convicted him,
and doomed him to receive "ten lashes, well
laid on." Wright was stripped and received the
judgment of the court upon the spot, and the
same self-constituted court passed a decree, and
sent it to Sleeper, that if he appeared again after
confinement, to make the least disturbance, he
should receive thirty lashes in full tale. This
was decisive, and these prophets concluded to
sacrifice their consciences at the shrine of their
bodies. Peace and order were restored.
But the next season, 1766, Sleeper and Wright
left the settlement in Newbury, and removed
64 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
into Bradford, and settled on the meadow, north
of Mr. Hunkins, and east of what was Johnson's
tavern, in the north of Bradford. Here Wright
undertook to sustain a fast of forty days, and
withdrew to a cave in a mountain, at the north-
west part of Bradford. And that he might gird
himself for his conflict with hunger and the
Prince of the power of the air, he procured him
a strap with forty holes in it, and was to buckle
himself up one hole each day ; but long before
he had attained to a '' good degree," he was so
pressed upon by hunger, that he concluded to
return home to his wife, and get her to prepare
him a good supper. She did so, and just as
Wright was sitting down to his repast, in bolted
Sleeper, who exclaimed, " Friend Wright, dost
thou break thy fast ?" Wright was moon-struck
for a time ; but his appetite prevailed, and he
returned not to the mountain, which has from
that time borne his name, Wright's Maim tain.
From this time these two men wholly disappear
from our history.
Col. Joshua Howard related to me in 1824,
and confirmed the same in 1832, that the origin
of Sleeper's opposition was this : — Gen. Bailey
found it somewhat difficult to procure a man to
come on and take possession of that land amidst
the Indians, who would no' like as well to take
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 65
possession for himself, as for another ; and such
a man he did not want. He at length came
across Sleeper, who promised he would go on,
proiaded he might become their Q,uaker preacher,
when they had obtained their grant, and had
formed a Christian society. Bailey, willing to
indulge his whim, said to him pleasantly, •' O
yes, Sleeper, you shall be our minister." Sleep-
er took it all for specie, and in process of time,
Bailey found there was more of Gluakerism than
poetry in Sleeper.
In the fall of this year, 1765, Judge Wood-
ward was married to Hannah Clark, and it was
the first marriage ceremony ever performed in
the county of Grafton ; and as there were some
things attending it out of the ordinary course,
and as I had the particulars from the judge him-
self, I will relate them, as they will serve to
show that some things could be done then, as
well as at this time. I have stated that Judge
Woodward came into Haverhill in 1763, and
bought his meadov/ farm. He built his first tent
upon the meadow, as nearly all the first settlers
did in Newbury, and some in Haverhill, not
knowing that they would be in danger from
floods; but being driven off by a flood in 1771,
they afterwards built upon more elevated ground.
But Woodward was now enjoying single bless-
6*
66 HIiSTORICAL SKETCHES
edness in his tent. He felled trees by day,
went to the Dow farm for his meals, and slept
on the meadow at night. And although he
sometimes dreamed of fairy forms, of sparkling
eyes, and ruby lips, yet he knew not that Provi-
dence had any thing of this kind in reserve for
him, and if he had, he knew not where it might
be found ; for young females, in those days,
were duly appreciated. But the next year, when
Judge Ladd came on, he brought with him a
blooming little maid, Hannah Clark, of fifteen,
to live in his family a year or two, and then, in
the mind of Judge Ladd and wife, she would
become the wife of John Ladd, a brother of
Judge Ladd. Woodward went to see his neigh-
bor Ladd, and there he saw the object, which
took, at once, full possession of his soul ; and he
could not see why he might not enjoy it, as well
as John liadd ; and from that moment, he re-
solved to secure Hannah Clark for his wife, if it
was in his power. He called at Judge Ladd's
occasionally, and had some brief opportunities
for conversation with Hannah, enough to satisfy
him that his views and feelings were reciproca-
tedj before Judge Ladd or his wife suspected the
choice or intention of either; but as soon as
their suspicions were awakened. Woodward was
prohibited the privilege of visiting at the house,
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 67
auid a strict watch was maintained over this Httle
bkishing girl. But after all, they had their
friends, and billets, and flowers, and compliments
passed between tliem ; and occasionally an in-
terview was obtained through the intervention
of friends. This , kind of innocent conspiracy
was carried on against Judge Ladd and wife one
full year, and then the parties thought seriously
of deciding the controversy by a clandestine
marriage. The plan was laid and executed in
the following manner : —
Woodward went to Newburj'", and told all his
heart to Ephraim Bailey, son of Gen. Bailey,
and brought him to espouse his cause, and to co-
operate with him. Woodward told Bailey they
must have one female enlisted in their interests.
Bailey said he believed he could find one that
would sustain that part. He was then paying
his addresses to a young girl by the name of
Hannah Fellows, and he could initiate her into
the secret, and secure her aid. It was accord-
ingly confided to her, and it was so arranged
that Hannah Fellows was to pass over to Haver-
hill, and spend the afternoon in visiting Hannah
Clark, tell her what was expected of her, and
the sun about an hour high, she was to solicit
the favor of Mrs. Ladd to have Hannah Clark
walk with her as far as the river on her return
68 ' HISTORICAL SKETCHES
to Newbury. In the mean time, the Rev. Mr.
Powers was to be requested to be upon the west
bank of the river precisely at such an hour, and
Ephraim Bailey was to set him across in the
canoe, and then all were to step into Wood-
ward's tent, and the marriage ceremony be per-
formed. Woodward had already taken out li-
cense from under the king to authorize his being
married without publishment, and every thing
succeeded according to previous arrangement.
The moment the two Hannahs came on to the
meadow, Mr. Powers and Ephraim Bailey were
seen coming up from the river. They all en-
tered into Woodward's tent, and in a short time
Woodward and Hannah Clark were joined in
lawful marriage. Those who belonged to New-
bury returned forthwith, and Hannah Clark, now
Hannah Woodward, ran for Judge Ladd's. She
had not been absent long enough to excite suspi-
cion in the mind of any one. Hannah continued
to do for Judge Ladd as heretofore, and Wood-
ward labored on the meadow.
At length, it was reported by Mr. Powers,
that he had married Woodward to Hannah Clark,
not knowing that there was any secret to be
kept. After some little time, a woman came
over to pay a visit to Mrs. Ladd, and told her
what a kind of a story was going the rounds in
OF THE COOS COLNTRr. 69
Newbury, that James Woodward was married to
Hannah Clark. Mrs. Ladd told her, " There was
not a word of truth in the story ; that Wood-
ward had been endeavoring to court Hannah,
but they would not hear to it." The woman
replied, " It was a little extraordinary that such
a story should be made from nothing, and she
had understood that it came from Mr. Powers.
And do you knotv,''^ said she, ''that it is not
true ?" " Why, yes," said she, " it cannot be
true." At that moment she paused and reflect-
ed, as though Hannah's walk with Hannah Fel-
lows had just streaked across her mental horizon.
" But," said she, " if I don't know, I will," rising
up at the same time, and making for the kitchen,
where Hannah was carding wool or tow : "Han-
nah," said she, " they say you are married to
James Woodward ; is it true ?" "Yes, ma'am,"
said Hannah. " Then I have nothing more for
you to do," replied Mrs. Ladd ; " I shall not part
man and wife." Hannah put her cards together,
laid them into her basket, rose up, and ran for
the meadow, and lived happily with her husband
forty years, and departed this life Oct. 21, 1805.
Hon. James Woodward lived to the advanced
age of eighty, and departed this life 1821.
I perceive that Thompson, in his Gazetteer
of Vermont, states that the crank for the first
70 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
saw-mill in Newbury was drawn upon a liand-
sled from Concord, N. H., to Newbury. Yt,
Distance seventy miles. I suppose it could not
have been much less than seventy miles from
Concord to Newbury, since it is seventy-two
miles from Haverhill Corner direct to Concord.
They would have been much nearer the true
distance at that time, had they stated it at eighty
miles. But the whole of this tour I have in
minutes from the lips of two of the adventurers
themselves, Judge Woodward and John Page.
I do not know the precise number of men who
went for the irons, but I think as many as six.
They prepared a rude hand sleigh, I do not re-
collect the technical name for it. They split a
hard wood sapling, and shaved the two flat
sides, as the cooper would do a hoop for a hogs-
head. The fiat and v.dde side was the bottom
of the runner, and it was bent up forward, and
the end being shaved down small, it entered a
hole in a thick ribbon : and the runner and rib-
bon were supported apart by studs entering the
runner and ribbon, or nave, at short distances
from each other, from end to end. The cross-
bars rested upon the ribbons. This vehicle se-
cured several advantages. It was light ; the
runners were wide, and would not readily cut
through the snow ; the beams were high from
OF THE coos COUNTRY. 71
the ground, so that rocks and stubs were not
Hkely to strike the cross-beams. Being thus
equipped, they took in their provisions and set
sail with light hearts. There was more sport,
however, in going to Concord with an empty
sled, than in returning with a ponderous freight.
facilis descensus Averni :
Sed revocare gradum,
Hoc opus, hie labor est.
The snow was deep, and it proved to be a
very cold week, and before one half the distance
was gained on their return voyage, they felt
themselves exhausted by fatigue, and benumbed
with the cold. They came through Hebron,
and came on to Newfound Pond^ because the
way was more level, yet the cold more severe,
for they had not the forest to break the force of
the wind. Having gained somewhat more than
mid way of the pond, which is six miles in
length, they made a halt, and took their seats
upon their sled for rest. Page arose and went
some little distance to a glade, or opening in the
ice, to drink, and when he returned, he found
all his companions sinking down into a sleep,
from which, if it had been indulged, no power
short of Omnipotence could have aroused them.
Page was not lost to a sense of his or their
danger ; the thought of which proved the ne-
4'4 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
cessaiy stimulus to excite him to effort in re-
deeming them from death. He cried out to
them that they were all dead men, if they did
not instantly awake, and bestir themselves. He
seized them by their shoulders, shook them, and
made them stand up ; and he so preached terror
to their auditory nerves, that they revived, and
resolved to make every possible effort to reach a
camp in the woods ; and they were successful,
and thus saved themselves alive.
I speak of their reaching a camp. It may be
proper for me to state in this place, that our fa-
thers had taken the precaution to build camps
on the route from Haverhill to Salisbury, one
camp in every twelve or fifteen miles, and each
was supplied with fireworks and fuel, so that a
traveller could soon kindle him a fire ; and he
had the boughs of the hemlock for his bed.
But this same party came near perishing when
they had arrived in sight of Haverhill, in the
north-east part of Piermont ; and had it not been
for Woodward to perform for Page, in that in-
stance, what Page had done for them upon the
pond, they would have given up the ghost. But
they were told it required but one effort more,
and all danger was past but they gave way
to sleep for a few minutes, as one of them pro-
posed, they never would awake in the body.
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 73
They were induced to persevere, and they came
in to Haverhill, where they found the blessings
of a fireside, of food, comfortable lodgings, and
anxious friends to sympathize with them.
This saw-mill crank was the one which was
so long in use at Atwood's mills in Newbury,
but I know not its location or its use at this
time. But what hardships were these above
related ! How unlike the condition of their
children and grand-children ! How unequal are
their descendants to such services ! Many of
our young men would now groan under the task
of travelling on foot from Haverhill to Plym-
outh, a distance of thirty-two miles, on a road
which may be passed over in safety, by horse
and carriage, at the rate of ten miles per hour.
But the memory of one man will carry him
back to a different generation. There he will
see a hardy race, minds trained to deeds of
daring, and muscular powers seldom, if ever,
surpassed. And these qualities did not appertain
to the first settlers of Coos exclusively, but they
characterized those several generations which
felled our forests, subdued our soil, conquered
savage men, destroyed the beasts of prey, made
roads, built habitations, mills, school-houses,
churches, supported the gospel, founded colleges
and academies, sustained a war of eleven years
7
74 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
with the combined forces of French and In-
dians, and finally gained our national independ-
ence. They had a great work assigned them,
and Providence fitted them, in an eminent de-
gree, for the discharge of their duties.
I will here mention, that roads direct from
Haverhill to Boston were not opened until after
the war of the revolution — I mean such as
would admit the passing of heavy teams, and
until then, the freight of goods from our sea-
ports was very expensive. Heavy articles which
were not brought up from Charlestown upon tlie
ice, in winter, were brought on pack-horses
from Concord through the woods, and ten bush-
els of wheat have been exchanged for one of
salt. The glass for Col. Thomas Johnson's
house was brought across the woods in this
manner ; and Col. Robert Johnson, who opened
the first tavern in Newbury, in a house a little
south of where his son Robert now lives, sup-
plied his bar with spirits imported in the same
way. This being the state of things in re-
spect to roads, we shall readily conceive that
the means for communicating between this iso-
lated settlement and the eastern part of the
state were rery limited, and were not an every
day occurrence. A passenger arriving in the
settlement with packages direct from friends in
OF THE C003 COUNTRY. 75
the east created a more lively interest in. the
settlers, than the arrival of the British Queen
steamer now does in the great emporium of this
nation. I will give an anecdote from Mr. Perry's
sketches, illustrative of the state of things in
these respects. The story comes from Richard
Chamberlain, one of the first settlers.
Early in the settlement of the Coos, it so
happened that the annual Thanksgiving was
passed, before intelligence of it arrived here.
But soon after, a Dr. White came up to visit his
friends at Newbury, and brought with him a
proclamation. This proclamation was read pub-
licly on the Sabbath by Mr. Powers, and by
him it was proposed they should keep a thanks-
giving, notwithstanding the time specified by
the governor was passed. And he proposed the
7icxt Thursday. Upon this a member arose,
and gravely proposed that it might be deferred
longer; '-'for," said he, "there is not a drop of
molasses in the town ; and we know how impor-
tant it is to have molasses to keep Thanksgiving.
My boys have gone to No. 4, and will be back,
probably, by the beginning of next week, and
they will bring molasses ; and it had better be
put off till next week Thursday." It was
unanimously agreed to. But the molasses not
coming, it was deferred another week ; and
76 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
finally, Thanksgiving was kept without molas*
ses. This, which is enough to provoke a smile,
will nevertheless show us the simplicity and
destitution of those days.
But from 1766 to 1769, we have no special
occurrences to relate. The settlements contin-
ued to increase, society to improve, and the
means of subsistence rewarded the hand of in-
dustry most bountifully. Indeed, the Coos
meadows became to other infant settlements,
north and south of them, what the granaries of
Egypt were to Canaan and surrounding nations,
in the days of the seven years' famine. An
aged gentleman in Ljnne, N. H., says, '*he can
very well recollect when they used to carry up
their silver shoe-buckles to the Coos, and ex-
change them for wheat.''
As to the state of religion in those years, we
do not learn of any powerful revivals among the
people, such as had been experienced in Whit-
field's time, hi many parts of New England ; or
such as have since been experienced in those
settlements. There are no church records to
guide our bark in these polar seas ,• but if
there were revivals, in the modern sense of the
term, the ancients would have told us of them.
There were additions to the church from time
to time, from both sides '^f the river, until it
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 77
consisted of a goodly number of members. The
Rev. Mr. Powers was a serious, godly man, and
more distinguished, I should think, for his plain,
faithful, and pungent preaching, than for grace
in style or diction. He preached mostly with-
out notes, and yet he generally studied his ser-
mons. Those I have seen in print exhibit
thought, arrangement, a deep knowledge of the
Scriptures, and a soul full of the love of Christ
and of the souls of men. His labors were
abundant. As there were no ministers north
of Charlestown, for some years after Mr. Powers
settled at Coos, he was frequently called to
attend funerals, weddings, and to preach lectures
at infant settlements upon the river. Until
there was a foot-path marked out upon the bank
of the river for passengers, Mr. Powers used to
perform his journeys up and down the river in
his canoe. When he saw young men felling
trees near the river, he would call to them, and
say, if Providence favored him. he would preach
to them in that place, on such a day, and at
such an hour. These were welcome proposi-
tions, generally ; and if there were other settle-
ments near, they were informed of the appoint-
ment ; and Mr. Powers, at the hour specified,
would find his hearers seated on stumps and
logs, all ready to receive the word. Mr. Powers
7*
78 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
was characterized by his punctuaHty in meeting
his appointments, and seldom, if ever, disap-
pointed the assembly.
John Mann, Esq., of Orford, told me that Mr.
Powers passed down the river at a certain time,
and gave out an appointment to preach at a par-
ticular hour, on a subsequent day. But during
his absence, there fell a great rain, which swelled
the river, and increased the rapidity of the cur-
rent very much. The people generally felt that
he could not meet his appointment ; but they
assembled notwithstanding, and waited to know
the result. One man was very confident Mr.
Powers would not, and could not return, and
was disposed to charge their assembling to a
stupid credulity in the people. But another man
seemed to be confident he would return to his
appointment ,• and finally, a bet was made be-
tween them. Neither one was pious. This
altercation had awakened some interest in the
audience generally, and all eyes were directed
down the river. The appointed hour now drew
on, and not more than twenty-five or thirty
minutes remained in which Mr. Powers could
make good his appointment, and he who bet
against his return felt sure of his prize, for, if
he was already in sight, he could not gain the
ground within the time allotted ; but, more than
OF THE COOS COUNTRV. 79
this, no man or boat appeared in the river. But
while all were anxious, and looking, the boat,
on a sudden, rode into full view, as by magic,
and not half the distance from them as was the
spot on which their eyes were fixed. He had
kept so near the shore next • to them, to avoid
the force of the current, that they could not
see him until he threw his boat into the stream
to pass an obstruction ; and when he did appear
so suddenly and so near, the assembly could not
suppress their surprise and gladness, but wel-
comed him with a shout which rebounded from
hill to valley. Mr, Powers stood before them at
the appointed moment.
Col. Otis Freeman, of Hanover, related to me
the particulars of the first marriage ceremony
that was ever performed in that town. It was
in 1767, and Mr. Powers officiated. Col. Otis
Freeman attended the wedding. A transient
man came into the town of Hanover, by the
name of Walbridge, and made suit to Hannah
Smith, daughter of a Mr. Smith, who lived on
the place which Timothy Smith improved some
years ago, and, for aught I know, does at this
time. The parents of Hannah were very much
averse to their daughter's connection with that
man ; but she resolved, and so was resolved.
Walbridge happened to see Mr. Powers one day
80
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
descending the river in his canoe, and he hailed
him, and desired to know if he could return by
such a day, and marry him at the house of Mr.
Smith. Mr. Powers said he would do so, if
Providence prospered him. He accordingly ap-
peared at the house a little after sunset ; the
guests were assembled ; the house being lighted
up, the couple presented themselves, handed in
their certificate, and wished Mr. Powers to pro-
ceed.
It was Mr. Powers' practice to call on the
parents of the candidates for marriage to know
if tliey had aught to object to the marriage ; and
when, in this case, he called for the parents of
the bride, behold, they were not there ! Mr.
Powers wished to know if they were not living.
"Yes, they were living, they supposed." He
asked, if they were not in town. " They sup-
posed they were ; but they did not know."
*• How long since they were seen here ?" " Just
at night." "Are the parents averse to this mar-
riage?" "They supposed they were, some."
" Could they not be brought to attend there that
night ? If they could not, he should not pro-
ceed to the marriage ceremony that night."
This was an unpleasant predicament for all par-
ties. But a lantern or a torch was found, and a
scout was sent forth in search of the old folks.
OP THE COOS COUNTRY. 81
They were found at the nearest neighbors, which
was not very near, and after much persuasion,
they were prevailed on to return home.
All parties were by this time cool and col-
lected. The parents took their seats in the
middle of the room, between the minister and
the anxious couple. Mr. Powers arose, and ad-
dressing himself to the parents, said, '• Is this
young lady your daughter?" They bowed as-
sent. " Are you willing I should proceed to
join this couple in marriage ?" The father fixed
his eyes full on Mr. Powers some time, and a
dead silence reigned, until Freeman saw the
tears swelling in the old man's eyes, and his
chin shook like an aspen leaf, and then came a
sudden and convulsive response — ^^YeaV' which
electrified the whole of them. The a in yea
was sounded as broad a in hall, and the e not
sounded at all. All sympathized with the old
people, and Mr. Powers could scarcely proceed
with the ceremony ; but it was performed, and
the connection proved an unhappy one. Wal-
bridge was a worthless character. But this was
the first marriage in Hanover, as Judge Wood-
ward's was the first in Haverhill — the results
widely diff*erent.
Mr. Powers being thus known, and being
generally loved and respected, did much to in-
82 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
crease the settlement at Coos. Persons often
attended worship there from Thetford, Orford,
Bradford, and Piermont. There was one Deacon
Howard, who Hved near the river in Thetford,
who used to ride to Newbury often with his wife
to hear Mr. Powers, and he loved him as his
own soul.
At this time there were no taverns between
Charlestown and Coos, and adventurers were
necessitated to stop at such houses as they could
find for refreshment and lodgings. They had
called on this Deacon Howard, some making him
compensation, and some not, until his means for
subsistence were running low ; and he had re-
solved that it was not his duty to entertain any
more strangers ; and this he could do more con-
scientiously, as there was a sort of an inn opened
for their accommodation three miles north of him.
Mr. Powers, at a certain time, passed down
the river on horseback, undiscovered by the dea-
con, and as he w^as on his return home, he found
he should be overtaken by the darkness of night
before he could reach the inn, and as it began to
rain just before he came to Deacon Howard's, he
thought he would there stop and spend the night.
He accordingly rode up to the door, in the dusk
of the evening, and tapped with his whip upon
the door. The deacon came to the door, and
OF THE COOS COUNTRY.
83
"diiveu-^^'JLhe wished for. Mr. Powers replied.
that he was journeyl"s,lUl/^^^^iy.6J ^^'"umJ iie
was overtaken by the night and by rain ; and
he should like to put up with him for the niglit.
The deacon answered in an abrupt and gruff
tone of voice, "I cannot keep you. Folks have
come here until they have eaten me out of house
and home, and we cannot consent to take you
in." Mr. Powers replied that he was much
fatigued, and he knew not how to proceed far-
ther ; he would pay him whatever he was dis-
posed to charge him. "No," said the deacon,
"I cannot keep you. There is a house for en-
tertainment three miles ahead, and you must go
there."
By this time, the old lady had come forward,
and was looking over her husband's shoulder,
listening to the conversation as it proceeded ;
and as Mr. Powers began to turn his horse away
from the door, she said to her husband, " It
seems to me, that man speaks like Mr. Powers
of Newbury." "Mr. Powers! no, he don't,"
said he. " But why don't you ask him who he
is?" said she. "I don't care who he is," said
he ; "I can't keep him ;" but, at the same time,
stepping from his door, and advancing along after
Mr. Powers, he said, " Where are you from, sir?"
"Newbury," replied Mr. Powers. "From New-
84
HISTORICAL SKETCHEg
^ryV- uYos, sir/' ^^ Well, yon v...- .,.
arteir^..AIr. Powers, then, Jj^rt you?" "Yes,
%'ery well." "And he is a very good man, aint
he ?" '•' Some have a good opinion of him,"'
said Mr. Powers, "much better than I have."
"Well, you may go along."
By this time, the old lady had come up to her
husband in the rain, and as the deacon was turn-
ing to go into the house, she said, " Husband,
I verily believe that is Mr. Powers." On hear-
ing this, he turned suddenly on his heel, and
making rapid strides after the stranger, he cried
out, "Sir, what is your^/ame?" "My name is
Powers," was the reply. "You rascal!'' ex-
claimed the deacon ; and seizing him by one leg,
drew him from his horse, held him fast until he
got him into his house, and there he made all
concessions to the man whom he loved above
all others. A very happy interview they had
of it, and the deacon continued to relate the par-
ticulars of this adventure with peculiar emotions
until the close of life. He related them to Dr.
Burton, and the doctor to myself.
.^Li ji'-pQ^rers spent nearly twenty years at New-
tnoug ^^j Haverhill, and with the exception of
^^Subles which grew out of the revolutionary
the fci^eiigyg tl^ejf union was a happy and
the door. ^„^ •
ne.
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 85
Mr. Powers was a high whig, and by his
preaching and efforts for the common cause of
the colonies, he drew upon him the fierce re-
sentment of the tories, and they threatened his
life, which induced him to remove over into
Haverhill, in the spring of 17S1, This dis-
pleased many of his friends in Newbury, and
although he continued to preach in Newbury
one half of the time, for a year or two, yet it
resulted in his dismission from the church in
Newbury, some time in 17S2. But he preached
still a year or two in. Haverhill, and sometimes
in Newbury, to particular friends ; but he finally
left, and went and settled on Deer Isle, Me.,
where he closed his labors by his decease in
May, 1800, aged 72. He died of a cancer.
When told by his son Jonathan, who was then
a settled minister at Penobscot, Me., that he
was dying, he looked around on his family, and
replied, " The will of the Lord be done," and
yielded up the ghost. Mrs. Powers was Martha
Hale, of Sutton, Mass. She was an intelligent,
pious, and superior woman. She survived her
husband until January, 1802, and died suddenlj''
while on a visit to her children in Newbury.
To those who sat under the ministry of Mr.
Powers, of whom there are some still living,
and those who have looked upon him as their
8
86 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
spiritual father, it will be pleasing to learn by
what means their minister was prepared to
preach to them the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The facts which I shall here record I received
from an eye and ear witness of what she related.
It was the sister of the Rev. Peter Powers.
I have already related that Mr. Powers was
the oldest child of Capt. Peter Powers and
Anna, his wife ; that they were the first settlers
in the town of HoUis. I now relate that for
about two years their nearest neighbor was at
the travelling distance of ten miles, and this
solitary family sustained all the privations and
hardships which were incident to pioneers in
these New England settlements. For about
twelve years they had neither schools, or a
preached gospel ; but they carried with them
the Holy Scriptures and the love of God in their
hearts. Their children were instructed in the
principles of the gospel, and they witnessed the
blessedness of godliness in the daily walk of
their parents. At an early age, Peter became
a devoted child of the Lord Jesus, and was en-
deared to his parents by a thousand ties ; for
they looked to him as their first helper, under
God, and fondly hoped he would be their sup-
port and solace in old age. But as Peter gre"W
in years, a flame was kindled in his breast which
or THE coos COUNTUr. C^
could neither be extinguished nor suppressed ,
and his parents often heard him say, " He had
an ardent desire to enjoy the advantages of an
academic and a collegiate education." But as
these seemed altogether incompatible with their
circumstances, and militated against all their
previous arrangements, those desires of the son
were treated by the parents as visionary ; and
inadmissible, and for a time no human ear was
offended by the importunities of the son; and
the parents hoj^ed that the subject was relin-
quished and forgotten by him, until it was re-
vived to them in the following manner : —
These parents were of Puritan strictness in
the government of their family, and neither
their sons nor their daughters were allowed in
ordinary cases to be absent from the family at
nine o'clock in the evening, which was the hour
of prayer. But it appeared on a calm summer's
evening that Peter was absent at the hour of
prayer ; nor did he appear when it was necessary
to close and secure the house against the intru-
sion of the Indians. The parents passed the
night ill agitation of spirits. At one moment,
they trembled in view of his having fallen a
victim to Indian treachery and violence, and
their imaginations presented him pierced a»-^-'"i"
lacerated upon the ground, or hurried away-'C less
^>otenusQ
.1, Charles-
8S HISTORICAL SKETCHES
a captivity more appalling than death. At an-
other, time they were vexed with the apprehen-
sion that their son had for the first time absented
himself in wanton disregard of their views and
feehngs. The night was at length spent, and
the father rose at the dawn of day ; and as he
unbarred the door, he saw his young son emer-
ging from the forest, and approaching the dwell-
ing with a solemn and down-cast look. The
father beheld his son with the mixed emotion
of joy and resentment ; — -Joy, because he had re-
ceived him safe and sound — rese?itme7it, because
he supposed there could be no adequate cause
to justify the elopement ; yet he restrained him-
self, and called for no explanation until the hour
of prayer, when he was accustomed to adminis-
ter reproof, if it was necessary. The family
being seated, and a portion of Scripture having
been read, the father paused, and fixing a reprov-
ing look upon Peter, said, "Where did you
spend the night, Peter ?"' The son was exceed-
ingly embarrassed, and did not return a prompt
and explicit answer. The father more sternly
repeats, -' Peter, where did you spend the night ?'*
, ""■ e son faintly and meekly replied, while the
^ , , rsed down his cheeks, "I spent it in
God, anr' ■ ' ^
woods, sir." '-In the woods 7^^ said the
: " //o?(; did you spend it?" "In prayer,
m years, ' ' i j »
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 89
sir." A pause of a moment succeeded, and the
subdued soul of the father rushed to the eye,
to seek the reUef which utterance now denied.
But soon the father resumed the inquiry, and, in
an altered and subdued tone, said, " My son,
what were you praying for, during the night ?"
'- That I might go to college." " What would
you go to college for, Peter ?" " That I might
be prepared to preach the gospel to sinners."
The father turned and looked upon Anna, his
wife, in the deepest emotion, but could not
speak. As soon as he possessed the power of
utterance, he led in devotion, and as soon as
Peter had gone out, the father said to Anna, in
a soft and tremulous voice, " I do not see but
we must give up the matter, and let Peter go to
college." The result was a collegiate course, a
life of eminent usefulness, a triumphant death,
and that eternal reward which is promised to
those who turn many to righteousness.
Mr. Powers' dismission from Newbury church
was the first step towards a dissolution of- to
union between Haverhill and Newbury in a'.^
ecclesiastical concerns ; and it does not app to
that they ever assisted each other in suppo»roni
the gospel afterwards. And the probable less
each town was beginning to feel itsel'potenuse
support preaching independent of tKith, Oharles-
8*
90
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
find a proposition coming from Mr. Powers to
Newbury church and society, so early as Decem-
ber, 1781, "for an agreement between the town
of Haverhill and the town of Newbury to be
separate parishes." This proposition was un-
doubtedly from the people of Haverhill, and
therefore we find a vote of Newbury, December
31, 1781, " That the above committee treat with
the town of Haverhill, relative to the Rev. Peter
Powers." They also vote to make a settlement
with Mr. Powers for all aiTearages. Mr. Samuel
Powers, of Newbury, son of the Rev. Peter
Powers, and a very worthy citizen, says, '-he
can well remember the time of his father's dis-
mission from Newbury ; that Newbury church
did not unite in the council for his dismission,
and the council sat in Haverhill." But the
church in Haverhill was not constituted a sepa-
rate church until some years after the sitting of
this council, an event to be noticed hereafter.
^ I will in this place relate an extraordinary
^■(^p, of instinct in a cow, as related to me by
""vapt. Howard, and I relate it here, before I pro-
•d to the events of 1769, because it occurred
'he first years of these settlements. Col.
port a. Tjm.(j came into Haverhill at an early
m yeaifc - ^^^ settlement, from Portsmouth, and
orth of Moses Southard's, or the old
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 91
Porter place, at Horse Meadow. He came first
to Charlestown, and then up the river, as most
others did. With him he brought a vakiable
cow, which he turned upon the meadow, where,
for aught that appeared, she was well content to
abide ; but, after the lapse of a few weeks, the
cow was on a sudden among the missing, and
nothing could be found of her. They went
through both settlements, and searched in vain ;
no one had seen her. The colonel then em-
ployed Indian runners to go in pursuit of her ;
they were out one full week, and returned with-
out her, but reported that they had been on her
trail in Coventry ; but east of that, they could
discover no trace of her. Hurd gave her up as
lost. But the next autumn, there came a man
from Portsmouth, bearing letters from friends,
and in one of them it was stated that on such a
morning, the old cow was found in the barn-
yard from which she took her departure some
months before. She was in good keeping. Now,
we must consider, that from Portsmouth to
Charlestown is at this day, in the most direct
route, ninety-six miles ; from Charlestown to
Horse Meadow nearly seventy miles ; and from
Horse Meadow to Portsmouth cannot be less
than one hundred miles, for it is the hypotenuse
of the triangle, which has Portsmouth, Charles-
92 HisToracAL sketches
town, and Haverhill for its angles. The cow
unquestionably travelled all three sides of the
triangle ; and what seems most surprising is,
that after travelling more than one hundred
mileSj as the roads then were, north of west,
and much of that distance was woods, then
more than seventy miles east of north, all woods,
the cow should have kept in her mind the direct
bearing of Portsmouth, and that she should have
made the journey from Haverhill to Portsmouth,
an entire wilderness, and have reached her old
home in safety, without guide or protector. She
might have fallen in with Barrington or Strat-
ford, twenty miles north-west of Portsmouth,
but she did not do it, probably, or she Avould
liave been taken up ; yet she performed her tour,
and gained her destination.
I now come to speak of events of 1769, and
onward. It was in April, of this year, that Col.
Charles Johnston came into Haverhill, and set-
tled at the Corner. Col. Johnston was born at
Hampstead, N. H.j 1737. He married Ruth
Marsh, of Londonderry, N. H., and came to
Haverhill at thirty-two years of age.
Col. Johnston had departed this life prior to
my coming to Haverhill, and I am wholly de-
pendent upon others for the information I have
respecting him. But no man's character could
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 93
be better established in the public mind, and
seldom can we find greater unanimity with the
public in bestowing on one man the meed of
commendation. There is still a blessed savor
of him remaining in Haverhill and vicinity.
I am in possession of an interesting occurrence
which took i)lace on the journey of Col. Charles
and his family from Hampstead to Haverhill. I
have it in the hand-writing of Mr. Richard Wal-
lace, of Thetford, Vt., who was born in Nova
Scotia, in 1753,. and, at the age of sixteen years,
accompanied Mr. Johnston to Haverhill. I shall
give it in his own words, with the correction
of some errors in orthograpliy and grammatical
construction of sentences. Mr. Wallace's early
opportunities for an education were limited, as
nearly all were at that day ; but he sustained a
character above suspicion for veracity, and had
been a professed disciple of Christ many years
when he wrote me this statement. He says : —
"On the second day's journey from Hamp-
stead, N. H. (this was in April, 1769, in the
afternoon of this day) my feet became tender
and swollen, and much parboiled, as was the
common phrase at that day. This caused me
to fall in the rear of the family many rods. I
then concluded I would take off my shoes and
stockings, and travel bare-footed, expecting by
94 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
this means to be able to overtake the family.
But my feet being swollen, and stockings wet, I
was hindered in drawing them a good while,
and I fell far in the rear. I then hastened my
steps forward as fast as I could, the sun being
about a half an hour high at night, as near as I
can recollect. After wading a large brook, I
entered the clcvcn-mile-woods , for the first time,
in the upper part of Boscawen, I had not tra-
velled far before I came to ice in the sled road,
both in the middle and at the sides, althougli the
snow was for the most part gone in the woods.
But I made all the speed I could, till it was al-
most dark, when I came to a brook or stream,
that I dared not attempt to ford without day-
light, nor could I find any tree fallen across the
stream, on which I might pass over. But con-
cluding I must stay there for the night, I went
in immediate search of a convenient place to
rest, I soon found a large tree fallen on tlie side
of a knoll, the butt end lying up from the ground,
leaving just room enough for me to crawl under.
I took my long stockings, and drew the dry part
of them on to my feet, and crawled under the
tree, and being very tired, I soon fell asleep ; and
I think it likely I slept two or three hours, or
more — I cannot tell exactly. But my anxiety
did not leave me when asleep; and when I
OF THE COOS COUNTEY. 95
awoke, I was very cold, as there was a hard
frost that night. Besides this, I found myself
saluted from all parts of the solitary and dreary
wilderness, by all the animal inhabitants of the
forest, like a band of instrumental music, the
wolves taking the chief lead, and carrying tlie
highest notes ; or something like a bass-viol and
bassoon in their different strains. They did not
appear to be far off, but did not come near me to
offer any violence : yet their noise was some
alarming, and very disagreeable, since the whole
region of the forest seemed to be alive with these
different kinds of animals. By and by, some-
body cried out over my head, and barked like a
little dog, then again screamed in the voice of
women, and laughed out like parrots. I had not
learned their grammar, nor to raise and fall their
notes, for I was but a boy from the sea coast,
and had never heard the like before. But I
thought I would not make any disturbance with
them, if they would let me alone until morning.
But as soon as morning appeared, I crawled out
from under the tree, and suddenly screamed with
all my might, " Stop your noise !" I was im-
mediately obeyed. And behold, the noisy crea-
tures over my head were no other than great
owls, roosting upon a branch of a tree ! But 1
soon made ready to decamp, though my shoea
96 Historical sketches
and stockings were so frozen, that I could only
get on my shoes slipshod. After some search, I
found a log which enabled me to get over the
brook, and I found the road, and I walked and
ran as I could, some miles, and I reached Favor's
tavern in New-Chester, that now is, just as the
sun arose. Some of the company were up, and
some getting up, and friends never came toge-
ther in greater joy. I never shall forget how
Col. Charles looked when he told me what con-
cern he had had for me through the night.
''■ RICHARD WALLACE."
I would, in conclusion of this narration, raise
the inquiry of those youth of sixteen, into whose
hands the above statement may come, whether
they would covet such a night's rest ; and whe-
ther such a serenade from the beasts of the wil-
derness would be to them " some alarming, and
very disagreeable !"
When Col, Johnston arrived at Haverhill, he
purchased the ground where Haverhill Corner
now is, and located himself on the ground where
Capt. Powers pitched his camp for the night, in
July, 1754, and wrote in his journal, — " Here
was the best of upland, and some quantity of
large white pines."
I had it from the widow of Col. Johnston,
who survived the death of her husband several
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 97
years, aiid died, in 1816, at the age of seventy-
five, that when they came to Haverhill, and
found themselves hemmed in on every side by
those towering trees and a dense underwood, she
became very much discontented, and endured
for some time all the melancholy and depression
which arise from home-sickness. When suflfer-
ing from the strongest paroxysms of this malady,
she would sometimes go out to her husband,
while he was felling trees upon what is now the
common, and relate her distresses to him, in
hopes that he might be induced to relinquish his
hold on Coos, and return to their friends at the
east. But the colonel, to amuse her, and to dis-
sipate her melancholy, would seat her upon a
large stump, and then begin to describe to her
the future village which they should erelong wit-
ness in that place. "On such a line would be
the main street ; on such a spot the court-house
would stand ; the academy would occupy such
a site, and the meeting-house stand there V For
the moment, she would seem to fancy it a real-
ity ; but the next sober thought would dissipate
her relief, and she would exclaim, " Mr. John-
ston, there can't be any such thing ! I know
there can't. It never will be in this world !"
It is probable that the colonel thought as little
of this ever being realized by them as she did ;
9
us HlSTOaiCAL SKETCHES
and yet they both hved to witness, almost to
a jot and tittle, those very predictions fulfilled.
And no man in that town ever contributed more
towards converting that wilderness into a de-
lightful village than Col Johnston. He was
laborious and prudent, yet generous and brave.
He accumulated a handsome estate ; and by
his beneficence, he often caused the poor, the
widow, and the fktherless to sing for joy, and
their blessings came upon him.
He was a man of great muscular pxDwers, and
he often put them forth, not to foment quarrels
and broils, as is often the case in a rude state of
society, but to suppress outbreakings and fight-
ings ; and those who were acquainted with him,
refrained from those hostile attacks in his pre-
sence, for they knew the colonel would imme-
diately stand between the parties, the advocate
of peace and good order.
It is related of him that he was passing the
inn at the Corner, at a certain time, just when
two strangers, who had met there, fell into a
violent contention, and came to blows. The
rencounter was sharp and bloody ; but, as the
colonel's custom was, he walked up to the com-
batants, and placing his hands gently upon their
shoulders, began to expostulate with them in
the kindest manner, when they mutually left
OF THE OOOS COUNTRY. 99
beating eax:h other, and commenced dealing
blows at him, who would have set them as one
again. Upon this, the colonel held one in each
hand firmly by the shoulder, and suddenly ex-
tending his arms to the right and left, be threw
the assailants apart, but brought tliera again in
contact, face to fkce, in front of him, with such
j>ower, that before tliis was repeated the third
time, they called out for quarter, nor did he let
go of them until they promised to be at pea^e
with each other-
It was said in his day, and is said to this day,
that Col. Johnston was a peace-maker, both m
church and state. I have one instance of this,
given by Mr. Wallace, who livod with the colonel
after they came to Haverhill. He says, in a
letter bearing date December 25, 1S28, " Esquire
Charles was the only justice of tlie peace in
Haverhill prior to 1773. I will relate one anec-
dote of him in honor to his memory, and for a
i[ions example for his descendants and others.
Soon after his appointment for justice of the
f)eace, there came a man to him with an earnest
r&quest for a writ against one of his neighbors.
Esquire Johnston put him off by relating to him
the unhappy consequences of neighbors going
to law with each other ; and recommended that
he should so home and eee his nei2;hbor in a
100 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
subdued temper ef mind, and see if he would
not pay him. The man went away, but soon
returned with a bitter complaint, and demanded
a W7nt. The colonel left his business, called for
his horse to be saddled, and said to the man, 'I
am going with you to see if this matter cannot
be settled without expense and strife.' When
they came to the man so much complained of,
the colonel told him his business, and that he
came for the sake of peace. The man told him
he was ready to settle the account, and always
had been ; and before they separated, all mat-
ters were adjusted, and the men parted in friend-
ship." How much expense and strife might be
avoided annually, if all our magistrates were of
the same stamp ! We say, '* Blessed are the
peace-makers."
I have another anecdote of the colonel, related
to me by Esquire Jonathan Hale, of Coventry,
N. H., who was knowing to the story. A poor
man of Coventry bought a cow of Col. Johnston
upon credit. The cow was the principal support
of the family ; but after she had been kept
through the winter, she sickened and died at the
opening of spring. The man was distressed in
view of the wants of his family, for he saw no
way of relief. He knew it would be next to
impossible for him to purchase a cow at that
VT THE COOS COUNTRY. 101
seasoii; as ]t was generally known that he was
stilJ owing for the cow that he had lost : and he
had nothing to pay for that, or another. He
felt that he could not go to Col. Johnston for
another, while he was still owing him for the
first : but as it is said, " Hunger will breais:
through a stone wall," so the distresses of his
family impelled him to return to Col. Charles, as
he was the oiily man living who inspired him
with a gleam of hofH2. He went, and found the
colonel at labor in his field. He related to him
his disaster, and his distresses. The colonel
sympathized with him deeply, and knew not
what he could do. The poor man then told him
his object in visiting him. which was to sec if
he could not obtain another cow of him. The
colonel told him, " He did not see how he could
supply him, for they had but two covs^s that
season, and they were going to building, must
have an unusual number of laborers, and they
should need all that could be afforded by two
cows." The poor man replied, '-I did not come
to you, colonel, with this request, supposing that
you could relieve me without great inconve-
nience to yourself, and a sacrifice of interest, yet
I was emboldened to make known my necessity."
The colonel paused in silence for a time, and
ma.nifested that there was a deep conflict be-
9*
10*2 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
tween his sympathies and his circumstances. At
length he said, ''I will go to the house and see
what Mrs. Johnston says,'" They went to the
house, and the colonel related to his wife what
had befallen the man, and what was his present
object. Mrs. Johnston very naturally exclaimed,
" You are not a going to let one of our cows go,
are you ?" And here she related what a de-
mand they would have that season for both
cows. The colonel heard her through patiently,
and then said. "Do you not think that we can
do better with one cow, than this poor man can
do, with his young children, without any ? "
Mrs. Johnston was silent. The colonel turned
to the man, and said, ''You will take my cow."
The poor man took his cow, and returned joy-
ously with her to his family. How blessed is
fellow-feeling ! and still more blessed, when it
is cherished by true piety and benevolence ! If
T know my own heart, I would rather have this
written of my son, than leave him in possession
of the most splendid crown in Europe. I have
wondered a thousand times, and still wonder,
why men of wealth do not secure to themselves,
more frequently than they do, the happiness
which Col. Johnston experienced in sending that
man home with a light and grateful heart. We
have no means of knowing whether that poor
OF THZ COOS COl.NTRV. 103
mail was ever able to remunerate the colonel or
not. No matter. If he did not, the Lord has
done It, a thousand fold, and verily, there is a
reward for the righteous.
I have spoken of the extraordinary muscular
powers of Col. Johnston. I must relate one
more event in his life, illustrative both of his
physical power and of his courage. At the
time when the New Hampshire troops signalized,
themselves at the battle of Bennington, under
Gen. Stark, Col. Johnston was there, and sus-
tained a part in the brilliant achievements of
that ever-memorable day. After Col. Baum had
surrendered to the American troops, and the
battle was renewed by the arrival of Col. Brey-
man, Col. Johnston, in obedience to orders from
Gen. Stark, was necessitated to pass through a
narrow strip of woods on foot £uid alone, to bear
some orders to another division of the American
army. He had no weapon of defence but a
stout staff, which he had cut in the woods that
day, as he was passing on to Bennington from
New Hampshire. Thus equipped, he came sud-
denly upon a British scout, in ambush, placed
there to intercept communications between the
different divisions of the Americans. The party
m ambush was commanded by a Hessian lieu-
tenant. As Johnston came up, tliis offioer stepped
104 niSTORICAl, SKETCHES
forth, sword in hand, and claimed hini as his
prisoner. The word was no more than uttered,
before the sword was struck from the hand of
the officer by Johnston's staff, and as soon did
Johnston have possession of that sword, and
pointing it at the breast of the Hessian, declared
10 him, that he was that moment a dead man.
if he and his party did not throw down then-
arms. The officer turned to his men and said.
^' We are prisoners of war." The soldiers threw
down their arms, and Johnston marched then;
before him to the American lines, where they
were received by our troops.
The colonel returned with the sword to his
family, and presenting it to his only son, Capt.
Michael Johnston, now of Haverhill, said, '• Th>s
<word was won by valor — let it never be retakei;
through cowardice." The sword I have seen.
it vs'as a splendid article of the kind. There
v/as a good deal of writing upon it, formed by
etching, and the officer's name, which I do not
nov/ recollect. This sword, I have been told,
was brought forth and exhibited for the mourn-
t'ul gratification of spectators on the day of the
colonel's funeral solemnities. I am told tliat
it was the colonel's expressed wish, before his
death, that that sword might desceiKi from him
m the line of the oldest male heir, and that it
OP THE COOS COfNTEY. 106
has already gone into the possession of the Rev.
Charles Johnston, of the town of Locke, Cayuga
County, N. Y.
Col. Johnston was the first captain m the
town of Haverhill ; was for many years a justice
of the peace ; a colonel, a representative of the
town many years; a judge of probate, and a
deacon in the church. Col. Johnston"s house
was sun-ounded by a fort at Haverhill Corner,
during the revolutionary war, as was Judge
Ladd's, a little north of the old meeting-house,
on Ladd street ; also, Capt. Timothy Barns",
who lived near tlie tavern, opposite the meeting-
house, in the north parish in Haverhill. Col,
Johnston departed this life, March 5, 1813, aged
seventy-six.
In the summer of 1770, this whole section
of country was visited by an extraordinary cala-
mity, such a one as this country never experi-
enced before or since, beyond what I shall here
specify. It was an army of worms, which extend-
ed from Lancaster, N. H., to Northfield, in Mas-
sachusetts. They began to appear the latter part
of July, 1770, and continued their ravages until
September. The inhabitants denominated them
the '' Northern Army," as they seemed to advance
from the north, or north-west, and to pass east
and south, although I do not learn that they ever
IC'G HISTORICAL SltRTCnES
passed the high lands between the Connecticut
and Merrimack Rivers, They were altogether
innumerable for multitude. Dr. Burton, of Thet-
ford, Vt, told me that he had seen whole pastures
so covered that he could not put down his finger
m a single spot, without placing it upon a worm.
He said, he had seen more than ten bushels in
a heap. They were unHke any thing which the
present generation have ever seen. There was
a gtripe upon the back like black velvet ; on
either side, a yellow stripe from end to end ;
ajid the rest of the body was brown. They
were sometimes seen not larger than a pni ; but
m their maturity, they were as long as a man's
finger, and proportionably large in circumference.
They appeared to be in great haste, except when
tJiey halted to devour their food. They filled
the houses of the inhabitants, and entered their
kneading-troughs, as did the frogs in Egypt.
They would go up the side of a house, and over
it, in such a compact column, that nothing of
boards or shingles could be seen ! They did not
talce hold of the pumpkin-vine, peas, potatoes,
or flax ; but wheat and corn disappeared before
a^ by magic They would climb up the stalks
of wheat, eat off the stalk just below the head,
and almost as soon as the head had fallen upon
the ground, it was devoured. To prevent this.
OF THE COOS COCNTEY. 107
the men would " draw the rope," as they termed
it ; that is, two men would take a rope, one at
each end, and puUing from each other until it
was nearly straightened, they would then pass
through their wheat fields, and brush off the
worms from the stalks, and by perpetual action
they retarded the destruction of their wheat ;
but it was doomed, finally, to extinction.
There were fields of corn on the meadows in
Haverhill and Newbury standing so thick, large,
and tall, that in some instances it was difficult
to ^e a man standing more than one rod in the
field from the outermost row ; but in ten days
from the first appearing of the Northern Army,
nothing remained of this corn but the bare stalks !
Every expedient was resorted to by the inhabi-
tahts to protect their fields of corn, but all in
vain. In the first place, they dug trenches
around their fields, a foot and a half deep, hopmg
this might prove a defence ; but they soon filled
the ditch, and the millions that were in the rear
went over on the backs of their fellows in the
trench, and took possession of the interdicted
food.
The inhabitants then adopted another expe-
dient to save those fields yet standing. They
cut a trench as before ; then took round and
smooth sappling sticks, of six or eight inches
108 niaxoRiCAL sketcii&s
diameter, and six or eight feet in length, sharp-
ened them to a point, and with these made holes
in the bottom of the ditch, once in two or three
feet : and, as their meadows were bottom lands,
they experienced no difSculty in extending these,
holes to two and three feet in depth, below the
bottom of the trench. The sides of these holes
were made smooth by the bar or lever which
made the holes, and as soon as the worm stepped
from the precipice, he landed at the bottom, and
could not ascend again ; indeed, he was soon
buried alive by his unfortunate fellows, who suc-
ceeded him in his downfall. Now, those who
made these holes to entrap their invaders, went
around their fields, and plunged these pointed
levers into the holes filled with wormS; and de-
stroyed every one of them at a single thrust,
whether it was a peck or half a bushel. By
onremitting effort in this way, some reserved to
themselves corn enough for seed the next year.
About the first of September, the worms sud-
denly disappeared ; and where they terminated
their earthly career is unknown, for not the car-
cass of a worm was seen. In just eleven years
afterward, in 1781, the same kind of worm ap-
l^eared again, and the fears of the people were
much excited ; but they were comparatively few
in number, and no one of the kind has ever been
3een since.
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. lOD
This visitation, which destroyed the principal
grains of that year, was felt severely by all the
new settlements ; for it not only cut off their
bread-stuffs, but it deprived them of the means of
making their pork to a great degree, and reduced
the quantity of fodder for their cattle. The set-
tlements at Haverhill and Newbury did not feel
this calamity quite so much as those infant set-
tlements in the towns north and south of them.
They had been longer in their settlements, had
some old stock of provisions on hand, and had
more means to procure supplies from Charles-
town, or by the loay of Charlestown. Jonathan
Tyler, of Piermont, related to me, that the set-
tlements in that town were left without the
means of subsistence from their own farms. His
father drew hay on a hand-sled upon the ice,
from the great Ox Bow in Newbury, to support
his cow the following winter. And had it not
been for two sources opened for their support,
they must have deserted the town. One was
the extraordinary crop of pumpkins in Haver-
hill and Newbury. The corn being cut off, and
the pumpkins remaining untouched by the North-
ern Army, they grew astonishingly, and seemed
to cover the whole ground where the corn had
stood, and the yield was great. The people of
Haverhill and Newbury gave the settlers in
10
no HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Piermont tlie privilege of carrying away, gratis,
as many pumpkins as they would. They went
up, made a kind of raft, and transported them
by water to Piermont. Their raft was a novelty
in its kind, and will show us how truly " neces-
sity is the mother of invention." They cut
them two straight trees from forty to fifty feet
in length; and from fifteen to eighteen inches in
diameter ; and enough of these were generally
found, already felled and dry, to answer their
purpose. They bored holes near the ends of
these trees, and introduced slats to hold them
together at each end, in the manner that the long
body of a hay-cart is made, only at twice or
thrice the distance from each other that the sides
of a hay-cart are placed. These two sides were
first placed in the water, and then joined toge-
ther. The pumpkins were then brought from
the fields, which were contiguous to the river,
and placed in the water, in this oblong square,
until it was filled ; the pumpkins, being buoyant,
would not sink, and could not escape from their
pen. Two men in a skiff would then weigh
anchor, and tow the raft of tons' weight to Pier-
mont shores, where the freight was landed, and
conveyed to the habitations of men !
Another source of support was opened to them
in the immense number of pigeons which Provi-
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 1 Jl 1
deuce sent them immediately upon the disaji-
pearance of the Northern Army. Nothing could
equal their number, unless it was the worms
which had preceded them. The Tylers of Pier-
mont, Daniel, David, and Jonathan, comme-iced
taking pigeons on the meadow, west of Haver-
hill Corner, and in the space of ten days, they
had taken more than four hundred dozen ! They
carried them to Piermont, and made what is
defined, in the Yankee vocabulary, " a bee," for
picking pigeons ; and two or three times a w^eek
the people of Haverhill were invited down to
Mr. Tyler's to pick pigeons. Those who wert
had the meat of all they picked, and the Tylers
had the feathers ; and they made, says Jonathan
Tyler, " four very decent beds of those feathers."
The bodies of those pigeons, when dressed, dried,
and preserved for the winter, were very palatable
and nutritious, and proved a good substitute for
other meats, of which the inhabitants had been
despoiled by the Huns and Goths of the north.
And we are bound to recognize the Divine
Goodness in this providential supply, when the
ordinary means of subsistence were cut off. It
generally characterizes the Divine Government,
when He has tried his people.
I have already stated that the first settlers at
Coos, a number of them, at least"; pitched then-
112 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
tents upon the meadows, v\'ith a view of making
their permanent residence there, but were driven
off by a flood in 1771. Mr. Wallace, of Thet-
ford, has furnished me with some particulars
relative to that freshet. He says, this was a
destructive flood to many of the settlers. Some
of their fields were buried in sand to the depth
of two and three feet, and they not only lost
more or less of their crops for that year, but
their soil for a number of years. Some of their
habitations were invaded and taken possession
of by the water. Wallace went to the rehef of
a family in Bradford, who lived on the place
now owned by Mr. Hunkins. It was the family
of Hugh Miller. His wife was the sister of the
far-famed Robert Rogers, the hero of St. Fran-
cois. When Wallace reached this habitation, he
rowed his canoe into the house as far as the
width of the house would receive it, took the
family from the bed whereon they stood, and
bore them to a ])lace of safety. But Mrs. Miller,
the next day seeing their few sheep standing on
a small eminence on the meadow, surrounded by
water, her husband being absent, resolved on
rescuing them from their perilous situation. She
pressed into her service a young man by the
name of George Binfield, and they took a canoe,
and set sail for the sheep. They reached the
OF THE rOOS COVNTRY. 113
place, caught the sheep, tied their legs, placed
them on board, and set out on their return voy-
age to the high lands ; but when they came
into a strong current, they w'^ere carried down
stream, until the canoe struck a pine stub, and
was capsized. All were precipitated into the
water of the depth of ten feet. When our
heroine arose, and her companion in adventures,
they caught hold of a stub standing about five
feet out of the water, and maintained their grasp
until another boat was obtained, and they were
liberated from their perilous situation ; but the
wrecked canoe and sheep were never heard from
more. From this time, the people sought a
more elevated situation for their habitations.
Jonathan Tyler, of Piermont, related an ex-
traordinary fact which occurred in this great
freshet. He said, a horse was tied to a log in a
stack-yard, upon the great Ox Bow, in Newbury,
and when the water arose, it took away the
horse and the log to which he was made fast,
and the horse was taken out of the river in
Hanover alive, but soon died upon reaching the
shore. He would, doubtless, have perished soon
after breaking from his moorings in Newbury :
but the log to which he was tied kept his head
above water, and prolonged his life many hours.
Col. Howard told me, that in this same freshet
10*
114 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
some swine were taken away by the water in
the north part of Haverhill, and were carried
down to the Ox Bow, where they made good
their standing upon the top of a hay- stack,
where they remained capering about until the
waters subsided, and the owners procured their
property again. This calamity was not of equal
extent with that of the Northern Army ; but it
was so intimately connected with it, it was se-
verely felt, and it seemed as though God had a
controversy with these people.
We may learn something of the facilities for
travelling south and east from Haverhill Corner.
f^o late as ITTI, by the following facts. Jona-
than Tyler came into Piermont in the autumn
of 1768, and he says, " They seldom attempted
to ride on horseback to Haverhill for several
years after they came to Coos, owing to the
badness of the road •" and I have heard it said
by Judge Ladd and others, that a man from
Charlestown came to Haverhill, and mired his
horse so deeply on Haverhill Common, near
Towle's tavern, that was, that he had to procure
assistance to extricate the animal ; and the horse
was rendered so lame as to be unable to proceed
on the journey for some days.
About this time. Col. Charles Johnston and
several others had been to Plymouth, and thought
OF THE COOS COUNTRY, 115
they would return by Tarleton's Pond. They
were retarded by the roughness of the travelling,
beyond their expectations, and they were over-
taken by night-fall. They made their way for
a time by feeling of the trees to see if they
were spotted ; but they at length could feel no
spots, and despaired of finding a settlement, or
camp, that night ; and making a virtue of neces-
sity, they resolved to stand upon their posts like
good soldiers, and wait for the return of day. It
was a long night ; but day at length dawned upon
them, and, to their surprise and joy, they found
themselves posted near the little brook, east of
the establishment of Andrew Martin, one hun-
dred and fifty rods, perhaps, east of the colonel's
own habitation ! For this reason, and because,
I think, the brook is yet nameless, I would call
it Happy Brook, we and our children, forever !
In the autumn of 1772, John McConnel and
family left Pembroke, N. H., for the Coos, and
when they came upon Baker's River, the intelli-
gence reached Haverhill that they were advan-
cing. Upon this, Jonathan McConnel, brother
of John, went forth on horseback to meet them.
and to render them assistance. The next morn-
ing early, Richard Wallace left Col. Johnston's,
on horseback, to go out and render them still
further aid, taking in a freight of provisions.
116 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Jonathan McConnel met the family sixteen miles
from Haverhill, took one of the children and
some baggage, and set out for Haverhill. Wal-
lace met Jonathan returning near the height of
land, and he promised to stop at the camp near
Eastman's Brook, and wait until Wallace and the
family should come up, and all spend the night
together. Wallace proceeded on, and met the
family near night. They were in a miserable
plight. They were all on foot, without shoes
or stockings, and an old beast, a mere apology
for a horse, staggering under the weight of a few
necessary articles for the family ; some scolding,
some crying, and some laughing. It was soon
agreed that Wallace should take two of the chil-
dren, one a huge girl of twelve years, and ano-
ther of two years, (which would have been the
mfant, had there not been another younger.) and
return to Eastman's Brook, and the rest of the
family was to reach there, if possible.
But in carrying this resolve into effect, Wal-
lace met with an unexpected embarrassment. It
would be impossible for the girl of twelve to
hold on^ in passing the sloughs and over logs, to
ride in the usual manner of females. But as
Wallace was at his wit's end to know how to
arrange matters to his mind, the mother stepped
forward, and, by a single flash of her genius, cut
OF THE COOS eoUNTRY. 117
the Gordian knot. "In fa'th,'" said she, " there
must be a leg on each side o" the horse." And
so the girl came into Haverhill.
But as Wallace ascended the height of land,
he became pretty well convinced that the family
could not make Eastman's Brook that night, and
as there was a camp on the height of land, which
they must pass, he dismounted, took a loaf of
bread, run a pole through it, and raised it above
the top of the camp outside, for the double pur-
pose of keeping it from the wolves, and of
exhibiting it to the family ; but. by some fatah-
ty, they did not see it, and passed on ; but as
they did not reach the camp at Eastman's Brook,
they laid out all night, without food or covering.
Wallace had a hard task of it, likewise ; for
when he came to the camp at Eastman's Brook,
where Jonathan McConnel proposed to stop, and
to have a fire for their comfort, he found no
McConnel, no fire, and not any thing to make
one of McConnel had concluded to make Ha-
verhill that night, and leave the rest to shift for
themselves. Wallace now found himself under
the necessity of pursuing his journey under cir-
cumstances "somewhat alarming, and very dis-
agreeable," as he said in a prior adventure.
Beside this great lump of animated nature hold-
ing on to him in the rear, he carried the child
118 HlSTOniCAL SKETCHES
of two years before him : and as the night drew
on, it became drowsy, and sunk down into his
arms very heavily. For a time, he kept it awake
by calhng its attention to the howhng of the
wolves in the vicinity ; but at length nature
was overpowered, and the child sunk down inio
a profound slumber, and he bore it into the
Corner in this condition. They arrived at Coi.
Charles' house at twelve at night, a full moon
favoring them. The colonel was up, and had a
good fire, some expecting them, from what Jona-
than McConnel had told him. But Wallace Avat
so much exhausted by fatigue, and benumbed
by the cold, that he fainted on coming to the
fire. The family arrived the next day, and in
just six months from that time the girl whom
Wallace brought in, was married to Jonathan
Tyler, of Piermont, at the age of twelve years^
and six months. The Rev. Peter Powers mar-
ried them. This was the first marriage m Pier-
^mont.
At the time when these events, already stated,
occurred, and for some years afterwards, it was
net the expectation of the people at Coos, that
they should ever have a road through to Plym-
outh for loaded teams, but their hopes rested on
Charlestown for heavy articles ; and the first
time an ox-team went through, it was effected
OP THE CO09 COUNTRY. 119
by a company, who went out expressly for the
purpose, with Jonathan McConnel at their head.
It was an expedition that excited much interest
with the inhabitants at home, and the progress
of the adventurers was inquired for from day to
day ; and when they were making Haverhill
Corner upon their return, the men went out to
meet and congratulate them ; and, as they came
in, the cattle were taken possession of in due
form, and conducted to sweet-flowing fountains
and well-stuffed cribs for the night. Their
masters were served in the style of lords, and
their narrations of the feats of "Old Broad"" at
the sloughs, the patient endurance of -' Old Ber-
ry" at the heights, and the stiff hold-back of
'Old Duke" at the narrows, were listened to
by their owners, with the liveliest demonstra-
tions of joy.
What feeble impressions do the children and
grand-children of those early adventurers have
of the difficulties which their ancestors sur-
mounted to put their descendants into their pre-
sent inheritance ! Nor is the change greater in
the face of the country, and in the condition of
the roads, than it is in many other things. Con-
template the then state of schools. Mr. Wal-
lace, to whom I am indebted for so many facts
in respect to the first settlers, writes, that when
120 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
he came to Haverhill, in 1769, at the age of six-
teen, he did not know his alphabet, could not
write his name, and his first attempt at writing
was upon birch bark, with a turkey's quill. He
further thinks that in 1772, not more than one
school could be found in every ten miles, on
either side of the river, from Orford to the Up-
per Coos. These were generally constituted by
a few neighbors combining and hiring an in-
structor for a few weeks in the winter ; their
teachers being very inadequate, and their only
books the Psalter and Primer. Compare these
means with those now enjoyed by the rising
generation ; and let those who have made them-
selves merry by reciting the grammatical errors
and orthographical blunders of their ancestors,
perform a more splendid part in the great drama
of human life ; or let them ingenuously confess
that they are debtors to those who received little,
but did much, and left an example worthy of
imitation by all their descendants ; for it is to be
had in lasting remembrance, that by these men,
thus educated, our freedom was obtained, and
those institutions founded, which are our bless-
ing and our boast, and are the admiration of the
world.
Speaking of the first settlers, Mr. Wallace
further says. '• Those who first settled Haverhill
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 121
and Newbury were, for the most part, men of
some property, and were able to furnish them-
selves with land, some stock, and tools, to hire
laborers, and, in a short time, their houses were
well furnished, for that day. They were labo-
rious, prudent, and economical, but were very
kind to the poor and sick. They were strict in
their religious principles, and all attended reli-
gious worship on the Sabbath, neither men nor
women esteeming it a hard service to travel on
foot, four or six miles, with children in their
arms, to hear the gospel."
Another class of persons, he mentions, that
were in more indigent circumstances. They
labored hard in the house and in the field, and
whose earthly fare was coarse, and sometimes
scanty. Their beds consisted principally of
straw, and it was no uncommon thing for fami-
lies to lie on the floor, and some on the ground,
before the fire. Their bowls, dishes and plates
were all of wood, although in a few families, a
little pewter was seen. This class of persons,
he relates, more generally settled in Piermont
and Bradford, although there were families there
in more eligible circumstances. The style of
living in all the settlements was similar where
they possessed the means. Boiled meat, peas
or beans, and potatoes, formed their repast at
11
122 niSTOUICAI. SKETCHES
noon ; at night and morning, pea or bean broflr,
and sometimes milk porridge ; '^ but,'' says Mr.
Wallace. " we never thought of having meat
more than once a day, and I never drank a cup
of tea during the three years and a lialf tha-.
I lived at Coos."" Many wore Indian stockings-
and moccasons of raw hide, when tanned leather
could not be obtained ; and some of the wealthier
had Indian blankets cut into box coats, and
wore hiiff' caps. Their clothing, in general, con-
sisted of linen.
I will now leave the settlements at Coos for a
time, in their peaceful and thriving situation,
and proceed to give a concise history of some
of the settlements in towns south of them,
which brought neighbors to Haverhill and New-
bury, and opened the wilderness between them
and Charlestown. For seven years subsequent
to the settlement of Coos, there was no inhab-
itant in the town of Piermont. But in the
spring of 1768, Ebenezer White, Levi Root,
and Daniel Tyler, came into tlie town, and set-
tled on the meadows. In the autumn of that
year, David Tyler, wife, and son Jonathan came
on from Lebanon, in Connecticut. This is that
Jonathan Tyler, who married Sarah McConnel,
as already related. Tyler relates that wild game
OF THE COOS COUN'TRV. Vid
was exceedingly abundant in Pieruiont m the
winter of 1769. Moose yarded upon the mea-
dows that winter. Bears, wolves, and deer were
ever present, and some of them quite officious.
Several years after David and Jonathan Tyler
came into the town, a bear came into their barn-
yard af different times, '-'while men slept," and
destroyed their sheep. This was sport for Bruin,
but death to the Tylers. At length, Jonathan
Tyler was aroused to a just sense of the injury
and indignity inflicted upon them, and he re-
solved on revenge. He procured three guus,
and charged them heavily with powder and ball,
and retained them as "'minute men," for any
emergency. A few nights after this array of
defence, Tyler heard the cry of distress in his
yard. He sprang from his bed, threw on some
light article of dress, seized his guns, and sallied
forth, breathing slaughter and death. As soon
as he came near the yard, he saw his bearship
devouring his prey beneath his feet. Without
preamble or apology, the three guns were •' let
off" in rapid succession, and every ball took ef-
fect. One penetrated his heart, and the assassin
fell dead upon his prey, a huge enemy to the
fleecy fold.
At this time, Tyler says, they went to Gen.
Moray's mill at Orford, for grinding, which mill
124 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Stood near where Capt. Daton's mill now stands.
He had been to Chailestown for seed corn ; and
to Northfield, Mass.. in a canoe, for bread-stuffs.
But this must have been when the crops were
cut off at Coos.
At one period of this settlement, the greater
portion of the inhabitants bore some one of the
following catalogue of names: — Root, Crook, Cox,
Stone, Daley, and Bailey. They employed Dr.
Samuel Hale, of Orford, for their physician. He
was a high free-liver, and a facetious character,
and used to amuse himself by speaking of his
patrons in Piermont in the following couplet : —
" The Roots, and Crooks, and Elijah Daley,
Coxes and Stones, and Solomon Bailey."
But the merry doctor had to bear the expense
of his own amusement ; for when these families
came to learn the use he made of their names,
they took it in high dudgeon, and would never
afterward employ him as their physician.
Jonathan Tyler, of whom I have spoken re-
peatedly, served his country in the time of the
revolutionary war, and when our troops retreated
from Ticonderoga, at the approach of Burgoyne's
army, he was taken captive, but did not remain
long in captivity. The manner of his escape
was on this wise : — He was held as a prisoner
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 125
of war for a time on the west side of Lake
George, now called Lake Horican. For a time,
he and two or three others of his fellow-prison-
ers were kept in '' durance vile," and were
watched with the utmost vigilance ; but as they
manifested no uneasiness themselves in their
novel circumstances, their masters began to re-
lax their vigilance, and they were permitted to
go among the British troops, and to labor with
them. At length, the British determined on
building a block-liouse on the east side of the
lake, and Jonathan Tyler, Daniel Bean, and an-
other by the name of Cowdry, volunteered to
go and help build it. After laboring a day or
two, their axes needed grinding, and they were
permitted to go to a spring of water just over a
rise of ground, to bring water for grinding, and
for other uses of the company. A bark had
been laid down into the fountain, which con-
ducted the water off, and rendered it very con-
venient in taking water at the lower end of the
spout. Tyler hung his pail on the end of this
spout, and while it was filling, he. Bean, and
Cowdry, concluded to take French leave, and
did so ; and Tyler says, "He don't know but
his pail hangs there yet." But the poor fellows
had like to have perished with hunger. They
left without a particle of food, and without
11*
J26 BteTORirAL sketches
arms and ammunition, and the first four days
after their elopement, while they were hid in
the woods west of the Hudson River, they had
nothing to satisfy the cravings of lumger but
leaves, buds, and twigs of trees, and the roots
which they dug out of the ground. And be-
tween the Hudson and the Connecticut, they
sustained a like fast ; but when they came to
settlements in the Connecticut Valley, they were
the happiest of mortals, and concluded they had
done their part towards the achievement of our
independence. David Tyler and wife, the pa-
rents of Jonathan Tyler, both lived to a great
age. They attained to nearly ninety-five years.
The Congregational church was constituted
in this town in 1771. The Rev. John Richards
was settled as their pastor in 1776, and labored
with them twenty-six years, and took a dismis-
sion in 1802. The Rev. Jonathan Hovey was
settled over them in 1810, and continued his
labors five yeeu-s. Rev. Robert Blake com-
oienced his labors among them in 1819, and
continued them, with some interruptions, until
1836. The statement in the Gazetteer of New
Hampshire, that the first settlement in Piermont
was m 1770. js an error.
OP THE COOS COUXTRY. 127
ORFORD.
The town of Orford, which is ten miles south
of Haverhill, and seventeen north of Hanover,
was first settled in 1765. Daniel Cross and wife
were the first who came into the place, from
Lebanon, Conn. They came in June of this
year, and pitched their tent near where the Saw-
yers afterward settled, upon the river road, south
of Orford village. John Mann, Esq. and wife,
whose maiden name was Lydia Porter, both of
Hebron, Conn., came into Orford in the autumn
of 1765. Mann was twenty-one years of age,
his wife seventeen years and six months. They
left Hebron on the 16th of October, and arrived
in Orford on the 24th of the same month. They
both mounted the same horse, according to Pu-
ritan custom, and rode to Charlestown, N. H.,
nearly one hundred and fifty miles. Here Mann
purchased a bushel of oats for liis horse, and
some bread and cheese for himself and wile, and
set forward — Mann on foot ; wife, oats, bread
and cheese, and some clothing, on horseback.
From Charlestown to Orford there was no road
but a horse-track, and this was frequently hedged
across by fallen trees ; and when they came to
such an obstruction, which could not be passed
round, Mann, who was of a gigantic stature.
would step up, take the young bride, and set
128 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
iier upon the ground ; then the oats, bread and
cheese ; and, lastly, the old mare was made to
leap the windfall ; when all was reshipped, and
the voyage was resumed. This was acted over,
time and again, until the old beast became impa-
tient of delay, and coming to a similar obstruc-
tion, while Mann was some rods in the rear, she
pressed forward, and leaped the trunk of a large
tree, resisting all the force her young rider could
exert : and when Mann came up, which he did
in a trice, there lay the bride upon the ground,
with all the baggage resting upon her. The old
creature, however, had the civility not to desert
them in this predicament, and as no bones were
broken; and no joints dislocated, they soon re-
sumed their journey ; Mann, for the rest of the
way, constituted the van instead of the rear
guard.
When they arrived in Orford, they very natu-
rally made Daniel Cross' tent their first resting
place. They were received with all that cor-
diality and hospitality which characterize those
who are separated from all friends, and are en-
closed by the solitudes of a vast wilderness.
Cross had reared a shelter for his cow adjoining
his own tent, and for that night the cow was
ejected, and Cross and his wife occupied her
apartment, while Mann and his wife improved
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 12V»
the parlor. But they were doomed to a sad
adventure that night. Cross had felled a large
tree, the butt end of which constituted no incon-
siderable portion of one side of his house. Into
this log he had bored two holes, about four feet
apart, and sharpening two sappling poles, he had
driven them horizontally into the log, to form
the two side pieces of a bedstead. The other
ends of the poles were supported by two perpen-
dicular posts, in the manner of ordinary bed-
steads. Elm bark served for cord and sacking.
This rigging was adequate to sustain Cross and
Ihs companion, a light couple ; but when Mann
and his partner came into possession, it was
another affair. Mann was of gigantic stature.
Soon after all had retired to rest, this frail fabric
of a bedstead suddenly gave way with a loud
crash, which frightened the tenants of both
apartments prodigiously. Mrs. Mann screamed,
and this was suddenly responded to from Cross'
apartment, '• What is the matter ?" But after
mutual explanations and apologies, Mann and
his wife resumed a recumbent position upon the
floor, and enjoyed a refreshing sleep, with the
exception of an occasional interruption from a
sudden burst of laughter in the cow apartment,
where Cross and his wile lay, reflecting upon the
startling scene througli which they had passed
130 HISTORICAL SKEl'CUES
unscathed. Esquire Mann related this adven-
ture after he was more than eighty years of age,
and he did it with that impassioned emotion,
which tended to impress the mind of the hearer
as though it was an event that had recently
transpired.
Soon after Mann came to Orford, he took a
log-canoe near where Cross lived, and ascended
the river to the place where Orford bridge now
is. He went ashore to reconnoitre and to spy
out the land. The soil supported a huge growth
of wood and a dense underbrush. The surface
ivas covered with a tall, thick, and white moss,
And had every appearance of being boggy. Mann
thought he would penetrate a little way into the
forest, and take some care and not needlessly
wet his feet. He accordingly step})ed with cau-
tion, jumped from one little mound to another,
and when he got upon a windfall, he would im-
prove the whole length of it. But while thus
making his way, he lost the centre of gravity,
when on an old log, and fell to the ground. But
instead of plunging into a bog, as he expected,
he came •• plump on to hard and dry soil," that
beautiful bottom land which he and others have
so long cultivated to great advantage.
Mrs. Mann, after they were settled in their
own tent, went to the river, and brought all the
or THE coos COUNTRY. 131
water they used in a three-pint basin, with th«
exception of washing days.
John Mann, Jan., Esq., was the first Enghsh
child born in the town, May 21, 1766, and if
now Hving, mnst be in his seventy-fourth year.
The sarne^ autumn in which Matni came into Or-
ford, Jonathan and Edward Sawyer, Gen. Israel
Morey, and a Mr. Caswell, all from Connecticut,
came in and settled.
The first church in Orford was constituted in
1770. The Rev. Oliver Noble, their first minis-
ter, was ordained, November 5, 1771, and was
dismissed, December 31, 1777. Then there
was an interregnum of about ten years, and the
Rev. John Sawyer was ordained over them, Oc-
cober 22, 1787. He continued with them but
about eight years, and was dimissed, 1795. Rev.
Sylvester Dana was ordained over them. May
20, 1801. He continued their pastor twenty-one
years — dismissed, April 30, 1822. Rev. James
D. Farnsworth was ordained, January 1, 1823.
Mr. Farnsworth has been dismissed, and he has
a successor, Mr. Campbell ; but the dates of
those events I must leave to my successor in
gathering statistics.
Mr. Mann relates that when he came into the
town, and for some years after, deer and bear
were very numerous, and some moose in th«
132 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
east part of the town. He has been up on the
elevated ground, east of the river road, after a
new-fallen snow, and seen deer tracks almost
as plentifully imprinted as we see sheep tracks
where the latter are yarded.
As Mann came on from Charlestown, he found
in the town of Claremont, two openings by
young men of the name of Dorchester. In
Cornish there was but one family, that ol' Moses
Chase. In Plainfield there was one family,
Francis Smith. The wife was " terribly" home-
sick, and she declared she " would not stay
there in the woods." In Lebanon, there were
three families, Charles Hill, son, and son-in-law,
a Mr. Pinnick. In Hanover there was one fam-
ily, Col. Edmund Freeman, and several young
men, who were making settlements. In Lyme,
there were three families, all by the name of
Sloan — John, William, and David. This state-
ment differs materially from what we find in the
Gazetteer of New Hampshire in respect to the
first settlers in those towns. But I have long
since lost all confidence in gazetteers, when
they attempt to give facts anterior to recorded
facts, and they never can be depended upon, so
long as no better means are employed than those
which have been used to gain information. The
niethod has ordinarily been to write to some
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 133
post-master, justice of the peace, or some other
man, and request him to furnish them with the
early settlement of the town, both recorded
facts and traditionary tales. But where is there
a man, who, upon such an application, will de-
vote one week to the examination of records, or
to visit the aged to gain information ? Not one,
we believe, in fifty, if there is one in a hundred.
And in most cases, it would require all of one
month to make a correct report. In generaU
there is not one line on record in regard to first
settlers. Their records begin with the charter,
which might have come into existence years
before the settlement, or years afterward ; but
most persons are ready to take it for granted,
that their town was settled the year it was char-
tered, and that some of the first names specified
in the charter were the first settlers. But no-
thing can be more uncertain than this. Besides,
every town has its favorite stories derived from
tradition, which they wish to establish ; and
almost every man wishes to bring forward his
ancestors to figure as principal characters, which
never were such, and, it may be, never were
distinguished for any thing, unless it were stu-
pidity or knavery. But this application fur-
nishes him with an opportunity to palm upoii the
public a bloated account of his pedigree, and,
12
134 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
instead of going to the ancient records, if there
are any,, or to the aged, he sits down and writes
what is most satisfactory to himself, and it soon
appears as matter of history. I need not specify
particular instances of this fraud. They are
many. Almost every town, if they should
make a thorough investigation, will find that
they have been misrepresented, and in some in-
stances grossly insulted. I invite the attention
of the people of Haverhill, especially, to these
remarks. I would not diminish the interest
which the public may feel in Farmer and Moore's
Gazetteer of New Hampshire. They have done
well. Every family ought to possess it. It is
worth a million of Thompson's Gazetteer of
Vermont ; but they ought to have sent a com-
petent agent into every town in the state to
collect statistics, before they had published.
Lebanon is made the first town settled north
of Charlestown, before Haverhill or Newbury,
contrary to the united testimony of the first
settlers in all the towns above them. Esquire
Mann and Esquire Otis Freeman agree in their
statement in respect to Lebanon. Has Lebanon
authentic documents to show that their town
was settled as early as 1760, or the spring of
1761 ? They can show that their town was
chartered then ; but can they show that it
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 135
was settled 7 If they can, let the truth stand.
Plain field, Mann and Freeman tell us, had one
family in it in 1765 ; our Gazetteer shows us
two men there, L. Nash and J. Russell, in 1764,
and the next year, when Mann and Freeman
came through, 1765, it tells us of a church or-
ganized, and a settled minister, Rev. Abraham
Carpenter. Has the town these documents ?
If they have, it is the first instance in which 1
have found the first settlers deviating from the
truth ; but they harmonize with wonderful ex-
actness when we compare all their statements.
I have nothing further to speak of Lyme, that
is prior to what is recorded and published. The
church, according to the Gazetteer, was consti-
tuted in 1772. Rev. William Conant was set-
tled as their pastor in 1773. Rev. Nathaniel
Lambert, previously settled at Newbury, Yt..
was settled in Lyme in 1811. Rev. Baxter
Perry was settled, 1821. The Rev. Erdix Ten-
ney is their present pastor.
The first family which came into Hanover
was that of Col. Edmund Freeman, who lived
in the east part of the town. He came in May,
1765, from Mansfield, Conn. He brought with
him a wife and two children, and his brother,
Otis Freeman, then of the age of seventeen.
Several other young men came in the same
136 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
season. Deacon Jonathan Curtis and son came ;
but he did not move his family until 1766. Col.
Edmund Freeman gave the name of Hanover
to the town.
I have already related the circumstances of
the first marriage in the town. The first death
which occurred was that of a child in the family
of Deacon Benton ; it died of consumption at
the age of fourteen months. The first meeting-
house was built of logs, and stood near the river,
between Timothy Smith's and Mr. Tisdale's.
The proprietors of the town first employed the
Rev. Knight Saxton, of Colchester, Conn., to
preach to these settlers in the summers of 1766
and 1767. Subsequently, Dr. McClure, of Bos-
ton, was employed to preach to the people ; and
Eden Burroughs, D. D., of Stratford, Conn., who
had been previously settled at Killingly, Wind-
ham Co., Conn., was installed over this church
and people in 1772. Dr. Burroughs was dis-
missed in 1809, and Rev. Josiah Towne was
ordained, June, 1814. Mr. Towne has been
dismissed, and another clergyman has been set-
tled ; but I know not his name.
A full and satisfactory account of the origin
of Dartmouth College, in the town of Hanover,
of its progress and prosperity, has been given to
the public through different channels, and is so
OP THE COOS COUNTRY. 137
far above my feeble praise, it needs not to be
further noticed in these sketches.
I now pass on to the west side of the river,
and speak of the settlement of Norwich, Vt. 1
shall relate a plain story, which I took from tlie
lips of Rev. Asa Burton, D. D., of Thetford, Vt..
when he was at the age of 72, and sound both
in mind and body. He relates that his father.
Jacob Burton, of Stonington, Conn., came to
Norwich first in the summer of 1764, and viewed
the country for the purpose of locating himself,
provided he was suited with appearances. "At
that time," he says, " there was no inhabitant in
the town." The next year, 1765, his father
returned to Norwich, and laid out a part of the
town into lots ; and in June, 1766, he came with
Asa, his son, then in his fourteenth year, and
some other hands, and built a saw-mill, a little
west of Norwich Plain. Dr. Burton says, " There
were then but two families in the town ; one by
the name of Messenger, who lived at the west
end of the present bridge leading from Hanover
to Norwich ; and a Mr. Hutchinson, who lived
near where the Military Academy now stands.
Hanover Plain was at this time a thick pine
forest." Messenger and Hutchinson came into
Norwich either in 1765, or the spring of 1766,
12*
138 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
He further says, " There was no minister, at
that time, nearer than Newbury and Haverhill,
at Coos ; but in a few years Mr. Conant settled
at Lyme, Dr. Burroughs at Hanover, Mr. Isaiah
Potter at Lebanon, and Mr. Lyman Potter at
Norwich."' Where, now, is Rev. Mr. Carpenter
of Plainfield, in 1765, at the distance of twelve
or fourteen miles from Norwich ?
But now for Thompson's Gazetteer of Ver-
mont, published at Montpelier, in 1824. He
has it, that in 1763, Jacob Fenton, Ebenezer
Smith, and John Slafter, came into Norwich
from Mansfield, Conn.; that at this time, there
were two men settled in Hanover ; that in July,
Smith and Slafter left Fenton on Wednesday,
for the purpose of hoeing com in Lebanon, and
that on their return on Saturday, at evening,
they found Fenton dead in their camp. It ap-
peared afterwards, that a Mr. Freeman, of Han-
over, happened over at Norwich, and found
Fenton sick, tarried with him until he died, and
then went to Lebanon to procure help to bury
him, and he was buried, July 15, 1765 ; that
there were four families moved into Norwich in
1764, and from that time, the settlement ad-
vanced rapidly. Now, for the correctness of
this statement. He says, that in 1763, there
were two men in Hanover, and one of them, at
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 139
least, was a Mr. Freeman. But the very Mr
Freeman here alluded to, which was Col. Otis
Freeman, gave me the particulars of his finding
Fenton sick in his tent — he had had a fit : and
that it was the same year he and his brother
came into Hanover, viz., 1765. Thompson
further states, that Fenton was taken sick, and
died in July, 1763, and was buried, July 15.
1765. According to this, there were but three
years which intervened between his death and
burial ! But this might be owing to his sudden
death, and the extreme warmth of the season.
Again, four families moved into Norwich in 1764.
and from this period the settlement advanced
with considerable rapidity. But in 1765, when
they concluded to bury Fenton, they had to de-
pend on Freeman, of Hanover, to go after Smith
and Slafter to Lebanon, to procure help for the
burial, and Fenton is left " alone" in the town !
Now, let us take this which way we will, it is
nothing but jargon ; and it shows conclusively
that there was not one moment given to the
examination of dates by the compiler of this
work, but whatever was sent to him in the
form of a statistic, was received as authentic.
I notice these egregious blunders to confirm
what I have already said, that gazetteers cannot
be relied upon for statements which are not sup»-
140 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
ported by written documents. And 1 have an-
other object in view, which is, to show those
who would be compilers of gazetteers, that they
have something to do besides calling for crude
papers, and publisliing them. No man ought to
think of publishing another gazetteer, either of
New Hampshire or Vermont, in a less compass
than nine hundred pages of large octavo, first
expending three thousand dollars in collecting
and arranging materials, and then giving it to
the public at three dollars per copy.
There is but one apparent discrepancy be-
tween Dr. Burton's statement, and Col. Otis
Freeman's. I say apparent, because it can be
easily reconciled. Dr. Burton says there were
but two families in the town when he came in
1766; whilst Freeman says, Smith and Slafter
were there in 1765, and the families mentioned
by Burton bore the name, Messenger and Hutch-
inson. But suppose Smith and Slafter were
there in 1766, Burton was not speaking of single
men, but ol men with families. I find the first
settlers made this distinction in all their state-
ments. Again, nothing was more common than
for young men to come in, and labor one sea-
son, and then retire, and we never hear of them
again: they have sold out to another; or they
vvere in the service of another man. Smith and
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 141
Slafter might have been in Norwich in 1765,
and not in 1766, but there again in 1767. But
we must keep in mind that Mr. Jacob Burton,
father of Asa, said there was no one in the town
in 1764.
I again take up the thread of history. Asa
Burton continued to labor for his father until he
was twenty-one years of age, at which time he
entered upon his studies preparatory for college,
under the tuition of Mr. John Smith, subse-
quently the professor of the learned languages
in Dartmouth College, and he entered college in
a little more than one year from the commence-
ment of his studies.
There was one adventure of young Burton,
at the age of eighteen years, which deserves a
place in these sketches, and which cannot fail
to call the attention of the people of Norwich to
times gone by. A large female bear had fol-
lowed a cow belonging to Jacob Burton, until
they both came near the house ; when the bear
was discovered by one of the sons of Jacob
Burton, and was driven off from the cow on to
a ledge of rocks, north of Norwich Plain, and
east of the road which runs north and south.
But the young man was not content with releas-
ing the cow from danger, but he determined to
worry the bear : and as he saw she was clamber-
142 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
ing up the rocks to pass over the ledge, he ran
round, and gained the top of the ledge first ;
and here he hallooed Asa, who was chopping on
the plain south of them. As soon as Asa heard
the call, he ran at the top of his speed with his
axe to the scene of action. By this time, the
bear had ascended to the verge of the rocks,
where Asa's brother stood, and she seemed in-
clined to contest for a prior claim she had to a
passage that way. Asa saw the predicament of
his brother, and fearing he should lose his game,
if the bear made good her standing on the top
of the precipice, he pressed up the rocks in the
rear of the bear with all the haste he could pos-
sibly make. This inspired his brother aloft with
fresh resolution to keep the bear from gaining
the top, and with kicks and thrusts he succeed-
ed in keeping her below the precipice. And so
sharp was this contest, that the bear did not ap-
pear to notice the approach of her assailant in
the rear, until Asa drew upon her with the head
of his axe, and laid the blow upon her rump,
which knocked her down ; and as he was un-
acquainted with the hardiness and strength of
the bear, he supposed the victory was already
achieved ; but she soon found her legs again,
and plied them with greater diligence than ever
in making her escape. The bear now relin-
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 143
quished her hope of ascending the precipice, and
commenced descending the hill in an oblique
direction, with Asa pressing hard upon her rear.
But in his endeavors to surmount some wind-
falls over which the bear had passed, he fell
backwards upon the ground ; at which mo-
ment the bear turned back, sprang upon the log,
showed her terrific teeth, and appeared in the
very attitude of leaping upon him. This was
the first moment that taught young Burton his
danger, and it brought him upon his feet with
new inspiration, and he resolved that henceforth
he would neither give or take quarter. He
made at the bear with redoubled fury, and com-
pelled her to retreat down the hill, and as she
came near the base, she became entangled among
the logs, and here our young hero made a second
onset, and fetched her to the ground ; then turn-
ing the edge of the axe, he sunk it into her
throat to the very bone, and the victory was his.
This bear was of the largest class, and gave
tokens that she was then employed in rearing
her young. My only remark in the conclusion
is, that others may kill bears, and I will record
their deeds.
The Rev. Lyman Potter was ordained over
the church and congregation in Norwich, in
1775, and was dismissed, 1800. Rev. James
144 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Woodward was installed over this church and
society, 1804. Previous to 1820, a new church
and society was formed upon Norwich Plain,
and the Rev. Rufus W. Bailey was settled over
them in 1820, and was dismissed in 1824. Rev.
James Woodward was dismissed from the north
church, and the Rev. Samuel Goddard was in-
stalled their pastor, 1822. The Rev. Thomas
Hall has been settled over the church and society
upon the Plain, but is now dismissed from that
charge.
Thetford was first settled, in 1764, by John
Chamberlain, from Hebron, Conn. And in 1765,
at the time when Esquire Mann came into Or-
ford, there were two other families, one by the
name of Baldwin, and the other by the name
of Hosford. Chamberlain was very industrious,
and somewhat parsimonious withal, and soon
rose to a kind of independence of his neighbors,
which he J as well as they, seemed to be fully
conscious of. Chamberlain did not rise, how-
ever, above the reach of envy, and the wags of
that day selected him for their butt, at which
they aimed their pointed arrows of wit and sar-
casm. It was not long before Chamberlain was
furnished with a penultima to his gift name, as
he seemed to feel that his parents had wronged
OF THE C003 COUNTRY. 145
him in infancy by deciding that he should bear
the undignified appellation — John^ it being only
a monosyllable. He was, therefore, dubbed
Quail John, for what reason I have never
learned ; but it adhered to him through life.
And in proof of the fact that the Muses either
preceded in their flight to this section of coun-
try the first settlers, or very soon followed their
trail, I will put down some lines which were
composed, and often repeated in the hearing of
him whose praises they would celebrate :
" Old Quail John was the first that came on,
As poor as a calf in the spring ;
But now he is rich as Governor Fitch,
And lives like a lord or a king."
Fitch, to whom reference is here made, was
one of the governors of Connecticut about these
days. But Chamberlain was destined to higher
and less perishable honors than the simple elon-
gation of his name. To him was born the first
English child that was ever born in the town ;
his name was Samuel.
Thetford did not settle a minister until the
summer of 1773, when a man by the name of
Clement Sumner was installed their pastor. We
know not the place of his nativity. He gradu-
ated at Yale College in 1758, settled in Keene,
N. H., June 11, 1761, and was dismissed, April
13
146 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
30, 1772. He remained in Thetford but little
more than two years. He became a tory, left
there without asking for a dismission, and went
to Swanzey, N. H., where he became a Univer-
salist preacher, and continued in that persuasion
until his death. He was the source of much
trouble to the town of Thetford. He took from
them a fine right of land which fell to him by
settlement, and divided the church and town.
Wallace says, " He was no more fit to preach
than a fox is to make a gold watch." We do
not learn that there was ever any lack of fellow-
ship between him and his Universalist brethren
at Swanzey.
Wallace settled in the west part of Thetford,
six miles from the river, where he lived to an
advanced period of life. He relates a distressing
scene which was occasioned by an alarm that
was spread through the country in the summer
of 1777. Wallace was at Charlestown, N. H.,
when an American scouting party came in with
a British scouting party, as prisoners of war,
from Burgoyne's army. Upon these prisoners
were found papers, purporting that three detach-
ments of British soldiers and tories were to be
sent out to the Connecticut valley — one to New-
bury, one to Royalton, and one to Charlestown,
N. H. This was nothing but a stratagem of
or THE coos COUNTRY. 147
Burgoyne's to divert the Americans from his
army, and the scout was sent out for the purpose
of being taken with these papers on their hands,
and it succeeded wonderfully. The news spread
through the country like electricity.
Wallace made all speed for Thetford, and
found on his arrival that the people had gained
the intelligence that they were to be invaded by
the enemy, and they were pressing in for the
river from Strafford and other settlements, in the
utmost consternation. This was done by order
of the Committee of Safety. Strafford was lite-
rally emptied. There were a number of tories
in that town. There were eight brothers in one
family went over to the British at once, and
they carried some others with them ; and their
property was all taken and sold for public use.
Those who remained true to their country's
cause expected to feel the vengeance of these
enemies ; and when Wallace came home, he
met, between the place where Thetford meeting-
house now stands and his habitation, men, wo-
men and children, who had forsaken houses and
lands, and every thing which they could not
conveniently carry ; some in carts, some on sleds,
some in sleighs, in mid-summer, and some on
foot. They had their hands full of light arti-
cles of clothing, and packs stuffed upon their
148 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
backs, and were driving before them cattle,
horses, sheep, and swine. The mixed noise of
these different kinds of animals, and the cries
of women and children, who expected to be
overtaken every minute, murdered and scalped
by the infuriated Indians, tories, and British,
were enough to affect the stoutest heart. Wal-
lace was looking out for his wife, whom he sup-
posed to be in the caravan ; bat they all passed
him, and he saw nothing of his beloved Creusa.
Several times he was confident that bright image
appeared to his view in the motley throng ; but,
as they advanced, behold ! it was another, and
not she —
" — tenuesque recesslt in auras."
Wallace now put spurs to his steed, that he
might the sooner dissolve the doubts which had
arisen in his own breast, and allay the anxiety
he felt for his better self. When he arrived at
his hut, he found his wife sticking by the stuff.
Having no horse or oxen to aid her in trans-
porting the goods to the river, she had resolved
to wait and see if there was cause for all this
trepidation and flight. She had, however, com-
menced carrying their household stuff into the
woods, and covering it with bushes, that it might
not fall into the hands of the invaders, should
they suddenly appear. They both completed
OP THE COOS COUNTRY. 149
the work which his wife had so heroically com-
menced, and then both mounted their horse, and
rode for the settlements at the river. The next
day, Wallace and another took a team, and went
and brought in the goods ; and as soon as they
were disposed of, Wallace enlisted to go in pur-
suit of Bargoyne and his array, wisely conclu-
ding it best so to press the lion in his den.
that his whelps should not feel at liberty to go
abroad and devastate the surrounding country
And this v/as the effect of Burgoyne's strata-
gem generally. It returned upon his own head
After the surrender of Burgoyne and his army,
October 17, 1777, Wallace returned to his hut
in December, where he and his wife lived through
the succeeding winter, without any chimney,
hearth, or floor, except three or four loose boards
to set their pole bedstead upon, that was corded
with elm bark.
Mrs. Wallace deserves distinct notice in this
place. At the time of the alarm, Wallace had
corn, oats, and potatoes growing on his newly-
cleared land. After he had gone in pursuit of
Burgoyne, and the alarm had somewhat sub-
sided, Mrs. W^allace travelled out six miles to
see to their crops. She found the oats ripe for
harvesting, and many of them lodged. She was
all alone, and no man could be procured to assist
13*
160 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
her in gathering them, for all that could be spared
had gone to the field of battle. Nothing daunt-
ed at this, she took a scythe and mowed them,
dried them, raked them into bunches, bound
them, and stacked them in good style. She
then took an axe, cut poles, fenced them about,
and then went back to the river. When her
corn-stalks were ripe for cutting, she went out,
cut them, bound them, and put them on the top
of her stack of oats. In like manner she went
out and gathered the corn, and dug her potatoes,
and secured both. She then went to work at
clearing some ground which had been felled, and
was burnt over the year before ; and when her
husband returned from the army, she had cleared
and sown one acre of wheat ; and during the
absence of her husband she had travelled, in
going to and from the river, seventy-two miles !
The following year they procured some sheep,
which they had to yard in a pen near the house
every night, to preserve them from the wolves,
which were numerous. Wallace being at work
at the river on a certain time, Mrs. Wallace could
not find her sheep to yard them at evening, and
as soon as it came on dark, the wolves set up a
frightful howling, as it seemed, within twenty
rods of the house. What to do for the safety of
her sheep, she did not know ; but on examina-
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 151
tion she found the gun was loaded ; she at once
salHed forth and discharged the gun, to inform
the wolves that something was there besides
mutton. At twelve at night, she reloaded, and
went forth and discharged her piece a second
time. And before daylight, they heard from her
the third time j and at sunrise, she went out and
found all her sheep near the pen, safe and sound,
and the wolfish gentry swift on the retreat.
This woman became the mother of eleven
children, nine of whom lived to enter into the
married state, and to have families. In 1828,
these parents had fifty grandchildren, and five
great-grandchildren.
But the best part remains to be told. This
woman served as an accoucheuse forty-five years,
rode in seven towns, was present at the birth of
twenty-one pair of twins, and one thousand, six
hundred and twenty-four single births; making,
in all, one thousand, six hundred and sixty-six.
and never lost a mother of whom she had the
care.
Gentlemen and ladies of 1840, sitting in your
broadcloth, silks, and satins, what say you to
these things ? Could not some things be done
without steam, rail-road, or piano forte ? I would
leave you to pleasant reflections. Fidelity in a
historian is a jewel.
152 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
There is one adventure of Wallace which
must be recorded before we take leave of him.
It took place in the fall of 1777, a little time
before he returned to Thetford from the pursuit
of Burgoyne, as I have already stated. I receive
the facts in this case from two sources, viz. from
David Johnson, Esq. of Newbury, Vt., to whom
Wallace and Webster both related the story, and
from the Hon. Simeon Short, Esq. of Thetford,
who was Wallace's agent in procuring a pension,
and who had, in behalf of Wallace, transmitted
the following particulars to the Pension Office at
Washington.
It v/ill be recollected by those who are ac-
ijuainted with the history of the war of the revo-
lution, that as soon as the battle was fought at
Bennington, and the Americans began to hope
that Burgoyne's army would fall into their hands,
they set about retaking the forts of Ticonderoga
and Mount Independence, on the shores of Lake
Champlain, which forts Burgoyne had left in
his rear, supplied with troops for their defence.
Ticonderoga was taken, and Mount Indepen-
dence was straitly besieged for some time. There
was a good deal of hard fighting, and it was
confidently looked for, that Mount Independence
would surrender ; but they did not. The Brit-
ish shipping had full jwssession of the lake.
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 153
Ticonderoga was upon the west side of the lake,
and Mount Independence on the east side. Our
troops on the west side could hold no communi-
cation with those who had invested Mount In-
dependence, and of course they could have no
concert in action. It was at this time, when
the greatest solicitude was felt by the two
American commanders to know each others'
minds, that the following expedient was adopted
by the commander at Ticonderoga. He called
on his men to know if there were any tAvo of
them who would volunteer to swim the lake in
the evening, and carry despatches to Gen. Lin-
coln, near Mount Independence. For a time,
none offered to undertake the hazardous enter-
prise ; but when informed how much was pro-
bably depending upon it, Wallace of Thetford
stepped forward, and said he would attempt it :
and then followed him Ephraim Webster, of
Newbury, who originated in New-Chester, N. H.
The documents were made out, and about sun-
down, an officer took these two men on to an
eminence which overlooked the lake, and he
pointed out to them the course they must take
to avoid discovery by the British shipping, and
then about where they would probably find the
American camp. At dusk of evening, the same
officer attended them to the marsin of the lake.
154 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
assisted them to prepare for the voyage, and saw
them set sail, httle expecting, probably, ever to
hear from them again ; for as they had to swim
up and down the lake, in a zigzag course, to
avoid the enemy, they must swim more than
two miles before they could make terra iirma,
and it was so late in the season the water was
quite cold. They rolled their despatches in
their clothes, and bound their clothes upon the
back part of their neck, by cords passing round
their foreheads and their clothes. As soon as
they entered the water, Wallace said to Webster,
" We shall never reach shore, it is so cold ;" but
this he said without any thought of relinquishing
the enterprise. When about midway of the lake,
the cords which fastened Wallace's clothes to
his neck slipped down from his forehead to his
throat, and it cut him so hard as almost to stran-
gle him. He made several attempts to replace
the string upon his forehead, but failed, and he
was on the point of giving up all for lost. The
thought, however, of the importance of his un-
dertaking seemed to inspire him with new life
and vigor, and he succeeded in replacing the
string, and passed on without saying a word to
dishearten Webster. They passed so near the
British shipping as to hear the oft-repeated cry,
•'All's well !" They took no care to contradict
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 155
that report, but buffeted the waves with stout
hearts and sinewy Hmbs. They kept in com-
pany until they came near the eastern shore of
the lake, when Webster seemed to fall into the
rear, a few rods at the north of Wallace ; and
just as Wallace struck the twigs of a tree which
lay extended into the lake, he heard Webster
say, "Help, Wallace, I am drowning!" Wal-
lace sprung to the shore, caught a stick, and
rushed into the water, and extended it to Web-
ster in the act of sinking, and drew him ashore.
Webster could not stand ; but Wallace rubbed
him briskly, and got on his clothes, and he soon
recovered so as to walk. How aptly the poet's
description of Ulysses, when cast upon the coast
of Phaeacia, will apply to Webster, as drawn
ashore by Wallace, the reader will judge :
"From mouth and nose the briny torrent ran,
And lost in lassitude, lay all the man ;
Deprived of voice, of motion, and of breath,
The soul scarce waking in the arms of death."
Webster was so full of expressions of gratitude
to Wallace for the preservation of his life, that
Wallace had to caution him not to speak so loud,
for the enemy would hear them.
But new difficulties now presented themselves.
It was now dark, and they were in a strange
place. The enemy was near, and had their
15(5 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
sentinels on shore as well as the Americans.
And, what was worst of all, they knew not. the
countersign of the Americans on that side of the
lake. They started, however, in quest of the
American camp, and after travelling about nearly
one hour, they were hailed by a British sentinel,
and did but just make their escape. They then
took a different direction, and Wallace gave both
despatches into Webster's hands, and told him
to keep in the rear, and he would go forward,
and if he should happen to fall into the hands
of the enemy, Webster might have opportunity
to escape with the despatches. But they had
not proceeded a great ways before Wallace was
hailed by a sentinel — " Who comes there ?" "A
friend," says Wallace. "A friend to whom?"
says the sentinel. " Advance and give the coun-
tersign." This was a fearful moment. Wallace
hesitated for an instant, and then replied by way
of question — " Whose friend are you ?" The
sentinel responded — ''A friend to America!"
"So am T," said Wallace, "and have important
despatches for your general." They were im-
mediately conducted to the general's quarters,
the despatches were delivered, and Wallace and
Webster were received with every mark of sur-
prise and gratitude, and every thing was done to
render them comfortable and happy. But Wal-
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 157
lace never enjoyed the degree of health after-
wards that he did prior to that chill and almost
incredible effort. Wallace departed this life,
February 7, 1833, aged eighty, Mrs. Wallace
died, May, 1831, aged eighty-one.
Webster's subsequent history is worthy of a
passing notice. The last time he visited New-
bury, he v/as residing among the Oneida Indians,
New York. They had adopted him as their
brother, promoted him to be chief in their tribe,
and, to render the tie indissoluble, they had
given him one of the black-haired maidens of
the forest. Webster's health was not perma-
nently injured by his dangerous adventure.
The church and people in Thetford remained
in a divided state more than three years after
Sumner left them, until Dr. Burton came among
them, in 1778, at the age of twenty-seven years.
He graduated at Dartmouth College in 1777, read
divinity with Dr. Eleazer Wheelock, president
of the college, until he was licensed to preach
the gospel, and he then went aaid read with Dr.
Hart, of Preston, New London Co., Conn. As
soon as Dr. Burton came into Thetford, the un-
happy divisions which had existed among them
were all dissipated as by enchantment. They
were all united in him, and all reconciled to
each other. They gave him a unanimous call
14
158 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
to settle with them in the gospel ministry, and
he was ordained their pastor, January 19, 1779.
There were fifty-seven families in the town
when Dr. Burton settled among them. There
were but two families then living west of the
present meeting-house, viz. Richard Wallace, and
a Mr. Osborn, living near Mr. Wallace. They
had no meeting-house ; and in the summer they
held their meetings in a barn, and in a private
dwelling in the winter. The first meeting-house
was built of logs, and stood near the place where
Dr. Solomon Heaton used to live, from half to
three fourths of a mile north-east of the present
meeting-house, on the road leading from Thet-
ford to East Fairlee and Orford. The seats in
this meeting-house were movable forms, or
benches, like those often found in school-houses
for children to sit upon, and they were ranged
on each side of the house, the ends pointing
towards one broad aisle in the centre.
Dr. Burton related, in much good humor, one
incident which occurred in that house, that was
of a stirring quality. The doctor had a parish-
ioner by the name of John Osman, and he was
an abominable sleeper in the house of God. His
habit in this was so inveterate as to resist all
remonstrance. It so happened, on a very warm
Sabbath in mid-summer, that Osman was seated
OF THE C003 COUNTRY. 159
on the end of one of those benches next to the
aisle. He was facing the aisle, and, in order to
find secure repose, he placed his elbows upon his
knees, folded his arms, and leaned forward ; and
in this position he fell into a profound slumber.
The doctor saw him paying his devotions to
Somnus, by now and then a significant nod and
a reel of the body, but said nothing to disturb
his repose. At length, Osman lost his balance,
and pitched his whole length on to the floor,
where he lay in the middle of the aisle, sprawled
out like a spider ! The shock with the audience
was electrical. Many sprcuig upon their feet, and
some females shrieked out ; but when they saw
Osman gathering up his limbs in the most delibe-
rate manner, rubbing his eyes, and scratching his
head, the transition from surprise to risibility was
so sudden and powerful, that the impulse was
irrepressible, and for a few moments the speaker
himself labored to maintain the dignity and gra-
vity of his station. But it proved a specific in
Osman's case, for he was never known to sleep
in meeting after that event. It might be well,
perhaps, for some of our modern sleepers at the
house of God, if they were to descend as low in
the Valley of Humiliation as Osman did, provi-
ded their resurrection should be as triumphant.
At the settlement of the town of Thetford,
160 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
and for a number of years subsequently to that
period, bears, deer, and sables were numerous :
but we hear of no moose. Joel Strong, of He-
bron, Conn., came into the town on the 7th of
May, 1768, and found twelve families in the
town. He first settled on the bottom lands of
the Ompompanoosue, and as soon as he began to
raise corn, he was exceedingly annoyed by bears
in his field, devouring his unripe corn. For a
time he bore these injuries with all the meekness
which necessity laid upon him ; but seeing in-
creasing waste and destruction, he arose and
shook himself, and resolved he would seek re-
prisal. And now the waxing moon smiled on
his enterprise. He loaded his gun with two
balls, took his powder-horn and bullet-pouch,
and sallied forth to reconnoitre the position of
his enemies. He had not proceeded far before
he heard the ears of corn snap from their parent
stalks, as though there were a husking with the
Bruin gentry. Strong advanced slowly and cau-
tiously until he secured a good shot, and then
he " let off," and brought one huge fellow to the
ground. This was a signal for others to retreat,
and without looldng to him whom he had dis-
posed of, he pursued the flying foe as fast as his
legs would carry him : and two others ascended
a large tree which stood near the border of the
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 161
field. It was not sufficiently light for him to
distinguish his game in the boughs, and he
struck him up a fire at the foot of the tree, and
there waited for the return of day. The return-
mg sun showed him two sleek and lusty fellows,
sitting in appropriate angles of the tree, formed
by the union of large branches with the trunk.
Strong now took deliberate aim at the heart, and
down came his bearship from a goodly height,
which made the ground tremble again. With all
expedition he charged his gun the third time, and
m a few moments the remaining bear joined his
comrade upon the ground, and as they had been
lovely in the eyes of each other in life, so they
were not divided in their death. Strong was
now at liberty to visit the one that was slain the
night before, and he found them all bears of the
first class, which remunerated him for all previ-
ous losses, and their death secured his field from
further depredations.
I have said Dr. Burton was ordained, January
19, 1779. The ministers called to ordain him
were the following : — Rev. Messrs. Powers of
Newbury, Conant of Lime, Burroughs of Hano-
ver, Potter of Lebanon, and Potter of Norwich.
The last-named gentleman preached the sermon.
But those who imposed hands, and he who re-
ceived hands, have alike gone down to the dust.
14*
162 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
A new order of things has arisen : and how for-
cibly are we impressed with the words of the
apostle. For what is your life ? It is even a
vapor, that appear eth for a little time, and then
vanisheth atcay.
But very few clergymen labored longer in
their profession than Dr. Burton did ; very few
have been more successful in bringing sinners to
salvation ; and there are very few whose influ-
ence has been more extensively realized than
his. He prepared more than a hundred young
men for the ministry ; and his Book of Essays,
published in 1824, is rich in ideas, and although
"we may differ from him in our metaphysics, yet
when men come to pay more regard to ideas
than to their dress, and when they shall prefer
thinking to light reading, Dr. Burton will be
read with profit by every student in theology.
Dr. Burton departed this life, May 1, 1836, in
the eighty-fourth year of his age, and in the
fifty-seventh of his pastoral relation to the
church and people of Thetford. " The memory
of the just is blessed.'"
FATRLEE.
Of Fairlee, East or West, I have little to say.
Tn 1766, Mr. Baldwin, who is mentioned as
one of the families settled in Thetford in 1765,
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 163
moved from Thetford to East Fairlee, and com-
menced a settlement about a half a mile south
of the present meeting-house, near where they
turn off from the river road to go to Fairlee or
Morey's Pond. Mr, Thompson in his Gazetteer
dates the settlement of this town in 1768, and
then he finds six men on the ground to begin
the settlement. Esquire Mann, of Orford, says,
Baldwin was his first neighbor west of him, and
he is sure he came into Fairlee the year after
Mann came to Orford. They both came from
Hebron, Conn. Mann knew that Baldwin spent
a year or so in Thetford, and then came up to
Fairlee, and he tells us the very spot where he
commenced. Mann could not mistake in this.
I find that a new neighbor, in those days, was
not looked upon as a trivial aftair, and the time
of its occurrence was retained with great accu-
racy. It may be there were six men in Fairlee
m 1768 ; but Baldwin had been there two years
previous.
BRADFORD.
Bradford was first settled in 1765, by a man
by the name of John Osmer. He settled near
the mouth of Wait's River, on the north bank,
and I have been told there were traces of this
settlement so late as 1824. This town was ori-
164 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
ginally called Moretown ; but afterward it was
changed to Bradford. This Osmer, or Hosmer,
was a facetious character, and would make him-
self sport at the expense of others. In 1765, soon
after Hosmer moved into Bradford, there came to
his hut a transient Irishman, and spent several
days, laboring what he would for his board. It
turned out, however, that the Irishman was deep-
ly infected with a cutaneous eruption, which in
some modern languages has been denominated
'■'the itch." Osmer, resenting the exposure of
himself and family to this vile disease, by the
intrusion of this Hibernian, resolved on being re-
venged, and, at the came time, have something to
relate which would £ec'-:-3 him m.irth at another
time. Osmer, accordingly, restrained all appear-
ance of resentment, and gravely told the fellow
that he knew a sure remedy for his loathsome
disease ; but it was a secret, and he did not
wish to divulge it. The poor fellow became
very importunate for Osmer to prescribe for him,
promising to follow the prescription to the letter,
and swearing by the blessed Virgin that he would
never reveal the secret. Osmer at length took
the man out on to the meadow, where grew a
forest of nettles, and told him if he would strip
himself, and run through those weeds, it would
insure him healing. No sooner said than done.
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. ' 165
Paddy went through them with a Hoii's heart :
but his misery for a time was excruciating.
This, together with the mortification of seeing
how well Osmer enjoyed his suffering, opened
his eyes to the fact that he had been imposed
upon, and he immediately took up his line of
march, calling on the Virgin to redress his wrongs.
But this was not the last of it with Osmer. As
soon as Osmer' s neighbors were made acquainted
with the fact, they dubbed him Doctor, and he
bore this adjunct title with him to the grave.
The next year, viz., in 1766, Samuel Sleeper
and Benoni Wright came into Bradford, and
pitched their tent a little north-east of Mr. Hun-
kins' dwelling, in the north part of Bradford, as
I have already stated in my history of Newbury.
In 1771, Andrew B. Peters, Esq., born in He-
bron, Conn., January 29, 1764, came into this
town. He came with his father to Thetford in
1766; in 1769. he moved into Piermont ; and
in 1771, he came into Bradford, at which time
there were but ten families in the town.
Esquire Peters relates that the first grist-mill
in the town was built by John Peters, in 1772,
and that it stood on the south side of Wait's
River, just above the bridge on the great river
road. The first saw-mill was built by Benjamin
Baldwin. Esq., in 1774. and stood on Wait's
166 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
River, where Baldwin's mills now stand, or did
stand, a few years since. Esquire Peters relates
a long-standing tradition, which went to account
for the name Wait being given to the principal
river of Bradford. It states that a man by the
name of Wait belonged to Col. Rogers' party,
which marched to the St. Francois in 1759 ;
that this man and some others, in their hasty
retreat, came upon the northern branch of Wait's
River, and in a famishing state, they followed
down this river in quest c.C game. Just as they
entered what is now Bradford, Wait and one or
two others proposed to go in advance of the
rest, and see if they could not find something
to satisfy their hunger. They had not gone but
two or three miles before they shot a deer, and
when they had satisfied their appetites, they
hung up the rest of the savory meat upon a tree
for the relief of their suffering companions in
the rear ; and that they might know who killed
the deer, and for what purpose the meat was
there suspended, Wait cut his name in the bark
of the tree on which the meat hung. When
the rear came up, and found the rich supply of
food in readiness for them, they exj^ressed their
gratitude to Wait by giving his name to the
stream they were then upon, and designed it as
a remembrancer in all after-time, of the deliver-
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 167
aiice which was there wrought for them. There
is nothing extravagant or unnatural in this nai*-
ration ; and if the town cannot give a more
satisfactory account of the origin of this name
to their river, it may stand for the true one.
About sixty years ago, a httle son of Absalom
Fifield, who lived in the easterly part of Corinth,
strayed from home, and was lost. As is usual
in such cases, there was a very great excitement
in the public mind, as well as in the minds of
the parents, and multitudes went in search of
the child. They sought for him unremittingly
three days, and began to despair of the child,
for they thought he must perish with hunger,
if he was not already drowned, or devoured by
wild beasts. But just at the close of the third
day, he was discovered on an island in Wait's
River, about five miles from the Connecticut,
and three miles from his father's. When he
was discovered, he v/as in company with a little
lamb, and was picking tall blackberries, without
any apparent anxiety. The boy was four or
five years of age. He and the lamb were the
only tenants of the island. They had contracted
a friendship for each other, and the lamb fol-
lowed in the footsteps of the boy wherever he
went. But how either of them ever got on to
the island remains a mystery.
16S HISTORICAL SKETCHED
The Rev. Gardner Kellogg was the first set-
tled minister in the town — ordained, 1795 ; dis-
missed, 1809. The Rev. Silas McKeen was his
successor ; but I have not the date of his set-
tlement or dismission. I might here notice
some of the errors of Thompson's Gazetteer in
respect to the first settlers ; but it is useless.
There is no end to them.
PLYMOUTH, N. H.
1 shall now pass into New Hampshire again,
and state a few particulars in regard to the set-
tlement of PlymoiUh, seeing it was one of the
first towns settled in the county of Grafton, after
Haverhill. This was the first town settled be-
tween Haverhill and Salisbury Lower Village.
I received the following particulars from Samuel
Dearborn, one of the first settlers, and from the
Rev. Drury Fairbanks, who consulted the pro-
prietors' records, and the church records, for my
assistance. Samuel Dearborn originated in Old
Chester, April loth, 1745, and came into Plym-
outh, September, 1764. The two first families
which came into the place, were Capt. James
Hobart and Lieut. Zachariah Parker. They
came from Hollis, N. H., in June, 1764. Hobart
married Hannah Cummings, of Hollis, sister of
the Rev. Dr. Cummings, of Billerica, Mass.
OF THE COOS COUNTRV. 169
Parker married Betsey Brown, of Hollis, niece
of Benjamin Farley, Esq., late of Hollis. Ho-
bart settled on Col. Edmunds' place, and Parker
settled where Capt. Moses George did live, and
perhaps does at this time. In September of
this same year, (1764,) came Capt. Jotham Cum-
mings, Col. David Webster, Lieut. Josiah Brown,
Ephraim Weston, James Blodgett, Deacon Ste-
phen Webster, and Samuel Dearborn, all from
Hollis, with the exception of Weston and Dear-
born. At this time there was no bridge across
any stream between Plymouth and Salisbury
Lower Village, and no road but spotted trees.
The first settlers from Hollis passed over the
Merrimack into the town of Litchfield, and kept
on the north side of the Merrimack until they
came into the town of Holderness, and then
crossed the Pemigewasset into Plymouth, a little
south of Baker's River. Some of the early
settlers of Haverhill and Newbury took the same
route from Pembroke, kept on the north side of
Baker's River, into Coventry, and then down
the Oliverian.
The proprietors of the town of Plymouth
voted at Hollis, April 16, 1764, "to hire Mr.
Nathan Ward, of Newtown, Mass., to preach to
the settlers at Plymouth, four days this spring ;"
this meant four Sabbaths. It appears that the
15
170 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
proprietors expected that the settlement would
be made sooner than it was ; but Mr. Ward
went on with the settlers, and preached the time
specified, and dwelt with them in their tents.
Mr. "Ward received a call from them, which he
accepted, and was ordained at Newburyport, in
the meeting-house of the Rev. Jonathan Pear-
sons, July 10, 1765. At this time, there were
but eight families in the town of Plymouth.
The proprietors voted to give the Rev. Mr. Ward
one Jnindred and ffty ounces of silver for his
salary, until there were one hundred families in
the town, and then his salary was to be increased
five ounces annually, until it amounted to two
hundred ounces, and at that it was to remain as
his permanent salary, with thirty cords of wood.
He drew, also, one right of land, as the first
settled minister, and they voted him one hundred
and twenty dollars, as an additional settlement.
But what was the amount of Mr. Ward's salary ?
1 find in Belknap's History of New Hampshire,
vol. i. p. 151, in note, that an ounce of silver
was estimated at six shillings and eight pence,
lawful money ; and accordingly, Mr. Ward's
salary at the first was equal to one hundred and
sixty-six dollars and fifty cents ; and that at the
last it amounted to two hundred and twenty-
two dollars, exclusive of the wood. This, at
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 171
first thought, was a Hmited salary for a minister.
But upon a more thorough inspection of the
matter, I think, we shall find it was better than
most ministers receive at the present day. That
money would purchase more bread-stuffs, taking
one year with another, at that day, than twice,
and perhaps thrice that amount, would purchase
at this day. They had little, and next to 7io
company. Their style of living was all differ-
ent, and less expensive. Then he had a settle-
ment, and a full right of land, which was enough
to make two good farms. And I think we shall
all agree that there is not a minister in the whole
county of Grafton at this day, whose means of
living from the people are as ample as were Mr.
Ward's on the day of his settlement.
Mr. Ward labored in the ministry in Plymouth
twenty-nine years j was dismissed, April 22d,
1794; died in June, 1804, aged eighty-three.
A man of God, and a great blessing to the town.
Their first meeting-house was built of logs, and
stood a little west of the Rev. Jonathan Ward's
late dwelling-house, at the foot of the hill, east
of the old meeting-house.
In April, 1765, Lydia Webster was born,
daughter of Stephen and Lydia Webster. She
was the first English child born in the town.
At this birth, every woman was present in the
172 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
town, aiid every husband attended his wife as
far as the premises, and tliere remained until the
vote was declared ! This was a great day in
Plymouth. That child is dead ; but the mother
was living with her third husband in Rumney.
the last I heard from her. She was the wife of
Joseph Dearborn. Josiah Hobart was the first
male child born in the town ; but he is dead,
also. These first settlers went to Concord, N, H..
for their meal, for one or two years after they
commenced their settlement, and drew it up on
a hand-sled ; but they soon raised an abundance,
for their meadows were very fertile.
Ephraim Lund built the first saw and grist-
mill near where Cochran's mills now are. Mr.
Dearborn says that in 1765, James Heath, from
Canterbury, Daniel Brainard, Esq., and Alex-
ander Craig, made settlements in Rumney. Soon
after, a Mr. Davis moved into Wentworth, and
Joseph Patch into Warren. Mr. Dearborn says
he knows that these were the first settlers in
these towns, but will not be positive as to the
year they made their entrance. Joseph Hobart
was the first who settled in Hebron, and a Mr.
Bennet first settled in Groton. Both of these
towns were settled by people from HoUis. About
the same time William Piper came into Holder-
ness. It was certainly as late as 1765. The
OF THE COOS COCXTRY. 173
same year, Isaac Fox and a Mr. Taylor settled
in Campton ; and Benjamin Hoit from Old Ches-
ter settled Thornton in 1770.
Mr. Dearborn says that when Plymouth was
first settled, and for some years, moose, bears,
deer, and wolves were numerous. We may re-
oollect that here Capt. Powers and his company
'• shot a moose," in 1754. Mr. Dearborn relates
one anecdote of one Josiah Brown, who was
famous for hunting at that early period of the
settlement. He was well acquainted with
Brown. He went out with snow-shoes. Hunt-
er started some deer, and in the progress of the
chase the deer crossed the river into New Hamp-
ton, and Brown attempted to follow ; but in.
doing so where there was swift water, he broke
through, and fell in up to his arms. He labored
to throw himself on to the ice ; but the water
had so much power upon his snow-shoes that his
feet were carried down stream in an instant, and
he would have to catch hold of the edge of the
ice to keep himself from being drawn immedi-
ately under. Finding all his efforts ineffectual,
and feeling himself nearly exhausted, he began
to despair of life for more than a few minutes
longer ; but at this critical moment, who should
appear but his true and faithful Hunter, who
came directly up to him ! Brown with one
15*
174 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
hand seized Hunter by the tail, and with the
other he helped himself. Hunter drew for his
life, and as the ice was rough, so that he had
good foot-hold, he drew powerfully, and they
both were enabled to overcome the force of the
water, and Brown regained his standing upon
the ice, happy in the reflection that both he and
his anticipated game were still at liberty to make
the best use of their feet.
Mr. Dearborn tells us an atfectmg story of a
lost child in this town, in the time of the revo-
lutionary war. A Mr. James Barnes sent his
little son of seven or eight years of age, on an
errand to a neighbor's ; but he lost his way, and
did not return at the time he was expected. The
father went in pursuit of him, but not finding
him, the neighbors were called on to go in scare ii
of him ; and as the news spread that a child
was lost, the whole town came together, and
very many from other towns in the vicinity, and
although the search was continued eight days.
no trace of the child was ever discovered. It is
very extraordinary, that if this child perished by
hunger, his remains were never discovered ; and
if he was drowned, it seems that his body would
have been ultimately found afloat. But the
great day will disclose the facts in the case.
Much has been said in Plymouth and vicinity
OF TlIE COOS COUNTRY. 175
in respect to the naming of Baker's River. I:
was called Baker's River when the first settlers
came on, and it was called so in the journal of
Capt. Powers, in 1754. They have a tradition
in the town, and they have always had from its
first settlement, which explains the hoio and the
wherefore, in this case. It is said that while
Massachusetts was claiming the province of New
Hampshire, prior to the old French war, Massa-
chusetts sent a Capt. Baker, from Old Newbury,
at the head of a company to ferret out the In-
dians, who had their encampment somewhere
upon the waters of the Pemigewasset. Baker
procured a friendly Indian, who led them on to
Plymouth. When Baker and his party had ar-
rived on these meadows, the friendly Indian
signified it was now time for every man to gird
up his loins, and they did so, moving forward
with all possible circumspection. When they
had reached the south bank of Baker's River,
near its junction with the Pemigewasset, they
discovered the Indians on the north bank of
Baker's River, sporting in great numbers, secure,
as they supposed, from the muskets of all "pale
faces." Baker and his men chose their position,
and opened a tremendous fire upon the Indians,
which was as sudden to them as a clap of thun-
der. Many of the sons of the forest fell in
176 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
death 111 the midst of their sports. But the
hving disappeared in an instant, and ran to call
in their hunters. Baker and his men lost no
time in crossing the river in search of booty.
They found a rich store of furs deposited in
holes, dug into the bank of the river horizon-
tally, in the manner bank-swallows make their
holes. Having destroyed their wigwams, and
captured their furs. Baker ordered a retreat, fear-
ing that they would soon return in too great
force to be resisted by his single company ; and
the Indians were fully up to his apprehensions —
for notwithstanding Baker retreated with all
expedition, the Indians collected, and were up
with them, when they had reached a poplar
plain in Bridgewater, a little south of Walter
Webster's tavern. A smart skirmish ensued ;
but the Indians were repulsed with loss. Mr.
Dearborn has visited that plain, and seen and
examined a number of skulls, which he supposed
fell in that engagement. One or two of them
were perforated by a bullet. But notwithstand-
ing the Indians were repulsed, the friendly In-
dian advised Baker and his men to use all dili-
gence in their retreat, for he said their number
would increase every hour, and that they would
return to the attack. Accordingly, Baker pressed
on the retreat, with all possible despatch, and
OF THE COOS COTNTRV. 177
did not allow his men to take refreshment after
the battle. But when they came hito New
Chester, having crossed a stream, his men were
exhausted through abstinence, forced marches,
and hard fighting, and they resolved they would
go no further without food, saying to their com-
mander, " They might as well fall by the toma-
hawk as by famine." The captain acquiesced,
and they prepared to refresh themselves : but
here was a call for Indian stratagem. The
friendly Indian told every man to build as many
fires as he could in a given time : for the Indians,
if they pursued them, would judge of their num-
ber by the number of their fires. He told them,
also, that each man should make him four or five
forks of crotched sticks, and use them all in
roasting a single piece of pork ; then leave an
equal number of forks around each fire, and the
Indians would infer, if they came up, that there
were as many of the English as there were
forks, and this might turn them back. The
Indian's counsel was followed to the letter, and
the company moved on with fresh speed. The
Indians, however, came up while their fires
were yet burning, and counting the fires and
forks, the warriors whooped a retreat, for they
were alarmed at the number of the English.
Baker and his men were no longer annoyed by
ITS HISTORICAL SKETCHES
those troublesome attendants, and he attributed
their preservation to the counsel of the friendlr
Indian. Now, it is said that Baker's River wa?:
so called, to perpetuate the brilliant affair, b^-
Baker, at its mouth.
There was formerly another token of the
presence or influence of a Mr. Baker, not very
remotely connected with Baker's River. Salis-
bury was originally chartered by Massachusetts,
prior to the old French war, and it was called
Bakerstoicn. As this was the last chartered
town in the direction from Massachusetts to-
wards Plymouth, where Baker is said to have
had his adventure, it would not be very unnat-
ural for Massachusetts to honor his memory by
calling this township after him.
The Rev. Drury Fairbanks was settled in
Plymouth, January 8, ISOO, and was dismissed.
[March IS, IS 18. Rev. Jonathan Ward was in-
stalled, August, 1818, and was dismissed about
the year 1S29.
I am now prepared to return to Haverhill and
Newbury, and to relate some events which oc-
curred there at a later period of their history.
And as I have a sad tale to relate of the Indians,
who lived at Coos for many years after the settle-
ment by the English, I will here commence it.
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 17D
I have already stated the evidence we have,
that Newbury was an old Indian encampment,
md that it was with great reluctance the Indians
yielded up their interest in the Coos. That was
a fatal step with the Indians, when they con-
nected their destiny with that of the French ;
for they became identified with the enemy.
They were greatly reduced in number, and when
the French were subdued, the Indians fell with
them, and they lost their remaining possessions,
principally in New England. But after the old
French war, there were some of the St. Francois
tribe returned to the Coos, and lived until a
more recent date, when they became entirely
extinct.
Among those who returned, there were two.
: amiUes of special distinction — John and Joe, or
'<'aptain John, and Captain Joe, as they pre-
ferred to be called. John belonged to the St.
Francois tribe, and had been a chief of some
note with them. He vv^as at the battle of Brad-
dock's defeat, and used to relate how he shot a
British officer, after he had been knocked down
by the officer ; and how he tried to shoot yoimg
Washington, but could not. He had repeatedly
used the tomahawk and scalping knife upon
the defenceless inhabitants of Massachusetts and
New Hampshire ; and when he was excited by
180 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
spirit, he would relate his deeds of barbarity
with fiendish satisfaction. He related how he
mutilated a woman by cutting oft' her breasts, at
the time of an assault upon the inhabitants near
Fort Dummer, and he would imitate her shrieks
and cries of distress. He was present at Bos-
cawen, N. H., at the time the Indians surprised
the inhabitants of that place. It must have
been in 1746, or 1754. He related how they
took an old woman, and as they found she could
not travel as fast as they wished to retreat, he
struck her on the head with a tomahawk, and
he said she made a noise like a calf that is
wounded on the head. He was a fierce and
cruel Indian, and was the terror of the boys at
Coos as long as he lived. He was, however, a
staunch friend to the Colonies during the war
of the revolution. He received a captain's com-
mission, raised a part of a company of Indians,
and marched with the Yankees against Bur-
goyne.
John had two sons — Pi-al, and Pi-al-Soosup,*
both very different from their father in their
disposition, being mild and inoffensive in their
deportment. Pi-al-Soosup was in the company
commanded by Capt. Thomas Johnson, near
Fort Independence, in 1777, and as it was his
* French sound of i, like e.
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 181
first essay in arms, he was a good deal terrified
when the battle commenced, on account of the
tremendous roar of cannon from the fort and a
British ship in the lake ; but as the firing from
the ship and fort went over them, and did not
much execution, except among the tops of the
trees, Pi-al became reassured, and turning to
Capt. Johnson, said, " Is this the way to fight ?"
''Yes," said Johnson; "fire! fire!" "I say,"
said he, "this is good fun;" and, raising his
gun, fired.
Captain Joe was a young man when he came
to Coos. He belonged to a tribe in Nova Sco-
tia ; but when Louisburg was taken, his tribe
was scattered when he was very young, and a
remnant, he among the rest, made their way to
the St. Francois tribe, and he grew up with
them. This will show that there was some
connection between the eastern Indians and
those of the north ; and it confirms the tradition
with the Indians at Coos, that when their fathers
heard of Lovewell's fight, they said, " They
must soon leave Coossuck." Undoubtedly, Co-
ossuck was the connecting link between Canada
and all south and east in New England.
Joe was a very different character from John.
He was amiable, and never sought a quarrel. It
used to be his boast, that he never " pointed the
16
I^v2 lilSTORICAL SKETCnES
gun :'■ meaning, at his fellow man. Joe's wife
went by the name of Blolhj^ and she had two
sons by a former husband when they came to
Coos. The history of this atTair is, that Joe was
a great favorite among the fair daughters of St.
Francois, and that Molly proved unfaithful to her
first husband, and eloped with her two children,
in order to enjoy the society of Joe in the States.
Her sons' names were Toomalek and Muxa-
Wnxal. Muxa-Wuxal died without causing Joe
and Molly an^' more grief than they experienced
in his loss : but it was far different with Too-
malek. He was literally a child for the fire.
He was low in stature, wanting two inches of
live feet, but had broad shoulders and haunches,
and possessed extraordinary muscular powers.
His thick, stiff hair grew down upon his fore-
head within one inch of his eyes, and his coun-
tenance was truly fiendlike. He had a murder-
ous disposition, as the sequel will show. As he
grev.' up. he became enamored of a young squaw.
named LeM'a ; but another Indian, named Mitch-
el. was his successful rival, and maiTied Lewa.
But Toomalek determined on murdering Mitchel.
and taking his wife. He accordingly prepared
his gun, and watched for an opportunity to exe-
cute the horrid deed. Tt was not long before
Toomalek discovered Mitchel and his wife seated
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 183
by a fire in the evening, at the upper end of the
Ox Bow in Newbury, at the foot of the hill, just
where the river turns north. -They were seated
side by side, happy for the present, and happy
in anticipations, to all human view. Toomalek
took aim, and discharged his gun at Mitchel ;
but Lewa received the ball in her breast, and
expired that evening. Mitchel was wounded,
also, by the same ball which killed Lewa, or
there were two balls discharged ; but he soon
recovered from his wound. Toomalek was tried
for his crime by his Indian peers, Old John pre-
siding, and he was acquitted upon the ground
that he did not mean to kill Lewa, but Mitchel ;
and as he did not kill Mitchel, he was no mur-
derer ! This was making nice distinctions, and
it shows that these untutored beings were adepts
in the science of casuistry. But Old John was
the sole means of his acquittal.
But Toomalek still cherished a rancorous
enmity towards Mitchel, and his escape from
justice, in the first instance, encouraged him to
make a second attempt upon the life of Mitchel,
who had taken another wife as attractive as
Lewa. Toomalek took a bottle of rum and a
white man, Ebenezer Olmsted by name, and
went to the wigwam of Mitchel, and commenced
treating the company. Olmsted observed that
184 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
*
Toomalek drank but little, whilst Mitchel in-
dulged freely in his potations. When Mitchel
began to be excited by the spirit he drank,
he commenced upbraiding Toomalek for the
murder of his wife, and for the wound inflicted
on him. After much crimination and recrimina-
tion, promoted and aggravated by Toomalek for
a specific purpose, Mitchel drew his knife upon
his foe, and made a feeble pass at him. Too-
malek then drew his knife on Mitchel, and gave
him his death-wound at once ! For this offence,
Toomalek had his trial, and was acquitted, be-
cause Mitchel made the first assault, and Too-
malek argued that he killed Mitchel in self-
defence ; yet all were satisfied that Toomalek
was the sole means of promoting the quarrel,
and that he did it that he might have an excuse
for killing Mitchel.
But Old John, who delighted in blood, was
still using his influence to preserve the life of
Toomalek ; and he did it, as Providence over-
ruled it, to bring npon himself and family a
terrible calamity — nothing less than the murder
of his elder son, Pi-al ; and he did it on this
wise. Toomalek, Pi-al, and several others, were
over on Haverhill side, and called at Charles
Wheeler's house, son of Glazier Wheeler, on
the little Ox Bow, about eleven o'clock in the
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 185
forenoon. They were disposed to be somewhat
noisy and turbulent at that time, and manifested
that they had been drinking spirit. They asked
for some there, but obtained none. They left
Wheeler's before noon, and proceeded eastward.
Sometime in the afternoon, they came along
near where the old court-house stood in the
north parish in Haverhill, west of Major Mer-
rill's house, now Mr. Hibbard's, where they met
a young squaw from Newbury, who began to
rally Pi-al on some past acts of gallantry. Pi-al
returned upon her measure for measure, which
the young lady took in dudgeon. She could,
give, but not receive a joke. Perhaps Pi-al
jested too near the truth. She turned aside,
and held a brief conversation with ToomaleJ:,
in a low voice, and then passed on. Toomalei
then stepped back to his companions, and walked
south by the side of Pi-al ; and in a few mo-
ments he drew his long knife, and by a back-
hand stroke, plunged it into Pi-al's throat. I:
entered at the top of the sternum, and descended
to the lungs. Pi-al ran with the blood spouting
from the wound a few rods, and fell lifeless upoi:.
the ground. It was supposed that in this in-
stance, Toomalek killed Pi-al in obedience to
the expressed wish of the young squaw ; but he
never criminated her. His companions ran and
16*
186 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
carried the news of the murder to their EngHsh
neighbors, and Toomalek was taken into custo-
dy, without resistance, or an attempt to escape,
and was carried across the river into Newbury,
for his trial the next day. When the news came
to Old John, that Toomalek had killed his son
Pi-al, he was overwhelmed with it, and his con-
science awoke to its duty. He was almost fran-
tic through agony. He confessed his sin in
sparing the life of a murderer in the two previous
instances already stated. He said, God had
brought this calamity upon him for his sin ; and
both he and his wife spent the whole night in
loud lamentations and self-reproaches.
The next day, in the forenoon, a court was
called to try Toomalek, and after all the evi-
dence was obtained, they unanimously gave
verdict against him, and said he must be shot.
They appointed, however, a deputation to wait
on the Rev. Mr. Powers, to know whether that
decision was agreeable to the word of God.
After hearing the evidence, he told them he
believed it was, and they immediately set about
carrying it into effect. By Indian law, Old John
must be the executioner, as he was the nearest
by blood to the rlain, and he must avenge the
blood of his son. The ground floor of the old
court-house, standing opposite the burying ground
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 187
at the west, was the place designated for the
execution. Toomaiek came to the place him-
self, without guard or attendance, where John
stood in readiness with his loaded musket. He
seated himself upon the floor, said his Catholic
prayers, covered his eyes, and said — " Mack
bence ; " that is, " Kill me quick ! " John
stepped forward, put the muzzle of the gun near
his head, and he was dead in an instant ! Joe
and Molly were both present at the execution
of her son ; and as soon as it v/as over, Joe took
one arm, and Molly the other, and they dragged
the body from the house and buried it. Molly
had mourned and wept bitterly for the death of
Muxa-Wuxal, which happened the same season ;
but she never shed a tear over the grave of
Toomaiek, nor was she ever heard to speak his
name afterward. Old John was afterward found
dead by the side of a log, at tlie foot of the
hill, near the present garden of William Johnson.
Old Joe was a staunch whig, although he had
no predilection for war himself. The " red coats"
had broken up and dispersed his tribe in Nova
Scotia, and he never would forgive them. He
rejoiced in every success of the Colonies. He
and Molly paid a visit to General Washington, at
his head-quarters on North River, and he was re-
ceived with marked attention. It was his boast
188 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
to the last J that he had shook hands with Gen.
Washington, and he and Molly were invited to
sit at the general's table, after he and the other
officers had eaten. And so great was his anti-
pathy to the khig of England, that he never
would enter his dominions after the war. Some
of his friends of the St. Francois tribe came
down to Newbury on purpose to persuade him
and Molly to return : but Captain Joe would hear
nothing to it. He would take his hunting ex-
cursions at the extreme north of Vermont, but
not pass into Canada. He and Molly went to
Derby one season for a hunt, and built them a
wigwam. The Indians of St. Francois heard
of it, and came out and stole Molly, when Joe
was hunting, and carried her off to their quar-
ters, in hopes that Joe would follow ; but he
would not. And having followed a moose two
days in full expectation of taking him, when he
came to find that the moose had crossed into
Canada, he stopped short and said — " Good bye,
Mr. Moose ! " tiu-ned upon his heel, and sought
his repose in the states.
Joe and Molly have each a pond called after
them in the town of Cabot. Joe's Pond empties
itself into the Passumpsic by Joe's Brook. Mol-
ly's Pond discharges its waters into Lake Cham-
plain by Onion River. Joe survived Molly many
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 189
years. When he became old, and was unable to
support himself, the legislature of Vermont voted
him a pension of seventy dollars ainiually. He
spent his last years with Mr. Frye Bailey, of
Newbury. He departed this life, February 19,
1819, aged about 79 years. Report made him
much older than that ; but it could not be true,
if he was so young at the taking of Louisburg
that he could not recollect the name of his tribe.
At his funeral, the principal men of the town
attended. He was buried in the south-eastern
corner of the burying ground. His gun, which
was found loaded after his death, was discharged
over his grave. His snow-shoes are with Mr.
Frye Bailey. With Capt. Joe fell the last of the
Indians at Coossuck, that once fairy land of
long-slumbering generations !
We have already spoken of the war of the
revolution when upon individual character, forti-
fied houses, and commanders of companies, &c.
But these times require more distinct considera-
tion in these annals, because they form an epoch
in our history ; and because they embrace many
things which serve to develop causes which for
a long period have lain concealed from general
observation ; which causes cannot fail to interest
the descendants of those who bore the burden
190 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
and heat of the day, in which our independence
was achieved. The first settlers at Coos sus-
tained, in common with their brethren, all the
hardships which were brought on the Colonies
by the war of the revolution ; and, owing to
their peculiar circumstances, they were called
to additional burdens, almost too grievous to be
borne. They were yet struggling with the pri-
vations and inconveniences necessarily attendant
upon new settlements, remote from old towns
and a ready market. They were frontier settle-
ments. They were contiguous to the strong-
holds of the enemy, and were continually exposed
to their savage incursions. And what was worst
of all, Vermont was not an acknowledged state,
although she had often requested to be received
into the Union. This was owing to conflicting
claims to these Grants, set up by the states of
New York. New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.
No two of them could agree who should have
them, yet all could agree to oppose in Congress
the admission of Vermont into the Union as an
independent state ; and so influential were those
three states at that time, that Congress did not
dare to decide contrary to their wishes, although
they might see manifest injustice in their oppo-
sition. The British were fully aware of the
excited state of feeling in Vermont in regard to
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 191
this subject, and as Vermont was rejected by her
sister Colonies, they entertained strong hoiDes
that they should detach her from the common
interest of the Colonies, and bring her to espouse
the cause of the mother country. To this end
the British made every possible effort by promises
and threats. Their scouts traversed the whole
territory, promising the most liberal rewards to
all who would befriend them, and threatening
vengeance upon the lives and property of those
who should adhere to the interests of the Co-
lonies.
Vermont had a difficult part to sustain in the
grand drama then being acted. She stood be-
tween two or more fires, and it required all her
physical powers, and all her finesse, not to foun-
der in Scylla or Charybdis. The alluring pro-
mises of the British had actually brought many
to feci fav^orably inclined to their cause, and it
is thought that there were some of this descrip-
tion in high places. Others would listen to
these proposals of the British for self-preserva-
tion ; for now these Grants were left to repel all
invasions single handed. It was also true that
tories from other states sought a retreat in the
Grants, where they were less liable to arrest, and
where they could with greater facility maintain
correspondence with the British. And so it waS;
192 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
that the British came in possession of all the
movements of the Americans, as soon as any
plan was matured against the enemy. But we
ought here to state that there were many true-
hearted Americans in the Grants ; men who were
ready to sacrifice their property and to lay down
their lives in defence of their country ; and those
who took the field did nobly, and, by their heroic
deeds, they gained the distinctive appellation,
the Green Mountain Boys, a title which their
descendants are proud to bear to this day.
The policy which the leading men of that
day adopted was, not to declare, either that they
would or would not be independent of the mo-
ther country ; intending thereby to save them-
selves from an invasion by the British, and, at
the same time, to present motives to Congress
for receiving them into the Union. This was a
difficult part to perform, owing to the ardor with
which the British pressed the subject for an im-
mediate decision ; but it was maintained, and
Vermont finally secured her utmost wishes.
But while these things were transacting, there
were men, in almost every town, who had ren-
dered themselves very obnoxious to the displea-
sure of the British and tories, and they were
unwearied in their endeavors to get them into
their hands. The tories were relied upon by
OP THE COOS COUNTRY. 193
the British for those captures, and they were by
far the most dangerous foe that our men had to
contend with. They would intrude themselves
into the families of the whigs under the mask
of friendship, draw forth the secrets of their
breast, convey them to the British, and then lead
on a scouting party to the threshold of their
neighbor, or, in his absence, kill his cattle or set
fire to his dwelling in the dead hour of night.
We can hardly conceive how distressing such
a state of suspense and watchful anxiety must
have been during the long period of eight years.
But Newbury was annoyed by these means far
more than Haverhill, for those scouts of the
enemy had not the temerity to cross the river,
well knowing that a retreat would be next to
impossible.
There were several men in Newbury who
had, by their devotion to their country, excited
the enmity of the British and tories to a high
degree, and they were resolved on taking them.
One was the Rev. Peter Powers, who had preach-
ed and done every thing in his power to sustain
the cause of the Colonies, and he had already
buried his oldest son, Peter, in the army. But,
as I have previously stated, Mr. Powers moved
on to Haverhill side for his security. Gen. Jacob
Bailey was another of these men. He was a
17
194 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
very prominent man at that day. He possesse(f
great influence with his countrymen, and the
Indians looked up to him as a father. He acted
as quarter-master-general to the troops stationed
at Newbury and in the vicinity, and the Indians
were not overlooked in the distribution of the
daily rations. He retained their friendship dur-
ing the war. The Britisli felt it so important
to secure Gen. Bailey, that they offered a heavy
reward for his person, and many plans were con-
certed for his capture ; but they never succeeded.
Gol. Thomas Johnson was another man whom
they considered as a notorious rebel, as he had
distinguished himself at the taking of Ticonde-
roga and the siege of Mount Independence, in
the autumn of 1777. At that time, Johnson
went out as captain of a volunteer company from
Newbury ; but he acted, a part of the time, as
aid to Gen. Lincoln. When the British surren-
dered at Ticonderoga, one hundred of the prison-
ers were given in charge to Col. Johnson, and
he marched them back into the country, where
they would not be exposed to a recapture, and
where they would not diminish the rations of
our men at the fort. The British, of course,
were desirous of taking Col. Johnson ; but he
eluded all their vigilance until the spring of
1781, when they succeeded in capturing him.
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. *;..^-
It was on this wise. Col. Johnson had contract-
ed to build a grist-mill in Peacham, and when
he went up with the mill-stones in March, he
put up at the house of Deacon Jonathan Elkins.
in Peacham, which house was surrounded in the
night by some British and tories, was broken
open, and Johnson, Jacob Page, Jonathan and
Moses Elkins, sons of Deacon Elkins, were
taken prisoners. But as I have CoL Johnson's
journal of this date, it may be more interesting
to give the journal itself.
^' March 5, 1781. This morning early, went
over to Haverhill with my teams for my mill-
stones. Returned before dinner, shod my oxen,
took dinner, and set out for Peacham at 2, P. M.
This night put up at Orr's, in Ryegate.
" Tuesday, Ulu This day, being thawy and
bad going, I was obliged to leave one of my
mill-stones within one mile of the place where
we lodged. This night arrived at Peacham
with the other mill-stone. Lodged at Mr. Elkins".
" Wed7iesday, 7th, This morning, finding
my oxen lame, I sent Mr. Josiali Page, with the
oxen, home. Hired Jonathan Elkins, with his
oxen, and went back, and took the other mill-
stone, and returned to Peacham. Should have
returned home myself this evening, but was a
little unwell.
196 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
" Thursday, 8th. This morning, about twelve
or one o'clock, I awaked out of my sleep, and
found the house beset with enemies. Thought
I would slip on my stockings, jump out of the
window, and run. But before that, came in
two men with their guns pointed at me, and
challenged me for their prisoner, but did not find
myself the least terrified. Soon found two of the
men old acquaintances of mine. I saw some mo-
tions for tying me, but I told them that I submit-
ted myself a prisoner, and would offer no abuse.
Soon packed up, and marched, but never saw
people so surprised as the family was. "When
we came to Mr. Davis', I found the party to con-
sist of eleven men, Capt. Prichard commanding.
Then marched seven or eight miles, when day-
light began to appear. I found Moses Elkins
looked very pale. I told the captain he had bet-
ter let him go back, for he was drowned when
he was small, and that he would not live through
the woods. He said he would try him further ;
but on my pleading the pity it would be to lose
such a youngster, he sent him back. We soon
halted for refreshment. To m.y great surprise,
I found John Gibson and Barlow of the party.
Then marched about four miles, and obtained
leave to write a letter and leave on a tree,
then marched. I was most terribly tired and
OF THE COOS COUNTRY, 197
faint. Camped down on the River Lamoille
this night.
" Friday, 9th. This day marched down the
River Lamoille, about twelve miles below the
forks. One of the finest countries of land that
ever I saw. Camped about eleven o'clock at
uight.
" Saturday, 10th. This day marched to the
lalic. Underwent a great deal by being faint
and tired. The captain and men were very kind
to us, A stormy and uncomfortable night.
'■' Siuiday, 11th. This morning went on to
the lake ten miles, north of the mouth of the
River Lamoille ; marched fifteen miles on the
lake, then crossed the Grand Ida ; marched ten
miles to Point Au Fer. Dinner being on the
table, I dined with the commandant of that fort,
and supped with him. Was well treated.
" Monday, 12th. This day marched to the
Isle Au Noix, went into the fort, into a bawack,
got a cooking ; but the commandant ordered the
prisoners out of the fort to a block-house ; but
soon had sent me a good dinner and a bottle of
wine. Then Capt. Sherwood called on me to
examine me. In the evening; Capt. Sherwood
and Capt. Prichard waited on me to Mr. Jones,
where we drinked a bottle of wine. Captain
Prichard and I slept there.
17*
198 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
" Tuesday, 13th. This day marched to St.
John's. Col. St, Legcr took me to his house,
and gave me a shirt, gave me some refreshment,
which I much needed. Told me I was to dine
with him. Major Rogers and Esq. Marsh and
others dined there. Then gave me my parole,
which I am told is the first instance of a prisoner
having his parole in this fort without some con-
finement, liodged with Esq. Marsh.
" Wednesday, lAth. This morning, Esquire
Marsh and I were invited to Capt. Sherwood's
to breakfast. Then Capt. Sherwood took the
charge of me, and I lived with him. To my
great satisfaction, this evening came Mr. Spardain
to see me, who was a prisoner to me at Ti. He
said, on hearing that I was a prisoner, he went
to the commandant to inform him of the good
treatment he and others had from me while they
were prisoners to me. The commandant sent
him to my quarters to inform me that my good
treatment of them was much to my advantage."
In this same journal, under date of June 14th.
we have the colonel's impressions from witness-
ing a Roman Catholic procession, and his views
of the Canadians. He was at this time at Three
Rivers.
** June Wth. This day there was a Roman
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 199
Catholic procession. Their walks, their shows,
very extraordinary. Their carrying God Al-
mighty about the streets is something new to
me. I think it is a curse to the land, and a curse
to their king, to have such a miserable set of
inhabitants as these Canadians. They are the
most ignorant, superstitious, idle, and careless
set of people that can be thought of, spending
half of their time in holidays and going to mass.
The women wear riding-hoods the hottest wea-
ther."
This journal of Col. Johnson will show clearly
the policy of the British towards different indi-
viduals of the Grants, treating those of some
distinction with great urbanity and kindness, in
hopes of winning them over to their cause,
and treating others with needless severity. Col.
Johnson was treated with marked attention dur-
ing his whole stay in Canada ; but it fared dif-
ferently with Page and Elkins. Johnson was
for some time kept at St. John's, and was allowed
his parole — not a parole to go where he pleased,
but a parole known in the military profession,
which distinguishes between friends and enemies
in camp ; and it is a privilege granted to certain
individuals every day, and proclamation of it is
made every day by a certain officer.
200 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Page was sent directly down to Montreal, and
we never hear of him afterwards. Jonathan
Elkins was carried directly down to Quebec,
and was there imprisoned, and suffered immense-
ly from want until late in the fall of 1781, when
he and one hundred and fifty others, were put on
board a ship and sent to England, where they
were confined in Mill Prison from February 9,
1782, till the 24th of June following. They
had but two thirds the allowance of a common
soldier, and they were miserably clad, most of
them. Dr. Franklin, who was then our minister
at France, hearing of their poor condition, sent
each prisoner one shilling sterling per week, in
addition to their allowance from the British
government, and this was a great relief to them.
Col. Elkins says to me under his own hand —
" There were among us forty captains of vessels,
and many others who had some learning ; and
when we got our shilling a week from Dr. Frank-
lin, it was proposed that we, who had no learn-
ing, should pay four coppers a week for school-
ing, and soon many schools were opened. Among
the rest, I procured paper, pen and ink, and a
slate, and paid my four coppers per week for
tuition. By this means, many who could nei-
ther read nor write, got so much learning, that
they were capable of transacting business for
OF THE COOS COUNTRY.
201
themselves, and a number of us learned the
mariner's art, so as to be capable of navigating
a ship. On the 24th of June, 1782, there were
one thousand seven hundred and thirty-three
prisoners put on board a cartel, and sent to Ame-
rica in exchange for Lord Cornwallis' grenadiers
and light infeitry. And I returned with them
to my native country.
"JONATHAN ELKTNS.
" Peacham, Vt., Dec. 6, 1832."
We return again to see how it resulted with
Johnson. Notwithstanding Johnson was treated
with so much apparent respect, he could not but
observe that he had his quarters often shifted
from St. John's to Montreal, then to Chambly,
then to Three Rivers, and at each place he would
be interrogated by different officers relative to
the views and feelings of the inhabitants of the
Grants, and what he thought of the prospects
of the Colonics. To all these and similar in-
quiries he replied with as much apparent indif-
ference to the cause of America as he could
show, never relating to them an untruth, and
still reserving to himself whatever he thought
might be advantageous to them, and detrimental
to America. And he had cause to congratulate
himself for having adhered to this uniform
course ; for he found out, after a while, that all
S02 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
his conversation with these different officers, at
different places, was penned down and sent to
the supreme commandant, to be inspected by hira,
to see if his statements agreed. He caught the
reading of a note, also, which was sent from one
in high command to the ydung officer who had
the charge of him. The purport of it was this —
*• I take you to be a person of too much sense
and intelhgence to be imposed upon by the
prisoner." The young man's sense and intelh-
gence were not enough to restrain him from
occasional hard drinking, and at one of those
seasons, he left this note exposed to Johnson's
inspection. These things taught Johnson that
after all their show of confidence in him, they
were still suspicious of him ; and he thought, if
they were disposed to play Yankee with him,
he would take a game with them at that. He
accordingly affected more and more indifference
to the cause of the Colonies, until they began
to feel that if he was in other circumstances, he
would render them essential service. Accord-
ingly, after retaiuing him between seven and
eight months, they told Johnson that if he would
give them information of the movements of the
Americans, supply their scouts with provision if
called upon, and return to them when they de-
manded, he might return home upon his parole.
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. '203
Johnson assented to these stipulations, and signed
the following instrument : —
" I, Lieut. Col. Johnson, now at . John's,
do hereby pledge my faith and word of honor
to his excellency, Gen. Holdimand, whose per-
mission I have obtained to go home, that I shall
not do or say any thing contrary to his majesty's
interest or government ; and that whenever re-
quired so to do, I shall repair to whatever place
his excellency or any other his majesty's com-
mander-in-chief in America shall judge expe-
dient to order me, until I shall be legally ex-
changed, and such other person as shall be agreed
upon, sent in my place.
'•'■ Given under my hand at St. John's, this
fifth day of October, one thousand seven
hundred and eighty-one.
" Col. THOMAS JOHNSON."
Upon Col. Johnson's signing this instrument,
he returned home to his family at Newbury,
and neither received any intelligence from the
British, nor gave any, until January following,
as we learn from a communication of Col. John-
son to Gen. Washington, bearing date. May 30,
1782. In January, Col. Johnson received a let-
ter from Capt. Prichard, by the hand of Levi
Sylvester, of Newbury, and one from George
204 niSTORICAL SKETCHES
Smith, in Canada, In February, 1782, Col,
Johnson wrote a letter to Gen. Holdimand and
one to Prichard, and sent them by Sylvester.
He sent, also, two newspapers containing the
account of the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. A
copy of those letters was sent to Gen. Washing-
ton the May following, and a copy of Smith's
letter to Johnson was also enclosed. Sylvester
informed Col. Johnson that Major Rogers had
come into the Grants at the head of a strong
scout, and was then at Mooretown, now Brad-
ford, and wished to see him that night ; but
Johnson was detained, and did not go until some
days after, and then he did not find Rogers, and
did not see him at all.
At this time Col. Johnson, feeling oppressed
with his peculiar situation, being liable, on the
one hand, to be viewed and treated as a traitor
by the British, and on the other, to be numbered
with the enemies of his country, determined to
communicate to Gen. Washington all he had
learned in his captivity, all he had done to obtain
his liberty, and all he had done from the time of
his leaving Canada, and his motives for doing so,
and solicit the general's advice in respect to the
course he had better pursue. He accordingly
wrote a detailed account, covering about nine
pages of common-sized paper, too long to be
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 205
inserted in these sketches, agreeing, to wonderful
exactness, with the statement the colonel made
to me, near the close of life, although he did not
know at that time that a single line of it was in
existence, and expressed the deepest regret that he
had not kept copies of his letters to Washington,
and of Washington's letter to him. They have,
however, since come to light, having been found
among Washington's private papers, and are now
in the possession of the Rev. Jared Sparks, of
Cambridge, Mass., and have been by him tran-
scribed and certified, at the request of Mr. David
Johnson, of Newbury. This first paper to which
I allude is an interesting document, and, would
my limits permit, I should be pleased to give it
entire to my readers ; but the letter accompany-
ing, and those w^hich followed, this communica-
tion, will explain this whole affair, and revive
many interesting facts which have lain dormant,
perhaps, in the minds of the aged for many
years. The letter accompanying the document
bears the same date of the document itself, and
is as follows :
" THOS. JOHNSON TO GEN. WASHINGTON.
♦' Newbury, 30 May, 1782.
"May it please your excellency to indulge
me while I say, that in the month of March,
18
-OG HISTORICAL SKETCHE?
17S1, I was taken a prisoner, as set forth m my
naiTative, continued in Canada until September,
wlien I obtained liberty to return home on
parole, which I could effect only by engaging
to carry on a correspondence with them. This
was my view, to get what intelligence I was
able respecting their plans and movements, and
i)i hopes to be exchanged, that I might be able,
in a regular way, to have given some important
intelligence. I have taken such measures as
apjicared most likely to effect the same ; but as
these have hitherto failed, I find the season so
fur advanced as not to admit of further delay
without acquainting your excellency.
■' The proposed plans of the enemy for the last
(^ampaign were frustrated for want of provisions ;
!)ut they determined to pursue them this spring
ris. early as possible. To this end, they have
used their most unwearied endeavors with Ver-
mont to prepare the way, which they have, in a
great and incredible degree, brought to pass, and
is daily increasing ; and unless some speedy stop
IS put to it, I dread the consequences. I entreat
your excellency, that if possible, by a regular
exchange, I may be enabled to give all the in-
telligence in my power without hazarding my
■;haracter, which, otherwise, I am determined to
<lo. at the risk of my honor, my all — and. per-
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 20^^
haps, to the great injury of hundreds of pooi
prisoners now in their hands. Having had ex-
perience, I am grieved to think of their situation.
This infernal plan of treachery with Ycrmoni
(as I have often heard in Canada) was contrived
before Ethan Allen left the British, and he was
engaged on their side. It ran through the coun-
try like a torrent, from New York to Canada,
and the present temper of Vermont is a piece of
the same. Were the people in general upon the
Grants, on this side the mountains, to declare foi
New Hampshire or New York, it would be con-
trary to the agreement of their leading men :
and, unless protected by your excellency, the
innocent with the guilty would share a misera-
ble fate. This part of the country being sold
by a few designing men, of whom a large
number are very jealous, a small number have
by me their informer, or otherwise, got the ce r-
tainty of it, and it puts them in a most disagree-
able situation. They are tlegij^qilS^J)|^j|gfl^-^'|ji:
•■>-" iiampshire; but many of their 'r.a-^T"
earnestly dissuading them from i, i, ! '^'"
" lumult, and I fenr tl>„ ' ''^''' "^ '"
an adva, tale a ,o 7^ *'" «"' '' ?-'^-'
destruction °of hi p "of f" ^'"^""'^ '° ""
iceep .heir sptes c Lu i^ i ' I^""""*'' ■^'-^■
--e3.a.io,..r-r;rer ::::::
208 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
transmit the same directly to Canada ; and when
matters take a turn contrary to their minds, we
are miserably exposed to th^ir severest resent-
ment. I am entirely devoted to your excellency's
pleasure. Should my past conduct meet your
excellency's approbation, my highest ambition
will be satisfied ; if not, deal with me as your
wisdom shall dictate. I most earnestly entreat
your excellency to meditate a moment on my
critical and perplexing situation, as well as that
of this part of the country, and that I may re-
ceive by Capt. Bailey, the bearer, who will be
able to give you further information, your excel-
lency's pleasure in this affair. I beg leave to
subscribe myself your excellency's most sincere
and most devoted servant,
"THOS. JOHNSON.'
Col. Johnson stated in this letter what he
verily believed to be true of the men in the
Orants, who were carrying on a correspondence
-'-■'-; — - — — .- -■ — ^..!!; •-"*"<= u was
with the British. He viewed "n~ f^^^^ ^^- ..
viewed by the British, and he had no means of
knowi *^^ any thing to the contrary ; but it ulti-
mate T' appeared that some of these men, who
wero considered friends to the British, were play-
ing a deep game, in which the British, t\v
Continental Congress, and themselves, were, di^"
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 209
tinct parties. These men were determined that
Vermont should be a distinct and independent
community, like the other states ; but as Con-
gress would not receive them, and had withdrawn
their troops that had been sent for their defence,
they managed as they could with the British to
preserve the Grants from invasion. There is no
doubt but the British were completely deceived
by them, and Ethan Allen procured an engage-
ment, on the part of the British, that no hostili-
ties should be carried on against Vermont. Tht
principal men in this understanding were Thomas
Chittenden, Moses Robinson, Samuel Safford.
Ethan Allen, Ira Allen, Timothy Brownson, John
Fasset, and Joseph Fay. But at the same time.,
the British correspondence with them Vv'as trans-
mitted to Congress, by these men, to operate as
an inducement for Congress to receive them mto
the Union, and Ethan Allen wrote to Congres.-v
in the following bold and impassioned language :
— " I am as resolutely determined to defend the
independence of Vermont, as Congress are that
of the United States, and rather than fail, will
retire with the hardy Green Mountain Boys intc
the caverns of the mountains, and wage war
with human nature at large. ^- Bat surely there
was enough seen and heard in Canada, at the
time Col. Johnson was prisoner there, to make
IS*
210 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
any friend of his country tremble for the con-
sequences. But we have Gen. Washington's
answer to Col. Johnson's letter of the 30th
May. 1782.
*' To Capt. Thomas Johnson, Exeter. N. H.
" Sir <' Head-Quarters, 14 June, ll^'Z.
" I have received your favor per Capt. Bailey,
and thank you for the information contained,
and would beg you to continue your communi-
cation whenever you shall collect any intelli-
g^ence you shall think of importance. It would
give me real pleasure to have it in my power to
effe<"t your exchange ; but some unhappy cir-
cumstances have lately taken place, which, for
the present, cut off all exchange. If you can
fall upon any mode to accomplish your wishes,
in which I can with propriety give you my
assistance, I shall be very glad to afford it.
" I am, sir, «S6C.
"G. WASHINGTON.'
' THOS. JOHNSON TO GEN. WASHINGTON.
" Exeter, July 20, 1782.
" I am obliged by your excellency's favor of
the 14th June, to acknowledge your excellency's
goodness in offering your assistance in my ex-
change. I think it proper to give a more parti-
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 211
cular account of my situation, and have enciosecl
a copy of my parole for your peruvsal. I think,
agreeable to the parole, they cannot refuse a
man in my room, although there is no exchange
agreed on. Your excellency will determine on
my rank. I was held at Canada a lieutenant-
colonel in the militia. I was a captain, and
afterwards chosen a lieutenant-colonel ni the
militia, agreeable to the order of the Assembly
of New York ; but being at a great distance,
before my commission could reach me, Vermont
claimed jurisdiction, and I never had the com-
mission, and I told them the same ; but I was
obliged to acknowledge myself as such in my
parole, or I could not liave accomplished my
design. My situation grows more distressing. I
have been exposed by the infirmity or impru-
dence of a gentleman, one that we could not
have expected it from. I have received nothing
of much importance since my last. I have since
received a confirmation of their intentions to
execute rigorous measures against the opposers:
of Vermont. I have fears of an invasion on that
part of ISow Hampshire by the imprudence above
mentioned. 1 have fears of the correspondence
being stopped ; have wrote to Canada : since
which, by agreement. Capt. Prichard was to
meet on Onion River, the 10th of this instant.
212 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Private concerns brought me here at this time.
If suspicion don't prevent, I expect something
of importance waiting for me ; should it pre-
vent, shall stand in the greatest need of a man
to send in exchange for me.
" I am, sir, your most humble servant,
"THOS. JOHNSON."
We have another letter from Col. Johnson
to Gen. Washington, dated at Atkinson, N. H.,
September 20, 1782. This is a letter of four
pages, and as it differs not materially from the
two former, I omit it in these sketches.
I give place to a letter of Meshech Weare to
Gen. Washington on the subject of Col. John-
son's peculiar circumstances. This Mr. Weare
was governor of New Hampshire in 1784.
"meshech weare to gen. WASHINGTON.
-' Sii- " Hampton Falls, Nov. 25, 1782.
" The bearer. Col. Thomas Johnson, of whose
conduct with respect to procuring intelligence
from the enemy, your excellency has been in-
formed, now waits on you to communicate some
things which appear to be important. From
every information I have been able to obtain, I
have no reason to suspect his honesty or fidelity.
His situation at this time is very difficult, as he
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 213
will fully inform you, and requests your assist-
ance in such way as you may think proper. I
cannot help expressing my fears of what may
be the consequence of the negotiations carrying
on between Vermont and Canada, of which there
seems now to be scarce a doubt.
'' I have the honor to be, with the greatest
respect, yours, &c.
"JIESHECH WEARE."
We have one other interesting letter on this
subject. It is from Nathaniel Peabody, of At-
kinson, N. H. Mr. Peabody was a member of
the council in New Hampshire in 1785, and
subsequently a member of Congress.
"nATH. peabody to gen. WASHINGTON.
"Atkinson, State of New Hampshire,
Nov. 27, 1782.
" Sir — I take the liberty to address your
excellency respecting the unhappy situation of
Lieut. Col. Johnson, of Newbury, Coos, who will
^2^'e charge of this letter, and do himself the
honor to wait on ycnr exceijeuGV HI pcr^OH- Col.
.Johnson is desirous of giving to your excel-
lency every information in his power, relative to
the situation, strength, and designs of the enemy
at the northward, the embarrassed state of affairs
214 HISTORICAL ?P: ETCHES
m the country where he lives, and more particu-
larly the ineligible circiunstanccs in which his
own person, family, and domestic concerns are
unhappily involved.
" I have no doubt he hath been ungenerously
deceived, injured, and betrayed by some persons
with whom he found it necessary to intrust cer-
tain secrets, to him of great importance, and
from whom he had a claim to better treatment.
" The latter end of last month I received a
letter from Col. Johnson, the contents of which
he will make known to you ; and I should have
then done myself the honor of transmitting the
eame, with some other information, to your ex-
cellency : but on a conference I had with the
president of this state, it was concluded that in-
trusting affairs of that nature by common post-
riders would be unsafe for the public, and dan-
gerous for Gol. Johnson, and that it was inexpe-
dient to despatch an express on purpose, as it
was adjudged probable your excellency had such
a variety of other channels for information, that
there was little prospect of giving new and im-
nnvf.int intelligence. From the best information
I have been able to obtain, my own observation,
and the personal knowledge I have had for some
years past, of Col. Johnson, I am led without
hesitating to conclude that he is a faithful and
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 215
sincere friend to the independence of these United
States ; that he would contribute every thing in
his power to promote the political salvation of
this, his native country ; and that he is a gentle-
man on whose declaration your excellency may
place full dependence.
•'I have the honor to be yours, &c.
"NATH. PEABODY."
The above have been copied from the originals
now in my possession.
JARED SPARKS.
Cambridge, Sept. 17, 1835.
There is nothing on paper to show the result
of Col. Johnson's interview with Gen. Washing-
ton ; but it is well known with what feeling
and interest the colonel related the particulars
of that interview until the close of life. It is
not probable that Gen. Washington was at that
time in circumstances to effect an exchange of
prisoners, so as to set Johnson at liberty, nor
does this seem to be the main object of his visit ;
but he obtained the full approbation of Wash-
ington, and enjoyed his sympathies, as he had
previously expressed in his letter. But the treaty
of peace, which was signed on the 20th of Janu-
ary, 1783, in less than two months after Col.
216 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Johnson's visit to Washington, set Johnson at
liberty, dissipated all anxieties, and conveyed
peace and independence to the states.
I have given place to the preceding documents
for two reasons : one is, they give the present
generation a more lively and distinct idea of the
trials and dangers which the inhabitants of Coos
sustained in the revolutionary struggle, than any
general history of those times gives, or can
give ; the other is, to do justice to the injured.
All know what aspersions were heaped upon
Col, Johnson for the part he was said to per-
form at that eventful period, and what pain it
inflicted on him through life, although conscious
of innocence in respect to those charges. He
supposed time and Providence had forever de-
prived him of the means to demonstrate his inno-
cence ; and under this apprehension, he resigned
this hfe, January 4th, 1819, aged seventy-seven
years. But it seems that Providence designed
ultimately to refute all those charges ; and what
God undertakes is thoroughly done. If ever
mortal man was vindicated in any supposed case,
and his character set above all suspicion, that
man is Col. Thomas Johnson, touching his patri-
otism in the day that tried men's souls.
I have already stated how desirable an object
it was with the British to get in possession of
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 217
Gen. Jacob Bailey. A bold and determined
effort to effect this was made on the 17th of
June, 1782, while Col. Johnson was at home on
parole. Gen. Bailey lived at the Johnson vil-
lage, in a house where now stands the brick
house of Josiah Little. Capt. Prichard and his
scout, to the number of eighteen men, lay upon
the heights west of the Ox Bow, and they made
a signal for Col. Johnson to visit them. Johnson
went, as he was bound to do by the terms of his
parole, and he learned that they had come to
capture Gen. Bailey that evening. Johnson was
now in a great strait. Bailey was his neighbor.
and a host against the enemy, and Johnson could
not have him go into captivity ] and yet he must
seem to conform to the wishes of Prichard, or
he would be recalled to Canada himself, and in
all probability have his buildings laid in ashes.
Johnson returned to his house, and resolved to
inform Bailey of his danger, at the hazard of
every thing to himself. But how was this to
be done? Bailey, with two of his sons, was
ploughing on the Ox Bow. Prichard's elevated
situation on the hill enabled him to look down
upon the Ox Bow as upon a map. The secret
was intrusted to Dudley Carle ton, Esq., the bro-
ther of Col. Johnson'^S wife. Johnson wrote on
a slip of paper this laconic sentence — " The
19
ilS HISTORICAL SKETCHES
Philistines be upon thee, Samson !" He gave it
to Carleton, and instracted him to go on to the
meadow, pass directly by Bailey without stop-
ping or speaking, but drop the paper in his view,
and return home by a circuitous rout. Carleton
performed the duty assigned him well. Gen.
Bailey, when he came to the paper, carelessly
took the paper and read it, and as soon as he
could, without exciting suspicion in the minds
of lookers on, proposed to turn out the team, and
said to his sonS, " Boys, take care of yourselves !"
and went himself down to the bank of the river,
and the sons went up to the house, to carry the
tidings to the guard that was stationed there.
The guard consisted of Capt. Frye Bailey, com-
mandant, Ezra Gates, Jacob Bailey, Jun., Joshua
Bailey, Sergeant vSamuel Torrey, a hired man
of Gen. Bailey, three boys — John Bailey, Isaac
Bailey, and Thomas Metcalf — and a hired maid,
Sarah Fowler.
Although the guard was apprised of the gene-
ral's apprehensions, yet it would seem they
thought his fears were groundless, for they were
taken by surprise at early twilight, while they
were taking their evening grog ; or, we might
more significantly say, perhaps, that they were
taking in a freight of proiDess to be tested at a
later hour of the night. The enemy were not
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 219
discovered until they were within a few rods of
the front door. Sergeant Torrey met them at
the door, and levelled his piece at them ; but
Prichard knocked aside the gun, made Torrey
his prisoner, and the enemy rushed in. The
guard dispersed in all directions. Ezra Gates
was wounded in the arm by a ball, as he ran
from the south front door, and a gun was dis-
charged at John Bailey, as he was jumping the
fence to run for the Ox Bow, and two balls
lodged in the fence close to him. Thomas Met-
calf reached the meadow, where he tarried all
night. Gates was brought in and laid on the
bed, where he lay bleeding and groaning, whilst
the enemy were searching the house for prison-
ers and papers.
But there was one belonging to the house.
who displayed great presence of mind and intre-
pidity. It was woman ! woman, who, in ten
thousand instances, has risen superior to danger,
and performed astonishing deeds of heroism,
when man, her lord by constitution, has forfeited
his claim to superiority by timidity and flight I
Sarah Fowler, the servant-maid spoken of, re-
mained upon the ground with a babe of Mrs.
Bailey in her arms, undismayed at the sight of
loaded muskets and bristling bayonets, and re-
peatedly extinguished a candle, which had been
^20 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
lighted for the purpose of searching the house.
Not succeeding with a candle, one of the party
took a firebrand, and attempted to renew the
search ; this the dauntless maid struck from his
hand, and strewed the coals around the room.
This was too much for British blood ; and one
of the soldiers swore, by a tremendous oath, that
if she annoyed them any more, he would blow
out her brains, showing at the same time how
he would do it. She then desisted, as she had
good reason to believe he would execute his
threat.
Mrs. Bailey had, at the moment of the onset,
escaped through an eastern window, and lay
concealed in currant bushes in the garden. The
enemy, having destroyed one gun, and taken
Avhat papers they could find, commenced their
retreat, greatly disappointed in respect to the
main object of their pursuit, for the general was
resting securely on Haverhill side. They took
with them prisoners, Gates and Pike, the hired
man of Gen. Bailey, and proceeded south. An
alarm was given, but not in time to arrest the
enemy. About a half a mile south, they met
James Bailey, son of Gen. Bailey, whom they
took prisoner, and kept until the close of the
war. They took also Pelatiah Bliss, who lived
ne£ir where Harry C. Bailey now lives. Bliss
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 221
whined and cried, and made so much ado about
his wife and babes, and exhibited so many
symptoms of a weak mind, that, after consnha-
tion, they permitted him to escape. They called
at one other house, Andrew Carter's, drank all
the pans of milk the old lady had, and then pro-
secuted their march into Canada, to report the
failure of their expedition. " But," says Col.
Elkins, of Peacham, in his letter of December 7,
1832, " this failure of the British, in the main
object of their expedition, brought fresh trouble
upon Col. Thomas Johnson. The tories m the
vicinity, who had laid the plan for taking Gen.
Bailey, learning that he was not at home that
night, and knowing that he was not in the habit
of being absent from his family over night, un-
less on business out of town, said at once, John-
son was a traitor to their cause, for he must have
given Bailey information of his danger. This
ramor went with the party back to Canada, and
produced strong sensations of jealousy and re-
sentment there. Johnson was now the man to
be obtained, and his buildings were to be de-
stroyed by fire the next spring, if not before.
But the disposition to peace in the mother coun-
try, and the actual treaty before the year came
about, saved Johnson from the calamities threat-
ened upon him."
19*
Vr-f-J HISTORICAL SKETCHES
From tliis time the people of Coos moved on
in the even tenor of their way to ease and inde-
pendence in their circumstances. But even at
the late period of which we have been speaking,
a one-horse pleasure carriage had never been
seen at Coos. The first that was ever seen in
Newbury, was brought into the place by a Rev.
Mr. Goddard, who was preaching as a candidate
to the people there, after the dismission of the
Rev. Mr. Powers. He rode up to G'en. Bailey's,
a.s he came into town, in a chaise or sulkey.
There was living at the generars a young miss,
who happened to be in at a neighboring house
to visit an aunt, at the time Mr. Goddard passed.
So strange a vehicle greatly excited her curi-
osity, and she called out to her aunt, *' O, come
here, aunt ! come here, and see a man riding in
a cart with tVv'o tongues !" On horseback in
summer, and in sleighs in winter, were the only
mctliods of riding at that day.
1 have previously said that Haverhill and New-
bury were never one ecclesiastical society after
the dismission of the Rev. Mr. Powers. The Rev.
Jacob Wood was the successor of Mr. Powers
in Newbury. He was ordained on the second
Wednesday in January, 1789 ; departed this life,
February 10, 1790, aged 33. Rev. Nathaniel
or THE coos COUNTRY. 2*23
Lambert was ordained, November 17, 1790 ;
dismissed, April 4, 1S09. Rev. Luther Jewett
was ordained, February 28, 1821 ; ceased to
officiate, February 3, 1825 ; dismissed, February
19, 1828. Rev. Clark Perry was ordained, June
4, 1828 ; dismissed, June 15, 1S35. Rev. George
Campbell was installed, January 27, 1836, and
remains their pastor. Let us hope for a long,
successful, and happy union.
From the time 3Ir. Powers closed his labors
at Haverhill, the people enjoyed but little preach-
mg until the year 1790. There was no organ-
ized church in Haverhill, as they had belonged
to Newbury church, and there were but t"wo
males, members of Newbury church, who be-
longed on Haverhill side, viz. Col. Charles John-
ston and the Hon. James Woodward. The
prospects of Haverhill were at that time very
gloomy in respect to religion, and for nine months
preceding the spring of 1790, there had not been
a sermon preached in the place. But in the
spring of that year, a melancholy death of a
woman occurred in the house now occupied by
Capt. Uriah Ward, which seemed to impress all
minds with solemnity. She had lived far from
righteousness, and died in great agony of soul
in view of her endless ruin. And now the pre-
cious grain, sown by the Rev. Mr. Powers, which
•224 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
had lain buried long, being watered by the dews
and rains of divine grace, and warmed by the
vivifying rays of the Sun of righteousness, be-
gan to germinate and to appear, to the great joy
of those few who had waited and prayed for
consolation in Israel. The holy and blessed
Spirit seemed to come down upon them as a
rushing, mighty wind ; and it was but a short
time before there was but one house, from the
Dow farm to Piermont line, in which there was
110 special awakening with the occupants. That
liouse was at the Ayers' [)lace. In all other
habitations there were wailings for sin. People
pressed together for prayer and instruction, and
clergymen, hearing of the wonders of God at
Haverhill, came to obtain and to impart a bless-
ing. The Rev. Dr. Burton, of Thetford, and
Rev. Dr. Burroughs, of Hanover, were peculiarly
helpful, and their labors are remembered with
gratitude to this day by those who obtained the
pearl of great price, and still survive. During
that season, more than seventy persons became
hopeful subjects of renewing grace. And al-
though that church and people have witnessed
repeated revivals of religion with them since
that period, yet the elders among the people have
never witnessed, as they think, the power of
divine grace in equal degree. I have myself,
OP THE COOa COUNTRY. 225
while rejoicing with the newly converted ni that
place, and feeling that we witnessed great things,
been reminded of the different feelings that were
experienced by the Jews at Jerusalem, at the
laying of the foundation of the second temple,
on their return from captivity, when I heard the
old saints speak of what they had witnessed. It
will be recollected that the younger Jews, who
had never seen the first temple, rejoiced greatly
in the prospect of having a temple for worship.
The older Jews rejoiced also ; but when they
contrasted their then present circumstances with
what they had been in the glory of the first
temple, for a time grief preponderated in tlieir
breasts, and there was a mixed shout of joy and
grief. So it has repeatedly been at Haverhill.
The converts of 1790 have ever been disposed
to meditate on the power of divine grace of that
year ; and although they could rejoice in the day
of small things, yet they have longed to see one
more day of the right hand of the Most High.
On the 13th of October, 1790, the church was
first organized. Rev. Dr. Burton, Rev. Dr. Bur-
roughs, and Rev. Mr. Ward, of Plymouth, ofii-
ciated. Twenty-two members constituted the
church at its organization. Rev. Ethan Smith
was their first pastor. He was ordained. January
25, 1792, and continued their pastor a little more
226 HISTORICAL SKETCHES
than seven years ; dismissed, June 23, 1799.
The Rev. John Smith succeeded Mr. Ethan
Smith, and was ordained, December 23, 1S02,
and continued their pastor a httle more than four
years ; dismissed, January 14, 1807. From this
time to January 4, 1815, the church and eccle-
siastical society had no pastor, nor had they
uninterrupted preaching, but had many candi-
dates and occasional preaching. And here we
have a melancholy exhibition of the mutable
state of every church on earth. The church
that was so flourishing in 1792, was reduced in
July, 1814, at the time when I commenced my
labors among them, to twelve members in the
south parish, — three males, and nine females, —
and a covering of sackcloth was spread upon
the tent of Zion. But eight persons within the
limits of the parish had made a public profession
of religion for the last twenty-two years. Two
were received under the Rev. Ethan Smith, from
1792 to 1799 ; two under the Rev. John Smith,
from 1802 to 1807 ; and four under the Rev.
David Sutherland, of Bath, their moderator, from
1807 to 1814. In the same time there were one
hundred and eight baptisms, four of whom were
adults.
In the autumn early of 1814, the people be-
gain again to flow together to hear the word of
OF THE COOS COUNTRY. 227
life, and a still, small voice was heard by many,
saying, This is the xoay — walk ye in it. Many
obeyed that voice. It was impressively true,
that the Lord did not advance, in this instance,
in a "great and strong wind," nor in the earth-
quake," nor in the "fire;" but his coming was
as the ushering in of day. The first evidence
of the King's presence was seen in the profound
stillness which reigned in the worshipping as-
sembly, and the fixed attention of the hearer.
Christians began to feel that they were newly
anointed from on high, and they prayed with
tenderness and fervor, and sinners would drop a
tear, when pointedly addressed upon the con-
cerns of their souls. Soon we were told that
this one, and that one, were deeply anxious for
their spiritual interest. And these instances were
multiplied until very many were pricked in heart,
and would inquire to know what they must do
to be saved. In a short time, some began to
rejoice in hope ; and this solemn and joyful state
of things continued through the remaining part
of 1814, and more or less through 1815. On
the 4th of January, 1815, I received ordination,
and before the close of that year, I think, more
than sixty were added to the church ; some be-
came pillars, and remain so to the present day,
although some have fallen asleep.
228 HISTOUICAL SKK'rtllES
In 1822, we were blessed with another revi-
val, but not so extensive as the former. Some
were called and added to the church in 1826 :
and at the close of my ministry in this place, —
which occurred, April 28, 1829, nearly fifteen
years after I came among them, — there had been
added to the church one hundred and nineteen
members. There had been one hundred and
ninety-one baptisms, thirty-five of whom were
adults.
The Rev. Henry Wood was installed their
pastor, December 14, 1831, and was dismissed.
March 3, 1835. The Rev. Joseph Gibbs was
ordamed their pastor, June 16, 1835, and depart-
ed this life, April 11, 1837. Rev. Archibald
Fleming was installed, June 27, 1838, and still
remains their pastor.
With my best v.'ishes and my prayers for their
mutual prosperity and final salvation, I close
these Sketches.
Your much obliged and ever grateful friend,
GRANT POWERS.
APPENDIX.
The two following anecdotes were originally written for
newspaper publication ; but the publishers of the Historical
Collections of New Hampshire, learning through the late
Jesse Worcester, Esq., of Hollis, the historical accuracy of
the two pieces in point of fact, adopted them both, as I have
understood, into their Collections. But as comparatively few
will ever read them in those Collections, and as the writer
of the present Sketches was the author of those two commu-
nications, he feels that he has an undoubted right to append
them to this work ; and when we consider the peculiar agency
and interest the two individuals, who are the hero and heroine
in the anecdotes, had in the discovery and settlement of the
Coos, we cannot but feel that our readers will be gratified in
the perusal of those adventures. The writer often heard the
aged widow of Capt. Powers relate the facts as here stated ;
the language is, of course, his own.
THE BOAR AND THE BEAR.
The town of Hollis, in the county of Hillsborough, N. H.,
is one of the oldest towns in the county, and was first settled
by Capt. Peter Powers and Anna, his wife, from Hampshire
Dunstable, in 1831. Those early settlers were accustomed to
the rearing of many swine, by permitting them to run at large
in the woods, and to subsist upon roots, acorns, and nuts,
which were produced in great abundance in the place. In
the fall of the year, or at tlie time of the first deep snow, the
older members of the herd, that were originally tame, would
lead their numerous progeny into winter quarters, at a shed
erected for that purpose some distance from the house, where
the owner disposed of them as he pleased, although many of
20
230 APPEN'DIX.
them were as untame and as ferocious as the beasts of the'
mountains. At that time, bears were plenty, and very hostile
to swine. It became necessary, therefore, to provide for the
defence of the herd by permitting one of tliC males to live
several years beyond the period of life ordinarily assigned to
that species by man ; at which time he became literally the"
master of the Jlock. His tusks protruded on either side, in
nearly semicircles, to the distance of six or seven inches. He-
seemed conscious of his superiority and responsibility. He'
was fierce in the extreme, and courted danger ; and when the
herd was assailed, he instantly presented himself to the foe,
with eyes darting fire, with tusks heated to blueness, and
foaming at the mouth in a terrific manner. He roamed the
forest, unconscious of danger ; he led the herd ; and but few
of the untamed tribes had the temerity to dispute his title to
supremacy.
it happened, Jiowever, on a certain day in autumn, when
Anna stood in the door of her cabin, listening to the ofl-
repeated sound of the descending axe, or the crash of falling
trees, while her husband was at liis daily task, that she heard
from a great distance the faint, yet distinct, cry of one of their
herd. She thought it was the cry of expiring nature. She
remained in this state of suspense but a short time, before the
herd came rushing from the forest in the greatest apparent
trepidation. The oldest dams of the herd, much exhausted,
and without their common leader and protector, seemed in-
clined to take refuge in the apartment which had been Aeir
retreat in former winters ; but the younger branches of the
family would not follow them. The dams, seeing this, dashed
on through the cleared space, and disappeared in the forest
on the north side. The cries of the wounded were still heard,
but grew fainter and fainter, until wholly lost in death. But
the anxious Anna had not removed from her position, before
the old boar came rushing through the bushes in eager pursuit
of his charge, which had eloped and left him in the rear by
many a rood. He was fresh from the field of combat. He
APPENDIX. 231
■was bathed in blood, foaming at the mouth, gnashing his
tusks, and exhibited a terrific aspect. Regardless of home,
he approached a field of corn which grew near the cabin, and
leaped the fence, not touching the topmost knot, although it
was proof against horses which strayed through the woods
from neighboring towns in Massachusetts. He passed di-
rectly through the field without touching a kernel of corn,
and leaping the fence on the opposite side, disappeared in the
woods. Not long after, the wished-for husband, whose pre-
sence the gathering shades of evening, the deep solitude of
the place, and the stirring events of the afternoon, had ren-
dered peculiarly inviting to the young partner of his toils and
hopes, returned with his axe upon his shoulder, enlivening
the forest with his evening whistle, and driving his old bell-
cow before him, which summoned Anna with her milk-nail to
hor evening task.
Scarcely had he secured tlic topmost rail to his yard enclo-
sure, when Anna from the window of her cabin saw her
husband held in anxious suspense. For some moments he
paused and listened; but turned and called, "Anna, Anna,
bring nre my gun and ammunition in a minute, for the Old
Master himself is worsted." They were at his hand in a
trice. "Look to yourself," said the husband,* and bounded
into the forest. Pursuing with great speed the course whence
the sound proceeded, which alone broke the silence of the
evening, our adventurer soon found himself at the distance
of about a mile and a half from his cabin, surrounded with
black alders, so thickly set as to be almost impenetrable to
man and beast. Before him lay Long Pond, so called, about
one mile in length, and from a quarter to a half a mile, per-
haps, in width. He was near midway of the pond, and the
pound from the laboring boar and his antagonist (a mixed,
frightful yell) proceeded directly from the opposite shore.
Nothing now remained but for him to plunge into the pond,
* Indians were tlien numerous in the town.
232 ' APPENDIX.
and make the opposite Bhore by beating the waves, or to divide
Jiim a passage amidst the alders around one of the extremities
of the pond, which could not be done short of travelling the
distance of another mile. But no time was to be lost. The
cries of the boar bespoke the greatest need, and the latter
course was adopted ; and in a space of time, and with the
courage and energy which are scarcely conceived by the
present generation, he arrived at the scene of action. Whose
heart does not now misgive him, while nearing the battle
ground, alone, in darkness, and all uncertain as to the nature
of the foe .' But young Powers advanced with undaunted
firmness. He was under the necessity of approaching near
to the belligerents before he could make any discovery, by rea-
son of the darkness of the night, rendered more dark by the
towering trees, which mingled their branches at some sixty
or seventy feet from the ground, and a dense underwood,
which stood like a hedge continually before him. But as
soon as he entered the area which had been beaten down
during the action, he discovered the boar seated upon the
ground, and still defending himself against the furious as-
saults of the hugest bear his eyes ever beheld ! She was like
his old bcll-coic for magnitude ! He drew his gun to an aim,
when he perceived, obscurely, that the bear was on a line
with him and his hog, and he could not discharge his piece
without putting the life of the latter in jeopardy ; and, as he
was moving in a circular direction, to procure a safe discharge,
he was discovered by the bear, and she bounded into the
bushes. Powers now came up to the boar, and witnessed
euch tokens of gladness as surprised him. It was, however,
too solemn an hour with the swine to lavish upon his deliverer
unmeaning ceremonies. As soon as he found himself released
from his too powerful antagonist, he prostrated himself upon
the ground, and lay some time, panting and groaning in a
manner truly affecting to his owner. Powers now discharged
his gun, with a view to terrify the beasts of prey, and keep
them off during the night. He struck and kindled a fire,
APPENDIX. 233
and upon a slight cxaminalion, he found Ihat his hog was
lacerated in his rear in a shocking manner. He was utterly
disabled from rising, except upon his fore feet. But to show
the indomitable nature of the animal, I will relate that the
boar, after some little time, recovered in a degree from his
extreme exhaustion, and gaining the same position he had
when his owner found him, began to beat a challenge for r.
renewal of the combat. Again his eyes flashed with rage.,
he stamped with his fore feet, he chafed, gnashed with his
tusks, and foaming at the mouth, he looked around with the
greatest apparent firmness for his antagonist. Our adven-
turer now drew together fallen wood sufficient to support a
fire through the night, burnt powder around his swine, and
returned to his cabin, w^here he was never more joyfully
received by the young wife, who, during all this while, had
remained listening at the window in painful solicitude.
The next day, some help was obtained, as one family* had,
prior to this, moved in and settled in the south-west part of
xlie town, and the battle ground was revisited. The boar had
not moved out of his place, hut was still weltering in his
blood. With much labor he was conveyed home in a carl,
and, as he never could become the defence of the herd again,
he was yarded, fattened, and killed, and helped by his death
to promote that existence to the family which he could no
longer do b}- his life.
With a view to account for the melancholy fate of the
feoar, Powers and his associates wont in search of the swine
that was destroyed in the afternoon of the preceding day.
They found one of their largest hogs slain by a bear, and,
near to, a large bear was as evidently slain by the boar. Frora
this they inferred that the first hog was mortally wounded by
a bear in the absence of the boar ; but the cries of the
wounded soon brought the Master, when a battle ensued, in
vv'hich the bear was slain, not, however, without loss of blood
* Eleazer Flajrg.
20*
234
APPENDIX.
with the boar ; that during this first action, the rest of the
herd fled, and that the boar was in pursuit of them when he
passed the cabin through the field ; that after running some
miles, at the point of exhaustion, he fell in with a still more
powerful antagonist, when his fight was comparatively feeble,
and he fell overpowered, but not subdued, as it Las fallen out
with many a Greek and Roman hero.
AN ADVENTUROUS VISIT.
When Capt. Peter Powers and Anna, his wife, first pitched
their tent in HoUis, 1751, which was a little north-west of
the present meeting-house, the traces of which are still visi-
ble, their nearest neighbor lived in the south-eastern part of
Dunstable, N. H., a distance, probably, at this time, of ten
miles, and could not be made at that period at a less travelling
distance than twelve miles, as they had no road but a single
track, and spotted trees for their guide.
This journey could not be made in the summer season
without fording the Nashua, which was done a little south-
east of a small island, visible at your left, as you now pass
the bridge, going from Hollis, N. H., to Dunstable, Mass. :
and here the river was fordable only when the streams were
low. Of course, these lonely adventurers made their visits
but seldom, and never with a view to be absent from their
habitation during the night, as they were then the parents
of two children, whom they were necessitated to leave at
home, in a cabin surrounded with Indians. Indeed, never
did both parents leave their children and perform this rout
in company.
Now, it happened on a summer's morning, in the month
of Au^'ust. that ^he wife, Annri, found it convenient to visit
her neighbor, and mounting at an early hour a fine Narra-
ganset, a faithful and tried companion in adventures, the river
APPENDIX.
235
wa3 Boon forded, and the whole distance was made, long ere
it was high noon. The interview was such as characterized
the first settlers in this new country, where warmth of affec-
tion more than supplied the place of a thousand ceremonies,
and a sense of dependence prompted to the discharge of
kinder offices than mere refinement would recognize as obli-
gatory on her.
The hours passed swiftly away — they lived fast — they ate,
they drank, they talked much, and blessed God and their
king. Nor did a single occurrence tend to interrupt their
festivity until about three past meridian, when all were
suddenly aroused by a distant, though heavy, discharge of
heaven's artillery. All rushed to the door to witness the
aspect of the elements, when, lo ! it was most threatening
and appalling ! Nature all around slept, or seemed to be
awed into a deathlike silence. Not a leaf moved but when
the foundations of the earth responded to the voice of heaven.
Already, from north to sonth, the whole western horizon was
mantled in black, and the gathering tempest moved forward
as slowly and sublimely as though conscious of its power to
deride all resistance ! Not until this moment did anxious
concern possess the breast of Anna for the objects of her
affections, whom she had left in that lone, dear ceil. In a
kind of momentary distraction, she demanded that Narragan-
set should be pannelled, for she must return to her family that
afternoon, whatever might be the consequences to herself.
She had rather braye the tempest returning, than endure her
forebodings with her sheltered friends. But a sudden change
in the elements did more to dissuade her from so rash an at-
tempt than the entreaties and expostulation of her friends.
From an apparent calm, nature now awoke and seemed to be
rusjiing into ruin. As though the north called unto the south,
and the west unto the east, the four winds came on to the
conflict. Clouds were driven hither and thither in angry
velocity, and all seemed to be propelled in directions counter
'2'M APPENDIX
vo each other. The tempest soon burst upon them, and on
the whole adjacent country, in an unparalleled torrent. No-
thing was heard but the crack or roll of thunder, and the roar
of winds and waters — nothing seen but tlie successive blaze
of lightning !
" Intonuere poll, ct crebris micat igiiibus aether. ''
The said Anna lived until rising somewhat of ninety years,
and could remember distinctly more than eighty years ; but,
in all this time, she Jiever witnessed such a scene, nor could
she relate any thing which seemed to raise such sublimity
of feeling in her mind as this.
The tempest lay upon tlicm with unabated force several
hours, nor did it appear to spend itself until the sun was just
fsinking below the liorizon, when it broke in upon drowned
nature in all its smiles, and reflected its golden beams upon
tlie black cloud at the east, in the most enchanting manner.
This was the moment for Anna to renew her resolve of re-
turning to her family that night ; and, contrary to all reason-
ing and persuasions, she instantly put it in execution. She
mounted her horse, and bidding adieu to her friends, she
entered the twelve-mile forest just as the sun took his leave
of her. She calculated upon a serene and star-light evening,
and the extraordinary instinct of her beast, as well as her
experience in the way and at the fords. But in regard to the
former, she wa,s wholl}' disappointed. The wind soon shifted,
.-tnd rolled the same cloud back again ; the rain recommenced
as the night set in, and the wind ceased.
At that season of the year, the time of twilight was short ;
the earth being warm and moistened, evaporation was rapid,
and a dense fog arose, which soon obstructed vision, and, long
ere she arrived at the fords, she was enveloped in total dark-
ness. Her only guide now was her faithful Narraganset, and
the beasts of the forest her companions. She, however, made
the best of her circumstances. She entered into conversation
APPENDIX. f837
with her mare, as waa lier custom when riding alone ; and
when her beast stopped suddenly and tossed up liev head, and
snorted at some wild animal crossing her track, as was sup^
posed, Anna would exhort her to possess courage, assuring
her " that nothing could harm her, for the beasts were mere
cowards in the presence of a brave horse," &c.
After this manner, the long way to the fords was passed
over in Egyptian darkness ; nor had the thought once oc-
curred to Anna that so considerable a river as now rolled
before her would be materially affected by a thunder storm
of a few hours ; whereas, so great was the fall of water in
this time that the river, although wide at this place, was
bank full, and swept on with great rapidity. Nor could the
rushing of the waters be heard by reason of the rain still
pouring upon the forest around her. She therefore deter-
mined to give the rein to her experienced beast, believing
that she would keep the ford, and land her on the opposite
shore at the proper place. The horse entered the stream as
soon as at the bank, and in a moment lost her foot-hold on
terra iirma, and was plunging in the waves at a full swim.
Such, however, was Anna's presence of mind, that she made
no exertion to rein her beast, but endeavored simply to retain
her seat, which was now under water, whilst the waves beat
against her waist. The faithful animal made for the opposite
shore ; but so strong was the current, that she was either
carried below the ford, or, in her exertions to resist it, she
overacted and went above it, where, at one sweep of her fore
feet, she struck upon a rock in the bed of the river, which
suddenly raised her somewhat from the water forward ; but
she as soon plunged again, for the rock was cleared the
second sweep. This plunge was so deep that Anna was
borne from her pannel by the gravity of the water ; but
pitching forward, she seized Narraganset's mane as she rose,
nor did she quit her grasp, until they were both safely landed
on the happy shore 1 — Adjusting her clothes, she remounted,
238 APPENDIX.
and soon found that her beast was in her accustomed track,
and, in little more than one hoar, she alighted at the door of
her peaceful cabin, where, by her well-known signal,* she
•broke the slumber of her husband and babes, and on entering
related, in no purer gratitude or greater joy than they expe-
rienced in hearing, the result of tliat adventurous night.
* Capt. Powers and wife agreed on a peculiar rap, which served
Hs a kind of countersign to inform the one within that the other
had arrived and desired admission. This was necessary to prevent
the intrusion of Indians, who would oiten rap at different hours of
the nijht.
INDEX
Page.
Bailey, Gen. Jacob, . . .36, 53,
193, 194, 217—220
Bailey, Col. Joshua, 51
Baker's River, 175—178
Barnes, J., lost son, 174
Bradford, Vt 163—168
Brook, Poole, 47
Brown, Josiah, 173
Burton, D. D. Rev. Asa, . .84,
92—96, 137-143, 157—
159, 161, 162
Campton, 173
Cart with two tongues, . . .222
Chamberlain, John,. .144,145
Charters, 4S
Clarcmont, 132
Connel, John Mc, ..115—118
Cornish, 132
Cow, instinct of a,. . . .90 — 92
Crank, saw-mill, 70—73
Dearborn, Samuel, . . 168 — 174
Eastman, Amos, 14
Elkins, Col. Jonathan, ..195,
200, 221
Elkins, Dea. Jonathan, . . . .53
Fairlee, East, 162, 163
Fifield's, A., lost son, .... 167
Flood, 112—114
Freeman, Col. Otis, 79
Pag*.
Foreman, John, 51
Groton, 173
Hanover,. . . .7&— 81, 132, 135
Harriman, Polly, 47
Hazen, Capt. John,. 36, 37, 43
Hebron, 172
Hobart, Capt. James, . . . .168
Holderness, 172
Howard, Col. Joshua, . .44, 46
Howard, Deacon, 82 — 84
Hughs, John, 44
Indians, 175 — 189
Instinct of a Cow, 90—98
Johnston, Capt. Michael, ..46
Johnston, Col. Charles,. ..46,
92, 96—105
Johnston, Michael, . .37, 40, 45
Johnson, Col. Thomas, . . 48,
180, 181, 194—221
Kent, Col. Jacob, 50
Kent, Mary, 50,51
Ladd, Hon. Ezekiel, 53
Ladd, Mrs. Ruth, 61, 62, 68, 69
Lancaster, 49
Lebanon, 132
Living and Dress, ..120 — 122
Lyme, 132
Mann, Esq., John,. .127— 130
Morse, Uriah, 46
240
INDEX.
rage.
Norwich, Vt., 137—144
Orford, 127
Osnier, John, 163 — 165
Ox Bow, Great, old Indian
settlement, 37 — 40
Page, John, 49, 70—73
Parker, Lieut. Z 168
Peabody, Nathaniel, 213
Peters, Esq., Andrew B. . .165
Pettie, John, 37, 40, 45
Piermont, 122
Pigeons, 110, 111
Plainfield, 132
Plymouth, 105, 16S— 178
Plymouth, first ox-team
from, 118,119
Powers, Capt. Peter, .15—32,
86—89
Powers, Rev. Peter,. .54—58,
77—99
Revivals, 223—225
Rogers, Col. Robert,. . .34, 35
Rumney, 172
Sleeper, Samuel, ..41,62—65
Sparks, Jared, 215
Stark, Gen. John, 13, 14
Page.
Strong, Joel, 160, 161
Thanksgiving, 75
Thetford, Vt., 144—162
Thornton, 173
Tyler, Jonathan, . . . .122—126
Wait's River, 166
Walbridge, 79—81
Wallace, Mrs 149—151
Wallace, Richard,. . . .93—96,
115—121, 146—157
Warren, 172
Washington, Gen.. ,204— 215
Ward, Rev. Nathan, .169, 170
Way, Mr 57,58
Weare, Meshech, 212
Webster, Ephraim, . .153 — 157
Webster, Lydia, 171
Wentworth, 172
Wheeler, Charles, 184
Wheeler, Glazier, 41, 44
Willard, Oliver, 42,43
Woodward, Hon. James,.. 49,
65—72
Worms, 105—108
Wright, Benoni, 63, 64
